As the University takes measures to prevent the spread of COVID 19 (Coronavirus), we have received many questions regarding parking and how the University’s operating plans effect parking enforcement. We wanted to take this opportunity to avoid any confusion among Faculty, Staff and Students.

Prior to Spring Break, parking regulations will be enforced as usual. You must park in your assigned zone and visitors will be required to pay in the Pay-to-Park lots. Additionally, service providers will be required to obtain service permits from Parking Services.

Due to the special circumstances, students may be removing more of their personal belongings from dorms and apartments than during a normal Spring Break. We will do our best to accommodate their needs to park close to their residences but please note, the safety of students and motorists is paramount.

During the first three days of Spring Break (March 16-18), we will follow standard procedures during a University Holiday. You will not need to pay-to-park and you may park in any legal parking space on campus. Please note, standard traffic regulations will be enforced during this time by the UMBC Police.

When campus reopens on March 19, we will return to normal parking operating procedures. Parking zones will be enforced. Additionally, you will have to pay in all Pay-to-Park lots and service permits will be enforced.

We are aware that an event such as this is unprecedented and we will re-evaluate the parking plan if the University makes any further adjustments to its operating schedule.  

Editor’s Note: This article was sent to print on March 9. Please check covid19.umbc.edu for updates.

“It was a really emotionally taxing time for a lot of reasons,” said one student who was forced to return from their study abroad semester because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). “I’m still in quarantine.” 

Approximately 11 University of Maryland, Baltimore County students have returned from studying abroad in Japan, China, Italy and South Korea due to the growing international concern of the highly infectious COVID-19 epidemic. After spending the entire fall semester in the affected country, the students had only 36 hours after they received the evacuation email to return to the United States. The aforementioned student asked to remain anonymous due to the stigma surrounding COVID-19.

UMBC made the decision to cancel “university-related student travel” in countries under a Center of Disease Control Risk Assessment Level 1, 2 or 3 in February. Maryland has had five cases confirmed of COVID-19 as of March 8. 

Tess McRae, a junior English major with a creative writing minor, feels anxious about the impact of COVID-19 on her travels. McRae is currently abroad, studying at the University of Brighton in England. There have been five cases (out of the eight in the United Kingdom) confirmed in Brighton as of Feb. 12. 

McRae traveled through an affiliate program, University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC). “I’m not as worried about contracting the virus myself as I am about the general spread of it getting worse, and getting bad enough for [UMBC] to be like, ‘I need to come home,’” she said.

McRae has received communication from both UMBC and USAC, with her program director at USAC putting out daily communications to help debrief students. “The local friends I’ve made don’t seem to be too concerned [because] they are feeling good about the [National Health Service] plan in place,” said McRae. Citizens of the United Kingdom have access to the NHS, which provides free health care.

McRae has seen that the members of her USAC cohort are more on edge, though. When it comes to communication requiring students to be ready to leave, she says, “it could be as soon as tomorrow.”

She has been in contact with USAC and also met with her residential director at his office hours, asking him questions about coronavirus and her semester. “Our entire semester here is in jeopardy,” she said.

Additionally, McRae and her mother have been in touch with her UMBC study abroad advisor. “It’s a tough decision to make because they want to prioritize safety of students abroad, but also to not have this horrible disruption,” McRae said.

The most difficult part for her has been the unpredictability of the outbreaks and preparations. Organizing her semester has been challenging. McRae’s mother was planning to fly out and visit, but they are no longer sure that visit will happen. “There’s a lot of disruption and uncertainty, we’re just taking everything day by day,” she said. “You can’t make plans for next week. It’s unfortunate, I really hope we can finish [our semester] out here, but I’m not sure.”

Other universities in the United States, like Clemson University in South Carolina, have recalled all study abroad students, bringing 385 students back to the U.S. UMBC has cancelled an ancient studies spring break study abroad program, and as of March 7, all summer study abroad programs have also been cancelled. “Our number one priority is the student’s safety and well-being,” Associate Vice Provost for International Education Dr. David Di Maria said.

