The Student Fee Advisory Committee held an annual Student Fee Forum in the lecture hall of the Meyerhoff Chemistry building on Wednesday during free hour to engage students in a review of the mandatory fees that every student has to pay in addition to tuition.

These fees are broken into seven categories: athletics, technology, university commons, transportation, auxiliary facilities, student activities (for undergraduate students) and graduate programs (for graduate students). Each fee category is represented by a fee steward.

According to Charlene Uhl, Director of Budget and Resource Analysis, the fee stewards, “represent the different parts of the campus that rely on fee income to support their operations.”

So what is the Student Fee Advisory Committee? It is a small committee made up of eight current students.

Each student represents different areas of the campus: Graduate Association, transfer students, residential students, out-of-state students, commuters/transfer students, student-athletes and Student Government Association.

Student Affairs identifies different students to represent most of these areas annually. The Student Government Association nominates the Student Government Association representative and the Graduate Association does the same for the Graduate Association representative.

When asked about the Committee’s function, Uhl replied, “The committee is responsible for getting an understanding of any proposed fee increases to what are called ‘mandatory’ fees, i.e., all enrolled students pay these fees.”

Marvel’s long-awaited superhero film, “Black Panther” made its debut this week. Chock full of commendable performances and gorgeous cinematics, it featured a soundtrack curated by Grammy-award winning artist, Kendrick Lamar.

Upon its initial debut earlier this February, the soundtrack gave audiences an auditory preview of the movie’s themes and overall mood. The album featured bold singles with top rap and R&B artists such as SZA in “All the Stars,” Jorja Smith in “I Am” and “Opps” with Vince Staples and Yugen Blakrok.

The soundtrack begins with a song titled “Black Panther” which introduces the film’s conflict between activism and preserving one’s way of life. Lamar raps, “King of the shooters, looters, boosters and ghetto’s poppin’ / King of past, present, future/ My ancestors watchin.'”

This is followed by one of the album’s most prominent singles, “All the Stars”, which landed a spot on the Billboard’s Hot 100. Arguably, “All the Stars” sounds like an echo of the song “Love.” from Lamar’s 2017 album, “Damn.”

The song “X” featuring Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, and a lesser-known South African rapper known as ‘Saudi’ might as well be an anthem for the film. It’s all about preparing to fight and stand up to one’s enemies. “Are you on teny yet? I live on ten, But are you on ten yet?” Lamar sings in the main hook.

Another lesser-known artist, ‘SOB x RBE’ is featured on the track “Paramedic!” This song adds a touch of popular trap to the album. The flow of the verses, especially by rappers ‘Slimmy B’ and ‘DaBoii’ are similar to Detroit rapper Tee Grizzley whose first album made a powerful debut last spring.

Interestingly, some of the strongest songs on the “Black Panther” soundtrack feature lesser-known artists, as seen with Saudi on “X” and SOB x RBE on “Paramedic!” Though the tracks with more mainstream rappers, such as Anderson . Paak and Travis Scott have merit, but overall they do not leave a strong impression.

Thus said, the single “King’s Dead” featuring Jay Rock, Future and James Blake is one of the soundtrack’s fiercest songs. In the hook, Lamar sings “Miss me with that bullshit/You’re not a gang member you’s a tourist,” which works perfectly with the film’s themes of identity, home and belonging.

An unintentional consequence of his feature on the song, rapper Future began a wave of memes on Twitter because of his line “La di da di da, slob on me knob.”

“Black Panther” is set in the fictional East African nation of Wakanda, which makes the soundtrack an opportunity to include the popular Afrobeats style sound that has slowly been making its way into mainstream music. A hint of this is heard on the track “Redemption” with Zacari and South African singer Babes Wodumo.

Towards the end of the album, “Seasons” is a slow testament to the power of the African diaspora. South African rapper Sjava raps the entirety of his verse in Zulu, while rapper Mozzy speaks on his personal struggles: “Trapped in the system, traffickin’ drugs/ Modern-day slavery, African thugs/ We go to war for this African blood.”

Overall, the “Black Panther” soundtrack has some solid tracks that are worth giving a listen. Though it works well in combination with the movie, it also holds up as a stand-alone album. “Black Panther: The Album” is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal and can be bought in stores now.

Most undergraduate students in America today have to take some general education classes in addition to the courses required for their major.

As a liberal arts university, UMBC boasts an even more demanding General Education Program. While the sentiment is admirable, some of the requirements are excessive and the lack of course options to fulfill them defeats their purpose.

