UB's Going Green!!!

Hey Everyone,

Hope you had a great weekend. I spent my weekend relaxing and watching the tributes to Michael Jackson that was on the news and the BET Awards. I'd like to encourage everyone to share their thoughts and feelings to those closest to them rather than waiting till it's too late.

With that said... for those of you who haven't been on campus lately or those of you who have but are always in a rush to notice, we've now got Recycling bins located on the Gordon Plaza, Outside the Student Center, and I'm sure there are maany more that have been strategically placed throughout campus.

I would like to commend the University for this move and hope to see more green initiatives come to life on this campus.

What do you think of the new Recycle Bins? Will they be useful or not? Would you use them or are you too stuck on your old ways?

The case of the Tuesdays

Even though it is Tuesday, I think I might be suffering from the case of the Monday's. Do you ever just get to that point where you feel like you are just not being heard? I feel like that today. Certain people today seem to be unappreciative for what I do. I can't say any particular names but let's just say I don't want to be pulled into an office and asked what is on my mind. To be honest I can't wait to be done school so I can move on with my life and do what it is I want to do. No matter how much devotion, time, and hard work I have put into this one thing I feel left out, held back, and looked at as if I am not capable of certain things. I know deep down inside it really is not personal but has anyone ever felt so eager to move forward but you cant because where you are now is what's responsible? Does that make sense? I am definitely thankful for my fellow blogger's and University of Baltimore for allowing me my Tuesday's to vent about my world. I like to find quote's and become inspired to change certain thing's. So I will end this Blog with a positive message.



“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”



I plan on starting a new ending today, that's for sure!

Changes in the Family

Over the past month, two major changes have been announced to the University System of Maryland (USM), the body of which the University of Baltimore is a part. The first is that the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) will be broken up and its components placed at other USM schools. While closely affiliated with the University of Maryland, College Park, UMBI is an independent institution, like UB. USM plans to improve synergy among research groups by placing them closer to related working groups.

But in other news, Towson University (also a part of USM) is close to merging with Baltimore Hebrew University, a small school focusing on Jewish culture programs. The programs, including a Hebrew language program, will be continued by Towson, which will also absorb the 80000-volume library.

Neither change directly affects UB or its students, but since UB students are able to take classes at any school within USM, it is well worth noting!

"Music and Me"

Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson.

You just can't ignore what a moment this is. End of an era. What's pop music with it's proverbial King?

And it's no contest...Iran or MJ? North Korea step aside.


Right.

In all truth--my tomorrow will be as it would have been. Or will it? When the news broke, my shock quickly morphed into cynicism--a kind of cursory humbling rationale that kept me functional by reminding me that my life had all of about nothing do with a certain Mr. Michael Joseph Jackson (1958-2009).

But it's just not true. A quick rolodex of my life reminds me that a good friend of mine can do a mean moonwalk. My brother and I, for that matter, used to study the dance moves in "Thriller" for hours...and don't even get me started on what "doesn't matter if you're black of white" means for biracial families. And yet it's really more. It's why we all balled our eyes out to "Heal the World" when Willy could not be set free--it's about art. Expressing divine talents. Emotions. Life.

Mr. Jackson garnered so much criticism in his last few years--so much so he felt he had to leave the country. Was it all in his head? Who knows? Was he or wasn't he a "smooth criminal"? I don't know. But I do know why he was so beloved and later so trivialized--he lived.

Something about his individual style of music and his personality drew us to him. It was like fresh air. He didn't just sing...and he wasn't larger than life...he was life. Go Youtube any of his videos. There is a reason no one else has ever been deemed "the next Michael." It's not that other performers aren't talented. Indeed, my 30 gig iTunes playlist would disagree. It's just that he put himself out there which such shocking honesty that people could barely know what to do their feelings. Better to be loved or hated? To quote Machiavelli, "love is held by a chain of obligation which, men being selfish, is broken whenever it serves their purpose." And so it was.

But, more to the point--how it is. Life is short. Do you think St. Peter cares about multi-platinum status? Pardon me real quick, but...hell no.

Today, I am challenging myself and asking others to think about how we can be a little more Jacksonian (Michael not Andrew) in our daily lives. Perhaps we could just start with the arts?

