Umbc

A Baltimore County jury convicted former UMBC student John C. Gaumer of murder and rape yesterday in the beating death and sexual assault of a woman he had met online, capping four days of evidence and testimony that a prosecutor acknowledged to jurors was as shocking as it was graphic. The verdicts - announced to a packed courtroom about 4:30 p.m. after jurors deliberated for less than five hours - set up a capital sentencing hearing scheduled to begin Monday. With the jury convicting Gaumer of both first-degree murder and first-degree rape - a charge that serves as an "aggravating circumstance" under Maryland's death penalty statute - prosecutors will seek a death sentence.

Administration UMBC's Brown wins Under Armour AD of the Year Award UMBC athletic director Charles Brown has been named a Division I-AAA Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year Award recipient by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. Brown will be honored at the NACDA and Affiliates Convention Week on June 15 at the World Center Marriott Resort in Orlando, Fla. The Under Armour AD of the Year Award was created to honor intercollegiate athletics directors for their commitment and administrative excellence within a campus or college community environment.

Coach: Tom Sullivan, fourth season at UMBC (24-58), 14th overall (178-183).Affiliation: Northeast Conference.1997-98 record: 14-14 overall, 6-6 in Big South.Radio: None.Arena: UMBC Fieldhouse (4,024).Starters lost: One.Tickets: $6 adults, $3 students. Call 410-455-2205.Best home game: Mount St. Mary's, Dec. 3. Retrievers' first-ever NEC game comes against Jim Phelan, whose team is favored to win the conference.Best visiting player: Rick Mickens, Central Connecticut State, Feb. 11. The junior was the NEC's second-leading scorer (19.8 ppg)

Midway through its journey in Japan, the UMBC men's lacrosse team has earned victories over the under-22 Japanese national team and the Japan national squad. After arriving Thursday, the team put on a clinic for Japanese freshmen players Saturday morning and then took on a determined U-22 Japanese national team in the afternoon. UMBC jumped out to a 6-1 lead after the first quarter, but the hosts used a 5-0 third-quarter run to tie the score at 8. But the Retrievers outscored their opponents 4-2 in the final quarter to prevail, 12-10.

UMBC women's lacrosse coach Kelly Berger has resigned after three years as Retrievers coach for unspecified reasons. The university's athletics website announced Berger's departure in a three-sentence new release that said she leaves with a 30-23 record and that her assistant coaches will remain. Berger was one of the youngest coaches in Division I when she took over the Retrievers. In her first season, they finished 11-7, a school record for a rookie head coach. After that, Berger was given a three-year contract extension, but this spring, she was not on the sideline from late April through the end of the season for unspecified reasons.

Officials at the University of Maryland Baltimore County have a sent a letter to students and faculty confirming that someone on campus has been diagnosed with tuberculosis. The letter did not say if it was a student or faculty member who was infected and if the person contracted the disease on campus or somewhere else. UMBC and Baltimore County health officials, who are also working on the case, declined to give further details about the victim, citing privacy concerns. Tuberculosis is an airborne disease in the lungs.

Wednesday's front page was a lesson in vision for Maryland. In one corner, Freeman A. Hrabowski III is named as one of the 100 most influential people in the U.S. by Time for what he has been able to do as president of the University of Maryland Baltimore County. In the opposite corner, Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell encourages the General Assembly to leave the state's "doomsday" budget in place. The reason we are facing doom is that Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller "ran out of time" in doing the one job that the legislature has to get done - passing an annual budget.

I disagree with your assessment that the University of Maryland, Baltimore County needs a name change ("The checkmate club," April 13) for one simple reason: brand identity. The goal of any entity that provides a product or service is to differentiate itself from the competition. Universities and colleges are no different and each strives to develop an academic uniqueness that can be identified with that institution. Many years ago, at a time when UMBC was an unknown college often considered a second rate institution relative to the state's so-called flagship university, the faculty and staff at UMBC considered those very name changes that you suggest, MIT (Maryland Institute of Technology)

Due to a power outage on campus, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County is closed Friday.

Letter writer Raymond Hoff bemoans what he calls UMBC's "doomsday" budget, which is really a "live within your means" budget ("UMBC excellence imperiled by 'doomsday,'" April 23). Mr. Hoff complains that UMBC faculty and staff have not had a cost-of-living increase in three years. But he should be happy to still have a job - a luxury not available to legions of unemployed Marylanders, some of whom have been unemployed for three years. He talks about academics who have moved out of the state and the difficulty of hiring replacements for them.

