When Anne E. Brodsky won a national award in February 2014 for contributions to the field of community psychology, it came as no surprise to her students and colleagues at UMBC. Brodsky is a tireless scholar who has nurtured dozens of graduate and undergraduate researchers – all while working in collaboration with a range of social-service organizations in Baltimore and beyond.

Over the last 20 years, Brodsky has made creative use of narrative and other qualitative methods in her field. She also conducted extraordinary field work in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 2001 through 2007, including the study of an underground feminist organization there at a pivotal moment in the region’s history.

Brodsky, a professor of psychology, joined UMBC’s faculty in 1997. Her research initially focused on resilience and community-building among East Baltimore women affected by welfare reform. In 2000, however, Brodsky’s work took an unexpected turn when she met members of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) – a feminist organization that has resisted the Soviet, Taliban, and post-Taliban regimes since 1977 – at a conference in Baltimore.

“This was an organization that had never been able to come to the West, never been able to share its stories,” Brodsky recalls. “We put together an informal national tour, and for four months, they were in and out of my house.”

One morning not long after the tour, Brodsky says, “I woke up and thought, wait: Risk. Resilience. Women’s communities. I do this for a living.” She sent her RAWA contacts an e-mail message and, to her surprise, they were willing to have an American academic visit their clandestine sites in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Brodsky made her first visit in July and August of 2001, just weeks before the September 11 attacks, and returned for several more months in 2002. The resulting book, With All Our Strength: The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, was published by Routledge in 2003 and received strong reviews.

One major concept that Brodsky has attempted to formalize throughout her work is resilience – that is, the strengths that allow women to endure in contexts of risk and adversity. In both Afghanistan and East Baltimore, she and her colleagues have found, having children can serve as a protective factor, providing hope and motivation to persist even in extremely challenging climates.

Gitika Talwar, who is completing a doctorate in psychology at UMBC, is one of 13 past and present UMBC graduate students who have co-authored papers with Brodsky. “She has an amazing range of scholarly interests,” Talwar says. “I’m on the West Coast now studying Afghan immigrant communities, but we still make time every two or three weeks to talk about my research. She’s been very supportive the entire way.”

Brodsky is a former director of UMBC’s Gender and Women’s Studies program and is an associate dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

“Anne’s just top-notch,” says Kenneth Maton, a professor of psychology. “She asks really difficult and appropriate questions, and she brings to bear important theoretical perspectives. When she went to Afghanistan, that was an intellectual stretch and also a personal risk. But she’s always been determined to follow her intellectual passions.”

– David Glenn

Unfortunately, women in today’s society are often still viewed as inferior to men in political, social and economic roles. With an eye on tackling some of these issues, the Women Involved in Learning and Leadership program, the Women’s Center and the Office of Student Life joined together to host the Women and Leadership Kick Off Party on the evening of September 10 in the Harbor Cafe.

Kate Drabinski, senior lecturer of gender and women’s studies and director of the UMBC WILL program, recognizes the disparity between men and women in the workforce and is concerned with helping women explore career and life choices in and out of the classroom.

“Since this is the first kick off event we’ve ever done, I’m not sure how many people are going to show,” said Drabinski. To her surprise, small groups began trickling in until the event had a sizable turnout of at least a couple dozen participants.

Drabinski and the director of the Women’s Center, Jessica Myers, opened with a discussion on feminism and what leadership means and looks like. Not everyone shared the same perspectives, but all the members and attendees were encouraged to share their opinions. Between activities, the conversation kept flowing over free pizza.

Inspired by Drabinski and her own passion for gender equality, Julia Gottlieb, a senior women’s studies major is currently one of the co-leaders of WILL. “I was hesitant about about joining [WILL] at first. I was just kind of shy and scared because I didn’t know anybody.” Despite her doubts early on, she’s now thankful for pushing herself to participate and become an active member.

In addition to learning more about the lingering issues surrounding gender equality and exploring ways to improve women’s standing in leadership positions, there are additional benefits of participating.

“As a new initiative to spread awareness, students who attend two or more of these Women and Leadership events each semester are awarded a certificate marking their completion of leadership training,” Drabinski noted. As a team, they really strive to broaden WILL and encourage more and more people to take part in it.

Said Gottlieb, “We should be questioning and discussing these issues more. I want women to be empowered. They deserve the tools to become leaders.”

Think back to middle school. We’ve made it a long way from those three years of constant confusion, puberty and intense social pressure, but there are still kids who have to struggle through it. To alleviate some of that trademark middle school pain, UMBC students befriend and tutor students at Arbutus Middle School.

The Arbutus Achievers program, coordinated through the Shriver Center, aims to make middle school a better experience for local kids. Its tutors, each paired with a middle school student, provide everything from homework help to relationship advice. Through this holistic approach, the program fosters learning and academic achievement.

