021109

FACING OFF OLD SCHOOL

Junior history major has unique comedic writing past

Check out the men’s and women’s lacrosse team season previews

DIVERSIONS | PAGE 7

SPORTS | PAGE 10

THE DIAMONDBACK WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

99TH YEAR | ISSUE NO. 86

Samaritan policy details debated New machines Students propose a range of changes during forum yesterday

BY MARISSA LANG Senior staff writer

Students want a Good Samaritan policy, but what the policy should involve is subject to debate.

About 25 students, administrators and campus safety officials met in the Stamp Student Union yesterday to discuss a Good Samaritan policy and proposed dozens of modifications, ranging from

eliminating the mandatory phone call home that follows an alcohol violation and opening the amnesty policy to all in attendance at a given party, to increasing the oversight of alcohol policy violators and scrapping the proposal.

The event, organized by the Residence Hall Association, was intended to attract students who aren’t typically included in conversations about campus issues and policies.

Strong student support for a Good Samaritan policy is already known — in an Student Government Association referendum last spring, 94 percent of voters supported one — but with the policy still taking shape and student leaders trying to craft a proposal by the end of the school year, more input from students is needed to answer key questions: Should the policy

Please See SAMARITAN, Page 3

cause parking meter fee hike Multi-space meters accept several forms of payment $200,000, said DOTS Director David Allen. The price of parking at meters will increase to The Department of Trans- cover the expense, as well as other financial holes in portation Services the DOTS budget, he will likely raise parkadded. ing meter fees to Meters in open parkcover the cost of teching lots will cost $2 an nologically advanced hour and garages will meters that notify cost $3 an hour, a $1 drivers via text mesincrease from their sage when time is respective amounts. running low and Allen said the meters allow them to add should pay for themmoney over the DAVID ALLEN selves in the first year phone. because of the higher The meters, which DOTS DIRECTOR parking costs and savwill serve multiple parking spaces, will be ings from not needing to installed this summer and cost the department more than Please See FEE, Page 3

BY NELLY DESMARATTES Staff writer

Looks

and lust

Health seminar connects sexual habits to body image

BY DANA CETRONE For The Diamondback

Andrew Moore sat fidgeting in his seat before the presentation began.

When asked what he hoped to get out of the workshop, the senior environmental science and policy major’s answer was simple: education.

At the workshop “Love the Skin You’re In: A Conversation About Sex and Body Image,” Alli Matson, the coordinator of sexual health programs at the University Health Center, and Tracy Zeeger, coordinator of the Center for Health and Wellbeing, presented

Please See IMAGE, Page 2 The Graduate Student Government sharply opposed a proposal for mandatory health insurance Friday. MATTHEW CREGER/THE DIAMONDBACK ABOVE: Students drew pictures of themselves with their negative qualities and then changed themselves to view them in a positive light.

LEFT: Alli Matson, coordinator of the sexual health education program and Tracy Zeeger, coordinator of the Center for Health and Wellbeing, talk to students about how to improve their self-body image.

GSG: Forced health insurance too costly

PHOTOS BY VINCE SALAMONE/THE DIAMONDBACK

Greenhouse legislation gains supporters Exemption for manufacturers sways many former opponents since last session

BY ALLISON STICE Senior staff writer

Scores of witnesses, including former opponents, spoke out in favor of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act yesterday, leading sponsor Sen. Paul Pinsky (D-Prince George’s) to describe the bill’s first hearing as a “love-in.”

The legislation, which failed late in the session last year due in part to opposi-

TOMORROW’S WEATHER:

tion from manufacturing and labor interests, would mandate that by 2020, the state must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent from its 2006 levels. Sponsors have since brought many former opponents on board largely through an exemption for manufacturers, although representatives from gas, coal and waste management industries still oppose the measure.

The act requires the Maryland

Mostly Sunny/50s

INDEX

Department of the Environment to draft a state-wide reduction plan by 2011, then hold workshops and public forums before finalizing the plan by 2012.

The first of two reports due to the General Assembly by 2015 is an independent study of the manufacturing industry, which will not be required to reduce emissions and will not be regulated by

Please See ENVIRONMENT, Page 3

NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 CLASSIFIED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Members say university would need to provide monetary support if adopted

BY JULIA RUSSELL Staff writer

A proposal that would require graduate students to purchase health insurance was met with fierce opposition on Friday from GSG members who said the university would need to provide financial support.

The plan is modeled after one passed by the University Senate last year that required undergraduates to have health insurance. The policy required students to either prove they have

DIVERSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . .7 SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

health insurance or purchase a university policy.

“Mandatory health insurance is a bad idea for graduate students,” said Roberto Munster, the Graduate Student Government’s director of operations. “There is no financial support for us.”

Munster, who chaired the committee that approved the plan for mandatory health insurance for undergraduates, said the same plan cannot be

Please See HEALTH, Page 2

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WE WANT YOU Story ideas? News tips?

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NEWSMAKERS BRIEFS Pot lobby to boycott Kellogg Co. over Phelps NEW YORK – Snap, crackle ... pot?

Bursting with indignation, legions of marijuana advocates are urging a boycott of Kellogg Co., including all of its popular munchies, for deciding to cut ties with Olympic champion Michael Phelps after he was photographed with a pot pipe.

The leader of one of the biggest legalize-pot organizations, the Marijuana Policy Project, called Kellogg action “hypocritical and disgusting,” and said he’d never seen his membership so angry, with more than 2,300 of them signing an online petition.

“Kellogg’s had no problem signing up Phelps when he had a conviction for drunk driving, an illegal act that could actually have killed someone,” said Rob Kampia, the group’s executive director. “To drop him for choosing to relax with a substance that’s safer than beer is an outrage, and it sends a dangerous message to young people.”

Also urging a boycott were the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Drug Policy Alliance.

They encouraged their members to contact Kellogg’s to vent their views.

The groups calling for the boycott were angry at Kellogg, but also eager to use the opportunity to restate long-standing calls for decriminalization of marijuana.

“It’s not just that Michael Phelps did what millions of other 20-somethings do,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “It’s that he did what over 100 million Americans have done at least once in their lives, including the president, former presidents, members of the U.S. Congress and Supreme Court.”

Of Phelps’ numerous big-name sponsors, Kellogg was the only one to publicly cut ties after the pot photo emerged.

While it received some support, the giant food company has also been singled out for mockery by a host of comedians, bloggers and others.

On the Huffington Post, blogger Lee Stranahan pursued that theme in a proposed petition to the company that said in part, “We believe that most people over the age of 12 would not eat Kellogg’s products were they not wicked high.”

Stranahan’s petition concluded with this call-toarms: “Given all these facts and the total disregard for your customer base ... we the undersigned plan to BOYCOTT your products.

And we’re serious. Even though the Pop Tarts thing will be HARD.”

@M

ARYLAND

OVERHEARD

Grad. leaders dislike policy HEALTH. from Page 1 applied to graduate students because their situations are much more diverse than those of undergraduates.

“Undergrads are more homogeneous, but grads are very different from each other, and they are a much harder group to work with,” he said.

Anupama Kothari, the president of the GSG, said the mandatory health insurance policy is not going to be endorsed by graduate students. She said in addition to the fact that many graduate students cannot afford health insurance, many also have spouses and children to take care of, who aren’t covered in the university’s plan.

“If [the university] wants to make [health insurance] mandatory, then [they] better find a way to pay for it,” she said.

The proposal was presented to the GSG on Friday by Robert Schwab, associate dean of BSOS and chair of the Graduate Council’s student affairs committee.

Schwab said he understands why graduate students are worried about the cost of insurance.

“I would hope everyone would have access to affordable health insurance,” he said. “But graduate students don’t have a lot of money, and some might choose to spend their money in other ways [than buying health insurance.]”

“It’s better to think of [the mandatory health insurance] as an idea rather than a proposal,” he added.

Schwab and two of his colleagues sat in on the GSG’s meeting Friday to hear the students’ concerns involving the plan for mandatory health insurance.

“We weren’t trying to sell [the proposal] to graduate students; we were just trying to hear what they thought about it,” he said.

But the GSG assembly did not seem too receptive to the concept.

“I don’t think I heard a single comment saying, ‘Hey, I think this is a good idea,’” Munster said.

Schwab said the committee will report their findings to the dean of the graduate school.

Munster said drastic changes will have to be made in order for it to receive the approval of graduate students. “[The administration] will have to drop [the proposal] completely or find financial support,” he said. russelldbk@gmail.com

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MOVIE NIGHT: CRASH

Popular columnist Dan Savage offers a witty discussion of sexuality; free to all, 6:30-9:30 p.m., Stamp Student Union: Grand Ballroom

Co-sponsored by Letters and Sciences and followed by a discussion of the movie, 6-8:30 p.m., Skinner: 0200

Q+A

BEST of the BLOGS

SCENE + HEARD

Positive body images lead to safer sex IMAGE, from Page 1 new statistics about the media’s impact on men’s and women’s body images and linked body image to sexuality.

