The construction work on the Commons’ roof, is addressing prominent water leakage, mold and space issues that have troubled the Commons for years. It is one of several construction projects currently underway on campus.

The Commons houses some of the major campus organizations such as Greek Life, the Student Government Association and the Women’s Center, while also hosting a number of different events throughout the year. However, in recent years, students and faculty have reported water leakages and mold that have made it difficult to utilize these spaces effectively.

Lenn Caron, assistant vice president of Facilities Management, said that “The Commons’ roof has been plagued with leaks for a number of years and these leaks have been repaired as they occurred.” The result of these scattered repairs was the temporary closing of certain spaces.

Caron added, “It was decided a couple of years ago to replace The Commons roof completely. Last year a project was completed to replace one of the three roofs on The Commons and the remaining two roofs are being replaced.”

He went on to explain that the ultimate goal of the project is to extend the life of the roof and cut back on current maintenance costs, while also providing a more energy efficient, watertight roof.

The projected completion date is less than a month away now, but student leaders believe that the ongoing process has illuminated a major issue on campus: the allocation of spaces for various student organizations.

In an interview with Felix Facchine and Meghan Lynch, both of whom are senior SGA members, they discussed that while disruptions caused by the issues in the Commons can be tricky to navigate, they reveal another issue that the campus faces.

“It reflects this general idea that students don’t have enough places on campus to gather. The Commons is supposed to be this ideal student union where you can come together to relax and hang out, and the construction has definitely magnified this issue,” said Meghan.

Students around campus have expressed the same concern. A senior social work student stated that they’ve had to work around the construction with particular student organizations in order to meet, but space was already an existing issue.

Students hope that once construction is complete, the discussion of long term plans about how to properly and strategically use these spaces will benefit the greater student body.

“All of these issues, on a bunch of different scales, are interconnected. The ultimate goal, whether or not we’re talking about potential water damage, or we’re talking about roof repairs, or we’re talking about space, the larger goal is that students have a space where they feel welcomed and they feel their needs are fully met,” said Felix.

The Baltimore director of Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation, Eric Holcomb, announced that the 225-year-old Christopher Columbus monument, vandalized in August following the removal of four controversial statues, may be repaired and rededicated to include native Americans.

Holcomb, whose prerogative as the director is to preserve the obelisk, must leave the decision to either replace or repair the statue in the hands of Baltimore City Mayor Catherine Pugh, who has between 30-60 days to make a decision.

Following the defacement, City Councilman Ryan Dorsey began to survey members in the surrounding community about their interest in or concern for the future of the statue. Dorsey hopes to replace the statue to represent “current-day values,” according to the Baltimore Sun.

Dorsey explained that the community believes there is a better alternative than rededicating the statue and that the community should continue to give suggestions until Pugh reaches a public decision.

The destruction of the statue on Aug. 21 followed the removal of four confederate statues by Pugh. On Aug. 16, Pugh made the move in response to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which ignited over the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue. 

Prior to Pugh’s decision, a special commission reviewed all of the confederate monuments in Baltimore, and interpretive plaques were installed until the ultimate removal of the monuments.

In the two minute video posted by YouTube user Popular Resistance, the speaker names himself as Ty, and approaches the statue with two other men. One of the men attached a sign to the obelisk that read, “The future is racial and economic justice.” The same man began to smash the plaque while the other man holds another sign, “racism, tear it down.”

The owner of the Popular Resistance YouTube page does not appear to be affiliated with the creators of the video, and the majority of the user’s content is dedicated to local Maryland politics. “Part of our evolution as humans requires tearing down monuments to destructive forces, and tearing down systems that maintain them,” said the narrator of the video. 

Currently, Ty and his collaborators are unknown, but a police investigation remains open, as their protest is an illegal act of vandalism.

The statue, a 44-foot tall obelisk, was made in 1792 in honor of the 300th anniversary of Columbus’ then-heralded first expedition to the Bahamas. The monument that originally resided on Frenchman Chevalier d’Anemours estate was moved before being donated and moved to Heinz Park in 1963.  

The Heinz Park monument is not the only Baltimore statue dedicated to Columbus; in 1982 and 1984, two more statues were erected: one in Druid Hill Park, and another in East Harbor by then-president Ronald Reagan.

Pugh has yet to release any information on the fate of the Heinz Columbus monument.

Back in the city where it first premiered, “Intimate Apparel” by Lynn Nottage is currently delighting viewers of all ages at Everyman Theatre. While somewhat predictable, Nottage’s play is beautifully constructed, and Tazewell Thompson’s direction brings it to life by the actors in a visually stunning — and ultimately heart-wrenching — way.

The play chronicles the year of 1905 for Esther Mills (played to perfection by Dawn Ursula), a thirty-five-year-old woman who makes intimate apparel for fine ladies and dreams of one day owning her own beauty parlor where African-American women can go to feel pampered. She receives a letter from a mysterious man in Panama named George Armstrong (Bueka Uwemedimo), and as they begin to correspond, they both fall in love with the idea that there is someone who wants them, sitting on the other end of the page.

Once George comes back to America, he and Esther get married, but soon Esther realizes that George is not the sweet, honest man she has come to love through his letters. She finds out he has been sleeping with her friend, Mayme (a radiant Jade Wheeler), who is a prostitute, and before he leaves for the last time, Esther gives him all the money she had saved up for her beauty parlor so that he can find honest work.

