Wednesday, February 28th is UMBC's first ever Giving Day!

Consider making a gift to the SAHAP department during #blackandgoldrush & help us to continue our mission to prepare thoughtful citizens in a complex world.  See flyer for details.
https://sociology.umbc.edu/give-back/

It's a #blackandgoldrush!  The bookstore is offering 30% off UMBC logo merchandise on 2/27, so stock up on Retriever gear and wear your black and gold on Wednesday!

Teachers from a wide range of disciplines are being sought including English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Technology, etc.  Education majors along with those who are not certified are encouraged to attend.  All counties will be represented.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore Catholic Schools enroll over 25,000 students. There are currently 45 elementary and middle schools, and 19 high schools spread throughout the Archdiocese, which includes: Baltimore City, Allegany, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick, Harford, Howard and Washington Counties.

All attendees and those who can not attend but are interested, please be sure to complete this REGISTRATION FORM.

As a youngster, Katie Kopajtic ’11 became interested in the stage thanks to the “Harry Potter” films. She acted in school plays while also becoming a strong swimmer at North Harford High School.

When she arrived at UMBC, she decided to focus solely on finding her voice in the theatre – but she never left her athletic life completely behind. This Sunday, the Brooklyn resident combines both interests in the form of her play “Confessions Of A Personal Trainer,” off-off-Broadway at “Ryan’s Daughter” on the Upper East Side.

Kopajtic said the  show is about 40 minutes long and filled with stories about her experiences with clients she met as a luxury personal trainer in New York City, something she’s done for about six years.

“This is a show about loss and love and all the blurred lines of this professional relationship [we have],” said Kopajtic, who spent about two years creating the show. “You end up being a therapist. You end up being a friend. There’s no rule book.”

She premiered the play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (the world’s largest arts festival) in the United Kingdom, putting out 26 performances in 30 days and honing the show along the way. BroadwayBaby.com noted: “She’s immensely likeable and her monologues give a strong sense that she’s talking with an audience rather than at them. This whole show feels like catching up with an old friend.”

Coming up next will be a short film called “The Actor,” which Kopajtic wrote, directed, co-produced and starred in last year. Catherine Curtin and Lynn Cohen also appear, and Kopajtic hopes to premiere it at a festival this summer and obtain an online release later in 2018.

Kopajtic said her work at UMBC gave her a true foundation.

“I learned the basics, and then I learned how to act,” she said. “I got a lot of tough love in different ways. I didn’t know anything about choosing material. I’m like a girl from the country, and in one of my first college auditions, I chose a monologue from a play where it was a woman in her 40’s—and I was 18.”

She appeared in six plays at UMBC and credited professors like Eve Muson and Susan McCully with guiding her on and off the stage. Kopajtic said Muson was a director who accepted nothing less than your best work while McCully opened her eyes to how to read plays and understand the stories better – to set your ego aside and do the work.

McCully, who said she is delighted with the success Kopajtic has found, also helped her personally when she came out.

“She came and she talked to me, and I said that’s great that you know who you are,” McCully said. “She is one of those students who is able to combine talent with intelligence. I mean real intelligence, with curiosity and creativity. That’s a combination of a lot of things that make it capable for someone to be a writer, actor [and more].”

With that combination, this Retriever is ready for big things ahead.

– Jeff Seidel ’85

• Learn more about “Confessions Of A Personal Trainer,” Kopajtic’s other work
• Read a Broadway.com interview with Kopajtic
• See what’s coming up on the UMBC stage

“I just remember staying up until 4:30 in the morning to see if school closed and then it wasn’t closed, so that sucked.”

This was the thought process for Towson University Professor Jal Irani before developing the idea for his inclement weather alarm app, SleepIn. The app adjusts a user’s alarm for school closings due to inclement weather. Professor Irani and fellow student Audrey envisioned the app while he attended graduate school at Johns Hopkins University to receive his masters in computer science. However, due to geographical differences, Audrey later sold her portion of the app to Irani and he became the sole producer.

The development process began in early 2016. He admits to having problems with the initial design, stating that he did not like how the app looked and was unhappy that users were only able to set one alarm. As a result, he scrapped the original product and began anew.

After graduating from Hopkins, Irani reevaluated his commitment to the app, noting nearly 400 hours spent working on the product. By the end of 2017, he completed the app and it became available for public download.

“The goal was to make the feel and look very similar to the native iOS alarm clock, just like you would normally set an alarm: toggle on and off the snooze and name the alarm,” Irani replied when asked about the accessibility of the alarm. The only difference between setting up this alarm and the iOS alarm is an added step of choosing a school. This allows the app to reference only relevant information when searching for school closings.

To obtain this information, the app cross-references multiple sources such as the Baltimore Sun and local news stations to determine if a school is closed. Once concluded as such, the alarm is turned off. Afterwards, the phone will receive a silent notification on the home screen, telling the user that their school has been closed.

Currently, Irani is working on an update for the app in the hopes of releasing it by the end of Summer 2018 — in time for the next school year. With this next model, Irani aims to reach a wider scope.

“It was initially designed for college students and faculty,” said Irani. However, after feedback and revision, he believes the next release will be applicable to grades Kindergarten through 12 and parents. He also hopes to expand the geographical compatibility of the app, making it accessible to regions in the northeast and midwest. Currently, it is only available in Maryland.

Another feature he hopes to implement in the next version is the ability for students to scan their schedule into the app by picture, allowing the alarm to account for delays as well as closings. Irani notes the increased variability of alarm times when a delay occurs and believes that, with this feature, he can program the app to change the alarm time when a delay occurs.

These, along with skepticism of credibility, have been Irani’s biggest concerns thus far. However, with increasing recognition of the app after being featured on WBAL and in local college newspapers, he believes the increased exposure will assure users of the dependability of the app. He comments that within the past week, he has received a surplus of downloads, reaching roughly 300 users over a month-and-a-half.

The app is currently available for download to students attending UMBC and all other colleges and universities in Maryland. For more information about the app and access to the download, visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sleepin-alarm/id1321674721?mt=8

Classification: Part-time, Unpaid

Reports to: Film Curator