Robert Provine, professor of psychology, will read from his new book, Curious Behavior: Yawning, Laughing, Hiccupping, and Beyond, at the Ivy Bookshop on Tuesday, October 16 at 6:30 p.m.

In Curious Behavior, Provine boldly goes where other scientists seldom tread – in search of hiccups, coughs, yawns, sneezes, and other lowly, undignified human behaviors. These instinctive acts can be valuable tools for understanding how the human brain works and what makes us different from other species.

The Ivy is located at 6080 Falls Road, Baltimore, MD 21209, and is owned by alumnus alumnus Ed Berlin ’70, history. More information about the event, inclusing a link where you can RSVP, can be found here.

UMBC's nationally-recognized Student Government Association is looking to fill two vacant elected positions.

If you're looking to get more involved on campus, the SGA Senate and Finance Board are each looking to fill one vacancy (1 for Senate, 1 for FB). Those filling these vacancies will serve out the remainder of the 2012-2013 term, with responsibilities ending May 15, 2013.

(Elections for the 2013-2014 academic year will be held in the Spring.)

The deadline for submitting applications for either one of these vacancies is Friday, October 19th.

You can find more information about each position and submit your application by clicking on the following link: https://docs.google.com/a/umbc.edu/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGNWMlZST3NaT2g5VVdzVnhhUkxkOHc6MQ#gid=0

If you have any questions, you can contact Speaker of the Senate Valerie Parks (parksva1@umbc.edu) or Finance Board Chair Samantha Spehr (sspehr1@umbc.edu).

Drones are now our New Friends!

These unmanned aircraft are being deployed to take out baddies in remote places without endangering US personnel. What can be wrong with that?

Well… it’s not just baddies we are killing.

There have been a high number of civil deaths, and unmanned aircraft’s are being used more and more across the globe.  

President Obama has stated that the use of drones are “kept on a very tight leash” and that without the attacks, the US would have had to resort to “more intrusive military action”. But what about the social backlash?

Here in the United States, our new friendly drones are now spying on us.

If a drone, accidentally picks up surveillance information  from US citizens, it has permission to keep it for up to 90 days so that information can be analyzed.

Dozens of law enforcement agencies, universities and the local police department’s have drones at their disposal to use for wildlife fires, law enforcement, etc.

But where does this end or is this just the beginning? Can we trust drones will be kept on a “Tight Leash” in the future?