Voices of Social Change: Empowered Communities for Health and Social Change

In most neighborhoods, a “for sale” sign may be a positive change. Finally, nice neighbors who have recently adopted a Yorkie. But this scenario is unlikely for neighborhoods ranked Category 5 Hypersegregated by the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

A sure sign we are talking about Baltimore City.

The ‘Redevelopment and Justice in Baltimore’ Humanities Forum last Wednesday discussed the issues of gentrification in the wake of social and economic turmoil. A panel of influential officials turned eyes and ears towards the destruction of history and representation in the wake of urban renewal. Moreover, this expert panel interpreted the at-risk and disadvantaged populations in light of capital investment. From charts to story-telling, this event encompassed the diminished state of what once was an industrial-booming metropolis.

Lawrence Brown, Associate Professor of the School of Community Health and Policy at Morgan State University, introduced the audience to the serial, forced displacement known as colonization through Grandmaster Flash lyrics. “Don’t push me til’ I’m close to the edge!” Brown sang while the audience echoed. Interpreting the meaning of this recognized song, Brown spoke of historical events that shaped racial relations today. “We have never desegregated as a city,” Brown added. The fluent speaker discussed what it is like to live in Baltimore while being black. In Brown’s presentation, the key to overthrowing gentrification lay in the knowledge of how it came to be in the first place.

Another key to dismantling gentrification is observed in daily engagement. Felipe Filomeno, Assistant Professor of Political Science at UMBC, began his speech by acknowledging the immigrant population that survives constant neglect. Within the lens of structural remedies, Filomeno revealed that the southeast housing market improves while diverse areas decline.

These statistics were followed by Associate Director and Research Assistant Professor at the University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business, Seema D. Iyer. Iyer shifted the focus to the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance, which provides objective research on a given neighborhood’s quality of life. Reports use vital signs as a tool to measure needs in definitive and approachable ways. The results showed a lack of organization among growing, stable and declining neighborhoods and led to a haunting question asked by Iyer: “How do we help citizens know what they don’t see?”

The answer may be simple. “Listen,” Nicole King emphasized. “You have to show up and listen.” The Associate Professor and Chair of American Studies at UMBC shared this antidote she found in her qualitative research. Her argument was centered on the imbalance between corporation development and resident oversight. King geared her argument with respect to the opinions of the masses and demonstrated this most through her invitation to listen.

As a last-minute addition, Roxcelanna ‘Nia’ Redmond appeared with a vibrant sign that read: “Gentrification stole my history and I am pissed.” These sentiments resurfaced in a string of adverse stories that plague the current and future generations of Baltimore. “We need you,” Redmond explained. “We need the youth to help us not only tell our stories but save our stories.” Her mission to build a physical location for the East Baltimore Historical Library raised awareness for the rich culture and people of color that are overlooked even now. But her message was clear:

“Tell our stories. Save our stories.”

Arts and Entertainment districts are areas with tax and credit bonuses for businesses. On April 1, Baltimore County proposed the creation of the Patapsco Arts and Entertainment District. This district would cover UMBC and parts of Arbutus and Catonsville.

“The purpose of arts and entertainment districts is to use the arts as a catalyst for economic development,” said Thomas Moore, UMBC’s Arts and Culture Director. “Its focus is really on improving the vitality of communities and providing opportunities for artists.”

These districts exempt businesses from taxes on admissions or amusement charges. Interest-free or reduced interest loans are also available to promote exterior improvements. Furthermore, property owners can receive tax credits for improving their property’s value.

“Maryland’s Arts & Entertainment, A&E, Districts help develop and promote community involvement, tourism and revitalization through tax-related incentives that attract artists, arts organizations and other creative enterprises to towns and cities across the state,” the Maryland State Arts Council states on its website.

Investment in the arts annually adds over a billion dollars to the economy according to the Maryland State Art Council’s strategic plan. An analysis of Arts and Entertainment Districts conducted by Towson researchers found that these districts contributed 855.8 million dollars to the state GDP.

“Really [we expect to see] shopping and spending increases in Catonsville and Arbutus. [It’s] one more thing to attract students to leave university grounds and explore the UMBC community,” said Tom Quirk, the Baltimore County Councilman who proposed the creation of the district.

The creation of the Patapsco Arts and Entertainment District is also expected to bring new jobs to the area. Operations in other Maryland Arts and Entertainment Districts supported an estimated 8,594 jobs in 2016.

