Men’s Lacrosse Advances to Shot at America East Championship, NCAA Bid

Junior attackman Ryan Smith scored 53 seconds into overtime as top-seeded UMBC (ranked 7th nationally in the April 28 USILA poll) survived a major scare from fourth-seeded Binghamton and edged the Bearcats, 6-5, to advance to the America East Conference championship game. The Retrievers will meet second-seeded Albany Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for their third straight title game face-off with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament at stake.

The UMBC men have won 10 straight. The Great Danes advanced with an earlier 12-9 victory over No. 3 Stony Brook. 

The Retrievers are now 3-0 in overtime this season and have won six straight in extra time over the past two seasons. The 11 wins for the 2008 squad ties the 1999 and 2007 squads for most Division I victories by a Retriever team.

Tickets for the championship game are available through the UMBC Retrievers Ticket Center. Individual tickets will be $8 for adults and $2 for youths and America East students.

Read all about the latest game here or the Baltimore Sun coverage here.

(updated 5/2/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

On Friday, May 16 UMBC participated in the International Day for Sharing Life Stories, a day celebrated around the world through the sharing of stories in gatherings and virtual environments. UMBC students from classes in Media and Communications, the New Media Studio, Modern Languages & Linguistics and the English Language Center presented digital stories they produced this semester. This gathering is was held at Flat Tuesdays (Commons).

Stories from MLL, ELC and MCS students as well as stories from CCBC's Katrina writing project were shown. RL-TV and the New Media Studio's "Charlestown Digital Stories" project were also highlighted.

This event was sponsored by the Media and Communications Council of Majors, the English Language Center and the New Media Studio. For more information on the International Day for Sharing Life Stories visit: http://internationaldayblog.storycenter.org

Some of the stories presented are available for viewing at http://youtube.com/umbcmcs .

Men’s Lacrosse on a Roll, Ready to Host AEC Championship

The men’s lacrosse team (ranked 5th in the country in the April 21, 2008 USILA poll) won its school-record ninth straight game with a hard-fought 8-6 victory at Vermont on Saturday. The Retrievers are now focused on hosting this weekend’s America East Championships. UMBC will face fourth-seeded Binghamton on Thursday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m.

The Retrievers finished regular season play with a record of 10-3 overall while going undefeated in the America East at 5-0. This is UMBC’s third consecutive 10-win season, also a school record.

The nine consecutive wins sets a new UMBC Division I record, breaking the previous record winning streak of eight games set in 1999.

Fans can purchase tickets online and see the full pairings for this weekend’s America East Conference tournament here.

Tickets for the tournament are on sale now and available through the UMBC Retrievers Ticket Center. All-session passes for adults will be $15, while all-session tickets for youths 14 and under and America East students with a valid ID will be sold for $4. Individual tickets will be $8 for adults and $2 for youths and America East students.

Read more about the latest game here.

Read Baltimore Sun coverage here.

(update 4/28/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Student Receives Competitive Scholarship

Junior Alex Pyles, the new editor-in-chief of The Retriever Weekly, is extending UMBC’s recent run of NCAA prominence. As Pyles continues to land prestigious internship opportunities in sports journalism, the NCAA recently offered him a 2008-2009 Freedom Forum/NCAA Sports Journalism Scholarship Award.

This selective scholarship is a $3,000 award to a student who has an interest in sports journalism as a profession. 

During the summer, Pyles will intern with the sports department of the Wilmington (Del.) News-Journal as one of eight students who received the Maryland, Delaware D.C. Press Association’s Reese Cleghorn Internship. He was selected from a group of 37 finalists.

“UMBC should be especially proud of Alex Pyles because the competition for these internships and awards is ferocious. Alex is up against the largest journalism schools in the country. This is not an easy thing to do,” said Christopher Corbett, professor of the practice in the Department of English. A veteran award winning journalist, Corbett serves as faculty advisor to the Retriever.

Although some sports reporting opportunities have surfaced in the blogosphere, jobs in sports journalism remain scarce and the competition for them is intense.

“It certainly is a confidence-booster, and makes me feel like I can make a name for myself in this business,” said Pyles.

Pyles’ journalism experience includes three internships with the Baltimore Sun, freelance work for the college sports Web site www.cstv.com and his earlier role as the Retriever sports editor.

The unprecedented exposure borne out of the UMBC men’s basketball team’s first appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament brought things full-cycle for Pyles. Just days removed from receiving his NCAA scholarship, Pyles was a live guest on a prominent national sports-radio talk show, carried on Fox Sports Radio via its network of 290 affiliates in the U.S. and Canada. He was the last of a group of national journalists asked to educate listeners about the academic hallmarks and locations of the respective universities they were covering at the Big Dance.

