Nobody Knows What's Going On?

Advertising is a critical factor of getting students to come to events and generally just participate in campus life activities. UMBC already provides a number of systems for advertisement, including myUMBC spotlights, the Commons iNet, various bulletin boards around campus. Some things cost money, while others are provided free as services.

In practice, the various aspects of UMBC's advertising system are controlled by numerous departments and even third party companies. The televisions in the Commons are part of the iNet system and controlled by Commonvision. Also under their jurisdiction is the LED sign on the side of the UC. Both of these services can be utilized free of charge by submitting ads via their website, umbc.edu/uc/commonvision. They can also put up banners in various locations around the Commons, like Main Street, and posters on their bulletin boards.

The digital sign in the Engineering building is part of the spotlight system. A spotlight ad can be placed free of charge through myUMBC, and will appear both on this sign and on the home page of UMBC. Remember that it's a good idea to have some kind of image prepared to submit along with your advertisement.

Some free ad space is available in the Retriever Weekly, courtesy of SGA. This space can be used by working with SGA's Department of Communications (contact person: Nikki Ward). Other ad space can be purchased by contacting TRW's advertising manager, Zak Bratcher (phone: 410-455-1261, email: TRW's contact form). Large-scale ads can be placed on the Starlight Media pavillions (outside the UC and between the library and the commons) for a fee.

With so many different places to go, is it at all surprising that things aren't advertised to a greater extent? Would it not be better to have a syngle system where students could submit an ad, select where they want it to be displayed, and pay any applicable fees? At the very least, the inclusion of third party space like Starlight Media creates barriars to effective communication with the student body. While those pavillions are very visible, purchasing the space is prohibatively expensive for most groups. Using them also requires the action of a party that clearly has no vested interested in our campus, as evidenced by their dismal updating and maintainence schedule.

The institution of UMBC should take back spaces like that from third parties and consolidate more confusing places like iNet with something simple, like myUMBC. By making advertising space more accessable and ensuring that the people managing it actually care about helping students get their messages out, UMBC can start a positive cycle where potential activities are both easier to advertise and easier to discover.

From the President's Desk

Hey everyone! Every Monday, I'm going to be posting an update on what happened last week as well as what to look forward to this week. Most of my energy lately has been going towards Election Night Extravaganza. This event, which will be starting tomorrow night at 7pm in the Commons, offers the UMBC community a chance to come together and celebrate the elections. We will be having big screen TVs on Main Street (in front of the Bookstore) broadcasting different channels as the results come in. Free pizza and soda will be available earlier in the program up in the Student Organizations Area, and we will be providing coffee and hot chocolate in lower Flat Tuesdays. We have a ton of Obama and McCain masks to give out as well. Once you get your mask, you should head over to the Gameroom and participate in our Four Man Jousting or Basketball Moonbounce inflatable games! The Commons, who helped us a lot with costs for the facilities as well as coffee and hot chocolate, have agreed to extend their hours past midnight too.

Four years ago, this event pulled in over 1,000 students throughout the night. We're expecting to crush those numbers tomorrow, so make sure you show up!Lastly, if you are registered to vote in this area, there will be a shuttle going back and forth between the Commons Circle and Catonsville High School between 12-5pm tomorrow. Please take advantage of this service!

Name the Living Mascot

Go to the athletics website right away and vote to name our new, living Chesapeake Bay Retriever mascot. Save the poor fellow from being stuck with the name "Champ."

Vote (preferably for "Grit") here.

Campus Appearance

So I'm sure everyone noticed the yellow retriever fever signs stuck all around the loop for homecoming. Driving on to campus via Walker Ave on Friday I saw several signs advertising homecoming. The bonfire on Thursday drew a large crowd as did the fireworks. There were people all over campus and a very positive environment was created. I was actually impressed compared to the usual amount of notice homecoming receives.

Earlier today was the homecoming tailgate and soccer game, unfortunately I was unable to attend since I was at the MHEC SAC (Maryland Higher Education Commission, Student Advisory Council) meeting being hosted this month by Towson. Upon arriving at Towson I drive past at least 2 giant electronic signs advertising sporting events and other going ons. There are banners on the lightposts and signs. I knew I was on their campus even before I saw a single building.

