A new phenomenon has been sweeping job interviews.  Many employers are checking out perspective employee’s social media profiles…and it gets worse…

The Maryland Department of Corrections has taken to asking job seekers to log-on during the interview so they can see information found behind the privacy filter. But some companies are going even further, asking applicants to give them their username and password.

If you’re getting the heby-jebies you’re not alone. Facebook is taking offense to this and posted on their privacy page that they will  ”take action to protect the privacy and security of our users.” To Facebook, this is an invasion of privacy (ironic right?). But that doesn’t mean they’re wrong.

Privacy filters are there for a reason and Facebook is threating legal action against anyone who tries to violate it:

Facebook takes your privacy seriously. We’ll take action to protect the privacy and security of our users, whether by engaging policymakers or, where appropriate, by initiating legal action, including by shutting down applications that abuse their privileges.

However, there is an easy way around this, don’t put anything on Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube that you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see.

ohgeography:

gym class heroes are coming my school and i am never not (<—double your fun, double your pleasure) wearing this shirt. it’s like having a blimp except i’m on foot. it’s like one of those nike shirts but better, so thanks jason for making it. i’m gonna go for a run (lets see how far i can go today and how many times i stop for breaks) and if you see me while you’re driving, please hit me, and put me out of my misery. 

GIRL, YES.

George Stover ’73, interdisciplinary studies, answers the door at his production studio, Adventure Productions, looking like he’s on location in the wild. A tall man with a full head of silver hair and a boyish frame, Stover is clad in blue jeans, rugged boots, and a black canvas shirt emblazoned with his company’s emblem, a hammerhead shark.

Stover’s North Baltimore basement studio is far from the exotic underwater locations where he shoots his kid-friendly weekly television show, Aqua Kids. But the décor of his cavernous subterranean studio illustrates just how seamlessly Stover blends his dual passions for film and aquatics: fish tanks accessorize every room, a string of coral hangs from Stover’s office door, and replicas of manatees and starfish dangle from the ceiling.

Stover grew up in Perry Hall, but always was drawn to the water. His family spent summers on their 30-foot sailboat docked in Middle River. “I was always fishing or crabbing, always had an earache from swimming,” he chuckles.

So how did a middle-class kid end up swimming in the company of sharks and other aquatic animals in exotic locales such as the Bahamas and the Caribbean with a camera hoisted over his shoulder?

Stover developed his love of film at UMBC, where the would-be veterinarian found himself in a film animation class. “I got an A. I loved it,” he says. Even the fact that UMBC didn’t offer a film major didn’t deter Stover, who became one of the first students at the university to take what was then known as “Option II” and design his own film major.

Read the full story in the Winter 2012 issue of UMBC Magazine.

The infamous commonvision cacti enjoying this sunshine!

The Graduate School at the University of Maryland College Park will sponsor a Ph.D. Completion Project Workshop: Dissertation Time Management, which will be held Friday, March 30, 2012 from 2-4 p.m. in 1400 Marie Mount Hall (please note new location.)

Using a three-step model of focus, planning, and progress, Dr. Rachna Jain—a nationally recognized psychologist and professional speaker—will teach you how to set goals, measure your progress, and get back on track when things do not go as planned. You will also learn how to know, with certainty, what it will take to finish your dissertation and by when you can accomplish this.

This event is open to masters, Ph.D., and postdoctoral students.

Registration is required. Space is limited, so register early at http://ter.ps/k1 by Thursday March 29, 2012.  Questions? Please contact (301) 405-3644 or grad-retention@umd.edu.

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