Today is Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD!) Come out and check out the cool things your peers have been working on lately all day today.  Be sure to check out the poster presentations in the UC Ballroom between 10AM-3PM, where students will be on-hand to talk about their research on a one-to-one level.

It’s a great experience for anybody who is interested in research in their own field or others, or even people who have no interest in research at all.  The things UMBC undergraduates are capable will blow you away!  Check out the full schedule for a full listing of events, including oral presentations, several exhibits, and readings from Bartleby.

I have just stumbled across a facebook event advertising Third Eye Blind as part of SEB’s Quadmania this April 16-18. Tickets are $10 with a UMBC ID and go on sale at the Commons info desk Wednesday March 10 at 12pm. The show will be in the RAC and there appears to be no ticket limit listed on the facebook event.

This seems like it has potential. Personally I feel like this is an act that could appeal to a wide variety of students. Obviously you can never please everyone, but I’m going to go ahead and give SEB some major props for securing Third Eye Blind to come play.

This is (or should be) the link to the facebook event.

So what are everyone’s thoughts on Third Eye Blind?

I’ve updated the weekly events post below to reflect the parking forums that will take place this week on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

The Governor’s capital budget for FY2011 has been announced, and includes $37.4 million for the construction of the new Performing Arts and Humanities Facility, covering a broad range of subjects like Dance, Music, and Theatre.  With this funding secured and plans to break ground this summer, the school is hosting student forums on parking (an issue we’ve covered before) to hear from the student body.

What experiences have people had in the last semester that might give fresh perspective on this issue?  Personally, I’ve heard a few murmurs about the overflow lot filling up recently.  What are your thoughts?  Join the discussion and get yourself ready to ask these questions in a true forum this week.  Be heard, UU!

Got some free time, but not sure what to do with it?  Check out a few of the things going on around UMBC this week.

Monday, February 1st

• Involvement Fest, 11AM-2PM Commons Mainstreet, Come meet the members of student organizations at UMBC and get involved

Tuesday, February 2nd

• Involvement Fest, 11AM-2PM Commons Mainstreet, Come meet the members of student organizations at UMBC and get involved
• Celebrate Black History Month by watching the movie Good Hair in the Patapsco lobby, 7PM

Wednesday, February 3rd

• Involvement Fest, 11AM-2PM Commons Mainstreet, Come meet the members of student organizations at UMBC and get involved
• Parking Forums, 6-7PM UC Ballroom.  Come make your opinions heard on the parking issue at UMBC

Thursday, February 4th

• Parking Forums, 1-2PM UC Ballroom.  Come make your opinions heard on the parking issue at UMBC
• Ballroom Dance Club’s Jam Session, 6PM - 9PM Commons Mainstreet.  Music, dancing, food!
• Deadline to submit an application to be on the Student Activity Fee Review Board!
• Zombieland, 10PM Lecture Hall 1, Tickets $2 at the CIC
  

Friday, February 5th

• Service Learning Fair, 11AM-1:30PM Commons Mainstreet - Academic credit for volunteering?  Sweet!
• Parking Forums, 12-1PM Lecture Hall 7.  Come make your opinions heard on the parking issue at UMBC
• Zombieland, 8PM Lecture Hall 1, Tickets $2 at the CIC

Saturday, February 6th

• Women’s Basketball VS Maine, 12:30 PM RAC
• Men’s Basketball VS Vermont, 3:00 PM RAC
• Zombieland, 8 PM Sports Zone, FREE!

Something not up here that should be?  Love it?  Hate it?  Use that comment box down there and let us know, or send in an article and we’ll get the word out for you.

Welcome back for the Spring 2010 semester!  UMBCUnderground has been hibernating for two months, but we’re back now.  Start sending in your topics for discussion and we’ll get the ball rolling on some great publications.  To start you off, here’s a list of upcoming events this week:

Wednesday, January 27th

• Men’s Basketball vs. Binghamton - RAC 7 PM, FREE with your red ID!

Thursday, January 28th

• Women’s Basketball vs. Stony Brook - RAC 7 PM, FREE with your red ID!
• Open Mic Night - Sports Zone 8PM, FREE!  Open Mic Night returns, come strut your stuff.  Free wings!
• Where the Wild Things Are - 10PM in Lecture Hall 2.  Buy your ticket for $2 at the CIC.

Friday, January 29th

• Patapsco Addition Meeting - Harbor MPR NOON.  Learn what’s going on with Patapsco and make your opinion heard.  Free pizza!
• Nature Walk - Meet in Commons Circle 4PM, FREE!
  
• Where the Wild Things Are - 8PM in Lecture Hall 2.  Buy your ticket for $2 at the CIC.
• SEB Magic Show - Sports Zone 9PM, FREE!  Come check out some magic by Rusty Ammerman.
• SEB Live Music - Flat Tuesday’s 9PM, FREE!  Featuring Rosiere, Arden, and The Town Criers

Saturday, January 30th

• Where the Wild Things Are - 8PM in Lecture Hall 2.  FREE with your Red ID!
• Luau Dance Party - Flat Tuesday’s, 9PM, FREE!  Music, dancing, food!

