November 30, 2012

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GROWING UP

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Legislators to renew push for bag tax Some SGA supports bill for second consecutive year; bill failed in state’s General Assembly last year

By Sarah Tincher Staff writer For the second time, the SGA voted 26 to 4 in favor of implementing a 5-cent disposable bag tax, supporting the county’s latest attempt to follow in the footsteps of Montgomery County and Washington.

The bill to implement the tax in the county fell short of making it to the Maryland General Assembly, failing to pass the House Environmental Matters

Committee in March by one vote. Opponents said the tax disproportionately hurt low-income consumers and reusable bags could pose a health risk.

However, county officials are planning to push the issue again at a county house delegation hearing Saturday at Prince George’s Community College.

“We see [the tax] as an inevitability in P.G. County and the state,” said James Jalandoni, Student Government Association governmental affairs director. “We want to make sure this

happens sooner than later, because the sooner it happens, the more benefit will come about.”

Washington implemented a 5-cent bag tax on Jan. 1, 2010, and saw an 86 percent reduction of plastic bag distribution within a few weeks of the law being put in place. Montgomery County did the same exactly two years later, collecting $154,000 of revenue within the first month.

Plastic bag use has continued to decline in Washington. According to

The Examiner, the city brought in $1.6 million from the bag tax last fiscal year, which ended in September, compared to $1.8 million in revenue in 2011.

“The key here is reducing and reusing,” said Matthew Popkin, SGA’s South Campus Commons representative. “It’s not that hard to get into the habit of bringing reusable bags; they’re convenient — you See tax, Page 3

limited opportunities

applebee’s, Jimmy John’s and other restaurant chains will have to increase food prices or cut employee hours to be able to afford newly mandated health care costs, CEOs said. charlie deboyace/the diamondback

Several restaurant chains with local branches will likely cut employee hours or increase food prices as a response to Affordable Care Act policies requiring companies to provide their workers with health insurance.

CEOs and franchisees of local eateries — including Applebee’s and Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches — said mandates outlined in the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “Obamacare,” will impose an excessive burden on their businesses. While some students expressed disdain with companies bringing politics into their businesses, restaurant representa-

See hanna, Page 3

See attendance, Page 2

See businesses, Page 2

Number of students requesting all-female Cecil Hall increased from 2010 to 2011

Resident Life may be preparing mixedgender and gender-neutral housing for next year, but there are still a group of students who choose the campus’ only single-sex housing option.

Cecil Hall, located near the Memorial Chapel on South Campus, is the only residence hall on the campus that is all-female. While some may believe the desire for this kind of housing is waning on a campus moving toward less discrimination between sexes in dorm life, more students requested the single-sex option last year.

In fall of 2010, 85 students requested a single-sex living option, according to Department of Resident Life data.

But officials found themselves turning away some students who hoped to live in Cecil Hall in 2011; 119 requested the dorm and there are 94 beds.

“Out of students who request that as a first choice, not necessarily all of them receive it,” said Erin Iverson, Resident

INDEX

Life assignments manager.

Not everyone who requests Cecil Hall is necessarily looking for single-sex housing, Iverson said. Some of the requests come from students who don’t fully understand the university’s options.

“We frequently get students incoming who maybe don’t understand the lay of campus yet who make requests to us that don’t quite fit with where we can assign them,” Iverson said.

If there is a significant number of female students who want to live in Cecil Hall for religious or cultural reasons, there are options outside of Cecil Hall. Resident Life organizes entirely female floors on North Campus, providing residents with a somewhat same-sex housing option.

Same-sex options are not as easily available for male students, though.

“We tend to not do a lot of allmale floors in a building,” Iverson See cecil, Page 2

judith hanna, a university anthropology research scientist, advocates for exotic dancing and stripping to be recognized as a form of art. She recently appeared on an episode of The Colbert Report. photo courtesy of judith hanna

An exotic cause University researcher serves as expert court witness in exotic dance and strip club cases

By Dustin Levy For The Diamondback When Jacksonville, Fla., legislators tried to pass an ordinance that would require strippers to wear boy shorts in 2005, Judith Hanna took matters into her own hands.

The then-69-year-old grand-

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

By Quinn Kelley Senior staff writer

mother headed out to the beach and spent the day snapping pictures of women wearing thongs — evidence the university researcher later submitted to the court in the fight against the regulation.

“If you can do that at the beach,

tives said the act will force them to modify employee schedules and raise food prices for their businesses to survive.

Zane Tankel, CEO of Apple-Metro, the New York metropolitan area franchisee for Applebee’s, said in an interview with Fox Business that he would not hire any more workers and was considering cutting the hours of current employees. Jimmy John Liautaud, CEO and founder of Jimmy John’s, also said in a Fox News interview his company will need to cut employees’ hours rather than provide them with health insurance.

“We have to bring them down to

Students still put in requests for campus’ single-sex housing

By Teddy Amenabar Staff writer

Students question attendance grades

Some students frantically working through the final weeks of the semester have found themselves in a situation they cannot fix: Their grades are suffering because of missed classes, violating some professors’ mandatory attendance policies.

While some professors and university officials argue participation is necessary for students’ success in certain courses, many students said they should not be penalized for missing class if they keep up with the course’s material.

“I feel that while we’re spending so much money, if you want to skip out on the classes you’re paying so much for, that’s your choice,” said Seth Markowitz, a sophomore aerospace engineering major. “But the professor has a right to take attendance to know who’s coming.”

Students are excused for illness, religious observances, participation in university activities at the request of school officials and compelling circumstances beyond students’ control, according to the policy laid out in the faculty handbook. Additionally, it is up to faculty to specify in their syllabi “the nature of the in-class participation expected and the effects of absences on students’ grades.” Mandatory attendance and penalties for missing class vary across courses.

Last year, the 1991 policy was updated to allow students to self-sign medical absence notes for a single class session. Instructors must write their own policies for missing more than one class.

Attendance policies are most imperative for lab courses because they are difficult to make up, said Robert Infantino, computer, mathematical and natural sciences college associate dean. At the end of the week, he said, professors are usually tearing down the lab and preparing a new one.

Infantino also stressed the importance of attendance because of its direct impact on learning, especially in hands-on courses or fields.

“Attendance directly correlates with success in a course. Period,” he said.

“There’s just no other substitute.”

Paul Smith, another CMNS associate dean who now teaches mostly graduate courses, said he does not set an attendance policy, especially because he doesn’t give many weekly quizzes in upper-level courses. However, even when he taught undergraduate courses, he said he left the decision to come to class up to students.

“I do not set attendance policies.

They’re supposed to be serious enough to show up without my telling them so,” he said. “I’ve been relatively lax about having a formal policy, but students are expected to either show up for exams or get an excuse.”

Chain restaurants to increase food prices or cut employee hours to comply with impending health care law

By Lily Hua Staff writer

upset over class policy

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2

THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | friday, NOVEMBER 30, 2012

cecil From PAGE 1 sa id. “Somet i mes t h at’s a little harder to manage.”

Despite t he st ig m a su rrounding living in an all-female building, some former residents said they enjoyed their year in the dorm.

“Ceci l’s lo c at ion i s ju st p h e n o m e n a l ,” s a i d E l l i e Markewitz, a junior mathematics major. “It was basically like a penthouse suite, and we loved it.”

