Scientists agree the Anthropocene, a new geological epoch defined by humans’ effects on the Earth, is upon us, but when did it begin? The Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) of the International Commission on Stratigraphy is poised to make that call, but Erle Ellis and colleagues argue that voices from highly relevant social science disciplines have been thus far excluded from the conversation.

To date, the AWG has focused primarily on markers in the rock record from the 1950s onward that demonstrate human impact, such as plastics, but “this ignores millennia of previous human influences, from our use of fire to the emergence of agriculture,” writes Ellis, professor of geography and environmental systems at UMBC. Ellis is lead author on a comment published in Nature on December 8 that contends social sciences and humanities researchers should play a prominent role in the formalization of the Anthropocene.

Currently, only three of 37 members of the AWG are social scientists focused on long-term social change. In particular, Ellis voices a need for archaeologists to be involved in the Anthropocene formalization process. “They have always studied the physical evidence of human societal relationships with environmental change,” he says.

Most fundamentally, Ellis argues, it is essential that AWG seek to understand “why humans, and no other species in Earth’s history, have put our planet on a new trajectory,” and including the perspectives of social scientists would “change the evidence base, the scientific methods, and the time-frame within which the Anthropocene would be formalized.”

Ellis is an AWG member and had raised concerns within the group about its biases. He decided to write the Nature comment because “it became clear that more external effort was needed to…bring the social and the natural sciences together as equal partners in understanding what humans are doing to Earth.”

Ellis isn’t surprised that the AWG focuses on 20^th-century evidence, which he describes as the “most clear and abundant evidence of human transformation of Earth,” but he also argues more distant and ambiguous information must be examined.  “Evidence of anthropogenic global environmental changes deeper in the past are more complex, less abundant, and must be reconstructed with tools and using evidence that are unfamiliar to the Earth sciences,” he says.

Anthropocene science is an emerging, interdisciplinary field, which will be most successful when all voices are at the table, Ellis maintains. Answering the question of when and how humans began transforming Earth might guide us, he suggests, toward “more desirable outcomes both for human societies and for non-human nature.”

The comment in Nature: Involve social scientists in defining the Anthropocene

Image: Erle Ellis speaks at a research symposium at UMBC; photo Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Additional news coverage:
Why efforts to define the Anthropocene must be more inclusive and transparent (Future Earth)
Scientists still don’t understand the Anthropocene — and they’re going about it the wrong way (The Conversation)

Senior and student athlete Emily Russo is majoring in biology and minoring in psychology. A guard and three-year captain on the women’s basketball team, Emily serves as president of UMBC’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee and as a member of the Athletics Policy Committee. She also works part time in Dr. Michael Summers’ HIV-1 Lab on campus.

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Many who have participated in a university convocation ceremony are familiar with the exercise where the university’s speaker instructs each incoming freshman to look to the student sitting on their left and right and then states that only two out of each three students will make it to the next school year. While it might seem dramatic, there is some truth to this exercise, as official statistics ascertain that about one-third of all college freshmen will never move on to become sophomores.

There are plenty of causes surrounding this phenomenon. Previously high-ranking students in high school may become discouraged after experiencing failure for the first time. High school itself may not be adequately preparing students for higher education. Social aspects of college, including the first taste of freedom in relation to time management, can also take their toll.

Freshman biology major Marineh Harutunian stresses the importance of “read[ing] the syllabus. The syllabus is so important for everything you are doing in class. Don’t know if you have homework? Syllabus … It’s all about the syllabus.” This is something that many students underestimate, possibly contributing to low freshman retention rates.

While there are many things that plausibly contribute to the high freshman dropout rate, UMBC’s primary focus should be improving itself as a university in order to ensure that incoming students have a higher chance of succeeding at the inception of their college careers, as well as throughout the rest of their education.

Brown University has taken a large step to combat this problem. The school allows students to choose whether they wish to take a class for a grade (A, B, or C with failing grades unrecorded) or a designation of “satisfactory” or “no credit.”

