The Diamondback, February 17, 2020

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THE PRESIDENT’S DAY DARRYlL PINES, the incoming president of the University of Maryland, greets students at an ice cream social on Friday, Feb. 14. Two days prior, the University System of Maryland had announced he’d take over for Wallace Loh in July. joe ryan/the diamondback

Darryll Pines named next president

“Everyone’s really excited”

The engineering school dean will take over for Wallace Loh in July

Students who have worked with Pines as dean welcomed the announcement

By Carmen Molina Acosta | @carmenmolina_a | Senior staff writer

By Christine Condon & Lyna Bentahar | @CChristine19 @lynabentahar | Staff writers

There are a lot of things Darryll Pines is worried about — the future, for one, and what it might hold for the University of Maryland.

But lately, the engineering school dean has been especially worried for his family. In the past 24 hours, Pines went from being a relatively private figure to a jarringly public one.

“I have never been texted, emailed or called that much in my entire life,” Pines said.

“People I haven’t talked to for thirty years have emailed.”

The University System of Maryland announced Pines as the next president of this university Wednesday. A mechanical engineer by training, Pines has been an aerospace engineering professor since 1995 and engineering school dean since 2009.

Now, he’ll be charged with leading the state’s flagship university — taking the reigns of an institution still recovering from the swirl of tragedy, scandal and controversy that has enveloped its campus for the last few years.

Pines hopes to create a transition team of students, staff and faculty to facilitate feed-

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Favour Nerrise, a senior computer science major who got to know Pines through her work with the university’s Black Engineers Society, described him as motivating, personable — and fond of dad jokes.

He attended the group’s meetings, Nerrise said, and helped send members to conferences.

“Everyone’s really excited,” said Nerrise, who’s financial chairperson for Region II of the National Society for Black Engineers.

“I am more than ecstatic, especially having known Dean Pines as Dean Pines and now as President Pines.”

David Boutin, corporate chair for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and president of Theta Tau, a professional co-ed engineering fraternity, felt the same way.

As a freshman, Boutin took Pines’ engineering course, which aimed to expose students to a variety of engineering fields and

The school’s average 4-year graduation rate was

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Here’s how the Clark School’s faculty and undergraduate student bodies have changed under Pines’ leadership

When University of Maryland engineering student Rachel Harvey heard that Darryll Pines, dean of the engineering school, would be the university’s next president, one memory in particular floated to the surface.

It was from her freshman year, when she’d participated in a research program for the university’s Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering. When the time came for the students in the program to present their research, Pines showed up.

“He came, he listened to all 14 of us talk about our research, he asked us questions,” the junior aerospace engineering major said. “And I think he’s going to bring that same energy to the entire school, so I’m very happy.”

Harvey isn’t alone. After Pines was announced as the university’s new president on Wednesday, students who’d interacted with him — especially leaders of groups meant to help minority students interested in engineering — described an attentive and supportive dean.

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back as he moves into his new role, he said at a press conference Friday. He knows that when he takes office in July, he’ll be faced with the challenge of building back trust with the campus community.

As a president, Pines acknowledged, he won’t realistically be able to engage with every student the same way he can as a dean. But if there’s a big issue, he wants students to be confident that they can come talk to him.

“It’s like an open-door policy,” Pines said. “I hope they will feel that they have an advocate in the president’s office.”

Current university President Wallace Loh announced his retirement from a near decadelong tenure in 2018, following investigations into the death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair, who suffered heatstroke at a team workout, and an abusive environment in the school’s football program.

The latter investigation concluded that Loh and athletic director Damon Evans both bore

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monday, February 17, 2020

CRIME BLOTTER Rina Torchinsky | @rinatorchi | Senior staff writer Pol ice resp onded to reports of burglary and vandalisms last week.

burglary Prince George’s County Police responded to a burglary in the 8100 block of Rhode Island Avenue early Saturday morning, according to a UMD Alert.

T wo m a les repor ted hearing a noise coming from the second-floor bedroom of a residence near Lakeland Road. They found a suspect in the room, according to the alert, which was sent Saturday afternoon.

T he suspect ex ited through the window and fled the scene, according to the alert. University of Maryland Police officers were notified Saturday just after midnight and responded with county police.

Officers searched the area but could not find the suspect, according to the alert.

vandalism University Police responded to a report of vandalism at South Campus Commons 3 on Feb. 11 at about 2:15 p.m., police spokesperson Sgt. Rosanne Hoaas wrote in an email.

T wo ex it sig ns were damaged, she wrote. The case is active.

Police also responded to the 5600 block of Rivertech Court, around the Discovery District, on Feb. 9 at about 6:30 p.m. Officers found a broken window on the scene, Hoaas wrote.

Indoor video footage showed a rock com i ng t h ro u g h t h e w i n d o w, Hoaas w rote. P ictu res were taken of the scene, she wrote. Video around and inside the building was reviewed.

This case is active.

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Bill would let some bikers ride motorcycles without helmets

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Though it may be convenient for campus riders, many worry about its safety implications by

A bill is in the works in Rina Torchinsky the Mary@rinatorchi land Senate Senior staff writer that would make it legal for motorcyclists over the age of 21 to ride without helmets.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Michael Hough (R-Carroll and Frederick), makes helmets optional for motorcyclists who have been licensed for two years, completed an approved safety course and are over 21.

Passengers riding with such motorcyclists are also exempt from wearing helmets, according to the legislation.

“Unless you’re 16 years or younger, and you’re on the road as bicyclists, you’re not required to wear a helmet,” Hough said in a Senate Judicial Proceedings hearing on Feb. 4.

“Yet we require all of these individuals,” he said, pointing to a group of motorcyclists with graying hair and black vests

who sat behind him.

Electric scooter riders over the age of 16, he added, aren’t required to wear helmets, but they’re still “filling up emergency rooms.”

Navid Mazloom, co-owner of College Scooters — a scooter supplier located in the Berwyn neighborhood — said the bill wouldn’t change his business practices. Regardless, he said, he’d continue to encourage customers who ride on “two wheels” — namely, scooters and motorcycles — to wear helmets.

Mazloom, who graduated from this university in 2013, started riding a motorcycle about ten years ago — the same time he helped open up College Scooters. While the College Park store primarily sells scooters, a sister location on the Eastern Shore sells motorcycles.

“Everybody I’ve ever talked to who rides two wheels has been down at some point,” he said.

“Even if you’re going ten miles

an hour, and you hit your head, you could cause some serious damage.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the use of motorcycle helmets saved about 1,870 lives in 2017. More than 750 lives could have been saved if riders were wearing helmets, according to a report by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

Alex Mackenzie, a junior agricultural and resource economics major, started riding his motorcycle about eight months ago.

It was cheaper than owning a car, he said.

Mackenzie said riding without a helmet would be more convenient. If he parked his motorcycle and left his helmet outside, it might get rained on, he said, and if he takes it to class, he has “to lug it around.”

“I looked like, you know, a guy who carries around his helmet everywhere,” he said.

When riding on the campus,

University student Humdan Ahmed, a senior information science major, has been riding for about nine years. suze creedon/the diamondback Mackenzie said he needs to stop and start about every ten feet, whether it be for a bus, a pedestrian, a pothole or a stop sign. It’s different than driving in the “real world,” he said, where people are riding at higher speeds and there’s a “legitimate danger” that someone might crash.

“When I think of people not wearing helmets, you just think of 60-year-old Harley riders on the highway, and you know, their mullet like blowing in the

wind,” he said. “I’m kind of torn between my own personal convenience and like, the deaths of grandfathers.”

Humdan Ahmed, a senior information science major who has been riding for about nine years, said he was surprised to hear about the legislation. When it’s more than 50 degrees out, he said he likes to ride his motorcycle on this campus.

R i d i n g a m o to rc yc l e ,

he said, also means better parking. Adding a motorcycle permit on top of a parking permit was free, too, he said.

“You would think that’s like the one thing that you’d want to have on a motorcycle, to keep people from dying, of course,” he said. “But also, like part of me really wants to ride without one, as well, especially in warmer weather.” newsumdbk@gmail.com

Senate bill would allow athletes to profit off their names Lawmakers on Matt McDonald Wednesday @MattC_McDonald heard arguStaff writer ments for a bill that would set up the possibility for athletes at Maryland public universities to profit off their own name, image and likeness, allowing them to receive endorsement deals.

The bill, named after University of Maryland football player Jordan McNair — who died in June 2018 from heatstroke he suffered two weeks earlier at an organized team workout — would also establish an advisory council to consider student-athlete health and economic wellbeing and advise the University System of Maryland Board of Regents and by

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the Morgan State University Board of Regents.

The council — to be composed of politicians, university faculty, former student athletes and others — would have a mandate to study a broad range of questions surrounding athlete likeness, sports-related injuries, mental health, gender inequities and more.

