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KILL ’EM ALL

CUMMINGS ON

The Kills are accessible but repetitive on Blood Pressures

Midfielder breaks out in 12-7 win against ACC foe Virginia SPORTS | PAGE 8

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

DIVERSIONS | PAGE 6

THE DIAMONDBACK THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Our 101ST Year, No. 121

Proposed MCAT update may prompt univ. changes Local man Exam will undergo revamp to bring testing up to date; some plan to take test before shift

BY YASMEEN ABUTALEB Staff writer

Applying to medical school may become even harder for the class of 2015 and beyond, thanks to proposed changes to the Medical College Admissions Test.

The Association of American Medical Colleges announced Thursday that it is proposing a series of changes to the MCAT, slated to take place as soon as four years from now. The new

exam would test students on almost twice as much science material and require institutions to change their existing pre-medical requirements, which have been in place for more than two decades.

The test would include a new behavioral and social sciences principles section; more advanced sciences, including cellular and molecular biology, biochemistry, research methods and statistics; an updated verbal reasoning section; and would eliminate a writing

sample requirement. If the new test is approved, students interested in applying to medical schools would have to spend more than seven hours taking the exam, rather than the current five and a half.

Amjed Saffarini, executive director of prehealth programs for Kaplan Test Prep, said the AAMC realized the test was outdated after a regular review, since the last time it under-

see EXAM, page 2

sentenced for drug offenses Repeat offender to serve 150 months for charges

BY ERIN EGAN Staff writer

Mission to Mars (sort of) University students design robots to simulate space mission to other celestial bodies

BY CLAIRE SARAVIA Staff writer

While many students sunbathed on beaches during spring break, junior aerospace engineering major Justin Brannan roamed the Arizona desert in a space suit, simulating a mission to Mars.

Brannan and two university graduate students, Kevin Davis and Max Di Capua, traveled to Gila Bend, Ariz., last month to test their research project — a space suit that can control a robotic vehicle, known as a rover, using human body movements.

Brannan, Davis and Di Capua spent more than a month in January designing the space suit in the university’s on-campus Space Systems Lab so the rover, which was built last year by students in a senior capstone design course, could roam the Arizona desert with the flick of a wrist or the turn of a head.

Brannan said the rover is controlled by different buttons mounted on the suit’s arm band. By using a glove lined with circuits and wires, someone wearing the suit can change the speed of the rover simply by gripping and releasing his or her hand.

The arm band interprets the movement of the controller’s arm, which tells the rover how to move or perform a task, such as collecting rock samples.

“You can think of it as a wrist-pad joystick,”

see ROBOTS, page 3

A federal judge sentenced a College Park man to more than 12 years in prison yesterday for distribution and possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute.

Josue Monroy, 31, pleaded guilty in October to selling 62 grams of crack cocaine for $1,750 in July 2009 to a law enforcement source, according to documents from the office of the U.S. Attorney for Maryland. Following his 150-month prison sentence, Monroy will serve five years of supervised probation. U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. enhanced Monroy’s sentence after learning he was a career offender with two previous drug convictions, a U.S. Attorney press release said.

On July 30, 2009, a confidential source called Monroy and asked to buy 62 grams of crack cocaine. At 11 a.m., Monroy met the source at the Shell gas station on Route 1 to sell the drugs, according to Monroy’s plea bargain. In October 2009, U.S. District Court officials searched Monroy’s

see MONROY, page 2

NITE Ride pickup sees surge in use Officials say students are using service like taxis

BY SPENCER ISRAEL Staff writer

Although DOTS is seeing a dramatic increase in NITE Ride ridership, officials said it wasn’t entirely for the reasons they had hoped — more students are now using it as a taxi service, instead of a curb-to-curb backup.

According to Department of Transportation Services ridership data, more than 11,000 riders have used NITE Ride so far in the 2011 fiscal year, which runs from July 2010 through the end of June, an increase of more than 3,000 people from the 2010 fiscal year. Statistics from prior years were not available, but DOTS Assistant Director Beverly Malone said this is the first year NITE Ride has experienced such a dramatic increase.

Malone said the spike in ridership is partly due to a NITE Ride stop added two years ago when students complained about a lack of Graduate Student Kevin Davis uses a robotic arm controller to drive the rover, which is the kind of vehicle that would be used to navigate Mars’ terrain. PHOTOS COURTESY OF JUSTIN BRANNAN

see RIDERSHIP, page 2

To leave a loving legacy SGA presidential hopeful Ben Simon aims to leave his mark

BY SARAH MEEHAN Staff writer

Ben Simon has always been known for something — as the president of this university’s chapter of The Love Movement, the guy with the plastic bag in his shirt or the kid who used to have dreads.

Now, the junior government and politics major wants to be remembered for something else: Being the Student Government Association president who made a real impact. Through his trademark social action efforts, Simon nestled into a student-leader niche that has allowed him to enact social change on a larger scale than he could on his own, he said. And in his quest to spread the love as far as possible, he has set his sights on the position most poised to do that.

TOMORROW’S WEATHER:

But he hasn’t always been the outspoken activist he is today, taking charge as the Love Party’s top candidate in this year’s SGA election.

Before Simon’s junior year at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, he was a 195-pound quarterback contender. But after a preseason shoulder injury left him benched, he dropped 50 pounds and found himself searching for a new hobby.

“I tried to play through the pain, because that’s the philosophy in football,” Simon said, but added he eventually reconciled with the fact he’d never play another game.

He traded in his uniform and shoulder pads for dreadlocks and a fresh attitude — a transition he said wasn’t easy. His injury remained undiagnosed for years, he said,

Partly Cloudy/50s

see SIMON, page 3 INDEX

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

Junior government and politics major Ben Simon campaigns for the Love Party ticket at a campaign event last night. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

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

DIVERSIONS . . . . .6 SPORTS . . . . . . . . .8

www.diamondbackonline.com

2

THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2011

Professors largely agree with university’s patent process Despite recent controversy, many understand research contracts

BY LEAH VILLANUEVA Senior staff writer

When a university professor led a rally last month against what he said were unfair practices over faculty members’ patents, he said he was representing all researchers who had been robbed of their discoveries.

Richard Kohn, an animal and avian sciences professor, has spent five years fighting the university for the rights to his patents for renewable fuel development. When police officers escorted him from Cole Field House during his sparsely attended March 15 demonstration, he accused them of being “part of the conspiracy” against university faculty.

But some other patent-holding professors said they are fully satisfied with the university’s Office of Technology Commercialization, which oversees inventions faculty created in the university’s laboratories, and that they are surprised to see a colleague take an opposing viewpoint.

