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OPENING EDITION

TEMPLE RUN

WHILE YOU WERE OUT

Owls separate from Terps late in win

Diversions recaps the movies you missed over winter break

SPORTS | PAGE 14

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

DIVERSIONS | PAGE 6

THE DIAMONDBACK Our 102ND Year, No. 74

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

More students tried in dishonesty cases Student Conduct saw 407 cases in 2010-2011

BY REBECCA LURYE Staff writer

A decade after the university adopted an honor pledge to help encourage a culture of academic integrity, cases of misconduct have piled higher than ever, and some students said the system’s design makes it difficult to prove their innocence.

About 70 percent of students accused of academic dishonesty either choose to informally resolve the case — generally by accepting an XF on their transcript, denoting “failure due to academic dishonesty,” or convincing a professor to drop the charge — and the remainder choose to attend a hearing, where an

see CONDUCT, page 12

University revokes two Greek charters over break

Student activists protest against online piracy legislation

BY LAUREN KIRKWOOD

Pi Kappa Alpha loses house on Fraternity Row

Staff writer

A nationwide outcry against two congressional bills targeting online piracy may have delayed a Senate vote scheduled for yesterday, but student activists on this campus said they haven’t let their guard down yet and will continue lobbying against these pieces of legislation.

Negative feedback poured into lawmakers’ inboxes last week, and sites such as Google and Wikipedia staged virtual protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House of Representatives and the Protect IP Act in the Senate — legislation, known as SOPA and PIPA, that would allow the Justice Department to order websites to remove links to sites that may contain pirated material. Members of

BY REBECCA LURYE Staff writer

After Pi Kappa Alpha and Zeta Phi Beta had their charters revoked earlier this month, some members of the Greek system have questioned whether DFSL has become too strict.

Pi Kappa Alpha was placed on probation last January after staff members from the Department of Fraternity and Sorority Life recommended the department revoke its charter. But the university granted the chapter a one-night exemption from their social moratorium last semester, which DFSL Assistant Director of Programming and Advising Corin Gioia said the fraternity

see GREEK, page 13

Members of Pi Kappa Alpha can no longer live on Fraternity Row.

BY LAUREN KIRKWOOD Staff writer

As this university focuses on distinguishing itself as a world-class institution, it has had to rely more heavily on private donations — and with more than $900 million raised in five years, officials said that vision is becoming a reality.

In 2006, former university President Dan Mote launched the Great Expectations fundraising campaign, which aims to raise $1 billion for the university to divide between student support, faculty retention, infrastructure upkeep and innovative and entrepreneurial programs. Although the goal once seemed lofty, officials said they fully expect to meet their goal by December after more than $56 million worth of donations were given or pledged to the university in the last six months, Vice President for University Relations Brodie Remington said.

University President Wallace Loh,

see PROTESTS, page 2 ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS ALLEN/THE DIAMONDBACK

CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

Great Expectations passes $900M mark Officials say campaign set to reach $1 billion by this December

Congress seemingly took notice — Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the House bill’s main sponsor, postponed further action on SOPA and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (DNev.) delayed the Senate’s version of the bill.

Student opponents of the legislation have spoken out against the bills, arguing they would censor the Internet and suppress free speech.

“The government is well-intended in what it’s trying to do in stopping piracy, but the consequences could be devastating to the Internet and the liberties of people on the Internet,” said junior philosophy major Nicholas Pappas, president of College Park Students for Liberty. “It’s definitely a liberty issue and also [one of] abuse.”

This is an issue students should take a

THE RETURN OF GARY

GREAT EXPECTATIONS Students: $350 Million Funds go toward financial aid, beyond-the-classroom experiences

Innovation: $250 Million Funds go toward creating new entrepreneurship programs

Faculty: $225 Million Funds go toward providing top-notch faculty members resources to teach

Facilities/Environment: $175 Million Funds go toward maintaining a vibrant, environmentally friendly campus

The Great Expectations campaign will dole out $1 billion to four different areas. The campaign should be completed in December.

GRAPHIC BY CHRIS ALLEN/THE DIAMONDBACK

who has been at the helm of the campaign since being appointed last year, said he has built upon Mote’s work to continue the campaign’s success.

“I’m harvesting the seeds that were planted by Dan Mote and many other people in the past, and I’m planting seeds with many new donors,” Loh said.

Officials initially hoped to complete the campaign last year, but after the

economic recession caused a decline in donations, they extended the deadline to 2012. Now that the university is well within reach of its goal, Remington said he expects to set higher goals for fundraising campaigns over the next few years.

Most of the donations are earmarked

Gary Williams will have Comcast Center’s court named in his honor tonight at an official ceremony.

FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK

see CAMPAIGN, page 12 ADVERTISEMENT

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THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012

PROTESTS

WINTER IN REVIEW What you missed: President’s residence torn down, electrical fire erupts, new district commander appointed

The president’s home was torn down.

CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

An electrical fire broke out last week.

CHAD SINCLAIR/FOR THE DIAMONDBACK

Maj. Hector Velez was replaced in District 1. FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK

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PRESIDENTIAL HOME DEMOLISHED Earlier this month, construction crews tore down the 56-year-old president’s residence to build a new $7.2 million home and event center. University officials said they expect the new residence to bolster fundraising efforts.

Although the plan has been in the works for several years, a public outcry ensued after state Comptroller Peter Franchot questioned the timing of the project, given recent athletic team cuts.

ELECTRICAL FIRE ON CAMPUS After a small electrical fire erupted in a utility room in the J.M. Patterson Building on Jan. 16, Prince George’s County Fire officials evacuated the building. No one was injured.

Fire officials said they found several electrical components on fire but are unsure how they caught fire.

This is the second on-campus fire since the start of the academic year. In September, two students were injured after a small fire broke out in a chemistry laboratory.

DISTRICT 1 COMMANDER PROMOTED Maj. Robert Brewer, former District 6 commander, will replace former Commander Hector Velez in leading District 1, which includes College Park. Brewer has worked in the department for more than 18 years and assumed his new position Jan. 16.

Velez was promoted to deputy chief after serving as commander for less than a year. Velez was notified of his new position earlier this month and said the change was sudden.

from page 1 personal interest in, said junior government and politics major Mohsen Farshneshani, president of the university’s United Youth Movement.

“Politics shapes every individual’s life in a great manner, and people don’t really realize that,” he said. “Public policy is what gives you the right to pick what you want to eat, say what you want to say. I believe that a democracy cannot stay a democracy unless its people are participating in it.”

Student groups have been tr ying to draw student support online against the bills over winter break. The UMD Cyber Security Club participated in a national SOPA strike, an online protest led by a nonprofit organization called Fight for the Future that helped websites black out their homepages on Jan. 18. Student groups such as The Love Movement UMD posted links on their Facebook pages to direct students to Google’s “End Piracy, Not Liberty” petition. Other students took to Reddit, urging posters to contact Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), a university alumnus, who has not yet

released a statement for or against the bill.

Press secretaries for Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said both senators believe more debate is needed to clarify language in the bills before a vote takes place.

Although Cardin was originally a co-sponsor of PIPA, he has since withdrawn his support for the bill.

“I believe that we can find a way to balance the ver y freedoms inherent to the online world with protections from illegal activity solely designed to steal or cheat,” Cardin said in a press release. “I will continue to seek out meaningful amendments and alternative proposals to address the bill’s current flaws.”

Proponents of the legislation argue the measures will protect American property online and protect users against fraudulent material. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a main sponsor of PIPA, said despite the Senate’s stalled vote, he will continue to work to “send a bill to [President Barack Obama’s] desk this year.”

For now, most students said they are relying on the massive online movement to continue fighting the legislation. But if it

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“I believe that we can find a way to balance the very freedoms inherent to the online world with protections from illegal activity solely designed to steal or cheat.”

BEN CARDIN MARYLAND SENATOR

does pass, many said they will travel to Washington to lobby legislators directly. Because the bill could be used to shut down social networks or blogs with links to sites with pirated material, it can affect anyone, Pappas said.

“It’s a loss of expression over the web,” he said. “How I view the web is it’s the last form of free speech. You have your mainstream media with biases and agendas, whereas on the Internet you have tons of different perspectives, and that’s where a lot of people get their information.” kirkwood@umdbk.com

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012 | THE DIAMONDBACK

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THE DIAMONDBACK | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012

0pinion R

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LAUREN REDDING EDITOR IN CHIEF

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

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OPINION EDITOR

ASSISTANT OPINION EDITOR

Staff editorial

Guest column

An inconvenient truth

An SGA welcome

eaction was swift over winter break when bulldozers demolished the 56- specifically for this purpose, the group is building a $7.2 million, 14,000 square-foot year-old president’s residence and began construction on a new $7.2 mil- complex to be dubbed “University House.” Of that total, about 4,000 square feet and lion home and event center for university President Wallace Loh. Area $2 million will be spent on the residence; the rest is for event space.

Yes, it’s expensive and yes, you could call it a mansion. But Brodie Remington, journalists pounced on the story; The Baltimore Sun published at least three stories, and multiple articles and blog posts by The Washington Post generated president of the College Park Foundation and vice president of University Relations, hundreds of online comments. Students and alumni complained about the timing of calls it an investment: He estimates the project will bring an additional $200 million the expensive development amid athletics department budget troubles that will likely over the next two decades. It’s impossible to predict the accuracy of that statement, but the house only needs to bring in $7.2 million to pay for lead to eight athletic teams being cut. itself. If private donors are willing to foot a bill that may have Meanwhile, Post columnist Petula Dvorak complained of otherwise been borne by the university, so be it. “a 14,000-square-foot mansion” and elicited a challenge of It seems the only reason this story made headlines five sorts to this publication, writing: “I can’t wait to see what the Despite the public outcry, months after the plan was announced is because state Compcampus journalists are going to do with this debacle.” constructing a new $7.2 troller Peter Franchot complained about the project during a With all due respect, this editorial board believes the only Maryland Board of Public Works meeting. Franchot, debacle is the cacophony of ill-informed complaints. million presidential home recent who sits on the three-member board and is widely believed to First, the facts: This project isn’t about building Loh a manand event center is the be eyeing a run at the governor’s mansion, grilled university sion so much as it’s about creating an event space to raise officials over their request to demolish the current structure money. Like it or not, much of the president’s job is about right move.

