So far, this spring semester has been lackluster at best. That is not necessarily a bad thing. The classes most people are taking are not really challenging yet. There have been no new developments on Einstein Bros. Bagels in the library. UMBC has been consistent in having little to no surprises for the student body. Sure an argument can be made that the new UMBC Event Center was not lackluster. It is nice to look at now, but what will people be saying about it at the end of the semester?

For others, this semester has been an eye opener for them. “I have an intense schedule this semester. My classes are from 1-7 and my days are very long. I’m not used to it,” said Evan Kellner, a freshman information systems major. Like many freshmen, Kellner is adjusting to the college student work life. “I plan to study outside my dorm. It’s harder to do work there. I get so distracted. The library keeps me focused.”

Even older students are still adjusting to the new workload. “This semester has been taxing. I have a lot of work this semester and I’ve been stressed out,” said Morgan Hull, a sophomore psychology major, “I have to go to library fifth floor to study. I don’t want people bothering me.” Hull is currently working at a research lab this semester where she records and inputs data. “It’s not too bad. I just run sessions, record answers, and put them into an excel sheet,” she added.

But it is not all bad for the students. There are plenty of things for most to look forward to this semester. “The mock trial team will be competing at our Regional Tournament this year. I’m a competing member on the team and I think we’re in a good position to win it,” said Kellner. This is his first year doing UMBC mock trial. He was placed on the B team and has been traveling a lot with them recently. “We’ve competed against Ivy League and prestigious schools. We’re better now than when we started from all the hard work,” he laughed.

“We’re trying to start a club. The Coloring Club,” said Hull. When asked about the purpose of the club, Hull said it was a good hobby to help relieve stress. “People can just come over, relax and chill,” she commented. As a psychology major, Hull is all too familiar with what stress can do to a person’s mental health. She and her friends are starting this club in hopes of meeting new people.

This semester seems to have its challenges for current students, but it will likely dissipate as everyone adjusts to their new rhythm.

A reflection by student staff member, Marie, on her personal journey to becoming a feminist and beginning the process of raising her own daughters as feminists.

As if it weren’t hard enough to finally get the hang of navigating through the world as a “failing feminist” (see previous post), I now have to figure out how to raise my two young girls as feminists.  The necessity to empower my girls to be strong minded individuals who respect themselves and their bodies has been weighing heavily on me lately.  The #metoo movement has played a significant part in bringing this awareness to the forefront of my mind. The online movement, (even though it technically began almost 10 years ago) has exploded into a worldwide hashtag, and is helping to shed an entirely new light on the importance of respect, consent, and especially accountability surrounding sexuality, and sexual misconduct. It has given a voice to women from all walks of life, who felt voiceless for a long period of time.  This break in silence, and rise of empowerment is impacting society in places where change and action are finally taking place, and people, especially women, are being heard.  The entertainment industry has been affected tremendously, (beginning with allegations against Harvey Weinstein), and has long since traveled all the way to the top of society: The White House.  In today’s day and age, it is slowly beginning to seem like there is no longer any authority or entity that is safe, or off limits to scrutiny. Unfortunately, this is rightfully so.

Primarily due to the tumultuous political climate and the heightened awareness of women’s rights, I am now thinking ahead about how I am going to “properly and effectively” start teaching my daughters the basics of feminism.  Sounds simple, right?  But what kind of feminists am I trying to raise?  Do I make that decision for them early on, or do I wait for them to come into their own, as women, and decide for themselves?  Obviously I want them to make their own decisions, but I am at a loss as where to start.

I first thought that these life lessons would be simple. After attending my first 3-year-old Peter Pan themed birthday party and overhearing my daughter being told “No, no sweetie, you want to be Tinkerbell, not Peter Pan,” I swept in quickly to rectify that situation.  (Side note: it’s a bit ironic for someone to tell my daughter this misinformation, given that Peter Pan was actually played by a woman, and multiple times at that!)  It was on the way home from this birthday party that the realization set in: I need to begin to model the ideals of feminism, which to me include gender equality (and equity), liberation from sexist role patterns, reproductive justice, and basic human rights for all.   After putting the kiddos to sleep, I began to research how to parent feminist children.  Let me tell you, the vast amount of websites, blogs, “what to do” and the “what not to do” options were overwhelming to say the least!  

After all this researching, I know that I need to avoid being “Feminist Lite,” after reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.  I was also gifted these eight tips on how to begin my parenting journey.