“If inventors could actually do all the patent costs themselves, what would they need the university for?” said Frederick Khachik, a chemistr y

RIDERSHIP from page 1 transportation near the College Park Metro station after the regular buses stopped running. As a result, Malone said the NITE Ride boundar y was extended to include a stop at Rhode Island Avenue and Nor wich Road, a route that DOTS officials said has become popular among students coming back from Washington and satellite houses around Fraternity Row late at night.

NITE Ride is intended to be a safety net for students without any other transportation options late at night. If a student is within the campus’ boundaries or at specific surrounding apartments, he or she can call the shuttle ser vice and be picked up at the curb.

Instead, Malone said students are often treating NITE Ride like a free cab ser vice, asking to be picked up and dropped off at specific locations.

While technically within NITE Ride’s intended parameters, Malone said this is not what officials hoped students would use the ser vice for.

“It’s unfortunate people are using it in a way it’s not intended,” she said. “If students wanted to fund a taxi ser vice, we would have more cars.”

Malone said the department has no plan to expand the ser vice, which only has two small shuttle buses that cover the entire campus and downtown College Park.

“Ever ything we do is planned with student groups

MONROY from page 1 Baltimore Avenue home and found $14,574 in cash and “various drug paraphernalia with drug residue,” the U.S. Attorney’s documents said.

He was arrested and placed on house arrest, but he removed his electronic home monitor and escaped. Later, police found him in Massachusetts and returned him to this state.

According to court documents, Monroy has a litany of drug charges on his record, including possession of narcotics and paraphernalia and manufacturing and distributing narcotics.

His sentencing was increased because of his previous offenses, the documents said.

“It’s not just important to catch repeat offenders, but it’s important to catch offenders, period,” said Cpl. Mike Rodriguez, a spokesman for Prince George’s County Police. “If it’s a repeat offender, especially in narcotics, we want to make sure we can get them off our streets selling drugs to our citizens.”

Rod Rosenstein, the U.S. Attorney for Maryland, said prosecuting repeat offenders at the federal level happens

“If inventors could actually do all the patent costs themselves, what would they need the university for?”

FREDERICK KHACHIK CHEMISTRY SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST

senior research scientist who has several patents for his research in nutritional supplements. “And we’re using university equipment and property. Everything we do here is on the provision of the university. And we get royalties.”

Terr y Roach, executive assistant to the university president for legal affairs, said last month that in his more than 30 years at the university he has never seen a complaint similar to Kohn’s.

Kohn said while he acknowledged some faculty may very well agree with the university’s control of their patents, it only works until there’s disagreement between the researcher and the university — in which

and nobody wants to pay for more buses,” Malone said.

“We also wouldn’t want to have six buses with four of them sitting around and doing nothing.”

Elizabeth Mann, a senior theater major who works as NITE Ride’s demand response manager, said she frequently sees students using the ser vice to get to work or to practice across the campus early in the morning.

She said more students should be taught about Shuttle-UM so they don’t misuse the ser vice.

“I wish there was more education about Shuttle-UM in [UNIV100 courses],” she said. “People get frustrated with the ser vice because they don’t understand it. People think we have unlimited buses and drivers, and we don’t.”

When informed of the ridership increase, DOTS Director David Allen said he was surprised but declined to comment further until he looked at the numbers more carefully.

Some students said they were not surprised to hear the ser vice is becoming increasingly popular.

“NITE Ride is a good ser vice,” said senior communication and French major Heyab Imam. “I think part of it is students feel unsafe walking across campus late at night by themselves.”

“I’m not surprised more people are using it,” sophomore neurobiology and physiology major Karthya Potti said. “If it’s there, then why not use it?” israel@umdbk.com

quite frequently.

“The reason we prosecute in the federal court is because often, [drug dealers] are prosecuted in state courts but continue to sell drugs,” Rosenstein said. “It’s a much more effective deterrent for them to stop.”

Many students said that they are largely unaffected by cases such as Monroy’s and that they aren’t worried by the existence of drug dealing in the city.

“I’m not threatened by drug dealers at all,” said sophomore English major Deanna Wright. “It’s your choice to go buy drugs. It’s not like [Monroy] was putting a gun to someone’s head demanding they buy his drugs.”

Like Wright, junior English and psychology major Mina Anderson said she was not concerned.

“I’m not scared,” Anderson said. “I’m from Baltimore, it happens all the time.”

Anderson added that she was not surprised about the drug bust or that it happened in College Park.

“I don’t really think that because we’re in college we have to be sheltered,” Anderson said. “We’re living in the real life already, we shouldn’t be sheltered.” egan@umdbk.com

University animal and avian sciences professor Richard Kohn was escorted from Cole Field House last month for holding a demonstration, during which he claimed the university stole the rights to his research. FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK

case the researcher has no say.

“Until it’s you, you don’t have a problem with it,” he said.

Kohn said he had not heard of any similar cases, adding that does not mean these

EXAM from page 1 went major changes was 20 years ago.

“One of the big things that happens with a standard exam of any kind is it has to be evaluated every so often to make sure the test is effectively doing what it’s supposed to be doing, and that’s one of the main reasons the MCAT is changing,” Saffarini said. “When [the AAMC] looked at it, they realized the basic sciences weren’t in very good shape.”

Saffarini also said physicians today need to know far more material than they did two decades ago, but the current MCAT does not fully prepare students for medical school.

“There’s been a recognition and unease amongst the profession, especially those in medical education, that the amount of content a typical doctor needs to know multiples more than the amount of content doctors needed to know 25 or 30 years ago,” he said. “That content has to be taught somewhere, and the medical schools have historically taken on that load, and

issues have not occurred before or will not occur again.

Kohn said he spoke to a few other faculty members who are also dissatisfied with the university’s handling of their

they’re recognizing that it’s too much. Students need to know certain competencies and sciences before they enter medical school, and as a result of that recognition, they added new material.”

Although administrators from the pre-health advising office said they are aware of the probable changes, science professors said they don’t yet know how the university will tackle such dramatic changes in a matter of months if the new test is approved.

“This sounds like it requires massive reorganization in undergraduate programs, and those take a long time to get through,” chemistr y professor Lee Friedman said. “It sounds to me like they need to do more integrated courses earlier on, but our department is designed to ser vice our majors, and I couldn’t see the biology department or my department making changes to accommodate the new MCAT.” But Saffarini said this university and other large institutions are well-equipped to accommodate the mandatory changes.

inventions, but the researchers he named either did not return phone calls or declined to comment. Animal and avian sciences research assistant Seon-Woo Kim, who

was Kohn’s co-inventor, said he agreed with Kohn’s stance on patent rights, but declined to be interviewed further. villanueva@umdbk.com

MORE ONLINE www.diamondbackonline.com Read Jace Evans’ article about new technologies that may help some students study for the MCATs. “The University of Maryland has a large group of students, so the university is going to be in great shape to handle this specialized curriculum,” he said. “Large schools in general are better able to handle these changes than smaller schools.”