Here at UB, how would you rank our exposure and commitments to the arts? Does "Knowledge that Works" also have room for a musical vocabulary and self-expression? As I mentioned last week, I feel that our university is blessed by its location in/around Baltimore's historic culture center: Mount Vernon. Starting from the Peabody and Walter's, then moving to BSA and MICA, and lastly finishing with the Meyerhoff, Charles Theatre, and Lyric. We certainly have opportunities for artistic exposure. But are we doing enough internally? Where are the student venues? Student artwork? I'm sure some of this is going on, so maybe I'm just out of the loop. I know we are a commuter school (at least for the time being), but something tells me that everyone still plays music in their cars and likes pretty pictures.

Maybe we could at least put a piano in the student center? Someone has to know the notes to Billie Jean...

Group Studying and Understanding the Material

Studying in groups can be a way for students to connect and perform better in a class. A lot of students in a class struggle with the material and sometimes receive poor grades simply because, even in a small classroom, the teacher doesn't always have time to adapt to the unique needs of a student. This isn't always the fault of the student, especially in larger classrooms where the professor only has time and room to follow a strict schedule and hope that the students "catch on."

A beneficial solution for many students can be a study group. If necessary, find one or more who can be the leader of the study group; who can schedule meetings and decide what material to discuss and how. This can be difficult with varying schedules, but many times students have gaps in their schedules; 1-2 hour long periods in between that doesn't give enough time to go home, but also is too long to simply "eat lunch" or some such thing. These periods provide an ideal time to review class material and, for example, debate/clarify just what the professor wants in a specific assignment; however, sometimes asking in an email or otherwise is all that is necessary, as long as the question you ask is not too vague.

Such groups are also a great way to connect with classmates and get to know them in both a personal and professional setting. If you're assigned to work with one of these people in a group later in your class, you'll know them better and thus, be able to work together in a more clear and efficient manner. Connecting in this way is also a form of networking if used properly and can help you create valuable contacts in the "business" world, giving you more opportunities and sources when you leave college.

The next time you're struggling with the material in a class or simply want a way to connect with others and boost your understanding of a subject, consider a group; it may prove invaluable.

Trying to Keep Up

I was outside Wed evening trying to catch up on watering the gardens and various planters around my house. This is the first time in the past few years when I actually managed to do some respectable gardening before the hot weather hit. During all this watering, I started thinking about how many things, like the landscaping, have slipped by me since I came back to school.

There was a time when I always had flowers in the garden by the first of June and the weeds didn't threaten to overtake my yard; when my house was always clean and the laundry wasn't piled up so high. But for the past few years, between working, going to school, and trying to stay sane with two teenage boys, I've become very unorganized. (If it wasn't for my husband, who's a big help and very supportive, I'd probably completely fall apart.)

Determined to break the cycle, every semester I swear that once I'm on break, I'll catch up on the spring cleaning and reorganize all the closets and cabinets. The problem is that by the end of the semester, I'm so mentally exhausted, it takes me weeks to find the energy. And then, it's time to go back and start all over again. It can be discouraging until I take a moment to remember why I'm doing this, and I decide that a few weeds won't carry my family away; the house won't fall down from the weight of a few dust balls; and the laundry will eventually get done even if it means the jeans get washed with the delicates.

What is better a Macintosh or a PC?

While I was at Educomm last week, I had an awesome opportunity to talk to the CEO and several high-level employees at Sonic Foundry. Sonic Foundry is known for creating the best lecture capture system in the world. I had stated a concern about how the administration software for Mediasite only works using the Internet Explorer browser. Therefore, the administration software will not work on a Macintosh. The CEO wasn’t aware of this and was quite empathetic to the issue.

There was another high-level employee very eloquent in his delivery and started the great debate – Mac vs. PC. Since most of my co-workers give me the arguments for how great a PC is, I was pretty prepared. But his points did make me think – why are Macs better than a PC? As I was installing software for a Macintosh for the Associate Dean, I did think the answer should be - we need both! It is nice to have a PC that is compatible with network printers, runs specialized software and uses the most popular Internet browser.

However, it is also nice not to having to worry about viruses and security holes. I also like how the software runs smoothly with the hardware and how overtime the Mac doesn’t slow down from a hard drive full of spyware. But as some of the recent commercials have stated - Macs are expensive. I also think Apple needs to work more with other companies and stop trying to just sell their own software. Working in a silo is not a successful business plan.

When I need to create something I use my Mac and when I need to conduct daily business I use the PC. So which is the better computer a Macintosh or a PC? I will leave that decision up to you ………