in this issue
AN ADVOCATE AND
INSPIRATION RETIRES PG. 3 / BEING NEIGHBORLY PG. 5 / ACCOLADES PG. 6 / HEARING FROM HISTORICAL WOMEN PG. 8 /
STAFF ADVISORS SUPPORT UNDERGRADS IN SERVICE DURING SPRING BREAK PG. 4
Between the Columns at the University of Maryland april 2012
STREAMLINING 14TH MARYLAND DAY TO EMBRACE NEW, OLD Rubber duckies will soon be bobbing in the ODK Fountain, children will devour liquid nitrogen ice cream, and 9,000 of us in matching T-shirts will welcome guests to our campus. The 14th annual Maryland Day on April 28 will feature old favorites among the 450-plus events, as well as new themes and activities. This year’s open house will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act that established our land-grant status. Booths will showcase our modern mission of service to the state in agriculture, engineering, entrepreneurship and more. Also new is an international village in front of Holzapfel Hall, tempting passersby to assemble a giant map of China or test their knowledge of world geography and history. A 65-member planning committee has been organizing the university’s biggest event since September, and staff and faculty will be demonstrating research and talking up their programs and students. “I love the planning, coordinating, organizing and then the joy of seeing it all come together,” says volunteer Tom Steen, assistant director of the Division of Letters and Sciences.
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and formalizing the pipeline between College Park’s academic programs, including pre-law and premed, and the professional schools in Baltimore.
ESTABLISHING University of Maryland Ventures from the two institutions’ existing offices that promote technology transfer and commercialization. The new joint institute will take discoveries and innovations from campus laboratories to the marketplace.
CREATING the Collaborative School of Public Health through combining and expanding the master’s of public health programs in Baltimore and College Park.
RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS . BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT. STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES. All are about to expand through
a new partnership between the University of Maryland and the University of Maryland, Baltimore. University of Maryland: MPowering the State combines the strengths of both institutions to increase efficiencies and collaboration, expand academics and research in Montgomery County, and enhance their service to the state. Changes on the way include:
COMBINING efforts at the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research at the Universities at Shady Grove, and expanding coursework on that campus in health, law, human services and the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math). A dean will be appointed to oversee the campus and institute.
DEVELOPING tools to make it easier for faculty to get joint appointments and submit joint grant applications, building on a successful seed grant program between UMB and UMD.
LAUNCHING the University of Maryland Scholars Program to allow students from each institution to participate in research led by facultyPhotography at the by John T. Consoli other institution.
“There are touches of Beth everywhere. …She is the consummate campus citizen.” — MARSHA GUENZLER-STEVENS, Stamp Student Union director
Retiring Pastor Inspires Campus After nearly half a century on campus, Lutheran chaplain Beth Platz will retire at the end of May—but her influence will live on. “There are touches of Beth everywhere,” says Marsha Guenzler-Stevens, director of the Stamp Student Union, who has worked with Platz for 30 years. “She is the consummate campus citizen.” As the Lutheran community’s spiritual leader, Platz made students a priority, even cooking dinner for many of them each week. But her efforts went beyond the church: She repurposed abandoned bikes and collected boxes of household items for international students, provided ice Photography by John T. Consoli
cream for the Mighty Sound of Maryland practicing on a sweltering August day and helped students get to Langley Park to tutor elementary school students. “It’s just a fascinating experience,” she says, “the way that the small things you do can enrich the community.” She was ordained in 1970 as the first female Lutheran minister in the country, and she found Maryland to be welcoming during a time of national change. As a long-standing member of the President’s Commission on Women’s Issues, Platz has fought for fairness in tenure, female leadership and, most fervently, child care at Maryland. It remains one of the few things
/ By karen shih
she feels hasn’t come to fruition during her time here. “We need good family policy,” she says, “It’s an overarching issue that affects grad students, faculty and more. It’s important for recruitment, retention and productivity.” Ray Ranker ’04, who will take over as chaplain, says her holistic view will influence his role here. “I learned a lot from her about the Christian love for neighbor,” he says, both as a student and working with Platz this transitional year. “She’s a daily visible reminder about what it really means to serve others.” APRIL 2012 btc 3
Spring into Action
UMD Staff Members Guide Students through Alternative Breaks
MIRA AZARM , assistant director for client publications, University Marketing and Communications
MARK ENGLEBERT, doctoral candidate in philosophy and instructor in the College of Arts and Humanities
WATERSHED CONSERVATION,
HUMAN TRAFFICKING,
MERZ LIM , Asian Pacific American Student Involvement & Advocacy Program Coordinator, Office of Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy
CHESAPEAKE BAY REGION, MD.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
HIV/AIDS, NEW YORK CITY
Through oyster restoration work, tree sapling planting and sleeping in sandy tents, Azarm combined her love of the environment with her interest in learning with students. With a good mix of education and direct service, the trip was designed “to move people along on an active citizen trajectory” she says. “I left thinking that I could do more in my everyday life,” she says. “And I liked seeing the students becoming more aware of how small actions, and big ones, can change things.”
