UMBC’s giving office is very happy to welcome new Phonathon Coordinator Logan Wern. In this position, Logan manages the nearly 40 UMBC students whose job it is to chat up alumni and parents throughout the year. It’s an important job, but also fun, with Logan serving as a sort of motivator-in-chief for this lively office.

We sat down with Logan, who earned her master’s degree in higher education administration and student personnel from Kent State University, for a few minutes to learn a little more about who she is and what she brings to the table…er, telephone.

Q: Tell us a little bit more about what your job entails.

A: Well, what I really do is manage the Call Center where students call alumni or parents of current or past students and ask them to give to the Annual Fund or more specific departmental funds. I’m really excited to be here…I like it already!

Q: Part of your job involves getting to know UMBC really well so you can help your students as they talk with alums and parents. So, what’s the coolest thing you’ve learned so far about UMBC?

A: Wow, a lot of things. But, I think the thing that most impresses me is what an innovative campus UMBC is. And that’s one of the things that attracted me to accepting this position, because it’s such a young campus — which to some could be seen as not having the traditions and structure — but it’s really more of a good thing when you’re trying to grow programs like the Annual Fund. I think it’s a really exciting place to be because it is so new and young.

Q: How would you describe the atmosphere of the Call Center when it’s filled with students chatting merrily on the phones?

A: Well, on a busy night it’s a really exciting place to be with all the students on the phones talking to alumni or talking to parents and making connections. And since I’ve been here, I’ve started a game with a sort of meter to see how much money we raise for UMBC each night, and it’s kind of based on the theme of “making it rain,” so it’s like “April Showers Bring May Flowers.”  I have a little display on my wall and every time a student gets a pledge they fill out a rain drop and stick it on the wall. So, it’s starting to pour because the students are doing really well. The students kind of made fun of me for it at first, but I think it’s working!

Yesterday brought us the birthday of the postage stamp book. Created in 1900, these books came with 12 cent, 24 cent, and 48 cent stamps.

Although the mail is used less and less today with the popularity of email and iMessage, people are still fond of sending each other postcards, Christmas greetings, and ricin.

Yes, ricin. On Tuesday, an envelope containing the toxic poison was intercepted at the congressional mail center. It was addressed to Senator Roger Wicker (R) of Mississippi, a “low-profile senator in his second term.”

What exactly is ricin? It’s a protein found in castor oil plants and has surfaced occasionally as a dangerous chemical for the past forty years. According to CNN,

“as little as 500 micrograms — an amount the size of the head of a pin — can kill an adult.” 

Lets take a look at some past incidences involving ricin:

• 1978– Bulgarian dissident and writer Georgi Markov is shot and killed with a ricin pellet that came from an umbrella gun.
• 1981– Exposed CIA double agent and KGB infiltrator Boris Korczak is shot in the kidney with a ricin pellet at a Giant Food Store. However, the pellet was flushed out because his body thought it was a kidney stone.
• 1997– James Dalton Bell, an electronics engineer, was in communications with a friend about obtaining castor beans to extract for ricin. He had also acquired the addresses of nearly 100 federal government employees and confidential voter records.
• 2002– Kenneth Olsen tried to explain to FBI officials that he kept ricin in his office cubicle for research on a Boy Scout project.
• 2003– Six men from Algeria were arrested after London police claimed they were plotting a ricin attack on the subway. Only one was convicted… but that was for stabbing an officer during the raid. The following month, Colin Powell spoke of the incident during his speech to the UN to justify the invasion of Iraq. 
• 2009– A manager of a dozen gay bars in Seattle received a letter from a gay man himself, threatening to put ricin into the drinks of five customers at each bar. However, nothing ever happened.
• 2011– Four elderly men from Georgia who formed an anti-government militia inspired by Mike Vanderboeghe’s novel, Absolved, were found guilty for planning an attack on Washington with ricin explosives. Their secret meetings were held in a local Waffle House.

No one is sure yet what prompted the poison plot, or who exactly did it. According to “authorities,” an individual who “writes lots of letters to lawmakers” is the best suspect, but the motive is up in the air. Why a small town Senator from a small, rural state?

As the latest USDemocrazy blog points out, some might hear of this “terrorist attack” and cry “Muslim.” It’s also interesting that this incident has already been labeled as a terrorist attack by the media.

But one news website, Deep South Progressive, raises an interesting question:

This afternoon, we learned that Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker (R) was sent an enveloped that contained ricin, a poison that could have been fatal. For the past week, Sen. Wicker has been on the receiving end of a relentless amount of hatred from conservatives and gun nuts across the nation, who have accused him of treason and tyranny for voting to allow debate on common sense background checks, and who have vowed to ensure payback. Do you think the letter had anything to do with his vote to allow debate on gun safety?

It’s true –Sen. Wicker was one of the 16 Republicans to end the gun control filibuster, stating

[I am] in accord with the NRA’s position. I have never voted for gun control and will not do so. This begins a debate to put the Senate on record about a basic constitutional freedom. [Allowing debate would give lawmakers] the opportunity to vote on measures to strengthen gun rights, such as an amendment to protect veterans from unfair restrictions when trying to purchase a firearm. [I] will filibuster passage of a final bill if it contains gun restrictions or a weapons ban.

Does it seem like there is a connection between Sen. Wicker’s political stance and the letter with ricin? Has the gun control turned into a  fight leading to murder plots? Is this too far? 

I was having a chat with a friend of mine recently and somehow we got onto the subject of hidden messages in Apple icons. Admittedly it’s not something I’d thought too much about prior to this conversation and the only example I could recall was the “Here’s to the crazy ones…” quote on the TextEdit icon. However, a quick search online revealed that there is in fact quite a few.

This got me thinking, if Apple have hidden messages in their icons, how many other companies have followed suit?

My curiosity lead to doing a bit of research and sure enough I found some real gems. Below is a compilation of the best that I found.

Camera+ by tap tap tap

The name of the app (Camera+) and the name of it’s creators (tap tap tap) is included on the lens. This has also been done on a lot of other camera app icons, but I still think it’s a nice touch.

Syncspace by Infinite Kind Limited

The inscription on the side of the pencil features the name of the app (Syncspace) and the phrase “Made in Scotland” as that’s where the founder of Infinite Kind, the company that created the app, is based.

App Cooker by Hot Apps Factory

Another inscription-on-a-pencil here and this one features the message “Start creating awesome Apps”. It’s simple, but that is how the app is intended to be used.

The Early Edition 2 by Glasshouse Apps

Look closely at the text on the newspaper and you will see that it’s actually the quote from Apple’s “Here’s to the crazy ones” campaign.

MoneyWiz – Personal Finance by SilverWiz

One of my personal favourites. The coin features a quote from Bob Marley – “money can’t buy you life”. A subtle reminder that money isn’t everything, made even cooler by the fact that the icon is for a finance app.

My Travel Bag by Rimbird

Check out the passport and you’ll notice that the country of origin says Neverland, which of course is best known for being inhabited by characters such as Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys.

Turntable.fm by Stickybits, inc.

Take a closer look at the vinyl label and you’ll see the message “Bi3b3r Forever”. I got in touch with the founder of Turntable, Billy Chasen, to find out more and he told me that Bieber is actually embedded into a lot of Turntable’s stuff, you just have to look for it. As for the reason why, apparently it goes back to a story from they first started developing the product. Unfortunately, it’s not a story told to outsiders, so for now we can only speculate.

Evernote Hello by Evernote

See the address in the bottom right hand corner? Type it into Google Maps and check out where it takes you – it’s what now appears to be an old Evernote office.

Have you spotted any hidden messages in app icons recently? Let us know in the comments below.

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