EDITOR’S NOTE: DUE TO THE INCLEMENT WEATHER, YESTERDAY’S NEWSPAPER WAS ONLY PUBLISHED ONLINE
NEW BALANCE
SHIMMERING SIREN
Women’s basketball showed more diverse attack Sunday
The New Pornographers’ resident songstress, Neko Case, returns with a stellar new album
SPORTS | PAGE 14
DIVERSIONS | PAGE 9
THE DIAMONDBACK TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009
For couple, a sense of equality looms
Univ. launches social network for new admits Admissions officials call Terpnet part of effort to revamp communication BY TIRZA AUSTIN Staff writer
Testudo already has a profile on Facebook, but now he’s getting his own social network. The admissions office has launched a new networking site for admitted students called Terpnet to help prospective students better connect with the university.
Policy change may offer health benefits to same-sex couples BY MARISSA LANG
the
Senior staff writer
Please See BENEFITS, Page 3
Dave Neal has overcome physical limitations to become a crucial piece of a rising Terp team as its lone senior BY MARK SELIG
Please See NEAL, Page 10
CLASS
S
everal inches of snow blanketed the campus Sunday night, prompting
university administrators to cancel classes and sending student to frolic outdoors.
BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK
BY DARREN BOTELHO
On a cool February afternoon, Dave Neal parked his silver Chrysler behind Comcast Center and walked into the arena with two teammates. Not yet dressed for practice, Neal was wearing a long black warm-up jacket,
SNOW
Sophomore accounting major Jessie Wu skies off a mound of snow next to Hagerstown Hall Monday. PHOTOS BY JACLYN
Please See ADMISSIONS, Page 3
Palestinian Solidarity Week posters torn down near McKeldin Mall, students say
Senior staff writer
Terps vs. Wake Forest Where: Comcast When: Tonight, 9 p.m. Radio: WMUCsports.com
“They are bombarded with e-mails from different universities,” said Allison Poli, the assistant director of marketing for freshmen admissions. “This is a site they are logging on to voluntarily.” The site is part of an admissions office effort to overhaul how it communicates with
Event organizers meet opposition to cause
EVERYMAN PHOTO BY ADAM FRIED/THE DIAMONDBACK
Robyn Zeiger and Dori Anne Steele were married Aug. 28 — a day the samesex couple said epitomized progress. “We timed it so it would be the same day [President Barack] Obama got his nomination, which was also the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s march on Washington,” Steele said. “It was an important day. And we, too, felt like, finally, we were getting the rights we had waited for. But then they were taken away.” Although the couple has been together for almost 26 years and have married twice — once in Canada and a second time this August in California — state law defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, denying Steele and Zeiger, who has been a lecturer in the family science department for more than 20
99TH YEAR | ISSUE NO. 100
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Freshman psychology major Chelsea Vogel flies head first down the hill near Cole Field House.
For The Diamondback
While taping down fliers for Palestinian Solidarity Week on the sidewalks of McKeldin Mall last week, junior Sanjana Quasem experienced student opposition to the event first-
hand as a skateboarder kicked a newly laid advertisement in her direction. “He said he was ‘sorry, but did not agree’ with our position and was going to ‘rip as many fliers down as we put
Please See POSTERS, Page 8
POWER SHIFT
2009
Sparking a major shift College-age activists flock to capital to talk climate change BY RICH ABDILL Staff writer
WASHINGTON — If the youth voice doesn’t matter, somebody forgot to tell the thousands of environmental activists at Power Shift. This weekend, 12,000 collegeage activists, including more than 130 students from this university, converged in Washington for Power Shift 2009, an event for environmental policy reform and prioritizing climate change as a major national issue. Organizers said they hope the students in attendance from all 50 states and around the world will return to their home districts after the event ends to mobilize community members and campus officials. “College students have the ability to be at the forefront of this movement,” said Jessy Tolkan, executive director of the Energy Action Coalition, the organizing group for the event. “They have the power to make their campuses models showing these policies are possible.”
Please See ENVIRONMENT, Page 2
Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.), speaks at the 2009 Power Shift Movement held at the Washington Covention Center this weekend. FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK
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‘No coal, no warming, resistance is forming’ ENVIRONMENT, from Page 1
Andrew Nazdin, a junior government and politics major and campaign director for the Maryland Student Climate Coalition, was one such student. “We want to send those 10,000 students back to their campuses like a trained army,” Nazdin said. “Representatives are going to go back to their home districts, and we’ll be there waiting.” That army turned out yesterday, leading a march attempting to peacefully shut down the coal-burning Capitol Power Plant — an action not directly associated with Power Shift. The Capitol Climate Action, another environmental activism organization, met in Spirit of Justice Park in Washington yesterday, where thousands of protesters turned out with megaphones and banners on 10-foot poles. The group then marched to the Capitol Power Plant, where more than 200 officers — some with riot gear — awaited their arrival. SWAT team officers were present, said Capitol Police spokesperson Sgt. Kim Schneider. She also said blocking the entrances of the building was not illegal, and no police action would be taken unless crimes were committed. “They could be out here all day and do this,” she said. “They should.” A podium was assembled on the sidewalk across the street from the plant and several people, including Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), spoke. “Welcome to Washington,” she said. “We’ve been expecting you.” Bill McKibben, co-founder of environmental website 350.org who also spoke at Power Shift Saturday night, articulated the objections of the protesters. “A coal power plant operating just the
way it’s supposed to still destroys this planet,” he said. “Nothing has to go wrong with it— it’s wrong to begin with.” Several students from this university’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society marched in the protest and stopped to block the main gate of the plant. “What’s really great about this is that it’s a critical mass of young people that are finally standing up,” said sophomore English and government and politics major Malcolm Harris, who is also an opinion columnist for The Diamondback. The protesters packed around the plant chanting: “No coal, no warming, resistance is forming,” and “unicorns, leprechauns, clean coal” until 5 p.m., when they “declared victory” and left together. There were no arrests, according to Davey Rogner, the Student Government Association’s environmental liason. It is not clear what impact the protest had on actual plant operations. The goal was to block all entrances for the 3 p.m. shift change, preventing the next shift from starting work, but the plant had ample time to simply move the shift change to avoid the protest. But participants still viewed the action as a success. Sophomore American studies and LGBT studies major Josef Parker was part of the march on the plant. “This is amazing,” he said. “It’s all about setting a tone and sending a message. Young people are setting a very assertive tone.” The protest, however, may have had political impact before the conference even started: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) released a letter Thursday asking the Capitol architect to switch the nearby Capitol Power Plant from coal to natural gas.
Protesters march in the shadow of the Capitol building on the way to a coal-burning power plant Monday. RICH ABDILL/FOR THE DIAMONDBACK
The fact that politicians were looking at a power plant that has burned coal for 103 years and demanding change hours before Power Shift began was a huge sign of the conference’s potential power, McKibben said. “That’s not a coincidence,” he added. “That’s a movement.” The Power Shift conference that inspired the protest began Friday and featured more than 200 seminars, work-
shops and lectures designed to provide attendees with tools to lobby their elected officials more effectively. But despite being less than 30 minutes from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, where most Power Shift sessions occurred, and Clean Energy for UMD offering to subsidize registration costs, this university was ranked fourth among attending colleges with 131 registrants. But overall, Power Shift saw a
jump in attendance from 5,500 last November, when it was held on this campus, to about 12,000 this year. The students that attended were excited for the opportunity to make a difference, they said. “I wanted to come together with students that have a common purpose,” said Leah Weiss, a sophomore environmental science major. The power of the growing youth voice, along with the tremendous momentum coming from the election of President Barack Obama, was a recurring theme of the conference. Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) reaffirmed the power of the youth voice theme in her keynote speech Saturday night. “It was young people who got themselves a president,” she said. “It was young people who got a new Congress. And it is young people who put climate change on the agenda.” Tolkan said young people are a new political force to be reckoned with. “Twenty-four million young voters came out this past election,” Tolkan said. “We showed that we could make political change in this election. It is critical that we flex that new political muscle and demand bold legislation.” And in meetings with more than 350 members of Congress, including House Majority Leader and university alumnus Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who represents College Park, young voters attempted to flex that new muscle by questioning the politicians on their positions. “Young people voted in record numbers,” Teplitzky said. “Now, they’re looking for what’s next: This is it.” abdilldbk@gmail.com
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State considers same-sex partner benefits BENEFITS, from Page 1 years, the benefits offered to their opposite-sex counterparts. If the state legislature approves Gov. Martin O’Malley’s (D) proposed budget — which state lawmakers must vote on before the end of the legislative session in April — gay and lesbian university employees and their partners will be granted health benefits, saving Steele and Zeiger more than $10,000 annually due to Steele’s health prob-
lems and work situation. “I’m a self-employed massage therapist,” Steele said. “Sometimes, I have part-time jobs that don’t offer any insurance, and I have a degenerated disk in my back.” Steele, who underwent surgeries on her shoulder, lower back and ovaries in 2007, said her medical treatments cost the couple nearly $800 a month — costs that would be covered by the university if they were a heterosexual couple.
