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HOUSE PROTECTED

MORE BAD BLOOD

Terps win fifth straight ACCBig Ten Challenge home game

Punisher: War Zone marks the second failed Punisher adaptation in four years

SPORTS | PAGE 10

DIVERSIONS | PAGE 7

THE DIAMONDBACK THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008

Council: No easy fix to pedestrian safety State Highway official says lasting solution could be years away

BY BRADY HOLT Senior staff writer

City and state officials agree pedestrian safety on Route 1 needs to be improved.

What they can’t agree on is a solution.

Even if they could, preliminary steps to solve the problem would be months away. A traffic sign warning drivers to stop for pedestrians would take months to install, a State Highway Administration traffic engineer told the council Tuesday night. According to the SHA, upgraded signals that count down the time remaining to cross an intersection, such as those in Washington, would take eight years to make their way to College Park.

The traffic signs would remind motorists that state law requires them to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, similar to those posted on the campus.

District 3 Councilwoman Stephanie Stullich, who invited Anyesha Mookherjee, the SHA engineer, to the council meeting, is pushing for such signs at three major Route 1 intersections downtown. Stullich considers the intersections of Route 1 with Knox Road, Hartwick Road and College Avenue the city’s three most dangerous.

“A lot of cars drive down Route 1 like it’s a highway, but we also have people who are trying to cross the street,” Stullich said. “I know I’ve had some near misses myself.”

99TH YEAR | ISSUE NO. 66

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Annapolis focus of SGA next semester

FORWARD-LOOKING

fashion

Sweatshop-free fashion show takes stage in Stamp

In address last night, Sachs says increased advocacy is critical

BY ALLISON STICE Staff writer

The catwalk lit up last night as student models strutted their stuff down the runway. But forget Gucci, Marc Jacobs and Chanel — the latest couture on display at this fashion show was completely hand-me-down.

Feminism Without Borders enlisted the Echelon Fashion Society and the recently formed Fashion Business Society to promote sweatshopfree fashion at the Colony Ballroom in the Stamp Student Union last night. The fashion show was part of FWB’s three-year-long campaign to get

BY MICHAEL LEMAIRE Staff writer

SGA President Jonathan Sachs urged legislators to avoid complacency in his State of the SGA address last night, saying advocacy from all members of the group will be critical to resolving long-standing issues, including high tuition and textbook prices, in Annapolis next semester.

In his speech, Sachs lingered only briefly on the accomplishments of the Student Government Association at the middle point of his term, instead choosing to lay out his plan

Please See FASHION, Page 2 To view a slideshow of last night’s fashion show, visit: WWW.DIAMONDBACKONLINE.COM

Please See ADDRESS, Page 3

Student Government Association President Jonathan Sachs spoke last night to legislators about his goals for next semester. VINCE

Please See PEDESTRIAN, Page 2

SALAMONE/FOR THE DIAMONDBACK PHOTOS BY MATT CREGER

ELECTION 2008

London calling

Student impact on policy unclear After historic win, students still confident Obama will deliver ber them and their needs.

According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, a national research organization that focuses on the civic engagement patterns of young people, voter turnout among the 18- to 29-yearold demographic was substantially higher this year than in past elections. At the university, turnout was about 130 percent higher.

Many students said issues were a

BY MARISSA LANG Staff writer

Despite major increases in voter turnout among young people, college students and experts say it remains to be seen whether their top priorities, such as the economy and higher education, will be high on President-elect Barack Obama’s (D) agenda.

One month after Obama’s historic election to the highest office in the country, most students say they are still confident Obama will remem-

Field hockey star senior Susie Rowe is headed back to England with a third title in hand

BY MICHAEL KATZ Staff writer

Susie Rowe was joined by her Terrapin field hockey teammates at midfield on the Trager Stadium turf in Louisville, Ky., her wide eyes transfixed by the newly acquired national championship trophy.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, the London native’s family had a gathering of their own, their eyes fixed on the household computer screen.

As her teammates dispersed, finding their parents in the crowd, Rowe found her cell phone.

“I just called [my family] outside, and they were singing on the phone, some champions song,” Rowe said through a slightly bemused smile.

“They’re all wearing their Maryland stuff at home in London, huddled around the computer.”

Soon, the family will celebrate in person.

Please See OBAMA, Page 3

BARACK OBAMA PRESIDENT-ELECT

SGA rejects change to VP elections Controversial amendment would elect all executives from one slate

BY MICHAEL LEMAIRE Staff writer

A controversial amendment to the proposed SGA election rules was overwhelmingly rejected last night, with one top SGA official feeling the amendment was an attack on her performance.

The amendment, proposed by Student Government Association Denton Community Legislator Andrew Steinberg, would have changed the election rules to make it so that when

TOMORROW’S WEATHER:

a president is elected, all three of his vice presidential picks are automatically elected, as well.

SGA Senior Vice President Joanna Calabrese, the only executive not elected from the Students Party, not only disagreed with the amendment on principle, but said she also felt it was directed at her.

“I can understand their reasoning; I agree that it’s important to work with people that you are comfortable with,” Calabrese said. “But real leaders work together around a common

Sunny/30s

goal despite different ideologies. If you are good leader, then you can work with anyone.

“But it’s hard for me not to interpret it as the reason behind its creation was that these individuals have observed the process and disagreed with how it is run,” she added.

Calabrese, who ran on the HOUSE Party ticket and defeated Students Party candidate Wanika Fisher last spring, also made it clear she was

INDEX

Please See ROWE, Page 9

Please See AMENDMENT, Page 2 NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 CLASSIFIED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

DIVERSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . .7 SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

www.diamondbackonline.com

2

THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008

TODAY

WE WANT YOU Story ideas? News tips?

E-mail them to The Diamondback at newsdesk.dbk@gmail.com MONDAY | NEWSMAKERS

BEST of the BLOGS

All good things must come to an end...

Eric Detweiler With 1:14 remaining in the first half of today’s Terp football game against Boston College, it finally happened.

Quarterback Chris Turner, the giant slayer who has led the Terps to 6 straight wins against ranked opponents, finally threw his first interception against a ranked foe. It came on his 187th pass against a ranked team.

Turner was under pressure and tossed a pass to the right sideline that linebacker Mark Herzlich turned into a diving interception.

On the next play, Boston College quarterback Dominique Davis threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Rich Gunnell to give the Eagles their current 147 halftime advantage.

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON TERRAPINTRAIL.COM —Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008

BRIEFS Four men rob Bank of America in Laurel LAUREL – Prince George’s County police say four men armed with semiautomatic weapons have robbed a bank in Laurel.

Police spokesman Cpl. Stephen Pacheco said four men dressed in dark clothing and carrying assault rifles entered the Bank of America on Montrose Avenue around 10:30 a.m.

Wednesday and took an unknown amount of money.

Pacheco said the men fled in a Jeep and added a bank security guard fired his weapon, hitting the vehicle.

A short time later, Pacheco said witnesses told police the suspects switched to another car.

Dog neglect leads to loss of $372.50 FREDERICK – A Jefferson man who failed to take care of his elderly mother’s dog has been ordered to pay restitution for the dog’s care.

Frederick County District Court Judge Oliver John Cejka Jr. granted 39-year-old Thomas Craven probation before judgment last week and ordered him to pay $315 in restitution for the dog’s medical care while she was impounded and court costs. Cejka placed Craven on three years of unsupervised probation and suspended a $500 fine on an animal cruelty charge.

@M

ARYLAND

TUESDAY | OVERHEARD

MARYLAND PLAYBACK ENSEMBLE WORKSHOP AND PERFORMANCE

American vets from the WWII generation tell tales of how they survived the battles in the Pacific, 7 p.m., Stamp Student Union: Hoff Theater

The workshop will teach the basics of Playback. All are welcome, 6:30 p.m, Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center: Lab Theatre

WEDNESDAY | Q + A

THURSDAY | BEST of the BLOGS

FRIDAY | SCENE + HEARD

Stullich: ‘I know I’ve had Show’s ’60s some near misses myself’ theme stems PEDESTRIAN, from Page 1 But Mookherjee said with the clutter downtown, the signs could merely obstruct sidewalks and the views of drivers and pedestrians without improving safety.

The solution the council appeared the closest to embracing was to increase fines and enforcement, which is among the quickest ways to make drivers obey the law.

District 2 Councilman Jack Perry suggested the city push for a $600 fine for not yielding to a pedestrian at a crosswalk, and Stullich said the city might also want to consider cracking

down on jaywalking pedestrians.

Additionally, other council members called for more crosswalks north of downtown, where jaywalking is commonly substituted for the legal alternative of walking half a mile or more to a marked intersection.

“Obviously, we have a lot of need all up and down the corridor,” Mayor Stephen Brayman said. “We have a lot of pedestrians, and we’ve got thousands of student beds going in north of [downtown]. A lot of them will venture out onto Route 1.”

The city is asking for a new collection of signs, crosswalks and stoplights up and down

Route 1 as what Brayman described as a stopgap “piecemeal approach” while it waits for the long-delayed rebuilding of the highway.