Some semesters in other countries are shifted either earlier or later than American semesters. For Jack Taylor, a third year psychology major, his semester in Nagasaki, Japan was cancelled before his program even began in March. “I never even got the chance to leave the country. My program didn’t start for another three weeks” and the university he was planning to attend, Nagasaki Foreign Student University, was still open.

On Monday, March 2, Taylor found out that UMBC had cancelled his program, which is also through USAC. “I have to deal with a lot of this by myself because I organized a lot of it without the school since it’s not a direct exchange,” said Taylor. “So now I’m behind a semester, I need to get ten grand back from Japan, [I] am stuck at home for five months. I’m pretty angry about this whole thing.”

Taylor is currently working as a subcontractor and living at home in Montgomery County with his parents. “I am working full time right now to save money for Japan, but now [I don’t know] why I’m doing it anymore,” Taylor said. “At this point it’s too late to sign up for classes for this semester so I need to contact my advisor on how to make up an entire semester. I don’t think [UMBC] had a lot of options. It was either put students in jeopardy or pull everybody.”

Students who return are helped with academic continuity on a case-by-case basis. Some faculty members have offered to help by teaching individualized classes for students who have returned from being abroad. Dr. Nancy Young, vice president for Student Affairs, stressed the “compassion” that faculty and the different Dean’s offices have extended towards students. Online classes may also be available to some students through other universities or the study abroad program, but they will not be able to attend classes on campus normally. 

Taylor, who only has one year left, feels as though he has missed his chance to study abroad while in college: “I don’t think I can [study abroad] anymore. I’m supposed to graduate next year and have activities in the fall I want to be here for. This was my only shot really. I don’t blame the school for this. They had no say in people dying. They just did what they had to in order to protect people. Am I mad? Oh, I’m furious, but it’s not their fault. It’s no one’s fault and that’s what hurts the most.”

The Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship seeks to attract talented, committed individuals with backgrounds in the STEM fields—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—into teaching in high-need secondary schools in Pennsylvania. The Fellowship has also prepared over a thousand teachers in Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio. Eligible applicants include current undergraduates, recent college graduates, midcareer professionals, and retirees who have majored in, or have extensively studied, one or more of the STEM fields.

The Fellowship also works to change the way top teachers are prepared, partnering with colleges and universities that have agreed to provide Fellows with innovative, year-long classroom experiences, rigorous academic work, and ongoing mentoring.

The spring application deadline is March 16, 2020.

For more information please click here

Senior computer science major Anna Staats woke up to her alarm at 5 a.m. on Sunday, March 1. Her stomach felt off as she begrudgingly pulled herself out of bed, the idea of racing in the 2020 Publix Atlanta Marathon in less than two hours being anything but pleasing. 

“Mom, I might drop out,” Staats said to her mother as she walked out of the bathroom.

The excitement felt the night before while watching the Olympic marathon trials was replaced by doubt. With worst case scenarios running through her head, Staats went through her pre-race motions, getting ready to take her place alongside the over 2,100 other runners in the Atlanta Marathon.

The Atlanta Marathon comes at an ideal time in the marathon racing season. For most marathoners, an early spring race like the Atlanta Marathon helps shake off the dust before their racing season picks in June and July. However, this year’s marathon was more than just a convenient racing opportunity for Staats. Racing in Atlanta meant that she could see her marathoning idols and run in their footsteps.

Staats trained for months in preparation for the Atlanta marathon. From 20 mile runs through Ellicott City and Patapsco State Park to 15 mile workouts at marathon pace or faster, Staats averaged 85 miles per week — around 12 miles per day — leading up to her marathon. She ran alone, in the early morning frost before a full day of classes, steeling herself for the 26.2 miles she would run in Atlanta. Despite rain, cold and exhaustion, Staats woke herself up each morning, laced up her Asics and slipped out of her campus apartment.

