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FALLING APART GAME ON Terps continue slide in wild loss to Patriots SPORTS | PAGE 8

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Video Games Live breathes life into soundtracks DIVERSIONS | PAGE 6

THE DIAMONDBACK Our 102ND Year, No. 119

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

South Campus Dining Hall to extend its hours

ROMNEY WINS BIG IN STATE PRIMARY

Diner will soon remain open 7 to 9 p.m.

More than 160 students voted in election, officials say

BY ALLISON GRAY Staff writer

BY CHAD SINCLAIR Staff writer

As the four remaining Republican presidential hopefuls vied for Maryland’s 37 primary delegates Tuesday, low voter turnout on the campus cast a shadow over an otherwise bright day for campus supporters of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

He won Maryland’s winner-take-all delegates by 47.8 percent, as of 11 p.m. yesterday. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum finished with 30 percent of the vote; former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich won 11 percent and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) ended with 9.6 percent. Officials at this campus’ polling locations said 86 students voted at Ritchie Coliseum as of 6 p.m. yesterday and 77 total voted at Stamp Student Union.

According to Student Government Association

see ELECTION, page 2

2012 CANDIDATES

The South Campus Dining Hall will remain open between dinner and late night starting Monday, just about one month after a Residence Hall Association subcommittee began pushing for the extended hours.

Rather than closing between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., the dining hall will extend the hours of several food stations, including the salad bar and pasta station, and begin late night at 8 p.m.

Members of the RHA dining advisory board said they were pleased with how quickly the Dining Services officials moved after they began dis-

MITT ROMNEY FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR 47.8 PERCENT OF THE VOTE•

RICK SANTORUM FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR 30 PERCENT OF THE VOTE•

NEWT GINGRICH FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 11 PERCENT OF THE VOTE•

RON PAUL TEXAS REPRESENTATIVE 9.6 PERCENT OF THE VOTE•

*PROJECTIONS AS OF 11 P.M.

cussing the issue in early March.

“RHA’s main goal is to represent all the on-campus students, and this was obviously a big deal to many people, so for us to be able to get something this big done that’s going to make a lasting effect felt really great,” said sophomore theatre and plant sciences major Dwight Townsend-Gray, chairman of the RHA dining services advisory board.

Bart Hipple, the assistant director of communication for Dining Services, said students were “persistent” in repeatedly pushing for the extension.

Hipple added that it is too early to

see DINER, page 3

New iPhone app seeks to keep students safe, prevent sexual assault App downloaded more than 15,000 times

BY QUINN KELLEY Staff writer

Preventing sexual violence could be just a text message away, thanks to a new free iPhone app targeted at college students that allows users to send pre-programmed messages when in a dangerous situation.

The app, called Circle of 6, was cocreated by anti-violence advocate and filmmaker Nancy Schwartzman to help make it easier for college students in uncomfortable or dangerous situations to quickly get in contact with friends for help. Two weeks after its release, the app has been downloaded more than 15,000 times — and university officials said it

Students vote in the Republican primary election yesterday in Stamp Student Union. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

Anne Arundel Honors students to stay in dorm

could be a useful tool for both female and male students.

After users download the app, they choose six friends to make up their circle. The app has pre-programmed SMS messages like “Come and get me. I need help getting home safely,” “Call and pretend you need me. I need an interruption” and “I’m looking up information about healthy relationships and respect. Just letting you know.” Once users select an option, the message, along with the user’s GPS coordinates, is sent out to the six friends in their circle. The app also has a feature that links users to resources and allows them to program in a local

see APP, page 3

SAVED BY THE GLORY DAYS NCAA win helped bring together a wounded campus after 9/11

Students’ complaints reversed decision

BY REBECCA LURYE Senior staff writer

BY FOLA AKINNIBI Staff writer

After 32 Anne Arundel residents were told they could not return to their dorm next year, Honors College and Resident Life officials reworked the hall’s gender layout to ensure they could stay in their old, on-campus home.

This decision comes after a March 12 email to Anne Arundel residents from Honors College Assistant Director Dean Hebert that stated incoming Honors Humanities freshmen would be moving into the dorm next year since their current location

(Wicomico Hall) will be demolished by fall 2014 to make room for Prince Frederick Hall. This meant the 32 rising juniors and seniors would not be allowed to stay, and many said they did not have enough time to secure adequate housing and petitioned the Honors College for the right to stay.

The students were informed after the lease deadline for a room in South Campus Commons and Courtyards had ended. The Honors College responded to the students’ complaints with a one-day pass to apply for leases for the two apartment complexes, according to Honors College Director

In an average year, it is rare for a university to have several defining events that shake it to its very core and leave the community and its members changed.

Although 2001 began an average year, it did not end one. From the first week of the fall semester, a series of tragedies struck the country and the campus — including a drugrelated student death Sept. 5, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that killed university alumni and local residents and a tornado that killed two

see CHAMPIONS, page 2 FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK

see HONORS, page 3 ADVERTISEMENT

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THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

ELECTION from page 1

Director of Governmental Affairs Zach Cohen, low voter turnout cannot be pinpointed to one particular reason. Several students and officials said it was because it was a Republican primary on a fairly liberal campus and many students are still registered at their home districts.

“Turnout has been relatively low, but not as low as we expected — especially with not too much contention on the democratic side,” Cohen said. “Not too many students have been motivated to come to the polls today.”

Cohen said the flow of voters filtering into Stamp’s polling station was “pretty steady” at about noon, but it was fairly lackluster at other times.

Sophomore communication major Miriam Mathis was one of the 163 who voted. For her, voting yesterday was more about exercising her right to vote than it was choosing a particular candidate.

