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MAJOR THREAT

CRUISE CONTROL

Don Zientara moves from behind the scenes to stage in Washington tonight

Terps have no trouble in rout against UNCG SPORTS | PAGE 8

DIVERSIONS | PAGE 6

Thursday, December 9, 2010

THE DIAMONDBACK Our 101ST Year, No. 72

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Oakland Hall housing will favor groups Single-sex ‘semi-suites’ of four, co-ed floors will make up new dorm

BY ERIN EGAN Staff writer

Sophomores and juniors who know whom they want to live with may have a better chance of securing slots in Oakland Hall next fall.

Resident Life Department officials said they will favor pre-selected groups of four to fill the building’s combined-double “semi-suites.”

The Residence Hall Association

discussed plans for the 720-bed high rise at its Tuesday meeting, where senators approved both the selection process and a plan to intermingle male and female suites on all floors but the first.

Each “semi-suite” in the building, which remains under construction in the Denton community, is comprised of a pair of two-person bedrooms conjoined by a bathroom, officials said, adding that there are a limited number

of more-conventional double and single rooms. Priority for the first floor and the few doubles and singles will go to students with disabilities. Remaining slots would be filled by a lottery, senators said.

“We’ve been working with [Resident Life Director] Deb Grandner and the ResLife staff to hash out every single detail of housing with

see OAKLAND, page 2 Undergraduate studies Dean Donna Hamilton, chairwoman of the general education implementation committee, presents a transition plan to the University Senate. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

Senate discusses General Ed. plans

Demystifying Madam Flora

Body largely supportive of transition details

BY LAUREN REDDING Senior staff writer

As the University Senate sparred over the new General Education Plan last semester, an unanswered question lingered throughout the debates: How will such an expansive overhaul be implemented?

Yesterday, the body finally got its chance to explore the issue as undergraduate studies Dean Donna Hamilton presented the specifics of how the CORE curriculum will transition into the new plan. But in a stark contrast to last year’s discussions, remarks of support replaced most of the critical input on the implementation plan — a sign many said shows the university is coalescing behind the plan.

“We have a great community rally-

Local psychic shop has no illicit undertones, police say

BY BEN PRESENT

see SENATE, page 2

Downtown 7-Eleven will close for renovations

Senior staff writer

It’s one of the most widely spread rumors at this university.

If you go to Madam Flora — a palm-reading stop located about a mile north of the campus on Route 1 — and ask for “change for a penny,” you end up paying a little more than a penny for a lot more than a palm reading.

But after undercover Prince George’s County Police officers recently tested the line at Madam Flora more than once and came up blank, owners of the “family-oriented” business said they hope this will finally put an end to what they called nothing more than a rumor that students occasionally attempt to cash in on.

On two separate occasions, District 1 Commander Robert Liberati said, undercover police officers went into Madam Flora, which is rumored to double as a brothel, and attempted

ing around a good idea,” Hamilton said after the meeting. “It sounds like we have great interest in the plan. I’m grateful for the degree to which people have embraced a new way forward for the university.”

The plan, which details guidelines on how faculty members should develop new courses and the process by which they will be approved, was split into five categories for senators to comment on during the meeting: general education learning outcomes, faculty boards, guidelines and requirements for the course categories, the transition out of CORE and a category for other miscellaneous concerns.

Senators commented on just three of the categories, mostly suggesting

Prince George’s County Police ran undercover checks on Madam Flora earlier this month.

JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

to solicit something extra by using the wellknown phrase. Both times it didn’t work.

Liberati couldn’t offer many details, noting he didn’t want to compromise the identities of the county’s undercover officers.

“I’m sure they were dressed to blend with whatever the clientele [at Madam Flora] is,”

Students bemoan timing of shutdown

see FLORA, page 3

ILLUSTRATION BY SHAI GOLLER/THE DIAMONDBACK

BY LEAH VILLANUEVA

Greenbelt Metrobus will limit service by month’s end WMATA’s change to the C2 line is part of a broader restructuring of the transit agency’s bus service to Greenbelt, Woodruff said. He wouldn’t say specifically why the line was truncated, but he said the route may have seen low ridership numbers, which would have been a factor in the decision.

“All changes are made to provide the

Faithful patrons of the downtown 7Eleven will have to get their midnight snacks and early morning coffee elsewhere during the latter half of finals week as the store shuts its doors for renovations.

The 7-Eleven on Knox Road will close next Wednesday at midnight for a full remodeling, which is expected to take four to five weeks, according to store owner Million Mekonen. He said that while it is hard to say whether all the renovations will be complete by the time school starts up again on Jan. 24,

see GREENBELT, page 3

see RENOVATIONS, page 2

Transfers will be necessary to reach Greenbelt Center from campus

BY LAUREN KIRKWOOD Staff writer

Students, faculty and staff members traveling to and from Greenbelt may soon face a more difficult commute after a Metrobus line that serves part of the city will no longer travel as far into the city beginning Dec. 20.

The C2 line, operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Au-

TOMORROW’S WEATHER:

thority, will end at the Greenbelt Metrorail station instead of traveling into Greenbelt Center, forcing passengers from the campus to transfer onto a G13, G14 or G16 bus to continue to the original destination in the Old Greenbelt neighborhood.

The other buses will travel between the Greenbelt and New Carrollton Metrorail stations, WMATA spokesman Reggie Woodruff said.

Cloudy/30s

Staff writer

INDEX

NEWS . . . . . . . . . .2 OPINION . . . . . . . .4

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

DIVERSIONS . . . . .6 SPORTS . . . . . . . . .8

The 7-Eleven convenience store on Knox Road will close for renovations that store owner Million Mekonen says will take about a month to finish.

JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

www.diamondbackonline.com

2

THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010

SENATE

RENOVATIONS

from page 1

from page 1 he is aiming to reopen the store for service by then.

Mekonen said the goal of the remodeling is to expand the store in a way that will maximize storage and service space, but he added that he is still working out the details of the new floor plan with the contractors.

“We’ve been having space issues where space is so tight in the store,” Mekonen said.

“We want better service space, better counters, maybe more registers.”

For several regular student patrons, hearing that their go-to stop for quick essentials will be closed for half of finals week came as an unpleasant surprise.

“It’ll be very inconvenient, seeing as I have exams Friday and Thursday, because this is where I get my coffee,” junior marketing major Austin Gambino said. “I mean, it’s not the biggest deal in the world, but it’s still a pain in the ass.”

Other students had the same negative reaction.

“I love 7-Eleven,” senior government and politics major Dean Lacko said. “They should have put up a sign or something.

I mean, where the hell am I going to get my snacks now?”

Other students said it would not be too much trouble to find alternatives, such as the 24-hour CVS Pharmacy across the street or the 7-Eleven near the intersection of Route 1 and Berwyn Road. But for some, the convenient location and small-convenience-store feel of the downtown 7-Eleven can’t be matched.

“The thing with CVS is it’s so big,” Lacko said. “I mean, here you walk in and you know exactly where everything is, and it’s all easy to find, but in CVS, it’s like a process.”

The 7-Eleven will be closing the same day that the China Café next door reopens. It has been closed and undergoing a full remodel since mid-November. villanueva@umdbk.com

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Resident Life will favor students applying in groups of four to live in Oakland Hall. JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

OAKLAND from page 1 Oakland Hall,” Senator Kevin LaCherra said. “This is something that I’m very proud of.

We’ve put a lot of work into this.”

Some senators, including Denton Hall Senator Jennifer Spangler, expressed concern about the single-sex first floor, saying there are already individual dorms with this system.

“I think it might be taking away opportunities to live co-ed for students who want to live coed,” Spangler said.

