November 27, 2012

FIGHTING THROUGH

DIVERSIONS A Charlie Brown Christmas is the pinnacle of the holiday season p. 6

Edsall’s Terps made the most of a trying season p. 8

OPINION

Dining Services should strive for more sustainable products p. 4

The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper

ISSUE NO. 60

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2012

Loh reflects on unfolding of Big Ten talks Although move is unpopular with many, Loh, officials decided added revenue from realignment is worth it

By Yasmeen Abutaleb Senior staff writer Wallace Loh’s athletic department has been counting pennies. The university’s programs have barely had enough resources, faculty and staff to thrive, and officials have kept making cuts across

the board. The university president wasn’t sure how the school would continue down this path.

And then it hit him: There could be a way out.

The athletic department wouldn’t have to rely on ticket sales, which had been slumping. It wouldn’t have to hope alumni would make gracious donations. It wouldn’t have to worry about the pos-

sibility of cutting more sports teams.

The university could cut ties with the ACC, a conference it helped found nearly 60 years ago. It could join the Big Ten, with its mega TV contracts and its own cable network with millions of subscribers.

Loh was only two years into his presidency. If he made the move, it would be his legacy, for better or worse. He would effectively alter the course of the university’s future — to the outrage and despair of many.

After more than a month of studying the po-

tential move with analysts, legal experts and top university and state officials, Loh made it official Nov. 19. The move has been far from popular — students, alumni and fans have chastised the decision, calling it a “money grab” — but Loh felt it was crucial for the future. Joining the Big Ten means substantially more money not only for a starving athletic department, Loh said, but for a university in dire need of funds.

See talks, Page 3

Univ. experts doubt states will succeed in secession Even with thousands of signatures, move unlikely

By Alex Kirshner Staff writer

mixing and matching Hyattsville offers unusual blend of stores in shopping center; area sees influx of students

By Nick Foley Staff writer Until recently, dreary roads and dilapidated buildings heading south on Route 1 paved the way to Washington.

But Hyattsville officials launched a $200 million effort in 2010 to revitalize the city by attracting unique stores, each catering to a niche crowd.

Since then, more students said they are discovering the cultural hot spot and refuge from College Park just 10 minutes from the campus.

Telephone poles lined with holly and red bows stand in front of shiny storefronts splashed with multicolored paint. Unlike many shopping

hyattsville has evolved over the years to offer a vast array of individual stores in its shopping center. Revitalization efforts began in 2008 to increase housing options. charlie deboyace/the diamondback

centers, the storefronts don’t conform to a singular theme, echoing the center’s business model: offering an array of unique stores you won’t find anywhere else.

The city began revitalization efforts in 2008 as a project to increase the amount of housing options on the city’s west side, and officials shifted into commercial development in 2010, according to Jim Chandler, the city’s community and economic development director. By July 2011, the first spot born of the revitalization efforts, Busboys and Poets, opened its doors.

“We have seen a real influx of students See HYATTSVILLE, Page 2

A different kind of Thanksgiving break Students spend break away from home aiding in N.J. Superstorm Sandy recovery

By Annika McGinnis Staff writer On Wednesday afternoon, a group of students in military uniforms boarded a set of vans, but they weren’t going home for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Four weeks after devastating Superstorm Sandy catapulted across the East Coast, nine members of this university’s ROTC headed to the American Red Cross Jersey Coast Chapter in Tinton Falls, N.J., to spend their Thanksgiving break repairing damage the storm left in its wake. The Red Cross just didn’t know they’d be coming. “[When we got there], they were like, ‘Did See SANDY, Page 2

INDEX

President Obama’s re-elecSeven states have tion hasn’t sat well with many gained more than citizens across all 50 states, 25,000 signatures from prompting them to sign seces- citizens who support sion petitions — but university their state’s secession from the U.S. experts and students said it’s unlikely any action will come ALABAMA of their efforts.

By White House rule, any petition with more than 25,000 signatures in 30 days merits a response from the Obama administration. As of FLORIDA yesterday, secession petitions from Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Alabama had secured at least that amount.

GEORGIA Anyone can sign a state’s petition, even if he or she is not a resident of that state.

“I think the tea party has recognized they lost, and LOUISIANA they’re now looking for something else,” said Mark Graber, a university government and politics professor. “Secession has no chance of succeeding,” adding that because the moveNORTH CAROLINA ment has less than five percent of the population’s support, it’s highly unlikely secessions will become reality.

TENNESSEE Ryan Greenstein, a freshman Arabic major from the Atlanta area, said the issue comes up every year in his TEXAS state, albeit never with much chance of success.

“I don’t think enough people are realistic about it to do anything about it, but there are people who support it,” Greenstein said.

The secessionist movement has gained the most traction in Southern states that generally vote Republican, but Greenstein said historical factors have contributed to the ill will in his native Georgia, too.

“There’s always a group, pretty consistently every year, that does this. … There are still people who are bitter about the Civil War, who despise the North,” Greenstein said. The same group also views the federal government as too intrusive and has expressed a desire to separate from the rest of the country. Some also want to secede because they think their states’ economies would be better off alone.

No state has successfully seceded since Abraham Lincoln was in office, and no governor or federal lawmaker has expressed support for the idea in the past month. Yet the stories are still

students traveled to New Jersey and canceled Thanksgiving break plans to volunteer with the Red Cross. photo courtesy of andy delaney

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THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2012

HYATTSVILLE From PAGE 1 coming down here, spending time here,” Chandler said. “I think it offers a little bit of a different setting than you get right around the campus.”

The project — dubbed “Arts District Hyattsville” — has created a more eccentric atmosphere that hasn’t been in Hyattsville before, according to Che McKissic, the service manager for local restaurant Busboys and Poets.

Much of the restaurant’s clientele consists of students looking for a different scene, he said.

“We have a fair amount of University of Maryland students who live in the area and come to eat and study,” McKissic said. “The word is getting out over the last year — it’s definitely progress from where we were to where we are now.”

Compared to College Park, which offers franchises such as Jason’s Deli and Noodles & Company, Hyattsville has more i ndependent restaurants emphasizing a healthier alternative.

“There’s more of a focus on

SANDY From PAGE 1 anyone ask if people from ROTC could come?’” said Demi Chang, a freshman journalism major. “And they were like, ‘No, but I’ll take them and find them a job.’”

More than two weeks ago, a U.S. Navy representative came to the campus to recruit ROTC midshipmen for the trip. Nine students expressed interest, though many had to cancel Thanksgiving plans at the last minute, including plane and bus tickets home.

“We basically put this trip together in a little over a week,”

SECESSION

“We definitely notice when school’s not in session.”

From PAGE 1

KATELYN JARKOWIEC

Yes! Organic Market assistant manager bringing a new eccentricity into the environment,” McKissic said. “All of the locations focus on a more healthy lifestyle.”

When Yes! Organic Market opened shop next to Busboys and Poets in August 2011, it wa s t he hea lt h-con sciou s store’s first venture outside the district.

