December 11, 2013

The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper

W E D N E S D AY, D E C E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 1 3

RHA reconsiders smoking ban enforcement policies Association’s outreach offers new perspectives

versity counterpart, about Towson’s smoking ban policy.

Towson, which has no designated smoking areas, subjects students and faculty to a $75 fi ne for smoking on

By Dustin Levy the campus. @dustinblevy “That was a very interesting conStaff writer versation, and just asking, not just At a residence hall organization him, but other regional members, regional conference at Pennsylvania how did they operate and whether State University in November, Omer they have [a smoking ban] at all,” Kaufman, this university’s Residence Kaufman said.

Hall Association president, spoke a smoke-free umd sticker reminds passersby of the campus smoking ban, which went into effect in July. with Jeffrey Cusick, his Towson UniSee smoking, Page 2 The Residence Hall Association hopes to change the lack of enforcement policies. sung-min kim/the diamondback

By Madeleine List @madeleine_list Staff writer His nearly 10 years of accumulating tattoos began as an act of rebellion at age 18, but David Strohecker’s love of body art also sparked a passion for dispelling stigmas about tattoos.

After studying the art of tattooing for about

Honor code copying has little effect Study: writing out code doesn’t lessen cheating

By Jim Bach @thedbk Senior staff writer It’s a long-standing ritual: Students write they have “not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this examination” at the top of each test. But does the act of writing the code stop students from cheating?

A study published recently in the Academy of Educational Leadership Journal suggests it might not.

Three Coastal Carolina University researchers offered students in accounting classes three versions of a take-home quiz — one with no honor pledge statement, one with a written statement they had to sign and one with a statement students had to write themselves — and found rates of academic dishonesty were roughly the same. Students were just as likely or unlikely to cheat whether they signed a prewritten statement or wrote it themselves.

Employing an honor code at an institution can help reduce cheating among its students, the report concluded, but the act of writing out that See honor, Page 3

See tattoos, Page 2

See PLANETS, Page 3

Council to discuss charter on young members Proposal would allow 18-year-old candidates

at last night’s City Council meeting.

“It was the right thing to do then, and it is the right thing to do now,” Afzali said. “All College Park residents deserve the same rights and

By Teddy Amenabar responsibilities.” @TeddyAmen Afzali said he brought the charter Senior staff writer to the council because he believes it Over the next few months, the would foster a collaborative effort College Park City Council will between university students and discuss a charter that would allow long-term residents. A l low i ng residents as young as 18 to serve on 18-year-olds to run for a seat only the council. means people would be allowed to The current age required to vote for them, he said, not that they serve on the council is 21, and if the marcus afzali, District 4 councilman, seeks to attract would win. At the end of the day, young council members. christian jenkins/the diamondback charter passes, any student at the Afzali added, the charter will aid District 4 Councilman Marcus the democratic process. university who has lived in College Park for at least one year and is at Afzali presented the charter, which is a least 18 years old could be elected. reincarnation of a failed 2010 charter, See council, Page 3

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early and has lingered to this day, he said, even though decades after the end of World War II, an entirely new group of people is participating in the art form.

It used to be common for a working-class person to walk into a tattoo parlor, pick a design off the wall and get it tattooed for $50. But now, young, college-aged people are investing large sums of money in designing individualized tattoos with personal meaning, Strohecker said.

“The middle-class approach to tattooing emerged in the ’90s,” he said. “Custom tattooing has become the hegemonic narrative.”

Caleb Dorsch, a junior chemistry major,

david strohecker, a sociology doctoral candidate, displays some of his many tattoos. Strohecker’s studies have found that tattooing’s cultural place has changed in recent decades. sung-min kim/the diamondback

Students evaluate stigmas, expressions of tattooing

University astronomers’ data show atmospheric water in 5 distant planets

Since September, researchers at this university have reported five distant planets show traces of water in their atmospheres.

Using instruments on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, scientists led by astronomy professor L. Drake Deming observed these planets in transit — as they passed in front of the stars they orbit — and determined the light signatures recorded were consistent with the way water interacts with light.

“Only the water molecule absorbs that much light,” Deming said.

Scientists have identified more than 1,000 exoplanets, planets outside our solar system. Deming and his fellow researchers took data from 16 exoplanets and so far have announced that five contain atmospheric water.

Dem i ng sa id he w i l l conduct si m i la r projects for pla nets of smaller masses in the future. The initial test’s positive findings left him optimistic that more water will be found on other planetary bodies, he said.

“It’s an entirely different question as to whether there will be life,” he said. “Just because we see water doesn’t necessarily tie it to a habitable world.”

Ashlee Wilkins, a fourth-year astronomy doctoral candidate, began working with Deming in summer 2011, when the project was already underway. She was responsible for detecting and analyzing unintentional instrument effects.

At least one other scientific paper that will add to the five positive matches is in the review process now, she said. Though these confirmations would bump up the project’s success rate in fi nding atmospheric

INKED UP five years, the sociology doctoral candidate found that its significance in society has changed dramatically throughout history, just as his own reasons for getting tattooed have evolved over the past decade.

“The stigma is decreasing, but it’s still out there,” Strohecker said. “My publicly stated goal was to challenge stereotypes.”

During the early days of tattooing in the U.S., typically only certain outsider groups such as carnival sideshow “freaks,” prostitutes and vagabonds were inked, he said. As time went on, it became common for servicemen coming home from World War II to get tattoos. The stereotype associating tattoos with criminals, ex-convicts and social deviants was formed

Research uncovers water on exoplanets

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THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | wednesday, december 11, 2013

Athletes raise $3,130 for cancer in first Terps Got Talent show Runners win first with violin and dance routine

By Holly Cuozzo @emperorcuozzco Staff writer

david strohecker, a sociology doctoral candidate, says custom tattooing has become commonplace in society. sung-min kim/the diamondback

Tattoos From PAGE 1 has a tattoo on his inner bicep.

It’s an image of the capsaicin molecule, the component responsible for chilis’ spice, representing his love of both science and music, specifically the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“I wanted something I’ll have with me forever,” Dorsch said. “I really enjoyed the aesthetic appeal of it, being able to have something be a part of me and commemorate that long-term.”

Because he is aware of the stigma that still surrounds tattoos, Dorsch said he was sure to get his in a spot he could easily cover up.

Strohecker, on the other hand, did not take the same route — he is covered head to toe in colorful ink, except for a few spots on his palms, throat, head, ankles and upper thigh, which he said he is saving for more designs later in life.

He doesn’t know how many tattoos he has or how much money he has spent on them,

smoking From PAGE 1 T he i mplementation of the university smoking ban, approved by the University Senate in April after a University System of Maryland mandate, has proven difficult.

The ban on smoking activities went into effect in July, but Kaufman said the inability to shape an enforcement plan that will satisfy all affected parties is rendering the ban ineffective. As this university’s RHA pushes for progress, Kaufman said one thing has become clear: The problem is one universities across the system and country are also grappling with.

“There’s no one answer,” Kaufman said. “We are constantly looking at ways that could try to mitigate all these different concerns and make our campus as good of an environment as it could possibly be for the majority of our residents that we represent.”

In the spri ng, the R H A worked with other campus organizations to designate four smoking areas, although there is still no official method of enforcing the ban. The RHA also passed a resolution last month to support new educational efforts and uphold administrative sanctions for smoking outside dorms. Now, they’re looking to other schools for constructive solutions to test.