“There was a couple who left because they couldn’t deal with the fact that there was no domestic partner benefits.” ROBYN ZEIGER FAMILY SCIENCE LECTURER
“I’ve been working harder than I should just to pay for
my insurance,” she said. “If I give too many massages, it aggravates my back.” The proposed extension would allow this state to join Washington and 15 other states in offering equal benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of state employees, including university employees. “Opposite-sex couples might be a little upset because the legislation would only extend benefits to samesex domestic partners,” Zeiger said. “But they have
APARTMENT LOCATOR PAGES Pages 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, and 13
the option to get married. Whereas if we could get married, this wouldn’t be necessary because we’d automatically have marriage benefits. It’s not that same-sex couples don’t want to get married; we just can’t. This is a good interim step.” Though Zeiger and Steele said the policy would be invaluable to those who would benefit from its passage, the number of couples who stand to benefit is hard to predict, but both university and state officials said the number is likely to be small — up to 300 state employees in a workforce of about 70,000 are expected to sign up for the extended health benefits at a predicted cost of $1 to $3 million. “That’s part of the very interesting issue,” Zeiger said. “In all the years I’ve been at this university, I know maybe one or two other couples here in a similar situation. There was a couple who left because they couldn’t deal with the fact that there was no domestic partner benefits.” University officials also predict that by extending health benefits, potential “talent” that would otherwise likely opt to work elsewhere would now consider employment at this university. “It represents a modest cost, depending on who signs up,” university President Dan Mote said. “We had supported this long before others signed on. We have lost candidates due to the absence of benefits. But fundamentally, it’s just the right thing to do.”
Though LBGT advocates say the extension of health benefits is a “good first step,” many conservative organizations still oppose the extension of benefits, saying that it could be the first step toward allowing same-sex couples to marry. “This is a controversial issue, so you wouldn’t expect everyone to agree,” Mote said. “If everyone agreed, we wouldn’t have had to wait so long.” The university considered extending health benefits to same-sex couples in 2007, though the measure was shot down by the Board of Regents, a 17-member board that oversees the University System of Maryland, because they said it would require a change in state law. But the couple is hopeful. They believe O’Malley’s domestic partnership benefits plan will be approved and will help solve many of their persistent problems and added that they hope to see the university apply the policy to other benefits, including tuition remission for family members. “We have a lifetime commitment to each other,” Steele said. “It’s nothing more or less special than what heterosexual couples have.” “But this one little thing affects our everyday life in so many ways,” Zeiger added. “It doesn’t hurt anybody, and we just want to have what everyone else already has.” Senior staff writer Allison Stice contributed to this report. langdbk@gmail.com
Gill hopes new, expanded programs increase yield rate ADMISSIONS, from Page 1
from the university. “We’ve said, ‘Let’s just see accepted students. The office what happens,’” Poli said. is e-mailing acceptance let- “What has happened has ters, having alumni host been great. Letting them create the site on their events and asking own is something individual colleges they appreciate.” to make personal The university is phone calls, all to also trying to catch the attention attract students of prospective stuusing lower-tech dents and maintainmethods. They have ing enrollment numdoubled the number bers in spite of a of alumni who are struggling economy. volunteering to 100 The website, to call newly admitwhich debuted Jan. ted students and 31, features forums, congratulate them groups, photos and a on their acceptance. location to meet “We’re trying to other admitted stuconnect them to dents, Poli said. their community Terpnet already has and feel like they more than 1,000 are part of the Unimembers, 1,600 versity of Maryphotos and 20 land,” said Meghan groups. It has DeFord, coordinaproven particularly ALLISON tor of alumni popular with out-of- POLI state applicants. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF recruitment. MARKETING FOR The volunteers Members of the net- FRESHMAN ADMISSIONS will host 20 events work come from 26 this year, double the different states and 11 countries, according to number from last year. The program refers them to Poli. “It sounds very cliché, but alumni from the area where it provides students with an the new student lives, which opportunity to make friends connects students to their before they get here,” Poli community and the universaid. “This is a dynamic and sity, DeFord said. Barbara Gill, assistant vice powerful tool for students.” She said conversation president of freshman admisamong students is more sions, said she hopes these credible than conversation new efforts will improve the between students and admis- number of students who choose to enroll at the unisions counselors. “Hearing it from a peer is versity. “Part of it has to do with more believable and easier and more exciting,” she said. improving the yield rate, and “All of that is really impor- part of it is about building communities and improving tant.” Poli said the admissions expectations of our stuoffice is trying to let prospec- dents,” Gill said. tive students talk without regulations or restrictions taustindbk@gmail.com
“What has happened has been great. Letting them create the site on their own is something they appreciate.”
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THE DIAMONDBACK | TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009
THE DIAMONDBACK
Opinion
STEVEN OVERLY
YOUR INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK PHONE: (301) 314-8200 | FAX: (301) 314-8358 3150 SOUTH CAMPUS DINING HALL | COLLEGE PARK, MD., 20742 NEWSDESK .DBK@GMAIL.COM
EDITOR IN CHIEF
ROXANA HADADI MANAGING EDITOR
BEN SLIVNICK
MARDY SHUALY
OPINION EDITOR
OPINION EDITOR
Staff Editorial
Guest Column
False LEED
Dialogue should start here
T
he university’s green bandwagon has made its latest stop at the per gallon were eligible for Green Permits. Allen said his department revised Department of Transportation Services, which has started selling dis- the list to make it comply with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards for energy efficient building. But counted parking permits to drivers of environmentally friendly cars. Well, at least to some of them. The list of eligible cars is limited to the more ironically, the Green Permits program won’t even accomplish this. LEED is a set of guidelines that certify buildings’ energy efficiency, awarding Honda Civic, the Honda Civic Hybrid, the Toyota Camry Hybrid and six other points for environmentally-friendly construction techniques. State law hybrid cars. Transportation Services Director David Allen said he hopes the permits will requires all new university buildings to meet LEED Silver standards, and issuing so-called Green Permits can earn a building one of the 33 encourage eco-friendly habits and equip the university’s points it would need to make the benchmark. But Allen newly constructed buildings to earn certification from the seems to have read his LEED booklet wrong. According to U.S. Green Building Council. The program will certainly LEED’s published guidelines, more than 70 cars must be elireward drivers lucky enough to own any one of the nine cars DOTS’ green permits fail gible to receive green parking. LEED standards also only on the department’s list, but we fear ultimately it won’t to meet the departments’ require discounted permits to be offered to individuals parkaccomplish either of the stated goals. The fundamental problem with the Green Permits pro- goals and raise larger ques- ing in newly constructed buildings, not the entire campus. Even passing consideration should make it obvious that gram is it’s founded on an arbitrary list of energy-efficient tions about its operations. Transportation Services’ list of nine arbitrarily chosen cars cars. Allen said Transportation Services compiled the list of will do little to encourage greener car purchasing or earn eligible cars from an Environmental Protection Agency rating system. But even that list isn’t dictated by any obvious standard. There are sev- LEED ratings. If the people who designed the program can’t see that, they’re eral cheaper cars with comparable gas mileage excluded from the list. The being either dumb or dishonest. This is a relatively small pilot program in the absence of a clear principle makes the system seem more like a lottery than a grand scheme of things, but that doesn’t mean it’s not significant. With 361 step toward our green goals. We’re left wondering if the university is pushing employees, 23,016 parking spaces and a fleet of 58 buses, Transportation Services is a big operation. If they can’t handle a small pilot program properly, environmentalism or Honda sales. Ironically, just last summer, Transportation Services had a permit program there is cause for serious concern about how they’re handling their larger guided by a reasonable standard. Originally, all cars getting more than 37 miles responsibilities.