Since then, the business has seen a noticeable amount of students seeking healthier fare, according to assistant manager Katelyn Jarkowiec, who said the store experiences less traffic during academic calendar breaks.

“We defi nitely notice when school’s not in session,” she said, adding the store benefits from its calmer, secluded location. “It attracts more people than I would have thought — the fact that we have parking and it’s not in D.C. and crowded.”

While there’s a certain level of competition between Hyattsville and College Park, the two cities benefit symbiotically from offering different restau-

said Andy Delaney, a junior civil engineering major. “It was pretty challenging.”

Despite the unexpected arrival, Delaney said the Red Cross put the midshipmen to work loading supply trucks with relief materials such as soap, toothbrushes and cots.

On each of the three days they were there, ROTC members worked outside from 8 a.m. to sundown, sometimes in snow flurries.

The students also spent time cleaning more than 2,000 cots at the Monmouth Park Racetrack, where people who’d lost their homes in the storm had

The Big Bad Woof, an independent pet supply store, is one of the businesses drawing people to Hyattsville, which has recently been undergoing revitalization. charlie deboyace/the diamondback rants, Chandler said.

“You’re going to get a different setting here at a Franklin’s or a Busboys than you will at some of the restaurants in College Park.”

Some students have found the new developments are close enough for a quick getaway, but far enough for the jaunt to serve as a welcome refuge from the relative chaos of College Park.

“It’s close enough to College Park where it’s not, like, a pain to get here,” said senior communication major Shannon Mulhern, who was sitting at a table in front of Yogi Castle in Hyattsville with a friend. “The environment is less rushed — I feel like it’s more relaxed down here.”

slept, some for weeks. Although most people had moved out of the temporary residence a few days earlier, and conditions were improving — some trees and power lines were down, but Delaney said nothing was “jaw-dropping” — the cots still had to be prepared for future use.

“People were sleeping on these cots we were cleaning,” Chang said. “And they had to leave their homes; they were away from their families, and they pretty much had nothing.”

Chang enjoyed bonding with the 37 other ROTC undergraduates from nearby universities such as George Washington and

Catholic, many of whom came from around the country and across the world. But for her and Delaney, it was strange not to spend Thanksgiving home with family and friends.

“It was kind of sad reading everyone’s [Facebook] status,” Cha ng sa id. “‘Oh, good to b e home,’ a nd ever yone’s hanging out.”

Despite the college students’ stress over midterms and need for sleep, they were “waking up at 5:30, having a hard day’s work and doing it again,” Delaney added.

But the two said they’d made the right choice to attend. On Thursday, the Red Cross sur-

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making headlines and d raw i ng nationa l attention, which Graber said is a result of nothing more than casual intrigue.

“It’s interesting for the same reason streakers captivate people,” Graber said.

Maryland voted heavily for Obama on Election Day with more than 60 percent supporting the incumbent, so it’s unsurprising the secession petition for this state has garnered slightly more than 4,000 signatures, many from out-of-state citizens. Several students expressed more skepticism than support.

“In order for a country to do well, all parts of the country have to be united,” said Vanessa Jarnes, a freshman government and politics major. “You can’t just say, ‘Oh, I don’t like this president, therefore I’m going to lose hope and start another country.’ That’s not really how it works.”

There are factions in other states, however, that have given the possibility more

“they had to leave their homes; they were away from their families, and they pretty much had nothing.”

DEMI CHANG

Freshman journalism major prised them with a Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey and stuffing.

“It just didn’t have mashed potatoes, and we were like, ‘What the heck, no mashed potatoes?’”

Chang joked.

Even though some were frustrated they didn’t interact more

“[the secession movement is] interesting for the same reason streakers captivate people.”

MARK GRABER

Government and politics professor serious thought. In Texas, nearly 120,000 people have signed a secession petition.

The Lone Star State has a case of what The New York Times last week called “secession fever,” though its government and the majority of its residents have not supported it.

Though the idea is impractical and will never come to fruition, Graber said, the movement has more momentum in places like Texas because it encourages people to stand out as contrarians.

“There’s sort of an illusion of r ugged i nd iv idua l ism,” Graber said.

But Jarnes said breaking from the rest of the U.S. wouldn’t solve any individual state’s problems.

“You can’t expect to be better off just [with] your state being a country,” Jarnes said, “because that’s not how it works.” newsumdbk@gmail.com

with storm victims, the group did work in three days that would have taken the Red Cross “months,” Delaney said.

The trip helped give the midshipmen real-world humanitarian experience, he added.

“When you join the military … you’re giving up another road that’s potentially easier to serve a greater good, to serve the U.S., to serve each individual community and to serve yourself,” Delaney said. “We, as a military unit, got to go to an area affected by a natural disaster and actually put what we learned into practice.” newsumdbk@gmail.com

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2012 | NEWS | THE DIAMONDBACK

talks From PAGE 1 When the news first came out, Loh said the university and the conference had been in talks for about a week. But it all started with a phone call from a Big Ten representative in early October. The conference was thinking of expanding, and officials wanted to know if Loh was interested.

“Sure, I’ll talk to anyone about anything,” Loh said.

The idea was first proposed in the fall of 2010 under thenPresident Dan Mote’s administration, according to Loh. At the time, university officials dismissed the idea and said they weren’t interested.

But when the question arose again early last month, Loh decided it was an option worth exploring.

He conferred with Chancellor Brit Kirwan, who has been with the university since 1964 and also served as president of Ohio State University, one of the Big Ten’s members, for four years. Kirwan said he told Loh he should have a conversation with conference representatives but didn’t think it would lead to anything more.

Shortly after the phone call, Loh and Athletic Director Kevin Anderson boarded a plane to Chicago to meet with conference representatives.

The pair knew nothing was defi nitive. The Big Ten wasn’t even prepared to make an offer.

They would listen to the conference’s representatives “as a matter of courtesy,” Loh said.

They signed confidentiality agreements before Big Ten representatives divulged the conference’s “stunning” finances.

A lt hou g h t he B i g Te n’s members are primarily from the Midwest — such as universities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Nebraska — officials told Loh and Anderson geographical boundaries no longer mattered.

It was time to begin moving farther into the East Coast and the mid-South.

Because the money, officials said, is now mostly made from televising games.

The Big Ten is a revenue-sharing conference, meaning each member makes the same amount from ticket sales and television revenue from both the conference’s contract with ESPN and its own Big Ten Network.

As two people who had just cut seven teams from the university’s athletic department, Loh and Anderson couldn’t help but wonder what having t h at sor t of money wou ld mean. The cuts were heart-

brea k i ng but necessa r y to balance mounting deficits projected to reach $4.6 million in fiscal year 2011 without drastic changes. Sure, the athletic department, according to officials, was beginning to bounce back, but its entire recovery depended on ticket sales and projected donations — factors it simply couldn’t control.

And now, there was a chance to quickly fi x the problem that could otherwise take years to solve. So the two top officials decided they would consider leaving the ACC if it meant more money for athletics and the university.

But they had to wait and see what would happen. They didn’t know if Big Ten representatives would even follow up.

Three or four weeks passed with no word. But in early November, Loh received another call. Big Ten officials wanted to discuss the prospect further.