Freshman Nishka Batra, an international student from New Delhi, said she chose to live in Cecil Hall this year, but would rather have the experience of living on the more populated North Campus.

“I didn’t know if I cou ld have a guy roommate; I didn’t know how it worked,” the econom ics major said, adding she th i n ks ma ny residents in Cecil Hall were pulled in.

“If someone actually decides to l ive here, it’s probably b ec au se t hei r pa rents a re conservative.”

If Batra could pick a housing option all over again, she said her choices would be different the second time around.

For now, Batra is fine where she is.

businesses From PAGE 1 28 hours. … There’s no other way we can survive it,” Liautaud told Fox News.

However, Applebee’s President Mike Archer said in a press release the company is still uncertain what actions individual franchisees will take when the law goes into effect in 2014, adding they will “comply fully with the law and take every measure possible to continue doing right by their employees — the lifeblood of their businesses.”

Several employees of the franchises said the changes would hit the restaurant chains’ local employees hard.

“I know that if it happened, a lot of our co-workers would be in a tough spot,” said Carly Wiedecker, an employee at Applebee’s on Route 1 and a senior Persian studies major.

Restau ra nt employees wouldn’t be the only ones to see changes — at Papa John’s, CEO and founder John Schnatter said Affordable Care Act policies could result in a price increase of 11 to 14 cents per pizza, or an average of 15 to 20 cents per

Cecil hall has seen more requests since fall 2010, when 85 students opted for a single-sex living option. Officials had to turn some students away last year, with 119 requesting a spot in the 94-bed dorm.

“I was actually deciding to change for spring, but I decided against it,” Batra said.

As long there are still stu-

dents requesting the all-female option, Resident Life will continue making it available, said Director Deb Gradner.

order, according to Politico.

Kevin Chen, a sophomore computer science major, said students would be more likely to frequent alternative pizza restaurants in the area to save money if costs increase.

“Students that are very concerned with prices won’t be happy with this,” he said.

Mia Simon, a sophomore journalism major, said the uproar over restaurant owners’ attitudes is far more deserved in this case, compared to the recent controversy over Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy’s public opposition to same-sex marriage.

“Regardless of how I felt about gay marriage, the owner of that establishment has the right to have his opinion,” Simon said. “I think not eating at those establishments based off of political beliefs has its pros and cons.”

However, cutting employees’ hours to avoid providing them with health insurance goes beyond expressing an opinion, she said.

“I can’t even imagine what people who have families are going through,” Simon said.

“Regardless of how you feel about a candidate and his or her policies, you should not take it out on those who have dedi-

“Regardless of how you feel about a candidate ... you should not take it out on those who have dedicated their time and service to your company.”

MIA SIMON

Sophomore journalism major cated their time and service to your company.”

The methods consumers used to voice their opinions on Chick-fil-A still have merit, Simon said; petitions and boycotts may help instigate change if restaurants such as Applebee’s and Papa John’s begin cutting back employees’ hours.

However, Si mon sa id, business owners are likely to change their policies as they please and the customers will keep coming.

“I don’t really care for those restaurants,” she said.

“But I’ll be honest, if Chipotle did something like that, I’m not sure I would stop eating there.” newsumdbk@gmail.com

MORE ONLINE Engineering school expands degree-granting program To open up new opportunities for mechanical engineering students in the region, the University System of Maryland pledged $450,000 to a partnership between the engineering school and three other major state institutions.

The grant, which was announced earlier this month, will go toward expanding a program that would allow students at the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center to obtain an accredited mechanical engineering degree from this university.

file photo/the diamondback

To read more of this post, check out The Diamondback’s news blog, Campus Drive, at diamondbackonline.com.

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK 3150 South Campus Dining Hall | College Park, MD 20742 newsumdbk@gmail.com OR opinionumdbk@gmail.com PHONE (301) 314-8200 FAX (301) 314-8358 YASMEEN ABUTALEB, Editor in Chief Mike King, Managing Editor Rebecca Lurye, News Editor Nadav Karasov, Assistant Opinion Editor Rob Gifford, Diversions Editor Connor Letourneau, Sports Editor Charlie Deboyace, Photography Editor LAUREN REDDING, Online Editor

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“We want all students to feel comfortable living in the residence halls. For some individuals, having a single-

attendance From PAGE 1 Smith said when he was a student, he had the same mindset many students today have: If they are paying for college, they can decide how to spend their time and classes shouldn’t have mandatory attendance. However, he said students should be cognizant of the trade-off between missing class and receiving an education.

“For courses where there are frequent quizzes … students have to decide if they’re willing to throw away the benefits of the tuition that they’ve paid or that their parents have paid,” he said.

Mary Ellen Scullen, French professor and the course chair for two intensive French courses, said students in these classes are given participation grades five times throughout the semester, and each time a student has an unexcused absence, he or she loses three participation points.

“Obviously, to learn a foreign language, it’s really better for students to be in class,” she said.

The policy has been in place for years, Scullen said, but individual instructors have some discretion. She said absences for illness or for emergencies are excused, and if a student misses a test, the professor usually asks for something more official than a personal note.

Students in large lectures with online notes shouldn’t necessarily be penalized for missing class, Scullen said, but language courses are different

charlie deboyace/the diamondback

gender residence hall is really important to them,” she said.

“I think we’ll need to monitor what students are interested

in and make our decisions based off of that.”

“students have to decide if they’re willing to throw away the benefits of the tuition that they’ve paid.”

“you don’t really get the practice that you need.”

Freshman Sarah Sprink, who is enrolled in letters and sciences, said her grade suffered because of absences in a journalism class that allowed students to miss classes without a penalty. She missed a fourth day because she was sick and missed a quiz that day.

“I feel like we have to think so much about, ‘Can I use it now for this, or is it not that bad?’” she said of spreading out sick days. “I thought I would be fine, but then I got sick and couldn’t come, and that was the fourth day.”

Sprink said students shouldn’t be penalized for absences, because it is ultimately up to them to master the material.

“I think it should be our decision, because we’re the one in the end who has to write the exams and try to pass them or try to do well on them,” she said. “We’re not in high school anymore.”

Fresh ma n h istory major Ben Nichols said if students don’t attend class, they likely won’t do well, but their grades shou ld n’t su f fer ba sed on attendance.

“Just because you didn’t attend a class session doesn’t mean you didn’t learn the material,” he said. “There are other ways to learn it.”

PAUL SMITH

Computer, mathematical and natural sciences college associate dean

newsumdbk@gmail.com

because speaking and listening are integral to learning.

“In a class that’s small … and a major part of learning a language is listening to a language being spoken and trying to be spoken by yourself, you just can’t do that by yourself,” she said. “You can’t do that in your dorm room.”

Although Scullen’s courses don’t have “free pass” days, she said students only need 113 participation points a semester out of 125 to get an “A” in participation, or the equivalent of four unexcused absences. Scullen said it’s fair to penalize students for absences even though they pay for an education, because they still need to put in the work for good grades.

“You’re not paying for an ‘A,’ ” she said. “You have to earn an ‘A.’ ” Attending language classes provides students with a prime opportunity to hone their skills, said Spanish lecturer Evelyn Canabal-Torres.