Brayman said he wanted to be sure that anything SHA provided the city would be top-ofthe-line, unlike some other projects in Prince George’s County.

“Look at bridges — everyone else ... gets those great stone ones, and we get these rusted things,” he said. “Other areas are just better-equipped for you to deliver higher-end things ... and we’re not going to settle for anything less than the best.” holtdbk@gmail.com

Motion not meant for Calabrese, Sachs says AMENDMENT, from Page 1 upset that she had not been told about the amendment and blamed it on miscommunication.

“It’s not uncommon that amendments show up on the spot,” Calabrese said. “But with this one, I wish I had known about it so I could have a chance to weigh in.”

Her displeasure stems from the practice that members of the executive board are not allowed to debate unless they are yielded time from members of the legislature, Calabrese said.

Steinberg was quick to make it clear during the debate that he had no issue with Calabrese.

“I think Joanna has done a fantastic job, and I wouldn’t change it if I had the chance,” Steinberg said during the meeting. “I just think this would give the SGA the opportunity to all start on the same page.”

SGA President Jonathan Sachs announced his support for the amendment early in the meeting,

“I want to make it very clear that it has nothing to do with Joanna or anything she has done this year.”

JONATHAN SACHS SGA PRESIDENT

but said afterward his support had nothing to do with Calabrese’s work within the SGA. “I think that Joanna is a great, great leader, and I enjoy working with her,” Sachs said. “What it was meant for was each SGA has only one year and it needs to be running on full cylinders just like it is this year, and as someone who cares deeply about the student body and student representation, I want to make sure that every SGA has a chance to maximize their year.

VOTING VICTORY

– Compiled from wire reports

CORRECTION Yesterday’s story, “Robbery increase sparks police outreach” incorrectly stated the nature of increased crimes in both the headline and the photo cutline on the front page. Burglaries through Nov. 30 have increased 54 percent, compared with all of last year.

FREE FILM SCREENING: WINGS OF DEFEAT

State Senate President Mike Miller shakes hands with representatives of Hagerstown Hall after presenting them with the Jane Brown Cup during halftime of the basketball game. JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

“I want to make it very clear that it has nothing to do with Joanna or anything she has done this year,” he added.

Sachs pointed to the fact that he appointed Sumia Ahmad, who was also in the HOUSE Party, to be director of student groups, a position Sachs characterized as “contentious.”

Engineering Legislator Kate Bodner was one of the members of the legislature who voiced her opposition. She said she could understand why Calabrese was upset, but added she didn’t think the amendment was intended for Calabrese.

“I don’t know how Wanika Fisher would have done, but personally, Joanna has exceeded any expectation I had. She has been amazing,” Bodner said. “I have no doubt in my mind that this has nothing to do with Joanna; I can’t think of anyone in SGA who doesn’t like what she has done so far.” lemairedbk@gmail.com

from era protests FASHION, from Page 1

the university to sign on to the Designated Suppliers Program, an agreement that would require fair working conditions and pay in factories that make university apparel.

“Last year, what the campaign was lacking was a broad base of student support, so we’re trying to get other people involved and make people more aware of it in a fun way,” FWB member Liz Ciavolino, a sophomore music major, said. “And clothing is really our thing, since the campaign deals with the issue of sweatshop apparel.”

The show was divided into three parts, whose hippie, romance and rock themes grew out of a vision of ’60s and ’70s protesters, FBS Vice President Linley Cohen said.

The runway stretched through a semi-circle of chairs packed with more than 100 students as songs from Bob Marley and Fall Out Boy blared on the speakers.

Organizers scoured area thrift stores for weeks to find the perfect outfits, opting against the limited choices from guaranteed sweatshop-free websites.

Female models sauntered down the runway in gauzy dresses and tight pencil skirts, including several designs from Echelon President Amanda Uduka.

Male models wore plaid and went bare-chested beneath leather jackets.

On the final lap, models

carried picket signs that read “Students Against Sweatshops” and “Fair Labor.”

“Although it’s possible that the thrift store clothes were once made in a sweatshop, buying secondhand is taking a stand against big corporations and companies,” Cohen said. “Basically, the only way to know if what you’re wearing isn’t made in a sweatshop is if it’s from a guaranteed website, if you buy it from the designer or if it’s handmade.”

Licensing director Joe Ebaugh, a former North Face executive, stands behind the university’s membership with the Fair Labor Association, a nonprofit that monitors factory conditions. FWB members say the organization is monopolized by corporations and has failed to promote workers’ rights as evidenced by the recent firing of 145 workers for unionizing at the Jerzees de Honduras factory, where university apparel is made. The DSP would harness the university’s licensing power to force companies such as Nike and Under Armour to twoyear contracts with a fair labor factory. “[The fashion show] is a good way to get the word out,” said senior psychology and criminology major Lezley Grace. “A lot of people don’t know that their Maryland clothes could come from sweatshops.” sticedbk@gmail.com

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 | NEWS | THE DIAMONDBACK

3

Sachs: Goals for spring ‘realistic’ ADDRESS, from Page 1 for the future and motivate his colleagues to continue to work hard throughout the second semester.

“I am not a big believer in looking to the past, and that was the hardest part of the speech for me to write,” Sachs explained after the address. “But we know what’s happened, it’s all about where we are going and what we can do with what we have left.”

Sachs harped on the need for

the SGA members to continue to reach out to members of the university community, and the need for a larger, more comprehensive advocacy plan. He backed the idea up by promising to contribute $15,000 toward the creation of a new program that, according to Sachs, will help to mobilize students toward making a difference. He pointed to high textbook prices as an issue that can only be solved with a strong student voice.

“The opportunity to build this

force is perfect,” Sachs stressed.

“It’s crucial that we find ways for students to help.”

The plan to mobilize students focused on reaching out to the university’s new voters and having an increased presence in Annapolis and Washington. Sachs said he would provide grants to student groups looking to lobby in Annapolis.

He also proposed a “Spring Fling,” which would bring Art Attack, Maryland Day and other campus-wide events into a single

week. Sachs said a community service component could also be built into the week-long celebration that calls on students to harness their skills in ways that benefit the community — for example, education majors could tutor at local schools.

While past SGA presidents have pushed state legislators to make pro-student decisions, such as agreeing to fund a tuition freeze, a $1 billion state deficit could make officials more hesitant to approve such a costly

measure this year.

Sachs acknowledged all of his ideas would require hard work from the SGA and cooperation with other student groups. Working together, he said, is “100% crucial to the success of the programs.”

His goals for next semester are not insurmountable, he added.

“It’s completely realistic; I have been working toward this; there is nothing in there that we won’t accomplish,” Sachs said after the speech. “The Spring Fling is already being worked on, the advocacy efforts are going good. This is all here; this is all happening.”

The only success from this semester Sachs mentioned was reg-

istering voters and getting them to the poll for the presidential election.

“We challenged you all to get out the vote,” Sachs said. “We moved thousands of students to the polls — we did it.”

After applauding the members of the legislature for their work thus far, Sachs urged them to step up and fulfill their obligations as members of the SGA. “It’s time for us to be leaders,” Sachs said during the meeting.

“It’s time for us to do what we promised to do in the beginning.

We all need to make sacrifices, but I believe in you.” lemairedbk@gmail.com

Obama aims to simplify FAFSA process OBAMA, from Page 1 main reason young people supported Obama, citing the economy and Obama’s clear higher education policies as attractive to young voters, and hope their importance rings true in his new administration.

“The economy is a huge issue,” College Republicans President Chris Banerjee said. “This election was about the economy. College tuition costs and the job market are really important for students, and Obama knows people are expecting him to do something about that.”

The main features of Obama’s higher education plan are creating a fully refundable tax credit that will ensure the first $4,000 of a college education is “completely free for most Americans,” as long as they complete 100 hours of community service per year, according to Obama’s website. He would also overhaul the Free Application for Student Financial Aid, which would be replaced by a checkbox on tax forms.

With the cost of higher education on the rise and the economy now officially in a recession, students said the overhaul of FAFSA and creating an opportunity for college students to trade in community service for tuition credit is not only welcome, but long overdue.

“I’ve always thought the FAFSA was kind of BS,” senior kinesiology major Sarah Easterwood said. “But it’s so tough to get a job without a college degree, and with the way the economy is right now, you can’t get a loan on your own, and no one wants to cosign. It would be awesome if [Obama] really instates that

President-elect Barack Obama (D) visited the campus earlier this year, speaking at the Comcast Center, above, to the very youth that would help get him elected. ADAM FRIED/THE DIAMONDBACK

program where you can trade in community service hours for money that would go toward your education. I’d definitely do it.”

University officials said that though neither of these policies would completely change the financial aid system, it would help lessen processing costs for universities by decreasing the amount of paperwork and the number of middle-men. “[If Obama were to eliminate FAFSA], the Department of Education would have to match the income information with the IRS or use the tax return solely as a measure of wealth,” Director of Student Financial Aid Sarah Bauder said, adding that the Department of Education has been writing up a proposal for a simplified FAFSA that would reduce the number of questions about household income from 37 to

two. “The goal is to provide a form, which would be less complicated and, ultimately, provide access to low-income students.”

