October 11, 2012

SPORTS

OPINION

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Safety Nixon starts with longtime friend Hills p. 8

DIVERSIONS

NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY

Columnists face off on marriage equality

TURN UP THE MUSIC

Is dubstep annoying or stereotyped against? p. 6

p. 4

The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper

ISSUE NO. 31

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thursday, october 11, 2012

Student robbed by apts.

Suspect allegedly pointed gun at student and demanded money

By Fola Akinnibi Staff writer

university police arrested a man outside of the Nyumburu Amphitheater yesterday afternoon after two men were allegedly soliciting money outside of Stamp Student Union. pete kollm/for the diamondback

U. Police arrest man near Stamp

By Pete Kollm For The Diamondback University Police arrested a 21-year-old man yesterday afternoon near the Nyumburu Amphitheater following an alleged altercation with an officer.

At about 2:45 p.m., Steven Slaughter of District Heights, Md., and another man were reportedly soliciting money unlawfully outside Hornbake Plaza when an officer approached them, according to Uni-

An armed robbery occurred behind the University View apartments at about 11 p.m. yesterday, according to police.

A female student was on her phone while walking in the area behind the University View apartment buildings when the suspect, described as a black

male in a black hooded sweatshirt, approached her, University Police spokesman Capt. Marc Limansky said. The suspect allegedly pointed a gun at the student and demanded money, he said.

The student did not give the suspect money but handed over her cell phone, and the suspect fled the scene north on Route 1, Limansky said.

“PG County [Police] is taking a

walking the line

See arrest, Page 3

Students work to build community of ‘slackliners’ to walk on McKeldin Mall

Body debated whether to take political stance, decided it was matter of equality

While some state voters may still be unsure whether to uphold samesex marriage on next month’s ballot, the University Senate threw its support behind the measure at its meeting yesterday, illustrating the university’s support.

Several senators argued taking a political stance does not fall within the body’s responsibilities — and were unsure if the senate should vote on issues that extend beyond the campus or University System of Maryland — but others said samesex marriage is a matter of equality, not politics. The resolution passed

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versity Police spokesman Capt. Marc Limansky. Another officer responded to the scene and while they were talking with the suspects, Slaughter — who is not a university student — allegedly punched one of the officers in the head and fled, Limansky said.

Police chased the suspect from Hornbake Plaza to Nyumburu Amphitheater and arrested Slaughter, who was in possession of synthetic marijuana, according to Limansky. He is charged

U. Senate supports same-sex marriage

By Lauren Kirkwood Senior staff writer

report and officers are circling the area,” he said.

University Police gave the all clear at 11:51 p.m. The suspect was at large but had left the area, according to a crime alert. Prince George’s County Police are handling the incident, and police urge anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact them.

with 63 votes, with eight senators voting against it and three abstaining.

Although there was an amendment to take out a provision urging voters to support marriage equality — Question 6 on the state referendum — it was ultimately shut down. Faculty senator Marilee Lindemann, who proposed supporting the measure, said she was glad senators were willing to discuss and debate but felt the amendment would have weakened the proposal.

“I can understand the impulse to be cautious,” Lindemann said after the meeting.

The Student Government Association voted in favor of a resolution that would support upholding marriage equality in September, and SGA PresiSee senate, Page 3

By Annika McGinnis For The Diamondback Andrew Bresee clung to a tree branch 8 feet off the ground, his bare foot poised over a 1-inchwide cord.

His eyes conveyed the steely focus of a hypnotist and he stretched his arms out like a dancer. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out onto the line and into the air.

“Holy s---, this is high!” he exclaimed.

The line dipped and swayed under his weight. Bresee took three slow, painstaking steps only

to fall back onto the ground.

“Okay, one more time,” he said, hopping to his feet and climbing the tree all over again.

Bresee, a senior environmental science and technology major, is part of an elusive, disorganized and slowly growing community of “slackliners” — people who walk across lines of nylon webbing tied between trees on McKeldin Mall. Participating students say the sport is addictive and meditative, helping them release stress and develop inner control.

“You have to have your entire See slackline, Page 2

junior mathematics major adam brown, who has been slacklining since his freshman year, is part of a group of students trying to bring the unique activity to the campus. The students, who say the sport is addictive, spontaneously meet on McKeldin Mall and put together the nylon webbing tied between trees. annika mcginnis/for the diamondback

Second complex in works

Academic schedule has no room for additional days off

Construction on $125.6 mil building to begin in June 2015

With state laws, can’t take Columbus Day off or have fall break, education officials say

By Laura Blasey Staff writer

By Savannah Doane-Malotte Staff writer As the university continues construction on a cutting-edge physical sciences complex, officials are preparing to map out a second advanced research facility, a new $125.6 million bioengineering building.

Officials are planning for state funds to cover about $100 million of the facility’s costs, with the remaining $20 million coming from private donations. While only a portion of the needed funds are secured, according to Facilities Management Associate Vice

INDEX

the physical sciences complex, a nearly $130 million project, is on track to be complete by fall 2013. Officials are also preparing for the construction of a new $125.6 million bioengineering building. photo courtesy of cmns.umd.edu President Carlo Colella, the university should obtain additional support closer to the start of construction in June 2015.

The new building will house the bioengineering department, Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices and the Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation, one sector of a partnership between the university and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“We are trying to accommodate the

growth and extension of our program,” said bioengineering department chair Bill Bentley. “People from all walks of life will be part of this building.”

The bioengineering college has experienced a rise in the number of graduate and undergraduate students, Bentley said, and this year’s freshman class has the most engineering students the

NEWS 2 OPINION 4 FEATURES 5 DIVERSIONS 6 CLASSIFIED 6 SPORTS 8

See building, Page 3

In observance of Columbus Day on Monday, college students across the state celebrated the journey Christopher Columbus made to North America in 1492 by heading to class and going about their normal lives.

Although it’s a national federal holiday, University System of Maryland schools don’t observe the day by giving students and faculty the day off. A university system policy states that all 11 schools in the system must follow a common

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calendar — and a fall break just doesn’t work in that schedule, officials said.

“Because efforts are made not to start the semester too far in advance of Labor Day, or after it whenever feasible, and to end before the winter holidays, we generally can’t fit in a fall break,” university system spokesman Mike Lurie wrote in an email. “Even of very short duration such as a Columbus Day.” Sorry, Columbus.

This university and schools within the university system must have a fall semester that starts before Labor Day

For breaking news, alerts and more follow us on Twitter @thedbk

See schedule, Page 2 © 2012 THE DIAMONDBACK

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THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | thursday, october 11, 2012

slackline From PAGE 1 yourself,” said junior mathematics major Adam Brown, who has been slacklining regularly since his freshman year. “We just did a 100-foot line, and it takes like three minutes to go across it one step at a time. So, for three minutes, if you look at something else or think about something else, you will lose your balance … and it causes everything else in your head to get shoved to the back.”

The sport grew out of rock climbing, which uses the same muscles and requires the same level of concentration. Unlike tightropes, slacklines – which are typically one or two inches wide – bend and sway beneath people’s weight. Slackliners typically set up lines anywhere from 15 to 80 feet long and 2 to 12 feet high. On 1-inch lines, some students do simple jumps, 180degree turns or sit on the line and bounce up and down.

Other students have their own special tricks. Senior biochemistry and music major Caillin Marquardt likes to do handstands, cartwheels and yoga on his line.

Junior engineering major Chip Selden plays a game where one person stands at each end of the line and tries to see who can stay on the longest — usually about four seconds, he said. “[Competition] is fundamentally what it’s not about,” Bresee said. “It’s so self-driven; it’s so much about you setting your own

schedule From PAGE 1 and ends on or before Dec. 23 with a Thanksgiving break, according to laws from the state secretary’s office via the Code of Maryland Regulations. Fourteen instructional days in January are allotted for either a winter session or an extended winter break, and spring semester must end before Memorial Day with a week-long spring break in between.