Although less than 10 students attended the event, those who did said the discussion was an interesting one about the relationship between media and body image, both for men and women.

Women who have low self esteem may use sex as a confirmation of themselves and their bodies, while they may also refuse sex because of the intimacy involved, Matson said.

“You can’t enjoy sex when you’re focusing on how you look,” she added.

Women who have a more positive body image are less likely to engage in risky sexual acts, such as unprotected sex, while men with positive body images show opposite tendencies, Matson and Zeeger said. The information piqued the interest of students who attended the discussion, they said.

“I was curious about the correlation between sex and body image, and those little things like the quality of sex if you have a better body image,” senior biology major Sukhpreet Gadh said.

Sophomore communication major Julie Carp agreed.

“I wanted to know how confidence affects your sex life,” she said.

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While the quality of the sex may still be debatable, women who have a higher self esteem are more protective of their bodies and their sexual health. During sex, these same women concentrate on love-making rather than love handles, Matson and Zeeger said.

But the discussion wasn’t just about women. The male students who attended the workshop pointed out that they didn’t concentrate on their partner’s “problem areas” during sex. Men also had insecurities about their bodies, such as their muscularity and weight, they said, and Zeeger mentioned that men’s eating disorders “are becoming more and more popular.”

During the workshop, students drew pictures of themselves emphasizing the aspects of their bodies that they didn’t like. At the end, they were asked to go back and turn that negative aspect into something positive.

In Moore’s first pass at his drawing, he said he didn’t like his midsection. Toward the end of the workshop he changed it, acknowledging that he was able to eat well.

The workshop pointed out how fewer than 5 percent of females are the same size as the models they see in advertisements, and that more than 60 percent of women are a size 12 or larger.

And at the same time, more and more girls in elementary

Alli Matson, coordinator of sexual health education programs at the University Health Center, speaks to students last night at a discussion about body image. VINCE SALAMONE/THE DIAMONDBACK

school are trying diets, worrying about their weight and engaging in “fat talk,” trashing their bodies because of what they see in the media, Matson and Zeeger said.

The statistics on the correlation between media and self image, especially regarding women, came as a shock to some students.

Courtney Cochrane, a senior government and politics major, said it is surprising how the emphasis on body image is “continuing to change and trickle down into younger generations.”

To help students deal with negative body images, Matson and

Zeeger challenged students to go home and stand in front of a mirror and find positive attributes about themselves. They handed out stickers that read “I’m beautiful” for students to wear when standing in front of the mirror.

“I came because I really wanted to learn some new information I might not hear otherwise,” Cochrane said. “It’s more interactive than a magazine.”

This is the first time Zeeger and Matson have done a coordinated project, and they said they would easily do it again. newsdesk@gmail.com

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009 | NEWS | THE DIAMONDBACK

3

Samaritan policy confuses students SAMARITAN, from Page 1

Members of the Prince George's County Police Department line up to receive proclamations from the city of College Park at the city council meeting Tuesday night. JAMES B. HALE/THE DIAMONDBACK

Police honored for quick work Speedy arrest in Christmas Eve attack draws citizens’ praise

BY NICK RHODES Staff writer

County police were recognized last night by the College Park City Council for their diligent and quick work in making an arrest in a highly publicized attempted murder outside of Holy Redeemer Catholic Church on Christmas Eve. Thirty officers from the Prince George’s County Police Department were honored with a series of proclamations from the city citing the appreciation of citizens due to the severity and sensitivity of this particular case. Not all were in attendance.

“We handled this case with an absolute sense of urgency,” District 1 Commander Maj. Kevin Davis said.

On Dec. 24, 69-year-old

Greenbelt resident Wayne Williams was beaten in the head and face with a blunt object after dropping his wife off for Christmas Eve service at Holy Redeemer Church on Berwyn Road. Williams was left unconscious in the parking lot while the man left the scene with his wallet.

Police arrested 28-year old Shanon Washington on New Year’s Day and he was charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault and robbery.

Williams was hospitalized for several weeks before being released at the end of January.

Davis said the victim’s age and the fact he was dropping his wife off for Midnight Mass made the case an emotional one. Those factors, combined with the severity of the beat-

ing, created the perfect storm for the public to expect a quick arrest.

College Park Mayor Stephen Brayman stood with Davis and Maj. Daniel Dusseau, the head of the criminal investigations division, during the ceremony and lauded the work of the police during the Christmas season, when most people are with their families.

“You all have a tough job,” Brayman said. “We feel like we’re in good hands.”

Lead investigator Det. Mark Rimkus credited the Crime Solvers tipline with helping the police get Washington’s name. Lisa Holt, a member of the board of directors for Crime Solvers and former College Park business owner, was recognized by police for the

tip organization’s role. She said the organization was proud to be involved in solving the case because of its heinous nature and proximity to her home.

But despite their good work, the police in attendance couldn’t even get a true night off. Before the presentation, a concerned Ratsie’s employee asked the council for more police presence near the popular restaurant during late nights on the weekends.

“You picked a good night to bring that up,” Brayman said jokingly while pointing to the numerous police officers in the crowd. He asked them later if they had been taking notes, which garnered some chuckles from the audience. rhodesdbk@gmail.com

Higher meter fees will help fill in DOTS’ budget FEE, from Page 1 employ tellers or manually collect coins from each meter.

Dan Leydorf, the Residence Hall Association Student Group and Organization Liaison, serves on the executive board that will ultimately vote to approve the parking meter fee increase. Leydorf said he does not expect the higher costs to deter students or visitors from parking at the meters.

“I don’t think that the increase in visitor parking fees and parking meter fees will negatively impact students, and I think that these increases are in some ways necessary,” Leydorf said.

“What we are seeing now is a

roll back on the number of parking spaces on campus that are usable, so by increasing the fees they are just reacting to the decrease in the number of available parking spaces.”

Several construction projects currently in progress, including Knight Hall and South Campus Commons 7, have reduced the number of available parking spaces on the campus.

Despite the plans to buy new parking meters, add a new bus route to New Carrollton and eventually buy more hybrid buses, Allen does not plan to ask for an increase in student fees for the 2009-2010 academic year.

According to preliminary estimates, the new parking meters will save the university more than $280,000 per year, Allen said, adding that there could be even more savings from not having to manually collect money from the meters, which accept credit and debit cards.

Allen said the department also wants to recoup money lost as a result of the “friendly ticket” policy, which automatically grants drivers a pardon for their first parking ticket on the campus. He estimates the policy costs the department about $350,000 per year.

“I think now is the time to move in this direction, and to save at least $280,000,” Allen

said. “It could even be $100,000 more than estimated because I believe that we will save a lot of money on the collection of meters, because [the current meters] have to be collected manually and have only a certain amount of money they can hold.”

Allen said he expects an upsurge in usage because people would be able to pay for the meters in cash, credit, debit or coins. Drivers can also create an account that will alert them by text message when their meter is running out and allow them to pay over the phone from another part of the campus. desmarattesdbk@gmail.com

cover only alcohol, or illegal drugs, as well? Should it only apply to the sick person, or also to the person who calls 911? Should there be limits to disciplinary amnesty?

“Alcohol policy is an issue that is prevalent throughout campus,” RHA President Alex Beuchler said. “And it’s an issue that needs to be discussed. It’s great to have open discussions like this, because you get to hear the thoughts of people who aren’t necessarily the same ones sitting at all these committees — we even had a few freshmen here tonight.”

Many students expressed confusion about the proposed policy, unsure of who would benefit from the alleged “get out of jail free card” that a Good Samaritan policy would provide.

But officials explained that the proposed version of the policy would extend amnesty both to students in need of medical care due to drug overdose or inebriation and those who call for help.

“If we had a policy, basically the concept is that it would wave disciplinary action by the university,” Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Warren Kelley explained. “This is completely within [the university’s] power to enact.”

While many participants were in vocal support of enacting such a policy, some students expressed concern about the potential for such a policy to be abused.

“We have this huge disincentive for students to drink that would effectively be removed by giving everyone amnesty,” junior government and politics major and RHA Student Groups Liaison Dan Leydorf said. “It becomes a deeper issue: If the university does not take its alcohol policies too seriously, no one will. We need a culture that says we take alcohol abuse seriously.”

But supporters said the idea that students would abuse a policy designed to accommodate those in need of hospitalization is absurd.

“I find it kind of difficult to imagine students abusing this policy,” senior communication major and student activist Stacia Cosner said. “If students call 911, they know an ambulance will be coming. They know a police car will be coming. No one wants to spend a night in the hospital getting their stomach pumped for fun, so no one is going to call 911 just to avoid getting written up by their RA.”

Residence Hall Association President Alex Beuchler starts off the first of three amnesty talks. VINCE SALAMONE/ THE DIAMONDBACK

Students also asked whether the policy would be extended to include illegal drugs as well as alcohol, but as of yet, no official draft has been presented.