Maryland joins at least 20 other states considering similar bills; the effort comes after California signed legislation into law last September that will allow college athletes to receive endorsement deals beginning in 2023. The NCAA has defended its current regulations for years, often citing academic scholarships as suitable compensation and warning of a slippery slope

toward a pay-for-play model.

But in late October, it took a step closer to allowing college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness. It’s an opportunity for endorsement deals that’s still far in the distance — NCAA divisions have until January 2021 to create new rules and regulations.

In a release, the NCAA’s top governing board emphasized the new rules must “reaffirm that student-athletes are students first and not employees of the university” and “maintain the priorities of education.”

Ellis McKennie, a childhood friend and teammate of McNair pursuing a master’s degree in public policy at this university, spoke at the Education,

Health and Environmental Affairs hearing. He told senators McNair’s “commitment to excellence was unmatched.”

“Jordan’s passing has inspired me, as well as his family and loved ones, to make an impact in his honor,” McKennie said. “This bill is yet another chance to leave his legacy while ensuring this tragedy never happens to anyone again.”

McKennie has also been a proponent of player endorsement deals.

“It’s really exciting for future players to have the opportunity to make money off themselves, which seems like that makes sense,” he told The Diamondback in October.

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monday, february 17, 2020

news | 3

Tension persists between cultural center and admin Black students are concerned diversity VP hasn’t fulfilled promises for Nyumburu Cultural Center The first time CheroJillian Atelsek k e e Boddy @jillian_atelsek stumbled into Senior staff writer the Nyumburu Cultural Center, it was merely to take shelter from a storm.

Boddy, then a first-semester freshman, didn’t know that the building would become her home base — a place where she’d be handed a blanket when she needed a nap, handed $10 when she needed something to eat.

Now a senior communication major, she’s one of dozens of black students who know the center as their safe haven on the University of Maryland’s campus. And she’s one of 12 who, on Thursday, signed onto a letter sharply criticizing the school’s diversity and inclusion vice president for not doing enough to support it.

“It is a constant struggle,” Boddy said, “to actually have a place on this campus.”

Since beginning her role in June, university diversity and inclusion vice president Georgina Dodge has had a tense relationship with Nyumburu’s community. Those tensions by

came to a head late last semester, when — at a pair of emotionally charged forums in the center’s basement — students and faculty blasted Dodge over concerns she was planning to cut Nyumburu programming and personnel.

Dodge, after quieting concerns she planned to oust Nyumburu director Ronald Zeigler, said she’d create an advisory board to allow students to air their grievances.

Applications, she said, would be out by the beginning of the spring semester. Over two months later — and three weeks after classes began — those applications aren’t out, and frustrated students count the delay as another item to tack onto a long list of disappointments.

“We were hoping that the student advisory board would hopefully be a step in the right direction to bridge that gap and heal that tension,” senior public policy major Alexis Robinson said.

At last semester’s forum, Dodge announced she’d assemble a committee to help her find an assistant diversity

and inclusion vice president, which would oversee Nyumburu and the university’s LGBT Equity Center, among other offices. In addition to using their letter to demand updates on the advisory board’s status, students asked that an undergraduate student be placed on that committee.

And broadly, they argued that Dodge hasn’t made herself available to them — that they still felt voiceless and ignored by the university’s administration, despite the hours o f ba c k- a n d - fo r t h t h ey dragged themselves through in December.

“We are tired of our concerns falling on deaf ears,” the letter read. “We are tired of having to fight for our safe spaces and community every single semester.”

Dodge responded in a letter of her own. Applications for the advisory board, she wrote, are “set to launch and will be distributed soon.” She once again refuted the resurfaced rumors about Zeigler’s job being in danger, and confirmed that there is an undergraduate student on the search com-

kala mitchell and keith livingston were among a handful of students who worked to compose a letter to the University of Maryland’s diversity and inclusion vice president last week. Both are active in the Nyumburu Cultural Center. suze creedon/the diamondback mittee. She offered to meet with Robinson, who penned the letter, and further discuss students’ concerns.

“I have the best interests of Black UMD students at heart, and I sincerely regret that you believe otherwise,” she wrote.

“As I work to strengthen Nyumburu, I hope that I am able to gain your trust.”

Students did open their

letter by thanking Dodge for attending Nyumburu’s black graduation ceremony in December and Black History Month kickoff this month. But those are two of their biggest events of the year, said Kala Mitchell, another student instrumental in writing and sending the letter. With many in attendance, they weren’t conducive to forming personal

connections, Mitchell said.

And even if the application for the advisory board is in the works — said Keith Livingston, a junior finance major — students are tired of feeling in the dark about Dodge’s progress.

Brief updates, he said, would go a long way — even if the projects themselves take a See Nyumburu, p. 8

Students say required theatre course demands too much There’s now a task force to evaluate the class, which mandates students spend numerous hours helping at the Clarice In a small dressing room, Leah Brennan a student laid @allhaeleah slumped on Seniorstaff writer the white-tiled floor, trying to nap. Another stretched her legs above her head, cutting a joke about how many times she’s cried that day. At one point, her classmate watched Jeopardy on a tablet, while another gnawed on a bagel.

They’re all waiting for something to occupy the long hours they have to spend inside the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center for a required course.

But for some, that time rarely comes.

All of these students are currently enrolled in the showfocused section of TDPS479: Production Practicum, a course all theatre and dance majors must take that ranges from one to three credits. To pass the class, they’ll have to be at the Clarice, on call and ready to go, for a maximum of about 130 hours over the course of the three weeks leading up to and during the show they’re by

assigned to work.

Theatre majors have to take four credits of the course — two of which are focused on working as backstage crew, while the other two are in a “production shop” in The Clarice, according to the class syllabus. Dance majors are required to take two credits: one show, one shop.

It’s a requirement that some say degrades their ability to maintain jobs and earn the money they need to live comfortably, while failing to impart skills that will help them following graduation. Current students and alumni of the course are in agreement: something has to change.

One student, senior theatre major Lucy Taylor, described her experience working for A Doll House — a production that had its closing shows this past weekend. As a “dresser” for the show, Taylor steamed costumes, did laundry, handed off bobby pins and set jackets on particular hangers, among other duties.

On a recent Saturday, although she was scheduled to work from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., she

said she finished all she had to do in just a few hours. For the 10 that remained, she sat around.

“From my experience, it seems like I’m doing free manual labor and learning one skill,” Taylor said. “[They disguise it like] we’re getting all this experience, and to me, it just doesn’t feel like that.”

In a statement sent by a university spokesperson, Leigh Wilson Smiley — director of the Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies school — said the students’ complaints were being taken seriously. “[We] have formed a taskforce to look into the concerns raised by our students,” Smiley wrote. “We value student input and are committed to opportunities that are fair and representative of real world work experiences in the arts.”

Bobby Hunter, the production and events coordinator who works with the crew, did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

By making the course required, the school aims to provide a real world show experience for students. But in

the real world, Taylor said, the crew would be there willingly and would be getting paid for their efforts.

Some students question what they gain from the experience. When Jemma Lehner started off as a light board operator, she said she was excited to learn a new set of skills that could help her down the road.

That’s not what ended up happening, though.

“I spent two weeks listening to [the lightning designer’s directions] every single day, just staring at a screen and pressing the exact buttons he told me,” said Lehner, a senior business management and dance major.

“And now that we’re actually doing the shows, I just press ‘Go.’” Unsure she learned enough about lighting to mention it on her resume, Lehner doesn’t think the class was worth “the amount of unpaid hours that went into it.”

For Ayanna Byrd, a senior community health and dance performance major, balancing a 5 p.m. call time with a shift at one of her jobs that ends at

the same time has been “tricky.”

In addition to being a fulltime student, Byrd usually works two jobs. And though she’s always been a busy person, she’s previously been able to have control over her schedule — strategically planning out her day-to-day so that she can balance all her responsibilities.

“I’m honestly just tired all the time,” she said. “Throwing in this mandatory six hours a day, six days a week, has just worn me down.”

In line with university policy, tending to outside work isn’t an excused absence. Students can disclose scheduled conflicts in advance when signing a show contract, but some say they weren’t met with understanding.

Though Byrd said she’s had a good experience working with the assistant stage managers who supervise her, the hours she’s been required to spend at the Clarice — to pass a class she’s taking for one credit — has meant she can’t work any other jobs. So, she’s temporarily lost the income she used to pay for her utilities

and buy her groceries.

“That just seems absolutely ridiculous to me, and they’re not very understanding of conflict,” she said. “I work two jobs and I have to not work for this entire time because I have no choice. They’ll fail me if I don’t.”

Byrd and her classmates want to see an adjustment to the way the class is structured — whether that means providing some form of compensation to students who are struggling, upping the number of credits they can earn or better accommodating outside commitments.

With a task force set up, Taylor hopes things will change for the students who come after her. But she isn’t sure how confident she is that the situation will improve.

“I really hope they make improvements, for the sake of my peers,” said Taylor, who is set to graduate at the end of the spring semester. “It really causes people to stress.”

