What’s your degree earning you?
August 13, 2008
As a (proud) graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, I’ll admit: I went to more than a few parties while I was there. I’m still surprised that the campus made Princeton Review’s list of “Top 20 Party Schools” last year - but, hey, I wasn’t involved in Greek life, so maybe my perception’s skewed.
Regardless, I’m pleased to read today in a PayScale report on graduates’ salaries that UMD ranks second on the list of party schools with “salary potential.” Supposedly, by mid-career (PayScale says typically, age 42 with 15.5 years of experience) a UMD graduate can expect to be earning $95K. (Obviously, this is highly dependent on area of expertise.)
UMD also scored well (No. 14) on the “Top State Universities” list, a broader category. (And if you squint and ignore all the schools based on the left coast, we’re easily inside the top 10!)
I nosed around for other local schools that were ranked but didn’t find any. If you see one I missed, let us know.
Data for the report was gathered from employees who completed a survey. Only employees who have a Bachelor’s degree and no higher degree were included.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Top Party Colleges By Salary Potential
Princeton Review gives top grades to Loyola, UMD
July 29, 2008
The Princeton Review released its annual college rankings yesterday and two Maryland schools topped two of the categories—Loyola College for best dorms and University of Maryland at College Park for best athletic facilities.
As a recent college grad, I vividly remember sitting on a couch in a library for hours going through the books of college ratings. After all, I wanted to make the most informed decision possible.
Nevertheless, what it boiled down to was actually visiting the schools I was interested in. I was certain that I wanted to attend a huge university until I began visiting schools and ended up liking a very small, private college.
I attended Goucher College in nearby Towson, and even though I had read that it was ranked the “Happiest School” in Newsweek (2004), it took an actual visit to legitimize my pre-conceived notions.
I’ve set foot in several of the Loyola dorms (pictured at left) and never considered them to be outside the norm, but maybe I was in the wrong building.
Do you think any other Maryland schools deserve recognition (i.e. best classroom experience, most diverse student body)?
RICHARD SIMON, Multimedia Reporter
(image courtesy of Loyola Web site)
Sphere: Related ContentMultimedia: Maryland’s Anatomical Donors Day
June 17, 2008
On Monday afternoon, before the rain came pouring down, a burial service was held for Marylanders who donated their bodies to science last year.
The service is an annual occasion, held to recognize the vital donations – and unclaimed bodies – that are used by Maryland’s medical and dental students for education and research. The service was held at Springfield Hospital Center in Sykesville.
A proclamation from the Governor’s Office declared June 16 to be “Anatomical Donor Appreciation Day” in Maryland.
Friends and family of the donors were invited to attend the interdenominational service, which was coordinated by the State Anatomy Board and Springfield Hospital Center’s Office of Volunteer Services.
Multimedia Reporter Richard Simon caught up with a number of medical students and family members at the service.
Click here to view a larger version of the audio slideshow.
How much is a walk through a state park worth to you?
May 13, 2008
To me? Very little. I’m not a big fan of nature. There are bugs and dirt. Sometimes sand. It’s just hot and itchy — two things I can do without.
Fortunately for national and state park services, there are plenty of people out there who think I’m a nitwit and just love the thought of spending a sunny day hiking through a forest. University of Maryland researchers from the school’s Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology have released a study to try to quantify — among other things — the value of a day spent among the trees and woodland creatures.
“The study also sought to measure the recreational value of state forests, partly by asking people how much they spent on trips to the woods… The researchers concluded that people derived individual satisfaction worth $96 per trip for day users, and $400 for the average overnighter.”
I would pay 10 times that for a human-sized hamster ball I could climb into and take for a spin through a park. So how much is a day in a park worth to you?
JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist
Sphere: Related ContentUMD alum launches seed fund for student startups
April 17, 2008
This afternoon, an alum’s gift of $50,000 will kick off a fund for University of Maryland student entrepreneurs.
The benefactor is Anik Singal, a 2005 alum of the Hinman CEOs program at UMD, who will gift the fifty grand to a seed money fund and challenge other alumni to follow suit.
How can a recent grad afford the heavy contribution? Singal is founder of Affiliate Classroom, a step-by-step training program that helps people launch and grow affiliate Internet businesses.
“As entrepreneurial undergraduates pursue venture creation, they face challenges in raising sufficient funding to pursue their ideas,” he says in the UMD release. He will take a lead role on the fund’s advisory board.
Students will be able to apply for funding, available in increments of $500 to $5,000, by writing a business plan. A committee comprised of Hinman program alumni and other senior staff will evaluate each proposal and select recipients based upon “each business plan’s value proposition, as well as its probability of success within a reasonable timeframe.”
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Turning ashes into artwork
April 9, 2008
Have you been wondering what to do with the cremated remains of a loved one?
This is the question posed by Phoenix Memorial Art, a new Bethesda company that urges you to reconsider your plans for dispersal of ashes.
Instead, they propose, set some aside and have them made into an original work of art by one of Phoenix’s affiliated artists. This way, Phoenix assures you, memories of your loved one can come alive again through art, the same way a phoenix rises from the ashes.
