Editor’s Note: This is a message from our partner, Meyer and Associates.

It can happen to anyone. You’re driving along the road, when something happens unexpectedly and your car breaks down. It could be a mechanical issue, a pothole, an obstacle in the road, or even an animal. No matter what causes your car to break down, it’s a scary experience, but one that you should be prepared for. Follow these roadside safety tips if you’re ever in this type of emergency:

Slow down. If you feel a change in your vehicle’s performance, start to decrease your speed, but don’t slam on the brakes. Instead, slowly lift off of the gas pedal and use calm, controlled braking to slow down gradually.

Use your indicators. It’s important to use your four-way emergency (hazard) lights to indicate to other drivers from the very first sign of trouble that you’re slowing down and moving off the road. Be sure to get as far off the road as possible.

Be seen. Any vehicle pulled off to the side of the road near traffic needs lighting, reflectors or other gear to warn oncoming traffic. It’s a good idea to keep a roadside emergency kit in your car that includes reflective triangles that can be used to warn oncoming traffic, particularly at nighttime when visibility is worse.

Call for help. Calling police or first-responders as quickly as possible can also limit your risk; once they arrive they have resources for ensuring traffic safety.

Stay out of the road. It may seem easy to go for your trunk, jack up a flat, or start walking down the road for help, but even when you are safely in the shoulder, you can still be at risk for a collision. If getting out of your car is necessary, always step around the vehicle on the side away from traffic. Never stand by the vehicle in the roadway.

Remembering these roadside safety tips can help keep you and your passengers safe after a vehicle breakdown while you wait for help.

You can also protect yourself, your vehicle, and your belongings with Auto, Home, and Renters coverage from Liberty Mutual via the Alumni Insurance Program.

For more information and free quotes, visit http://meyerandassoc.com/umbc

Excerpt from HelloHealthy

No matter how motivated we are in the morning, we can get driven to the edge by life and lose touch with why we’re on this crazy journey in the first place. Or sometimes it’s frustration with what we perceive as a lack of results. But no matter what kind of ledge you’re on, there are ways to get back onto the path you started. Here are just a few that have worked for my clients.

Enjoy that pizza. No really. The choice was made. Now it’s time to move forward. So throw out those leftovers and get back on track as soon as possible. A few slices will not ruin your lifetime of health and fitness, but the longer you nurse that case of the “screw its,” the longer you delay success. So enjoy the indulgence! And use this as an opportunity to learn how you can bounce back even faster.

Make a fallback plan. Almost every Thursday, my clients write their fallback plan for the weekend. While you’re in a good mood, before you come across the “screw its,” sit down and think about what the minimum-minimum is—what’s the ONE THING you need to do to feel like you’re still on track? Is it eating vegetables? Drinking water between adult beverages? Doing 10 push-ups?

Be realistic. Any healthy choice is still moving forward. Now write down your fallback plan, or take a picture of it on your phone so you’ll remember it just before the “screw its” happen.

Ask yourself, “What have I done well? What have I learned?” Most of us get fixed on outcomes. Weight. Sizes. Results. But evidence from 40 years of motivation research has shown that focus on the process rather than the outcome leads to better results. So when you’re feeling discouraged, take an honest self-assessment. What have you learned? What’s gotten easier? And what are you doing well that will help you for a lifetime?

Remind yourself that no weight-loss journey is linear. There’s always plateaus. Always, always. Even for you. Yes, you. You will have plateaus. If I sound redundant it’s because no one thinks this applies to them. But the people who successfully lose weight and keep it off are the ones who keep going. Like Winston Churchill said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going!”

Tell someone what you’re thinking. Eighty percent of my job is showing up and listening, which you don’t really need training to do. Seek out a friend or a forum and let people know what you’re thinking. Most of the time just saying stuff out loud to people you know are sharing your struggle is enough to see things in a different light.

Remember that the average American gains a pound a year. So even maintaining your weight means you’re above average!

Author: Coach Stevo is the nutrition and behavior change consultant .He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, holds a BA in Philosophy from the University of Chicago and an MA in Sport Psychology from John F. Kennedy University. 

Spotlighters Theatre seeks Teaching Assistants (Interns) for Summer Young Actors Academy

About the Academy

Spotlighters Theatre's Young Actors Academy is a year round theatre education program offering training to youth in the Baltimore metro area through an academic and conservatory style approach. The program is designed and facilitated by instructors who work in K-12 schools, colleges/universities, and local, regional and LORT theatres. Our aim is to provide opportunities for serious young actors who want to have fun!

U.S. Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Ted Carter signed a Cooperative Research Acquisition and Development Agreement (CRADA) with University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) President Freeman Hrabowski April 21st on the UMBC campus. This agreement will support future partnerships between the two schools, beginning with five cyber security research projects from teams of faculty from both institutions.

This collaboration has its roots from when Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, visited the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), in February 2014. During the visit Greenert met with Hrabowski to discuss ways to work together on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiatives. This initial visit between the two illuminated the institutions’ mutual strengths and interests in cybersecurity.

The initial cyber collaborative projects between the USNA and UMBC will involve areas from tactile authentication for mobile devices to detecting anomalies in cyber-physical systems to securing cloud services using policy-based approaches.