— a routine matter that will cost the state nothing. fundraising, which this university does to the tune of more “The university is struggling to keep its employees paid, and scholarships for stuthan $100 million per year. So-called “alumni and friends of the university” account for most of the fundraising, and they — being wealthy benefactors — can sometimes be dents, and eight teams are threatened with cancellation, but we’re building a new swayed by the swank setting of a presidential mansion. It’s a game played at schools mansion,” Franchot said. “I think it sends the wrong message to students and faculty.”

The board ultimately approved the measure by a 2 to 1 vote, despite Franacross the country and at all levels of government. In nearby Washington, for example, an invite to an ambassador’s residence or, gasp! — The White House — is con- chot’s objection. Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown specifically noted that such an investment could someday subsidize other programs, such as scholarships or sidered an honor.

The old presidential residence was inadequate for such purposes. It lacked athletic programs.

This editorial board agrees with Brown and suggests readers consider the big picmany modern features such as sprinkler systems and handicapped accessibility.

Tents were often needed to accommodate extra guests — even the primary event ture before criticizing this project: Even if the university could direct the donations to the athletics department (it can’t), the impact wouldn’t even be enough to save the space was a converted garage.

Consequently, the College Park Foundation — a private fundraising organization men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, which are still more than $10 milseparate from the university — solicited proposals to renovate the residence. The five lion short of their $11.5 million fundraising goal — to say nothing of the other procontractors that submitted proposals all agreed it would be cheaper to tear down and grams on the chopping block. It’s easy to criticize Loh for building himself a mansion, but the plan was in place before he ever stepped foot on the campus. start from scratch.

This project isn’t about fancy digs for the president, it’s about raising money for the So that’s what the Foundation decided to do last August, when The Diamondback originally reported the story. With 100 percent private funding designated by donors university: Who can complain about that?

on campuses, who have led our country forward. This is your time and opportunity to make our country a better place, to be a part of history.

Last year, some undecided and even supportive legislators flip-flopped on equality legislation after being overwhelmed with messages from antigay constituents. It was the closest the legislature ever got to passing the bill. With O’Malley’s visible support, this year may be the last chance to give all our families and friends equal rights.

I would like to finish this column with a special callout to the LGBT community on the campus: You are in our thoughts and have our support. You must be energized and ready to take the lead over the next two and a half months and get your organizations and fellow students involved so all can enjoy our unalienable civil rights.

Richard Zipper is a Golden ID student taking classes in biology. He can be reached at zipper@umdbk.com.

Kaiyi Xie is the Student Government Association President. He can be reached at sgapresident@umd.edu.

Our View

Editorial cartoon: Eun Jeon

Time to act for equality

I

f you believe in marriage equality, now is the time to act. Last year, the effort to legalize same-sex marriage in this state fell just short of the required votes.

However, this year, with Gov. Martin O’Malley putting his name and full support behind the effort, its chances have improved. But this struggle for change will still need strong citizen support.

If you believe life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are the unalienable rights of everyone, if you believe “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (Martin Luther King Jr., 1963) and if you believe the government should not be in the business of determining the legal rights of your family based on who you love — this is the time to act.

Before you get knee-deep in papers, projects and tests, please contact your state delegates and state senators (www.mdelect.net).

Email them and/or leave a message on their phones supporting same-sex

RICHARD ZIPPER marriage. You can also contact Marylanders for Marriage Equality (www.marylandersformarriageequality.org), a coalition of groups that need volunteers to lobby, organize and participate in rallies and call other supporters. Participating even in a limited way can be fun and exciting. Of course, modest financial donations are always helpful.

Even with the governor’s support, I have no doubt this will still be a battle. Well-funded and well-organized, anti-marriage equality groups will be flooding communities with calls and busing in people to testify that, for example, allowing a man to marry another man is akin to allowing people to marry dogs. They will argue

gay veterans getting married will ruin society and the benefits that will support same-sex families and their children are already available (they’re not).

The states that have allowed samesex marriage have demonstrated all of the fears foisted by those in opposition to same-sex marriage are not true.

Traditional marriage has not suffered, God has not visited plagues upon them and in fact — according to census data — these states and Washington have among the lowest divorce rates in the country. Our country has evolved socially, leaving the longstanding institutions of slavery, oppression of women and racial discrimination in the dustbin of history. I believe this evolution should continue.

But these changes do not happen in a vacuum; they require people of good will joining forces with the oppressed to move things forward.

At key points in history it has been students, having learned the importance of tolerance in diverse cultures

Politics deciphered: Obama was right

B

etween tasks at my new internship, I recently decided to view the viral video of President Barack Obama singing lines from the Al Green song “Let’s Stay Together.” It was quite the sight to see our nation’s first black president at the Apollo Theater, singing words from a famous black artist. As a political junkie, it’s easy to declare that Obama revved up enthusiasm among his core supporters, namely black and youth voters. As the poetry of the 2008 campaign seems ever more distant after bruising policy battles that have occurred over the past three years, the 2012 election is now fully underway.

As the 21st century candidate of hope and change, Obama has been battered and bruised due to a sluggish economy inherited from his predecessor. However, a quick glance at polling shows that the American public is fond of Obama personally. By and large, they don’t buy the arguments advanced by some Republicans that he’s elitist, aloof and shrill.

Instead, outside of the right-wing fringe,

Americans seem to have sympathy for their historic commander-in-chief.

Obama was a blank canvas on which Americans of all different stripes painted their own versions of hope and change.

He wasn’t the conventional politician who just went around promising every special interest group within his party that he’d take care of them. Instead, he spoke of a political system in which reasonable Republicans would come together with reasonable Democrats to usher America forward.

Obama is still a human being who has flaws and weaknesses. He isn’t a backslapping politician who forms social relationships with members of Congress and other political stakeholders. Often these social connections can forge the trust seen by some as important: Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, said, “He never calls … he doesn’t like their company.”

People believed, correctly or incorrectly, that only a transformative figure had the ability to mobilize the public to force our elected officials to find common ground

MATT ARNSTINE on policy matters. To break through the gridlock, many hoped Obama’s formidable campaign apparatus would be utilized to help the president advance policy goals. However, while Organizing for America continued interacting with Obama’s supporters, it wasn’t the formidable force- like it was during the 2008 election season.

Obama’s flaws, however, aren’t and weren’t significant enough to explain why he wasn’t able to breakthrough the gridlock. Instead, the impediment to implementation of Obama’s vision was two-fold: First, Democratic legislators had longtime policy priorities they’d long fought for. Second, Republican lawmakers made a calculation that bipartisanship would only strengthen Obama in the

O

n behalf of the Student Government Association, welcome back for a new semester! To those newly transferred to the university — you’ve definitely made the right choice. And to those second semester seniors, I hope senioritis, which has stricken some of us (myself included) since freshman year, does not get worse.

However, looking forward, there’s much to learn and much to be done.

While most of us spent winter break trying to forget what we learned last semester, much has happened that affects our education and the education of future Terrapins. In Annapolis, the new legislative session of the General Assembly has begun. Amidst all the politicking is the question of how to bridge the state’s $1 billion budget deficit in the 2013 fiscal year. Gov. Martin O’Malley proposed a combination of revenue increases and spending cuts in submitting a balanced budget to the legislature. While the SGA requested O’Malley maintain in-state tuition at current levels, O’Malley did propose a tuition increase of 3 percent. While such an increase is preferable to a 7 percent or 15 percent increase (like what many of our peers around the country are seeing), we students must make legislators aware of that any increase affects the affordability of our school and impacts our ability to access quality higher education. But because of the way the state’s constitution is worded, the General Assembly only has the option of raising the proposed tuition, not lowering it.

Thus, a 3 percent raise in tuition is the lowest amount possible.

While the tuition rate will increase, there are initiatives in progress that will make the cost of attending college more affordable in the future. Sen. Richard Madaleno (D-Montgomery) will be introducing legislation that will make textbooks sales tax free for a certain period of time before the beginning of each semester. If passed, this legislation could save students hundreds of dollars over the course of their education at the university — money I’m sure we would all rather not have to pay on books that are already too expensive.

Perhaps the best opportunity to get involved is to attend our annual Terrapin Pride Day in Annapolis, held this year on Feb. 27. By signing up, you will have the opportunity to interact with lawmakers and explain to them why it is important to keep higher education affordable. We provide transportation and training, and an excused absence from the Provost’s Office for any missed classes. To register, please visit Ter.ps/tpd2012.

In addition, I’m often asked how students can make a meaningful difference on the campus or change things they don’t like. Primarily, an information asymmetry handicaps our ability to look at an issue and make changes. Administrators have the information, the access and a structure in place to more handily disseminate information than students.

Consequently, our ability to enact real change is connected to fully understanding issues at hand, to making informed and realistic proposals and to shifting the paradigm by which “student issues” are dealt with. If you have any concerns or any ideas please contact me or to visit www.sga.umd.edu to see what we’re up to. I’d like to also wish our team all the best for this evening. Go Terps!

eyes of the electorate. The American public got fed up with the system and threw out the party in power during the 2010 midterm elections. The electorate was communicating their dissatisfaction with the lack of bipartisanship that’s been a staple of Beltway politics. Gun imagery became a significant part of our nation’s political rhetoric. Guns were openly paraded around at political rallies, and former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s PAC utilized a crosshairs symbol on its website to signify which members of Congress she was targeting for defeat. Regardless of who occupied the Oval Office, compromise was going to be nearly impossible to achieve because of a political climate that was dominated with fear and hostility.

Obama’s candidacy was premised on belief the political system was fundamentally broken. Unfortunately for the American public, Obama was right.

Matt Arnstine is a junior government and politics major. He can be reached at arnstine@umdbk.com.

THE EDITORIAL BOARD Lauren Redding, editor in chief, is a junior journalism major. She has worked as a reporter, assistant news editor and news editor.

Alex Knobel, managing editor, is a junior economics and government and politics major.

He has worked as a copy editor and assistant managing editor.

Tyler Weyant, deputy managing editor, is a junior journalism major. He has worked as a copy editor and assistant managing editor.

Christopher Haxel, opinon editor, is a senior English major.

He has worked as a columnist.

Maria Romas, assistant opinion editor, is a sophomore English and journalism major. She has worked as a reporter.