But other RHA senators — including Manpreet Khural, who co-authored the resolution to support the housing arrangements — said most existing dorms on the campus are separated into single-sex hallways.

Oakland residence eligibility will be determined through a lottery system similar to that of other dorms, although the RHA voted to support the Resident Life plan giving priority to students who have arranged on their own to fill up a suite.

“We thought that it would be better to have a whole group preset,” said Senator Sivan Shachar, who is on the Resident Life Advisory Team within the RHA. “They would know each other, and it would minimize debates.”

Resident Life will assist students in meeting potential roommates if they do not enter as a group of four, Shachar added.

“We’re thinking about using

social networking sites to help students meet each other, but we haven’t made any final decisions yet,” he said.

Freshman Spanish major Mary-Kate Cronin said she thought it was a good idea to grant Oakland housing priority to four-person groups.

“I like the fact that priority is given to those entering as a foursome, mainly because that is what my friends and I plan on doing,” Cronin said. “I think that co-ed by suite will be better than the current setup in normal dorms because it’s easier to meet people that way.”

Raakhee Mallick, a sophomore secondary education major who is considering applying for Oakland Hall, said he was glad to see a new type of dorm on North Campus.

“I think it’s really useful. Not only are current sophomores basically guaranteed on-campus housing, but if I wanted to live in a suite, now I can do it on North Campus,” Mallick said.

“Suites are usually South Campus-based, so it’s interesting that they’re opening that up to North Campus now.”

RHA Vice President Taylor Cole said the body has spent the whole semester putting together concepts for Oakland Hall.

“I really appreciate how much the university comes to the student body and gets us involved before making changes.

It’s a great system,” Cole said. “If students don’t like it, we can always change it later on.” egan@umdbk.com

slight language changes to make the plan clearer to students.

Hamilton said faculty senator Tom Cohen made one comment in particular that stood out to the committee, suggesting the new plan find a way to better incorporate the Honors College, which isn’t mentioned at all in the current document.

Cohen said he feared the “I”series courses — innovative, seminar-style classes of which students are required to take two under the new plan — would overshadow honors seminars and requested the committee explore making honors classes count for “I”-series course fulfillment.

“My question is,” Cohen said, “Will the committee sort of go back and try to build in protections for the Honors College or at least find some way that meshes the Honors College as perfectly as possible into the new plan?”

Hamilton said the issue of incorporating the Honors College into the new plan was something the committee had been grappling with over the last few months and will revisit for discussion before the plan officially comes to the senate in February

for a vote. Committee member Doug Roberts, associate dean of the computer, mathematical and natural sciences college, said the committee is also dealing with translating courses from the College Park Scholars and Gemstone programs into the new plan.

Another comment, made by Senate Executive Committee members Valerie Orlando and Steven Petkas, suggested the name of the Cultural Competency diversity requirement — which aims to teach students cross-cultural skills with a global world view — be changed to Cultural Capacity. “[Cultural Competency] implies a level of basic qualification — a threshold, if you will — that, once attained, leaves a student able to check that item off a list of desired learning goals,” Petkas read from a prepared statement. “... We have serious doubts that individuals who live, learn and work in today’s diverse societies are ever truly culturally competent.”

Orlando said the phrase Cultural Capacity would evoke a more realistic experience for students.

“Capacities have no threshold,” she said. “They also imply that learning is not a finite task but a lifetime commitment.”

Hamilton asked for Orlando to

send her the prepared statement for the committee to review, adding she was grateful such a recommendation was presented.

Ira Berlin, a history professor who chaired the committee that drafted the original General Education Plan, said he was especially happy with positive student feedback from the undergraduate senators.

Undergraduate senator Doron Tamari proposed the committee look into making more “I”-series science courses into lab classes, but supported the plan altogether.

“As a student who didn’t love CORE, I appreciate all the stuff you guys have done,” he told the committee. “This is basically the issue that made me want to become a senator. You guys have done a great job with that.”

Hamilton said she hopes the senate will continue to show support at February’s vote. But in the meantime, Berlin said his vision of the curriculum overhaul is being seen though by the implementation committee.

“I think what we heard today was an embracement of the plan,” he said. “We put out a template of this plan, and now people are filling it in. It’s a process of great creativity, and it’s wonderful.” redding@umdbk.com

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010 | NEWS | THE DIAMONDBACK

3

SGA edits group approval process Bill clarifies criteria for student groups to receive funding

BY SARAH MEEHAN Staff writer

The SGA has modified its governing rules and procedures a handful of times already this year — changes it usually saves until the end of each spring semester.

And last night, it did it again.

Student Government Association members unanimously supported revisions to the Student Group Guidelines that would clarify the ambiguous criteria student groups must meet when seeking SGA recognition.

The new rules make it clearer that student groups must be nondiscriminatory to receive SGA funding, even though that requirement was already in place, just in unclear terms. They also spell out the process by which legislators decide whether to approve groups.

The changes guarantee student groups experience fair interactions with the SGA, said letters and sciences legislator Rob DiMauro, who wrote the bill.

The new rules also explain the auditing process used to review money allocated to each group and detail the process for groups to renew their recognition, which must be repeated each academic year.

Representatives said the amendments were necessary to keep both the SGA and individual groups on their toes.

“I think it offers protection for clubs that wasn’t in the bylaws before,” SGA Director of Student Groups Kaiyi Xie said.

The SGA made the revisions in response to recent changes made by the Office of Campus Programs, which must approve student groups before they can request SGA funding. When the OCP updated its own student

SGA legislators voted last night to amend their bylaws to better specify the procedures and criteria for recognizing student groups and awarding funding. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

group recognition process, and SGA officials said wanted to follow suit.

Xie said the changes were time sensitive because student groups will be requesting primary funding in the spring and that it’s important both organizations abide by the same standards.

The new rules were also implemented in response to a June Supreme Court decision,which said the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law could deny funding to a student group that discriminates. The school revoked the Christian Legal Society’s charter for effectively excluding gay and lesbian students from membership.

The new guidelines reflect the Supreme Court’s decision, but DiMauro added there have not been similar issues at this university, and the changes will not immediately affect any existing groups.

SGA Chief of Staff Michelle McGrain added the changes are not targeting any particular groups and will streamline the SGA’s task of deciding which groups to approve.

“I think it will benefit both student groups and the SGA because it specifies what is appropriate for student group recognition,” McGrain said. “Student groups will know the rules be-

fore they come to us, so we won’t be responsible for making a poor judgment call.”

Usually, the SGA saves structural changes until the end-ofyear omnibus bill, but this year the body has changed the way it does business several times — a move members said was intentional.

“As a body, we wanted to take responsibility for these things instead of pushing them off on the next legislature,” McGrain said.

“It shows that we as an organization are taking responsibility for the issues we are dealing with.”

Earlier in the semester, the SGA reorganized the reading calendar used to evaluate proposed legislation, tweaked election rules, created an Audit and Review Committee and established a social justice liaison position to represent minority students.

After those bills passed, Speaker of the Legislature Kevin Ford said no more changes would be made unless they were “necessary and imminent.” Xie said he met with Ford to ensure these changes met those criteria.