All those early mornings and long runs passed through Staats’ mind as her mom drove her from their hotel to the start of the Atlanta Marathon. She mentally prepared herself to make it to at least the half marathon mark despite her body’s initial protests when she woke up. 

Upon arriving, Staats changed into her lucky socks, a pair decorated with waffles to represent the Waffle House that would be her prize at the finish line, and began to warm up for her race. 

“Just gotta make it to the waffles,” she thought.

At 6:50 a.m., the gun went off and Staats jostled her way through the crowd of other runners before settling into her own pace. She describes feeling like she was on autopilot for the first eight miles, her legs easily ticking off seven minutes and 20 seconds per mile, until a house along the course snapped her attention away from the pothole filled road. Adorned with five Mike Bloomberg signs, the house annoyed Staats and she could not help but complain aloud.

“Are you kidding me, another Bloomberg ad?” Staats said, causing three runners near her to burst out laughing.

After running across a small bridge over a highway, Staats passed mile 14 and realized she only had 12 miles to go, a distance she had practiced so many times that it now seemed easy. She began counting down the miles, running them now at a pace of seven minutes and 15 seconds per mile. She grinded up the hills, telling herself that everything would get easier once she got to the top. With a total of 1,811 feet of elevation and descent, Staats repeated her mantra for every hill. Still, each one left her legs burning, both her quadriceps and her hamstrings wearing out from the constantly shifting terrain.

Even with such a difficult course, Staats realized at mile 16 that she was having a good day. She was on pace for a personal record by at least a few minutes and believed she still had more left in her and her legs.

“You can dig deeper. You can take more,” Staats said to herself.

A disorienting section wound through a grassy field and around a track, reminding Staats at mile 22 of the lactic acid building up in her legs and emphasizing how badly she wanted to be done. With just over four miles left, Staats’ mind was just as exhausted as her body. She could not distinguish between reality and the mental confusion that comes from running for over two and a half hours. 

This feeling only got worse when Staats realized that the mile markers for miles 24 and 25, the ones she was relying on to start her kick to the finish, were missing. With no idea how much longer she had to go or exactly where the finish was, she hoped the crowd would flock to the finish line and direct her.

Staats’ fatigue only grew and she felt a wave of determination as she ran under the famous Atlanta bridge with its Olympic rings. The thought that Olympians ran under that same bridge filled her with joy; to be running the same course as such talented athletes felt like an honor to her.

More so, the thought of all the runners in the Olympic trials the previous day who were not unlike Staats, who had full-time jobs and still managed to train and qualify, made her only more determined to push her legs into a higher gear. She wanted to be like them — she wanted to run the trials and run alongside professional athletes despite being unsponsored.

As Staats crossed the finish line in Centennial Park, the announcer called her name and her final time of 03:12:29, a five minute personal record that placed her in third for her age group, runners 18-24 years old, and 13th for all women in the race. 

After being handed a medal, a bottle of water and a thermal blanket, Staats found her mom who had finished her own half marathon just an hour prior. Although Staats had initially been motivated by the Waffle House near the finish line, the pair opted instead for a local breakfast spot in Atlanta to celebrate their accomplishments. As Staats refueled on breakfast foods, she could not help but feel hungry to experience the joys and trials of another marathon. Her morning may have started with doubts, but the race left her confident that she was on track for an even stronger performance at her next marathon in June.

The jostling 25-minute ride on a school bus faded out of memory once the musical journey of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on a school field trip began. As a viola player for 10 years in three school orchestras, I attended two such shows, where I saw and heard professional musicians playing the same instruments that my friends and I did. I immensely enjoyed these experiences, and eventually came to realize the enormous privilege of living so close to one of the finest symphony orchestras in America.

In my junior year of high school, I went to the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall for the second time in my life to watch my classmates appear on stage. They had been accepted to the BSO’s Side by Side program, undergoing an audition and enduring countless rehearsals with the group, all the while learning how a professional orchestra runs.