Some students said they’ll rush to take the exam before the changes take place.

“That’s kind of scaring me — I’ll need to take it before these changes,” said Natasha Featherstone, a post-baccalaureate student on the premed track. “There’s already so much pressure because you need to be a really wellrounded student and carry a heavy courseload, so making the curriculum harder would just drive somebody insane.”

Friedman added that the amount of material students will need to cover in their undergraduate curriculum

may be too demanding.

“You have to worry about information overload,” he said. “When you get to something like biochemistry, the assumption is that people have already taken intro chemistry and intro biology courses and they’ve taken physics, so there are things you assume people can already do.”

But other students said the changes are necessar y, noting that it may weed out students who are not serious about attending medical school. “[The changes] would be beneficial,” said junior Dia Windhoffer, who is on the pre-med track. “It’s probably necessary. It might drive away some students, but it would deter the students who aren’t already serious.” abutaleb@umdbk.com

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2011 | NEWS | THE DIAMONDBACK

3

SIMON from page 1

Brannan wears the full space suit used to control the rover. JEREMY KIM/THE DIAMONDBACK

ROBOTS from page 1 Brannan said. “You’re kind of using your arm as a virtual controller.”

Despite the suit’s cuttingedge technology, Di Capua said the system still needs some fine-tuning, noting it takes a highly skilled individual to control the suit.

“Once the rover gets moving, that thing is not going to stop,” Di Capua said.

Brannan said the humancontrolled rover has big potential for future space exploration, particularly for missions to Mars or the moon where astronauts could use the robotic system to hammer rocks or collect samples. Since NASA currently doesn’t have the funds to perform this type of research — and is facing the threat of a $600-million cut in existing federal funding as Congress develops its 2012 budget — Brannan said he is hopeful NASA would be interested in testing out the research already performed at this university.

But even on Earth, Brannan said the control system has already proven useful. He collaborated with geologists from Arizona State University to use the rover to collect rock samples over spring break.

“We can listen to what the geologists want and help cre-

Junior aerospace engineering major Justin Brannan shows how to manipulate the hand controls that he designed for the robotic rover. JEREMY KIM/THE DIAMONDBACK

ate that,” Brannan said. “It’s pretty futuristic, but it’s also close-term.”

Brannan and his team also visited the Arizona desert last September to test a more basic version of the rover control system. He said they may return again in the fall.

Davis said seeing the space suit he helped design successfully control the rover was a worthwhile undertaking — even if it wasn’t done in space.

“It’s always awesome to spend a lot of time on a project

and see it actually working, especially if it goes right,” Davis said.

Di Capua said walking around the desert in a space suit provided an invaluable experience that most students won’t get to have.

“It gives a much better feel for students to understand what they’re working for,” Di Capua said. “It’s as close as we can get without going to the moon or Mars.” saravia@umdbk.com

and getting back in the game seemed a distant possibility if no one could heal his shoulder.

So instead, Simon began looking for ways to heal problems around the world that he felt could actually be fixed.

“I would always equate my suffering from my injury with the suffering that I saw going on around the world in developing countries,” he said.

From the first time Simon stopped by his school’s Social Action Club, he only became more hooked on the activism he is known for today. The genocide in Darfur caught his attention his senior year, and he led campaigns asking people to boycott businesses that financially supported the Sudanese government.

Then, as a college freshman, Simon worked at the national Genocide Inter vention Network on its Sudan Divestment Task Force. He became College Divestment Coordinator of its student chapter, STAND, and supervised worldwide divestment campaigns from his Easton Hall dorm room.

The following summer, as an intern coordinator at Search for Common Ground, a conflict resolution nonprofit, he oversaw 21 interns and conducted research on issues such as gay marriage and immigration.

“I think I learned a lot and made a lot of mistakes, which is good,” he said of his experience there.

But when his shoulder pain re-emerged — “I couldn’t

shake hands at that point,” he said — he was again forced to sideline something he loves: his activism.

The next year he was finally diagnosed with multiple tendonitis in his right chest, shoulder, bicep and upper back. He completed four hours of physical therapy daily and regularly iced the area — hence being recognized as the kid attached to a plastic bag. When the pain subsided, he got right back into his activism and the Love Movement, an effort to benefit the city and university community, was born shortly after.

Within months, the group spawned the creation of other chapters at campuses across the country. Simon said he always envisioned that other students would be eager to bring the Love Movement to their universities and that he continues to hear of new chapters cropping up.

The Love Movement hosted a wide variety of community service and social action events in its first year of existence, such as its Spread the Love event to make sandwiches for the hungry and the Textbooks Day of Action, a campaign advocating for affordable textbooks.

“I think I have a lot of experience leading large organizations to success and empowering my peers and inspiring my peers,” Simon said, adding he wants future events to be even larger.

The former president of Terpoets and a former member of Maryland at Peace, Simon said he’s been

involved in a number of projects to enact change beyond the campus. Simon said he is always imagining how to improve society and is proud of the tangible results that lofty thinking has produced.

“My biggest strength and biggest weakness is that I live in my own world. People have described it as being distracted sometimes,” Simon said. “To paraphrase: I’m a zoner. It runs in the family, my father was a space cadet, my father’s father was a space cadet…”

But Simon’s brother, Aaron Simon, a sophomore letters and sciences major, said his brother possesses high energy and dedication that will give him the ability to effect change in the SGA. “He’s very responsible, with a real hard work ethic, and he’s very passionate,” Aaron Simon said.

Simon is also a research assistant at the university’s Center for American Politics and Citizenship, where he conducts research on state elections and voting patterns. He hopes to run for public office later in his career, he said, and is eager to give politics a try at the university level.

But Simon stressed that he’s not interested in bolstering his resume, and other students backed up that assertion.

“You need someone who doesn’t really care about the title,” said senior communication and English major Teddy Powers, who said he has seen Simon in action. “He’ll make the best university in the country even better.” meehan@umdbk.com

ON THE BLOG blogs.umdbk.com/campusdrive FROM THE SOLE For the next few weeks, student groups across the university will be putting their hearts and soles into a philanthropy project that collects old shoes for those in need of footwear.

To read more, visit The Diamondback’s online news blog, Campus Drive.

FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK

THE TERRAPIN YEARBOOK

The Terrapin Yearbook is looking to hire members for its 20112012 staff. Open positions include:

Photo Editor (Responsible for taking a majority of the book’s photos.)

Business Manager Greek Life Section Editor Reflections/Year in Review Section Editor (Section Editors are responsible for writing articles in those sections.)

Copy Editors Paid positions.

Contact terrapinyearbook@gmail.com if interested.