“Even though certain members may object to changing the bylaws, ultimately they’re still there to serve the students,” Xie said. meehan@umdbk.com

UNITED CAMPUS MINISTRY CHAPLAINCY PRESENTS UNITED CAMPUS MINISTRY PRESENTS

ADVENT & CHRISTMAS CONCERT SUNDAY,DECEMBER DECEMBER12, 9, 2007 SUNDAY, 2010 7:30 pm, Memorial Chapel 7:00 pm, Memorial Chapel

University of Maryland, College Park University of Maryland, College Park

EVERYONE IS WELCOME! Featuring:

by Holiday MarylandFollowed Palestrina Choir ✶Reception Josh Perry-Parrish, Director Maryland Cantabile ✶ Ruth Kastner, Director Featuring: Männermusik ✶ Joseph Shortall, Director

• Debut of the Maryland Palestrina Choir, David Ballena, performing Renaissance motetsPianist

by Palestrina, Soloists from the University of Maryland Victoria, and Sweelinck School of Music Janet Hagelgans, Director

• Femmes de Chanson

FREE EVENT

Julie Thomas, Director • Julie Thomas, Gillian Kraus-Neale, Alicia Waller EVERYONE (Soprano Soloists) IS WELCOME! • CaraFollowed Fleck (Harp)

by Holiday Reception • Eliza Ching (Piano) A free-will offering will be taken for S.O.M.E. (So Others Might Eat)

• Sing your favorite seasonal carols

For more information: For more Contact Chaplain Hollyinformation: Ulmer at (301) 405-8450 Contact Chaplain Holly Ulmer at (301) 405-8450 ulmer@umd.edu, www.ucmcollegepark.org ulmer@umd.edu, www.ucmcollegepark.org

FLORA from page 1 Liberati said.

He said the officers were told the notion that the business was anything more than advertised was a mere wives’ tale.

“This is a family business,” said Larry Miller, a spokesman for Madam Flora.

“This [rumor] has been going on for a while, and I’d like for it to stop.”

Miller said when palm readers started getting the request, they didn’t know what it meant. Once a patron explained what it was supposed to suggest, the psychic shop made it a habit to ask those who test out the rumor to leave — without a palm reading or anything else.

Flora’s employees have even threatened to call the police, Miller said.

Inside, the business looks as nondescript as they come.

The living room, freshly decorated for the holidays, houses a big-screen TV and a couple of couches scattered about the largely empty space. Hunter, a German shepherd, greets visitors as they enter.

A small side room, no bigger than a walk-in closet, is where the fortune telling takes place.

Miller said students frequently use the shop for its designated purpose — to get their fortunes told and palms read.

Prices range from $25 for a palm reading to $75 for a crystal ball reading.

“Sometimes you just get these quacks that want to come in and say stupid things,” he added.

Still, the rumor persists among students, many of whom will swear that they know someone, who knows

someone, who has successfully solicited sex at Flora’s.

“I actually am a little surprised,” junior history major Aryaan Azarbarzin said after he learned police declared the rumor false.

Azarbarzin said he had heard of a student, whose name he didn’t know, confirming the tale years back. But as most rumors go, he added, he couldn’t say for sure.

“I’d say like 50-50 [it actually happened],” he said.

Other students said “change for a penny” is one of those stories everyone passes around but never bothers to actually test.

“It’s one of those things you hear as a freshman, but no one actually does it,” sophomore English and chemistry major Chris Kelly said. “All my creepy friends know about it.” present@umdbk.com

GREENBELT from page 1 best service to customers based on usage,” Woodruff said. “We want to make sure we’re not overlapping with other bus services.”

The Department of Transportation Services offers a Shuttle-UM line — Franklin ParkGreenbelt — to the same area the WMATA C2 bus now serves.

“The area being abandoned by the change to the C2 route is either currently served by our #106 route, or within a very easy walk of an existing Shuttle-UM #106 bus stop,” DOTS Assistant Director Beverly Malone wrote in an e-mail.

The Franklin-Park Greenbelt shuttle runs every 40 to 90 minutes; the C2 stops on the campus every 15 to 30 minutes.

Timetables for the new G13, G14 and G16 buses have not yet been published.

As he got off a C2 bus at the “M” traffic circle, freshman computer science major Alvin Hidayat said that although he doesn’t ride the line to Greenbelt himself, he could see it being a hassle for his fellow passengers who do use it regularly.

“It could be inconvenient for some people, but they must have a reason for changing it,” he said. “Maybe the new routes

The C2 Metrobus serving Greenbelt will now run a shorter route, inconveniencing some riders. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

will work better.”

Junior agricultural and resource economics major Brittany Boettcher, who rides the Mazza GrandMarc Shuttle-UM bus, said she sympathizes with riders who may have to deal with transferring buses.

“It’s definitely a big inconvenience for people to have to get on

two different buses to get here,” she said.

Woodruff said riders will see a net benefit to a shorter C2 line.

“The change is part of an overall plan being implemented to improve service in the area,” he said. kirkwood@umdbk.com

4

THE DIAMONDBACK | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010

Opinion

THE DIAMONDBACK

MARISSA LANG EDITOR IN CHIEF

YOUR INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK PHONE: (301) 314-8200 | FAX: (301) 314-8358 3150 SOUTH CAMPUS DINING HALL | COLLEGE PARK, MD 20742 NEWS@UMDBK .COM | OPINION@UMDBK .COM

KATE RAFTERY

ANN SUN

MANAGING EDITOR

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

JUSTIN SNOW

KEVIN TERVALA

OPINION EDITOR

OPINION EDITOR

Staff editorial

Guest column

Fight furloughs

A semester in review

A

sk someone to describe a typical university professor, and the Shaw, chair woman of the University Senate’s staff affairs committee, said answer may be something along these lines: He is a man in his 50s the collateral damage of furlough days could impact recruitment as well as or 60s with a beard, wearing a tweed jacket with leather elbow retention.

It’s tough to argue against the notion that furlough days are a far better patches. He smokes a pipe like Sherlock Holmes, drives a Volvo or some other luxur y car and lives in an expensive colonial-style home. While alternative to layoffs. Indeed, as Gov. Martin O’Malley stated in an interhe’s not rich, he’s done pretty well for himself — and certainly better than view with this editorial board before last month’s gubernatorial election, there is hardly a public employee in the nation that hasn’t faced a furlough the rest of us.

This is the stereotype, perpetuated in countless movies and cartoons and day or pink slip. That said, the three consecutive years of furloughs in this embedded in the minds of millions. But reality is a bit different — there are state are no doubt a drastic shift from the years of prosperity that the state plenty of professors who don’t smoke or wear tweed jackets. More impor- had previously enjoyed.

With speculation that a new slew of furloughs may accompany O’Malley’s tantly, plenty of professors aren’t exactly raking in the dough.

2012 fiscal budget, which is required to be balanced, But when it comes to furlough days, this perception next month, the consequences could be dire. Univerof fat-cat professors making a fortune while teaching sity President Wallace Loh has vowed to fight all Shakespeare and Darwin trumps truth and logic.

Three years of furloughs have future furlough days, and he has already been in disThe University System of Mar yland has faced three consecutive fiscal years with furlough days. During dramatically reduced faculty cussions with the chancellor of the state’s university system, Brit Kir wan. those allotted days, state employees — including faculty As O’Malley continues to draft his budget for the and staff at this university — have been forced to take and staff morale, and university leave without pay in order for the state to cope with President Wallace Loh should new fiscal year, he should not look to furloughs as an alternative to layoffs. Budget cuts are no doubt on budget cuts and a tanking economy. And with the state be commended for his strong easy the horizon, as O’Malley signaled earlier this week by still facing a $1.6 billion shortfall in next year’s budget, stance against them. sending an e-mail to state employees with a link to a furloughs may very well continue.

New York Times article chronicling the difficult While for some, days off may not sound all that bad, furlough days can have serious ramifications. As unpaid leave is paired with choices states faced this year. O’Malley often lauds the strides higher educalayoffs and budget cuts, many have been forced to do more for less. And as tion has made recently in this state. Such improvements, however, will prove Provost Nariman Far vardin noted earlier this semester, faculty and staff for naught if faculty continue to bear the brunt of budgetary shortfalls.

