In the latest essay for his Race Stories column for the New York Times, Maurice Berger, CADVC, discusses Civil Rights Photographer Jon Lewis’ pictures of farm workers outside of the Jim Crow South. Berger writes about Lewis’ “precise and moving” documentation of the Delano Grape Strike that, “offers great insights about the strike and the canny understanding of photography of its leader, Cesar Chavez.”

Read “A Civil Rights Photographer, and a Struggle, Are Remembered” at the New York Times Lens Blog.

Berger’s Race Stories column has featured several essays centered upon race and photography including, Malcolm X as image maker, Ken Gonzales-Day, images of emancipation, the photographs of Deborah Will, the civil rights work of James Karales, and the woman in a civil rights photo, fifty seven years later.

Tokyo recently won the right to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, and the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia is just a few months away.

As the Olympics have made headlines in recent weeks, Public Policy Professor John Rennie Short has been in the news for his proposal that the Summer Olympics should be held at a permanent site every four years.  He was recently interviewed by Radio New Zealand on its award-winning program “This Way Up” about the idea.

“Moving it every four years seems to be incredibly expensive and socially disruptive when why don’t we host it in one site? There’s obviously lots of cost at the beginning, but the costs are evened out,” he said.

Short described how establishing a permanent site would create a “global place” where events could be held beyond the Olympics such as conferences, meetings and concerts where people from all around the world, not just athletes, could come.

He also discussed the idea of growing material interest in the Olympics and how the games keep getting larger each year.

“Every city has a major displacement, major cost, and the real driving force for permanently moving the Olympic Games, it comes from developers who actually cash in big time if they can successfully get land cheap and sell it more expensive,” Short said.

You can listen to the full, 12-minute interview on Radio New Zealand here.

John Rennie Short was also recently interviewed by KCBS News Radio in San Francisco about his proposal.  You can find more information on that here.

On October 18-20, UMBC hosted the third annual Baltimore GiveCamp, which was organized by Douglas McCaw ‘99, information systems. During this weekend-long hack-a-thon, more than 230 software developers, designers and database administrators donating their time to help 30 non-profit organizations complete various technical projects.

Due to its central location and ability to provide the necessary IT infrastructure, McCaw thought UMBC would be the perfect spot. “I also felt it would be a good opportunity for students to meet and work with professionals in the IT business.” A few students have participated over the years, and McCaw hopes for even more student involvement in the future.

McCaw first heard about GiveCamp – a national event developed by Chris Koenig – as a member of the Central Maryland Association of .net Developers (CMAP). McCaw knew it was something he wanted to bring to Baltimore, so he worked with CMAP to organize a Central Maryland GiveCamp chapter.

Since the event began three years ago, it has continually expanded to offer more and better services. One key change? Offering lectures on social media, which allows the non-profit representatives a chance to learn how to use current technologies to their advantage. And that’s what GiveCamp is all about – helping the dedicated people at these non-profits get skills and services they wouldn’t otherwise have access to.

This year, one particular project stuck out for McCaw because it exemplified what is at the heart of GiveCamp. A non-profit that provides food and nutrition counseling for homebound residents needed a website, but they lacked the funds to make it happen. GiveCamp volunteers developed a website for them, which saved them time and money, and allowed them to expand their operations so they can continue to help people in need.

Projects like these revolutionize the way the non-profits work, but more than that, they represent an enormous philanthropic effort. Since McCaw launched his GiveCamp chapter, hundreds of developers have given of their time and talent, and the value of the services they offer has grown to more than $500,000. And he hopes to continue growing the Baltimore GiveCamp as a major event in the software development community.

“I would like to see the program include more non-profits, more attendance and more people from the community. We also hope to add more specialized programs that could help non-profits navigate technology, as well as help students and professionals gain experience in development.”

If you’re interested in taking part in next year’s GiveCamp, whether as a volunteer or a non-profit, registration opens in the spring and can be done on its website. Those interested in planning GiveCamp, please contact McCaw at douglas.mccaw@jhuapl.edu.

In honor of National Philanthropy Day, we compiled a list of other Retrievers, like McCaw, who are giving back. Read about them here.

A roundup of the most interesting stories from other sites, collected by the staff at MIT Technology Review.

This Robot Is Changing How We Cure Diseases
Robot lab technicians at the NIH run millions of tests every week to help scientists study diseases and potential treatments. Watch the big yellow arm at work in this WSJ video.
—Susan Young, biomedicine editor