August 8, 2013

SPORTS

ALL SMILES FOR THE CAMERA

Football has high hopes for 2013 p. 8

OPINION University workers write in: Administration has ‘deeply insulted’ us p. 4 DIVERSIONS One man. One center. One play. Eric Bricker’s Mormon saga. p. 6

The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper

ISSUE NO. 155

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103rd Year of Publication

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TOMORROW 80S / Stormy

THURSDAY, August 8, 2013

Fed loan rates won’t double

TO BEE OR NOT TO BEE?

Bipartisan bill ties Stafford interest rates to 10-year fed borrowing rate

By Jim Bach Senior staff writer Students won’t see doubling interest rates on federal loans thanks to a congressional reform bill passed July 31, but experts say lawmakers haven’t gone far enough to address the rising cost of going to college.

The bill, titled the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013, sets the rate for all Stafford loans made after July 1 of this year until June 30, 2014, at 3.86 percent.

That number is based on the 10-year treasury yield, or the rate at which the federal government borrows, plus a 2.05 percent premium.

The bill passed in the Senate on July 24 in an 81-18 vote, and the House passed the bill a week later, in a 392-31 vote.

“Education is a cornerstone of a strong middle class,” U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement after the measure’s passage.

“Keeping student interest rates low is just part of our commitment to making a college education accessible to every single American willing to work for it.”

D e s p i te t h i s we l c o m e showing of bipartisanship to pass the measure, edu-

colony collapse disorder, a trend that has led to startling declines in bee populations worldwide, may be partly caused by common pesticides and fungicides, university scientists found in a study published July 24. Even traces of the crop-dusting chemicals can make bees more susceptible to a dangerous stomach infection. illustration by chris allen/the diamondback

University researchers find pesticides, fungicides can contribute to deadly bee stomach infection

By Jeremy Snow For The Diamondback Scientists from this university and other research centers may have discovered that what has been killing bees has been under their fingertips all along.

A study released July 24 suggests common pesticides and fungicides used by farmers may be more harmful to b e e s t h a n o r i g i n a l l y thought and could be involved in what’s been dubbed colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon that causes entire populations to disappear.

Starting in 2007, scientists led by Jeffery Pettis, research leader at the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Bee Research Laboratory, visited colonies

across the country, including ones in this state, Massachusetts and North Carolina, to study these possibly toxic effects. Their study focuses on fieldwork and is one of the first of its kind.

“We wanted to know what the real-world exposure was,” said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, a professor at this university and senior author of the study. “We wanted to see what bees were naturally exposed to and see what happened. So it’s a very dirty experiment.”

The research team took samples of pollen from crops, including watermelon and blueberry, during growing seasons and measured the amount and type of pesticides collected in each sample. Most of the pesticides are designed

to kill fungi and harmful pests while leaving bees to their work, but scientists were surprised to find that feeding bees were threatened even by traces of the supposedly harmless chemicals. “ We fo u n d a s m a ny a s 21 different pesticides per sample and an average nine pesticides per sample that were about a lethal dose for bees,” vanEngelsdorp said.

When the scientists fed bees the pollen with traces of fungicide, they discovered the insects were much more susceptible to Nosema, a deadly infection that attacks bees’ stomach linings and is believed to contribute to colony collapse disorder.

See bees, Page 2

“

It’s not a simple answer.

”

Roger Williams

President of the Central Maryland Beekeepers Association

BY THE NUMBERS

3.86 percent Rate for Stafford loans made after July 1, 2013, until June 30, 2014

6.8 percent Former interest rate for students taking out unsubsidized federal direct loans

3.4 percent Former subsidized federal direct loan rate

392 to 31 U.S. House of Representatives vote to pass the bill at the end of July cation officials said it still falls short of a much broader policy prescription needed to address the rising cost of going to college, although it is preferable to how rates were determined under previous legislation.

“It doesn’t make much sense for elected politicians to set an arbitrary interest rate on a loan product,” said Andrew Kelly, director of the Center on Higher Education Reform at the American Enterprise Institute. “That doesn’t really happen anywhere else in the economy.

See loans, Page 3

U Police see 142 July incidents Overall number of reports similar to July 2013, up 24 from last month; include theft, animal complaint

By Teddy Amenabar Staff writer Un ive rs i ty Po l i ce re sponded to 142 incidents in July, up from the 118 incidents reported in June. Still, when compared to the 167 incidents reported in July 2 0 1 2 , Un ive rs i ty Po l i ce spokesman Sgt. Aaron Davis

james hesla, a university doctoral candidate and Fulbright grant recipient, will return to Indonesia more than 20 years after his first academic trip there to study the politics of satirical clowning in Balinese theater. photo courtesy of the theatre, dance and performance studies school

said, the numbers have stayed relatively the same.

July’s reports included suspicious activity, theft and a complaint about an animal.

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY — A victim called police at about 11 a.m. July 2 and reported he was being followed by a “licensed fugitive recov-

ery agent” — also known as a bounty hunter — according to Davis. The “self-proclaimed” bounty hunter followed the victim for three miles in College Park, Davis said, as he drove erratically and yelled at the victim.

The male bounty hunter See blotter, Page 2

MORE ONLINE: FOOTBALL TRAINING CAMP

Serious social study from Indonesia’s comic clowns James Hesla among 15 univ Fulbright grant recipients

By Megan Brockett For The Diamondback

events and cultural institutions in a way that connects with the audience.

With this trip, Hesla will James Hesla will have a lot return to Indonesia, where he to juggle come September. spent a year after graduating The university doctoral canfrom the Cornish College of didate is headed to Indonesia to research Balinese clown theater the Arts in 1991. There, he was and traditional masked dance an English as a second lanand drama after receiving a guage teacher and watched a Fulbright grant for the 2013-14 number of traditional perforacademic year. While abroad, mances that deepened his fasHesla will study what he sees as cination with clown theater.

“I’ve always sort of been the clown character’s ability to comment satirically on topical thinking about how I could

INDEX

return to Asia, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to kind of dovetail my interest in clown theater, clowning and my interest in Asian performance,” Hesla said.

There are dozens of different performance genres in Indonesia, and in each, the stories generally center on the world of the kings and the gods, Hesla said. But present in most of the stories is a

tim drummond/for the diamondback

The Terrapins football team continues training camp this week after players returned to College Park for practice Sunday. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs (right) is looking to live up to expectations from both his coaches and outside observers in his sophomore season, and he’s taken on more of a leadership role with the team. Additionally, the Terps offensive line looks to silence critics; a key member of the secondary transitions to a new position, and a running back tries to minimize his mental mistakes entering the season.