Financial experts echoed the sentiment that while Obama’s plan would not revolutionize the financial aid system, it would be a step in the right direction — provided he sticks to his campaign promises.

“The best way to make college more affordable is to increase grant aid and other types of aid that don’t need to be repaid,” said Edie Irons, communications director for The Project on Student Debt.

“As long as there’s no fine print and Obama can offer students that option, it would be a very important piece of the puzzle. Student loans are a fact of life for two-thirds of college students.”

But experts said a onetime political outpour from

young voters may not be enough to gain the necessary clout to hold Obama to these promises, and that they would need to stay involved if they want the high youth turnout for the election to look like more than a sporadic whim.

“AARP is one of Washington’s most powerful lobbies because you can reliably count on people over the age of 60 to vote in every election, consistently,” TerpsVote coordinator Devin Ellis said.

“Until the 18- to 29-year-olds prove that they are a real voting bloc and not just a onetime outing, it’s going to be more difficult to have the same influence. More than anything, this election was a wakeup call. It is very significant, and it could be the first part in terms of things to come.” langdbk@gmail.com

A month after election, political groups move on College Democrats, Republicans focus on events, issues for spring semester

BY ANNA KOWALCZYK Staff writer

A month after the respective euphoria and disappointment of election night, the College Democrats and Republicans are shifting their focus from getting their candidates into office to promoting their stances on issues.

“There is not much we can do politically now,” College Republicans President Christopher Banerjee said.

College Democrats will focus on campus- and higher education-related issues, such as textbook and tuition affordability, as well as social issues, such as anti-racism and gay rights. Meanwhile, the College Republicans are focusing largely on national

issues, such as abortion and gun rights.

Because their party had a successful election, College Democrats hope to hold forums and lectures to gather support and foster awareness of university-based issues, College Democrats Vice President Amy Hartman said.

Two weeks after the election, the club hosted College Park Del. Benjamin Barnes (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s), and members have a number of plans for the spring semester. The group will hold forums about the passage of Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California and other states, with Equality Maryland and on racism and civil

rights with the Black Student Union and the university’s NAACP chapter. The College Democrats also hope to invite a CNN reporter for a lecture, which Hartman said would be the highlight of the semester.

Meanwhile, Banerjee, a junior government and politics major, said College Republicans are planning “to defend conservative ideals and to raise awareness of important issues” as they await the 2010 elections.

Rather than deciding on specific issues to tackle, the Republicans will react to issues as they arise, Banerjee said, and will probably explain conservative perspectives through pamphlets and

speakers.

The group also reserved some of its funding for trips to Washington to speak to Republican and Democratic representatives about the issues important to young voters, Banerjee added.

While spreading conservative ideas, College Republicans also hope to discuss new ideas for how the party should be rebuilt for the future, after setbacks in two consecutive national election years.

Banerjee has tentatively planned a state conference with other College Republican chapters and possibly state representatives to focus on the future of the party. kowalczykdbk@gmail.com

Junior neuroscience and physiology major Francis Bustos contributes to the vigil for the victims of the Mumbai attacks by lighting a candle of his own. VINCE SALAMONE/FOR THE DIAMONDBACK

‘Stay calm and pray for peace’ Students unite at vigil on McKeldin Mall after terrorist attacks in Mumbai

BY KYLE GOON Staff writer

More than 150 students stood silently on either side of the Omicron Delta Kappa reflecting pool on McKeldin Mall at 8:12 p.m. yesterday, holding lit candles and honoring the victims of the attacks in Mumbai, India, last week.

The Indian Students Association and other student groups sponsored a vigil for university community members to mourn or simply show support for those killed and wounded in the terrorist attacks.

The vigil comes after one held Monday by the Student Council of India, a graduate students’ group.

Braving the chilly temperature, many came out to the short ceremony, which ISA co-president and junior government and politics major Rahguv Murali said was intentionally kept simple.

“We wanted to do something for all the undergraduates,” he said.

“This event shows we care about the community — not just the Indian community, because we aren’t the only ones affected. We wanted to do something to bring everyone together in tough times.”

People gathered at 8 p.m. and lined the pool. ISA members handed out white tea candles, as white represents the Indian color for mourning. Several people spoke, including Satindar Bhagat, a physics professor and president for the Association for India’s Development.

Bhagat called for students to meditate on what they could do to stop

future violence.

“Stay calm and pray for peace,” he said. “We all need to do what we can in our own small way to make sure this never happens again.”

ISA freshman executive, event organizer and finance major Simran Shah said her family in Mumbai knew at least seven people killed in the attacks, and many more wounded. However, she said the horrific events of last week have made Indians and others unify and take threats more seriously.

“India is the most resilient country in the world, I believe,” she said.

“She meets obstacles and overcomes them. We want to make sure this time we actually do something about it to prevent future attacks.”

After a few more minutes of silence, a cappella group Anokha led the crowd in singing the Indian national anthem. Senior civil engineering major Anjuli Bakhru, who is a member of vigil co-sponsor Kappa Phi Gamma, said the event was an ideal way for university members to stand together. “[The vigil] provides an outlet for people with affected family or other loved ones, or just anyone who cares,” Bakhru said. “Even just showing up is showing support.”

Earlier media reports had identified Alan Scherr, a victim of the attacks, as a university professor. Scherr worked at University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He was not a professor at this university. goondbk@gmail.com

4

THE DIAMONDBACK | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008

Opinion

THE DIAMONDBACK

STEVEN OVERLY

YOUR INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK PHONE: (301) 314-8200 | FAX: (301) 314-8358

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MARDY SHUALY

OPINION EDITOR

OPINION EDITOR

Staff Editorial

Guest Column

A national problem

A mistaken satiric play

I

f you feel like the cost of college is becoming (or already is) pro- lege is unaffordable here, and its unaffordable across the nation.

On July 2, 1862, former President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill hibitively expensive, you aren’t alone. A national report conducted by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education Land Grant Act into law. The law recognized the United States’ need for found the price of college tuition and fees increased 439 percent advanced agricultural science, at the time a vital part of the country’s econfrom 1982 to 2007, while the median family income increased only 147 omy. Accordingly, it provided for the creation of most of today’s top public universities, including this one. percent over the same period.

We find ourselves in a similar situation today. It is uniThe report, Measuring Up 2008, analyzes and ranks the versally recognized that the United States is competing in a relative strengths and weaknesses of higher education in global economy. It is no longer enough to have an elite every state and against countries around the world. group of the best and brightest; the jobs that don’t require According to its findings, this state has one of the Tuition affordability is a advanced education are increasingly outsourced overseas. strongest profiles in the country, in many respects. For national problem that To compete in the global marketplace, Americans need example, Maryland has one of the highest percentages of residents with a bachelor’s degree, and strong prepara- requires a national solution. access to higher education. Right now, they don’t have it.

This is not a Maryland problem or a North Carolina tion of young people for college — the state is No. 1 in stuproblem or a Michigan problem — it is an American problem. And a national dent performance on Advanced Placement tests.

But Maryland is rated as an unmitigated failure in affordability, alongside problem requires a national solution. President-elect Barack Obama (D) 48 other states that receive Fs in the category; California squeaks by with a campaigned on the “American Opportunity Tax Credit,” which offers $4,000 C-, the only passing grade. A New York Times headline starkly sums up the toward tuition costs. That amount only dents college costs that have risen finding: “Higher Education May Soon Be Unaffordable for Most Americans, more than 400 percent — it is a step in the right direction, but it will take Report Says.” The message is clear: Despite our state’s academic strides, col- more than a tax credit to make this the land of opportunity.

Our View

Editorial Cartoon: Mike O’Brien

Class feedback: Fear not the question

T

his past weekend, I got an email from a professor who “had some questions” about something I’d turned in and wanted to meet with me. The first thing I thought of was what I must have done wrong. I went through my list: Was it turned in on time? Was it long enough?

Was it the wrong topic? I sent back an email that began “Uh oh” and didn’t really get any better from there. Then I paused and thought about it for a second.

Why is it that the scariest thing to hear from professors is that they have “questions?” After all, they’re part of an educational institution, questions should be fundamental to what we’re doing here. Yet both sides of the classroom have come to see questions as somewhat of an indication of failure.

Consider my example. I was frightened because I knew that if I had done a good job, no one would ask me questions. If I turned in an excellent essay

MALCOLM

HARRIS

on a topic that interested my professor, she or he wouldn’t e-mail me and ask me to talk over a few questions. Instead, I’d get an A, some corrections here or there and — if I’m lucky — a pen smiley face.

Every semester, professors have a certain amount of material to cover. To get through it they make lesson plans, and this doesn’t necessarily leave a lot of time for extended series of questions that just happen to come up. Sure, Astudents can go visit office hours and get some time asking and answering questions, but not too many do. It’s because office hours are usually framed

differently. Professors announce that anyone having trouble with an essay should visit them during office hours.

Office hours are where you go when professors have questions. What professors don’t request are students who aren’t falling behind to visit them before or after class.