“There weren’t any issues specifically, but I think I owe it to all the women who fought to be able to vote,” Mathis said.

Mathis said many students probably did not vote in yesterday’s election because it was a primary.

“It’s not very well advertised

CHAMPIONS from page 1

university students when it devastated the campus Sept. 24.

Former university President Dan Mote said the environment on the campus was tense as students, faculty and staff grappled with the year’s events. It took one team to lift the university community’s spirits.

University officials and former students said they were united by not one or two stars that season, but the entire Terrapins men’s basketball team and its coach, Gary Williams, when the players clinched the Final Four win from Duke. Faculty and staff who had come to connect with each player watched the team reach “the mountaintop,” said alumnus Sammy Popat, as they swept into the NCAA national championship

on campus, either,” Mathis said. “No one is going around encouraging people to vote. I mean, people chalk for everything, so they could at least chalk for [the primary].”

Senior government and politics major Zachary Crowley — who remains registered to vote in Harford County — said his class schedule and the distance between College Park and his designated polling station kept him from voting.

“Because I got out of class so late, if I would have tried to drive home, I would have hit rush hour traffic and probably not made it in time or had to turn right around and drive all the way back,” Crowley said, adding, “I’m guessing there will likely be a low turnout just because we are at a very liberal campus. Most people probably think that they don’t have stake in the outcome.”

In a speech last night in Wisconsin, Romney said he was grateful for three victories that help him lead the GOP presidential pack significantly.

Candidates need 1,144 delegates to win the nomination. Romney currently has 646, while Santorum has 272 and Paul has 51.

“Thank you to Wisconsin, Maryland and Washington, D.C.,” Romney said. “We won a great victory tonight in our campaign to restore the promise of America.”

Maryland is not often at the

center of a compelling Republican presidential primary race.

Because Republican primary rules have changed nationally — to the point that some states have abandoned systems that award all delegates to the winner of one state — this state’s primary has become more significant, according to Brad Coker, a pollster from Jacksonville, Fla.,-based MasonDixon Polling & Research, Inc. “This stage of the race, it’s really all about delegates,” he said. “[Maryland is] important, probably more important than it’s been in a long time just because of the changes in the Republican primary rules.”

Coker added the state’s Republican voter base is largely suburban, a demographic of the party that is most likely to vote for Romney.

“For Romney, now it will be a symbolic victory,” he said. “It’s going to help him bring up his delegate lead and help bring him closer to the nomination.”

Journalism professor and election expert Chris Hanson said this election cycle provides a unique look into how the GOP is choosing a candidate.

“The basic primary election constituency of the Republican Party has long been a minority of factions whose allegiance has been problematic for them,” Hanson said. “Normally the Republicans have been more

against Indiana and won, 64-52, 10 years ago last Sunday.

“You come to the realization that this actually happened, this is your institution, everyone’s eyes are on Maryland, and that’s where I am at this moment,” said Popat, who co-chaired the 2002 senior class gift council.

The team’s climb to the top, the program’s first and only NCAA championship win, was especially powerful in the wake of the fall’s events, Mote said.

“It’s the worst September in my memory,” he said. “I think looking at it in terms of the time, [the championship] was very significant, more significant than it might have been today. ... The sports programs were strong, and the campus has a great sports culture, and they did a lot to bring the campus together.”

Many in the university community, such as Stamp Student

Union Director Marsha Guenzler-Stevens, said they felt a special pride for Williams and the team as they soaked up stories about the players, their families, high school backgrounds and journeys to the university.

“You want to believe you’re going to win, and there were so many incredible stories on that team, friendships and personal stories, and you were cheering because you felt like you knew each and every one of them,” Guenzler-Stevens said.

Although officials planned to replace Cole Field House with Comcast Center the next season, they opened the stadium again to fans April 1 and aired the game playing in Atlanta.

“I think people believed somehow the energy in Cole would transmit itself way down to where the game was being played,” Guenzler-Stevens said.

About 86 registered Republicans voted at Ritchie Coliseum as of 6 p.m. yesterday and 77 total at Stamp Student Union, which students called a relatively low turnout. JEREMY KIM/THE DIAMONDBACK

likely than the Democrats to decide, ‘Let’s coalesce around a candidate.’ But now, it looks as if a candidate without much enthusiasm from the base of the party is very likely to be nominated.”

There is no clear-cut nominee at this point in the primary season, so the Republican Party is damaging its chances to defeat President Obama, Hanson said.

“Traditionally, there would have been a clear front-runner at the beginning of the race, and that person would be nominated,” he said. “The party this year is divided against itself, to the point that whoever was the front-runner seemed to change

practically every day or every week. How it sorts out is anybody’s guess, but the party has already bled itself a great deal.”

For Cohen, elections boil down to voting for the most qualified — not a single issue.

“It’s more of a candidate thing for me and about who I think is best for the country,” Cohen said.

“I think that a lot of students are especially motivated by things like the national debt and social issues, but then they’ll discount certain candidates because of their stance of those issues.”

Mohsen Farshneshani, a junior government and politics major and president of this uni-

versity’s chapter of Youth for Ron Paul said it does not matter who registered Republican students vote for. It is just important that they do so.

“I honestly think that our generation’s apathy is one of the most overwhelming and heartbreaking setbacks — no matter what we do, no matter how much we talk to them, a lot of them just don’t care,” he said. “As soon as people put down their labels, put down their bias and recognize the truth, that’s when a change will come.”

“So, I think in some ways, we believed we were part of the force.”

Linda Clement, serving her first year as Student Affairs vice president, said she watched the team from Cole, mixed in side by side with students.