Students earn a bachelor’s degree after completing at least 120 credit hours at an accredited institution, as defined by the De-

goals. … Even though it’s hard to learn, if you put in the effort, you can pull things out of it.”

Students have been spotted balancing on cords around the campus for years, but the sport only recently exploded in popularity, especially after professional slackliner Andy Lewis performed during February’s Super Bowl’s halftime show.

Still, university slackliners are shrouded in mystery. They have no official student group, and there is no way to know when or where they will appear. To spot them, students just have to be in the right place at the right time.

“It’s a really cool community that you didn’t know existed,” Selden said.

Selden said the sport’s disorganized nature gives participants a lot of flexibility; students can do whatever they want without worrying about safety rules or regulations. Brown said he does not know whether there is a university policy about slacklining, but since the group is so decentralized, no one really seems to care.

“Over the past two years, we’ve been increasing the distance we can walk and how high we can go up,” he said. “At a certain point, I guess someone will have a problem with it, but we’ll just find out when that happens.”

The slackliners said no one has ever been injured and the lines don’t damage the trees. Last year, an “older guy” — a professor, Bresee assumed — even joined the group on the slackline a few times.

“The most recent encounter we

had was a woman police officer who walked by, and I said, I quote, ‘Is it illegal?’” Bresee said. “[She said], ‘I don’t know. Do I care? Not really,’ and she walked away.”

That is not to say slackliners don’t get strange looks from people walking around the campus. Brown said he enjoys distracting entire high school tour groups on the mall.

“We get weird looks constantly,” Selden said. “Every-

one will be walking by, turning heads and staring, and people take videos and pictures of us.”

Bresee said seeing who actually stops can be a bit of a psychological experiment.

He said many people will just “blow past” them without even stopping to look.

“And there’s some people that stop and look,” he said. “And the coolest people will actually come up to us and ask to try it.”

The slackliners embrace all beginners and usually have a shorter, lower line set up specifically for them.

The sport has its unexpected benefits. Selden said he’s noticed he can keep his balance much better in his daily life. Marquardt said the sport can be used as physical therapy for leg injuries, and he once introduced it to someone with a bad Achilles tendon. But the most significant benefit, the students

said, is the calmness they gain through the simple act of balance.

“It’s really helped me work through things a lot of times,” Bresee said. “Just last week, I was really stressed out over exams and papers coming up, and I stood on the line and it was shaking and I was really flustered. But after an hour, I came down — and I just felt awesome, very relieved.”

partment of Education. While schools can design their own programs, they must provide students enough time to complete at least 120 credit hours — or more, depending on specific state laws — in three to five years.

But this state’s schools aren’t the only institutions that don’t celebrate Columbus Day — neither do Hawaii, Alaska and South Dakota, which don’t recognize the day and instead provide alternative days of remembrance. Nevada, Iowa and Dane County in Wisconsin as well as several cities in California and the Navajo Nation held classes Monday, too.

Many students, however, said Columbus Day can provide a much-needed break from their studies, especially since it falls around midterm season. Numerous colleges and universities — both public and private — have fall breaks or reading days scheduled on Columbus Day or in the weeks following, including the University of Virginia, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and New York University.

“I think what Columbus did is a travesty — he ran a sex slave business under the table, brought smallpox to the New World and was a gateway for the massacres that happened,” said senior psy-

chology major Andrew Tontala.

“That being said, not having a day off does kind of suck.”

“But that’s what the weekends are for,” junior kinesiology major Stefan Zavalin added.

Psycholog ists have long touted the idea that a longer school year with several smaller breaks, similar to European school systems, provides a

more productive learning environment than the typical A merican system of a long summer break and shorter winter and spring breaks.

“I think it would make sense to have some of the Jewish holidays off,” Tontala said.

Students said while they don’t support the idea of honoring Columbus, a day off would be

preferable, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the rest of the academic schedule.

“If we had a fall break, would that shorten our winter break?” junior business major Katie Dryhurst said. “I would rather have a longer winter break, but a day off would be nice.”

“slacklining,” or the act of walking across lines of webbed nylon rope tied between trees, has taken off as a trend both nationally and on the campus. The unofficial posse of slackliners on the campus is not part of an organized club. Rather, students spontaneously gather on McKeldin Mall to walk across the ropes, which, unlike tightropes, are slack. annika mcginnis/for the diamondback

MORE ONLINE

photo courtesy of ellen fishel

College Park’s own ‘New Girl’: Happy Pink Floyd Day “The 12th of the month is Pink Floyd Day.” This message, scrawled in pink highlighter on scrap paper, has been taped to the fridge for as long as I can remember.

The activities of the day are pretty self-explanatory and not very monumental: We listen to Pink Floyd.

For more of Ellen Fishel’s blog, check out diamondbackonline.com.

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thursday, october 11, 2012 | NEWS | THE DIAMONDBACK

3

Univ. Senate approves enhanced parental leave policy for faculty

By Lauren Kirkwood Senior staff writer The University Senate approved a new permanent parental leave policy yesterday that is more generous than a similar plan mandated by the University System of Maryland.

Before April, the university had no explicit policy related to paid parental leave for faculty, and most faculty opted to use their sick leave days, officials said. But last spring, the senate passed a policy extending the amount of paid leave time for faculty from six weeks to eight weeks. Because the Board of Regents finalized its own parental leave policy this summer, the university had to resolve inconsistencies between the two.

An interim policy was approved Aug. 29 a nd a f ter review by the senate’s faculty affairs committee, the senate made the policy permanent with a vote of 71 in favor and five opposed, with nine abstentions. During its committee consideration, elements of

the plan were revised, making it more generous than the system-wide policy, senators said.

“Whenever you send a policy to committee, there’s always going to be some tweaking,” said faculty senator Ellin Scholnick.

The university’s policy only requires faculty members to work at the university for one semester, or six months, before gaining access to parental leave, while the system’s plan requires a full year of employment. It also forbids the university from asking faculty to make up reduced classroom teaching.

Faculty senator Gay Gullickson questioned whether a paid leave time of eight weeks, or a little more than halfway through the semester, is practical.

“I certainly know there are a lot of departments where people cannot pick up teaching halfway through the semester,” she said.

“The fact that a member comes back but has no course to teach, what does coming back mean?”

In addition, the courses in question would either have to be taught by other faculty, or in

some cases, they would not be taught at all in a given semester, Gullickson said.

The policy includes provisions for modified duties for faculty who would not be able to jump back into teaching a course for the latter half of a semester, Scholnick said. This plan is intended to provide support for new parents by reducing or changing their work responsibilities — such as substituting teaching a class for other departmental duties — without a drop in salary, for the rest of the semester, according to the policy.

“Eight weeks is a long time to ask a colleague to pick up and teach for you,” Gullickson said.

“There aren’t a lot of things to do in a department that would be equivalent to teaching for eight weeks.”

The university policy also differs from the system policy in two additional ways — it extends these modified duty plans to non-instructional and instructional faculty and it offers a broader range of time in which faculty may use their

paid parental leave, making it easier for both parents to use their leave time.

Schol n ick sa id t he new policy is not likely to put a strain on departmental resources, because the number of faculty members using parental leave at any given time is minimal.

“You would have to have a group of young faculty simultaneously asking for this,” she said.

W hile the year moves forward with standards in place for faculty, graduate assistants are still continuing to work toward gaining a guaranteed parental leave policy.

Graduate Student Government President David Colon-Cabrera put a proposal to the senate in August asking for the development of a standard similar to the one in place for university staff. However, the Senate Executive Committee voted to postpone the proposal because meet-and-confer procedures are still being settled.

“They think that it will be better if they will be able to

relieved no students suffered injuries and the building did not sustain any serious damage.

