It started as a seemingly innocuous day for many people. It was another damp Friday morning that began with snow flurries over UMBC’s campus. By the time the clock struck midnight on March 16, 2018, Cinderella had arrived and the greatest upset in sports history had occurred — #RetrieverNation had arrived.

If you thought there was a chance, you probably tuned in to TNT for the opportunity to hear Jim Nantz and Grant Hill highlight the Retrievers on the national stage.

If you saw a tweet on social media or got a text from a friend, you probably turned the game on at some point in the first half, and you kept watching.

If you had any relation to UMBC whatsoever, you were probably glued to your television until the clock hit 0:00.

If you were lucky, you were one of the 17,943 at the Spectrum Center to witness history live.

Though it is unlikely that another UMBC sporting event will ever amass the millions of viewers that watched the pair of March Madness basketball games, demand for UMBC Athletics is at an all-time high as the largest ever incoming class of Retrievers begins their college career. Coincidentally, UMBC is entering year three of an 11-year contract with America East Conference universities and ESPN that allows for each school to produce in-house broadcasts of all their athletic events. “The AE on ESPN3” runs through until the 2026-2027 academic year, with plans to gradually expand the quantity and variety of offerings.

Last year, UMBC broadcasted every home, in-conference men’s and women’s basketball game on ESPN3, with ESPN+ viewing eligibility. As the Retrievers look to build off the March Madness success on the court, UMBC Athletic Communications has made efforts to build off of this success as well, as the ESPN basketball offerings will be expanded to include non-conference opponents.

Alongside basketball receiving ESPN3 coverage, Steve Levy, UMBC Associate AD of Communications, added that it is “likely” that volleyball, men’s soccer, and women’s soccer will have some amount of games broadcasted on ESPN3 this fall. No comment was made as to the opportunity for spring sports on ESPN3 at this point in time.

What makes the in-house broadcasts at UMBC incredibly unique when compared to those of power five conferences, is that most of the broadcast is student-run and produced. UMBC Students working or interning with athletic communications work alongside the sports information department and the new media studio to understand what goes on “behind the scenes” in producing televised college sports broadcasts. Working live shows on professional grade equipment, UMBC students are given the opportunity to learn and work alongside experts in the broadcasting industry, expanding their professional network while developing their skills as camera operators, producers, directors, replay operators and audio engineers.

“With more and more people wanting to get into broadcasting and with the live sports broadcasting industry growing at an unprecedented rate, the initiative offers on-the-fly training that would be hard to get anywhere else,” noted Zach Seidel, UMBC Director of Multimedia Communications and the man behind the popular @UMBCAthletics Twitter account. “It would take years to get on an ESPN broadcast otherwise,” Seidel added. He also noted that many involved in the program have gone on to work broadcasts with the Ravens, Orioles and CBS among others.

One of those students involved with the program is Maher Bousaba, a senior information systems major, entering his second year as a part of the broadcast team. Bousaba said, “I never went to UMBC with any kinds of expectations related to sports, so getting to see D1 basketball through such a professional lens has been wonderful.” Often working behind the camera, Bousaba added, “ESPN has been amazing in creating that opportunity for the hardworking hands behind the broadcast who have taught me and the other students a lot.”

Whereas Bousaba has only recently become involved with UMBC Athletics, senior math major Kristin Watson has made her mark in the RAC and UMBC Event Center as a four-year member of the volleyball team. Also in her second year of the ESPN initiative, Watson became “hooked” on the fast-paced experience of working live television in the broadcast truck on ESPN3 games. “Since it is live action, I love having to make decisions on the spot and understand everyone’s role to make the production run smoothly,” she said, “I was able to direct a few games at the end of the season, which was an unbelievable experience.”

Schedules, livestreams and archives of non-ESPN3 produced games can be found on AmericaEast.Tv, free of charge. ESPN broadcast information can be found alongside the individual team’s schedules on UMBCRetrievers.com, with links to the broadcast posted as they become available.

With the construction of the UMBC Event Center and the relocation of various sports teams to the new facilities, campus administration has elected to relocate several offices to the now vacant Retriever Activity Center. Included in this move are two offices that had previously been located near the residential halls on the other side of campus: University Health Services and the Counseling Center.

On the surface, this move may seem beneficial. These are services that have likely outgrown their current spaces and are in need of a relocation. However, when considering the role of these amenities, problems become apparent. These services exist for the convenience and benefit of students in crisis, and they cannot serve that role as efficiently after this move.