“People were very proud of them and very proud of Coach Williams,” Clement said. “It was exciting, it was something new and different, and it was great to be part of a crowd like that — much more fun than being in your living room.”

However, Mote, caught up in the night’s victory, nearly missed another presidential duty — attending a 9 a.m. event the next day. The event was important — it formalized the University of Maryland-China Research Park — and it was in College Park. But Mote was hundreds of miles away in Atlanta.

“I found someone with an air-

plane, and we flew back that night,” Mote said. “But everyone there didn’t really want to talk about the agreement. ... For the first half an hour, we just talked about the game.”

“Even after that, when I get off the plane at Beijing and go through customs, they say, ‘Go Terps,’” Mote added. “People all over the world were watching this event, millions and millions. ... Everyone wants to celebrate the winners.”

After the game in Atlanta, Mote had the honor of cutting down a piece of the net after the men’s victory — as well as after the Terrapins women’s basketball team’s championship win in 2006. He said the pieces of net still hang on a bulletin board in his home.

Seniors that year also decided to commemorate the major dates of their year, including the national championship, in their class gift.

The gift, located in the Memorial Chapel Garden, is set to be unveiled for the first time at Maryland Day on April 28.

Popat, who was an R.A. in 2002, said he watched the game with his residents in Centreville, many of whom had spent their first semester on the campus coping with more common concerns, such as a rash of thefts in the first weeks of school, and the unprecedented Sept. 11 attacks and the deadly tornado. However, when the game finished, he let his residents disperse and then stayed out on the campus “into the wee hours of the night,” absorbing the moment.

“We gave them the spiel, to be careful and be safe, but we knew there was no way we could contain them,” Popat said. “And we were students, too. How could we contain our own excitement?”

Staff writer Jim Bach contributed to this report. sinclair@umdbk.com

lurye@umdbk.com

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4 2012 | NEWS | THE DIAMONDBACK

3

FIVE NEW GRADUATING OFFICERS JOIN UNIVERSITY POLICE

From left, Daniel Moser, Patrick Dykstra, Vincent Deere, David Mead and Sheena Familia graduated the University Police Academy after training six months.

DINER from page 1

tell whether staying open will increase Dining Service’s labor costs. However, Food Service Manager Dan Robertson said he thinks the change could bring in more money.

“We haven’t seen it in action so we can’t make that judgment yet, but we would think it would help us a little bit,” Robertson said.

Robertson added that he is looking forward to giving students another dinner option.

“We’re looking forward to it because it’s going to give people a place to eat on this side of the campus when we would normally close,” he said.

The pasta bar will extend its hours to 7:30 p.m. and the pizza station, bakery and ice cream station, salad bar and sandwich stations will all

APP from page 1

hotline, Schwartzman said.

“The purpose of the app is to really prevent violence before it happens,” she said. “We wanted to really harness those relationships into ways to prevent situations that we know to happen.”

While many other apps and methods of violence prevention focus on “stranger danger,” Schwartzman said — such as how to avoid a stranger in an alley — Circle of six is more connected to college experiences,

remain open through late night. To transition without closing doors to students, Dining Services staff will shut down the grill for a short period to clean and will close the value meal station at 7 p.m.

Hipple said he was able to implement the change in less than one month by simply adjusting the station’s closing times.

“We went and worked out a model that would make sense and allow us to give employees breaks, which was one concern, because when we closed before we had time to clean up, give everybody a break and reopen with minimum staff,” Hipple said.

Townsend-Gray said it first occurred to RHA members in early February that students wanted more flexibility from the South Campus Dining Hall.

“I personally was getting dinner with a couple of my friends and they started complaining,

like meeting someone at a bar or sleeping on someone’s couch, that can lead to assault. She said the idea for the app came from talking to college students nationwide about sexual assault and violence, as well as the fact that the average teen sends 60 text messages a day, according to a research Pew Research Center poll.

“It’s been born talking to college students across the country, talking about what they need and what violence looks like across their lives,” Schwartzman said.

“We thought, let’s keep it really, really simple.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARC LIMANSKY

The South Campus Dining Hall will extend its hours starting Monday to stay open from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK

‘You know, how come the dining hall isn’t open from 7 to 9?’”

Townsend-Gray said.

He realized many other students have asked the same question and decided to introduce the issue to the committee and Dining Services officials

about a month later.

Several students, such as sophomore environmental science and policy major Sara Yannuzzi, said it was frustrating having to rush to the dining hall for dinner before it closed.

“I’m just excited there’s not

going to be a gap anymore because then there’ll be more flexibility in my schedule of when I can eat,” she said.

Others said they anticipated the new hours, especially as the Commons Shop has been “packed” with people looking

for snacks before late night begins.

“It’s probably the best decision they ever made,” said sophomore economics major Zach Ashe said.

Circle of 6 won the White House “Apps Against Abuse Technology Challenge” and launched March 20, Schwartzman said; today is the app’s national “Download Day.” University Health Center Assistant Director of Health Promotions Hope McPhatter said the app is unlike anything else she has seen on the market, noting she thinks students should download it so that they have multiple options when they are in uncomfortable situations.

“The idea of it actually sounds pretty good,” McPhatter said. “I don’t see the harm in

trying it out.”

However, McPhatter said sexual assault is still a topic that makes people uncomfortable, and the app would be best promoted as a resource that both men and women could use in tricky situations.

“I think there are a lot of situations where anyone would feel uncomfortable,” she said. “It really comes down to how they market it.”

Senior psychology major Becca Abram said although she always sticks with her friends when she is out, she is aware she could always get into a dangerous situation. She said the app would

probably be most helpful for people who tend to go off with people they do not know.