That’s what Phoenix founder Marjorie Hoachlander and her late husband, Eldon, chose to do with a portion of his remains. Now Marjorie has a piece of Eldon - literally - in seven original artworks.
From the release:
“Cremains are emotional material,” explains ceramic artist Catherine White, who hand-built a beautiful vessel for the Hoachlander collection. “I feel a great respect and responsibility as I work with each piece and allow its unique personality to emerge. When adding cremains to the clay, I become aware of the textural effects of the ashes as the object forms.”
Phoenix’s advisory board includes a doctor of anthropology at UMD; a doctor of psychology at Hood College; and the rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
How about it: a meaningful alternative to a traditional urn, or too offbeat?
I’d want design approval pre-mortem; can you imagine being part of a work of art you disliked?
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentAre we lying about how long we sleep?
March 13, 2008
Americans may not be the sleep-deprived victims we’re often made out to be, say researchers at the University of Maryland in a new report today.
In sharp contrast with estimates recently given by the National Sleep Foundation, the UMD report says we’re averaging 8 hours, 12 minutes of sleep on workdays (NSF: 6 hours, 40 minutes) and 9 hours, 12 minutes of sleep on weekends (NSF: 7 hours, 25 minutes).
So how do the UMD researchers explain the difference between their findings and those of the NSF? Basically, “everybody lies.”
The NSF sleep poll asks Americans to estimate how much sleep they get. The Maryland analysts used “time-use” data collected by the U.S. Census that accounts for every minute of a person’s day.
“It’s a status symbol,” UMD sociologist John Robinson told The Washington Post. “If you are a good American, you work all hours. It’s virtuous in American society to not get enough sleep.”
It must be a whopping fib: while UMD says Americans total 59 hours of sleep a week in 2005, the NSF poll claims only 48 hours per week. That’s more than one full night’s difference.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentIn donations, UMD can’t hold a candle to Hopkins
February 20, 2008
As a University of Maryland alum, I’m feeling a little ashamed of myself and my fellow graduates now that the Council for Aid to Education’s report is out.
The CAE report reveals the total contributions raised by colleges and universities around the nation in 2007. Overall, contributions were up.
Here’s how some of Maryland’s higher ed institutions fared in 2007:
- Johns Hopkins - $430.4 million
- University of Maryland, College Park - $85.5 million
- University of Maryland-Baltimore - $46.2 million
- UMBC - $13.2 million
- Towson University - $7.8 million
And here’s how some of our neighboring state schools fared:
- Rutgers - $102.7 million
- New York University - $287.6 million
- Penn State University - $182.9 million
- University of Virginia - $282.6 million
- UNC-Chapel Hill - $246.9 million
Why do you think contributions to UMD fell behind what other nearby state universities received?
According to President Mote, over 6,000 students graduated in 2006 from the undergrad program alone, and the quality of applicants continues to rise. And UMD is ranked in the top 20 public research universities. So why can’t it even raise one-fourth of what JHU did? Or compete with UNC?
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentStill reaping the whirlwind in Baton Rouge
January 31, 2008
Can you imagine being held more than a month in jail and not even knowing what your charges are?
In Baltimore, detainees are brought before a court commissioner for a bail hearing within 24 hours of the arrest. But earlier this month in Baton Rouge, a handful of University of Maryland School of Law students spent their winter break working for the public defender’s office, preparing and interviewing detainees who had spent more than a month in jail without being charged.
The students were there as part of the school’s third annual law trip to volunteer in the Gulf Coast area affected by Hurricane Katrina and were the first student group to volunteer at the Baton Rouge jails.
Under Louisiana law, arrestees must be charged within 45 days for a misdemeanor and 60 days for a felony. They are not assigned a public defender until they are officially charged, according to third-year student Anne Deady.
“Another thing is that the Baton Rouge population doubled after Katrina,” said Deady, who helped organize the trip. “The government there was really worried there was going to be more crime so they beefed up the police force but not the PD’s office. So you had more people being arrested than before with fewer people to handle it.”
The public defender’s office is so strapped for resources that one PD currently has 850 cases — more than 10 times the American Bar Association’s recommended caseload, Deady said.
While Deady said the law students’ presence was “so welcomed” in Baton Rouge, there is only so much they can do. Is there anyone out there helping to lighten the load? If you’ve been down to the Gulf Coast to lend a helping hand — whether it’s in the legal system or the rebuilding effort — we’d love to hear about your experience.
LIZ FARMER, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentThe cultural significance of the noose
January 28, 2008
Jim Downs, an assistant professor of history at Connecticut College, has an interesting essay posted today on the History News Network’s Web site about the cultural significance of the noose.
He mentions the noose-hanging incident last year at the University of Maryland’s Nyumburu Cultural Center in College Park — also the impetus for a hate crimes legislation introduced this year in the General Assembly — as well as other recent incidents that garnered media attention.
Downs suggests that the “recent rash of noose hangings seems to have less to do with the viscous horrors targeted against African-Americans, and more to do with how the history of the noose has enabled the leading media, such as the Washington Post and the New York Times, to define racism.”
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