Busy teams of students clustered around laptops in a room overlooking Baltimore’s Inner Harbor on Tuesday, focused on solving as many challenges as possible during a “capture-the-flag” style competition. After hours of intense competition in cyberspace, UMBC’s team emerged victorious, named champions of the college division of the 2018 Maryland Cyber Challenge.

Started in 2011, the competition is part of the annual CyberMaryland Conference. UMBC’s team included Niara Richards ‘22, computer science; Nithya Prakash ‘22, information systems; Josh Mpere ‘19, computer science; Seamus Burke ‘20 computer science; and Swathi Krithivasan ‘22, computer science. They worked together to test their skills in a series of real-world cybersecurity challenges over the course of two virtual qualifying rounds and then the final competition, beating talented teams from the U.S. Air Force Academy and University of Maryland, University College.

“It was my first time competing in the Maryland Cyber Challenge, although I have a pretty extensive competition background,” said Burke. “I am especially proud of my freshman teammates who put in a ton of effort, solved challenges, and didn’t get discouraged when the challenges got more difficult.”

Burke is a Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) Scholar and Mpere is a Cyber affiliate. Richards, Prakash, and Krithivasan all participate in UMBC’s Cyber Scholars Program, which works to prepare the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.

All five members of the winning team will receive a monetary award and an offer to complete a summer internship to continue growing their experience and skills. Additionally, the university will receive new technologies (including software) to support more UMBC students in developing their cybersecurity skills.

“The competition was a fantastic experience and gave me a lot of exposure into topics that I otherwise would not have gained, especially as a freshman,” said Krithivasan. “We had a mix of both upper and underclassmen on our team, which really enabled us to learn and grow from working with each other.”

Banner image: Nithya Prakash, Swathi Krithivasan, and Josh Mpere being recognized at the award ceremony. Photo by Mike Lackner, computer science and informatics, and technology instructor at Loyola Blakefield High School.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh filed a motion this past Friday to dismiss one of the claims filed against UMBC Police Chief Paul Dillon on behalf of the police chief. Alternatively, the motion asks for summary judgment, a court order ruling that the other party to the case — in this instance the plaintiff — has no case because there are no facts at issue. In addition to or in place of summary judgment, the motion asks for Dillon to have qualified immunity in this case; this would protect him from being sued for all discretionary actions performed within his capacity as deputy chief in 2015.

The claim in question was filed by one of the two plaintiffs who have recently come forward to allege that UMBC mishandled her 2015 sexual assault case. The plaintiff has alleged that Dillon “‘improperly’ persuaded her to not file a police report about the alleged assault.”

The motion states that Dillon had “merely explained … her reporting options” in a meeting with the plaintiff, her mother and Rina Rhyne, a former UMBC employee who worked as the program coordinator for Voices Against Violence at the time. These reporting options include filing a complaint with UMBC’s Title IX office, filing a criminal complaint with the UMBC police department, which would be referred to the Baltimore County Police Department, or filing both a complaint with Title IX and a criminal complaint.

The plaintiff alleges that Dillon “persuaded her not to pursue a criminal investigation of her assailant.” The motion argues that, since Dillon informed the survivor of all of her reporting options, “even if the Court accepts [the plaintiff’s] allegations as true, [Dillon’s actions] were not unlawful.”

Dillon and Rhyne both submitted affidavits along with the motion to dismiss, which present their understanding of the handling of the 2015 case. In his meeting with the plaintiff in 2015, Dillon states that he explained the difference in reporting to UMBC’s Title IX office or to the BCPD and that while he did not “explicitly” tell the plaintiff that the Title IX proceeding would be easier, he states that “[the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s mother] … may have drawn these conclusions based on my explanations about the different processes, the anticipated length of the different proceedings, and the different applicable standards of proof.”

According to Dillon’s affidavit, UMBC strives to handle its Title IX cases within 60 days, while criminal proceedings can take much longer. Additionally, within a criminal process, the prosecutor must “show the Respondent is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” while under the UMBC Title IX process, the reporting party must “show by a preponderance of evidence that the Respondent was in violation of the UMBC Sexual Misconduct Policy.”

Rhyne states within her affidavit that during her meeting with the plaintiff and Dillon, “At no time did Deputy Chief Dillon attempt to influence [the plaintiff] in her choice as to whether to file University Title IX charges, criminal charges, or both.”

The motion to dismiss includes email communication between the plaintiff and Dillon where the plaintiff states that she would like to pursue a “university investigation, not a police investigation.” Dillon also provided email records showing that he contacted the BCPD to prepare them for a potential criminal complaint had the plaintiff decided to pursue a police investigation.

Dillon also states within his affidavit that, contrary to the allegations from the plaintiff, her report of sexual assault does appear as one of the ten reported rapes in the 2015 Clery Report.

If you have pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-optometry, or pre-veterinary career interests, here are some fast tips to help you understand the chronology of registration.

1.  On October 22, the Schedule of Classes for Spring 2019 will be published and available on the Registrar's website.  Use this resource to build a Spring 2019 schedule along with your degree audit which is available within your myUMBC account.

2.  Find out who your Declared Major/Assigned Academic Advisor in your Declared Major is.  Check out the list of Declared Major Advisors here.  Schedule an appointment with your Declared Major advisor and get your registration block lifted.  Remember, pre-health is not a Declared Major, but is a supplementary interest area. 

3.  After you get your Spring 2019 registration block lifted and if you are pre-health (pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-optometry, pre-veterinary) and a Freshman, Freshman Transfer, Sophomore, or Sophomore Transfer plan on attending one of the MANDATORY Freshman or Sophomore pre-health advising meetings.  Select one of the meeting dates and put it on your calendar now.  These group advising meetings are mandatory for all Freshmen and Sophomores with pre-health career interests. 

Similarly, Juniors and Seniors should formulate their Spring 2019 schedules with their Declared Major advisors and contact Ms. Roelke with any remaining pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-optometry, or pre-veterinary specific questions. Questions can be emailed to Ms. Roelke at Christy.Roelke@umbc.edu or book an appointment here.  There are not any mandatory group advising meetings for juniors or seniors.

DO YOU HAVE FRIENDS who are pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-optometry, or pre-veterinary?  TELL THEM TO JOIN THE "PreMedical and PreDental Interest Group"!  Go to myUMBC, and then Group Directory, to join.

Are you an upperclassman?

Are you interested in IT, cybersecurity, or analytics?

Apply for a chance to:

Take 3 specialized courses at CMU

Work with a client on a cyber security related project.

• Includes $1000 stipend, costs of housing, meals, books, supplies, and travel expenses to Carnegie Mellon.
• Scholarship of at least 50% of graduate school tuition if admitted it and enrolled into a master's program at Heinz College.

At the The Heinz CMU IT Lab:

https://www.heinz.cmu.edu/programs/itlab/

Review the Application Process:

https://www.heinz.cmu.edu/programs/itlab/itlab-application

Important Deadlines:

Priority Application: February 1, 2019

Final Application: April 1, 2019

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