The meeting was in a building in what appeared to be the middle of campus that overlooked their football stadium and several other athletic fields. Throughout the meeting we could hear cheers from one of the fields, although it wasn't the football stadium. As the meeting let out I could see a very large crowd of students from which I had heard the earlier cheers. They were quite a large crowd of students standing outside in the rain cheering for what if I remember was a soccer game.

As I left campus, I see several more signs and paw prints on the street leading to the fields from where I was just parked. There are signs advertising Towson. There was no mistaking that I was still on their campus.

So when I arrived back at UMBC today, from the Walker Ave entrance and again notice the lack of any permanent welcome sign. There's the big giant tent outside of Public Policy for the president's reception along with the brand new landscaping that was put in this week. There are still the yellow signs around the loop, however they are identical in form to the campaign signs that you see everywhere this time of year. It is almost as if this weekend was some temporary campaign for homecoming and once it is over everything goes back to normal.

However even with all of the past's weeks improvements for homecoming, in terms of just pure physical campus appearence, UMBC on homecoming weekend paled in comparison to Towson. The side road I took leaving Towson had a bigger and better sign than we have for our main entrance. An electronic sign advertising events beats a silo any day.

But it isn't Towson that is a top 5 up and coming school, it's UMBC. I think it's time that our campus started looking like it.

Campus Oddities: Engineering Building

I never really used the 24-hour computer lab in Engineering until recently, when my home computer was having some serious issues. As a result, I've been encountering the Handicapped Door of Doom on the ground floor. For some reason, both doors are extremely difficult to open by hand - something that gets me every time. I confidently stride toward the door and pull, expecting it to open like a normal door, only to have it budge about 1/4 of the way.

Anybody else have that experience, or other campus idiosyncrasies you'd like to share?

UMBC: Its Own Worst Enemy, Part 4

I thought I'd hold off on a few of these for a while, lest all 25 subscribers think that this space has become exclusively negative.

Everybody in student life, especially those of us in SGA, want UMBC students to take "ownership" of the campus. We'd love for everybody to have the kind of experiences that David Hoffman frequently describes. Unfortunately it seems that not all parts of the campus support that goal - in some cases even actively suppressing student demonstrations of campus ownership.

One such event happens nearly every year. A few brave artistic students decide to create chalk paintings around a residence hall - their home at UMBC. The next morning, as students are busy taking pictures and wondering about the mysterious artists, an email arrives from a Community Director. The gist of the message is always the same: "Lovely art, but remember that in your community living guide, chalking is prohibited."

Is that the message we should be sending at UMBC? "Lovely expression of campus ownership, but unfortunately we don't allow that here." How can we spend valuable resources begging students to get involved with UMBC, only to turn around and trample them when they do?

UMBC has taken a very proactive approach to campus policy, an approach that says, "we will use policy to prevent problems from occurring." I think we could stand to have a more reactive policy, one that says, "we will use policy to eliminate problems if they do occur." Chalking hateful messages around a resident hall would certainly be a problem - but isn't somebody's chalk art a positive community message? Is it really fair to students to destroy the positive just because there is the possibility of negative?

I would love to see students decorate True Grit before a game, or put a festive Santa hat on Walter Sondheim for the holidays. I also wonder how fast such a demonstration of campus ownership would be removed...

Time Waster: Pandemic 2

I've recently been hooked on another great time-wasting flash game: Pandemic 2. You play as an infectious agent (virus, bacteria, or parasite) and your goal is to infect the world, ultimately eliminating mankind from the face of the earth. At your disposal are resistances, methods of infection, and a colorful palette of symptoms.

I've worked out a decent winning strategy using a parasite in realistic mode, but I'm working on another shot so I can hit the world with parasitic necrosis.

Major points to anybody who can get "Retriever Fever" on the highscore list. If you can do it come by the SGA office and I'll get you a small prize (no cars or cash, sorry).

Digital Signage

I'm not sure exactly how long it's been there, but I recently noticed the new digital sign on the ground floor of the engineering building. I've often thought it would be neat to have an iNet-like system for all of campus, not just the Commons. This looks like a pilot implementation of that idea - exciting!

From what I can tell, the ads are coming from the myUMBC spotlights, so it would seem that if you've placed an ad on Spotlight it will appear on the digital sign as well.

Time

Time is always an issue for those with too much on their plate to handle. Being one of those people, it is difficult to do so many things at once and balance all aspects of your life equally without compromise. However the more you are involved in something the more you want to make it better. Analogous to this is UMBC. The campus wants to make things better for its students, but maintaining it is already enough work. However when a new idea pops up, motivated enough people stride to make things happen and forgo all obstacles in the way of getting things done.