“One of the other key things that we are interested in seeing happen with the establishment of the district is to find ways to nurture the careers of emerging artists. We would like to try to retain that talent and have them live and work in the area and help build the communities around them,” said Moore.

Legislators from Baltimore county worked with the community and UMBC to create the proposal. Citizens and organizations, such as the Baltimore County Arts Council, made their voices heard and helped promote the creation of the district.

“I give a lot of credit to the citizens … [and] I give a lot of credit to president Freeman Hrabowski. He was especially excited about this,” said Quirk.

UMBC and the surrounding area already have many business and events in the arts. By creating an Arts and Entertainment District, these businesses and events hope to expand. The community expects the new district to stimulate the local economy and give more reasons for students to visit the area surrounding the university.

“As businesses begin to receive that additional revenue, it will encourage other businesses to open up. Over time it will help transform the community,” said Moore.

Quadmania or Eriksonmania? The Student Events Board showed the UMBC student body that the change of location of the festival this year had no influence on the festivities they had planned.

Quadmania began on April 20 with the For the Culture Dance. And while the setup was similar to the other dance parties SEB coordinates, the music selection and overall attendance to the event were much more favorable. A consistent mass of people was dancing to songs like Drake’s “God’s Plan” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” on the dance floor.

Although some students were disappointed that student group performances were not presented at this event, what was displayed was enjoyed by many. SEB seems to have perfected how they would like a dance party to be.

The next day the crown jewel of Quadmania began: the festival. The rollercoaster rides on the grounds included a Ferris wheel, a Rainbow swing ride, bumper cars and an airplane ride.

Some students, like senior psychology major Dana Kobrin, thought the rides had reduced in number this year. Notably, popular mainstays of past festivals like the drop tower and alien centrifuge were not around this year. This was unfortunate as it was clear that Erikson field had room to accommodate at least one more ride.

There were two inflatables attractions at the event, along with many carnival rides, the majority of which were manned by SEB staff. These carnival rides ranged from basketball hoops to mini-bowling.

Kobrin most enjoyed the festival’s petting zoo, which permitted the petting and feeding of animals like rabbits, llamas, goats and more. SEB offered free snacks like popcorn, cotton candy and snowballs for the enjoyment of attendees.

Full meals and varied frozen treats were offered by on-site food vendors.The food trucks available at the event were quite popular. The selections ranged from burgers to Thai food. The ice cream truck was also consistently popular.

Unfortunately, Kobrin also noted the lack of vegetarian options offered by these vendors. The options were limited to possibly fries, vegetable egg rolls and lo mein if you specifically requested for the exclusion of meat.

Overall, students’ reactions to the event were varied. Junior computer science major Chidi Ede thought the festival “was cool,” but “[SEB] barely changes it every year.” Kobrin thought that last year’s festival was better.

Quadmania ended its festivities with its annual concert featuring rapper 21 Savage. This is a notable feat for SEB as Savage is a popular performer at the moment and currently on tour.

Unfortunately, Quadmania will not be at its original venue until 2020, but SEB continues to improve and showcase reliable entertainment for the UMBC student body.

The brick facade of Oriole Park at Camden Yards faces outward toward Russel Street. In the distance, a black bus pulls into a parking lot. With a large picture of a Chesapeake Bay Retriever on the side, and “Retrievers” laid out in bold lettering, fans look upon the bus in awe, and the crowd begins to mutter. Yes, it was indeed “that school,” the one that shocked the nation in a stunning upset over No. 1 Virginia in the NCAA tournament.

There has been plenty of fanfare since that marvelous day. March 16 seems like a distant memory now, but we are not far removed from it. In just two months, UMBC has gone from underdog, to Cinderella, to national treasure. After hosting their first home playoff game in a decade, and reaching their first championship game since 2008-2009, UMBC men’s basketball shocked Vermont, winning the championship on the three-point buzzer beater that will forever be known as “The Shot.” Then, the Retrievers went to Charlotte, and shocked the world as they became the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in NCAA men’s basketball history.

At this time last year, many Orioles fans might not have even heard of UMBC. But, on this night the crowd of 20,004 were well aware of what those four letters stood for. The crowd came to their feet, and applauded as the UMBC fight song rang from the speakers, and filled the ballpark. A quick look over the crowd would show the various seas of UMBC-branded yellow Orioles caps, which UMBC fans adorned thanks to the “UMBC Pride Night” promotion, which included these special hats with the tickets.