For updates, go to bit.ly/TerrapinTrail

See hesla, Page 3

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THE DIAMONDBACK | THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

BLOTTER From PAGE 1 eventually got out of his vehicle with handcuffs and pepper spray in order to “intimidate the victim,” according to Davis, who added there was no physical altercation between the two involved.

Police found the assailant near Byrd Stadium. With further investigation, it became apparent the altercation began after a traffic dispute, Davis said. “[The bounty hunter] felt that he was cut off by the victim,” Davis added.

University Police eventually escorted the bounty hunter off the campus and issued an immediate denial to the school grounds, indefinitely barring the individual from university property unless the denial is appealed.

“We have people who have been denied from campus since the ’70s,” Davis said.

ANIMAL COMPLAINT – Police officers responded to a call about a dog left in a car in Lot 2G on July 7 at about 12:30 p.m. It was about 90 degrees that day, according to Davis, and a Boston terrier was found in the vehicle.

The dog seemed to be in distress, and officers spent 30 minutes searching nearby buildings to find the owner, who they eventually called after obtaining her phone number. An officer broke the window of the car to get the dog out.

The owner of the terrier was issued a citation for endangering the welfare of her dog by leaving it unattended in her vehicle — a fine of $70.

“Personally, me being an animal lover, I think [the citation] should be higher than that,” Davis said.

University police officers respond to about three incidents of drivers leaving animals or children in cars on the campus during an average summer, Davis added.

THEFT – A victim was eating at a restaurant in downtown College Park on July 21 at about 3 p.m. when her phone was taken after she placed it on a table next to her.

T h e v i c t i m re cog n i ze d t h e suspect as someone who had tried to take her phone several months ago, Davis said.

The victim and a friend approached the suspect and asked him to empty his pockets.

“We prefer that you just call the police for something like this,” Davis said. “You don’t know if the person has a knife or a gun.”

When the victim and her friend spotted her phone’s pink case, the suspect ran out of the restaurant.

Police found the suspect locked inside a Jimmy John’s bathroom and the officers were able to recover the victim’s phone after getting the door open. The suspect admitted to taking the phone and was charged with a misdemeanor for theft. newsumdbk@gmail.com

BEES From PAGE 1 The study also revealed that bees are collecting less pollen from crops and more from other plants, such as flowers, a discovery Roger Williams, president of the Central Maryland Beekeepers Association, believes could shrink the beekeeping community.

“There might be those in the field that think they don’t really need honey bees because they are not pollinating their crops as well as we thought,” Williams said. “We may then lose, to some degree, this political alliance.” Williams said that had already occurred to one of his friends.

The discovery has left experts in the field with decisions to make about how to move forward, and some are calling for changes to be made on a national level to preserve the beekeeping and honey industries.

“The study points out the need to look into sublethal effects of pesticides,” said Wayne Esaias, president of the Maryland State Beekeepers Association. “This is one of the areas the [Environmental Protection Agency] does not require [review in] to receive a license.”

In order to use certain pesticides, the EPA requires farmers to have a license or be supervised by someone with a license.

The license ensures the qualified

STUDENTS TEND TO the beehives on the roof of the North Campus Dining Hall. Nationally, bee colonies are declining rapidly because of a phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder. file photo/the diamondback farmer is knowledgeable on how to safely apply pesticides but doesn’t address the damaging nature of those pesticides.

Esaias recommended changes in EPA standards to better protect bee populations, which are in a national decline.

Changing labels to include more information about the effects could make a difference as well, said vanEngelsdorp.

First, however, more research needs to be done to verify the findings and get a clearer picture of the threat, Williams said. “You’re not going to

get rid of pesticides and just replace it,” he said. “You then have to find out what’s wrong with its replacement and what the effects of that are.”

The team isn’t quite finished with its research, vanEngelsdorp said.

For one thing, he hopes to figure out exactly why the fungicide is harmful to the bees — a mystery to the team — and they also want to study the effects pesticides have on the pollen’s nutritional values.

“It’s not a simple answer,” Williams said. newsumdbk@gmail.com

DIVERSIONS

MORMON From PAGE 6 Still refusing to completely give up hope, I take a few steps back into the Hall and lean against a pillar. For the first time of the night, I really look around at the other people milling about the Kennedy Center.

What an amazing cross section of humanity that I (for all legal purposes) am not technically supposed to be a part of: men in expensive suits carrying babies, large groups of camera-carrying tourists, bejeweled older women in groups of four or five.

But that’s the beauty of theater, isn’t it? The reason these people are willing to pay upward of $200 for two hours of entertainment? Because it’s social. It’s an event. It brings people together in a truly remarkable way. That is to say, in an age of Netflix instant streaming and cellphones and an increasingly personalized, introverted approach to consuming art, theater is a conscious throwback, a necessarily communal experience in which actors, audience and technicians are all engaging with one another live, in the moment, at the same time.

Ultimately, that’s what you’re paying for with live theater. We could all just sit at home and watch bootlegs of shows on YouTube, but we don’t because that’s not the point. This crowd is. Sitting down in a darkened theater is a transformative experience: For a few hours, this show will turn a group of disparate individuals into an audience. It

will turn “I” into “we.”

And that’s not to mention— “Excuse me, sir? Picking up a ticket?!” an usher asks breathlessly, breaking into my reverie.

Without realizing it, I had drifted into a quickly moving will call line. There are five or six people behind me. Crap.

“Uh, what?” I say. Smoothly.

“Picking up a ticket?” he repeats, smiling firmly and pointing at a ticket window a few feet away. “ O h . U h . Ye p ,” I l i e (s m o o t h ly) , t u r n i n g a n d moving in the direction of his sharply pointed finger.

Crap. Trying to play it cool, I take a few steps toward the ticket window before (awkwardly) faking a cellphone call, doubling back and (conspicuously) trotting away.

So, playing it cool: check?

Deciding to keep moving, I make a beeline for the bathroom, the perfect preshow hideout for the ticketed and trespassing alike. It turns out that the bathroom is a whole level below me, at the end of a beautiful white-tiled hallway replete with a gift shop and a (currently vacant) desk for tours. With 15 minutes to go before showtime, the men’s

room is already full and a man is peeing with such velocity and volume that he gives a courtesy flush. At a urinal.

I make a mental note not to return to this particular bathroom during intermission (assuming, of course, that I make it that far).

From the bathroom, I make my way up and outside, looking (hopelessly) for a place to scale my way into the theater.

I take a few steps through a glass door and find myself on a flower-laden patio, where groups of people are sipping Stellas and smoking cigarettes, satiating their preshow vices.

This area is right on the water, and it’s beautiful in the latesummer sunset.

Assuming security doesn’t kill me, this might be a nice place to wait out the show, I think, as I crane my sights upward, looking for a climbable wall or a spot for a grappling hook. And then I hear it: chimes sound and the lights flicker, dimming into near-

blackness before rising again.