“It’s not just about their letter grades,” said sophomore computer science major Maxwell Poole, “but also making sure that their middle school experience, which is so tumultuous, can be more easy for them.” Poole serves as the volunteer coordinator of the Arbutus Achievers program.

The program aims to improve students’ grades, but also to create a positive environment for learning, with emphasis on “emotional satisfaction, getting their homework done on time, getting organized,” said Poole. “We’ve seen significant improvements in those areas.”

These improvements have come about through a two-pronged approach. “The first is our tutoring,” said Poole, “We run tutoring sessions for students who are at risk of doing poorly in their classes.”  These sessions focus on specific learning objectives for the students’ classes.

“The other part is our life leadership skills we teach. So every Thursday, we either have our tutors or an outside group come and teach the kids about some sort of important life skill,” said Poole. “Those are kind of more fun activities for the students, where they get to get up and do a lot of stuff, interact with the UMBC community as well.”

This interaction with the university is a key element to the program, by building enthusiasm for learning and for a college education. “Our programs are more about getting them prepared for college, illuminating and showing them what sort of activities and jobs and careers are available through a college degree,” Poole said.

To that end, various UMBC groups have reached out to participate in the Arbutus Achievers program to provide those learning opportunities. According to Poole, in the last semester, groups as diverse as ultimate frisbee, robotics and musical theater have spoken at Arbutus Middle.

The robotics team was especially a highlight for students. “They brought all these robots they built for their competition,” said Poole. “These robots were remote controlled, they picked up objects … the kids were ecstatic about that. They loved playing with all the little robots.”

This fun day with robots was also a confidence-builder. “College is kind of a scary concept for them,” said Poole, “But it showed them that there’s still fun activities, exciting activities, that are educational at college.”

The Arbutus Achievers program takes a more forward-looking approach than many tutoring organizations. It’s not just about getting the math homework turned in on time. It’s about getting at-risk students on the right track for college, and building enthusiasm about learning at a time in their educational careers where that enthusiasm is so often lost.

Syria is experiencing a mass exodus of citizens due to the current war-torn state of their country. Other Middle Eastern and European nations are stepping up and taking in large numbers of refugees, while the United States continues to twiddle its thumbs.

The United States has only brought in the pitiful number of 1,500 refugees to resettle in the country since the start of the war in 2011. Most of the refugees were settled in the U.S. just this year.

About half of Syria’s population has been displaced. That is 6.5 million Syrians displaced in their country, 4.1 million seeking refuge in other nations and over 300,000 people killed.

President Obama has announced that his administration is prepared to take in at least 10,000 refugees over the course of the next year. This number is simply too low for the United States to offer, as it can provide the needed resources and space for far more than 10,000.

Some European nations, like Germany, have been more welcoming to refugees. They originally planned on bringing in 800,000 refugees by the end of the year, but have since run into trouble with the an unprecedented amount of people and have implemented border controls in response.

Germany was unprepared for the unexpected amount of people and cannot keep up with the necessary resources and facilities. 13,015 refugees arrived on trains from Austria on Saturday and 1,400 followed on Sunday.

Still, Germany, a country that is not quite the size of California has let in more refugees over one weekend than the United States plans on bringing in over the course of an entire year. Their open border policy led them to experience difficulties, but that is why nations in the EU and the U.S. need to raise their numbers, so not all refugees are fleeing to a single country.

The Prime Minister of Britain, David Cameron, recently stated that they would take in 20,000 refugees over the next five years, but the number would most likely rise.

The administration claims that the reason the number of refugees allowed in this country is so low is due to the high number of anti-American militants in Syria, and the threat of terrorism. The intensive screenings and background checks that go into accepting a refugee can take up to 18 months.

While screenings are important, it is also vital that these refugees get settled as soon as possible, so they can carry on with their lives. Currently, many refugees are traveling from camp to camp, most of which are under-funded.

Some Syrian students are losing the opportunity to finish their university education. Syria has a unique education system where if a student receives quality marks, then their entire education is funded. But due to recent events, university students have had to leave school, and face the risk of not finishing their degrees.

Students that were once engineering or medical students are now working low income jobs. If students do not finish school, then Syria is going to lose a whole generation of young people that it will need when the country rebuilds itself.

The United States is a country with enough resources and opportunities to help well over 10,000 refugees. This country needs to re-evaluate the situation and realize what this loss will do for the Syrian future.

If the U.S. and other countries are able to step up and give refugees the resources they need to continue their lives, then Syria will have a better time rebuilding themselves when the conflict is resolved.

On September 10, the US Senate failed to pass a disapproval resolution of the Iranian nuclear deal, securing a huge victory not just for President Obama, but also for the global community.