“It was pretty exciting for a Sunday,” Oves said. “I’m just glad that it didn’t cause severe damage.” newsumdbk@gmail.com

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“Eight weeks is a long time to ask a colleague to pick up and teach for you.”

GAY GULLICKSON Faculty senator

decide how to move forward once there is a clear understanding of what the program review process will be,” ColonCabrera said.

The meet-and-confer policy in place allows graduate assistants to bring union representation into negotiations; however, the body designated to represent graduate students in the process, the Graduate Assistant Advisory Council, has yet to hold elections for the year or come to a final decision on what union representation to choose.

“Meet-and-confer does not limit the avenues that graduate assistants continue to voice their concerns,” Colon-Cabrera said. newsumdbk@gmail.com

Fire, sprinklers cause damage in apartment over weekend, no injuries reported, police said

A grease fire in St. Mary’s Hall on Sunday forced some residents out of their rooms until yesterday.

At 12:26 p.m. Sunday, University Police and fire officials responded to a fire in St. Mary’s Hall.

W hile a student was cooking chicken, the grease caught fire, and despite the student’s attempt to smother the flames, it triggered the room’s sprinklers, University Police spokesman Capt. Marc

BUILDING From PAGE 1 university has seen yet. Finding enough classroom space to house the influx of students has been a struggle for the department, he added.

“As the program has grown, it has been a continual challenge to find lecture halls that can accommodate our larger classes,” Bentley said. “The new building won’t completely solve this issue, but it’ll definitely help.”

With the bioengineering department residing in five buildings across the campus, the completed facility will finally condense staff into one main building north of the Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building.

Design of the approximately 200,000 square foot space will begin in April 2013 and the building should open in summer 2017.

The building will house classrooms, labs, research facilities and office space.

Facilities Management is also looking into specialized

SENATE From PAGE 1 because most college students are over 18 and are therefore legally able to marry without parental consent, it is an issue that directly affects them. Supporting the act would also help the university attract “the best

Limansky said.

When Facilities Management staff arrived, they were able to shut off the sprinkler system and ventilate the building. There were no injuries.

The sprinkler system caused most of the damage in the building, according to Michael Melnyk, North Hill Community resident director. He said officials are doing what they can to make the space livable again and residents have been able to return to their rooms.

“Residential Facilities is working diligently to rectify the damages that were done,”

Melnyk said. “We’re doing our best to make it comfortable for the residents to live in that space.”

St. Mary’s resident Racqueal Legerwood, a senior Chinese and government and politics major, commended the Department of Resident Life for its response to the damages.

Legerwood said the sprinklers continued to run after the fire was out, damaging the carpet and other items on the ground. Resident Life replaced damaged items and even offered to launder wet clothes, she added.

vibration-sensitive labs for the new bioengineering building, similar to the ones that will be in the Physical Sciences Complex.

The facility will be designed to attain a minimum of a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver certification in its construction, and is planned to feature advanced equipment.

“It will be a state-of-the-art space for research and teaching,” Colella said. “We will definitely make use of the latest technology for this building.”

The $128 million physical sciences complex, which has been under construction since 2010, is doing well on budget and on schedule, according to Facilities Management officials. The building should be completed

by September 2013 and ready for students in spring 2014.

“Everything is going smoothly, and the building will be watertight very soon, which is a big milestone,” Capital Projects Director Bill Olen said. “After that’s done, we’ll start working on the finishes of the building.”

The roof is completely in-

stalled and the windows will be done within the month, officials said, so no water will be able to get inside the site.

That development will make it easier for workers to continue the piping and electrical line construction and to build the lab spaces within the structure.

The façade and masonry of the complex are also nearly complete, officials said.

The complex will feature hypersensitive labs in its subbasement, which will be 50 to 55 feet underground. Those laboratories will allow researchers to carry out extremely sophisticated studies that are difficult or impossible to conduct above ground, which will make it one of the most innovative physical science facilities in the world.

“These labs will minimize electromagnetic frequencies and vibrations, which means research can be done without interruption,” Colella said.

The construction of the two buildings is not only a way to give departments more space, Bentley said, but a means of

and brightest faculty,” Zwerling added.

Faculty senator Gay Gullickson said the senate has passed resolutions in the past asking the Board of Regents to extend same-sex benefits, so the body has already made its position on the issue known.

And while faculty senator Chris Davis said he was disappointed it took the senate so long

to formally show its support for marriage equality, he proposed eliminating the clause that would encourage voters. This would help the senate avoid making a political statement, he said.

But Lindemann pointed to a recent email from university President Wallace Loh in which he strongly supported the state DREAM Act — which would allow undocumented students

“[Resident Life] was pretty quick,” Legerwood said. “Everyone was really nice and understanding about it.”

In event of a fire, Melnyk said students should get to a safe place and allow professionals to take care of the situation. If students feel they are able to put out the fire, they can use baking powder as an extinguisher, he added.

Sophomore international business major Elaine Oves, who lives in St. Mary’s Hall, said it took someone else’s mistake for her to learn how to react in that situation. Oves was

From PAGE 1 with second-degree assault of an officer, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, Limansky said.

Slaughter was on probation for assaulting a police officer in Washington and wears a detention monitor anklet, he added. Slaughter was found guilty of a fourth-degree sex offense in December 2011 and has faced several charges of theft and failure to pay Metro fare since 2010, according to court records.

L i ma nsk y sa id it was unclear when police found the synthetic marijuana. “[Officers] either got it while they were talking to him or after they had run and placed him under arrest,” he said.

Police are still looking for the second man involved in the incident, Limansky said.

Several police cars arrived on the scene and many students walking by at the time stopped to watch the chase.

“I heard struggle noises and they were both on the road. They were vigorously punching him,” mechanical engineering junior Nicolas Poirette said. “The suspect managed to break free and ran into the open auditorium.”

Kyle Jones-Peoples, an intern at the engineering building, was walking from Stamp Student Union with a friend when he saw the arrest.

“I notice [the police officers] pull a bag of something from the man’s pocket, then the officers became really aggressive with the man,” said Jones-Peoples, a senior at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Springdale, Md. “The officers tackled the man to the ground. … The man got up and was continually punched.”

Officers will use whatever force is necessary to place a suspect under arrest, Limansky said.

“If [Slaughter] was not complying, they can use physical force,” he added. “All uses of force are reviewed by our internal affairs office.”

Limansky asked that any witnesses with information contact police.

Grease fire Sunday displaces several students from St. Mary’s

By Fola Akinnibi Staff writer

arrest

“We’re doing our best to make it comfortable for the residents to live in that space.”

MICHAEL MELNYK

North Hill Community resident director

The Physical Sciences Complex, one of two new advanced research facilities in the works, is set to be completed by September 2013 and ready to house students by spring 2014. The $128 million building will be one of the most innovative of its kind. su hong/the diamondback making groundbreaking discoveries and aiding students in their learning.

“One of the most important things that the benefactor for

the Bioengineering Building really wants us to use the building for is to help human beings,” he said. “This will be a signature building on campus

where courses can be put into practice, such as in senior Capstone Projects.”

to receive in-state tuition if they meet a set of requirements — and urged others to do the same.

The senate supporting marriage equality would ideally serve a similar purpose, she said.

“I don’t see this [resolution] as risky,” Lindemann said. “I would be disappointed to see it watered down.”

M a ny sen ators sa id t he issue is one of compassion and

equality, which distinguishes it from other political statements, such as supporting a candidate for president.

“We are just innately tolerant and hardworking and compassionate and willing to make powerful statements in everything we do,” said faculty senator and field hockey coach Missy Meharg.

Additionally, undergraduate senator Alex Miletich said

taking out the voter clause would weaken the resolution’s impact as well as its meaning, because including it could help inform students about the issue’s relevance in the upcoming election.

“It’s really going to educate voters to what is going on right now,” he said.