Last call for seating.

Crap. Crap. Crap. I make my way back inside, where the crowds slowly diffusing through the red and brass doors of the opera house have swollen.

Ushers are scanning tickets left and right. People are going up staircases. I’m overwhelmed.

So without thinking, I turn around and walk past the doors to the patio, past a heavily laden merch stand, away from the still-packed restroom, past the helpful-but-insistent point of the ticket usher, through the perimeter of the incognito security guards, and all the way out of the Kennedy Center, into the rapidly darkening Washington night.

Successfully chickening out: check.

The next show day, shame still fresh, I go online early in the morning and see there are actually two box-level tickets still available. So I call into the Kennedy

THE KENNEDY CENTER

photo courtesy of wikimedia commons Center ticketing line, speak to an incredibly nice woman and shell out (an enormous amount of) money for a ticket.

Later that night, I throw on a different tie and head back to

the theater.

My seats are right next to the Presidential Box. The show is good. diversionsdbk@gmail.com

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 | NEWS | The Diamondback

hesla From PAGE 1 comic character who represents the audience’s reality.

Leslie Brice, the coordinator of the National Scholarships Office, said she was excited about Hesla’s research topic because it was different from any the office’s staff had worked with before.

“It was a topic that sort of challenges assumptions that one may have, and it was interesting because it was at the intersection of performance art, history, politics,” Brice said. “So I think it really stood out for those reasons.”

Hesla was one of 12 students from this university to receive a Fulbright grant for the upcoming academic year, along with three recent university graduates. He was the only applicant from this university whose area of research connected to the theater department, and he said it was a shock to learn he had won.

“I had read a number of winning proposals of students who had applied in the past in fields like marine science and earth science and all these other sciences, and I thought, they’re gonna look at my proposal to [study] clown characters in Bali and they’re gonna say, … ‘No that’s ridiculous, that’s not important,’” he said.

But the importance of his research, Hesla said, is in seeing how clowning in Indonesia

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“I just want to be open to the experience and be as generous and engaged as I can, just as a human and as a scholar and an artist.”

JAMES HESLA

Doctoral candidate and Fulbright scholarship recipient “resonates with the culture at large, how it is woven into and reflective of cultural and political social values.”

Hesla grew fascinated by clowning during his undergraduate years at the Seattle visual and performing arts college. Then, Cirque du Soleil was just beginning, and the New Vaudeville movement was sweeping through theater. The featured clowns generally didn’t wear makeup or traditional clown attire, and they worked off creating a personal relationship with the audience.

Hesla saw a Cirque du Soleil performance while at Cornish, and he became so enamored w i t h t h e c l ow n s t h a t h e watched the show a few more times just to see them. When he saw a video of a performance by Bill Irwin, a clown famous for his New Vaudeville acts, he was blown away.

“I just thought like, ‘That’s what I want to be when I grow up,’” Hesla said.

But once he realized “being a clown is not the most lucrative career trajectory,” he channeled his interest in other directions.

After spending a year in Indonesia, where he watched a number of traditional performances, he attended graduate school at the University of Hawaii in the mid-1990s and

earned his master’s in fine arts in playwriting with a concentration in Asian theater.

H e s l a ’s e x p e r i e n c e i n Indonesia and knowledge of the language combined with his previous research on clowning made his Fulbright application stand out, said Laurie Frederik Meer, Hesla’s dissertation adviser a n d a u n ive rs i ty t h ea te r professor.

“James had an advantage, I think, because he had a very strong historical and cultural understanding of Indonesian clowning and theater,” Fre d e r i k Me e r sa i d . “ He knows the language already, and he also knows just what clowning is as a genre.”

To Hesla, the Fulbright is about the exchange of ideas.

He said that when he returns to Indonesia at the end of the month, he wants to bring back interesting ideas about clown theater and its cultural importance and relevance.

But what he hopes to take away from the trip, he said, is less concrete.

“I kind of don’t really have any expectations,” Hesla said.

“I just want to be open to the experience and be as generous and engaged as I can, just as a human and as a scholar and an artist.”

loans From PAGE 1 It’s sort of a strange idea if you think about it.”

Before this bill, students could take out federal direct loans with a 6.8 percent interest rate. If they demonstrated financial need, they could borrow at a subsidized 3.4 percent rate.

The new measure allows all borrowers to borrow at the 3.86 percent rate, a slight jump for subsidized borrowers, but an immediate and rather dramatic drop for unsubsidized borrowers, Kelly said.

However, interest rates are at historic lows, and as the economy improves, rates on the treasury yield will likely climb and increase federal student loan rates. Although loan rates are capped at 8.25 percent, room for fluctuation will likely lead to uncertainty each year, said Dana Lime, product manager at finance and credit website NerdWallet.com.

“As rates start to rise, students will face variability in those rates,” Lime said.

“They won’t know necessarily year to year what those rates are going to be.”

And while there is some benefit to capping the rates, Kelly said, it puts Congress “in the business of setting

“IT LEADS YOU TO BELIEVE THAT IT’S SORT OF A BIG POLICY ACCOMPLISHMENT ... THE BIG PROBLEMS THAT WE FACE AS A COUNTRY ... IS THE COST OF COLLEGE AND THE LOAN PRINCIPAL.” ANDREW KELLY

Center on Higher Education Reform director on their income, with lowerincome graduates standing to benefit the most. Graduates who earn a higher income can claim less in deduction, but Lime said they can obtain better savings through tax credit programs, such as the American Opportunity Tax Credit or the Lifetime Learning Credit.

However, students are not allowed to claim both these deductions and credits on the same return, Lime said.

But even with the prospect of rising interest rates in the years to come, Lime said Congress is not making substantial moves to raise the amount students can save through taxes past the $2,500 cap. This means repayments could go up, but deductions will stay the same.

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) fought earlier this year for legislation that would double the cap, but Lime said, “Unfortunately, that bill is not progressing right now.” newsumdbk@gmail.com

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CORRECTION Due to an editing error, the article “American Journalism Review ceases print publication after 36 years,” which ran in The Diamondback on Aug. 1, indicated the Media Industry Reporting course was only available to graduate students. There are two versions of the course, one for undergraduate students and one for graduate students.

interest rates again.”

Interest rate structure at the federal level is, however, a small part of a much larger debate Congress should be having, Kelly said.

“It is a step in the right direction in terms of this particular small area of policy,” he said.

Developing a sustainable rate structure absorbed much of the long-running debate, but on overall college costs, Congress is eerily silent.

“It leads to you to believe that it’s sort of a big policy accomplishment,” Kelly said.

“The big problems that we face as a country … is the cost of college and the loan principal.”

