Striking the Balance

Balance and focus. Those are the keys to success for student athletes. And, judging by their GPA’s, UMBC’s athletes have mastered both. This past fall, the Retrievers’ average GPA registered above 3.0 – the first time since the university started keeping track.

“In high school, you just had practice and games,” said Iman Kennedy ‘12, psychology, a member of the women’s volleyball team. “Here, you have practice, games, traveling, film, team meetings, coaches’ meetings, conditioning and lifting. There are all these things that go along with being an athlete. And on top of that, you still have classes. The professors aren’t going to come after you if you’re missing work or help you make up an exam. You have to stay in touch with them. All this stuff is on you. You have to learn that coming in.”

UMBC has several programs in place to help first year students adjust to their demanding schedules. The Academic Center for Student-Athletes (ACSA), located conveniently in the RAC, provides tutors and study space, and the Exceeding Common Educational Limits and Liabilities (EXCELL) program requires new students to attend study hall and advisor meetings while they acclimate to the rigors of college coursework.

“We have a terrific support system here with our EXCELL program, run by Jessica Hammond,” said Don Zimmerman, head coach of men’s lacrosse. “She and her staff do a terrific job. We want our guys to set their goals high, we want to win championships in lacrosse and we want to be outstanding students in the classroom. If we can develop a consistent attitude across the board, then that’s what we’re really striving to do.”

First-year athletes aren’t the only ones turning to the university for support, said Joseph Adewumi ‘12, biochemistry, a member of the men’s tennis team. “I know second and third years who go in, have their meetings with tutors,” he said. “The advisors know exactly how you’re doing in class, and your schedule can be made so you don’t fall behind.”

In addition to EXCELL, students take responsibility for helping their teammates develop strong study skills. “I tell our freshmen, ‘Get ahead of your work. Once travel starts, it gets crazy, so you need to make sure you know what you’re doing,’” said Michelle Kurowski ‘11, psychology, a graduate student studying early childhood education and a member of the women’s basketball team. “We help the freshmen and sophomores find their way through the transition from high school to college and playing sports.”

Striking a balance between academics and athletics is a challenging art, but those student-athletes who master it reap major rewards.

For Kennedy, her athletic life has prepared her for postgraduate life. “I’m going to dental school in the fall, and this past summer I did a program at UNC-Chapel Hill where they mimic the first year. The first year medical and dental school students were on an 8 to 5 schedule, went to classes all day and studied all night. And for them, they said, ‘There’s no time! I can’t get this work done!’ Even the instructors and TAs asked why I wasn’t freaking out. For me, it felt like life, like my schedule back at UMBC.”

(5/24/12)

Philippians 3:8-11 (NIV)

8What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Reflection:

The way Paul embraces suffering might seem shocking, but it is not the suffering in and of itself that he is after. What drives him is his desire to know Christ. Compared to this, nothing else matters. Suffering is not just a necessary evil as if Paul is taking the good with the bad, but rather suffering has taken a whole new meaning because of Christ. Before, it was just a result of our sin and fallenness, but now it has become a signpost, a marker of Christ’s redemptive work and pointer to our eternity with the Lord. And nothing that Paul had experienced in this world before this compares. He is all in.

Responding to the Transmission:

Let’s pray that, like Paul, we would know the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. Rather than responding to just trying to avoid suffering, let’s instead respond with hearts that look to Jesus and His glorious work. May times of struggle and difficulties serve as times where we can know Christ more deeply. May those times serve as signposts pointing to the eternity we will spend with Him.

As the heads of state have been meeting in Rio the past two days there appears to be little effort or desire to take on changing the text of the draft outcomes document that was provided by the Brazilian hosts at the beginning of the official conference. That document, that essentially eliminated all of the bracketed text (areas of disagreement), has been criticized as being watered down and a step backwards. The spokesperson for the NGO Major Groups has called the document a failure while others, including US negotiator Todd Sterns have been less critical. Stern said:
We have done some important things institutionally, including significantly strengthening UNEP in the UN system, also establishing a new high-level forum on sustainable development in the UN in New York focusing on a variety of ways to manage our vital natural resources more effectively and efficiently. And I think all of these things will not in any sense by themselves-but we hope push in a direction where sustainable development proceeds and we more and more have the ability, as was first discussed in the 1987 Brundtland Report, to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. And that is a nice kind of summary of what sustainable development is all about.

