COMMUNICATION
IS
A newsletter for UNIVERSITY of MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends
THE October 7, 2011
CIRCLING
THE
WORLD
to stage a referendum, including portable generators The University of Maryland Eastern Shore had to run tabulations machines, had to be brought in. a key role earlier this year introducing the concept Nonetheless, four million people from the of voting in a referendum to citizens of southern region voted overwhelmingly – 99 percent – to form Sudan. a new nation, South Sudan. Angela Stephens, a UMES Development “That was very satisfying,” Stephens said. “That’s Outreach and Communications officer, visited clear-cut. There’s no denying the will of the people. campus last week to share personal stories of her Nobody could question the outcome.” front-line activities in the war-torn east African Stephens’ presentation included a 15-minute nation. film shot by amateur videographers, who chronicled Stephens, a former journalist assigned to the the struggle to organize the vote. Among those U.S. Agency for International Development, a UMES appearing in interviews were former President outreach partner, worked alongside voting rights Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan, the former United groups to organize a referendum in mid-January. At Nations Secretary General. issue was whether residents in the equatorial Now, Stephens told her UMES audience, the regions of Sudan supported forming a country difficult part of nation-building begins. A big issue separate from those living in the north. that needs to be resolved is oil; the south has the Organizers had to overcome widespread Aweng T. Maduot-Parek, a senior agriculture reserves, but the north has the infrastructure to major from Sudan, was among those who illiteracy and a lack of infrastructure that define the attended a Sept. 27 presentation on campus by move it to market. term “third world,” Stephens told a gathering of 60 Angela Stephens (at right) a UMES Stephens said aid organizations are focused on or so at the Student Services Center. Slightly more Development Outreach and Communications helping the people of the new nation modernize their than one-in-four people in southern Sudan can officer who has worked in Africa. ability to raise and market crops, an area of read, electricity is virtually non-existent and the few roads that connect farexpertise UMES has been involved in exporting for four decades. flung villages are difficult to traverse, she said. “This new country faces huge challenges,” Stephens said. Items as simple as pens and rubber bands don’t exist. Everything needed
Exporting Democracy
Students become lobbyists for a day
“Harriet on the Hill” lobbyists for the day from UMES, from left, are: Andrew Carrington, HRM; Candace White, HRM; Daniel Muchai, HRM; Ellis Gardner, HRM; Marcel Blocker, engineering and technology; Clifford Glover, History; and Dr. Ernest Boger, chair, UMES Hotel and Restaurant Management program.
INSIDE
Page 2 IBM Awards Grant 2011 Statistical Snapshot
Page 3 New Faculty Leaders Students Mentored
Page 4 Art: Best in Show Burden is Author
Students and faculty from UMES joined two busloads of grassroots lobbyists from the Eastern Shore, including Cambridge Mayor Victoria Jackson Stanley, who descended on Washington, D.C., Sept. 14, for “Harriet on the Hill.” The group merged on Capitol Hill with supporters from Morgan State University, the town of Auburn, N.Y. and with descendants of Harriet Tubman; they numbered nearly 150. Supporters were advocating passage of federal legislation that would create a unique national historical park in honor of Tubman with two locations—one on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and one in Auburn, N.Y. Maryland is significant as the place where Tubman, or “Moses” as she was called, was born into slavery, escaped, led the Underground Railroad and became a Union spy in the Civil War. Auburn is where she lived in later years with her family, advocated for women’s suffrage and died at the age of 93. “Participating in the rally for U.S. Senate Bill S-247 was an eye-opening experience,” said LaBasha Alexander, a UMES English major. “There is an exceptional amount of history on the Eastern Shore. Being involved in ‘Harriet on the Hill’ day has shown me why a Tubman national park is necessary.” LOBBYIST / continued on page 2 Page 5 Dean Returns Philly Comic Con
Page 6 Athletics
Page 7 National PA Week Hawktoberfest
Page 8 Calendar of Events Gourmet Dining Series