Loh hardly sat and waited during that time. Between the fi rst October meeting and the call in November, he assembled a “high-powered coalition” of 25 to 30 people. He knew he needed to be fully prepared if the Big Ten decided to continue talks. His team included top state and university officials and prominent donors, along with fi nancial analysts, experts in conference and cable network deals, a former athletic commissioner and former athletic administrators.

But building up that coalition of support was no easy task. When Loh told people he was thinking about moving, the immediate reaction was always the same: “You’re crazy.”

For 38-year staff member Linda Clement, the possibility of not being in the ACC was hard to fathom.

“Initially, it was a shock. It was a joke,” the student affairs vice president said. “We had this identity for so long.”

Loh didn’t expect much else.

He knew the idea was unprecedented. He knew he needed to meet one-on-one with each person and explain why the move could be beneficial.

He started with his inner cabinet and K irwan before conferring with the chair of the university’s Board of Trustees, top state elected officials, select alumni and top donors. After explaining the move’s financial implications, which he still cannot discuss in detail because of a confidentiality agreement with the Big Ten, he said people changed their minds.

Kirwan supported the move, but had one condition: The increased revenue couldn’t just go to athletics. It also had to support

3

the academic mission of the university and aid other programs.

While numbers weren’t concrete when Loh formed the coalition, he knew Big Ten schools made more than $24 million in fiscal year 2011. Under the ACC’s contract, the university makes about $17 million each school year.

If just a few members of his coalition didn’t support the move, Loh would call it quits.

But every member eventually backed his decision.

“When the team began investigating and understanding what this meant, I think we all reached a similar conclusion,” Clement said. “We had been part of the ACC and hadn’t thought about what goes on in other conferences.”

Loh was ready to withstand any firestorm if he continued moving forward.

When Loh and his team met with Big Ten officials Nov. 8, it wasn’t about just an idea. Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany flew to Washington with a legal team, and Loh brought along his own team, which included Anderson. They confidentially met in a hotel in Washington, evaluating possible revenue and discussing the implications of the university joining the conference.

Before they could formalize a realignment, Loh and Delany needed to reach a financial agreement. And even after the seven-hour meeting, they were still “far apart” on the details of an agreement, Loh said.

But that hardly meant the discussions were over.

Fortunately, rumors of a potential move hadn’t leaked from the first October meeting to the Nov. 8 meeting. That could have terminated the potential solution to so many budget woes.

“I knew once the rumors started and start cascading, that could kill the deal,” Loh said.

“You just can’t negotiate under those circumstances.”

The stakes were high. Loh had staff members keep a close eye on blogs and newspapers to see if any of them picked up on the negotiations.

B y No v. 13 , t h e r u m o rs started flying. Loh needed to move quickly before the opportunity vanished.

On Saturday, Nov. 17, Loh hosted about 300 people at the new president’s residence for a tailgate before the Terps football team took on Florida State.

While guests mingled outside, enjoying drinks and food, Loh was sequestered in his locked kitchen, a few key staff members by his side, for a phone call with Big Ten officials.

“The host is not even at the

university president wallace loh sits at the Nov. 19 news conference where he announced the university is leaving the ACC and joining the Big Ten. Loh made the somewhat unpopular decision after consulting analysts, legal experts and university and state officials, he said. file photo/the diamondback reception,” Loh said. “It’s that kind of intensity.”

By 10:45 a.m., the deal was set. Pending the approval of the Board of Regents — a 17-member governing body that oversees the University System of Maryland — the university would cut its ties with the ACC on July 1, 2014, and become the Big Ten’s 13th member.

Delany and his team would fly into Washington on Nov. 18 to put the deal in writing.

Ye t t h e re w a s s t i l l o n e proble m : L oh wa nte d t he board to discuss and approve the move. The decision rested with Loh, and he didn’t need its approval, but he asked for it — and was prepared to tear up the contracts if he didn’t get the endorsement.

The board had first heard about the potential move Nov. 15, before there was a final deal.

On Sunday, Nov. 18, Loh had a telephone conference with the regents. On Monday, they had to vote.

“It was now or never. And now meant Sunday,” Loh said.

“I made it very clear now or never means if we don’t do this, this will not be done in my lifetime. In other words, the chance for the University of Maryland to join the Big Ten will disappear for an entire generation, and that’s why these things cannot be done in the public spotlight.”

The board met the next day in a closed-door session, where it voted to support the move.

The closed meeting, however, prompted news outlets, students and alumni to question whether it had violated the state’s Open Meetings Act, which requires state and local bodies to hold their meetings in public, give adequate notice of the meetings and allow the public to look at minutes from the meeting and other records.

The act also stipulates that certain topics can be discussed “behind closed doors,” but certain steps

must first be taken.

People wanted to be part of the discussion. But signed agreements with the Big Ten prohibited it, a standard practice in conference realignments and monetary issues.

B ra d ley She a r, a s p or ts lawyer and sports management professor at George Washington University, said it’s still unclear whether the board was in compliance with the act. Arguments could be made that the university’s confidentiality agreement with the Big Ten warranted a private meeting, Shear said, and because the vote was not necessary to make the move, “the whole argument is moot.”

“There’s some issues here that really demonstrate it’s questionable whether they violated the act or not, because usually in these situations you have to err on the side of caution,” Shear said. “If the regents didn’t need to meet to OK the decision, I think people are really barking up the wrong tree.”

And even if he could invite the public in on the decision, why bother, Loh thought. He could predict the reactions. Of course no one would support the move upon first hearing about it. It seemed like lunacy.

Loh planned to disclose financial information to the board before the regents voted. Few people outside of the negotiations had seen the documents Loh was about to present.

“With the advice and counsel of the Office of the Attorney General, the board convened in a closed session and voted to endorse the university’s application,” board Chairman James Shea and Kirwan wrote in a joint statement. “The Maryland Open Meetings Act does not preclude public boards from taking action in closed session.”

With the endorsement behind him, Loh could focus on the next, perhaps most difficult, step:

making the public announcement.

Loh, Anderson, Kirwan and Delany were set to appear on the Big Ten Network at 3 p.m. on Nov. 19, to formally announce the move and answer reporters’ questions in a news conference. But before that, Loh said he called ACC Commissioner John Swofford to personally inform him of the move.

The process has been far from easy, but to Loh and several university officials, it’s worthwhile.

It means the university can afford more resources across the board, and the athletic department can do more than simply recover.

And the conference the university is leaving is far from the one it helped found decades ago, Kirwan said.

“It’s a new ACC, and, quite frankly, when I look at the mix of schools in the two conferences, I think the more appropriate alignment academically is the Big Ten,” he said. “You don’t just leave an organization you’ve been part of for many, many years, but I also recognized that the ACC isn’t the ACC we all think about historically.”

While Loh cannot disclose numbers, Sports Illustrated obtained documents showing the university is projected to make about $100 million more in the Big Ten by 2020.

With the added money, the university will be able to bring back some of the teams it cut, strengthen its existing teams, set aside money for scholarships and help fund some educational programs, Loh said.