“I don’t know if I’d personally download it and ask my friends to do it,” Abram said, adding that she would be more likely to download it if one of her friends wanted Abram to be in her “circle of six.”

“I think if I had it and discussed with my friends that it would never be a joke, it would be good,” she said.

Junior law enforcement major Bethany Petersen said she thinks the app could help students get a quicker reply

from friends than an individual text message, and she wished she had had the app last week when she was hit on by a middle-aged man in Starbucks.

“I pretty much had to lie my butt off to get out of the situation,” she said.

Petersen said she would have liked to use the app so that one of her friends would immediately call her and she could pretend to be busy.

“It would have been a good out if they had responded,” Petersen said.

gray@umdbk.com

kelley@umdbk.com

HONORS from page 1 Bill Dorland.

The students in Anne Arundel rejected this option, saying they still felt they were being pressed for time, according to sophomore general biology and management major Alex Duplessie.

Sophomore aerospace engineering major Sylvie Delahunt and Duplessie met with Hebert last week to discuss other possible solutions.

Hebert drafted a survey to find out exactly how many students wanted to return to Anne Arundel next year and realized they could all be accommodated — but with some slight changes to the layout. The Department of Resident Life reassigned the gender of some rooms to allow current residents to stay.

Duplessie was surprised the Department of Resident Life was able to accommodate all parties.

“I was very happy with how they responded to student concerns,” he said. “I think they found a good solution.”

According to Hebert, there will not be room for students to return in the 2013 school year — by then, Anne Arundel will be exclusively for Honors Humanities students. But this time, there will be no surprise to the students, according to Hebert.

“We’ll make sure to notify students much, much earlier next year,” Hebert wrote in an email.

Duplessie said he is more than happy with the compromise. He and other Anne Arundel residents just did not want to be blindsided by any more surprising news, he said. “[The result] was not what I was expecting,” he said. “We have much more warning than we did before.” akinnibi@umdbk.com

THE DIAMONDBACK | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

4

0pinion

THE DIAMONDBACK 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 NEWS@UMDBK .COM | OPINION@UMDBK .COM

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Staff editorial

Guest column

Winds of change on energy

Filing a grievance

I

Last year, it seemed all students knew about wind energy was that it n May 2007, the university took a major step in committing to an ecofriendly campus: Former university President Dan Mote signed the included pretty windmills. This year, activists’ continued support of the legislaAmerican College and University Presidents’ Campus Climate Commit- tion may be the key to showing state lawmakers how important this investment, pledging this institution’s dedication to reducing greenhouse gas ment into eco-friendly practices is. Monday, about 44 university activists rallied emissions from the campus operations and moving toward the goal of carbon in Annapolis behind the legislation, and it seems to be helping: The House of neutrality. That significant public commitment was the first eco-friendly build- Delegates passed it with an overwhelming 88-47 vote on Friday, and the Senate is expected to vote in the coming weeks. ing block that has continued to grow to this day — From the bill’s inception, legislators have been skeptilargely with the help of student advocates. cal about passing the measures because of its financial After launching the nation’s first energy degree in 2009 and developing subsequent energy-related majors Student activists should be uncertainty; they feared it would see too high a hike to their monthly electric bills. Proponents have tried to and concentrations, this university has shown its commitment to education about sustainability. It didn’t stop commended for their work quell those fears by revising the original legislation to decrease the cap on how much it will cost state residents. there — a month later, Residential Facilities switched on making the campus This new market, which would potentially help the cleaning products to help improve air quality and stumore eco-friendly and state’s economy, seems to be the biggest draw. By cutdents’ and workers’ health. The university has introdown on fossil fuel emissions, the state will ensure duced more energy-efficient shuttle buses and put solar helping advance Offshore ting a cleaner, safer environment for its residents, all while panels on the roof of the North Campus Diner. Changes creating more jobs at the actual farm itself. caused by widespread efforts and individual activism Wind Energy Act. Though it may cost more in the immediate future, as have helped this university’s sustainability grade graduproponents for the bill recognize, the long-term benefits may provide the ally improve from a “C” in 2007 to an “A-minus” in 2010.

State leaders are starting to take notice of environmentally friendly move- best alternative for propelling the state and its sustainability measures into ments too, with Gov. Martin O’Malley introducing the Maryland Offshore the future.

Although the legislation’s fate is still uncertain, student activists should Wind Energy Act last year. Although it ultimately failed, student activists made offshore wind energy a priority and have been lobbying hard for its implemen- be applauded for their dedication to the cause. We’ve come further this year tation ever since. They got their chance again this year: O’Malley once again than the last, and with continued student advocacy, this state can continue to move for ward. introduced the legislation, and this time it seems to have a fighting chance.

This bill aligns with the university’s ever-growing goals to promote susO’Malley’s proposal includes creating a wind energy farm on the state’s eastern coast. The offshore wind energy farm is set to include 200-megawatt tainability. Additionally, the university will ultimately profit from the benewind turbines between 10 to 30 miles off the state’s coast. The bill is projected fits it could have on the economy. Though the bill remains somewhat conto cost the state $1.7 billion over the next 20 years and would provide for troversial among government officials, it so closely aligns with this univercleaner energy use, as well as give the state an economic boost with a new sity’s initiatives toward sustainability that there is really only one option: Support the state’s energy makeover. renewable energy market.

Our View

Editorial cartoon: Kevin Brooks

The new normal of college and beyond

L

ast May, my roommate, my fraternity big brother and my best girlfriend all graduated.

I packed up my belongings and left behind my room on Fraternity Row. It hadn’t fully sunk in yet, but I wasn’t only departing a room, but also an entire way of life where I lived, ate and drank with 30 people. Sophomore year was when I started writing for this newspaper — a year chock-full of Burnett’s Mango, extensive conversations about the future and — on a personal note — the first year living openly as an out and proud gay man.