What you see above is just a small sampling of the events going on.  Know about something that isn’t up there?  Send it on in and we’ll make sure people hear about it.  Have a great week and let’s kick the semester off right!

Hey everyone! The ProveIt deadline is fast approaching, but you still have time to submit a proposal! ProveIt! is a great opportunity for you to be able to make a real impact on this campus- and if that’s not enough, you can win $5,000 doing it!

ProveIt is a contest in which students are given the challenge to create a novel and innovative project, service, or event on the UMBC campus that makes everyone proud to be a member of our community. Students with ideas for projects fitting this description can submit these ideas to a selection committee which will evaluate each idea based on a variety of factors including contribution to campus and feasibility. The student body will vote on the top finalists, and ultimately choose the winning proposal!

The entrants will be competing for up to $30,000.00 of funding to support implementation of their idea, and an additional $5,000.00 as a reward for coming up with the winning idea and making it a reality.

What kinds of project, service or event will win this competition? The door is wide open. Five years ago SGA used $30,000 to transform the Student Organizations Area on The Commons’ 2nd floor into a hub of campus life. Three years ago SGA invested $45,000 in a GPS tracking system in partnership with UMBC Transit Services, which will enable anyone to monitor the exact location of UMBC’s shuttle buses from any computer. No more waiting outside in the rain for a late bus. The winner of the first ProveIt! competition created a greenspace on campus; an area where any student can sit outside to study, socialize, or just relax. The winning entry could be something like one of these projects . . . or something completely different. The important thing is, the idea must produce an important benefit for the UMBC community and make us all proud. What would you like to see improved, added, developed, used, celebrated, created or made available for every student on our campus?

The deadline is December 22, 2009. If you have any questions, or want to learn more about the competition, check out the website at umbc.edu/proveit, or email Jennifer Kent, this year’s co-chair, at jkent1 [AT] umbc.edu.

Today is Winter Grads Day — Kudos to all graduating this month! I just wanted to pass word along that there will be a shin-dig in The Pub tonight from 5-7 pm to celebrate all the soon-to-be alums. Expect free food (cheese, fruit and vegetables, wings –buffalo & BBQ, sweet & sour meatballs, sliders (hamburgers, chicken and vegetarian), cookies and brownies), music, games, and a complimentary drink to the first 100 to come through the door (must be 21+).

Questions? Heather Gleason at gleason2@umbc.edu.

Congrats to all those graduating, and good luck!

What’s going down this week, UMBC?  Here’s a small selection:

Tuesday, November 17th

• Leonid meteor shower peak hours at around 3:30 AM and 5PM (Heightened rates until around 7:30PM).  Watch the skies!

Wednesday, November 18th

• Study Abroad Fair, Commons Mainstreet, 11AM-2PM
• Craft Fair, Commons Mainstreet, 12-1PM
• Men’s Basketball vs. Loyola, 7:30 PM

Thursday, November 19th

• The Great American Smokeout, Commons Mainstreet, 11AM-2PM
• INDS 40th Birthday / Benefit Concert and free cake, Recital Hall, Free w/ Red ID, 7PM
• UMBC Ideas Competition Finalist Presentations / Voting, Sports Zone, 7-9PM
• Inglourious Basterds, LH1, $2, 10PM

Friday, November 20th

• Inglourious Basterds, LH1, $2, 8PM
• SEB Game Show Night, Gameroom, 9PM
• Live Music, Flat Tuesdays, Free, 9PM

Something missing from this list?  Got an event you’d like to promote?  Go ahead and post it in the comments, or drop it to us as an article.

Check out the sports blog and the rally monkey blog for more information on the best time of the year…the start of basketball season.

This Sunday, your UMBC Retrievers try to make it three in a row going to the league championship as they open up against the Morgan State Bears at 3:30.

What’s going on this week at UMBC?  I’ll be honest with you, I don’t have a clue.  Since campus awareness of things to do and things going on still seems like a hot issue, here’s a completely arbitrary list of just a few things going on this week:

Tuesday, November 10th

• Sneaker sale and donation drive at the RAC, 9-5PM.  Get some fresh kicks on a budget and donate your old shoes to charity.

Wednesday, November 11th - Veteran’s Day

• Origami, 12-1PM, Commons Mainstreet.  FREE!

Thursday, November 12th

• Challah for Hunger will be selling challah bread in the Breezeway from 12-3PM to raise money for hunger relief
• Open Mic Night at the Sports Zone, 8-10PM, FREE!
• Raekwon of the Wu Tang Clan performs in the UC Ballroom, 9PM.  Tickets $10 at the Commons Information Center.  Official after-party…well, afterward.  Tickets on sale at CIC.
• Bone Marrow Registration, Commons Mainstreet, 8AM-7PM

Friday, November 13th

• UMBC Women’s Basketball Season Opener vs. Virginia., RAC, 7PM

This list is by no means comprehensive.  I’m going to turn it over to you, UU.  Something going this week that you want people to know about?  Go ahead and tell us right here.  If you’ve got an event coming up, feel free to drop it in our article bin and we’ll see that it gets published here.