POLICY: Signed letters, columns and cartoons represent the opinions of the authors. The staff editorial represents the opinion of The Diamondback’s editorial board and is the responsibility of the editor in chief.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012 | THE DIAMONDBACK

A failure of testing standards JOSH BIRCH

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f the various types of standardized tests, the GRE and SAT are most popular. Many of us remember the SAT from our heydays in high school: Some of us did well, some did OK, and some scored in the third grade-ability range. Regardless of how we scored, one thing remains the same — standardized tests do not predict future success.

We are now embarking on the time of year when acceptance letters to undergraduate and graduate programs begin trickling out. For seniors who applied to graduate school like I did, this period can be filled with anxiety. It takes me back to my high school days, when I would go to the mailbox every day in February and March to see whether letters had arrived from any of the schools I had applied to.

This time can be even more stressful if the person waiting for that letter didn’t fare too well on the standardized test.

My experiences with standardized tests have all been bad. I took the SAT twice and both times did poorer than I had expected. In November, I took my one and only GRE. As with the SAT, the exam didn’t go as planned. I’ve found through my experiences, and those of many other people I know, that these exams are just tests with questions on paper or a computer screen, and nothing more.

Standardized tests have no magical power to deduce the likelihood of an applicant’s success.

Had my SAT successfully predicted how well I would do in college, I’d have failed out my first semester and would probably be working at a fast-food restaurant right now. Instead, I have maintained a solid GPA every semester, even making the dean’s list several times. In May, I will graduate with a double degree from an institution that offered me late admission because a test score said I wouldn’t be successful. My score wasn’t just a little off, it was flat-out wrong: When I applied to this university for my undergraduate studies, I was admitted for the spring semester. To attend this institution in the fall, my only option was Freshmen Connection. While in the program, I met many other people in the same position — stuck with spring admission thanks to poor SAT scores.

The use of standardized testing has no place in the admissions process except in the case of students coming from foreign countries with different education standards. Admissions counselors should only consider factors such as a student’s character, GPA, letters of recommendation and essay to determine acceptance. Such items are real, raw and can’t predicted by a useless test.

Across the country, some institutions are making standardized tests optional. Even an ACC school such as Wake Forest has told students reporting their scores will not help or hurt them. For institutions that have made these tests optional, I can only applaud you for your efforts in making these exams’ attempts to predict success a thing of the past.

This school still places an emphasis on standardized testing.

The university’s reliance on SAT scores hurt me and untold others who have gone on to do well at this institution, and it will continue to hurt future students until administrators realize standardized tests are not a consistent gauge of future success. My only hope is such a realization — by this university and others like it — will come sooner rather than later.

Josh Birch is a senior communication and history major. He can be reached at birch@umdbk.com.

AIR YOUR VIEWS Address your letters or guest columns to Christopher Haxel at opinion@umdbk.com. All letters and guest columns must be signed. Include your full name, year, major and dayand night-time phone numbers. Please limit letters to 300 words and guest columns to between 500 and 600 words. Submission of a letter or guest column constitutes an exclusive, worldwide, transferable license to The Diamondback of the copyright of the material in any media. The Diamondback retains the right to edit submissions for content and length.

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From the editor in chief

How to save a sinking ship

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y first day as The Diamondback’s editor in chief is one I’ll never forget — and one you likely never will either. It was May 1, 2011, the day President Barack Obama announced Osama bin Laden had been killed.

For a generation of college students who remember images of the twin towers falling, bin Laden’s death was a monumental moment in history. For the international media, it was one of the biggest stories of the decade. For a 19-year-old editor in chief in her first day on the job, it was nothing short of terrifying.

Before the news broke that Sunday night, 98 percent of the next day’s paper had been completed. I remember being astonished we were going to finish so early. But after Obama’s press conference, I slowly realized we weren’t leaving the newsroom anytime soon.

And we didn’t — we ended up departing at 5 a.m., having completely scrapped the finished front page and starting over at midnight. But that’s both the beauty and absurdity of journalism: When news breaks and shit hits the fan, you have to throw out the

LAUREN REDDING old plan and start from scratch, no matter what the cost.

The Diamondback is once again in the throws of change, except this time the stakes are much higher. In November, I received some alarming news about our readership: Although 13,000 copies of The Diamondback are printed and distributed every day, audits of the newspaper racks indicate only 6,000 to 8,000 are actually being picked up.

If readership stays at this level, circulation will be cut dramatically.

And if that happens, advertising rates will drop so severely that revenue will all but disappear. This trend, I’ve been continuously told, is unsustainable. The Diamondback, a 102-year-old university institution, will cease to exist if readership rates do not improve.

Being editor in chief is all about making tough decisions. My first

night, I was faced with a big one: We could ignore the frenzy surrounding bin Laden’s death, continue with the original paper and go home early. It would have been the easy thing to do, but it wouldn’t have been the right thing. Coming into my last semester as editor in chief, I’m tasked with a decision that will likely affect whether this newspaper will survive. We can continue delivering news the same way we always have — even though it clearly isn’t working — because it’s all we have been taught. Or we can once again throw out the old plan and start from scratch.

The decision made by the entire staff was unanimous: We will save the sinking ship.

Although we will continue to publish a daily newspaper, The Diamondback’s online image and function will be revamped entirely in the coming weeks. In addition to the stories that appear in this paper and are then posted on the website, newer, up-todate content will be posted online throughout the day. When news breaks, you shouldn’t have to wait until the next day’s paper to read the story; we intend to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Our Twitter and Facebook pages will also be more active. We hope to engage our readers to find out what kind of coverage you want and how you want it delivered.

At this point, it’s a bit of an experiment. News organizations across the country are struggling with the same problem, and it doesn’t appear anyone has found the solution to dying interest in newspapers. In the absence of certainty, we have an abundance of hope and dedication — this newspaper will survive.

We’ll be vamping up almost every aspect of the publication. The only thing I ask of you, our readers, is to take a look and tell us what you think. If it’s not working, let us know. If there’s something we should be doing more of, don’t be afraid to say so. This newspaper exists for you — just like it has for the last 102 years.

The ship may be taking on water, but with your help this newspaper can stay afloat another hundred years.

Lauren Redding is a junior journalism major and editor in chief of The Diamondback. She can be reached at redding@umdbk.com.

Editorial cartoon: Kevin Brooks

Why Newt Gingrich scares me

N

early two weeks ago, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich released an attack ad called “The French Connection.”

The ad — which targeted fellow candidate Mitt Romney — was broadcast to a fundamentalist South Carolina primar y audience and attempted to draw parallels between the former Massachusetts governor and current Democratic Sen. John Kerry (also of Massachusetts). The first minute was moderately successful, thanks to exploding WordArt-generated titles and some husky narration, but the ad took a turn for the worse near the end.

Stamped with Gingrich’s name — a man who has written or co-authored 23 books and holds a doctorate in modern European history — the ad proclaimed: And just like John Kerry, he speaks French, too.

Gingrich’s recent win in South Carolina can largely be attributed to such rhetoric. When CNN moderator John King now-famously began the Jan. 19 Republican debate with a question about Gingrich’s ex-wife’s allegations that he had requested an

ALEX LESTON open marriage, the candidate attacked King and later chastised the “elite media.” Once again portraying himself as the man of the people, Gingrich, the former House Speaker, attempted to spin himself as a victim of what he described as the “destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media,” asserting as he did that “every person in here knows personal pain.”

Clearly, this “us versus them” mentality that Gingrich has (somewhat) successfully instilled in South Carolina voters is nothing if not ridiculous. No well-worn Washingtonian has any real measurable connection to middle America (save perhaps his or her hometown), and anyway, Gingrich’s act would hardly be successful without the constant foil of white-collar Romney. Romney, who had hesitated to release

his tax records. Romney, who comes from the North. Romney — who speaks French?

The problem with Gingrich’s “French Connection” advertisement is not just that Gingrich is highly educated (as of 2000, 1.2 percent of Americans held doctorate degrees — sounds a little “elitist” to me) or that he spent time in France as a teenager or that Romney actually only learned French while doing missionary work abroad — no, the problem is bigger than that. For a legitimate presidential candidate to, in 2012, revert — in all earnestness — to an argument that’s pathos is rooted in closed-mindedness and a blatant fear of other cultures is heartbreaking. But what I find so disgusting about Newt Gingrich is that Newt Gingrich is smarter than that. He just doesn’t think his voting base is.

I would like to think Gingrich’s ad went relatively unnoticed by residents of South Carolina and that the publicity the web ad received had nothing to do with his win in that politically tumultuous state, but who knows for sure? What I do

know is Gingrich, in the days just before the primar y, suggested something he is far too educated to actually believe — namely, that knowledge of multiple languages is a weakness in a presidential candidate (of course, the connotations that French culture carries in working-class America are not to be ignored, but Gingrich’s ad does not suggest merely that French culture is elitist but that anyone who takes the time to learn another language — French or other wise —is not to be trusted). He understood his audience, dumbed himself down to what he thought was their level and manipulated them. And aside from being counterintuitive to intelligent political debate, this practice marks Gingrich as far more dangerous than Romney. Because Romney’s rhetoric isn’t really fooling anybody. But Gingrich — well, Gingrich just fooled 40.4 percent of South Carolina.

Alex Leston is a freshman agriculture and resource economics major.

She can be reached at leston@umdbk.com.

Party factionalism: Bring on the independents

W

hatever happened to liberty and justice for all?

To the separation of church and state? To a “united” American nation and people?

These are some of the many despairing thoughts that have come to mind as I follow the 2012 presidential campaign and the race for the Republican nomination. The root of these problems lies largely in our two-party system, which pits “red” against “blue” — American against American — in a struggle to gain power. George Washington warned of the potency of political parties as he left office, realizing their potential to undermine the power of the people and leave the government in ruins. And Washington knew what he was talking about — modern psychology studies show dividing people into groups, even nominal ones, inherently leads to factionalism and biases. With certain leaders or a common “enemy,” these groups can become highly polarized, which is exactly what has happened with the Democratic and Republican parties.

The Republican campaign trail has been filled with negative ads, verbal attacks on personal character, politically incorrect statements, invocation of the Christian faith (in front of secular audiences nationwide) and clear factionalism. Party loyalty, it seems, has trumped experience, intelligence and decency as a measure of presidential viability.