“Your typical sports fan lives for the day, the game, today, tomorrow or the season, and then looks to the past for the glorious sports tradition,” Loh said. “But they’re not thinking 10, 15 years ahead. My job as president is to ask two questions: Where should the university go, and how is it going to get there?” newsumdbk@gmail.com

MORE ONLINE

Hossein Esfandiari, Shangfu Peng and Ang LI willcompete in the world finals of the Association for Computer Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest. photo by kirsten petersen/for the diamondback

University programmers take first in regional contest In a classroom at Howard University in Washington, dozens of students pound away furiously on laptop keyboards, writing computer programs at lightning speed.

One might mistake the scene for a final exam — that is, until a man walks into the room carrying a bright yellow balloon, signaling one group has composed the perfect program.

More often than not, it is Shangfu Peng, Ang Li and Hossein Esfandiari — a team of computer science graduate students from this university — earning that balloon.

Earlier this month, Peng, Li and Esfandiari beat 171 other teams for first place in the mid-Atlantic regional round of the Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest. The UMD Terps 1 team will advance to the world finals in Russia’s University of Warsaw in the spring, marking the fifth time a team from this university has qualified for the world competition.

To win the regional competition, the UMD Terps 1 team attempted 14 problem sets and completed five in 541 minutes.

Two other teams from this university also qualified for the regional competition, finishing in seventh and ninth place overall.

“It means all people were very strong. I’m happy with the results,” said Mohammad Hajiaghayi, the coach of the UMD Terps teams.

For more of Kirsten Petersen’s story, check out diamondbackonline.com.

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Opinion

THE DIAMONDBACK | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2012

YASMEEN ABUTALEB Editor in Chief

EDITORIAL BOARD

I never understood the hype surrounding the 21st birthday. Sure, you can now binge drink legally, but I’m sure those who are excited to indulge were doing it regardless of legality.

It’s ironic; the 20th birthday is often regarded as a blockade separating one from the coveted 21st. But to me, turning 20 is unequivocally more momentous. These past few months, my meditations on turning 20 have forced me to comply with the inevitability of aging. Begrudgingly, I was coerced into self-reflection. After all, it’s the end of an era — the death of teen spirit.

What is teen spirit? The term seems so inconspicuously vacuous without any corroborated meaning. Teen spirit is something felt, not defined. Rather than articulating it as submission to the hegemonic power of hormones and biological factors, let’s appreciate the wonders incongruently cultivated by experience. The fortresses of childhood assurance and harmony were thankfully obliterated by the uncertainty of unknown horizons brimming toward the future.

These years introduce of cognizance. A youth’s blinded eyes are awakened, comforted by intense illuminations of knowledge, yet burdened by rays of inquiry. We struggle under the weight of the world we yearn to uphold. Views and opinions are molded, and we forge our unique personalities; rebellion begins. Dissenting attitudes are unfamiliar, but, nonetheless, excitement arises; we banish parental consent to oblivion.

Each of us has that moment. Mine came when I first saw the music video for Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

At 14, I was oblivious to who Kurt Cobain was, the name of the song and the cultural corollaries of Nirvana or grunge. All I knew was music so boorish yet fervently electric made me want to transform everything about myself. Complacency and conformity were no longer an option.

Teen spirit is the foundation of modern-day politics and philosophy.

Managing Editor

Tyler Weyant

Managing Editor

maria romas Opinion Editor

nadav karasov

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

The end of teen spirit MARC PRIESTER

Mike King

When we begin to discard our parents’ legacies and traditions, metaphysical refinement and intellectual diversification happens. Hardcore Baptists become freethinking atheists. Even the Sketchers’ light-up shoe-wearing child evolves into a smoking, skintight jeans-garbed, Buddy Holly glassesclad thinker.

For the first time, we plunge into the ugliness of reality. We see racial anxiety, economic inequality, political inertia and a materialist culture run wild. Instead of acceptance and woe, we want insurgency and reformation.

Sexuality explodes onto the scene and blindsides us. It first establishes itself as the sexual frustrations of early teens and (hopefully) develops into a mature appreciation of physical and emotional intimacy in later years.

It’s funny that, because of our teenage ignorance, love is exponentially magnified, for better and for worse.

Being greeted by the soothing harps of adoration never again will seem so tender and innocent. At this point, love exists as no means to any end. Love in the adult world is tainted by pragmatism rather than galloping with the idealism teenagers feel. Unlike adults who marry for financial security or cultural and religious necessity, we freely follow our hearts toward the heavens of jubilation, and beyond the hell of heartbreak. Whether ecstasy or stupidity, the exoneration of love with which we are familiar only happens at this peculiar moment in time. Listen to “Tunnels” by Arcade Fire. Its lyricism excellently conceptualizes the lucid naivety only a teenager experiences when pondering affection.

I will always be progressively minded. The teenage years have come and gone; new pleasures will arrive with age, and I will greet them with open arms. The future dawns in my sights, and the aroma of the 20s sashays into my senses, and I cannot wait to smell the spirit of this era. But thank you Kurt Cobain for teaching me to smell my own teen spirit.

STAFF EDITORIAL

A

Healthy steps forward

s priorities and tastes change, universities around the country must recognize the need to adjust menus and products to meet demands for healthy and highquality food. In addition to superior academics, competitive sports teams, a diverse student body and other features a university might offer, prospective students are likely to view sustainable and healthy food options as an essential component of the college experience.

It’s clear there’s a pressing demand for these kinds of foods: U.S. sales of organic food and beverages have risen from $1 billion in 1990 to $26.7 billion in 2010, and, as of 2011, students at 216 college campuses have taken part in a national movement, the Real Food Challenge, to urge university officials to offer more healthy and sustainable foods.

In an effort to match these trends and move toward more humane and environmentally friendly practices, Dining Services will soon institute stricter sustainability criteria for animal products in the university’s dining halls. Products from food suppliers will now have to satisfy at least one of four standards. Food must either: be local, treat animals humanely, meet fair labor standards or use ecologically sounds practices while raising animals, according to an article in yesterday’s Diamondback.

This effort falls in line with Dining Services’ broader sustainable food commitment, which includes a 1 to 4 percent annual increase in sustainable food purchases; more sourcing from local growers, specifically from

OUR VIEW

Dining Services’ sustainable food commitment gives reason to cheer, though we hope the department raises its future ambitions. this state; and having sustainable food account for 20 percent of its total food supply by 2020.

The push toward the 20 percent benchmark should certainly be lauded along with Dining Services’ other sustainability efforts. For students on the campus required to purchase a dining plan, providing food that matches their priorities and tastes is essential. Students shouldn’t be forced to look off the campus or to the Maryland Food Collective in Stamp Student Union to find sustainable food.

Fortunately for students, this move appears to be more than an aberration or empty self-promotion. Since 2010, all of the department’s whole eggs have come from free-range hens, and in the spring, Dining Services began increasing its local sustainable food purchasing.

Yet those moves came with limitations. Considering sustainable food makes up only 10 percent of Dining Services’ total food supply, we hope Dining Services will take whatever steps are necessary to reach the 20-percent goal.

