Towson University’s Outreach Blog

Jimmy Bayne

What’s your favorite place to grab a quick lunch?

My favorite place to grab a quick lunch is Qdoba!  I always order the Fajita Ranchero Naked Burrito which is by far the most amazing thing on the menu.  In 30 minutes, I have ordered, been seated, and have eaten.

What’s been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on at Towson?

The most rewarding project that I have worked on has been the server virtualization project.  In essence, we have used virtualization technology to streamline the data center, consolidate outdated physical servers and minimize our carbon footprint.

Where did you go to college and what was your major?

I graduated from Towson University in 2007 with a degree in Computer Information Systems.  Currently, I am perusing a Master’s Degree in Applied Information Technology with a concentration in Information Security from the same institution.  Who Knows…I may even go back to Towson for my doctoral degree in the future!

What are 3 objects in your office you can’t live without?

My laptop computer, Swingline stapler, and Slingshot frog. All of these things are necessary to have and are important to have in my line of work.  Well, maybe everything is necessary but the frog, but it is still fun to have around!

What’s the best part about living in the Baltimore region?

The best part about living in the Baltimore region is actually living in the city itself.  The water, restaurants, and the nightlife make the city an enjoyable place to live.  Most of my family and friends live close, work is a short drive up 83, and access to other parts of Maryland are within a short driving distance.

Marcia Bennett

What’s your favorite place to grab a quick lunch?
When I want to grab a quick lunch that’s good and inexpensive, I either go to the Towson Administration building cafeteria or Subway.

What do you like most about your job?
My job allows me to create programs which work to accelerate the growth of promising small businesses so they can achieve the next level of advancement.  It is a very rewarding experience to teach a strategic marketing course, design business development programs and match mentors with CEOS-in-training to assist with a scalable growth process.

What’s been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on at Towson?
Prior to the CEO Accelerator program, the most rewarding project I worked on was the Women’s Business Forum.  I am also working on a Maryland statewide survey of small businesses which should yield some interesting feedback on how the MD SBDC can re-engineer its training and counseling program to more adequately meet the needs of small businesses while we are coming out of the recession.

What are 3 objects in your office you can’t live without?
Three objects I can’t live without at work are my laptop, cell phone and a yellow highlighter.

What’s the best part about living in the Baltimore region?
Living in Baltimore has a lot of advantages.  We are just three hours from the ocean, a bus ride away New York City, DC and Philly.  Plus, there are just a lot of great things to do in Baltimore.  It has some great sports teams with die-hard fans, wonderful restaurants and a variety of neighborhoods, each which bring something very special to our town.

Dawn Bott

What do you like most about your job?
The people, we get our work done, we do a good job but we laugh and joke along the way.

What’s been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on at Towson?
Hard to say I’ve been here so long, recently it would have to be the Maryland Correctional Enterprises website. But I am also really proud of the manuals we wrote for the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration’s Investigative and Security Services division.

Where did you go to college and what was your major?
Towson State University and I was an English major.

What are 3 objects in your office you can’t live without?
Besides my laptop, it would be the pictures of and from my boys, Ryder and Kelton and a self portrait my niece Evyn did at art camp when she was 5.  She gave it to me for my birthday specifically to hang in my office.

What’s the best concert you’ve attended?
U2 at FedEx Field.  I got to go with my  husband and both of my sons.  It was my youngest first concert and he danced the entire time.  Sharing my favorite band with them was truly great!

Clay Hickson

Where are you from?
I grew up on a ranch in southeast Texas.

What do you like most about your job?
Working with different entrepreneurial ventures from a variety of industries always keeps me learning and gives me a sense of helping build something new and useful.

Where did you go to college and what was your major?
BA, George Washington, University, International Affairs; MA, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, China Studies & International Economics

What do you do for fun outside of work?
I enjoy hiking and walking and having a meal outside at a sidewalk café with friends.

What’s the best part about living in the Baltimore region?
One of the great things about the DC-Baltimore region is that there is such a variety of people and cultures to interact with.

Raquel Huezo

Where are you from?
I was born in El Salvador but grew up in South Florida.  The only thing I miss about Florida is the beach.

What’s your favorite place to grab a quick lunch?
Chick-Fil-A –  it’s my one fast food weakness

What’s been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on at Towson?
I really enjoyed working on the feasibility study for the Maryland Universal Pre-K  program – I think it’s a great idea.

Where did you go to college and what was your major?
Florida State for undergrad and Georgia State for grad school.  Economics was my major at both.