One of my best friends, who also played viola in our school orchestra, came onstage for the second piece: a viola concerto featuring her as the soloist. She did a special audition to be our county’s soloist for this show, and got the call back that very same day that she had been chosen. As a musician, I loved seeing my instrument represented, and she gave a stellar performance. As her friend, I swelled with pride for her talent, hard work and courage in preparing for months and then performing in front of a large audience in that storied setting.

Naturally, I have spoken to her about her experience many times since. She is currently a music performance major at the University of Delaware, and says that being a part of the BSO Side by Side program three times gave her insight into performing with a professional orchestra, solidifying her decision to pursue the degree that reflects her passion for her instrument. Despite her dedication to her studies and practicing her art, her career path ahead is a challenging one. Even the BSO that we know and love is struggling through some tumultuous times, raising questions for young classical musicians in the Baltimore area.

The BSO has made numerous press releases over the past months that shed light on its current situation. Last May, they announced the cancellation of their Summer 2019 program due to “financial challenges” including $16 million lost over the preceding decade, leading to a three-month lockout of their musicians as reported by NPR. On June 27, 2019, they confirmed that medical and dental insurance — which had been set to expire on June 30 — would be covered for musicians during the lockout period due to donations. The implication was that the musicians, who were out of work for the summer, did not have guaranteed medical or dental insurance.

Amidst the orchestra’s financial circumstances, the Baltimore Sun reported on January 16, 2020, that Governor Hogan, in his 2020-2021 budget, attempted to block the Maryland General Assembly’s proposed $1.6 million in funding for the BSO. Two bills filed by Baltimore Symphony Orchestra synopses would notably require “the Governor to appropriate certain amounts of money to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in fiscal years 2021 through 2026” while dropping the issue of the 2020-2021 funding, in an attempt to break the deadlock.

Another link in the chain of change facing the orchestra is that longtime Music Director Marin Alsop is set to leave this position after the 2020-2021 season, as the BSO announced in a Feb. 26, 2020 press release. While not inherently indicative of anything negative, and certainly a possibility for the orchestra to have a fresh start, her departure does contribute to the growing sense of uncertainty surrounding the BSO. There are many moving parts surrounding the BSO, and it is unclear how they will land.

I no longer play the viola in any sort of organized orchestra, but I still care about local music and have always admired the classical musicianship found in the BSO. They inspired my friends and me, and as young classical musicians, that was important. For aspiring professional performers, it is disheartening to see even the respected musicians of the BSO face unemployment and no guaranteed insurance for weeks on end. Careers in the performing arts are notoriously risky, but when large establishments have issues like this, musicians must weigh their dreams against these uncontrollable realities.

One way to help the BSO and other struggling groups is through donations; last summer, donations meant that the musicians of the BSO had access to some of the basic benefits of their jobs. But on a larger scale, state and federal governments need to prioritize funding for the arts. The BSO is a source of inspiration and experience for classical performers, especially young musicians in the Baltimore area. To continue empowering them to work hard and fulfill their artistic potential, the Maryland state government needs to work with the BSO by passing and enforcing measures like the current bills, which will have hearings on March 12, that provide necessary funding.

Long gone are the humble days of Netflix’s mail-order service, and at this point, its origins shrivel in comparison to the wealth of entertainment the general public has at their fingertips today. Provided that one has a subscription, any person in America has nearly a century of television and film at their disposal, from ’90s sitcoms to Blockbuster epics to contemporary indie flicks. At the time of publication, the most popular things on Netflix include “Twin Peaks,” two Dave Chappelle comedy specials and a neo-noir sci-fi thriller released in 1982, respectively.

There is clear diversity on display here, and this is without taking into account the content exclusive to Netflix. From “What Did Jack Do?,” the David Lynch-directed master class in absurdist monkey-murderer cop procedurals, to “The Irishman,” the Martin Scorcese critical darling chronicling the life and crimes of Frank Sheeran, one can see why Netflix has caught on. 