What’s more, this editorial board believes Dining Services should push to reach — and even surpass — the 20percent benchmark well before the 2020 deadline.

In collaboration with the Sustainable Food Working Group — a committee of students and faculty promoting sustainable food options — Dining Services needs to build off this initial momentum and provide an effort deserving of this university’s identity as a leader in sustainability.

Consider the University of California Santa Cruz. In March, its university chancellor pledged sustainable products would compose 40 percent of its food purchases, as opposed to the regular 20 percent approved by other universities that signed the Real Food Campus Commitment. This university has the opportunity to turn sustainability into a core value and source of pride, but it will take greater boldness and ambition than what we’ve seen thus far.

While approving the 20-percent benchmark is an optimistic step, we hope Dining Services and university officials will continue to set trends when it comes to quality food, instead of dragging its feet as the sustainability movement pushes forward.

EDITORIAL CARTOON

M a rc P r i e s t e r i s a s o p h o m o re economics and government and politics major. He can be reached at opinionumdbk@gmail.com.

An authentic Italian Thanksgiving Materialism deserves no celebration

CAMILLA YANUSHEVSKY There are some business models that just won’t work in the U.S. Among them is the aperitivo, traditional in Milan, Italy. Aperitivo is similar to the American happy hour, except, in addition to an alcoholic beverage, there is an allyou-can-eat buffet. There are often mussels and salmon, couscous and pasta, as well as paella and assorted cheeses and desserts. Food and drink, all for about 9 euros (about 11.7 U.S. dollars). Thursday and Friday nights in Italy, I can easily spend two hours sipping a glass of wine and eating from a scrumptious and varied selection commonly self-served on small plates. It was how I spent my Thanksgiving, followed by Skyping into Thanksgiving dinner back home, of course.

I’d be the first to say I hate generalizations, but, as I grow older, I’ve come to understand the origins of some of them. Italians love food and wine. It is ingrained in their culture. The appreciation for people and food, and the combination thereof, is one of the things I love about Italy so much.

But some Americans, underlining the word “some,” are not meant to experience aperitivo, especially a Thanksgiving one. It is quite embarrassing, to be honest, to dine with some who stuff their faces with two days worth of food and then have to watch the owner of the restaurant come over and ask, “Are you done?”

Seeking a mutual understanding, I have actually asked these students why they eat so much. The answer is always the same: I need to get value

from my 9 euros. They recognize that the neighboring Italians stare at them.

They make fun of the Italians who “eat so little,” and they complain about the aperitivos that force customers to pay for their unfinished foods.

It is unfortunate Americans, such as myself, who were not raised with the wasteful and overexcessive inbred consumerist mentality, are grouped under the same category of “American.”

It is quite ironic that a country in the world, which celebrates a holiday called Thanksgiving is universally considered, one of the greediest.

The stereotype is well-founded, however. To be frank, the original notion of an American Thanksgiving was murdered a long time ago, and it has since been corrupted with consumerism and overcome with a new “holiday.” It’s characterized by deathly stampedes and people groveling in stores for stuff they are disillusioned into thinking they can afford. The “once-in-a-lifetime” sales have extended into Thanksgiving evening.

What many don’t know is this was not the original purpose of what has now been termed Black Friday. It began as an ingenious idea in the late 1930s to combat the Great Depression and let people get an early start on Christmas shopping for others, not themselves.

I can’t understand: Where is corporate social responsibility? Why must values be sacrificed for materialism?

Hypothetically and realistically, a capitalist culture and strong values can exist hand in hand, but only if our wallets let them.

Camilla Yanushevsky is a junior finance major. She can be reached at opinionumdbk@gmail.com.

JAKE STEINER/the diamondback

Change from within the system EZRA FISHMAN Independent innovation can be a wonderful thing. By doing something completely novel, we can make things happen that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. We can push the boundaries, explore new worlds and create things no one has thought of before. Since we make the rules, we can fit inventions to our needs and create something truly perfect in its place.

Often, independent innovations become the most crucial parts of our society, such as telephones, the Internet and Buffalo wings.

These outside-the-box inventions were created in abstractions and then carefully adapted to meet the needs of the world and, in all likelihood, couldn’t have worked any other way.

Independent innovations offer a number of advantages, but, more often than not, they end up failing.

Innovation can be easy in an ideal world, but when ideas are faced with harsh reality, they tend to fall apart easily. The comfort of independence becomes a trap, creating scenarios that can’t exist and taking innovators’ time and focus away from solutions that can truly work.

People tend to assume innovation needs to be done in an independent sphere, first perfected outside the system and then adjusted to fit.

They’ve been taught all their lives that ideas are pure, novel things based only on inspiration, and that invention is just a matter of brilliant people having brilliant ideas at the perfect time. It can be easy to fall into this mindset, this hubris, and so we do, but the reality is very different.

The best solutions are most often the ones built from existing components already functioning in the world. As shown by Kirby Ferguson in his video series, “Everything is a Remix,” most of our world today — our music, our movies, our inventions — is just different combinations of things that already exist. His examples, the personal computer, the automobile and the light bulb, are all combinations of already existing components honed and perfected by an individual. Almost anything we confront, whether our food, our clothing, the people we meet or the things we learn, is just a bunch of things that existed independently until someone combined them in a new way.

A great example of this sort of novelty is the Rolling Jubilee movement. This movement, an offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, seeks to help everyday Americans

through the simple act of freeing them of their personal debt. Using existing secondary markets in which banks and other creditors sell outstanding debts to other agencies at fractions of their value, Rolling Jubilee buys discounted personal debt and then forgives it. Since this debt is often sold at pennies on the dollar, a small amount of money can immediately make a significant difference in a person’s life.

The beauty of Rolling Jubilee is it doesn’t hurt anyone or break any rules. The creditors were already selling their debt at a discounted price, hoping to earn some amount of cash from loans that would likely never be repaid. The debtors do not have to do anything for the service and simply receive a letter in the mail.

The organization is a legal entity with the right to own and forgive debt.

Everything works within the system; therefore, everything works.

Innovations like these are the real way we can make a difference. Just like Rolling Jubilee, if we can find existing practices and use them to create good, we can have a much more immediate impact than novel dreams. The solutions are out there; we just need to find them.

Ezra Fishman is a junior accounting and finance major. He can be reached at opinionumdbk@gmail.com.

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.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2012 | THE DIAMONDBACK

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HOROSCOPE STELLA WILDER

orn today, you are an ambitious individual with the creativity, tenacity and drive you need to turn that ambition into accomplishment -- and, subsequently, that accomplishment into reward.

You are not likely to be happy until you are recognized for who you are and what you do; there may be those, in fact, who claim you are a bit too concerned with tangible rewards, but the fact is that, whether good or bad, you equate reward with success -and success, ultimately, is what makes you happy. You aren’t the kind to try what you know cannot be done; you want to have the odds in your favor as often as possible.

You are likely to rely a great deal on the work that others have done before you -- but this doesn’t mean that you are simply banking on their success. On the contrary, you are always willing to do your own work, but you base it on what has been done before and what that has taught you.