Despite a number of media, especially in the US, characterizing the conference as an environmental meeting, the draft outcomes document paints a very different picture. The second statement reiterates a major issue of the Brundtland report. It reads: Eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and is an indispensable requirement for sustainability development. In that regard, we are committed to free humanity from poverty and hunger as a matter of urgency.

After the preliminary introductory comments and confirmations, Section III is entitled, “Green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication." After a number of affirmations of existing and new principles, the paragraphs become a list of we recognize, we encourage, we acknowledge, we invite statements.

Section IV of the document, Institutional framework for sustainable development begins with subsection A – Strengthening the three dimensions of sustainable development. It is in section V. Framework for action and follow-up that we find the Thematic areas listed. The include: Poverty eradication; Food security and nutrition and sustainable agriculture; Water and sanitation; Energy; Sustainable tourism; Sustainable transport; Sustainable cities and human settlements; Health and population; Oceans and seas; Small island developing States (SIDS); Least developed countries; Landlocked least developed countries; Africa; Regional efforts; Disaster risk reduction; Climate change; Forests; Biodiversity; Desertification; Land degradation and drought; Mountains; Chemicals and waste; Sustainable consumption and production; Mining; Education; and Gender equality and women’s empowerment.

There is more after that about implementation, financing, technology, capacity building, and trade. I think an important point is that the framework for the document provided by the list in IV.A. provides a pretty good idea as to why it may be hard to get agreement to strong language. In some ways it’s soup to nuts and in other ways it seems to be cherry-picking what counts and what is important in sustainable development.

It appears to me that if little changes in the document itself, the real outcomes of Rio+20 will mainly be in the various commitments made by civil society to hold themselves and their governments accountable for much more than is specified in these documents.

It's got a bowling alley, a piano in the lobby, a T-Rex skeleton, and eighteen cafeterias. It might sound like a theme-park, but it's the Googleplex, a.k.a. Google headquarters, located in Mountain View, California.

This extremely enlightened workplace, which features a slew of employee benefits like a free shuttle to work, laundry services, and even haircuts, might sound like an un-productive paradise, but the benefits are actually put in place to offset all the hard work and dedication of the employees.

So says an article in the Summer issue of UMBC Magazine, where Computer Science alumni Jeffrey Burgan '83 (pictured), Sandor Dornbush '06 (pictured), Jeetendra M. Soneja '04, and Robert Banz '95 talk about what it's like to work for Google.

Check out the article here.

Photo Courtesy Gabriela Hasbun

Photo Courtesy UMBC Magazine

In its latest issue, dubbed "Tech Trekkers", UMBC Magazine features Computer Science alumnus Harry Chen, one of the key players in the development of the iPhone 4S's digital assisant, Siri.

While you may have heard about Harry through an article we posted last year, the UMBC Magazine article goes deeper into Harry's story as it  follows him around the Apple campus in Cupertino, California, where he works as a software engineer.

Weaving the inspiring tale of Harry's path to success–including his spontaneous decision to pack up everything and move to the West coast in 2008–the article paints Harry as a tech wunderkind who credits at least some of his success to the environment of discovery at UMBC.

It talks about his graduate research on smart rooms ("Imagine a room that answers your questions, or anticipates your needs and then fulfills them," goes the article) and features quotes from CSEE Professors Dr. Tim Finin and Dr. Anupam Joshi, who served as his advisors during his nearly ten years at UMBC, during which time he received a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Computer Science.

Want to be inspired? Check out the article here.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV)

7Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Reflection:

When do we feel strong or able? Maybe when we are training for an athletic event and track our progress. Every week we might be encouraged by how we improve. Or maybe when we have really worked hard in a class and when we look over the final exam we are pretty sure we will do well. How long would we have to train or study until we feel this kind of power is perfect? We often associate our power with our ability to do something and our achievements. God flips this on its head when he reveals to Paul that His power is perfected in Paul’s weakness. Suffering can be a means for us to recognize our total dependence on Christ. It is then in weakness rather than aptitude and achievements that Paul experiences strength.

Responding to the Transmission:

Our power comes from God. This can become very concrete as we go through hard times. May struggles and difficulties lead to this kind of dependence on the Lord. As we pray today, may we know that Christ’s grace is sufficient rather than our abilities to handle the situation. Then like Paul, we can actually rejoice in our suffering and weakness.