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Chinese international students face travel restrictions Students who have been to mainland China in the last two weeks are being prohibited from coming to the U.S. by

Xiaokai Dong planned Eric Neugeboren @thedbk to start her Staff writer semester on the University of Maryland’s campus. But instead, she’s spending two weeks in a Japanese hotel, since she’s prohibited from entering the United States.

Dong, a sophomore mathematics major, is among more than 20 members of the campus community who have had their classes or research interrupted by travel restrictions implemented between the U.S. and China because of the coronavirus outbreak, according to information provided by a university spokesperson.

Dong planned to leave China for the U.S. Feb. 3 — one day after the travel restrictions went into effect.

“My first reaction was like, ‘What do I do?’” Dong said.

The restrictions prohibit anyone who has been in mainland China for the past 14 days

from traveling to the U.S., so Dong decided to fly to Japan — where travel is permitted — and wait for 14 days.

Chinese international students make up the largest part of this university’s roughly 6,800 international students.

And while the travel restrictions did not directly affect all of them, some are choosing to take extra precautions.

Lingyan Ma returned to the United States Jan. 28 from her home in the eastern province Jiangsu — an area about 500 miles from the center of the coronavirus outbreak. In China, the outbreak has killed over 1,300 people.

Ma and her two roommates, who are also from China, quarantined themselves in their College Park rooms for the first two weeks of the semester, following recommendations from the University Health Center.

Despite being in adjacent rooms, they communicated only through WeChat the entire

time, Ma said.

During her quarantine, Ma, who is teaching an introductory communication course this semester, decided to hold online classes for the first week after consulting with her adviser.

“It’s different,” said Ma, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in communication. “I personally think it’s necessary to avoid contact with others because it might be dangerous.”

In China, people are taking similar precautions, Ma and Dong said.

Dong lives in the Northeastern province Dalian, where there have been 16 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Before she left for Japan, nearly every person wore masks and people stayed in their homes during the day, Dong said.

“It’s supposed to be the most clogged time of the year, but there’s like no people on the street,” Dong said. “It’s not like everyone feels they are in danger. They just realize there is

this dangerous situation.”

Allison Qiu — a Chinese international doctoral student seeking a degree in American Studies — lives in the U.S. with her husband and baby, but her extended family lives in China.

She said she had to convince her family members to wear masks and take precautions.

“We have been having constant, frequent, urgent conversations regarding the precautions,” Qiu said. “Sort of by teaching them as they taught us when we were kids.”

When Dong returns to this university, she said she will visit the health center and will stay in her room all day with the exception of classes.

When outside, she will wear a mask — a decision she knows will likely raise misconceptions about her health. Still, she said the opinions of passersby won’t change her behavior.

But Qiu said these misconceptions are dangerous, alluding to “yellow peril” — a ste-

reotype that people from East Asia are a threat to Western civilization.

“All these kinds of racial discrimination has been spotted and witnessed throughout the country and actually around the globe,” Qiu said. “It’s a virus that we need to be worried about. A virus that we’re fighting against. Not the people.”

Dong has been contacting the university’s International Student and Scholars Services, which is assisting students who are unable to take classes.

At first, she planned to withdraw from her classes, but she’s now waiting until she returns to the campus to see if she can take her spring semester classes as planned.

Graduate students who will not be able to conduct their research remotely — such as work in a lab — will have to end their assistantships and fellowships, Laurie White, the graduate school’s communications officer, wrote in an email.

Students who withdraw from their classes are eligible for a full refund, White wrote.

Qiu, who is one of 10 graduate students on the University Senate and is also a member of the Senate Executive Committee, believes the graduate school has handled the outbreak appropriately and transparently.

“If I was part of those groups [still in China], I will definitely feel that it’s helping me,” she said. “I definitely feel like our policies are considerate and thoughtful.”

For Dong, like other students stuck in China, her semester is filled with uncertainty. But she is still holding out hope, she said.

“I am trying to remain positive because I don’t really have a second option,” she said. “I know how to stay positive, like [I] have this thought in my mind that I can go back and everything will be okay.” newsumdbk@gmail.com

monDay, february 17, 2020

4 | opinion

Opinion OPINION 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.

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OPINION EDITORS

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UMD finally has a new president, but there’s cause for concern MAX FOLEY KEENE And sud- orities. But, on first glance, m i n g b i rd s, t h a t c a n f ly @MaxFoleyKeene denly, we there’s a fair amount to like around urban centers and Columnist have a new about this selection. Pines surveil people. Dystopian University of Maryland president! The University System of Maryland announced, without any warning and after business hours, that this university’s engineering dean, Darryll Pines, will replace President Wallace Loh in July. So what are we to make of this Lemonade-esque news drop?

Should we celebrate Pines’ arrival as a correction to years of poor leadership? Or should Pines’ career and record give us pause?

Before diving into the result of the presidential search, it must be noted that the process itself has been condemnable. The search committee had only one undergraduate student representative and had no representation for this university’s employee union.

(Don’t worry, though. The university system made sure to include former basketball coach Gary Williams!) The committee held only three open forums to collect community input — scheduled during class time — and many participants felt as though their concerns weren’t getting through to the committee.

In fact, the Student Government Association went so far as to propose emergency legislation calling for the committee to take student input more seriously. In the past couple years, the university system has operated with such little transparency that the state legislature felt the need to get involved. So this entire process culminating in a s u r p r i se a n n o u n ce m e n t at 6:32 p.m. suggests that the people calling the shots haven’t learned a thing. The university system should be ashamed of itself.

B u t l e t’s ge t to P i n e s himself. These thoughts are, of course, preliminary and will change as we learn more about Pines’ background and his major pri-

Leah Brennan

seems to have been an effective leader of the engineering school over the past decade. He’s been here for a long time — and that experience has hopefully instilled a deep understanding of the past few years’ many traumas. And unlike, say, Provost Mary Ann Rankin, he isn’t irremediably implicated in the failures of the Loh era. What’s more, his excellent record recruiting women and minority faculty w i l l h o p e f u l ly t ra n s l a te into a sensitive handling of widespread racial tensions in the community.

So if your main problem with Loh’s tenure was his cluelessness and incomp e te n ce i n ca r ry i n g o u t his agenda, Pines will be a welcome replacement. But if your primary issue with Loh is his agenda itself — an agenda of deference to big donors, athletics boosters and the national security establishment — Pines’ installation offers less to celebrate. Most signs suggest t h a t P i n e s w i l l , fo r t h e most part, stay our present course, albeit with more competent leadership.

Take, for example, this university’s deep ties with the military and defense contractors, a relationship that I think is a moral stain on our institution. Pines is likely to be even worse than Loh on this front. For nearly three years, he worked for DARPA, an agency within the Defense Department that develops new military technologies. While there, a cco rd i n g to h i s CV, h e managed several projects “to enable the next generation of capability for the warfighter.” This included a $12.5 million project — called, literally, “Long Gun” — to develop a big drone that could carry “multiple sensor fused weapons.” He also managed a project to develop tiny drones, made to look exactly like hum-

stuff.

Pines worked for DARPA between 2003 and 2006, during the height of the Iraq War. That war, which claimed at least half a million lives, is one of the greatest crimes of the 21st century. So, it seems like Pines felt comfortable developing technology that would allow the American military to kill people with unmanned flying robots, at a time when U.S. forces were slaughtering thousands and thousands of Iraqi civilians. That his conscience allowed him to engage in such bloodstained work frankly makes me question his moral instincts.

On a separate note, Pines is also very good at getting rich people to give the university money. Probably his signature accomplishment is helping to secure a nearly $220 million donation from the Clark Foundation — the largest donation in university history. The engineering school has raised more than $500 million since the university launched its current fundraising campaign, which is called, of course, “Fearless Ideas.”

This seems like a good encapsulation of how I envision the Pines presidency playing out. If you’re fine with this university making decisions based largely on private investors’ prefere n ce s, P i n e s w i l l p ro b ably do a great job making sure we get gobs of cash.

But if you think this university’s present course is fundamentally defective, there’s less to celebrate in this news. If you think this university is unlikely to be authentically “fearless” so long as it has Lockheed Martin, Brendan Iribe and Kev i n P l a n k se t t i n g t h e agenda, Darryll P ines is probably not your guy. I hope I’m wrong. maxfkcap2016@gmail.com

editorial cartoon

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Maryland must protect job applicants Last week, the Mary- about to enter full-time work. While the SERENA SAUNDERS land General Assembly’s Maryland bill would address some major @sersaun1 House Economic Matters wage issues, the implications for how it Columnist Committee took a step toward protecting job applicants by holding a hearing on HB0123, “Labor and Employment – Wage History and Wage Range.”

The bill marks a positive step forward in protecting job applicants, and if it were passed, it would be especially beneficial for marginalized groups — though it would need to go further to address similar issues students face.

If enacted, it would have two major effects.

