in this issue DOUGLASS AT 200 PG. 2 / PURPLE GAIN PG. 2 / HEALTHY SAVINGS PG. 3 ABCS OF E-PROCUREMENT PG. 6 / DRAWN TO THE CHALLENGE PG. 7 ACCOLADES PG. 7 / FLOWERS IN FULL ZOOM PG. 8
between the columns a newsletter for faculty & staff of the university of maryland APRIL 2018
WHAT YOU CAN’T MISS IN MARYLAND DAY’S MILESTONE YEAR PG.4
Douglass at 200 THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND IS CELEBRATING THE BICENTENNIAL BIRTHDAY of orator, writer, abolitionist
and statesman Frederick Douglass with a year of events honoring his legacy. The Douglass 200 initiative honors the ideals and work of the native Marylander—and their relevancy today. It launched in February with a lecture at the Stamp Student Union by David W. Blight, a distinguished professor of American history at Yale University. On April 16, the 156th anniversary of President Lincoln’s emancipation of slaves in D.C., the Mark and Heather Rosenker Center for Political Communication and Civic Leadership invited communication students to recite portions of Douglass’ speeches at Frederick Douglass Square on Hornbake Plaza. In addition, the university’s most prestigious scholarship for transfer students was renamed for Douglass this spring. Find information about upcoming events, projects and performances at umd.edu/douglass-200.
PURPLE GAIN Light-Rail Line to Expand Access to Campus BY LAUREN BROWN the purple line, the long-anticipated new transportation option to, from and on the umd campus, is coming down the tracks. Changes in traffic patterns, parking and sidewalks could begin as early as this summer as first steps in the construction of the 16.2-mile, light-rail line from New Carrollton to Bethesda. Five of the 21 stops are on or near the campus; faculty, staff, and students will be able to ride between those five stops for free once construction is complete, estimated in 2022. To learn more about the Purple Line at umd, visit purplelinemd.com/construction. Sign up for text and email updates at purplelinemd.com/construction/sign-up-forupdates, and select “College Park/M Square.”
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PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI; ILLUSTRATION BY RYUMI SUNG
HEALTHY SAVINGS Architecture Team Eyes Wellbeing, Sustainability Boost for Campus Buildings BY CHRIS CARROLL jeff chang ’19 was trying to understand why a thermal image he’d taken of a 1960s office building on campus revealed a strange plaidlike effect: White areas—denoting particularly warm parts of the building—ran like vertical and horizontal stripes between the building’s windows and floors. “Then I realized that the hvac system ran through the exterior walls,” he says. “All this heat is coming out and being wasted, rather than making it comfortable for people inside.” The link between the wellbeing of building occupants and environmental sustainability is at the heart of a research project in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation to assess buildings around campus. “There’s no conflict between healthy and energy efficient—they complement each other, ” says Ming Hu, an assistant professor of architecture who launched the project in early 2017. Hu and her students are focusing on several environmental factors that studies have shown can affect occupants’ health, wellbeing and job performance. They include thermal comfort, indoor air quality, room acoustics and noise level and indoor lighting quality.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MING HU
They’ve surveyed users and taken environmental measurements in seven buildings so far: the Architecture, Parren J. Mitchell Art-Sociology, Lee and Patuxent buildings, Health Center, and Talbot and Wicomico halls. In addition to graduate students in architecture programs, Hu is working with undergraduates in the fire (First-year Innovation and Research Experience) program, including Chang, an economics major. He extended his participation in Hu’s project into his junior year to apply his interest in data analysis to this real-world problem. The next step, Hu says, will be to draw up renovation strategies to create wellness-enhancing spaces filled with light, fresh air and low noise levels, while also turning them into net-zero buildings—ones that use no more energy than is created onsite by renewable power technologies like solar or wind. Some of the building plans will be done this summer, Hu says. While there is no current schedule for turning them into reality, her plans will be waiting when the time comes for a serious makeover. “When we finally do that upgrade, we’ll have the best strategy already in place,” she says.
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T P 20 WHAT YOU CAN’T MISS IN MARYLAND DAY’S MILESTONE YEAR
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aryland Day is “no way” without the staff and faculty who welcome tens of thousands of visitors and host games, performances, tours, meet-and-greets and information sessions. (Phew!) But maybe you’re volunteering your heart out every year, and haven’t gotten to see a lot of what makes this supersized open house so special. As the 20th anniversary of Maryland Day approaches on April 28, we invite you to venture beyond your booth, tent or other turf. We’ve compiled a list of 20 can’t-miss events: a mix of classics, newbies and others that will make you think, sweat or smile—and sometimes all three. How many can you stop by? Feeling ambitious? Find the full schedule of events at marylandday.umd.edu. (All events are held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. unless otherwise indicated.)