UMBC coach Don Zimmerman has been in the game long enough not to get too excited about one victory over another or get frustrated by one loss versus another. But Zimmerman, who recently wrapped up his 27th season as a head coach, conceded that the Retrievers' come-from-behind 15-13 victory over Hartford on May 2 in an America East tournament semifinal at Stony Brook was one that still resonated with him weeks after that outcome. “I wish I could bottle that last six minutes as far as what we did on the field and what we did on the sideline and as far as that team being determined to do whatever they could do to help us win that game,” Zimmerman said, referring to the team's 6-0 run in the final 5 minutes, 46 seconds of that contest.

Here is the fourth installment of a series that checks in with the seven Division I programs in the state to give a glimpse into the past and the future. Teams are scheduled to appear according to the chronological order in which their seasons ended. Thursday's visit was with Johns Hopkins. Friday's visit is with UMBC. REVIEW The good: The Retrievers (7-8 overall and 3-2 in the America East) qualified for the conference tournament for the 10th time in the 10 years the program has been a member of the league, but unlike the previous three seasons, the team advanced beyond the tournament semifinal round with a 15-13 comeback win against Hartford on May 2. UMBC fell to then-No.

Traffic is slow through downtown Baltimore as University of Maryland, Baltimore County holds graduation ceremonies at the 1st Mariner Arena . At mid-day, there was congestion on inbound Interstate 95, Interstate 395 and Russell Street, said Adrienne Barnes, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Transportation. "We're asking motorists to avoid the area, to use alternate routes if you don't have to travel in that stretch of downtown," she said. Barnes did not have information about how long the delays might persist.

A University of Maryland, Baltimore County student was stabbed early Saturday in a residence hall on campus, police said. About 6 a.m., two men who knew each other started fighting inside Erickson Hall, said Maj. Paul Dillon of the university's police department. The student was stabbed in the arm during the fight, Dillon said. The injury is not life-threatening, he said. Cody Kradz, 22, was arrested off campus and charged with first- and second-degree assault in the stabbing, Dillon said.

Soccer Wake's Harris, Gamble among new Bohemians Two players from Wake Forest, goalkeeper Andrew Harris (Gilman) and forward Michael Gamble (McDonogh), have joined the Baltimore Bohemians of the United Soccer Leagues' Premier Development League. Other new players include midfielders Julio Arjona (George Mason), Malcolm Harris (McDonogh, Denver), Austin Martz (Georgetown), Sam Tana (St. Paul's, Susquehanna) and Geaton Caltabiano (Mount St. Joseph, UMBC)

When Dr. Charles Brown first looked into taking the athletic director job at UMBC in 1989, the Brooklyn, N.Y., native wasn't real savvy about the school. "I thought it was a military base when I showed up," he said with a chuckle. "It said UMBC. I didn't know what it was. I lived near USMA, the U.S. Military Academy [at West Point] when I lived in New York. " Now, after 24 years at the school, he's retiring as the longest-tenured Division I athletic director in Maryland history and the driving force behind UMBC's greatly enhanced profile in both intercollegiate and club sports.

Traffic is slow through downtown Baltimore as University of Maryland, Baltimore County holds graduation ceremonies at the 1st Mariner Arena . At mid-day, there was congestion on inbound Interstate 95, Interstate 395 and Russell Street, said Adrienne Barnes, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Transportation. "We're asking motorists to avoid the area, to use alternate routes if you don't have to travel in that stretch of downtown," she said. Barnes did not have information about how long the delays might persist.

Top-seeded Albany used a 9-1 run in the second and third quarters to defeat UMBC, 19-10, in the America East Conference men's lacrosse championship game at Stony Brook. UMBC, which entered the game 4-1 in its previous five contests, finished the season 7-8. Joe Lustgarten, Scott Jones and faceoff specialist Phil Poe were named to the All-Tournament team. Jones led the Retrievers with four goals against Albany.   There were four ties and four lead changes in the first half until Albany closed the second quarter on a 5-0 run. UMBC trailed 3-2 after one quarter and 4-2 just 34 seconds into the second, but went on a 3-0 run to take a 5-4 lead with 9:18 to play in the quarter.

After opening the season with just one win in its first five games, UMBC is now one victory away from making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2009. All the the team has to do is knock off No. 10 Albany in Saturday morning's America East tournament final at Stony Brook in Stony Brook, N.Y. Retrievers coach Don Zimmerman said getting to this stage of the year is an objective every program discusses, which makes Saturday's contest that much more exhilarating. “You work hard all year - not just all season - with fall ball, weights, conditioning, and it boils down to this game,” he said Friday.