A good place to initiate reform would be to hold colleges more accountable for students’ ability to pay back loans, Kelly said, giving them less room to raise tuition indiscriminately.

Kelly suggested “a more robust system of accountability” that would govern school access to the loan program’s money and possibly require colleges to pay back a portion of the loans if students do default — a “highly controversial” measure.

With uncertainty in rates, Lime said borrowers should be aware of the types of tax deductions and credits they can take advantage of to ease their expenses after they leave school.

A graduate can claim up to $2,500 in tax deductions based

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THE DIAMONDBACK | THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

Opinion

EDITORIAL BOARD

Mike King

Editor in Chief

DAN APPENFELLER Managing Editor

BRIAN COMPERE

Deputy Managing Editor

maria romas Opinion Editor

ADAM OFFITZER

Assistant Opinion Editor

CONTACT US 3150 South Campus Dining Hall | College Park, MD 20742 | newsumdbk@gmail.com OR opinionumdbk@gmail.com PHONE (301) 314-8200

FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN RATES

Congrats, Congress? Time to update more than loans VIEW: Reducing sky-high tuition costs involves changing more than interest rates — it’s time to rethink our federal aid program.

CAROLINE CARLSON Last week, Congress passed a bipartisan compromise to completely change the way we pay interest rates on federal student loans. The plan, which ties interest rates to rates on 10-year treasury notes, received widespread support from both the House and Senate.

But before we applaud and praise this rare instance of bipartisanship in government, it’s important to realize that bipartisan policy doesn’t necessarily equate to good policy. Just because Republicans and Democrats surprisingly agreed on a better way to set interest rates, it doesn’t mean Americans should irrationally assume this is the best way.

Although some say this plan is a step forward in student loan reform (before the bill’s passing, Congress negotiated seemingly arbitrary interest rates), the bill includes provisions for rates to rise over the next decade.

Proponents of the bill claim it’s economically efficient because it ties interest rates to the behavior of financial markets, but the bill mainly appears to benefit current borrowers, as they’ll still be able to pay a relatively low 3.86 percent interest rate, which may increase to a projected 6.3 percent in 2016 as the economy picks up.

If we really want to solve the long-term issue of student debt and tuition affordability, we need to look at the overarching issue of federal student aid. Though this may be difficult to grasp, the biggest solution to this crisis is eventually phasing out federal student aid.

For instance, our dependency on federal aid correlates with increases in general tuition prices, something federal aid was intended to solve. Data from the College Board show that over the past 30 years, tuition and room and board costs at public universities increased about $10,000, while the average for federal loans combined with grants for full-time students climbed just $9,750.

Beyond looking at prices, increases in tuition can

largely stem from artificial demand for a college education. Although it seems nice to live in a culture promoting the idea that everyone needs a college education to be successful, it isn’t the be-all and end-all. According to the Center for Educational Statistics, nearly one-half of students don’t even finish their four-year bachelor’s degree. And the Center for College Affordability and Productivity also found in 2008 that about one-third of college graduates were underemployed or overqualified for their jobs, which may not have even required college educations. The “college is always necessary” culture added to the availability of student aid, which justifies people attending college when they don’t even need to, and it results in increased costs for everyone.

Relying on federal student aid programs puts us in an unending cycle of dealing with increases in tuition.

Though Congress’ plan alleviates this issue with a market-based approach, the ultimate phasing out of federal student aid is the only method that results in tuition prices reflective of students’ actual demand for a college education.

Although aid supporters claim phasing out federal aid is dismissive of low-income families’ needs, a recent study by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance found that, as the percentage of students receiving federal Pell Grants at a college increases, the lower that college’s graduation rates become. While aid is meant to help low-income students, those students end up with a burden of debt and no degree. Many wellintentioned policies fail to actually solve the issues they’re meant to address, and the federal loan problem is one of them. Though some might say eliminating federal aid is a politically impossible goal, marginal steps to eventually phase these programs out could result in lower tuition and an ultimate end to the college affordability crisis.

Caroline Carlson is a junior government and politics and information systems major. She can be reached at caroline.crlsn@gmail.com.

DIAMONDBACK EDITORIAL BOARD We can all breathe a sigh of relief — both congressional bodies have finally garnered bipartisan support and approved a bill that prevents Stafford student loan interest rates from doubling. In an era of continuing gridlock, that’s one of the only things both parties have come together to achieve. Luckily for us, this decision will likely help students enrolled in universities and those hoping to pursue higher education alike.

Of the 435 members of the House of Representatives, only 31 voted against the bill July 31. It’s easy to feel hopeful for future hot-button compromises with such an overwhelming show of bipartisanship. But we should remember how much haranguing and hand-wringing Washington has seen in the past few years and ask: Why can’t Congress regularly cross party lines to make things happen?

This decision is something our elected lawmakers should be praised for accomplishing. But it’s likely that the only reason the bill was so easily agreed upon was because Congress was under yet another self-imposed deadline to come up with a new plan, after failing to agree when the previous law expired on July 1.

Take heart in the knowledge that when the decision came down to the wire this time, Congress chose to make decisions that are in students’ (and their parents’) best interests.

Don’t feel overjoyed about peaceful politics in the future, though. Like the sequester, debt ceiling and countless other critical national decisions, this student loan legislation did not and should not have to be a last-minute, do-or-die decision.

Perhaps more encouraging than the full

OUR VIEW: Congress finally got together to enact sensible legislation, but college students — and the nation — need more. body’s behavior is that every House member from Maryland, including the one Republican, Andy Harris, voted in favor of the bill. It’s comforting to know our state legislators are looking out for our best interest — especially because loan rates won’t just affect us as students, they will affect us as adults, too, when most of us will be in massive debt.

Some experts have commented that the bill will grant stability to college borrowers of all stripes by tying rates to the 10-year treasury yield. Certainly, stability is the goal — the bill is called, somewhat self-servingly, the Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013.

But ultimately, the broader economic market will dictate the rate, to an extent. With years of mercurial policy and slow recovery, that seems dangerous in the long run.

The bottom line is we should be happy the government is addressing the obscenely high interest rates on student loans. It’s a step in the right direction. Now, what we’re missing is any change in regard to rising tuition and student fees, which leads to more student borrowing and a ridiculous amount of debt after four years of increasingly necessary schooling.

The members of Congress can only pat themselves on the back for this latest vote for so long. Lest we forget, we are living in a country with $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt. For a country so apparently dedicated to higher education, where are the revolutionary ideas that will finally loose our students from the shackles of debt?

If anything,this decision on loan rates should inspire us all — as always — to question our representatives and demand more extensive changes to our higher education system.

