The Women's Center would like to share an exciting scholarship from Central Scholarship of Maryland!

Central Scholarship of Maryland has an exciting scholarship opportunity your student members may find beneficial.

See flyer for details!

The Marjorie Cook Scholars Program

Amount: Up to $5,000, renewable

Qualifications:

• Graduate female students in Maryland who intend to empower women through public action and advocacy/ intend to become lawyers or public-policy makers devoted to advancing women’s social and political status
• Women majoring in public policy or law on the graduate level
• Displayed passion for/commitment to women’s rights and equality
• (volunteerism, internships, research, prior work experience)
• 3.0 GPA or higher

Welcome to the home to everything you ever wanted to know about UMBC’s Student Government Association 2012 Elections website! We have an updated cornucopia of information about SGA, positions open, eligibility, and how to run for office!  Check back often for new posts about information sessions, election policy, and opportunities to get involved.

Image from http://www.getreligion.org/2012/02/race-religion-maryland-and-gay-marriage/

“Marriage has been between one man and one woman since the beginning of time.”

–Maryland Delegate Michael J. Hough, R-Frederick

Delegate Hough has an interesting notion of “the beginning of time”. It must have taken place sometime after Old Testament folk like King Solomon and his 700 wives had expired. (The 300 concubines we won’t worry about since they weren’t exactly “wife” material…)

Although Hough and the rest of us will probably never know when the beginning of time really was, there’s no doubt that it’s certainly time for the Maryland House of Delegates to vote upon the gay marriage bill sponsored by Governor O’Malley.

The bill proceeded to the House on Tuesday after being approved by two House committees. Last year, a gay marriage bill died in the house after some delegates, including a number of black Democrats, refused to support it due to religious beliefs.

Now, the bill is back, and many proposed amendments have been rejected, including one that would’ve allowed parents to opt out of school programs that discuss gay marriage and offered teachers exemption from teaching it.

However, Delegate Kathleen Dumais, D-Montgomery, who is a supporter of the bill, says advocates may be willing to accept a few minor changes to the bill on the house floor.

Other delegates hope for more significant amendments to the legislation. Sam Arora, D-Montgomery, for example, hopes it will be amended to support civil unions instead of gay marriage.

But many same-sex marriage supporters argue that settling for civil unions sets us back into the times of “separate but equal.”

Will there be enough support in the House to pass the legislation? Or is the bill bound to face the failure it saw last year yet again?

We at USDemocrazy will be watching and sharing updates.. like we have since the “beginning of time”.