2011 - Get your Indy On

So maybe you weren't the biggest fan of the new Preakness advertisements encouraging you to get your preak on. Well in 2011 hopefully we won't be submitted to the same crude ads when the Indy Race league "hopefully" comes to Baltimore in August of next year.

The contract that was approved by the City of Baltimore and announced fabulously by Mayor SRB will begin immediately as road crews transform the streets around the scenic Inner Harbor into a race track capable of handling Indy cars traveling up to 200 miles per hour.

Some groups have estimated that the race will bring over 100,000 people to Baltimore and have an economic impact similar to that of the Preakness. I hope that they can also estimate the traffic delays and headaches that already plague this area.

Overall I think that this is a great step forward for Baltimore and becoming more then just that place from "The Wire." I certainly beeeelieve that we can turn this area around and become a thriving city. With mainstream events like the Indy Racing League coming to Baltimore it significantly increases our chance of landing bigger projects like Google Fiber.

Last blog for the semester hopefully they'll have me back! I hope that you all enjoyed reading as much as I did writing.

Writing Central Baltimore

Last semester, we published an article, "Filling the Hole in the Donut," in the University of Baltimore magazine about UB's involvement in revitalizing Central Baltimore. It's the area just north of campus, between MICA to the west, Johns Hopkins to the north and Greenmount Cemetery to the east--and long neglected, it's sorely in need of some assistance to again become the thriving area it once was.

UB, along with several other organizations--one of which includes the Central Baltimore Higher Education Collaborative--is involved in the area, investing time and resources as a "community engaged" institution to redeveloping and reviving the community. Now Jane Delury, a lecturer in the School of Communications Design, has teamed up with Tristan Davies, a senior lecturer in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins, to offer Writing Central Baltimore this past semester.

curbing the shenanigans

did any of you hear about/see the article on the potential new measure to decrease the amount of public drunkenness in baltimore? as reported in the baltimore sun, city council president young wants to increase the fine for public drunkenness anywhere up to $1000. this is a huge jump given that current penalties can be as low as $50 for unruly behavior

delicious eats

i spent this weekend out and about, enjoying the weather (and david sedaris at the meyerhoff!) with friends and strangers. sat, i met up with friends (the strangers were on sunday in dc) for brunch at sofi's crepes. delicious!

Barrister's Ball

The Barrister's Ball, also known as Law School Prom, was last Friday at the Hyatt Regency. It is a formal event for all law students to relax and celebrate with classmates, dates, and the occasional professor. Being a 1L, I had no idea what to expect, but it turns out nothing could have fully prepared me for what actually occurred.

distractions around town

last year was my big birthday extravaganza to celebrate the 2-5 (eep quarter century). about 8 friends and i went out to dinner downtown since the big day was on a friday. the rest of the weekend was spent with my girls in the city, enjoying the awesomeness of baltimore. one can safely assume that we spent a great deal of time in the harbor area. as current/recent grad students, we spent as little as possible while maximizing the fun. and the girls loved the trip

this year, i'll be hosting at least two fabulous visits. my boyfriend came down before spring break, and a close friend is coming to town for a few days in april. i'm all about being a good hostess again so i've been re-researching fun things to do around town

State of the Ravens Pre-Draft

If you're a Baltimore football fan you have every reason in the world to be excited. For the casual fan out there I will be covering the changes to the roster over the past couple of weeks and other things going on around the league. There have been big changes with many people around the city already booking their plane tickets to Dallas for the Superbowl 2011. But, before I get ahead of myself (I'm already looking for tickets) let me explain what has got Charm City so excited.

1. The signing of Anquan Boldin. Boldin brings confidence, swagger, and respect to the pathetic wide receiving core that was here in Baltimore. He averages over a thousand yards a season and was the 11th top receiver last year playing 2nd to Larry Fitzgerald. Boldin's an iron warrior who after getting screws into his head played just two weeks later. Kurt Warner says he brings the Ray Lewis mentality to the offense. I can't even begin to say how excited I am to have him on the team. Two things to ponder are that Boldin comes from the NFC the AFC teams we play aren't used to his routes and having a "true threat" will open up the Ray Rice show even more. Also... he hates the Steelers.



More after the jump

Inspiration, in Five Minutes or Less

I'm tired of winter, tired of talking about being tired of winter, tired of even looking out the window at the gray, dark world. Which is why tonight's Ignite! Baltimore at the Walters Art Museum sounded like such a bright spot in a dark month.

According to a friend in Seattle, Ignite! is a super-creative event at which 15 or so presenters get five minutes each to spew entertainingly, intelligently and always uniquely about a specific topic. Presentations at tonight's Ignite range from quirky ("Why I Don't Want Children, or, How My Uterus Became a Shriveled Walnut), to the scholarly (The Malthusian Tower) to downright marketing-savvy (Business is Theatre). All were submitted by proposal and selected for tonight by Ignite Baltimore's review committee. Presenters often skew toward the tech-savvy, but presentations span the subject matter gamut.

Ignite was started in Seattle in 2006 as a way of smart, tech-savvy folks to meet, network, and share inspiration in a unique format. PowerPoint is the means, but the method--speakers' twenty slides advance automatically to fit the five-minute length--is anything but dull. "Enlighten us, but make it quick" is Ignite's slogan. Ignite events are taking place in over sixty cities on six continents this week.

The event took the Baltimore City Paper's Best Nerd's Night Out last year, and from what I hear, no one ever walks away disappointed. With cocktails, and $5 for free appetizers, concise ideas and networking in a classy venue, it takes about five seconds to realize that's just smart.