But officials said drugs are a considerably less-reported issue, making it even more difficult to gauge the need to extend the policy to also cover drug overdoses.

“Having read over 1,000 [police] reports, I cannot remember a single instance, save one, where a student was transported for an accidental drug overdose,” University Police Spokesman Paul Dillon said. “It’s very rare on this campus.”

Two students serving on the working group charged with studying and developing the policy attended the forum — SGA Senior Vice President Joanna Calabrese and Undergraduate Student Senator Kevin Tervala — and said as a part of their research, they intended to hold similar focusgroup style events to get feedback from average students whose voices aren’t always heard.

Ultimately, Tervala noted that — as evidenced by many of the comments at the open forum — students are uninformed and scared, and something needs to be done to amend that.

“People are afraid,” he said.

“And according to university policy, drug or alcohol abuse can get you suspended or expelled from the university. That’s what students are afraid of.” langdbk@gmail.com

Global warming bill would be among the first from states ENVIRONMENT, from Page 1

Graduate school applications up only slightly, contrary to economy-related predictions University anticipated more interest in graduate programs as recent graduates try to wait out slow job market, but only a hundred more have applied so far

BY TIRZA AUSTIN Staff writer

Although enrollment in graduate programs typically increases during economic recessions, the university’s data for 2009 is a mixed bag and is leaving administrators unsure of where enrollment numbers will end up.

So far, only about 100 more students than last year have applied to the graduate school, a minuscule increase considering there are more than 18,000 applications. But how economic trends will continue to affect application numbers, if at all, are a challenge to predict, as the university’s graduate programs have various application deadlines, some of which are as late as May, administrators said. “[The recession] is unlike anything that’s happened in

our lifetime,” said Cynthia Hale, an assistant dean of the graduate school. “We don’t know what will happen.”

Beyond application numbers, enrollment for the fall is also uncertain. Officials are aware of past trends and William McLean, an associate vice president for academic affairs, said the university is concerned about a “spike” in graduate enrollment. But McLean also warned it may be too early to know the economy’s ultimate impact.

The public policy school, for example, has seen a 38 percent increase in applications.

Officials at the school, which only offers graduate degrees, are unsure of whether the spike is due to the economy or what they’re calling the “Obama effect.”

“A lot of people want to be in Washington right now,” said

Steve Fetter, the dean of the public policy school.

“During past recessions, there is generally an increase in graduate programs,” he added. “One option is to stay in school longer to compete better in the job market.”

In contrast, applications are down slightly in the business school, according to Robert Krapfel, the associate dean for MBA programs.

“We were already seeing a very large trend up,” Krapfel said. “It may be reasonable that you would not see another big jump on top of that.”

And members of the work force who may normally leave their jobs to enter the MBA program are choosing to stay in their jobs instead, Krapfel said, fearing they would be unsuccessful when they earn their degrees and must try to find a job once again.

“People who have jobs want to stay in those jobs,” he added.

Although applications are only up slightly overall, winter term enrollment in graduate programs was up 24 percent this year, according to Hilary Sazama, the manager of the university’s extended studies programs.

The other variable in the enrollment puzzle is the affordability for graduate students as the economy continues to weaken and loans become harder to find, said Johnetta Davis, an associate dean in the graduate school.

“When it comes to enrollment, we’re not sure what is going to happen,” Taryn Faulkner, the assistant director of admissions for the public policy school, said. taustindbk@gmail.com

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university researchers who served on the governor’s Clithe state. The federal govern- mate Change Commission, ment or a regional initiative testified on behalf of the comcould oversee the industry’s mission’s Climate Action Plan, whose 42 recommendaemissions in the future.

The Department of the tions helped formulate the Environment would file a sec- bill.

“If indeed we don’t do anyond report on whether the reductions were on schedule thing ... and begin this action and if jobs had been created in 2050, again, it is too late,” said Boesch, the director of and protected.

Opponents claimed climate the university’s Center for Environmental change is not a scienResearch. tific fact, and regulaRuth has contion would harm their ducted a study that industries and taxpaysaid delayed ers’ wallets by increasaction on climate ing energy costs. Supchange would cost porters urged quick the state billions of action, stressing the dollars, although state’s unique vulnerathe bottom line bility to global warmwould be unclear. ing effects, such as risThe bill has siging sea levels. nificant student “Maryland may be a support on the small piece of the campus.

Clean global solution, but Energy for UMD we’ll be a major recipiand the univerent of the problem,” sity’s chapter of the Pinsky told the state Maryland Public Senate Education, Research Interest Health and Environmental Affairs Com- PAUL PINSKY Research Group STATE SENATOR, BILL are working mittee.

SPONSOR together to lobby Secretary of the state legislators Environment Shari Wilson said although the bill throughout the session, includpreempts federal legislation ing an action to collect Valenat the moment, the framework tine’s Day cards that support would allow for flexibility the measure tomorrow.

Yet the legislation is not should the federal government pass stricter regula- likely to bring any significant tions. The legislation would changes to the campus, also position Maryland in the according to university Presitop tier of progressive states dent Dan Mote, who signed a to moving when it comes to environmen- commitment tal reform, making the state toward carbon neutrality in highly competitive for clean May 2007.

“I’m not expecting whatenergy industry investments.

“The scientists have told us ever it says to be more thorrepeatedly that early reduc- ough than we are,” he said. tions are cheaper, easier and “The carbon neutrality track we’re on is pretty aggressive.” more effective,” she said.

Donald Boesch and Matthias Ruth, two of eight sticedbk@gmail.com

“Maryland may be a small piece of the global solution, but we'll be a major recipient of the problem.”

4

THE DIAMONDBACK | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11 2009

THE DIAMONDBACK

Opinion

STEVEN OVERLY

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EDITOR IN CHIEF

ROXANA HADADI MANAGING EDITOR

BEN SLIVNICK

MARDY SHUALY

OPINION EDITOR

OPINION EDITOR

Staff Editorial

Guest Column

A No. 1 priority

Backing Bagasse

I

What happened? Quite simply, the money ran out. In the early ’90s, the t’s one year into the strategic plan, and you probably haven’t noticed. So far, administrators have focused largely on organizing university saw some of the worst budget cuts in its history. Promises to committees and planning, but expect recommendations for real Keep lost its moment, and professors and administrators lost interest.

Budget cuts of such extreme proportions were unprecedented, and are changes soon. On Monday, the University Senate debated new ways to evaluate tenured professors. Major changes to the university’s library unlikely to crop up again soon. But the state’s coffers are drying up, and system are also underway. And after spring break, administrators will donors have lately been more reluctant to give to the university amid an begin talks to overhaul the general education curriculum. They’re all unsure economy. As administrators are now specifying the strategic plan’s broad goals, it will be important for them to changes that we still believe have the potential to propel draw detailed plans — and back-up plans, as well. The the university to national prominence. But as we begin strategic plan is a broad document, and if the money debating them, it’s high time to remember we’ve heard does run short, it provides little indication about these promises before.

Administrators need to where its priorities lie. It has four guiding pillars, but Twenty years ago, a group of professors and administrarank their priorities in the they’re all the same height. tors drew up similarly ambitious plans in a document they Ultimately, ranking priorities is about more than dubbed Promises to Keep. It was the strategic plan of its strategic plan. planning — it’s about fairness. The strategic plan was day, with plans for tenure-track professors to teach more freshmen courses and shift away from standardized tests. The plan also intended to be a 10-year document, but its components are only going to called on administrators to issue reports on the state of undergraduate be publicly debated once. While administrators may be able to foster education every other year, and in an all-too-familiar sentiment, it called consensus on idealized dreams now, it’s times of sacrifice that often for the overhaul of general education. Twenty years later, less tenure- beget the university’s toughest choices. And during these times, admintrack professors teach freshmen courses, and the scantron remains the istrators rarely have the time to hold public forums. If administrators bread-and-butter of university classes. The proposed undergraduate edu- aren’t publicly ranking their priorities now, then they’re not truly comcation progress report was only issued once, and general education mitting themselves to public input. We think it’s great the university is aiming high. We just want to know what will happen in case it slips. remains boring and irrelevant for many students.

Our View

Editorial Cartoon: Jenna Brager

Student leadership: Walk soft, carry a big stick

T

he last week of January, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the President Barack Obama-backed stimulus plan with a sweeping majority. But one thing was missing: a single Republican vote.

The bill will probably still pass Congress, but one thing remains clear: Despite a renewed sense of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill, Republicans have flatly rejected the notion that they are even willing to work with the new Democratic administration.

Now let’s apply this example to our campus.

In his Feb. 3 column, “The SGA: Real leadership wanted,” Malcolm Harris argues that as the representatives of more than 25,000 undergraduate students, the Student Government Association needs to be combative. He argues that “university students need a combative SGA that will be willing to fight. ... We don’t need a giant lobbying group to go to Annapolis.”

