In his latest Baltimore Sun commentary, “Newt Gingrich Is the GOP’s Only Serious Candidate,” UMBC political science professor Thomas Schaller argues that despite claims of his unelectability, Gingrich stands out as unique in the GOP presidential field. Schaller calls Gingrich “the Republicans’ one-man walking, talking think tank” and argues, “he will be able to conduct a serious debate about America’s future because he’s the only GOP contender who has spent the past three decades actually pondering the problems, large and small, facing the country.” Read the column to learn more about Schaller’s 2010 interview with Gingrich and their conversation on Gingrich’s book “To Save America.”

Jaimes Mayhew ’10, MFA in imaging and digital arts, has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program scholarship to Iceland, where he will spend the next nine months working on a social practice art project, Autonomous Energy Research Lab.

Mayhew states, “Autonomous Energy Research Lab is an art research project that will investigate the idea of autonomy through conversations, art events, visits from other Baltimore-based artists and any other methods of research that may come about. All of these events will take place involving my research lab, which is a modified bike cart that includes a table, chairs, protection from the rain and is capable of producing and storing energy in a mobile battery. I will be using this lab to research ideas of autonomy, with special interest in Iceland’s use of geothermal power, of preservation of the Icelandic language and culture and, of course, in talking to people about Iceland’s economic collapse and strategies to recovery.”

See more about Mayhew’s work at his website:  www.enginesofthefuture.com

– Originally published on the UMBC Graduate School blog

– Read more about UMBC alumni on Retriever Net

The Commons SportsZone was packed last month as finalists in UMBC’s 3rd annual Idea Competition — a bi-annual contest of entrepreneurial prowess — made their presentations to a panel of alumni judges and a standing room-only crowd of over 100 members of the UMBC community.

Forty ideas were originally submitted by students, with the top 10 selected for the final round. Winners were chosen by a combination of scores from the voting audience and the judging panel, consisting of three entrepreneurial alums: Greg Cangialosi ’96, English, CEO of Nucleus Ventures, LLC; Delali Dzirasa ’04, computer engineering, President of Fearless Solutions, LLC; and Jeehye Yun ’97, computer science, CEO and President of Secured Sciences Group.

UMBC alumnus and judge Greg Cangialosi was inspired by the innovative ideas from the students. He says, “It is truly inspiring to come back to UMBC as an entrepreneur and to see the amount of energy and the quality of the ideas coming out of the students on campus. The advancements in promoting entrepreneurship at UMBC have been incredible.”

Read more about the competition winners here.

All the winners won cash prizes: 1st place $750, 2nd place $500, 3rd place $250 and Most Creative $250. The Idea Competition was sponsored by the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship and was part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, a week where universities around the world celebrate entrepreneurship with activities and events for their students, faculty and alumni.

Serving the Delaware Valley since 1832, WSFS is the seventh oldest bank in the United States continuously operating under the same name.

WSFS Bank has exciting Summer Intern Opportunities for ALL Majors from IT, Human Resources, to Finance available. Our goal is to partner with gifted professionals to help us achieve our vision and maintain our culture. 

Work-life balance, great benefits, service oriented culture, and career development are a few reasons to consider a career at WSFS Bank.

WSFS Bank employs over 700 Associates in more than 40 offices. Our Corporate headquarters is located in downtown Wilmington, Delaware with locations spread across New Castle, Sussex, and Kent County in Delaware as well as Chester and Delaware County in Pennsylvania.

If you are a driven, innovative, team player, and if you stand for service too, WSFS has exciting career opportunities for you. Come join the WSFS team...

TO APPLY, send your resume to Christine Routzahn, Director of Internships at The Shriver Center at routzahn@umbc.edu.

This December, the STARS team continues its monthly blog post on facts, trends, and best practices in campus sustainability, based on data submitted by over 130 STARS Participants as of November 2011. With a focus this month on resource conservation and outreach, we hope to recognize a job well done and share ideas and inspiration on advancing sustainability in higher education. This month’s blog will highlight ER Credit 2: Student Sustainability Outreach Campaigns.

Student Sustainability Outreach
ER Credit 2 recognizes institutions that hold sustainability outreach campaigns that yield measurable, positive results in advancing sustainability performance.

Did you know?
88 percent of all STARS-rated institutions participate in at least one sustainability-related outreach campaign directed at students. Of these, 41 institutions reported outreach campaigns for the national Recyclemania competition, the most popular campaign mentioned for this credit.

*Two institutions participated in a single outreach initiative for water & energy conservation and are included in both categories
** “Other” includes campaigns for pledges, web/social media, affordability, investment, public engagement, and sustainability overall

Factoids

• The most popular categories for student sustainability outreach are waste reduction (59 campaigns) and energy conservation (52 campaigns).

• More institutions mentioned campaigns for water bottle reduction initiatives (five campaigns) than for water conservation initiatives (three campaigns).

• Only six dining campaigns were mentioned.

• Only four transportation campaigns were mentioned.

Highlighted Institutions

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (STARS Silver, January 2011) competed with rival NC State to conserve water, beginning with the schools' football game in November, and lasting until the basketball matchup in February. Students at UNC trimmed their daily water use by 24 percent during the challenge.
• At Carnegie Mellon University (STARS Reporter, August 2011), StepGreen is a student outreach campaign designed to track environmental impacts of students’ behaviors and actions. Students record their daily actions throughout the semester on a website, and these actions are then evaluated to present improvements to lessen students’ environmental impacts.
• At Moraine Valley Community College (STARS Bronze, January 2011) in Illinois, Cy-Rides is a free, internet based, carpool matching and tracking program open to students, staff, and faculty. The Cy-Rides campaign involves email communication, student outreach, and event displays. Based on user surveys, the 2010 campaign is estimated to have reduced CO2 emissions by over 45,000 pounds.
• Macalester College (STARS Silver, July 2011) founded and annually participates in the Minnesota Campus Energy Challenge, a statewide energy reduction competition that compares individual schools' results with previous records for each institution. In February 2010, Macalester College achieved a 6% overall energy reduction in comparison to the year before.

Please give us your feedback on future STARS data analysis updates by sending your ideas to stars@aashe.org.

As you prepare for finals take a quick study break and make a prediction about snow this season in Baltimore.  Will we have another "Snowcation" like in February of 2010 where UMBC was closed for a week?

The Farmer's Almanac has its predictions here: http://www.almanac.com/weather/longrange/MD/Baltimore

What are your thoughts?  Do you have snow boots ready?  What would you do if UMBC closed for a week due to snow?  Share your predictions for snow at UMBC!