While some infighting among sameparty candidates is expected when competing for the nomination, the scene has gotten ugly lately as the GOP candidates attempt to “outRepublican” one another and look like the “true conservative” to farright voters, focusing on governing records rather than important national issues. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been under attack for his less-than-perfect record, as has Texas Rep. Ron Paul for some of his libertarian positions. Meanwhile, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich have both gained popularity by appealing to the traditional firm conser vative base, incorporating

LAUREN MENDELSOHN

religion and no-nonsense attitudes into their campaigns.

Even though the Republican candidates are currently just running against themselves (so to speak), whoever is ultimately chosen will have to face and appeal to all Americans, not just conservatives. The same can be said for candidates with a strictly liberal base; the president must be capable of cooperating with Congress and members of the opposite party. For any multiparty system to function effectively, the groups must be able to compromise, yet today’s political parties have become so polarized that being moderate, a characteristic valued by the founding fathers, is seen as a sign of untrustworthiness rather than of reason. As a result, you end up with candidates who are more extreme and less

cooperative than the average citizen (need I say more?), and voting often comes down to picking the lesser of two evils.

Now I don’t know about you, but when voting for the leader of my country, I don’t want to simply settle for the “less bad” choice — which is why I’ve paid more attention than usual to the candidates running as Independents. Many Americans still continue to see the race for the presidency as red versus blue and ignore some of the potentially significant third-party candidates. But with President Barack Obama’s approval rating low and this crop of clowns in the running, a vote for a third-party candidate could mean more now than ever. If nothing else, increased support for Independents could show the country we’re tired of having to choose between red and blue and want a candidate who stands up for — and believes in — all Americans.

Lauren Mendelsohn is a junior psychology major. She can be reached at mendelsohn@umdbk.com.

POLICY: Signed letters, columns and cartoons represent the opinions of the authors. The staff editorial represents the opinion of The Diamondback’s editorial board and is the responsibility of the editor in chief.

6

THE DIAMONDBACK | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012

Diversions

2012 BEST PICTURE OSCAR NOMS: The Artist The Descendants Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close The Help Hugo

Midnight in Paris Moneyball The Tree of Life War Horse

arts. music. living. movies. weekend.

REVIEWS | WINTER MOVIES

DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE This Oscar season was filled with the usual suspects, but how many were actually worth your time?

BY ROBERT GIFFORD, REESE HIGGINS, BEENA RAGHAVENDRAN AND WARREN ZHANG Senior staff writers

Carnage Don’t come into Carnage expecting an artsy take on Hostel. Director Roman Polanski (The Ghost Writer) uses the title metaphorically, as we witness the polite exteriors of two sets of parents quickly dissolve to reveal a nightmarish portrait of repressed frustrations and childish classism.

The material doesn’t really lend itself to a cinematic interpretation — all of the action takes place in a small, New York City apartment with only the opening and closing scenes taking place outside.

Credit the game, mannered performances from the cast and Polanski’s relentlessly effi-

cient direction for the film’s success. — Warren Zhang Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close The film, based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, tumbles into the anxiety of post-9/11 in the eyes of Oskar Schell (newcomer Thomas Horn), a boy on a quest to find the lock to his father’s (Tom Hanks, Larry Crowne) key. For the 9-year-old, life becomes a symphony of paranoia — every footstep is a burning building, every honk of a horn is a heart attack, every screech of tires is a car crash. His fear symbolizes the city’s trepidation in a style never before achieved in the 9/11 film genre, a new examination of the story we know by heart. — Beena Raghavendran The Flowers of War Director Yimou

Zhang’s

(Under the Hawthorn Tree) The Flowers of War is a beautiful but forgettable drama, set during the tragic Rape of Nanking, when the Japanese held the city of Nanking, China captive. One of the most memorable things about The Flowers of War might be its status as the most expensive film production in Chinese history, costing over $90 million to make.

The budget was put to good use, however. The film is visually stunning and the city’s smoldering, obliterated landscape is breathtaking. Like some of Zhang’s previous films (Hero, House of Flying Daggers), The Flowers of War cares less about character development and more about captivating visuals. — Reese Higgins Haywire Why director Steven Soderbergh (Contagion) took it upon himself to craft a star vehicle for mixed martial arts fighter Gina

Tom Hanks and Thomas Horn in the Oscar-nominated Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, one of many awards-season contenders to premiere this winter. PHOTO COURTESY OF CLTAMPA.COM

Carano is anyone’s guess, but whatever his reasons, it’s hard to argue with his results. A lean, efficient thriller, Haywire follows a fairly standard betrayed-spyon-the-run plot, with Carano as the globe-hopping agent in question. The narrative is run-of-themill, which deprives the film of some urgency, but if the setup is routine, the execution is superb.

Soderbergh’s crisp, precise style lends itself well to action scenes, and he’s smart enough to stand back during the well-choreographed fights and simply let Carano kick ass, which she does exceedingly well. When you see her choke a man half to death using her legs, you’ll understand why Soderbergh wanted to build

a movie around her. A tight, economical action flick, Haywire thrives thanks to the capable direction of Soderbergh and a tough performance from Gina Carano. — Robert Gifford Red Tails A feckless retelling of the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, a World War II unit of AfricanAmerican fighter pilots, Red Tails offers little more than an assemblage of one-note stock characters (The Hotshot, The Drinker, The Cigar-Chomping Leader, etc.) and not-quitebelievable CGI dogfights in service of its blandly competent history lesson. Produced by George Lucas (The Clone Wars),

it has the tone-deafness of the Star Wars prequels combined with the cornball gee-whiz earnestness of a 1950s war flick, with icy-eyed Germans growling “Show them no mercy!” before launching their attacks on the square-jawed American heroes.

In short, the film’s view of war is a little too glorious; even so, it never manages to make war very interesting. Relegated to a routine patrol early on, one pilot bemoans, “War is hell, but this is just boring as hell.” Truer words. Lacking in thrills or drama, Red Tails offers little beyond a primer on the Tuskegee Airmen. — RG

see MOVIES, page 8

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FOR RENT Best Off-Campus Location! Steps to campus. 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths on top floor. $1550/month. Call Jim Roy, agent, 301-986-6412. Long & Foster Real Estate, 240-497-1700.

Didn’t Find What You’re Looking For?

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012 | THE DIAMONDBACK

7

Features HOROSCOPESTELLA WILDER

CROSSWORD 34 Common wildflower 36 A Karamazov 40 Click “send” 41 Barkin or DeGeneres

44 47 49 50 53 54

Cactus drink Treated salt Bankrupted Furrow Dislike intensely Wharf denizens

55 “A Summer Place” star 56 Golf’s — Zaharias 57 Part of LAPD 59 Dud, to NASA (hyph.)

ACROSS 65 Cat’s-paw 66 Data in rows 1 Razor feature and columns 5 Hindu royalty 67 Que. or Ont. 9 Kitchen gadget 68 Self-images 14 Limited time 69 Sam — of golf 15 Nefertiti’s god 16 Chew the scenery 70 Split 71 Thanks, in Kyoto 17 Double-decker sandwich DOWN 18 PC screens 1 Draw on glass 19 Fine violin 2 Salami vendor 20 Charcoal grill 3 Root around 22 Like a hawk 4 Diplomat’s post 24 Gather wool 5 Biologist 26 Fox’s abode — Carson 27 Sculptor’s need 30 Acquired a patina 6 Skylit courts 7 Mesh 35 Tint twice 8 Scholarly org.

36 Palm reader’s 9 Chimed opener (2 wds.)

10 Pungent cleaner 37 Verdi’s princess 11 Reddish-brown 38 Tavern order horse 39 Income 12 Diminutive suffix 42 IV x XIII 13 John — (the 43 Edict Lone Ranger) 45 First name 21 Gladden in spying 23 Word of parting 46 Sings gaily 25 Leopard spot 48 Open-minded 27 Make by hand 50 Like patent 28 Sun, in combo leather 29 Best possible 51 On the — vive 31 Lucy Lawless 52 Like a teacup role 54 Start over 32 Belly dance 58 Windfall clackers 62 A second time 63 Mountain refrain 33 Fixes typos

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60 Kind of lens 61 What is more 64 — -Magnon

orn today, you are the kind to go about your business with a quiet intensity and dedication, deaf to the kinds of praise or criticism that you are likely to attract as you pursue your professional goals. What seems almost paradoxical is the fact that though the opinions of others matter little to you, you are likely to benefit greatly from those very opinions and enjoy remarkable success simply because you are highly thought of in the professional arena. Who says you can’t have it both ways?

B

You seem to be always calm, collected and in control, but those who know you best — and there are only a few — know that there is much going on beneath the surface, and that it takes a great deal of concentrated energy to keep your emotions from boiling over.

Also born on this date are: Alicia Keys, singer and musician; Etta James, singer; Dean Jones, actor; Edwin Newman, news commentator; Virginia Woolf, author and poet; Robert Burns, poet.

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.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) — You’re likely to be impacted very significantly today by what happens to someone else — even, perhaps, a complete stranger.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — You’ll have to be patient today as you wait for someone else to finish an assignment before you can get started on your own.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — Try approaching a stubborn problem from the outside in.

Before you get to the heart of the matter, there are peripheral issues to address.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — It’s a good day for making wishes — and for fulfilling them, too. Pay attention to the signals sent by a loved one.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — You may find yourself far from home at some point today — but, for the most part, it is entirely because you have chosen to be.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — You’ll want to spare no expense today in celebrating another’s accomplishment. Take care you don’t overdo it and embarrass him or her.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — A little of this and a little of that can make something routine into a thing new and exciting — provided everything is in proportion.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — Prepare yourself early in the day for what you suspect is fast approaching. You can’t afford to be caught off guard at this time.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — Even though you’ve been doing a certain thing for days, weeks, months or even longer, today it may feel as though it’s the first time.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Someone who knows you well knows just what to do to raise your excitement level today. You owe this special person a debt of gratitude.

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THURSDAY, JANUARY 26 AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — You may have to deal with a personal issue entirely on your own today, even though it’s the kind of thing you could share with a loved one.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) — You will have reason to consider yourself much better off than someone close to you who has been mired in a stubborn and difficult issue.