Despite the success of BU’s strategy, Harutunian was unsure of the technique, stating, “If we replace [a grade] with a pass/fail note instead, those getting a C may be less nervous and those getting an A may be more nervous … it would create an average.” These concerns are valid, as it is possible that students could take advantage of the system, while others may be unsatisfied with not knowing their definite grade. If implemented, UMBC could modify the concept in order to fit its specific needs.

Instead of all classes being given the choice of satisfactory/no credit (i.e. pass/fail), a few adjustments can be made. UMBC could give students the pass/fail option only in general education classes which are not affiliated with the student’s chosen major. UMBC could also perhaps limit the amount of times a student can choose to use the satisfactory/no credit system.

This method can potentially eliminate some of the stress that a freshman experiences during their first semester. With that, it can also allow students to become further motivated to take classes that they may not have initially intended to take. Instead of selecting the most undemanding class possible in order to receive a necessary gen-ed credit and to boost their GPA, a student may alternatively decide to take a more compelling, but difficult, course.

This unique program can potentially create interest in truly learning and experiencing new things, as opposed to just taking classes out of necessity. UMBC should consider implementing such a program in order to ensure that as many freshman as possible are able to continue their education past their first year in college.

The post High freshman dropout rate merits new educational approach appeared first on The Retriever.

With the arrival of eight new Democrats to the Baltimore City Council, a previously unsuccessful bid to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 may gain new momentum. The bill was sent back to committee last August after being short one vote in order to pass.

However, after the November elections, three of the new-coming council members will be replacing incumbents who had previously opposed the measure. They are John Bullock (West Baltimore), Zeke Cohen (Southeast Baltimore) and Shannon Sneed (East Baltimore).

The bill’s chief sponsor, councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke (North Baltimore), held a rally last week at the Blue Point Healthcare Center. Many advocates and low-wage workers attended, sparking the renewed effort for a higher minimum wage in Baltimore. When the bill returned to committee back in August, Clarke pledged to continue to gather support.

The bill, introduced by Clarke earlier this year, will likely be re-introduced next January. It proposes a gradual increase of Baltimore’s minimum wage, in order to reach $15 per hour by July 2022. It also aims to increase the wages of tipped workers, who presently earn $3.66. Additionally, the bill proposes cost of living adjustments, so that wages would continue to increase.

Currently, Baltimore does not have its own minimum wage: it follows the standard set by the state of Maryland, where the minimum wage is now $8.75, higher than the federal minimum wage ($7.25). That value is part of an incremented increase stipulated by legislation passed in 2014, which aimed to gradually increase wages from $8.25 in 2014 to $10.10 by July 2018.

The push in Baltimore comes amidst nationwide calls for a $15 minimum wage. Workers from the restaurant, healthcare, airport and other industries have engaged in protests across the nation. In some cases, the protests have been called “disruptive,” leading to dozens of arrests in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and New York, among other cities.

Despite the incoming wave of support both in and out of City Council, some constituents, particularly small business owners, seem resistant to the change, with many saying that they would close their doors or reduce hours for workers if the proposed increase takes place.

Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young has said he is against the proposal. In a statement to The Baltimore Sun, he said the City should not attempt to increase wages above $11.50/hour, arguing that a higher minimum wage could negatively affect Baltimore’s economy. He and other opponents have also argued that raising Baltimore’s minimum wage makes no sense if other suburban communities continue to have lower wages.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had said she would sign the bill into law if it reached her desk back in August. However, since the bill went back to committee, that task would go to mayor-elect Catherine E. Pugh. Pugh has said she would prefer counties to establish consistent minimum wages across the state.

Sharon Sneed, who has just been elected to City Council for District 13, is in favor of the push.

“In my district, we have many people living below the poverty line; people who have to work two or more jobs just to make ends meet. Back in 2014 people said the sky would fall if we raised minimum wage — and guess what, it didn’t.”