First, it would empower prospective employees during the application phase by requiring an employer — upon request — to provide the salary range for the applicant’s position.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, it would protect applicants who got the job from unequal pay in a few key ways: Employers would be banned from requiring salary history from employees or their past employers, from punishing employees who don’t give their salary history and from relying upon salary history to set new salaries. In essence, the bill creates another layer of protection from salary discrimination.

Salary history and discrimination are unfortunately linked due to existing pay gaps.

Today’s wage gap in Maryland would cost a woman $355,280 over a 40-year career when compared with a man. Disparities persist across races, too, meaning that nonwhite women generally lose out on more than white women.

This means that salary history questions — especially allowing employers to set new salaries based on previous salaries — place women at a disadvantage. The bill going through the General Assembly would stop employers from requiring applicants to provide their salary history, mitigating this inequality. Plus, women face a 1.8 percent loss in their salary when they don’t answer salary history questions, as opposed to the 1.2 percent increase in salary that occurs when a man does answer.

But pay gaps that contribute to salary discrimination are even more deeply embedded than we might think at first glance, and it affects college students, especially those

could be extended to college students have gone unnoticed.

College students are set on pay trajectories from the moment they pick a major, with people in traditionally woman-dominated disciplines, such as humanities and social sciences, generally earning less after graduation than people in traditionally male-dominated disciplines, like finance and engineering. This can be partially due to valuative bias, when work done by women is valued less than work done by men.

Students, and particularly women, who pick lower-paying fields are already at a loss in terms of entry-level salary. That’s probably compounded by unpaid internships, which are common in lower-paying fields.

Further, paid interns are about twice as likely as unpaid interns to receive a job offer at the end of their internship.

If the proposed ban on salary history questions included questions about internships, then graduating seniors would be protected from salary discrimination, too.

Students in lower-paying fields who had unpaid internships during their time in college would have a better chance of receiving a salary that’s actually based on their skills and knowledge. They’d be able to better negotiate their very first salary knowing that it wouldn’t affect their second, third and fourth salaries in the future, especially given the bill’s provisions that allow applicants to ask for the salary range, rather than just blindly accepting what salary is offered to them.

College women, especially women of color, would have another layer of insulation from harmful pay gaps that generally persist once they’re started.

The bill would help protect marginalized groups and reduce pay disparities, although it could go further and protect students as well. For the benefit of workers statewide, Maryland should join the 17 states and 20 localities that have already protected workers from issues that stem from salary history questions. serena@sersaun.com

column

Professors need more teaching training Most students can prob- training in how to teach, we place the onus LIYANGA DE SILVA ably attest to the range of on students to be able to learn and succeed @liyangads teaching ability in college no matter the conditions.

Columnist professors is very wide.

During my four years at the University of Maryland, I’ve had professors who meticulously plan each and every lesson, and I’ve had others who walk in and essentially just let the class run itself. While I’ve seen students succeed and fail in both types of classrooms, there needs to be a better way to bridge the disparity. College-level professors must receive ample training to teach.

Looking at the typical career path of a university professor, many probably have a decent amount of experience teaching undergraduate students by the time a college hires them. It’s possible they taught undergraduate classes while pursuing a master’s degree or doctorate, though that isn’t a guarantee that they received any formal training.

At this university, it’s unclear how much teaching experience is actually required in order to become an associate professor, which is a tenure-track position. The Office of Faculty Affairs states that an associate professor “shall have qualities suggesting a high level of teaching ability.” In comparison, lecturers, who are instructional faculty and don’t get paid to do research, must have “at least five years of full-time instruction” in order to become a senior lecturer.

All professors should have formal education training. It doesn’t need to be as thorough as training to teach in primary or secondary education — which is different because you aren’t teaching adults — but it does need to cover the basics of how people learn. If professors teach without formalized

As undergrads, it’s expected that the pinnacle of our learning will occur in upperlevel courses in our majors. These higherlevel classes, which are typically taught by tenure-track professors, are meant to be difficult — there’s a reason that some lower-level classes in STEM fields are called “weed-out” courses. It’s expected that if you can reach that point, you are intelligent enough to progress past.

But it’s not really about intelligence, is it?

Because if higher-level courses are taught by someone without formal teaching training — and sometimes without any motivation to teach other than out of necessity — then it becomes increasingly difficult to succeed as students. Professors who haven’t been taught about different learning tools, such as scaffolding or modeling, or how to effectively engage students, are doing a disservice to students who have the potential and capacity to learn in the right conditions.

Professors need to be taught how to teach, just like anybody would need to be trained to do a specific job. We shouldn’t treat teaching undergrads as second to doing research — it does a disservice to students, but it also reinforces the stereotype that teaching is an easy profession.

There are so many instructors at this university who do have formal teaching training, and it shows — when you actually know how to engage your students and communicate new knowledge, you do your part in making a college education truly accessible. liyanga.a.ds@gmail.com

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monday, February 17, 2020

City State “unruly gatherings” bill falters The College Park City Council narrowly declined to issue a letter supporting the legislation In January, t h e Co l l e ge Angela Mecca P a rk City @AngelaMecca2 Council voted Staff writer against supporting state legislation that mirrored its own controversial “unruly social gatherings” ordinance, passed in 2019.

Now, the bill appears to be faltering in the General Assembly: It’s set to receive an unfavorable report by judicial proceedings in the state Senate this week — a message from the committee that the bill is not acceptable to move forward.

The council’s vote against by

sending a letter to support the Maryland Senate bill, or even suggest amendments to it, was narrow — four to three.

Dan Alpert, the student liaison to the city council, said just because “unruly social gatherings” legislation has taken effect in college towns in Maryland — such as College Park and Towson —that doesn’t mean it will have a positive effect throughout the state.

T h e m a i n d i f fe re n ce s between the city’s ordinance and the proposed legislation are the number of people required to constitute an “unruly

social gathering” and the consequences of violations.

Under city code, an “unruly social gathering” is defined as a gathering of eight or more people where conduct such as public drunkenness, excessive noise, or behavior that could be ruled a “substantial disturbance of the peace” exists, and violation of the code could result in a municipal infraction.

But under the proposed Senate Bill 209, the number of people that could qualify as an “unruly social gathering” — if they were to be performing one of the behaviors cited

in the bill, such as underage drinking, littering, vandalism, or “conduct that constitutes a threat to the public health, safety or general welfare” — is three. And if passed, going against the legislation could result in a criminal charge.

District 3 Councilman Robert Day, who voted against supporting the legislation — even with amendments — echoed Alpert’s point.

“I can’t support this,” said Day during a January meeting.

“It will be used in a way that I don’t think will be supported completely throughout the

state.”

The legislation, which would go into effect this October if passed, was sponsored by Maryland Sen. Chris West (RBaltimore County). West could not be reached for comment.

The city’s ordinance, passed in September, has a similar definition of “unruly social gatherings.” During the council’s Jan. 28 meeting, District 3 Councilman John Rigg said that he was in support of the proposed state bill, as long as it was adjusted to match the city’s ordinance.

“This builds on the hard work that we did a couple months

ago to try to get our own city ordinance in place,” Rigg said of the bill.

During that meeting, Alpert said that supporting the bill would be premature, considering the city’s ordinance had only gone into effect earlier that month.

“It’s irresponsible for the city to take on an issue — for or against any motion, any state or federal bill — without having data within the city to back it up,” Alpert said.

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Officials attend groundbreaking for new city hall

The 95,000-square-foot space on Knox Road will house both College Park and university offices College P a rk and JonathanTercasio University @jon_terc of Maryland Staff writer officials congregated in the city’s downtown area Friday to officially mark the start of the multimillion-dollar construction of a new city hall.

U n i ve r s i t y P r e s i d e n t Wa l l a ce L o h a n d M ayo r Patrick Wojahn each took a turn scooping a shovel full of dirt from the site’s ground, located along Knox Road. The new building will span 95,000 square feet and house office spaces that both College Park and university officials will occupy.

“The symbolism of us working together … is significant,” said Loh, who will be replaced as university president by current engineering school dean Darryll Pines in July. “As I transition out, I’ve come to love this university and I’ve come to love College Park.”

Construction of the new city hall is expected to take around 18 months, with an anticipated move-in date in August 2021, city manager Sc o t t So m e rs s a i d . T h e old College Park City Hall building, located behind the now-closed Smoothie King and Subway is planned to be demolished within the next few weeks. by

city and university officials gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a new city hall on Knox Road Friday.

The new facility, which is estimated to cost the city and university about $50 million, will feature windows to let in natural light, various-sized meeting rooms, a public plaza and space for retail, according to a September city council presentation.

At the groundbreaki n g c e r e m o n y, Wo j a h n expressed hopes that the project would stimulate the city’s economic development and “reactivate” its downtown area by bringing more full-time employees to College Park. He added that the facility’s outdoor plaza and extra meeting space will

give residents more opportunities to meet and gather.