What’s the best part about living in the Baltimore region?
I love living in the City.  There is never a dull moment.

Steven Fabijanski

Where are you from?
From Maryland originally, now a Pennsylvania resident, living in York County. I was born in Salisbury, Maryland; grew up in Western Maryland near the small town of Clear Spring; and spent my college years and many of my post grad years living in Baltimore.  While no longer a Maryland resident, I still enjoy living in the greater Baltimore region.

What’s your favorite place to grab a quick lunch?
Belvedere Square Market. Atwater’s has great soups and sandwiches. Most ingredients are either locally grown, organic, or both. Planet Produce also provides a quick fix for fresh fruit. So maybe its not the quickest lunch, but easily the best..

What are some of your favorite web sites or blogs?

Dave Bouman’s blog. Dave covers most of what I’m interested in, including programming and ESRI’s ArcGIS Server.

A Very Spatial Podcast, The latest on geography and GIS.

The Linux Outlaws, news and information on the Linux operating system.

The Computer Action Show, formerly the Linux Action Show. Focuses on the latest in computing technology, still heavily focused on the the best operating system—Linux.

Where did you go to college and what was your major?
I attended Loyola College (now a university ) and received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. I then went on to graduate school at Syracuse University and received a Masters in Magazine Journalism. I’m now three credits away from a Masters in Geography and Environmental Planning at Towson University. A clear path to computer programming.

What do you do for fun outside of work?
I am a big fan of traveling and hiking. I particularly enjoy traveling to the Western United States, and have visited quite a few National Parks, including Yellowstone, Yosemite, The Grand Tetons, Rocky Mountain, Olympic, Denali, and Kenai Fjords. Since my wife and I purchased a home in York County two years ago I’ve gotten into native plant gardening. I’ve slowly been converting parts of our lawn into prairie-like and forest edge-like wildlife habitat. I have a lot of trouble leaving for work on time because I’m watching birds or counting Monarch butterfly caterpillars in my garden.

Sharyn Kuczka

What’s your favorite place to grab a quick lunch?
Uncle Wiggly’s. They’re better known for their ice cream, but they have a unique selection of sandwiches too!

What do you like most about your job?
Every day is different when you are a graphic designer and working with every group within our division gives me a chance to meet so many people and help them achieve their individual group’s goal.

What are 3 objects in your office you can’t live without?
My outlook calendar to organize my life, post it notes for the endless number of lists and reminders I make for myself, and silly putty for a little old fashioned fun.

What’s the best concert you’ve attended?
Coldplay at Nissan Pavilion in May 2009. I was in the pit about 10 people back from the stage. There was so much energy and the performance was amazing. I loved every minute of it!

What do you do for fun outside of work?
I enjoy running around Patterson Park, keeping up with Netflix, trying new recipes, and walking my dog Bailey.

Lindsey Meyer

What are some of your favorite web sites or blogs?
Outside of TU in the Community, my favorite website has to be Google because it’s a great resource which I utilize constantly. During football season, you can catch me going to the Baltimore Ravens website quite frequently to check on game updates. I also frequent Cute Overload since I love animals and the pictures on there always make me smile.

What do you like most about your job?
I love the fact that as a Graduate Assistant my schedule is flexible enough to work around my classes. My other favorite benefits include being invited to faculty & staff events across campus and attending training workshops I’m interested in. Having a Faculty and Staff parking pass is a very nice perk too!

Where did you go to college and what was your major?
I graduated from York College of Pennsylvania in 2006 with a B.A. in Public Relations and Minor in Speech Communications. Currently I am a Graduate Student at Towson University working on my M.A. in Professional Studies with concentrations in Human Resources and Communications.

What are 3 objects in your office you can’t live without?
I Love Lucy regalia (I’m a huge fan), paper clips, a calendar

What’s the best concert you’ve attended?
Bon Jovi. They had a great stage presence and of course their music was quite enjoyable as well!

Jeremy Monn

Where are you from?
I could say that I grew up in South Middleton Township, Pennsylvania… but since townships don’t exist in Maryland I’ll just say that I grew up just outside Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

What’s your favorite place to grab a quick lunch?
If I have enough time, I’ll place an order at Sushi Hana in Towson. I have a weakness for their Crunchy Tuna Roll, Mojo Roll, and Royal Crab Roll.

What’s been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on at Towson?
The most rewarding projects I’ve been a part of involved students who assisted in the project’s completion by applying GIS techniques learned in the classroom or GIS techniques learned specifically for the project’s completion.