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ESCAPE ROOM
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FISH AT THE FOUNTAIN
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FUN WITH ROBOTS
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GET BLOWN AWAY IN THE WIND TUNNEL
AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY TOUR
Take part in this walking tour led by experts to uncover UMD’s history of the perseverance, sacrifices and dedication of African Americans in making the university inclusive and accessible to all. Tours, which have a companion website at umd.edu/blackhistorytour, will depart from the Rossborough Inn gardens at 10 and 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.
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BUCKET DRUMMING LESSONS
The School of Music invites you to The Clarice to
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explore the African rhythms of Gahu and develop your own beats using only buckets and drumsticks. No musical experience needed! This half-hour event starts at 10:30 a.m., noon and 1:30 p.m.
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CHEMISTRY MAGIC
Have fun watching the chemists of Alpha Chi Sigma play. Can you shatter a rubber ball? Make putty? Will you see magic or chemistry? Drop by the front entrance to the Bioscience Research Building for one explosive event.
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CLIMBING WALL
Try the Eppley Recreation Center’s 55-foothigh climbing wall. Never climbed? Don’t worry! This is a new-climber-friendly environment with experienced staff on hand to help. Participants must be at least 48 inches tall. Gates close at 3 p.m.
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COOKING STAGE
Dining Services chefs showcase “A Taste of Maryland,” with flavorful recipes unique to the state. Demonstrations on Hornbake Plaza begin at 10:30 a.m. Limited samples are available.
Designed and built by students, the UMD Escape Room in the new Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center is a fun and exciting puzzle challenge. Test your wits to escape the room before the time runs out.
Children are invited to fish for foam terrapins in the ODK Fountain. Win prizes!
The Autonomous Unmanned Systems Stream and Department of Aerospace Engineering invite guests to the front of the Manufacturing Building to interact with groups of small robots built by students.
Experience wind at Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel! See test models, talk with staff and students, and watch clips of prior tests with planes, trains, people and more.
ILLUSTRATION BY MAT T LAUMANN
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GYMKANA DEMONSTRATION
The student-athletes of the Gymkana troupe put on a high-flying show full of gymnastics and acrobatics at 1 p.m. on La Plata Beach while demonstrating the importance and benefits of a healthy drug-, alcohol- and tobacco-free lifestyle.
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ILLUSION BY DESIGN: MEET THE MAGICIAN
Do you believe in magic? If not, the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation’s resident magician, staff member Joe Largess, will make you a convert. Watch him perform amazing illusions, sleight of hand and tricks of the eye. You might even be selected to help in his act. Shows in 0204 Architecture Building start at noon and 2 p.m.
Stop by 1161 Plant Sciences Building until 3 p.m.
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LIFE IN THE ANCHOR CHAIR
Ever wonder what it’s like to deliver the nightly news? Come have an interactive experience in the anchor’s chair in the Eaton Broadcast Center at UMTV in Tawes Hall from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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LIFE-SIZE HOME FIRE SIMULATION
The Department of Fire Protection Engineering sets fire to two life-size residential rooms on the Mitchell Fields: one with sprinklers, the other without. Witness the dramatic life safety and property protection provided by sprinkler systems.
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LIQUID NITROGEN ICE CREAM
Imagine tarantulas, exotic insects, scorpions, bees and millipedes longer than your hand for you to look at and touch—if you dare.
Bet you haven’t had ice cream like this! This homemade specialty tastes great and is safe for all ages. Try some on the front lawn of the Toll Physics Building from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., or while supplies last.
LEARNING NEIGHBORHOODS
AG DAY AVENUE
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INSECT PETTING ZOO
TERP TOWN CENTER
ART & DESIGN PLACE
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LIVESTOCK SHOW
Watch student members of Block and Bridle show pigs, lambs, dairy heifers and beef steers in the Animal Sciences Show Ring.
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MAKERSPACE MASHUP
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MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL AUTOGRAPHS
Visit the John and Stella Graves MakerSpace in McKeldin Library to try out virtual reality with the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift stations. See demonstrations of 3-D printing and view student, faculty and staff projects created in this popular community space.