But why do we need a combative SGA, an SGA that continuously butts heads

JOEL

COHEN with the university administration? Not only does this impede progress, but it also gives students less of a voice on matters important to every student.

University administrators’ interests are inherently linked to the interests of the students. When we succeed (higher GPAs, our men’s soccer team, top 10 academic programs), they succeed. When we fail (the riots, our basketball team, the university’s party-school image), they fail. Harris misses many examples where student groups have worked with the administration to solve problems important to both sides.

Alcohol provides just one example.

Everyone — students, faculty, adminis-

trators — understands that this is a problem. But instead of fighting the administrators, student groups have worked with them to fight the problem, setting up a variety of working groups and discussion forums. Subsequently, university President Dan Mote signed the Amethyst Initiative, and the University Senate is exploring a Good Samaritan policy.

But it doesn’t stop there. While Harris may disagree, I believe that Monday’s lobbying effort in Annapolis — both by the SGA and the university administration — will play a vital role in the university’s success. This joint effort would never have happened without the collaboration between the SGA and the administration.

Sure, there are times when the SGA needs to be combative. Harris offers one example — the fact that the SGA and his student organization “fought” to prevent the administration from eliminating late-night studying hours at McKeldin Library.

But he misses the point. Administra-

tors aren’t in some secret back room, continuously trying to devise ways to screw over the very students who pay their salaries. Administrators are trying to create a university that is attractive to students, so the university can attract more students.

I’m not here to say that the SGA can’t do more — they can always do more to represent students’ interests. But under Harris’ plan, nothing would get done.

It is understandable why the U.S. Congress is in a continuous state of gridlock and why the Republican Party is at odds with the Democratic majority. Because of diverse constituencies and a wide range of competing interests, the two parties rarely agree on many issues.

But this shouldn’t be the case at this university. It is important to remember that sometimes, the louder you are, the more you are ignored.

Joel Cohen is a junior government and politics major. He can be reached at jcohendbk@gmail.com.

Creative development: Small fixes lead to big changes

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have a friend who lives on Knox Road in an apartment that was built for one, but houses three. One of her roommates lives in a converted dining room, and you can tell: Most college bedrooms don’t have balconies. This isn’t news, you’ll say. Piggy landlords have been chopping up houses to pack in students since college was invented. But, when done well, small fixes can provide a comfortable living arrangement for people who don’t need too much space.

In the San Diego college area, a pair of 20-somethings have made quiet fortunes converting single-family homes into what they call “mini-dorms,” complete with common areas and additional parking. The mini-dorms have racked up complaints about noise and traffic, but have proven incredibly popular with their tenants, who find the six-to-10 person residences less isolating than houses but more attractive than the dorms.

Hundreds of these mini-dorms have sprung up in San Diego since 2000, and in 2007, new mini-dorms were required to register with the city.

The success of the San Diego minidorms suggests there might be ways to build student housing without putting up more towers like University View, which, for all their perks, are a huge investment for developers and charge higher rents than many students can afford. It also makes me wonder if the concept of converting old buildings for new uses could be further applied in College Park. Within a 10-minute walk of the campus, you can find vacant stores, abandoned schools and parking lots that could be put to better use. These places won’t see major development any time soon because of the economic downturn, but they could have a future through smaller, less ambitious measures.

An example of how this happens can be found in Long Branch, a neighbor-

DAN

REED hood in eastern Silver Spring, just a few miles west of the campus. Here, Hispanic immigrants have taken the formerly abandoned relics of Long Branch’s days as a quiet bedroom community — old movie theaters, bowling alleys and abandoned lots — and turned them into churches, markets and meeting places.

A group of small business owners essentially redeveloped their community without huge sums of money or even having to knock down a single building, and though Long Branch may not look affluent, it’s a neighborhood that provides goods, services and plenty of

places to hang out within easy walking distance of residences. To me, that sounds like the start of a great college town.

The San Diego mini-dorms and Long Branch prove that committed individuals can improve their communities by working outside the traditional financial and political avenues that most development goes through. As a community, College Park isn’t meeting its residents’ needs, but fortunately we have a population comprised of people who are here largely to make careers for themselves.

With increasingly worse job prospects after graduation, this year’s seniors might want to give up on polishing that resume. They’ve got a lot to do — and quite a few ways to make a living for themselves — right here.

Dan Reed is a senior architecture and English major. He can be reached at reeddbk@gmail.com.

POLICY: The signed letters, columns and cartoon represent only the opinions of the authors. The staff editorial represents the opinion of The Diamondback’s editorial board and is the responsibility of the editor in chief.

JOANNA CALABRESE As an eco-conscious consumer and student advocate for sustainability, I am disappointed by The Diamondback’s negative portrayal of Dining Services’ new Bagasse carryout initiative. A string of articles casting Dining Services as a failure for boldly asking students to go out of their way to compost have focused entirely on the disposal issue and ignored the positive aspects of Dining Services’ shift from plastic foam to Bagasse. We should be celebrating the fact that students are no longer eating their food off of a material made with neurotoxins and carcinogens that is manufactured from petroleum products. We should be celebrating the fact that students are no longer eating from a container that clogs waterways and harms wildlife and, in 95 percent of cases, hangs around in landfills for 1,000 years.

Students still have the convenience of taking food to go and can now feel proud of the fact that their food is chillin’ in a container made from bio-waste, a renewable resource.

I sat on the Dining Services committee that ultimately made the decision after decades of complaints from students to eliminate foam containers, the poster child for environmental irresponsibility at the university. The committee dedicated a tremendous amount of time to weighing the life cycle costs of the containers and their alternatives. In light of no perfect solution (even washing dishes has environmental consequences), we chose Bagasse, and Dining Services chose to be environmentally responsible despite the higher cost of the product. It is a tremendous accomplishment for sustainability that Dining Services was weighing issues such as air emissions, water emissions and toxicity.

Other campus departments should follow their example.

JOANNA Instead of cre- CALABRESE ating the illusion SGA SENIOR VICE that transition- PRESIDENT ing to greener materials is so challenging that not even our university can figure out how to do it, students with influence in the government and media must educate their peers on the merits of living sustainably. If students feel that the Bagasse transition is flawed and ultimately worthless if the containers aren’t composted, as The Diamondback would lead them to believe, then Dining Services might pull the plug on the program because the perceived benefits don’t outweigh the real costs.

That would be a huge setback for the environment, student health, the image of Dining Services and our progress at trying to create a more sustainable campus. Most importantly, this negative media coverage may lead students to generalize sustainability as an uninformed, unrealistic fad, and not see it for what it truly is: an opportunity for our generation to reinvent and recreate this planet, and an opportunity to attain an environmentally sound, socially just and economically prosperous future for all.

“We should be celebrating the fact that students are no longer eating from a container that clogs waterways.”

Joanna Calabrese is the Student Government Association’s senior vice president. She can be reached at jcalabre@umd.edu.

AIR YOUR VIEWS Address your letters or guest columns to the Opinion Desk at opinion.dbk@gmail.com. All letters and guest columns must be signed. Include your full name, year, major and day- and nighttime phone numbers. Please limit letters to 300 words. Please limit guest columns to 600 words.

Submission of a letter or guest column constitutes an exclusive, worldwide, transferable license to The Diamondback of the copyright in the material in any media. The Diamondback retains the right to edit submissions for content and length.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009 | THE DIAMONDBACK

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Features HOROSCOPESTELLA WILDER

CROSSWORD ACROSS 51 — — few rounds 1 Edged past 52 Close relatives 7 Mini-craze 53 Tabletop diver10 Gobs of gum sion (2 wds.)

14 Oval-nest builder 56 Pilaf base 15 Prior to 57 Except 16 Shivery feeling 58 Filet — 17 Frame inserts 62 Palm reader’s 18 Get mellow opener (2 wds.)

19 Jet route 63 College maj.

20 Swimming skill 64 False (2 wds.)

65 Small storage 23 Nepal neighbor structure 26 Geol. formation 66 Ave. crossers 27 Stripes 67 Hunting dog 28 Amo, —, amat 29 Survey choice DOWN 30 Term of endear1 Earth’s star ment 2 Eur. country 31 Ballard or Starr 3 Noise 32 Hoedown partner 4 Tax write-offs 33 Trinkets 5 Choose 37 Self-importance 6 Mr. Arnaz 38 Athena’s symbol 7 Sumptuous 39 Singer Brenda — repasts 40 Furrow 8 Inert gas 41 Nerve cells 9 Forest grazer 43 Spooky, maybe 10 Healthful activity 44 Tijuana “Mrs.” 11 One more time 45 Sit-up targets 12 Ninny 46 Units of wt.