The deal, which was heavily debated by Iranian and US diplomats and leaders, will effectively prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons. It will also punish the nation in the case that they do acquire or produce weapons.

According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Iran must create a higher concentration of the nuclear material, Uranium-235, through a process known as enrichment if it wishes to acquire a nuclear weapon.

Uranium must be enriched to 90 percent in order to be used for a nuclear weapon. Iran also needs more than 5,000 centrifuges, the machinery used to enrich Uranium, in its possession.

The Iran deal effectively takes away all of the ingredients needed for a bomb. Under the agreement, Iran must keep Uranium enrichment levels under 3.67 percent, a far cry from the 90 percent required. They must also shut down almost two-thirds of centrifuges, leaving a little over 5,000, and reduce its Uranium stockpile by 98%. In addition, these centrifuges and stockpiles will be monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for 20-25 years.

Since the deal was agreed upon in July, Republican lawmakers have vehemently opposed the agreement, mainly because it will lift the sanctions Iran has had to embrace for many years. However, President Obama stated that, “if Iran violates the deal, all of these sanctions will snap back into place.”

Critics are also upset that once these sanctions are lifted, Iran will receive $100 billion in assets that were previously frozen, and spend it on terrorist activities. However, according to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, that would not be a high priority for Iran, when he stated that “Iran’s demand for domestic investment surpasses $500 billion, and that it will cost $100 to $200 billion to restore production levels in its oil and gas sectors.”

The Iran deal, overall, will make the world a safer place. Although it does lift Iranian sanctions and unfreezes their assets, it keeps Iran accountable. The IAEA will be allowed to monitor any nuclear activity for the next 20-25 years.

Under the restrictions for Uranium production, Iran will be held to a breakout time for a nuclear weapon of a year. Iran has promised to uphold this deal, and if Iranian leaders fail to uphold the deal, they will be swiftly punished.

In their second game of the Maddie Bingaman Memorial Tournament, The UMBC’s women’s volleyball team won all three sets of their match against the Fordham University Rams on Friday, Sept. 11. This would be their second earned victory of the day. Earlier against the Morgan State University Bears, the women won three out of four sets.

The team’s lineup remained relatively the same throughout. Most of the women participated in all three sets, resulting in some impressive statistics. Three players, #16 senior Krystal Williams, #12 senior Sherelle Walker and #10 freshman Maddie Schneider, managed 10 total kills by the time the Retrievers won the third set.

#17 freshman Krystia Negron, another teammate who stayed in the entire duration, delivered a whopping 35 assists to her teammates.  #6 freshman Carola De Jesus performed 18 digs, the most for the team.

The first set of the match ended with a score of 27-25. The Retrievers entered the game with force, quickly pulling ahead against Fordham with a score of 8-3. This led to a timeout for the Rams, who quickly caught up with UMBC, narrowing the gap between their scores.

Near the end of the set, the Rams pulled ahead due to two attack errors on the Retriever’s part, the score now 21-20. This led UMBC coach Ian Blanchard to call the team’s first timeout. When the team came back on the court, they gracefully took the lead. #1 freshman Sammie Coffler’s back-to-back serves would end the set with the Retriever win.

The second set closed with a score of 25-23 for UMBC, and the gap between the scores sat closer together than in the first. Fordham would take the lead at one point with a 6-5 score, but UMBC made a comeback with Fordham trailing close behind. However, three scores in a row by UMBC led to a Ram timeout. An exact situation against UMBC, with Fordham narrowing in from 21-15 to 21-19, led to a timeout for the Retrievers.

Two more Fordham victories would tie the game 21-21, but the UMBC women pulled forward. #11 junior Zoya Trendafilova ended the set with a kill, earning the 25th and last point of the set.

The third set concluded with a bigger gap in the final score, 25-20. The first half of the set saw tradeoffs between taking the lead, Fordham pulling forward twice. What caused the gap between the scores was the Retriever’s ability to score three points in a row in the middle of the set. Following an attack error by the Rams, Trendafilova made a kill against the team. Another attack error by Fordham afterwards assisted in the score becoming 15-11.

Fordham, despite defeat, tried to slow down the Retriever’s victory in attempt to make a comeback. When the score was 24-19, one more point to UMBC would close the game. A kill by the Rams would only set back the Retrievers once before Trendafilova made the final kill against Fordham.

As of this game, UMBC has five wins under their belt. The Retrievers will attempt to make it make three victories in a row in their next match against Coppin State University.

On Friday night, the first round of the Battle of Baltimore commenced between UMBC and Loyola University, Maryland at Retriever Soccer Park. UMBC failed to score a single goal against Loyola, and lost their third straight game.