Ravens Make Headlines by Signing Troubled Wide Receiver

Even if you’re a modest Ravens fan you know that we need a wide receiver. One only has to think back to the first Patriots game when Mark Clayton dropped a pass in the redzone that hit him right in the hands or Derrick Mason’s drop in the end zone against archival Pittsburgh. We have a young quarterback in Joe Flacco who in order to mature needs talented receivers around him. You can't blame Joe for not getting the ball out when his receivers can't get open. A relationship with wide outs takes a while to establish timing, rhythm, and trust. I am one fan who fully believes that with the addition of a deep threat wide out will force opposing defenses to respect the pass and it will further “The Ray Rice” show.

We need a wide receiver, but is signing Donte Stallworth the way we want to accomplish our goals? Stallworth, a former first round draft pick, like many other NFL players has made some serious mistakes in his personal life. Maybe these issues can be attributed to the stardom of playing professional football and coming from up from nothing, but the fact remains that because of his actions someone is dead.

Stallworth’s made the decision to drive drunk one morning (a decision people make everyday) in Miami where he committed DUI manslaughter. He only served 24 days of a 30 day sentence and was cut from the Cleveland Browns the day he was reinstated into the league. In a statement released by Stallworth he said, “I will never get that morning back. It weighs on me every day and will for the rest of my life. What I can do is move forward, try to be a better person, try to convince others not to do what I did and warn others about the dangers of drinking and driving. I have to show otherwise that what happened doesn’t reflect who I am.” Source Yahoo.

From a fan’s perspective the deal looks good. We signed him to a one year deal for $900,000 with bonus incentives available depending upon his performance. We can’t really lose anything if it turns out he can’t play and because this year is uncapped it won’t have any effect on signing additional free agents (Cough… Brandon Marshall). Stallworth hasn’t played football since 2008, but at age 28 he still has a few years of productivity ahead of him. Has he sincerely changed for the better and evolved as a human being? That’s left to be decided by the fans during his time spent here in Baltimore.

The bigger issue here however are the moral implications of signing a player who has committed DUI Manslaughter a charge in Maryland that carries a maximum sentence of 3 years. As members of this community how do you feel about a player like this representing Charm City? Is football simply a business or do the players, team, and organization represent something more? On a personal level I believe in the American justice system and although Stallworth got off easily (24 days of 30 day sentence & paying the family three million), he like anyone else deserves a second chance at redemption and life. How do you feel about Donte Stallworth stepping into the purple and black?

More Refreshing Than Spring

This week in New York, the fashion elite is gathered to watch the Fall 2010 collection runway shows. Six hundred miles away in Charlotte, NC, a local designer is taking her show to the streets with a project she calls the Public Photo Shoot Project. For twenty dollars, Charlotte-based designer Cigi Guzman is giving anyone the chance to model her clothing line The Flock, and walk away with a professionally shot 8x10 glossy and the chance at having their look chosen for Guzman's next ad campaign. Last year she used real people (i.e., the average-sized American) with interesting backgrounds as her runway models - not Victoria Beckham-sized sticks. How refreshing.

Could we do this in Baltimore?

Fashion doesn't have to be elite, and we in Baltimore have our own unique style. Any designers out there interested in making Charles Street their Project Runway - not to mention garner free PR - by offering their fashion to real people?

Barcamp Baltimore

As I blogged a few weeks ago, the University of Baltimore hosted "Barcamp Baltimore" last weekend. I only got to stay for the first few hours, but I have a few things to report.

The sessions are designed with a meet and greet at the start where participants can write down any topic they want to see discussed on a sheet of paper. There were many people from both the journalism and technology communities there and both were heavy foci of topics. Then after a round of straw polls, a schedule was made up of the most popular topics. Topics included the future of journalism, creating lean startups, cloud computing, and social media. For a full list, please see the event page, which was updated in real time.

The most interesting part of the event is the interactive nature of it. While the attendees set the agenda, a Twitter backchannel developed allowing individuals to talk to each other in the seminar and across simultaneous sessions. This gave participants the ability to provide live feedback, share with each other, and with those unable to attend. (Another backchannel appeared on IRC, but that just lead to shenanigans.)

Not many problems were conclusively solved, but a lot of neat ideas were brought forward and discussed in a great and open environment.

safe? not safe? or just home?

Many people may think that the area that the university is located in is dangerous and unsafe at times... well, what city isn't? I've grown up my entire life in Baltimore and the car break ins and any other misdemeanor is honestly nothing new to me. Some people may feel unsafe to walk to their cars alone at night (I'll admit, my boyfriend does come and pick me up from class and take me to my car, because he's worried about my safety, he's such a sweetheart!)... but for the most part I feel fine by myself. Yes... where I normally park, I have seen, on numerous occasions, broken glass from a car window... but hey, it happens and that is what insurance is for. Maybe if their were more student parking garages that could have video surveillance, then it would make people feel safer? Oh well... I guess all anyone can really do is what common sense tells them to... be alert and mindful of your surroundings.

Welcome UB to the Blogging World!

It's been a long time coming, but UB now has a blog! Whoo hoo!

Get ready for talk about course and teacher suggestions/evaluations, campus life, parking, juggling home, work, school and a life outside of all that, and so much more! Be sure to read and comment on your fellow student's insight and opinions about UB and voice your own.

We encourage you to comment and offer any suggestions to improve on this new venture! If you would like to be one of the designated bloggers for a semester, please contact us at ubblog@ubalt.edu with your contact information and a writing sample.