Luke 8:4-15

⁴ While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: ⁵ “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. ⁶ Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

When he said this, he called out, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

⁹ His disciples asked him what this parable meant. ¹⁰ He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,

“‘though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.’

¹¹ “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. ¹² Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. ¹³ Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. ¹⁴ The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. ¹⁵ But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Reflection:

The Word was tweeted, someone reads it but other tweets come in and it gets lost.  The Word was shared on YouTube and many see it and comment how wonderful and great it is but when the site crashes, no one remembers and goes to the latest YouTube sharings.  The Word was on Wiki with many hits but when others edited the site with news of war, economic woes and jobless rates, the site froze. Lastly, the Word was put into an unbreakable server with heavy firewalls protecting it so whoever came to read it, could retain the Word and bring others to hear and read the Word too.

Response:

The good soil is quite different from the other soils because in the other soils, the Word is taken away, forgotten or not maturing.  In the good soil, there is a hundred percent increase because in the good soil one hears and clings to the Word.  Let’s ask the Lord to make us His good soil.  Let’s pray for God’s help so that we can hear and cling to His Word daily, and may we see a hundred percent increase of those who God saves in our generation.

Constantine Vaporis, professor of history and director of the Asian studies program, has published a new book. Voices of Early Modern Japan: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life during the Age of the Shoguns is part of  ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Press’s “Voices of an Era” series. 

The book spans an period of Japanese history ranging from the unification of the warring states under Tokugawa Ieyasu in the early 17th century to the overthrow of the shogunate just prior to the mid-19th century opening of Japan by the West.  Much of what we think of as quintessentially Japanese emerged during the time of the Tokugawa shoguns, including Kabuki theatre, sushi, sumo wrestling, woodblock prints and the tea ceremony. Vaporis’s book brings that time to life through the voices of those who experienced it, focusing on the day-to-day lives of both the rich and powerful and ordinary citizens.

This year was definitely a treat for my holiday party. My association bought the staff, the small bunch that we are, lunch/dinner at McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood. I was very hesitant because I am not a big fan of seafood. Other than salmon, shrimp, tilapia, and blue fish, I am not one to dabble in the proteins of the sea.

First when we walked in, we were greeted by some of the nicest staff I have ever encountered. They all went out their way to make us feel welcome. The decor in the restaurant is not too upscale that it comes off stuffy and pretentious, but it wasn’t a Red Lobster either. One can tell that real detail was put into designing and creating a warm environment. The view of the harbor and surrounding areas was very appealing as well. Nestled near little Italy and PowerPlant and gazing over the Inner Harbor, there are so many gorgeous views surrounding you while you eat.

For our appetizer, we ordered the Calamari Frito Misto and the Crab, Shrimp, and Artichoke dip with Pita Chips. The Calamari…I gave it a chance but its consistency reminded me of scallops and I despise scallops. They were lightly battered and fried and came with a homemade ketchup. The pita chip dish was amazing. Everything from the chips to the dip was exciting.

For drinks I ordered a German Riesling, that was said to be sweet. I didn’t think it was that sweet though but it was a good wine, just not for me. My next drink with dinner was a delicious Basil and Cranberry Margherita. It had tequila, triple sec, basil and fresh cranberries. A very exciting and holiday themed drink.

For lunch, though it was closer to 4:30, I had the Spicy Shrimp Linguini. I loved that dish so much. It was the perfect blend of spice and full-bodied flavor I want from my foods. Everyone seemed to love their plates and it brought a smile to everyone’s faces as we terrorized our plates. From the crab cakes, salmon, burgers and shrimp, we all could do nothing but rave about our dishes.

Then it was dessert time! We ordered an apple pie a la mode, an oreo cookie dessert, a creme brûlée, and a triple berry cheesecake and shared around the table. The best one on the table was….drum roll please…the apple pie a la mode. That pie is probably the best pie I have ever had in my life. The vanilla ice cream created to accompany it was soo good I am convinced that the cow is in the back somewhere just providing the milk to churn into ice cream.