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THE DIAMONDBACK | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

Opinion

EDITORIAL BOARD

YASMEEN ABUTALEB Editor in Chief

Mike King

Managing Editor

Tyler Weyant

Managing Editor

maria romas Opinion Editor

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Assistant Opinion Editor

CONTACT US 3150 South Campus Dining Hall | College Park, MD 20742 | news@umdbk.com OR opinion@umdbk.com PHONE (301) 314-8200 FAX (301) 314-8358

HEAD TO HEAD

Equality and perspective on National Coming Out Day JOSHUA DOWLING When I came out, I thought my life was effectively over. It all started in the aftermath of Prop 8. An hour into debating the question, my mom pointedly demanded, “Why do you care so much about this?

Are you gay?” I broke at that point. Tears streaming down my face, all I could do was utter an almost silent affirmation.

Things weren’t good then. My friends were iffy about it, at best. My relationship with my parents teetered on the brink. For more than a month, I went to bed crying every night. It’s an impossibly hopeless feeling to go to sleep thinking your friends have gone and your parents no longer love you. For myself, and thousands upon thousands of other members of the LGBT community, that struggle is a reality we’ve all faced — and sometimes still face today.

But that was nearly four years ago. After a tense couple of months, I began to speak to my mother again. We worked it out, and we’ve never been closer. My mom’s primary concern has shifted from whether I’m committing a moral wrong to whether I’m going to get gay-bashed if I hold hands with my boyfriend on the Metro.

My father and I spent two long years talking to each other in simplistic snippets. We barely acknowledged each other, and when we did, it invariably left me in tears. Over the past year, my father has undergone a drastic change in his understanding of what it means to be LGBT. Instead of worrying about my sex life, he’s started to worry about the discrimination facing the LGBT community. Just a week or so ago, he wrote an email noting how he hoped marriage equality would pass this November. He signed the email with, “Love you, Dad,” and for the first time in an incredibly long time, I knew it was true.

Today, on National Coming Out Day, I’m privileged not to have to come out — to not have to go

VIEW Coming out means refusing to stay silent and embracing the struggle of equal rights for everyone. through the emotional turmoil that rattled my world a few short years ago. But I’m especially privileged to have parents who worked hard to meet me in a place of understanding. I’m privileged to live in a state that just passed marriage equality and to attend a university where my peers and professors think no less of me because of my sexuality.

We still have a lot more to do, though. Marriage equality still has to pass in November. Our trans brothers and sisters still need help in breaking down myriad barriers that threaten their jobs, safety and lives. And there are a thousand other ways that we might better the lives of LGBT people in the United States and throughout the world. For me, coming out was not simply the end of my struggle as an LGBT individual; it was the first day I could wage my struggle to better the lives of my queer compatriots. I urge all of you to join me in coming out as people who want to see a brighter, more inclusive tomorrow, where we all move forward together. I urge all of you not to be afraid to have tough conversations and to change people’s minds on LGBT issues.

If my Catholic parents could eventually come around on marriage equality, then there is no conversation not worth having — and there is no mind not worth trying to change. My coming out didn’t end in November 2009; it won’t end until I’ve done all that I can to help every person I know understand LGBT people are full and equal members of our world. I refuse to tolerate an opinion that says I am not a full, legitimate human being. And I won’t stop working to help people understand that.

Joshua Dowling is a senior government and politics and history major. He can be reached at dowlingj@terpmail.umd.edu.

VIEW The LGBT community deserves greater inclusion in society, but marriage remains a separate issue entirely.

MATT RICE What is marriage? Maryland residents will be answering exactly that question during this November’s election, as same-sex marriage goes up for referendum. But as we get caught up in the argument between “marriage equality” and “traditional marriage,” we often forget to consider what marriage actually is. One thing that becomes immediately clear is there are two very different concepts for what marriage fundamentally represents, which support the two opposing stances.

One concept sees marriage simply as a way for the government to recognize a couple’s love for each other — a view that gives couples access to benefits like hospital visitation rights. In this mindset, marriage is an institution invented by people. It naturally follows that, as we strive to rid ourselves of discrimination against LGBT people, marriage laws should be updated to be more inclusive.

The other concept of marriage calls it something fundamental — an unchangeable fact of nature. In this mindset, attempting to change the definition of marriage is as futile as advocating to pass a law making one plus one equal three. The law may be passed, but that doesn’t change the truth; one plus one will always equal two, regardless of the law. Furthermore, if such a law were to be passed, it would inevitably create problems, since students would not be able to do math correctly. Likewise, this position sees the redefinition of marriage as enshrining a lie into law, which inevitably leads to problems.

All too often, people who hold these two opposing views of marriage judge each other’s conclusions based on their own premises. For example, someone who believes in traditional marriage may be tempted to see all attempts to legalize same-sex marriage as pieces of a nefarious “gay agenda.”

Likewise, marriage equality supporters — liken-

ing their struggle against discrimination to the civil rights movement of the 1960s — often label their opponents as homophobic bigots. They fail to see that, for the most part, supporters of traditional marriage don’t aim to discriminate against LGBT people unjustly; they simply don’t believe that samesex “marriage” is marriage.

But some say the very idea that marriage can only be between a man and a woman is discriminatory.

Too often they belittle Christians’ biblical explanations for believing in traditional marriage with misinformed criticism. Most of the often-alleged instances in the Bible brought up in such debates can be explained fairly easily. But one of the less controversial verses, “God is Love,” poses a more difficult, enlightening question: How can God be love if He existed before there was anything to love?

In Catholic theology, the answer is supplied by the mystery of the Trinity. God the Father loves God the Son, and the Son returns this love to the Father; this love between the Father and the Son is so strong, that it gives rise to God the Holy Spirit. This is mirrored in marriage, where a husband loves his wife and a wife loves her husband, and this love is so strong that it can create a child. The only relationships that can possibly create new life are those between a man and a woman. So from my perspective, only man-woman relationships can possibly constitute marriage.

Obviously this isn’t a valid argument against legalizing same-sex marriage in this state, but it is my belief — simply what I think to be true — and it is not based on bigotry or homophobia. I hope as the debate continues leading up to the election, we’ll all try to keep each other’s perspectives in mind instead of recklessly criticizing each other’s conclusions.

Matt Rice is a sophomore engineering and materials science major. He can be reached at rice@umdbk.com.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

STAFF EDITORIAL

Getting the facts straight

Never too early for summer

Human life is sacred

T

his letter is in response to the Sept. 19 Diamondback article, “Alumna now coming to terms with her abortion after being raped as a student.” Because of an unprofessional editing error, The Diamondback misquoted my stance on abortion.

I would like to highlight some aspects of the Catholic Church’s teachings, to clarify my stance — not to challenge yours.

The Catholic Church teaches God creates and infuses a human soul in the fertilized egg at the moment of conception. Genesis 1:27-28 state humans are sexually complementary to perpetuate the species.

Our country is built upon guaranteed, unalienable rights; “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” In the Declaration of Independence, the right to life is the first right mentioned. These rights find a resounding confirmation in the teachings of the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church holds that every human life is sacred from conception to natural death.

Therefore, the life and dignity of every person must be respected and protected at every stage and in every condition. Science supports this claim. Watson A. Bowes, a doctor at the University of Colorado Medical School, states, “The beginning of a single human life is from a biological point of view a simple and straightforward matter — the beginning is conception.

This straightforward biological fact should not be distorted to serve sociological, political or economic goals.” In addition to serving ideologies that “use” instead of “respect” the life of each person, abortion is the destruction of the God-created human, body and soul.

T

he cramming and stressing over midterms is slowly subsiding (hopefully), and as midOctober turns into Halloween season, students are likely eager to relax and recharge. You may have your sights set on making up for lost partying, sleep or free time as course loads briefly lighten before Thanksgiving.

But now is not the time to get complacent.