Our View
Editorial Cartoon: Shai Goller
Getting over Duke: Not all is lost; smell the roses fter a group of people in striped shirts teamed up with Duke last week to beat our men’s basketball team and depress the hell out of me, I decided that it’s time to take a look at this campus through rose-colored glasses. It’s time to consider the small pleasures that come with going to this university. Like, for example, when someone falls off their bike. I saw a guy attempt to peel around a corner on his bike during a thunderstorm once, and I thought to myself, “There is no way the laws of physics will allow this man to continue upright.” Sure enough, he goes flying. That’s the kind of thing that makes your heart smile, like your first true love or a cup of warm soup on a cold, blustery day. I’m going to get some letters for this one, but I stand by it: The Diner’s breakfast, which I woke up in time for while I lived on the campus perhaps twice, is
A
ROB
GINDES delicious. Eggs and sausages and the waffles with the little Terrapin, hands on turtle hips. I couldn’t get enough of that stuff. Speaking of the dining halls, how about when your underclassman friends have meal points left over and you score free food? For that matter, it’s any of the free food you can get on this campus — and there’s a lot of it. I'd like to personally thank the honors program for all the ice cream, the Society of Black Journalists for the pizza and the North Hill Community for the free barbecue. Am I a black honors student liv-
ing on North Hill? No. Am I hungry? Hell to the yes. Small victories. Like waking up to an email from your professor saying class is canceled and going back to sleep. It’s like your own mini-snow day. For that matter, it’s any of the snow days we get. The day afterward — when it’s actually snowing and we don’t get our classes canceled — not so much. But the snow days themselves are awesome. And yes, I wear my pajamas inside-out and you should too. It’s having an independently run student newspaper so when a university department is more messed up than Rihanna’s face (the Department of Transportation Services), we can talk about it without worrying. If someone needs to be called out, we can do it. David Allen. Dan Mote. Gary Williams. Nariman Farvardin, for whatever he does. Rob Gindes. Wait a minute. Let’s move on. And how about all the fun traditions here? Today I saw someone walking to-
ward the “point of failure” and asked myself this question: If the guy got close enough, would I sprint up and tackle him before he ruined his academic career? I thought for about .0002 seconds. Of course I would. And I rub Testudo’s nose every day, especially the one outside the alumni center, because he gets absolutely no love. A few months ago, someone told me my columns are always too negative, but truth be told I’m pretty happy. Maybe housing sucks, maybe the economy’s in the crapper and the job market’s worse (plus, I’m in journalism so I wasn’t going to be anything but impoverished anyway). But sometimes it’s nice to think about all the fun stuff. Next week: Back to why I hate everything. Rob Gindes is a junior journalism major. He can be reached at gindesdbk@gmail.com.
Textbooks: Learning to appreciate the sticker shock
I
’ll come right out and say it: When deciding which textbooks to assign, professors do not prioritize affordability. This will not come as news to anyone who has taken a class recently. Feeling sticker shock at the University Book Center is as familiar as searching in vain for parking or rubbing Testudo’s nose. I do not mean to suggest that professors are unsympathetic about the high cost of textbooks. It’s just that professors and students have different perspectives when it comes to the assigned readings. From a student’s perspective, cost is the first, second and third priority. Every semester, students scramble to find used copies or other ways to save money. It can be particularly infuriating to students when professors assign the newest edition of a textbook, which is not available used and costs more than an older edition.
But professors have an entirely different understanding about textbooks. This may be hard for students to appreciate, but when professors assign a text, they’re doing so because they believe that book is the best one for a student to read. Professors spend a lot of time constructing syllabi and reading lists. The presentation of material is carefully considered, and every book is chosen with a specific educative purpose in mind. Books are not just added on a whim. The reason to assign the latest editions of textbooks is because new research is constantly being done. While certain facts may not change, intellectual breakthroughs in any given field can alter the way information is presented. Here’s an example using history textbooks, which are the ones I’m most familiar with. In an episode of The Simpsons, Bart is
JEREMY
SULLIVAN crawling through the attic of Springfield Elementary. He passes a box labeled “1950s history textbooks — too racist.” Then he passes a box labeled “1990s history textbooks — not racist enough.” The joke, of course, is that racist attitudes in the ’50s and politically correct attitudes in the ’90s resulted in textbooks with skewed narratives. Even though many of the facts in older history textbooks will still be accurate, it is preferable to use a current textbook that reflects the most recent advances in historical research.
You are spending thousands of dollars on your education. You attend one of the top public research institutions in the country. You are paying for professors, lecturers and teaching assistants who are experts in their fields. They know all of the relevant literature and keep up with the scholarly journals that are at the forefront of new research. It may be hard to appreciate when your wallet feels so empty, but the books professors make you buy are the ones they think are the best. Professors try, when possible, to find ways to save students money on textbooks, but this is a secondary consideration to providing students with a first-rate reading list. A high-quality reading list is the foundation of a high-quality education. Jeremy Sullivan is a doctoral candidate studying American history. He can be reached at sullivandbk@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.
JENN YOUNG During winter break, some of us cried and shouted, feeling fear and hate and rage about the violence in Gaza and southern Israel. We watched children mutilated by heavy artillery, civilians as targets for violence and politicians using war as a tactic in their political campaigns. It encouraged many of us to take action to stop the destruction any way we knew how — protesting in Washington, writing letters to anyone we thought might listen and organizing events to raise awareness about the atrocities. So why, if our student body is so invested in relieving the people we care about from the ravages of war, are we not taking part in more constructive efforts to rebuild the trust that has been destroyed? Our campus is so polarized when it comes to discussing the Israeli-Palestinian relationship. The count of Qassam rockets launched into southern Israel and the mounting death toll of women and children in Gaza became the centerpiece of many of our Facebook pages. Not many had both updates running simultaneously. Similarly, a number of student groups have hosted and are currently organizing events to “raise awareness” and show “solidarity” with one side or the other, but never to emphasize the pain of all those who have been devastated by this conflict, regardless of nationality, religion or ideology. It is natural and even expected for people to take a side, feeling betrayed and outraged by the wounds inflicted by the “other.” However, we are all missing an opportunity to take legitimate steps toward ending this devastating cycle of fear, hatred and violence. Until we can all recognize that this cycle of retaliation cannot stop until we listen to the opinions of others fighting just as strongly on the other side, there will be neither peace nor justice. The events organized on this campus have played a large role in developing an important sense of concern on the campus, informing students of the atrocities committed and working to excite action. However, it is necessary to go one step further and form links between seemingly contradictory organizations in an attempt to diversify and expand the audience, to paint a more complete picture of the struggle and to avoid planning overlapping events. If the shortsighted goals of scoring points and justifying violence are not replaced with dialogue and mutual concern for the needs of all of those involved, there can be no sustainable peace. Working with the “other” is not an easy task. But if we cannot cooperate here, on a university campus with thriving student groups on both sides of this particular conflict, how can we expect the civilians and politicians of Israel and the Palestinian territories to do so? And if we cannot hope for peace settlements and sustainable cooperation in the future for Israelis and Palestinians, then what are we all struggling to achieve? I believe in peace, not because I’m an idealist, but because I know that when strong individuals committed to justice for their people come together on multiple sides of a conflict, change is possible. Cooperation is not easy but it is necessary for the development of creative solutions to end injustice, violence and hatred. It may seem we have different goals and concerns, but at the end of the day most of us want better lives for those suffering. Jenn Young is a junior history major and former opinion columnist for The Diamondback. She can be reached at jyoung22@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.
TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009 | OPINION | THE DIAMONDBACK
5
Best of the week “Put some credibility behind the probability and make it a certainty.”
“It is not, though, the end of the OCO team. We’re plotting the way forward.”
- University senator Brad Docherty, on the need to more seriously consider a proposal to ban smoking on the campus. From the Feb. 24 edition of The Diamondback
- Professor Ross Salawitch, after a satellite he had worked on for 13 years crashed into the Indian Ocean. From the Feb. 27 edition of The Diamondback
Professor’s Perspective
Planning for the worst SUSAN DWYER [Editors’ note: Every other week, The Diamondback will publish a column from a member of the faculty that connects a professor's expertise to an issue important to the university community.] I’d like to invite you to think about death: your death, the death of your parents and the death of your siblings and friends. You may politely decline — after all, you and your parents have years ahead of you. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the typical college age student today will live to be about 75; the typical baby-boomer parent of a college age student will live to be about 70. The downside of the increased longevity for Americans, made possible by medical advances since the beginning of the 20th century, is that most of us will die of a late-onset, progressive disease of some kind (heart disease or cancer). Others will develop and live with chronic, often painful and debilitating conditions that may have killed us in an earlier era, like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease or ALS, or Alzheimer’s disease. Living longer with more treatment choices sounds good, but this opportunity significantly increases the burdens on us and our families to make decisions about end-of-life care. These burdens can be terrifying and psychologically devastating if we have not prepared ourselves to make them well. Unless we each think carefully now about how we want the end of our lives to go and we talk openly and honestly with our families about death and dying, we make ourselves vulnerable to some truly horrific situations. Imagine 20 years from now, arguing passionately with your adult sibling about whether your father, who is dying of lung cancer, should be resuscitated the next time he codes. Or about whether your mother, debilitated with Alzheimer’s, should be enrolled in a clinical trial aimed at studying that disease. Or imagine that you are among the hundreds of thousands of young adults who will be critically injured in a motor vehicle accident this year. If you suffer severe brain injuries that put you in a permanent vegetative state, who will make the decisions about your treatment? Will this person make decisions in accordance with what you would choose? We are fortunate to reside in a state that leads the country in health care decision law and policy. The Maryland Attorney General’s Office maintains an excellent website (www.oag.state.md.us) where you can learn about the options available to you to make plans for these hard but inevitable decisions. Writing a living will or advance directive that specifies your wishes regarding how you wish to be treated should you cease to be able to make decisions for yourself is one choice. My guess is that you will find it extraordinarily difficult to be precise about the conditions under which you want every measure to be taken to save your life and those under which you would not. This is no fault of the form. It is a predictable corollary of our ignorance about the future. Moreover, many studies have shown that medical personnel routinely ignore them in favor of doing all they can to save lives (another side effect of inescapable lack of exactitude of advance directives). A different option is to nominate a health care agent. Every adult is allowed to give durable power of attorney for health care decision-making to another adult. This person, who need not be biologically related to you, is thereby legally authorized to make all health care decisions for you when you are no longer able to do so. You will need to choose this person carefully and to share with them all sorts of private things: how you perceive the meaning and value of your life, your spiritual commitments, your views about what kinds of life you consider not worth living and so on. Nominating a family member might also require revealing things you have not yet told your mother or father — for example, that you are gay. Imagine the added trauma of your lover not being able to see you before you die. Honesty and directness are hard to achieve within the healthiest of families as well as among the very best of friends. They are even harder when we are sick and scared or when our loved ones are faced with the anguish of our deaths. So, please, accept my invitation. Start thinking today about how to begin these conversations about death and dying with your parents, siblings and friends. Avail yourself of the useful information about your rights in this state. Do what you can to ensure that the end of your life and the end of your loved ones’ lives reflect the human grace and thoughtful intelligence that characterizes those lives now. Susan Dwyer is an associate philosophy professor. She can be reached at dwyer@umd.edu.