All the while this is happening, Esther finds herself pulled in numerous directions, from a client (Beth Hylton) who has come to care deeply for her to her old boarding house mistress and friend (Jenn Walker) to a Jewish fabric seller named Mr. Marks (Drew Kopas) for whom she has discovered newfound affection. Esther’s relationship with Mr. Marks becomes more and more complicated as the year passes. Both of them promised to another, they dance around their feelings for each other until it is too late, and their friendship can never be the same. Kopas is positively lovable in this role, and both he and Ursula bring such heart to their characters’ relationship.

Everyman Theatre consistently does an amazing job with set design, and Donald Eastman, in his Everyman debut, has created a truly gorgeous and breathtaking set. David Burdick, the costume designer, compliments this with his elegant creations; even the run crew is outfitted in period pieces, adding a new dimension to every scene change.

“Intimate Apparel” does not try to be anything it is not. It will pull you in from the start and leave you reeling; the colors, dialects, and emotions weave together as beautifully as Esther’s apparel, and the acting is unparalleled. Everyman Theatre has truly outdone itself with this simple, yet remarkable, production.

“Intimate Apparel” is running through November 19 at the Everyman Theatre. Everyman features a $10 student rush for B location seating 30 minutes before every scheduled performance and is offered to those with a valid student ID. Additionally, all Sunday evening performances are $10 for students in B location seating with a valid ID. Full price tickets can be purchased for $43-52.

¡Hola! Me llamo Gerardo Herrera-Cortés y soy un pasante por los poblaciones hispanos y latinos en el Mosaico: centro para la diversidad y cultura en UMBC. Estudio diseño gráfico, pero tengo una pasión para la vida y experiencia de los universitarios.

In translation to the American English language, I just said my name, that I’m the Hispanic and Latino/x intern for the Mosaic, as well as my major and my main interest. Those two sentences took about half an hour to write. If you’re fluent in written Spanish, you can perhaps see the mistakes I made. I search endlessly through search engines and Spanish websites to ensure that my grammar is at least decent. In English, that’s lesser of an issue.

I was born in Puebla, México and immigrated to the United States with my mother at trés meses. I already knew that I was an undocumented immigrant, along with other members of my “nuclear” family (Side note: I found out what nuclear family meant this past weekend and it’s quite a weird concept). It was no biggie – my family had their life and other folks had theirs. We kept a sharper eye at the skin tones of police officers and the immigration Q&As on Univisión Noticias than others. It was normal. Normal.

My hermanos, 19 and 14, are American-born and, as my dad likes to put it, malagredecidos. They’re enjoying the American experience and the benefits of health insurance, an American passport, and citizenship. Aren’t they lucky, huh?

I applied to colleges, the first in my family, and got stuff done. I didn’t know how money worked nor how much it was but I went for it. During my sophomore year in high school, my sister and I applied for and were granted I-765 work permits and deportation deferral through DACA. I worked full-time for slightly above minimum wage – $7.80 at the time – because I had the ability to speak (decent) Spanish. I worked full-time, every week, from October 2013 to August 2015. Then, my mother revived her Permanent Residency application that was filed in 1993, back before the time of any children, with a costly lawyer during my junior year.

El trío was granted residency status in March 2015. We spent more than dos mil dólares por persona. I helped my older sister in funding the federal “forgiveness” fee, biometric fees, application fees, and lawyer costs. I came to UMBC, paid for my first semester with the dos mil that was left in my bank account and whatever leftover money the federal and state government had (and none from UMBC at the time).

Fast forward, I’m working several jobs here at UMBC, living financially unstable, enduring discriminatory and injusto practices and cultures, and still worried about several loved ones. Mi familia transverses the six of us. I acknowledge that the 1993 case was a life (and deportation) savior for most of my family.  I acknowledge the ability to live in lesser fear. I want you to acknowledge that getting benefits and “security” is not always truest to their words. I want you to acknowledge that la experiencia de un inmigrante no ha cambiado y la guerra para igualdad sigue más fuerte que nunca. Yo quiero lo más mejor por mis padres, mis parientes, y esos de la misma o peor experiencia. Tú eres querido, importante, y vital en este mundo. Y en el fin, yo asciendo por la guerra, por la gente, por mi gente, y por vos.

¿Necesita ayuda con la traducción? Need assistance with translation? Visit http://www.spanishdict.com/

Spring 2018 Registration Advising Appointment Information

http://advising.coeit.umbc.edu/registration/

What about Winter Classes?

http://www.umbc.edu/winter/

What If I'm a New Student for the upcoming Spring semester?

Newly admitted students for the spring semester may not register for courses until Orientation. Please sign up for winter Orientation.

http://orientation.umbc.edu/

What If I Still Have Questions?

A number of devastating earthquakes and powerful storms made 2016 the costliest twelve months for natural catastrophe losses in the last four years. Losses totalled US$ 175bn, a good two-thirds more than in the previous year, and very nearly as high as the figure for 2012 (US$ 180bn). The share of uninsured losses – the so-called protection or insurance gap – remained substantial at around 70%. Almost 30% of the losses, some US$ 50bn, were insured.

Infographic on natural catastrophes in 2016