“We’re still looking for a so-

but he said he will never forget his most painful tattoo, a bright blue and red mandrill’s face on his right armpit that took hours.

Sometimes, Strohecker said, he’s surprised at the positive reactions he elicits from people, such as when elderly women approach him at the grocery store to compliment his body art.

But he’s often aware of people’s judgmental gazes and biases, such as when a security guard at CVS followed him through the aisles while shopping just a few days ago, he said.

Once, he was almost kept out of his own high school reunion party when a pub in Dallas tried to prevent him from entering, claiming he was too “underdressed” for the establishment.

Strohecker tries not to let others’ perceptions get to him, but the constant stares sometimes cause him anxiety, he said. He hopes stereotypes are changing, especially as more businesses, such as coffee shops and bars and nationwide chains such as Urban Outfitters, are now accepting — and even welcoming — tattooed employees.

But, he said, tattoos are still under attack from suggested regulations such as the Washington Health Department’s proposed tattoo waiting period, which, if enacted, would force people to make an appointment and wait 24 hours before getting inked, eliminating walk-in business for tattoo parlors.

Some students, such as freshman Sylviane Alexion, sa id people shou ld th i n k before making a decision that will affect them for the rest of their lives.

“I have a habit of liking something, and then, after a while, I really don’t like it,” the accounting major said. “Why would I spend a ton of money, go through pain and get something that I might hate in three months?”

Small tattoos aren’t bad, but big, extensive ones aren’t pleasant to look at and may hurt future job prospects, Alexion said.

“I don’t consider them professional,” she said, “and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”

lution,” said John Thacker, the RHA public relations and outreach officer for the upcoming spring semester. “We’re still working with students to make the ban as good as a situation for everyone as possible.”

The RHA addressed North Hill students’ concerns Tuesday night by passing a resolution to improve the smoking area by McKeldin Library, which Ashley Feng, a North Hill senator, said was causing problems due to lack of definition of the designated location.

“People often ignore the area and smoke on the sidewalks,” she said.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County seemed less invested in student and faculty input, according to Sam Manas, the opinions editor of The Retriever Weekly, the UMBC student newspaper. UMBC designated two smoking areas and implemented a $50 fine for smoking outside those locations.

“There was no student participation in its passing, the smoking areas are far-flung at best and there was little consideration of different groups on campus,” Manas wrote in an August column.

The University of Michigan, a Big Ten school similar in student population size to this university, adopted a smoke-free policy in July 2011 that prohibits smoking on the campus. Similar to this university, Michigan has a less punitive approach, aiming to

enforce the policy through an educational campaign.

“Education for sure is perhaps the easiest to stomach from both camps,” Kaufman said.

Kaufman said the RHA plans on increasing visibility as its next step. Last week, the RHA unanimously passed a resolution to approve a Department of Resident Life poster campaign, and the department agreed to improve how it handles the smoking ban.

“We’re going to get all the word back out to the staff,” said Deb Grandner, Resident Life director. “We’re 100 percent behind [the RHA] on this.”

Grandner said part of the enforcement issue could stem from new resident assistants being unaware of the university’s smoking policies.

Kaufman said the smoking ban is also a divisive issue, creating factions of smokers and nonsmokers who want different results, making it difficult to discuss productively.

The RHA understands that no policy will be ideal, but it’s continuing to search for an alternative to address the flaws in the current policy.

“We could have very easily said, ‘The areas are here. We’re good,’ but that’s not the case,” said Kaufman. “The situation is far from being perfect and we strive to make the situation perfect to make the campus perfect for all.”

Last night, instead of wearing lacrosse cleats on the field, Chad Rafferty found himself wearing an elf hat and standing onstage at Comcast Pavilion.

The freshman defender on the Terrapins men’s lacrosse team and his teammate Isaiah Davis-Allen, a freshman midfielder, were set to dance to “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

The dance routine was one of 17 acts featuring basketball players, gymnasts, runners and other studentathletes who competed in the first Terps Got Talent Student-Ath lete Talent Show. T he talent show, ho s te d b y t he S t u d e nt Athlete Advisory Committee, benefited the American Cancer Society.

Performers competed in front of five judges: former men’s basketball guard and current assistant coach Juan Dixon, former track and field athlete Robert Duru, Terrapin Club President Marlene Feldman, Colleges Against Cancer executive Julia Ring and Testudo.

“I knew that it would be a ton of fun to be able to bond with the team and win a trophy,” said Alex Anthony, a freshman women’s soccer forward who participated in a dance routine with her teammates. “This is nerve-racking because it’s

TRACK AND FIELD RUNNERS Noella Anyangwe and Jordan Simmons win first place for their violin performance and dance routine in last night’s Terps Got Talent Student-Athlete Talent Show. See more photos online at diamondbackonline.com. rebecca rainey/the diamondback not something you’re used to.

When you’re playing, you’re just excited.”

The acts were silly and entertaining, said Will Likely, a freshman football defensive back who attended the event.

He said he liked watching performers showcase their talents in areas outside athletics.

“It’s a great way to help support the cause of cancer while having fun before the semester ends,” Likely said.

Skits ranged from dance or step routines and lip-synch performances to drum solos and synchronized swimming acts.

But it was a hip-hop interpretative dance and electronic violin routine by Jordan Simmons and Noella Anyangwe, sophomore sprinters on the women’s track and field team, that won over the judges and crowd. Simmons’ dance and Anyangwe’s perfor m a nce ended w it h a standing ovation from the crowd of about 620 people.

“I was honestly surprised,” Simmons said.

For Simmons, the talent

show was more than just an entertaining way to spend an evening at the end of the semester; it was a way to honor and celebrate a friend from her dance school who died of cancer in 2006.

“We all have some connection to this disease,” Ring told the crowd.

T he show’s u nderly i ng goal — to raise money for cancer research — motivated many of the athletes to get involved. They raised about $3,130.

With busy game and practice schedules, some athletes don’t have a chance to participate in other campus events such as Relay for Life, said Daniela Yaniv, a co-president of Colleges Against Cancer, a student organization that supports campus American Cancer Society events. Yaniv said the group hopes to make the talent show an annual event.

“I’m glad to help out such a great organization,” Rafferty said. “It was exciting.” hcuozzodbk@gmail.com

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Univ community reflects on Ukraine protests EU rejection sparks demonstrations

By Talia Richman @talirichman Staff writer

ashlee wilkins, a fourth-year doctoral candidate, joined the project in 2011 and oversaw the detection and understanding of unintentional instrument effects. photo courtesy of ashlee wilkins

PLANETS

“JUST BECAUSE WE SEE WATER DOESN’T From PAGE 1 NECESSARILY TIE IT TO A HABITABLE WORLD.” water, Wilkins said it was not an indication that these exoplanets could support life.

“A lot of wh at we’ve learned with looking at exoplanets is that water is a fairly common molecule,” she said. “We used to think that if there’s water, there must be life. That’s not the case.”

These particular exoplanets could not support life because their surface temperatures are far too hot — a typical orbit lasts only two to four days, Wilkins said.

She and Deming referred to them as “hot Jupiters,” extrasolar planets that revolve close to their respective stars and have masses comparable to that of Jupiter.

Wilkins said she leaves questions regarding the existence of life outside Earth to astrobiologists, who debate what a planet requires to sustain life.

Wilkins plans to continue conducting research in exoplanet astronomy, she said.