“It’s probably more imp o r ta n t t h a n a ny o t h e r particular development,” Wojahn said. “It’s the center of where our city government operates, and it’s a catalyst for more development in our downtown area.”

The collaborative project between the city and university will have offices for 70 city employees and 200 u nive rsity e mp loyees, Wojahn said. Financing for the building will be distributed proportionally, with the university paying more than two-thirds of the

project’s total cost, said Ed Maginnis, this university’s real estate assistant vice president.

“This is a complicated real estate transaction,” he said. “It’s not simple.”

The city owns approximately 82 percent of the property where the new city hall will sit, but the university is planning to use more square footage in the building, according to an agenda from a December meeting of the University System of Maryland’s finance committee. To make up for this discrepancy, the university will pay the city $2.38 million, the agenda noted.

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The new facility will allow all city employees to work under one roof, College Park planning director Terry Sc h u m s a i d . C u r re n t ly, city workers and officials are stretched out between several separate buildings.

The university decided to c o l l a b o ra te w i t h t h e city because it soon will also need additional office space, Maginnis explained.

Construction for the Purple L i n e i s ex p e c te d to r u n through the school’s service b u i l d i n g , a n d d i s p l a ce d employees will need a new place to work.

In preparation for the old city hall’s demolition,

city council meetings were m ove d to Dav i s H a l l i n September, and city staff moved out of the building in October. Several shops along Route 1 that planned to be redeveloped as part of the project — including Subway and Smoothie King, as well as Hair Cuttery — also closed their doors over winter break.

Maginnis said the Terrapin Development Company — the University of Maryland College Park Foundation’s real estate business that owns the retail storefronts pegged for redevelopment — plans to build the property back up and re-lease it by 2022.

“The intention is that by 2022, the retail will be built out to prescribed conditions,” Maginnis said.

“The TDC will then engage in leasing out that space.”

At the groundbreaking ceremony, former College Park Mayor Andy Fellows noted that the project falls in line with the city and u n ive rs i ty ’s m i s s i o n to make College Park a top-20 college town by this year.

“This is a symbol of an architectural anchor,” he said, “and an anchor of what will truly be one of the greatest college cities in the world. newsumdbk@gmail.com

Council signals support for state bill to expand hate crime law The legislation is a response to the trial of Sean Urbanski, whose hate crime charge was tossed out The Angela Mecca College Park @AngelaMecca2 City Council d e c i d e d to Staff writer send a letter of support to Maryland’s General Assembly Tuesday night for two state bills that would modify the state’s hate crime statute — making it include offenses committed partly because of hate.

The companion bills were proposed to the state’s House and Senate in response to the trial of Sean Urbanski, a former University of Maryland student. In December, Urbanski was found guilty by

of the May 2017 murder of black Bowie State University student 2nd Lt. Richard Collins on this university’s campus, but was not convicted of a hate crime.

College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn said that when matters discussed at the state level involve College Park, the council likes to make their opinions heard.

“When we have our voice heard by the General Assembly — as a city — they know that that represents not just me as an individual, or a council as individuals,” Wojahn said. “We are rep-

resenting the community.”

The letter will be accepted as testimony and considered when the bill is voted on, Wojahn said.

District 3 Councilman Robert Day, who created the motion allowing the council to send the letter to the state, said the legislation isn’t just a state issue, but a personal one, given that Collins was killed in College Park.

According to Day, the drop of the hate crime charge in Urbanski’s case is an example of people using “holes in the law,” which Day said he is glad the state has found a

way to close.

“I hope it gets passed, and I’m pretty sure it will,” Day said. “Because discrimination and racial bias, or any type of bias against somebody in our community, is not accepted. And we stand up for that.”

During Urbanski’s trial in December, the defense said it was “utter speculation” that the former university student killed Collins because of his race.

The night of the murder, Urbanski had approached Collins, who was standing with two others, and bran-

dished a pocket knife. Urbanski told the group that they should “step left,” and witnesses said Collins told him “no” before Urbanski plunged the knife into his chest.

U r b a n s k i ’s a t to r n e ys argued their client’s drunkenness, and the fact that Collins stood up to him, could have played a role in the killing. Prosecutors, meanwhile, said Urbanski killed Collins because he was black, pointing to racist memes found on his cell phone.

District 3 Councilman

John Rigg said it’s important that the city takes advantage of opportunities to speak out against “hate action,” and Collins’ murder is a reason for them to do so. “ T h e R i c h a rd C o l l i n s slaying happened in the city of College Park. He was a resident of Prince George’s County who was visiting our city,” Rigg said, adding the city has a chance to make an impact. “We’re a big enough political entity in the state that people tend to notice.”

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monday, february 17, 2020

news | 7

Meet the researchers who won $1.5M to study US-based terrorism These START researchers are developing a database on mobilization and rehabilitation Almost 10 years ago, ClaraLongodeFreitas Gary LaFree @clongode1 g o t f e d e ra l funding from the U.S. De- partment of Homeland Security to do something extraordinary — interview convicted terrorists.

He and his team came up with a research plan, a budget, and interview materials. But once LaFree arrived at the prison, he realized his plans wouldn’t come to fruition.

“Basically, they wouldn’t let us do it,” LaFree said.

“They said it was for our safety, and who knows.”

Last month, LaFree and a fellow University of Maryland researcher received funding that — while not permitting them to interview extremists — will allow them to understand them a little bit better.

They’ll be able to interview pretrial and probation officers who have worked with individuals convicted and by

arrested for terrorism.

The researchers are working to develop the first national database to show how American terrorists radicalize and mobilize — and how they can be reintegrated into society.

“The overarching goal is to provide the research community with the data that are needed to do empirical investigations of extremism in the United States,” said Michael Jensen, LaFree’s colleague on the project.

T h e two a re b o t h re searchers at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Response to Terrorism, or START — a research program at this university. LaFree is START’s founding director.

The National Institute of Justice, a research agency of the Justice Department, awarded the consortium two grants for the project this January — a total of $1.5 million.

The funding sets off a two-

part project led by LaFree and Jensen — one centered around mobilization, and one rehabilitation and probation.

In past research, LaFree found many predictors when it comes to individual terrorists. A criminal record, a family member or close friend who is already an extremist and a lack of meaning and identity can all contribute to radicalization.

“People are trying to affirm that they matter, that their life matters, that they’re trying to do something that’s important,” LaFree said.

“And, ironically, for some people that means engaging in terrorism.”

Now, L a Fre e wa n ts to expand that assessment to communities.

“Does this person come from a community that has lots of poverty, does this individual come from a community that is more highly educated?” LaFree said. “Is it a community where there’s lots of movement, like, lots of

gary lafree, the founding director of START, poses for a portrait. susannah outhier/the diamondback immigration in and out of the extremist’s rehabilitation, is training and literature to community?” also critical. In the next few help them get this rehabiliIn this research project, years, the United States will tation and reintegration effort LaFree will be looking into be dealing with the release of that’s directly supporting a… a database called Profiles of individuals who were con- critical need in our criminal Individual Radicalization in victed of terrorism charges, justice system as it relates the United States,or PIRUS. It Jensen said, and the difficult to violent extremism,” said contains data on individuals, question of what to do next. William Braniff, START’s all U.S.-based, who have been “ We d o n ’t h ave [ … ] a director. arrested or convicted for ter- good sense of what it takes There is data that shows rorism, and who are members to rehabilitate and reinte- how likely a person who comof a terrorist organization. grate terrorist offenders back mitted murder is to commit PIRUS is based on open into their communities after murder again, but there sources, like newspapers, they’ve been released from hasn’t been enough research c o u r t re c o rd s a n d c a s e federal custody,” Jensen said. done to know how likely a studies. So he’ll be able to The consortium will be co- convicted terrorist is to act see what the community of ordinating with the adminis- again, LaFree said. an individual was like. trative officer of the United “We spend God knows how The database includes ex- States Courts to reintegrate much on terrorism and pretremists from all ideologies, terrorist offenders and assess venting terrorism,” LaFree LaFree said, making it one their needs. This part of the said. “[And yet] we still have of the few to include jihadi, project will include inter- no idea.” right-wing and left-wing viewing professionals who cases. have worked with individuals The second part of the convicted of terrorism. project, which focuses on an “Then, [we will] design newsumdbk@gmail.com

Mental health campaign brings success

University mental health services improved two years after student group SPARC’s campaign for change In Rebecca ed the two-year anniversary of ing Center. And SPARC formed

increased the number of coun-

for more than 100 people. The

focuses on de-stressing.

Eric Neugeboren Pujo’s first se- its “30 Days Too Late” campaign partnerships with organizations, selors from 16 to 19. training teaches people to notice Gedeon also acknowledged @eric_neugeboren mester on this — a project that hoped to make such as the Counseling Center, At this university, the symptoms of mental health that some problems persist, and Staff writer campus, she campus mental health resources the SGA and the Department of Counseling Center added five concerns and signs of a mental it can still take up to 30 days to decided not to seek help from the University of Maryland Counseling Center for her anxiety. She assumed getting in would be a long process and, since she lived 30 minutes from the campus, she didn’t think it was worth the hassle.