“I love sandwiches — I could eat them every day.” - Senior English major Earl Schaffer, anticipating the opening of Jason’s Deli in downtown College Park. From the Feb. 26 edition of The Diamondback
Terrorism: Don’t train, teach
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n 1970, military recruitment on the campus and an unpopular war abroad led to two weeks of protests, a student-faculty strike that shut down the university and a National Guard takeover of the school. Almost 40 years later, the university itself has been recruited. When I first heard about the terrorism studies minor offered next year, I joked to some friends that it was probably funded by the Department of Homeland Security to train and brainwash future operatives. This is the knee-jerk leftist response to such things, and I was happy to laugh it off. That is, until I found out the minor actually is funded by the Department of Homeland Security to train and brainwash future “anti-terrorism” operatives. On its face, a minor in terrorism studies sounds pretty interesting. I’m all for the creation of more obscure programs, and a whole minor devoted to a single military tactic could get pretty indepth. But that’s not how this minor is going to work. Here’s the description of why the minor exists from the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism: “The minor is designed to train the next generation of terrorism analysts, including students who plan to pursue graduate study related to terrorism as well as
MALCOLM
HARRIS employment in the federal, state, local, non-profit, and/or private sectors.” The description is explicit. The minor isn’t even designed to teach anyone about anything, it’s a trade-school program for kids who watch too much 24 and can’t wait until they get to torture their own “suspects.” Would we expect anything less from the Department of Homeland Security? This is what happens when the university doesn’t have the money to run its own programs and has to turn elsewhere. Student activists have to work for 10 years to get a trial run of the Latino studies minor, while the Department of Homeland Security can come in, throw $12 million at us and have its own program. The study of the phenomenology of terrorism is something we cannot leave to the federal government to teach any more than we ought to let the Ku Klux Klan teach a CORE diversity class. The federal government has failed miserably to understand the nature and root causes of ter-
rorism. While scholars like Chalmers Johnson tried to explain that terrorism is a reaction to U.S. global hegemony, we have invaded more poor countries. Is a government-funded program likely to teach Johnson’s work? Are they likely to teach Marxist analyses of why and how terrorism arises? Are they likely to teach anything that would have students questioning the wars that the same government conducts? With such a politically heated subject, we need a program created by professors whose agenda is to teach and learn about an important topic, not government agencies whose goal is to maintain American supremacy. The university is not a trade school for Jack Bauer wannabes. We are an elite educational institution, and to bring in a program like this is an insult to all the faculty members who work hard to teach, not to “train.” It’s always nice to be able to say your school was the first with this or has the only that, but when it comes to a terrorism studies minor funded by the Department of Homeland Security, we should be embarrassed.
Jonathan Kumareson Freshman Finance
Matt Dernoga is a junior government and politics major. He can be reached at mdernoga@umd.edu.
Sana Javed is a senior government and politics and Spanish major. She can be reached at sanajaved7@gmail.com.
“ “ “ “ “ “ I don’t think it’s necessary for me, because I have a cell phone. I know kids that do [use a land line], but I don’t think it’s necessary.”
I didn’t even have a cell phone coming into college, so all of last year I had a land line.”
I think the option should be available for students if they want.”
Jessie Gordon Sophomore Biology
Josh Boker Sophomore Psychology
Rachel Aranson Sophomore Psychology
Overall, I think they’re not necessary, but I’m someone who used it. I’m in a suite, and I’m the only one who has mine hooked up.”
I think every student has a cell phone, it’s just assumed.”
Katie O’Mailey Freshman Biology
Energy: A tar-nished reputation
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ast week, President Barack Obama met with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss energy. The United States and Canada share the largest energy trade partnership in the world, with Canada supplying the United States with more oil and natural gas than any other country. A major point of interest has been the Canadian oil sands, from which Canada is extracting increasing amounts of oil to export to the U.S. There has been a lot of talk from Obama regarding climate change, environmental protection and clean energy. This has concerned the Canadian government, which wants any climate agreements to exempt their oil sands from regulation. What was Obama’s reaction to this? He folded faster than a caffeinated origamist and agreed that the U.S. and Canada should work together to make the extraction and burning of the oil from the oil sands “clean.” I’ve also heard the tobacco companies are working on a healthy cigarette. Oil sands production is the dirtiest on Earth. Thousands of acres of forests in Alberta have to be destroyed to get to the oil, and then vast amounts of natural gas need to be used to separate the oil
MATT
DERNOGA from the sand and clay. The waste from this flows into waterways as toxic sludge. Then we burn the oil. Ironically, since natural gas is used to extract the oil, less of it is shipped from Canada to the U.S.. where it could be used to replace some coal plants and meet America’s growing energy needs. I’d prefer renewables, but natural gas is far cleaner. This laundry list of environmental crimes is why a Catholic bishop whose diocese includes part of the oil sands released a harsh letter to Canadian oil companies and government leaders. After going into depth about the environmental liabilities I listed above, he concludes that “any one of the above destruction effects provokes moral concern, but it is when the damaging effects are all added together that the moral legitimacy of oil sands production is challenged.” While Obama and Harper have been tap dancing around oil sands, Mexico has announced one of the
SANA JAVED
boldest plans from developing countries in addressing climate change. A couple of months ago, they put forth an initiative to halve emissions below 2002 levels by 2050 through investments in alternative energy sources and a cap and trade system that puts a price on pollution. They’re working to convert coal and oil plants to natural gas, upgrading their bus fleets and providing strong incentives for forest preservation. Here’s an idea. Instead of getting tarnished by Canada and shown up by Mexico, Obama should forge a new kind of energy partnership with our neighbors. Negotiate a North American regional climate agreement that eliminates tariffs for clean energy technologies and the products used to make them. At the same time, put a price on pollution from trade that reflects the true cost of activities such as the use of the Canadian oil sands. Share the money generated from this price tag, and use it to invest in new technologies to create jobs, rather than wasting money on trying to make the oil sands clean.
Malcolm Harris is a sophomore English and government and politics major. He can be reached at harrisdbk@gmail.com.
Is it necessary for dorm rooms to have land line telephones?