“If you don’t come,” she said, newsumdbk@gmail.com

3

friDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2012 | NEWS | THE DIAMONDBACK

tax From PAGE 1

MARYLAND FIRE AND RESCUE INSTITUTE SENDS FOUR TRUCKS OF SUPPLIES TO SANDY VICTIMS IN N.Y., N.J. Faculty, staff and students at the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute decided to attempt to fill one truck of supplies to deliver to those who lost their homes and possessions from Superstorm Sandy.

In their efforts to help victims in New York and New Jersey — the areas hit hardest — get back on their feet, the institute filled four trucks full of disaster relief supplies. photo courtesy of patti odbert

hanna From PAGE 1 you can’t do that at the club?”

Hanna said.

That was just another day on the job for the university anthropology research scientist, who has served as an expert court witness in more than 150 exotic dance and strip club cases since 1995. In September, Hanna’s expertise took her to an Albany, N.Y., nightclub for the fi lming of The Colbert Report’s “Difference Makers” segment, which aired Nov. 8.

“My i n itia l thoug ht was that it would be fun to do,” said Hanna, a self-proclaimed fan of the show. “But I didn’t want to be part of a program that demeaned the dancers because the biggest problem that the dancers have is the

unwarranted stigma.”

This “stigma” is one Hanna had been fighting to eliminate for more than 15 years, and her mission is for lawmakers to recognize exotic dance as a constitutionally protected form of expression.

For the Comedy Centra l segment, Hanna recounted a 2008 case in which an Albany nightclub owner argued he should not have to pay sales tax for his club’s exotic dance performances. She argued the case was an issue of the First Amendment: by state law, a “live, dramatic, choreographic or musical performance” was exempt from sales taxes, and Hanna contended tax auditors were discriminating against artistic expression based on content.

As a dancer slid down a pole i n the backg rou nd, Ha n na went on to read aloud some

of the exotic da nce moves featured in her book, Naked Truth: Strip Clubs, Democracy, and Christian Right. She even demonstrated the “butterfly” technique for the cameras, and Hanna estimated the fi lm crew recorded 10 hours of material, with a great deal being left on the cutting room floor.

“It was fun. It was a new experience for me,” Hanna said.

However, some d a ncers were u n happy w ith the segment that eventually made it to air, she said. And Laurie Frederik Meer, a theatre professor who frequently works with Hanna, worried the satirical nature of the Colbert segment might undermine the gravity of Hanna’s work.

Hanna fi rst began her career as an expert witness when she was contacted for a Seattle case involving table dancing in 1995.

Since then, Hanna estimates she has watched about 400 exotic dance performances across the country. She has also written several books on anthropology and dance and spoken at more than 50 colleges nationwide.

“I know the seriousness of her work and the incredible amount of research that she’s done on it, so there was a bit of making fun of the expert,” Meer said.

Her work has been met with its share of criticism, even by fellow advocates of rights for exotic dancers. In response to a July 2001 piece Hanna wrote for The New York Times, “Wrapping Nudity In a Cloak of Law,” a reader submitted a countering editorial.

“The article compares strip joints to art spaces and their patrons to ‘museumgoers’ who are allowed to ‘move around

ca n i ncorporate them i nto your life.”

Each year, according to The Washington Post, the United States uses more than 100 billion plastic bags, along with 10 billion paper bags — the equivalent of 14 million trees. The tax is meant to push state residents to switch to sustainable alternatives, such as reusable bags, as well as to generate revenue to support environmental initiatives in the county.

Many cities and counties throughout the country, including several in Colorado and Alaska, are implementing similar disposable bag taxes — many costing 10 to 20 cents per bag. Other cities in some states, including California and New York, have banned plastic bags.

“The disposable bag fee has been a proven, working solution to the issues that disposable bags have been presenting in our

and marvel at living sculpture,’” wrote T. L. Sobel of Manhattan. “The reality is very different. … Strippers have relatively short careers and few benefits or opportunities for economic advancement, and many depend on alcohol and drugs to provide the emotional numbness needed for a career in exhibitionism. Is this the ‘female empowerment’ to which Ms. Hanna refers?”

However, religious rightwing politicians are to blame for the discrimination against exotic dance, Hanna argues.

“I think what people do not realize is how strong the Christian right is at the local and state level around the country,” Hanna said. “This is just one other issue of trying to eliminate the separation of church and state, and that’s pretty serious business.”

“we really need as much help as we can get helping the river quality around here.”

MAURA DUFFY

Junior environmental science and policy major area,” said Jalandoni. “It has been proven in D.C. and Montgomery County to reduce disposable bag use by upwards of 70 percent, and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue for restoration projects in the Chesapeake Bay, the Anacostia River [and] the Potomac River.”

The tax may also “dramatically” reduce the number of plastic bags that wind up in the area’s rivers, said Maura Duffy, a junior environmental science and policy major.

“We really need as much help as we can get helping the river water quality around here,” Duffy said. “And it’s easy enough to get those reusable bags now.” newsumdbk@gmail.com

She also disagreed with an assertion made in the final Colbert Report segment, that the Albany nightclub owner, Stephen Dick, was “the Martin Luther King of exotic dance.”

“He may make a difference if he ends up winning the case,” she said.

Overa l l, Ha n na sa id she enjoyed the final product and received positive feedback from her peers, including people she had not heard from in 20 years.

“I thought it was a roar,” she said.

While her work may be unconventional, Hanna hopes it will lead people to think differently about freedom of expression.

“She uses her current research as a stepping-off point to discuss bigger concepts,” Meer said. newsumdbk@gmail.com

4

THE DIAMONDBACK | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Opinion

EDITORIAL BOARD

Simply embracing change

Semesters are no way to mark a life, but if your brain is wired like mine, prolonged reflection is unavoidable at any seemingly meaningless juncture. Living abroad has probably added some extra significance to this particular benchmark in my life, so perhaps it’s worth recounting some of what I’ve learned.

Well, Catalunya is not in Spain.

Sort of. It’s complicated, but just one thing that has broadened my mind.

Furthermore, leggings are not pants.

This I see with remarkable clarity. I think we all know this to be true on some level, but the consistently impressive day-to-day styles one observes here in Spain have obliterated any future chance of me viewing leggings as something other than sneaky pajamas.

So there are two interesting things I’ve learned. Above all, I certainly think I could say I have “changed” in some way. Change is an interesting phenomenon to me because I think I always walk out of a semester feeling like a totally new version of the same person. I sometimes wonder if this will complicate nostalgia, but in the end I imagine I would be better off without it.

Europe is certainly different than America, but I am still surrounded by people, wearing clothes I have no desire to afford and meat I refuse to eat, placing me in a precarious position of being an a priori counterculture in a culture I do not yet fully understand. Thus, I have had to expend even more effort trying to seem like a normal person, further honing my skills as an actor and teaching myself to go against my most primal instincts, which constantly seem to push me in a rather abnormal direction.

Realizing early on I would almost

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Tales from abroad:

JAKE DeVIRGILIIS

YASMEEN ABUTALEB

always be immediately recognized as American (which does not bother me), I have had to bear the curious weight of feeling, regardless of what I do, that I will be perceived as a representation of all Americans (the jury is still out on how I’ve done). As always, I have been confronted with new ideas, changed and reinforced many of my own and made small, superficial decisions on how to alter my appearance again; yet it seems to me that I remain, however incompletely, Jake Sauce.