She chose this university for its large astronomy department and close ties to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she works to develop instruments for detecting exoplanets.

“That’s what I’d like to do with my life,” Wilkins said.

Holly Sheets has worked with Deming for two years on a similar project based

L. DRAKE DEMING

Astronomy professor on data collected by the Kepler spacecraft. An astronomy doctoral candidate since 2007, Sheets has observed smaller planetary bodies before their transits rather than during them.

The research she and her fellow scientists are conducting on exoplanetary systems will prove crucial to understanding our own solar system, she said.

“The more information we learn about what these planets hold in their atmospheres, the more of an idea we can get of where they might have originated within their system,” Sheets said.

When NASA launches the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satel l ite i n 2017, Dem i ng said, the data collection for his operation will improve c o n s i d e ra bly. T E S S w i l l feature a 6-meter-wide telescope, compared to Hubble’s 2.4-meter one.

“Sensitivity will be enormously enhanced,” he said.

Because the TESS mission is specifically intended to probe for exoplanets, the door for more in-depth research will be pushed wide open, Deming said.

“Next, we can try to find large bodies of liquid water,” he said.

Thomas McCloskey often walked through Independence Square in Kiev when he lived in Ukraine during a two-year stint with the Peace Corps from 2006 to 2008. His office was less than a mile away from the square, and McCloskey, a communication instructor and doctoral candidate, said it was one of the most beautiful, peaceful places he’s ever been.

Five years later, it’s a very different scene.

For the past three weeks, Independence Square has been overrun with hundreds of thousands of protesters calling for the resignation of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who recently rejected an association agreement with the European Union in favor of maintaining close ties with Russia.

“Europe has a lot of attraction for Ukrainians,” said Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, in an interview with PBS. “Polls show more than 50 percent of the Ukrainian population now would like to get closer to Europe. And it’s because of the living standards, but it’s also because of rule of law. For a country where there is corruption, where [there are] crony politics, they would like to have a more normal democratic system, and that is the attraction of Europe.”

For students and faculty with ties to Ukraine, the constant

COUNCIL From PAGE 1 Afzali said he is the only student at this university to win a seat on the council, an accomplishment he attributes to the fact that he grew up in College Park.

The Student Government Association has not officially taken a stance on the charter, but SGA President Samantha Zwerling said she personally supports lowering the age limit. Zwerling added she finds it frustrating that students can only partici-

news alerts and tweets about the protests hit close to home.

When McCloskey was in Ukraine, he taught English to high school students in Ochakiv, a v illage on the country’s Black Sea coastline.

Ukraine is politically divided along geographic lines — people living in the east and south tend to be more nostalgic for the days of the Soviet Union, and these regions helped vote Yanukovych into office.

“A lot of my students, because I taught them English, used those skills to eventually leave our village,” McCloskey said.

“Without realizing it, I tilted their perspectives a little bit.

It was much more difficult for them to believe the anti-Western propaganda because they knew an American, they were friends with an American.”

His students now are among the protesters in Independence Square. They email McCloskey frequently to give him updates and let him know they wish he could demonstrate alongside them.

“One of my students told me it was very simple for him: He wanted his children to grow up as Europeans and not as Russians,” McCloskey said.

Last year, Andrew Nynka, a journalism instructor and doctoral candidate who has family in Ukraine, received a Fulbright Scholarship to do research at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kiev. In 2004, he covered the Orange Revolution — a series of protests over rigged presidential elections — for The Ukrainian Weekly.

“When I see photos now, it draws me right back to Inde-

pendence Square in the winter of 2004,” Nynka said. “You felt a strength and a bond — not as a journalist but among the people themselves. There was a sense of calm, but you also just didn’t know what was going to happen.”

The current protests, which Nynka said are larger in scale and have higher stakes than the Orange Revolution, worry him more than those that took place nine years ago. Almost everyone Nynka met while living there is participating in the protests, he said, and despite fearing for their safety, he is filled with a sense of pride.

“I am proud to see a country of 46 million say, ‘We have the right to decide what our society should look like — not some one individual,’” Nynka said. “What’s happening in Ukraine right now would never happen in Russia.

The government would never allow protests on this scale.”

On Sunday, protesters — including one of McCloskey’s former students — toppled a statue of Vladimir Lenin, a communist Russian leader of the Bolshevik Revolution. It was a victory over neo-Soviet principles, McCloskey said.

“It was a very symbolic gesture, ” McCloskey said.

“I think it was appropriate to destroy the ‘hammer and sickle hero’ with a sledgehammer.”

When McCloskey watches live streams of the protests or sees photographs of Ukrainians facing off against riot police swinging truncheons and spraying tear gas, he finds himself searching the crowd for the faces of his former students. In his mind, they are still

the 15-year-old kids who like playing Simon Says and hearing stories about America, he said.

“I’m just absolutely terrified for my students. I want them to be safe, but at the same time, I understand and I sympathize with them,” he said. “When given a choice between a customs union with Russia, being bullied into something a majority of Ukrainians don’t want, and living in a civil society that allows people to choose the direction they want for their children, I think that’s a really easy choice. I am probably more scared than they are.”

Mia Zavalij, a senior anthropology major, has many of the same fears. She was born in Ukraine, and her extended family still lives there. Her cousins, who are taking part in the protests, have been updating their Facebook statuses with news for weeks.

“I was really upset seeing Ukrainians being treated so harshly by the government, but I’m excited seeing the solidarity among youth,” Zavalij said.

Despite their fears, McCloskey, Zavalij and Nynka all said watching the protesters work to redefine their nation is an inspiring experience.

“When I left Ukraine, I told my students that if I could be anything other than American, I would be Ukrainian,” McCloskey said. “For better or worse, American identity is well established. We are what we are. But Ukrainians have the potential right now to start over, to start a new country. That’s an incredibly exciting and scary opportunity.”

pate in city conversations in a limited way.

“It will be really interesting to see how the city council falls on this,” she said.

T he cou nci l won’t vote on the charter until after a publ ic hea ri ng schedu led for Feb. 11. District 1 Counc i l m a n P a t r i c k Wo j a h n said he voted in support of the change when the 2010 charter was introduced and he is prepared to support the proposal once again.

Some residents are concerned about the impact on the council if students are allowed to run, Wojahn said.

“The people who oppose this tend to paint the people under 21 with a very broad b r u s h ,” h e s a i d , a d d i n g that while some of the local under-21 crowd isn’t ready to serve on the council, those who are should be given the chance to run.

At t he e n d of t he d ay, Wojahn said, residents won’t vote for anyone running who isn’t prepared — regardless of age.

D i st r ict 3 Cou nci l m a n Robert Day said he doesn’t see a problem with lowering the age limit for the council, as the decision of who serves on

the council should rest on the voters of each district. “[Residents] know when they see somebody that can actually help them in the long run,” Day said. “They would do their homework.”

When the council makes its decision, Day said, council members need to remember the importance of bringing all ideas to the table.

“Any time we look at our com mu n it y a nd we on ly include half of District 3 by disenfranchising the students, it is not a good thing,” Day said.

part of the culture of that institution” to espouse ideas of academic integrity.

Honor codes are created to combat the idea that faculty are responsible for holding students accountable, said Gary Pavela, the former director of this university’s Office of Student Conduct. Pavela was in office when the Student Honor Council prepared the first draft of the Code of Academic Integrity in 1986.