“I wanted to do this since I assumed the position of Superintendent last year,” said Carter, from the UMBC campus. “To partner with a school like UMBC is a great opportunity, particularly a school represented with so many opportunities for woman, international students and minorities.”

The Naval Academy continues to take steps to ensure future graduates are invested with the skills and knowledge necessary to operate in an emerging cyber security environment. The academy is the only U.S. institution of higher learning that has mandatory cyber security classes. The baseline is to provide every academy graduate with an understanding of the cyber domain and how it impacts their commands and their ability to conduct their missions.

The academy also now offers a cyber operations major, an interdisciplinary course of study that covers a wide range of cyber-related operations, both technical and non-technical. And, in December 2014, Congress approved funding for a dedicated building to house USNA's Center for Cyber Security Studies.

"I predict 30 years from now, what we did here (at the CRADA signing) will be vital to national defense," said Carter.

Reprinted from an article by the Naval Academy public affairs department.

New Pentagon cyber strategy to discuss nation's offensive capabilities

Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter will lay out the military’s new strategy for fighting battles over computer networks Thursday, today, officials said, revealing what analysts say appears be a tougher, more offensive approach to cyber warfare.

It’s the first major update to the Pentagon’s cyber strategy in four years, a period during which American businesses have suffered major attacks, including the assault late last year on Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The document, to be unveiled as Carter delivers a speech at Stanford University, includes descriptions of ways the military can use computers in all stages of a conflict, according to a summary provided by defense officials Wednesday — a sign that the department is opening up about its offensive capabilities.

The Defense Department has been bolstering those capabilities in recent years, establishing a new command at Fort Meade and training thousands of military and civilian personnel in cyber warfare.

Analysts said the new strategy effectively acknowledges what has long been an open secret: The military is not merely interested in defending its own computers, but wants to attack those controlled by its adversaries.

“This is a declaration that we're going to view offensive cyber capabilities as a major tool in our arsenal,” said Richard FornoÖ, the director of the graduate cybersecurity program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

The Pentagon is still feeling its way forward in cyberspace, where it shares responsibilities with the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the private sector.

Since Carter became defense secretary in February, he has focused on fleshing out the department’s contributions to cyber defense. For his first domestic visit as secretary, he chose troops stationed at U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade

The new strategy reflects the growing number and sophistication of attacks against American computer networks in recent years.

Commanders have been open about their intention to better protect military networks and key infrastructure in the event of a major attack. But they have been cagey about acknowledging the nation’s offensive hacking abilities.

That’s partly because those abilities have been developed with the aid of the highly secretive National Security Agency, and partly because officials are worried about potential damage to American businesses if the Internet comes to be seen as a tool of the military, analysts said.

When the Defense Department was preparing its first cyber strategy in 2011, researcher Ian Wallace said, there was an intense debate about acknowledging the military’s offensive capabilities.

Even the language expected to appear in the new strategy indicates that there is “still a reluctance to be blunt,” said Wallace, with the New America Foundation.

There has been little public information about the military’s powers to launch attacks over computer networks, but some indications of the department’s thinking and abilities have trickled out.

The United States is widely believed to have been behind the 2009 Stuxnet virus attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, and Defense Department documents describe plans to knock out enemy computer systems — to take air defenses offline, among other purposes, or change data to confuse adversaries.

Eric Rosenbach, a top adviser to Carter on cyber issues, told a Senate panel last week that planners are considering how to attack civilian targets, but said details were classified.

Rosenbach told the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on emerging threats and capabilities that the department’s plans to build a 6,000-member cyber force had fallen behind schedule and training would not likely be complete until 2018.

Facing stiff questioning from Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, Rosenbach said the Cyber Command currently did not yet have “a robust capability” to mount campaigns in cyberspace.

Trey Herr, a researcher at George Washington University's cyber institute, said laying out a new strategy should help the department develop specific plans for training and procurement.

“One of the reasons that [Carter’s office] believes they need a document like this ... is to understand what capabilities they have to acquire,” Herr said.

The government has been treading a fine line in its efforts to help secure the Internet from hackers, while still retaining significant powers to conduct terrorism and computer security investigations.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would make it easier for companies to share information on cyber attacks with the government — a measure privacy advocates worry would open a back door for spies.

And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced a bill that would allow a sweeping NSA program that collects data about phone calls to continue, another tool disliked by privacy groups. Without action by Congress the law authorizing that program will expire June 1.

Carter’s visit to Silicon Valley is part of a campaign by top government officials, from President Barack Obama on down, to repair relationships with technologists after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden revealed how spies exploit tech companies to obtain data from online services.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, making a separate trip to California this week, announced that his department would open a satellite office in Silicon Valley.

Officials said the Defense Department would make a similar move as early as next month.