The stretch of relative calm between midterms and finals offers a perfect — and critical — opportunity to look ahead toward next summer.

Yes, some students may still be in denial over the summer being gone so quickly, but as they say, winter is coming, and that means yet another summer is soon to follow.

Why already think about next summer? Well, it’s not exactly the summer students need to worry about — it’s the grim and stagnant job market waiting for us after graduation. The national unemployment rate dipped below 8 percent in the latest jobs report for the first time in 43 months. The outlook for recent college graduates, however, has shown few signs of improvement, if any at all. Only 45 percent of last May’s graduates from the computer, mathematical and natural sciences college — the students who would arguably be some of the most well-off — had accepted full-time employment by the summer. And the disparaging news extends beyond College Park; 53.6 percent of Americans younger than 25 with bachelor’s degrees remain unemployed or underemployed.

Even if you do find a job once you graduate, it’s increasingly likely you’ll spend the first few years out of college either with your parents, working at a job well below your qualifications (think a barista at Starbucks) or maybe even both. Struggling to find work is no longer the exception for young adults in this country — it’s the norm.

OUR VIEW

Securing a job after college often depends on internship experience — start the summer search now.

Which brings us back to the summer. When it comes to preparing for life after college, securing an internship will dramatically improve your chances of gaining quality employment. This past spring, 60 percent of undergraduates who had paid internship experiences received job offers after graduation, according to a recent study from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

However, NACE found only 36 percent of students with no internship experience received offers from employers. So while it may not be the permanent employment most graduates are looking for, it’s the stepping stone students now need to get to that point.

Sure, it’s only October, barely halfway into the semester, but now is the time to actively plan where you’ll be spending your summer — and how you’ll

get closer to landing your ideal job. The application deadlines for the most competitive internships are just weeks away: Applications for internships at the FBI and The Washington Post, just to name a few, are due by or before Nov. 1. Maybe these particular internships aren’t in your field of interest, but the point is to actively seek out anything you may be interested in and ensure the application gets in on time — the deadlines will have passed before you know it. At this point, the best thing you can do is research as many positions as possible while the opportunities are still available. Don’t wait until the spring to start planning.

In addition to researching different opportunities, talk with your professors and advisers about your personal interests. Share your goals for the summer with them now and see how they can help; leave it to your classmates to flood inboxes in the spring in the scramble to find impersonalized recommendation letters.

Maybe an internship isn’t the thing for you this summer, especially if you’re freshman and sophomore. (Preparing for your future career probably isn’t at the forefront of your minds just yet.) Still, it never hurts to get organized and plan ahead and at least have every opportunity available to you right now. There is no single path toward success. The most imperative thing is to find something you truly enjoy and work toward turning it into a career. And if an internship is the easiest way to help you get there, start the application process now.

EDITORIAL CARTOON

Beatrice Torralba is a sophomore government and politics major and a member of Catholic Terps. She can be reached at beatricetorralba@gmail.com.

AIR YOUR VIEWS Address your letters or guest columns to Maria Romas and Nadav Karasov at opinionumdbk@gmail.com. All submissions must be signed. Include your full name, year, major and phone number. Please limit letters to 300 words and guest columns to between 500 and 600 words. Submission of a letter or guest column constitutes an exclusive, worldwide, transferable license to The Diamondback of the copyright of the material in any media. The Diamondback retains the right to edit submissions for content and length.

JOEY LOCKWOOD/the diamondback

POLICY: Signed letters, columns and cartoons represent the opinions of the authors. The staff editorial represents the opinion of The Diamondback’s editorial board and is the responsibility of the editor in chief.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 | THE DIAMONDBACK

5

Features

CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Bath powder 5 Coin-flip result 10 Long-tailed animals 14 Tibet’s place 15 Bauxite giant 16 Sufficient, in verse 17 Roman foe 18 Had status 19 Like most sportscasts 20 Cutting tools 22 River mammal 23 Scottish philosopher 24 Hockey structure 26 Einstein type 29 Ready for the prom 33 Dangerous mosquito 34 Hardly a wallflower 35 -- excellence 36 Bear’s pad 37 Dinnerware item 38 A kiss in Granada 39 Rapper Dr. - 40 Throat clearers 41 Golfer’s yells 42 Self-satisfaction 44 Gauges 45 Rainy weather systems 46 Make turbid 48 Land of Sancho Panza

51 Artist’s choice (2 wds.)

55 Northern Iraq resident 56 Pseudonym 58 Deviate 59 Type of eagle 60 Fake diamonds 61 Paul Drake’s creator 62 Garden intruder 63 Globe feature 64 Starfish arms

31 Palette adjunct 32 Smelting waste 34 Make holy 37 Relieved sigh 38 Lose one’s temper (2 wds.)

40 Presently 41 Acct. insurer 43 Coasted along 46 Gaucho’s rope 47 “Full House” twin 48 Falsify the data

49 Undiluted 50 Handel contemporary 51 Seine feeder 52 “Tomb Raider” heroine

53 Air France hub 54 Hearty loaves 56 PFC mail drop 57 Resinous deposit

B

DOWN 1 Rpm measurer 2 Between ports 3 Cheery tone 4 More appealing 5 Sheik’s bevy 6 Buoy up 7 Circus routines 8 Forest grazer 9 Crestfallen 10 Unfroze 11 No future -- - 12 Bay 13 Basin adjunct 21 Attila’s subjects 22 Curved molding 24 Splinter groups 25 Linchpin site 26 Loses hair 27 Buy new guns 28 Farewell 29 Stagecoach pullers 30 Wagner genre

© 2012 United Features Syndicate

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HOROSCOPE STELLA WILDER

orn today, you are a rather emotional individual, and you often have a hard time keeping your heart and your head in balance. Too often what you feel takes precedence over how you think -- and this is remarkable in itself, for you are also a highly intelligent, incisive and clever individual capable of sussing out even the most complicated of problems.

You do not always focus on an endeavor with as much concentrated attention as you should, and for this reason opportunities and successes may simply slip by you on occasion. Fortunately, your successes are almost always so memorable that they remain effective for a long, long time.

Also born on this date are: Eleanor Roosevelt, U.S. first lady; Joan Cusack, actress; Luke Perry, actor; Elmore Leonard, writer; George Williams, YMCA founder.

To see what is in store for you tomorrow, find your birthday and read the corresponding paragraph. Let your birthday star be your daily guide.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12 LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -- A new idea has you thinking about how you do things -- and about how you may be able to change your methods in order to maximize your gains.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- You mustn’t let a minor difference of opinion develop into something that could threaten

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- You may not be in the mood to give way to someone trying to persuade you to fall in line -- but something has got to give.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- You can derive a great deal of valuable insight from your own dreams and daydreams at this time. A friend plays a strange role in your mind.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -- It’s likely to be more difficult today to do the things that you had planned than anything that results from chance or inspiration.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -- You don’t have to work too hard to maintain your autonomy -- though someone may expect you to do things against your will at some point.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -Consider all options that are presented to you today -- not every one will be attractive to you, but those will give you perspective.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- The instructions you receive today are likely to be clear, but you are not convinced that your boss’s motives are all that pure.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -You can rely on someone today to help you navigate some rough terrain -- especially when your emotions are already near the surface.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -Self-respect is a key issue today, as those around you behave in ways that seem not to be in sync with your way of thinking about values.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- You mustn’t go around thinking that you are better than anyone else -- even though there are some things you do as well as they can be done.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -Priorities are in order -- but you may not trust that you have given enough serious thought to one particular key issue. Mull it over today!

COPYRIGHT 2012 UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.

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THE DIAMONDBACK | thursDAY, october 11, 2012

Diversions

THE AT&T OF NETWORKS: NBC PULLS COMMUNITY (AGAIN)

NBC, in its never-ending quest to destroy everything you love and replace it with The New Normal and Revolution, has indefinitely postponed the premiere of cult-comedy Community’s fourth (and Dan Harmon-less) season. Between this and the news that Louie won’t return until 2014, it’s been a tough day for the three or four people who actually watch these shows.