With the year now in the rearview mirror, it was time to start the transition away from typical carefree college life.

However, in order to achieve success — both personally and professionally — life would have to turn a tad more mature. Without some of my closest confidantes to help me cope with the change, I was moving into an apartment, starting the endless cycle of internships and adjusting to the fact

MATT ARNSTINE that three of my four closest friends were no longer around. I realized that college is transitory: People come and go in and out of your life.

For years, all of us have had a voice in our head telling us the real world is coming. A world where we have more possessions than just a few suitcases filled with clothes, a television and a multitude of Apple products. Transitioning from a mindset where social and academic college life are top priorities to a life in which a part-time internship consumes three days of my week is an adjustment. It’s a new norm, one where my priorities and sources of happiness have changed.

However, while some may say the

new normal of internships, a few classes and less socializing during the week is less than ideal, it’s more about defining the new normal. In our society, we define time periods in our life: teenage years, college days and young professional life. Adults often repeat, in movies and other forms of popular culture, the refrain, “College is the best four years of your life.” While I’ve so far found this to be true, we all must consider how we’re spending our time in college to set ourselves up for a successful and fulfilling life. I mean, what’s a government and politics major with no internships and professional contacts worth in Washington?

Answer: an unpaid internship or temporary employment.

We all want to — and should — enjoy our time in College Park and try to live in the moment. But one must understand that college is a limited time period, and how and with whom we choose to spend our time matters.

College will certainly be a highlight of

my life, but I’m not looking toward my 20-something years with dread.

Instead, having the opportunity to live in a city, attend networking happy hours and get intoxicated every Sunday afternoon sounds enticing.

It’s a difficult balance, as college comes to a close and real life is starting. The fact that we are leaving the bubble of College Park doesn’t mean the world is ending, and people should not be too upset they are getting older — life goes on. I empathize with those scared of change, but we all must realize college isn’t the only thing out there. So while I’m hovering in limbo, trying to keep one foot in college and the other in Washington, I’m trying to enjoy the best of both worlds. I can say with certainty that I loved (and am still loving) my time in college — but the future burns bright.

Matt Arnstine is a junior government and politics major. He can be reached at arnstine@umdbk.com.

Societal norms: Race, religion and gender

G

rowing up, people told me that talking about race and gender would almost always lead to an argument. Americans have been taught to avoid such touchy subjects — to act as if they don’t exist at all.

Throughout American histor y, minorities have struggled to gain equal rights. Although we still have work to do, the situation has improved, and this countr y has more equality.

The histor y and diversity of this countr y shouldn’t be swept under a rug — it should be celebrated and discussed without fear of arguments or allegations of being racist, sexist or discriminator y. Society has taught us to be so sensitive about these topics that it has led to two dominant ways of handling them: Pretend they don’t exist and avoid talking about them, or rely too heavily on them and illogically conclude that one is racist, sexist or discriminator y in general.

Those who avoid talking about these issues either don’t believe

they exist or are too afraid of starting a confrontation to speak up.

Ignorance or fear of how others will react may be to blame, but whatever the reason, avoiding these issues isn’t the answer.

However, it is my belief that people who rely too heavily on issues of racism, sexism and other discriminatory acts are even worse than those who avoid the issues in the first place.

Take for example the Rev. Al Sharpton, who seems to go on the news ever y week screaming about racism in any part of the countr y.

Does racism still exist in this country? Certainly. However, does racism account for every problem Sharpton believes it does? No. Since the beginning of the Trayvon Martin case, Sharpton has stuck to his belief that this was an act of racism. Despite the controversy surrounding whether the killing was an act of racism or an act of self defense, Sharpton has decided to play the role of the justice system and place a guilty verdict on George Zimmerman before all information is

JOSH BIRCH obtained, an arrest is made or the trial is completed. It is entirely too early to blame this particular case on racism — let the investigation uncover the facts first. If those facts warrant a trial and racism is proven to be a factor in Martin’s death, then Sharpton — and the countr y as a whole — has ever y right to be outraged. Until then, Zimmerman — regardless of his race — is innocent until proven otherwise.

Jumping to these sorts of conclusions happens at this university every year. Last year, an advisor accused me of being sexist based on a review I wrote of my internship. This particular advisor believed I “praised” a male internship coordinator more than a female internship coordinator I had

the previous semester. Growing up in a household run by a woman, I have nothing but the utmost respect for women — whether they are housewives or CEOs of a major company. The fact that I liked one internship more than another had nothing to do with whether the coordinator was male or female. It baffled me how quickly one could accuse someone based off such circumstantial and minimal evidence.

In general, people need to be more open to discussing issues dealing with race and gender in a responsible manner. Society needs to recognize that injustices still exist, but we must not be led to believe these injustices account for every problem that some, like Sharpton, point to. In an ABC report, actor Hill Harper said it best, stating that we need a “truthful dialogue” when dealing with these issues. Not ignorance, nor blame, but dialogue.

Josh Birch is a senior communication and history major. He can be reached at birch@umdbk.com.

T

o the staff of this university: If a problem arises at work, do not wait — file a grievance right away. Don’t try to work out the problem first and don’t bother following the steps of the grievance procedure set up in the 2010 Memorandum that states before filing a grievance, an informal discussion must take place between both parties and both must try to work out a solution at the lowest possible level. Also don’t be fooled by its name; Staff Relations is not here to help staff.

In 1988, I was hired to work on this campus. Beginning in 2005, I was assigned to more and more hours at the Central Maryland Research and Education Center in Ellicott City until reaching full-time during the last two years, since, as my department chairman stated, “that is where the department needs you.” Until last August, I was reimbursed for the extra mileage.