I blame grades. Grades allow professors to tell us how our papers are without actually telling us anything. Even worse, they allow students with high grades to think they don’t have any more thinking to do on the topic. If someone gets an A+ on a paper, what are they supposed to think? Certainly he or she could have done better, so a capped, linear system of grades makes no sense. An A+ means the professor thinks you did the best possible job someone could have reasonably expected from you. Rarely do students get questions for doing a good job.

It seems to me it should be the opposite. The better a paper is, the more a

professor should want to talk about it.

I’m not talking about students needing more congratulations; I mean they need to get their ideas smacked around a little bit. Ever since Socrates, we’ve considered the process of questioning a valuable part of learning. I don’t mean exam questions or being asked to summarize a reading. Far-reaching inquiries that challenge students’ thoughts even after they’ve given an answer would help learning across the board. Try and answer essays with more than one letter. And students should take responsibility for their own education and ask professors questions that serve not only to clarify, but to delve deeper into the material. Maybe someday, I’ll be able to respond “Great” when a professor has some questions.

Malcolm Harris is a sophomore English and government and politics major. He can be reached at harrisdbk@gmail.com.

Slots: Not for Maryland’s future

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or Maryland For Our Future sure sounds like the name of an organization I would want to donate to. But don’t be fooled — they weren’t collecting money for puppies or children. It was the campaign committee that led to slots becoming legal in the state on Election Day. And after looking over the donor list, it’s just a little hard to believe any of these organizations or people actually care about people living in this state.

Last month, Maryland citizens voted to merge gargantuan business interests with the state government by approving a constitutional amendment to allow 15,000 slot machines at five locations around the state. The slots referendum passed with 59 percent voting in favor. But like gambling empires in general, there was little honesty and no ethics in the campaign they ran.

As I’ve argued in a previous column, I support slots in theory, but bid-

ding for licenses should be competitive. Real competition would mean bars, gas stations and restaurants getting a crack at this cash cow, too.

For Maryland For Our Future claimed the slots referendum has been called “one of the most taxpayer-friendly proposals in the nation.” You know what other legislation is taxpayer friendly? Cutting taxes!

Opening five casinos and gagging new companies from competing in the future is certainly not about encouraging economic development in the state. And that’s just what the referendum does. No new casinos will be allowed without yet another constitutional amendment; the first one took more than 10 years to pass.

For Maryland For Our Future worked its hardest to convince the state that without this exact slots bill, the entire population would be screwed. But in reality, only the government would have been screwed, not the people. The government

NATHAN

COHEN

would simply have had to cut some programs.

But with more than $5.5 million of the $7 million that For Maryland For Our Future raised from companies and investors looking to make a buck off the backs of slots users, it’s not surprising that they used unethical tactics to get their referendum bill passed. The average donation to the organization was more than $112,000.

Penn National Gaming donated $2 million to the campaign committee.

The Nevada-based Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers donated $100,000. Are they really concerned with the future of Maryland’s school system that the money

from slots will supposedly go to?

It sounds to me like these special interests have the government by the balls.

I feel almost inclined to applaud slots opponents. While Marylanders United to Stop Slots only raised about $950,000, its donor list is more than seven times as long as For Maryland For Our Future’s. Their campaign was virtuous, even if misguided.

The anti-slots money probably came from churches, parents and small businesses trying to protect their communities from the social ills that gambling may bring. A Baltimore-based production company donated $300,000. The pro-slots money came from gaming companies, the horse-racing industry and energy companies.

Who do you think really cared about our future?

Nathan Cohen is a junior economics and journalism major. He can be reached at cohendbk@gmail.com.

POLICY: The signed letters, columns and cartoon represent only 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.

MICHAEL SALTZMAN In the Nov. 26 edition of The Diamondback, Gabrielle Szlenkier labeled the Weekday Players’ production of Polish Joke by David Ives (performed Nov. 24 in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center) offensive and misguided. As the director of Polish Joke, I would like to start by saying that I was saddened to see that someone had been so negatively affected on such a personal level by our play. While it is inevitable with any artistic endeavor that some people will be offended, it was not my goal to do so. That said, with all respect to Szlenkier’s personal sensibilities, I have to say she has seriously misjudged our production and misinterpreted the play.

At the core of this play is the idea that lead character Jasiu views everyone including himself through a distinctly American, and thus very prejudiced, lens. Ethnicity is seen as a kind of curse, something to be tossed off, hidden or cured in the world of the play. We spent the first week of rehearsal discussing Polish culture and how our own ethnic identities influenced our lives, and that work played a key role throughout the rehearsal process. While Szlenkier understands the basic idea of the play — that Jasiu is running from himself — she seems to miss the point that it is an entirely satirical work. The purpose of the play is not to expose the audience to real Polish culture; the purpose is to explore and criticize the way we internalize and view ethnicity in the United States.

Ives invents fake Polish customs and provides his own pronunciation for every Polish word and phrase in the play. Although there are always multiple ways of approaching a show, it is my strong feeling that the Polish characters are meant to be presented the way Jasiu views them, not how they actually are. Szlenkier makes the absurd assertion that our cast “nailed” an Irish accent and an alleged Italian accent (I am completely confused as to what she is talking about) without even noting the New York Jewish accents in the play.

In fact, the Irish characters sounded like a Lucky Charms commercial and the Jewish characters sounded like stock characters from Fiddler on the Roof. We may have butchered many Polish words and phrases, but we also took the cleaver to the Gaelic, Yiddish and Latin in the play. All of this is because this is how the main character has absorbed the world around him. The laughs of the play don’t come from making fun of language or custom; they come from making fun of the ridiculous way Jasiu’s ethnic anxiety has caused him to view the world.

I also think it’s important to note this production was an entirely student-run endeavor and intended to be a learning experience for everyone involved. Satire is incredibly hard to perform effectively, and if our concept for the show wasn’t properly communicated to Szlenkier or any other audience member, then I do indeed take that as a failure on my part. However, the cast and crew put in an immense amount of effort that cannot be shortchanged. I think Szlenkier ought to recognize that our budget and the four weeks of irregular, short rehearsals are not enough to meet the kind of production values she would like to see. Dozens of audience members, including many of Polish origin, expressed that they found the production entertaining and funny, but also meaningful. I am sorry the message of the play was lost on Szlenkier, but it was not lost on everyone.

Michael Saltzman is a junior theater major. He can be reached at misaltzman@gmail.com.

AIR YOUR VIEWS Address your letters or guest columns to the Opinion Desk at opinion.dbk@gmail.com. All letters and guest columns must be signed. Include your full name, year, major and day- and nighttime phone numbers. Please limit letters to 300 words. Please limit guest columns to 600 words.

Submission of a letter or guest column constitutes an exclusive, worldwide, transferable license to The Diamondback of the copyright in the material in any media. The Diamondback retains the right to edit submissions for content and length.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 | THE DIAMONDBACK

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Features HOROSCOPESTELLA WILDER

CROSSWORD Zoo denizen Farewell Cafe au — Egyptian sun god Send payment Pods for stews Doctrines Emerson opus

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Previous Day’s Puzzle Solved:

TODAY’S CROSSWORD SPONSORED BY:

B U N D T J A V A K I C K

UG MO AG H O PO ED N I EN R S L A T C A K I S

T I T OA AN S S I SH O B I A S T T H E S

I N E R T I A

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You do know how to work hard — harder than most, in fact — but you must be deeply interested by the task at hand if you’re to devote your precious time and energy to it. You never go about anything in a part-time manner; when you devote yourself to something, you do so fully.

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orn today, you don’t like to spend a great deal of time doing things merely to get by, for you prefer to indulge your creativity, imagination and originality far more than that.

It’s likely that you will have more than your share of financial difficulty in your lifetime as a result, but, with each episode, you will learn more about what you need to do to avoid the next one — and, eventually, you’ll find a way to live your life your way without going broke.

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Also born on this date are: Tyra Banks, model; Marisa Tomei, actress; Wassily Kandinsky, painter; Jeff Bridges, actor.

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.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — Don’t get cocky or smug. You don’t want to give anyone the wrong idea, particularly when making a first impression.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — Don’t be rash. You must accept what comes, and be willing to give everything a fair trial.

Keep your emotions in check.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) — Keep your eyes and ears open for messages that may not concern you directly, but that will affect you in subtle ways throughout the day.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — Focus your attention on business issues raised by others. It is important that you learn as much as possible — as quickly as possible.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) — Something you feel that you desperately need is indeed within reach — though all indications may tell you otherwise at first.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — It is essential that you watch and listen to those around you. All will appreciate your sensitivity.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — It will be up to you to stabilize an otherwise rocky family situation. Sensitivity and understanding can win you the results you seek.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — Be sure you’re laughing as hard as everyone else when all is revealed, for you’re likely to be the butt of your own joke.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — This day may provide an unforeseen romantic opportunity — and you’ll want to be ready for it when it comes. A renewal is in the offing.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — Concentrate on family obligations. You may have to leave work early in order to grant someone close to you a special favor.