Honestly, I am not sure if the people who I have been fortunate to spend the most time with over the past three odd years of my life see me as unchanged or a totally different person than the one they met and happen to still like — or if they see some consistent thread of me that persists. Whatever it may be, I’m glad I have friends. And despite the multitude of reasons that immediately come to mind for why someone wouldn’t want to be friends with me, something has always surprised me about those I have drifted from: They never had good reasons. It was always just that something had changed.

I understand the appeal of routine; it’s just not a big part of my life. Resistance to change is a baffling phenomenon, however. Whenever someone comments with surprise that I seem different, I wonder if they are still the same. And when I consider how some of my strong beliefs may forever alienate me in many ways from all Western cultures, I can at least take some solace in the various admirable thinkers that suggested the root of changing the world was first making the decision to change something in your own life. Even if the only skill I ever really master is a willingness to change, that seems like all the consistency I’ll ever need.

Don’t drown in work: Plan ahead ALEX McGUIRE Now that we’ve started the dreaded annual firestorm of pre-finals exhaustion that occurs between the slothful Thanksgiving weekend and generously long winter break, we begin to look toward next semester’s classes and fearfully await the fresh crap graciously shoveled onto our plates. Generally, each semester is an opportunity to either make up some ground or lose some, and this choice entirely depends on the courses we take.

For me, next semester will definitely be time in which I make up some ground. I’ve been a pretty good student during my past two years as a Terp, and I attribute this success to the fortunate fact that I managed to make good course schedules for myself. Unfortunately, there are always one or two unlucky semesters when fate deals you a bad hand and you end up with a toxic combination of classes. This fate can be anything, from putting off general education classes for as long as possible to

simply taking too many difficult and time-consuming courses at once.

I fell into the latter situation. I ended up taking business statistics, web programming and my majorrequired intermediate news reporting class, all of which are considered to be some of the hardest courses in their respective majors. Most of my time outside class this semester was spent running around, interviewing people, writing stories and getting clips for my journalism class, while at the same time spending hours deciphering regression lines and writing JavaScript programs.

Schedules like mine that include too many difficult and incompatible courses have the negative effect of hindering individual performance in each course. If we take our most difficult courses in different semesters, our chances of performing better in each one improve because there is no opportunity for classes to butt heads with each other.

As the semester is ending and we’re all checking waitlists and setting our schedules in stone, we have to be careful not to weigh ourselves down with course combinations that will be detrimental and unrepresentative of our efforts. Remember, the Internet

is our friend. Google any course or professor and I’m sure you’ll find a dozen sites that have something to say about your search.

If you want hilarious, insightful and sometimes crude reviews of courses and professors from your fellow Terps, OurUMD and Rate My Professors are the places to browse. The sites also provide G-rated statistics and aggregate GPAs for courses and professors you’re looking to do background checks on before signing off Testudo.

Do your homework before being assigned homework. Check out online historical grade data and grading ranges for all of your courses before signing up for them. Reading some random review from a disgruntled student about how his or her professor screwed them over on their final grade might not always be the best help, but it at least gives you a foundation to form your own opinions on whether or not you should sign up with that professor. College is nothing but a continuous stream of seemingly unendurable work, but it is endurable if we strategize and plan ahead.

A l e x Mc G u i re i s a j u n i o r journalism major. He can be reached at opinionumdbk@gmail.com.

EDITORIAL CARTOON

Jake DeVirgiliis is a senior government and politics major. He can be reached at opinionumdbk@gmail.com.

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GUEST COLUMN

The relief effort for Sandy is just pathetic

T

hank you for your Nov. 27 article, “Students spend break away from home aiding in N.J. Superstorm Sandy recovery,” on the response to Sandy’s damage.

My home in Jersey City, N.J., was destroyed. Well, at least $200,000 worth of damage, I estimate. I say “I” estimate because I cannot get a contractor to look at the place.

I did not see one police or relief vehicle in the area for a week, and I live a block away from the PATH train, in a dense urban area looking at Manhattan. This response was pathetic.

When I saw relief vehicles (such as a fire truck), I would flag them down only to listen to the troubles of supposed relief workers, as if my problems were silly in comparison.

I had no power for two weeks, and even when power was restored in the neighborhood, I was told it could not be restored to my home until I had all the proper inspections done.

Calls to busy numbers at the mayor’s office and city offices were never returned.

No one in the neighborhood knew how to get inspections because the town hall was closed.

In the chaotic situation created by the city (not the hurricane — the city), neighbors went rogue trying to take care of themselves and hiding information from one another. The only solution was to sit in front of my uninhabitable house and wait for days until an inspector showed up.

My house was the worst-hit in the neighborhood. When the inspectors

finally came, they didn’t even know what they were doing. I was told to replace all the boilers, water heaters and electrical panels that had come in contact with water. They told me to have it done by a licensed plumber and electrician before getting my permits.

But the city said one thing and utility PSE&G said another. Of course, each side told me how the other didn’t know what it was doing. The childishness between the two was a ridiculous hurdle for us homeowners looking to return to normalcy.

I have finally just finished enough inspections to get my power back, although some inspectors may shut it off again if I do not complete all my repairs in 30 days, an impossible task. I’m an architect and even I am baffled by all of this.

Neighbors with far less damage to their homes have reached points of despair — one neighbor just cries whenever I try to talk to her. The poor woman is so lost. My job has trained me to deal with all sorts of incompetence, but this level of incompetence shocks me.

Rude inspectors tell me they care only about my safety, but this is clearly untrue. The chaotic mess of unclear procedures and hostile care does not seem like a concern for safety.

I only hope that I can rebuild, someday, and get back to a working home. Until then, this situation continues to be a disgrace to our dignity.

Robert Del Pazzo is a New Jersey res i d e n t . He ca n b e re a c h e d a t rdelpazzo@jeffreybeers.com.

ben stryker/the diamondback

STAFF EDITORIAL

Attend to students’ needs A

ttendance policies tend to differ class to class. For some courses, attendance and participation make up a significant part of the final grade, while for larger lectures, the idea of mandatory attendance is often pushed to the wayside. This variance is manageable, but the discrepancies bring to light the issues surrounding inconsistent attendance policies across such a large campus.

In some classes, there will inevitably be students who can skip everything but tests and still do well; the complexity of the material can be a factor, or that person may simply have an aptitude for the subject matter. There are times, however, when it is absolutely imperative you attend to learn and grasp the material.

But shouldn’t students figure that out on their own?

It seems unreasonable that college professors insist on holding students — most of whom are adults — accountable for attending class and penalizing them if they don’t. Yes, good grades often correlate with consistent attendance. Yet if students believe they can keep up with a course’s requirements without attending every class, it should be their decision to take that risk.

Simply telling students they have to attend and not giving them any

sense of responsibility in the matter is, in some ways, irresponsible.

Some classes, however, are largely dependent upon attendance and participation, such as language courses and discussions. But by not attending the class, students will already suffer the consequences by not being exposed to what was discussed or picking up additional language skills.

OUR VIEW

As adults preparing to enter the real world, students should have more choice in regards to attendance of their classes at this university.

The consequences students would inevitably suffer are enough without taking additional points off for not going to every class.