4

THE DIAMONDBACK | TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2011

0pinion

THE DIAMONDBACK

MARISSA LANG EDITOR IN CHIEF

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

KATE RAFTERY

MIKE WARLEY

MANAGING EDITOR

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

JUSTIN SNOW

KEVIN TERVALA

OPINION EDITOR

OPINION EDITOR

Staff editorial

Guest column

Reclaiming the classroom

Engaging in civil discourse

T

Student-athletes are not at this university solely to play sports; they are here to he stereotype of a “jock” has changed little since the term’s modern meaning came into parlance in the 1960s. Big and bulky, jocks are generally por- learn, just like every other student. When an athletics program fails to adequately trayed in popular culture as college or high-school athletes who are dense emphasize its players’ academic successes, serious changes must be considered.

Few student-athletes graduate from this university to become professional athand concerned only with athletics and girls. And while this negative perception may carry some truth for a few athletes, for the vast majority it is far from reality. letes. Although some may find themselves competing professionally, the vast majorIndeed, many university athletes are excellent students who juggle demanding aca- ity must leave College Park with marketable skills, a transcript and a resumé worthy demics and extracurricular schedules in the high-pressure environment of a Divi- of employment. An environment that asks its students to prove themselves only on the field, rather than in the classroom, is one that serves the interests of everyone sion I program.

But occasionally, despite the university’s efforts, the stereotype triumphs. The but the very students it is dependent on.

Although the football team has a long road to rectifying recent announcement that the Terrapin football team will lose this situation, the hiring of Edsall as football coach early this several scholarships due to poor academic performance defied year could indicate a culture change in coming. The efforts to emphasize academic performance among athletes.

The team will be without three scholarships come next Having lost three scholarships decrease in APR occurred during the tenure of former season after its Academic Progress Rate, which measures due to poor academics among coach Ralph Friedgen, and when Edsall arrived at this university, he expressed shock at the state of some of his playacademic eligibility and retention rates over a four-year period, slipped three points below the NCAA’s designated the Terrapin football team, the ers’ academics. Moreover, the hiring of Kevin Anderson as athletics director last semester could also signal a change. cut-off mark. Such a loss is not only bad publicity but also athletics department must But only so much should be expected to rise from a shift damaging to the team. Although new coach Randy Edsall has work to improve such scores. in leadership and personnel. The responsibility instead falls stated that systems are in place to absorb the loss of funding to those very people who now command these positions to for some of his players’ academic support, the revocation of stay the course and implement policies that foster academic growth in tandem with three scholarships should not be taken lightly.

The team’s declining APR is bad news for players as well as the university. It looks athletic achievement.

Much can be said about athletes and academics, and much of it is hyperbole. But bad for the athletics department and the institution as a whole, which is perpetually striving to attract some of the most talented student-athletes in the country. Even uni- when a lacking academic record leads to the stripping of three scholarships from versity President Wallace Loh has stated athletics is the “front porch” of the univer- one of this university’s most prominent teams, perhaps it is time for discussion and sity. The university’s teams garner national headlines with inspiring tales of triumph review. And as the athletics department works to improve graduation and retention and heartbreaking defeat. But this particular defeat — a defeat of scholarship — does rates among its 27 teams, officials must not forget that those who wear black and red little for the good of the program. In fact, since 2010, only one other school in a major on the field and draw hundreds or even thousands of fans are not just athletes, but students too. conference such as the ACC has faced sanctions resulting from a low APR score.

Our View

Editorial cartoon: Morgan Noonan

House Party: A lasting legacy

W

elcome to April! Spring was a little hung over and showed up late, but it finally seems to have arrived just as the semester is nearing its end. At this time three years ago, my hands were covered in chalk, my normal clothes went unworn in lieu of party T-shirts and I made an effort to talk to strangers. Had I lost my mind?

Nope, I was running for letters and sciences legislator for the Student Government Association as part of the House Party.

Over the next week, you will have the privilege of collecting some free pens and seeing your color-coded peers debate university policy, and I suggest you take the time to pay attention. But this article is less about you and more about me — me and the House Party.

My interest in student government stems from my adamant idealism and the influence of some excellent individuals — plus, anything awesome enough to get me to wear a neon-pink shirt every day for two weeks is clearly

ROB RIKER an excellent use of time. As a candidate, I got to meet a lot of new people and learn what they would want to see change at this university. I couldn’t agree more with my fellow columnist and former presidential candidate Andrew Steinberg that the SGA and the organization’s annual elections are important. SGA elections present a great opportunity for students to air their thoughts and concerns, but most of all, they are a lot of fun.

For all of you who think the SGA doesn’t do anything, I can say from my campaign experience that its members and candidates work very hard. The late nights I spent drawing elaborate chalk murals and going to promotional events at Santa Fe Cafe were the result of careful planning and strategizing.

Unfortunately, I missed out on much of this strategizing because my phone number had been listed incorrectly on the party contact list. (To the unaffiliated stranger also named Robert who received calls of an increasingly belligerent nature on my behalf: my bad. I really appreciate it though.)

While I admit that I am quite biased in saying this, the House Party was awesome. I am still amazed that more of us were not elected. Clearly students do not like house parties as much as one would think. Perhaps it was my introverted nature or my incorrectly listed phone number, but while I did my best to “make this house a home,” it was not quite enough, and I ended up losing by a narrow margin. But the people and passion of the House Party is best represented not by the results of the election but by what they did afterward.

Members of the House Party have gone on to make amazing contributions to our university and community, some as leaders in the SGA and the University Senate, others as leaders of

student groups and political campaigns. The SGA was only the beginning of their impact rather than the end of it. I hope that all the candidates in this year’s election will do the same.

Whether they win or lose, I hope they will never stop doing everything they can to make this university a better place for us all.

My favorite part of running for SGA actually had nothing to do with policy, students or even the fantastic pink shirts. What I loved was the camaraderie among the amazing people I got to run with. And though I failed to get elected, the House Party will remain one of my favorite college memories, and the people I ran with will remain some of my closest friends. I hope that those now running for SGA have the same ideals, passion and commitment that I saw as part of the House Party and leave their own lasting mark on this university.

Rob Riker is a senior government and politics and history major. He can be reached at riker@umdbk.com.

2012: The greatest show on earth

Y

esterday, with a flurry of text messages and emails to supporters, President Barack Obama formally announced his intentions to seek another term in 2012. Recycling his 2008 campaign logo — a red-and-white-striped rising sun encapsulated in a blue circle — the Obama campaign declared in a video accompanied by strumming guitar music that “it begins with us” as “supporters” voiced the need to make good on the achievements of the past few years and re-elect the president.

Despite whatever perceived accomplishments he may have, Obama faces an uphill battle. He has shifted dramatically on numerous issues during his first term, upsetting not only members of his base but also moderates who voted for the change he promised.

To that point, on the same day he announced his bid for re-election, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that alleged perpetrators of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would not be tried in civilian courts as originally promised but at Guantanamo Bay, which Obama promised to shut down during the 2008 campaign. It’s one of many compromises that has left Obama supporters with a sour taste in their mouths.