Last July, I was notified by the chairman that I was being “reassigned” to CMREC (even though I had been working there full-time for more than one and a half years), and since CMREC would be my “permanent” work place (to be reviewed every six months), I would no longer be reimbursed for the extra mileage. Increase in mileage without compensation amounts to a pay decrease. I emailed my department chairman four times from July 14 to Aug. 12 stating my objections, including the fact that both my mileage and commuting time had more than doubled — not a trivial amount with soaring gas prices. He did not reply until Aug. 12, stating again that there would be no mileage reimbursement. On Aug. 25, I filed a formal grievance. The next day, my step one grievance was denied, and I filed a step two grievance request. I emailed Staff Relations several times but did not hear back from them until Nov. 16, only after I emailed Human Resources Director Dale Anderson.

You may have noticed the university mails out yearly reminders of its policies regarding discrimination and sexual harassment to protect itself, but I have never received a copy of the MOU, which states a staff member’s rights. A staff member has 30 calendar days to file a grievance upon “reasonable knowledge of the act.” My 30 days ended Aug. 11, and coincidently, the next day my chairman finally responded to my emails. The MOU also states Staff Relations has 10 work days to respond to a step two grievance request and “Any question concerning the timeliness of a grievance or whether a complaint is subject to the grievance procedure shall be raised and resolved promptly.” I didn’t receive a response from Staff Relations for more than two months. Once they finally did reply, they filed for a dismissal filled with untruths, such as stating that each of the four times I emailed the chairman, he replied there would be no mileage reimbursement even though elsewhere in the same letter they admit the chairman only replied to one of my emails on Aug. 12. Or else they tried to deliberately confuse the issue, stating staffing issues and fringe benefits are not subject to grievance procedures, knowing mileage reimbursement is neither a staffing issue nor a fringe benefit.

Staff Relations dismissed the grievance, and I filed for a step three grievance hearing, my final option in the grievance procedure. The trial was scheduled for March 27. Again, Staff Relations requested a dismissal, and it was granted. During both requests for dismissal, not once did Staff Relations cite a policy that would allow the stoppage of the seven year precedent of mileage reimbursement. They only cited the fact that I did not file a formal grievance within 30 days, even though I had tried, as it states in the MOU, to have an informal discussion with my chairman and work out a solution at the lowest possible level. Until the chairman finally replied to my emails, I could not have “reasonable knowledge” of the fact that my mileage would no longer be reimbursed. I find it ironic that I was “late” by 13 days and my case was dismissed, but Staff Relations was late responding to my grievance by more than two months and didn’t try to resolve the issue of the timeliness of my grievance promptly as required. At no time was I allowed a trial to state my case, unless you count a meeting held after I had already received a signed denial during the step one procedure.

Since the university doesn’t have to follow the rules it requires staff to follow, remember to protect your rights and file a grievance as soon as a problem presents itself: Don’t waste time and try to work it out first — that could always come back and hurt you.

Timothy Shellem is a research specialist with the Department of Avian and Animal Sciences. He can be reached at tshellem@umd.edu.

POLICY: Signed letters, columns and cartoons represent 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.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012 | THE DIAMONDBACK

5

Features HOROSCOPESTELLA WILDER

CROSSWORD 38 39 40 42 43

Small motorcycle Colony member Stir-fry pan Tiny bit Strong-armed

45 46 47 49

Flung Razes Oxford’s — Miss Turned white

50 Bodybuilder’s pride 51 Wings, in botony 52 Omen 54 Utopia

ACROSS 61 Terra — 1 Fallback strategy 62 Hamster’s digs (2 wds.)

63 Hull bottom 6 St. Louis gateway 64 Smooths out 10 Warrior princess 65 Cellphone button 14 Mead subject 66 Boundaries 15 Seneca’s student 67 No rocket 16 Hearty loaves scientist 17 “Don’t tell — —!”

18 Piggy’s dinner DOWN 19 Fringe — 1 11th-grade exam 20 Reconsider 2 Tie down (2 wds.)

3 Mine, to Pierre 22 Coastal flier 4 Any thing 23 With, to Maurice 5 Albania, Bulgaria 24 Membership dues 6 Grab the phone 26 Conference 7 Keepsake 30 Snuggled 8 Gator kin 34 Collect 9 Starlets, e.g.

35 Two pounds, plus 10 Adult (hyph.)

36 S&L offering 11 Rochester’s Jane 37 “B.C.” cartoonist 12 Not e’en once 38 Hotel staffers 13 Strong — — ox 40 Pooch’s comment 21 Rural elec.

41 A crowd, provider for Caesar?

25 Ancient Tokyo 42 Force 26 Raj title 43 Owned apartment 27 Modern memo 44 Not subtle 28 “They Call the 46 Gander (hyph.)

Wind —” 48 — -Wan Kenobi 29 Devotee 49 Volcano goddess 30 Scotland Yard div.

50 Elapse 31 Wildebeest 53 Pond makers chasers (2 wds.)

32 Carve a canyon 59 Whiffenpoofs 33 Actor Willem — 60 Doing nothing 35 First-aid box

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orn today, you are always eager to learn about the world around you, and as a result you are likely to forge a career for yourself that allows you to see as much of the world as possible, and work with as many different kinds of people as possible.

There is something rather mysterious in your makeup that allows you to fit in among various types, and in all kinds of situations — and when others may be tense and uneasy, you are able to maintain a kind of calm they find admirable.

Though you feel things deeply, you are also quite a thinker.

