Around UB

Cost-Cutting Ideas from CopyCat

Cutting down on expenses is an easy way to same some cash, and one way to control your spending is by going green when it comes to your printed materials.

In many situations, printed materials are the best way to convey information, capture attention or incite a call to action. Here are a couple tips that will help you make your printed materials greener while saving you some green:

• Reduce paper waste and decrease print costs by choosing finished sizes that make the most efficient use of standard paper sizes, and avoid designs where the image runs to the edge of the page (known as "full bleeds").
• Purchase recycled promotional items with purpose – a branded recycled tote bag is an excellent publicity tool and a greener alternative to paper or plastic.

For more information and a great resource for all your printing needs, contact Lisa Tasker of Copy Cat Printing at the University of Baltimore Publishing Center, 410.837.5238.

'Be Smart, Be Brief' Contest Winners Announced

In September, the School of Law hosted a contest for first-year students, "Be Smart, Be Brief," in which they were asked to use six words to describe that first hectic-yet-memorable month of law school. There were many submissions, but four stood out for the 2010-11 Academic Support Teaching Scholars who served as judges:

Honorable Mention: "Plato survived Socrates; so will I." Submitted by Ellen Cobb, who received a $20 gift certificate to Shapiros.

Third Place: "This 'reasonable person' needs a beer." Submitted by Samantha Healy, who received a $20 gift certificate to Turps Sports Bar.

Second Place: "Baltimore looks fun from library window." Submitted by Emily Kolas, who received a $20 gift certificate to Shapiros.

The Winner: "What do you mean 'it depends?'" Submitted by Eurie Choi, who received a $20 gift certificate to Target.

"Thanks to everyone who participated," said Claudia Diamond, the school's director of academic support

Some of the other entries, much apreciated by the judges:

"Learning, loving, living, breathing, the law."

"Never stopping. Always reading. Sometimes drinking."

"Stop thinking about Exams. I can't."

"Unnecessarily opaque terminology gradually infiltrating lexicon."

"I read. I briefed. I conquered."

"Still less stressful than medical school."

Going International: Expanding a Family Business

(Article reprinted from the Merrick Exchange)

Merrick School of Business senior and international business major Dimitrios  Komninos didn’t wait until graduation to help expand his family’s century-old business in Greece. Taking the idea of "learning on the job" to new heights, he seized the opportunity to import high-quality olive oil from the source—his family's farm near Sparta—and greatly expand the market reach of the family business. Now entering its fourth generation, the Giannakos family, of which Komninos is a scion, has been producing extra virgin olive oil since 1904. Their picturesque 60-acre parcel of olive groves  is located in the foothills of Mt. Taigetos. 

Komninos' stepfather, Dimitrios Giannakos, and his family produce the oil using a "cold press" manufacturing method. This unfiltered production process ensures the purest of all virgin olive oils, and eliminates the chemically-treated process that is part of most refined olive-oil production. A key part of this method is letting the oil sit in tanks for 45 to 60 days, during which natural settling occurs and sediment sinks to the bottom. The oil is naturally purified in this way, which makes it great for healthy cooking and eating.

Read more from the Exchange.

Fulbright Student Hails from Norway

By Wendy Burgess
Director, International Admission and Enrollment

What do Oslo and Baltimore have in common? For one thing, graduate student Helge Fredheim. Fredheim arrived at UB from Norway in August, ready to undertake a year of overseas study as a visiting Fulbright Scholarship student. He is enrolled in M.S. in Interaction Design and Information Architecture courses, while conducting research for his master's thesis on Patterns and Design Solutions at the University of Oslo. Fredheim is UB's second Fulbright Scholarship student. Christina Ruoff, an undergraduate business major from Berlin, Germany, spent 2009-10 at UB.