Join team members on McKeldin Mall’s Main Stage for a photo and autograph session from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. One photo and autograph per person; the line is limited to the first 500 people.
BIZ & SOCIETY HILL
SCIENCE & TECH WAY
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SOLAR DECATHLON HOUSE TOURS
UMD opens the doors to its award-winning student entries in the 2007 and 2017 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. LEAFHouse is now operated by the Potomac Valley Architecture Foundation as a public showcase and educational venue for solar design and sustainable living. The new house, reACT—for Resilient Adaptive Climate Technology—is being reassembled after its return from the competition in Denver. (Shuttle buses leave from and return to the Architecture Building starting at 11:30 a.m.)
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TERPS RACING VEHICLE REVEALS
Terps Racing, a team of students who design, build, test and race high-performance race cars, debut their 2018 season Baja and Formula SAE vehicles on the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building plaza.
SPORTS & REC ROW
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The ABCs of a New E-Procurement Option Administrative Modernization Program Pilots P-card E-Tool BY LAUREN BROWN THE UNIVERSITY’S ADMINISTRATIVE MODERNIZATION PROGRAM this
month started testing an online alternative to the procurement credit card that will allow easier, paperless purchasing of goods and services. The new e-tool allows staff in 10 departments across campus to shop, purchase and pay for items via the proper account and request approval with just a few clicks. They can also find a comprehensive catalog of faculty- and staff-recommended vendors and can easily track their purchases. The e-system will not replace the procurement card, or P-card, which every year is used to buy $60 million of items ranging from 3-D printers to cleaning supplies. (Purchases over $5,000, like consultant services or scientific equipment, are ineligible.) Reconciling monthly purchases through the existing KFS system consumes an estimated 6,000 hours per year. “The e-procurement tool will transform the procurement function at UMD, delivering a fast, useful and intuitive purchasing process, with less paperwork and more transparency,” says AMP Director Michael Eismeier. The online shopping portal is being developed with the input of 150 campus employees, including 85 high-volume purchasing staff, for AMP. The initiative seeks to update, strengthen and unify administrative processes to advance UMD’s strategic mission and improve the level of service for students, faculty and staff. The tool will launch campuswide this summer. It is designed to provide analytics through spending records that will help purchasers not only forecast future purchases, but also negotiate better deals with UMD’s top vendors. “The procurement process touches many people on campus,” says Jim Newman, director of strategic procurement. “The simplicity and speed of the new tool will free up more time for the innovation synonymous with UMD.” AMP is sharing updates on procurement modernization at its new blog, go.umd.edu/umdprocures. Staff and faculty feedback are welcome.
SUMMER CAMP DAZE THE HEAT HASN’T YET ARRIVED, but parents of school-age
children may be feeling it already. The clock is ticking to map out their kids’ summer vacation—and they need options that are convenient, affordable and keep young brains from melting into mush. The Office of Community Engagement provides some relief for faculty and staff—and anyone else—with a list of dozens of day and overnight camps on campus to meet every child’s interest. Sports, science, the arts, adventure? Find it all, and the fodder for an outstanding “how I spent my summer” essay, at umd.edu/summercamps18.
UMD President Wallace Loh talks to customers during the grand opening of Vigilante Coffee Company in March. The business at 8200 Baltimore Ave. is part of the $2 billion Greater College Park initiative to revitalize and strengthen the community.
BOOKSHELF JAMES HARDING, MAUD CASEY,
professor of English, explores what makes a text “mysterious” in her new book, THE ART OF MYSTERY: THE SEARCH FOR QUESTIONS.
professor of theatre, explores the relationships between performance and surveillance in his most recent book, PERFORMANCE, TRANSPARENCY, AND THE CULTURES OF SURVEILLANCE.