Kevin Hughes Sophomore English
Justice in robes On Feb. 9, several students from Feminism Without Borders met with Joe Ebaugh, director of trademark licensing, and Sally Koblinsky, assistant president and chief of staff, both of the university administration. The meeting was held to discuss the status of the university’s relationship with Russell Athletic after its breach of the university’s Code of Conduct. Russell Athletic not only fired 1,800 workers in a Honduran factory that produces university collegiate apparel but also placed all employees on a blacklist preventing them from finding other work in any factory in Honduras. Investigators report that Russell took these drastic measures due to the unionizing efforts of 750 employees. The university representatives cite a lack of evidence for their inaction, but the only thing really missing is accountability for Russell and its heartless labor practices. This news does not come as a surprise, because Russell has a history of workers’ rights violations. The Worker Rights Consortium, a factory monitoring group sponsored by 185 universities, and the Fair Labor Association, another monitoring group, have previously found that Russell’s Honduras operation unjustly fired 145 union supporters in 2007. After the protests of students and universities nation-wide, Russell paid back wages, reinstated the workers and recognized unions. Today, both organizations find themselves again criticizing Russell for labor violations. It is also reported that on more than 100 occasions, managers have told factory workers that if they continued to organize, they would be fired. Taking this history into account, along with the recent undeniable evidence, 12 other universities have cut their contracts with Russell, including our rival, Duke University, and our neighbor, Georgetown University. The University of Washington cut its contract immediately, stating that, “Reports issued by the WRC and the FLA have the led the University to conclude that there was abuse of worker rights and animus towards union workers, which played a role in the decision to close the factory.” Since major universities ending agreements mid-contract do not compel our administration, then perhaps the opinion of David Bonior, a congressman of almost 30 years and former Democratic Whip, will help. Bonior noted in a Huffington Post article that, “Russell has a code of conduct which is supposed to guarantee respect for worker rights. Evidently, such codes are just pieces of paper to companies like Russell, but they mean something more to those schools that recognize a responsibility to set an example of ethical leadership. Unless companies that violate such codes are held accountable, in a way that shows up on their bottom line, these commitments are just false promises to the workers they are supposed to protect.” Bonior, also chairman of American Rights at Work, stated that “Russell’s violations of labor rights at its Honduran plants, where workers average less than $1.50 per hour, are the worst recently reported in Central America.” Unfortunately, the administration believes that educating the company, instead of holding them responsible, is a better course of action. If students are held accountable for violating the Code of Academic Integrity, then million-dollar corporations should be held accountable for violating the university’s Code of Conduct, especially when their actions have taken the jobs and livelihoods of thousands of Honduran workers and their families. As a student concerned about the human cost of our apparel, I wonder how many more universities have to cut their contracts for our own administration to follow suit? How many breaches of ethics and codes of conduct will it take for us to honor our own standards? How many more eye-witness testimonies are needed for us to accept the truth? How many more workers need to be fired, blacklisted and stranded without hope for us to take a stand? As consumers, we have unprecedented power to ensure that our logo is never a symbol that represents unethical labor practices and a violation of both human and workers’ rights. If money talks, then certainly Russell will be listening and more than eager to comply when their million-dollar contracts are on the line. But this type of compliance will follow only if we cut our contract with Russell and make the corporation honor the humane standards it once vowed to uphold. I implore all students at this university to contact Joe Ebaugh (jebaugh@umd.edu) and demand the university listen to the pleas of students and workers, at home and abroad, to cut our contract with Russell Athletic. We must take a stand against this corporation for its shameful treatment of workers and blatant disregard for human rights.
at issue I don’t think it’s necessary, because everyone has a cell phone, unless you need one, like if you are an RA.”
Guest Column
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Now Hiring Energetic and Friendly Servers! We’re only a few miles away from the University of Maryland College Park. Please apply in person at 3480 East West Highway, Hyattsville, MD 20782 (best time is Monday-Friday 2pm-4pm). Come be a part of our team!
Variety of sports, dance and art classes for children 3-12 years. Looking to start for April season. Classes in Montgomery County. Flexible hours. Pay starts at $15/hour & up.
301-424-2401 INTERNSHIP/PAID. Wanted: Aggressive, outgoing go-getter to work with Senior Vice President at Wachovia Securities- now Wells Fargo. Call Bill Flanigan, Senior Vice President. 301-961-0131
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Summer Babysitter needed for summer months, June 15August 29. Two girls, 9 and 11. Weekdays 8:45 am-3:45 pm. University Park neighborhood. Must have driver’s license, references, and be a non-smoker. $350 per week. Phone: 301-277-6641.
FOR RENT LEASE AVAILABLE JUNE 1ST. Adelphi Rd. Almost on campus housing. 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths. L/r. kitchenette house. $560/room for $2800/month; 5 bedroom house $540/room for $2700/month including new a/c, utilities not included. Some off-street parking. Large private yards, washer/dryer, lawn care provided. Early signing bonus. CONTACT DR. KRUGER: 301-408-4801. WALK TO CAMPUS Houses: 7409 Columbia Ave.- 4 bedroom. 6807 Baltimore Ave.- 5 bedroom. 7007 Dartmouth Ave.- 5 bedroom. Apartments: 4502 Guilford Rd. (behind Zips). 1, 2, or 3 bedrooms. 301-699-1863; dunnrentals.com College Park. Houses 4/5/6 bedrooms, Apartments, 2 bedrooms. 410-544-4438
FOR RENT 4 BR, 2 full BA (1 in MBR). In Berwyn Hts., MD. Washer/dryer. $2,000 per mo. Utilities NOT incl. Available April 1st. Shown in eve. & wkends. Call 301-741-7229. 4 grad students seeking another to share 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom. Close to campus. Available 4/1/09. 301-648-2548 House. 1 mile from campus. 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, w/d, deck. Renovated. Lease starts June. $2,500/month. Call Brit 301-806-0790
Now Hiring Service Team Members Servers We offer flexible hours, discounted meals, paid vacations, and a lively environment. When you’re here, you’re family. To apply, visit us today at 14650 Baltimore Ave., Laurel, MD 20707 between the hours of 2 and 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. EOE
ColdFusion Internship 6 months, 20-40 flexible hours per week, small software firm in Rockville, minimum 1 year programming experience, you will learn and write code with professional developers! Visit teratech.com for more info.
BECOME A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER/EMT!
– Free Housing – Free Training and Gear – Scholarship Opportunities – Tax Breaks For more information, contact Heather Burley, Recruiter, 301-583-1911 or recruitment@pgcvfra.org Earn extra money. Students needed asap. Earn up to $150/day being a mystery shopper. No experience required. Call 1-800-722-4791
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Knox Box Apts. One Block from Campus 2 BR from $1200-1700 301-770-5623/24 Email: gosia@pinstripeproperty.com APARTMENT. ONE BEDROOM. Private house, own entrance, a/c, w/d, cable, utilities included. $850/month. Non-smoking. Small pet okay. Under 1 mile to campus. 301-699-0408 UNIVERSITY VIEW. 1 bedroom $790 sublease in 2 bedroom female apartment. 410-884-7757 Walk to campus. Nice 5 bedroom house. Summer or Fall availability. 301-918-0203
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This Deal Has Appeal Diamondback Classifieds are the best deal in College Park! Just 35¢ per word, $3.50 minimum. Plus, if you run your ad four consecutive days, you’ll receive a fifth day FREE! And, all classifieds appear in our online newspaper diamondbackonline.com! To place your ad, come to room 3136 South Campus Dining Hall, Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Or, you can place your ad over the phone with your Visa, Mastercard, or American Express. Call 301-314-8000. Save a bunch.
Apartments. 2 bedrooms. 2-4 people. Near Smith business school. 301-770-5624 HOUSES/Apartments- Walking distance. 1-7 bedrooms. 301-335-7345. ecb1985@hotmail.com
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Scared of mortgages? March 4th 10am2pm Grand Ballroo m Loun ge Stamp
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TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009 | THE DIAMONDBACK
7
Features HOROSCOPESTELLA WILDER
CROSSWORD ACROSS 52 Fuel tanker 40 Weak 31 Beauty parlor 61 Work by 1 Athlete 43 Jacob tricked him 53 Gridiron option 32 General Rousseau 5 Raises corn 54 Pre-college 45 Auditioned direction 63 Space lead-in 10 String together 55 Major nuisance 48 Kitchen gadgets 35 More secure 64 Climb a pole 14 Flu symptom 56 Towel off 50 Shimmers 38 Very hot 65 Hawsers 15 Mukluk wearer 66 Sporty wheels 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 16 Not written 67 Turn state’s 17 Just evidence 14 15 18 Luxury hideaway 68 Crystal gazers 19 Parakeet quarters 69 Loafer 17 18 20 Mild cheese 20 21 22 23 (2 wds.) DOWN 22 Frothy dessert 1 Door frame part 24 25 24 Otherwise 2 Curved molding 25 Kid in “Aliens” 3 Ringlet 26 27 28 29 26 Small tower 4 Zoo employee 29 Cheapest, 5 Top-notch (hyph.) 33 34 35 36 as a piano 6 Biscotto flavoring 33 Riviera summer 7 Decide, as a jury 37 38 39 40 34 Make a pit stop 8 Wire gauge (2 wds.) 9 Pollen-bearer 42 43 44 45 36 Clean energy 10 Style of speaking 37 Large cups 11 S&L offerings 47 48 49 39 Mr. Kramden 12 Old horses 51 52 41 Nefertiti’s river 13 “Fish Magic” 42 Babble artist 53 54 55 56 44 Pilot 21 Shake — —! 46 “— Giovanni” 23 Pays for 60 61 62 47 New recruit 25 Chilly 49 Map feature 26 Arizona city 64 65 51 Not cloudy 27 Driver’s 180 52 Libra’s stone (hyph.) 67 68 53 Dress feature 28 Kingly 56 Glaring (hyph.) 29 Ball-gown fabric © 2009 UNITED FEATURES SYNDICATE 60 Jai — 30 Omit, in speech
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Also born on this date are: Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Olympic runner; Jean Harlow, actress; Jessica Biel, actress; Perry Ellis, designer; Alexander Graham Bell, inventor; James Doohan, actor.
