Prove What?

Happy November!

Now that we're through everybody's favorite part of October, it's time to look ahead to what's going to be happening this month.

• We established a record of 10 posts last month - I'm pretty sure we're going to top that this month.
• The Black and Gold Commission is hosting their second tailgate
• Student Organization Advocates are hosting a dinner for Student Org leaders
• The Senate puts the Idea Development Tool into practice and strives to become a more effective group
• Budget Deliberations finishing up
• Prove IT!

Wait, what was that last one? Prove what? Prove IT is an exciting new initiative sponsored by the SGA to help tap the creativity and enthusiasm of our campus community to make change at UMBC. It's a bold challenge - if you are walking around UMBC and think, "I wish this was different" we are inviting you to prove it by taking steps to turn that thought into a reality.

Here's how it works: We are going to be accepting applications from any loose association of students (i.e. you and a few friends) detailing their plan for doing something to positively impact the campus. No restrictions, just pure outside-the-box thinking. Applications can be submitted starting Monday through the end of December, so there is plenty of time to put some good effort into the idea.

However, the application process is just the beginning. The three best submissions, chosen by a committee comprised of students and administrators, will be presented to the campus community in a vote. The final winning group will receive $50,000 and backing of both the SGA and the campus administration to make their idea a reality before the end of Spring semester. That's $50,000 backing something that you and your friends dreamed up!

It doesn't stop there. As an incentive for doing all that work, the SGA is giving the winning group $5,000 to use however they wish. This is a payment of real money, folks - not a scholarship, not gift cards, but $5,000 in cash given directly to your group.

You will be seeing all kinds of advertisements for this initiative over the coming months, beginning with the official kick-off beneath the breezeway this Monday. This is the chance to prove to the rest of the campus that you have what it takes to change UMBC for the better. UMBC is packed with amazing students so I'm really looking forward to seeing all of the submissions. Start thinking, everybody.

Prove it!

An Afternoon in Annapolis

I missed Spanish class today as part of a delegation of UMBC students that went to a rally outside the joint legislation building in Annapolis. Along with students from a diverse sampling of Maryland's higher education institutions, we were there in support of the creation of a dedicated funding source for higher education.

There were eight UMBC students there, along with our president, Freeman Hrabowski and some members of his staff. I got to meet him for the first time which was pretty cool. I was worried eight people Josh was able to muster for this event would pale in comparison to the two buses of students College Park was bragging they were bringing, but as it turns out they barely filled one - ha! Josh also did a nice job dropping in the fact that we had a better voter turnout than they did in a conversation with their SGA President. Go UMBC!

Governor O'Malley and Dr. Hrabowski gave speeches along with a host of others, including some of the dignitaries that were at the governor's visit (a link to the story on my personal blog, as I realized I never put anything about that on this space). Anne got a bunch of excellent pictures so we might be seeing a few of those in the next Retriever Weekly. There are also some pictures available on the governor's website, but they can be a bit of a pain to browse as you have to go through an agreement to see the larger versions.

In between the rally and the start of the actual testimonies before the joint committee, various news crews were circulating to get material. Steve made out pretty well, scoring an interview for a College Park-based station as well as a radio spot on WBAL. Way to go Steve! There's also a picture of our group featured as part of an article in the Baltimore Sun. I know it's a lot of bragging but I'm really proud of UMBC for getting ourselves out there and trying to make a difference in our state.

All kinds of lobbyists were there to speak to the join committee so a lot of things had to be cut short to fit it all in, but I think Josh Michael did an excellent job in his testimony in the time that he had. He even got in a bit about how much students have to pay for textbooks, which makes me happy as that is an issue I had raised during the governor's visit. During the College Park SGA President's testimony the Chairman asked the students in the audience to stand, and all of us from UMBC were right smack in the middle with UMBC plastered over our shirts - once again, go UMBC!

There's something I find quite thrilling about taking a risk and putting yourself out there in the hopes of making a difference in something that is much bigger than yourself. A lot of people will tell you that you can't really change anything but it is deeper than that. It's not about one person lost in the middle of the world trying to do something all by him or herself. It's about connecting with others who share your vision, building bridges between yourself and others, and using the resources you do have at your disposal as best you can.

Another good website...

I've been following Overheard in New York for years now, so when I found out some people were trying to do the same thing for UMBC I was thrilled. Like UMBC Underground, this is another excellent effort by our fellow students to do something good for the community - they deserve our support.

Overheard at UMBC

UMBC Underground

I was just told about another awesome UMBC-related blog, UMBC Underground. I hope linking to it from here doesn't bring them "above ground" but I really liked what I saw at first glance. Hey, it's a blog, and blogs always want more readers, right?

I haven't done much exploring (but I'm sure I will later tonight) so I don't really know who's behind their operation, but it seems like it's just a bunch of concerned students trying to help out the rest of the community. That's the kind of thing that really gets me excited - we need more people like that taking action around our campus. Notice I say "taking action", because I think a whole lot of people here are interested in helping others, they just haven't taken the plunge yet. Or possibly worse, they have but yet others haven't recognized them.

Anyway, check out UMBC Underground, add their feed to your RSS reader, all that good stuff.