You don’t like to work in a vacuum; you prefer to build on what others have tried and accomplished.

Also born on this date are: Jaleel White, actor; Brooke Langton, actress; Robin Givens, actress; Caroline Kennedy, daughter of JFK; Jimi Hendrix, musician and singer; Eddie Rabbitt, singer and songwriter.

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.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28 SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- You may be requiring a bit too much in the way of technical support today. Be sure you can make progress the old-fashioned way, too!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- It may be time for you to retool your efforts in order to be more in line with the way others are doing similar things.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -You’re very close to an important personal goal, but the question you have to ask yourself is, “What do I do when I get there?”

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -You can do something unusual in precisely the way it was meant to be done -- and those in charge will surely notice the difference.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- You’ll want to surround yourself with those who are at once supportive and challenging. You’ll need their help and inspiration!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- You’re likely to encounter some opposition to your ideas. Still, you should be able to attract just enough support to see them realized.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -You may be more interested in a political issue than you have been in the past -- even though it has always had an impact on your life.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -You and a rival are ready to go at it again -- but this time the level of respect you have for each other will be higher than usual.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- You can learn a great deal by watching someone you admire do something in a way that intrigues you.

You may want to try it that way, too!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -Once you hear what someone else has planned, you’ll realize that your ideas are every bit as valid -and worth the effort they entail.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -- You don’t need anything fancy to make you happy today; it’s the simple things that will do the trick for you -- and the right companion.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- Progress can be made in a way that takes others by surprise -- but you’ve known for quite a while that you can make it that way.

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THE DIAMONDBACK | tuesDAY, november 27, 2012

Diversions

SLIGHTLY OFF-KEY

It’s hard to deny that Alicia Keys has major pipes, but The Diamondback’s Alicia McElhaney thinks her latest album Girl On Fire is more boring than inspirational. F0r more, check out diamondbackonline.com.

REEL NEWS LASTING IMPACT | A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS

the true meaning of christmas The number of holiday movies is astonishing —they’re just another way to commercialize Christmas. Yet A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of the few that’s simple and genuine.

By Emily Thompson For The Diamondback T ha n ksgiv ing is over, wh ich mea ns t he hol id ay sea son h a s officia l ly beg u n. E x pect to be bombarded with advertisements capitalizing on one day of giftgiving and to hear “All I Want for Christmas is You” on loop in the grocery store. While most people look forward to the end of December all year, I dread it.

It m ay seem sacr i leg iou s to admit I hate the holiday season, but it’s true. I cringe every time I hear another Christmas song, and I think overly decorated houses are tacky. There are some things I enjoy about Christmas (and Hanukkah), such as spending time with family and friends after being completely burnt out by finals.

But, on the whole, I think the holidays have turned into a big, hokey gimmick that comes off as an insincere marketing tactic.

Maybe it has to do with having a Catholic father who didn’t carry on any of his Christmas traditions with our family. Maybe it has to do with having a Jewish mother who gave up on Christmas after too many cries of “This isn’t what I wanted!” and who lights the menorah on half of the eight nights of Hanukkah. There aren’t any siblings storming down the stairs to unwrap presents or ceremonious decorating of the tree.

Basically, I blame my parents for my indifference.

T here’s only one thing I love ab out t he hol id ays: A Cha rlie B row n Ch r i st ma s. Ever y D ec.

25, I dedicate 30 minutes of my e v e n i n g to w a tc h i n g C h a rl i e Brown attempt to discover the meaning of Christmas (and seeing Snoopy dance and ice skate).

There are thousands of Christmas mov ies, ra ng i ng from the beloved classic It’s a Wonderful

Life to the shenanigan-filled Home Alone series, to the adorable and hilarious Elf. But of all the movies I have enjoyed in the past, A Charlie Brown Christmas is the only one that gets me in the “holiday spirit” (OK, and the Chrismukkah episode of The O.C.).

Maybe it’s because I feel like Charlie Brown sometimes. T he plot fol lows a forlor n Ch a rl ie Brow n a s he engages w it h h i s friends and expresses his depres-

sion regarding the holiday season.

He doesn’t feel excited by the holidays, unlike his friends, who are planning the nativity, play, and Snoopy, who’s busy decorating his dog house to win a contest. I can relate — the holidays might be fun and all, but expectations are too high, which can leave you feeling more lonely and empty than fulfilled.

If anything, the aesthetic of A Charlie Brown Christmas (which

AS CHARLIE BROWN PROVES, the holidays aren’t always as happy as the movies make them out to be. A Charlie Brown Christmas shows both the holiday fatigue that can come with so much commercial pressure and the joyful celebration Christmas can be when community takes precedence over commerce. photo courtesy of collider.com

first premiered in 1965) is enough to charm all audiences, children and adults alike. The simple animation is refreshing in a world d o m i n a t e d b y C G I i m a g e r y, and Vince Guaraldi’s tinkering soundtrack conjures up images of gray, snowy days and Christmases of years past.

Charlie Brown tries to find a solution to his blues by directing the nativity play, as his peers are more concerned about having fun and dancing around than staging a functioning production. They care more about presents (Sally makes Charlie write out her Christmas list to Santa), f lashy lights and tinsel than discovering the true meaning of the holidays. And poor Charlie Brown, who chooses the dinkiest tree for the play, ends up being ridiculed by his friends for not picking one of the flashier aluminum trees. But after Linus reveals the true meaning of Christmas, the group rallies together to decorate the tiny tree and show Cha rl ie Brow n that Ch ristmas is more than shallow consumerism. My only gripe with the film is that it gets a little too religious toward the end, but seeing all of the Peanuts gang come together to celebrate love and friendship is pretty heartwarming — even for those who hate the holidays. diversionsdbk@gmail.com

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2EVEN TUESDAY, NOVEMBer 27, 2012 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK

ARONHALT From PAGE 8 remain. That became evident Saturday during his 12-point outburst against Georgia Southern. The Zanesville, Ohio, native went four-offour from three-point range, helping spark an inconsistent offense to a 70-53 win.

It was a pivotal night for Aronhalt, who will likely come off the bench again against the Wildcats tonight.

After playing more than 30 minutes a game as one of the Great Danes’ top scorers the past two seasons, Aronhalt has had to adjust to a muchdecreased role on a deep Terps squad. He is the fourth guard in Turgeon’s rotation and is almost solely used as a spot-up jump shooter.

That, of course, wasn’t exactly what Aronhalt signed up for when he agreed to join the Terps in May. Turgeon needed help spacing the floor, and Aronhalt figured he was an ideal fit as an instantoffense option as a sixth or seventh man. He expected to play around 25 minutes a night, using his four-year collegiate experience to help guide a young squad to its first postseason berth in two years.

His projected playing time took a major hit, though, when much-acclaimed Xavier transfer Dez Wells was declared immediately eligible just a few days before the Nov. 9 season opener against Kentucky.

T he reig n i ng At l a nt ic 10 All-Rookie Team selection commanded minutes, forcing Aronhalt to adjust to life as the fourth or fifth man

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

“Just getting used to the role is something new for me.”