Hey, at least NBC also pulled Whitney from its schedule, suggesting there may still be some sort of justice in the universe.

REEL NEWS

FACE-OFF | DUBSTEP AND ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC

sympathy for the dj

Dubstep: Is it the relentless, fad-chasing soundtrack to a thousand bad frat parties or a constantly evolving, endlessly enjoyable genre that doesn’t get the respect it deserves?

CON | TURN THAT RACKET DOWN

By Kelsey Hughes and Emily Thompson For The Diamondback From the moment it started to get popular, I knew I would never get into electronic dance music or dubstep.

I guess I understand it, though.

Popular DJs such as Skrillex, Avicii, Steve Aoki and Porter Robinson must be doing something right to reach the levels of popularity they’ve attained.

They have the ability to attract and control massive numbers of people with their music, which is a quality a lot of artists strive to possess. But what bothers me most about dubstep is the culture.

Last weekend, I attended Virgin Mobile FreeFest, where I overheard two teenage boys decked out in glowsticks and neon sunglasses talking behind me during M83’s lukewarm set. They were discussing the literal minutes left until they could see Skrillex. After M83 finished, I attempted to exit the area, only to be almost trampled by hoards of underage Skrillex fans. In all the years I’ve attended concerts and festivals, this was the most aggressive I’ve ever seen a crowd — and all for a bunch of “womp womps” and bass drops.

It seems to me this culture has grown so ubiquitous solely because it’s fun. Teenagers and college students like EDM and dubstep because they can get drunk and dress up in weird furry boots and animal hats and wave lights around. The music lacks any depth or meaning, and fans accept that because it’s just another excuse to party. Liking something because it’s fun is fine, but it’s the most unauthentic excuse ever for being interested in a genre of music.

There’s also just someth i ng ja rri ng about the music itself. Rather than settling into any sort of pattern, theme or predictable sequence of sounds that would lend itself to a comforting familiarity, EDM and dubstep take chunks of redu nda nt beats a nd fi lter th roug h

PRO | STOP HATING AND JUST DANCE

them with no warning other than earsplitting transitional record-scratching, beeping and whirring. In fact, the only consistent thing about music of this genre is the ever-imminent bass drop, constantly hanging over your head as you listen. And to this end, the bass drop is so predictable that it’s not very thrilling. In a discussion after FreeFest, my friend described EDM as a symptom of an ADD generation, and I’d have to agree.

But, my fellow youth, is this really how we want to represent ourselves?

As a collection of rowdy, party-hungry teens without even the attention span to hear more than 20 seconds of the same sound? It is certainly not how I would like to be remembered by future generations.

EDM and dubstep can certainly be fun to some, and in the right setting (such as a club) acceptable listening material for those who want to have a good time. But as a genre of music to idolize, learn from or draw meaning from, it holds no weight. I’m all about pushing boundaries in music, challenging norms and trying new things, but dubstep and EDM do not do that.

Instead, musicians of these genres feed the masses following a pretty standardized recipe. After all, there’s only so much you can do when your only goal is to start a party.

By Zachary Berman Senior staff writer The bass hits. A thousand fiendishly-tossed glow sticks rain down on you from above while a subphonic wobble ruptures you from below, a sound so loud you can feel its grip tightening around your esophagus.

There’s a short reprieve, the faintest hint of an airy melody, and then it starts all over again.

This is a microcosm of life at the center of a dubstep concert. For some, the mix of pain and pleasure is an exhilarating ride, and for others, nothing could be closer to the icy wind of hell’s ninth circle.

Like it or not, you are still listening to music, and music is art. Yet despite dubstep’s God-given right to be explored and studied, it often gets the short end of the critical stick because of people’s social hang-ups.

Somewhere along the line, dubstep got saddled with an unshakable reputation as an annoying fad: It all sounds the same, and everyone making it is just trying to cash in on a bunch of uncultured listeners. People love to talk about how only the hardcore candy kids love dubstep and how the college crowd mostly just deals with dubstep because that’s what the DJs are playing, neither of which are ringing endorsements of quality. On top of that, good and bad dubstep is continually and universally frowned upon by pretentious trend-watchers and their captive blog-scanning audiences.

Plenty of music in the genre is truly terrible (although so is a lot of folk, punk and hip-hop) but there is a lot of emotionally powerful and intellectual dubstep people choose to overlook in favor of

diversionsdbk@gmail.com

genre bashing.

Most dubstep is dark in nature, such as Burial’s rich 2007 sophomore release Untrue or Sepalcure’s haunting self-titled 2011 album. (Check out “See Me Feel Me” from the latter album.) But let’s not sell the genre short — dubstep can do many things. Listen, for instance, to the infectious “Ultra Thizz” off Rustie’s sugar-coated Saturday-morning cartoon-style riot Glass Swords, or enjoy a recording of one of EOTO’s live dubstep-improv shows (played on real instruments, no less).

With each act, dubstep’s horizons get a little broader.

Dissenters like to pretend dubstep starts and ends with the stereotypical grimy wobble that has been played to death by producers such as Datsik and Excision and, worst of all, taken to bland pop extremes by acts such as Flux Pavilion and Rusko.

These kinds of producers, however, aren’t making music for headphones, and likewise, many of them don’t even put out full albums. It’s not about the songwriting, if you want to call it that. These guys are all about the live show. Their music is an experience more than just a sound, something you feel and share under the lighted stage.

Despite what critics might say, this doesn’t devalue dubstep on the whole. It’s a musician’s lifestyle choice and one dissenters often nag on, as if the idea of an “album” isn’t just as abstract of a human construction as the idea of attending a live show.

You can argue people only like live dubstep because they take drugs when they go (a vast generalization, at best), but 1960s psychadelic rock had the same rap, and look how revered it is today (classical composers, by the way, wrote strictly for the live environment).

It always happens this way — big band crooners made room for rock and 1960s folk rock; disco made room for punk; 1980s synth-pop made room for grunge; alternative rock made room for hip-hop. And now?

To classical purists – hell, classic-rock purists, or an indie rock auteur or any skeptics — dubstep and other modern electronic music is a sideshow for the brats, the musical equivalent of listening to a record of protracted dial-up tones.

But one day those kids will likely be electronic music purists, and the screeching sound of their children’s violins will send them running for the hills.

It’s OK not to like dubstep. That’s your opinion — by no means is it my favorite genre. However, to put down an entire genre, its followers and its most talented artists based on an uneducated judgment of the music or its community is nothing short of musical bigotry.

Give beats a chance ­— drop the bass.

photos courtesy of nuvo.net and agencyhealth.ca

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2EVEN THURSDAY, October 11, 2012 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK

THE DIAMONDBACK THE DIAMONDBACK | XXXDAY, | FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER AUGUST XX, 31, 20127

FRANCOIS From PAGE 8

Freshman Forward Christiano Francois is a “skillful, strong, aggressive, fun player,” coach Sasho Cirovski said. file photo/the diamondback

NOTEBOOK From PAGE 8 freshmen should have considerable impacts.

Cleare, who Turgeon said r i v a l s L e n a s t h e t e a m ’s h a rd e s t worke r, h a s g a rnered rave reviews throughout preseason practices. He moves better i n t he pa i nt since beginning the Terps’ conditioning program, and has expanded his arsenal of low-post moves.

Mitchell has followed suit.

T he Ma rietta, Ga., native h a s g ive n up h i s b e love d fried chicken and dropped 18 pounds from his 6-foot-8, 260-pound frame. He’s now running the court with ease, and making plays in practice his size previously made impossible.