Currently, it takes a student living on campus in the residential halls less than five minutes on average to get to the Counseling Center or UHS. If they were in the RAC that time would balloon to more than ten minutes for an able-bodied individual. This estimate inflates even further as one realizes who would be using the UHS: largely students living in residential halls.

In particular, students who need to use the services offered are often not in the best shape to travel long distances. As anyone who has ever been bedridden with the flu can attest, the idea of going down a flight of stairs is daunting enough. It would be quite the feat to make it all the way across a campus that is, presently, anything but accommodating to that trek.

As Sonia Borenstein, a sophomore studying music composition, explains, “The UHS being in the RAC is fundamentally wrong, reason being: the primary users are residential students.” Borenstein, who lives in Patapsco Hall, continues, “This makes it inaccessible to residential students who are sick, who probably cannot make it all the way down … especially from the res halls.”

In addition to the increased distance, the new location of the UHS may force sick students to traverse greater crowds. With the Quad unavailable to students, someone heading to the RAC must take a longer route through Academic Row, often the busiest part of campus. This not only slows the progress of a sick student trying to get across, but also puts every other person in the crowd at risk of infection.

The UHS was unavailable for a statement on this issue.

It is conceivable that the new location of the services would be more convenient for some students who commute to campus. However, John Platter, a junior studying psychology, rebuffs this notion. “Commuters get their primary care off campus,” he says. “No commuter goes to UHS for their primary care.”

Like many students, Platter expresses his overall dissatisfaction with the move: “Just because it is a change does not mean it is a change for the better.”

It is nine o’clock on a Thursday, and UMBC students Romi Pal and Connor Ganley are waiting with 23 other Albrecht Fellows at the Hammond’s Ferry Road Park and Ride to travel to McCormick & Company, Inc. They are a part of the inaugural class of the World Trade Center Institute’s Global Pathways for Students summer program, and every Thursday since May 31, they have journeyed to different Park and Rides throughout the Baltimore region as WCTI connects them with Maryland’s top international companies.

GPS is meant to provide a roadmap — pun intended — to its fellows, exposing them to the different career paths that fall under international business and helping them see the possibilities in their futures. Just some of the companies they visited include The World Bank, Johns Hopkins Medicine International and Ciena. The Albrecht Fellows — named after the program’s visionary founder, James Albrecht — come from universities all across the greater Baltimore region and have majors ranging from International Business to Mechanical Engineering.

The program, which focuses largely on network-building, was launched, in part, to reach, “a rather untapped demographic,” for WCTI, as one of the program managers, Jamal Washington, wrote in an email communication. “[We wanted to] provide a platform for some of the top students in the region to gain real-world access to some of the most globally minded companies based right here in Maryland,” he wrote.

A recent graduate of Towson University, Washington believes that his involvement with the program is a “natural fit” as he has always been excited to help foster a network of mentorship, one that the program hopes to expand in subsequent years.

Orientation

Before completing the program, Pal, a junior global studies and political science major, did not think she had many post-college options in her degree pathway since it was so broad. “Ever since I was young, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to dabble in different areas,” she said. “Why should I limit myself?”

Ganley felt much the same way. A Grand Challenge Scholar and a senior chemical engineering major, Ganley has always thought it important to be well-rounded, and through the Grand Challenge Scholars Program, he has been able to look at the most prevalent problems our society faces under an interdisciplinary lens and often in a group-based setting.

When Pal and Ganley talk about their expectations for the GPS program, they laugh. “We had no idea what to expect,” they said. Pal had originally applied for a different internship at WTCI but did not get in. When they emailed her back, they asked her to look into the GPS program. Ganley heard about the program from the former GCSP Program faculty lead, Dr. Marie desJardins, who recently became the founding dean of the College of Organizational, Computational and Information Sciences at Simmons College.

Their first day was orientation, where they practiced effective networking, created LinkedIn profiles and learned how to build a personal brand. They were given WTCI business cards to use over the course of the program and are planning to use their extra cards to distinguish themselves at the upcoming campus career fair.

Pal and Ganley also learned how to introduce themselves correctly, an exercise that, while seemingly rudimentary, was actually more useful than anyone originally thought. The formula: A rise in inflection on the first name, followed by a fall in inflection on the last name, a confident tone and a strong handshake, repeated with every person in the room. They were ready for the site visits.