Furloughs are sometimes necessar y and often the lesser of two evils. But morale has taken a serious hit in recent years, with “demoralizing” furloughs taking much of the blame. Indeed, furloughs have hurt morale so their effect, which gets worse with each passing year, can be unpredictably much so that some faculty and staff members have begun looking for — and detrimental. As we await the governor’s new budget, we ought not forget the vital role university employees play. And their morale is anything but taking — jobs elsewhere.

In June, when the latest round of furlough days was announced, Cynthia inconsequential.

Our View

Editorial cartoon: Ian Rodenhouse

University View: Living in luxury?

W

hen people ask me where I live, I tell them the University View. A common response to this is, “Oh, really, that must be great. I hear it’s really nice.” It is true that if you were to stroll through either of the View’s two lobbies you might initially be impressed by its suave interiors. By entering either Building 1 or Building 2’s front doors, you will find a lobby punctuated by shiny wood floors, airy space and a marvelous likeness to a five-star hotel. Ah, but how quickly you are deceived! For I too was once a victim of this trickery. Having lived to tell the tale, I would like to expose to you the reality of “luxurious” student living.

The View does a fine job of boasting about the amenities it offers. However, be mindful of its inflated words. Take one look at the View’s website, and you will find that there is a “pool,” “24-

STEVEN SPINELLO hour community patrol” and even “bicycle storage.” What it fails to make clear is the hole in the ground called a “pool” is more akin to a wading pool you might find in a senior citizens’ home — it is just three feet deep. The “24-hour community patrol” operates under a haphazard protocol; sometimes the guards sign people in, other times it seems as though a bombwielding terrorist could stroll right past them. Then, there is that wonderful “bicycle storage” it advertises — it’s just a bike rack outside.

For a place that prides itself as a

“premier student housing destination,” the View fails to deliver when it comes to quality of life. The walls are paper-thin. I know this because I could recite to you my neighbors’ conversations. The pipes that carr y water to each bathroom set off a terribly disturbing rumbling of the walls. Each time you or your neighbor or even someone two floors above you decides to take a rinse, it sounds like we are the ones being bombed by North Korea.

The other day, the View’s website under went a redesign. By chance, I happened upon the site only to notice that it listed itself as the “premier student hosing destination.”

This, I thought to myself, was much more fitting.

These complaints would likely be bearable if they were the only negatives. However, there is a whole laun-

dry list of issues just like these. Yet by far the most disconcerting aspect of living in the View is the paltry return on your dollar. This housing is by no means inexpensive. I am ashamed to say my own rent exceeds four digits and that in my time here, I have seen little, if anything, that justifies its payment. The management exhibits a general indifference while proceeding to waste your rent. For one, the View’s latest feature amenity is free tanning beds. Who in his or her right mind still uses those cancer-ovens? To add insult to injury, residents are expected to pay a utility surcharge for the beds.

And I must say, it gives me great pleasure to know I am paying for people to look like John Boehner.

Steven Spinello is a junior economics major. He can be reached at spinello@umdbk.com.

Loko laws: A tale of true absurdity

M

y fellow Americans, it is with a heavy heart that I relate to you the rueful tale of young Lily, a pleasant girl from the heartland: Every morning before school, Lily’s mother would pack Lily her lunch, and every day Lily’s mother would make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Lily ate the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and she was always happy. But then one day Lily’s mother was in the store and happened upon a new product: Smucker’s Goober Peanut Butter and Jelly Stripes.

“How convenient,” thought Lily’s mother, “I can use this wonderful premixed product to make Lily’s sandwich.”

And so it was. Lily enjoyed the new sandwiches so much that she asked her mother to make two, and then three, for lunch. But soon Lily began to gain weight. Lily gained so much weight that she became fat, and she was diagnosed with diabetes. Confident the Smucker Co. would never sell a dangerous product, Lily’s mother ignored the label and continued packing her daughter a lunch laden with sugar and trans fat.

After several years, Lily developed a foot infection, and both her feet were amputated. No one asked footless Lily to prom, and she was sad.

Lily’s mother was angry. No one had told her about the children who devoured Goober until they fell into “food comas.” No one had told her about “Peanut Butter Jelly Time,” an Internet meme wantonly propagated by the marketing arm of Smucker’s. No one had told her eating too much peanut butter and jelly could be bad. Lily’s mother blamed the media and the government and the school principal for Lily’s problems, and she swore that no other mother would ever have to worry about being tricked by a shameless corporation recklessly disregarding consumer safety to increase profit margins.

And so, several years later, Lily’s mother heard about a new product called Four Loko, a drink that combined both alcohol and caffeine in one can. She quickly assembled a coalition of prescient college administrators, sagacious government officials and altruistic journalists — all of them intent on banning

CHRISTOPHER

HAXEL the sale of Four Loko. They called themselves Doubly-Informed Parents Successfully Honing InToxication Prevention Statutes, or DIPSHITS for short.

The DIPSHITS have released a statement, which I present to you unedited: “Erudite parents of the world, fear not! By coercing the manufacturers of Four Loko to remove caffeine from their product, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accomplished a great thing for America. An amoral, nay, immoral corporation was hawking a dangerously toxic concoction to our nation’s children, all under the guise of an innocent fruit-flavored beverage.

How dare these irresponsible capitalists — evildoers, all of them — sell a conveniently premixed beverage?! Parents can now sleep soundly at night, armed

with the knowledge their offspring are no longer able to drink libations containing both alcohol and caffeine. Were it not for the DIPSHITS, college kids would all be drunk right now.

And yet, there is work to do. Every day, ignorant imbibers integrate innocuous ingredients into ill-advised intoxicating infusions. Vodka and Red Bull, rum and Coke, whiskey and coffee: These are but a few examples of the dangers besetting our youth. That’s right, folks, even our youth are being corrupted by these crass corporations. We must act now to prevent further incidents of intoxicated imbibers; we propose the passage of precautionary legislation designed to prevent the sale of potentially dangerous products — vodka, rum, whiskey, Red Bull, Coke and even coffee. These statutes, a preemptive attack of sorts, will strike down natural selection with unnatural protection! Behold, the ‘Loko Laws.’

Details to follow. “ Christopher Haxel is a junior English major. He can be reached at haxel@umdbk.com.

I

t’s hard to believe that another semester has just gone by. In the midst of cramming for final exams and trying not to get frostbite in the ridiculously cold weather we’re having, it’s good to look back at all the successful events and changes that have been made around the campus this fall. The Residence Hall Association has been working very hard all semester to improve resident life for on-campus students, and the members are glad to have made such a impact on so many students.

Our senate meetings were off to a great start this year with our annual RHA Town Hall, where all students were invited to voice their opinions about changes they wanted to see concerning Resident Life, Resident Facilities, Dining Services and Transportation Services. We were very pleased to see such a large number of active students attend, especially those concerned with food options in the dining halls, and we are now working on answering the questions raised at that meeting.

Additionally, our Dining Services committee is well on its way to making real changes to the food options here on the campus, and we have you to thank for it.

This semester, we also created a brand new sustainability committee within the RHA, which has been working on a series of new sustainability initiatives, such as the Campus Conservation Nationals competition on North Campus. Beginning with Recyclemania next semester, this new committee will be looking into decreasing the amount of plastic bottles used around the campus and various other environmentally friendly initiatives that will continue to make this university “America’s Greenest Campus.”