Obama’s approval rating stands at a measly 42 percent while that of his own secretary of state and former primary opponent, Hillary Clinton, has risen to an all-time high of 66 percent. Despite all of this, Obama seems unbeatable. Having raised an astounding $750 million in his 2008 campaign, largely through small donations from individual supporters, Obama expects to surpass that number this time around, possibly raising a record-breaking $1 billion.

More importantly, his opponents are nowhere to be found. Not one credible Republican has formally declared his or her candidacy, and of the prospective contenders, only former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty has announced a presidential exploratory committee. Republicans have been so late to the game that a debate scheduled for May to be cohosted by Politico and NBC News was postponed until September.

That said, the litany of usual suspects are all the waiting in the wings. Mitt Romney, the gel-haired former Massachusetts governor, has been quietly making his way around the nation hoping conservatives will forget he is a Mormon and instituted a health-care system as governor that is a mirror image of

JUSTIN SNOW “Obamacare.” Like a true patriot, Newt Gingrich, the disgraced speaker of the house during the Bill Clinton era, attempted to blame his numerous marital indiscretions (he is on wife No. 3) on the stress he endured serving his country. Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania blamed the Social Security crisis on the fact that too many fetuses (and potential taxpayers) have been aborted.

Of course there’s former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose potential joke candidacy is quickly being surpassed by that of a different bloviating idiot, Donald Trump. The toupeed host of the reality show The Apprentice joined others on the fringe in questioning Obama’s place of birth. Trump went so far as to release his own birth certificate, only for reporters to ironically point out the document provided was not the billionaire’s official birth certificate.

Obama faces a circus of clowns who talk some bizarre form of talk and really

do not know how to walk. For Republicans riding the coattails of a successful takeover of the House of Representatives last fall — largely because of poor turnout among young people and minorities — the prospect of winning the White House is making Republicans drool.

And although Obama has faced a tough road in recent months, students — who were perhaps his most enthusiastic supporters in 2008 — have not abandoned the candidate of hope and change. A recent poll by Harvard’s Institute of Politics found that Obama carries a 55 percent approval rating among 18to 29-year-olds, up six points from October. With the campaign just beginning, those numbers seem unlikely to go anywhere but up.

Obama’s presidency has delivered its share of disappointments. But the class of dunces currently looking to challenge Obama has little prospect of defeating him with its current routine of antics. Students, and Americans in general, may not be thrilled with Obama so far, but it should be noted that before we jump ship we at least need something to jump to.

E

veryone knows College Park has its problems.

Don’t get me wrong — I love this city just as much as the next student, but we can all agree that some things around here could be a little better.

Whether your problem is with the safety, nightlife, police or some other issue facing the city, ever yone can say something about the city in which this university is located. There have been several editorials and articles published in The Diamondback throughout the semester that have focused on these issues. Many students and residents are also talking about the problems plaguing the city, but few are actually stepping up to the plate and acting to solve these issues.

I am sure some of you saw the flash mob yesterday in front of Stamp Student Union, and many of you are probably asking what brought it about. As much as the flash mob was about ever yone having fun and enjoying themselves (and maybe becoming a YouTube sensation), it was about much more. It was organized by a group of students, which I am a part of, in the communication department who want to help promote civic communication in the College Park community among students, police and residents.

Though a flash mob may seem simple, it promoted civic communication in College Park. It allowed for a group of diverse students who barely know one another to come together to create something amazing. Though the flash mob cannot and did not solve the city’s problems, it did show that even something as fun and trivial as a flash mob can ser ve a greater purpose. It is the first step toward having students work together for a common goal and fixing some of the issues with College Park. If students continue to work together and begin working with police and the community, I believe that College Park could become a better place.

The flash mob was also an easy way to get students’ attention about the important issues in College Park.

In addition to the flash mob, our group has also planned a College Park town hall, which will occur tomorrow at 6 p.m. in Jimenez Hall room 0220. This panel will include student leaders and representatives from the University Police, Prince George’s County Police and the university administration. It will be your opportunity to voice your opinion on local issues you care about.

The town hall will include a question-and-answer session.

In order for this to be a success, we need your help. We need you to come out to the event and tell ever yone what you think about College Park. This is your chance to be heard. This is the opportunity for students, police and community members to work together to solve some of the city’s many problems.

It’s time to step out from behind the letters to the editor, stop complaining about the issues and take some real action.

I am sure you’ll be glad you did.

Sarah Brown is a junior government and politics major.

She can be reached at sebrown118@gmail.com.

AIR YOUR VIEWS Address your letters or guest columns to the Opinion Desk at opinion@umdbk.com.

All letters and guest columns must be signed. Include your full name, year, major and dayand night-time phone numbers. Please limit letters to 250 words. Ensure guest columns are between 550 and 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.

Justin Snow is a senior history major. He can be reached at snow@umdbk.com.

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.

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2011 | THE DIAMONDBACK

5

Features HOROSCOPESTELLA WILDER

CROSSWORD ACROSS 66 — mater 67 Ear part 1 Philippine port 5 Horse-and-buggy 68 Rectify 69 Diplomat Abba users 70 Tool storage 10 Floor model 71 Sri — 14 Receptive 72 Mild-mannered 15 Nouveau — 16 Midterm or final DOWN 17 File folder label 1 “Catch a Falling 18 Taj — Star” crooner 19 Mouthful 2 Film spectacular 20 Leggy swimmers 3 Optimum 22 Sparkle 4 Open the wine 24 Moved quickly 5 One way to stroll 25 Has the stage (hyph.)

(2 wds.)

6 Woody ex 26 Islands claimed 7 I, for Wolfgang

by Argentina 8 Layered haircuts 30 Nigeria’s capital 35 Orthodontist’s gp. 9 “You there?”

10 Society newbies 36 Dos’ followers 11 Door 37 Discharge 12 Chess win 38 Tart pie (2 wds.)

13 Eclipse, 41 Political thaw to an ancient 43 Cherbourg shes 21 Sidekick 44 Homo sapiens 23 Bayou or fjord 45 VI halved 25 Visa and passport 46 Skims through 26 Charlatan 47 Volcanic glass 27 Astaire sister 50 Pac-10 team 28 Derek & The 53 Pharmacist Lilly Dominos tune 54 Arctic mammal 29 Once called (2 wds.)

31 Epoch 58 Close 62 Flapjack acronym 32 Wish granters 33 Ancient Rome’s 63 Godfather’s port group

© 2011 UNITED FEATURES SYNDICATE

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Z EN B AURA R EN I D APR I KA I T A L A T I L E L EVES E I F S GRE T A DRESSY E I L NT ENNA S AUD I E S L AM R E L KS

STRANGE THOUGHTS

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orn today, you are always thinking, always planning, always strategizing and always applying your unmatched critical skills to yourself and your own endeavors. You are quick to determine that something is not going as planned, and just as quick to decide, when things are going well, to stay the course and pursue all possible rewards that might come as a result. You know how to work well with others, and more often than not you are the one chosen as a group’s leader; you have what it takes to inspire others to do their best work, even as you strive to do your best yourself.