Instead, her second semester, Pujo decided to join Scholars Promoting and Revitalizing Care, a student group devoted to increasing mental health awareness at this university.

“Whether [or not] you consider yourself to have a mental illness, everyone has mental health, and that’s something that should really be prioritized, especially in college,” said Pujo, a sophomore communication and economics major.

On Friday, the group celebrat-

more accessible, since it could take as long as 30 days to receive an appointment at the Counseling Center following the initial intake.

In its campaign, the group hoped to increase the number of counselors on this campus and boost funding for the University Health Center and the counseling center. And in the two years since, group president Ferddy Gedeon has noticed an improvement in mental health awareness.

“It’s been pushed more to the forefront,” the senior psychology major said.

In the first year following the campaign, the Student Government Association created a Mental Health Advisory Board in coordination with the Counsel-

Resident Life, to increase mental health awareness — something Gedeon said was lacking prior to the campaign.

Through these partnerships, the group can enact more policies to expand resources for those struggling with mental health, said Pujo, who now serves as the group liaison.

Numerous nationwide studies have shown a rise in demand for mental health resources among college students.

A 2019 Associated Press study using data from 39 public universities found that in the past five years, the number of students receiving treatment increased by 35 percent. But the number of licensed counselors didn’t increase proportionally — on average, those universities

new positions within a year after SPARC’s campaign was launched.

Jordan Banks, the group’s secretary, said it is “understandable” that the number of licensed counselors has not grown as rapidly across the board, but she said she hopes it will increase more in the future.

“It is something that needs to change, and it needs to change rather quickly,” said Banks, a junior psychology major. “There are students in crisis, there are students in need, and they need their needs addressed.”

About three months after SPARC’s original campaign, the group won a grant from this university’s Do Good Institute, which they used in part to fund mental health first aid training

health crisis. Last October, the SGA voted to fund the training sessions for the second consecutive year.

One of the group’s main goals for the upcoming semester is to make mental health first aid training more widespread among faculty; it also wants it to be mandatory for resident assistants, Banks said. “[Faculty] may be able to train students, which would just dramatically increase the amount of people that we have trained on campus,” Gedeon said. “This is a bit more of awareness, more people just talking about mental health issues and how we can combat different things.”

The group will also continue to put on monthly events, Gedeon said, including one in March that

get an appointment. But the increased awareness has prompted more students to take advantage of the center’s triage system, which bases patients’ waiting times on need, Banks said.

Banks added that she believes this awareness has led to a decrease in the stigma surrounding mental illness — something she said she hopes will decrease more in the future. “[The conversation] has been focused on the disorders that are more ‘socially acceptable,’ such as like anxiety and depression,” she said.“And I think that there’s a lot more that can be done to combat the stigma surrounding other disorders, and just like the need to take care of your mental health without a disorder.” newsumdbk@gmail.com

GSG wants more support for student parents The body proposed a measure encouraging faculty to outline accomodations on the syllabi by

When GSG

So, at Tuesday’s Graduate

requirements.

children to class — only in cases

next meeting, which is slated wanted to expand university-

Angela Roberts representative Student Government meeting, Alexander Dennis, a busi- of emergencies. for March 9. If the resolution wide awareness for the initiative. @24_angier Sofia Maurette Maurette moved to change ness and management repreValerie Hall, a representative is passed, Rappeport said she This is just her latest effort Senior Staff writer was sworn in this. She’s authored a resolu- sentative, raised concerns about for the anthropology depart- and Maurette would then take its to advocate for students who last month, she had her baby on her hip.

Maurette’s seven-month-old son — and his two big sisters — sometimes join her at meetings at the University of Maryland’s Spanish department, where she is a doctoral student. So far, every faculty member she’s encountered has been helpful and flexible — willing to bend a deadline to allow her to care for a sick child, or welcome a few younger guests to a presentation.

Still, she worries for parents and guardians who are hesitant to ask for accommodations.

“People are very flexible, and if you ask for things, they will probably give it to you,” said Maurette during a phone interview, her son babbling in the background. “The thing is, there’s nothing official.”

tion that would call upon the graduate school and provost’s office to encourage professors to add a statement to their syllabi showing support for students who are pregnant, parents or guardians.

While representatives supported the resolution’s core purpose, there was some debate about its phrasing.

As originally proposed, the resolution included an example statement professors could include in their syllabi, which acknowledged that parents may need to bring their kids to class should they face childcare constraints or other issues.

The sample statement also promised to discuss potential accommodations to assist parents, guardians and pregnant students in completing course

children joining their parents in class. This could create distractions or even safety concerns in environments such as chemistry labs, he said.

Furthermore, Dennis said, suggesting professors welcome their students to bring their children to class could lead some faculty to bypass including a statement in their syllabi entirely.

“It might get professors’ hackles up because they might view it as a bit of an extreme statement, and it might turn them off to the whole process,” he said.

Kristin Reque, a criminology and criminal justice representative, said she worked under a professor who had a similar statement in her syllabi, and parents very rarely brought their

ment, supported the statement. “[My children are] teens now, but when they were young, I didn’t even want to go out to eat,” she said. “It’s not like we want to bring children into the classroom.”

Hall said including this kind of statement would help make students more comfortable about approaching their professors to ask about bringing their children to class.

In the end, an amendment Dennis proposed that would have adjusted the suggested syllabus statement failed. However, the body still voted to send the resolution back to the rules committee to further clarify its wording.

GSG President Annie Rappeport said the resolution will likely come up again at the

recommendations to the graduate school, the provost’s office and the Teaching and Learning Transformation Center, which hosts a syllabus template on its website.

This template was last updated during the fall semester, following a faculty member’s push to spread awareness for certain resources the university offers, including the Counseling Center and campus pantry.

Maurette said she decided to bring the resolution to the GSG after hearing over winter break about a similar statement a professor had included in their syllabus. She said she has been asking professors in the Spanish department to consider adding statements in support of parents, guardians and pregnant students to their own syllabi, but

are also parents and guardians.

Last year, Maurette helped start a campus organization aiming to make life easier for those who balance caring for a family with pursuing a degree. The Facebook group for “UMD Students with Kids” currently has 59 members.

While Maurette noted some examples of the university addressing the needs of students who are parents — including establishing lactation rooms around the campus — she said encouraging professors to add the proposed statement to their syllabi would bolster visibility of families and their children.

“The university is advancing toward being more welcoming, and I feel like this could be a part of it,” she said. newsumdbk@gmail.com

8 | news

monday, February 17, 2020

pines From p. 1 responsibility for the team’s culture that proliferated under football coach DJ Durkin — and the former found university athletic trainers failed to recognize and properly treat McNair’s heatstroke symptoms in time.

Still, the Board of Regents recommended Durkin and Evans stay on with the university — a recommendation Loh initially honored, before firing Durkin a day later. Loh also announced he would be stepping down as president at the end of the academic year

that week, but later delayed his retirement until June 2020.

In the time since, the university has also weathered criticism of its handling of adenovirus and mold outbreaks that swept through the campus in 2018. More than 40 students eventually came down with the virus, and one — freshman Olivia Paregol — died.

The university came under fire when The Washington Post reported in May that officials had waited 18 days to alert the campus community of the virus’s presence. Still, a report released near the end of last semester concluded that the university’s response to the

adenovirus outbreak followed state, federal and campus protocols — even though it had faltered in its communication between departments.

As dean, Pines works with an engineering student council — a set of undergraduate student leaders who offer insight into their classmates’ needs and pitch recommendations to faculty members. He’d like to use this feedback system as a model, but it might take him a while to figure out how to get all campus constituents involved, he said, . He’d consider roping in the Student Government Association or Graduate Student Government, he said.

“I really care about the student experience,” Pines said. “You know, trials and tribulations of just being a college student. I think being a college student should be the best time of your life.”

Pines also emphasized the importance of public service, especially as a “Do Good” land-grant campus — he wants to see more opportunities for students to collaborate and work with the greater community.

Pines is looking forward to working with the College Park Academy, and is excited for the area’s new childcare facility. While he hasn’t yet had

a chance to sit down with the city of College Park and discuss potential ideas, he admires the partnerships Loh made in his time here.

“The hope is that this build out will eventually conclude, because we don’t want to be a perpetual construction zone,” Pines said. “But ideally, it’s also to build better bridges with the community.”

When asked if he thought he would one day be president when he first joined the faculty as an assistant professor, Pines laughed.

“I was just trying to get tenure,” he joked. “No way in 1995 did I think that I was

going to be standing here.”

The purpose of a land-grant institution, like this one, is close to Pines’ heart. He grew up in a poor area, and went to the University of California Berkeley on a scholarship — an opportunity without which, he says, he wouldn’t be where he is today.

