NEW THREADS: Maryland baseball puts special value on the No. 3 uniform, and now it’s Randy Bednar’s to wear, p. 11
KOBE BRYANT: What we can learn from his legacy, p. 9
The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper ONLINE AT
ISSUE NO.
dbknews.com
OUR
Follow us on Twitter @thedbk
110th
18 YEAR
Monday, February 3, 2020
state
campus
Bill would require virus response plans It was inspired by the 2018 adenovirus outbreak at UMD Maryland lawmakers on Tuesday heard arguments for a bill that would aim to improve colleges and universities’ responses to outbreaks on their campuses — inspired in part by the adenovirus outbreak at the University of Maryland in 2018. House Bill 187 — brought to the House Appropriations Committee by Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-21) — would require all public higher education institutions to annually submit an outbreak response plan to the state health department starting next year. In a proposed amendment to the legislation, Peña-Melnyk requested that the bill’s name be changed to “Olivia’s Law.” The name would honor university freshman Olivia Paregol, who died in fall 2018 after she contracted adenovirus, which sickened more than 40 students by the end of the semester. University officials didn’t notify the campus community until 18 days after it knew about the outbreak — a situation lawmakers hope could be prevented in the future if the bill becomes law. The legislation would require a response plan with a process of “expediently notifying” students and their families, as well as faculty and staff, about outbreaks. In November, an independent report found that though the university followed protocol, communication between departments could have been improved. “The problem was that the University of Maryland did not give notice immediately,” Peña-Melnyk said. The bill requires each institution’s response plan to include protocol for isolating infected by
‘We want to break the cycle’ Facing a power imbalance, many UMD doctoral students feel they’re denied the tools they need to navigate conflicts with their advisers
Eric Neugeboren @eric_neugeboren Staff writer
See bill , p. 8
world
By Angela Roberts | @24_angier | Senior staff writer mArk shayman, ombuds officer for the University of Maryland’s graduate school, said there are about half a dozen advisers he’d consider “serial abusers.” suze creedon/the diamondback
T
.ucked away in a maze of classrooms on the second floor of the University of Maryland’s A.V. Williams Building is a place where graduate students can air grievances against their advisers without fear of retribution. From the other side of a wide desk, swept free of clutter, Mark Shayman, the graduate school’s ombuds officer, listens as they share their stories. Some say their advisers are making them work 80 hours a week, quadruple the amount of time they’re supposed to. They describe the emails they’ve received from their advisers — the kind that are laced with “four letter words” and denunciations that they’re the stupidest student to come through their program in 20 years. Still others come to him after they’ve been dismissed from their positions, a move that could destroy them academically and financially. In the nearly four years Shayman has served as ombuds officer, a handful of advisers have been brought up to him again and again. “I could probably name maybe half a dozen faculty members that are serial abusers,” he said. “And nothing happens to them.”
See grads, p. 3
Chinese study abroad trips suspended Coronavirus outbreak has infected 14K, killed 300 The University of Clara Longo de Freitas M a r y l a n d a n n o u n c e d @clongode1 We d n e s d a y i t w o u l d Staff writer suspend study abroad programs in China for the spring semester amid an outbreak of coronavirus. In a campuswide email, Provost Mary Ann Rankin wrote that the university also will stop authorizing travel to China “until further notice.” The virus — which originated in Wuhan, China — had infected at least 14,000 people in the country as of Sunday night and killed over 300, according to The New York Times. It causes pneumonia, and in severe cases, organ failure. On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended avoiding all non-essential travel to China. The university study abroad programming in China included the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Dalian. None of the cities are located in Hubei, where Wuhan is located. There have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state of Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan wrote in a press release Wednesday morning. by
Last semester, a story lit across national news, stirring up conversation among administrators at this university and making the urgency of addressing student mistreatment all too clear. In October, the Wisconsin State Journal published a lengthy account of a “toxic” lab environment that had proliferated for years under an abusive adviser at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Few knew how bad it was until a research assistant killed himself in 2016. “It could happen here,” Shayman said. For students who run into issues with their advisers, this university’s graduate school offers mediation and counseling services. The school’s website hosts two 1,000-and-some word grievance policies and a form where students can anonymously submit reports of abuse. But some graduate students say these resources don’t cast a strong enough safety net. A coalition of graduate student workers is calling for a change to the current system: They want the right to unionize and negotiate binding contracts with the graduate school. It’s a solution that’s currently prohibited under Maryland law, and one that the
online
‘your adviser runs your life’ Read Part 1 of this series, which examines the complex and often fraught relationship between students and advisers, at ter.ps/gradpart1. julia nikhinson / the diamondback
campus
Watchdog group files federal animal abuse complaint against UMD by
Leah Brennan @allhaeleah Senior staff writer
A watchdog group filed a formal complaint against the University of Maryland last week, urging an investigation into problems with how guinea pigs involved in research were treated last year. In a routine public information act, Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! — an Ohio-based group that monitors research facilities in the U.S. — came across a university document that detailed issues with how guinea
pigs used for research were treated at the time of April 2019 inspections. They’d been overcrowded and left without sufficient water, the document read, and there was no evidence that post-surgical anasthesia had been used. To compound it, documentation surrounding their treatment was lacking — there were no surgical, anesthesia or post-operative records available at the time of the inspection, in addition to missing animal identification, husbandry logs and USDA records, the document read.
See coronavirus, p. 8
calendar 2 OPINION 4 FEATURES 5 city 6 diversions 9 SPORTS 12
Additionally, staff had “incomplete knowledge” of documents and procedures, according to the document. In a statement sent by a university spokesperson, research vice president Laurie Locascio said the university stopped the work on the study “immediately” after a university official reported the guinea pigs’ treatment. Furthermore, the protocols tied to noncompliance were suspended and the university implemented staff retraining and additional supervision. “ T h e p ro p e r ca re a n d u se o f
See animals, p. 8 Submit tips and corrections to The Diamondback at newsumdbk@gmail.com
The Diamondback is a publication of Maryland Media Inc.