The success story of Netflix, though, should be old news to most, not least of all because of its familiarity. Ever since Netflix hopped the boundary from mail-order entertainment to instant entertainment, streaming services have been the new norm. Aside from Netflix and Hulu, two titans of the industry, there is Amazon Prime, YouTubeTV and the up-and-comer Disney+, just to name a few. Streaming is in. 

Before this glut of streaming services was readily available, the most popular long-form television shows dominated all networks. Network television was where viewers caught the newest “Breaking Bad,” “Lost” and “Game of Thrones,” compiling all the attention on AMC, ABC and HBO. Netflix and, later, Hulu, offered little in the way of original content. Streaming was, by and large, a place for reruns and films.

The entertainment industry today is nearly an inverse of this, with many networks taking the first migratory steps towards streaming. Now, waiting an entire week for the next episode of “The Walking Dead” turns most viewers off, as entire seasons are made available to start-up, binge and discard at any time.

Streaming services completely displaced networks as the dominant form of entertainment for many Americans, with every platform producing their own original content. It would have been difficult to foresee Martin Scorcese or David Lynch directing anything for Netflix back when it was a fledgling mail-order company, but this is just what the past few months have seen.

Beyond Netflix, “The Mandalorian,” the Disney+ sleeper hit, ended the decade on a positive note for the company, drawing in many would-be skeptics with grizzled bounty hunters and Baby Yoda, not to mention cameos from Werner Herzog, Bill Burr and Giancarlo Esposito. “The Handmaid’s Tale” attracts viewers for Hulu, and “The Man in the High Castle” does the same for Amazon Prime. For similar reasons, HBO decided to produce the upcoming “Friends” reunion for their newly launching streaming service, HBO MAX. All this success holds some implications for the future of entertainment. 

Much has been said about “The Office” leaving Netflix for the upcoming NBC streaming service (yet another example of a network transitioning into the streaming platform), but for all the controversy the move has caused, it makes sense. “The Office” is one of the most popular shows on Netflix, and NBC strategizing to prop up its own streaming service secures an audience of some kind.

The “Friends” reunion special, as well as the removal of the show from Netflix, is a similar situation. “Friends” engages a wide audience, many of whom had only seen the show through Netflix. Making HBO MAX the only means to access the show brings a guaranteed viewership.

However, neither of these moves are easy for consumers. For all of the advantages of streaming entertainment, asking people to spend another $14.99 for what is, in essence, a single show, is a hard sell. Longevity and diversity have been a key aspect in the success of Netflix and Hulu. Placing such importance on singular intellectual properties is the antithesis to this longevity. 

The future of streaming services is uncertain. If Disney+ and “The Mandalorian” have been any indication, audiences are obviously willing to pay for exclusivity, but an oversaturation of these platforms may well run the risk of apathy. If every streaming network offers exclusivity, then none will. Only time will tell if the streaming bubble bursts or if every network on television makes the transition, but if it continues to give audiences products like “What Did Jack Do?,” “El Camino” and “The Irishman,” maybe all the confusion is worth it. 

The executive board members of the Resident Student Association take their positions as advocates for the residential community very seriously. 

On top of their staple events, like Midnight Breakfast and Dogapalooza, the RSA hosts semesterly town halls designed to allow students to bring their concerns and questions to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s professional staff, which, depending on the semester, may include the police department, campus dining services or campus mailing services. RSA members have stationed suggestion boxes in the front lobbies of all of the residential halls, which are sorted through for monthly review, and host smaller events over the course of the semester in order to build relationships and increase contact with residents.

Ashley Copenhaver, RSA president, has made advocacy work a priority for the organization. But the road to establishing RSA as an advocacy organization has not been easy, and it is something that board members are continuing to work towards.

But before they can be advocates, they have to have visibility.

“Throughout the first month of being president, I came to the realization that I can’t focus on advocacy,” said Copenhaver, who is a mathematics and biology double major. “I had to choose something else to focus on, […] the indirect impact of which would be affecting advocacy.”