B

There are times in which you will no doubt have to subject yourself to certain emotional or physical hardships, and this is not simply because you are eager to prove yourself whenever the opportunity arises. The fact is that danger may be an unavoidable part of the life you build for yourself.

Also born on this date are Colin Powell, U.S. statesman and military leader; Frank Gorshin, actor; Roger Corman, filmmaker; Gregory Peck, actor; Bette Davis, actress; Spencer Tracy, actor.

gives you the chance to regain your composure when you most need to.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — Certainty is something you’ll be questioning throughout a day characterized by strangeness, in one form or another.

What is real?

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — You’ll expect those around you to follow instructions to the letter, but be aware that some variations may be unavoidable.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — What you have to offer is likely to exceed expectations, but whether this is a good thing or not has yet to be seen.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — A work in progress requires the input of those around you before you can put the final touches on it.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Manners are likely to make more of a difference to you and your interpersonal dynamics than usual. Do you know what’s right — and when?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — You may feel as though you’re waiting on someone else, but in reality you are standing in your own way.

Make an honest assessment.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Your ability to see things in a humorous light will serve you well; what happens may be troubling to some, but not to you.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — A stop-and-start approach to the day prevents you from having to deal with too many pressing issues at once.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) — Be ready to make something of a journey in order to reach your destination. It’s further than you had originally planned.

Copyright 2011 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

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ARIES (March 21-April 19) — Questions and answers fly about, but no one seems to be getting to the heart of the matter. You know what is required.

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6

THE DIAMONDBACK | TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2011

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE:

Diversions

BILL CALLAHAN — APOCALYPSE “Although there is no real title track present, Callahan uses the unforgettable timbre of his voice to inflect the word ‘apocalypse’ with an elusive significance each time it’s used.” — Vaman Muppala RATING: 4.5 stars out of 5 For the full review, just click the Diversions tab at: WWW.DIAMONDBACKONLINE.COM

arts. music. living. movies. weekend.

REVIEW | THE KILLS

Under pressure were far more interested in bits of punk, alternative and even the occasional dance beat to accompany the spare distorted guitar sounds.

Here, rootsy blues elements accentuate nearly every track. It’s no surprise — one of Mosshart’s other projects is The Dead Weather, which features Jack White of The White Stripes and members of the Raconteurs and Queens of the Stone Age. The dark, dirty blues of The Dead Weather is translated seamlessly into The Kills’ sound, which adds memorable vocal melodies to the chunky rumpus of the guitar.

Closing track “Pots and Pans” thrives on its well-crafted icky thump, though some listeners may at first be thrown off by the clear influences of other duos such as The Black Keys and, of course, The White Stripes.

The song builds to a nice climax, switching from detuned acoustics to archaic-sounding guitar distortions.

Much of the record uses more natural sounds than the group’s usual output, from old, reverb-drenched drums to real hand claps.

The best songs on Blood Pressures mix both Mosshart’s ear for melody and the band’s new tonalities into purposefully cohesive wholes. “Nail in My Coffin” is a barrage of boom-

BY ZACHARY BERMAN Senior staff writer

Every successful musical act has a niche. Whether it’s something as simple as the late LCD Soundsystem’s dance-punk-hipsterisms or something more involved, such as Radiohead’s we’re-so-complex racket, bands are often defined by the audience they play for.

On their new album Blood Pressures, The Kills run away with their art-duo role, evolving just enough to give this fourth record a bit of an edge over previous works.

What makes this album a step above the rest is its added accessibility. Perhaps the band is going against its established niche, but it’s for the better. Blood Pressures still sounds like The Kills, only with a clearer sense of direction and catchier hooks and riffs.

Take a song such as “You Don’t Own the Road,” which, as usual, features the vocals of rocker Alison Mosshart atop a mashup of drums and thick guitar riffs, courtesy of the duo’s other half, British guitarist Jamie Hince.

As the song shows, the big difference between this album and others is in the music’s tone. Previous records, such as Midnight Boom,

The Kills step slightly out of their comfort zone on Blood Pressures

ing drums and grungy guitar distortion that begs for repeat listening.

The biggest complaint that can be leveled against Blood Pressures is actually much the same annoyance that plagues a band like The Dead Weather: Individually, songs range from just OK to fantastic, yet, as a whole, every song sounds much too similar to the one before and after it.

“You Don’t Own the Road” is just a little bit too similar to “Heart Is a Beating Drum,” which in turn has too much in common with “Future Starts Slow.” Each song has its own special piece, but after listening to the album all the way through, it’s hard to tell which songs are which.

This doesn’t bode well for the group’s minimalist live performance, which involves Mosshart and Hines playing guitar and singing with a drum machine on stage. Duos such as the Black Keys bring energy to the live arena by experimenting with added sounds in studio or just adding a backing band.

Blood Pressures should have been the band’s chance to step out of the box it has created for itself and see where else it could go. Instead, listeners get a slightly different experience than normal. The change in sound was a positive move, but too much of the record sounds the same.

Though Blood Pressures becomes repetitive, it imbues The Kills’ formula with newfound accessibility. PHOTO COURTESY OF HTBACKDROPS.COM

The Kills are an interesting band to watch. Mosshart and Hines craft some great songs every now and then, and Blood Pressures, though

repetitive, is the group’s easiest record to enjoy right off the bat. berman@umdbk.com

ALBUM: Blood Pressures | VERDICT:

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Walking Distance 5 BR, 2 full bath, plenty of parking, large yard, central air, no pets. 12 month lease.

Rent $2500/month. Call Lee at 571-221-6039.

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Rent apartments/houses. Walking distance.

One bedroom – 7 bedrooms. Available June, July or August. $895-$4550. Email Karen at chsproperties@hughes.net. 717-830-0868.

FANTASTIC HOUSE for rent – 1/2 block from North Campus Drive, on Adelphi Road.

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HELP WANTED- $8.50/HR- UM STUDENTS ONLY. The University of Maryland’s Surplus Property Operation (TERRAPIN TRADER) has openings for warehouse & delivery personnel. Hours of operation are 7:30 am - 4:30 pm. For more information, call Mike Painter at 301-405-5008/ 5267 or stop by the Terrapin Trader located in the Physical Distribution Center, Bldg. #383 on Paint Branch Parkway near the College Park Metro Station. “NO WHINERS ALLOWED”.

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The Board of Directors sets general policy, approves budgets and selects the Editors-in-Chief for the student publications. The term of office is one year and begins in May, 2011. The Board meets about once a month during the school year.