13 Tries to find 47 Snooping about 21 Reeks 48 Battle tactic 22 Decelerated

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DBW22

orn today, you have been endowed with a sharp intellect, keen emotional awareness and the ability to express yourself in a manner that imparts not only information but meaning as well. You are the kind of person who can truly affect the world around you in a positive, lasting way, no matter what career you choose — for you are sure to go about your business in a way that is true to yourself, and that speaks truthfully to others.

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You are not a stranger to opposition, but opposition only serves to strengthen your resolve and inspire you to hone your skills — making you all the more ready to achieve what is set before you.

You are able to keep things in balance, especially when facing major challenges.

Also born on this date are: Sheryl Crow, singer and songwriter; Jennifer Aniston, actress; Burt Reynolds, actor; Matt Lawrence, actor; Sergio Mendes, musician; Sidney Sheldon, author; Thomas Edison, inventor.

To see what is in store for you tomorrow, find your birthday and read the corresponding paragraph. Let your birthday star be your daily guide.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) — You’ll receive some timely advice from someone who is leading the way — but you’ll also discover that there are things you know better.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — Be willing to share responsibility with a partner who complements you and will do the things you are unwilling to do.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — Don’t shy away from those whose opinions differ from your own.

The discussion that can result yields valuable insights.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — You may not know just yet how to maximize your rewards, but you do know that the time will come when you can do so. Seek out more current information.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — Your thirst for knowledge may well seem unquenchable. Later on, you can begin to put a new lesson to use in a highly creative manner.

yourself so clearly and persuasively that you can change the mind of your most fervent critic.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — You are able to collect information and put it to use quickly and efficiently. This can prove essential as the business climate changes.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — You may be asking too much of someone who has only recently joined your team. Let him or her experiment a bit before making specific demands.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — Do not let your talent for bringing out the best in people go to waste. Much depends on your leadership abilities.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Focus on social and cultural issues. Many are wanting what you can provide. A lesson can be learned that increases income.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — You have what it takes to express

Copyright 2009, United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12 AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — Environmental influences are likely to be felt more directly than usual. You may want to seek out physical and emotional shelter.

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THE DIAMONDBACK | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009

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Training provided. Requires 20 hrs./wk. including evenings and weekends. Please send cover and resume letter to: gbugenhagen@psyc.umd.edu.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009 | THE DIAMONDBACK

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Diversions

MOVIES AT THE HOFF THIS WEEK:

arts. music. living. movies. weekend.

Today: Zack and Miri Make a Porno, 11:59 a.m., 4 p.m. | Religulous, 2 p.m. | Fired Up, 7:30 p.m.

Tomorrow: Religulous, 11:59 a.m., 4 p.m. | Zack and Miri Make a Porno, 2 p.m. | Appalachia, 7 p.m.

Friday: Man on Wire, 11:59 a.m., 4 p.m. | The Secret Life of Bees, 2 p.m. | Until The Violence Stops, 7 p.m.

Saturday: The Secret Life of Bees, 11:59 a.m., 4 p.m., 8 p.m. | Man on Wire, 2 p.m., 6 p.m.

Sunday: Love Actually, 7 p.m.

Fired Up, a new cheerleading movie, screens for free and in advance tonight.

FEATURE | CONOR RUNGE

The curious case of Conor Runge Former The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live writer takes unconventional route to college degree

BY THOMAS FLOYD Senior staff writer

M

ost university students pursue a common path. Following high school graduation, they tread into the unfamiliar waters of college and diligently work toward a diploma for four years, banking on that piece of paper to help land their future dream job.

It would be safe to say, however, that 30-year-old junior Conor Runge, a former Court TV staff writer and freelance scribe for The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live, is taking the road less traveled.

Thus, Runge has now been enrolled in college for nearly 13 years and has had a slew of successful career endeavors after graduating from high school in Sudbury, Mass. Currently a senior account executive for Washington-based public relations firm Media & Communications Strategies, he previously plied his trade in a plethora of fields, including time spent in New York City as a writer at the Court TV show Snap Judgment.

“I do a lot of advertisement and content creation for the web. ... It’s a lot more technical. There aren’t as many fart jokes involved in my writing these days.”

CONOR RUNGE JUNIOR HISTORY MAJOR

“I’ve had a wide variety of careers and have enough experience in different fields where I’m pretty confident that if I were to apply for a job, I could get it,” Runge said. “But people view someone with a college degree differently than they view someone without one.”

So Runge now finds himself on the campus, a history major on pace to graduate in the spring of 2010, who adds that it is his “own competitive nature pushing me toward that 120 credits.

“I had the motivational factor of my family saying they didn’t think I could do it, so I wanted to prove people wrong and not just complete it, but do it right,” Runge added.

After high school and a brief stint at the University of Central Florida, Runge initially put college on the back burner and found work as a singer and dancer at Walt Disney World for two years. At the expiration of his contract in 1998, he used connections made through Orlando-area comedy groups to help land a job in New York City writing for the

hoff highlights MAN ON WIRE With a 100 percent rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Man on Wire is one of the bestreviewed films of all time. The British documentary tracks Philippe Petit’s highwire walk between New York’s World Trade Center towers in 1974. Based on Petit’s book, To Reach the Clouds, director James Marsh treats the film as a heist film, with rare footage and photographs, reenactments and modernday interviews.

SHOWTIMES: Friday, 11:59 a.m., 4 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m., 6 p.m.

LOVE ACTUALLY With He’s Just Not That Into You in theaters now and Valentine’s Day around the corner, it’s a perfect time to revisit Christmas favorite Love Actually.

The 2003 British film uses an ensemble cast — Alan Rickman, Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant and a young Keira Knightley — to tell a series of interlocking love stories.

SHOWTIMES: Sunday, 7 p.m. (free)

THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES Released in October, The Secret Life of Bees is based on the beloved 2002 book by Sue Monk Kidd. In it, a white girl (Lily, Dakota Fanning) is pseudo-adopted by a black woman (Rosaleen, Jennifer Hudson) in 1964 South Carolina after her mother dies. She then must re-trace her history to learn who she really is.

SHOWTIMES: Friday, 2 p.m.; Saturday, 11:59 a.m., 4 p.m., 8 p.m.

Junior history major Conor Runge, 30, spent time writing for The Daily Show, Saturday Night Live and short-lived Court TV series Snap Judgement before returning to school. JACYLN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

fledgling show Snap Judgment.

A satirical comedy program about real-life legal issues, the short-lived show included segments about absurd small-claims cases (a woman breaking off her engagement when her fiancé slept with her mother, for example) and featured special guest analysts such as Ron Jeremy. Current Air America radio personality Lionel hosted Snap Judgment, and The Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead came in as an executive producer.

While writing for Snap Judgment, Runge began to see more and more opportunities come his way.

Before he knew it, Saturday Night Live was sending

Weekend Update scripts to the Court TV writers for revisions, and he was penning jokes for NBC’s iconic sketch comedy program.

“It’s not the wacky news of the day — it’s taking the real stories that other news outlets might consider serious and finding a joke in there somewhere,” he said. “It was that kind of collaborative on-call work where we know there is something funny in it, but they were having a hard time pulling a joke out of it.”

During and after his time at Court TV, Runge also served as a freelance writer for The Daily Show, which was at the tail end of Craig Kilborn’s reign as

host. Kilborn’s imminent jump to The Late Late Show brought about some controversy in the Daily Show writers’ room — such as the question of whether Kilborn could bring certain Daily Show segments to his new gig — and the subsequent enmity was obvious.

“The writers were kind of writing jokes that were more self-deprecating toward Craig Kilborn,” Runge explained. “It was a tense period because a lot of the people who worked for Kilborn ... had an animosity toward him.”

Feeling as though his time in New York had run its course, Runge moved to San Francisco in 1999, and he ended up with an “astounding” number of different jobs thanks to the “mass confusion” new technology triggered at the time.

In 2001, Runge began a spell managing a Colorado location of the now-defunct movie and music chain Media Play. Three years later, he changed addresses one more time, settling into the Washington area. Since then, Runge has found a niche in public relations (his stepfather got him into the business), working predominantly in crisis communications.

“I do a lot of advertisement and content creation for the web, and I do a lot of writing in terms of press releases and internal reports,” he said. “It’s a lot more technical. There aren’t as many fart jokes involved in my writing these days.”

Runge’s unconventional college endeavor, though, not only provides him with personal vindication and pride but has the potential to rub off on his lecture hall peers, as well. American studies associate professor Sheri Parks, who taught Runge in AMST 328B: Perspectives on Identity and Culture: Advanced American Culture in the Information Age last semester, often encouraged the veteran writer to offer his stories and advice to the class.

“He was very modest and didn’t want to talk much, but he clearly knew things that people without his experiences would not know, so I urged him to talk more,” Parks said. “It’s one thing for me to tell students about a phenomenon in popular culture, but it’s quite another for a student to raise his hand and tell a story about living through or working through it.”

Runge, who transferred from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County campus to the university in fall 2007, admits having enough hours in the week to take care of all his responsibilities is tough.