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TUESDAY $2.50 3 Olives, $2.50 Cuervo, $2.50 Jim Beam
WEDNESDAY All specials are 8pm to close unless otherwise noted. All specials subject to change.
orn today, you are not easily stopped, or even delayed, by the kinds of obstacles and roadblocks that can cause others to pull up short. You are tenacious and dedicated, hardworking and often inexhaustible; you set your goals firmly in your mind, and you charge forward regardless of what may lie in your way. Indeed, the more formidable the challenge that lies ahead, the more you let your talents soar, enabling you to rise above anything that might threaten to bring you down. You are a quick thinker who believes in dedicated, unwavering action. There are times when you may tire of going it alone and wish more than anything to have a partner who can run alongside you at all times — but this isn’t likely. You can, of course, have a partner who supports your efforts and champions your causes, but you’ll always have to do most of the work.
$2.50 Captain Morgan, $2.50 Bud/Bud Light, $3 SoCo, $3.50 Long Island, $2 Sex on the Beach, $2 Rails
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L A ED TO
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TODAY’S CROSSWORD SPONSORED BY:
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Previous Day’s Puzzle Solved:
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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.
are looking at the situation through an untinted lens. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — It’s important that you speak for yourself, in all things — even if and when you are not the most knowledgeable person in the room. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — That which goes on in the background may be more important than anything else in which you’re involved — at least for the time being. CANCER (June 21-July 22) — Others may prove unusually insistent as they probe you for information that you’re not yet at liberty to divulge. Keep your head at all times. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — You can win a great deal of praise simply by doing what comes naturally and speaking your mind in a honest, straightforward manner. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — You may be surprised at the attention you’re getting as a result of a recent decision. You have your supporters, surely, and your critics.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Anyone putting on airs is not for you — at least where business is concerned. You want nothing but genuine interaction. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — You’ll want to stay the course, even though someone else may suggest a change. Evening can bring about a reconciliation of sorts. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — Your heart and your head may be battling for control at this time. Avoid any irreversible decisions. A promise comes from afar. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — You may be acting as though you do not care as much as you truly do. Others are sure to see through you, no matter how hard you try. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — It may be difficult for you to hide your emotion as you immerse yourself in a situation that ignites your passions unexpectedly. Copyright 2009 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
TODAY’S HOROSCOPE SPONSORED BY:
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4 PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) — You may be entertaining fears of loss or personal setback — but take care that you’re not creating a problem by thinking negatively. ARIES (March 21-April 19) — A conflict between what you want and what you need can be quickly settled, provided you
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8
THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009
Organizers say Palestinian events are misunderstood POSTERS, from Page 1 up,’” said Quasem, holding the torn flyer in her hand. “I know not everyone shares our opinions, but it is called respect.” Muslim Students’ Association President Ridwanur Rahman said organizers have witnessed resistance to the event since they began advertising last week. Sponsored and coordinated by the MSA and 11 other student groups, Palestinian Solidarity Week aims to expose the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip that some say is caused by Israeli occupation of the area. Events such as “The Palestinian Massacre Will Not Be Televised!” and “Palestine: Voices from Within” will be held throughout the week to inform students on the Palestinian perspective of the occupation and spur educated debate among students. But before the events had even started, organizers said, they saw negative reaction from some mem-
“Some members were also called ‘terrorists,’ and a few members were told to ‘wake up and smell their jihad.’” RIDWANUR RAHMAN MUSLIM STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT
bers of the campus community. “Several members witnessed students ripping the flyers,” Rahman said. “Some members were also called ‘terrorists,’ and a few members were told to ‘wake up and smell their jihad.’” Rahman said he first thought university staff might be taking down the signs because they were not posted in pre-approved locations. However, after calling University Police, he said he was informed students are allowed to post advertisements on the ground, bulletin
boards and kiosks on the campus. University Police spokesman Paul Dillon said the university does not have an operational plan for posters being torn down. “If we see a pattern of a group or individual targeting a specific group, we would investigate,” he said. “If we can demonstrate there was hatred and, most importantly, there was motivation behind the hatred, then University Police would see it as a hate incident, which violates state and university codes.” By state law, every hate incident must be documented and reported to the state, Dillon said. If a student went around the campus screaming or writing racial slurs on the flyers, it would be considered a hate incident, he added. “A sign being ripped does not prove motivated hatred for the groups putting out the flyers,” Dillon said. “Also, University Police is not going to divert resources from rape and burglary cases to find out
“The next day, I was walking to lab when I overheard a kid say to another, ‘Did you see that Palestinian stuff? I spit on it and showed them who’s boss.’” HANA ELHATTAB MUSLIM STUDENT ASSOCIATION MEMBER
who ripped down a sign.” To further promote the week, junior Hana Elhattab and other MSA members decided to advertise for Palestinian Solidarity Week by writing on sidewalks in chalk. But Elhattab said that proved to be no better than the flyers, as she overheard a student discussing his treatment of a chalk advertisement outside of McKeldin Library. “My friends and I wrote on the
sidewalk outside the library,” she said. “The next day, I was walking to lab when I overheard a kid say to another, ‘Did you see that Palestinian stuff? I spit on it and showed them who’s boss.’” The events for Palestinian Solidarity Week are meant to focus on the lack of humanitarian aid as well as media coverage in Gaza, Rahman said. That message has been misconstrued as support for Hamas, the political group in control of Gaza that many countries, including the United States, consider a terrorist organization, he added. “Some students have highly misinterpreted the event, which is the reason we encourage people to show up,” Rahman said. “We would even like to see the people that ripped down the signs come, as long as we can discuss our differences of opinion in a intellectual and academic way.” newsdesk.dbk@gmail.com
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9
Diversions
arts. music. living. movies. weekend. online exclusives REVIEW: A BRONX TALE “[Chaz Palminteri’s] joy at telling the story is palpable in the audience and keeps viewers enraptured from the moment the curtain rises.” — Tripp Laino RATING: 4 stars
REVIEW: U2 — NO LINE ON THE HORIZON “For someone who has selfeffacingly mocked his messiah complex and has touted his newfound ability to write in the third person, Bono is remarkably intent on leading a ‘generation’ into the ‘light’ as they ‘shout into the darkness’ and ‘squeeze out sparks of light.’” — Vaman Muppala RATING: 2.5 stars
ARTS IN THE AREA: The Whigs does simple, Southern alt-rock, and the Athens, Ga.-based trio does it well. Last year’s Mission Control followed up on the promise of the group’s debut, Give ’Em All a Big Fat Lip, delivering quick, punchy garage rock — a dish best served live. The Whigs hit Washington’s Black Cat tomorrow, with Dead Confederate and Trances Arc in tow. Tickets cost $12 for the 8 p.m. show. The Whigs, from Athens, Ga.