For an application, stop by room 3136 South Campus Dining Hall and ask for Maggie Levy.

Applications are due

by Wednesday, April 6th at noon.

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2011 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK

ACADEMICS from page 8 Director Kevin Anderson cited Edsall’s strong focus on academics as a major selling point when he announced his hire earlier this year.

With the Terps’ announcement Saturday that their most recent APR of 922 out of a possible 1,000 had resulted in a loss of three of the team’s 85 scholarships for the upcoming season, Edsall’s concern with classroom performance takes on added importance.

The APR is a rolling, fouryear statistic, and the Terps can prevent future sanctions with evidence of academic improvement.

Edsall, who has been a driving force behind an overhaul of the team’s academic-support unit, said he will take an involved role in the team’s academic progress and has scheduled weekly meetings with his support staff for individual reports on each of his players.

“Number one, I want young men to come here that have the ability to help us win an ACC Championship,” Edsall said.

“But ... when we recruit a young man, academics has

to be impor tant, and getting a degree has to be a big priority.”

Edsall also announced that Monday will be the of f-day for the team this fall. The program had traditionally given its players Sundays of f, but Edsall said he sees a schedule with Sunday practices and Mondays vacant as affording players greater flexibility off the field.

“My philosophy is to give the players off on Mondays during the season so they can take labs,” Edsall said. “They can go meet professors ... doing that when there are office hours and there are classes that they need.

“That’ll really be a big academic day for them.”

Edsall added that as the Terps continue their spring practice slate, he expects his current efforts off the field to improve his team’s academic performance almost immediately.

“It’s just changing the culture in terms of the expectations when it comes to academics,” Edsall said.

“I’m a guy that thinks we can get it done right away.

That’s what we’re going to shoot for. Hopefully, [we will] get a lot of it fixed by the end of this semester.” cwalsh@umdbk.com

FRESHMEN from page 8 back 10-hit games for the first time all season.

“I felt good. I had a simple approach and just executed,” Kiene said. “We’ve been working together just on simplifying everything down and keeping everything simple, and it paid off for us this week. ... It was good just because Jake and I haven’t gotten the numbers we want to. Coming through this weekend was very big for us.”

Bakich had warned the lineup would vary with an influx of freshmen and junior-college transfers. But even as Kiene struggled after starting the season in the cleanup spot and Stinnett bounced in and out of the starting lineup, Bakich found ways to get them in the lineup.

That the duo broke out this weekend hardly surprised Bakich.

7

CUMMINGS from page 8 the 12th multi-goal game of his career.

Cummings’ tallies came at critical junctures for the Terps, who trailed Virginia for the majority of the first half. The junior’s first goal — a quick-stick finish just outside the crease that came after receiving a feed from attackman Owen Blye behind the cage — started the Terps’ decisive seven-goal run, which lasted just less than 25 minutes and spanned from the end of the second quarter until 10:09 remained in the final frame of action.

Cummings proved to be a mismatch for the Cavaliers’ defense, which failed to cover the converted attackman on the crease numerous times Saturday. Using pick-and-roll plays with fellow midfielders John Haus, Drew Snider and Jake Bernhardt and quick cuts from the outside-in, Cummings regularly found himself wide open in the field’s most contested area — the patch of grass right in front of Virginia goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman.

“He’s just a great off-ball player,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “We talked about kind of anticipating what he likes to do, but [if] you turn your head for a second, then he can take advantage. He’s just one of the better off-ball guys in the country. It wasn’t so much

“This is all a process,” Bakich said.

“They’re two guys who’ve never experienced much failure, and they both played a lot early, and they both had some adversity. They hit a rough patch. Baseball’s a game of peaks and valleys; they hit a valley. But what you’re seeing is just a result of the hard work that they’ve been putting in over the last couple weeks.”

With Kiene and Stinnett serving as models at the plate, the Terps as a whole looked like a different team on offense. Hitters were more patient, walking more and better selecting pitches. Even in innings in which it didn’t score, the team threatened after moving runners into scoring position more often. That hadn’t been the case through much of the season for the Terps, who came to rely on solid pitching and one or two offensive outbursts.

Bakich maintained nothing had changed for the Terps physically. The

covering the ball as it was covering up that second guy. A second guy like that, he’s really able to take advantage.”

Cummings also showed off his dodging ability by scoring arguably the game’s prettiest goal with just more than four minutes remaining in the third quarter. After working behind the cage with attackman Ryan Young, Cummings sprinted around the right side of the crease at full speed before stopping on a dime as Virginia midfielder Bobby Hill stumbled clumsily to the ground.

With an open lane to the goal, Cummings took one more step around the crease before throwing multiple fakes and beating Ghitelman easily to the opposite post.

“It’s just a read in game, and that’s the play that we run,” Cummings said of the goal.

“Ryan [Young] made the right pass and put me in a good position to finish the shot. Thankfully, the guy slipped, so I had a pretty open opportunity to finish the shot.”

On a team already boasting three established starters at attack, Cummings was forced to switch to midfield upon arriving in College Park his freshman year. But the Towson native overcame the transitional difficulties with ease, working his way up the depth chart before meshing seamlessly with the Terps’ first midfield unit this season.

It was that smooth transition

talent had always been there, he said, but their mentality was different.

“Our coach has been working with us a lot just simplifying our swings a lot,” Stinnett said. “We’ve been working hard whenever we can, and it paid off this weekend.”

Tonight, the Terps (13-15) will take their new offensive confidence to Morgantown, W.Va., to take on West Virginia (17-13) in their first midweek road game of the year.

Given their success this weekend at the plate and the Mountaineers’ struggles on the rubber — the team’s pitching staff owns a 5.61 ERA — the pieces for the Terps’ offensive resurgence to continue are in place.

“The hitters had a really pretty good offensive weekend, really a comingout party for a lot of the freshmen,” pitcher David Carroll said. “I think that’s going to step them forward.” schneider@umdbk.com

Midfielder Joe Cummings’ transition to the Terps’ midfield has gone largely smoothly. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

— and the kind of career days he’s posted in games against UMBC and Virginia this season — that prompted coach John Tillman to urge Cummings to become more of a vocal leader at midfield. Last week, the firstyear coach pulled Cummings aside and asked him to take on a more visible role for a Terp team coming off a deflating loss to No. 8 North Carolina. “‘Just so you know, your time is now. You can’t wait until next year. You’re a leader,’” Tillman recalled telling Cummings.

“He and I went back and forth, and I said, ‘You’ve been around Mar yland lacrosse for a long time. You should be one of the

HITTING from page 8 and I think we’ll be fine.”

For the Terps (22-12, 2-3 ACC) to keep pace in the ACC, in which they were picked to finish fifth this preseason, they’ll need to get production from the team’s core offensive group. The top of the order, which features outfielders Sara Acosta and Vangie Galindo, produced for the Terps, batting .333 for the weekend and contributing seven walks, three runs scored and only two strikeouts.

