February 6, 2013

Page 1

STAR TREATMENT

Elbow to chest inspires Len’s return to form p. 8

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DIVERSIONS

Does My Bloody Valentine’s new album live up to the hype? p. 6

The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper

ISSUE NO. 82

ONLINE AT

103rd Year of Publication

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TOMORROW 40S / Sunny

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2013

Police look into armed robberies Student robbed Tuesday; incident at Varsity still under investigation, University Police say By Fola Akinnibi Staff writer Prince George’s County Police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred off the campus early Tuesday morning. A female student was walking on Paint Branch Parkway near Rhode Island Avenue at about 12:05 a.m. when an unidentified male approached her. The suspect allegedly displayed a handgun and demanded the student’s property, after which she handed over an undisclosed amount of money, said Cpl. Larry Johnson, a county police spokesman. The student was not injured, he added. The suspect reportedly wore a black mask, black and red Air Jordan sneakers and a black pullover with a hood, Johnson said. “We’re just reminding anyone

multimedia theater and the art of projection are emerging forms of theater production that are taking hold at this university. Above are photos from three plays visiting professor Jared Mezzocchi has helped design or direct, including The BFG (top). Projections should enhance storytelling, not distract from it, Mezzocchi said. photos courtesy of jared mezzocchi

an emerging star Art of projection, multimedia theater now part of theatre curriculum at university By Madeleine List Staff writer With the allure of 3-D and IMAX movies, it can be hard for stage productions to compete for the short attention spans of today’s audiences. But as technology has evolved, so has theater. Two new classes aimed at producing stunning multimedia theater productions are now part of the theatre department curriculum. THET 399D — Independent Study: Media

Design and THET 669D — Independent Study: Advanced Media Design II, taught by visiting professor Jared Mezzocchi, were launched last semester and became immediately popular with students through delving into the art of projection and multimedia theater, and the science behind the software that makes it all happen. When it’s done well, the projection becomes another actor on the stage, said Mezzocchi, who has headed multimedia directing and design for 16 pro-

See theater, Page 3

Erratic weather affecting students Combination of snow, freezing rain, warm weather contributing to flu and allergies

THU

FRI

SAT

1/27 1/28 1/29 1/30 1/31

2/1

2/2

By Savannah Doane-Malotte Staff writer

HI

Recent student flu and allergy flareups may be connected to last week’s erratic weather, which assaulted students with everything from freezing rain, snow and extreme wind conditions to T-shirt temperatures. The near-epidemic level of the current flu season, combined with oscillating weather, has made students more susceptible to circulating viruses associated with different weather conditions, health officials said. For example, damper weather tends to coincide with onsets of the common cold, while the flu is associated with drier weather, said Don Milton, an epidemiology and biostatistics professor. As the weather fluctuates between these two extremes, students at this university may be at greater risk of coming down with something than those in other regions.

INDEX

WEATHER MADNESS SUN

LOW

38 28

MON

HI LOW

45 33

TUES

HI LOW

69 42

WED

HI LOW

70 52

HI LOW

66 33

HI LOW

36 HI 32 22 19 LOW

photo illustration by ben fraternale/the diamondback

Last week, in a whiplash-inducing series of weather events, students experienced a cloudy Sunday with a low temperature in the 20s; a Tuesday and Wednesday that began with highs inching up to 70 degrees and ended with a severe wind, thunderstorm and tornado warning; and a Saturday that left the campus dusted with snow. “This erratic weather could be favoring many types of viruses, which could expose students to more infections and promote mixed infections,” Milton said. “However, the weather acts as a trigger to where viruses come — but [it’s] not necessarily why.” To discover why and how the flu virus is transmitted, Milton and other public

health school researchers are conducting a study titled Got Flu?, which is funded by a $1.4 million subcontract from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The team is monitoring several factors, including the number of flu cases at the university, where sick students live on the campus and — if it’s possible to determine — what caused the illness. Researchers have found that when air is driest, cases of the flu spike, Milton said. “We still don’t know how the flu is transmitted, which turns out to be a large problem with a pandemic episode,” Milton said. “It is apparent

NEWS 2 OPINION 4 FEATURES 5 DIVERSIONS 6 CLASSIFIED 6 SPORTS 8

See WEATHER, Page 3

See CRIME, Page 2

Obama’s immigration policy step toward fed. DREAM, experts say By Jim Bach Senior staff writer

ductions since 2009. This aspect of interactivity, which is so new to multimedia theater, is what makes projection design so cuttingedge, said Misha Kachman, undergraduate theatre studies director. “This is a thing of the future,” he said. “It is really important that we offer curriculum in this area.” One of the ways Mezzocchi does this is by familiarizing students with a

walking, especially at those hours of night, to walk in groups and in well-lit areas,” he said. “[People should] just be vigilant in their surroundings.” That incident came about a week after another reported armed robbery — Prince George’s County Police are continuing their investigation of a Jan. 27 incident at The Varsity, in which a suspect entered a university student’s fourth floor apartment at about 1:15 p.m., displayed a handgun and demanded the student’s laptop, said University Police spokesman Maj. Marc Limansky. The student did not comply, and after a brief scuffle, the suspect fled, Limansky added. No injuries were reported, and the suspect is still at large. Officers described the suspect as a 5-foot-8, 165-pound black male, wearing a black peacoat, black ski mask

Hoping to set the tone in Washington for a substantive debate on comprehensive immigration reform, President Obama has proposed his vision for a “common sense” law that hints toward a federal DREAM Act. While only rhetoric at this point, Obama has pledged to let bipartisan congressional committees sort out the details for a potential bill, and vowed to only step in and author his own legislation if fierce divisions

B1G task force begins meetings Commission will help with transition By Alex Kirshner Staff writer With just 17 months until the university officially joins the Big Ten, a commission charged with determining how to best transition to the revenue-sharing conference has already begun meeting. University President Wallace Loh’s Nov. 19 announcement that the university would leave the ACC after a nearly 60-year membership for the Big Ten took many by surprise, prompting open criticism at the secrecy behind negotiations. To ensure all affected parties have a say in the transition to the new conference, Loh formed a 22-member commission comprised of students, faculty, staff and alumni, which will help decide how the university will

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on Capitol Hill hold up the process. Among his immigration goals, Obama supports a comprehensive bill including provisions that would expedite the path to citizenship for DREAM Act-eligible individuals, which include those who came to the U.S. as minors and completed either two years in the military or two years at a four-year college. It would also continue Obama’s strict enforcement regimen that defined his first-term immigration agenda. Tightening border security and cracking See obama, Page 3

move forward in the wake of the decision. The commission had its first meeting Jan. 16 and is set to meet next on Feb. 12. “The scope of integrating athletically and academically is pretty large,” said Brian Ullman, the commission’s spokesman and the university’s marketing and communications assistant vice president. The university’s move will become official on July 1, 2014, and it is projected to make $100 million more than it would have in the ACC by 2020, according to numbers obtained by Sports Illustrated. Because of the prospective revenue gains, a plan is in place to balance the athletic department’s budget by 2015, and the commission will also look at bringing back some of the seven sports teams Loh cut in July. “We want to make sure we have a plan in place — whatever [teams] we bring back — that what happened last year won’t happen again,” said Athletic Director Kevin Anderson, who is a senior staff member to the commission. “We want to look at how the budgets will look at the periods of time so we make sure we have financial stability doing this.” Additionally, the commission’s four

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See transition, Page 3

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February 6, 2013 by The Diamondback - Issuu