Since December 16, when a 23 year old woman was gang raped while aboard a bus in New Delhi, India has been in uproar.  

The woman was taking the private bus home with her male friend when six men attacked them with an iron rod and gang raped the woman in the back of the bus.

After the brutal attack the assailants left the woman and her companion on the side of the road. Last weekend, the woman died at the hospital from massive internal injuries. 

Since this attack Indians have expressed outrage, many calling for stricter laws and a police crack down on rape.  

Other activists seek to end what they call “the rape culture” in India. Several protest marches have taken place in New Delhi. 

Renewed outcry surfaced recently when the Delhi Police registered a case against the Zee News channel for releasing an interview with the companion of the gang-rape victim.

In this interview, the male companion (whose name has not been released), recounted how after the police found them they delayed for 30 minutes in taking them to the hospital. Instead the police argued over who had jurisdiction over the case.

Though the male companion appeared in a wheel-chair for his interview with Zee News channel he said he was not given medical care after the attack instead he was forced to spend the next four days answering questions at the police station.

Members of various Indian political parties have weighed in Saturday morning denouncing the Delhi Police for trying to obstruct the truth. Sushma Swaraj tweeted,

“Delhi Police cannot muzzle voice of citizens by lodging a case against the channel. People have a right to know the truth. ”  

General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party asked, 

“What kind of training has the government given to its police. Is saving life more important or fighting over jurisdictional area.” 

As thousands of outraged Indians have taken up the fight against rape, this conflict between Delhi Police and Zee News is yet another recent example of Indians rising up against actions by their government and police force which they feel to be unjust. 

This case is raising serious questions about law, culture and justice in India. The most important question is:

Will the country change?

Here’s one for you college students…

Would you change your current major if different one one was cheaper? 

In Florida, the governor’s task force on higher education has suggested freezing tuition rates for students majoring in particular fields, such as STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) or health care, and letting tuition rates increase for others.

Why?

The government wants to encourage students to enroll in majors in professions that are facing growing demand. 

Time magazine explains this is “a new twist on an old idea.”  In the past, some universities have raised tuition only for majors that are more expensive to provide.  These majors tend to include STEM fields because they require specialized equipment and technology as well as higher faculty salaries.

Not surprisingly, the proposal has received mixed reviews. 

History professors at the University of Florida have organized a protest petition, stating this would cause a cycle in which fewer humanities students would bring in less funding and reduce faculty which would attract fewer students and so on.  Others see this as a way to help ends meet for Florida’s struggling economic situation and to prepare the next generation for the future’s needs.

The question remains whether tiered tuition rates would actually influence students’ choice of major. 

A study by Hanover Research found that for every tuition increase of $100, enrollment decreases between 0.5-1%.  The Florida legislative session begins in March and higher education reform is expected to be a priority.

Would this proposal influence your choice of major?  What kind of signal does it send to students?  Are certain fields more valuable to society than others?

Obama and Hagel at the Amman Citadel in Jordan in July 2008. Photo courtesy of Jim Young/Reuters.

Sunday morning brought news of President Obama’s next pick for the White House Defense Secretary: Chuck Hagel, twice awarded a Purple Heart, and both a former Vietnam veteran and Republican senator from Nebraska.

Democratic officials say that the formal announcement may come as early as Monday, January 7th.

However, Hagel will find some scrutiny during his Senate evaluation with his uncharacteristic views on Israel and military spending. Various Republican figures have already noted their disapproval.

Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell has refrained from criticizing President Obama’s nomination, but predicted on ABC’s “This Week” that Hagel “would face serious questions about his stands on Iran and Israel.” He stated: 

Any nominee must have a full understanding of our close relationship with our Israeli allies, the Iranian threat, and the importance of having a robust military. Hagel has certainly been outspoken in foreign policy and defense over the years. The question we will be answering, if he’s the nominee, is do his views make sense for that particular job?

Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina agreed with his fellow Republican Congressman. He said on CNN:

Hagel is an antagonistic figure when it comes to the state of Israel. It’s a signal you’re sending to Iran at the worst possible time and to our allies.

Yet according to some, the squabbling senators are simply being fed by the media. Elizabeth Drew of The New York Review of Books wrote in her blog:

Controversy is so much more fun than balance. Meaningless statements by some politicians are accorded great significance and foreboding: thus a big deal was made in the press of the supposedly devastating comments made by …Joe Lieberman… (‘very tough confirmation process’), and Lindsey Graham (‘it would be a challenging nomination’)

What exactly has Hagel done to fire-up prominent conservatives?

Specifically, he has publicly shared his concerns with an American or Israeli nuclear strike on Iran, and encouraged bringing Iran to peace talks with Afghanistan.

Hagel has referred to pro-Israel politicians as “the Jewish lobby” and has sided with President Obama on the need for military cutbacks in the Middle East. In a 2006 interview for Aaron David Miller’s book, “The Too Much Promised Land,” Hagel said,

I’m not an Israeli senator. I’m a United States senator… I support Israel, but my first interest is I take an oath of office to the Constitution of the United States, not to a president, not to a party, not to Israel. If I go run for Senate in Israel, I’ll do that.

This statement is a total turn-off for Republicans, but perhaps this different approach to foreign policy is exactly what the president is looking for in a defense secretary. He described Hagel as “a patriot who has done extraordinary work” on NBC’s “Meet the Press” last week.

A Democratic aide further praised the nominee, telling news media that Hagel is

a decorated war hero who would be the first enlisted soldier and Vietnam veteran to go on to serve as secretary of defense. He has been a champion for troops, veterans and military families through his service at the VA and USO, and his leadership on behalf of the post-9/11 GI Bill. The president knows him well, has traveled with him to Iraq and Afghanistan, trusts him and believes he represents the proud tradition of a strong, bipartisan foreign policy in the United States.