REVIEW | NEKO CASE
Drink a Case of Cyclone BY ZACHARY HERRMANN Senior staff writer
Plenty of reviewers and fans alike will cry self-indulgence at the finale on Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone. It won’t be entirely unwarranted, either — “Marais La Nuit,” the 15th and final track, offers up nearly 32 uninterrupted minutes of crickets chirping. That’s just three minutes shy of the entire running time of her previous album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. So yes, the crickets are a bit superfluous, but they’re not entirely unnecessary. Middle Cyclone is, if not Case’s finest album (Fox Confessor still feels superior — for now), definitely her densest studio recording. The song construction and production are meticulous: a shade clearer than the reverb-drenched noir Case normally builds around her siren wail, but no less complex. Listening to her fifth and most recent studio album is almost an overwhelming experience, somewhat analogous to reading too much poetry in one sitting. However immediately lovely her songs may be, Case is best appreciated through revisiting and close reading. And while you may not need all of its 32 minutes to catch your breath,
“Marais La Nuit” (translates to “The Night Marsh”) allows some appropriate time for reflection; or — if you’re so inclined — meditation. Backed by her regular touring band and aided by many of her usual cohorts — M. Ward, The Sadies, Calexico, The Band’s Garth Hudson and plenty of others — the fieryhaired chanteuse tears through the other 14 songs with alternating intensity and beauty. This incredible confidence of craft is only reinforced (or possibly suggested) by the bizarre album artwork: Case looks out on the hood of a classic muscle car, poised for battle, sword in hand. Lord only knows what else the image suggests other than this artist can handle any man, woman or tornado crazy enough to ramble down her way. Even Sparks’ glam-heavy (and fairly dated) “Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth” works remarkably well in Case’s hands — only the lyrics single it out as an obvious non-original. Be it gender bias or just lack of mainstream exposure, Case doesn’t get nearly enough recognition as one of this gen-
Neko Case’s new album is among her best
eration’s finest songwriters. Her balance of abstracted emotion and striking imagery has few rivals, though Jeff Tweedy comes to mind. The distorted music box loop — think The Beatles’ “I’m Only Sleeping” — at the start of “The Next Time You Say Forever” gives Case’s rejection of storybook love a brief otherworldly interlude. She promises, “The next time you say forever/ I will punch you in the face.” When the music box shows up again in “Middle Cyclone,” in a less distorted way, she relents and admits she needs love. Her narrative desire to love and be loved becomes one of the many pieces of continuity holding the album together. The tornado image appears several times as well, wreaking (self) destruction wherever it appears, building up and dying down. Album opener “This Tornado Loves You” starts off in echoing guitars, tossing out all the piano flourishes and
string plucks it can muster. The one-two punch of “The Pharaohs” and “Red Tide” goes into some of the fullest — and most rewarding — arrangements Case has ever tackled, sending us off into the cricket-laden night feeling melancholic and ominous. The latter — with its pounding bass drum and ripping brass — is damn near apocalyptic. Here, the morbid paranoia explodes in the sort of baroque strings and saxophones more present in latterday Elliott Smith than anything Case has done before. She leaves us at the climax, stunned and with nothing more than an army of crickets. Without any human presence left in Middle Cyclone, “Marais La Nuit” makes for a lonely, yet oddly comforting, 32 minutes — a taste of what the last person on Earth might experience, or more realistically, what Case probably experienced while recording parts of the album in a barn on her farm in Vermont. It was hardly an encore anyone could have anticipated. Everything else on Middle Cyclone, though, has been a long time coming. zherrm@gmail.com
ALBUM: Middle Cyclone | VERDICT:
1/2
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10
THE DIAMONDBACK | SPORTS | TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009
Neal starred in most sports as a youth NEAL, from Page 1 zipped low enough to reveal his undergarment — a blue T-shirt with the Superman emblem in the center. The shirt was an ironic presentation in a way, given that Neal is no Superman. He’s the Everyman, one who just so happens to be living out a childhood dream by playing Division I basketball. In fact, Neal has had to make do without the same super-powers that his opponents possess. He must defend the hoop from rival forces that range from superstretchy 7-footers to athletic freaks that can leap to the basket in a single bound. Yet Neal, a stocky and admittedly unathletic forward who calls himself “6-[foot]-7 on a good day,” has served the Terps quite well as the men’s basketball team’s center and lone senior. “I would love to have athleticism — just a tiny bit. And if I did, I think it would make me a whole different player,” he said. “But God didn’t bless me with athleticism; he blessed me with the intelligence and the fundamentals of the game.” Following a disappointing start to his college career, Neal has found ways to circumvent his shortcomings. As a senior, he is a vital element and an embodiment of an underdog Terp team doggedly fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
GROWTH OF A JOCK Referring to Neal as “undersized” and “unathletic” is certainly done with a great deal of relativity. Talent aside, there are few students on the campus who are conditioned enough to run up and down the court for 23 minutes per game at the Division I level like Neal does. There are even fewer students who don’t have to tilt
their head back and glance upward to make eye contact with the big man. So when Neal’s peers were these underlings rather than ACC centers, he was the prototypical jock. As a youth, he used his giant hands to become a brick wall of a goalkeeper in soccer. He capitalized on his strong build by winning medals in swimming, the butterfly being his strongest stroke. And when he was about 12 years old, Neal grew a half foot in one year to make him a towering 6-foot-3 pre-teen. He signed up for baseball, and in his first season on the diamond, he broke McLean (Va.) Little League’s home run record with 17 dingers. “He was so big that if he just made contact he would hit home runs,” his mother, Kathy Neal, said. Neal’s father, a mortgage banker who is also named Dave Neal, played Division II basketball at Kentucky Wesleyan, where he faced the likes of NBA legends Walt Frazier at Southern Illinois and Earl Monroe at Winston Salem State. The elder Neal taught his son about shooting hoops as early as kindergarten, and when it was time to focus on one sport in high school, the younger Neal chose basketball. “All of my friends all said, ‘Why are you wasting your time? Get him into football. The kid can never make it [in basketball]. He doesn’t jump very high,’” the elder Dave Neal said. “I said, ‘I think it could work.’” After a modest junior season at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Va., the younger Neal received offers from Loyola (Md.), Holy Cross and Manhattan. But those weren’t good enough. Neal wanted to wait until his senior season and prove to the more presti-
gious schools that he could play. As a senior, he averaged 20.2 points and 13.3 rebounds per game and was the MVP of the Virginia state tournament. With current North Carolina forward Marcus Ginyard, Neal led Bishop O’Connell to a 31-3 record. With estranged guard John Gilchrist leaving the Terps early to enter the NBA Draft, coach Gary Williams had an extra scholarship to assign. After school one day, while Neal was getting into his car to head home, he received a call from a phone number he was unfamiliar with. It was Williams, offering that scholarship. Neal accepted, hung up the phone, screamed and ran around the parking lot like a madman. Think of that celebration after his 3-pointer against N.C. State Sunday — but on steroids. It was a “dream moment,” said Neal, who claimed to have wanted to attend this university since he was a child. “It was kind of a tear-jerking experience,” his father said. “Dave has internal expectations, but he probably doesn’t share them because sometimes they’re a little high-standard.” This expectation was right on the mark.
KRYPTONITE SHOULDER There was at least one sport that Neal was no good at. He always wanted to play football as a kid, but his mother wouldn’t allow it. Because of his size, Neal would have to play against much older kids. As a freshman in high school, Neal finally put on the pads, and immediately joined the varsity football squad. “That might not have been [the] smartest decision,” Neal said. “I didn’t know the game well.” And while trying to make a one-
armed tackle, his left shoulder popped out of its socket. Later that year, while playing basketball, he swiped at a ball and it dislocated the same shoulder. Neal had two surgeries, but the problems still persisted. With the chronic shoulder problems, Neal worked out less and swelled to more than 270 pounds. “When I’m not doing anything, I tend to put on weight pretty easily,” he said. “That’s not good for me because it makes me even slower than I am now.” At the end of his sophomore year in college, while playing a pick-up basketball game against some buddies from George Mason, Neal dove on the floor for a loose ball — and his shoulder popped out again. Throughout his first three years with the Terps, Neal was relatively ineffective, averaging 1.6 points in 62 games. When he entered the game, he was often greeted by the fans to mock cheers. He was the slow and heavy white guy whom people poked fun at. Yet he was the Terps’ lone player in his class. “He’s the type of player who could have really used playing on a consistent basis and lifting weights all the time, which he couldn’t do because of his shoulder,” Williams said.
SENIOR EMERGENCE With starting forwards James Gist and Bambale Osby both graduating and no newcomers to fill their void in the frontcourt, Neal knew it was time to step up as a senior. Finally healthy, he got into better shape, dropping to about 250 pounds, which he calls “the perfect weight for me.” Neal took over as a starter in the seventh game of the season and hasn’t done anything to relinquish that role. Through 28 games, he’s averaging 7.6 points and serving as a senior leader on a young
Neal’s performance this season has been key in wins such as the Terps’ 71-60 victory at N.C. State on Sunday. FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK
Terps team. Neal isn’t a bruiser inside, but he has a soft shooting stroke and the range to pull bigger defenders out of their comfort zones. Without the size or leaping ability to collect droves of boards, Neal focuses on boxing out his assignment and lets his teammates control most rebounds. For his work, he no longer re-
ceives mock cheers — they’re all genuine now. Last week, Neal blindsided Duke guard Nolan Smith with a picture-perfect pick that knocked Smith to a daze on the floor. With an ensuing 5-on-4 man advantage, Neal stood open at the top of the 3-point circle and drilled a long-ball to tie the game.
Please See NEAL2, Page 11
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TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK
11
Neal has grown up in last four years NEAL2, from Page 10 As play stopped with Smith squirming on the ground in pain, the fans at Comcast Center began yelling “Dave Neal! Dave Neal! Dave Neal!” in synchrony. “He’s a great leader, he’s a great person and he has done a lot for us,” junior Greivis Vasquez said. “It’s unbelievable — I came here [his sophomore year], he didn’t play at all. [Last year] he played a little bit. Now he’s just our center. It’s funny, but he works hard. A lot of people don’t give him credit, but he’s a smart player.” He’s had to be smart, given his physical limitations. And Neal, for the most part, has held his own against some of the nation’s best post players. Before the Terps played North Carolina for a second time, Neal said he’d use his intelligence and positioning to stop leading scorer Tyler Hansbrough. He did just that, limiting Hansbrough to 11 points and drawing a key charge from the reigning player of the year in the second half.
Neal’s maturation on the court has run parallel to his maturation as a person. “When he came here, he was like a kid,” Neal’s mother said. “He said stupid things and he acted like a freshman.” In his first year on the campus, he got in trouble for an undisclosed incident. As punishment, Neal had to work at The Diner on North Campus for nearly a week, doing dishes and serving pizza to his fellow students. “It was a little embarrassing — I’m not gonna lie,” Neal said. “But it was definitely something that I learned from, definitely something I didn’t want to do again. It was a sight to see. Kids laughed at me. My friends would come over and make fun of me.” Three years later, Neal has grown out of worrying about embarrassment. He has his mother come to his house on Harvard Road each Wednesday to share dinner with the roommates. If he’s lucky, his mother might even make his favorite dish: tuna noodle casserole.