Nonetheless, he said he always finds time for his wife, Holly (they married in August 2006 at Disney World), and his 7-month-old daughter, Emma.

“I’m a little more taxed as far as my time goes since I have school full time, I’m working full time and I’ve got a daughter right now; that’s like a third full-time job,” Runge said. “But the most fun thing that I’m doing right now is being daddy.” tfloyd1@umd.edu

COLUMN | THE FASHIONISTA

Breaking down the red carpet The Grammys and Oscars bring out the best — and worst — in awards fashion COURTNEY

POMEROY

A

ward season is a great time of year, one when you can sit back, relax and judge others based on their outward appearances — with no worry of being called shallow. After all, with a team of stylists and makeup artists at their disposal, what excuse do celebrities have to not look perfect?

Well, at this year’s Grammy Awards, a few people had pretty good reasons to look less than their best. The Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl was sporting Doc Martens instead of wing tips on the red carpet, saying they were the better footwear to drum with. And honestly, you wouldn’t want to risk botching a solo if you were performing with a Beatle, either.

A very pregnant M.I.A. wore an uncharacteristic and unflattering puffy blue dress on the red carpet, but for her performance, changed into a polka-dot black mesh dress — though she looked a little more convex than usual. Seeing as she performed at a nationally televised award show on her due date, M.I.A. deserves little judgment.

Jennifer Hudson made one of the most outstanding wardrobe choices, with a black and white geometric cocktail dress that hugged her in all the right places. For once, Miley Cyrus looked age-appropriate in a black, asymmetric Max Azria. Unfortunately, the always-interestingly-attired Rihanna was kept away from the show as part of an alleged incident with boyfriend Chris Brown.

Although the Grammys are a great time for celebs to showcase the funkier side of fashion, another upcoming award show is where they pull out all the stops.

A lot of movie buffs bet on which films or actors will win the golden man on Oscar night, but fashion enthusiasts look forward to next Sunday’s Academy Awards because the red carpet is a yearly display of not only high fashion but also fake tans, bad hair and ridiculous jewelry to make fun of.

Considering their pasts, this year’s group of

Jennifer Hudson, left, was among the best dressed at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, while a nine-month pregnant M.I.A. was accompanied by dapper-looking fiancee Ben Brewer. COURTESY OF SOCIALITELIFE.COM

nominees may prove to be a great mixture of stunning and just plain funny.

Let’s begin with the most obvious past offender. Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler) has always been a little on the crazy side, but since his comeback role scored him his first Oscar nod, he’s been spotted in public with greasy, shoulderlength hair, a porno ’stache and various shiny suits. All said, it wouldn’t be surprising for Rourke to appear in a wildly inappropriate outfit for the big night.

Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder) is another comeback nominee who has been known for his eccentric fashion choices, but he usually manages to pull it out for big nights. He’s had a successful year thus far, and it’s not likely he wants to go back to drawing negative media attention, even if it’s with his outfit.

The actress to look out for as best dressed will

most likely be Kate Winslet (The Reader). She was already recognized for her role at the Golden Globes, and graciously accepted her award in a black, strapless Yves Saint Laurent gown. The dress had the simple elegance Winslet is known for, but she will probably step it up a notch for the Oscars, with a little more cleavage, color and jewelry (similar to what she wore to the Screen Actors Guild awards) and (perhaps) her first Oscar.

Angelina Jolie is the wild card in the bunch, but who didn’t know that? At the Golden Globes, she was in a shapeless, neutral-colored, floor-length gown, but at Sunday’s BAFTAs, she arrived in a form-fitting asymmetric black-and-yellow cocktail frock. Whatever she shows up in, let’s hope all the black, baggy outfits aren’t disguising yet another baby bump. courtney.pomeroy@yahoo.com

8

THE DIAMONDBACK | SPORTS | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009

Midfielder Caitlyn McFadden is the Terps’ top returning scorer after the losses of midfielders Dana Dobbie, Kelly Kasper and attacker Lauren Cohen. MATTHEW CREGER/THE DIAMONDBACK

McFadden leads depleted Terp attack EXPECTATIONS, from Page 10 were great players, we came back and immediately had great chemistry and really were able to come together as a team right away,” McFadden said. “So we’re going to use that to our advantage this year, to make our new starters a strength for us.”

The Terps’ international talent has provided the offensive spark.

Laura Merrifield of the English national team, who McFadden called “a blur that can outrun any defender,” and Sarah Mollison of the Australian national team provided scoring power in exhibition games against the U.S. Elite and Developmental teams.

Freshman Karri Ellen Johnson and sisters Brittany and Brandi Jones have impressed at midfield alongside returning starters and co-captains McFadden and Amanda Spinnenweber, while

Alexcia Niumatalolo, transfer Brittany Poist, Katie Gallagher and cocaptain Karissa Taylor, the latter two who were also starters last year, will boost the backfield.

The goalie position, though, is still wide open. Senior Lynne Cooper brings the most experience, and freshman Brittany Dipper played field hockey in the fall, but freshman Mary Jordan started the final exhibition match. Reese said she is still waiting to see who takes control before deciding on a starter.

Even with the lineup card not quite filled out yet, the Terps will have to deal with big expectations.

The Terps are No. 6 in the IWLCA’s preseason rankings.

Though the Terps are familiar with this spot — they have not dropped out of the top 10 in more than two years — they will have to fight to keep it against 10 of the top 20 teams, including ACC rivals No. 3

Duke, No. 4 Virginia and No. 9 North Carolina.

“We just plan on taking one game at a time and not letting down in any game or for any opponent, no matter how tough, even in big pressure situations like the tournament,” McFadden said.

Jordan, who had a first half shutout in the Terps’ 16-3 drubbing of the English national team in the last preseason game before Sunday’s season opener at the University of Richmond, said the team is ready and eager to tackle the tough schedule.

“Everyone’s stepping up to the challenge,” Reese said. “Players that we didn’t see much of last year because of our strong upperclassmen are now taking control out there. We’ll have a new look for Maryland this year, but I think it’s going to be a good one.” kyanchulisdbk@gmail.com

Wrestler Asper turns heads without a starting job High school star has shown promise as a redshirt ing with the team, he stopped focusing on his first sport, basketball, and started going fullStaff writer strength toward wrestling.

Hailing from Parkton, Asper went on to When Josh Asper took the mats in his first college wrestling tournament in November, he have one of the greatest high school wrestling was paired against Ohio State’s Colt Spon- careers in the state of Maryland. He finished seller in his fourth match. That match proved at Hereford High School riding an 87-match to be the Terrapin freshman’s wake-up call, as win streak.

He will go down as only the third wrestler in he lost to Sponseller, currently ranked No. 2 in Maryland history to win four state the country, by way of a technical championships. To add to that, he fall. won each championship in a dif“I had no idea he was that good ferent weight class. going into the match, and I acted Starting in the 131-pound weight like any other match,” Asper said. class, Asper moved up in weight “But after the first period, I was every year until reaching 171 in like, ‘Wow, this guy is really good.’ his senior season. That season, he And he went on to crush me.” went 37-0 and took second place in To his credit, though, Asper had the Junior Nationals Tournament only practiced for a week leading in North Dakota. up to the tournament after recovNot only did Asper compile a ering from a PCL knee injury he JOSH ASPER 151-7 high school record, he suffered in the summer. redshirting freshman wrestler played basketball, lacrosse and That match may be the only was a two-time all-district lineknock on Asper so far this season, as he has compiled a 34-7 record in his red- backer for Hereford High School.

As successful as he was during high school, shirt season. Riding a 17-match win streak, Asper has won four consecutive open tourna- Asper was set on coming to this university after wrestling in Cole Field House during the ments and has not lost so far in 2009.

While Asper has wrestled phenomenally state championship. He was also fielding this season, he is not allowed to wrestle in the offers from Clarion and UNC-Greensboro, but decided on the Terps.

Terps’ dual meets due to his redshirt.

“The Terps were a great choice for me “[Redshirting] has allowed him to get solidified with his position of being a Division I because of their great wrestling program and wrestler and understand the rigors of balanc- academics, as well as being close to home,” ing wrestling and school,” coach Kerry Asper said.

Despite posting a 6-4 record to begin the McCoy said. “He continues to improve, and once we get him in the spotlight and starting, season, his skills do not seem lost in transition from high school to collegiate wrestling. the sky will be the limit.”

“You never know what a freshman will do According to NCAA wrestling rules, a redshirt may wrestle an unlimited number of when he gets to college, and he has really surtimes throughout the course of the season as prised us all,” McCoy said. “I love how well he long as he wrestles unattached to a school. In has improved and strives to get better.”

Asper’s largest struggle may be simply open tournaments, there are no team scores, dealing with a redshirt season and his inabilthus Asper is able to compete.

If Asper were able to compete for the Terps, ity to help his team right now, but he will be he would be in the 165-pound weight class, looking to start next season.

Next season, Asper will have the possibility along with current starter Brian Letters.