And removing a requirement for attendance would hold professors accountable. If students do not feel the need to go to class or don’t want to, that’s likely indicative that teaching methods need to be improved. There are lectures across the campus that students feel compelled to go to — but there are also many that push students away from day one. If students are expected to learn dense material, it’s up to the professors to make their

classes helpful to students, rather than more confusing. In addition to the attendance policies mandated by professors, a university-sanctioned rule permits students to miss one class for illness and turn in a selfsigned note, as long as the student makes an effort to notify the professor beforehand.

On a campus with so many people, one sick day hardly seems like enough.

The issue of whether students would abuse more than one sick day comes down to whether instructors trust their students. And if all students essentially have to do is write, “I was sick” and sign it, why even require a note at all? If students are able to decide when to excuse themselves from class, the professor should simply trust that one absence was due to illness.

College is supposed to be when we are treated like adults — but an attendance policy hardly proves that. Once we are thrust into the workplace, it will be assumed we understand we need to go to work; there won’t be participation points to earn.

Some students are working their way through college or racking up student loans just to make it to the finish line of these four years. At what point do we gain the trust of our superiors to not just skip class for the hell of it? Many students are in very adult situations. We should be afforded the courtesy of being treated like it.

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.

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.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2012 | THE DIAMONDBACK

5

Features

CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Winter festival 5 Sapporo sashes 9 Gripper 13 Collar style 14 Talk in a monotone 15 Mild rejoinder 16 Bump on a frog 17 Waterloo resident 18 Ephron of “You’ve Got Mail” 19 Torrents of rain 21 DJ’s platters 22 Garnish 23 Jules Verne captain 25 Bean curd 27 Wildlife treat (2 wds.)

31 Go over again 35 Manitoba tribe 36 Just for guys 38 Dig deep 39 Cheerful color 40 Antitoxin 42 Razor brand 43 Anaheim pro 46 Fictional plantation 47 By oneself 48 Saffron dish 50 Put out of sight (2 wds.)

52 “Fernando” band 54 Caviar source 55 Speech imperfection

58 Just a --!

60 Win over 64 Rightmost column 65 Release magma 67 Whodunit name 68 Peak 69 Brother’s child 70 Black mark 71 Mansion staffer 72 Pop quiz 73 Not apt to bite

32 Sharp bend 33 Town near Madrid 34 Phony duck 37 Hindu teachers 41 Jungle knife

44 Slipped by 45 Attorney’s deg.

47 Bummed to vthe max 49 Not here

DOWN 1 Trees used to make archery bows 2 Rocky Mountain state 3 Legend 4 Political alliance 5 El Dorado loot 6 Cereal holder 7 Ill-chosen 8 Motion detector 9 Dare 10 Borodin prince 11 Graceful wrap 12 Wax-coated cheese 14 Send packing 20 Util. bill 24 Sonnet stanza 26 Gave food 27 Fragment 28 Gladiator’s place 29 Narrow shelf 30 K, to a jeweler

© 2012 United Features Syndicate

PREVIOUS DAY’s puzzle solved:

Today’s crossword sponsored by:

51 Dodge City loc.

53 Hawk’s lair 55 Rich soil 56 Early Peruvian 57 Tractor-trailer

59 Prompts 61 “Cope Book” aunt 62 Grad 63 Nerve network 66 Interest amt.

B

HOROSCOPE STELLA WILDER

orn today, you are a careful, thorough and painstaking individual who doesn’t like to leave anything to chance -- and yet, when you have no choice, you are able to take a risk and gamble so bravely and confidently that you maximize your chances of victory no matter what the situation or challenge. You have a number of talents, but you are likely to pinpoint your heart’s desire very early in life and pursue that goal with fortitude, strength, courage and tenacity. You’re not the kind to accept defeat -- rather, you will fight tooth and nail so long as you are confident that you have a chance of winning.

You are attractive to members of the opposite sex, and even those of your gender have to admit that there is something irresistible about you -- and you know how to put your best foot forward no matter what. You have a colorful sense of humor, and can laugh at almost anything or anyone -- including yourself.

Also born on this date are: Clay Aiken, singer; Ben Stiller, actor; Bo Jackson, baseball and football player; Billy Idol, singer; Mandy Patinkin, actor and singer; David Mamet, playwright; Winston Churchill, British prime minister; Samuel Clemens, writer known as “Mark Twain.”

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.

COLLEGE INTUITION RICHIE BATES ROGER DOES COLLEGE

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1 SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- Now is no time to break with that reliable habit of believing only what you can prove. Rumors are likely to fly about all day long.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Are you willing to do whatever it takes to promote that new idea?

Take care! There are hidden dangers before you at this time.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -- Your emotions may be churning up something unexpected today, and you’ll have to deal with it before someone else starts dealing with you!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -- You may not be happy with the way others are seeing you at this time. Why not make a change?

You may discover something new about yourself.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Quantity and quality may be competing for dominance in your list of priorities. The answer is clear!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -Imagination can see you through almost any situation -- provided you keep moving forward at all times.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -You may be stopped in your tracks by the realization that something you’ve taken for granted for quite some time simply isn’t so.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -What happens today is the result, in large part, of your willingness to follow where you are led. Your adventurous spirit pays off!

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Focus on that which requires the most preparation and you’ll be sitting pretty when someone begins to tally the score.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- You may think that you’re not ready for what lies ahead, but in fact you’ve been preparing for just that for quite some time.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -- You may find yourself in a rather vocal conflict with someone whose ideas are not so very different from your own. So what’s the problem?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -There are certain secrets you’ll be bound to keep today, not because you don’t want to tell the truth, but because they’re about someone else.

COPYRIGHT 2012 UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.

Today’s HOROSCOPE sponsored by:

Max Siskind

su | do | ku © Puzzles by Pappocom

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

PREVIOUS DAY’s puzzle solved:

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY:

HARD

Today’s SUDOKU PUZZLE sponsored by:

6

THE DIAMONDBACK | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Diversions

ON THE BLOG

death among the ruins

THE HORRIFYING STATE OF HORROR

Senior staff writer Zachary Berman offers a review of The Collection, an atrocious splatter-horror movie that shows just how dire a state the genre is in. For more, visit diamondbackonline.com.

REVIEW | KILLING THEM SOFTLY

Killing Them Softly is a grim, tough portrait of crime and lost hope set amidst the 2008 election

By Dean Essner Staff writer Killing Them Softly is a thinly veiled piece of political discontent delivered in the shape of a brash and macho action yarn. But take no solace in Brad Pitt’s suave, gun-toting figure on the movie’s poster. This is a nasty little film, a pummeling cold-cock from icy-breathed director Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward

Robert Ford) and one of the more unsettling things you’ll see all year.

Dominik establishes this sense of poignant, impending peril in the opening sequence: A shadowy figure walks through a tunnel and then out into the open air, utterly alone except for a wind of trash and crumpled papers that swirl as President Obama’s sturdy voice barks in the background. This is what post-annihilation looks like, the deterioration of our land and our

lifeblood reduced to an empty mess of floating waste.

When the camera pans up to reveal a 2008 presidential election billboard that towers high and mightily above the trash and our shadowy figure — establishing the time period — Dominik’s prime target becomes apparent. He then uses the forthcoming 90 or so minutes to unfurl his take on America’s economic calamity by way of a delicious film noir.

