AN ODE TO AN OAK: The recent windstorm brought down a woody denizen with deep roots. Now, we mourn, p. 9
FOURTH-QUARTER FLOP: After dominant first three, Maryland men’s lacrosse coughs up first loss to No. 1 Albany, p. 14
The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper ONLINE AT
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sports | men’s basketball
Terps miss postseason play After 3 consecutive NCAA berths, Turgeon’s squad misses dance, NIT Even while the Kyle Melnick Maryland men’s @kyle_melnick basketball team Senior staff writer lost seven of its final 11 games and played its way out of its fourth consecutive NCAA tournament, analysts believed the Terps would at least qualify for the National by
CUMBERLAND HALL, on North Campus, where racial slurs were discovered on a dorm room whiteboard March 2. tom hausman/the diamondback
Invitational Tournament. On Sunday night, though, the Terps didn’t receive an NIT bid, leaving them out of the NCAA tournament and NIT for the first time since 2014. Only six Big Ten teams qualified for the NCAA tournament or NIT, four of which made the Big Dance.
Maryland’s best victory this season came against Butler in November. The Terps went 2-8 on the road and lost nine games by six or fewer points. Maryland’s season ended after a 59-54 loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament second round. Guards Anthony Cowan and Kevin Huerter averaged 15.8 and 14.8 points, respectively, but the Terps (19-13, 8-10 Big Ten) struggled to find other consistent
contributors. While forwards Bruno Fernando and Justin Jackson might leave for the NBA Draft, the majority of Maryland’s key contributors will likely return next season, including Cowan and Huerter. Turgeon has qualified for three NCAA tournaments over his seven years in College Park, all of which came with guard Melo Trimble. kmelnickdbk@gmail.com
community
Racial slurs scrawled on dorm board Police: Text in Cumberland Hall targeted black people University of Maryland Police responded to a Title IX-related hate bias incident in Cumberland Hall on March 2, according to police reports. A student called the police and said someone had written racial slurs against black people on a dry erase board, police spokeswoman Sgt. Rosanne Hoaas said. Police responded to the dorm at 11:02 p.m. for the incident, which took place at 10:15 p.m. that same day, according to police reports. The case is active. There were 27 reported hate bias incidents across the campus between the first day of the fall semester and Dec. 8, university spokeswoman Katie Lawson said in December. University administrators later found 15 of these reports were verified. In October, a whiteboard in Anne Arundel Hall was plastered with a derogatory slur. After several LGBT-friendly messages were erased from the whiteboard, a student wrote the definition of homophobia on it. An individual later wrote “REEEEE” — a term meant to sound like a screaming frog to express outrage or represent so-called autistic screeching, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center — on top of the message. University Police later determined the October incident did not qualify as one of hate bias, as there wasn’t hate or bias behind the motivation to write the word, Hoaas said. by
Brad Dress @thedbk For The Diamondback
Yu-Wei Wang, right, the counseling center’s research director, and graduate research assitant Leah Bush, found one in five university students deal with food insecurity. matt perez/for the diamondback
‘Never seen something like this’
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activism
4 U students arrested after capital sit-in Students advocated gun control at McConnell’s office Eight people, four of w h o m s a i d t h e y we re University of Maryland students, were arrested Wednesday following a sit-in protest in Washington, D.C. U.S. Capitol Police arrested eight individuals who were demonstrating in the Russell Senate Office Building on Wednesday, police spokeswoman Eva Malecki wrote in an email. They were charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding, she wrote. She didn’t specify whether the individuals arrested were students at this university. Police did not respond to requests for a list of the names of the arrested students. Alex Dubinsky, Ryan Ridgell, Matt Burnstein and Julia Cortina, all freshmen at this university, said they were arrested. Dubinsky organized and executed the protest outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) office in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to advocate for gun control. Students sat on the ground outside McConnell’s office in the Capitol
by
Roughly one in five University of Maryland students reported struggling with food insecurity, according to a Counseling Center study, the results of which were presented Wednesday. The ongoing study, conducted by Counseling Center Research Director Yu-Wei Wang and graduate research assistant Leah Bush, surveyed 4,901 undergraduate and graduate students at this university. Roughly 20 percent — about 980 students — said they were food insecure, which means they had a lack of access to sufficient and nutritious food. Students who reported food insecurity were also likely to report poor health such as lower self-esteem, One in five U students struggle increased stress and depression, the study said. These with food insecurity, study finds students were also likely to report negative impacts of food insecurity on their academic careers, including failing assignments and exams, withdrawing from classes and potentially planning to withdraw from this university. “We go throughout our days often satisfi ed,” said Counseling Center Director Source: University Counseling Center. Graphic by Evan Berkowitz/The Diamondback. Sharon Kirkland-Gordon. “[This study] has led us to believe that there are students, 60% when we walk by them, there’s somebody marginal 21% that’s hungry. One out of five.” The study found that racial or ethnic low 13% minority students, first-generation very low 7% college students, international students and students who live off the campus are among the groups more likely to report food insecurity. Students cited poverty and a lack of time as key factors that lead to food insecurity.
Matt Perez @Mxbperez Staff writer
food security of 4,901 students surveyed
high
by
See hunger, p. 3
Jillian Atelsek @jillian_atelsek Staff writer
See protest, p. 3
campus
Want to major in virtual reality? Immersive media design may soon be on offer. University of Maryland faculty members are working to create an undergraduate major in immersive media design that would combine art and computer science department resources to educate students on concepts such as virtual reality. The major would operate between the arts and humanities college and the computer, mathematical and natural
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said. “But I actually think that they’re far enough along in their sciences college, and would aim approval from the University thinking that we can probably to enhance students’ knowledge Senate, university President get it moving.” o f d e s i g n fo r v i r t u a l a n d Wallace Loh, the Board of The program will likely augmented reality platforms for Regents and the Maryland involve two tracks — one purposes ranging from mapping General Assembly, Associate focused on studio art and the Provost Betsy Beise said. to journalism to engineering. other on computer science — Beise called the fall 2019 said Audra Buck-Coleman, A group of 17 faculty members are planning the major and hope goal “realistic but a little bit a design professor and an it will be available for students aggressive.” “It’s a lengthy process,” she in fall 2019. It must first gain See vr, p. 8
By Christine Condon | @CChristine19 | Senior staff writer
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