Copyright 2008 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

TODAY’S HOROSCOPE SPONSORED BY:

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5 SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — You may have to rush about in order to make an important appointment during the evening hours. Don’t lose control, however.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Concentrate on those issues you know will arise in the near future. Anticipation is the key to success now and in the future.

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DOWN 1 Desk furnishing 2 Ess molding 3 Watch over 4 Wobbly, say 5 Banal 6 Possesses 7 Oops! (hyph.)

8 Mutiny 9 Kind of drum 10 Memory unit 11 Encumbrance 12 Mimics 13 Female lobster 22 Computer guru 24 Tall ship’s features 26 Maurice’s thanks 27 Robot 28 Brown lightly 30 Polite word 31 Take potshots at 33 Insect resin 34 Had a question 35 Stand in good —

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R.J. BENTLEY’S RESTAURANT • DOWNTOWN COLLEGE PARK

ACROSS 1 Pond blossom 6 Yours and mine 10 Dull 14 Player’s rep 15 Invitation info 16 Omigosh!

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29 D.A. backup 32 Hug tightly 37 Baseball stat 38 C — — cat 39 Type of daisy 40 Vacation pur chase (2 wds.)

43 Lemon or lime 44 Sponge feature 45 Pack it away 46 Flawless 47 — — move on!

48 Dust devil 49 QB objectives 51 Golf score 53 Reference books 58 Universe 62 Amazing act

TED McTINDER COMIC ARTIST WANTED

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Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 grid contains the digits 1 through 9. For solutions, tips and computer program, see www.sudoku.com Previous Day’s Puzzle Solved:

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TODAY’S SUDOKU PUZZLE SPONSORED BY:

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Salary: $5,000.

Applications may be picked up in room 3136 South Campus Dining Hall Terrapin (Diamondback Business Office), 1901-2009 9:30am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday.

R.I.P. THE DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2008.

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THE DIAMONDBACK | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 | THE DIAMONDBACK

7

Diversions

arts. music. living. movies. weekend.

REEL NEWS: And just how long will we be watching the graphic novel blockbuster Watchmen?

According to director Zack Snyder, that all depends. The director told Sci Fi Wire he has trimmed the theatrical cut (due March 6) to 155 minutes, although there’s no guarantee this is the final cut of the film. But wait, there’s more. In addition to the previously reported 190-minute director’s cut — presumably on hold for home video — Snyder mentioned a 220-minute definitive edition which would integrate the animated footage from the Black Freighter story-within-a-story. Fanboys and girls, you may now proceed to wet yourselves.

Rorschach from Watchmen

REVIEW | PUNISHER: WAR ZONE

A PUNISHING VIEWING EXPERIENCE Frank Castle goes to war against brains and good sense in the Punisher reboot

BY VAMAN MUPPALA For The Diamondback

In the age of declining DVD sales, Internet piracy and low box office receipts, the cinematic atrocity known as Punisher: War Zone quickly makes one nostalgic for the better days of film.

No masterpiece itself, 2004’s The Punisher at least had a modicum of class and craftsmanship.

Thomas Jane and John Travolta actually bothered to act, resulting in a coherent — if predictable — crowd pleaser.

Apparently, 2008 is a very different and dumber time — at least in terms of The Punisher. The stars, the ideas and the vaguely rational narrative have largely been scrapped in lieu of B-movie journeymen, suspiciously digital-looking special effects and a never-ending spray of gore and guts directed at the viewer.

The plot is familiar. The mafia kills ex-Special Forces operative Frank Castle’s family, so he must hang off of chandeliers and pump an inordinate number of bullets into the bad guys.

Then, he must neatly slice off and bash in the skulls of everyone in sight — women included — because he is a very, very angry man.

If there is much more to the movie than that, Ray Stevenson (Outpost) is either too lazy or too limited to communicate it. He simply wears a permanent scowl that occasionally gives way to a creepy, sociopathic smirk.

His nemesis is Billy “the Beaut” Russoti (Dominic West, Hold On), a handsome if terrible and murderous mob captain. After the Punisher throws him into a glass-crushing machine, Rus-

soti’s formerly picturesque visage becomes mangled beyond belief, leading to his reemergence as the hideous Jigsaw killer.

Yet before the Punisher — as every law in his universe dictates — punishes his enemies, he needs to fill an hour of screen time. Therefore, the writers saw fit to add in some Dark Knightmimicking moral complexity by having Castle inadvertently kill an FBI agent in his quest to make Russoti not so beautiful anymore.

When he attempts to console the agent’s widow, Angela (Julie Benz, Saw V), and her daughter, Grace (newcomer Stephanie Janusauskas), with a bag stuffed full with Russoti’s money, he is predictably rebuffed and cursed out.

Therefore, Castle’s original moping increases exponentially until he achieves a near-permanent sulk nicely complemented by his all-black outfit (minus the signature brown coat), his unshaven face and his slicked-back hair. One begins to wonder if the Punisher’s new emo vibes were calculated to appeal to a different generation of fans.

Nevertheless, War Zone is notable for two unintentionally hilarious accents and stellar television actors slumming in the movies.

From the first scene of the film, the accents are gloriously mangled. The chief perpetrator is the British West. Tasked with playing an obnoxious Italian mafia member, West feels he has to attempt some sort of stereotypical Italian inflections.

Fortunately for the discerning viewer, he utterly fails, as he confuses his original British tongue, his fake Baltimore working-class vibe (that would seem more at home in The Wire) and

MOVIE: Punisher: War Zone | VERDICT:

the small screen BOTTLE ROCKET Wes Anderson’s debut feature gets a beautiful restoration and the full Criterion Collection treatment. The two-disc set is packed with features, including about 30 minutes of deleted scenes and the Bottle Rocket short Anderson and Owen Wilson put together after coming up with the idea for the movie. The best is the making-of featurette. These candid interviews offer tremendous insight into the filming process rather than the typical, strung-together slew of DVD interviews. The set also includes a booklet styled after Dignan’s (Wilson’s character) notebook, including his multi-year plan and stories about Anderson and the movie.

BAM MARGERA PRESENTS: WHERE THE #$&% IS SANTA? Margera and his crew of mischief-makers are back for a direct-to-DVD holiday adventure.

Bam needs to get his wife Missy the perfect present; what better to surprise her than by bringing back Santa Claus himself? The crew travels to Finland to find Santa, pulling pranks on each other along the way. Metal band HIM makes an appearance, as well as The Dudesons and Andy McCoy of Hanoi Rocks. The DVD doesn’t have a ton of extra features, but there’s roughly half an hour of deleted scenes to extend the merriment.

whatever accent he was meant to have in 300 to arrive at an almost magnificent brogue that sounds vaguely Scottish. It’s hilarious.

The other Italian accents are equally amusing.

One would assume the producers could at least procure the now-unemployed Sopranos extras.

Instead, they cast a hysterically awful mob boss who expresses the nuances of Italian speech patterns by changing “eat up” to “eat up-eh.”

Equally baffling is the involvement of West and Benz. After putting in widely heralded work in The Wire and Dexter, respectively, they feel the need to passively phone in performances for low-brow action bloodfests such as 300 (West), Rambo (Benz) and now this abomination.

West, however, at least has a great degree of fun playing Jigsaw, as the film spends its third act going for pure camp and mania.

In fact, there is even a scene in which Jigsaw and his flesh-eating brother, Loony Bin Jim (Doug Hutchinson, The Burrowers), play the part of Army recruiters, marching before an American flag in distressed neighborhoods to recruit the disadvantaged youth for their war against the Punisher.

Of course, there are subplots and half-dimensional characters, but none of that is really of any consequence.

All that matters is the ultraviolence, which is dumb and gory enough to make both Freddy Krueger and A Clockwork Orange’s Alex blush.

It appears the screenwriting team spent their time thinking of new ways to — in the parlance of our times — shock and awe.

They succeed at neither, instead inadvertently creating the feel-good comedy event of the year. diversionsdbk@gmail.com

REVIEW | NOBEL SON

This ain’t no fortunate Son Director Randall Miller explains his film Nobel Son, a poor shot at wild style

BY VAMAN MUPPALA For The Diamondback

After directing safe, quiet PG-13 fare such as Bottle Shock and The Sixth Man, director Randall Miller knew exactly what was missing from his oeuvre.

“This is a movie where I was trying to go for keeping you on your toes,” Miller said in an interview with The Diamondback. “This is like ‘Oh, my god, what’s going to happen next?’”

Unfortunately, Nobel Son — although generically manufactured to thrill and excite audiences — does little of either.

Son’s attempt at exposition involves its chief characters going through their everyday activities, while helpful subtitles state their names and occupations. This simple act begins a tradition of spoon-feeding the audience mind-numbingly insipid information in the most obvious way possible.

Nowhere is this disturbing trend more evident than in the acting itself. From the first scene to the last, every detail is telegraphed endlessly at the audience.

Alan Rickman (Bottle Shock) can find no better way to convey that his character, Eli Michaelson — an arrogant, callous chemistry professor — is a bad person other than entering into what can best be described as a cartoonish, soulless parody of his previous role as professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series.

