UMBC student organizations are supporting the non-profit organization in the Baltimore Area called Living Classrooms.

Living Classrooms strengthens Baltimore communities and inspires young people to achieve their potential through hands-on education and job training, using urban, natural, and maritime resources as “living classrooms.”  

Programs

• REU: Bioenergy Systems
• SROP: Biomedical Engineering
• SROP: Chemistry
• REU: Applied Mathematics
• REU: Nanomaterials and Nanoscience
• REU: Optics and Laser Physics
• REU: Redox Biology
• SROP: Virology

The Nebraska Summer Research Program is a consortium of NSF funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and other summer research opportunities programs (SROP).

All work and no play?
Not exactly.

One unique feature of the Nebraska Summer Research Program is the partnership between the REU and SROP programs and the Office of Graduate Studies. Students benefit in having a community of scholars in which to learn and to share research with.

This intensive summer research experience provides mentoring and research experiences while allowing scholars to preview graduate school life. Students with a strong interest in graduate programs are particularly encouraged to apply, as are those from populations traditionally underrepresented in graduate education.

The Legendary Lorax

Photo from: http://screencrave.com/2011-12-06/trailer-for-the-lorax/

Just about everyone loves Dr Suess.  You can include Hollywood in that tally as Dr Suess’ films Like The Cat in the Hat and Horton hears a Who have been big money earners.

Now Universal Pictures is trying a new marketing spin in its promotion of the movie revival of Dr. Seuss’ classic,The Lorax.

The studio has teamed up with70 companies and organizationsranging from the EPA and Greenpeace Philippines to Whole Foods Market and IHOP. These partners will feature the Lorax on their products and initiatives not only to endorse the movie, but also to inspire a sense of environmental awareness.

Universal Pictures is also focused on environmentally-conscious activities likeplanting trees and conserving energy. So instead of enticing children with cheap McDonald’s toys, the studio is sending the Lorax’s message to kids by encouraging them to be more environmentally active.

But will the message be delivered?

Universal Pictures and its partners certainly hope so. After all, their method of delivery seems to “speak for the trees” a lot more than a plastic Happy Meal toy ever will.

Thanks to Shirtoid.com

With all the warm weather and Valentine’s Day right around the corner, everyone is fixated on the birds, bees, and the birth control. Here’s a few stories of interest:

The Pill or Health Care?

According to the Archdiocese for Baltimore, the requirement that the church provide birth control to it’s employees is a deplorable first amendment violation. In his statement Cardinal O’Brien told his fellow congregants:

We cannot – we will not- comply with this unjust law. People of faith can not be made second class citizens.”

Failure to follow the law will result in the loss of health care coverage for 3,500 local employees.

Cardinal O’Brien isn’t the only religious leader that is finding qualms with the requirement.

White House officials have met with women’s groups and religious leaders to try to find a solution that will be acceptable to everyone. Press Secretary Jay Carney said:

There are ways to, I think, help resolve this issue that ensures that we provide that important preventative service, that health care coverage to all women… in a way that also tries to allay some of these concerns.”

The two groups hope to find an effective compromise in a timely fashion. Good luck with that.

Plan-B and a Coke, please.

Shippensburg University installs a new kind of vending machine. Thanks to Associated Press!

Shippensburg University revolutionized the way that college students could get Plan-B by allowing it’s students to purchase the pill for $25 out of a vending machine. All of the university’s students are over 17 and can legally go to the vending machine in a secluded area of the university health center without needing to go into the small town.

There has been quite a bit of ruckus over the accessibility of what is already a controversial medication. But there has been little noise over the accessibility of  Coca-Cola products, which studies have shown can be an effective spermicide.

So if Plan-A and Plan-B are out of stock, stick with Plan-Coca-Cola.

Got No Plan?

Meet Chun Chun- China's biggest baby! Thanks to HollywoodLife.com!

Well, that stinks. You could have your very own Chun Chun! His mother called him the “dragon baby” but in  reality he’s 15.5 pound son of Wang Yujuan and Han Jingang. He currently holds the record for the largest newborn in China by half a pound. His parents are thrilled.

Thanks to MSNBC!

If you have the need or luck to produce multitudes of children,  you may be susceptible to blackmail. As if the diapers wouldn’t be bad enough.

According to the Associated Press, photographer Teresa Hunt threatened to reveal intimate pictures of a cast member from the TLC hit reality show 19 Kids and Counting featuring Jim Bob Duggar and fam if the show was not cancelled or she did not receive $10,000 dollars.

Amy Duggar, the cousin supposedly featured in the photos, has called Hunt’s allegations “totally untrue”.

Ask and you shall receive. 

Psalm 116 (NIV 2011)

¹ I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
² Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.

³ The cords of death entangled me,
the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
⁴ Then I called on the name of the LORD:
“LORD, save me!”

⁵ The LORD is gracious and righteous;
our God is full of compassion.
⁶ The LORD protects the unwary;
when I was brought low, he saved me.

⁷ Return to your rest, my soul,
for the LORD has been good to you.

⁸ For you, LORD, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling,
⁹ that I may walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.

¹⁰ I trusted in the LORD when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
¹¹ in my alarm I said,
“Everyone is a liar.”

¹² What shall I return to the LORD
for all his goodness to me?

¹³ I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD.
¹⁴ I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.

¹⁵ Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his faithful servants.
¹⁶ Truly I am your servant, LORD;
I serve you just as my mother did;
you have freed me from my chains.

¹⁷ I will sacrifice a thank offering to you
and call on the name of the LORD.
¹⁸ I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
¹⁹ in the courts of the house of the LORD—
in your midst, Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD.

Reflection:

When the psalmist is overcome by distress and sorrow, he calls on the name of the Lord. His prayer, “God, save me!” is only a few words but captures the rawness and angst of his heart. God rescues the psalmist from the cords of death and he responds by giving himself to the Lord.

His offerings to the Lord described in verses 12-19 show us how we can respond to God for His faithful love and care over our lives. The psalmist speaks of lifting the cup of salvation (possibly a part of sacrificing thank offerings), serving God because we have been freed, and fulfilling his vows to God in the presence of His people, even to the point of death.

Response:

God is faithful in rescuing us in times of trouble. Let’s reflect on all the times we have cried out to Him and He has delivered us. May we respond as the psalmist did by offering sacrifices of thanks and calling on His name. Let’s commit our hearts to serve God; let’s also ask Him for the grace and perseverance to continue serving Him for all our days.