“The political dynamics for winning a second presidential term often differ markedly from winning the first. So don’t be surprised by many eerie parallels between Obama’s 2012 reelection bid and Bush’s 2004 campaign,” writes Tom Schaller, professor of political science, in his latest commentary for Salon.

Shaller argues that many of the strategies Obama will need to use to win the election – including emphasizing things that could have gone wrong, but didn’t and portraying his opponent as an out-of-touch elitist – are the ones that George W. Bush used against John Kerry in 2004.

“The president may be asking Americans to look ‘forward’ in 2012, but the best preview of his reelection campaign can be found by looking backward eight years,” he concludes.

The full piece, “Using Bush’s playbook,” appeared on the Salon website on Friday, May 11.

Christopher Corbett, professor of the practice of English, reflected on his local farmer’s market in his latest essay for Style magazine.

“Rain or shine, every Saturday morning, if I am in Baltimore, I swing by the 32nd Street Farmers Market, a habit of city life for me since I moved to Baltimore 32 years ago… I like ritual. And I love the farmers market,” he writes.

He says that one of his favorite things about the market is the variety in both people and what you can find there.

“People talk a good line about diversity hereabouts. But you rarely see a scene as eclectic as the farmers market in Waverly (or its Sunday cousin downtown under the JFX…But the farmers market even accommodates my eccentricities.”

The essay, “To Market,” was published in the May 2012 issue of the magazine.

On Tuesday, May 15, Kimberly Moffitt, assistant professor of American studies, appeared on Midday with Dan Rodricks to discuss President Obama’s recently-announced support of same sex marriage.

“It strengthens our nation in many ways, because now we have a clear sense of basic human rights across the board for everyone,” she said.

Rodricks pointed out that many people believe that Obama’s announcement was a calculated political move rather than a reflection of his true beliefs.  Moffitt said that she isn’t sure. “I think this might lure some of these swing voters,” she said. “But I also have some concerns that this might prevent some folks from coming out and supporting him.”

Moffitt is the co-editor of The Obama Effect. The full segment can be heard here.

Healthy People Penn State

Throughout my four years here at UMBC, I have been told about a legendary Halal food stand in the middle of Baltimore City near 1st Mariner Arena. Many of my friends, who had conquered the quest, told great stories of their spicy chicken gyros, warm lamb platters, and cheap prices.  I was hesitant to go, mainly because I was not the best city driver in the world and I wasn’t about to hail a cab to go there.

However my fellow foodies, hailing a cab to get to Platter Halal Food Stand in Baltimore is worth every penny. This past weekend I sucked up my fears and drove a couple of avid goers and myself to E Baltimore Street right in-between1st Mariner Arena and the PNC bank. As soon as we stepped out of the car, the smell of slow cooked and well-marinated meat surrounded our every thought. My friends gave their orders with no hesitation as they have done on their previous visits to Platters, but I carefully stand in the back of the long lunch line and chose the combination Platter which had a mixture of Spicy Chicken, Lamb Kebob, a salad, white sauce, and hot sauce, all laying over a bed of well-seasoned rice. The spicy Chicken does have some kick to it, but I would have to say my favorite was the lamb kebob. The Lamb was everything you dream of meat being; soft, tender, juicy, and well-seasoned. However, what made this dish perfect was not only the cheap price of $6.00 for a platter, but the great suggestion my friend had given me to add in extra white sauce. The white sauce really made the dish come together.

The Halal stand also offers chicken and lamb gyros, salad, and hot dogs. Though it is not listed on their menu, you can substitute the meat in for seasoned pita bread, which is equally delicious.

The only con I can think of for this place it the lack of parking. The parking is far away down the road and the street right next to the stand is a tow away zone. There are some parallel parking nearby. There isn’t much of a place to sit and eat either, so we drove back to UMBC and ate our food under the great weather in the Harbor Courtyard.

I highly recommend trying out Platters as much as my friends had suggested it to me. We met UMBC students there and we saw UMBC students in Harbor Courtyard eating food from platters when we had come back to campus.

I only wished I faced my fear of driving in Baltimore city sooner, so that I could have experienced Platters Halal Food Cart before my last year here in UMBC.

Raytheon, a defense contractor and electronics company specializing in defense, homeland security, and mission systems integration and support services, is looking for a Software Engineering Intern to work on a NASA program involving the maintenance and evolution of the EOSDIS ECS System. Currently operational at three NASA Data Centers, the ECS system ingests, distributes, and stores on-line earth science data.

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The paid position is only open to rising Seniors majoring in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Mathematics who have a G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher. The intern will need to obtain a government security clearance.

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To apply for the internship, click here.