Bill Shewbridge ’80, history, director of UMBC’s New Media Studio, spoke to Urbanite about the role technology plays on campus and in the lives of students.

“There is a tendency to think that students are digital natives,” says Bill Shewbridge, the director of the new media studio at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). “But uploading a picture to Facebook doesn’t make you a producer, much less an informed consumer.”

A television producer-turned-professor, Shewbridge discovered this after embarking on UMBC’s digital storytelling project eight years ago. To tell digital stories—short videos, usually for a particular class, that combine scriptwriting, interviewing, and research—students first needed to be taught video editing, audio recording, and image processing. Now, UMBC offers a multimedia literacy lab, a one-credit course taken concurrently with another class, where students learn those skills.

The article, “The Wired Campus,” appeared March 30 in Urbanite. Read the full story here.

Two information systems alumni are using their entrepreneurial spirit to make happy hour just a little bit happier.

As reported in the Arbutus Patch, alums Ryan Bricklemyer ’04, M.S. ’06, and Sean Kennedy ’06, have launched a website called BeerGivr that allows users to buy a beer — or an entire round — for friends at Baltimore bars without being present to pay the tab.

“There’s tons of different applications. I’m going to miss a party; I lost a bet. There’s tons of ways… beer is kind of like its own little currency,” said Bricklemyer, who noted that 16 Baltimore-area bars are participating so far, with more on the way.

“In consulting you constantly say ‘I owe you a beer.’ It is this thing that everybody says.  I think I owe cases of beer to people because I’ve said it so much.”

Read the full story in the Arbutus Patch.

David H. Murray, a 20-year-old UMBC economics major and Sondheim Scholar, has advanced to the general election for a Prince George’s County Board of Education seat (District 1) after receiving roughly 1,500 more votes than candidate Zabrina Epps in the April 3rd primary. ‘I’m extremely pleased, very happy,” said Murray, in news coverage of the election. “I didn’t take it for granted. I worked for every single vote.” Murray earned 56% of the vote, while Epps, an academic advisor at CCBC, earned 31%.

UMBC sophomore Edward Burroughs, who was running for school board in District 8, was also successful in his primary bid. The Prince George’s County incumbent ran against four other candidates for two general election slots and received 67% of the vote.

Kentucky Fans can't mask their excitement

Did your March Madness brackets play out as planned?

No? Well here’s another March Madness you can count on getting right…  The march of “student” athletes off the court without graduating… strait to a Pro contract.

This includes the newly minted national champion…

The starting five for the champion Kentucky Wildcats — a mix of freshmen and sophomores — are expected to enter the N.B.A. draft, and never again play for the college they ever so briefly attended.

College basketball has become a farm system for former high-school stars to showcase their talents for a year, than leave their loyal fans in pursuit of fame and fortune.

These players, who are known as “One-and-Done” Freshman, make it very hard for March Madness fans to build loyalty with a college team.

The New York Times reports

Mark Emmert, the president of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association, had already expressed regret that the N.B.A.’s so-called “one-and-done” rule allows universities to recruit athletes who show little interest in getting an education.

The rule was set up by the NBA to prevent young players from going straight from High School to the professional ranks. Instead these stars-in-waiting have to wait 12 months before entering the NBA draft. Naturally, these kids want to play hoops in the interim and some colleges (no doubt aware of the temporary nature of the relationship) are happy to have these young guns join their institutions of (ahem) higher learning.

Who can blame the athletes? The lure of big money in professional sports cannot be denied. But some who object to the “one and done” aspect of college sports, are firmly blaming the NCAA for its emphasis on big profits.

David Ridpath, an assistant professor of sport administration at Ohio University says it clearly:

“The one and done is not about an education,”

Recently, the extremely talented freshman point-guard Austin Rivers from Duke and Washington guard Tony Wroten recently announced that they would be entering the draft after their first year.

For basketball fans, there will still be the enjoyment of watching these former college stars achieve at the highest level.

Many previous One-and-Done freshmen have excelled in the NBA. Perhaps you’ve heard of them.. Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Chris Bosh and many others.

It’s unlikely that the NCAA will ever instate a rule forcing players to go through two years or more of college before entering the draft. From a college fans standpoint, March Madness would be a little more fun if they did.

Marc Zupan an associate professor in the department of mechanical engineering has been named a Fulbright Scholar, 2012-2013, to teach and conduct research at the Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto (FEUP), Portugal.

According to the program’s web site, “The Fulbright program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the US government.” The goal of the Fulbright program is, “to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.” The majority of the funding comes from an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

During his fellowship Zupan will be developing novel course and student assessment tools as well as expanding his already established research collaborations with FEUP faculty.

“The fellowship,” says Zupan, “will allow me to jointly design and implement a trans-national course focused on the novel concepts of Global Engineering.” This course will be integrated into the UMBC undergraduate engineering curriculum with students from UMBC and FEUP interacting and working with each other through-out the course.

Zupan’s research is focused on emerging hybrid materials that are important for structures in the next generation marine, air, and land-based vehicles — materials that are minimum volume, light, durable, and multifunctional.

“This expanded global enterprise in both research and teaching,” says Zupan, “between UMBC and FEUP will help both universities enhance the competitiveness of our graduates and allow us to develop new technologies.”

“Mitt Romney has been treated rather roughly, even unfairly, by the national media,” suggests UMBC political science professor Thomas Schaller in his latest Baltimore Sun column. The article, “Worry about Romney’s positions, not his gaffes,” argues that it’s time for the national media and voters to focus on Romney’s policy platforms, rather than his relatability.

“What Mr. Romney would actually do in the White House matters more than how personally awkward he may be,” writes Schaller, “And on this count, his long list of social issue flip-flops and his troubling economic proposals are sufficient cause for concern.”