The Key November 20, 2015 Edition

A newsletter for students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends

November 20, 2015

UMES TO HOST 2015 MEAC VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT Eight teams compete for the right to play in the NCAA tournament An exciting three days of fast-paced volleyball action will be on display in the Hytche Athletic Center this weekend as UMES plays host to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference’s annual Volleyball Championship for the first time in university history.

Eight teams qualified to compete for the 2015 conference title that carries an automatic invitation to represent MEAC in the NCAA championship tournament.

UMES won 22 matches this fall under head coach Toby Rens and with an 9-3 record good enough to be the tournament’s third seed from the Northern Division.

The Lady Hawks won 15 of 18 contests at Hytche this season, which gives Rens and the team hope the venue will give them home-court advantage. A MEAC tournament title would be UMES’ third, and the first since 2012.

To achieve that goal, the team must advance through three rounds of play. UMES opens the tournament at 10 a.m. today against Florida A&M, the Southern Division’s second seed and a team the Hawks did not play during

the regular season. A win will pit the Hawks against the victor of Howard/South Carolina State in a semi-final match Saturday at noon.

Other teams making the trek to Princess Anne include in-state rivals Morgan State and Coppin State, along with Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina A&T. Howard won the MEAC North regular season title, while Bethune-Cookman had the best record in the MEAC South.

The championship match will take place Sunday at noon.

Two-time defending champion Hampton University finished fifth in the North and failed to qualify for the tournament, so the MEAC will have a new champion.

After the Hawks play at 10 a.m. Friday, three matches will follow at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday’s second semifinal game will take place at 3:30 p.m.

The tournament is open to the public. Tickets are $8 per day or $20 for the tournament. They can be purchased at the door or online at www. umestickets.com.

UMES entrepreneurs win competition

Four UMES entrepreneurs were among eight winners in the fall 2015 edition of a start-up business funding competition sponsored twice annually by Salisbury University.

Pictured from left are: • Jamar Jackson and Christopher Toney, who both graduated this past May, received $5,000 from the Philip E. and Carole R Ratcliffe Foundation “Shore Hatchery” event for their plan to develop biodegradable energy-efficient batteries using a 3-D printer.

• Jean-Paul Badjo, a senior, walked away with $20,000, which he will use to continue fine-tuning his vision of designing and manufacturing custom, high-tech suits for live-action role playing.

• Ahmed Malik, a mechanical engineering major, received $5,000 after pitching his idea to use gel technology in medical “sleeves” that he envisions can accelerate healing joint sprains and muscle strains.

INSIDE

SHORE HATCHERY / continued on page 6

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Page 3

Stevens Studies Retention Conference Atlantic Red APLU Names Awardees Crab International Law Conference Miami Art Show

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NOAA Scholarship Honors Student Earns Award

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Grad Returns to Shore Legislative Black Caucus Conference Alumn President of NOBLE

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Way2GoMD Bell Appointed to Board

Page 7

Capital Hill Health Fair MADE Summit Fashion Merchandising Phonathon

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Calendar of Events

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The Key / November 20, 2015

Circling the Oval

Red crab blue crab

By Daniel Strain Chesapeake Quarterly Oct. 2015 (Volume 14, No. 3

When marine biologist Brad Stevens decides it’s time to study crustaceans, he heads east from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore campus, where he is part of the Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center.

Stevens is among the few scientists who study Atlantic red crabs. These crustaceans, with orangish-red shells and spindly legs, are bigger than the blue crabs living in the Chesapeake Bay. Red crabs scuttle along the sea floor at depths of 600 feet to more than a mile below the surface, which means Stevens and his graduate assistants need to hitch a ride on a seagoing vessel. Unlike their shelled relatives in the Bay, red crabs are virtual unknowns: what they eat, how they reproduce, and what role they play in the deep sea’s ecology are all unanswered questions.

Stevens is trying to gather basic data about how red crabs eke out a living in the cold ocean. He hopes this information will become useful as red crabs face a number of challenges in the future. Those challenges include warming ocean temperatures and fishing pressure from boats, which procure crabmeat for a niche seafood market.

Red crabs “are so poorly studied, and that means there are lots of things we can learn,” Stevens says. “Sometimes just getting your hands on them can give you new information.”