EDITORIAL CARTOON

Ramadan: Time to reflect YASMEEN ABUTALEB

ben stryker/the diamondback

GUEST COLUMN

University employees know actions speak louder than words

U

niversity employees like us want to set the record straight regarding gross inaccuracies in Administration and Finance Vice President Carlo Colella’s column, “Action, not words, for putting university employees first,” which appeared in the July 25 edition of The Diamondback.

University workers believe actions speak louder than words. The actions of some managers and the large, antiunion law firm, BakerHostetler, which the university hired to negotiate our contract, have deeply insulted us.

Colella got it wrong when he stated, “An allegation that housekeepers had ‘no choice’ but to eat in closets is simply untrue.” Even though this shameful working condition occurred for many years and the university knew about it, union members have not been quoted stating housekeepers were forced to eat their lunch in janitorial closets along with dirty mop water and cleaning chemicals.

In fact, The Diamondback accurately captured our stance, stating, “housekeepers were never explicitly forced to eat lunch in closets.”

The fact of the matter is that housekeepers — many of whom have worked for the university for more than a decade — ate our lunches in janitorial closets because there were no break rooms in the buildings we were assigned to clean. We had only a half hour for lunch and we could not get to another location on the campus and back in that

half hour. Some housekeepers were told by immediate supervisors not to eat in staff lounges in buildings we cleaned. And Colella (formerly Facilities Management associate vice president) knows this — or should know this — before he makes baseless charges against hardworking university employees.

On Colella’s claim that parking rates were scaled back for lowerpaid employees, workers did not say lower-paid employees paid more for parking than other coworkers. We told the truth. And that truth is because of the regressive, two-tiered parking fee system, lower-paid workers pay a much higher percentage of their income for parking than higher-paid workers. We would expect Colella to understand that when you earn $10.80 an hour for cleaning his toilet, for example, and pay several hundreds of dollars annually for parking, that you’re paying a far higher percentage of your income for parking than Colella, who earns $200,940 annually, according to The Diamondback’s 2013 salary guide.

Finally, the vice president is either not telling the truth or is willfully ignorant of the fact that many of our coworkers, elected to serve on our contract bargaining team, received emails from their immediate supervisors stating they would not be paid and had to use their own personal vacation time to attend contract negotiation sessions. We’re happy to provide the emails to The Diamondback, and to the vice president if they would

refresh his memory. Several of us took our own vacation time to attend the last contract negotiating session.

We are deeply committed to the mission of this institution and to the success of university students.

The recent worker wins, such as areas to eat lunch, not having to use vacation time to negotiate our contract, air conditioning and lighting being on when we report to work and others, have all happened because workers stuck together and held campus events. We are proud of the work we do. We hope what students learn from our collective effort and recent actions is that there is dignity in all work and all workers deserve respect. And when they stick together to demand it, they will win it.

We remain ready to negotiate a contract with university management. We look forward to the next bargaining session Aug. 22.

The authors are University of Maryland employees currently negotiating a contract with the university: Antonia Escobar, Jose Alvarez, Lorena Hernandez, Iris Castro, Jim Forney, Craig Newman, Dawn Jackson , Greg Johnson , Soloman Commissiong, Barbara Hansborough, Cathy Jan, Akilah Jackson, Jeff Fiory, Patrick Alcendor, Joe Sherman, Ed Duckworth, Saul Walker, Rhonda Leneski , Angela Machado, Don Mitchell, Pat Powell, Valerie Brackins and Allen Holmes. They can be reached at jpittman@afscmemd.org.

Instead of taking a lunch break for the past month, I’ve longingly looked at my coworker’s sandwich, scoured the Internet for pictures of food so vivid you can almost taste it (thanks, Pinterest) or tried to distract myself with articles about whatever I may be interested in that day — many times about new restaurants or food fads.

And it’s not because I’m on some crazy diet plan in which I deprive myself of all food and am left to imagine it instead. It’s because Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, began on July 10 for me.

Most people know the very basics of Ramadan: You abstain from all food or drink, including water, from dawn until sunset.

When I explain this to my friends or coworkers, I’m usually greeted with shocked looks and comments of, “I have no idea how you do that” and, “Couldn’t you, like, die?”

As this year’s Ramadan came to a close — yesterday was the last day and today is Eid-al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of the month — a friend asked me how this year’s fast compared to last.

Sure, I still felt tired and hungry, I told him, but I also felt I had come to appreciate Ramadan for all it’s supposed to teach us.

It’s not just about missing lunch for a month — it’s also about bringing family and friends together for Iftar, the evening meal that breaks the fast, and truly learning self-discipline. The not eating and drinking, I like to think, is a reminder of everything we’re supposed to be cognizant of while we’re fasting.

It’s almost like its own 30-day rehab program. We don’t only abstain from food and drink — we’re also supposed to avoid gossiping and cursing (difficult for many of us), and all general negative behavior. And Ramadan is a time to be more giving and compassionate toward those less fortunate, whether it’s through donations to the poor or just smiling to more people as you walk down the street.

Of course, not everyone is required to fast. You’re supposed to start fasting once you’ve reached puberty, and there are plenty of exemptions because it’s not supposed to harm you in any way. Pregnant women, people on medication or who are sick (even just a cold) and people traveling are just a few examples.

Perhaps most importantly, for one month, you truly learn what it’s like not to be able to eat whenever you want, and you develop a new compassion for those less fortunate. Yes, we can’t eat or drink all day, but we know exactly what time our next meal will be and that there will be more than enough food for us to enjoy. And we know when the month is over, we can eat and drink whenever we want — do any of us really stop to think about how awesome that is?

I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy a comfortable life, and I’ve never had to worry where my next meal was coming from. It’s something I’ve always appreciated, but during Ramadan, I always feel more compelled to give money to people on the streets, make sure my family and friends all know how much I love them and work on my shortcomings.

After explaining all this to my friend, I realized Ramadan — or maybe just fasting for a day — is something everyone should try at least once in their lives. After all, we both reasoned, there are lessons and shared humanity in the act, Muslim or not.

The month is over; the feasting for Eid has begun and everything will be back to normal tomorrow. But I hope that each year, I get a little closer to appreciating what I have all year. And I hope I finish the month with the lessons I’m supposed to have learned.

Next year, Ramadan will start at about June 28, because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, meaning it starts on different days in different countries. Maybe you should wait until Ramadan is in the winter again (and the days are far shorter), but try it for one year — or even just one day. If anything, it’ll at least be another challenge you can overcome, and there’s plenty of pride in that.

Yasmeen Abutaleb is a senior journalism and microbiology major and former editor in chief. She can be reached at y.abutaleb7@gmail.com.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 | The Diamondback

5

Features ACROSS 1 Hobby knife (hyph.)