“Somebody gave me an opportunity,” Pines said. “So I truly believe in every embodiment of the land-grant mission, and allowing every person from every zip code in the state of Maryland the opportunity to get an education from the flagship campus.” newsumdbk@gmail.com

reaction From p. 1 and the challenges they aim to tackle. It helped Boutin go from an undecided engineering student to an electrical engineering major.

“It was just incredible,” Boutin said. “He’s just so charismatic and also understanding, and has really been the force behind all the change that’s been going on over the last ten years or so in the Clark School.”

The $219 million donation from the Clark family, secured during Pines’ tenure as dean, is

proof that a Pines administration will have good things in store for the university, Boutin added.

“If he was able to do that just for the Clark School,” he said, “then I can only imagine what’s going to happen as the president of the whole school.”

On Friday, what was planned to be a two-hour ice cream social event stretched on for an extra thirty minutes as dozens of faculty, staff and students waited in line to meet Pines.

By the end of it all, Pines estimated he’d shaken hundreds of hands, and said he felt humbled.

“My goal is to get a gauge of the pulse and state of the community,” he said.

Mazin Elhag, a senior information systems major, said he believed Pines could stabilize the administration after years of controversy.

During university President Wallace Loh’s tenure, a spate of racist incidents on campus preceded the murder of a black Bowie State University student, 2nd Lt. Richard Collins, who visited this university in 2017. Then came the death of black football player Jordan McNair, who suffered heatstroke at a team workout.

Reports on the incident showed McNair didn’t receive adequate medical attention, and that a lack of administrative oversight over the football team allowed an abusive environment to fester. Shortly after this news came out, Loh announced his retirement.

The Pines administration may focus more on the voices of minority students, Elhag said.

“There’ll be more understanding of minority students that may have been overlooked in previous years,” Elhag said.

Many people highlighted heightened diversity within

the engineering school under Pines’ leadership. Over the course of his tenure, the number of women undergraduates in the school increased from 18 to 26.5 percent, and the number of minority students jumped from 9.5 to 16 percent.

Aside from congratulations, Pines said he heard a number of people bring their concerns to the event. The low bandwidth of campus WiFi network eduroam, for example, was something he hadn’t known was a common grievance before the social. But as Pines hears from faculty, students and staff, he says he wants to

know the good just as much as the bad.

“I don’t want us to have just a conversation about ‘what are all the problems,’ right? We should say, what are we doing that’s really good,” Pines said.

“Let’s quantify that and compartmentalize that.”

All in all, Pines will begin his tenure with an optimistic engineering school behind him, Boutin said.

“You can’t find one person in the engineering school who has something bad to say about Dean Pines,” he said.

newsumdbk@gmail.com

DARRYLL PINEs, the engineering school dean and University of Maryland’s next president, spoke at a university press conference Feb. 14. Pines will take over the position once current University President Wallace Loh retires in June. charlie deboyace/the diamondback

nyumburu From p. 3 “Information is valuable.

Information is power,” Livingston said. “And when we don’t have information, students lose that very same power.”

In their letter, students called Dodge a “puppet” of the administration — an administration with which they’ve butted heads for

years. Livingston — who skipped class Thursday afternoon to hand-deliver a copy of the letter to Dodge’s office — said he feels like Dodge “forgot the people that she’s here to work for.”

Both Robinson and M itchell also missed all their classes Thursday to wo rk o n co m p os i n g t h e letter, too, gathering signatures and outlining the points they wanted to make.

Making sacrifices to advocate for the center isn’t anything new, Robinson said — and it’s not something she has to think twice about.

“If I didn’t have Nyumburu,” Robinson said, “my time at Maryland would have been devastating.”

When Robinson was struggling to make ends meet, the center got her a job teaching some of its

wo rko u t c l a sse s. T h a t’s helped her pay rent for the past two years, she said.

She’s not alone. Students who frequent the center describe a place where staffers greet them by name and ask about their classes, where they gather with friends to play pool in the basement rec room. Its conference ro o m i s h o m e to s o m e thing of a family dinner table, where — almost any

time of day — you can find a cluster of students eating and doing homework.

“I feel like it’s home,” Boddy said. “I feel like I’m going to grandma’s house.”

Mitchell, a senior English major, said Sunday she was disappointed with Dodge’s response. Students still don’t know when to expect applications for the advisory board, for one thing, and they still don’t feel like

Dodge is being open with them about how her plans are progressing. She still interprets Dodge’s writing as impersonal, and said her reassurances still don’t ring true.

So for now, they’re going to keep pushing.

“None of us are satisfied,” Mitchell said.

newsumdbk@gmail.com

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diversions | 9

Diversions UPCOMING EVENTS

ONE-SENTENCE REVIEW Diversions editor Iris Vukmanovic on The 1975’s Matty Healy’s agreement to stop playing gender-biased festivals:

Union Stage

Marc E. Bassy

“Thank goodness someone’s putting their money where their mouth is.”

HHHHH

Feb. 18

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Refused

which salsa reigns supreme?

A burrito bowl with rice, beans, chicken, lettuce and cheese from District Taco, a restaurant that offers a range of flavorful salsas alongside fast-casual Mexican food.

richard moglen/the diamondback

Reviewing every option in District Taco’s salsa bar, from tame to tongue-tingling

By Jason Fontelieu | @JasonFontelieu | Senior staff writer

A

t Mexican e a te r i e s , I usually just accept whatever relatively hot hot sauce is provided with a given dish or left on the table. Rarely do I get the chance to truly flex my sauce knowledge and create a toospicy masterpiece, which is why the concept of a salsa bar is so intriguing to me.

Cue: District Taco.

The fast-casual restaurant’s salsa bar is a bit intimidating at first. You stare at vats and vats of red and green sauces, painfully aware that your choice is the difference between a cute little kick to your food and your tongue being melted into oblivion. So, I went ahead and tried every salsa because I know that’s what my readers want from me. I am merely your servant, dear reader.

I ordered a Burrito Desnudo — a basic burrito bowl with white rice and black beans — and added grilled chicken that’s better seasoned and more flavorful than any other fast-casual Mexican joint.

(Don’t make me @ them.) I got the whole thing the “American Way,” which adds lettuce, pico

de gallo and cheese to a bowl.

With the taste test suddenly looming, I became very aware of my taste buds’ frailty.

“Jason, what have you gotten yourself into?” I thought to myself. But I persisted — it’s called journalism, look it up.

Now, to the salsa: Tomatillo (Mild) Somewhat earthy and sour, the tomatillo is the mildest of the bunch. It has a bit of flavor by itself, but it definitely got lost in the rest of the heavier flavors when mixed into my bowl. If you’re someone who doesn’t like a lot of spice, this is the salsa for you — but you’ll have to use a lot if you want to taste it at all.

Pico De Gallo (Mild)

the SALsa bar at the District Taco in Riverdale Park offers customers many choices to spice up their meals, including five different salsa options. richard moglen/the diamondback immediately lit up my mouth.

Did I leave this exercise It got hotter with each bite, but panting, teary-eyed and My favorite out of the The colorado almost imme- I couldn’t stop. It was so tasty desperately in need of the bunch, the chiltomate was diately brought me to tears and that it was worth the suffering. blandest food imaginable to surprisingly hot for a mere threw me into an existential soothe my aching tongue? medium salsa. And though it taste bud crisis. Yes, I am weak Mestizo (Hot) Yes. Would I do it all again? was fiery, it wasn’t too over- and have a relatively low tolAbsofuckinglutely. whelming. The tomato flavor erance for spiciness. But for I must admit, green salsas And with the Riverdale Park was potent and held up when some reason, I love the overly are less enticing for me. And location a drive shorter than mixed in with my bowl, per- spicy foods that bring me such where the tomatillo wasn’t the runtime of Robyn’s hit fectly complementing the pain. Anyways, the colorado enough, the mestizo was too song “Dancing On My Own” other flavors. was grittier, with flavors that much. Too overwhelming, — yes, I timed it — there’s no too sour. I could almost feel reason to not take a quick jaunt the steam escaping my lips down Route 1 for some of the between each bite and not best Mexican food in the area. in the pleasant way of the diversionsdbk@gmail.com colorado.

Chiltomate (Medium)

Yes, I got pico on my bowl and then also some on the side — and what about it? It’s that bodacious. It’s light and fresh, with the ideal ratio of tomato, onion and cilantro. A bite of it on its own is also a nice way to cool down your mouth if you get too hot of a bite. I could eat a bowl of this by itself, but I won’t. For now.

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10 | sports

monday february 17, 2020

baseball

With a pair of pitches to the backstop, Maryland steals extra-innings win In Maryland baseball’s first Alexander Dacy @alexanderdacy two games of Staff writer the season in South Carolina, the Terps unleashed their offensive potential on Charleston Southern and Iona, scoring a combined 19 runs. Their pitching held serve, too, allowing just two runs in each game.

But while the arms continued to shine Sunday against the College of Charleston, the bats fell silent for the majority of the contest.