You can think of these elusive animals as Maryland’s other big crab.

One of several related species of crustaceans that live in various deep stretches of the Atlantic, red crabs flank the edge of the continental shelf from Nova Scotia south to the Gulf of Mexico. Blue crabs are called swimming crabs because they can use their paddle-like rear legs to propel themselves through the water. But red crabs have no choice but to walk along the seafloor at greater depths than do the king crabs Stevens studied in Alaska.

This sparse environment makes the Chesapeake Bay look like a spa: at these depths, there’s little to no light to navigate by, and water temperatures hover around 38 degrees Fahrenheit.

Like other deep-sea animals, these crustaceans often depend on food that sinks down from the surface. The carcasses of dead whales, for example, serve up a nutrition bonanza that the crabs can sniff out from

long distances away.

Stevens got help in fall 2014 from the crew of a research vessel operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which routinely supports UMES marine research. The Okeanos Explorer crew lowered a camera-equipped, remotely operated underwater vehicle, or ROV, on nine dives that probed the Atlantic’s underwater gorges, including Norfolk Canyon.

The ROV could swivel and home in on objects of interest and pipe its video footage live to computers on land.

As the ROV explored the underwater canyons, UMES graduate students spied expanses of muddy vens te S d bottom and

by Bra Photo sites where corals clung to rocky cliff faces. If the students spotted a crab, they sent a message to the Okeanos team, which recorded the observation in the mission’s official log.

“When they were doing the dives in the Norfolk Canyon, it was super interesting because there were red crabs all the time,” says Stephanie Martinez-Rivera, a graduate student in Steven’s lab who participated in the watch.

Some of the most important information that Stevens’ team collected, however, was basic data: where the red crabs lived and under what water temperatures. Such information is critical, Stevens says, because the oceans are changing. Even in the cold depths where red crabs live, water temperatures are likely to heat up in the coming decades because of climate change. That, in turn, could have consequences for red crabs.

Warming waters could force the crustaceans into new habitats or shift when they time key events in their lives, such as when they reproduce.

“I’m hoping that we’ll be able to set some baselines and look back on them in 20 or 30 years and say, ‘Oh, these cycles have changed,’ or ‘the temperature environment has changed,’” Stevens says.

Editor’s note: This article is excerpted with permission from Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland’s Sea Grant print magazine.

UMES People

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Retention conference attended

APLU names recipients of 1890 award

Sasha Cousins, left, coordinator of supplemental instruction, and Dr. Angela Williams, director of retention, both in UMES’ Center for Access and Academic Success, attended a conference of the National Academic Advising Association in Las Vegas, N.V. Themed, “What Happens in Advising Stays with Students,” the event covered some 50 topics dealing with academic advising and student success.

Dr. Emmanuel Acquah, UMES’ director of international programs and a professor of agricultural economics, is among the inaugural recipients of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities 1890 Universities Career Exemplar Award.

The award was presented to an alumnus from each of the 19 historically black land-grant universities at the association’s annual meeting in Indianapolis. Acquah earned an undergraduate degree in agriculture from UMES in 1972 when it was known as Maryland State College.

Dr. Mortimer Neufville, who previously was a member of UMES’ faculty and served for a year as interim president was also an awardee. Neufville was Tuskegee University’s honoree.

“Award recipients reflect the broad diversity and great achievement of 1890 Universities and their alumni,” said Dr. RoSusan D. Bartee of the APLU. “As we celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Second Morrill Act, their stories remind us of the power of the 1890 land-grant community and the progress we can continue to drive through these institutions and their students.”

Faculty member attends international law enforcement conference

Faculty artist selected for Miami art show Michel Demanche by Megan Powell

Michel Demanche, an associate professor in UMES’ Department of Fine Arts (visual), was among 31 artists selected to exhibit at the Miami Photo Salon international competition at the Spectrum Art Show.

The show takes place in the Art Fair during Miami Art Week, Dec. 2-6.

The Miami Photo Salon is a juried exhibition chosen by a panel of three jurors. Their goal was to “open the door for experienced as well as emerging and mid-career artists to participate in top-quality visual arts events.”

