Walk In Advising Hours September 15th-19th
Got a question? Stop on by! 

Monday, September 15th
10am-11:30am & 1:30pm-3pm

Tuesday, September 16th
10am-11:30am & 1:30pm-3pm

Thursday, September 18th
10am-11:30am & 1:30pm-3pm

Friday, September 19th
10am-11:30am

Advisors are also available by appointment.

Americans are quite familiar with the often messy process of divorce.

But the breakup of those unions (usually) don’t result in a transnational financial crisis.

On September 18, the people of Scotland will vote to determine if they will leave the United Kingdom and become an independent nation.

The Yes (For Independence) Campaign has been gaining steam late in the game as polls show a dead heat between supporters and opponents of the referendum.

Independence might seem like a slam dunk when you consider Scotland’s distinct national identity and political qualms with Westminster.

But dissolving a 300-year-old political union in an increasingly globalized world isn’t without drawbacks. Though this separation would not involve a bitter custody fight for Wales or a contentious division of assets (Scotland would retain its valuable off-shore oil reserves), it could create huge economic headaches for Scotland.

Economists and bankers alike are sounding the alarm with dire warnings of a credit crunch and investor flight not seen since the 2008 global financial catastrophe.

Then there’s the currency… What money will Scotland use?  

There is no certainty that an independent Scotland could use the current English pound.

This uncertainty could cause a mass exodus of Scottish capital and savings across the border to English banks. The resulting recession would cripple Scotland’s economy just as the new nation was getting its start (and make it all but impossible for the Scottish government to pursue the generous welfare policies that many Scots favor).

Independence might not seem like such a good idea after all.

 Is this referendum a prime example of nationalism run amok? Or are the bankers and elites utilizing scare tactics to intimidate the Scottish people?

And would you vote for independence if we were still under British rule today?

Let us know in the comments section below.

UMBC Ebiquity Research Meeting

Rapalytics! Where Rap Meets Data Science

Abhay Kashyap

10:00am Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014, ITE 346

For the Hip-Hop Fans: Remember the times when you had those long arguments with your friends about who the better rapper is? Remember how it always ended up in a stalemate because there was no evidence to back your argument? Well, look no further! Rapalytics is a one-stop site dedicated to extracting and presenting all the important analytics from Rap lyrics that separate a good rapper from a great one!

For the Data Science Nerds: Remember how indestructible your trained NLP tools were? Want to see how they act under pressure from text they have never seen before? Come take a look at how traditional NLP tools fair against text as complex as Rap and explore opportunities to design and build systems that handle much more than well-formed English text.

Every so often, we highlight the importance of student scholarships by introducing you to the very students they help to succeed. Today, we’re featuring Jonathon Brewster ‘15, computer science, who is an Alumni Association Scholarship recipient.

Name: Jonathon Brewster
Major: Computer Science
Extra Curricular Activities: Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 355
Scholarship received: Alumni Association Scholarship

Q: Why did you decide to attend UMBC?
I decided to attend UMBC because of UMBC’s reputation for having one of the best STEM programs. I had discovered this because my brother, who also attended UMBC, had told me about these programs and how UMBC would be a great school for me to attend.

Q: What’s been the most amazing discovery you’ve made so far as a student here?
Computer programming and what I can do with it.

Q: Tell us about a class or club that has really opened your mind.
Introduction to Computer Science for beginners (CMSC 104) changed my life. Before that class I did not know what I was going to do with my life, and I had no major. Then Mr. John Park, professor of CMSC 104, showed me many great ideas with programming a computer. After completing this course, I now have a major and a dream to be the best programmer I can be.

Q: How important is it to you as a student to get scholarship support?
It is very important. Students don’t have a lot of money, and it’s hard to pay for college when you have little time for a job from all the classes you are taking. With scholarship support, I am able to keep paying my way to a better job through quality education.

Q: What are you most proud of accomplishing in your time at UMBC?
Finding my career path and getting good grades.

Q: What would you say to the people who provided your scholarship?
I would like to say thank you for helping support my future and keeping my dreams of being a great programmer alive.

Q: What do you hope to do after graduation?
I hope to go to graduate school to get my Master of Science degree in Computer Science. After completing my masters degree, I would like to work for Google to help with projects like the Google car.

Donate to our alumni scholarships today!

The Baltimore Code Craftsmanship meetup group will hold its monthly meeting at 6:30pm on Thursday, September 18 at Betamore (1111 Light St.) in Baltimore (map). The meetup is for the students and software developers in the Baltimore area that care about the quality of their work and want to practice and improve their programming skills, share what they know and learn new things from others.

The meetup is a hands on coding user group with no presentations. Each meeting will be a dojo where we will go through a challenging software craftsmanship exercise that focuses on clean code, test-driven development, design patterns, and refactoring. We will pair up and practice on a kata in order to learn and apply the values, principles, and disciplines of software craftsmanship. It’s also a great way to meet others in Baltimore’s computing community to network and find out about internships and jobs.

The September meeting will go through the next Test-Driven Development (TDD) exercise focusing on solutions using pair programming, test-driven development, clean code and refactoring.

Come with your laptop equipped with your favorite programming and unit testing environment. Be prepared to pair up, code, learn, share and have fun!

Join the meetup and register to attend Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address. .