The TRUST Research Experiences for Undergraduates (TRUST REU) is a nine-week summer program in Cybersecurity, Privacy and Trustworthy Systems, was established to promote access to graduate education among undergraduates who have been educationally or economically disadvantaged and who may not have exposure to the academic environment of a research university.

The goal of the TRUST REU program is to increase the level of diversity among students entering graduate programs in computer science and engineering by providing research opportunities under the supervision of a faculty member and graduate student mentor. Program objectives are:

• To provide students with preparation to become research scholars
• To stimulate serious consideration of graduate study
• To increase the number of successful underserved applicants able to enroll in graduate school

Special consideration will be given to applicants who have shown potential for success, but may have had limited access to undergraduate research or other academic opportunities. Upon completion of this program students will be better prepared and motivated to attend graduate school.N/p>

There are five research program locations:

• Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)
• Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA)
• UC Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)
• Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN)

The application deadline is 15 February 2012. For more information and to apply, see the TRUST REU site.

Image By: Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York

The New York Post caused a public uproar this week, publishing a cover photo that shows a man just seconds away from death.

Queens resident Ki-Suck Han was standing on a Times Square subway platform Monday when he was pushed onto the tracks. The full-page image shows Han looking over his shoulder at the oncoming train. The blunt headline says the following:

 Pushed on the subway track, this man is about to die.

In large block letters at the bottom of the page, there is just one word: “Doomed.”

The individual who took the photo, freelance photographer R. Umar Abbasi, was instantly the target of harsh criticism as people started to ask why he didn’t try to save the man instead of snapping pictures. According to Abbasi, he started taking pictures and running towards the train in the hopes that his camera’s flash would alert the train’s operator.

Some people went beyond criticizing the photographer, asking why the NY Post decided to publish the photo in the first place. According to one Twitter user, the image and its headline were clearly meant to make sales instead of serving as a tribute to Han:

To say the cover of @nypost is despicable would be an egregious understatement. Love of capital over care for humans, wholly disgusting.

The NY Post hasn’t commented on the controversy, leaving us with a lot of questions and “what if” scenarios. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below. 

Tom Mandato has been named Assistant Director of Athletics for Operations at UMBC, Director of Athletics Dr. Charles Brown announced in early December, 2012.

Mandato’s duties will include the maintenance of all athletic facilities, including the Retriever Activities Center and Arena, the UMBC Stadium Complex, the UMBC Aquatic Complex, the tennis courts, and practice and recreation fields. He will coordinate the scheduling of these facilities, supervise event operations, equipment room and athletic grounds staff, building security, and will serve as the department liaison to UMBC Facilities Management and the campus scheduling office.

The Philadelphia, Pa. native has spent the last eight years at Towson University, working in facility and event management. In June 2011, he was named Director of Facilities & Event Management for the Tigers’ 19-sport program. Mandato served as the event manager for football, men’s basketball, men’s lacrosse, track & field and gymnastics competitions. He was responsible for the entire athletic facilities budget, facility scheduling for all varsity sports, and played a major role in recent facility enhancement projects, including the new Tiger Arena.

Kristin Waters, Assistant Registrar, was a presenter at the 82nd Annual Conference & Meeting for MSACROA held in Hershey, PA in late November. Waters presented on “Campus Scheduling: Creating Strategies on Building Collaboration.”

“Korean cartography is very distinctive in having this combination of rivers and mountain shown so that the landscape looks as if it’s alive,” says Professor John Rennie Short, public policy, in a new video interview about his latest book.

Korea: A Cartographic History explores 600 years of Korean maps, made by both Koreans and non-Koreans, and serves as a captivating introduction to Korea for English speakers. Thanks to a grant from the Korea Foundation to the University of Chicago Press, the maps are printed in full color, showcasing them both as historical documents and works of art.

In the new video interview about Korea, John Rennie Short describes two cartographic controversies involving the complex relationship between Korea and Japan. He also reflects on the interdisciplinary approach that has defined his highly productive career.

Amy Bhatt, assistant professor of gender and women’s studies, is the co-author of Roots and Reflections: South Asians Map the Pacific Northwest, which will be released by the University of Washington Press early next year.

The book examines the experiences of early South Asians who settled on the Pacific coast in the early 1890s through the 1990s. Though the east coast of the U.S. has some of the largest South Asian populations in the country today, these early settlers shed light on the development of South Asian communities across the U.S. and are an important location in understanding contemporary immigration patterns. Roots and Reflections highlights the gender, race, and class aspects of this immigration and settlement.

For an overview of the book, see the book trailer below.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHjtOvH0YdU&w=420&h=315]