043009

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CHASING PERFECTION

SWEET SUGAR

Terps are close to an unbeaten season, but coaches have been there before

Co-directors Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden discuss their new film DIVERSIONS | PAGE 7

SPORTS | PAGE 10

THE DIAMONDBACK THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2009

99TH YEAR | ISSUE NO. 137

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Library costs continue rapid rise Faculty members bemoan fourth straight year of journal cuts BY TIRZA AUSTIN Senior staff writer

Sky-rocketing costs are forcing officials to gut the university’s libraries of academic journals that faculty say are crucial resources for researchers and students. For the fourth year in a row, library officials

and faculty members are working in conjunction to get rid of about 9 percent of the university library system’s scholarly journal collection because they do not have the necessary resources to support the rising costs of alreadyexpensive academic journals. During the past five years, the price of scholarly publications has increased more than the rate of the infla-

tion, and officials say the cost is unsustainable. “We’re getting to the point where all the stuff is important,” said Timothy Hackman, an English and linguistics librarian. “We’ve already gotten rid of the fat, now we are getting to the stuff that hurts.”

Please See LIBRARY, Page 3

SGA President Jonathan Sachs gives his final executive report to the organization during last night’s meeting. JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

SGA votes to provide fare cards

The Dirty Snowballs, a team of astronomy professors and graduate students, play in an intramural soccer game.

Incoming class’ ID cards could work as SmarTrips

PHOTOS COURTESY OF STACY MCGAUGH

Out of the classroom and onto the field Intramural sports leagues help professors, graduate students get out of their offices

BY DERBY COX Staff writer

Despite strong opposition from the SGA’s top financial officer, student leaders last night voted to fund a proposal that would provide reloadable Metro fare cards to all incoming freshmen. The bill calls for the remainder of the Student Government Association’s reserves — an amount that could total as much as $17,000, after debts are paid — to go toward funding university IDs that double as SmarTrip cards to ride the Metro. The initiative costs $23,000 for the first year, so legislators must come up with another $6,000 in unspecified funds for it to go into effect. Supporters of the bill said the program would encourage the use of environmentally friendly transportation and strengthen the university’s connection to Washington. “This is something that the incoming class, when they ask what the SGA is, they’ll have it right in their hands,” said Outlying Commuter

BY DANA CETRONE Staff writer

I

magine your middle-aged history professor taking a corner kick or your math teaching assistant sinking a 3pointer. While students might not often associate their professors with athleticactivities, many faculty members and graduate students participate in intramural sports on a regular basis. Each season, faculty members compete in sports ranging from basketball and soccer to dodgeball and flag football in departmental teams, formed in coordination with Campus Recreation Services and the Center for Health and Wellbeing. The teams aim to bring faculty members — who are often isolated from one another — together and promote good, healthy fun and are always look-

Please See METRO, Page 3

ing for new recruits. Astronomy professor Massimo Ricotti plays soccer on the Dirty Snowballs team, composed solely of faculty and graduate students from the astronomy department. “Being Italian, growing up I played in the street in front of my house or outdoors in parks quite a bit,” Ricotti said. “Almost all Italian kids know how to play soccer. ... But I have to admit that I was not a very good player when compared to typical Italian kids.” Ricotti added playing on the faculty intramural team has given him an opportunity to get out of the office and away from a computer screen. Marc Pound, a university researcher and member of the Dirty Snowballs said the league allows team members to get to know

Please See FACULTY, Page 2

Congress passes Obama’s budget Includes expansion of Pell grants, elimination of popular loan program BY MARISSA LANG Senior staff writer

Amy Wasserstrom, manager of the Gordon W. Prange collection at Hornbake library, shows author John Dower an exhibit of Japanese artifacts based on Dower’s research about World War II. JAMES B. HALE/THE DIAMONDBACK

Prange Collection rededicated Japanese ambassador, others praise world’s largest collection of documents related to post-World War II U.S. occupation BY DARREN BOTELHO Staff writer

The world’s largest collection of documents from the United States’ occupation of Japan immediately following World War II was rededicated last night before a crowd of 200 university staff, faculty and students. The collection, which is named

TOMORROW’S WEATHER:

after former university history professor Gordon W. Prange, was originally dedicated 30 years ago in the same room — Art and Sociology 2203. The event was attended by the Japanese ambassador to the United States, Ichiro Fujisaki, as well as by Prange’s son, Winfred,

Please See COLLECTION, Page 3

Rainy/70s

INDEX

A proposed expansion of Pell grants and direct student loans took a first step toward becoming reality last night, as the U.S. House and Senate voted in quick succession to approve President Barack Obama’s $3.4 trillion budget yesterday. While the budget process is far

from complete and both proposals could still be scrapped, university and federal officials lauded the initial passage of the budget as a major victory for students across the country. “It’s great,” said P.J. Hogan, the university system’s lobbyist. “The federal government has really emphasized their commitment to higher education and we’re very pleased.” The legislation could help finan-

cial aid-seeking students at this university, who are requesting assistance at a rapid pace. This university is expecting students to ask for about $3 million next year, six times as much as the $500,000 it doled out this year. About 4,200 students already receive Pell grants, and while the university has received a

Please See BUDGET, Page 2

Univ. offering new incentives for evaluations 100 randomly chosen students will be given chance to register early for classes BY TIRZA AUSTIN Senior staff writer

In a last-ditch effort to get students to fill out course evaluations, administrators are offering all students the chance to be among the very first to register for classes. Of the students who fill out quesNEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

tionnaires about their courses this semester, 100 will be randomly chosen in a lottery run by the Office of Information Technology to register for classes before students with senior standing for the Spring 2010 semester. By opening the course evaluation system yesterday, administrators

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

DIVERSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . .7 SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

hoped to monopolize on students’ registration-related frustrations, hoping the promise of early registration will increase participation from the usual rate — about 60 percent of undergraduates typically respond. “I would love to see it pushed to 70

Please See EVALUATIONS, Page 3

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