LOGAN ARONHALT

Terrapins men’s basketball guard off the bench. He’d need to be content spending the majority of games offering high-fives and cheering from the sideline.

“It’s been tough,” Aronhalt said. “Just getting used to the role is something new for me.”

Aronhalt kept perspective during the subtle demotion.

The decreased minutes meant less strain on a host of ailments, he reasoned. His tweaked ankle, sore back and bum knee have a better chance to heal.

And when his number is called, he no longer frets over mastering a laundry list of tasks. He can just focus on playing solid defense and hitting the open jumper.

Aronhalt is shooting 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) beyond the arc and has taken just two twopoint attempts this season.

“As long as he’s wide open on a catch-and-shoot, he’ll usually knock them down,” g u a rd N i c k Fa u s t s a i d .

“Coach tries to set him up for plays, and we try to do whatever we can to set him up. Just let him fi re.”

It’s taken some time, but Aronhalt has started embracing his role as a veteran bench player in a rotation featuring four freshmen. As for his shyness? That may take a few more weeks.

“I think the more we travel and the more time we spend together,” Aronhalt said, “the more they’ll get to know me.” sportsdbk@gmail.com

REVIEW From PAGE 8 late in the second quarter against the Wolfpack. And even though backups Devin Burns and Caleb Rowe kept the Terps in the game until the end, kicker Brad Craddock’s potential game-winning 33-yard field goal attempt clanged off the left upright.

That would be the closest the Terps would come to victory the rest of the season. Five days later, the team announced Burns and second-leading wide receiver Marcus Leak suffered season-ending foot injuries in the loss to N.C. State. Thirdstring quarterback Rowe — the last healthy signal caller on the team’s roster — suffered a torn ACL in a loss at Boston College the following Saturday.

Rowe’s injury ended any hopes the Terps had for a bowl bid. Given that all four of their eligible quarterbacks were out for the season due to injury — three with torn ACLs — they finished off the final four weeks with converted linebacker Shawn Petty under center. Predictably, they didn’t fare well, falling by a combined score of 164-75 in four straight losses to close out a 4-8 year.

Despite all their promise to start the season, the Terps’ end further mars an already oftcriticized Randy Edsall era in College Park. But even amid all the negatives, the secondyear coach has continued to stay positive.

“We can’t control all of those things that happen with all of the injuries, most especially to one position,” Edsall said after the Terps’ 41-14 loss to No. 10

Florida State on Nov. 17. “You can look back and you can say, ‘Well, if this didn’t happen.’

You can’t. There are a lot of young guys out there making plays with some older guys who have lots of experience. With the players that we have redshirted and recruited, I hope we can stay healthy, because when we stay healthy, we have some very talented players in this program.”

Those talented players are all over the field, too. On offense, freshman wide receiver Stefon Diggs established himself as one of the top playmakers in the ACC, totaling 1,896 all-purpose yards and nine total touchdowns. Freshmen running backs Brandon Ross and Wes Brow n combined to rush for 772 yards on 175 carries, and Leak’s 393 receiving yards are second best on the team despite missing the fi nal six games of the season.

On defense, sophomore linebacker Cole Farrand tied for first on the team with 78 tackles, sophomore Jeremiah Johnson established himself as a shutdown cornerback and sophomore nose tackle Darius Kilgo proved he could clog up the middle in Stewart’s aggressive 3-4 scheme.

“Everybody just needs to be patient. In football, it’s just one of those things. When you build a program, it takes some time. These young kids that are playing, they’re making mistakes but they’re making some plays,” Edsall said. “These kids are going to be so much stronger because of the adversity they’ve faced and had to meet head-on.”

The Terps will suffer losses on bot h sides of t he ba l l, though. Justin Gilbert and

LETOURNEAU From PAGE 8 at Wisconsin, C.J. Brown was the unquestioned starting quarterback. New offensive and defensive coordinators were intent on fostering a winning culture. And Stefon Diggs, the Terps’ fi rst five-star recruit in seven years, seemed poised for a star-making freshman season.

An ACC title or BCS berth were hardly in the picture, but a lower-tier bowl appearance seemed feasible.

Then the adversity arrived.

Brown took a bad cut in a preseason drill and was done for the year with an ACL tear.

Perry Hills, a rookie prized more for his wrestling skills than his throwing abilities, was suddenly the top signal caller.

Still, the Terps soldiered forward. With one of their captains leaning on crutches, they pieced together an impressive

Senior Linebacker Kenneth Tate won’t be back with the Terps next season, but he has high hopes for the team’s future. “They’re a good football team,” he said on Nov. 17. charlie deboyace/the diamondback Bennett Fulper will both leave an offensive line that struggled throughout the year despite their veteran presence, and the defense is graduating stalwart defensive linemen Joe Vellano and A.J. Francis, linebackers Darin Drakeford, Kenneth Tate and Demetrius Hartsfield, and safety Eric Franklin.

Of course, that’s not to say the team doesn’t have the pieces to fill those holes. The Terps are bringing in a 17-player recruiting class ranked No. 29 in the nation by 247sports.com, and C.J. Brown, Hills and Rowe — as well as highly touted transfer Ricardo Young — should all be ready to compete for the starting quarterback job next summer.

“Coach Edsall definitely has things on the right track. We have a lot of skilled guys that are coming back. We have guys coming back from injuries. We are losing some guys in key positions, but we have guys who can back them up,” Gilbert said.

“I’m really excited to see these guys next year. It’s going to be a very good football program.”

“I tell them their capabilities

all the time, tell them they’re a good football team,” Tate said.

“You gain confidence from losing games. There’s definitely a winning side to everything. It’s just how you come from losses in a season like this and how you rebound.”

The Terps have what they need to rebound. They have established talent in place, young talent coming in and enough quarterbacks — they could have as many as seven next year — to make sure this season is an anomaly, not the norm.

This year, their season unraveled in the span of eight days. Next year, Edsall is confident that won’t be the case.

“There’s no doubt that we’re moving in the right direction, are on the right path and doing the right things. Kids want to be a part of what we’re doing,” Edsall said. “I just think everyone has to understand that we’re going to be OK. These kids, these coaches; we’ve had a little bit of a disappointment, but we’re going to be fi ne.”

early season run. Edsall’s squad managed four wins over its first six games, leaving pundits to start expecting — not pondering, expecting — a bowl bid.

And why not? Diggs, the precocious 18-year-old from local powerhouse Good Counsel High School, was establishing a reputation as an awe-inspiring playmaker. A veteran-laden defense that ranked near the bottom of the ACC last season had quickly emerged as one of the top units in the country. And an inexperienced offense was managing the necessary points in offensive coordinator Mike Locksley’s multi-set system.

It wasn’t always pretty, sure, but it sufficed. After last year’s nightmare, a win-starved fan base was just content knowing its team would have a fighting chance come Saturday.

