Dr. Rick Forno will discuss UMBC’s Cybersecurity programs and give updated details about the upcoming Maryland Cyber Challenge at a UMBC Cybersecurity Webinar at 1:00pm on Thursday June 9.

The webinar will describe the UMBC Cybersecurity programs, covering:

• Master of Professional Studies and graduate certificate program details
• Innovative curriculum highlights
• Convenient and flexible class schedules
• Opportunities for career development and professional advancement

Dr. Forno will also discuss the Maryland Cyber Challenge and Conference:

• Participate in a competition to find Maryland’s best minds in Cybersecurity
• Details will be given about the October 2011 Baltimore Conference
• How to get involved as a sponsor or partner and promote cybersecurity in Maryland!

The webinar is free but requires registration.

Recently, headlines around the world have featured citizen uprisings against repressive regimes. After successful government overthrows in Tunisia and Egypt, efforts for change in Libya and Syria have met violent opposition.

Clampdowns in China, Saudi Arabia and Yemen have tempered democratic aspirations those countries. The cartoon above captures the current scene in a nutshell. Are there other countries that you would add to the cartoon? ( drawing by KAL)

Speeches at college graduations are festooned with phrases of hope… hope for the future, hope for success, hope for fulfillment, etc.

Now one more phrase needs to be added to the list: we hope you like your family.

According to a recent poll 85% of graduates are moving back home in the weeks ahead.

The main reason for the backwards migration is college debt. The average student owes $27,200 according to Mark Kantrowitz publisher of financial aid sites stweb.com and FinAid.org.

It isn’t just graduating college students that are feeling uncomfortable these days.

A survey of 1000 American college presidents reveals anxiety in their ranks. High college costs, international competition and declining student quality (present company excluded of course) are raising alarm bells. More than a third of the college presidents think things are heading in the wrong direction.

With all these concerns swirling in the campus air, we have a question:

Is college worth it?

Some are arguing that college degrees are overrated. A recent essay on Time Magazine notes there are other ways to succeed beside the over-hyped college route.

In this time of hope… we are hoping for better days ahead for higher education.

And hope when we graduate, our bed at home is still available.

1 Timothy 1:12-17 (New International Version)

12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Reflection:

Paul was a persecutor of the church, yet God had mercy on him. He knew that it was Christ who had made his life into something new so that he could live on God’s mission. In that same way Christ Jesus has immense patience for us. He knows that we won’t always get it right, but instead of giving up on us, Christ continues to work in our lives through His forgiveness and love. No longer do our past sins define us, but it is the inexhaustible mercy of Christ that is constantly at work in all that we do. It is in this that we can live lives that declare God’s goodness to those around us.

Response:

Let’s pray that we would not be caught up in reminiscing about our past mistakes and failures, but that we would continue to be made afresh in the wonderful work of Christ in our lives. For it is by His mercy that we can live and love others.

The 2011 AAAI Fall Symposium on Open Government Knowledge: AI Opportunities and Challenges (OGK2011) seeks papers on all aspects of publishing public government data as reusable knowledge on the Web. Both long papers presenting research results and shorter papers describing late breaking work, outlining implemented systems, identifying new research challenges, or articulating a position are invited. Submissions are due by June 3, notifications will be sent by July 15, and the final camera-ready copy must be provided by September 9 for the November 4-6 workshop.

Relevant topics include the automatic and semi-automatic creation of linked data resources, ontologies for government data, entity linking and co-reference detection between linked data resources, adding temporal qualifications to government data, creating mash-ups with open government data, linked open government data analysis, metadata for provenance, certainty and trust, policies for information sharing, privacy and use, social networks and government data, machine learning applied to government data, data visualization techniques, and applications. The symposium organizers are Li Ding (RPI), Tim Finin (UMBC), Lalana Kagal (MIT) and Deborah McGuinness (RPI). Program committee members and additional information are listed on the OGK2011 symposium site.

• Sidewalk needed that connects TRC and Poplar Avenue.
• Bushes behind dining hall could serve as a hiding spot for people intending to assault passers-by (addressed by trimming the bushes).
• Broken streetlights
• Center Road
• Academic Row (addressed)
• Pond (addressed)
• Poplar Avenue
• Walker Avenue
• Library loading dock
• Admin Drive (near tennis courts)
• Commons Drive (that leads to the tunnel),
• Hilltop Circle (near Walker Avenue Apartments).
• More lights needed in Lot 6 (West Hill Apartments), TRC, and Interfaith Center (Center Road). (addressed)
• University Center Plaza: tree roots are lifting up the tiles
• Bus stop visibility (addressed)
• Park Road regarding pedestrian traffic, parking, and speed limits (addressed by lowering speed limits around the loop to 20mph and within the campus to 15 mph – more work still needed)

In the next post, I will go more in detail about some of these safety hazards; specifically, regarding Park Road and a new program that the UMBC Police Department will be proposing similar to Emergency Blue Light Phones. I will also keep you updated on what gets fixed. Meanwhile, e-mail me at divya.patel@umbc.edu or comment below if you have any safety concerns or questions.

--Divya Patel