Carter is expected to explain how the Defense Department can work more closely with Silicon Valley leaders. His itinerary includes a visit to venture capitalists and veterans working at Facebook.

iduncan@baltsun.com

twitter.com/iduncan

Copyright © 2015, The Baltimore Sun

Different kind of 'call of duty': Students fight off hackers

Cyber security team heads to nationals in Texas. Video by Jim Mandelaro

Bryan Harmat, left, and Tyler Fornes are part of Rochester Institute of Technology's Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition team that will be in San Antonio for a national competition starting April 23, 2015.(Photo: Jamie Germano, Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle)

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Picture this: You're on your computer, furiously trying to ward off one attack after another from professional hackers.

At the same time, you're attempting to complete multiple tasks from your boss.

Do you sink or swim? Make it or break it?

That's the challenge facing a college team you've probably never heard of — Rochester Institute of Technology's cybersecurity squad.

"It's one giant head game," says Tyler Fornes, a graduate student from Springville, N.Y.

Fornes is one of eight RIT students who will compete in this weekend's national Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition championships in San Antonio. About 180 schools nationwide have cybersecurity teams, but only 10 regional champions reach nationals.

USA TODAY COLLEGE

Are college students our best hope in the war against cybercrime?

Rochester won the competition in 2013 and finished second last year to the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Joining them will be these schools:

• University of Alaska Fairbanks
• University of California, Berkeley
• DePaul University in Chicago
• ITT Technical Institute - Boise, Idaho
• University of Maryland, Baltimore County in Catonsville
• University of Nebraska in Lincoln
• Southern Utah University in Cedar City
• University of Texas at San Antonio

For these teams, the most points wins — but defense is the only option.

Here's the basic premise:

Student "blue" teams are tasked with protecting a bullet-ridden computer infrastructure — one they've never seen before — while being attacked by "red" teams, industry professionals posing as hackers.

Bill Stackpole of the Rochester Institute of Technology is coach of its Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition team. (Photo: Jamie Germano, Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle)

The students get points, increasing in unknown increments, for warding off the attacks and maintaining their systems. But they also must perform business duties assigned by their bosses, the "white" teams, and must maintain existing mail and Web servers.

If their system falters or crashes, they lose points.

"Those who perform the best get the most points and wins," says Bill Stackpole, associate professor of computing security at RIT and the computing security team's coach.

And just like in all sports, no defense is no foolproof.

"I promise you, the red team is breaking into the box," Stackpole said. "I don't care how good the blue team is. It's not a question of if it's going to get breached, it's a question of when."

This isn't all fun and games. In recent years, cyberattacks have hit major companies such as Anthem (ANTM), Staples (SPLS), Home Depot (HD), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Sony Corp. (SNE) subsidiary Sony Pictures — remember The Interview? — and the FBI now considers cybercrime a major issue.

The Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition began in 2004. Sponsorships have grown and now include power companies such as Amazon (AMZN), Facebook (FB), Hershey (HSY) and Microsoft (MSFT). The title sponsor is Raytheon (RTN), a major American defense contractor.

USA TODAY

Cybersecurity training on the rise for young students

The companies aren't doing this as a goodwill gesture. When the competition ends Saturday night, top company official will recruit Collegiate Cyber Defense team members to work for them for salaries starting in six figures.

"The students bring their résumés with them and everything," Stackpole said.

“It's one giant head game.”

Tyler Fornes, Springville, N.Y.

In 2009, Boeing (BA) was a major sponsor of the West Coast regional and hired all six graduating members of the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona team that won.

Students don't need to be geniuses to work on RIT's computing security team, but they do need at least a 3.0 grade-point average. The college advertises the program at the beginning of the academic year and holds tryouts in a giant lab before a team is selected.

The team has 12 members, but only eight will compete this weekend.

The students say they were drawn to computers early in life — and for different reasons. Fornes' uncle was in the Air Force and showed the boy how to build his own computer.

For Stanley Chan, a fourth-year student from Brooklyn, the itch came during middle school "when I realized my computer was broke, and I didn't know how to fix it." He does now.

Banners fly in Rochester Institute of Technology building for its Cyber Defense Competition teams. (Photo: Jamie Germano, Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle)

When the students are placed at 9 a.m. CT Friday in a Marriott hotel room filled with computers and cables, they will see their infrastructure for the first time.

Dozens of white team bosses dispense orders. The red team attacks from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., at which point the blue team is removed from the room and the infrastructure stays up.

"You're definitely in a high-stress situation," Chan said. "People get on each other's nerves.

"The best part about being on this team is everyone understands people are going to be on edge and tired," he said. "It's like, 'Let's not hold anything against each other. Let's plow through this together.'"

Bryan Harmat, a fourth-year computing security major from Worcester, Mass., is captain of the RIT squad. His job is to secure the network devices and make sure everyone stays on task.

"It's pretty stressful but a lot of fun," he said. "This is something I love. ... I just want to learn as much as possible."

Communication is vital, and so is chemistry. That's why team members bond by playing video games, board games and even karaoke.

USA TODAY

Colleges expand programs as cybersecurity threats grow

"It's very vital that we all communicate with each other when we change something," Fornes said. "We could end up hacking ourselves if we don't do things in the right order."

Competition resumes Saturday morning, at which point teams get a rough idea of their current ranking. And the winner?

"The winner gets glory and fame," Stackpole said, smiling.

And, most likely, a job that pays six figures.