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THE DIAMONDBACK | DIVERSIONS | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012 impeccable cast. — Robert Gifford

MOVIES from page 6 The Adventures of Tintin Director Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones 4) returned to the theaters with a vengeance in 2011. He follows up War Horse with this motion captured take on Hergé’s famous The Adventures of Tintin comic books. The eponymous Tintin (Jamie Bell, Jane Eyre) is an intrepid journalist on the hunt for long-lost treasure, with the help of the insolvent but warmhearted Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes). The vast majority of Tintin plays out like a good, if chaotic, retread of better Indiana Jones films.

Tintin truly comes to life during a jaw-dropping single-take set piece in a fictional Middle Eastern country, easily 2011’s greatest single moment in film. — Warren Zhang A Dangerous Method Leave it to the infamously perverse director David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises) to turn a dull, period script into one of the more fascinating films of the past year. A Dangerous Method tells the tale of Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender, Shame) and Sigmund Freud’s (Viggo Mortensen, The Road) development and application of psychoanalysis. A fantastically sardonic turn by Mortensen and Cronenberg’s visual flourishes — a splotch of blood in the aftermath of a sex scene, tilt-shift lenses, a vaguely homoerotic subtext to the story, etc. — punch up the, at times, didactic material. — WZ Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is one of the least glamorous spy movies ever made. I mean that as a compliment. It’s a film about pudgy, balding, middle-aged men who work in ugly brown government buildings with men they openly distrust. In short, it’s probably fairly realistic. As with director Tomas Alfredson’s last film, the chilly vampire flick Let the Right One In, it’s more concerned with atmosphere and character than traditional genre thrills, which makes it smarter and ultimately more rewarding than the average spy movie, if not necessarily more entertaining. It strips a romanticized genre of its frills, revealing the drudgery and paranoia at the heart of the spy game; there’s not an Aston Martin in sight. The performances are uniformly superb — none more so than Gary Oldman’s (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2) brilliantly minimalist turn as George Smiley, the hero of a good number of John le Carré novels — and Alfredson masterfully maintains a mood of weary dread, but the film has a bit too much plot for its own good, and those without familiarity with the source material will likely need a second viewing to appreciate all the intricacies. But this is one that deserves the extra attention. Alfredson struggles some to reduce le Carré’s novel to a twohour film, but he succeeds in translating the book’s mood and complexity, and is aided by an

War Horse Steven Spielberg has always been a classicalminded director, but War Horse may be his most blatantly old-fashioned film. A heartfelt epic about a boy, his horse, their bond and their separation during World War I, it would be easy to write off as bland Oscar bait, but like most of Spielberg’s films, there’s real substance beneath the Hollywood sheen. What begins as a 1950s-style boy-and-his-pet idyll transforms into a document of the ravages of mechanized war as the golden-hour Arcadian beauty of antebellum England is replaced by the muddy hell of the Great War. Spielberg has crafted a story about industrial society’s destruction of the old pastoral way of life in largely equine terms: Cavalry charges are shot down by machine guns, deserters who flee on horseback are caught by men in automobiles, horses who once pulled plows are worked to death pulling artillery pieces. It’s an imperfect film — the dialogue is clunky, it takes the anthropomorphization too far too often, and the finale leans on the uplift a bit hard — but there are no shortage of reminders that Spielberg has the most advanced style of any major-studio filmmaker. — RG We Bought A Zoo We Bought A Zoo is a bad movie made well. The premise is silly. The characters are thinly drawn. It’s as overstuffed with cliché as a Hallmark store. (And then there’s that title. Ugh.) But despite all that, it maintains an unassuming adequacy that keeps it from being nearly as enervating as it should be.

Director Cameron Crowe (Pearl Jam Twenty) and stars Matt Damon (Contagion) and Scarlett Johansson (Iron Man 2) are all talented enough to keep the material from slipping too far into the cutesy or wacky, and the score by Jónsi (of Sigur Rós) gives the film an appropriately luminous feel. (There’s also a scene where a grumpy preteen drop-kicks a snake, which will someday make a pretty great .gif.) It’s aimed squarely at the twelve-and-under crowd, but most parents would find it a thankfully inoffensive respite from the likes of Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. In the exciting world of animal parkownership movies, it ranks several pegs above Zookeeper. — RG Young Adult Young Adult — refreshingly — lacks much of writer Diablo Cody’s (Jennifer’s Body) now trademark and cringe-worthy “hip” dialogue. Instead, we get to watch an unflinching portrayal of a nasty youth fiction writer’s (Charlize Theron, The Road) attempts to win back her high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson, The Ledge). While Jason Reitman’s (Up in the Air) low-key direction is superb and Cody’s so-painfully-awkward-it’shilarious script is good, Young Adult belongs to Theron and her sublimely bitchy performance.

The movie does fall apart towards the anti-climactic ending, but the journey there is definitely worth your time. — WZ diversions@umdbk.com

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012 | THE DIAMONDBACK

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10

THE DIAMONDBACK | DIVERSIONS | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012

SPOTLIGHT | HENRY MILLS

ALUMNUS HOSTS BILINGUAL OPEN MIC TO ELIMINATE BORDERS

BY MARLENA CHERTOCK For The Diamondback

Before the Jan. 15 Borderlines open mic even started, Henry Mills chose random audience members to translate Spanish haikus and sections of poems into English. Candles flickered on tables and the smell of pizza floated throughout the room of about 40.

Though the Spanish texts were only written in one way, the English translations varied.

Borderlines, a bilingual open mic series at the Hyattsville Busboys and Poets, began in October and occurs every second Sunday of the month. The series tries to confront issues that affect Latinos or Latino identity and offers writers a venue to read their work in Spanish.

“I feel like I can be myself without having to explain or feel like I need to hold the audience’s hand when I switch to Spanish,” Mills said. “It’s pretty validating.”

Mills, a 2011 alumnus of this university and the host of Borderlines, switched his introductions from English to rapid Spanish and wore a Terpoets shirt.

Mills has been involved in the poetry scene for a while, cofounding Terpoets, the studentrun poetry organization at this university, with Jonathan Tucker in 2007 and taking every poetry workshop class he could at the university.

“The cool thing about the University of Maryland is that if there’s something there

Henry Mills, a 2011 alumnus, hosts Borderlines at the Hyattsville Busboys and Poets. MARLENA CHERTOCK/FOR THE DIAMONDBACK

that’s missing there’s enough resources to make it happen,” he said. “There was no student-run poetry organization, and Jonathan and I were both hungry for poetry.”

They borrowed JimenezPorter Writers’ House tables, handed out flyers and packed the basement of Dorchester Hall for their first event.

“I was able to bring all of my favorite living poets to perform at Maryland,” he said.

Mills said one of the best featured poets was Zein ElAmine, a current poetry professor at Maryland who was also Mills’ poetry professor in the writers’ house.

“I consider Henry my best friend,” El-Amine said, who gives Mills first drafts of his poems for feedback.

The Hyattsville Busboys marketing team had been talking about a bilingual open mic since the restaurant opened last August because of the large Spanish-speaking population in the area. Several performers and Latinos who live in nearby Hyattsville, College Park or Silver Spring were invited in the discussions and marketing of Borderlines. Simone Jacobson, the curator-in-residence at the Hyattsville Busboys, asked Mills to host the series.

“Having a bilingual open mic really enriches the quality of the poetry,” said Mills, who grew up bilingual and often explores his bi-cultural heritage in his writing. “I don’t know how it

does, but it does. It encourages a greater literacy.”

Performers read their work in Spanish and sometimes read English translations at the Jan. 15 event.

“There’s some comfort and camaraderie built around people who speak both languages,” Jacobson said. “It’s an environment where they can get their Spanglish out. It’s an audience that understands both. It creates a really special opportunity.”

Now that a critical mass of people has started attending Borderlines, Busboys is instituting a $5 charge for all events at all its locations to keep up programming. The Jan. 15 Borderlines was the last free event.

Although Mills — who spends much of his other free time in a punk band and a twopiece bilingual band — wants to keep the series free and open to the public, it is also important for Borderlines to maintain a venue, he said.

“I think initially the cover charge is going to be an additional hurdle for those of us who, little by little, have been building the audience,” said Jose Ballesteros, a published Washington poet and professor of Spanish Literature and Latin American Studies at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, who helped market Borderlines. “And I look forward to speaking with Henry and Simone and other people in Busboys to see ways that we can overcome that hurdle. I think

there are ways that will make people feel good about contributing financially to the experience they’re going to have.”

Mills expressed an interest in having featured writers at Borderlines in addition to the open mic, much like he did with Terpoets. He’s also the force behind getting audience members’ translations and facilitating discussions on poetry at these open mics. So it makes sense that he ended up staying the whole day when he helped El-Amine fix and move back into his house after the summer earthquake.

“Henry helped me put everything back in, plugged in my computer, three hours later he’s washing my dishes and I had to shoo him off,” he said.

Borderlines is good in Mills’ hands, according to El-Amine.

“Henry is very aware to not have this become a kind of posing, like a fashion show of poetry,” he said.

A lot of open mics have become sensational to get applause, according to El-Amine, but Borderlines is different.

“The more I put into [poetry] the more I saw it was something that could be viable,” he said. “There’s few people who actually put in the work or stick to it long enough, but you reach a certain point where you’re like, OK, I can do this. I couldn’t be unhappy if I was surrounded by poetry.” diversions@umdbk.com

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012 | NEWS | THE DIAMONDBACK

11

Locals oppose Rt. 1 apartment complex Planning board votes to move forward with Book Exchange development

BY CHAD SINCLAIR Staff writer

The Prince George’s County Planning Board approved Thursday the construction of a high-rise apartment on the Maryland Book Exchange property. FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK

For Kathy Bryant, a lifelong College Park resident, protecting the downtown’s historical archi-

tecture may seem like an uphill battle, but it’s one she hasn’t given up on yet.

In the wake of the Prince George’s County Planning Board’s contentious decision

Thursday to approve the construction of a high-rise apartment building on the Maryland Book Exchange property, Bryant can’t help but think back more than 120 years.

It was in 1888 when her grandfather, John Oliver Johnson — the man responsible for naming College Park’s streets after the nation’s top colleges — built the house in which she now resides. Four generations of her family have lived in the house, which sits comfortably on Columbia Avenue.