The RSA was not originally designed as an advocacy organization, despite current efforts to become one. An early issue of The Retriever reported that the Resident Student Association formed in 1977 as a counterpart to the now-defunct Resident Hall Council, which was sponsored by the Student Government Association. RSA was not SGA-sponsored and was created to be the social programming arm of the RHC, while RHC handled the political aspects of the organization. RSA events were therefore restricted to only residential students.

Today, the RSA, which presumably absorbed RHC at some point over its roughly 40-year history, serves approximately 3,900 UMBC students and is meant to bridge the gap between residential students and professional staff. Additionally, each executive board member receives a stipend for their work, and RSA receives its yearly budget through Residential Life. Paisley Martin, the Residential Education and Leadership Coordinator and RSA’s advisor, said that it is easy to view RSA as the “younger sibling” to the Student Events Board or the SGA. 

“We’re also the hybrid of the two of them,” Martin said. “I see us as the top tier of student organizations” in terms of importance to student representation.

The road to getting involved with RSA typically begins with a spot on one of eight community councils. There is one council per residence hall, and one council that represents the four apartment systems on campus. While RSA schedules programming for all residents, across all residential halls and apartments, Community Councils receive a yearly budget to use in their specific building. 

Oliver Lim, who serves as RSA’s National Communications Coordinator in Training, feels that a strong relationship with the community councils is important to “maintain [the] foundation” — and a training ground — for RSA. Before beginning his position with the RSA, Lim, a sophomore pre-nursing major, served as the Community Council president of Chesapeake Hall. The events his council hosted averaged about 80-90 people by the end of the academic year, which was “really good for a freshman hall,” Lim said. After his success in the Chesapeake Community Council, Lim became a summer conference assistant, where he gained a greater understanding of Residential Life processes, and then joined RSA as its NCCIT in October of fall 2019.

Within RSA, Lim works alongside Jack Kelly, the National Communications Coordinator. Kelly, a junior mechanical engineering major, represents UMBC’s RSA at the national and regional level and attends biweekly, national online meetings with other NCCs. This allows him, and by extension, UMBC’s RSA, to stay up to date on what other campuses are doing around the country and get advice on different situations.

UMBC’s RSA belongs to the National Association of College and University Residence Halls and the Central Atlantic Association of College and University Residence Halls, of which Martin is a regional advisor.

“Other people on the e-board — they don’t see how what they do impacts the region or [nation], but we get that full scope,” Kelly said.

RSA has been strengthening its impact on campus recently with a campaign to place free menstrual products in the residential halls and the Apartment Community Center. The organization also partnered with Residential Life — which is not directly affiliated with RSA despite providing the organization’s funding — to issue a sustainability survey last semester that gathered over 1,500 responses, according to Kelly. Among the biggest concerns: removing plastic bags from campus and switching from plasticware to eco-friendly cutlery.

Not all of the suggestions students submitted can be fixed overnight, according to Kelly. But RSA plans to continue to bring these changes up to their professional staff contacts. 

“I feel like everyone wants to see an immediate impact,” Kelly said. “A lot of it has to do with consistency, and consistent persistence. … If the university hears it once, are they going to do anything? If the university hears it year in and year out, multiple times a month, that’s going to promote change.”

Martin is particularly excited to see this kind of long-term planning from RSA, as it is “not something that RSA has seen or really had the ability to do in the past.” She continually encourages the executive board to “think bigger” about how to create visibility for themselves on campus, even as she is doing her own work to make sure students are aware of the opportunities available to them.

“It’s continuing to position RSA as another option [for student leadership],” Martin said. “RSA isn’t for everybody, just like being an RA isn’t for everybody, so how do I make sure that students know … all of their options coming out of their first year?”

Copenhaver always saw RSA as her option, though. From her freshman year, she was involved in her community council, and then worked her way up to become director of events in her junior year. She said that the people she was around kept her coming back, as well as the fact that she’s “drawn to things that need a little bit of renovation.”

“I like being very engaged in the community … and I also enjoy advocating for students,” Copenhaver said. “RSA gives me that platform to be able to do that.”

Applications for executive board positions within the RSA open March 9.