Loyola senior midfielder Rosy Hayes led Loyola past the Retrievers, scoring both goals against them. Junior forward Jess Soldiviero and freshman midfielder Julianna Cabrera each provided an assist on one of her goals.

It only took a short three minutes for Hayes to shoot her first goal of the game. Cabrera set Hayes up with a corner kick, allowing Hayes to get it past freshman goalkeeper Mikayla Krinetz in her first start.

Hayes scored again for Loyola in the last 10 minutes of the game to finish off UMBC. Soldiviero threaded a pass through UMBC’s defense, giving Hayes the opportunity to score her second goal of the game. The shot was nearly deflected by Krinetz, just barely missing her fingertips.

UMBC appeared to have a chance at a goal in the final minutes of the game. Junior Destinee Morris landed a shot in the back of the net that was ultimately overturned due to an offsides call.

The Retrievers only managed to put up six shots against Loyola’s strong defense, while Loyola only managed seven themselves. However, Loyola’s goalkeeper Colleen Folan had four saves in the game, compared to Krinetz’s one.

The Retrievers also faced Mount St. Mary’s University in their second Battle of Baltimore matchup. The 0-3 loss was the fourth straight loss for them, and the third game in that streak where they failed to score a goal.

The 1-6-1 Retrievers will hope to put an end to the losing streak when they travel to Delaware State University to face the Hornets on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m.

Greg Cangialosi ‘96, English, has made a name for himself as a serial entrepreneur with a passion for helping others succeed.  Since he graduated from UMBC, he has gone on to run two companies, and made it a personal mission to turn Baltimore into a hub for startup companies. To help support that initiative, the MissionTix CEO and co-founder of the startup incubator Betamore gave a generous gift to UMBC to establish the Cangialosi Business Innovation Competition.

The CBIC launched last year through the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship to give undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to develop and present their business plans, and get a head start on establishing their companies. The first competition was held in the spring of 2014.

“His spirit is all about entrepreneurism,” says Susie Lynch, a development officer at UMBC. “[He’s] passionate about others’ success…[and] having a thriving startup community in Baltimore.”

Cangialosi had been involved with the Alex. Brown Center for some time before the competition began, according to the Center’s director, Vivian Armor. Among other initiatives, he was a featured speaker for the Entrepreneurship Speaker Series, developed and taught UMBC’s Entrepreneurial Marketing course, and served as a judge for the university’s annual Idea Competition, upon which the CBIC is based and which still runs every fall.

“As a result of his long term involvement with the Center, [Cangialosi] realized there was a need to provide the next level of competition and support for students who were serious about starting a business,” says Armor. The CBIC, she explains, was intended to connect students with the larger Baltimore business community.

To enter the competition, students submit their business plans to a panel of qualified experts. Those selected for the next round are paired with a mentor to help them fine-tune their ideas, and in the final round, they present their fully-formed startup plans to a panel of community business leaders and investors. In addition to a cash prize of up to $5,000 for seed funding, competition winners receive free Betamore membership, as well as free legal services, accounting advice, and fundraising and pitch advice.

Andrew Mavronicolas ‘14, information systems, is one such beneficiary. He was one of 10 finalists in last year’s inaugural competition, and his company, Backpack ‘Em, is now located in UMBC’s Cyberhive incubator. The company provides a platform for an intra-campus marketplace, its most popular use being textbook selling and trading. Mavronicolas says the support he received during and after the competition was invaluable in helping him get his business off the ground.

“The greatest gain that we had from the competition was easily the insights given by judges [and] investors, our mentor, students, and the university. This allowed us to improve upon our business idea by expanding our revenue models. It also helped us to perfect our pitch and gain the confidence to go meet with university decision makers and investors,” he says.

According to Armor, the competition will continue every spring semester, and has been a boon to the Brown Center’s visibility on campus. “[…Now] more students are aware of the wide range of initiatives and programming the Center makes available,” she says.

Lynch says Cangialosi is personified by his Twitter hashtag of choice: #neverstop. “That’s him in a nutshell,” she says. As the CBIC enters its third year, one hopes that that tenacious entrepreneurial spirit will be fostered within and passed onto several generations of students.

Cross-posted from the UMBC Alumni Blog.

Posted September 14, 2015 by Chemical, Biochemical and Environmental Engineering Department

Lee Blaney (CBEE, Assistant Professor), Kiranmayi Mangalgiri (PhD, Environmental Engineering), and Nicholas Rogers (BS, Chemical Engineering) presented at the International Water Association Natural Organic Matter 6 conference in Malmo, Sweden on September 7-10, 2015.  Their travel to this conference was covered by a travel grant written to the NSF Environmental Engineering program (CBET 1521562) by Blaney and a group of other young faculty (Michael Gonsior from UMCES was the PI).