STEM BUILD at UMBC is an undergraduate success initiative and research study at UMBC funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). UMBC is investigating ways to enhance the success and persistence of students who have the goal of pursuing baccalaureate degrees in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

The STEM BUILD at UMBC Initiative is looking for Peer Mentors to assist with the a six-week summer internship program on the UMBC campus (June 11-July 20, 2018) for non-UMBC students from local community colleges and four-year institutions.  

Position Description:

• Setting up and maintaining laboratory spaces, equipment, and supplies
• Supporting students in the laboratory 
• Providing constructive feedback to students on activities and assignments
• Supporting STEM BUILD co-curricular and extra-curricular summer programming

Minimum Qualifications:

• 3.00+ cumulative UMBC GPA 
• Undergraduate majoring in the STEM fields
• Genuine interest in helping new students get to know UMBC 
• Availability from June 4-August 17, 2018 
• Available a minimum of 20 hours per week 

Compensation: $10/hour (20 hours min/ 40 hours max)

Deadline: Friday, April 30, 2018

Questions?:  Email: Lucie Blauvelt at blauve@umbc.edu

For Student Government Association candidates this spring, the structure of the annual debates has changed. The original format of having an hour-long debate is being replaced by individual question and answer videos, where students can submit a question to the election board.

The change is brought about with the goal of making election debates more available to student voters, as well as creating a more a public campaign to increase voter turnout. Voting turnout in the election of 2017 was exceptionally low, at 1,235 students.

The official candidate list for the 2018 election was posted on myUMBC on Thursday, April 5. This election season, online voting will be available from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. from April 23 to April 25. Two physical polling stations will available, although their locations are yet to be determined.

Sophia Lopresti, the Election Board chairman and senior global studies major, spoke on the difficulties of the presidential debate. “The debate format was very volume cumbersome, so there could be up to eight students talking, and it is really hard to get a sense of them individually when you only have an hour for students to get across their main points while they’re also retorting to each other.”

Attendance to past debates has also been low, typically with students going to support a preferred candidate rather than new voters attending. The debate would also be uploaded online in its hour-long entirety, which is disadvantageous for viewers looking for policy specific views.

The goal of individual, online Q&A posts is for students to better understand the different positions of candidates, and increase accessibility and awareness for student voters.

The Election Board will be holding two events to promote the election: one on April 9 during free hour and one on April

UMBC has an undergraduate population of 11,234 students, and approximately 65 percent of students commute, which creates a need for highly accessible voting options. In the past, the Election Board held physical polling stations, which was eventually replaced with online voting.

“Even if you’re not in SGA, the President and the VP represent the student population to the administration and beyond; they’re the face of students at UMBC for publicity’s sake,”  said Lopresti, on the importance of voting.

For student organizations, it is especially important to vote for a preferred candidate, as the Finance Board, a segment of the SGA’s legislative branch, allocates funding for all student support organization activities.

In past elections, multiple campaigns were found to be in violation of Election Board rules, even delaying result announcements in 2015. Since then, a new policy has since been established: nonpartisan Election Board members are to run polling stations, and candidates are prevented from campaigning after 2 a.m. Following the 2015 elections, a zero-tolerance policy on voter harassment was created.

As campaigning and debates begin, candidate profiles will be available online through a google site created by the Election Board, where all election information and events will be available.

Tax returns are due April 17! 

Stop procrastinating!  

April 17 will be here before you know it!

Should you have any questions, please write to us at <GAAC@umbc.edu>.

Happy filing!
The GSA/GAAC Team

Kwame Ansah-Brew, a professor in the africana studies department, kicked off the Second Annual Taste of Africa Celebration with a bang. His pounding of the djembe, a west African drum, reverberated across the skylight lounge. At that moment, Kwame gave a taste of both the sounds of Africa and the energy ingrained in its culture.

The event is a celebration hosted by the Department of Africana Studies, begun in order to allow the UMBC community to experience African culture first-hand.