Dr. Kingsley Ejiogu (second from right), an assistant professor in UMES’ Department of Criminal Justice, attended the 2015 conference of the Asian Association of Police Studies in Hangzhou, China.

Ejiogu presented a paper that “explored the temporal distribution of crime using clustering and risk estimation spatial models.” The models, he said, could be used to enhance law enforcement monitoring and interventions at crime hotspots.

The association is an international group of scholars and practitioners focused on evaluation and development of police systems, judicial, correctional systems, legislation and comparative perspectives.

The event was held at the Zhejiang Police College, which has trained over 100,000 local and 2,000 foreign law enforcement officers from 90 countries over its 60-year history. Attendees also toured police departments, Internet security and marketing companies.

“Chinese policing is undergoing positive reforms in police-community relationships and openness in order to enhance effectiveness and efficiency,” Ejiogu said of his visit.

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The Key / November 20, 2015

School News

Graduate student receives NOAA scholarship

Laura Almodóvar-Acevedo won’t have to worry about her tuition and fees this academic year. The 27-year-old doctoral student in UMES’ Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences graduate program landed a $45,000 Graduate Research and Training Scholarship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She also will receive $10,000 to cover travel and presentation expenses for her research on the importance of the Chesapeake Bay for black sea bass population dynamics.

“The scholarship will be of great help in the completion of this project and my Ph.D.,” Almodóvar-Acevedo said. “I will be learning not only about my subject, but also on how to effectively collaborate with others, how to communicate my research and the intricacies of working in an agency.” She is specializing in ecology and is a student in UMES’ Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center.

As part of the scholarship, Almodóvar-Acevedo will work in a fisheries or ecosystem services lab and interact with scientists and expert ecological modelers who can offer guidance and help her develop her work into a “robust and effective study.”

The scholarship program is “intended to help establish a pipeline of well-trained and educated individuals who attend Minority Serving Institutions and earn degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines that support NOAA’s mission.”

The research’s relevance to NOAA’s mission, Almodóvar-Acevedo said, is that “the black sea bass is a federally managed species that is data poor and focuses on the fish’s nursery habitat preferences in the Chesapeake Bay.” Almodóvar-Acevedo would like to do post-doctoral studies after graduation and eventually join an agency such as NOAA, or work as a research professor at an institution of higher education. She aspires to “continue working as a researcher to help answer questions related to marine ecosystems, resilience of species and fisheries impact.”

“Ideally, I would like to apply all that I’m learning about marine sciences and management to the Caribbean,” said AlmodóvarAcevedo, who calls San Juan, Puerto Rico her hometown. “There is a lot of research to be done that affects millions of people and a delicate ecosystem.”

Another recipient of the scholarship, Nivette M. Pérez-Pérez, is a master’s student in the Department of Natural Resources at Delaware State University in Dover, who is working with Dr. Bradly Stevens and others, (see page 2) on Atlantic deep-sea red crab research.

Honors student earns award

Kadijah Felder-Patterson, a senior in the Richard A. Henson Honors program at UMES, received the Dr. Freddye T. Davy Humanitarian and Service Award at a ceremony in Nashville, Tenn.

Patterson was a co-recipient of the award presented at the National Association of African-American Honors Programs’ 24th annual conference Oct. 31 through Nov. 3. She shared the honor with Albany Stewart of Tennessee State University. More than two dozen historically black colleges and universities were represented at the event.

The $500 scholarship honors the legacy of the award’s namesake who served the NAAAHP and the honors education community as director of the honors program at Hampton University for 18 years. The recipient must be active in his/her chapter, hold a minimum 3.5 GPA, be involved in additional campus organizations and participate in community service.

Honors directors from each of the HBCUs were able to submit a nominee.

“While excelling on her academic path,” said Dr. Michael Lane, UMES’ director of the honors program, “Kadijah has held part and full-time jobs, completed an impressive resume of pre-professional internships and has always found time to give back to the communities in which she has lived.”

The 22-year-old from Sicklerville, N.J. is pursuing a dual degree in sociology and social work while jointly enrolled at UMES and Salisbury University. FelderPatterson has been an assistant in the School of Graduate Studies for the past two years, serves as an honors program ambassador and is president of the Rubies and Pearls female youth enrichment group. She was recently selected as a peer mentor of the Advocate to Educate university-wide retention initiative.