General education standards were spearheaded by a group of educators who bemoaned movements toward majors and specialization, wishing instead to expose students to a wide array of art and thought.

UMBC students, accordingly, are required to take three courses in the arts and humanities, two in the sciences (one with a lab), three in the social sciences and many more. In all, a student must take eleven GEP courses at minimum, along with two that fulfill physical education requirements.

The school’s courses are largely successful at encouraging students to develop skills beyond their majors. “It’s going to different cultures, going to media — it’s making yourself more rounded,” said Kevin McIntyre, a sophomore mathematics major. “Having a math major take an English class — it kind of frees their mind, [keeps it] open for interpretation.”

The requirements can be especially helpful for students still determining what to pursue on campus. Philip Do, a freshman majoring in biology, decided last semester to minor in writing after loving his creative essay writing class, which fulfilled a fine arts requirement. “It’s good to get, I guess, a broader perspective of the world,” said Do.

However, the General Education Program has its problems. “It can be a bit restrictive at times,” Do added. “It can kind of weigh down your progress toward graduation. For example, I’m going to have to take physical education classes eventually, which I’m not looking forward to.”

Do is not alone in his annoyance. Few look forward to meeting the university’s physical education requirement hurdles with little justification. Preventing college students from becoming couch potatoes may be a worthy cause, but an obligatory class is not the solution.

The requirement falls especially flat when students sidestep it with classes whose “physical education” designation is doubtful. Bowling may be fun, but does the class teach students a semester worth of learning?

Students employ similar workarounds for other requirements as well.

“Science of Water…” says Emma Jett, a freshman studying English and secondary education. “I mean, it’s an easy course, but I feel as if I could be challenged a little more than that.”

Jett is one of many students intimidated by the caliber of many courses that fulfill the requirement for a science course with a lab component. Instead, many take Water: An Interdisciplinary Study. The course’s difficulty? “Easier than my high school science classes,” she laughs.

If the school hopes to stimulate students intellectually with courses beyond their majors, there have to be wider selections, especially when it comes to the requirement for a lab-based science class. Students not pursuing the sciences need options that are accessible without being laughable, easy A courses.

UMBC’s GEPs help to broaden the learning experience students receive. However, with the removal of physical education standards and the introduction of greater course options for some requirements, the standards could better accomplish their purpose.

As a matter of principle, the university should aim to have students wondering at courses like a stargazing astronomy lab, not trudging through a repeat of middle school gym class.

Frederick Douglass Day is celebrated to honor the birthday of the esteemed civil rights activist and abolitionist. To take part in this celebration, UMBC held its first Transcribe-a-Thon in the Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery. This was the first installment of the Humanities Teaching Labs.

Throughout the event, Douglass was honored with the reading of his speech, the sharing of meaningful ideas and quotes and even a birthday cake with his face on it.  This was a perfect addition to the other various Black History Month events being held around campus.

The Transcribe-a-Thon’s are part of the Freedman’s Bureau Transcription Project which is sponsored by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Smithsonian Transcription Center and the Colored Conventions Project which began in 1830.

Transcribe-a-Thon’s make it possible for historic records to become accessible online. This makes it easier for educators, future scholars, historians and everyday people to take advantage of all the knowledge hidden within these papers. Courtney Hobson, a UMBC alumn with a Masters in historical studies said this event was very fitting for Douglass day because “he was a man of action, and by providing this service we are honoring him in a way.”

The Humanities Teaching Labs are only one part of the new Inclusion Imperative program. Funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, this program aims to grow a prosperous and successful humanities faculty within the four partnered schools. UMBC is teaming up with Coppin State, Howard University and Bowie State University to accomplish this goal over the next four to five years.

By including these famous HBCU’s, the program is guaranteed to have a great mix of faculty from all different cultures and backgrounds. It is imperative for our humanities faculty to be experts when it comes to diversity and inclusion. In our modern world, the cultural mixing pot is growing drastically and our educators have to expand their knowledge in order to adapt to that.

The three branches of the program are the Humanities Teaching Labs, the Diversity Teaching Networks and Visiting Faculty Fellowship Program.  These three branches will provide a network of faculty that can share and create ideas as well as introduce them to new media tools that can be helpful in the teachings of the humanities.

Douglass once said, “We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful for the present and the future.” The Inclusion Imperative program is making it possible for us to do just that. Everyone and anyone can lend a helping hand, and attend one of the programs. To get more details or stay updated on upcoming events, check the myumbc events page or dreshercenter.umbc.edu.