Students went bowling with survivors of sexual slavery, sharing with them a rare night of normalcy and laughter. They learned more about human trafficking and debt bondage—a modern-day form of indentured servitude for immigrants— when sprucing up a safe house and hearing how flight attendants are identifying potential victims. “It really grabbed me how serious a problem this was and how little most of us know about it,” Englebert says.
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For his first Alternative Break trip, Lim supported students volunteering in a health center for AIDS/HIV residents. They played card and Wii games or just talked, with Lim watching initial hesitancy turn into friendships. “It was nice to see [the students] question their privilege, to see the dissonance and them try to resolve it,” he says. “And it was very heartwarming. The patients opened up and showed us their lives. Students were crying on the last day because we had to leave.”
Photography by John T. Consoli
WHILE SOME OF US SPENT SPRING BREAK ON FAMILY TRIPS , working in our yards or catching up on sleep, others were out changing the world, if just a little bit. Sixteen university staff members served as advisers in the Alternative Breaks program, heading to sites as close as Baltimore and D.C. and as far as the Dominican Republic and South Dakota. Volunteers underwent a year of training, focusing on logistics and support, so undergraduates could do community service and get perspective on issues such as poverty, domestic violence, human trafficking and environmental conservation. Here are a few of this spring’s trips:
Approximately 150 students, staff and community members painted the Northgate and Lakeland tunnels, picked up trash along the Paint Branch Trail, put down mulch for the Paint Branch Elementary School playground and planted trees in the North Gate Park for the second annual Good Neighbor Day on March 31. Organizer Gloria Aparicio Blackwell, associate director for community relations in the Office of the Vice President for Administrative Affairs, says that county, parks department and business partners helped make the day a success. U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer ’63 dropped by to thank the volunteers. More photos, including before and after shots can be found at: ter.ps/mt.
JEREMY HANSON, master of public policy candidate and writing coach in the School of Public Policy Environmental Finance Center RURAL COMMUNITIES AND POVERTY, BLAND COUNTY, VA.
Southwest Virginia may not sound far, but the diverse group from Maryland faced culture shock while working at a church food pantry in an isolated, Christian, poor community. The volunteers also learned about Native American culture while working in the local Indian museum. Hanson says the residents’ curiosity about the volunteers sparked great discussions on culture, religion and socioeconomic status. “It was really and incredible chance to learn. The people were so friendly and they enjoyed having some fresh faces,” he says.
Sketch Illustration by Brian G. Payne; Cover art by Catherine Nichols
TO LEARN ABOUT FUTURE AB TRIPS, VISIT TER.PS/KS
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Faculty and staff participating in the 31-day Campus Recreation Services and Wellness Coalition’s Walk for Wellness Challenge boasted some impressive numbers:
126 170 296
+
INDIVIDUALS PARTICIPANTS ON TEAMS OF 5
PARTICIPANTS
TOTAL TIME
18,746 HOURS
AT LEAST
67
OFFICES AND
DEPARTMENTS REPRESENTED IN THE CHALLENGE
Loh Joins in Food Recovery
University President Wallace Loh joins Food Recovery Network members (from left) Andy Xin, director of public relations; Ben Simon, co-president; Jeremy Kugel, board of directors member; Loh; and Mia Zavalij, co-president, as they pick up food at 251 North to deliver to the homeless at a D.C. shelter. The student group recovered nearly 15,000 meals from game concessions and campus dining halls last semester.
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accolades Phyllis Dickerson Johnson, director of communications for the Division of Information Technology, has been named to the National Capital Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America’s board of directors. She will serve for a year. Maryland’s Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps Detachment 330, led by Professor of Aerospace Studies Col. Robert E. Pecoraro, was recognized as the No. 1 large detachment in the nation for 2011 and awarded the Right of Line Award, besting 51 detachments that have 111 or more cadets. The unit was evaluated based on the number of officers commissioned, education, recruiting and retention, university/public relations, and cadet activities. The Army Reserve Officers Training Corps Terrapin Battalion, led by Lt. Col. Sam Cook, won one of eight MacArthur Awards presented by the U.S. Army Cadet Command and the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Foundation. The award is based on the achievement of the school’s commissioning mission, its cadets’ performance and standing on the command’s national Order of Merit List, and its cadet retention rate. Marty Ronning, assistant director of the A. James Clark School of Engineering’s Distance Education Technology and Services, received the Conference for Industry and Education Collaboration Best Session
Award for his “Comparing Tools for OnLine and Blended Programs,” presented at the February 2011 conference. He was recognized at this year’s gathering. Laura MacPherson, associate director of the Center for Addictions, Personality, and Emotion Research, has been selected by the Behavioral and Integrative Treatment Branch in the Division of Clinical Neuroscience and Behavioral Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse to receive the Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award for 2012. Thomas Cohen, associate chair of the physics department, and adjunct professor Paul Lett of the National Institutes of Standards and Technology, were chosen as two of 149 new American Physical Society’s (APS) Outstanding Referees for 2012. The program recognizes scientists who have been exceptionally helpful in assessing manuscripts for publication in the APS journals. Donna Wiseman, dean of the College of Education, has been named a member of a new national Commission on Standards and Performance Reporting to raise standards for teacher preparation. Lei Zhang, a civil engineering assistant professor, has been awarded a National Science Foundation Early Faculty Career Development Award for his project, “Reliability as an Emergent Property of Transportation Networks.”