After attending an information session at the Oslo Fulbright Office and passing through a rigorous selection process, Fredheim chose UB as his study site on the recommendation of his professor, a former Fulbrighter, who knew of the pioneering work in hypertext being done by Professors Nancy Kaplan and Stuart Moulthrop (now at the University of Wisconsin). Moultrhop had lectured at the University of Oslo and the University of Bergen, Fredheim's hometown. He was attracted to the cutting-edge IDIA program described on UB's website. Of his courses this semester, Fredheim says, "Kathryn Summers's class on eye-tracking research is particularly interesting as a special topics class. It's state-of-the art."

What surprised Fredheim about Baltimore when he arrived in summer?

"It's warmer here than I expected, with lots of humidity. And the Web design community in Baltimore is very active with meetings and small professional gatherings," he said, noting that he is excited to be close to New York City where he can attend conferences like this year's "The Future of Web Design," which was held in November.

Back home, Fredheim is a candidate for the MSc. In Informatics degree. He currently holds a journalism graduate degree from Volda University College. In 2008, he won a bronze medal in Scandanavia's Nordic News Design of the Year competition for his coverage of the energy section of the online news service of Stavanger Aftenblad, an oil city in southwest Norway. He's done a lot of freelancing along the way: web development for One Communication, web design for the Dagbladet news site, and public relations for the Volga University College's student branch of the Norwegian Union of Journalists. In his spare time, Fredheim is an amateur magician and served as vice president of the Magic Circle of Norway, the oldest magic organization in Scandinavia.

What does Helge see himself doing after completing his master's degree?

"I'd like to be an interaction designer or a project consultant employing user testing to create interfaces that are easy to use and navigate," he says. "I'm interested in studying the development of design patterns with empirical evidence to justify that a proposed solution works."

Something else Helge misses in Baltimore is his bicycle: Fredheim is an avid cyclist and in 2009 completed a 340-mile, 17-hour competition on a bike racing team in Norway. Fortunately, he just bought a hybrid bike for getting around town. He's intent on getting acclimated to his new environs, both on campus and in the city, and meeting new friends.

"We're happy to have him in the program," said Summers. "Our graduate IDIA students are really superb."

The U.S. Department of State awards upwards of 1,800 grants annually to non-U.S. nationals to study in the U.S. for a year. The Fulbright Program is the United States' premier and largest international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide. 

Former Fulbrighters at UB include faculty members Veena Adlakha, Anil Aggarwal, Virginia Carruthers, Lenneal Henderson, Alan Lyles, Tigineh Mersha, Christine Nielsen, Jane Schukoske, Steven Shapiro, Cindy Smith, Ven Sriram, Barbara White, and administrators Wendy Burgess,  Barry Dunkin, Daniel Page and Astrid Schmidt.

If you are interested in exploring the possibility of a Fulbright scholarship experience, contact Cindy Smith, UB's Fulbright campus adviser, at cjsmith@ubalt.edu or 410.837.6087. For program details, students should visit http://us.fulbrightonline.org; faculty and administrators should visit http://www.cies.org.

Langsdale Shuffle

(Article reprinted from the Langsdale Link)

You don't have to spend too much time staffing the Circulation or Reference desks before you notice something unusual about the body language of some library visitors upon entering the building: they climb the stairs from street level to the first floor and do a half-spin, looking around apprehensively, trying to decide on a direction. Currently, when entering from the first floor stairs, the Circulation desk is on the right, the Reference desk is on the left and the Security Guard's station is straight ahead. While Langsdale higher-ups don't necessarily subscribe to the tenets of feng shui, they acknowledge that a new arrangement of space on the first floor—as well as shifting some things around on the second floor, and in the basement—will create a more welcoming atmosphere for patrons.

Langsdale intends to have the spruced-up space ready for its users by the start of spring 2011. The first order of business is to reorganize the first floor in such a way that navigating it will be a more intuitive experience for visitors. As Jeffrey Hutson, Langsdale's associate director for public services, puts it: "People are naturally hesitant to ask for directions. They would rather figure it out for themselves."

Read more.