We also hosted more than 400 people from seven different states at the Central Atlantic Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls Conference last month, which marked the first time the conference was ever held at this university. With the help of volunteers from all parts of the campus, we were able to gain national recognition for our organization and for our university, which is something we can all be proud of.

Regarding the dorms themselves, we have had an enormous amount of events throughout the semester that have provided students with opportunities to get to know one another and have some fun in their halls. Everything from Denton Hall’s Dungeon Extravaganza to the South Campus Commons Thanksgiving Feast to the annual Bel Air-Cambridge-Chestertown’s Got Talent event has been a huge success and definitely added to the fun, interesting atmosphere the RHA always strives to create within the dorms. Even next week, students can find pancake nights in several different dorms around the campus to take a break from studying, because who doesn’t love breakfast food at midnight?

These are only some of the ideas the RHA has implemented this semester and that the organization will continue to look into after winter break. Considering how successful our events and initiatives have been, we hope to continue to represent our constituents in the best way possible and to make living on the campus the best experience possible.

If you are interested in getting involved with the RHA, there may be positions opening for next semester.

Please contact us at voice@ marylandrha.com or friend us on Facebook to give us your feedback.

We are, and always aim to be, the voice of on-campus students.

Corie Stretton is the public relations and outreach officer for the Residence Hall Association. She can be reached at coriems19@gmail.com.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010 | THE DIAMONDBACK

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Features HOROSCOPESTELLA WILDER

CROSSWORD 41 Explorer — Heyerdahl 43 Foils, e.g.

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49 Statuesque model 50 Not legally binding 51 Polynesian carving

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orn today, you are likely to go through perhaps three distinct phases of development in your lifetime, and woe to anyone — friend or foe — who expects you to be consistent through the years. Fortunately, you thrive on just the kind of learning and evolving that the stars have in store for you, and you will almost always simply go with it when you are driven in one direction or another in pursuit of self-awareness and, ultimately, connection with others.

You are not, however, one for meaningless pursuits, and if you feel there is nothing to be gained along a certain path, you will instigate change in your own behalf.

B

There may be times in which frustration looms when you are not able to do something right the first time, but with the proper reminders, you are always able to get back in the saddle and try, try again. After all, it’s all part of your journey of self-discovery.

Also born on this date are Donny Osmond, singer and actor; John Malkovich, actor; Dick Butkus, football player; Beau Bridges, actor; Dick Van Patten, actor; Redd Foxx, comedian; Kirk Douglas, actor; Margaret Hamilton, actress.

certain conventions in order to test the waters and see where it will lead you.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — Even something delicately concealed is likely to come to light before the day is out, so you’ll want to avoid any falsehood.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) — A member of the opposite sex may challenge your way of thinking. There’s no need to discount his or her ideas out of hand.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) — You may be more nervous about what you do know than about what you don’t — and other things are likely to be topsy-turvy, too.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — A leave-taking of sorts needn’t be difficult; both parties must remember that this is only a temporary (though necessary) separation.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — You’ll want to pass messages from one party to another in a manner that inspires trust in those for whom you are play-

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — Don’t let your head dictate what your heart should be feeling at this time, but your heart shouldn’t call all the shots, either.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — The line between what you would call a good time and a bad time is likely to become somewhat blurred toward day’s end.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — A matter of taste may keep you from doing something that, coincidentally, isn’t likely to be approved of by a loved one.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — You may have to convince yourself more than anyone else that what you have on the docket is really the best thing for all concerned.

Copyright 2010 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

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32 Names on pedigrees 34 Fiesta Bowl site 37 Noisy 38 Exhibitions 40 Scintilla

ACROSS 58 Taboo (hyph.)

59 Produced, as eggs 1 Order around 60 Cared for 5 “— a break!”

61 Nice surprise 10 Down Under 62 Terminates rockers 63 Stay 14 Found a roost 64 Blackthorn 15 “Jaws” milieu 16 Karate blow 17 Comic — Rudner DOWN 1 Cutting remark 18 Wild pigs 2 Spicy stew 19 Dear, in Venice 3 In — (as found) 20 Puffy hairdo 22 Harmful bacteria 4 Personnel 5 Turn (2 wds.)

23 Some narcs 6 PC screen 24 Meg or Nolan images 26 Perk up 7 Carnivore’s quest 29 Loyalties 33 Bloodhound clues 8 Put a dent in 9 Annapolis grad 34 Comet features 35 CAT scan relative 10 Twang or drawl 11 Burn slightly 36 Has the flu 12 Frosh’s digs 37 Window sill 13 Tax pros 38 Bandy words 21 Marshes 39 Follow 22 Half the square relentlessly dancers 40 Common 24 Govern door sign 25 Connecticut 41 This and that campus 42 Bad accidents 26 An awful lot (hyph.)

27 Expression 44 Pores 28 Longest river in 45 Extensive Europe 46 Tabby’s plea 29 Softens in color 48 Basketball move 30 Force 51 Super!

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THE DIAMONDBACK | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010

BEST BET

Diversions

RAILROAD EARTH AT 9:30 CLUB In between getting your Don Zientara and A Jazz Piano Christmas fix, be sure to head to Washington’s 9:30 Club tomorrow for a dose of Railroad Earth. Stillwater, N.J.’s finest progressive bluegrass band, Railroad Earth’s concerts are as close to a hoedown as you’ll get on a Friday night in Washington. The Americanaplaying six piece is touring in support of its new self-titled album, which recently provided the band’s first debut on the Billboard Top 200 album chart.

Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $25.

arts. music. living. movies. weekend.

PREVIEW | DON ZIENTARA

online exclusive

Playing by ear

JAZZING UP YOUR CHRISTMAS Picture this: four professional jazz pianists rocking out to “Jingle Bells.”

Welcome to National Public Radio’s A Jazz Piano Christmas, an annual holiday season event this that features jazz pianists young and old performing popular Christmas melodies.

The Kennedy Center will host the event live Saturday, with one show at 7:30 p.m. and the other at 9:30 p.m. NPR will broadcast the event a few days later, after editing and producing it to air for exactly an hour.

Kevin Struthers, director of jazz programming at the Kennedy Center, said he could not be more excited for the holidays and this show.

“At the holidays, it’s always enticing to celebrate the season,” he said. “It’s great to see original interpretations of classic songs.”

Jazz is indigenous American music and has constantly evolved since its development at the turn of the last century.

“Its real zenith was in the 20th century,” Struthers said.

“It was popular in between the two world wars, then lost its focus. Today, there is a mixture of contemporary and traditional jazz.”

The Kennedy Center hosts an entire jazz season throughout the year, including the Discovery series that offers young and unknown musicians visibility on the jazz scene and the Louis Armstrong Legacy Singer series, which invites an array of acclaimed singers to perform.

— David Oliver

Founder of landmark Washington recording studio plays on his own tonight

BY SHARAD THAPER Staff writer

For full reviews of the movies above, just click the Diversions tab at:

WWW.DIAMONDBACKONLINE.COM

For Don Zientara, establishing one of the most successful local recording studios in Washington happened almost by chance.

Zientara founded Inner Ear Studio in his basement about 25 years ago.

An artist by training, a recording engineer by profession and a musician on the side, Zientara gave Washington’s punk bands a place to record when options were limited.

Now Zientara is taking his turn in front of the microphone and playing what he calls “his brand of pop, folk and punk music” at the Black Cat in Washington tonight.

After receiving a master’s degree in painting and printmaking from West Virginia University, Zientara was drafted by the U.S. Army and later worked as an artist.

He then began working at the National Gallery of Art, where he matted and framed drawings for exhibitions. His entry into the recording industry was an accident.