He smirks villainously as he seduces students and quickly begins to wear viewers’ patience thin with humorless, dour rants. This is largely the fault of the script, as Miller ineffectually squanders the comedic freedom detestable characters should provide.

Likewise, Bryan Greenberg (Thanks to Gravity) spends the majority of the film earnestly shooting for bumbling, sweet Zach Braff territory as a cannibalismstudying grad student, Barkley Michaelson.

Ultimately, though, he reminds us why Braff has quickly become so intolerable.

Once the characters, bland and vapid as they are, have been established, Son’s supposedly clever plot kicks in.

Barkley falls in love with City Hall (Eliza Dushku, Bottle Shock); is kidnapped shortly thereafter a criminal mastermind — and possibly his half brother — Thaddeus James (Shawn Hatosy, Familiar Strangers); and eventually blackmails his father for his Nobel Prize.

The ADD-riddled narrative, however, is merely an excuse to facilitate what Miller really wants to do: Express how clever his writing and direction really are.

There is a scene involving a Mini Cooper driving through a mall and

conveniently dodging masses of police officers that apes The Italian Job, but really doesn’t serve the narrative. It quickly becomes difficult to understand the purpose of the selfconsciously intricate and clever plot if the rules governing reality are jettisoned whenever the director simply wants to show that he can drive a car at 40 mph in a mall.

Yet Miller feels the scene was justified.

“It’s tied into the story ... that’s all part of the story,” Miller explained.

“You always try hard to make it as realistic as you can. People pick up on that pretty quick if you don’t.”

But in the film, Miller completely abandons plausibility and quickly expunges the characters he awkwardly built in the first two acts by having them essentially switch roles.

For example, Barkley suddenly morphs into a criminal mastermind with assistance from his mother, and begins to outsmart everyone he had previously been a victim to.

The only explanation offered is his mother’s attesting to how bright Barkley actually is.

Meanwhile, Thaddeus — previously diagnosed as a “sociopath” —

MOVIE: Nobel Son | VERDICT:

becomes neurotic and weak. In this case, not even half-baked explanations are offered.

“It’s all about creating ... growth of the character right,” Miller said.

“When you have a character in a movie, you want them to go from point A to point B. You don’t want them to sort of stay stagnant.”

Almost as irritating as the plot is the style of the movie, clearly cribbed and downgraded from far better films. Composed mainly of muddled tones, the visuals are a smorgasbord of jump cuts, dissolves and flashes that assault the eye.

Miller’s various influences are blatant, which he readily acknowledged.

“I’ve always really dug these movies, like these Guy Ritchie movies like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, like Snatch.,” Miller said. “We came up with the idea of, on one hand, like Pulp Fiction, a movie that has a lot of intelligence and a lot of wit but at the same time has a lot of, you know, sort of inyour-face action.”

This so-called wit is supplied through jokes about, mainly, anthropophagism, or eating people. Therefore, it is fitting that a film so inexplicably obsessed with and amused by cannibalism ends up consuming itself in a fit of idiocy and mediocrity. diversionsdbk@gmail.com

1/2

8

THE DIAMONDBACK | SPORTS | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008

THE UPS THE& DOWNS

TERPRECAP

Vasquez led the way in big comeback

PLAYING BIG The Terps have been criticized for their lack of muscle, but last night, they held a 43-26 edge on the boards.

MICHIGAN, from Page 10

ADRIAN BOWIE Inserted into the starting lineup to spark the offense, Bowie responded by making just 1-of-7 field goals with four turnovers.

GREIVIS VASQUEZ Vasquez poured in 23 points and pulled down a team leading 12 boards while locking down on Wolverine star Manny Harris.

MICHIGAN TERRAPINS

35 29

35 ——————70 46 ——————75

MICHIGAN (5-2) PLAYER MIN FG Wright 16 2-8 Sims 31 5-10 Douglass 12 1-4 Harris 35 5-15 Merritt 18 0-1 Novak 28 4-8 Lee 5 0-0 Shepherd 18 4-5 Gibson 15 1-3 Grady 22 4-7 Team TOTALS 200 26-61

FT 0-0 0-0 0-0 4-4 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 6-6

O-T 0-0 3-7 0-0 3-6 1-1 1-4 0-0 1-2 0-3 0-1 0-2 9-26

A 0 1 1 4 1 2 0 4 0 1 14

PF 1 5 1 3 1 4 1 0 0 2 18

TP 6 12 3 15 0 12 0 9 2 11 70

Freshman guard Sean Mosley clocked in 18 minutes during the Terps’ victory over Michigan last night. JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

PF 3 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 1 10

“I’m just trying to be the best I can be. I was the best today, and we got the win.”

GREIVIS VASQUEZ JUNIOR GUARD

After a timeout, the Terps followed the sequence with another defensive stop and a Neal 3-pointer from the baseline to move ahead by seven.

Playing from behind, the Wolverines hit three triples in the final two minutes, but the Terps made their free throws down the stretch to ice their fifth win of the season.

“What we did to win this game tonight — we worked hard, just trust me on that, we worked hard Monday and Tuesday when we were tired.” Williams said. “But now we’ve gotta work hard even though we’ll feel good tomorrow. If we lose Sunday, all that goes away.” mseligdbk@gmail.com

Terps need a solid low-post option on offense SCHIMMEL, from Page 10

TERRAPINS (5-2) A 0 1 4 6 2 0 0 0 1 14

assists (six) and steals (three).

Vasquez only had one turnover to accompany his renaissance performance.

“In my country, there’s a saying: If you’re the man, if you’re the big guy, if I’m the best player, I gotta act like the best player,” Vasquez said. “So I gotta be the best at rebounding, assists, points, everything they do on the court. I’m just trying to be the best I can be. I was the best today, and we got the win.”

Neal got the first start of his career, filling in for center Braxton Dupree, whom Williams didn’t play due to the sophomore missing class Monday. Another change in the starting unit was guard Adrian Bowie, who stepped in for the Cliff Tucker/Sean Mosley combination.

It was the third starting lineup Williams has used in seven games this season.

The alterations didn’t incite the Terps like Williams had hoped, as the team was careless with the ball early and made just 1-of-11 3pointers while falling behind early.

But the Terps trotted out the same five for the start of the sec-

ond half, and it all began to click.

Forward Dino Gregory absorbed many of the free minutes left open by Dupree’s absence, and responded with active interior defense and seven rebounds for a Terps team in dire need for an emerging presence in the paint.

“I thought he was a force defensively,” Williams said. “I thought he really made us bigger when he was out there, which is what we need.”

With the Terps up 63-61, forward Landon Milbourne missed an ill-advised fall-away jumper, but made amends by blocking a shot on the other end and jamming home a no-look pass from Vasquez on the ensuing fast break to put the Terps up by four with a little more than four minutes to play.

“He went up kind of soft, so I blocked it, and Greivis got the [ball], so I just ran,” Milbourne said. “Me and Greivis, if you look at the tape from last year, most of my dunks are coming from him, when he’s running down the court, he looks — he sees me. And he just dished it off to me, and I finished it off.”

SCHIMMEL

PERCENTAGES–FG: 42.6, FT: 100, 3FG: 41.4 3-POINT GOALS–1229 (Grady 3-4, Novak 3-5, Wright 2-8, Sims 2-3, Douglass 1-3, Harris 1-5, Shepherd 0-1). TURNOVERS–10 (Harris, Shepherd 3).

BLOCKED SHOTS–4 (4 tied with 1). STEALS–4 (4 tied with 1).

PLAYER MIN FG FT O-T Neal 25 4-6 3-4 3-4 Milbourne 23 4-6 4-4 2-3 Hayes 37 4-13 4-4 1-4 Vasquez 35 8-16 5-6 4-12 Bowie 27 1-7 2-2 1-2 Mosley 18 2-4 0-0 0-2 Tucker 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 Burney 6 0-1 0-0 0-0 Gregory 26 3-6 0-0 2-7 Team - 3-8 TOTALS 200 26-59 18-20 17-43

TERPS 75, MICH 70

TP 12 12 13 23 4 15 0 0 6 75

PERCENTAGES–FG: 44.1, FT: 90.0, 3FG: 23.8 3-POINT –5-21 (Vasquez 2-8, Mosley 1-1, Neal 1-2, Hayes 1-7, Bowie GOALS– –3 (Neal, Mil0-3). TURNOVERS––11 (Bowie 4). BLOCKED SHOTS– –5 (Vasquez 3). bourne, Gregory 1). STEALS–

TECHNICAL FOULS––None. ATTENDANCE––17,950 (17,950).

option to be that guy, and he needs to step up.

“We need Braxton. He’s 6-8; he’s a big, wide body; and it’s real nice to have him down there,” forward Dave Neal said. “He’s just got to keep his head on straight.”

With Dupree on the bench Wednesday, the Terps were left with just two post players who played significant minutes: Gregory and first-time starter Dave Neal.

While both of those guys played well in their extended time, neither of them are the bruising, back-tothe-basket type of player Dupree has the potential to be.

He hasn’t showed it consistently, but Dupree has the talent and the size to be a productive low-post scorer, someone the Terps can look to for easy points on the inside.