All in all, I would highly recommend this restaurant for all you lovers and friends out there. Even for a family dinner, this would be a great place to have a meal with the parental units. The downside: unless you are really, really wanting to foot the bill, I would advise you to take the parental units or a money machine because this restaurant is a bit over the college budget. The drinks were at least $10 each and meals range from $12-$27. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take any pictures to share with you all. That is all the more reason to go and see the place for yourselves 

The Winter 2012 issue of Issues in Science and Technology includes a writeup describing a project that Lee Boot, associate director of the Imaging Research Center, and IRC staff created for the National Academy of Sciences. The Seeintuit project, an exhibition and data collection center exploring the intuitive processes of the human brain, appears in the Archives section of the magazine and features an image of an artwork by professor Boot that is now in the permanent collection of the NAS. This collaboration between Mr. Boot, the IRC, and the NAS is ongoing (a third project is slated to begin at the end of January 2012) and is aimed at finding new ways to connect the general public with science content.

This issue of Issues magazine should be available online soon at http://www.issues.org/.

Lexie Macchi, a graduate student in the Department of Visual Arts and graduate assistant at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, was profiled in The Village Voice on Thursday, January 5. On page 5 of her interview she discusses her work at the CADVC and her studies at UMBC.

Gary Kachadourian, an MFA student in Imaging and Digital Arts, has received a $25,000 grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation’s Painters and Sculptors Grant Program. The Painters & Sculptors Grant Program was established in 1993 to assist individual artists. The grants are given to acknowledge painters and sculptors creating work of exceptional quality.

Mr. Kachadourian will have work on display at UMBC from January 26 through February 18 at the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture’s MFA Imaging and Digital Arts Thesis Exhibition.

Dr. Finin has been a faculty member of UMBC’s Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Department for over twenty years. A member of UMBC’s Ebiquity research group, Dr. Finin’s research is in Artificial Intelligence.

Congratulations to Dr. Tim Finin, who was just named this year’s Presidential Research Professor. The appointment, which lasts from the beginning of July 2012 through June 2015, is awarded to faculty members whose outstanding scholarship and excellent teaching have stood out at UMBC.

“I’m very honored to be selected,” says Dr. Finin of the award. He credits his research success to the collaborative research environment at UMBC and the talented students and professors that he has worked with over the years. “I feel like I’ve been lucky to be here at UMBC because having a good set of colleagues and students to work with is the reason for [this] success.”

Through his research in Artificial Intelligence, Dr. Finin is constantly searching for answers to the question: “How can we make [software] systems more intelligent?” He has applied his research to the increasingly popular areas of Mobile Computing, Social Computing and Security. Recently, Dr. Finin has been working on a project that looks at the potential of smartphones to understand a user’s context. The project– a collaborative effort with fellow CSEE professor, Dr. Joshi–is being sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF). More information about Dr. Finin’s research can be found in his research profile.

Finin’s appointment as Presidential Research Professor, comes with a $2,500 allowance, and a $2,500 per semester gift to the Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Department, to be used towards enhancing teaching and research. A formal award ceremony will take place this Spring to celebrate Dr. Finin and the other recipients of 2012 Presidential Faculty and Staff Awards.

The PROMISE Program receives a number of funding and fellowship opportunities to share with students.  The information provided here is a partial list based on a funding workshop that was presented on UMBC’s campus through the Success Seminar series.  Our PROMISE  Career Partners website provides weekly updates for fellowships, internships, and positions.  A search engine is available for that site. (Suggestion:  Add the category, e.g. fellowship, plus the year, e.g., 2012 for the most recent entries.  An entry of fellowship 2012 in the search box will yield all fellowship opportunities with 2012 deadlines or start dates.)

FELLOWSHIP TIPS

Many fellowships have strict deadlines, and most of them are listed between October and November.  The external fellowships often allow students to apply from all over the country, therefore they need time to review and process applications so that fellowships can be awarded in time for the fall semester. Here are some tips:

• Pay strict attention to deadlines and submit early.
• Maintain strong relationships with faculty members since you will probably need strong letters of recommendation from your faculty.
• Become familiar with the online interface for the fellowship’s website.  Many fellowships now require online submission which include registration procedures and multiple pages of set-up for essays or statements, letters, transcripts, etc.
• If the deadline has passed for a fellowship that you are interested in, email or call the contact person to inquire about other opportunities with that particular organization, tips for applying next year, or any remaining opportunities for the current year.  Sometimes deadlines are extended but not posted. It’s worth an ask.

