This looks a lot like our job sometimes!

The Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (GHC) is the world’s largest gathering of women in computing. The 2012 Grace Hopper Celebration will take place 3-6 October 2012 at the Baltimore Convention Center. This year’s theme “Are We There Yet?” recognizes that technology and the culture of technology are continuously evolving but there are also concrete goals we are striving to achieve. Since UMBC is a Gold Academic Sponsor, UMBC students will receive a 20% registration discount.

At the conference, leading researchers will present their current work, while special sessions focus on the role of women in today’s technology fields, including computer science, information technology, research and engineering. The technical conference features well known keynote speakers and invited technical speakers, panels, workshops, new investigator technical papers, PhD forums, technical posters, birds of a feather sessions, the ACM Student Research Competition and an Awards Celebration.

If you would like to submit a paper or poster abstract on your work, the deadline is this coming Friday, March 16th. See the 2012 GHC call for participation for details.

When servicewomen report rape, what would you expect their military superiors say?

“The way you were dressed asked for it.”

That’s what former Marine Officer Ariana Klay was told when she reported being raped by a senior officer and his civilian friend.

Klay is one of eight plaintiffs in a high-profile lawsuit against the U.S. Military. The eight women claim they were raped, sexually assaulted, and/or sexually harassed in their capacities in the military.

They also say that when they reported harassment or assault to their higher-ups they were told to “deal with it,” “toughen up,” or that “this happens all the time.” One woman was even discouraged from getting a rape kit done.

The US Military’s response to this lawsuit in stating their zero tolerance for sexual assault. They also state that they are reviewing how senior officers are trained to handle cases of sexual assault.

With the military beginning to allow women to serve in a greater capacity of positions that are closer to the front lines, the discussion of sexual harassment is becoming more vital to the military’s integrity.

Do these allegations surprise you?

How important is it to focus military resources on preventing sexual harassment and assault?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQdbE4zgqNA&w=560&h=315]

Lindsey Loeper ’04 acknowledges the futility of trying to keep pace with the hands of the watch and the rapidly turning pages of the calendar. No matter how quickly she and other members of the Special Collections team archive the stacks of UMBC documents they receive every day, there are always more coming. History never stops happening at a university that’s still building its story.

Read more at umbc.edu/magazine.

Meghan Alokonis ’12, dance, was interning under Waugh Chapel Elementary School’s physical education teacher, Karen Webster, when she decided to share a secret: her background was in dance, not traditional physical education.

Instead of being disappointed, Webster saw an opportunity.

Webster and Alokonis worked to integrate dance into physical education classes. Students in all grades got lessons from Alokonis in hip-hop, jazz, tap and ballet, and she worked with Webster and other teachers to tie in lessons on music, history, geometry and even weather.

Then on Feb. 15, six girls danced with Alokonis and the UMBC dance team during halftime of a basketball game.

Odenton’s Patch.com site told the story of the class in a story entitled “‘Dancing Fools’ at Waugh Chapel Elementary,” which ran on March 7.

True Grit was actually wearing Walter Sondheim’s helmet.