“Being an honors student at UMES has opened up many doors for me,” Felder-Patterson said. “I have been challenged to not only dream, but dream big and deposit positive chips. I have been able to work with so many people, making my learning experience here beneficial and rewarding.”

Alumbni News

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1994 grad returns to shore to continue career at Assateague For the past 3½ years, Kelly Bulyis Taylor has served as Assateague Island National Seashore’s science coordinator and was the recent subject of a WBOC TV-16 profile as the “Face Behind the (center’s) Facebook” page.

Taylor, who calls Rehobeth along the Pocomoke River her hometown, returned to the Eastern Shore following a successful career with the National Park Service. After her 1994 graduation from UMES, she relocated to south Florida, where she worked for the Everglades, Biscayne and Dry Tortugas national parks.

During a hiatus from the park service, she worked as an environmental investigator in Texas and taught high school biology.

When she came on board at Assateague, she helped the center assume management of the Facebook page previously handled by the National Park Service. The center now does its own thing, posting daily on science topics, which “creates a lot of ‘Ah-ha’ moments for viewers.”

Viewers are encouraged to share posts and their photos and experiences from visits to the seashore.

Tayor told WBOC that she “loves to learn and loves helping people learn.” She hopes to “open new doors for her visitors and keep them intrigued and learning even when they aren’t on the island.”

UMES connects with alum at Black Caucus

Kimberly Conway Dumpson, UMES’ executive vice president, right, happened upon alumna LaCheryl Spence Jones (2006 HTM), now a public relations and outreach manager for the state Department of Transportation’s office of small and minority business programs, which had a booth at the 2015 Legislative Black Caucus Conference in Annapolis. Jones travels the state counseling businesses on how they can earn certification to compete for state contracts.

Top, clockwise: Kelly Taylor, Assateague Island National Seashore’s science coordinator, works with a participant in MAC, Inc.’s Lifelong Learning course.

Taylor as a summer counselor for UMES’ Upward Bound program before her junior year.

Taylor in action taking a photo to post on social media for Assateague Island National Seashore

Alumn elected president of NOBLE Gregory A. Thomas, a 1982 graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, was recently elected president of the National Organization of Black Law Executives (NOBLE).

A Brooklyn, N.Y. native, Thomas is Senior Executive for Law Enforcement Operations for the Kings County (N.Y.) District Attorney, the nation’s third largest public prosecutor’s office. He advises the Kings County District Attorney and his executive staff on criminal justice and law enforcement policy and procedures and is principal liaison to the New York City Police Department as well as local, state and federal law enforcement agencies involved in major investigations and operational matters.

Thomas has nearly three decades of experience working in various public safety fields, including assistant commissioner of the New York Fire Department and executive director of the school safety division for New York City public schools.

He is one of the nation’s top emergency management and school safety experts, and the author or co-author of numerous books, including “Freedom from Fear: A Guide to Safety, Preparedness and the Threat of Terrorism.”

NOBLE, which boasts a membership of 3,000 will celebrate its 40th anniversary during Thomas’ term. His wife, Kimberly Royster, recently was promoted to assistant Chief of Police in New York, making her the top-ranking black woman in department history.

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School News

The Key / November 20, 2015

UMES hosts

college preparation event Way2GoMaryland, the University System of Maryland’s campaign to encourage students and their families to begin preparing for college early, holds a free event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5 at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

The event is designed for sixth- to10-grade students, their parents and guardians who live in and around the lower Eastern Shore, including Dorchester, Somerset, Worcester and Wicomico counties, Accomack County (Va.) and Sussex County (Del.) “Way2GoMaryland” will bring together current college students and admissions and financial aid representatives from public, four-year institutions and Wor-Wic Community College to speak with students and their parents/guardians about preparing and paying for college. Event attendees will also have the opportunity to hear from the College Savings Plans of Maryland about saving for college.

The event takes place in the ballroom of the UMES Student Services Center.

Online registration is available through Wednesday, Dec. 2. Students and their families may also attend by registering on the day of the event, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Call 301-445-2756 or email jrose@ usmd.edu for more information. Registrations can be faxed to 301-445-2724.