Are these suggestions really what I want to base my teachings off of?  I’m not really sure.  I mean, I am not quite sure that I am not the type of woman, let alone mother, who is going to “celebrate” my daughters’ first “menarche.”  I am also not ready to bring either of my children on a Child Protective Services visit to show them the kind of work that mommy the social worker does when she is not at home.  I am all for empowerment, self-advocacy, self-love, and promoting self-worth.  I am not sure how in the midst of these things, I am going to teach them how to properly garden or teach them about “the rhythms of the earth” as was encouraged by some of these parenting articles.

After bouncing around from different blog posts to articles that offer advice on how to become the “Perfect Feminist Parent,” I have ultimately decided that I am more than capable of coming up with my own list of how to raise my daughters!  With the wealth of knowledge that I literally gain each and every time I spend time in the Women’s Center, combined with the ever so valuable information that I have collected during my time here as a GWST major, I think I’ve got this.

Here’s a few things that I’ve decided will be my basic guidelines to start off this process, as well as serve as gentile reminders to myself:

• Teach body positivity
• Teach consent, teach consent, teach consent
• When talking about the body actually use the anatomically correct names
• Carefully monitor the words that I use when talking to/describing my girls.  Only use worlds that build them up, not tear them down
• Never stick to “gender norms”
• Most importantly: Allow my girls to be who they want to be.

I realize that this is going to be an ongoing, everyday task.  I also realize that along the way, mistakes will be made- by myself and by my children.  In life, nothing is perfect. I for one most definitely have learned this throughout my existence.  However, it is what you do to re-create, or change these imperfections that shape and transform your life experiences.  I am super excited to help create a path in which my children can follow.  I am even more excited to see the paths that they create on their own.  

*****(Did you know that there is a student organization on campus called Parents Club?  If you are a student at UMBC, and a parent, the Women’s Center highly recommends you check out this exceptional resource!! AND…The Women’s Center lending library has a small (but mighty) children’s collection of books that the feminist kiddos (and their parents) might love.  Come by and check it out!!!)****

The Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture presents The Poet’s Brush: Chinese Ink Paintings by Lo Ch’ing, on display February 1 through March 17. The exhibition features paintings by Lo Ch’ing, a Chinese poet-painter who creates art simultaneously rooted in tradition and expressive of contemporary sensibility. His works describe a path between the strong currents of his own short past, the millennia-old past of the Chinese empire, and the demands of today’s postindustrial, consumer-driven and individualist global citizen.

The exhibition, curated by University of Maryland professor Jason Kuo, comprises 30 artworks and represents the artist’s first show in the United States in ten years. Representing four decades of the artistic activity, the selection of works ranges from smaller, poetic compositions of the late 1960s to monumental, post -modern landscapes of 2015. Working in the millennia -old tradition of Chinese ink art, Lo’s paintings include familiar landscape forms of the genre, such as mountains, clouds and river scenes, but he updates this hallowed pictorial language with his own idiosyncratic vocabulary—one that includes an array of modern symbols like airplanes, icons, asphalt and skyscrapers—and aerial views impossible in ancient times.

Critically acclaimed both in Taiwan and China for his painting and his poetry, Lo Ch’ing’s works have been shown internationally at venues such as the Saatchi Art Gallery and the British Museum in London.

Alfreda Murck, author of Poetry and Painting in Song China, The Subtle Art of Dissent and previous Associate Curator of Asian Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present a lecture on the work of Lo Ch’ing on March 7, 4-5:30 p.m. Learn more here.

Learn more about this exhibit and other arts and culture opportunities at UMBC here.

Pictured above: The sun and the moon of the Peach Blossom Spring, 2015, ink on paper

At the first Student Government Association town hall of the spring semester, student organization leaders voiced concerns to SGA about prominent issues this year: chief among them were the limited amount of space on campus and funding issues.

Despite ongoing campus construction, space has been a perennial issue for student organizations. Many organizations have begun meeting in areas like hallways, which student leaders claim is uncomfortable and sometimes unsafe.

SGA sent an email on Sept. 25, 2017 informing organizations that the Performing Arts and Humanities Building would open for student organization use. However, UMBC administration halted discussions with SGA and left the PAHB closed to students. The reasoning for this remains unclear.

This was a particularly unwelcome development for performing arts clubs like Theatre Council of Majors, which planned to open its production of Steel Magnolias in the PAHB on Feb. 16.

Sophomore theater design and production major Max Hromek came to the town hall representing TheatreCOM.