“I want students and faculty and staff to appreciate the diversity of Africa in terms of language, in terms of culture [and] in terms of food cuisine. And to have a forum annually, where we can gather together to celebrate Africa’s cultural diversity, and also to commemorate the Black History Month,” said Gloria Chuku, professor and chair of africana studies.

This year’s Taste of Africa Celebration featured a round table discussion with africana studies’ alumni. The focus of the panel was on the alumni’s experiences at UMBC and how africana studies shaped their lives.

“As a major, I’m interested in different pathways people pursued with a degree in africana studies. So, I just want to hear about different options people took after they got their degree,” said Damarious Johnson, a junior africana studies major.

The alumni gave insight into what africana studies classes can offer UMBC students. Many reported how these courses changed their perspective and led to many opportunities.

“I just want [UMBC students] to endeavor to take at least a course or two in africana studies and if possible take up to 18 credits to minor in africana studies or 36 to major or have a double major in africana studies,” said Chuku.

Africana studies dance performers took the stage after the panel concluded. The dancers performed a traditional rain dance with deep ties to African culture. After the dance, Ansah-Brew put on another performance of his own. He showcased several West African instruments, captivating the audience as the food arrived.

“I liked the instruments he was playing. That really struck out to me. [For] some of the instruments, it was the first time seeing some of them played,” said Omar Jobe, an information system and business administration and management double major.

Finishing off the celebration, attendees got a literal taste of Africa. The department of africana studies served a dinner of authentic African cuisine. The main course consisted of rice, a vegetable dish, a fried fish dish and an African chicken dish. Chin chin and puff puff,  West African snacks, and bean cake for dessert were also served.

The Taste of Africa Celebration in its two hours could not represent all Africa’s culture. However, it successfully introduced African culture to UMBC and the celebration successfully communicated the value of learning and discovering African culture.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded UMBC a $15,000 grant for an investigation into new technology that could sustainably remove nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium pollution from urine. This grant belonged to a larger pool of funding on a national level through the People, Prosperity, and the Planet grants program.

These teams consist of college students nationwide who are developing sustainable technologies to address environmental and public health challenges that affect the populace today. In a press release from the EPA, administrator Scott Pruit said, “This year’s P3 teams are applying their classroom learning to create valuable, cutting-edge technologies.” He additionally said, “This next generation of scientists is designing sustainable solutions that will help protect public health and the environment and ensure America continues to lead the world in innovation and science for decades to come.”

The P3 competition spreads its funding across two distinct phases. Phase I awards are $15,000 grants that go towards the funding of a project demonstration, which goes on to be showcased at the National Sustainable Design Expo. UMBC is among 31 Phase I university student teams through this program.

The 2018 Expo is scheduled to be held in Washington DC, April 7-8. After this, Phase I teams can compete for Phase II of up to $75,000 which goes towards further development and implementation of their ideas.  According to the EPA’s website regarding the program, the P3 program began in 2004, and since then has awarded 726 grants totaling $15.5 million to over 4,000 students from 234 universities from all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

The research project entered into the P3 competition revolves around creating a device that can extract nutrients from urine. The device, known as a Nutrient Extraction and Recovery Device or NERD, can be used to recover nutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium from urine. These nutrients can impair water and environmental quality, and the team hopes to be able to extract 90 percent of these nutrients from source-separated urine with minimal use of energy or chemicals.

Other projects for this year include a gray water irrigation system from Mercer University, development of mushroom mycelium-based biocomposite for fashion products from the University of Delaware and a graphene bead filter used for water purification.

Currently, the team is conducting NERD optimization studies with lab-scale reactors in order to maximize the rate and magnitude of the nutrient recovery from both synthetic and real urine. This will include the modification of a port-o-potty with the device in order to gather data and to provide a demonstration of the ability to recover these nutrients from actual urine collected on UMBC’s campus.