As the team was introduced, a sense of pride radiated throughout the ballpark. The win against Virginia seemed like a dream for so long, and in this moment it seemed as if it had finally been cemented.

At the end of the ceremony, head coach Ryan Odom threw out the first pitch. As he gripped the ball in his right hand, he picked up his front leg and delivered an easy, slightly arching fastball across home plate for a strike. He then shook the catcher’s hand and walked off the field behind the rest of the team. As the team traveled down the umpire’s tunnel behind home plate, fans were eager to high-five the players and celebrate their accomplishments.

The game commenced, and Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy did not have the same control as Odom. Buddy had a rough first inning as a walk and a hit by pitch would lead to the Cleveland Indians scoring an early run to give themselves a one-run advantage. The Indians had the bases loaded with two outs after scoring the run, but Bundy would pitch his way out of trouble as Indians first baseman Yonder Alonso would fly out and Bundy would strike out catcher Roberto Perez.

Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer would carry a no-hitter into the fourth inning before Orioles shortstop Manny Machado blasted a homerun out to center field to tie the game at 1-1. The Orioles would get two more runners on base in the inning before Bauer would work his way out of the inning without further damage.

In the fifth inning, the Orioles would strike again. The first two batters of the inning would get on base before Orioles left fielder Trey Mancini would hit a double over the head of the center fielder, scoring two runners to give the Orioles a 3-1 lead.

Unlike the Indians in the 2016 World Series, the Orioles would not blow this 3-1 lead. Rather, the Orioles bullpen would slam the door shut in three innings of work. The bullpen would allow only two base runners over those three innings as they shut out the Indians’ offence. Relief pitcher Darren O’Day pitched the ninth inning, striking out the final batter to end the game and earning the save as the Orioles earned their sixth win on the season.

In other basketball news, UMBC basketball announced Friday that they will travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to take on Marquette in the brand new Milwaukee Bucks arena. Follow @retrieverumbc for more updates on next seasons basketball schedule as details are released.

Applicant should have some experience organizing small student film crews and finding locations on campus (St Paul's School for Girls) for the shooting of short films during the 3 week camp.

On a day that saw chilly winds and cloudy weather, there was a revamped lacrosse team who pulled off the upset of the season the week prior. UMBC went on the road to face Binghamton in a conference matchup which had very low scoring and plenty of defensive play. This game showed the resiliency of UMBC, who held off Binghamton for a 5-2 victory Saturday evening. Riding on the high off the historic win against Albany, the Retrievers showed how they accomplished this feat through their gritty defensive play and hard hitting checks.

As the game was underway, it seemed that this would be another game where UMBC could have a back and forth battle on their hands as Binghamton scored within the first two minutes of the quarter. There would be no scoring for either team in the first quarter until the final two and a half minutes of the quarter. At the 2:22 mark, junior midfielder and political science major Billy Nolan tied the game up with a goal cutting inside that was assisted by junior midfielder and media and communications major Jack Andrews. On a face off won by Binghamton, they were able to score, giving Bingahmton a 2-1 lead going into the second quarter. UMBC had seven shots in that first quarter while only converting on 2 with 5 of the 7 shots going wide of its target.

The goal scored by Binghamton in the first quarter would be their last goal for the remainder of the game. In the second quarter, just as he did the first quarter to get the game started, Billy Nolan once again worked his magic and was able to get on the scoreboard yet again with a goal in the first minute and a half of the quarter. The second quarter is where UMBC has thrived defensively as they haven’t allowed a goal in the second quarter in the last two games. The Retrievers were able to take the lead off a freshman midfielder Michael Zichelli goal from a very difficult angle.

That would be the last highlight of the half as each side was held scoreless. At the half UMBC led 3-2 while outshooting Binghamton 18-11. Going into the second half there was a weird feeling in the air. There was a feeling within the NY crowd that signified that there could be a chance of a Bearcats victory given the Retrievers recent history of blowing leads in the second half. Unfortunately for the Bearcats, there would be no such luck as UMBC came out with that same defensive intensity that they ended the half with. The majority of the third quarter belonged to UMBC defensively as they forced 5 turnovers and only allowed 5 shots at the goal. Neither team was able to score in the third quarter as both sides struggled to find the net.

