According to Feed America, 43.1 million Americans or 13.5 percent of the population lived in poverty in 2015. The Cato institute tells us that federal government spends $668 billion on social welfare programs each year. Combine that figure with state and local spending, and our country contributes $1 billion to counteract poverty annually.

But where does that money actually go? How is it distributed? Why does the U.S. address poverty this way? And most importantly–is it working?

This winter session, tackle all these questions (and more) by enrolling in POLI 446:  The Politics of Poverty and the Welfare State.

Compare U.S. welfare policy with that from other nations. Study poverty and the welfare state from ideologically diverse perspectives. Investigate how the politics of Congress, interest groups, the bureaucracy, and federal-state relations affect the formation and implementation of social welfare policy. And brainstorm new ways to address poverty in America.

POLI 446 is a Writing Intensive (WI) GEP course, and is offered entirely online.

Register Now!

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NLT) - “And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’”

“I believe the call of God is sort of a trap - He pushes us in and then closes the door. We can’t just run in and out. God’s call is when God nails your feet to the floor…One proof you’re really called of God is that you can never get away from that call…You can say no to God’s call, but you can never be at peace without obeying it…So God’s call is not easily escaped. It is clear. God makes the vision plain. He does not give a fuzzy picture.

“So if you haven’t heard the message, if you haven’t heard that call, don’t go! Don’t move, don’t run, don’t go into the community, don’t go into the ghetto, don’t go anywhere unless you have a clear call of God. But if you have heard God’s call, run!

“When God calls, He calls us to a hazardous mission…When God calls, He doesn’t invite us to a picnic. He calls us to go to a stiff-necked, rebellious, stubborn people. Our success is not measured by fame; it is not measured by popularity contests; it is not measured by how many people raise their hands; it is not measured by how many souls were won today. God doesn’t call us to that kind of task. Rather, God calls us to faithfulness. ‘Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life’ (Rev. 2:10). That’s the key - faithfulness to God’s call…God calls us, He locks us in, but never leaves us alone. He goes with us. He sustains us. That is the only assurance we have.

“God never calls us to do something we can do in our own strength. He always calls us to get in over our heads - to move out to where we’ll have to either depend on His power or sink” (John M. Perkins, With Justice For All, p.47-49).

At the end of the video Rev. Perkins asks himself these questions: “Have I made Him worthy? Have I made Him so wonderful that people would accept Him? Will they accept Him because of the way I have lived in my life? Did I make Him beautiful?”

What are you asking today? What is most important about your life, your conversations, your serving and working, your studying and playing? Is it Jesus? Is it the love of Jesus being experienced and revealed through you? This is what matters most in the midst of all we do…Jesus so wonderful, so beautiful that others will accept Him. Today let us pray that God will have His full way in making His appeal through us to those He loves so much. We speak for Him. We are boxed in, controlled and compelled by His wonderful and powerful love. Let’s pray deeply these next 24 hours that our lives will be the wonderful message of “Come back to God.”

-TR

UMBC CSEE Research Seminar

 Biomedical Engineering Projects at CAST

Dr. Yordan Kostov

UMBC Center for Advanced Sensing Technology

1-2pm, Friday, 9 December 2016, ITE 229

The Center for Advanced Sensor Technology is currently leading two projects: “Biologics manufacturing on demand,” funded by DARPA, and “A wearable asthma trigger monitoring system with integrated physiological monitor,” funded by NIH.  The first project is focused on shrinking the footprint of a pharmaceutical factory down to suitcase, capable of producing biologics within twelve hours from the start. There is an ample need for drastically rethinking every detail of the process, with the need to miniaturize all the fluidic components (tanks, mixers, purification columns) and to create networked versions of the shakers, pumps, valves and sensors. The presentation highlights the need for novel sensing devices for process control and drug release. The second project is focused on development of three separate sensors for measuring CO2 in blood, concentration of dust particulate in air, and respiration rate.  These sensors must be networked together to collect real time data and transfer them to a central depository via a cell phone app. The presentation highlights the different challenges in creating the sensors.

Dr. Yordan Kostov holds the B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, from Odessa Politechnic Institute, Ukraine. He received a Ph.D. Degree in Electrical/Chemical Engineering from Bulgarian Academy of Sciences for his work in the area of optical chemical sensors and biosensors. His post-doctoral training includes fellowships at University of Hannover, Germany and University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. He was an assistant professor in the Department of Biotechincs, Sofia Technical University, Bulgaria. Since 2000, he is a research professor in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), with an appointment as assistant director of the UMBC Center for Advanced Sensor Technology. He is an affiliate professor in CSEE.  Dr. Kostov is involved in the development of chemical and biochemical sensors for biotechnology and biomedical applications.

Organizers: Tulay Adali (*protected email*) and Alan T. Sherman (*protected email*)

About the CSEE Seminar Series: The UMBC Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering presents technical talks on current significant research projects of broad interest to the Department and the research community.  Each talk is free and open to the public.  We welcome your feedback and suggestions for future talks.

Other UMBC CSEE Seminar Series: The UMBC Cyber Defense Lab (CDL) meets biweekly Fridays 11:15am-12:30pm in ITE 229, for research talks about cybersecurity.

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