While Letters has done respectably this year to either compete in the 165-pound weight at 17-10, Asper would have certainly given class with Letters or move up to 174. Letters also may drop back down to 157, his weight him some competition. “[Letters] is a great wrestler, and I love class from last year, to make room for Asper at going up against him during practice,” Asper 165.

“We have a lot of great players coming back said. “We go back and forth, so it is great pracnext year, and I can’t wait to be apart of it,” Asper tice and makes me get better.”

It should not come as a surprise, though, said. “Ultimately, I want to win the ACC championship and go to nationals, but I really just want to that Asper has done so well this season.

When in fifth grade, Asper tagged along to contribute to the team however I can.” his brother’s practice and fell in love with the sport. After that, when Asper started practic- eckarddbk@gmail.com

Australian midfielder Sarah Mollison is one of the Terps’ key components this year after sitting behind Dobbie and Kasper last season. MATTHEW CREGER/THE DIAMONDBACK

LIVE FROM TERRAPINTRAIL.COM

OUT OF HIS HAZE

By Mark Selig

BY CHRIS ECKARD

It’s safe to say that guard Eric Hayes was in a bit of a funk at the end of January.

In consecutive games against Duke and Boston College, the junior scored a combined five points on two-of-14 shooting. He hadn’t had consecutive games with less production since the end of his freshman year in 2007.

Now it seems like Hayes is working himself back into his early-season form. Coach Gary Williams replaced Hayes with Sean Mosley in the starting lineup for last week’s game against Miami, and Hayes came off the bench to score eight points.

Again in a reserve role, he tallied 10 against North Carolina.

“Obviously, you’d like to be starting,” Hayes said, “but if [coming off the bench] is best for the team, I’m gonna do it.”

Back as a starter Sunday due to ERIC HAYES junior guard Adrian Bowie’s sickness, Hayes JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK scored 15 points against Georgia Tech. It was the first time Hayes has been in double-digits for two straight games since Dec. 7 and 12.

“Eric was great,” Williams said after the Terps defeated the Yellow Jackets. “Eric’s been around; I expected that completely. A lot of times, Eric doesn’t get the credit, because his personality isn’t jumping around. Tonight Eric was the guy — he really played well.”

The Terps will need his outside shooting down the stretch, because he’s one of few guys on the team who has shown the ability to get real hot behind the 3-point arc.

mseligdbk@gmail.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK

9

TERRAPIN MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

Terps have had recent success against Georgia Tech

BY MARK SELIG Senior staff writer

Sunday’s 57-56 win was the Terrapin men’s basketball team’s eighth straight against Georgia Tech. That makes for the longest active winning streak the Terps have against any ACC opponent.

The last time Georgia Tech defeated Maryland? In 2004, Yellow Jacket coach Paul Hewitt had a group that included Jarrett Jack, Luke Schenscher, B.J. Elder and Will Bynum.

They swept the Terps and then reached the national championship game, eventually losing to Connecticut.

Since then, several NBA players (Mario West, Javaris Crittenton, Thaddeus Young, Anthony Morrow) have come and gone without beating the Terps.

The Terps have not had the same type of success against their next opponent, Virginia Tech, which has defeated Maryland in the last three meetings.

RED BULL GIVES GREIVIS WINGS Just before the national anthem Sunday night, guard Greivis Vasquez popped open an 8.3 oz. can of Red Bull Energy Drink and guzzled it next to the Terps bench in about four seconds.

It must have taken a while for the sugar buzz to set in, because Vasquez had a rela-

tively quiet first half before taking the game over in the second stanza. After the break, he played all 20 minutes and scored 14 points, though they didn’t come easily.

“For the most part, we executed our game plan of playing collective defense on Vasquez,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. “He is a great player, but for the most part, I feel we did a good job.”

When the Yellow Jackets took their biggest lead of the game (four points with 11:23 remaining), Vasquez went on a personal 6-0 run, which included a lay-up, a 3-pointer and a free throw.

“I thought Greivis was a great leader down the stretch,” coach Gary Williams said. “He got us into our sets. We ran some good stuff and scored enough points, because their defense was good.”

GETTING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING A cursory glance at Sunday’s box score would suggest that Sean Mosley had a down game. Following a career-high 19 points at North Carolina, Mosley was held scoreless at Georgia Tech, missing six shots and a crucial free throw.

But shooting aside, Mosley did a lot to help the Terps win. With guard Adrian Bowie sidelined, Mosley played 34 minutes — his most time as a Terp. In those minutes, he had six rebounds (four offensive) and played very

strong defense. It always seems like he’s doing something right when he’s on the court, and his coach certainly notices.

“Sean was just steady,” Williams said. “I don’t know if he scored, but it doesn’t matter. Guys like that win games for you; they just win games for you. I can’t tell you why they do, but they do.

You get people like that who care so much and work so hard, and that’s what Sean is.”

FREE THROWS FOR FREE WINS Against the Yellow Jackets, the Terps had one of their worst days at the free-throw line, hitting 12-19 while missing a pair of finalminute tosses that would have made the win a little less of a nail-biter.

But the fact that they made 12 free throws is significant because Georgia Tech made 11.

The Terps are now 15-1 in games where they hit more foul shots than their opponent. Conversely, they are 0-7 in games in which they made fewer than or the same number as their opponent did.

It’s also worth noting that the one-free throw advantage gave the Terps the point needed for a one-point win.

After losing close ones to Morgan State, Miami and Florida State, the Terps picked up their first victory in a game decided by three points or fewer. mseligdbk@gmail.com

Guard Greivis Vasquez (center) showed a lot of energy on the court against Georgia Tech on Sunday after chugging a Red Bull. JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

Boston is like a second home for Toliver, Terps Women’s basketball team has now won seven straight against Boston College

BY AARON KRAUT Senior staff writer

CHESNUT HILL, Mass. – There’s something about the city of Boston that brings out the best in the Terrapin women’s basketball team, especially in guard Kristi Toliver.

On Monday night, it was Toliver’s key 3-pointer with 46 seconds remaining that helped lead the No. 11 Terps to their 85-81 win at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, just a ride on the T — the nickname for Boston’s rail transit system — away from downtown Boston.

It’s been three years since Toliver, then a freshman, and the Terps won the 2006 national title in the heart of downtown Boston, at the TD Banknorth Garden, with an overtime win in the final four against Duke.

Toliver’s game-tying 3pointer over the outstretched arms of 6-foot-7 Duke center Alison Bales became legendary, and on Monday night, her late 3-pointer was similar in style — and not just because of the location.

Leading 78-75 and trying to hold off an Eagles team on a nine-point run, Toliver squared up and found 6-foot-6 Boston College center Carolyn Swords running at her. With the shot clock down to five seconds, the 5-foot-7 point guard hit the shot that essentially sealed a third-straight win for the Terps (19-4, 7-2 ACC).

“They switched, so I had a big against me and I just took advantage of it,” Toliver said. “[Swords is] not any taller than Alison Bales, so I wasn’t worried about it.”

The 2006 final four triumph, which the Terps are reminded of every day when they walk by part of the TD Banknorth Garden floor now hung against the wall on the lower level of Comcast Center, isn’t the only example of success coach Brenda Frese’s team has had in Beantown.

With Monday’s win, the Terps are now 4-0 at Boston College all-time, and 7-0 overall against the steadily improving Eagles program since they joined the ACC in 2003.

“Every time we come out here it always brings back great memories,” Frese said.

“We’ve had some really good luck and a lot of success, so of course you’re gonna love it.”

Toliver didn’t disagree.

“Oh yeah, Boston is my favorite place to come,” she said. “I wish we played here every game.”

Guard Kristi Toliver has a history of big shots in Boston, namely the game-tying 3-pointer against Duke her freshman year in the final four.

JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

OYEFUWA PLAYS A ROLE Freshman center Yemi Oyefuwa isn’t typically the team’s first post player off of the bench, but because of Boston College’s size down low, she was forced to play some critical minutes Monday.

The 6-foot-6 London native, who entered the night averaging just 6.5 minutes per game, was prepared for her nineminute stint against the Eagles’ duo of Swords and 6foot-4 Stefanie Murphy.

“She was ready to play,” Frese said. “And she was a huge x-factor for us because obviously with Swords, you know, she’s so big and strong, she wears you out.”

Although she didn’t score, Oyefuwa was able to record a rebound and a steal while holding her own defensively against Swords and only committing one personal foul.

With 1:14 remaining and the Terps leading by four points, Oyefuwa hustled toward the sideline and saved a loose ball with a cross-court pass to forward Marissa Coleman while falling out-of-bounds. Coleman would go on to score a lay-up, and Oyefuwa’s effort gave the team a shot of energy.

Forward Drey Mingo, 6foot-2, is the Terps’ primary reserve player down low in most games. But she played just two minutes Monday.

