“There are not that many of me left,” George Vitak, ’73, biological sciences, says jovially as we walk together from the Library Pond back to his office in the University Center on a blustery late November day.

The “me” in this case is a select group of faculty and staff who have witnessed UMBC’s rise to national prominence almost in its entirety. And at least as far as the University System of Maryland payroll is concerned, today is the day that another “me” bids UMBC farewell.

On December 1, Vitak retired from his position as director of campus card and mail services. He entered UMBC as a fresh-faced undergraduate from Archbishop Curley High School in 1968. Fate – and President Richard M. Nixon – kept him at the university for another 38 years, during which he helped supervise the campus’ physical growth and then shifted gears to become a key mover in UMBC’s early digital telecommunication services.

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

Oh you know. Maybe hinting at some future things…

“There are not that many of me left,” George Vitak, ’73, biological sciences, says jovially as we walk together from the Library Pond back to his office in the University Center on a blustery late November day.

The “me” in this case is a select group of faculty and staff who have witnessed UMBC’s rise to national prominence almost in its entirety. And at least as far as the University System of Maryland payroll is concerned, today is the day that another “me” bids UMBC farewell.

On December 1, Vitak retired from his position as director of campus card and mail services. He entered UMBC as a fresh-faced undergraduate from Archbishop Curley High School in 1968. Fate – and President Richard M. Nixon – kept him at the university for another 38 years, during which he helped supervise the campus’ physical growth and then shifted gears to become a key mover in UMBC’s early digital telecommunication services.

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

UMBC's Cyber Defense Team is looking for new members. This semester the team competed in the Collegiate Cyber Defense Championship. In this competition, each team defended a mock corporate network against a horde of professional hackers in a fast-paced, real-time event over the course of two days. These competitions are a great way to network with government agencies and key companies in the security industry.

The UMBC Cyber Defense Team provides a great opportunity to gain practical, hands-on experience in information security, intrusion detection, cybersecurity, and network security. The team practices both penetration and defense of isolated networks similar to real business environments. The group meets at 7:00pm on Mondays in ITE 367 and will have special events that will be announced also. No experience is required, but you should be motivated to learn about computer networks and systems security.

You can find additional information and how to join our mailing list at the UMBC Cyberdawgs website. Contact Marc Warfield (marc9 at umbc.edu) for more information.

Changing the Landscape of Voting and Voter Registration through Universal Design

Dr. Juan E. Gilbert
School of Computing
Clemson University

12:00-1:00pm Wednesday, 28 March 2012
room 459 ITE Building, UMBC

Subsequent to the debacle of the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, it became abundantly clear that America’s archaic voting system was in dire need of a major overhaul. Consequently, Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines were purchased by several states. The use of these machines has not been without controversy with respect to security, trust and ease of use. Professors and security research teams have found several vulnerabilities in current voting technologies. In 2002, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) was created to provide all citizens equal access to participate in the electoral process, regardless of ability. The Prime III voting system, http://www.PrimeVotingSystem.com , is a secure, multimodal electronic voting system that takes a universal design approach to address security, trust and ease of use. Dr. Gilbert and his research team were recently awarded a $4.5 million dollar grant from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to conduct research on accessible voting technologies.

Dr. Juan E. Gilbert is an IDEaS Professor and Chair of the Human-Centered Computing Division in the School of Computing at Clemson University where he leads the HCC Lab. He is also a Professor in the Automotive Engineering Department at Clemson University. Dr. Gilbert is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement Science (AAAS), an ACM Distinguished Scientist, National Associate of the National Research Council of the National Academies, an ACM Distinguished Speaker and a Senior Member of the IEEE Computer Society. In 2011, Dr. Gilbert was given a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Engineering and Mathematics Mentoring by President Barack Obama.

As another groggy Monday goes by, here’s a few conversation starters for your co-workers and classmates.

Cinnamon abuse…is that possible?

A lost passport is returned 60 years later.

German celebrity bunny meets terrible fate.

WWII bomb leads to an evacuation.

Thanks USA Today

Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, won all 20 delegates from Puerto Rico this past Sunday. This inches him closer to securing the Presidential nod from his party.

In order to win the Republican nomination later this year, one of the candidates needs to reach 1,144 delegates. Here are the current totals

Romney has 521 delegates in his camp and Santorum 253, according to The Associated Press’ tally. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich trailed with 136 delegates and Texas Rep. Ron Paul has 50.

The fight for the nomination now moves to Illinois and Louisiana. Both states hold their primary elections later this week..

Romney is very confident about his chances, but Santorum isn’t ready to back down just yet. Do you think Santorum can stop Romney from reaching the magical 1,144?  Let us know what you think!