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CAMP PHOTO COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY RECREATION & WELLNESS; LOH PHOTO BY STEPHANIE CORDLE; ILLUSTRATION BY MATT LAUMANN
DRAWN TO THE CHALLENGE Math Staffer Creates Web Comic on “Adulting” BY DANIEL OYEFUSI ’19
from failed attempts to balance her checkbook to long trips to the Department of Motor Vehicles to lifeor-death encounters with large insects, Stephanie Padgett has already had her share of “adulting.” The new coordinator in the Department of Mathematics, 31, counts years of experience in the millennial concept, in which twentysomethings tackle tasks essential to being a grown-up, such as paying bills or completing tax returns. The noun-turned-verb buzzword is a popular social media meme, as posters stamp their achievements of the most routine tasks with “#Adulting.” She’s encapsulating those experiences in a weekly web comic called “Fundamentals of Adulting,” which became available in March on Webtoons, a digital comics service platform. “Becoming an adult is hard,” Padgett says. “And not hard as in it is challenging. It’s hard like you don’t know what you’re doing. Putting together a dresser or filing cabinet is not that hard. But when it comes to taking care
of more important things like your finances, your 401k, saving money and trying to eliminate debt, that’s when it can get challenging.” Padgett grew up with a love of comics and drawing— “Calvin and Hobbes,” “Peanuts,” “The Boondocks” (by fellow Terp Aaron McGruder ’98) —and majored in graphic design at Bowie State University. She has been a freelance children’s book designer and illustrator for four years, and joined the math department in January. Padgett hopes readers of her comic find an adulting victory or failure that they can empathize with. “I’m not making myself to be the perfect alpha female,” Padgett says. “I will fall on my face. I will fail. I will succeed.”
ACCOLADES Associate Professor of American Studies SHERI PARKS was elected president of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance Board of Directors.
Associate Professor of English ZITA NUNES received a three-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to create a digital archive of the black press in multiple languages.
SAÚL SOSNOWSKI, professor of Spanish and Portuguese, received the “Premio Honorífico Ezequiel Martínez Estrada” in recognition of his scholarship on Latin American literature. This award is granted by Casa de las Américas in Cuba, and is among the oldest and most prestigious literary prizes in Latin America.
CLAIRE LYONS, associate professor of history, received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to study the effects of slavery and migration on sexuality.
CURLEE HOLTON, executive
director of the David C. Driskell Center, was awarded an honorary doctorate in art and philosophy from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts.
MAISSAM BARKESHLI,
assistant professor of physics and fellow of the Joint Quantum Institute, was awarded a 2018 Sloan Research Fellowship for his research into the collective behavior that emerges in systems of strongly interacting particles governed by the laws of quantum mechanics.
MARINE CARPUAT, assistant
professor of computer science, won a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award for a project designed to improve multilingual text analysis. CHRISTINE HARTZELL, assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, is one of 13 participating scientists selected by NASA for the agency’s first asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-Rex.
FEARLESS IDEAS Every issue of Between the Columns features examples of how UMD turns imagination into innovation. Here, we highlight those efforts with a ( ). We do the same in future issues on our efforts to discover new knowledge, inspire Maryland pride and transform the student experience.
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FLOWERS IN FULL ZOOM Bioscience Building’s Art Exhibit Showcases Micrographs BY SALA LEVIN ’10
for artist rob kesseler, it’s not enough to stop and smell the roses. He has to take the roses to a lab, put them under an electron microscope and photograph their cells. “Worlds Within,” an exhibit on display through December in umd’s Bioscience Research Building, showcases Kesseler’s micrographs—photographs taken through a microscope—of plant and insect cells, fibers and particles, magnified by as much as 3,000 times. “My role as an artist is to reveal the living world—things you can’t see with a naked eye—and to use contemporary science to do that,” says Kesseler, a professor at Central Saint Martins and chair of Arts, Design & Science at University of the Arts, London. “The images are familiar to scientists, but they’re slightly different.” Kesseler, who started making slides of pollen at age 10 but focused his education on art, studied microscopy at Kew Gardens in England and in the lab of Jose Feijo, then
working in Portugal but now a professor of cell biology and molecular genetics at umd. Feijo brought the exhibit to Maryland out of a desire to bridge science and art, and have those who walk through the building “feel inspired instead of seeing blank walls,” he says. In the ethereal, otherworldly photographs, green, purple or yellow lines and circles seem to float against black backgrounds, as if in outer space. Some micrographs are more recognizable; in one, a wasp—rendered in deep blue with lavender wings—hovers over a bisected fig, poised to pollinate the fruit. The images start out black and white, but Kesseler adds color “to draw out structural characteristics and also what I feel is the character of each individual specimen,” he says. He compares his use of color to a plant’s own: A flower’s vibrant hues draw in pollinators, while Kesseler injects color “to attract a different audience—a human audience.” PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI
BETWEEN THE COLUMNS is published twice per semester by the Office of Strategic Communications. Story ideas are welcome and should be sent to Liam Farrell, managing editor, at lfarrel1@umd.edu or by calling 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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