It seems that Democrats are supporting the Republican nominee, whose non-typical foreign policy stances are undergoing a bashing by his own party.

Do you agree with President Obama’s thinking behind nominating Chuck Hagel? Could a “strong, bipartisan foreign policy” be what’s needed for his second go-around?

Has the promise of e-government fulfilled expectations? Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, has co-authored a new article in Public Administration Review on the trajectory of local e-government in the United States, comparing it with early predictive writings on the topic.

In “Local E-Government in the United States: Transformation or Incremental Change?” Norris and Christopher G. Reddick (U Texas-San Antonio) describe how local local e-government has not produced the results predicted by early analysts. With limited interactivity, local e-government today is mainly about delivering information and services online; in other words, it is a one-way communication tool. Further, the authors expect this trend to continue for the foreseeable future.

Click to read abstract (open) or full article (requires subscription).

The Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture’s oral history project, For All the World to Hear: Stories of the Struggle for Civil Rights, is featured on the front page of this month’s Beacon.

The article explores the nature of the project and features interviews with its coordinator and CADVC Curator of Collections and Outreach, Sandra Abbott, and two speakers, Shirley and John Billy, whose harrowing story is detailed within the piece. The related gallery exhibition currently on display in the CADVC, For All The World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights, is also mentioned. Read the article, “Civil Rights Stories Finally Heard“.

For All the World to Hear premiered with a preview of the event at UMBC on November 15, and will continue it’s tour, performing at museums, parks, libraries and college campuses through February. For All the World to Hear returns to UMBC Friday, February 15. Learn more about the project at foralltheworldtohear.org.

January 28 – March 24, 2013

Contact:
Thomas Moore
410-455-3370
tmoore@umbc.edu

Alicia DeWitt
410-455-3495
adewitt@umbc.edu

Download this release.

The Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery presents Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography from Iran, on display from January 28 through March 24. Persian Visions was developed by Hamid Severi for the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, Iran, and Gary Hallman of the Regis Center for Art, University of Minnesota and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington D.C.

In the first survey of contemporary Iranian photography to travel to the United States, Persian Visions: Contemporary Photography from Iran features more than sixty works by twenty of Iran's most celebrated photographers who use the camera as a tool for cultural expression and self-exploration. The exhibition offers a glimpse into the aspects of existence—family, history, place, mortality, language, memory—that engage us all. These photographers offer a poignant reminder that at the center of political turmoil there can be humanity, and that a keen eye tuned to the tensions of modern life need not be blind to its poetry.

Iran has long distinguished itself with the spectacular quality and international presence of its visual art and film. With the backdrop of increasing attention given to the art and culture of Iran and the current political crisis in that part of the world, an exhibition with this focus is most timely. In expressing their many different visions of their world, these artists offer a look at both private and public realms. Their perspectives contradict the way many foreign photographers typically capture Iran on film as purely exotic.

The exhibition features works by artists including Shokoufeh Alidousti, offering self-portraits and family photographs exploring both cultural and female identity; Esmail Abbasi, who draws on Persian literature for his subject matter with contemporary notes on the present circumstances in Iran; Shahriar Tavakoli, who focuses on his family history through a series of portraits capturing the subtleties and mood of the Iranian family; Koroush Adim and his Revelation series; and Shahrokh Ja'fari whose use of unusual spacial rendering in depicting the veiled figure demands that the viewer look harder and think harder about what can be revealed through the visual.

Hours
Mon/Tue/Wed/Fri: 12 P.M. – 4 P.M.
Thursday: 12 P.M. – 8 P.M.
Sat/Sun: 1 P.M. – 5 P.M.

About the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery
The Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery serves as one of the principal art galleries in the Baltimore region. Objects from the Special Collections Department, as well as art and artifacts from all over the world, are displayed in challenging and informative exhibitions for the University community and the public. Moreover, traveling exhibitions are occasionally presented, and the Gallery sends some exhibits on tour to other institutions nationwide. Admission to the Gallery and its programs is free.

Public Information
UMBC Arts & Culture Calendar: artscalendar.umbc.edu
Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery: aok.lib.umbc.edu/gallery/

Acknowledgements
This exhibition was made possible in part by the ILEX Foundation, University of Minnesota McKnights Arts and Humanities Endowment, and the Department of Art, Regis Center for Art, University of Minnesota.

The Library Gallery's presentation of this exhibition is supported by an arts program grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support comes from the Friends of the Library & Gallery, the Libby Kuhn Foundation, and individual contributions.

Images for Media
www.umbc.edu/newsevents/arts/hi-res/
Images in this release: Yahya Dehghanpoor, Untitled, no date; Ebrahim Khadem Bayat, Untitled, 1997; Mehran Mohajer, T.V. Series 1 (The Light is Out the Room is Dark), 2003; Ahmad Nateghi, Untitled, 1998; Arman Stephanian, Untitled, 2003.

Directions and Parking Information
UMBC is located approximately 10 minutes from downtown Baltimore and 20 minutes from I-495.
• From I-95 between Baltimore and Washington, take exit 47B. Follow signs for Route 166 toward Catonsville, signs for UMBC, and then signs to the Walker Avenue Garage and Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery.
• From I-695, take Exit 12C (Wilkens Avenue west) and continue one-half mile to the entrance of UMBC at the roundabout intersection of Wilkens Avenue and Hilltop Road. Turn left and follow signs to the Walker Avenue Garage and Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery.
• Daytime metered visitor parking is available in the Walker Avenue Garage.

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