“We were offered PAHB, but then we found out we couldn’t use it,” said Hromek. “Now we are working to stage [a show] that we have designed for a PAHB theater in a completely different space.”

Political science major and senior Meghan Lynch, the Vice President of Student Organizations, ran the meeting. Lynch said that SGA wants to open the PAHB to students, but is struggling to communicate with the UMBC administration.

“We are equally confused [as to] why this has been stopped,” Lynch said. “[However], we are at the mercy of administrators.”

Some students in attendance also expressed frustration about the prohibitively expensive cost of using the new Event Center. One student in attendance said that, upon inquiring with Event Center staff, he was given a $3,500 starting quote for the arena space.

Lynch said that SGA has meetings scheduled next week to address the PAHB and Event Center issues. She also said that the creation of the Event Center means that RAC spaces might now be available. There are not, however, any concrete plans to open new spaces for student organizations.

Confusion and frustration about SGA funding practices also emerged as prominent themes. Senior computer science, math and economics triple major Max Poole said that SGA regulations for fundraisers prohibit the use of Venmo and other digital platforms for fundraising, even though few students carry cash.

Students also complained that funding regulations are not conducive to all clubs and sometimes lead to wasteful spending practices.

“We can’t thrift clothes [for the theater productions] because we need to use a campus card,” said Hromek. “The way that budgeting is structured does not fall in line with how a theatre production comes together.”

Hromeck reported that because TheatreCOM could not thrift its costumes, its final budget request of approximately $10,000 was unnecessarily high.

Other concerns included confusion over when financial requests could be submitted, a lack of treasurer training dates, and frustration about limited funds.

Lynch responded by expressing her sympathy while also emphasizing that the finance board has limits.

“The way you leave after finance board is very important to us,” said Lynch. “[We always ask] how can we manage our funds throughout the year to make sure that a maximum number of orgs are funded and that’s very hard.”

In some cases, funding the maximum number of organizations means cutting expensive items that student organizations consider integral to their events. In other cases, the finance board denies funding to items that it believes will not serve enough UMBC students.

This year, the finance board has a budget of $275,000, which is taken from the $98 student fee that all UMBC students pay.

Towards the end of the town hall, Lynch and SGA President Joshua Massey, a senior computer engineering major, repeatedly called for students to continue submitting feedback. Massey urged attendees to participate in the fee forum and complete the fee survey, both of which the finance board uses when setting its allocation priorities.

Lynch sees conversations like those held in the town hall as integral to the functioning of SGA: “We are only as strong as the input we get from student leaders.”

This past weekend, hosts from Simple Entertainment transformed the lower level of the RAC by setting up two escape rooms. Students tested their wits and riddle-solving skills with friends while simultaneously rushing against the clock. UMBC OCSS and SEB are to thank for planning this event and hopefully, more like it.

Before entering the escape room, groups had to wait in line due to the number of people that signed up to participate. On both Feb. 9 and the 10, all of the time slots were filled and if people came without signing up, they had to wait in line hoping that they could join a group later on.

The theme of the escape room seemed influenced by Harry Potter. Numbered potion bottles and stuffed caged owls helped solve puzzles hidden around the room. Puzzle difficulty increased with each room, keeping everyone on their feet. Included were keys that unlocked hidden chests, puzzles taped to the bottom of carpets, mermaid magnets interspersed with almost anything else one could imagine.

Hosts were helpful throughout the whole experience giving time checks every few minutes, and always answering questions while still not giving too much away. Without a host, groups definitely would not have been able to make it through to the end.

Every twenty minutes, a wave of people would emerge from the room and one could tell if they had solved the puzzle or not. Cheers of pride and questions of what was done wrong could be heard from those successful and those not, all voices delighted, no matter what the outcome. People kept coming back for more after they realized the small mistakes they made throughout the puzzle.

The popularity of this event speaks for itself. Mark Bickerstaff Jr., a junior graphic design major, suggested that SEB should continue to bring escape rooms to campus. It’s an easy, quick and free alternative to actual escape room locations scattered around the city. He elaborated, mentioning that, “it was definitely a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be, I would do it again for sure.”

Events like this are a good way for people to branch out and meet new people. More than once, people were put into groups that they did not originally sign up with and had to work with them to find their way out of the room. This is a great way to make new friends and build teamwork skills while having fun at the same time.

The event was a great way to spend a cold weekend. Everyone should be on the lookout for the escape rooms to return. If you or your friends are interested in events like this one, make sure to check out SEB’s website or the events page on my.umbc for updates on other events happening on campus throughout the semester.