“That idea of us vs. them … that’s what honor codes are designed to challenge,” Pavela said. “You’re communicating the concept that it’s not just the faculty that’s concerned about catching it; it’s the students’ concern about preventing it because no one wants to be part of the university that is recognized as having a culture of academic dishonesty.”

W h at i s st i l l u n k now n i s whet her bu i ld i ng t h at culture is enough to render rewriting the pledge on every

test unnecessary.

This university’s Honor Pledge seems to already reflect this idea. It’s described as a “community building ritual, designed to encourage faculty and students to reflect upon the University’s core institutional value of academic integrity.” Pavela said building this “culture” goes beyond just signing a pledge.

“What we don’t want is having some kind of a system where people just write it down and move on because they’re told to do it,” Pavela said. “We want people to sign a pledge because they feel it’s part of their confirming the integrity of their work.”

Despite encouraging research that suggests honor pledges can help deter cheating, Fishman said there is much work to be done with the current generation of college students.

“We are now dealing with a group of students who have come up through the education

system in order to get to college with a huge emphasis on testing and passing multiple-choice and objective tests,” Fishman said. “Unfortunately, that has conveyed the message … that the only thing you’re in college to do is to get those grades and then to get the diploma.”

When students are worried more about short-term test grades and less about absorbing material, they are more l i kely to look at someone else’s test or copy someone else’s work on a term paper, Fishman said. Remedying this requires a change in the way students think about schooling and a greater social emphasis on learning.

“If we would emphasize the learning aspect of education rather than the grades and the credit and the diplomas, then we would have a much better chance of combating academic dishonesty,” Fishman said.

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honor From PAGE 1

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by Friday, Dec. 13, at 11:59 p.m.

honor pledge doesn’t have a more significant impact than a simple signature on a student’s decision to cheat.

Students might be routinely signing honor pledges before exams, but they aren’t necessarily doing so with acute attention to detail, said Teresa Fishman, International Center for Academic Integrity director at Clemson University.

“You can sign that thing fairly mindlessly,” Fishman said.

And just signing it is better than not having an honor pledge anywhere on the test material, she said — “It at least brings it to their mind.”

The study is not the first to conclude that honor pledges in general can help deter students from cheating, with some studies dating as far back as 1935. Fishman said that with an honor pledge, “it becomes

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photo gallery: college park’s day off Yesterday marked the first snow day of the 2013-14 school year. To see how students spent their day off and more, check out the photo galleries at diamondbackonline.com. rachel george/the diamondback

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4

Opinion

THE DIAMONDBACK | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013

EDITORIAL BOARD

Mike King

Editor in Chief

DAN APPENFELLER Managing Editor

Get smart about guns T

Two researchers put together a study for the American Journal of Criminal Justice and reviewed bills proposed after three school shootings — Columbine, Jonesboro and Virginia Tech. They discovered that each shooting elicited a vast array of proposed legislation, but only a small number of the bills actually passed.

OUR VIEW

This state’s gun control legislation is a step in the right direction, but federal laws need to follow our lead.

For example, in the 12 months after the Columbine shooting, more than 800 gun-related bills were proposed — but only 10 percent were enacted. After the Virginia Tech shooting, then-President George W. Bush signed legislation revamping the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and then provided states with funding to improve their own firearms reporting systems.

Yet only “24 states have since added fewer than 100 mental health records” to the system, according to a September Popular Science article. That’s only about half the number expected in response to the legislation. And although the Sandy Hook shooting was not included in the study, researchers found there was a similar pattern to that of Columbine — 24 bills were proposed in the first 75 days after the shooting, but only one resulted in any change, requiring registration of assault weapons and limiting magazine capacity in New York.

What’s more, Sandy Hook inspired more than 300 college presidents to sign an open letter to Congress urging

stricter gun control laws. Loh, however, is the only president from a major public research institution to sign the letter; some other notable schools include Bucknell, Syracuse and Wake Forest. So it’s clear most states are not too interested in responding to mass casualties and crimes with legislation.

It’s great that our state has taken some necessary precautions to try to curb the prevalence of gun violence.

But because neighboring states have more relaxed gun laws, it’s nearly impossible to regulate exactly who is buying what and carrying it over state lines. So unfortunately, our state’s measures don’t eradicate the issue — they merely put a Band-Aid on it.

What we really need is the federal government to get on board with changing gun laws in a more wide-scale manner.

Yet just four months after the Newtown shooting, the Senate rejected a measure for universal background checks on guns. The law would have made it harder for convicts and people with severe mental illnesses to legally buy a gun by expanding the background check that already exists for licensed gun dealers to cover sales at gun shows and online. It was a commonsense policy supported by 90 percent of registered voters, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll in March.

Contrary to what many “gun rights” advocates assume about restricting access to guns, we’re not proposing taking away people’s Second Amendment rights. But putting standard regulations on all people who are able to buy guns in all states is an obvious step in the right direction. Without any sort of widespread legal reaction, it’s hard to see how else we can stop mass gun violence in our country.

All joking aside: Think before you laugh MARIA ROMAS While most people presumably enjoy laughing at good jokes, there are some “comedians” out there who feel the need to step over the line. And though some people try to deny it, that line is drawn pretty solidly before rape jokes, gay jokes and racist jokes. So why do people keep telling them?

There’s one school of thought that establishes these derogatory jokes as “easy,” or ones that will inevitably create a laugh.

Then there’s the idea that rape, racism and homophobia are such serious issues that they need to be joked about so people can cope with their prevalence in society.

Another way of thinking is that these jokes are prevalent because they challenge authority — they go against what’s expected in society, giving comedians an “edge.”

Of course, raise this issue with some “professional” comedians and they’ll likely complain about censorship and how they should be able to say what they want.

But the real question is: Why do people want to tell these jokes? They are degrading and help perpetuate stereotypes about all types of people.

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hankfully, yet somewhat unsurprisingly, this state’s gun control laws have been ranked as the fourth-strongest in the nation. The recent Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence ranking comes about a year after Gov. Martin O’Malley proposal mandating stricter background checks — which would help keep people with mental illnesses who display violent tendencies away from firearms — as well as limiting magazine capacity and banning assault weapons. The General Assembly got on board with gun control efforts after a number of mass shootings around the country and a murder-suicide earlier this year involving three university students.

Legislators tightened restrictions by banning a number of guns identified as assault weapons and implementing a new fingerprinting system and strict licensing regulations.

This editorial board commends each and every government official — along with university President Wallace Loh, who encouraged legislators to enact these protocols — for taking the necessary measures to ensure the safety of our state. Especially in the months of mourning after graduate student Dayvon Maurice Green shot and killed one of his roommates, undergraduate student Stephen Alex Rane, and injured another, undergraduate student Neal Oa, before killing himself, it’s incredibly heartening to see members of the larger state community take action to address apparent problems in what was clearly an antiquated system.

But sadly, there are still many states that haven’t taken any sort of appropriate action to address the prevalence of gun violence.

MATT SCHNABEL

Rape jokes typically belittle rape victims. The jokes mock them, their experience and their reactions. Frankly, it’s just disgusting. Now, there are exceptions of comedians who are attempting to desensitize their viewers to the issue so it’s easier for victims to speak out about their experiences.

However, using comedy to do this unfortunately runs the risk of not achieving this goal, because desensitizing people to rape might make it a less deplorable crime in the listener’s minds.