In January, a Virginia player’s elbow connected with Neal’s face, creating a giant gash above his left eye. While Neal was in the locker room receiving stitches, his mother — more nervous than him — held her son’s hand. “I’m probably a totally different person now than what I was freshman year,” Neal said. “That’s the way it’s supposed to work,” Williams added. “Everyone in college — you’re supposed to go to school at 18 and be a different person when you’re 22. Dave’s done a great job at that.” Neal does still have a bit of kid in him. At home, he lurks around, stalking his prey, and when his roommates least expect it, he strikes with a wet willie. Kyle Sappington and Danny Edwards, two offensive linemen on the football team who live with Neal, call their roommate “The Wet Bandit.” “Dave is a funny guy,” Terps forward Dino Gregory said. “Dave is Dave.” When asked to name some of the amusing jokes Dave provides, Gregory responded, “I can’t tell
you, [or else] you might have a different opinion about Dave. But he does some funny stuff.”
THE END IS NEAR In May, Neal will graduate and seek opportunities to play professionally in Europe. So far he’s only received interest from a team in Lebanon. If that doesn’t work out, he’ll use his degree in criminology and criminal justice to find work. “Now that I actually have to think about the real world, it’s begun to kick in how far I’ve come along,” Neal said. “In high school I thought, ‘I don’t ever have to get a job; I’m never gonna work.’ It seemed so far away. Now I have to sit down, look in the mirror and realistically say, in a couple months, I may be off to work.” But those thoughts are on the back burner for now, as Neal has an NCAA Tournament to help the Terps reach. They have two regular season games remaining, and only one at home. Which brings us to tonight: Neal’s senior night. His friends
Neal has been forced to overcome size and athleticism issues in becoming a starting center for an ACC team. ADAM FRIED/THE DIAMONDBACK
will be in the stands with custommade “Wet Bandit” shirts. His parents will be a few rows behind the Terps bench, like they always are. And the Dave Neal era at Comcast Center will come to a close. A decade from now, the 200809 Terps class may be widely forgotten by Terps fans. Because its only member, Neal, is no Superman — he’s the Everyman — what he’s accomplished in a Terp uniform is all the
more impressive. “It’s kind of crazy that my career is winding down here as a Maryland Terrapin,” Neal said. “It’s gone by extremely fast. When people say time flies when you’re having fun, it’s extremely true, because I’ve had a great time here. This will always be remembered as an awesome time for me. I’ll be talking about this for the rest of my life.” mseligdbk@gmail.com
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THE DIAMONDBACK | TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009
TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK
13
Bryn Holmes’ uncharacteristic struggles at the faceoff X gave way to Reynolds taking draws for most of the second half Saturday. Holmes finished just 1-of-9 at the X. ADAM FRIED/THE DIAMONDBACK
Reynolds’ faceoffs led to three goals REYNOLDS, from Page 14 assists, had put the ball past Duke goalie Rob Schroeder for a 5-3 lead with 1:54 left. Twelve seconds prior, the Terps had watched the last bit of an early three-goal lead evaporate. After the blitzkrieg, they went into the locker room with a renewed confidence they never relinquished. “Those two goals on the faceoff were huge,” Catalino said. “The little that I know of faceoffs, you just kind of take what the other guy gives you. I think Sam Payton could have been playing
Reynolds different than he was playing Bryn, so Reynolds was taking him forward and helping us out on breaks.” With one goal and one assist, Reynolds didn’t jump off the stat sheet on a day that featured three Terp multi-goal scorers, including Catalino, who led the way with six points. But his 8-for12 mark on faceoffs and six ground balls, caused Cottle to note, “Jeff was the difference in the game.” As for his role on faceoffs, it’s just another way the twoway midfielder can help out. Surely there will be games
this season where Reynolds makes his presence felt with dogged defense or a prolific offensive effort, but Saturday he was needed at the X — and his response was critical. It was a performance not lost upon Duke coach John Danowski, as he peered over the stat sheet at the post game news conference. “It’s funny we gave up three goals in the faceoff game,” Danowski said. “And you look at the score, 11-8, and that could have been the difference in the game, for sure.” mkatzdbk@gmail.com
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THE DIAMONDBACK | TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 2009
Associated Press College Basketball Poll Top 10
Sports
School 1. Connecticut 2. North Carolina 3. Pittsburgh 4. Oklahoma 5. Memphis
Record
Prev.
(27-2) (25-3) (26-3) (26-3) (26-3)
2 4 1 3 5
School 6. Louisville 7. Duke 8. Michigan State 9. Kansas 10. Wake Forest
Record
Prev.
(23-5) (24-5) (23-5) (24-5) (22-5)
6 7 9 15 13
Scoring all around Reynolds steps up at X Miami blowout gave other Terps chance to shine
Senior midfielder won crucial faceoffs Saturday BY MICHAEL KATZ Staff writer
BY AARON KRAUT Senior staff writer
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Crisp, unselfish offensive play has become the trademark of the Terrapin women’s basketball team under coach Brenda Frese, now in her seventh year with the Terps. That’s why the No. 4 Terps’ five games before Sunday’s 8964 win at Miami raised some eyebrows. In three of those five contests, just two players — guard Kristi Toliver and forward Marissa Coleman — contributed 68.2 percent of the Terps’ scoring. Sunday against Miami, the scoring duties were more spread out. Five players scored in double-digits, and two others — forward Dee Liles and guard Kim Rodgers — each contributed nine points. Toliver, who scored 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, didn’t need to shoot the ball with her team comfortably in the lead throughout most of the game. It was a good sign for the team’s future success when players other than Toliver and Coleman provided some offense. On one play, with 4:05 remaining in the first half and the Hurricanes (13-16, 2-12 ACC) primarily using a triangle-and-two defense to stop the Terps’ two senior stars, guard Anjalé Barrett found center Lynetta Kizer in the post with an entry pass. Kizer quickly fired the ball back out to Barrett who confidently hit a 3-pointer on her way to 10 points. “We want every player on the
Guard Anjalé Barrett has been a top reserve all season for the Terps and made her presence felt Sunday.
Center Lynetta Kizer was one of five Terps in double figures in Sunday’s blowout of Miami.
ADAM FRIED/THE DIAMONDBACK
ADAM FRIED/THE DIAMONDBACK
floor to have the confidence, step up and shoot the ball,” Frese said. “It’s not one-on-five, twoon-five. We’ve always been about being unselfish and making the extra pass.” In their Senior Night victory against Boston College on Friday, it seemed as if nobody else on the Terps team (25-4, 12-2) wanted to score other than Toliver and Coleman. The duo poured in the team’s first 30 points. Kizer was the first other Terp to score with a layup with just fewer than seven minutes remaining in the first half. “You can’t continue to think that you’re gonna go where we wanna go and just with two players,” Frese said after Friday’s 86-74 win over the Ea-
gles, in which Toliver and Coleman combined for 59 points. “You have to have a team. That’s why it’s a team sport. But at the same time, you also go with what’s working, and every game you go with what clicks.” Against Miami, Toliver and Coleman, who were both named to the All-ACC First Team yesterday, combined for 28 points. The Terps were still able to coast to a comfortable victory and clinch their first ACC regular season title since 1989, much thanks to the increased production of others. “Our spacing and our ball movement is what completes us as a team,” Frese said. akrautdbk@gmail.com
BALTIMORE – From a local perspective, there was one notable omission when the preseason Tewaaraton Trophy watch list was released in late February. Jeff Reynolds, the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team’s do-itall midfielder, wasn’t among the four Terps named. But if the fifth-year senior continues to turn in performances like he did Saturday in an 118 win against then-No. 12 Duke, he will make himself awfully hard to ignore. With midfielder Bryn Holmes struggling uncharacteristically at the faceoff X, winning just 1-of-9, coach Dave Cottle turned to Reynolds to make something happen. Almost immediately, Reynolds turned the tide in the game. Duke’s Ned Crotty had just knotted the game at three with 2:06 remaining in the half when Reynolds stepped to the X for his second faceoff of the day — just his 14th of the season. Reynolds propelled the ball forward past his counterpart,
With Bryn Holmes struggling, senior Jeff Reynolds stepped up for the Terps at the faceoff X against Duke on Saturday. ADAM FRIED/THE DIAMONDBACK
“Today, I kinda got up there and felt the rhythm.” JEFF REYNOLDS SENIOR MIDFIELDER
the Blue Devils’ Sam Payton, and scooped it up in stride heading toward the cage. He then found attackman Grant Catalino, who moved the ball in close to attackman Ryan Young. Young’s goal
reclaimed the lead with 1:59 on the clock. “Today, I kinda got up there and felt the rhythm,” Reynolds said Saturday. “I was hearing the whistle well, and it worked out for me. I was able to get the ball out and possess the ball.” On the ensuing faceoff, Reynolds again gathered possession and found Catalino. Five seconds later, Catalino, who finished with four
Please See REYNOLDS, Page 13