“I’ve been around recording all my life,” Zientara said. “I’ve always been into electronics and fixing things. It was sort of something I’d done all my life, but I’d never done it on a professional level.

“I was in the museum’s recording studio one day, and I saw that the workers were wiring up some things the wrong way,” he said. “I

pointed this out to them, and they basically said, ‘Do you want to run this?’ I said sure, and I switched into recording.”

After spending some time at the gallery’s recording studio, Zientara left for a commercial studio and later set up his own shop in his home. He soon found himself in the midst of the Washington punk scene.

“I landed in the punk scene by happenchance,” Zientara recalled. “I was playing in a band with a member who later went onto more progressive things than we were doing in the band. I recorded his band and friends of his.

“That somehow got the attention of Skip Gruff, who owned a record store that dealt with local music, and it just snowballed from there because no other studios were doing punk music at the time,” he said.

Zientara quickly found his niche as a recording engineer for punk bands in the Washington area, since most local studios at the time doubted the merits of punk music and were not willing to work with them.

Zientara, however, considered punk music to be “a true art form of the time,” causing his studio to become the top choice for local punk bands to record their music.

“Wouldn’t you want to go to a place that would record the way you wanted it to be recorded?” Zientara said. “We’re talking about being

Don Zientara performs at the Black Cat in Washington tonight. Zientara founded Inner Ear Studios, above, which has hosted the recording sessions of many area bands, including Minor Threat and Q And Not U. PHOTOS COURTESY OF INNEREARSTUDIO.COM/COBURN A. DUKEHART

Dadaism, a surrealistic period of the 1920s, there was a lot to be said about automatic writing. The artists took their cue from the fact that [the art] doesn’t say much, but it’s beautiful the way it does it.”

Performing for an audience is a way for Zientara to understand the experiences of the musicians he works with and helps him become a better recording engineer.

“What’s nice about performing is that I want to feel empathy with people I record,” Zientara said. “I want to experience what they’re experiencing.

“When musicians are standing in front of the microphone and recording their vocals, I can see where they’re coming from,” he added. “It’s all about getting the best out of the people who are performing in my studio or myself performing onstage.”

Don Zientara will perform at the Black Cat tonight. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10.

represented well. In a sense, I am the printer. If you put together a piece for the newspaper and I can’t reproduce your article accurately and make sure it appears on paper accurately, then I’m not doing my job.”

Zientara is perhaps most closely associated with bands on the punkspecializing Dischord Records, a label founded by members of the band Minor Threat, including Zientara’s longtime friend Ian MacKaye.

In addition to collaborating with Minor Threat, he worked with The Dismemberment Plan, Rites of Spring and MacKaye’s other projects, including Fugazi.

Despite Zientara’s prolific work with punk music, his own music does not draw upon elements of punk rock as much as one might expect. Rather, he relies upon his visual arts background.

“My songs tend to focus on melody and word play,” Zientara said.

“The lyrical message is not as important as the play of words are — almost like automatic writing. In

sthaper@umdbk.com

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK

SPARTANS from page 8 kept his normal starting lineup intact despite speculation he might make a change, trotting out guards Adrian Bowie and Cliff Tucker for tip-off as guards Terrell Stoglin and Pe’Shon Howard remained on the bench.

Tucker, who had scored a combined two points in the previous two games, finished the first half with a buzzer-beater to hit double figures for the seventh game this season.

Bowie scored a season-high 16 points, missing just one shot from the field.

“I really believe in them,” Gary Williams said. “They’ve been loyal four-year players. That means a lot to me. They struggled a bit in a couple games, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be outstanding players for us this year.”

Stoglin continued his scoring surge off the bench for the Terps (73), often driving to the basket and scoring easily inside. The freshman finished with 18 points, second only to Williams.

The Spartans (0-8) kept the game close for the first 10 minutes, but a 12-0 Terp run in the middle of the first half put them away for good. After Williams converted a three-point play, Stoglin grabbed a steal off the Terps’ full-court press for an easy layup.

7

“Once we got the momentum going, we wanted to keep it going,” Jordan Williams said. “We didn’t want to turn back. We wanted to keep pushing. We didn’t want to slow down for anybody.”

Bowie and Tucker highlighted the run with back-to-back 3-pointers.

After going just 3-for-13 from behind the arc in their previous four games, the starting duo hit four of their first five from deep last night.

Bowie also picked up his play on the defensive end. Five minutes into the second half, the senior blocked a seemingly open Spartan layup after a Terp turnover.

“We had it going,” Bowie said.

“We wanted to come out stronger.

Hopefully, it will carry forward the rest of the season.”

The dominant win, though, might have been more of an indictment of the Terps’ target inside Comcast Center. Far from the Southern Conference’s best offering, the Spartans were coming off losses to Wofford and Furman by a combined 35 points.

That mattered very little to a team happy to be winning again last night.

“It’s frustrating because we really could be undefeated right now,” Jordan Williams said. “A couple plays here and there, a couple loose balls, some free throws and we’re undefeated. We know how good we can be.” ceckard@umdbk.com

Forward Jordan Williams recorded his eighth double-double last night.

JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

ENGELKE from page 8 backcourt of Bowie, Tucker and Sean Mosley combining for just eight points.

Stoglin, by comparison, scored 16 points off the bench for the Terps, who rallied behind their reserves to tie the score late before eventually falling at Verizon Center.

“We have to get better. We’re not good enough offensively yet,” Williams said after the loss to Temple. “We need plays like Pe’Shon [Howard] and [Stoglin] gave us tonight. We need guys to step up.”

Williams said he didn’t decide on a starting lineup for last night’s game until Tues-

day evening after a team practice. Instead of making decisions about the Terps’ starting lineup based on just one game, Williams said he would opt to instead look at players’ entire workloads.

But so far this season, Stoglin has made a bigger impact than either Bowie or Tucker.

Against UNC Greensboro, Stoglin scored 18 points, the third straight game in which he has scored more than Tucker or Bowie.

“He really believes in himself, and you can’t shake him,” Williams said of Stoglin.

“I think he’s got a chance to be an outstanding player along with a couple of our other freshmen.”

Last night’s game would have been the perfect opportunity for Williams to give Stoglin, who has been thriving at point guard, a place in the starting five. A chance for the freshman to gain some experience and build confidence by playing with the other Terp starters from the opening tip certainly wouldn’t have hurt.

“I considered everything,” Williams said when asked if he had seriously contemplated changing the starting lineup. “I watched a lot of video and things like that.

A lot of times, it’s a gut feeling.”

This isn’t about Bowie or Tucker being shunned. It’s about how the two seniors — right now, at this juncture in the season — look like more viable options coming in off the Terps’ bench.

Neither has proved he can handle a fulltime starting gig just yet. With ACC play fast approaching, Stoglin warrants the same kind of chance to lead the Terps that he’s shown he deserves.

Dodds said of her newfound responsibility. “I think we can do some big things this season.”

According to Nelligan, “big things” could mean a first-ever EAGL Championship.

“With Abigail and Kesley coming back and all the new girls we have this year, I think this is the most talent we’ve ever had,” he said. “We should be the team to beat in the EAGL this season.”

A first-place finish in the EAGL would be a milestone achievement for a program that didn’t begin offering scholarships until 1995 — almost 20 years after most of its competitors.

“We’re still trying to overcome the fact that we got started so much later than a lot of our competition,” Nelligan said.

“We’re a team on the rise, but I think we’re ready to compete in a major way.”

TERP NOTE: The Terps will host their annual intrasquad scrimmage at 7 p.m. tomorrow in the Comcast Center Pavilion.

