Exodus 24:12-18

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. 14 He said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.”

15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16 and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Reflection:

This is one of the most important moments in Exodus when Moses is called up to the mountain to receive instructions from the Lord. How timely and appropriate that Joshua goes up with Moses! There’s a clear benefit to being around and being available! Be at the right place at the right time!”

Response:

Let’s humbly pray to God and ask that He would help us be at those right places at the right times.  And just as Joshua, may we experience the blessing of being near the Lord, being in His presence.

The Graduate Schools at UMBC and College Park will hold orientations this week, and UMBC will hold its first graduate student seminar on Friday, August 26. UMBC’s Evening Graduate School Orientation will be held on Wednesday, August 24 at 4:30 PM.

UM College Park invites all new and continuing graduate students of color and all other interested students to attend the Annual Networking Reception at the Nyumburu Cultural Center in the Multi-Purpose room. 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM on Thursday, August 25. This reception offers students and an opportunity to meet and greet graduate student groups and offices that support students of color at College Park; network with faculty, staff, and group leaders on campus; and learn about various student groups. Refreshments will be served.

At the end of the week, UMBC will host a Teaching and Learning Workshop for all new TAs on campus and all students interested in teaching. The workshop will also feature an “Success Seminar” free 1 hour luncheon workshop on Life/Work Balance  for all graduate students with Psychologist Dr. Robert Deluty.

• All UMBC Graduate Student Success Seminars for 2011 – 2012 are listed here:

http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/umbc-grad-student-success-seminars/

• Postdoctoral seminars are listed here:

http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/postdocs/

• PROF-it (Professors-in-Training) and Professors Beyond Borders (PBB) seminars are listed here:

http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/professors-in-training-prof-it/

The 12 hour DH marathon at the 2011 Summer Success Institute started with 11 participants and ended with three triumphant women! Kudos to all who accepted the challenge, and special congratulations to Nikki, Maritza, and Patti, the last three standing!

The theme for the DH was #TeamGetItDone, based on a Twitter hashtag that was created and regularly used by DH members and Ph.D. candidates Sophoria “Nikki” Westmoreland (Mechanical Engineering, UM College Park), and Alexis Williams (Human Development, UM College Park). The energy at the DH at SSI was high and the participants worked hard! Congratulations to all!!

The 12 hour DH marathon at the 2011 Summer Success Institute started with 11 participants and ended with three triumphant women! Kudos to all who accepted the challenge, and special congratulations to Nikki, Maritza, and Patti, the last three standing!

The theme for the DH was #TeamGetItDone, based on a Twitter hashtag that was created and regularly used by DH members and Ph.D. candidates Sophoria “Nikki” Westmoreland (Mechanical Engineering, UM College Park), and Alexis Williams (Human Development, UM College Park). The energy at the DH at SSI was high and the participants worked hard! Congratulations to all!!

The 9th Annual PROMISE Summer Success Institute (SSI) was held at the Sheraton Town Center Hotel in Columbia, Maryland this past weekend. This year, we featured an outdoor component, hosted by Terra Trax from Arizona.  The team leader, Craig Imler, is an Outward Bound-trained facilitator, who has been leading retreats for PROMISE since 2004.  Many alumni mentioned that their turning points came “at Coolfont.” In past years, we’ve had PROMISE retreats at the Coolfont Conference Center in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, and at the Rocky Gap Conference Center in Cumberland, Maryland. This year, we brought the “Coolfont” and “Rocky Gap” experiences and our facilitator team to the SSI. This was the first year that we combined the SSI and the retreat.

A full list of activities can be found on the SSI’s website:

http://promisesuccessseminars.wordpress.com/promise-summer-success-institute-ssi/

“‘The Amiable Baltimoreans’ was published in 1951—just 60 years ago—and yet the city contained within it is as remote from our time as Carthage, and as alluring as the Seven Cities of Cibola,” writes Christopher Corbett, professor of the practice of English, in his latest essay for Style magazine.

“This little book does not merely make me wonder where the amiable Baltimoreans have gone and if there are any about now,” he continues. “It makes me long for the tables they set, and lament that it is no longer possible to savor such cuisine.”

“Appetite for the Past,” Corbett’s lament that certain Baltimore delicacies have been lost to downtown chain restaurants, was published in the September-October issue of the magazine.

Today, 75 million baby boomers are poised to become the next generation of assisted living residents. The sheer size of this population emphasizes the importance of creating, sustaining and evaluating quality in these settings to ensure that elders can access housing that fits their wants and needs. With this in mind, a team of researchers at the UMBC Center for Aging Studies has published “Quality Assisted Living.” This innovate volume explicitly delves into the lives of those who inhabit assisted living facilities, seeking to understand their perceptions of what constitutes quality of life.

Looking for a high quality assisted living facility can be a stressful experience for older adults and their families. Co-author Leslie Morgan, professor of sociology and co-director of the UMB/UMBC Gerontology Doctoral Program, notes the challenge starts when we ask, “What is high quality?” In a preview video introducing the book, Morgan suggests a more helpful question would be: “What facility would best meet the individual personality and needs of my loved one?” “Quality Assisted Living” provides accessible discussion of assisted living topics ranging from dining preferences to housing regulations to financial issues.