The plot itself is bare: Frankie (Scoot McNairy, Argo) and Russell (Ben Mendelsohn, The Dark Knight Rises) rob a mobbed-up poker game and are then hunted down by hit man Jackie Cogan (Pitt, Happy Feet Two). Throw James Gandolfini (Violet & Daisy) as Mickey, a boozy business associate of Jackie’s, Ray Liotta (The Place Beyond the Pines) as Markie Trattman, who oversees the poker games and Richard Jenkins (Darling Companion) as Jackie’s unnamed employer into the mix and you have the narrative in a nutshell.

The thinness of the story does grow obvious at times — Dominik overcompensates on style to keep things in perpetual motion. But when he isn’t descending into artistic frippery, Killing Them Softly resonates as more than just a moody thriller with excessive gore.

We can start by lauding Dominik

for a brilliant job of using space and sound to both stimulate suspense and solidify the movie’s frigid undertone.

As foreshadowed in that grim opening scene, Dominik’s film is hushed, lonely and aching with dilapidation. When our characters are shown in public — whether in a car parked underneath a bridge or in a swanky restaurant — the setting is punctuated by an overwhelming sense of quiet. Everything around the characters is lifeless.

Dominik does fill these patches with vital noises, though. He pieces many of his scenes together with Obama’s voice in the background — often the camera pans over or cuts to shots of television screens that project the man himself — as he comments on America’s political climate. One could accuse Dominik of being overbearing, but the movie would be too hollow without this thematic underpinning.

He also presents a refreshing lack of interest in conventional character arcs and the fate of his characters in general. Mickey’s storyline is introduced and then essentially tossed aside. Markie gets beaten to a bloody pulp in nearly every scene he’s in, yet Dominik refuses to gift him with salvation despite the fact we feel

genuine sympathy for him. This is the work of a grim puppeteer, more content to channel everyday ennui than give us something to sink our teeth (and our emotional energy) into.

As the film comes to close, this trajectory comes full circle. With Obama’s voice lingering in the air, jockeying for rank with the clanking of glasses and muted chatter from the few souls in the bar, Dominik leaves us with some sage advice. “America’s not a country, it’s just a business,” Jackie tells his boss, waiting for his pay so he can kill again, reap again and repeat the cycle, clawing his way through the big, pervading patch of emptiness that is both Killing Them Softly and life itself. diversionsdbk@gmail.com

ESSAY | TARGET DESIGNERS

DESIGNING THE HOLIDAYS

Target is pairing with Neiman Marcus to bring designer items to its shelves this holiday season. But will the high prices drive consumers away?

By Alicia McElhaney For the Diamondback After Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday steals, there is one shining bargain that might prove better than all others — at least in hype.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, designer versions of clothing, shoes and home decor items are returning to Target — and in more volume than ever before.

Tomor row, Ta rget a nd Neiman Marcus will release their collaborative collection

featuring more than 50 gifts created by 24 top designers. Announced in July, the collection promises both great products and deals — what more does one need during the holiday season? — but price decisions may ultimately doom it.

Featuring designers and labels such as Oscar de la Renta, Rodarte, Jason Wu, Proenza Schouler and other m e m b e rs of t h e C o u n c i l o f Fa s h i o n D e s i g n e r s o f A merica, the col lection boasts products ranging from cookie cutters to capes and

Classified

skateboards to shot glasses.

The collection promises to do good, too. Target and Neiman Marcus have pledged to jointly donate $1 million to the CFDA to support the designers slated to contribute to the collections.

The items will be for sale at brick-and-mortar stores and online.

There is, however, a drawback to the collection. While each of the pieces are incredibly cute and appealing (read: matching best friends hats), they are also rather ex-

photo courtesy of cinematoria.com

pensive, especially for the average Target shopper.

For e x a mple, a pa i r of leopard print slippers designed

by Derek Lam go for $49.99, while a colorful bicycle created

by Alice + Olivia goes for a whopping $499.99.

While this price range is doable and even expected for many Neiman Marcus customers, most Target shoppers are going to have a problem justifying that kind of spending.

A dog bowl for $29.99? Think

aga i n, Ta rget. With you r shoppers making an average of $55,000 yearly according to your website, they tend to be looking for savings at the store, rather than spending big on name brands.

It seems the Target-Neiman Marcus collaboration will be a flop solely for this reason.

T y pica l Ta rget-shoppi ng masses simply cannot afford to buy into a designer fund, no matter how nice it looks.

And for Neiman Marcus shoppers used to seeing designers like these in their favorite department store, it will surely not be all that exciting.

W hile the return of designers to Target is exciting, shoppers beware: It’s a classic case of the present having prettier w rapping than what’s inside. diversionsdbk@gmail.com

A ¿ 35¢ per word $3.50 minimum A ALL CAPITAL LETTERS 35¢ extra per word A Bold Letters 70¢ extra per word A EAUTY To place an ad: PHONE 301-314-8000 | EMAIL advertising@dbk.umd.edu | FAX 301-314-8358 | vB m A All ads must be prepaid  BEAUTY  E DUCATION Employment Employment E DUCATION  A PARTMENTS  F LORIST  A PARTMENTS SPRING ALORIST UTOMOTIVE  F  H EALTH  A UTOMOTIVE POSITIONS  B HEAUTY EALTH  EGAL The Diamondback  L B EAUTY is looking to fill positions in  E LDUCATION EGAL Home Office their online and print  R ECREATION  A PARTMENTS  E DUCATION Administrator advertising departments.  F RLORIST ECREATION  A UTOMOTIVE  R ELIGION  F LORIST • 10-15 hrs./wk.  H EALTH RELIGION • On campus  BEAUTY • For credit paid internship  HEALTH possibilities  LEGAL  E DUCATION • Training provided  LEGAL  RECREATION If interested, email resume  FLORIST  RECREATION and spring schedule to  RELIGION advertising@dbk.umd.edu.  HEALTH  RELIGION Position starts 1/21.

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Located in College Park & looking for candidate to handle calls, copying, invoicing, etc. Position pays $10/hr. and will work in a friendly atmosphere. Castle Sprinkler & Alarm, Inc. Email: careers@csafire.com. www.csafire.com.

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2EVEN FRIDAY, NOVEMBer 30, 2012 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK

CARDONA From PAGE 8 t here was st i l l plenty of room for improvement.

“I didn’t have a grasp on what I needed to do yet,” Cardona said.

When Pamela Cardona heard Keith had lost his grip on the starting job this spring, she felt like any parent would: shocked, disappointed and distressed.

“It was heart-wrenching,” she said.

“It was frustrating. We were quite upset, to put it mildly. It was very, very hard because parents can see things sometimes that the kids can’t, and they don’t want to hear it from us. He had to figure it out for himself. We felt a little bit helpless. As much as we tried to knock some sense into him, I think it’s something he had to figure out himself.”

He’d let himself slip, Keith Cardona said. He struggled in the classroom. His decision-making was shaky. And his onfield performance suffered, paving the way for a three-way battle with redshirt freshman Jordan Tatum and freshman Cody Niedermeier.

Matthew Cardona didn’t know what to do. Sure, he’d experienced his share of life-changing decisions — he left Michigan State after two years of studying veterinary science to become a hairdresser and open a salon in 1978 — but watching his son make his own was completely different. He wanted to tell Keith what to do, but he couldn’t.