Gay jokes are likewise meant to diminish a person’s experience or sense of self. It seems people who make jokes targeting gay individuals simply poke fun at stereotypical LGBT lifestyles. But people don’t make jokes about people having consensual heterosexual intercourse. And if America (along with other countries around the world) is really progressing as far as it seems to be in laws promoting equality for members of the LGBT community, it’s important to realize we need to collectively change the social atmosphere around the issue.

Failing to do so will simply set us back in terms of taking steps toward eradicating homophobia and will prevent LGBT individuals from embracing the equality they deserve as human beings.

I can’t seem to find any sort of justification for racist jokes other than their propensity to elicit shock. Some even go as far to say because they aren’t

racist, it’s OK to make racist jokes. And, let me be clear — racist jokes are not perpetuated solely by one race. There are people of all skin colors and ethnic denominations who go out of their way to make fun of “the other” — namely, someone who has different attributes than they do. This is just absurd. Everyone is different. Everyone has different features and shapes and sizes and languages and cultures and personalities.

Does any one of those differences give you a right to make fun of a person, solely because he or she is different?

It just doesn’t make sense.

There are plenty of things you can joke about that don’t traumatize other people. Sure, maybe everyone can “handle” this bigoted, derogatory and unsolicited humor, but they shouldn’t have to. There is no reason to take aim at people when trying to make others laugh. That’s the exact thing that hurts people, drives down self-confidence and rewards those who don’t deserve a laugh at the expense of another.

When you hear a joke about someone’s race, sexuality or experience with rape, don’t laugh. Don’t give the jokester the satisfaction of your joy. It’s wrong and can potentially really hurt someone who’s listening.

Embrace procrastination be. In fact, I see procrastination as exhibiting a few very positive properties that make it appealing.

The first of these properties is that procrastinating on work can lead to more total free time. In my experience, I’ve found that I work very slowly when a deadline is far away and very quickly when a deadline is right around the corner. “Work now and play later,” therefore, might mean less playtime than “play until you absolutely have to work.”

The second property is that there is a certain stage in procrastination in which someone becomes extremely productive in doing everything unrelated to the task at hand. This is the stage when it’s too late to justify a decision to watch a movie, but early enough to justify a decision to clean the kitchen. Procrastination is essential in clearing menial tasks from student to-do lists.

The last and most important property is that the activities we choose to procrastinate with tell us something about ourselves. Maybe you choose to play the guitar, or write poetry, or draw something, or go for a run or spend time with friends and family.

No matter what you do, I’m a strong believer that the tendencies of your unstructured mind say something about what’s really important to you.

It’s 4 a.m. at this point, and I really should be getting to bed. I know I’ll be groggy in the morning, and I definitely could have avoided this by starting sooner. That being said, I’m kind of OK with how I managed my time today. I plan to treat the coming week with the same sort of mentality: I’ll worry about my studies rather than worry about my study habits. I’m sure this will cause nights of unnecessary stress, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Happy finals, everyone!

KEVIN HOGAN

It’s just after midnight. I have to get this column to my editors by noon tomorrow. Jeez, I guess at this point that’s technically later today.

How did I get myself into this mess?

It must be the end of the semester.

A little less than a week out from final exams and term paper deadlines, we’re at the height of procrastination season. A 2007 study reported that up to 95 percent of college students procrastinate, which means that 5 percent of college students are probably lying to themselves. I wonder why so many of us keep choosing to repeat a study habit that we typically regret later.

One explanation is related to the concept of price discounting in economics. The basic idea is that most people would rather receive $50 immediately rather than $60 after waiting a month. If we delay each option by a year, preserving the time and monetary differences, people start to favor the $60 option.

Our internal cost-benefit calculators give preference to instant gratification, which drives us to have fun now and do work later.

Another explanation is that the heroic work sprint that inevitably follows a bout of procrastination is thrilling and addictive. While pulling an all-nighter can be an exhausting and dreadful experience, it also produces an exciting rush of adrenaline (likely mixed with caffeine) that pleases the brain.

Furthermore, we look back at our frantic accomplishments in the wee hours of the morning with a sense of pride.

My theory is that procrastina- Kevin Hogan is a senior computer tion, in healthy moderation, isn’t engineering major. He can be reached truly the vice that it is made out to at khogandbk@gmail.com.

EDITORIAL CARTOON

Maria Romas is a senior English m a j o r. S h e c a n b e re a c h e d a t mromasdbk@gmail.com.

ANNA DOTTLE/the diamondback

GUEST COLUMN

Dining Services: Let students use their points at the food truck

M

ost days I’m torn: go buy the subpar food at the dining halls that I already paid for thanks to my meal plan or splurge additional money on the treasures of Green Tidings? I have to decide: roasted butternut squash soup with cinnamon cream or the dining hall?

Twenty-four hour spicy braised short rib with Asian pear slaw, mustard greens and potato bread … or the dining halls?

The food truck’s rotating menu of gourmet options sometimes teases me with just the right description so that I have to try something. But why should I have to pay Dining Services more money on top of what I’ve already paid for my dining plan to get decent food?

This university’s catering service, Good Tidings, operates the food truck on the campus. However, the food truck is owned by Dining Ser-

vices. Essentially, Green Tidings could take dining points but instead forces students with a meal plan to use another method of payment, and then Dining Services sucks up students’ leftover dining points at the end of the semester because most students can’t stand to eat at the dining halls every day. It’s a genius revenue plan for Dining Services. But it’s unfair to students who have already invested money in this university’s food services. The dining point to dollar ratio is 1:1, so it should be no problem to accept both payment methods — not to mention the fact that the food truck would see a huge increase in business if it accepted dining points.

Furthermore, Dining Services discriminates against South Campus residents based on their geographic location by denying them equal access to 251 North. South Campus

and North Campus residents both pay $2,123.50 each semester for the traditional meal plan. Yet North Campus residents get 14 built-in 251 North meals per semester while South Campus residents are only allotted four.

Each additional visit that goes above a resident’s allocated number of visits to 251 North costs 18 dining points. So for a South Campus resident to visit 251 North 14 times, it would cost him or her an extra 180 points. Though Dining Services might argue that South Campus residents get 120 more dining points than North Campus residents, that’s still 60 points that South Campus residents have to pay for better food — food that’s already included in a North Campus resident’s dining plan.

The Department of Resident Life defines 251 North as a “com-

pletely renovated, all-you-careto-eat dining hall” that offers “a new and unique dining experience for UMD students.” 251 North has better kitchens, better equipment and better food than the other two dining halls on the campus. There’s no arguing with that.

The Dining Services website explains this injustice by stating: “All students are welcome at 251 North but we know its [sic] a hike across campus when a delicious dinner is available close by at South Campus D ining .” Last time I checked, chicken Pacific served with an exploded ranch baked potato wasn’t as “delicious” as the Pho-style brisket, cornbread-stuffed pork medallions and fire-grilled salmon offered at 251 North. Dining Services charges all students the same price for a traditional meal plan but offers them different benefits.

I don’t see this as fair.

Most students accept the practices of Dining Services without really questioning them. What we forget is that students can push to change the rules. Dining Services’ rules limit student access to the great food we all know this university has via the food truck and 251 North through the payment methods they accept and the number of gourmet dining hall visits we’re allotted.

If you agree with me, please sign my petition on change.org to get the food truck to accept dining points and offer all students — not just those who live closer — equal access to the best dining hall on the campus. Maybe with some student pressure, Dining Services will change its policies.