The site visit

The ten companies welcomed the Albrecht fellows for two-hour open houses on Thursdays, giving presentations from different departments and allowing the fellows to ask questions and tour the facilities. At the end of the session, the fellows had time to network with the presenters, build connections and practice the communications skills they learned during orientation.

Both Pal and Ganley’s favorite site visit was to McCormick & Company, Inc. Why? Because of the free snacks — and the state of the art facilities. “They took us to their labs. They had equipment that can detect what compounds are in what foods to create their spices,” said Ganley. “It was really, really cool to see … the front end of [operations] and the back end with all the research.”

While they sometimes wished for site visits to extend longer than half the day, Pal and Ganley were also able to participate in other internships during the summer because of the GPS program’s format. Pal worked in the Treasury Department of the governor’s office in her home state New Jersey, which gave her a better sense of economic policy, supplementing her work within her major and the GPS program.

Ganley had an internship at W.R. Grace, a chemical company with a very international focus, in Columbia, Maryland. He worked on a project surrounding a chemical plant in Germany, allowing him to immerse himself in international solutions throughout the entire summer.

Washington has expressed that, for future classes, WTCI is, “looking into a number of different partnerships with universities and companies to allow for more of an immersive experience amongst the cohort of fellows. That is the biggest change on the horizon.”

Closing ceremonies

The 2018 Albrecht fellow class still talks in the group chat they made during their time together, keeping in touch and making sure this new network of colleagues and friends stays alive as the school year begins again. Pal and Ganley brought their experiences to campus, eager to share them within their respective departments and scholar programs.

Pal was especially excited to reach out to her global studies advisor Dr. Brigid Starkey, who she says has been there for her since the beginning of her college career. Dr. Starkey is excited to have Pal visit her Global Studies 100 class to tell them about the program and encourage them to apply for this local opportunity.

Dr. Starkey hopes to see a partnership form between the GPS program and the UMBC Global Studies department in the future. “I wish all students could go through this program,” she said. “It could help them see the career possibilities … You don’t have to go to Asia or Latin America. There are global issues right here in Baltimore.”

For Pal, GPS opened what she calls a “window of opportunity.” Pal initially chose UMBC for its proximity to D.C. and its access to national politics, but through the GPS program, she has learned what is also available to her in the region in the realm of Global Studies.

“Now there’s so many different businesses that I have a place in — I’m not leaving anytime soon,” she said.

Sophomore-forward Cesare Marconi showed his quality by scoring two goals and creating another in the Retrievers’ comeback win over the Rutgers’ Scarlet Knights in the second game of the men’s soccer season. He said after the game that when Coach Caringi III showed him a video of the 3,766 fans cheering on UMBC last year, he knew he had to come here. He dazzled 2,828 adoring fans on Monday with two great goals and a shirt off celebration. The victory shows the spirit and fight in this team as they won the game after falling back 1-0 and 2-1.

In the first half, UMBC started timidly and were outshot by Rutgers. Rutgers’ defense was very aggressive in tackles, with 11 fouls. Senior midfielder Patrick Jean-Gilles started most Retriever attacks in the half with his incisive passing, and he suffered a lot of fouls. However, the Scarlet Knights took the lead in the 33rd minute as their forward Brian Hawkins scored over UMBC sophomore-goalie Ciaran O’Loughlin. UMBC had an opportunity to tie the game as Marconi had a free-kick saved by the Rutgers goalkeeper, and the Retrievers ended the half down 1-0.

In the second half, the Retrievers rode the tackles of the Knights better and took their chances. Rutgers earned three yellow cards from persistent fouling. Marconi scored a free-kick from 25 yards to tie the game in the 51st minute. Rutgers quickly took the lead again in the 57th minute, with a goal from Jordan Hall. However, UMBC tied the game again through a Rutgers own goal from Marconi’s corner kick in the 66th minute. It looked like UMBC would go behind a third time when their opponents were awarded a penalty kick, but Rutgers-defender Mazzucato’s kick hit the crossbar.

The game-winner came in the 72nd minute when Jean-Gilles played a long pass that was headed down by freshman-forward Jackson Becher and finished by Marconi from the edge of the box in the 71st minute.

“Today was important to show that this is our field, we decide how [the game will go]”, goalscoring hero Marconi said after the game. “We were coming off a very difficult win against Temple. We are all hungry [to win]”.

“It was a great headed assist from Jackson [Becher],” he said on his game-winning goal.