“You can’t always be there for them,” Matthew Cardona said. “You want to. If you’re going to let your kid grow up and become the man or woman that he or she wants to be, you have to step back and take the safety net away.”

Entering the summer, Keith Cardona was at a crossroads. He could make the changes he needed to make, or he could sacrifice everything he’d built.

“It was all or nothing,” Pamela Cardona said. “He finally figured out that he would lose everything if he didn’t put his pedal to the metal and figure out all parts of being a Terrapin.”

The three-way goalkeeping battle wasn’t a new position for Keith Cardona.

He’d never been “the man” at any of his stops in his career.

He was buried on the bench when he

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

“We felt a little bit helpless. as much as we tried to knock some sense into him, I think it’s something he had to figure out himself.”

PAMELA CARDONA

Terrapins men’s soccer goalkeeper Keith Cardona’s mother started high school at perennial contender St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, N.J. When he spent the first semester of his junior year at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., in residency with the under-17 national team, he was listed behind future UCLA goalkeeper Earl Edwards on the depth chart.

And when he returned from the national team to spend his fi nal year-anda-half at Glen Rock High School, a torn labrum derailed his senior season. If it wasn’t for the exposure the New York Red Bulls developmental academy afforded him, he likely wouldn’t have been a nationally touted recruit.

“We knew he was good,” Pamela Cardona said. “But he didn’t always get the chance to play, either because he had good goalies in front of him or because he was coming off of injury. He had to fight every inch of the way to get between the goalposts and not give up his will to do it.”

Keith Cardona was competing with Tatum, his best friend and one of Virginia’s top high school keepers, and Niedermeier, the No. 4 goalkeeper in the class of 2012. The inconsistent Cardona had no guarantee he’d start come fall.

“Again, he had to fight his way back and get his head where it should be,” Pamela Cardona said. “It was another one of these instances where Keith is not guaranteed the starting spot just because he’s Keith. Keith has to fight for it.”

Something clicked for Cardona in the summer. The light came on, Cirovski said, and Cardona reverted to the form that earned him those crucial starts late last fall.

All three goalkeepers played in the Terps’ first exhibition game at Creighton in August.

A few days later against Penn State, only Tatum and Cardona saw time. And when the Terps took the field Aug. 26 in their season opener against Louisville, Cardona manned the goalposts in a 3-0 victory.

“It was good for him,” Kemp said. “He’s had to persevere and show some mental toughness in that he had to come back and re-earn his spot. It wasn’t a given for him. I think now it’s done nothing but help him.”

Cardona hasn’t relinquished the starting job this season. It hasn’t always been smooth, like when Clemson scored two

second-half goals to snap the Terps’ 13-game winning streak Oct. 27 or when Wake Forest scored four goals to hand the Terps their first loss of the season Nov. 1.

His value can’t solely be measured in statistics, though. He ranks fi fth in the ACC in goals against average (1.02), fifth in shutouts (six) and ninth in save percentage (.655). But Cardona came through when it mattered most — the penalty kick against North Carolina, a late Clemson push in the ACC tournament semifinals, the ACC championship game against the Tar Heels.

“It’s what we need from our goalkeepers,” Cirovski said. “We’re a team that attacks, and we’re going to need our keeper to come up with a save or two in a game to give us a chance to win.”

With the Terps one win from the College Cup and a rematch looming with the team that ended their title aspirations last year, Cardona took a moment Wednesday to reflect on the past year in College Park. It’s been a long time, Cardona said, and things are different.

“I’ve defi nitely grown a lot, and I’ve changed my mentality to just every day what I need to do and to better myself and better the team,” Cardona said. “I’ve definitely bought into this program so much more over the past year than what I thought I would coming in here.”

He shuffled up and down the Terps’ depth chart. He lost his job and had to win it back, all the while realizing that the learning experience would eventually stretch beyond the boundaries of Ludwig Field.

“I think the biggest lesson Keith had to learn was how intensely devoted he had to be to the game in every aspect,” Matthew Cardona said. “He had to grow up over the past year and learn that there was nothing else that could take soccer’s place. And yet, if he didn’t do his best in the other areas of life, in his other endeavors, then soccer wouldn’t matter.”

And Keith Cardona knows it’s still not over yet.

“Nothing’s given here, in life or anywhere,” Cardona said. “You have to take it, and you have to keep it. Even once you’ve taken it, it’s still up for grabs. It’s not yours forever.” sportsdbk@gmail.com

PATRIOTS From PAGE 8 Wildcats finished the night 6-of-25 from three-point range.

Even during the few times the undersized hosts rushed the glass, the 7-foot-1 Len was already hauling in one of his career-high 13 boards.

T he Terps, who a rrived at Welsh-Ryan A rena ranked second nationally in rebound margin, outrebounded Northwestern, 47-19 — 20-9 in the second half.

“We did what coach asked us to do,” Len said. “We just rebounded the ball. I think we did it pretty well at the end of the game.”

T he size adva ntage a lso helped the Terps establish their inside-out game. They registered 30 points in the paint, 12 from beyond the arc and five at the free-throw line during the second half. That means they netted only one shot over the fi nal 20 minutes that wasn’t a layup, a post move or a 3-pointer.

“We were struggling, so we tried to spread them out

SHEPTOCK From PAGE 8 “We have all the redshirts, upperclassmen, starters and nonstarters, so I view it as more of a team event because we all get to bond. It’s pretty cool because we get to watch some of the guys that we usually wouldn’t get to see because they’re redshirting.”

The event features close to 500 wrestlers from more than 30 teams across the nation. The Terps are expected to feature 20 on Sunday, including No. 14 Christian Boley, who is the defending Nittany Lion Open champion at 197 pounds.

“It is the only event where

and use the drive,” Turgeon said. “We’re about insideout. That’s the way our team is built this year.”

Maybe so, but this year’s Te r p s o f fe n s e h a s n’t r u n smoother than it did during Tuesday’s second half. They attacked the rim with ease, created necessary space for ju mpers a nd ta l l ied just four turnovers.

It was a monstrous showing against a previously undefeated team that was fresh o f f a S o u t h P a d re I s l a n d I nv it at ion a l Tou r n a ment championship. Len continued his low-post dominance, Wells muscled his way to a ca reer-h ig h 23 poi nts a nd Howard once again proved he’s capable of r u n n i ng a dynamic offense.

But perhaps the most noteworthy takeaway? It all a rrived i n late November, more than a month before the start of conference play.

“I’ve got a good tea m,” Turgeon said. “We haven’t played like it all year until tonight, but we have good players.” sportsdbk@gmail.com

everyone gets to compete,” coach Kerry McCoy said. “That doesn’t happen very often.”

The Nittany Lion Open is an individual event, so Sunday’s results won’t impact the team’s standing on the national level.

But with Sheptock, Boley and a number of other Terps expected to challenge for individual titles, McCoy knows how critical this weekend will be for the team’s postseason aspirations.

“There is no chance to win a team title,” McCoy said. “But if we can go out there and do well as a team, that lets us know we can compete at a high level for when it does matter.” sportsdbk@gmail.com

TWEET OF THE DAY Katy Dodds @ktdodds Terrapins gymnast

Sports

“Worked out with Juan Dixon today... Pretty sweet. Can’t wait to see his comeback”

MEET YOUR NONCONFRIENDS

For a full breakdown of the Terrapins men’s basketball team’s next opponent, George Mason, visit diamondbackonline.com.