The Terps are too often forced to rely on their outside shooting and transition baskets for most of their scoring, and Dupree is the guy who can add that third, inside dimension.

“Once he gets his confidence back, he’s going to be a force that nobody really can stop,” Gregory said. “He’s always been a beast down low, and he can still do that; it’s just that he’s got to put it in his mind that he can do that.”

Gregory played his best game of

the season Wednesday: He flew around on defense, and — except for a couple of rushed layups — finished strong near the rim.

The Baltimore native is a solid energy guy, and he brings intensity to the defensive end. But Gregory lacks a consistent offensive game at this point in his career, and he is not a steadying force in the middle in the Terps’ halfcourt sets.

It’s also difficult to continue to criticize Neal, and it is not fair to blame him for being forced to play a bigger role than he probably should be playing.

Neal is a smart player. He hustles. He’s a good passer. He’s really played well this season.

But the Terps should not have to count on Neal the Overachiever to be their best and most consistent big man. Their top post should be somebody more naturally suited for the role, and that player should be Dupree.

“He’s just a lot bigger than both [Gregory and Neal],” guard Eric Hayes said. “He’s just a big guy for us and we need that bulk down low.”

Dupree still has plenty of time this season to turn things around and build Williams’ trust again.

Both he and the Terps will benefit if he does. schimmeldbk@gmail.com

The “wee little” tough-as-nails defender A.J. Delagarza isn’t the first guy you notice on the Terp roster, but he also makes opposing forwards disappear

BY AARON KRAUT Senior staff writer

It’s easy to understand why defender Omar Gonzalez gets much of the praise from fans and members of the media watching the Terrapin men’s soccer team.

Last year’s ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a current MAC Hermann Award Trophy semifinalist for college player of the year, Gonzalez naturally draws attention with his 6foot-5 frame and dazzling array of offensive skills that are rare from a typical center back.

But for all of his undeniable talent, it’s arguable whether Gonzalez has been the best defender for the No. 2seeded Terps this season.

That’s because of the consistently great defensive performance the Terps have received from senior captain A.J. Delagarza, who, at 5foot-8, has been both figuratively and literally overshadowed by Gonzalez all year.

“I just think A.J. doesn’t have some of the qualities that stand out,” coach Sasho Cirovski said. “He’s like the glue of our backline. He’s such a

great competitor and A.J. loves playing in humility. His game doesn’t speak loud. He’s a competitor, he’s a winner, he puts his body in harm’s way and he does a lot of the little things that you want in a player.”

Delagarza, the Bryans Road native who was a critical part of the 2005 Terps’ national title team, already had the reputation as a pesky player with a high energy level. But he said this season he has taken his game to another level with a smarter style of play.

“I’m playing to my capabilities,” Delagarza said. “I’m not playing balls that I know I shouldn’t be playing, or making stupid decisions that I may have done in the past.”

That doesn’t mean he has completely lost the edge necessary to get under an opponent’s skin. In a September game against Duke, Delagarza did something — what it was remains unclear — to make Blue Devil star forward Mike Grella headbutt him in the chest while setting up to receive a free kick in the box.

It earned Grella a red card, he was ejected from the game and the Terps went on to win 1-0. After the game Delagarza declined to elaborate on

what caused the episode, but he said it wasn’t any sort of trash-talking.

It wasn’t the only time Delagarza drew a red card this year. In the Terps’ Oct. 31 win against Virginia, he drew two red cards from Cavaliers — one after he was knocked to the ground from behind in mid-air after clearing a ball.

Goalkeeper Will Swaim said Delagarza can aggravate forwards because he is just “a wee little man,” yet is still physical enough to shut them down.

Whatever the methods, Delagarza has helped the Terp backline become one of the most respected in the country, with a goals-against average of 0.78 per game.

Whether it’s deftly anticipating where balls are going and simply outpositioning faster attackers, as he did in that win against Virginia, or frustrating some of the country’s best strikers, such as the incident with Grella, Delagarza has been effective in a variety of ways.

He’s cleanly stolen possession away from streaking forwards and, in some situations, even bailed out other defenders.

2008

MEN’S SOCCER

“He has made me better as a player, so I don’t really think he gets overlooked,” Gonzalez said. “At our home games I hear people talking about A.J., yelling his name, chanting for him. So I know that people look at A.J. because he’s a great player, and I respect him to the fullest.”

While longtime fans at Ludwig Field certainly understand Delagarza’s importance, it’s safe to say people largely unfamiliar with the team have sometimes forgotten his value.

Delagarza was named to the AllACC Second Team player after the regular season, but it’s been other Terps who have garnered most of the other honors. Gonzalez was one of only two defenders on the AllACC first team.

Midfielder Jeremy Hall, forward Casey Townsend and goalkeeper Zac MacMath all were chosen to be on the All ACC Tournament team, while Delagarza was not named

despite being key in helping the Terps shut out all three of their opponents on their way to the tournament championship.

“Maybe in the media, that’s how it is,” midfielder Matt Kassel said. “As a team, we all know how important A.J. is as a player. Omar and A.J. work very well together — Omar is a big guy and A.J. is a little scrappy guy, so they have a great combination with each other. They both deserve multiple honors and I’m sure they’ll receive that at the end of the day.”

Just as Cirovski suggested, Delagarza said the attention, or sometimes the lack of it, doesn’t bother him. He doesn’t think Gonzalez steals his spotlight, and even if he does, Delagarza is glad to share it with him.

“As long as our team is winning we all get the same amount of credit I think,” Delagarza said. “So I’m happy for him that he’s a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy. I wish him the best in that and we work together obviously. I think it’d be a great accomplishment if he got itfor both of us.” akrautdbk@gmail.com

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK

9

Rowe returning home after graduation ROWE, from Page 1 The senior back graduates at the end of the semester after finishing her career as one of the most successful Terps in program history. A self-described “fairy tale,” Rowe’s four years in College Park have been replete with championships, accolades and records — all punctuated with charmingly British quotables.

But while she’s looking forward to rejoining her family, Rowe has found that her fleeting time in the states has been more bittersweet than happily ever after.

After all, she’s been busy playing field hockey these past four years. Now, she not only leaves her friends behind, but a country left undiscovered.

“I’ve been to Boston three times and never been to Boston,” Rowe said, making sure the difference is clear. “I’ve been to the field hockey fields.”

FIRST IMPRESSIONS Nonetheless, the journey has been a cultural crash course for the robust blonde who coach Missy Meharg endearingly calls “just very, very British.”

Arriving alone for her official visit, Rowe was overwhelmed by the experience of the college field-hockey scene in America, something she wasn’t expecting because of America’s lack of an international presence in field hockey, an extremely popular sport worldwide.

“The professionalism of it all, stuff that you’d never get in England. The fact that it’s so well funded,” Rowe said. “[Senior transfer and fellow Brit] Emma [Thomas] still can’t believe that we [flew] to Louisville; that we would fly to a hockey game. It’s just really done the right way.”

Rowe’s parents, Colin and Josephine Rowe, have been equally impressed.

“Even [the top English universities] are like a corner shop compared to all this, whereas an American university is WalMart,” Colin Rowe said.

Josephine Rowe noted that “in England, you’re lucky to get one man and his dog” to show up for a game.

something’s going to happen.

When Susie goes off the pitch, the game goes quiet.”

Fortunately, through the miracles of modern technology, Rowe’s parents have been able to keep up with her play on the field.

Though they no longer subscribe to ACC Select because “the pictures kept freezing,” Josephine Rowe said, they regularly check websites that cover the team.

HOMECOMING AWAITING

Susie Rowe, center, has talked repeatedly about how much she will miss her teammates, who she described as more like sisters than friends. ALLISON AKERS/THE DIAMONDBACK

Enchanted with America, Rowe could hardly wait to start her tenure with the Terps.

But, returning to College Park a year later, she struggled to fit in.

The only foreigner in her class, Rowe stood out.

She was quiet and workmanlike on the field. Her classmates mistook her stoicism for arrogance. “[They thought that] I thought I was the best thing since sliced bread, because being an international on the team, you come with the expectation of being a highstandard player,” Rowe said.

“I remember Ellen [Ott] particularly — and this is so funny ’cause we’re so clever now — she was one of those people who thought that, and she was the first person to tell me that people thought that. I was like, ‘No, you don’t understand the half of it.’ I was so in shock.

“Culturally, I had nothing in common with these girls, because we had different upbringings,” Rowe continued. “We didn’t have similar TV shows that we could talk about.

And they’ll say, ‘Remember this? When you were a kid, you did this,’ and I’d say, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’”

THE QUEEN’S ENGLISH The confrontation was a turning point for the timid freshman, who lost her stiff demeanor and allowed her personality to shine.

And as she became more talkative, Rowe’s teammates began to pick up — and pick on — her English lexicon.

Rowe and Ott reflected on some of the humorous disconnects between the Queen’s English and the American brand.

Each pointed out that, while in Maryland, Rowe has tried to remember to say “trash can” instead of “rubbish bin.”

This season, Thomas, the fellow Brit, has teased Rowe at times for becoming too American. It’s an amusing notion, considering Rowe’s ever-present accent and penchant for the chuckle-inducing phrase.