Terrapin football quarterback and ACC Rookie of the Year Danny O’Brien will be among the guest judges participating.

jengelke@umdbk.com

letourneau@umdbk.com

PREVIEW from page 8

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL | NOTEBOOK

Highly rated recruit Bays will redshirt; rebounding superiority continues

BY CONOR WALSH Staff writer

Touted freshman forward Whitney Bays will sit out this season as a medical redshirt for the Terrapin women’s basketball team as she continues to recover from a torn ACL in her left knee that she suffered in summer 2009.

Coach Brenda Frese said Bays, who will have four years of eligibility upon her return next season, “is still only about 60 percent.”

Ranked as the nation’s No. 13 recruit in this year’s freshman class by ESPN, Bays was one of the centerpieces of what might

be Frese’s best recruiting class in her nine years with the program. Only fellow freshman forward Alyssa Thomas, the team’s second-leading scorer, was ranked higher (No. 7).

The West Virginia native was also recruited by top-tier programs such as Connecticut, Duke and West Virginia.

“We want to be smart in terms of being able to utilize her for an entire season,” Frese said.

REBOUNDING DOMINANCE The No. 22 Terps knew they had length on their side coming into this season. With five contributing post players standing

6-foot-2 or taller, it was clear they had the potential to own the paint game after game.

The dominance the Terps have shown in the paint so far, however, has been perhaps greater than even they anticipated. The team is outrebounding opponents by 18.9 per game, a margin exceeding defending national champion Connecticut’s 18.1 and trailing only Syracuse’s.

“It’s just about getting a body on somebody and boxing out,” said center Lynetta Kizer, who leads the Terps in both scoring and rebounding.

Kizer is joined by forwards Diandra Tchatchouang, Tianna

Hawkins and Thomas and center Alicia DeVaughn down low.

The group comprises the team’s five most prolific scorers and rebounders this season.

The depth at forward has helped the Terps “throw waves at opponents,” an oft-stated goal of Frese that she says is paramount to a successful fastbreak offense.

NEW LOOKS The Terps continued to tinker with different guard combinations in Tuesday night’s win at Loyola.

Frese has tried three different starting looks this season at a position that has been in flux

since the graduation of AllAmerica point guard Kristi Toliver in 2009.

With Thomas, who was nursing a leg injury, absent Tuesday, Frese employed a three-guard set against the Greyhounds, with hybrid guard/small forward Laurin Mincy starting in Thomas’ place.

“We’re still trying to figure out some of our guard rotations,” Frese said after Tuesday’s game.

Guard Anjale Barrett has started all but one game this season, rotating between the point guard and shooting guard spots for the Terps.

Guard Natasha Cloud has

started six games at point guard, while guard Kim Rodgers has rounded out the starting lineup with four starts at shooting guard. Guard Dara Taylor leads the Terps in assists despite coming off the bench in all nine games.

The constant changes have yet to yield consistent play.

Mixing bright spots as playmakers with frequent lapses in decision-making, the Terp guards have contributed to a team that ranks both secondbest in the ACC in scoring defense and second-worst in total turnovers. cwalsh@umdbk.com

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8

THE DIAMONDBACK | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010

Sports

More Franklin rumors Check out TerrapinTrail.com for the latest whisperings surrounding Terrapin football offensive coordinator James Franklin’s future.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Terps bounce back in Spartan blowout Williams, Stoglin lead charge in 99-56 victory

BY CHRIS ECKARD Senior staff writer

On a fast break late in the first half last night, Jordan Williams rose over a helpless UNC Greensboro defender and slammed in a one-handed alley-oop from guard Cliff Tucker.

By halftime, the Terrapin men’s basketball forward had all but secured his eighth double-double of the season with 14 points and nine rebounds.

And by the end of the Terps’ 99-56 victory against a reeling Spartan team that has now lost all eight of its games this season by double digits, Williams’ might and that of his teammates had been made

patently obvious.

“That was a big game for us to play well,” coach Gary Williams said. “I know we were favored going into the game, but I wanted to play well.”

Jordan Williams finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds while also converting seven of 11 free throws in a balanced night for the Terps’ offense.

“We’re being a lot more patient,” the sophomore forward said. “We’re allowing each other to play our own games. We’re looking for other people.”

Three days after his team’s disappointing 64-61 loss to Temple, Gary Williams

see SPARTANS, page 7

Spoiling a chance to start anew JAKOB ENGELKE

H Guard Terrell Stoglin scored 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting in the Terps’ 99-56 win against UNC Greensboro last night. Forward Jordan Williams led all scorers with 23 points. JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

ow long is it going to take for Gary Williams to give Terrell Stoglin a chance in the starting lineup?

That was surely the question some fans were asking shortly after tip-off last night, when the Terrapin men’s basketball coach seemingly had a perfect opportunity to give his freshman guard a starting nod.

UNC Greensboro was and still is winless this season, never coming within double digits against an opponent all year — not against East Carolina, not against Wofford

and not even against Furman, which Penn State defeated handily by 21 points.

It’s safe to say last night’s 99-56 Terp victory was expected.

So don’t put too much weight in the impressive stat lines of guards Cliff Tucker and Adrian Bowie. The Spartans are one of the worst teams in Division I, and it showed last night. Tucker’s 13 points and Bowie’s 16 likely say more about the Spartans’ lack of talent than a sudden resurgence from the two seniors, who had dismal outings against Temple in the BB&T Classic.

Many fans hoped, and some media members believed, Sunday’s game against the Owls could be Williams’ tipping point. The Terps trailed by 15 at one point in their eventual 64-61 loss, with the

see ENGELKE, page 7

GYMNASTICS | SEASON PREVIEW

Healthy and hungry, Terps set to spring forward with new talent

BY CONNOR LETOURNEAU Staff writer

After losing six seniors from last year’s squad, the Terrapin gymnastics team is looking to prove that talent can trump experience this season.

Until injuries derailed the team’s title aspirations, the Terps appeared poised for a breakout season in 2009-10.

After earning a GymInfo Top 25 ranking for the first time in more than five years, the undermanned squad struggled at the end of the season, failing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

After entering the eightteam East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championship as the No. 2 seed, the Terps placed sixth. The disappointment continued with a last-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship.

Should the Terps improve this season, second-year coach Brett Nelligan will likely have gotten help from one of the nation’s top recruiting classes.

Nelligan hopes the squad’s five freshmen can fill the void left

by Brandi George and Michele Brenner, All-EAGL performers who guided the Terps to a 5071 record during their four years in College Park.

“We had a great senior class last year,” senior Abigail Adams said. “But now it’s time for this year’s upperclassmen to take on that leadership role and teach the freshmen everything we were taught.”

Headlining what Nelligan calls the “best freshman class in school history” are two high school national champions, Karen Tang and Elizabethe Manzi. Tang was the 2009 Junior Olympic floor exercise champion, while Manzi won beam at the Level 10 nationals.

With half of the Terps’ beam lineup lost to graduation,

Manzi’s skills could prove particularly valuable this season.

“Having Manzi is huge for us,” Nelligan said. “She has the ability to score a 9.9 or better [on the beam] any given night. She should be one of the top gymnasts in the country at that event.”

In addition to a wealth of young talent, the Terps are buoyed by the return of Adams, the reigning EAGL AllAround Champion, and sopho-

more Kesley Cofsky, last season’s EAGL Rookie of the Year.

Adams, who Nelligan said is on track to become the most accomplished gymnast in Terp history, will lead the team on the uneven bars and the floor exercise. Katy Dodds, another highly-touted freshman, will anchor the Terps on the vault.