6 Crowbar end 10 Did great 14 Bedroom community 15 Whit 16 Ask, old-style 17 Peace Prize name 18 Author Roald -19 Misplace 20 Darth Vader’s real name 22 Tailed 24 Pit stop purchase 26 Looked as if 27 Sugar-cane cutter 31 Bird’s beak 32 Monorails 33 Police busts 36 To’s opposite 39 Verne skipper 40 Latin dance 41 Ta-ta in Turin 42 Weathervane dir.

43 Inclines 44 Cluster 45 Lots of laughs 46 Bad guys 48 Turn pale 51 Beatty of “Network”

52 Dismissals (hyph.)

54 Hardly tiptoes 59 Brand for Bowser 60 Frankenstein’s assistant 62 Turn away 63 Gardener, often 64 Zero 65 Enthusiasm, plus 66 Hole-making tools 67 Pesky bug 68 Make vertical

CROSSWORD

27 28 29 30 34 35

Natural elevs.

“Iliad” deity Arrived Insurance gp.

Current meas.

“Peer Gynt” creator 36 Foreign film ender

37 Road rally 38 Appreciative murmurs 40 Ponderosa activity 41 Magna -- laude 43 Viking letter 44 Night owl need (2 wds.)

DOWN 1 Warrior princess 2 Dendrite partner 3 Fidel’s country 4 Long hike 5 Helps out 6 Spanish hero El -7 Lie around 8 Aramis’ friend 9 Big circus name 10 Self-assurance 11 Russell -- of “Gladiator” 12 Moved gingerly 13 Changed color 21 Styron’s -- Turner 23 Wine sediments 25 Antitoxin

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COLLEGE INTUITION

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45 47 48 49

Kind deeds Toshiba rival Further down Boutonniere’s place 50 Navajo lodge 52 Tee-hee cousin (hyph.)

53 Carbonated water 55 Stadium shape 56 Cafe handout 57 Stiffly decorous 58 Iffy attempt 61 Squeal on

T

HOROSCOPE STELLA WILDER

he coming week is likely to see a great many people choosing to collaborate on projects that might, at other times, be private, personal and highly solitary, but at this time everyone is likely to have a very good reason for joining forces. Indeed, it can certainly be said that, this week, two heads are better than one -- and often, three, four or five are better than two! It must be remembered, however, that if there are not those chosen few to guide the group, anarchy can result. So even while collaboration is the rule, someone who has distinguished him- or herself in the past should be chosen to oversee the combined efforts of a unified group of dedicated, creative and hardworking individuals.

For those who do assume a position of authority this week, a warning: Not everyone is going to agree with you every step of the way.

While this is likely to be known by anyone stepping up, the fact is that dealing with it while it is happening may test both patience and resolve. Hearing others out is the key -- even when one’s mind is already made up!

LEO (July 23-Aug. 7) -- Things are looking good for you, and someone may turn to you with a request that allows you to demonstrate your skills more openly. (Aug. 8-Aug. 22) -- You can assuage someone else’s doubts by being quick and assured; you know how to get things done!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 7) -- Others may not believe everything you tell them, so you’ll have to demonstrate that it is, in the main, quite true. (Sept.

8-Sept. 22) -- After a long period of conflict, you may choose to throw in the towel in order to move on to something else.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 7) -- Appearances can surely be deceiving, but they may be all you have to go on as you make decisions about your immediate future. (Oct. 8-Oct. 22) -- You are willing to put yourself in a supporting role in order to work with a clear expert.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 7) -- It’s a good week for you to work on clearing the air with those who have been in dispute with you over the past few weeks. (Nov. 8-Nov. 21) -- Questions of policy will have to be answered. You know where you stand, but others may make you guess.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 7) -- You’ll be invited to play with the big boys, and you’ll find that you feel very much at home in their company. (Dec. 8-Dec. 21) -- It’s not often that you are given carte blanche, but this week that may be the case, at least for a time.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 6) -- You may have to rush through a few favorite endeavors in order to tend to a new responsibility that you’re not yet used to. (Jan. 7-Jan. 19) -- You may have to break a few of your own personal rules in order to communicate certain ideas clearly and efficiently.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 3) -- Your collaboration with a member of the opposite sex may promise something more -- at least in your own mind. Read the signs carefully. (Feb. 4-Feb. 18) -You’re likely to find that someone else’s approach, while quite unusual, suits you as well. Can you adopt it?

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 5) -You’re attracted to the way someone expresses him- or herself -- but is there something more going on? Assess this carefully throughout the week. (March 6-March 20) -- You may feel as though

someone isn’t telling you everything you need to know. Investigate!

ARIES (March 21-April 4) -- You may be intrigued by the way another plays his or her part. Do what you can to get close to this person -- but not too close! (April 5-April 19) -- You may have to teach yourself something rather quickly before teaching it to someone else later in the week.

TAURUS (April 20-May 5) -- You have more to give than you are willing to part with right now, but someone is likely to inspire you and convince you to give your all. (May 6-May 20) -- You may not be willing to do exactly as you are told, but you may be able to reach a productive compromise.

GEMINI (May 21-June 6) -- What you thought would be simple may actually prove harder to do with so many people involved; you were expecting to tackle it on your own. (June 7-June 20) -- Zero in on those things that turn your focus inward; you have much to think about of a personal nature.

CANCER (June 21-July 7) -- There is little room for mistakes this week, but it is unlikely you will get through everything without making one or two. (July 8-July 22) -- What begins as something purely recreational suddenly begins to mean a lot more to you as the week progresses.

COPYRIGHT 2013 UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.

TODAY’S HOROSCOPE SPONSORED BY:

RICHIE BATES ROGER DOES COLLEGE

MAX SISKIND

SU | DO | KU © Puzzles by Pappocom

Fill in the grid so that every row, column, and 3x3 grid contains the digits 1 through 9.

PREVIOUS DAY’S PUZZLE SOLVED:

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY:

HARD

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6

THE DIAMONDBACK | THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013

Diversions

ON THE BLOG

BLUE MOVIE

Senior staff writer Robert Gifford reviews Blue Jasmine and calls it the best Woody Allen film in years. For more, visit diamondbackonline.com.

ESSAY | THE BOOK OF MORMON

breaking

mormon

It’s the biggest musical in years, and it won nine Tony Awards.

By Eric Bricker Senior staff writer From a corner window of the Georgetown office where I spent my summer, you could see the outline of the Kennedy Center, all regal and rectangular and bronze, looming out over the Potomac River.

And from the Foggy Bottom Metro Station, the beginning and end of my daily commute, I was bombarded, seemingly every evening, by streams of patrons — young and old, well dressed and shabby, townies and tourists — coming to and from the center by shuttle and by foot, all clutching playbills and posters in their hands.

