The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper
T U E S DAY, N O V E M B E R 19 , 2 013
SGA votes to restart pilot program for grocery bus
Higher ed topics not focus of gov race
Spring program may see greater interest
Candidates united in hopes of affordability
By Josh Logue @jmlogue Staff writer
By Jim Bach @thedbk Senior staff writer
After a weekend grocery shuttle pilot program last semester failed to attract interest, the SGA voted last week to spend almost $5,000 on another pilot program for the spring semester. Last semester, the Student Government Association’s 4-week pilot program cost $2,880 and 114 students used the service. Department of Transportation Services officials said they can’t justify supporting the program with those numbers, but SGA officials said the numbers aren’t an accurate depiction of student interest and because the service wasn’t well advertised, the SGA is trying again. “If it was a pilot we were running, the cost per rider would tell us it would not be something we could continue,” said David Allen, DOTS director. Amna Farooqi, a behavioral and social sciences college representative who sponsored last week’s grocery shuttle bill, said the SGA launched the pilot program too late in the semester to get a strong enough response and proper advertisement. Last semester’s program ran on Saturdays and Sundays for the final four weeks of the semester. But under the new pilot program, one shuttle will run every Sunday in the spring
file photo/the diamondback
‘WE SAW THE CAR JUST TAKE OFF’ Reporter who witnessed JFK assassination speaks at journalism college By Talia Richman @talirichman Staff writer
O
n his way to cover President John F. Kennedy’s campaign for re-election, Sid Davis realized he had left his reporter’s notebook at home. During a stop at a San Antonio airport, he purchased a simple red notepad for 15 cents. It was on those pages that he would scrawl these historic words: “President John F. Kennedy died at 1:00 p.m. CST today in Dallas.” Davis, who was working for Westinghouse Broadcasting Company at the time, shared his memories from Nov. 22, 1963, with a crowd of students and faculty members in Richard Eaton Broadcast Theatre in Knight Hall yesterday. The 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination is Friday. “There was nothing unusual about going to
See GROCERY, Page 3
Dallas,” Davis said. “Secret Service was a little concerned because there had been two incidents where a Democrat was mistreated verbally, but that was the only thing we expected. We never expected anything like what happened.” Davis remembered seeing the president and first lady exit Air Force One at Love Field. He noticed the couple was holding hands — a rare occasion, he said, as the commander in chief was very private about his marriage. When he saw what fashion icon Jacqueline Kennedy was wearing that day, Davis asked a female reporter what color her outfit was. He planned on writing that it was pink, but she assured him it was raspberry. About an hour later, Davis was sitting on the press bus about eight car lengths behind Kennedy’s uncovered Lincoln when he heard three shots fired. See davis, Page 2
sga members voted to restart a grocery store spring shuttle pilot program. rachel george/the diamondback
See campaign, Page 3
Agriculture college seeks to educate after food stamp cuts
Turf owners seek to avoid winter slump
Univ-led food program sees more participants
Bar prepares to weather first break since opening
By Ellie Silverman @esilverman11 Staff writer
By Annika McGinnis @annikam93 Senior staff writer At first, promotion wasn’t a concern for the owners of Terrapin’s Turf. The Knox Road bar opened Oct. 4 after a year-and-a-half delay, and — without any advertising — patrons flocked to the establishment. Six weeks later, the bar is still packed most weekend nights. But as the end of the semester draws closer, most of the bar’s clientele will head home for a more than monthlong winter break, and co-owner Salomeh Afshar is worried about who’s going to be left. The bar has already seen slower business this month, Afshar said. “I can envision what it’s going to be like; I’m not happy to envision
terrapin’s turf has seen a few hundred patrons on most days since opening Oct. 4, said co-owner Salomeh Afshar. The upcoming winter break could hurt business for the new bar, she said. file photo/the diamondback that, and of course it makes me nervous,” Afshar said. “For us it’s so difficult because it’ll be our first go-around of that season, so we’ll probably be depressed. I’m not even going to lie about it.” Since opening, Terrapin’s Turf has seen a high volume of customers Tuesdays through Saturdays, with a drop in business Sundays and Mondays. About 300 people come in during the day on Saturdays, the bar’s busiest day, and another 300
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Despite playing a major role in Gov. Martin O’Malley’s tenure, higher education hasn’t become a critical talking point for the 2014 g ubernatorial campaign trails, though each candidate said higher education was part of his or her larger vision for the state. College affordability and state higher education are not explicitly mentioned in the campaign “vision” found on gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown’s website. Still, Brown stands to gain from his association with the O’Malley administration thanks to praise for O’Malley’s budget expenditures on higher education. On the last day of the 2012 legislative session, Brown spoke to The Diamondback about the executive’s commitment to “maintain tuition at a modest 3 percent increase,” below national averages and an in-state trend maintained for the last four years. The Brown campaign also linked college aptitude to a broader initiative he has proposed for a universal prekindergarten program by the end of 2018, citing a College Board study that determined early education increased college readiness. He has also received endorsements from the Maryland State Education Association. Democratic candidate and state Attorney General Doug Gansler has also focused on early education as an important step in bolstering the state’s higher education system. His vision aims to help address the achievement gap between students who may end up at the same college but come from diverse academic backgrounds. “There is a huge disparity,” said Bob Wheelock, spokesman for the Gansler campaign. “A lot of students
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come and go at night, Afshar said. On slower nights, they have about 60 to 70 patrons. “We started out in a crazy month — our grand opening, homecoming, Halloween — so now, November has been a lot more quiet,” Afshar said. “The key is to have people throughout the day and not just at 11 p.m.” The majority of customers come for the nighttime bar scene, she said. See TURF, Page 3
Last year, government contractor Janic Teaque was browsing through a list of laid-off employees when she saw her own name. Without a job, Teaque questioned how she was going to feed the five children living in her home. Just one was her biological child — the rest she had taken in, meaning she did not have their Social Security numbers, and thus they did not qualify as a family with five children. She was only eligible for a $16 food stamp for the month. Teaque started “knock[ing] on every door” searching for employment, but the job offers she received were too far from her home in Temple Hills. To feed her children
for the past six months, she had to rely on a Capital Area Food Bank-University of Maryland partnership food pantry program at Charles Carroll Middle School in New Carrollton. On Nov. 1, many people were left without food after a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits increase, mandated through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, expired. Since then, the University of Maryland Extension Food Supplement Nutrition Education Program, part of the agriculture college, has seen an increase in people participating in its nutrition education programs for those eligible for SNAP benefits. “Participants are needing to do more with less, and while we have this first round of cuts due to the [ARRA] sunset, the question of taking more [food stamps] away is hard to swallow,” said Lynn Rubin, nutrition program development and outreach coordinator. See STAMPS, Page 2
SPORTS
OPINION
MEN’S SOCCER SEEDED FIFTH
ROMAS: Stay close to family for the holidays
After winning the ACC Championship on Sunday, the Terps were awarded the NCAA tournament’s No. 5 seed yesterday P. 8
Estrangement is commonplace, but we should try harder P. 4 DIVERSIONS
THE GAME IS AFOOT BUT QUESTIONABLE Fall sees a plethora of hit-or-miss video game releases P. 6