Where did you go to college and what was your major?
I graduated from Shippensburg University in 2003 with a B.S. in GeoEnvironmental Studies and graduated from Towson University in 2005 with a M.A. in Geography and Environmental Planning. Before my college years began, I attended Boiling Springs High School in Pennsylvania. Why is that interesting? Well, Boiling Springs High School’s mascot is a bubble, so all students there are referred to as Bubblers. I’m not kidding.

What do you do for fun outside of work?
I enjoy reading and writing at a local bookstore, jogging around campus, playing racquetball or tennis with friends, and checking out new restaurants that open up in the area.

Bobbie O’Connell

Where are you from?
Eastern Shore of Maryland although these days Lauraville is where I call home.

What do you like most about your job?
Interacting with our partners to find new ways we can work together and advising student employees!

What’s been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on at Towson?
Chairing the taskforce that developed the TU in the Community website. This is an interactive website for both our partners and community members as well as our own faculty and staff to learn what cool projects are going on that impact our region!

Where did you go to college and what was your major?
TU and I majored in finance. I also have completed graduate work at San Diego State University!

What’s the best part about living in the Baltimore region?
City life! Some of my favorite things are Little Italy Friday movies, Sunday Farmers Markets, Artscape, and all the amazing restaurants you can walk to!

Allie Pyzik

Where are you from?
Baltimore MD

What’s your favorite place to grab a quick lunch?
My favorite place to grab a quick lunch is Atwater’s in Belvedere Square, only a few miles from campus. The soups, salads, and sandwiches are all so delicious, homemade, and organic. The homemade soups and warm breads in the winter or on a rainy afternoon are the best.

What do you like most about your job?
I love working on a college campus and being part of a university community. It is a fun and exciting atmosphere to be a part of.

Where did you go to college and what was your major?
I graduated from Clemson University in 2003 with a bachelor in science degree in Marketing.

What do you do for fun outside of work?
I have a 6 month old baby boy and he is our lives outside of work! He is so much fun. He’s so smiley and cheerful and learning something new and growing every day. He’s very active.  Other than spending time with him, I love to get together with friends, family or neighbors and go out to dinner and try new restaurants. I also love wine bars! We also enjoy staying active and play golf when the weather allows us.

Thomas Rumeau

Where are you from?
I am from a small town in France called Carros, which is near Nice.

What are some of your favorite web sites or blogs?
My favorite web sites are the Washington Post, Economist, Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun, Fox Soccer Channel and Le Monde.

Where did you go to college and what was your major?
I attended the University of Maryland College Park for my Bachelor’s in Economics and my Master of Public Policy.

What do you do for fun outside of work?
There are many things I love to do. Since I am a recent dad, I love to spend time with my daughter, Camille, and my wife, Nicole. We like to walk in the different parks and visit the Baltimore-Washington area. I also love food, so whenever I can I love to try new restaurants. Finally, soccer is my favorite sport, so I play indoor and outdoor games twice a week. Keep me in shape and let me meet new friends while enjoying the game.

What’s the best part about living in the Baltimore region?
The Baltimore region has so many great aspects. It is close to two great cities, Baltimore and Washington, which offer different types of restaurants, museums and other entertaining venues. I also love that the region includes beautiful places such as the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River. Whenever my family comes from France, I bring them to these nice locations. Other nice features of the region are the diversity of its people and the fact that the region is not as overcrowded as New York City.

Susan Scher

Where are you from?
Pocomoke, MD (a small town on the Eastern Shore)

What’s your favorite place to grab a quick lunch?
Arby’s! I wish there were more of them on this side of the Bay Bridge.

What’s been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on at Towson?
Helping create and maintain TowsonGlobal’s website, Towson University’s first international incubator

What do you do for fun outside of work?
Sports! They call me the RESI jock because I’m always playing something (softball in the summer, broomball in the winter, and football in the spring and fall).

What’s the best part about living in the Baltimore region?
Football! It’s great having the Ravens in town.

Lisa Walker

Where are you from?
I was born in New York City and have lived in Towson since the age of 4.

What do you like most about your job?
As a business analyst I get to work on a variety of projects that are a whole lot more interesting than the job title implies.  And the people I work with are great  – we laugh a lot and really enjoy working together!

Where did you go to college and what was your major?
I graduated from Towson with a B.A. in Psychology.

What are 3 objects in your office you can’t live without?
My laptop, pictures of my daughters and my tropical décor.

What’s the best part about living in the Baltimore region?
Eating crabs and it’s not too far from the beach, which is where I’d live if I could!