Allison Gray is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at allisongray27@gmail.com.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013 | The Diamondback

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Features ACROSS 1 Fierce look 6 “-- -- Rhythm” 10 Warbled 14 Above the horizon 15 Hit hard 16 Curved molding 17 Folgers’ Mrs. 18 Rick’s old flame 19 Caramel-topped custard 20 Airline request (2 wds.)

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orn today, you are never too far from the action.

Even when you choose to be alone, you keep your eyes open, your ear to the ground and your awareness keenly tuned to the deeds of those around you who are most active and involved. You never like to be in a position that requires you to catch up; rather, you prefer to be in the know.

This will surely give you the advantage more often than not.

You have a positive outlook, and the energy and drive you need to remain at the forefront of any worthwhile endeavor.

Indeed, you can most often be found far ahead of the pack, forging a path that others will surely follow.

You are playful and funloving, and you can make a game out of almost anything.

Remember that “almost,” however! There are certain issues and certain situations that bring out your serious nature.

When you are engaged in such a way, you will surely work tirelessly to see things come out your way.

Also born on this date are: Nikki Sixx, musician and author; Mo’Nique, actress and comedian; Jermaine Jackson, singer; John Kerry, politician; Rita Moreno, entertainer; Brenda Lee, singer; Mos Def, actor, rapper and activist; Donna Mills, actress; Max Born, physicist; Teri Garr, actress; Fiorello La Guardia, New York City mayor.

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.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12 SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- You can keep a rival off balance throughout the day simply by sticking to your game plan -which has been cleverly devised.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- You don’t want to get caught up in the blame game; focus on issues that can be understood and problems that can be solved.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -Your own freedom may be worth fighting for, but there are certain hazards that even you don’t want to face directly right now.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -- You have your eyes on the prize, but you’re not the only one. You’re going to have to run the gauntlet before the trophy comes home with you.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- The more businesslike you can be, the better -- in all things, even those endeavors that you usually take quite personally.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- You have a way of saying things that can win the admiration of those who are not usually impressed by folks like you.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -You’re excited about what tomorrow brings, and with good reason -- but you mustn’t neglect what today has to offer.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- You can prove to everyone involved that you’re in the right place at the right time. Your contributions are evident and valuable.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- What you hear is likely to be far more important than what you see -- or say. Keep your ears open and your mouth closed!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- What appears before you from out of the blue is worthy of your careful study. It might propel you to a new position of prominence.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -- You may be disappointed that others haven’t stepped up to do what you think is necessary, but perhaps you should do so yourself!

SCOPRIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- You have engineered a situation with such expertise that all you have to do is watch things play out organically, and you’ll come out on top.

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THE DIAMONDBACK | wednesday, december 11, 2013

Diversions

NO NEED TO PANIC

ON THE SITE

Staff writer Kelsey Hughes expected to be disappointed when she attended Panic! At the Disco’s concert Monday at Rams Head Live. Instead, she was pleasantly surprised. For more, visit diamondbackonline.com.

ESSAY | CONVERSATIONAL HEADLINES

In Just 647 Words, This Writer Will Change the Way You Think About Headlines Conversational headlines dumb down the news, reducing media organizations to shells of their former selves

By Eric Bricker @EricCBricker Senior staff writer Facebook statuses and tweets were not — and are not — revolutionary. Like the telegraph, the pager and the Starbucks bulletin board before them, they are a quick way to blast out information to the world: Dylan is ready for the weekend! @benjohnson makes the BEST #guacamole.

Simple messages designed to be rapidly consumed and then forgotten, statuses function like newspaper headlines; brief and declarative, they provide a glimpse into the details of someone’s web presence at a given moment.

But along the way, news media outlets began to give up traditional headlines in favor of their own “statuses” as loglines and nut grafs became 140-character tweets complete with ready-made hashtags. Statuses used to function as headlines, but at some point in the recent past, that dynamic flipped entirely. Colloquial speech is becoming the voice of the media.

And, simply put, that’s not a good thing.

Now, scrolling through news aggregator sites or a Twitter feed turns up “news” links with titles ranging from the absurdly hyperbolic (“An A Cappella Rendition of Lorde’s ‘Royals’ Will Renew Your Hope in Pop Culture”) to the maddeningly nonsensical (“This Kid Just Died. What He Left Behind Is Wondtacular.”).

Initially just contained within the purview of smarmy click-bait generators such as Upworthy and BuzzFeed, the trend has spread to once-reputable websites and news sources. The Nation may be a liberal mouthpiece, sure, but it was once a sophisticated, articulate repository for well-written analysis. Now its headlines are reduced to pedantic blurbage. “This Commercial Should Make Every Parent Vow to Never Shop at Toys‘R’Us” is not informative or insightful. It is an advertisement.

But the trend of trivializing and dumbing down the news extends beyond headlines.

Embedded videos and slideshows are replacing written content. Long-winded promises to change your entire outlook on life

are becoming the norm. Frustratingly stupid questions are broadly replacing meaningful, substantive headlines.

The news media have an obligation to its consumer: to inform and to provide context.

When we fall back on these broad, gee-whiz titles to grab eyeballs, we fail on both fronts.

We are giving audiences what they want rather than what they need; we are cycling through proven trends rather than generating new content. We are not giving information, we are outsourcing. We are not analyzing, we are parroting.

And as for context, attaching a value judgment to every headline or title on the web is not only reductive but emotionally exhausting. Not every video can change my life. Your reaction to that angelic kid singing Michael Jackson is not necessarily going to be my reaction to that little twerp mangling “Man in the Mirror.”

Dictating to audiences what to feel should not be the goal of the media, but offering enough context to allow readers to form a reasonable opinion should be. Provide analysis, give background information, do the research I don’t have time for — but don’t assign a meaning to a piece before I even get a chance to look at it.

With that said, there is a time and place for infotainment. (I have a BuzzFeed tab open as I write this piece.) It should not, however, serve as our dominant source for cultural or political news.

At the risk of sounding like an old, crotchety asshole who thinks everything was better in his day, the news media should not be on the level of the people, nor should they be obligated to try. There’s something to be said for elitism, really — we expect excellence and competence from our government and our businesses, so why not from the Fourth Estate as well?

We in the media should not talk down to the public. Instead, we should make it our job to elevate the level of discourse. Reducing every story to a smarmy, shareable quote is not just annoying — it is a fundamental abdication of our duty as writers, critics and journalists.

CONVERSATIONAL HEADLINES are becoming a norm in the media industry, seen on both viral websites such as Upworthy and, as Eric Bricker writes, “once-reputable websites and news sources” such as The Nation. screenshots from upworthy.com and thenation.com

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013 | SPORTS | The Diamondback

SHINSKY From PAGE 8 run, Shinsky has emerged as a viable and consistent option off the bench in the Terps’ deep midfield rotation.

However, the midfielder’s health continues to prevent him from playing extended minutes.

That hasn’t stopped him from making an impact, though. As a pesky defender with a nose for the ball and tremendous speed, Shinsky can wreak havoc on opponents’ midfielders during small stretches.

“I’m a team-first player,” Shinsky said. “I come in and I really try and

offense From PAGE 8 against Wake Forest during the ACC quarterfinals on March 8. But Monday night, the Terps’ efficient offense played an important role in her triple-double.

“The whole night, they were just knocking down shots,” Thomas said. “So it made it easy.”

Guard Laurin Mincy led the team in scoring, shooting 7-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. The Newark, N.J., native hit shots from all areas of the court against the Saints, as she was consistently open when the Terps swung the ball across the perimeter.