B

You find satisfaction in a job well done; you do your homework, prepare thoroughly and follow a game plan that is detailed and built on a solid foundation of experience and training. You don’t take chances, and yet you like to see and experience new things when you can.

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CANCER (June 21-July 22) — Despite your expectations, you can be happy with what transpires today — though a certain mental adjustment will surely be necessary.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — Energize yourself, and get focused and ready for a renewed push toward a goal that means a great deal to you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Fragments of a past episode are likely to come back to you one by one at first — but then they are likely to flood your mind at some point.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Generalizing and whitewashing issues is no way to get them solved. Today, you’ll want to be as direct and specific as possible.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — Hold on to your dreams today.

There are those who are ready to give up because things have gotten more difficult; you’re not one of them.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — In case you are wondering what’s about to happen — and who isn’t? — you have been blessed with a unique vision of the future.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — “Just one,” you are likely to find yourself saying today — again and again. You know your limits, and you must stand by them.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — Keep your feet on the ground today, even as your imagination has you soaring high above the crowd. A realistic approach is necessary.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) — Let another have what you want, and you’ll be able to enjoy a rare glimpse of how things might be if your luck changes.

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6

THE DIAMONDBACK | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

PREVIEW | VIDEO GAMES LIVE

Diversions

PLAYING GAMES Video Games Live brings the misunderstood art of game music to the Strathmore on Saturday

BY WARREN ZHANG Senior staff writer

Unlike other forms of pop culture, video games face an uphill battle in convincing most folks of their legitimacy. Video Games Live, a symphony consisting entirely of video game soundtracks, started out to prove and validate video games as an art form, according to executive producer and host Tommy Tallarico.

“I wanted to prove to the world how culturally significant and artistic video games had become,” Tallarico said.

“But I also wanted to create a show for everybody. You don’t have to know anything at all about video games to come to our show and have a greater understanding and appreciation for the culture.”

Video Games Live is now in

its seventh year and will be coming to the Strathmore Saturday. For Tallarico, who has been a video game composer for more than two decades, the show represents the realization of a childhood dream.

“When I was a kid, I used to take my dad’s cassette recorder and record all my favorite video games at the arcade, and my home games,” he said. “I’d splice the tapes together, invite my friends over and I’d jump up in front of the television set with my favorite video games behind me. I guess those were the first video game concerts.”

In the intervening years, video game music has grown in complexity and scale.

Video Games Live celebrates both the old and the new forms of game music.

“One thing about our show is that you get age differences across the board,” he said. “You’ll get kids who are 10-year-olds who want to hear Mario or Sonic. Then you’ll get 20-year-olds who’ll just die if they don’t hear Pokémon or the stuff they grew up on.”

Tallarico strives for a balance between retro and modern in his set lists. He also focuses on changing up the set list between ever y show, sometimes asking fans for suggestions.

“We’ve never played the same show twice,” Tallarico said. “I’ll keep a couple of the big hits around, like Castlevania, Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, Zelda. But even then, the Zelda piece we’re playing this year is totally different from the one we played last year.”

Besides changing the set list, Tallarico and his team also explore new technologies to make the show more interactive. For instance, Tallarico mentioned a simulation of Space Invaders used during a past concert in which an audience member became the ship while an orchestra played the accompanying game music.

“We always change up the humor, the comedy,” Tallarico said. “The technology and production changes and will continue to always change.”

Video Games Live will be held at the Strathmore on Saturday afternoon and night.

Doors open at 1:30 p.m. for the 2 p.m. show. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show.

Tickets start at $25. chzhang@umdbk.com

Tommy Tallarico, above, is the executive producer and host of Video Games Live, which combines video game music with a synchronized light show. PHOTO COURTESY OF VIDEO GAMES LIVE

COLUMN | THE PARTY CORRESPONDENT

DISPATCHES FROM THE HOMEFRONT: Or, The Party Correspondent becomes disillusioned with the debauchery JACK

SLATTERY

During the long week of introspection spring break afforded me, and hopefully you as well, I’m coming to this column with a bit of a backtrack.

Polemic as it might sound for this publication, I consider it a moral imperative. You, the public of College

Park, have come to know and trust me, so I must beg you — stop going to parties.

I’m not sure what I’ve been doing with my life for these last few months.

Going to parties, writing about parties, a third thing I can’t think of — it’s been a waste. We’re some of the brightest students in the country, in the vibrancy of our youth, and I’ve been telling you all to go out and get drunk all the time? As if that were a cool thing to do? Frankly, I’m disgusted with myself.

Did you guys know we are actually

supposed to be going to college in order to learn stuff? And like, read books? Do you guys even remember books? Do you remember anything at all, you inebriated hooligans? Looking back, I worry I might have been encouraging this sort of social disarray.

Did you know our parents pay for us to go here? Like, it was their dream to pay for us to go here. And look at us.

Nihilistic, beer-guzzling kids.

We file out of our dormitories every weekend and stand around in stickyfloored basements, yelling at each other over dubstep music and drinking

Burnett’s out of Poland Spring bottles until we finally have the courage to rub our bodies on one another in a sick, purposeless ritual. We spend our mornings writhing over toilet bowls, exchanging anecdotes with our roommates about girls we almost kissed.

Our memories of college have been reduced to a murky nostalgic swirl that we retroactively convince ourselves were fun, meaningful life lessons. And soon we’ll graduate, get monotonous jobs and cling to these flimsy recollections as somehow being the best times of our lives.

