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T H U R S DAY, A P R I L 2 4 , 2 01 4
Pedestrian safety initiatives planned Campaign follows four collisions in 10 months By Teddy Amenabar and Jenny Hottle @TeddyAmen, @JennyHottle Senior staff writers The university will launch a pedestrian safety campaign next week, after four pedestrian traffic collisions occurred off the campus on Route 1 police cars will park along Route 1 on weekend in the past 10 months. University President Wallace Loh nights for supervision. james levin/the diamondback sent an email to the university com- death in case of an accident.” munity yesterday morning, asking peThe email detailed three prodestrians and drivers to take respon- grams the university plans to sibility in a “Street Smart” campaign. implement with city and county “Do not jaywalk at night, or cross officials, including increased a street while glued to a cell phone,” police presence, educational Loh wrote in the email. “Reduce safety campaigns and physical your car speed by just 5 miles per changes to the road. hour, because it can make the difference between hospitalization and See safety, Page 9
USM adopts policies on online privacy protection Failed state bill inspires system provisions By Jim Bach @thedbk Senior staff writer When a bill protecting online privacy struggled to make it through the state General Assembly in two straight legislative sessions, University System of Maryland officials adopted their own version of the bill’s provisions. But despite the university system’s actions, privacy advocates said there is more to be done in Annapolis. In 2012, Del. Shawn Tarrant (D-Baltimore City) and Sen. Ronald Young (D-Frederick and Washington) fi rst introduced the bill, which prohibited university officials and administrators from forcing students to surrender their social media passwords.
The bill stalled, but university system officials adopted a similar policy in November, leaving enforcement to the system rather than the state. “It did get done, and that’s the most important thing,” said Tarrant, who backed off the issue this session after sponsoring bills in 2012 and 2013. But on the Senate side, Young wasn’t satisfied with the system’s policy change. “You ca n say, ‘It’s not ou r pol icy,’ a nd i f someone does it you can say, ‘Oh well, they shouldn’t have,’ but that kind of leaves the door open if that’s all See privacy, Page 10
Francis Tiafoe, the 16-year-old No. 2 junior world tennis champion, spent much of his childhood at the city’s Junior Tennis Champions Center. james levin/the diamondback
BALANCING MATCHES & classes Junior Tennis Champions Center incubates talents of dozens of full-time students By Ellie Silverman @esilverman11 Senior staff writer
W
hen Francis Tiafoe was just 2 years old, his father Constant, a tennis center maintenance worker, brought him and his twin brother to a fitness room for their naps while he performed his duties around the center. These boys grew up at this tennis center, learning to walk to the soundtrack of bouncing tennis balls and screeching sneakers. Now Tiafoe, 16, is the No. 2 junior world tennis champion, using the same facility he napped in as a kid as his school and training center. “We are very proud of him because he’s just
Getting in the ring
a part of the group,” said Vesa Pönkkä, senior director of tennis at the Junior Tennis Champions Center. “He has been here since he learned how to walk, so this is his home, basically.” This year, Tiafoe won the Easter Bowl and the Orange Bowl, the first player since 1979 to do so. He also went into the United States Tennis Association International Spring Championships as the top seed in his division before falling to then-No. 2-seed Naoki Nakagaw of Bradenton, Fla. “I never get satisfied really, just wanna keep working hard and get better every day,” Tiafoe said. “[The] biggest goal for me is to win the U.S. Open in a couple years.” The tennis facility, which was named
South Campus gym facility plans stall amid existing debt University still paying off debts from Eppley
Lamont Roach Jr. goes pro while still student By Aaron Kasinitz @AaronKazreports Senior staff writer
By Joelle Lang @joelleRlang Staff writer
WASHINGTON — He walked through
Design and construction plans for a South Campus gym have stalled after supporters determined the university would not be able to afford the facility. Though the University Senate had approved plans to construct a more than 20,000-square-foot recreational facility next to Mowatt Lane Garage, proposed to open in 2019, plans have been pushed back until 2020 at the earliest, “if we can finance it,” said Jay Gilchrist, Campus Recreation Services director. Plans to begin designing the gym were also pushed from 2015 to 2016.
a crowd of trainers and boxing coaches, up the stairs and past the 10-foot-tall inf latable bottle of Corona Light on the stage. Then Lamont Roach Jr. ripped off his sweat suit, stripping down to lightblue compression shorts. The man with the microphone announced Roach’s name, and the 134-pound 18-year-old stepped onto the scale for his first professional weigh-in at the Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel on Friday afternoon as a loud cheer fi lled the grand ballroom.
lamont roach jr. had his first professional weigh-in on Friday in Washington at 134 pounds. “You always have to have a plan to fall back on,” the freshman mechanical engineering major said. photo courtesy of luke runion “It made me feel good,” Roach said, smiling. “It made me feel like I could get used to it.” Plus, he said, stepping in front of about 300 fans beat the precalculus class he was sitting through the day before. And that’s not a thought any of the other 15 boxers at the weigh-in had that day.
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While Roach begins a promising professional career — he won his fi rst professional fight Saturday by a unanimous decision — he’s taking on a challenge nearly unheard of in boxing by remaining a full-time student at this university. See roach, Page 9
The plan, which was outlined in the university’s Facilities Master Plan for 2011 to 2030, called for a main floor that would be twice as la rge as R itch ie Col iseu m’s 11,000-square-foot gym space. The university is still working to pay off the debt on the 16-year-old Eppley Recreation Center, Gilchrist said. As the facility ages, it also becomes more expensive to maintain and repair, he said, making it difficult for the university to afford a new gym. Aside from the initial cost of construction, Gilchrist said, the costs of maintaining the new gym are another consideration. “We’ve seen different places built with no money to staff or maintain them,” he said. “We will not go down this road short.” See gym, Page 10
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STAFF EDITORIAL: Prioritizing saving lives
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