The fourth quarter was a different story, at least it was for UMBC. The Retrievers began to shoot the ball with reckless abandonment taking 11 shots in this quarter alone. Throughout the quarter it was more of the same in the third quarter with each team not being able to get a handle on the ball. From the abundance of ground balls to the hustle for possession on a loose ball UMBC refused to let this game slip away from them. It was not until the last 5 minutes of the quarter that UMBC was finally to break the scoring drought that lasted over 30 minutes of play with a goal by freshman attackman Brett Baucia.

With the score sitting at 4-2, it was very crucial that there would be no lazy play and to finish out strong to clinch the first road win of the season. Freshman attackman Steven Zichelli put the nail in the coffin with a split of the double team and a score in the final minute of play. Billy Nolan led the way with his two goals followed by the Zichelli brothers both scoring a goal. Freshman goalie Tommy Lingner pushed his record to 4-5 with 8 saves on 10 shots. This is the Retrievers first win in Vestal since 2010. With this win UMBC is now 2-2 in conference play and 4-7 overall. The team looked to keep this win streak alive as they returned home for senior night to face the Hartford Hawks.

On a day where UMBC honored their senior players, there were tears of joy before the game followed by a showcase of raw talent on both sides as UMBC dominated Hartford 8-3.  Senior defenseman and business tech administration major Billy O’Hara lead the team in forced turnovers with 4 as the team caused 10 of Hartford’s 20 turnovers. “All year it’s been a work in progress, and I think its finally getting to that point where we’re gelling together and now we just gotta keep doing what we’re doing and follow our gameplans,” said O’Hara. The defense has been relentless on their opponents, only giving a total of 5 goals in the last 2 games.

The first half was all UMBC as they were able to jump out to a 4-2 lead with four different players scoring a goal. The crowd made their presence felt early as they heckled the Hawks on every single possession, attempting to get in the head of the opponents and cheering on the Retrievers down at the other end. Even senior defender and chemical engineering major John Tornabene expressed his gratitude for the fans, “That kind of stuff builds you inside and helps you play. It’s nice to hear that kind of support.” That confidence came early and often for UMBC who jumped on Hartford in the first quarter with a 2-1 lead including a beautiful bounce shot from junior attackman and media and communications major Zach Kalas towards the end of the quarter.

The second quarter was all UMBC who only gave up only 1 goal and limited Hartford to only 5 shots. While the defense held up their end of the deal suffocating the Hawks the offense cranked up the intensity by unloading of flurry of shots in an attempt to push the Hawks defense to their limits. On one offensive series UMBC was able to get off 4 shots that wore down the defense until they finally capitalized with a score from Andrews. UMBC ended the half with a score from Nolan who created space to sling one in the back of the net.

The second half was more of the same for UMBC who kept the defense cranked at an all time high with exceptional pressure on the ball and didn’t give up a single goal in the third quarter. Coach Moran knew his team had everything under control on the defensive end. “We wanted to come out in man to man and see how we matched up, and throughout the game, we thought about switching it, but hey, if it’s not broke dont fix it.” UMBC caused 9 more turnovers in the second half to further frustrate the Hawks who couldn’t seem to keep the ball in their stick. Going into the 4th quarter UMBC held a 6-2 lead and would not be denied as Baucia scored on an assist from Nolan to push it to a 7-2 lead.

Steven Zichelli put an exclamation mark on this game with a long distance shot to push the lead to 8-2. Zichelli finished with 3 goals on the day. As Senior Night approached its final minutes, the UMBC fans cheered loudly as the players swarmed the field embracing their third straight victory. UMBC faces Vermont for the final game of the season and eyes a chance at the postseason with a victory. Coach Moran understands the difficulty of this game and what it will take to pull out a win. “We’re gonna have our work cut out for us. When we go into a game we look into it with the mindset of this is how we have to do it. We do these things and we can come away with a win.” One game will decide the fate of this lacrosse team against the same school that gave the basketball team its ticket to the NCAA tourney. Will lightning strike twice in the same place?

May 2, 2018  9AM – 11:30AM

Microsoft Office - Elkridge

6518 Meadowridge Rd. Suite 200

Elkridge, MD 21075

Join MEEC, Microsoft and the soon to be awarded reseller for the MEEC/Microsoft road shows - a deeper dive into the details of the new 3 year (2 optional years) agreement. The road shows will include: new options, the differences between the old and new agreements, the newly awarded reseller will review dates and documents to purchase/true-up, and a Q&A.