While studying is important, as it is the primary purpose for us being here, it is also important to realize that each of us makes or breaks this school, what it represents and how it is viewed by the collegiate community. Every time someone makes a breakthrough in student-administration co-operation and teamwork, we gain points. Every time a student becomes agitated enough to spew hate about faculty and staff we lose points. We create the environment we're in, and if one person decides to taint that serenity, it is going to be detrimental not only to them but to the entire student populous.

Building on that, I have become aware that many of the students have become frustrated with the various campus departments (academic and administrative). A key point to make also is that just because someone is doing their job does not mean that they are out to get you. The only way to resolve problems like why does such and such occur is to focus on changing policy. For instance, why does the campus turn its head when asked about the workforstudents posters that clearly violate policy that they themselves set up? Why doesn't vector marketing get fined and their posters removed while growing student organizations cant post in the same place and their material is removed almost instantly? To balance, why do students always talk about how such and such is responsible for the state we are in, in regards to whatever problem it may be. Why dont students start to work at getting apathy and demotivation off our campus and unwelcome in our halls.

Every class coming in is more and more involved than the one before it. When freshmen look to upperclassmen they should see a group of people working together to help create a better UMBC for everyone, while at the same time achieveing what UMBC is famous for in academics. Sometimes however you realize that as much as you want somethign to happen, motivation isnt enough as you just dont have the time...that is when true talent and ability to create and affect is lost to the perpetuation of lifes struggles.

UMBC: Its Own Worst Enemy, Part 3

UMBC does a number of things to shoot itself in the foot with students, the individuals every university relies on the most - not only for financial support through tuition and alumni donations, but through the ever-popular buzzphrase of "viral marketing," in other words, speaking highly of UMBC to friends and family.

One of the most frustrating things for me has been UMBC's differential enforcement of school "policies." Many policies are only invoked when a problem is perceived, others seem designed to stifle student life. Compounding this predicament is the seeming inability of the university to communicate its intentions to the enforcement arm, as I experienced Wednesday in the Hilltop parking lot, and many students have experienced with the posting "policy."

Show me a student who has had an issue with Student Billing, and I will show you a student who feels like leaving UMBC for good. While the billing process is understandably complex, it seems that a number of problems could be avoided if the people behind the computers in the Bursar's Office would do a cursory check of the items before hitting "send bill." Like many other situations at UMBC, communication between offices (in this case, financial aid, food services, etc.) and the enforcement arm (student billing) is abominable.

As somebody who is here on a scholarship, I have run into numerous problems as soon as I started making "nonstandard" choices, like living at Walker Avenue or off-campus, as I do currently. One of these problems are the so-called "refund" checks that get sent out when not all of the scholarship money is used. If you aren't taking advantage of student housing or meal plans, the value of your scholarship is reduced (another issue for another time). Unfortunately for students, this reduction occurs after "refunds" have already been sent out. The same situation occurs if you sign up for a meal plan.

What compounds this problem is that later, when the billing folks realize what's been doing on, you'll get slapped with a huge bill "DUE NOW," essentially demanding all the money you were "refunded" back. If you're not careful, they'll have forgotten to undo some of their previous steps, like increasing your scholarship once you sign up for a meal plan, and you'll end up paying the university extra!

How does this work in practice? Here's an example from my experience this fall.

• I sign up for classes, do not sign up for student housing, and have not yet selected a meal plan. "Refund" check is issued before the semester has even started.
• First day of classes, I sign up for a 10 meal plan.
  
• I am told that because I'm not signed up for housing or a meal plan, my scholarship has been reduced. Huge bill appears on my university account.
• Meal plan is billed, in addition to the previous bill.
• I end up with large bill, "DUE NOW," with numbers that are inaccurate. Of course, because it is due now, I am expected to pay this amount without question if I don't want late charges to be assessed.

Would it really be that hard for the various branches of the university to just talk to each other? Or perhaps to send out these ridiculous refund checks, say, in the second week of the semester, when most of these confounding decisions have already been made? If these things are assessed at certain times, could those dates be made public so students can ensure that they have selected everything they need before scholarships are reduced, refund checks are sent out, and large bills are demanded?

For heaven's sake, UMBC. It's situations like this that make students want to curse the place that will eventually be our alma mater. You're your own worst enemy.