“I feel great,” said Mitchell, who averaged 17 points and 12 rebounds as a senior at Wheeler High School. “If I had another year of high school with the body I have now, it would’ve been a whole different story.”

Wit h a completely revamped frontcourt, Turgeon expects to see new results down low. And given his track record for spotting potential, few can question him.

“The spotlight is coming for this team,” he said. “It may not be here yet, but it’s coming.”

WELLS SPEAKS Dez Wells spoke with rep or ters for t he f i rst t i me T uesday si nce joi n i ng the Terps in early September.

The sophomore forward, who averaged 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds at Xavier before being expelled amid sexual assault allegations, seemed comfortable in his new surroundings. He expressed his gratitude to the Terps’ coaching staff for providing him another opportunity, and said choosing College Park was an easy decision.

He had already established a relationship with assistant coach Bino Ranson, who recru ited h i m to Xav ier two years ago. He is also close with guard Nick Faust, and is “best friends” with Terps football wide receiver Nigel King from their time growing up together in Raleigh, N.C.

EAGLES From PAGE 8 a year later, that image of DiMartino is still burned in their minds.

“Last year we had some beef with them,” defender Erika Nelson said. “One of their forwards came by our bench and hushed us. That hasn’t sat well

and the freshman tied the game in the seventh minute.

“He was open,” Stertzer said. “He’s got great speed, so I know if I put it out in front of him he’d run onto it, and it was a great fi nish on his part.”

Francois’ second tally of the season helped to right the No. 1 Terps and send them to a 2-1 victory over Rutgers. “[He’s an] absolutely fearless guy,” forward Patrick Mullins said. “Just a great player to work with. You know he’s going to beat his guys, so you want to get to the position where he can support you, and he’s also got that killer instinct where he’ll put you away like he showed on the goal tonight.”

Francois has played a key role for the Terps coming off the bench this season, averaging 34 minutes in 11 games.

The 5-foot-7 speedster is fi fth on the team in shots, launching 15 and putting 40 percent of them on goal.

Fra ncois is just a nother attacking weapon for coach

Sasho Cirovski, whether he’s coming off the bench or starting a game like on Tuesday. The Newark, N.J., native notched his fi rst career goal Sept. 7 in a 4-0 win at Boston College and started for the first time against Georgia State on Sept. 24.

“I think he’s getting more comfortable with not only the players around him but the style of play and the speed of the game,” Cirovski said after the Boston Col lege ga me.

“He’s a skillful, strong, aggressive, fun player.”

T he St. Bened ict’s P rep product, who scored 60 goals in two seasons there, presents a number of matchup options for Cirovski. Combining Francois with forwards Schillo Tshuma and Sunny Jane gives the Terps one of their fastest attacks that ca n keep a ny defense off-balance.

It’s not just Francois’ speed, either. In the 4-0 win over Georgia State, in which he recorded an assist, Francois repeatedly attacked a backline starting two defenders 6 feet or taller. He even won headers over the 6-foot-3 Michael Nwiloh.

“For a little guy, he’s got

great timing in the air,” Mullins said. “He’s speedy. He chases down every ball. That makes it hard on center backs no matter how big they are.”

Francois is also tied for third on the team with three assists.

He’s showcased a penchant for heel passes, such as those he attempted against Rutgers, and threading the needle in the box. It’s another element to a Terps offense that features the timely scoring of Mullins and the bulk from reserve forward Jake Pace.

“He’s feeling more comfortable, and he’s understanding things more tactically now,” Cirovski said Tuesday. “He got an opportunity to get some more minutes and that was good for his confidence.”

In Francois, Cirovski knows he has a spark, a jolt he can go to off the bench. Against defenses that are tightening up to play against the No. 1 team in the nation, Francois’ value increases.

Said Cirovski in September: “I think he’s starting to express himself now.” sportsdbk@gmail.com

“I feel great. If I had another year of high school with the body I have now, it would’ve been a whole different story.”

CHARLES MITCHELL

Terrapins men’s basketball forward “ W h e n yo u go t h ro u g h somet h i ng l i ke I d id , you a lways wa nt to be a rou nd those who have your best interest at heart,” Wells said.

“It made it a lot easier on me.

[I] didn’t have to worry about finding people up here who I could trust, because I already had them up here.”

Turgeon said “there’s still some work to be done” on the NCAA ruling that could allow the dynamic swingman to play immediately. An announcement is expected later this month.

HOWARD RECOVERING Pe’Shon Howa rd w i l l be ready to start in the Terps’ season opener next month.

But that hardly means fans will recognize him.

Turgeon gushed Tuesday o v e r t h e j u n i o r g u a rd’s i mproved per for m a nce i n preseason workouts. He sa id Howa rd, who m issed 18 ga mes last season w ith a pair of injuries, benefited f rom obser v i ng h is tea mm ate s a nd i s p oi se d for a breakthrough campaign.

“He has been hurt for seven months,” Turgeon said, “but he is already better in the past week and a half than he was at any time last year.”

Howard competes in most of the team’s workouts and will become a full participant within the next couple weeks. He’s been tra i n i ng three mornings a week and is focused on regaining his confidence after missing the past seven months with an ACL tear.

“Once everybody gets adjusted to the little things we do as Maryland Basketball, how we box out and things like that,” said Howard, who averaged 6.5 points and 3.7 assists last season, “I’m really excited for the team and what we can do.” sportsdbk@gmail.com

with our team. This is a rivalry.”

If the Terps are going to exact their revenge tonight, though, they’ll have to do it by shutting down the player who sent them home with a loss last season.

DiMartino, along with teammate Kristen Mewis, both star for the Under-23 U.S. National Team and have combined to score 11 of the Eagles’ 35 goals this season.

Safety Anthony Nixon (No. 20), who went to high school with quarterback Perry Hills, recorded three tackles and a pass breakup in his first career start Saturday. charlie deboyace/the diamondback

NIXON From PAGE 8 struggling to heal from a groin injury. He missed the team’s fi rst two games with a shoulder injury, and his latest ailment had made him questionable for a third.

So on the fi nal day of practice before the game against the Demon Deacons, Edsall penciled Nixon in over fellow freshman Sean Davis — who had previously started in place of Robinson — atop the depth chart opposite Franklin.

It’s a move Nixon said was an exciting one, especially because he never figured he’d play for the Terps this season. He and Hills never really spoke about playing together in college, and he didn’t really begin considering College Park until Hills committed to Edsall’s program.

“I was like, ‘Hey man, we can have four more years together. Instead of going to Pitt or something, maybe come with me and we’ll know each other already,’” Hills said. “So I guess I kind of helped Maryland out by getting him.”

And even though he never expected to play in his rookie season, Nixon was ready to step out onto the field as soon as Edsall told him he would be a starter.

“I always like to prepare during the week like I’m going to start,” Nixon said Tuesday. “Coach told me that I was going

“Between Kristen Mewis — who is a tremendous attacking personality — and Vicki DiMartino, they have a who’s who of national team players on their roster,” coach Jonathan Morgan said. “They have a lot of talented players who a lot of our kids have played against in club soccer, so I’m expecting a good ACC game.”

“Coach told me that I was going to be starting, and I need to know everything I needed to know. And I did.”

ANTHONY NIXON

Terrapins football safety to be starting, and I need to know everything I needed to know. And I did.”

That knowledge comes from Nixon’s penchant for watching fi lm. The safety said Central Catholic coach Terry Totten did a lot of taping during practices, and placed a strong emphasis on analyzing fi lm and discussing different schemes.

“Anthony has done a good job of asking questions that don’t just pertain to him, but pertain to the whole scheme. So he can understand where he fits and how he fits,” defensive coordinator Brian Stewart said yesterday. “At practice, when you correct him, he’ll look at it on tape and say ‘Coach, that’s the one you were telling me about.’ So he’s always thinking, and that’s just a testament to his high school coach, his parents and that everything is important to him.”