PAGE 8

ON THE BLOG

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2012

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Second half at Northwestern could be blueprint for future Terps will look to repeat success Sunday against George Mason

BY THE NUMBERS

By Connor Letourneau Senior staff writer

Center Alex Len and the Terps dominated Northwestern in the second half Tuesday, turning a two-point halftime lead into a 77-57 victory. The Terps play George Mason on Sunday. photo courtesy of meghan white/the daily northwestern

The Terrapins men’s basketball team’s film sessions can be taxing affairs. Coach Mark Turgeon, after all, has a knack for pointing out players’ most subtle miscues.

But even Turgeon likely struggled to fi nd flaws when he sat down to watch tape from the second half of Tuesday’s 77-57 win at Northwestern. After entering the break nursing a two-point lead, the Terps used suffocating defense and a near-fl awless insideout game to run away with their fourth double-digit victory this month.

“It was almost a perfect second half for us,” said Turgeon, whose Terps will face George Mason on Sunday in the BB&T Classic. “It was a good team win.

They were a confident team, 6-0 when we came in here. We knew it was going to be tough. Didn’t think it would be like this. I was proud of our guys.”

He should be. The Terps shot a blistering 66.7 percent from the field

18

Number of points the Terps outscored Northwestern by in the second half of Tuesday’s 77-57 victory

11

Number of boards the Terps outrebounded Northwestern by in the second half

10

Number of points the Terps’ bench outscored the Wildcats by in the second half

66.7

Percentage of field goals Terps made in the second half against Northwestern

57.1

Percentage of 3-pointers Terps made in the second half in a win over the Wildcats during the second-half display. Big men Alex Len and James Padgett wreaked havoc in the paint, warranting

MEN’S SOCCER

enough defensive attention for guard Logan Aronhalt to hit three wide-open 3-pointers, and point guard Pe’Shon Howard tallied all of his game-high six assists over the final 20 minutes.

It was a dominant stretch, one that could provide an early glimpse of what Turgeon’s squad will accomplish come March. And it only required a few halftime tweaks.

After watching his team record numerous air balls and turnovers in the first half, Turgeon had a simple message for his players at the break: Take care of the ball, slow down and continue to guard. The second-year coach encouraged them to make entry passes right out of transition, a seemingly small adjustment that ultimately paid dividends.

The Terps reeled off a 19-6 run to open the second half, extending their lead to double digits. The Wildcats never recovered. The Terps pressured Northwestern into ill-advised shots early in the shot clock, and the See PATRIOTS, Page 7

WRESTLING

“Nothing’s given here, in life or anywhere. You have to take it, and you have to keep it. Even once you’ve taken it, it’s still up for grabs. It’s not yours forever.”

Sheptock has Open title hopes Terps competing in Nittany Lion Open

By Daniel Popper Staff writer

COMING OF AGE

photo illustration by charlie deboyace/the diamondback

After up-and-down nine months, Keith Cardona proving his worth in goal for Terps

By Daniel Gallen Senior staff writer A hush fell over a hostile Ludwig Field crowd as North Carolina forward Rob Lovejoy set the ball on the penalty spot in the 89th minute. With a low fog rolling across the turf, Terrapins men’s soccer goalkeeper Keith Cardona took his mark on the waterlogged end line.

A goal would end the Terps’ 13-game unbeaten streak. It would unseat the nation’s No. 1 team and give the Tar Heels control of the ACC. On the sideline, coach Sasho Cirovski watched his sophomore goalkeeper face the biggest moment of his time in College Park so far.

In the Ludwig Field stands, Keith’s father, Matthew Cardona, saw a potentially career-defining sequence unfold in what felt like slow motion.

And 230 miles north of College Park, a redclad Pamela Cardona stood in front of the TV and hoped luck rested with her only son.

Keith Cardona guessed the ball would sail to his right. It did. He then saved midfielder Verneri Valimaa’s follow-up shot, forcing overtime in the Terps’ eventual 1-0 win.

It was a seminal moment, Cirovski said. After an up-and-down nine months, Cardona had proven

his worth. He had established himself as a playmaker on one of college soccer’s biggest stages.

But for Cardona, the save meant even more.

It marked his comeback from the brink.

“It definitely was a point of ownership,” said Cardona, who will man the net tomorrow when the Terps host No. 10-seed Louisville in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. “[It was] a point of putting my stamp on that game and my stamp on the program to be this team’s backbone.”

“He’s coming of age,” Cirovski told a throng of media members after the North Carolina game.

“The man is coming of age.”

Late last season, with the Terps stumbling into the NCAA tournament winless in their final four games, Cirovski opted to start Cardona over incumbent starter Will Swaim for their second-round matchup with West Virginia.

Cardona had made just two starts prior to that November night, both of which came against lesser-known programs Adelphi and Seton Hall.

Swaim, meanwhile, was a redshirt senior who seemed to have a stranglehold on the job. But Cirovski felt the Terps needed a change, so he bucked conventional wisdom and threw Cardona into the fire.

“It wa s g reat,” Ca rdon a sa id i n ea rly October. “It’s a notch on my belt. Things didn’t turn out [the way we wanted], but I can say I got those games. At the time, I thought I’d earned them.”

Cardona’s NCAA tournament debut was a success. In his third career start, he needed only one save to shut out the Mountaineers, 4-0. It was the fi rst shutout for the team in more than a month — their last one coming when Cardona blanked Adelphi.

But it all came crashing down the next weekend. Louisville defeated the Terps, 4-2, at Ludwig Field in the third round and ended a season that was seemingly charmed after one of the best starts in program history. For the third straight year, Cirovski’s squad would have to watch the College Cup from home.

There was reason for optimism, though. The Terps would return key upperclassmen such as defenders Taylor Kemp and London Woodberry, midfielder John Stertzer and forward Patrick Mullins. And Cardona, after getting his feet wet in big games, would return too.

Despite Cardona’s vital postseason experience, See CARDONA, Page 7

At this time last year, Jimmy Sheptock was an unranked redshirt sophomore simply looking to make a name for himself.

And in the Nittany Lion Open, he did just that. The Terrapins wrestler defeated The Citadel’s No. 12-ranked Turtogtokh Luvsandorj and advanced to the finals at 174 pounds, shaking up the entire bracket.

Sheptock will again look to make some national noise in University Park, Pa., on Sunday. Only he won’t be the underdog at this year’s Nittany Lion Open; he’ll be one of the favorites.

The Northampton, Pa., native enters the competition ranked No. 10 at 184 pounds. His biggest challenger? Penn State’s No. 1-ranked and defending national champion Ed Ruth, the same wrestler Sheptock lost to in last year’s final.

“Obviously he is the national champion so I have to bring my ‘A’ game, but I don’t think there’s anyone in my weight class I can’t beat,” Sheptock said. “Regardless of the outcome, I think I will take something away for the end of the season.”

The weekend isn’t just about his individual success, though. The No. 16 Terps will bring the entirety of their roster to Penn State this weekend, something Sheptock views as critical to the squad’s team-building.

“We bring the whole team,” he said.

See SHEPTOCK, Page 7

Jimmy Sheptock enters the Nittany Lion Open as the No. 10ranked wrestler at 184 pounds. charlie deboyace/the diamondback