Seeing all of this — the Kennedy Center, the satiated customers — was killing me. Because the playbill in everyone’s hands was for The Book of Mormon. And I — the devout musical theater cultist I am — had still not seen it. Oh, I knew every word to the sound track, sure. I could probably rattle off the entire original Broadway cast list. But I hadn’t seen it.

And it certainly seemed like I never would.

A musical satire of organized religion by Bobby Lopez, (of the ingeniously filthy puppet musical Avenue Q) Trey Parker and Matt Stone (the creators of South Park and the subjects of dozens of angry editorials and pseudo-academic thinkpieces), Book of Mormon has long been one of the hottest sellers on Broadway, with waiting lists and sold-out houses since its 2011 opening. The musical

How does a theater geek actually get in to see The Book of Mormon?

is enjoying an equally popular run on London’s West End, and the national tour is selling out theaters across the country: theaters such as the Kennedy Center, in which online ticket sales crashed its website — twice.

Tickets for the show’s roughly five-week engagement sold out nearly instantly. The few stray seats still available were running for up to $250 (and that’s just through reputable channels). Getting standingroom tickets required showing up at the box office at 10 a.m., which would mean skipping work.

So that was the situation I found myself in on an early August evening: I was a theater geek, living and working mere blocks from the Kennedy Center, and yet I was frustratingly impotent, completely unable to get tickets to the one show I wanted — needed — to see.

And I couldn’t tell you what it was, on that golden August day, that made me decide to do it. Maybe it was seeing the Kennedy Center shuttle trundle by as I waited at a crosswalk. Maybe it was having “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream” tauntingly come up on my Spotify shuffle. But in one utter, crystalline moment of clarity, I knew what I had to do.

So two days later, I slipped on a tie and my most well-to-do-yetinconspicuous casual jacket (it’s not herringbone, but it’s like herringbone, you know?) and I made my way two-and-a-half blocks south to the Kennedy Center, that one jazzy motif from Ocean’s Eleven stuck in my head the whole way.

New York Times review glinting in the late-afternoon sunlight.

A b o u t h a l f a n h o u r b e fo re curtain, crowds are already starting to gather and work their way inside the building. I separate from my newfound traveling buddies and blend into the crowd, surreptitiously taking stock of security like I’m Nic Cage scoping out the Declaration of Independence in National Treasure. At this exact second, the situation seems fairly light: A few traffic cops are giving directions and shooing away cars, and there are a few men loitering in suits who are too well-groomed and blase-looking not to be undercover security.

But most importantly, no one outside of the building is checking tickets, so I filter my way inside, into the cavernous Hall of States. Successfully getting in: check.

All sumptuous reds and state flags, the Hall of States is full of anxious theatergoers and ushers who are clearly good at their jobs, escorting patrons with the weary yet cheerful efficiency of battle-tested pros. Nobody has noticed me yet.

Up ahead, a few people are starting to mosey into the opera house, stopping briefly in front of redblazered ushers to get their tickets scanned. The lines are well organized and full — it doesn’t look like I’d be able to sneak in through the front doors. I may be 20 feet from the doors of the theater, but I’m not in. Not yet.

One way or another, I was seeing Book of Mormon. Even if it meant sneaking my way into the Kennedy Center.

My heart is racing, but I think I’m covering it well enough as I fall into step behind a gaggle of Oxfordshirted college-aged guys. I loosen my tie a little. Successfully blending in: check.

It’s 7 p.m. on show day, and the sun is just starting to set. “This is shaping up to be all too easy,” I think to myself as my new friends/cover and I bear right, cut across some grass and head for the entrance to the Kennedy Center. The building, so impressive from my detached observation point a few blocks away, is even grander and more terrifying up close. From the outside, it could be an ancient Chinese palace. Or, say, a prison in Westeros.

There are technically seven separate theaters housed within the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ranging from a 160-personcapacity jazz club to a 2,000-plus concert hall. The show (my target, I mentally correct myself) is playing in the center’s largest venue: the opera house, the outside entrance to which is located on the northwestern(ish) side of the building.

The entrance to the opera house is especially easy to find on this particular evening, as enormous black and white Book of Mormon posters hang over seemingly every door, Ben Brantley’s 2-foot-tall blurb from his

See MORMON, Page 2

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2013 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK

media From PAGE 8 a hurry. So I look forward to it, and we’ve got a lot of threats.”

T h e re a re s t i l l so m e questions as the Terps inch toward their season opener against Florida International on Aug. 31 at Byrd Stadium. Can the offensive line improve and become a cohesive unit? Who will step in and replace departed defensive ends Joe Vellano and A.J. Francis, who are fighting for NFL jobs right now?

The defense, one of the ACC’s best in 2012, lost six of 11 starters. Last season, it was expected to be strong while the offense searched for its identity. This year, those roles are reversed.

“We looked at what we did last year,” defensive coordinator Brian Stewart said. “We looked at some

of their core competencies, what they do well — be it pass rush, on their hands, double-teams, things like that — and then we try to slot them from there. And then this training camp, I need to put them in positions to be good players.”

Entering Edsall’s third year, the Terps’ mood was upbeat. Even after a combined 6-18 record over the past two years, there’s reason for it to be. The Terps are a talented group, and there’s a cohesion that hasn’t been there yet in Edsall’s tenure.

“This team trusts each other,” Edsall said. “People believe in what’s going on; they’ve bought into it. When you have that part down, now you can move on to the other parts.”

The Diamondback’s Dan Appenfeller contributed to this report. sportsdbk@gmail.com

7

notebook From PAGE 8 out of Stefon is that he wants to get better with all the little things about playing the position.”

King, a fellow sophomore, is expected to excel near the end zone and provide a big target opposite Diggs and Long. At 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, King is 3 inches taller and at least 15 pounds heavier than both Diggs and Long.

“Nigel’s a big guy, red-zone guy,” Hull said. “[He] can go up and get the football, so I think they’ve all got certain skill sets.”

Long, who chose the Terps in December as a five-star transfer from Iowa Western Community College, will be the Terps’ primary deep threat. Long caught 100 passes for 1,625 yards and 25 touchdowns with Iowa Western, where he spent the year after stints with West Virginia and New Mexico.

“He’s an explosive playmaker,” said offensive coordinator Mike Locksley. “I saw that firsthand, obviously, in his freshman year at New Mexico with me, where he was a very productive player, and he went to the [junior college] ranks and broke records there, so we’re excited about having him.”

CONSISTENCY IS KEY K icke r Brad C rad d ock knows from brutal experience the importance of consistency at his position.

The Australian’s first year playing American football was perpetually marred by inconsistency — he nailed 49-yard and career-long 52-yard field goals against Wake Forest but missed an extra point and a go-ahead 33-yard attempt against N.C. State.

“I guess you learn best from your mistakes,” Craddock said. “That N.C. State game, especially, that really

hurt. And I can’t wait to play them again this year.”