Loh photo by John T. Consoli; blended learning Photography illustration by Brian John T.G.Consoli Payne
The Office of the Provost provided $400,000 in support for faculty whose instructional proposals were chosen to launch the blended learning effort: INTRODUCTION TO THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT Luis Diego Quiros Pacheco, assistant professor of architecture David Cronrath, dean of the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation BUSINESS FINANCE Susan White, Distinguished Tyser Teaching Fellow, Robert H. Smith School of Business MOLECULAR GENETICS B. Booth Quimby, associate director of the Honors College Integrated Life Sciences Program Caren Chang, associate chair, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics Zhongchi Liu, associate professor of cell biology and molecular genetics Steve Mount, associate professor of cell biology and molecular genetics Leslie Pick, professor of entomology ESSENTIALS OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Blended Learning Courses Toss Tradition / By tom ventsias Architecture major Jessica Kent contributes to her class discussion at 2 a.m. via a Wiki thread. Economics major Jeni Huezo views most of her lectures online at a dedicated Vimeo site, allowing for a quick replay of any course material giving her trouble. Both students are taking “Environmental Geology,” one of 10 undergraduate courses introduced this spring in a new “blended learning” format. The classes, most of which are taken half online and half in the classroom, feature social media tools like blogs, Wikis and Twitter that are complimented by live discussions using high-tech graphics.
Meina Liu, assistant professor of communication PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS Marianne Hayek, director, Department of Economics
“With blended learning, we can offer an educational environment of the highest quality, while also making use of new technologies that allow quite a bit of innovation for teaching and learning,” says Ann Wylie, senior vice president and provost. Saswata Hier-Majumder, an assistant professor who teaches the geology class, says the biggest benefit for students is the range of choices they have to interact with the course material. Some students prefer visual learning, he says, while others may want the option of listening to the lecture on their iPhone while they’re jogging. “It’s just a better way to present the science,” he says.
Cindy Clement, economics lecturer and director of undergraduates studies Robert Schwab, professor of economics TECHNICAL WRITING AND ACADEMIC WRITING Lea Chartock, English lecturer and director, Professional Writing Program Linda Macri, English lecturer ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY Saswata Hier-Majumder, assistant professor of geology INTRODUCTION TO MASS COMMUNICATION Ron Yaros, assistant professor of journalism MOTOR DEVELOPMENT Marcio Oliveira, research assistant professor of kinesiology ADVANCED SPANISH GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION Roberta Lavine, associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese
Between the Columns is published twice per semester by University Marketing and Communications. Story ideas are welcome and should be sent to Monette Bailey, managing editor, at btwthecolumns@umd.edu, or call 301.405.4629. ¶ The mailing list is generated through University Human Resources. Any changes to names and addresses should be made through ares.umd.edu.
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Discovering Adele
Civil War’s Women Speak Exhibit Reveals Perspectives in Maryland By monette Austin Bailey In one diary entry from April 1865, Abraham Lincoln’s assassination is a “joyful circumstance for this country,” while a second calls it “the terrible event which has cast a gloomy shadow over the whole nation.” Both books are part of a Libraries exhibition featuring women’s perspectives on the Civil War in observation of 150 years since its occurrence. “Women on the Border: Maryland Perspectives of the Civil War,” a collection of letters, diaries, photographs, sheet music and rare books, is on display in Hornbake Library’s Maryland Room Gallery through July 13. “We have never looked at our Civil War collections through the lens of women’s history before,” says curator Elizabeth Novara.
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“And the war’s sesquicentennial provided a wonderful opportunity to do so.” The exhibit is complemented by a website, www.lib.umd.edu/civilwarwomen, and a scholarly symposium on April 27 in Hornbake Library. Thavolia Glymph, associate professor of history and African American studies at Duke University, will present the keynote address. For more information about the symposium and the exhibitions, contact Novara at enovara@umd.edu or 301.314.2712.
A NEW MINI-EXHIBIT about Adele H. Stamp, the university’s first dean of women, offers a peek into the life of this Maryland history maker. The never-married Stamp spent 38 years serving the campus’ female students. She founded clubs for women, started a physical education club and an American Red Cross chapter. The exhibit, made possible in part by recent gifts from Stamp’s great grand-niece Lori Sonderegger, will be in the Stamp Union Colony Ballroom lounge on Maryland Day, April 28. It will then be accessible online through the University Archives website: www.lib.umd.edu/univarchives.