Still, getting thrown into the fi re on defense could have come as a shock to the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Nixon. He roomed with Franklin on Friday night, which gave him an opportunity to get clarification on any questions he had about the game plan, and he said an early-game pass breakup “loosened some jitters.”

By the end of the game, it was clear

It’s going to have to be for the Terps (10-3-2, 5-1-1 ACC).

Boston College (8-4-2, 2-3-0) is one of three teams still standing between the Terps and the ACC regular-season title. With just three games remaining, the team holds a slim one-point lead over No. 1 Florida State, who it will play on Oct. 21.

“BC is defi nitely going to be

Nixon’s fi rst start was a success. Edsall praised the play of the secondary, which limited Wake Forest quarterback Tanner Price to just 170 yards on 13-of38 passing. He also gave the Pittsburgh native the game ball for his performance on special teams.

And not long after the final whistle sounded, Nixon got a text from the guy he replaced on the field.

“After the game, [Robinson] texted me and said I played well,” Nixon said.

“And I texted him back that he should get well soon.”

Not too soon, though. Nixon is listed as the team’s starter next to Franklin for the Terps’ game at Virginia on Saturday. And with his best friend leading the Terps’ offense, Nixon wants to be on the field helping the team’s defense.

“It’s fun to know someone’s here with me. Me and him have a little connection, even though now I’m on the opposite side of the ball,” Nixon said. “At first, the defense was kind of difficult. But now, I get it. It’s easier. So I feel like I’m ready to play.” sportsdbk@gmail.com

a challenge,” midfielder Ashley Spivey sa id . “R ig ht now, though, our team chemistry is on point and we’re working hard at putting the balls away.

If we keep up this momentum, we’ll definitely be able to win.”

That chemistry will have to be there tonight if the Terps are going to avenge what DiMartino did to them last year. They still

remember her finger waving in front of their faces, and it’s not a sight they want to see again.

The only way the Terps can do that: win.

“It’s a huge rivalry between us,” Morgan said. “There’s no doubt; we’re going up there to win this.” sportsdbk@gmail.com

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The thing you’d like to be able to do is find a way to run the football to take some pressure off of the young quarterback.

Mike Locksley Terps offensive coordinator We just haven’t been able to do it consistently.”

Sports

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PAGE 8

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

MEN’S BASKETBALL | NOTEBOOK

Freshmen supply frontcourt depth Wells speaks to media; Howard improving after injury-filled year

By Connor Letourneau Senior staff writer When Mark Turgeon fi rst scouted Shaquille Cleare in the summer of 2009, he didn’t see a prototypical high-major big man. He saw a chubby 16-year-old still learning how to time a block and perfect a layup.

But it wasn’t Cleare’s shortcomings that stuck with Turgeon that afternoon. It was the Bahamian’s potential.

“He really was kind of a fat kid,” the Terrapins men’s basketball coach said at the team’s annual media day Tuesday. “But I saw something there.”

More than three years later, that out-of-shape high school sophomore is perhaps the most critical addition to the Terps’ suddenly dangerous frontcourt. Cleare, who ESPN rated as the eighth-best center in his class, has made quite a fi rst impression. He has shed 25 pounds from his 6-foot-9,

290-pound frame since June, giving him the quickness to test holdovers Alex Len and James Padgett in preseason workouts.

“He’s become a much more confident player, moves better, more athletic obviously, he’s become a better rebounder, better feel for the game,” Turgeon said. “Just [improved] a lot of areas, just like most kids do.”

That progression should pay dividends come the Terps’ Nov. 9 season opener against Kentucky. Alongside Len, Padgett and fellow freshman Charles Mitchell, Cleare has the Terps looking stacked in the post — something that could’ve hardly been said last season.

Turgeon, a well-known lover of defense and rebounding, was burdened with an ever-porous frontcourt throughout his debut season in College Park. With former All-ACC forward Jordan Williams fighting

FOOTBALL

“At first, the defense was kind of difficult. But now, I get it. It’s easier. So I feel like I’m ready to play.”

– Anthony Nixon

for minutes on the New Jersey Nets, Turgeon had few options down low — especially during the 10 games before Len became eligible.

Ashton Pankey, who has since transferred to Manhattan, struggled to score against elite college defenses. Berend Weijs, a rail-thin center who averaged just 1.9 points as a senior last year, provided minimal opposition for the conference’s top weapons. And though Padgett proved effective in an increased role, he had bouts of inconsistency.

“Last year, guys were able to play through a lot of mistakes, and there really wasn’t much you could do about it,” Turgeon said. “There will be more accountability this year.”

And while a much-improved Len and a more seasoned Padgett will certainly help, the Terps’ two bulldozing See NOTEBOOK, Page 7

Center Shaquille Cleare, along with fellow freshman Charles Mitchell, gives the Terps some much-needed frontcourt depth alongside returning forward James Padgett and center Alex Len. file photo/the diamondback

High School Reunion

In first career start at safety in win vs. Wake Forest, Anthony Nixon plays alongside longtime friend Perry Hills

By Josh Vitale Senior staff writer Anthony Nixon has always felt a connection with Perry Hills.

The pair were teammates for four years at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh. Nixon slept over at Hills’ house after games, and they watched fi lm together the following day. Hills served as Nixon’s unofficial College Park tour guide when he was trying to convince his friend to join him on the Terrapins football team.

They even had similar expectations of what their playing time would be like in their rookie seasons with the Terps. Hills thought he would spend the season fighting for practice reps behind would-be starting quarterback C.J. Brown.

And Nixon? He never thought he would see the field at all.

“For real,” the safety said. “I was expecting to get redshirted.”

After five games this season, their predictions

illustration by charlie deboyace/the diamondback

couldn’t have been more wrong. Hills became the top quarterback after Brown suffered a seasonending ACL tear in August, and has started every game for the Terps. On Saturday, Nixon got his chance to shine, recording three tackles and a pass breakup in his first career start for the Terps.

“Matt Robinson hurt his groin, and so we needed to move Eric [Franklin] over and have Anthony step up because we have been so impressed with what we have seen out of Anthony,” coach Randy Edsall said after the Terps’ 19-14 win over Wake Forest on Saturday. “I was very proud of Anthony Nixon.”

For good reason, too. It wasn’t Nixon’s first taste of game action — he had made appearances on special teams in each of the first four games — but it was his fi rst real test on the defensive side of the ball.

The oft-injured Robinson, the Terps’ regular starter alongside Franklin in the secondary, was See NIXON, Page 7

MEN’S SOCCER

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Providing a spark

Terps look for revenge vs. Eagles

Speedy forward gives Cirovski another scoring option

Team lost to Boston College, 2-1, last year

By Daniel Gallen Senior staff writer

By Erin Egan Senior staff writer

It appeared to be another slow start for the Terrapins men’s soccer team Tuesday.

A second-minute Rutgers goal put the Terps in another early hole and forced the home team to play from behind.

But out of the early lethargy came a spark.

F ive m i n ute s a f te r t h e S c a rl e t K nights’ tally, forward Christiano Francois — making his second start of the year — darted through the Rutgers defense after taking a feed from midfielder John Stertzer on the left side.

His shot to the far post was on point, See FRANCOIS, Page 7

Three hundred and eighty-five days ago, Victoria DiMartino sprinted past the Terrapins women’s soccer team’s bench at Ludwig Field in celebration.

The forward had just netted the gamewinning tally in the 98th minute, sending Boston College home with a 2-1 victory.

But as the Eagle soared past the bench, she held up her index fi nger to her lips, shushing the Terps in their home stadium.

Tonight, the No. 8 Terps will be in Newton, Mass., to take on No. 23 Boston College. And even though it’s more than Forward Christiano Francois has been a strong performer off the bench this season, scoring two goals and notching three assists. charlie deboyace/the diamondback

See EAGLES, Page 7