But on one cloudless evening in late October, everything — all the positive momentum, all the optimistic bowl predictions — crippled with a few misplaced footsteps. Hills’ knee buckled when he took a block from behind in a 20-18 loss to N.C. State. The prognosis? A seasonending ACL tear.

The team announced five days later Hills’ backup, Devin Burns, and second-leading wide receiver Marcus Leak had suffered season-ending foot injuries against the Wolfpack.

As the injury report grew, Edsall tried to stay unfazed.

No problem, he reasoned.

Next man up.

That approach hit a bit of a snag the following Sunday.

Caleb Rowe, a true freshman who was thrust into the starting quarterback role after beginning the season as the thirdstringer, awoke the morning after a loss to Boston College with stiff ness in his knee. He took an MRI and learned the unthinkable: He had an ACL tear and was done for the year.

Forget injury bugs. Forget curses. The Terps were delving into the realm of full-on absurdity. With four quarterbacks sidelined, Edsall would have to pluck a player from his scout team to start under center.

But not a scout-team quarterback. None of those were active. It’d have to be freshman linebacker Shawn Petty, a Greenbelt native who ran the Navy-style option for a few

years in high school.

Even Edsall — the one with the endless stream of cliches, the one with the never-say-never attitude — couldn’t believe his team’s misfortune. He encouraged media members to figure out whether such a rash of quarterback injuries had ever occurred, and surely pondered the same nagging questions: How could this possibly happen? How could we have such bad luck?

But Edsall and his team understood grasping for answers wouldn’t change reality. They still needed to suit up come Saturday, and they still had to face the meat of their schedule — a grueling four-game stretch against upper-echelon ACC foes.

No Disney Channel endings awaited the Terps. They lost their next three contests to Georgia Tech, No. 11 Clemson and No. 10 Florida State by a combined 82 points, effectively killing any far-flung hopes of a bowl appearance. Turnovers and mounting injuries simply became too much to overcome.

But as the adversity continued, the Terps fulfilled their coach’s favorite axiom. They did their job. They never hung their heads and never complained during postgame interviews.

Unlike last year’s crew that cruised to eight straight losses, the 2012 Terps were united.

Their passion remained until the fi nal whistle.

“That’s what this program is built on, in terms of playing every play like it’s the last play you’re ever going to play, giving everything that you’ve got,” Edsall said after the Terps’ 45-38 loss at North Carolina on Saturday. “What this group of young men faced this year, I think they stood tall, stared it right in the face and gave everything that they had to the very end.”

That never-say-die attitude will be a key part of the foundation Edsall hopes to build in his third Terps campaign. It’s why he remains confident his program is on the right track.

It’s why top local recruits continue pledging to the Terps.

And it’s why Tate refuses to let this team’s 4-8 record defi ne a season unraveled by injuries.

“This is a winning team,” Tate said. “Just come back next year and you’ll see the difference.”

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Sports

“I’m going to make the most of the ACC for the next two years, then we’ll dive into the Big Ten.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY Mark Turgeon Terps men’s basketball coach

FIVE NET ALL-ACC HONORS

ON THE BLOG

Five members of the Terrapins football team earned All-ACC honors yesterday. For more, visit diamondbackonline.com.

PAGE 8

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2012

FOOTBALL | SEASON IN REVIEW

Nowhere to go but up

Despite misfortune, Terps have pieces in place to compete

Ravaged by injuries, Terps’ subpar finish no fault of their own

By Josh Vitale Senior staff writer Six weeks ago, the Terrapins football team was in a position few could’ve predicted. As it prepared to host N.C. State for its annual homecoming game Oct. 20, the Terps’ record sat at 4-2 — two wins away from bowl eligibility with six games to play.

It was an unexpected start for a team picked to finish last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division. After finishing 2-10 the previous year and losing incumbent starting quarterback C.J. Brown to a season-ending ACL tear in the preseason, the Terps weren’t supposed to challenge for a bowl bid, let alone be sitting atop the standings with a perfect conference record in late October.

But that’s exactly where they were.

Freshman quarterback Perry Hills and a stable of young running backs were doing enough to keep the team’s offense afloat while a veteran-laden defense developed into a top-20 unit under firstyear coordinator Brian Stewart.

I n a eig ht-d ay st retch i n l ate October, though, all the good the Terps had done unraveled. They went from bowl contenders to hopelessly unfortunate in those nine days, all but ending a season that had begun with so much promise.

It started when Hills tore his ACL See REVIEW, Page 7

CONNOR LETOURNEAU

Wide Receiver Stefon Diggs had a stellar freshman year for the Terps, but his efforts weren’t enough for the team to overcome a rash of injuries. charlie deboyace/the diamondback

4

Number of wins the Terps finished with this season

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Guard Logan Aronhalt is averaging 4.2 points per game in 9.2 minutes off the bench for the Terps after transferring to the team from Albany in May. charlie deboyace/the diamondback

Aronhalt adjusting to role with Terps Guard serving as shooter off bench

By Connor Letourneau Senior staff writer Logan Aronhalt isn’t much of a talker. The Terrapins men’s basketball guard prefers to keep to himself, to go about his business without much of a fuss.

He arrives at Comcast Center at 10 a.m. to hoist shots the morning of every home game. He makes sure to attend a l l of h is g radu ate school courses in exercise physiology. And he spends much of his spare time hanging around Kyle Tarp, the Terps’ strength and conditioning coach.

So it’s hard to blame coach Mark Turgeon — whose Terps will play at Northwestern in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge tonight — for not necessarily

having the keenest insight into his senior transfer’s personality just yet.

“You’re going to have to ask other players that,” Turgeon said yesterday when asked how Aronhalt fares as a senior leader.

“He’s a really quiet, shy guy.”

Getting comfortable with big-time college hoops has been a process for the former Albany standout. He has fewer minutes to make an impact, tougher competition to face and talented teammates capable of picking up the slack should he struggle.

And though Aronhalt didn’t log consistent minutes through his fi rst four Terps games, the skills that made him a two-time All-America East selection See ARONHALT, Page 7

4

Number of double-digit losses the Terps had this season

BY THE NUMBERS

4

Number of quarterbacks lost to season-ending injuries

4

Number of Terps players who suffered torn ACLs

As Kenneth Tate sat in a plush red seat inside Gossett Team House earlier this month, the Terrapins football linebacker reflected on yet another losing season in College Park.

Sure, the Terps still had one game left to play — an eventual heartbreaking loss at North Carolina — but the year’s story line had already unfolded.

A cavalcade of injuries had wreaked havoc upon a team with a surprising 4-2 start, leading to six straight defeats.

For the third time in Tate’s five-year college career, there would be no trip to a bowl game.

So how did it feel? What’s it like watching a senior season disintegrate through no fault of your team?

“You never know what the future holds,” Tate said as he stared blankly at the back of the seat in front of him.

“I mean, every team sits on their high horse at one point in time and everything can be taken away at once.”

It was an apt realization. The Terps, after all, entered year two of the Randy Edsall era with unbridled optimism.

They were ready to put a 2-10 debacle in the rearview mirror and embrace a new beginning.

With Danny O’Brien taking snaps See LETOURNEAU, Page 7