Bryant, who serves as the president of the Old Town College Park Civic Association, made a passionate plea before the planning board to stop the proposed development — a sixstory building that would include an apartment complex and various retail outlets, which the College Park City Council voted against supporting because it doesn’t aesthetically comply with downtown development guidelines.

“It just doesn’t belong where they want to put it,” Bryant said.

“It’s an ugly, cookie-cutter piece of architecture, which they’re just plopping down in the middle of four historic districts.”

Her words fell on deaf ears.

The board approved the plan 4 to 1, which makes way for the developer R & J Co. to build a complex that will feature 946 beds in 313 residential units, three courtyards, interior recreation facilities and multiple retail establishments.

Ilya Zusin, a local developer who attended this university, said although housing prices will not be set until 2014 or 2015, it will be more affordable than The Varsity, which charges nearly $960 a month for a four bedroom, four bathroom apartment.

R & J Co. changed its development plans after the city council voted against the complex for not complying with the Route 1 Sector Plan, a detailed guide created in June 2010 to outline the city’s future architectural vision. Because the sixstory building would have faced a residential neighborhood on some parts of Yale Avenue and

College Avenue, the design was altered so that side is only four stories tall.

Bryant said the design of the building is most upsetting and believes that its sheer size will dwarf local landmarks. In addition to aesthetic concerns, Bryant fears that the doubling the population of Old Town College Park will drastically increase both noise and traffic.

The controversial development project has made some students uncomfortable as well.

“I don’t really think that adding yet another high rise off campus best benefits the students,” freshman psychology major Steph Gross said. “If anything, it will give more of an excuse to the school to limit the number of years with guaranteed housing for its students, which is not beneficial.”

Senior finance and supply chain management major Ali von Paris said that while more retail options is appealing, there is no need to increase the number of housing options.

“I do like that they are considering bringing in more retail space, but I’m not for the apartment being built,” von Paris said. “Last I heard they were having trouble filling up The Varsity and The Enclave.”

District 2 Councilman Bob Catlin and District 3 Councilman Robert Day vehemently opposed the project Thursday when they spoke in front of the planning board.

However, some students said they feel this apartment complex will ultimately be safer to live in because it is closer to downtown bars and the campus.

For Bryant, no matter what is built in her neighborhood, her family’s history will keep her roots grounded in College Park.

It’s a history she promises to make every attempt to preserve.

“This is about the historic nature of the area, and with this new building all of that could go downhill,” Bryant said. “Ultimately, there is no other place in the United States that I could consider home.” sinclair@umdbk.com

12

THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012

CAMPAIGN from page 1

Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs John Zacker, the former Office of Student Conduct Director, was instrumental in helping the university implement an honor pledge. FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK

CONDUCT from page 1 honor council composed of faculty and student volunteers determines whether they are guilty or innocent. While Office of Student Conduct officials said the system is working fairly, some city and university attorneys and students said the process should operate more similarly to traditional courts.

They said a professor’s word may be stronger than a student’s; the jury consists of volunteers, rather than a randomly selected sample of the student population; and students who wish to have representation speak at their hearing must use student defenders.

“Generally, the defendants have a harder uphill fight, whether it’s in Student Conduct or in [criminal] courts,” Student Legal Aid Office Director Jim Jones said. “I don’t have anything to prove that it’s the case at the university, but it’s not to say professors may not be given more deference than what a student has to say.”

From 2002-03 to 2010-11, the Office of Student Conduct found between 75 and 89 percent of students accused of academic dishonesty guilty per academic year, according to Student Conduct annual reports.

“It seems high,” said College Park attorney Steve Jacoby, who’s often hired by students to prepare honor review defenses.

“It could just be good screening by the Honor Council or they’re predetermined to find people responsible once the charges are filed by the professor.”

Professors and instructors referred 407 new cases of academic dishonesty to student conduct in 2010-11, up from 310 in 2002-03, the year the university adopted an honor pledge. Student Affairs Assistant Vice President John Zacker, who helped implement the pledge, said he’s confident the university is still headed in a positive direction despite the climbing number of cases. Plagiarism and cheating account for about 80 percent of academic misconduct cases, according to the data.

“It reflects vigilance on behalf of our campus community, both the faculty and students, in reporting instances of academic dishonesty,” Zacker said.

Office of Student Conduct Director Andrea Goodwin said professors must provide evidence in all cases, and the department weeds out frivolous charges.

But some students said the increased awareness within the university community about academic integrity hasn’t made the student body immune to false charges.

“I just think the school’s out to get people,” said Jaclyn, a biology major. Along with dozens of other students, she was charged with plagiarism by the same laboratory

coordinator last spring and received an XF on her transcript. She asked to have her last name withheld because she is working to remove the XF from her transcript.

She was enrolled in BSCI 105: Principles of Biology I, in which dozens of students were charged with plagiarism because their lab reports were similar to material distributed only during previous years. Jaclyn said she found the same information through her own thorough research.

“To be accused of something you didn’t do is wrong. When I found out, I was distraught, I was devastated,” she said. Jaclyn said she would have had the highest grade in her class if she hadn’t been sanctioned with an XF, despite presenting character references and marked-up printouts of research as proof at her hearing.

Still, some students, such as junior cell biology and genetics major Turna Mukherjee, are able to prove they haven’t committed an offense. Two years ago, she was found not responsible for collaborating on a lab report. “[The process] just seemed really unnecessary,” she said. “I think some professors abuse it because there’s certain professors who are notorious for sending their kids to the Honor Council.”

William Salmond, an attorney who founded the university’s Student Legal Aid Office in 1976, said the system has room for improvement. If the university arbitrarily pulled students for jury duty, the process would be more fair.

“There should be a pool of students randomly selected who also participate,” he said. “I think you would get a much more balanced outcome.”

Honor Council coordinator Lucy LePeau said Student Conduct staff and current Honor Council members select student volunteers with a range of backgrounds and majors and each fiveperson board should have new and veteran members to keep the process fair and consistent.

“I think that the boards know how important it is to be fair,” she said. “They have to use clear and convincing evidence to decide if a student is found responsible or not, and that’s what’s really important to us.”

Additionally, some students hire attorneys to help them prepare for their case, Jones said. If a student hires an attorney, he or she must plead his or her own case before the jury. Those without attorneys may use a student defender to speak for them at the hearing.

“We’re kind of gagged, we can’t say anything, we can’t ask questions, we can’t make an argument,” Salmond said. “I think that’s a significant disadvantage when you have a student who’s very nervous.” lurye@umdbk.com

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by donors for specific use, such as the creation of a sports journalism center for the journalism school or a scholarship program for students, Remington said. Student support is the largest priority, with more than $300 million worth of gifts and pledges going toward scholarships and other programs for students.

Along with staff members and volunteers, many college deans have been heavily involved in fundraising efforts, Remington said. Since much of the money raised will be used to enhance the educational experience for students, Education College Dean Donna Wiseman said the campaign has been a top priority.

“Much of the money that we get through this campaign goes into scholarships, so really students are the beneficiaries,” Wiseman

said. “There may be some money that supports some research programs, but the major part of development money goes into scholarships.”

Without the money from the campaign — the largest fundraising campaign by a public university in the state — it would be impossible to recruit and retain top-notch faculty and students, said business school Dean Anand Anandalingam.

“The money from this campaign really helps the Smith School because it provides scholarships for our undergraduate and MBA students, allows us to attract top Ph.D. students … enables us to provide really great career ser vices to our students, retain our top faculty with endowed professorships, and build out our physical infrastructure with state-of-the-art technology,” he wrote in an email.

While the campaign has been largely successful, Rem-

ington said student behavior impacts donations and that students should be aware that their behavior affects the university’s image — and its

“Here, the glass is half full. We have so much more potential.”

BRODIE REMINGTON UNIVERSITY RELATIONS VICE PRESIDENT

potential for attracting the donations that directly benefit them.

“I think most students are a bit oblivious to that,” he said. “The longer-term picture may not be on their minds, so I suppose that what some folks find offensive chants at games, they don’t see the connection.”

With the campaign coming to a close at the end of this year, Remington said plans for the next campaign

will begin in the next few months. One of the major decisions will be how long the next campaign will last, he said. While a typical campaign lasts between five and 10 years, it’s difficult for the university to sustain the energy and commitment for long periods of time, he said.

“We got in this game of setting the goal ever higher and the university started to prolong the campaign,” he said. “It’s hard to sustain volunteer energy and leadership energy over that time.”

Remington, who will step down from his post next year, said the university’s capacity for raising money will only increase as it cements its standing as a first-class university.

“Here, the glass is half full,” Remington said. “We have so much more potential. We’re a late starter but that tells me we can catch up and the best is yet to come.” kirkwood@umdbk.com

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012 | NEWS | THE DIAMONDBACK

GREEK from page 1 abused by holding a weekendlong trip, leading the department to ultimately decide the group could no longer operate on the campus. Now, the group has had its name stripped from its house on Fraternity Row, and Phi Sigma Kappa will likely move into the house, according to an email from the department.

“We’re committed to a values-based fraternity and sorority system, so we’ll continue to take whatever strides to continue leading us in that direction, so that may mean removing organizations from time to time,” Gioia said.

After fraternity members stayed at a resort for one weekend, the resort contacted the university to report $6,000 to $7,000 in damages to the hotel rooms and underage drinking, said DFSL Director Matt Supple. Gioia said a student was also transported to the hospital after drinking.

Because the chapter had already been on “the worst probationary status,” Supple said, the university and national Pi Kappa Alpha organization decided in conjunction to revoke the group’s charter until at least 2016.

“It definitely was the icing on the cake. They’ve had issues over the past three years, so I wouldn’t say that’s the sole reason, but it’s certainly something that gave us an additional reason for concern,” Gioia said.

This university currently has six chapters on probation for an indefinite period of time — Alpha Epsilon Pi, Delta Chi, Delta Sigma Phi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Nu and Tau Kappa Epsilon — meaning any violation of university policies or expectations could put them at risk of losing their charters.

Zeta Phi Beta’s charter has also been revoked until at least 2017, after being suspended by the department in November 2010. The decision became

13

finalized once the Office of Student Conduct completed its investigation into hazing allegations a 22-year-old female student made against seven sorority members.

Five members, including three university students, faced charges of seconddegree assault and hazing, but state prosecutors dropped the charges in June due to a lack of evidence.