“Unbelievable crowd!” he said about the turnout. “No one has fans like this. Where I came from in [Italy], there isn’t that much of a crowd and I like to play in front of a crowd which is why I [celebrated flamboyantly]. They will be the twelfth man for us. I am very proud to have chosen UMBC. I am happy that Pete Caringi III called me for this experience because I think it’s going to change my life.”

“We came from behind two times, the UMBC way”, captain Jean-Gilles said. “Rutgers were [sic] ready to go after their loss against Loyola. But they got frustrated because of how much heart and fight we had [after many fouls].”

“I swung it in [to Becher] because I knew we would get to the ball first,” he said on his assist. “[Marconi] hit a banger on the keeper. The team is ready to take that next step, to win a championship. Crowd was beautiful. Great energy.”

“The second half was more like how we want to play”, Coach Caringi said. “And so was the result. To have two wins with [many injuries to starters] is great for us. We played poorly in the first half. Guys were probably nervous with the big crowd. We had no flow to our midfield and tried to be too cute with the ball.”

“Brilliant!” Caringi said on Marconi’s performance. “How about that kid! This is the making of a big-time player. Thank you to the fans [as well]. Best fans in the country! We dreamed of [having crowds like this].”

After spending two weeks on the road for the Penn State Invitational and the Bruiser Showcase in Nashville, Tennessee, the UMBC Volleyball team finally got to play their first match in the brand new Event Center on Friday. The Retrievers entered the match having gone 2-4 over the previous weeks as they faced some tough competition.

It was a bittersweet weekend for the Retrievers though. The excitement of starting at the new event center and a ceremony celebrating Kristen Watson’s one thousandth career dig highlighted the weekend, but the matches themselves would prove to be challenging for UMBC.

It was an early start for the Volleyball team on Friday, with a scheduled start time of 10 a.m., but both teams were energetic from the start, cheering loudly from the court and the sidelines with each point scored.

The Retrievers started off well in the first set, getting off to an early 9-4 lead over the visiting Robert Morris Colonials. UMBC would hold that lead until the Colonials tied the set at a score of 11-11. But from there, the Retrievers would regain the lead and would maintain that lead throughout the set, winning by a score of 25-21.

UMBC would struggle to score in the second set, falling to an early 5-1 deficit. Robert Morris dominated the Retrievers for the remainder of the set, winning 25-13.

In the third set the tides would turn for the Retrievers as they came out strong offensively with an impressive kill from junior-middle blocker Franchesca Reed. They would eventually take a 7-1 lead after a kill by freshman-outside hitter Paige Krenik. UMBC would continue their offensive onslaught in the third set, winning the set 25-11.

The fourth set of the match was an impressive battle between the two teams. The Colonials and the Retrievers went virtually back-and-fourth through the entire match, with neither team seeming to have the advantage. They seemed to match each other point for point.

UMBC had an opportunity to win the set and the match as they lead the game 24-23 late, but an errant serve allowed Robert Morris to tie the game at 24-24. UMBC would again have a chance to win after going up 25-24, but Taylor Lord of Robert Morris would tie the game once again with a kill. Lord would then register two more points for the Colonials, giving them a 27-24 set win.

UMBC would struggle to score once again in the fifth set, failing to challenge Robert Morris as they fell in the set 15-8, thus losing the match 3-2.

On Friday evening, the Retrievers would come out strong in their match against the James Madison University Dukes. In the first set the teams would play to a 8-8 score early, before UMBC would start to pull away slightly. After a kill by Reed that gave UMBC a 9-8 lead, the Retrievers would not allow the Dukes to come back again in the set, winning by a score of 25-21.

But the Retrievers would struggle offensively in the next two sets scoring only 10 and 13 points respectively as the Dukes cruised to back-to-back victories. The Retrievers would play a much closer game but would eventually fall to 25-23, losing the match by a score of 3-1.

But the weekend would end on a good note on Saturday afternoon as the Retrievers took on the Loyola Greyhounds. The in-state foe gave UMBC a good fight on Saturday playing them tightly throughout the match.

The day started with the Greyhounds winning the first set 25-19, after UMBC had taken an early lead, but the rest of the match would belong to UMBC as they would ride a solid offensive performance to a sweep of the final three sets. Freeman had an especially impressive performance on the day, registering 19 kills throughout the contest. Watson led the way on defense, registering 23 digs as UMBC fought their way to victories of 25-16, 25-23 and 25-16 respectively.

