Meet Sara,

She is a Biology major who has done research at the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. She currently works in Dr. Philip Farabaugh’s laboratory and is also President of the Food Recovery Network, an organization whose mission is to recover food from dining services on campus and donate it to local homeless shelters. Her future plan is to become a physician.

Sara is also a member of the Muslim Student Association and serves as a photographer for the Retriever Weekly.

Sara’s research involves determining how errors in protein synthesis are regulated.

F. Chris Curran, a new assistant professor in the School of Public Policy, recently wrote a letter to the editor about including teachers in overtime pay discussions that was published in Education Week. In the letter, Curran referenced President Obama’s announcement of plans for changes in overtime-pay regulations, noting that provisions of the proposal would prevent teachers from seeing benefits from the policy.

“While teachers hoping for an extra paycheck may be disappointed, the national conversation on what President Obama calls a ‘fair day’s pay’ should not be allowed to pass the schoolhouse by. It is an opportunity to recognize, and remediate, the fact that teachers in this country are underpaid relative to the requirements and importance of their jobs,” Curran wrote.

He added: “The call for increasing teacher pay is not new, but if policymakers are ready to acknowledge that a salary below $50,000 necessitates compensation for overtime hours, then we should also recognize that teachers are no exception. We know that who is in front of the class has important implications for student outcomes.”

Curran joined the School of Public Policy faculty this month, and he conducts research on education policy with an emphasis on improving educational outcomes for underserved and disadvantaged youth. His research interests include early childhood education, school discipline and safety, teacher labor markets, and politics of education. Read more on theSchool of Public Policy website. Curran also published an op-ed earlier this month in The Tennessean in which he outlined future opportunities for NashvilleNext, a strategic plan for Nashville’s growth that was recently adopted by the Metropolitan Planning Commission.

Greetings UMBC Student Body!

We, the Senate, would like to welcome the UMBC Community back to campus as we gear up for the Fall 2015 semester! We hope you all are excited for the new opportunities this semester brings us!

Over the duration of the summer, Senate has been hard at work. We have been working on our initiatives and the upcoming trial against SGA President and Executive Vice President, Anthony Jankoski and Daniel Amsini.

If you would like updates on Senate initiatives that we are working on with you, please feel free to attend our weekly meetings at 5:30pm on Mondays in Commons 318! In addition, please do not hesitate to contact your Senators individually, and to continue following our myUMBC page. Each Senator's contact information is listed below.

There have been a few developments in the status of the Impeachment Trial that we are excited to share with you all.

Firstly, Senate would like to reiterate that we have NOT officially received the petition. We understand that Ellis Zapas (Petition Owner) has sent it to the President of SGA, and it shall be handled following the rules for petition as stated in the SGA Guiding Documents. The plans that Senate has been, and continue, to make are in preparation for the receipt of the petition and the trial that will follow.

Next, Senator Andres Garcia has stepped down as Trial Manager due to the personal bias he has toward the accused. Senate has been interviewing potential candidates for the position and we are pleased to announce that we have a new Manager! Belawoe Akwakoku has been selected by Senate to help lead the prosecution for this trial. Belawoe has been involved in SGA every year of his undergraduate education, including two years in the Senate - first as a First Year Ambassador, then as a Senator. We are confident in his ability to lead a fair prosecution and levy charges against the accused to the best of his ability.

Finally, Senate plans on creating a set of baseline criteria for all students that signed the petition to ensure its validity. We plan to create these criteria at our first formal meeting after we receive the petition.

Senate appreciates your patience in these matters as we continue working through events. We are dedicated to an honest and fair trial. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!

Respectfully,

Your 2015-16 SGA Senate,

Andres Garcia, Summer Speaker (andresg1@umbc.edu)

Sarah Lilly, Summer Assistant Speaker (slilly1@umbc.edu)

Vanessa Barksdale (vanbark1@umbc.edu)

Seth Benefield (sethbe1@umbc.edu)

Oladipupo Eke (eke1@umbc.edu)

Andrew Lopez (alopez2@umbc.edu)

Josh Massey (joshua.massey@umbc.edu)

Brooke Perrin (aperrin1@umbc.edu)

Markya Reed (markya1@umbc.edu)

William Rice (willia8@umbc.edu)

Augustus Williams (august2@umbc.edu)

The Daily Record’s 2015 Innovator of the Year winners include Chris Geddes, professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Greg Cangialosi '96, English; Isaac Kinde (M13) '05, biological sciences; and WeatherBugHome, a subsidiary of Earth Networks. WeatherBug was founded by Bob Marshall ('88, mechanical engineering). The Innovator of the Year awards ceremony will be held on October 15, 2015 at the Center Club in Baltimore.

For more information, including all 2015 winners, visit the Daily Record website:
http://thedailyrecord.com/innovator-of-the-year/#ixzz3k8A1OU9U