April 9, 2015

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The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper

T H U R S DAY, A P R I L 9 , 2 015

U to break ground on Frederick Douglass memorial University President Wallace Loh appropriated $375,000 for the project before the recent budget cuts that caused the hiring and construction freeze announced in December, said Crystal Brown, this university’s chief communications officer. Brown said construction is set to begin during the summer and will not affect any of the surrounding buildings,

Five years in making, commemorative garden in Hornbake Plaza will include benches, quotes

By Jon Banister @J_Banister Senior staff writer

T his summer, this university will begin construction on a memorial in Hornbake Plaza to honor Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist

leader and influential figure in this state’s history. Frederick Douglass Square will be located in the plaza directly in front of Hornbake Library, with flower beds, accent lighting, benches surrounding the 50-by-60 space and quotes from Douglass, a renowned orator.

the frederick douglass memorial in Hornbake Plaza will include benches, plants, flowers and quotes See douglass, Page 2 from the renowned abolitionist, suffragist and orator, who was from this state. rendering courtesy of katie lawson

SGA joins Byrd name change push After forum, reps vote 13-2 to support renaming Byrd Stadium By Taylor Swaak @tswaak27 Staff writer

Arefeh Nasri, right, a civil and environmental engineering doctoral candidate, explains her work to judge Michael Wiederoder at Graduate Research Interaction Day in Stamp Student Union. stephanie natoli/the diamondback

staying on the grid 150 graduate students display research at annual Graduate Research Interaction Day By Carly Kempler @CarlyKempler Staff writer Graduate students of various disciplines got the chance to share research with the academic community during this university’s Graduate Research Interaction Day yesterday. The day is about providing grad-

uate students with an experience to share with their peers and promoting interdisciplinary research, said Jessica Bennett, the Graduate Student Government vice president for academic affairs and the leader of this year’s event. “[GRID]’s been happening for about 20 years; it’s been around for so long that no one remembers why it started,” said Bennett,

a fourth-year higher education g raduate student. “It sta rted because as graduate students, one of the things we’re really learning is how to research, and we wanted to promote that.” Throughout the second floor of Stamp Student Union, students shared research projects, which were ranked by various judgment panels made up of faculty and grad-

uate students. The students with the highest scores were awarded research funds from Stamp Student Union, Pepsi and this university’s graduate school and other groups. This year, 150 graduate students submitted abstracts of their research papers and two faculty members reviewed them, Bennett

When Moriah Ray talked with football players at this university about how they felt playing in a stadium named after a well-known racist and segregationist, she said their answers were largely the same. “A lot of the black football players on this team, they know the history of Curley Byrd, and they believe that the name of this stadium should be changed,” said Ray, a senior government and politics major and vice president of this university’s chapter of the NAACP. “They just don’t know how to make that happen.” A f te r t wo h o u rs o f s t u d e n t speakers and heated debate last night, the Student Government Association voted in favor of a bill to support changing the name of Byrd Stadium. The final vote was 13-2, with two abstentions. “We need to support an environment at the University of Maryland where all students are comfortable,” said freshman SGA representative Chris Ricigliano, who voted in favor of the proposal. “Certain students have made it clear that they’re not

See research, Page 2 See byrd, Page 3

City Council holds Camden meeting after thefts, murder Attempts to mediate resident, management dispute unsuccessful By Eleanor Mueller @eleanor_mueller Staff writer After residents requested action from the Camden College Park apartments staff in light of security concerns and poor communication, complex management met with the College Park City Council on Tuesday night but failed to reach a solution. The apartment complex, located on Milestone Way, has been the location of a homicide and more than 12 break-ins since October. Though residents tried contacting management numerous times to resolve their

issues, residents complained nothing significant came of it. “We do see many breaking-andenterings happening inside and outside your apartments,” District 1 Councilman Fazlul Kabir said to managers at the meeting. “Residents tried to reach out, and they failed for many months. If I were living there, I would be very frustrated.” When residents called on the council last month to hold management responsible, the council wrote Camden Properties Regional Vice President Richard Key a letter on March 10 that outlined the residents’ concerns and requested a meeting. “I visited … the front of the building, and your first impression is your last impression,” said District 4 Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Denise Mitchell. “My first impression was a D.” The issues outlined in the letter included a lack of adequate security, low-quality balcony renovations, false fire alarms and insufficient communication between the residents and the management staff. “Our goal is to have a harmonious See camden, Page 3

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U researchers: Black hole effects widespread Even outer boundaries of galaxies impacted By Joe Zimmermann @JoeMacZim Senior staff writer In a study published last month in Nature, university researchers shared evidence of a black hole’s influence on even the outermost stretches of its galaxy. Almost all galaxies have a supermassive black hole at their center, but this is the first time researchers have observed this kind of direct effect of a black hole on a distant region of space, said Francesco Tombesi, the lead author of the study. “For the first time, we connected the fact that the supermassive black hole can remove material, especially cold gas that is the fuel for the formation of stars,” said Tombesi, a research scientist for this university’s astronomy department. “We see directly that

Marcio Melendez, a research associate in the astronomy department, had his work on black holes and galaxy evolution published recently in the scientific journal Nature. stephanie natoli/the diamondback the black hole is switching off the formation of stars in these galaxies.” The gravitational pull of black holes creates a vortex that pulls in matter, Tombesi said, but not everything gets sucked in. Some of the material shoots out from the accretion disc that gathers around the black hole and goes outward into the sur-

rounding galaxy. These materials then change the way the rest of the galaxy is formed, preventing an overabundance of stars, Tombesi said. To corroborate the theory that black holes have influence in the galaxy at large, the research team See holes, Page 3

SPORTS

OPINION

TERPS TOP LOYOLA IN THRILLER, 11-10

STAFF EDITORIAL: Enough with the pizza

The Terrapins men’s lacrosse team won its ninth straight game yesterday, but it took a while to put away the rival Greyhounds P. 8

We’ll take a Peruvian restaurant over another pizza chain P. 4 DIVERSIONS

LOOKING DEEP INTO OL’ BLUE EYES New doc explores the life of crooner Frank Sinatra P. 6


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