FELLOWSHIP LINKS

• LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate. The LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, is a 2 year fellowship that is awarded to alumni of the undergraduate LSAMP programs throughout the U.S.  Bridge to the Doctorate Fellows must be former undergraduate participants of LSAMP programs and must have their participation validated by their undergraduate LSAMP Directors.
  • UMBC Application, Deadlines vary based on availability of funds. Contact marylandbridgetothedoctorate@gmail.com for inquiries.
  • LSAMP at College Park
  • Schools across the U.S. have Bridge to the Doctorate Programs.  Check with the university’s LSAMP office for detail.
• NASA Fellowships – Through Pathways to Science:
  • Fellowships and internships for graduate students 
  • Sign-up sheet to receive individualized information: http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/form.asp
• GEM: http://www.gemfellowship.org/
• Homeland Security http://www.orau.gov/dhsed/
• National Physical  Sciences Consortium – http://www.npsc.org/
• Ford Foundation http://national-academies.org/fellowships
• McNair Scholars Program waives/discounts application fees, GRE fees http://www.ed.gov.offices/OPE/HEP/trio/mcnair
• Application Fee waivers for CIC graduate schools:  http://www.cic.net/Home/Students/FreeApp/Introduction.aspx
• Project 1000 waives up to seven application fees:   http://mati.eas.asu.edu:8421/p1000
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
  
  • Program Information: http://www.nsf.gov/grfp
  • Application and deadlines: http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov
  • Email: info@nsfgradfellows.org
• National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship
  
  • Program Information, application and deadlines:
    http://www.asee.org/resources/fellowships
  • Email: ndseg@asee.org
• General Listing of fellowships for women and diverse groups: http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Channels/grad_school/fellowships.asp
• Database of fellowships and scholarships for all disciplines:
  http://scholarships.fatomei.com/
• Institutional Fellowships (The university applies to the National Science Foundation for this funding and students have a chance to apply and participate through their universities.)  http://www.igert.org/
• http://www.gk12.org/

LINKS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

• Fulbright – Fulbright grants are available for international students in graduate school.
• The Soros Foundations Network – This foundation offers international student scholarships for undergraduate and
  graduate students. Many are restricted to students from specific countries.
• AAUW – This organization provides fellowships for international graduate students who are women.
• American Councils for International Education – The councils provide international student grants and fellowships to international students from the former Soviet republics.
• AMIDEAST – This organization provides grants for international students from the Middle East and North Africa.
• Cornell University Graduate School Fellowship Notebook – This database contains a list of funding and international student scholarships available to graduate international students.

(This information is re-posted from: http://www.usastudyguide.com/Financial_aid.htm)

The following information was contributed by former PROMISE Peer Mentor  Dr. Frances Carter (M.S. Physics, Ph.D. Public Policy, UMBC) from the September 2010 UMBC Success Seminar on funding, reprinted from the PROMISE intranet page on MyUMBC.

Thanks to everyone who attended yesterdays session on “Graduate Students and Money!” The information was extremely helpful in making sure that we as graduate students are creating bright  financial futures for ourselves as we work on our academic future.  As promised, I am including the fellowship links for your use:

• http://www.nsfgrfp.org
• http://www.gemfellowship.org/
• http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/grad_fellows/ (provides an overview of fellowships by deadline date with links)
• http://www7.nationalacademies.org/fellowships/
• http://cuinfo.cornell.edu/Student/GRFN/
• http://www.umbc.edu/gradschool/funding/external.html
• http://foreign.fulbrightonline.org/
• http://www.finaid.com/ and their search engine: http://www.fastweb.com/
• http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp
• http://www.sreb.org

_______________________________________________________________________

Photo MP900399463 used with permission of Microsoft.

The text content of this post was compiled and written by the staff of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP

and may not be copied without referencing the PROMISE organization, as “PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP”.

PROMISE AGEP Online Information by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

The PROMISE Program receives a number of funding and fellowship opportunities to share with students.  The information provided here is a partial list based on a funding workshop that was presented on UMBC’s campus through the Success Seminar series.  Our PROMISE  Career Partners website provides weekly updates for fellowships, internships, and positions.  A search engine is available for that site. (Suggestion:  Add the category, e.g. fellowship, plus the year, e.g., 2012 for the most recent entries.  An entry of fellowship 2012 in the search box will yield all fellowship opportunities with 2012 deadlines or start dates.)