Frese rotated Oyefuwa with 6foot-4 starting center Lynetta Kizer to keep Kizer fresh and out of foul trouble. akrautdbk@gmail.com

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Grant Catalino (right) leads a strong attack unit returning all three starters and adding transfer Will Yeatman. ADAM FRIED/THE DIAMONDBACK

Attack should prove strength CONTENDER, from Page 10 If last season was about exceeding expectations, this year will be about living up to the hype.

“Everyone can say you’re expected to do this, you’re expected to do that,” defender Brian Farrell said. “It’s what you do once you get into the season that’s gonna really make the difference of what kind of team you are, how you start off your season, and how you finish it.”

Finishing should not be a problem for the this team — at least, not in a goalscoring sense.

The team’s top six scorers return from last season, including the heralded attack unit of Grant Catalino, Travis Reed and Ryan Young. Each brings a unique set of tools, but all will benefit from a year’s experience.

Transfer attackman Will Yeatman joins the team, adding to the embarrassment of riches at the offensive end. His presence has both teammates and Cottle excited about pairing the 6-foot-6, 260pound behemoth with Catalino, who measures in at 6-foot-5, 240 pounds.

“It’s gonna be tough [for opposing teams],” Catalino said. “The majority of teams aren’t gonna have two 6-foot5 defenseman that will be able to match up with us.”

The matchup problems don’t end there. If the Terps can find a way to get all four on the field at the same time, it will leave someone with a short stick defender, an appetizing thought for any attacker.

On the other side of the field, the Terps return last season’s effective, if quirky, rotating-goalie system. Jason Carter and Brian Phipps are expected to once again split time in the cage, though Cottle maintains that playing time is a right, not a privilege.

For their part, Carter and Phipps appear genuinely supportive of one another.

And, so far, the system has wreaked more havoc on the Terps’ opponents than it has on the psyche of their netminders.

“I thought Jason and I played pretty well; like, if I had an off day, Jason would come in and save the day, or vice-versa,” Phipps said. “My favorite victory last year was when we beat Virginia (on March 29) and I didn’t play at all. Knowing that when I play well, Jason’s my biggest fan, and when he plays well, I’m his biggest fan, that helps out a lot.”

Both goalies are fans of the Terps gritty midfield unit, which stars seniors Dan Groot and Jeff Reynolds, who contribute on both offense and de-

Midfielder Dan Groot will be relied on heavily on offense and defense for his senior year. ADAM FRIED/THE DIAMONDBACK

fense. Senior Jeremy Sieverts adds a talented offensive midfielder to round out the first line.

In preseason, the Terps have experimented with the use of two-way midfielders, taking advantage of a group with skill at both ends of the field. The Terps used this tactic two seasons ago after the departures of several top scorers, including the program’s all-time leading scorer, Joe Walters.

“If we’re playing offensive middies on defense, then we’ve got offensive middies on the other end getting in the hole and trying to sub out,” Cottle explained. “That period of time before the defense gets in and their personnel gets in, that’s a period of time where we need to attack.”

Cottle calls it the “10-seconds-or-less offense,” adding, “If we don’t have anything, then we can go through and play our offense. I think that’s an area not just only in a straight, when you outnumber them, but when you’re all even with them that a time, you know, before they get set up defensively.”

With all that running around, the Terps must improve on faceoffs in order to avoid exerting too much energy on defense. Last year, the team ranked just 22nd nationally in faceoff win percentage (.513).

Junior Bryn Holmes will head the face-off duties, after ranking an adequate 17th in the nation last year with a .561 win percentage. Holmes looked much improved in a scrimmage against Princeton on Feb. 7, winning 11-15 draws, including his first five. Last season, Holmes split the duties with graduated midfielder Will Dalton, and this

year, Reynolds may provide a backup at the faceoff X. Winning faceoffs will be instrumental in the development of the Terps defense, which is still being pieced together. The defense, which must most notably must replace second team All-American Joe Cinosky, remains the biggest uncertainty at the moment.

Heading the unit will be Max Schmidt and Brian Farrell. The former started 10 games for the Terps as a freshman last season, and will likely lock up the opposition’s top attackman. Farrell will move back to close defense after tallying eight goals and three assists as the Terps do-itall long pole last year.

The third spot is the still up in the air with Dan Halayko, Mike Griswold and Ryder Bohlander in the mix.

“Right now, we’re not as solid defensively as we were at that time last year,” Cottle said. “I think we’re just as good personnel-wise, maybe not as a defensive stopper, but the other areas — picking the ball off the ground — I think we’re good at. We just haven’t found our identity, haven’t found a cohesiveness of the unit, and no one has taken over leadership of the defense. That’s where I see the biggest separation. Not in talent, but in leadership, communication and understanding what we’re doing.”

It’s one rough patch the team will have to smooth out, but nothing the Terps are too concerned with at this point.

“Every year we go into, ‘Oh, who’s gonna be our defense now?’” Phipps said. “But that turns out to be the strongest aspect of our team because [defensive coordinator Dave Slafkosky] is so smart defensively.”

Unlike last year, when the Terps opened up against No. 4 Georgetown, they have a bit of wiggle room with games this weekend against Presbyterian and Air Force.

But then the Terps begin a gauntlet that starts off with No. 8 Georgetown and No. 7 Duke on consecutive weekends. The Terps once again have the ammunition to compete with the heavyweights, and this year they will be expected to.

In 2009, the Terps don’t yet care about the manner in which their season ends, abrupt or otherwise. And should the Terps exceed expectations once again, it’s not unreasonable to think that the program could be looking at its first national championship trophy since 1975. mkatzdbk@gmail.com

10

THE DIAMONDBACK | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009

AP Women’s College Basketball Poll Top 10

Sports

School 1. Connecticut 2. Oklahoma 3. California 4. Duke 5. Auburn

Record

Prev.

(23-0) (20-2) (20-2) (19-2) (23-1)

1 2 3 4 6

School

Record

Prev.

(19-4) (19-3) (20-3) (22-2) (18-4)

7 8 8 11 13

6. Stanford 7. Baylor 8. North Carolina 9. Florida 11. TERRAPINS

TERRAPIN LACROSSE 2009 SEASON PREVIEWS

Evolving into a contender

Expectations don’t graduate WOMEN: After last year’s disappointment, Terps keeping title hopes alive for 2009 season

MEN: Last season’s overachievers are ranked third preseason this time around

BY KATE YANCHULIS Staff writer

Last year, a senior-laden Terrapin women’s lacrosse team seemed on the fast track to the final four. But the Terps’ potent attack, led by two All-American midfielders, ran into a dominating performance from Duke goalie Kim Imbesi in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, stopping them — and 13 of their shots — from that goal.

Now, with only four starters returning, the Terps’ championship aspirations will be even harder to reach. Coach Cathy Reese, though, refuses to lower her expectations for 2009.

“Our goal is always to fight for a national championship,” Reese said. “We want to play as far into May as we can. That’s never going to change.”

Last year’s senior-packed roster stumbled in the postseason, despite storming through the regular season with only one loss.

This season, the Terps must rely on their youthful but explosive lineup, led by four junior returning starters, to prevent another early exit.

It won’t be easy.

The team also lost two of the nation’s top midfielders: two-time ACC Player of the Year Dana Dobbie, who scored a league-leading 70 goals, and three-time All-American Kelly Kasper, who led the ACC with 87 points. Five of the Terps’ top six point-getters are gone, including Dobbie, Kasper and all three starting attackers. Two starting defenders and the starting goalie also graduated.

But junior midfielder Caitlyn McFadden, who had 27 goals and 27 assists last year, will return, and the All-American and U.S. national team member said she is confident in the team.

“Though we did lose a lot of seniors, and they

BY MICHAEL KATZ Staff writer

Despite an all-freshman attack unit and a season-long goalie tryout, the 2008 Terrapin men’s lacrosse team found itself on the doorstep of the final four.

The Terps held a three-goal lead with less than 20 minutes remaining in a quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 Virginia, a team the Terps had knocked off earlier in the year for their marquee win of the season.

The campaign ended abruptly for the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team. In a span of 10:22, the Cavaliers pulled even. The game remained knotted through regulation. On the Cavaliers’ second possession of overtime, attackman Ben Rubeor found the back of the net on a quick shot. Virginia was headed to lacrosse’s final weekend, and the Terps were sent back to College Park.

The Terps returned disappointed, but not without perspective.

In reality, the team had overachieved to get to that point.

“You’d like to play one more week, you know, we were in position to win that game,” said coach Dave Cottle, now in his eighth year with the team. “But I’d say playing in that quarterfinal game, you saw what you had to do to get to the final four, and I think we can learn from that.”

The Terps’ fans saw a team that, despite preseason question marks, had become into a championship threat.

By answering those questions, the team Goalie Jason Carter has built a solid foundation for this year.

ADAM FRIED/THE The holes seem less glaring, and as a DIAMONDBACK result, the Terps sit third in the preseason Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll.

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