Mincy got into a groove during the second half, going 3-of-3 from three-point range and scoring 14 points during her eight minutes on the court. But similar to Thomas’ standout performance, Mincy’s point tally was also a product of the

NOTEBOOK From PAGE 8 trying to make plays,” Turgeon said. “I thought he did some nice things. I thought defensively he had the big steal there in the half-court, and he had the steal in the press.”

Peters finished with a career-high 11 points — nine in the second half — and he cut back on his turnovers after a shaky outing in a loss to thenNo. 3 Ohio State. The Suitland native coughed the ball up five times in Columbus, Ohio, but committed two turnovers against George Washington.

Still, Turgeon was a bit upset that Peters threw a risky pass to forward Jake Layman with less than three minutes left. A Colo-

7

do whatever I can to provide a spark for the team. And that’s the role I’m in now, so I really try and just provide the spark that we need, whether that be 10, 15 minutes, I just try and do my best and help the team out.”

Shinsky certainly delivered that extra boost Saturday in 40 minutes of play, the most playing time of any Terps substitute.

“He had a great game overall, besides the goal,” coach Sasho Cirovski said.

“His touch was very good. He competed extremely hard. He unbalanced them in the attack. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have his full fitness because of just being out for a while. But he’s a special young man.”

Terps’ team-oriented play.

“My teammates were able to find me and give me easy looks,” Mincy said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

The backcourt was also a significant component of the robust offensive showing, intercepting passes and facilitating fast breaks throughout the game. Walker-K imbrough and guard Lexie Brown each had three steals, leading a guard unit that had nine of the team’s 17 steals.

Brown and Moseley each added five assists and scored 10 and 13 points, respectively.

The Terps scored 47 points off the Saints’ 29 turnovers and had 30 points on fast breaks, mostly stemming from the performance of the Terps’ backcourt.

“When you talk about 39 field goals and 30 assists, a staggering statistic, but also what we’re capable of when you talk about the guard play we have on this team,” Frese said. “We had an inside-outside game tonight.”

The dominant win featuring

nials defender deflected the ball, and it then smacked off Layman’s face and went out of bounds.

“That was a big turnover at the time,” Turgeon said. “We were down two, then they go up four again. But he did make some nice plays.”

Overall, Turgeon appeared pleased with Peters’ performance. The first-year floor general keyed an impressive late surge without the Terps’ go-to scorer in the game, and perhaps he’s made a case to see the floor more often down the stretch of close games.

“To do that without Dez is a good sign,” Turgeon said.

“Roddy gave us good minutes.”

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Cirovski said Shinsky is his “No. 1” recruiter when he brings potential Terps to the campus for visits. He’s not the leading goal-scorer on the team, nor is he the most talented player, but Cirovski said he has unwavering dedication to the program and a strong bond with his teammates — something the coach desires from every Terp.

“Everybody on the team loves Shinsky because of all of the adversity to injuries he’s had to deal with,” Cirovski said. “So for him to get a big goal in a big game, it proves that if you stick to it, if you keep working hard, good things will happen.” dpopperdbk@gmail.com

“I THOUGHT WE REALLY DICTATED AND DOMINATED THIS GAME FOR 40 MINUTES. IT WAS OBVIOUSLY FUN TO BE ABLE TO WATCH.” BRENDA FRESE

Terrapins women’s basketball coach a season-high point total came after a sluggish performance in a 67-55 win against Ohio State last Wednesday. Against the Buckeyes, the Terps couldn’t maintain control of the game and their offense was inconsistent.

But they left no traces of that display against the Saints, as the Terps’ relentless showing resulted in their widest margin of victory this season.

“I thought we really dictated and dominated this game for 40 minutes,” Frese said.

“It was obviously fun to be able to watch.” ppierrelouisdbk@gmail.com

ton would run coming out of a timeout with 8.1 seconds left and the score tied at 75.

Creek had 23 points up that point and was 5-of-10 from the field, so the third-year coach suspected the Colonials would try to free up the senior guard.

George Washington did just that, isolating Creek at the top of the key, but the Terps still couldn’t stop him.

Creek took several dribbles to his left, stepped back to just inside the free-throw line and nailed a jumper over guard Nick Faust’s outstretched arm. The bucket fell through the net with 0.6 seconds remaining to give Creek 25 points on the night and the Colonials a victory.

“We knew what they were

MIDFIELDER ALEX SHINSKY has battled injuries but emerged as a capable contributor for the College Cup-bound Terps down the stretch this season with a goal and assist. file photo/the diamondback

bowl presents many positives for the program. Instead of traveling to Shreveport, La., or Dallas as some early projections showed, the Terps will spend a few days down the road in Washington before traveling a little more than 30 minutes east to the Naval Academy.

“Everybody’s really excited to go to the Military Bowl,” inside linebacker Cole Farrand said. “It’s a great opportunity.

We should travel well. Our families will get a chance to be there instead of going to Dallas or someplace like that. Everybody’s going to be able to come and visit. We should have families there. We’re all excited.”

While an itinerary hasn’t been set yet, the Terps expect to experience certain aspects of Washington and Annapolis.

Quarterback C.J. Brown said the Terps went to Wizards and Capitals games as a team in 2010. With the time commitments of football and school,

there isn’t often time to explore the surrounding area.

“Even though it’s right down the road, it’s absolutely going to have a bowl atmosphere to it,” Conaboy said.

“For me, I’m from Pennsylvania. We really don’t go to D.C. that much or go to Annapolis, so that’ll be cool.”

Coach Randy Edsall informed the Terps of their destination in a text message Sunday night, ending a weeklong wait after the team’s regular-season finale Nov. 30 at N.C. State. Brown said the Terps had no idea where they would end up, and Conaboy said the opportunity to play in the postseason, which had proven elusive in Edsall’s first two years, was enough that it didn’t matter where the season’s final game would be played.

“It’s real exciting, a lot of opportunities,” Etta-Tawo said.

“We have the chance to play another game, so that’s a good part. It’s my first bowl game, so I look at it as the experience of showing more … for next season and what we can

going to do, and I didn’t do a very good job,” Turgeon said.

“We should have ran at [Creek] and doubled him.”

Turgeon mentioned he had aimed to get Peters in position to double-team Creek, but it didn’t work.

“I was trying to get him to come off [guard Kethan] Savage and double him,” Turgeon said. “But I couldn’t get Roddy’s attention.”

Without a double-team coming, Faust was left to guard Creek one-on-one.

The junior slipped slightly when Creek made his stepback move but still got a hand up to contest the shot. Creek wasn’t fazed, though.

“I thought it was short when he shot it,” Turgeon said. “But it swished. Big-time shot for him.”

The Terps’ stumble against the Colonials on Sunday dropped their record to 5-4, the program’s worst mark through nine games since the 1986-87 season. The team finished that season 9-17 and 0-14 in the ACC under firstyear coach Bob Wade.

Former Terps coach Gary Williams never lost four of the first nine games in any of his 22 seasons at the helm of the program.

Three of the Terps’ four losses, though, have come by a combined 10 points and the team has already played six games away from Comcast Center. It’s the first time the Terps have played six of their first nine games on the road or at a neutral site since the 1968-69 season. They’ll

From PAGE 8

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Terrapins football quarterback do next season in the Big Ten.” So even though Annapolis in late December isn’t the most glamorous destination, the Terps understand the opportunity before them includes more practices, another game and heightened visibility.