(4/28/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Putting Student Research Center Stage

The mysteries of autism. The art of animation. A chronicle of a blue-collar Baltimore neighborhood. The potential of rattlesnake venom as a drug delivery system.

These are just a few of the topics to be found at two upcoming campus events that put UMBC students’ intellectual curiosity and artistic creativity front and center.

The 12th annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) will be held Wednesday, April 23, followed by the 30th annual Graduate Research Conference (GRC) on Friday, April 25. Both events are extraordinary opportunities to discover original research and to enjoy free arts performances and exhibits.

Led by the Office of Undergraduate Education, URCAD gives students valuable experience preparing for graduate school or future careers, and in many cases, competitive grants of up to $1,500 over an academic year to support selected work. Over 130 student participants are expected at this yearís event.

“URCAD allows students and faculty from all departments to benefit from the research, scholarship and creative work of our undergraduate students,” said Teresa Viancour, associate vice provost for undergraduate education. “URCAD presenters have made the transition from ‘student’ to ‘young professional.’ They are engaged in the creation of new knowledge and the sharing of that knowledge with their colleagues. The scope and importance of their work marks them as contributors to their fields of study.î

The GRC is a partnership between UMBC and University of Maryland, Baltimore and is sponsored by UMBC’s Graduate Student Association (GSA). Through its mentorship, support, outreach, social life and advocacy efforts, the GSA serves the more than 2,300 graduate students on campus. This year’s GRC keynote speaker is Diane Auer-Jones ’88, assistant secretary for postsecondary education with the U.S. Department of Education. Over 80 UMBC and UMB graduate students are scheduled to present at the GRC.

“The GRC is an important opportunity to present research results in an interdisciplinary setting to peers, faculty members, the University of Maryland community at large and the public,” said Archana Ambike, the GSA’s graduate research chair.

“The GRC demonstrates what UMBC is all about: outstanding research within a dynamic, supportive, community,” said Jessy Warner-Cohen, president of the GSA. “The conference tops off an outstanding year for the GSA.”

Selected highlights of 2008 URCAD and GRC presentations and performances include:

• Andrej Bevec, a senior visual arts major, will screen his short animated film “Morning,” which blends a pen-and-ink animation style, three-dimensional backgrounds and elements of silent film to tell a complex story.
• Senior history major Sarah Blusiewicz will examine the impact of deindustrialization and the decline of Baltimoreís steel industry on her hometown.
• Biological sciences Ph.D. candidate Ananth Bommakanti’s work looks at what ribosome formation in yeast can tell us about how normal human cells become cancerous.
• Public policy doctoral student Frances Carter (’07 M.S., physics) is using UMBC’s Meyerhoff Scholarship program as a rich data set as she explores how enhancing undergraduate research experiences could help to increase the number of scientists and engineers produced at UMBC and across the U.S.
• Pei-Chun Chen, a senior majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology, is exploring how crotamine, a South American rattlesnake venom protein, could have potential for anti-cancer and gene therapy drugs.
• Senior modern languages and linguistics major Christianna Stavroudis is studying how a social skills curriculum could improve how people with autism learn to communicate. Stavroudis recently was accepted into the prestigious Erasmus Mundus master’s program in clinical linguistics, which will fully fund her graduate studies at three European Union universities.

URCAD will be held on Wednesday, April 23, 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at the University Center and Fine Arts Building. A morning session will be devoted to dance and music presentations and an afternoon session will focus on film and video. For more information, visit the URCAD Web site.

The 2008 Graduate Research Conference will be held on Friday, April 25, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University Center. For more information, please visit the GSA’s Web site.

(4/21/2008)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Putting Student Research Center Stage

The mysteries of autism. The art of animation. A chronicle of a blue-collar Baltimore neighborhood. The potential of rattlesnake venom as a drug delivery system.

These are just a few of the topics to be found at two upcoming campus events that put UMBC students’ intellectual curiosity and artistic creativity front and center.

The 12th annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD)  will be held Wednesday, April 23, followed by the 30th annual Graduate Research Conference (GRC) on Friday, April 25. Both events are extraordinary opportunities to discover original research and to enjoy free arts performances and exhibits.

Led by the Office of Undergraduate Education, URCAD gives students valuable experience preparing for graduate school or future careers, and in many cases, competitive grants of up to $1,500 over an academic year to support selected work. Over 130 student participants are expected at this year’s event.

“URCAD allows students and faculty from all departments to benefit from the research, scholarship and creative work of our undergraduate students,” said Teresa Viancour, associate vice provost for undergraduate education. “URCAD presenters have made the transition from ‘student’ to ‘young professional.’ They are engaged in the creation of new knowledge and the sharing of that knowledge with their colleagues. The scope and importance of their work marks them as contributors to their fields of study.”

