REACHING HIGHER
STRINGS ATTACHED
Freshman high jumper Barbiasz spurned track and field powerhouses to join Terps
The Meat Puppets struggle with their new release
SPORTS | PAGE 11
DIVERSIONS | PAGE 8
THE DIAMONDBACK TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2009
99TH YEAR | ISSUE NO. 145
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Professor Francis may invest in Santa Fe Former Terp basketball star in discussions to join local bar’s ownership bonus pay policy to be scrutinized BY NICK RHODES Staff writer
Former Terrapin men’s basketball player and NBA All-Star Steve Francis’ glory days on the court may be behind him, but the former Terp could be planning a comeback to College Park by investing in Santa Fe Café.
Senate chair wants to examine merit review this summer BY TIRZA AUSTIN Senior staff writer
After a more than a decade of being overlooked, merit review — a campus policy that outlines how faculty members are allocated bonuses for their performance — will be examined by the University Senate during the summer. The bonus money is distributed, in part, through salary committees made up of faculty members asked to evaluate their peers’ performance and based on department chair recommendations. The current policy, which was signed in 1992 by then-university President Brit Kirwan and amended in 2002, has not undergone a single review, although the criteria of the original policy called for a review “no later than five years after” its implementation by a task force jointly appointed by the senate and university president. But senate Chair Elise Miller-Hooks said examining merit review will become a priority this year. “It’s always been important,” Miller-Hooks
Francis is in talks with Santa Fe owner Mark Srour to become a part-owner and investor in the downtown bar. “We’re all excited,” said Srour, who flew out to meet the basketball star this past weekend. “He thoroughly enjoyed talking to me and we’re negotiating. It looks like it’s going to be a done deal.”
Francis, who is originally from Takoma Park, Md., transferred to the university in 1998 and played for one year, leading the Terps to the Sweet Sixteen in the 1999 NCAA Tournament before declaring for the NBA Draft. He was drafted No. 2 overall and played
Please See FRANCIS, Page 7
STEVE FRANCIS
y c i l o p t po rincess
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Please See MERIT, Page 3
Stacia Cosner has been a leading advocate for the Good Samaritan policy since 2006, when she served in the University Senate. Despite Cosner being barred from re-election, a Good Samaritan protocol was finally adopted earlier this semester. MATTHEW CREGER/THE DIAMONDBACK
Stacia Cosner has worked to reform the university’s drug policies since her own harrowing arrest experience BY MARISSA LANG Senior staff writer
T
he day before the start of the spring 2006 semester, Stacia Cosner was relaxing in her room, smoking a joint when three police officers knocked on her door. What followed was a traumatic experience that sent her hurtling down a path toward becoming the
Santa Fe Café was fined $5,000 by the county liquor board last week. VINCE SALAMONE/THE DIAMONDBACK
Liquor board fines Santa Fe $5,000 County board says bar served underage patron
Please See COSNER, Page 7
A sign listing the “10 Cannibamandments” hangs in the office of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. MATTHEW CREGER/THE DIAMONDBACK
Taking advantage of environmental momentum Student groups host House Majority Leader
BY BRADY HOLT
BY RICH ABDILL
Senior staff writer
Staff writer
The Santa Fe Café was fined $5,000 for serving an underage patron alcohol Wednesday, according to the county liquor board. The inspectors, who attended a hearing last week that set the fine, could not be reached for comment yesterday or Friday, but a woman who answered the phone at the Board of License Commissioners yesterday afternoon confirmed the fine. She provided the few details she had by reading a one-line entry on Santa Fe: “All it says is ‘the board found you were in violation of ’ and a fine.” Mark Srour, who owns Santa Fe Café in
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) doesn’t usually get to use the filibuster — but he gave it the old college try last night. After months of planning by environmental groups at the campus, county and state level, Hoyer came to the Stamp Student Union last night to discuss environmental issues gaining momentum nationally as several pieces of legislation are being examined at the state and national levels, including the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act — a recently passed state bill that sets emissions reduction goals for the state
Please See FINE, Page 3
Please See HOYER, Page 2
TOMORROW’S WEATHER:
original advocate of a university Good Samaritan policy, toward championing less harsh university sanctions for marijuana use, toward testifying in the state senate and House of Delegates in favor of voting rights for convicted felons, legalized medical marijuana and a statewide Good Samaritan law. And she never saw it coming. “That definitely changed my life
Sunny/70s
INDEX
After student dies in crash, officer faces traffic court BY ADELE HAMPTON Staff Writer
Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) spoke last night about making the country more environmentally friendly.
Cpl. Mario Chavez, the police officer involved in the fatal car crash that killed 20-year-old sophomore Brian Gray in December 2007, will be tried in traffic court Wednesday morning for a citation he was issued months after the crash. Although Chavez admitted to consuming alcohol the night before the collision, he was not asked to complete a sobriety test at the time of the accident. Gray’s mother, Mary Gray, has filed a civil lawsuit against
Please See COURT, Page 7
VINCE SALAMONE/THE DIAMONDBACK
NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 CLASSIFIED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
DIVERSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . .8 SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
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