Still, when Rowe goes home, she must make an effort to use her “English dictionary.”

“I’ve really tried to stay true to my English accent, but I notice sometimes I’m like, ‘You sound so American. If someone from England was to hear me talking right now, they would totally have a go at me,’” Rowe said.

Her diction betrays her heritage, even while addressing her purported assimilation.

Ott, now roommates with

Rowe, isn’t sold.

“I’ll try and talk to her on the phone over the summer, and her accent gets so heavy I can’t understand her,” Ott said. “Eventually I’ll just say, ‘Why don’t you send me an e-mail?’”

THE SAFETY IN A SKIRT Yet one thing that hasn’t been lost in translation is Rowe’s worth on the turf.

The senior plays with a calculated abandon that can bring the crowd to its feet as she leaves her own for a diving shot attempt or steal. Her shot is so true that Rowe will occasionally raise a triumphant fist before the ball has crossed the goal line.

Prowling from the back line, Rowe leans forward, knees bent, calves spring-loaded. She’s always ready to stomp into the action, a strong safety in a skirt.

It’s this bold determination that her parents said they’ve missed most in her absence.

They felt deprived of her vitality, even more so than her presence.

“We love watching her play,” Colin Rowe said. “I mean, not just because she’s your daughter, but because she played in a way that just caught the eye.”

“It’s how aggressive she is, her focus,” Josephine Rowe continued. “When Susie’s on the pitch,

But stat sheets and recaps can’t compare, and with Rowe returning home, her parents eagerly await the chance to watch her on the pitch.

A true sports junkie, Rowe is traveling to Australia in January to play club cricket, a sport she picks up every time she goes home. She’ll be back in England in the spring to compete with the Canterbury Hockey Club, and her parents plan to be at all the games.

Rowe said her classmates have promised to visit in England. She is excited to get to show them life in England, and “get them talking my language.”

“I’m really going to miss these girls when I leave, because they’ve become not even friends, but my sisters; I speak to them about stuff I wouldn’t even talk to my sister about,” Rowe said.

“We’ve become so close, and they are my best friends, more so even than my friends at home.”

Even if those plans never work out, Rowe is already plotting her return.

“I’ve been to so many places and never really seen America apart from the roads,” Rowe said.

“Obviously, I’m going to live in Europe now, and to be able to see America is going to be a lot more expensive. I really want to see Hawaii; I want to go back to California. I want to take a road trip through America, but I [haven’t had] the time.”

Yet Rowe is not quite ready to leave Maryland — even if she does miss watching the “match of the day” on the sofa with her father, stealing sips of his beer.

In addition to the reverse culture shock, the marketing major will have to find a job. Rowe said she put off the search because there was no time as the Terps

WIN $150

SUSIE ROWE IS... the sixth Terp ever to be a threetime first-team All-American.

ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

ACC tourney MVP (2005, 2008).

Terps’ record holder for most points in a season, with 74. tied for Terps’ record for most goals in season, with 28. one of four finalists for the Honda Award (best player) to be announced later this month.

marched to their third national championship of her career.

Still, the knowledge that she’s adjusted once before should be comforting. Rowe has already conquered a foreign land, and it’s a lesson she’ll take back home with her.

Rowe laughed, remembering her perceived absurdity of taking a seven-hour flight to Maryland for a weekend visit. It’s tough to believe the finality of the pending flight home.

Perhaps next year she’ll be crouched in front of her own computer, checking scores of the team she left behind. mkatzdbk@gmail.com

Susie Rowe displays her English roots as she plays with a soccer ball at the field hockey NCAA final four.

ALLISON AKERS/THE DIAMONDBACK

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10

THE DIAMONDBACK | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2008

AP Women’s NCAA Basketball Top 10

Sports Women’s basketball heading to challenging environment in Purdue Terps have been practicing for tough road crowd against Boilermakers

BY AARON KRAUT Senior staff writer

After the Terrapin women’s basketball team’s season-opening loss at Texas Christian on Nov. 14, coach Brenda Frese made it clear that her team needed to get tougher on the road.

At practice on Tuesday, Frese and her coaching staff played fake crowd noise over the Comcast Center speakers, attempting to simulate what should be a sizable crowd at Purdue’s Mackey Arena, where the No. 8 Terps will play the No. 17 Boilermakers as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge tonight.

It will be the Terps’ first game against a ranked opponent this season. But, it will also serve as a test to see if the Terps (6-1) really learned what it takes to win on the road after the TCU upset.

“Our last real road game ... obviously, we didn’t like the outcome,” forward Marissa Coleman said. “I think we’ve learned from that. We know we can’t take anyone for granted, and when you’re playing away, you have to be 10 points better than your opponent.”

The Boilermakers should be backed by a significant homecourt advantage. Purdue (5-1) is averaging about 8,500 fans in their three home games. Their only loss came to No. 4 Stanford in overtime last Friday in Hawaii. “[They’re] a tremendous test for us, and one that we’re really excited about,” Frese said. “It’s a tough environment. They’re very, very good at home, so I’m excited to see how we match up.”

The Boilermakers are led by 6foot-2 forward Lindsay WisdomHylton, who paces the team with 14 points per game and is also averaging eight rebounds. One of the Terps in charge of shutting her down will be center Lynetta Kizer, who said she now understands what it will take to win on the road after the failure at TCU. “That’s one of the best things that happened to us,” Kizer said.

“Now we got the opportunity to bounce back from that on the road again, in somebody else’s territory, and just give it our all

Guard Kristi Toliver and the Terps know they have a tough road test at No. 17 Purdue.

ADAM FRIED/THE DIAMONDBACK

Terps vs. Purdue Where: West Lafayette, Ind. When: Tonight, 6:30 p.m.

TV: Big Ten Network and go out there and just fight for it.”

What makes the Terps’ road performance even more critical is their upcoming schedule after tonight’s game. The Terps will travel to No. 24 Pittsburgh on Sunday before ending their prefinal exam portion of the schedule at Loyola (Md.) on Tuesday night.

It’s still early in the season, but Frese wants to see her team’s development away from home now.

“It’s a big swing,” Frese said.

“Obviously, back-to-back road games to be able to see how we’re gonna handle both situations. I wanna see that we’ve improved from our last time out.” akrautdbk@gmail.com

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Terps claw past Wolverines Comeback led by 16-3 run in second-half rally

BY MARK SELIG Senior staff writer

The Terrapin men’s basketball team could barely bury a bucket from beyond the arc, and the press they were using defensively wasn’t creating any havoc for the Michigan offense.

Then halftime came.

Trailing by six at the break, the Terps (52) morphed into precision gunners MEN’S and padlock BASKETBALL defenders for the first Michigan . . . . . . . . . . 70 4:16 of the TERPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 second half as they erupted for a 16-3 run to put them ahead by seven.

The Wolverines (5-2) would briefly regain the lead, but the Terps finally had life — something they desperately lacked during a lethargic first half.

And they used it to push them to a 75-70 win Wednesday night at Comcast Center, their fourth consecutive victory in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

“I told them we were gonna win the game ... if you guys come out and outwork them in the second half,” coach Gary Williams said of his halftime speech. “I thought we played with more intensity, more enthusiasm, more intensity; our defense was better; and all of a sudden, we made shots that we were missing in the first half.”

“Coach Williams got us really fired up,” senior Dave Neal said. “He knew the first three minutes of halftime were going to be big for us.”

The run began with a Greivis Vasquez steal, followed by the Terps guard hitting a 3-pointer.

Vasquez continued to dazzle in the second half, following what he called “the worst game of my life since I’ve been playing basketball,” against Georgetown on Sunday.

He didn’t just rebound in that sense, though — he rebounded on the court, pulling down a game-high 12 boards while also compiling game-highs in points (23),

Please See MICHIGAN, Page 8

Terps need Dupree to bounce back soon GREG

SCHIMMEL

D

Guard Greivis Vasquez had a virtuoso night against Michigan, leading the Terps with 23 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals, with just one turnover. JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

id you have a good seat last night for the Terrapin men’s basketball team’s entertaining 75-70 win against Michigan?

Well, so did Braxton Dupree.

The struggling Terp center, who started each of the Terps’ first six games, did not play a single minute Wednesday against the Wolverines, and he has apparently already earned a spot in Gary Williams’ doghouse for the second consecutive season.

Williams said Dupree didn’t play because he missed class Monday, and Dupree reluctantly corroborated that story after asking what Williams said about him.

“The class thing won’t be an issue anymore,” Dupree said.

But whether the benching had to do with academics or with basketball — and, frankly, it was probably a combination of both — this game should mark a crossroads in Dupree’s season.

Dupree can wake himself up and start to become the player the undersized Terps desperately need him to be, or he can continue to underachieve and bury himself deeper into trouble.

As great a game as Dino Gregory played last night, the Terps still need a reliable, full-sized low post player who can give them consistent offense and defend against the big men the Terps will continue to play.

While perhaps not the ideal, Dupree is the Terps’ best

Please See SCHIMMEL, Page 8