But the rest of the offense was unable to build on that performance. The Terps’ No. 3 through No. 6 hitters hit a combined .135 (5-for37) with five walks this weekend while producing only two RBI, striking out 10 times and stranding 16 runners on base.

Particularly glaring was the inef-

main leaders on offense.

We’ve been knocked around, but we’ll come back. I need you to be more demonstrative and more vocal.’”

Cummings willingly obliged Tillman’s request, earning the team’s hard-hat award in practice last week before following it up with the kind of showing many expected of Stanwick.

“We all stepped up. I think ever ybody lifted their level of play,” Cummings said. “Coming of f of last week’s loss, we all took it personally. Individually, ever ybody got better this week.” jengelke@umdbk.com

fectiveness of infielder Lexi Carroll, who had emerged during the course of the team’s winning streak — the second-longest in program history — as a go-to offensive dynamo. After batting .516 with five home runs and 15 RBI over the 13-game stretch, Carroll went 0-for-7 and left nine runners on base. The sophomore hit four home runs in March 26’s doubleheader with Virginia but couldn’t provide any sorely needed offense this weekend.

On Sunday, Watten gave credit to Georgia Tech’s pitchers, Kristen Adkins, Hope Rush and Lindsey Anderson, for shutting down and confusing the Terps’ offense. But she said some of her own players deserved to share the blame.

“We just didn’t make the adjustments soon enough on the pitching,” Watten said. dgallen@umdbk.com

8

THE DIAMONDBACK | TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2011

Sports FOOTBALL

Edsall: Terps will deal with academic hit

Athletics dept. shakeup?

Two prominent officials from this university’s athletics department have resigned, according to one media report. Read more at TerrapinTrail.com.

MEN’S LACROSSE

Coach says he’ll take on more involved approach

BY CONOR WALSH Staff writer

When coach Randy Edsall took the helm of the Terrapin football team in January, he inherited a program that appeared to have moved beyond the adversity of a dismal 2009 campaign.

But largely lost among the promise of the Terps’ program when Edsall signed on were the problems lingering from the tenure of former coach Ralph Friedgen, who led the team to a 9-4 record last season before having his contract bought out.

As Edsall looks to manage the loss of three scholarships for the upcoming season due to the team’s poor Academic Progress Rate performance under Friedgen, though, he seemed confident his hands-on approach will help improve the team’s substandard academic standing shortly.

“We have to play the cards that we were dealt. This was a hand that we were dealt,” Edsall said in a teleconference yesterday.

“I’m not going to focus on the past. I’m going to focus on the now and the future, and I feel really, really good about the things that we’re putting into place to allow our young men to be successful in the classroom.

“They understand that they’re going to be held to a very high standard in everything that they do.”

While Edsall’s sentiment mirrors that of collegiate programs across the country, his track record suggests he’s capable of revamping the program’s performance in the classroom. In his 12 seasons at Connecticut, the Huskies were honored by the American Football Coaches Association five times for high graduation rates, and Athletics

see ACADEMICS, page 7

Midfielder Joe Cummings shakes off Virginia midfielder Bobby Hill, left, before beating goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman. Cummings finished with four goals Saturday, just days after coach John Tillman had asked him for improved leadership. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

For Terps, a Cummings-out party Midfielder bests ex-teammate Stanwick with four-goal performance on Saturday

BY JAKOB ENGELKE Senior staff writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Ever since they shared offensive duties on the same vaunted attack line for Loyola Blakefield’s boys’ lacrosse team during its MIAA Championship run in 2008, Steele Stanwick and Joe Cummings have seen

their paths diverge slightly.

Both players have enjoyed successes at the Division I level, but it’s been Stanwick, a first-team AllAmerica attackman on Virginia, who has been the center of attention among fans and media. Meanwhile, Cummings, a midfielder for the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team, has flown slightly under the radar.

BASEBALL

Surprising duo lifts Terp offense in series vs. No. 7 Florida State

BY JEREMY SCHNEIDER Staff writer

When Erik Bakich predicted earlier this season that the Terrapin baseball team’s offense would eventually click, the second-year coach likely envisioned one of the team’s top hitters as the catalyst.

The Terps had one of their best offensive showings of the season over the weekend against No. 7 Florida State. But surprisingly, it wasn’t largely the doing of second baseman Ryan Holland, who owns the Terps’ best batting average, or right fielder Charlie White, the team’s leadoff hitter.

Instead, two freshmen who had entered the series batting under .200 provided the spark from near the end of the order.

Third baseman Jake Stinnett and first baseman Tim Kiene, who have struggled for much of the season, went a combined 5-for-14 with five RBI and two runs scored in the final two games of the series. With their No. 8 and 9 batters hitting their stride, the Terps had back-to-

see FRESHMEN, page 7

First baseman Tim Kiene was instrumental in helping the Terps post one of their best offensive outputs of the year this weekend. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

SOFTBALL

Hits aren’t enough to knock out Yellow Jackets in weekend series Offense limited largely to singles in No. 25 Tech’s wins

BY DANIEL GALLEN Staff writer

The Terrapin softball team made sure to bring its bats to Robert E. Taylor Stadium this weekend. Unfortunately for the Terps, they just didn’t come out at the right times.

Although the Terps outhit No. 25 Georgia Tech over the threegame series, 12-7, the offense they showed was rather ordinary and far from opportune.

Aside from a Marisha Branson double in Saturday’s

opener and a home run by outfielder Nikki Maier in the day’s second game, all of the Terps’ hits were singles. That certainly didn’t help the team’s runners-left-on-base total, which had reached 20 by the time the Yellow Jackets completed the series sweep.

Coach Laura Watten, fresh off a disappointing threegame losing streak that snapped a 13-game winning streak, said she would nonetheless stay the course.

“I’m in the part of the sea-

son where we don’t really want to try to move things around too much. I like the things that fit well for our system,” Watten said. “It’s just a situation where we have to get ourselves back on track, and we got to get back into a place where we feel good.”

“I think we’ve been playing great ball,” pitcher Kendra Knight said. “This weekend didn’t really reflect it. We just need to tweak here and there,

see HITTING, page 7

The focus on Stanwick in the lead-up to Saturday’s showdown between the old teammates and league foes was hardly surprising.

The junior was again leading the Cavaliers in scoring with 39 points, far outpacing the 16 Cummings had entering the game.

But at the conclusion of the No. 5 Terps’ 12-7 victory over No. 9 Vir-

ginia, it wasn’t Stanwick who had made the biggest impact in a crucial game for both teams. Instead, that honor went to his former highschool teammate.

Cummings paced the Terps’ offense with four goals Saturday, tying a career high and recording

see CUMMINGS, page 7