While different schools’ Greek departments have their own systems for handling student group status recognition, many have handed down far fewer sanctions than this university, according to various university Greek system websites.

The University of Connecticut, for example, has placed two chapters on probation and revoked recognition of a chapter twice since 2010. The University of California, Irvine has placed only two groups on probation and revoked the charter for only one chapter since 2006.

Some chapter presidents, including Kappa Sigma’s Zach Feuer, said they had concerns about the way DFSL enforced university policies. He said Kappa Sigma was placed on social moratorium after members told pledges to wear matching bow ties to an event.

“Even though it was out of choice, they characterized it as a uniform, which is a form of hazing,” said Feuer, a neurobiology and physiology and operations management major. “A couple of the areas we’ve come face-to-face with DFSL over, I definitely kind of can’t say they were handled the absolutely right way.”

But Supple said the department has been fair and consistent since the university updated its list of minimum chapter expectations nine years ago.

“What you will find is some chapters aren’t convinced that we’ll enforce them, and despite repeated intervention efforts from us and their local alumni advising boards, they just keep

making poor decisions that will ultimately result in loss of recognition,” he said.

Beta Thi Pi President Alex Bleiweis said his fraternity already holds members to high standards and said other chapters should abide by DFSL’s policies.

“I think they are strict, but the thing that people don’t get about them is they don’t tell us what to do,” he said. “They just want us to follow our values, which we already set ourselves.”

But former Pi Kappa Alpha member Sergio Torres said his fraternity seemed to be improving its standards in recruitment and academics over the last several months to meet those of the department.

“When I was rushing, it was very emphasized the groups they were looking for from then on were really high-quality groups of members that would be beneficial to the fraternity overall,” said the sophomore environmental science and technology major. “All of a sudden we were kind of kicking

ass in the area of rebuilding and improving and [DFSL] didn’t see that.”

Gioia said she noticed the group made strides to improve, but when a fraternity has already developed a reputation from the department and its national organization, it cannot afford to have any missteps, she said.

“Safety is definitely important, but also they’re fulfilling the expectations of their national organizations, and sometimes those are lofty goals,” Gioia said.

Although the chapter was participating in community service and philanthropy events, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs John Zacker said fraternity members are aware that one bad incident can “erase” any positive work.

“It doesn’t make up for the situation they find themselves in when they engage in behavior that warrants removal,” he said. lurye@umdbk.com

14

THE DIAMONDBACK | SPORTS | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Temple buries Terps from deep Owls’ late string of 3-pointers deals team second straight defeat, 73-60

BY CHRIS ECKARD Senior staff writer

PHILADELPHIA – Clinging to a one-point deficit late in the second half against Temple on Saturday afternoon, the Terrapins men’s basketball team decided to force the Owls to beat them from outside.

Three straight 3-pointers later, Temple had enough of a cushion to run away with an eventual 73-60 win at the Palestra.

In their last nonconference tilt of the season, the Terps had hoped to grab a marquee victor y before diving deep into conference play, with upcoming games against three top-20 teams. Instead, they left carr ying the burden of their first two-game losing streak of the season.

Four days after falling by 14 points at Florida State, the Terps (12-6) battled back from a double-digit secondhalf deficit to come within one. They held just one lead, with 14:55 left in the first half, but stuck with the Owls (13-5) most of the 40 minutes.

“I was pissed the other night after Florida State,” coach Mark Turgeon said.

“Today, I’m not as mad. I thought there was more will to win and more execution.”

A left ankle injury to center Alex Len in the first half forced Turgeon to look to a four-guard lineup for much of the game to defend Temple’s talented guard threesome of Khalif Wyatt (20 points), Ramone Moore (20 points) and Juan Fernandez (16 points).

But after Terps guard Terrell Stoglin hit a jumper to close the gap to 57-56 with 5:26 left in the game, each of the three hit shots from behind the arc. The barrage was capped off by Fernandez, who dribbled off a pick and hit a deep shot in front of the Temple bench to put the Owls up seven as they rattled off 10 of the game’s final 11 points.

“The just made tough shots,” guard Pe’Shon Howard said. “A lot of times we got a hand in their face.

We wanted them to take 3s at the end of the game instead of driving, and they made them.”

Howard had a career-high 15 points, including nine in the second half, but went cold in the game’s last 10 minutes.

Stoglin was the only Terp to score in the final 8:58 of play.

The sophomore scored a game-high 20 points but misfired on several 3-point attempts near the end of the game, including one that

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would’ve put the Terps ahead.

“There’s no pressure at all,” Stoglin said. “That’s the position I want to be in and that I’ve worked to be in.”

The Terps’ big men never capitalized on a size advantage in the paint. Turgeon had the team go inside right off the opening tip, but the efforts resulted in three straight turnovers.

While for ward James Padgett had 10 points, for ward Ashton Pankey and centers Len and Berend Weijs all finished scoreless.

“Our whole game plan was to go inside,” Turgeon said.

“We started the game so soft.

We turned the ball over. We were fumbling balls.”

The Terps had 10 turnovers

in the first half alone, often botching fast-break attempts and offensive sets.

“I’m on the guys all the time about being smarter,” Turgeon said. “We played smarter, but we didn’t play smart enough. We had so many numbers on the break, but we must have blown four of five opportunities.”

The Terps also blew another opportunity to win against a marquee opponent.

They have yet to beat a team in the RPI top 50 this season, and they have two matchups each against No. 8 Duke, beginning with tonight’s home game, and No. 7 North Carolina and No. 19 Virginia. ceckard@umdbk.com

Guard Pe’Shon Howard releases an off-balance shot during the Terps’ 73-60 loss to Temple. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK

WILLIAMS from page 18 the previous two decades and delivered the program its only national title.

With a special presentation beginning about 20 minutes before the 9 p.m. tip, the Terps athletics department will honor the legend with the unveiling of Gary Williams Court.

“We all know how Gary got up for the Duke game,” Turgeon said, “so it’s an appropriate night for us to unveil his name on the floor.”

The university hosted a special dedication dinner on the floor of Comcast Center on Monday that brought out 350 high-end donors, alumni, former players and former assistants.

Even Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina coach Roy Williams and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo made separate appearances on the video board to congratulate the former Terps coach on the honor.

The Comcast Center floor will feature two markings donning Williams’ signature in black and “Court” in red, one in front of the visitor’s bench and the other on the opposite side of the court. The Terps will also wear special Under Armour shoes with Williams’ signature tonight.

“It was great to have the opportunity to play for him,”

forward James Padgett said, “and it’s great to play in the game that they’re honoring his name.”

“I’m thinking in my mind that we have to play for Coach Williams,” guard Sean Mosley said. “We don’t want to let him down on his big night.”

The festivities have certainly revved up a matchup that, for many, never needs any hyping. Still, the Terps (12-6, 22 ACC) are riding a two-game losing streak and have dropped nine of their past 10 games against the No. 8 Blue Devils (16-3, 4-1). Duke, meanwhile, is coming off its first home loss in 45 games.

“I don’t think there’s any question that Duke, in our fans’ minds, in our players’ minds, has been the rivalry game that we need to play well and be ready to play,” Turgeon said. “It will be our first game that’s sold out. And just from Day 1, getting out in the community, people talk about Duke.”

People also talked about Williams, who Turgeon said has been indispensable since he was hired in May. Tonight will mark only Williams’ second public appearance in Comcast Center since retiring last year, the other coming during Mar yland Madness in October.

Williams has made regular television appearances on the Big Ten Network as an analyst and recently became

15

the college basketball insider for ESPN 980. But he’s mostly stayed out of the spotlight in College Park, allowing Turgeon to cultivate his own program.

“This is Gary’s home,” Turgeon said. “My transition has been smooth because of the way that he’s handled it. He’s a special guy and a hell of a coach. I don’t think there’s any question that he’s on my side. You always worry about that when you take a job. But he’s gone above and beyond to let people know, people that really matter to our program, that he thinks I’m the right guy for this job, and that’s really helped.”

Williams will come out of the tunnel at Comcast Center, with all eyes fixated on him, for possibly the final time tonight. Williams might not be coaching anymore, his designer suits drenched in sweat, but the man charged with replacing him believes The House That Gar y Built will get one more Williams trademark.

Said Turgeon: “I’m sure we’ll get a fist pump tomorrow night.”

TERPS NOTE: Turgeon said yesterday that center Alex Len has a sprained ankle but is expected to play for the Terps. He said the redshirt freshman is still sore after sustaining the injury in Saturday’s game against Temple. ceckard@umdbk.com

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Forward Alyssa Thomas’ career-high 26 points weren’t enough for the No. 8 Terps, who lost, 80-72, at No. 5 Duke. The team faces Virginia Tech tomorrow. JEREMY KIM/THE DIAMONDBACK

Second-half slip-up for Terps in upset bid at No. 5 Duke, 80-72

BY JOSH VITALE Staff writer

DURHAM, N.C. – For 33

Coach Mark Turgeon called Gary Williams “a special guy and a hell of a coach,” adding that he has helped him during his transition into the program. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK

A deal that’s music to your ears

minutes and 27 seconds, the Terrapins women’s basketball team was within reach on Sunday. Even as a frenzied crowd of more than 7,000 in Cameron Indoor Stadium watched Duke build leads as large as 12 points, the Terps held close.

For 33 minutes and 27 seconds, the No. 8 Terps were offering the makings of an upset of the No. 5 Blue Devils on their home court.

But it was what happened in those other 6 minutes and 33 seconds that distanced victory from defeat. The team made just one of its first 13 shots to begin the second half, falling behind as Duke broke the game open with a 12-2 run.

“We couldn’t even get a

layup there for a while,” forward Alyssa Thomas said after the Terps’ 80-72 loss. “It was frustrating.”

They would cut their deficit to as little as three late in the half, but the early cold streak proved too much to overcome.

“You can’t go for stretches like that on the road and not be able to get scores, especially if you’re not getting stops on the defensive end,” coach Brenda Frese said. “Credit Duke; I thought they were sensational on the offensive end.”

After Frese’s timeout just before the 13-minute mark finally halted Duke’s (16-2, 6-0 ACC) scorching start to the second half, the Terps (18-2, 5-2) began to crawl back. Thomas scored the Terps’ first seven points and 12 overall in the second half, helping to spark a 23-15 run over the next 10 minutes.

