UMBC has again made the Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of the 100 best values in public higher education. The list ranks four-year colleges and universities that “combine outstanding education with economic value.”

This marks the third year in a row UMBC has appeared among Kiplinger’s best values. On the 2012 list released today, UMBC ranks 84 for in-state students and 63 for out-of-state. Four other Maryland universities made the list, highlighting the state’s commitment to both affordability and excellence in public higher education.

Kiplinger’s assesses quality and affordability based on a number of factors, including retention and graduation rates, student-to-faculty ratios, sticker prices and average debt at graduation. The full methodology is available here. The complete rankings are online at www.kiplinger.com/links/college, or in the February 2012 edition of Kiplinger’s magazine.

The UMBC chess team came in second place on December 30 in the Pan-Am Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship, advancing to the 2012 President’s Cup, known as the “Final Four” of chess.

The UMBC chess team headed into the 2011 Pan-Am Intercollegiate Team Chess

Championship with a record nine titles to its name. The competition known informally as the Pan-Am, was held December 27 to 30 in Fort Worth, Texas. Since the tournament began in 1946, dozens of universities throughout the Americas have participated. The Retrievers won their first Pan-Am title in 1996, and then embarked on a five-year title streak from 1998 to 2002.

This year, the University of Texas at Dallas came in first with six points, UMBC came in second with 5 points, and Texas Tech and New York University tied for third with 4.5 points each.

“It was an exciting finish, because we could have won right up until the last match,” says Alan Sherman, Chess Director. The University of Texas at Brownsville surprisingly did not make the cut for the Final Four even though they were the highest ranking team going into the tournament.

The UMBC team, all on chess scholarships, is composed of students not only with exceptional chess skills but also with strong academic records, Sherman says. UMBC requires students to maintain a 3.0 GPA to maintain chess scholarships.

The Retrievers last won the Pan-Am title in 2009, and took second last year. This year’s team will compete in the 2012 President’s Cup, the “Final Four of College Chess,” to be held March 31–April 1 in Herndon, Va.

About the UMBC players

Leonid Kritz, an International Grandmaster from Germany
Giorgi Margvelashvili, an International Grandmaster from the Republic of Georgia
Sasha Kaplan, an International Master from Israel
Sabina Foisor, International Woman Grandmaster from Romania

Average rating: 2521

We here at USDemocrazy have been covering the run up to the GOP primaries with hawkish diligence. As our regular readers know we have also been following the rise and fall of all non-Romney frontrunners.

Time to jockey for the lead is ticking out. Tonight is the Iowa Caucus.

The contestants have drawn closer together in the polls. Romney and Ron Paul are closely tied at 21% and 20% respectively, Rick Santorum is polling at 17% and Gingrich has fallen to 15%.

Iowa is not a definitive race-clincher. At least not as much as the victor would hope.

There are four more primaries this month and 50 in total. The New Hampshire primary is one week from today. Historically, these primaries have the potential to set momentum.

Romney, who is polling strongly in New Hampshire, has the opportunity to lock up the nomination early. A win in Iowa and New Hampshire could give the Romney campaign the boost it needs to take a commanding lead over the field.

However, two different victors in Iowa and New Hampshire could easily lead to a long primary season. In 2008 Mike Huckabee won the Iowa contest… John McCain had to wait until New Hampshire to start on his road to the nomination in March of that year.

Paul, a habitual underdog, has seemed to make his break at the perfect moment. Upsetting Romney tonight could easily upset the balance of the primaries for the rest of the season. We will be awake all night to deliver you the news.

For undergrads interested in cutting edge research, the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program in Nanotechnology at UMass might be for you.  The ten week lab-and-learning experience will give you a head start on a career that is truly at the forefront of knowledge--nanotechnology!

- May 28 - August 4, 2012

- Free housing in our newest dorms

- Free travel to and from campus

- Competitive stipend

- Application deadline is Feb 29, 2012