The University System of Maryland is committed to helping the state achieve its goal of 55 percent of the state population 25 years and older earning an associate or bachelor’s degree. Toward the state goal, USM seeks to increase student enrollment and expand baccalaureate degree production by an additional 10,000 degrees.

An early start on the path to college can help students: • pursue the right mix of secondary school coursework; • prepare for the college search and application process; • gain access to adequate financial aid; and • complete undergraduate degrees and prepare to enter the workforce and/or pursue graduate and professional studies.

Visit way2gomaryland.org for more information.

Bell appointed to Campus Compact board Dr. Juliette B. Bell, UMES’ president, was recently appointed secretary/treasurer of the Maryland-DC Campus Compact Board of Directors.

The non-profit group “strengthens the capacity of member institutions to enhance student learning and to meaningfully engage with communities.” MDCCC provides leadership to colleges and universities in Maryland and Washington, D.C. by “advocating, supporting and encouraging institutional participation in academic and co-curricular based public service and civic engagement programs.”

MDCCC is a state office of the national Campus Compact, a coalition of nearly 1,100 presidents from institutions of higher education, representing some six million students.

SHORE HATCHERY / continued from cover

“This was the best-prepared group of applicants since the start of the Shore Hatchery in 2014,” competition director William Burke said. “The pitches were perfect.”

Badjo is the furthest along of the UMES quartet and is focused on completing the costly paperwork that goes with submitting an application for a provisional patent.

The grant, Badjo said, gives him flexibility and confidence, “I will be able to market the suit much better,” and perhaps attract investors.

Badjo, Toney and Jackson are supervised by Dr. Kausik S. Das of UMES’ Department of Natural Science. Badjo is also a recipient of a Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation scholarship.

The Ratcliffe Foundation donated $1 million to Salisbury University’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business in 2013 to establish the Shore Hatchery competition, which rewards individuals for their entrepreneurial efforts in the creation and growth of businesses with potential to impact regional employment within three years.

The UMES foursome were among 16 competitors who made presentations on Oct. 23. Altogether, judges distributed $110,000 among eight of them.

“We’re interested in focusing on clean energy,” said Toney. “The batteries we currently use contribute to a lot of environmental waste.”

Jackson said, “We think there is a way to design energy efficient batteries with a 3-D printer that can be environmentally friendly. Hopefully, bio-degradable.”

Jackson and Toney are creative thinkers who Das said he believes have potential to “be successful in this venture. They just needed to have someone tell them they are heading down the right path.”

Toney acknowledged the Shore Hatchery competition gave him and his partner a much-needed moral boost.

Malik, who grew up in a family of mathematicians, said he occasionally deals with bouts of arthritis, which motivated him to pursue ideas that could alleviate his pain.

His vision is fine-tuning an idea he has for therapeutic “jell-like” sleeve capable of delivering heat or cold compresses, depending on a patient’s needs and a doctor’s diagnosis.

“I hope what we did (at the competition) will demonstrate that UMES can be an innovation hub,” Malik said.

In addition to funding, the four UMES entrepreneurs and the other winners also receive mentoring support from local business leaders such as Dave Rommel and Mike Cottingham of Rommel Holdings, Frank Gunion of South Moon Under, Jennifer Layton of Layton’s Chance Vineyards and Winery, Katherine Kiernan of APPI Energy and Sandy Fitzgerald-Angello of Pohanka Automotive and banking executive Debbie Abbott.

“I would like to extend my appreciation to JeanPaul Badjo, who not only introduced me to his company and business plan but also introduced me to his UMES colleagues and their plans. We encourage the students and alumni in the UMES community to get involved in our spring Shore Hatchery program,” Burke said.

School News

Sustainability: From crayon to lipstick

Fashion merchandising students in Dr. LaPorchia Davis’ textile class showed their entrepreneurship side of beauty by creating personal lipsticks from natural ingredients and non-tonic crayons. Each student produced a matte or gloss finish lipstick during a class challenge. The purpose of the challenge, according to Davis, was to bring awareness to sustainable cosmetics and green consumer behavior.

The second part of the challenge was understanding and demonstrating different lipstick removal techniques on non-washable and washable fabrics.