A short jumper from center Lynetta Kizer brought the Terps within three points with more than three minutes to play.

“We responded back to them,” said Thomas, who tied a career high with 26 points.

“But it still wasn’t enough to get the lead.”

The Terps never got that close again. Two quick baskets by guard Chelsea Gray pushed the Blue Devils’ lead back to six, and the Terps were held without a field goal in the final 2:26.

“We just never could get that edge,” Frese said. “It felt like we were going to get there, but a missed shot here, a bounce here — we weren’t able to make it.”

Sunday’s loss marked just the second time the Terps were outrebounded in a game this season. Though they entered the game ranked second in the nation with an average of 16.6 rebounds per game more than their opponent, they were outrebounded, 41-30, by the Blue Devils — their worst performance on the glass this season.

The Terps lost the only other game in which they were outrebounded, a 12-point loss to Miami on Jan. 12.

“When you look at these stats and you see how fundamentally equal they are until you get to rebounding, that’s telling a lot of the story,” Duke coach Joanne McCallie said.

“Rebounding might have been the difference in the game.”

If that’s the case, Frese knows what her team’s agenda will be when the Terps host Virginia Tech tomorrow night.

“It comes down to defense and it comes down to rebounding to win games,” Frese said.

“We weren’t very good in either area [Sunday].” vitale@umdbk.com

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16

THE DIAMONDBACK | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK

17

FOOTBALL

In staff overhaul, it’s one for the price of two JEREMY SCHNEIDER

A

fter the Terrapins football team went 2-10 in Randy Edsall’s first season, the Terps faithful wanted change. They got it this winter.

No, Edsall isn’t gone, much to the chagrin of many who were calling for his head. But the two coordinators who helped craft the worst season in the program’s history are. Offensive coordinator Gary Crowton is out, replaced by Mike Locksley, and Brian Stewart has taken over for Todd Bradford at defensive coordinator.

Both coaches have their merits. Locksley is a bona fide recruiter in the Washing-

ton area, and Stewart’s defenses were impressive at Houston. After the Terps’ abomination of a season, a massive shakeup was necessar y. If they weren’t going to fire Edsall, they had to bring in some new blood somehow.

So now the question becomes not whether Crowton and Bradford should have been replaced, but why they were hired in the first place.

Think about the logic behind the Crowton hire. Keep thinking. Anything come to mind?

Didn’t think so. He was a disaster at LSU, with his disorganized antics becoming something of a running joke around college football. There wasn’t much reason for the Terps to even consider him. Somehow, someone decided he was the guy to lead the offense.

Admittedly, Bradford was a stopgap option after Don

Brown abruptly left for Connecticut last February. But was the man who coached a pretty abysmal Southern Miss defense really the best they could do? Edsall should have had someone in mind when he took over, just in case Brown did leave.

But take their coaching abilities out of the discussion.

Maybe the most puzzling move of all was that both coaches got three-year deals, an all but unprecedented move in college football. The athletics department, one in extreme financial straits, gave two wild-card coaches deals that were financially binding.

Crowton’s deal was for about $500,000 annually. How on earth a coordinator as unqualified as Crowton got such a massive deal is scary.

It didn’t seem there was any way a department that had

just put eight sports teams on the chopping block would be able to find the funds to buy out the coaches and hire new ones. But they did. And considering the economic situation, it’s fair to ask how they’re finding all this money. They threw good money at bad coordinators last year, and suddenly a terrible situation became even worse.

With that said, their ousters were completely necessary.

After all, for the athletics department to have any chance at all of solving its debt crisis, the football team needs to turn things around. Season after season of mediocre results — about what you could expect from that coaching staff — will only exacerbate the already dangerous financial situation this department is in. It doesn’t matter how many sports the athletics department cuts — if

Byrd Stadium is empty like it was this season, climbing out of this economic crater will be nearly impossible.

It’s hard to imagine Crowton and Bradford were part of that solution. Locksley and Stewart might be. If nothing else, they make a whole lot more sense than their predecessors.

Still, financial questions remain. Why was Locksley given a $500,000 annual salary filled with incentives for recruiting goals? The man went 2-26 as the coach of New Mexico. While he was there, he allegedly punched an assistant.

A recruit picked up a DUI while driving Locksley’s car. An administrative assistant accused him of sexual harassment. Not exactly the type of behavior Edsall appreciates in his young men.

And it doesn’t seem like the Terps were even competing

against anyone for his services.

Considering Locksley’s off-thefield baggage, weren’t the Terps doing him a favor by offering a way back into the coaching game? An athletics department in financial shambles should be smarter with its money than this and use its leverage to get a good deal.

For all we know, the two new coordinators could help lead a resurgent Terps team in Edsall’s second year. But what if they fall on their face, just like the men they replaced?

Will Anderson stick with them, or bite yet another bullet and buy them out in favor of new coaches?

The athletics department made the right move in bringing in the new coordinators. It just shouldn’t have been in this situation in the first place. schneider@umdbk.com

An ACC Tournament loss to Duke last year was the Terps’ ninth in the teams’ past 10 meetings. FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK

WALSH from page 18 students foaming at the mouth has become pretty much one-sided, and not much of one at all.

In the past 20 years, the Terps are 14-34 against the Blue Devils, who arrive at Comcast Center tonight ranked No. 8 in the country. During that stretch, Duke has beaten the Terps in six or more consecutive games three separate times. The Terps have never won more than three straight.

In the past 10 meetings, the Blue Devils have won nine.

The one Terps win — a Comcast Center classic that earned the Terps a share of the ACC regular-season crown in 2010 — resulted in a nationally televised riot in downtown College Park.

But while downtown burned and burned, Duke simply went home, regrouped and went on to win its 18th ACC Championship and fourth national title.

That same year, the Terps were bumped from the ACC Tournament without winning a game and then the NCAA Tournament in the second round.

So why is it that, even in early-season games against teams like Florida International, the sparse student section at Comcast Center can be heard interjecting “Zombie Nation” with chants of “F--Duke?” How has it reached a point where entrepreneurial students who go through the dorms selling T-shirts with the obscenity plastered on the front for 20 bucks a pop know they’ll inevitably sell out?

It’s certainly not due to any rivalry. Abject hatred, maybe, but not any rivalry. Chalk it up to the fact Duke is everything the Terps wished they were.

The Blue Devils are a perennial powerhouse. The Terps, especially of late, aren’t.

Do you know how many times the Blue Devils have missed the NCAA Tournament since 1984? Once. In that stretch, they’ve earned 12 No. 1 seeds, 11 trips to the Final Four and all four of their national championships.

In the same time frame, the Terps have been left dateless at the Big Dance 10 times. Six

times, including last season, they didn’t compete in the postseason at all. Outside of that memorable run from 2000-02, when the Terps reached consecutive Final Fours and won their only NCAA title, they really haven’t done much of note on the national scale.

These Terps lately are just another team for Duke to roll past every season, no different than the Miamis and Boston Colleges that cower below the Blue Devils and North Carolina in the ACC each season.

First-year coach Mark Turgeon recognizes the allure of the Terps-Blue Devils “rivalry” — “a rivalry’s a rivalry,” he noted yesterday, adding, “this is the most important rivalry there is because it means the most to our fans” — but he also drew a comparison to games between his former team, Texas A&M, and Texas.

“I was at Texas A&M, and the only game that mattered, unfortunately, all year was the Texas game,” Turgeon said, “and it shouldn’t be that way, but that’s the way it was, and I don’t think our fans think this is the only game that matters. But it’s obviously the most important game of the year for them.”

It was Gary Williams’ knack for the big win that gave this rivalry some clout, and there would be no better way to break in the newly anointed Gary Williams Court than with one more win over the Blue Devils for the fist-pumping maniac you all know and love.

But isn’t it sad that this is really the only game around here that anyone cares about?

Tonight’s game will be the Terps’ first before a real home crowd this season. It might also be their last.

“I hope we react the right way,” Turgeon said of tonight’s expected atmosphere. “It’s hard to play in front of a sellout [crowd] when you haven’t done it all year in front of a crowd.”

If Turgeon is able to turn things around in College Park — “We’ll win plenty of big games,” the coach said yesterday — then maybe we can talk about a rivalry between the two teams that will square off tonight.

Until then, stop kidding yourselves. cwalsh@umdbk.com

18

THE DIAMONDBACK | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2012

Sports

Wrestling remains perfect The Terps wrestling team improved its record to 12-0 after a decisive win over N.C. State. Read more about Sunday’s match at diamondbackonline.com.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Holding court Williams will be honored before Duke game …

… but does the classic rivalry still even exist?

BY CHRIS ECKARD Senior staff writer

Walking into Comcast Center’s media workroom yesterday, Mark Turgeon looked up and offered a few choice words to start his press conference.

“What, do we have a big game or something?” the first-year Terrapins men’s basketball coach said jokingly, noting the packed row of cameras and microphones tilted his way. “What the hell is all this?”

Turgeon isn’t blind, and he’s certainly not deaf to what Terps fans have been telling him since he took the position in May: Tonight is the game everyone cares about. It’s his first game against archrival Duke in College Park, the first time he’ll experience Comcast Center at its loudest, his first chance to make a big impression on Terps fans.

And yet ironically, he also knows the biggest spotlight won’t be on him tonight.

That honor is reserved for his predecessor Gary Williams, who manned the program for

CONOR WALSH

I

t’s that time of year again. The day that gives university officials and police ulcers. The day students circle first on their calendar when the Terrapins men’s basketball team releases its schedule. The day the athletics department digs up money it doesn’t have for free gold T-shirts.

The day Duke comes to town.

But let’s take a step back from all the hoopla that will no doubt envelop College Park tonight and really think about what actually constitutes a rivalry. It’s generally between two programs that develop a healthy dislike for each other after years of back-and-forth results.

When was the last time you saw that? The so-called rivalry that has this university’s

see WILLIAMS, page 15

MONDBACK FILE PHOTO/THE DIA

ION PHOTO ILLUSTRAT

see WALSH, page 17

BY CHRIS ALLEN/THE

DIAMONDBACK

WHO: Terrapins vs. No. 8 Duke WHEN: Tonight, 9 p.m.

WHERE: Comcast Center T.V.: ESPN | LINE: Duke by 11