Sneed pushed for wage increases in her campaign, saying that worries about the increase are unfounded, as the money earned would be injected back into the community.

Baltimore follows the lead of San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington D.C. — all jurisdictions that have approved a $15 per hour minimum wage.

The post Charm City fights for $15 minimum wage — again appeared first on The Retriever.

Junior business technology administration major Ayo Akindana is a marketing intern with MissionTix in Baltimore, and is involved in UMBC’s Alex.Brown Center for Entrepreneurship, as well as the African Students Association.

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The Baltimore Sun has named UMBC one of the region’s top places to work for the fourth consecutive year. The 2016 list includes organizations across all sectors, and UMBC is again the only university and only government institution to rank among the top 10 large employers, as well as among the top 100 employers of all three size categories.

The “Top Workplaces” ranking is based on scores from a confidential employee survey that measures job satisfaction, organizational health, and employee engagement.

On a national level, The Chronicle of Higher Education has named UMBC an outstanding academic workplace for seven consecutive years. UMBC was the only Maryland four-year institution to be recognized on the list in 2016. The Chronicle also gave UMBC the distinction of appearing on its “honor roll” for the fifth time, honoring the university’s excellence in nearly all possible recognition categories.

President Freeman Hrabowski has previously shared that workplace rankings like these “[affirm] what we all know: UMBC is a place that supports people, values collaboration, and fosters trust, respect, and enthusiasm for helping our students succeed.”

Image: UMBC spirit cupcakes from Founders Day Celebration 2016. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

The Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery Tells the UMBC Story in Artifacts and Images

— Richard Byrne ’86 

In assembling its exhibit to celebrate the founding decades of UMBC, the team in UMBC’s Special Collections who put together “Sharing the Past, Building the Future: UMBC at 50” – chief curator Tom Beck, archivist Lindsey Loeper ’04, exhibition curator Emily Hauver ’05, and librarian Susan Graham ’98 – have given the university community a chance to glimpse essential objects and images that may have escaped easy notice.

As Beck and Loeper write at the conclusion of their introductory essay:

The ideal as seen by [founding chancellor] Albin O. Kuhn in 1966 has grown greater than anyone could have imagined then. The future as contemplated by [chancellor] Calvin B.T. Lee in 1972, has arrived, and perhaps because Lee was thinking about education in the future, UMBC is prepared for the changes that have continued to propel the university forward. Along the way, the individual identity of the campus has been forged, the seeds of excellence have been sown and reaped and sown again, and a feeling of community has taken root. Research at all levels is routine at “Our UMBC” (the affectionate title of the school alma mater). Those who have been a part of the saga of UMBC will most appreciate and understand our pursuit of dreams while looking toward bigger purposes.

What follows are some of the images and artifacts contained in the exhibit. See the full exhibit online here.

“Brainstorming” by Albin O. Kuhn, 1963
(Albin O. Kuhn papers)

Group portrait of founding faculty and staff by Tim Ford, 1991
(University Photographs)

Ticket to Otis Redding show, April 22, 1967
(Robert Dietrich Collection)

The Red Brick, No.3 (May 1970)
(University Publications)

Winter Session Class discussion of Malcolm X by William Morgenstern (Winter 1971)
(University Photographs)

“UMBC Rathskeller” by Photo Service UMCP, 1971
(University Photographs)

View of campus (Negative #18), 1976
(University Photographs)

Lance Hidy 20th anniversary commemorative poster, 1986
(Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery)

Graduate with a pin on mortarboard that reads “I did it in 1986 (I graduated),” 1986
(University Photographs)

Sculptor Paulette Raye, ’87 with the True Grit statue, December 1987
(University Photographs)

Shakespeare on Wheels, As You Like It, 1990
(Theatre Records)

Alumni bonfire with the newly constructed library tower in the background, 1995
(University Photographs)

Joseph Beuys Sculpture Park by Marlayna Demond ’11, Visual Arts 2016
(UMBC Creative Services)