CLUTCH STREAK
REMINISCENT R&B
Four consecutive comeback wins set up big matchup with Duke
Raheem DeVaughn tries to channel ’70s soul on new LP
SPORTS | PAGE 12
DIVERSIONS | PAGE 7
THE DIAMONDBACK
Blizzards push snow removal costs over $1M University’s contingency fund should cover expenses, Wylie says BY BEN PRESENT Staff writer
The $250,000 estimate to clear February’s historic snowfall made by Facilities Management was nearly four times short, officials said. Clearing snow from the storms actually cost $918,000 — much more than the $25,000 Facilities Management had budgeted for the academic year. Associate Vice President for Facilities Management Frank Brewer
Our 100TH Year, No. 95
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
said he expects to see his department reimbursed by the university, as it has been in the past whenever the department has exceeded its predicted budget. This reimbursement would come from an existing pool of money, limiting the impact to the department. “If we have an emergency such as this, there’s a small central contingency fund that the university carries,” Vice President for Administrative Affairs and Finance Commit-
tee Chairwoman Ann Wylie said in a message. “Requests like this will come to the Finance Committee, and they can be covered from this contingency fund.” Including the $918,000, the university has already spent $1,254,711 on snow removal — far exceeding a typical year’s costs. The price tag includes roughly $70,000 for materials, $280,000 for university employee labor costs, $50,000 for housing and food services
for these employees and $550,000 for hiring outside contractors, Brewer said. The university is currently determining whether it will have access to emergency money from the federal government and, if that’s the case, how much it will get. “I really don’t expect that the university won’t come up with this money,” Brewer said, referring to the contingency fund. “But it’s a lot of money.”
see COST, page 6
ANNAPOLIS 2010
Mote stresses importance of state support House Republican Caucus proposes laying off 1,000 across univ. system BY AMANDA PINO Staff writer
PRIDE IN THE NAME OF POLITICS
ANNAPOLIS — Facing proposals from Republican state delegates that would dramatically slash the university’s state-supported budget, university President Dan Mote defended state funding for higher education yesterday. The House Republican Caucus’ proposal, unveiled last week, would result in the layoffs of more than 1,000 university system employees, return university funding to 2007 levels, cut travel budgets in half and eliminate free tuition for university employees. At a hearing before the Gen-
Many students ignore Mote’s plea to speak in favor of tuition increase at Terrapin Pride Day
eral Assembly’s House Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over higher education, Mote countered their arguments with a version of the same pitch he has made to lawmakers for years: The university is underfunded compared to its peer institutions, and every dollar invested in it creates a huge return for the state’s economy. In a statehouse dominated by Democrats, the Republican proposals, though unlikely to go very far, may signal some dissatisfaction with the university’s expanding number of employees during the state’s
see BUDGET, page 6
ResLife reluctant to move roommate matching online
BY AMANDA PINO Staff writer
Students: Internet options superior
ANNAPOLIS — University President Dan Mote wanted students to play nice yesterday at the SGA’s annual student lobbying day in Annapolis. But for many of the students that attended Terrapin Pride Day, principle outweighed politics. Sixty eight students, most of them Student Government Association representatives, descended on Annapolis last night to lobby their state legislators on higher-education issues just a day after the organization unanimously voted to take a stance against the upcoming in-state tuition hike. Before the group was set loose to navigate the dizzying maze of state buildings in the capital, Mote offered the group some advice: Keep it short and simple, support the governor’s budget and support the tuition increase — or else. “You should say to them, ‘We don’t really like it but we support the 3-percent tuition increase,’” Mote advised, contrary to the SGA’s stance. “The reason you want to say
see LOBBYING, page 2
BY CLAIRE SARAVIA For The Diamondback
SGA President Steve Glickman and USM Student Regent Sarah Elfreth walk through the underground halls of the House of Delegates building in Annapolis on Terrapin Pride Day. PHOTOS BY STEVEN OVERLY/THE DIAMONDBACK
Shortly after Kayla Velnoskey finished summer orientation last June, she began her quest for a roommate. She joined the Honors Humanities Facebook group, posted her biography and the rest was history. “She asked me if I wanted to room with her, and it’s worked out really well,” Velnoskey, a freshman English and psychology major, said of her roommate, whom she plans on living with again next year. Velnoskey’s path to roommate harmony was a common one. Since Facebook’s debut in 2004, students have increasingly demanded details on their roommates before committing to a year of shared refrigerators, TVs and bunk beds.
Yet, the Resident Life Department’s criteria for matching up roommates remains five basic questions. And while department officials are discussing ways to bring roommate selection into the 21st century, so far, they’ve been reluctant to embrace the social networking boom. Incoming freshmen have had the chance to share pictures, comments and life experiences on the university-sponsored social networking website TerpNet for the last two years. But Scott Young, Resident Life’s assistant director for administrative and business services, said the department has only recently begun exploring ways to incorporate the site into roommate selection. Young said the department’s moved slowly on the issue as it
see ROOMMATES, page 6
Spinning dangerously Students are desperate to get a piece of DJ Pauly D from MTV’s Jersey Shore BY KRISTI TOUSIGNANT Senior staff writer
DJ Pauly D may have been “beatin’ up that beat” at Thirsty Turtle last night, but his music was not the only thing spinning out of control. Pauly Delvecchio, famous for his stint on the wildly popular MTV series, Jersey Shore, spun at the downtown College Park bar to crowds of screaming reality TV fans. And after a long delay, people may have been taking the Jersey Shore theme too seriously, as pockets of fights and shoving broke out among overly eager onlookers. True to his recently acquired celebrity status, Delvecchio arrived fashionably late. Though the event was scheduled to start at 7 p.m., Delvecchio didn’t show up until about
11:30 p.m. By then, the crowd was restless. Groups of girls began pushing each other back and forth to get closer to the stage. Though bouncers asked the rows of students closest to the stage to back up, this only squeezed them up against the rows farther to the back and caused more pushing. By the time Delvecchio actually arrived on stage, groups of desperate students were struggling to free themselves from the masses of swaying people. Somewhere along the way, a junior finance major, who asked to remain anonymous, found a girl he knew being trampled on the floor. When he tried to pull her up out of the crowd and onto the stage, Pauly D’s bouncers kicked
see DJ, page 3 KRISTI TOUSIGNANT/FOR THE DIAMONDBACK
TOMORROW’S WEATHER:
Snow/30s
INDEX
NEWS . . . . . . . . . .2 OPINION . . . . . . . .4
FEATURES . . . . . .5 CLASSIFIED . . . . .6
DIVERSIONS . . . . .7 SPORTS . . . . . . . . .12
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