The Key / November 20, 2015

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Male initiative sponsors summit

UMES’ male initiative, Men Achieving Dreams Through Education, held its Student Success Summit Nov. 14. Keynote speakers at the event, CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin and former NFL Baltimore Raven Stevie Baggs, posed with attendees, fellow speakers and UMES representatives. The event “brought together high school and college students to share in a dialogue on leadership, character development, values clarification and issues that are germane to males of color in today’s society,” said Clifton Harcum, UMES’ Office of University Engagement and Lifelong Learning.

Student pharmacists hold Capitol Hill health fair

Members of UMES’ chapter of the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists and faculty are pictured with Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter, (Ga-1), the only pharmacist in Congress, at a health fair the group staffed on Capitol Hill. Students provided health information and screenings to congressional representatives and staff members.

The association’s mission is to “be the collective voice of student pharmacists, to provide opportunities for professional growth, to improve patient care, and to envision and advance the future of pharmacy.”

Students assist university’s fundraising efforts donors and thanking faculty and Promoting the understanding and staff for their gifts,” Taylor said.

“The experience helped them importance of private giving understand the importance of and philanthropy isn’t just philanthropy and gave them better the job of the Division of understanding of their roles as Institutional Advancement.

UMES students and future alum.”

“Being a part of the alumni play a vital role as R.I.S.E. members, from left, Cierra Barnes, Courtney Milligan, Alex Alvara, Benjamin phonathon was a great university supporters and Webster, Michael Taylor, and Olamide Okeowo, man the phones during institutional ambassadors through experience for me,” said Cierra advancement’s recent phonathon.

Barnes, R.I.S.E. member and events, initiatives and programs, Dr. Veronique Diriker, director of development explained. applied design major. “I met some amazing people and developed some skills I didn’t think I had. I’m glad I am able to be a part of such ReInvesting In Students’ Education (R.I.S.E.), a group of UMES student an amazing organization here at UMES.” ambassadors committed to assisting the university in its fundraising and supportive efforts, held a phonathon. To their academic load for two weeks, “R.I.S.E. students were engaged and excited to help make a difference,” Taylor said. “They were very professional and received they added the task of calling alumni and friends of the university thanking remarks from those they called to confirm that opinion.” them for their previous gifts, encouraging them to make a gift or reminding “From the smallest to the largest gift, every donation makes a them to fulfill their pledges in support of student scholarships. difference,” Taylor said. “The phonathon has opened my eyes to the Michael Taylor, interim fundraising specialist for the division who led the effort, said it was a worthwhile endeavor for all. importance of supportive students, alumni and donors.”

To donate, call 410-651-8142 or visit iaumes.givecorps.com.

“The students enjoyed interacting with alumni, sharing campus news with

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The Key / November 20, 2015

Calendar

T H E UMES MISSION The University of Maryland Eastern Shore, the state’s historically black, 1890 land-grant institution, has its purpose and uniqueness grounded in distinctive learning, discovery and engagement opportunities in the arts and science, education, technology, engineering, agriculture, business and health professions.

UMES is a student-centered, doctoral research degree-granting university known for its nationally accredited undergraduate and graduate programs, applied research and highly valued graduates.

UMES provides individuals, including first-generation college students, access to a holistic learning environment that fosters multicultural diversity, academic success, and intellectual and social growth.

UMES prepares graduates to address challenges in a global, knowledgebased economy while maintaining its commitment to meeting the workforce and economic development needs of the Eastern Shore, the state, the nation and the world.

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. Inquiries regarding the application of Federal laws and nondiscrimination policies to University programs and activities may be referred to the Office of the Equity & Compliance/Title IX Coordinator by telephone (410) 651-7848 or e-mail (titleix@umes.edu).

The KEY is published by the Office of Public Relations in the Office of the President 410-651-7580 FAX 410-651-7914 www.umes.edu Editors Gail Stephens, Assistant Director of Public Relations and Publications Manager Bill Robinson, Director of Public Relations Ashley Collier, Public Relations Assistant Design by Debi Rus, Rus Design Inc. Printed by The Hawk Copy Center Submissions to The KEY are preferred via email. All copy is subject to editing.The Key is written according to the Associated Press stylebook.