And they still get PlayStation 4s.

“A lot of guys are very excited about that,” Brown said.” I’m sure there’s a lot of bowls that are jealous.

When we were looking at it, there weren’t too many places that were giving out systems … even the iPads and things like that. Guys are definitely excited about that.” dgallendbk@gmail.com

play their third straight game away from home when they travel to Boston College tomorrow to open ACC play for their final season in the conference after 60 years.

And despite some early struggles, the Terps appear confident as they head to Massachusetts for the conference opener. Forward Jonathan Graham said after the narrow loss to the Colonials that the Terps “could be a great team.”

“We can’t hang our heads,” Graham said. “We have to come back to the next day in practice and get better. We have to prepare because we start ACC soon and we have a good team we are going to play.” akasinitzdbk@gmail.com

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page 8

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013

MEN’S SOCCER | NCAA TOURNAMENT

Shinsky scores first career goal Oft-injured midfielder stakes early lead in Saturday’s quarterfinal win

By Daniel Popper @danielrpopper Staff writer Three years ago, Alex Shinsky scored 17 goals in 22 games during his senior season at West York Area High School in York, Pa. But before Saturday, the Terrapins men’s soccer midfielder had yet to find the back of the net in 43 college appearances.

That drought came to an end at California, though. In the 33rd minute, defender Mikey Ambrose curled a free kick from a few feet outside the left edge of the 18-yard box to the far post. Shinsky, who had replaced midfielder Michael Sauers six minutes earlier, made a hard run onto the cross and bounced a header into the top netting of the goal.

The goal broke a scoreless tie in

the No. 5-seed Terps’ eventual 2-1 win over No. 4-seed California in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, which sent the Terps back to the College Cup for the second straight season, where they’ll face No. 8-seed Virginia on Friday night in Chester, Pa. “It feels great, especially being my first collegiate goal, to get such a big one,” Shinsky said.

Injuries have marred Shinsky’s 2013 campaign, as they have for the majority of the junior’s career with the Terps. After starting at center midfield for the first two games of this season and coming off the bench in a home victory over Duke, Shinsky pulled his hamstring against Virginia Commonwealth on Sept. 8.

The midfielder missed the next three games before returning to action against Pittsburgh on Sept. 27. Fifteen seconds after he entered the game,

though, his head collided with a Panthers defender. He would need stitches and missed the rest of the contest.

Shinsky came back four days later but reinjured his hamstring, forcing him to miss another seven games.

He returned for a 2-1 win over N.C. State on Nov. 1 and has remained injury-free for the rest of the year, including the postseason, tallying an assist in addition to his goal in the past eight games.

“My teammates have really supported me,” Shinsky said. “I’ve had a rough year with injuries, and pretty much my career here has been pretty rough with injures. So it’s been a good feeling to have that support from my teammates along the way.

I’ve always had confidence that I’d be able to get back.”

During the Terps’ NCAA tournament See SHINSKY, Page 7

MIDFIELDER ALEX SHINSKY has one goal and one assist in the Terps’ past eight games after missing a string of games before the postseason with a recurring hamstring injury file photo/the diamondback

FOOTBALL

MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

Peters keys Sunday’s comeback Turgeon breaks down Creek’s shot; Terps’ worst start since ’86

By Aaron Kasinitz @AaronKazreports Senior staff writer

to know, and it’s cool.”

The Terps will face off against Conference USA’s Marshall on Dec. 27 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis in what will be a new experience for many players. Only a few remain from the team that beat East Carolina, 51-20, in the 2010 Military Bowl at RFK Stadium in Washington.

While it’s a lower-tier bowl with less visibility than others, the Military Bowl still

As the Terrapins men’s basketball team began to trim George Washington’s 14-point lead in the final six minutes of Sunday’s game in the BB&T Classic, guard Dez Wells was relegated to the bench.

The Terps’ unquestioned leader and last season’s leading scorer fouled out with 6:09 to play, causing coach Mark Turgeon to turn over the offense to guard Roddy Peters. With the freshman controlling the point and Wells on the sideline, the Terps finished the game on a 21-9 run and tied the score at 73 with 1:07 to play after trailing the entire second half.

Though George Washington’s Maurice Creek hit a game-winning shot to give the Colonials a 77-75 victory, Turgeon was impressed with his team’s furious comeback. And Peters’ play on both ends of the floor was at the heart of it.

The 6-foot-3 freshman had two of his three steals while the Terps stormed back in the game’s final five minutes, and he often sliced through the Colonials defense to get to the rim. Peters scored seven points in the final 4:09.

“They went zone and we had one less shooter on the floor so they didn’t guard Roddy, so he kept

See BOWL, Page 7

See NOTEBOOK, Page 7

QUARTERBACK C.J. BROWN is one of a few Terps left from the program’s last postseason appearance three years ago, a 51-20 victory over East Carolina in the 2010 Military Bowl.

GAME ON

file photo/the diamondback

Terps talk Military Bowl, PlayStation 4 gift after postseason announcement

By Daniel Gallen @danieljtgallen Senior staff writer Though the Terrapins football team will be in a Washington hotel on Christmas, players got an early present this week with the team’s selection to the Military Bowl and the subsequent gift package, which includes a PlayStation 4 for each player.

“I was a little excited,” wide receiver Amba Etta-Tawo said. “At first I didn’t really believe it,

but I was really excited. I think it’s a great gift.”

And while enthusiasm for the gifts is abundant, there’s still plenty of excitement surrounding the Terps’ first postseason appearance since 2010, even if the waiting game wasn’t particularly enjoyable.

“It was torture,” center Sal Conaboy said. “It really was. Just not knowing and not knowing who we were playing, going out to practice and not having a game plan was just different.

But once we found out — we found out late Sunday — everyone was real excited finally just

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Defense, transition put away Siena Terps score 47 points off 29 Saints turnovers in Monday’s win

By Paul Pierre-Louis @PaulPierreLouis Staff writer Brionna Jones snagged a rebound off a Siena missed jumper and immediately gave the ball to Brene Moseley.

The Terrapins women’s basketball guard sped into the Saints’ half of the court before firing a pass to forward Alyssa Thomas near the basket. While in midair, Thomas received the ball and quickly tossed it over a defender to guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, who finished the open layup.

The Terps’ fast break received ap-

plause from the 1,901 spectators at Comcast Center, as the team cruised to a 105-49 win Monday night. The play was one of the many examples of the No. 8 Terps’ sharp-passing transition game, which was a key factor in the lopsided victory over Siena.

“We made easy plays for each other,” coach Brenda Frese said.

“That’s reflective of our shooting and our percentages.”

The team tied a season-high 60 percent from the field, as its ball movement helped find ways past Siena’s defense to create open shots.

The Terps also hit another season-

high with 30 assists on their 39 field goals against the Saints.

Thomas led the team in assists with 11, as the Harrisburg, Pa., native had little difficulty locating open teammates while running in transition or after grabbing offensive rebounds.

Her assist to Jones, a Terps center, in the game’s final five minutes sealed her third career triple-double.

Thomas’ previous triple-double mainly showcased her individual talent, such as when she had 32 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists See offense, Page 7

Guard laurin mincy scored a season-high 21 points in Monday’s 105-49 blowout victory over Siena. The Terps shot 60 percent from the field in the victory and had 30 fast-break points. rebecca rainey/the diamondback