FELLOWSHIP TIPS

Many fellowships have strict deadlines, and most of them are listed between October and November.  The external fellowships often allow students to apply from all over the country, therefore they need time to review and process applications so that fellowships can be awarded in time for the fall semester. Here are some tips:

• Pay strict attention to deadlines and submit early.
• Maintain strong relationships with faculty members since you will probably need strong letters of recommendation from your faculty.
• Become familiar with the online interface for the fellowship’s website.  Many fellowships now require online submission which include registration procedures and multiple pages of set-up for essays or statements, letters, transcripts, etc.
• If the deadline has passed for a fellowship that you are interested in, email or call the contact person to inquire about other opportunities with that particular organization, tips for applying next year, or any remaining opportunities for the current year.  Sometimes deadlines are extended but not posted. It’s worth an ask.

FELLOWSHIP LINKS

• LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate. The LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, is a 2 year fellowship that is awarded to alumni of the undergraduate LSAMP programs throughout the U.S.  Bridge to the Doctorate Fellows must be former undergraduate participants of LSAMP programs and must have their participation validated by their undergraduate LSAMP Directors.
  • UMBC Application, Deadlines vary based on availability of funds. Contact marylandbridgetothedoctorate@gmail.com for inquiries.
  • LSAMP at College Park
  • Schools across the U.S. have Bridge to the Doctorate Programs.  Check with the university’s LSAMP office for detail.
• NASA Fellowships – Through Pathways to Science:
  • Fellowships and internships for graduate students 
  • Sign-up sheet to receive individualized information: http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/form.asp
• GEM: http://www.gemfellowship.org/
• Homeland Security http://www.orau.gov/dhsed/
• National Physical  Sciences Consortium – http://www.npsc.org/
• Ford Foundation http://national-academies.org/fellowships
• McNair Scholars Program waives/discounts application fees, GRE fees http://www.ed.gov.offices/OPE/HEP/trio/mcnair
• Application Fee waivers for CIC graduate schools:  http://www.cic.net/Home/Students/FreeApp/Introduction.aspx
• Project 1000 waives up to seven application fees:   http://mati.eas.asu.edu:8421/p1000
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
  
  • Program Information: http://www.nsf.gov/grfp
  • Application and deadlines: http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov
  • Email: info@nsfgradfellows.org
• National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship
  
  • Program Information, application and deadlines:
    http://www.asee.org/resources/fellowships
  • Email: ndseg@asee.org
• General Listing of fellowships for women and diverse groups: http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Channels/grad_school/fellowships.asp
• Database of fellowships and scholarships for all disciplines:
  http://scholarships.fatomei.com/
• Institutional Fellowships (The university applies to the National Science Foundation for this funding and students have a chance to apply and participate through their universities.)  http://www.igert.org/
• http://www.gk12.org/

LINKS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

• Fulbright – Fulbright grants are available for international students in graduate school.
• The Soros Foundations Network – This foundation offers international student scholarships for undergraduate and
  graduate students. Many are restricted to students from specific countries.
• AAUW – This organization provides fellowships for international graduate students who are women.
• American Councils for International Education – The councils provide international student grants and fellowships to international students from the former Soviet republics.
• AMIDEAST – This organization provides grants for international students from the Middle East and North Africa.
• Cornell University Graduate School Fellowship Notebook – This database contains a list of funding and international student scholarships available to graduate international students.

(This information is re-posted from: http://www.usastudyguide.com/Financial_aid.htm)

The following information was contributed by former PROMISE Peer Mentor  Dr. Frances Carter (M.S. Physics, Ph.D. Public Policy, UMBC) from the September 2010 UMBC Success Seminar on funding, reprinted from the PROMISE intranet page on MyUMBC.

Thanks to everyone who attended yesterdays session on “Graduate Students and Money!” The information was extremely helpful in making sure that we as graduate students are creating bright  financial futures for ourselves as we work on our academic future.  As promised, I am including the fellowship links for your use:

• http://www.nsfgrfp.org
• http://www.gemfellowship.org/
• http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/grad_fellows/ (provides an overview of fellowships by deadline date with links)
• http://www7.nationalacademies.org/fellowships/
• http://cuinfo.cornell.edu/Student/GRFN/
• http://www.umbc.edu/gradschool/funding/external.html
• http://foreign.fulbrightonline.org/
• http://www.finaid.com/ and their search engine: http://www.fastweb.com/
• http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp
• http://www.sreb.org

_______________________________________________________________________

Photo MP900399463 used with permission of Microsoft.

The text content of this post was compiled and written by the staff of PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP

and may not be copied without referencing the PROMISE organization, as “PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP”.

PROMISE AGEP Online Information by PROMISE: Maryland’s AGEP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.