“There’s definitely a lot of pressure, but it’s exciting,”

see PREVIEW, page 7

Freshman Katy Dodds springs off the vault at practice yesterday. The Terps will hold their intrasquad scrimmage tomorrow at Comcast Center Pavilion. MATTHEW CREGER/THE DIAMONDBACK

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

2

THE DIAMONDBACK | HOLIDAY SHOPPING GUIDE | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010

Some students opt to dole out gift cards, like those sold at the CVS downtown, for the holidays. JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

Giving plastic presents Students mixed about gift cards’ appeal

BY JACE EVANS For The Diamondback

For most college students, the excitement about what awaits them under the tree has waned as they’ve grown older and wishlists to parents and others have replaced letters to Santa Claus.

And this year, many students may be gifted with small envelopes rather than large boxes, if an ongoing trend continues.

Indeed, gift cards have become economic machines in the last five years. According to a sur vey conducted by the National Retail Federation, an industr y lobby, gift cards are the most requested holiday gift for the fourth consecutive year, and gift-card spending is expected to reach $24.78 billion.

Gift cards have long been a go-to gift for young people, who are notoriously fickle about everything from clothing to music choices, especially when gift-givers are unsure of the recipient’s tastes.

“It depends on who is giving it,” freshman business major Callie Caputo said about whether gift cards make good gifts. “If it’s from relatives or people you don’t know that well, it’s fine, but when close friends give something, it should be an actual gift that you have to put thought into.”

However, some students appreciate the flexibility of gift cards no matter who they come from.

“I love gift cards because they are basically like cash,” said freshman psychology major Nikkita Sarna. “Would you rather get something you don’t want or get something that is essentially cash?”

But freshman letters and sciences major Bryan Friia noted that gift cards’ similarity to cash is precisely the problem.

“When you get a gift card, you will not spend the exact amount on the gift card,” he said. “You either lose money by spending more or by not using the gift card.”

Those are the effects that companies offering gift cards hope to encounter. According a 2006 study conducted by Kiplinger, gift cards potentially bring in customers who might otherwise not shop in a particular store or eat at a certain restaurant. And on average, people spend more than their gift cards are worth once they enter the store or restaurant.

Additionally, 27 percent of recipients let gift cards go unused, meaning retailers pocketed nearly $8 billion.

“I think it’s a huge scam,” said freshman business major Sophie Chen. “Cash is universally accepted everywhere; gift cards are limiting. It comes off as more thoughtful to give a gift card than just cash, but when you think about it, it’s just a waste.” news@umdbk.com

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010 | HOLIDAY SHOPPING GUIDE | THE DIAMONDBACK

3

Decking the halls

BY MANDY DOMINELLI For The Diamondback

Call it the Grinch, but finals season, it seems, may be putting a damper on holiday cheer among students.

Although many students said they enjoy the decorations put up by their friends and neighbors, it seems as though exams and essays may be more prominent in their minds than candy canes and sugar plums.

Unlike in the outside world, where many families begin setting up for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, Michael Casto, a freshman music performance major, said he simply hasn’t found the time to decorate his dorm room. And as far as he can tell, he said, he’s not the only resident in Centreville Hall late to the game.

“They decorated more for Halloween than Christmas,” Casto said, noting that Halloween has more of a party atmosphere, inspiring people to go all-out with their decorations, whereas “party” is the last word students think of during finals.

José Fortún, a resident assistant in Dorchester Hall, agrees.

“Halloween symbolizes more of a ‘let’s have fun’ time, whereas the holidays in December are geared more towards families,” he said. “People tend to want to show off how intense they can get for Halloween. ... For Christmas, they’re typically excited to get gifts from their families and to spend quality time at home.”

But some students are determined to create winter wonderlands in their homes away from home.

Sophomore computer science major Ankeet Presswala said one of his neighbors has strung lights around his room and added a threefoot Christmas tree to his quarters.

Presswala said he wishes he could be as festive.

“I just haven’t had time to go and get my decorations,” he said. “But I would love to.”

Freshman landscape architecture major Lacreisha Phillips said her roommate has the opposite problem. “[My roommate] bought Christmas lights, but she didn’t put them up yet,” she said.

Even so, while her own room may be bare, Phillips has seen many pictures of her friends’ decorations.

“I think some people like it and some people just don’t care,” Phillips

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This Elkton Hall door shows holiday spirit. JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK

said of holiday decorations.

She added that religion may be one reason some students are less inclined to decorate for winter holidays, a point echoed by several students.

For freshman education major Carly Clark, however, religion is no obstacle to decorations.

Clark said she enjoys Christmas decorations even though she is Jew-

ish. In fact, the only reason she hasn’t decorated her own dorm room is because she simply doesn’t have anything to decorate with.

“I love Christmas decorations,” she said. “I would do it if I had some.”

Presswala agreed: “I’ve never seen anybody offended by holiday spirit.” news@umdbk.com

4

THE DIAMONDBACK | HOLIDAY SHOPPING GUIDE | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010

A personal touch Some students create homemade gifts for the holidays

BY BECCA LURYE Staff writer

The days of macaroni and glitter picture frames are long gone. Instead, this holiday season, students are crocheting, drawing and crafting a personal touch into their gifts.

Sophomore physiology and neurobiology major Andra Naing, who crochets laptop covers, coin purses, hats and hair accessories for friends, finds time by working between classes and meetings.

“People just know me as always crocheting,” said Naing, who learned the technique when she was 12. “And when I wear the [accessories], I get a lot of compliments, and it really does inspire other people to want to learn how to crochet.”

Naing said she draws ideas from craft blogs and makes her own patterns based on ones she finds online.

The closest source for craft supplies to the campus is Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts in Prince George’s Plaza.

Once there, Naing said she buys small balls of cotton yarn for up to $2 — enough to cover a couple cell phones or make bushels-worth of flowers that she attaches to hair clips.

“Usually, everything I make I know, ‘Oh, I’ll use this yarn for this person,’ just by what they like,” Naing said. “I know their favorite color or what they’re gonna use it for.”

Last year, she made about 30 flowers, which take only 10 minutes apiece, as well as dozens of bigger crocheted projects. Naing said the hats are a big hit with guys.

Other handmade gifts take students a little longer. Junior studio art major Jane Joo spends more than 20 hours on each of the paintings and illustrations she gives to close family and friends.

In order to finish artwork while she’s at school and dealing with endof-semester studying and assign-

ments, Joo relies on materials that she always has on hand: pen and ink.

The last piece Joo made was also her favorite, she said. Once complete, she gave the 2-foot, pen-andink drawing to her older brother.

“To give it away, it’s like your baby,” Joo said. “That’s why I only give them to friends, so I can track them down. It doesn’t go far.”

Joo said after buying paint, brushes and canvas materials, gifting a painting can add up to more money than a store-bought present might cost. Other students also said saving money wasn’t a big factor in choosing to make gifts by hand.

“It’s just more meaningful and original and endearing to get something crafty and homemade,” said sophomore studio art major Molly Seligman, who started making cards when she offered to give a friend an illustration. She’s since sold some of the drawings and given others away.

“I’d rather have some weird homemade card, like an octopus or something just totally bizarre, versus someone just getting a card that’s like, ‘Happy Hanukkah!’” Seligman said.

Freshman history major Jacob Portman said he appreciates the photo montage, knit kippah and other homemade gifts he’s received over the years. “It’s much more

Andra Naing crochets holiday gifts.

CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

thoughtful. Anyone can buy something from a store.”

Portman added, however, that something crafty may also seem like a last-ditch effort to some students.

“I don’t see it that way,” Portman said. “But you can pick out the most thoughtful thing you can buy and that could be leagues above something you make.” lurye@umdbk.com

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