The GRC is a partnership between UMBC and University of Maryland, Baltimore and is sponsored by UMBC’s Graduate Student Association (GSA). Through its mentorship, support, outreach, social life and advocacy efforts, the GSA serves the more than 2,300 graduate students on campus. This year’s GRC keynote speaker is Diane Auer-Jones ’88, assistant secretary for postsecondary education with the U.S. Department of Education. Over 80 UMBC and UMB graduate students are scheduled to present at the GRC.

“The GRC is an important opportunity to present research results in an interdisciplinary setting to peers, faculty members, the University of Maryland community at large and the public,” said Archana Ambike, the GSA’s graduate research chair.

“The GRC demonstrates what UMBC is all about: outstanding research within a dynamic, supportive, community,” said Jessy Warner-Cohen, president of the GSA. “The conference tops off an outstanding year for the GSA.”

Selected highlights of 2008 URCAD and GRC presentations and performances include:

• Andrej Bevec, a senior visual arts major, will screen his short animated film “Morning,” which blends a pen-and-ink animation style, three-dimensional backgrounds and elements of silent film to tell a complex story.

• Senior history major Sarah Blusiewicz will examine the impact of deindustrialization and the decline of Baltimore’s steel industry on her hometown. 

• Biological sciences Ph.D. candidate Ananth Bommakanti’s work looks at what ribosome formation in yeast can tell us about how normal human cells become cancerous.

• Public policy doctoral student Frances Carter (’07 M.S., physics) is using UMBC’s Meyerhoff Scholarship program as a rich data set as she explores how enhancing undergraduate research experiences could help to increase the number of scientists and engineers produced at UMBC and across the U.S.

• Pei-Chun Chen, a senior majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology, is exploring how crotamine, a South American rattlesnake venom protein, could have potential for anti-cancer and gene therapy drugs.

• Senior modern languages and linguistics major Christianna Stavroudis is studying how a social skills curriculum could improve how people with autism learn to communicate. Stavroudis recently was accepted into the prestigious Erasmus Mundus master’s program in clinical linguistics, which will fully fund her graduate studies at three European Union universities.

URCAD will be held on Wednesday, April 23, 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at the University Center and Fine Arts Building. A morning session will be devoted to dance and music presentations and an afternoon session will focus on film and video. For more information, visit the URCAD Web site.

The 2008 Graduate Research Conference will be held on Friday, April 25, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University Center. For more information, please visit the GSA’s Web site.

(4/21/2008)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �

Alumni Create Award Winning Documentary

UMBC alumni have created an award winning documentary about Adventures for the Cure’s (AFC) annual bike trip to raise money for diabetes research. “Adventures for the Cure,” which recently received the People’s Choice Award at the Beloit International Film Festival, will be screened at UMBC on Tuesday, April 29, at 7 p.m. in Lecture Hall 3 (Administration Building).

Directed by Phillip Knowlton ’03, visual arts, the film chronicles the 6500-mile trek made by Adam Driscoll ’04, information systems, AFC president and cofounder; Alex Driscoll ’07, environmental science; and Jesse Stump ’06, mechanical engineering. The three men rode single-speed, fixed-gear bicycles to raise money and awareness for diabetes and to help disabled children in Kenya. “Adventures for the Cure” focuses on Adam, who as a Type-1 diabetic has to manage his illness while riding up to 150 miles a day through rugged terrain, and on the stories of two diabetic children the group meets along the way.

“Our documentary is not just a movie about biking across the country,” said Adam Driscoll. “Its about living your life to make a difference in the world – using the skills and talents that you have and love to really get out there and make it happen.  We want to show people what friends can do when they make an effort to do something worthwhile.”

Additional alumni involved in the documentary and AFC are Patrick Blair ’03, computer science, vice president and co-founder of AFC and a Race Across America ’08 cyclist, and Greg Saylor ’05, environmental science, member of the Race Across America ’08 support crew. Current UMBC students working with AFC to promote the film are Tawny Barin, Cleo Thomas, Lauren Anthony, Mike Mene, Alanna Bradley and Daniel Edlow.

AFC seeks to raise awareness for diabetes, to show those diagnosed with diabetes and their families how leading a healthy and active lifestyle can move patients beyond their perceived limits and to raise funds for diabetes research.

For more information, visit www.adventuresforthecure.com. Watch a trailer for the documentary here.

(4/21/08)

© 2007-08 University of Maryland, Baltimore County � 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 � 410-455-1000 