This was the first win for the Retrievers in the new Event Center. With this win, they improved their record to 3-6 on the season. UMBC will play again Friday as they take on Ball St., La Salle and Towson in the Towson Invitational.

Attending college is full of numerous learning experiences, both academic and personal. However, getting to college has many difficult, confusing and expensive steps. One of the major requirements for acceptance into schools and receiving scholarships is a standardized test such as the SAT or ACT.

There are a growing number of states and several individual school districts that have implemented a free SAT (or ACT) day. This initiative requires every student to take the SATs, sometime during their junior or senior year, with some variation depending on the district. This one free SAT test has proven to assist many students who were not even considering college as an option and those who could not afford multiple retakes.

The commonly used SAT is currently priced at $54 and while some financial waivers exist, they are not enough to cover every student. Studies show that those who take the test more than once are very likely to improve their scores. Prospective college students are allowed to retake the SATs multiple times without penalty, but the cost prevents many from doing so.

Through free SAT days, students are able to determine their level of ability. This is especially important for those with less financial flexibility compared to their peers.

Dr. Manuel A. Burciaga is the principal at Northview High School, which is in one of the Californian districts that offers free SAT days. He writes in an email, “There are some kids that [free SAT day] is the only time they take the SAT and [they] had not planned to go to college, but when they see how well they have done on the SAT they now plan to go to a 4-year college.”

Burciaga asserts that this is important for his students because “when most of [the] student population is low [socioeconomically], this creates opportunity and resources for them.” There have been a plethora of studies that prove differences in familial income play a large role in determining whether a student takes the SATs more than once or even attends college, regardless of their personal ability to succeed scholastically.

Socioeconomic status additionally impacts a student’s perception of college. Studies reveal that low-income students are less likely than high-income students to apply for more advanced college programs despite actually being qualified to attend. Free SAT day is a step that helps close an economic gap early on in a person’s academic career.

Burciaga likes to think of it as a fixed- vs growth- mindset: “A fixed-mindset is just focusing on a high school graduation rate. A growth-mindset is focusing on enrolling our students to a 4-year college, so a free SAT develops a Growth Mindset on our campus.”

If schools nationwide adopt a similar philosophy and free SAT day is implemented throughout the country, a massive amount of students can receive a better opportunity to be successful in college and beyond.

It is 10:20 p.m. on a Friday night, and the 9:30 Club in downtown Washington, D.C. is pulsing with excitement and noise. A smoky haze and the loud hum of not-so-sober conversation fill the venue as the anticipation grows for the main act.

Ten minutes, and everyone is rocking out and singing at the top of their lungs “all my brothers we stand for the peace of the land, is there meaning? I’ve got love in my heart, for an army apart, I am bleeding…”

These are the heartfelt words to “Edge of Darkness,” an original song by Greta Van Fleet, a modern classic rock band from Frankenmuth, Michigan.

The band has gained enormous popularity in the rock world this past year since the release of “Black Smoke Rising” in April 2017 and are currently on a world tour that has stretched from Paris, Berlin, and Japan to Denmark, Hawaii, the UK and more.

What makes this band unique cannot be summed up in one word. It is a convergence of talent, charisma and a dedication to the music with the power of classic rock.

The band is made up of three brothers, Josh (vocals), Sam (bass) and Jake Kizka (guitar) along with their family friend, Danny Wagner (drums); all under 22 years old. They have captured the world with their authentic classic rock music and many even compare them to rock legend, Led Zeppelin.

Josh Kizka’s vocals are definitely unique to modern music; a husky howl that looks almost effortless and reminds audiences of Robert Plant’s wide range of vocals and pitches.

The 9:30 Club sang along with Josh as best they could, but he wowed everyone by holding long high notes, screams and howls without a single voice crack (while the audience’s voices cracked to no end).

Already recognized by Guitar Player magazine, Jake Kizka brought back the good old days of guitar solos as he showed off his amazing self-taught talent for the guitar, giving virtuosic solos throughout the show.

Sam Kizka and Danny Wagner also got their fair share of time in the spotlight, especially Wagner, who closed the show with an astounding solo on drums, ending the night with a bang.

The group left the stage, leaving a crowd electric with excitement and adrenaline. Some flocked to the merchandise booth and bought T-shirts, posters and even socks with the 70’s style ‘Greta Van Fleet’ band art and logo. Everyone, however, left the venue with rock ‘n roll pulsing through their veins, thinking ‘it’s about time.’