Next time you feel like going out to Cornerstone or some quagmire of a frat party, just don’t. Start a garden club. Do a neat jigsaw puzzle. Look another human being in the eye and have a substantial conversation with him or her. Remember that freshman who wrote a guest column about everyone not having sex for some reason? Do that. Maybe he’s on to something. Probably not, but I’m certainly not the one with the answers. That’s for sure. diversions@umdbk.com

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012 | THE DIAMONDBACK

7

8

THE DIAMONDBACK | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2012

Sports

Edsall: Tate stays put Terps football linebacker Kenny Tate isn’t returning to safety in 2012. For more info, go to TerrapinTrail.com.

BASEBALL

Terps again run themselves into trouble vs. GMU Patriots score five unearned runs, come back to knock off hosts, 7-6

BY DANIEL GALLEN Staff writer

After the third out in the top of the ninth inning last night, a George Mason bus pulled into the access road that leads to Byrd Stadium. It idled as the Patriots nursed a tenuous 7-6 lead over the Terrapins baseball team, ready to take the visitors home after more than three hours of waiting.

Given the night’s events to that point, the bus’ sudden appearance seemed premature, if not misguided. The Terps could have sent the game to extra innings with a single run, or they could have sent their visitors back to Virginia with a walk-off result.

In the end, though, after second baseman Kyle Convissar bounced out to first base with the bases loaded, after the Terps fell for only the third time in nonconference play this season, George Mason’s team filed past a group of silent Terps as it made its way to the bus home.

“It was tough,” shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez said. “Anytime you don’t come out on the right side of the win column or the loss column, it’s tough. We

battled throughout the game.

We just made too many mistakes and it caught up with us.”

The game hinged on three Terps (18-12) errors ultimately responsible for five unearned Patriots runs. Three of those runs came with two outs in the eighth inning off reliever Charlie Haslup, who, after striking out the frame’s first two George Mason batters with a 6-4 lead, walked the next two on full counts.

Next up for George Mason (19-11) was left fielder Duncan Satherlie, who lined a ball to the gap in right-center field. Right fielder Jordan Hagel closed in on the ball and tried a sliding catch, but the ball deflected off his glove to center field. Both runners scored, and the Patriots would add another off Haslup (2-2) to post the 7-6 final.

“There were a lot of different parts to that game you can replay and think back to, so I don’t think you can pin it to one thing,” coach Erik Bakich said.

“Generally, our strengths have been pitching and defense, and we just didn’t do a good enough job in those two areas tonight.”

Friday starter Brady Kirkpatrick got the nod on the mound last night after a series of

Third baseman K.J. Hockaday is tagged out after getting caught in a rundown in the bottom of the third inning last night. The Terps fell to George Mason, 7-6, for only their third loss in nonconference play this year. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

recent subpar outings for the Terps. Entering the game, the right-hander had posted a 10.53 ERA over 13.1 innings in ACC play, and his last two starts went one inning and 2.1 innings, respectively, in length.

“It was the same thing we did with [David Carroll against George Washington on March 20],” Bakich said. “Anytime a starter has a real short outing, we try to get them right back on the horse.”

Kirkpatrick’s output in a nodecision was decidedly mixed.

He went four innings and gave up two runs (no earned) on three hits. He struck out four batters but walked five, giving

SOFTBALL

Looking for a new spark in season, Terps set to face struggling GMU

BY JASON BENSCHER Staff writer

The Terrapins softball team seems in need of a jolt. Wins only two of its past 10 games would make that obvious to anyone.

There is good news, though: George Mason’s arrival in town for a doubleheader today comes not a moment too soon.

The Patriots arrive in College Park only 10-24. So though the Terps (18-14) are falling fast, they insist their season is not yet lost.

“I think it’s just another test,” coach Laura Watten said last week. “It’s just being able to go through the season and learn some different things about ourselves.”

After a rough road trip in Florida, the Terps returned

Coach Laura Watten and the Terps will play George Mason twice tonight. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

home and suffered a threegame sweep at the hands of Vir-

ginia Tech. They were outscored decisively, 17-6, in the series, a common theme as their losses have mounted.

Watten has expressed a desire to “start fresh and start new,” a sentiment the Terps could use after falling to a tie for last place in the ACC with NC State.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t get easier after the Patriots leave town. The Terps will travel to Atlanta for a weekend set with Georgia Tech (23-16), and another bad series could place the Terps too far from the ACC’s leaders to recover.

Still, Watten’s leadership under trying times has led to a different outlook.

“We haven’t peaked yet,” she said. “And that’s a good thing.” benscher@umdbk.com

him a combined 15 strikeouts to 16 free passes in his past five starts.

“Brady’s a great pitcher and baseball’s a game of confidence,” Bakich said. “Sometimes, that can play both ways.

In sports, when your confidence gets shook a little, it can affect you, and when your confidence is high, it can have a tremendous positive impact.

We just, as a team, have to get back to that confident state of mind and play that way.”

The game itself was a backand-forth affair with six lead changes and three ties. The Terps seemed to capture the momentum for good multiple

times — just never long enough. The most notable swing came in the fifth inning, when the Terps turned a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead on backto-back home runs from first baseman Tim Kiene and left fielder Michael Montville.

Their next time up, however, the Patriots came right back to tie the game on an error by Rodriguez.

“It’s a momentum swing, always,” Rodriguez said. “If we’re the offense and we scored, we want to come right back out there and shut them down, and we weren’t able to do that today and I think that kept them in the game. You’ve

got to tip your hat to them.

They took advantage of the mistakes we made, but it was frustrating.”

The Terps continue their 10-game home stand tonight with a matchup against Bucknell (14-14), but if Bakich could schedule it any differently, he would.

Instead of sitting in his office as the George Mason bus headed back to the Capital Beltway, the two teams would be back out on Shipley Field.

Said Bakich: “I wish we were playing a doubleheader right now.” dgallen@umdbk.com