Craddock, who intended to be a punter when he transferred to the Terps in 2012, said his goal for this season is to hit 80 percent of his field goal attempts. Last season, Craddock converted on 10 of 16 attempts, a 62.5 percent conversion rate.

“We need more consistency out of both of them,” Edsall said of Craddock and punter Nathan Renfro. “We weren’t as consistent as we needed to be.”

The Terps’ first practice Monday night did not yield the consistency Esdall was looking for, with both Craddock and sophomore Brendan Magistro missing numerous kicks.

“It was very inconsistent,” Edsall said. “Brad started off really well, and all of a sudden he got into a rut. There’s guys there that have legs and they have the ability, now it’s that focus and concentration and doing the same thing all the time.”

Edsall said during media day that Craddock and Renfro could both be replaced if the need arose. Magistro made his one field goal attempt against Boston College, a 28-yard boot, along with two extra points in his college debut.

Behind Renfro is junior Michael Tart, who hasn’t punted since the 2011 season finale. He served as the holder in all of last season’s games.

But Craddock doesn’t let the backups affect his play.

“If I do the best I can and someone beats me out, then he deserves that spot and he should be playing,” he said.

“That’s got nothing to do with the players, and it’s got nothing to do with me. All I can do is go

out and perform the best I can, and that’s about it.”

A RISING OPTION With two-time All-American Joe Vellano and now-Miami Dolphins rookie A.J. Francis graduated, last season’s 21stranked defense is missing a few pieces on its defensive line.

So the July announcement that Houston graduate transfer Zeke Riser would join the Terps for his final season was a welcome one.

“It’s awesome,” said defensive coordinator Brian Stewart, who coached Riser with the Cougars.

“He speaks their language.”

Among defensive linemen Quinton Jefferson, Darius Kilgo and Keith Bowers, the Terps have just 22 starts’ experience.

Riser, on the other hand, started all 14 of Houston’s games his freshman year, including a start in the 2009 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, in which he recorded five tackles. It’s postseason experience Stewart and Edsall could look to for leadership this season.

“He’s going to be a senior, so again, we’ve got to have some leadership from really Darius, Keith and even Zeke because he’s a guy who’s played at the Division I level and started,” Edsall said.

Riser is not listed as a starter in the Terps’ most recent depth chart, but he could find his way into Stewart’s 3-4 scheme. And Stewart had nothing but praise for his former — and current — pupil.

“He’s got experience,” Stewart said. “He’s steady. He knows what he’s supposed to do. He’s a clean tackler. He’s a team player.” sportsdbk@gmail.com

TWEET OF THE DAY Brene Moseley @KillahBon3s Terps women’s basketball guard

“Just leaving the doctors, hopefully I never have to see him again! Ya girl is CLEARED #NoBrace #MinorSetBack #MajorComeback #CBK”

Sports

VICTORY IN THE BAHAMAS

Men’s basketball wins first game of foreign tour behind Layman’s 25 points, Wells’ dunks. For more, visit diamondbackonline.com.

Page 8

ON THE BLOG

thursday, august 8, 2013

FOOTBALL | TRAINING CAMP

driving forward

QUARTERBACK C.J. BROWn (left), coach Randy Edsall (center) and wide receiver Stefon Diggs (right) have high expectations for the Terps in 2013 after injuries derailed the 2012 season, and the team finished with a 4-8 record and six straight losses. tim drummond/for the diamondback

MEDIA DAY: Youthful yet seasoned Terps upbeat, ready to put injury-plagued 2012 season behind them in opening practice

By Daniel Gallen Senior staff writer Eager to put last season’s injury-marred campaign behind it but not so eager to fastforward to this university’s move to the Big Ten, the Terrapins football team reported to camp Sunday and met with the press at Monday’s media day.

It was the first time the Terps met with the media since April’s Red-White spring game, and there was a clear consensus among the players: It was time to get back on the field.

“I’m just ready for the whistle to blow,” cornerback Will Likely said.

The Terps were a national storyline in 2012 — but for the wrong reasons. With the avalanche of quarterback injuries and linebacker Shawn Petty starting the final four games of the season at the position, the season was often a punch line for bloggers and columnists.

This year, though, the Terps return a healthy starter and backups in C.J. Brown, Perry Hills and Caleb Rowe, and newcomers Ricardo Young, Shane Cockerille and Dustin Dailey bolster the position.

The injuries should be behind them, but there are bound to be some bumps and bruises along the way.

“Hopefully we won’t have too much adver-

sity, but during the football season, there’s always going to be adversity,” said coach Randy Edsall. “And it’s how you overcome that if you’re going to achieve the results that we want to achieve. I know I feel very comfortable going into this season with this group of guys, knowing the things that are in place, what their expectations, what our expectations are as a team.”

Most of the excitement surrounding the team centers on the offense’s electric playmakers. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs held court with a seemingly endless wave of reporters at the center of Glazer Auditorium in Gossett Football Team House. Diggs, the high school star who decided to stay close to home for college, emerged as one of the ACC’s top wide receivers last season despite the rotating cast getting the ball to him.

This year, even bigger things are expected.

The Terps added five-star, junior college transfer Deon Long to play across from Diggs at wide receiver, and they’re joined by the 6-foot-3 Nigel King, giving the Terps a trio of dangerous targets at Brown’s disposal.

“It’s hard to just take everybody away,” Diggs said. “You take me out, hey, my teammates are going to be open. You got some Deon Long coming at you — quick, fast and in See media, Page 7

NOTEBOOK: Diggs, Long eager for big plays in talented offense; Craddock, Magistro search for consistency amid competition

By Dan Appenfeller For The Diamondback One of the focal points of a potentially vaunted Terrapins football offense this season will be its receiving corps.

With quarterback C.J. Brown returning from his knee injury and running ba c ks A l b e r t Re i d a n d Brandon Ross showing improvement, wide receivers Stefon Diggs, Nigel King and junior college transfer Deon Long have the opportunity to

give the Terps an incredibly dangerous passing game.

“Coming in every day, I’ve got a smile on my face,” wide receivers coach Lee Hull said of this year’s group. “Every time I’m down or whatever, I come in and see those guys and know it’ll be all right.”

The Terps return Diggs, who was voted third-best receiver in July’s Preseason All-ACC team selections, and King, who caught nine passes last year.

Swa m p e d by re p o r t -

ers at the Terps’ media day Monday, Diggs — who racked up the second-most all-purpose yards in one season in Terps history (1,896) in 2012 — is expected to make major contributions this season as a slippery receiver who can produce yardage after catches in space.

“He has tremendous abilities and tremendous talent,” coach Randy Edsall said.

“The thing that I’ve seen See notebook, Page 7