It took a ninth-inning rally to tie the game, followed by two wild pitches in the 10th inning for the Terps to come out of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, with a 4-2 win and a perfect record three games into the season.

“The guys just kept believing,” coach Rob Vaughn said.

“There was not one ounce of panic. There was not one ounce by

of frustration. They knew it was coming.”

Early on, it seemed as if Maryland’s offense would continue to stay hot after two strong showings on Friday and Saturday.

Tucker Flint and Randy Bednar reached base against right-hander C.J. Czerwinski, setting the table for Maxwell Costes. But Costes grounded into a double play, ending Maryland’s chances in the top of the first. And while the Cougars got two on in the bottom half, they couldn’t break the deadlock.

After that, both Czerwinski and right-hander Sean Burke dominated.

“We couldn’t quite string anything together,” Vaughn said. “The ballpark was playing really, really big.”

In the top of the fifth, the Terps nearly broke through.

After Justin Vought was hit by a pitch for the third time this

season, Troy Schreffler clubbed a first-pitch fastball to the leftcenter field wall. But College of Charleston left fielder Harrison Hawkins lept up, made the catch and doubled off Vought at first base.

Czerwinski got shortstop Benjamin Cowles to pop up, but his day ended there after just 65 pitches. In his debut, the Cougars starter allowed three hits and struck out two in five innings.

Leading off the the sixth, Hawkins roped a double to left field for his team’s first hit since the first. After an infield single, Burke’s day was done.

The right-hander, who missed all of last season with an injury, showed no signs of rust in his college debut. He allowed one run and three hits in five-plus innings while striking out eight.

“I just tried to keep it simple.

I wasn’t trying to over-compli-

cate the gameplan at all,” Burke said.“We knew they would have a lot of righties who would try to hit balls in the air, so the gameplan was basically pound fastballs and spin a curveball if I needed it.”

“He looked like a big-leaguer out there for five or six innings,” Vaughn said.

Hawkins would cross the plate one batter later on a fielder’s choice for the game’s first run.

Hawkins provided insurance for the College of Charleston with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth, putting the Terps down two with one last chance in the ninth.

Maryland, hitless since the third inning, finally capitalized on its chances.

After right-hander Josh Price worked a scoreless eighth, he gave up a leadoff single to Chris Alleyne followed by a double to Flint. Bednar, Maryland’s early

RBI leader, brought Alleyne home with a sacrifice fly, setting up Michael Pineiro.

Vaughn asked Pineiro, who replaced Costes in the seventh inning, to lay down a suicide squeeze bunt. While the play doesn’t occur often in games, Pineiro was ready.

“The bunt game is a huge part of our offensive game,” Pineiro said. “We practice every single day getting bunts down in different situations.”

He executed the plan to perfection, dropping a bunt down the first-base line. The Cougars had no play at the plate as Flint scored, and all of a sudden, a Maryland offense that couldn’t solve the Cougars’ pitching had tied the game.

Right-hander Mark DiLuia kept the Cougars scoreless in the bottom of the ninth, and more wildness ensued in the 10th.

Two runners reached for the Terps against right-hander

Brooks Lucas, who was lifted for freshman right-hander Ty Good. Then, disaster struck for the Cougars.

Good uncorked a wild pitch, allowing third baseman Tommy Gardiner to score from second and put the Terps ahead. One batter later, Austin Chavis scored on another wild pitch to give Maryland a 4-2 lead.

R i g h t - h a n d e r Trevo r LaBonte shut down the College of Charleston in the bottom of the 10th, and the Terps had stunned the Cougars.

For Maryland, it was a resilient win against a quality opponent, one they could carry with them home to College Park after a perfect weekend.

“This team is a really talented team,” Pineiro said. “We played pretty good baseball this weekend, but we still have a lot of work to do.” sportsdbk@gmail.com

softball

Terps bounce back in final game of tournament with triumph over Panthers by

After a

Katie Manganelli h a n d f u l o f @KatieManganelli lead changes Staff writer and tied scores over the course of the first six innings Sunday, Maryland softball pulled ahead once more in top of the seventh.

Just one run separated the two squads heading into the bottom half, and with runners on first and second, Pittsburgh was creeping closer to nabbing the Terps’ lead as it had earlier in the contest.

But with two strikes against her, Panthers infielder LoLo Sanchez grounded out to third base, securing Maryland’s second win of the season in a close, back-and-forth game against Pittsburgh, 10-9, on

Sunday.

Maryland looked like a different team than the one Clemson demolished in a 21-2 blowout on Saturday. The Terps had a season-high 14 hits and 10 runs.

And infielder Taylor Okada had an impressive game with four hits and three RBI to help Maryland take home the win.

“This team has a lot of resiliency,” Okada said.“After struggling like that against Clemson, I think that it was nothing out of the ordinary for us to bounce back.”

Both teams scored in the first.

Okada singled up the middle followed by a double by infielder Anna Kufta to push Okada to third. Infielder Taylor Liguori batted Okada in to strike first

early in the game. Kufta stole home to push Maryland’s edge to 2-0 in the top of the first.

The Panthers took advantage of a pair of errors in the bottom half to pull a run back.

The Terps added on in the second frame. With outfielder JoJo McRae and infielder Regan Kerr on base, Okada singled through to left, scoring McRae. Kerr scored on a passed ball, giving the Terps a 4-1 lead — the largest edge they’ve held all season.

“Whether it be fielding or pitching, I think you’ll see us keep improving,” coach Mark Montgomery said.“You’re going to see us get better and better until we are putting great things on the field every time we go

out.”

But the Panthers weren’t far behind. By the end of the second inning, they had roared back to go up 6-4.

The third frame was scoreless for both teams, but the Terps came back in the fourth after a two-RBI single from Okada tied the game at six.

Before her 2019 campaign was cut short by a knee injury, Okada hit at a .426 clip. Her 4-for-5, three-RBI effort Sunday was reminiscent of her success last year, but she still believes there’s more work to be done.

“I think there’s still a lot of growing to do. It’s been a long 10 months of recovery and I’m definitely glad to be back on the

field, but there’s still more improvement that can happen this season,” Okada said.

The Panthers got back on the board with four consecutive singles in the fourth inning, and an RBI single from Alley made the score 9-6.

After a scoreless fifth inning for both squads, Maryland tied the game again in the sixth frame with knocks from Kufta,Liguori, catcher Gracie Voulgaris and outfielder Amanda Brashear.

In the seventh, the Terps took the lead once again when McRae scored on a wild pitch, putting them back on top, 10-9.

Maryland maintained the slim edge with accurate pitching from Trinity Schlotterbeck and strong defense behind her

in the bottom half of the frame, throwing Sanchez out at first to grab their second win of the season.

After going winless in their first three contests of the ACC/ Big Ten Challenge, the Terps were able to hold in on their final game, pushing their record to 2-7 on the season. Despite the rough series, Terps head coach Mark Montgomery is confident in the future of the team.

“We’re learning how to play the game at a high level. We’re learning how to execute and not make mistakes and how to handle pressure situations and not let things like that get to us,” Montgomery said.

MARCH 9 K C A B D N O M A I D E TH E U S S I T N I R P FINAL

l a n i f k b d / .ly t i b : u o y to d e l i a m y p Have a co

sportsdbk@gmail.com

monday, february 17, 2020

Sports | 11

women’s lacrosse

Hannah Warther, Shaylan Ahearn step up in Terps’ loss to Florida No. 1 Maryland suffered its first home loss since 2012, but the young duo was a bright spot against the Gators by

With

Jacob Richman less than 10 @JacobHRichman minutes to Staff writer play in what had already been a contentious matchup between No. 1 Maryland women’s lacrosse and No. 14 Florida, someone needed to play hero for the Terps to overcome their two-goal deficit.

They found their catalysts in Hannah Warther, who equalized with a pair of goals, and Shaylan Ahearn, who secured a draw control to give her team a chance late.

The pair had been influential all game, but the elevated performances from the new additions to Maryland’s starting lineup weren’t enough to get past the career-high games from Florida’s Shannon Kavanagh

and Sarah Reznick, as the Gators ended the Terps’86-game home win streak Saturday.

“We don’t like to lose,” coach Cathy Reese said. “It doesn’t happen all the time, but we need to learn from this and move forward.”

Florida and Maryland went back and forth to open the contest, with senior Kali Hartshorn and freshman Libby May leading the way for the Maryland offense — similar to last week’s 19-6 win over George Mason. Hartshorn bolstered her position at the top of the team for points with 11 through the first two games, while May converted her third free-position shot of the year and first goal from open play.

However, as Florida began taking control of the game in

the second half, both were held quiet by Reznick in goal.

The redshirt freshman tallied 14 saves, nine of which came in the second half.

“We didn’t shoot particularly well and credit to their goalie who had a ton of saves,” Reese said. “That’s not a good combination. If the goalie is coming up with saves and we’re not shooting well, that’s hard to put goals on the scoreboard.”

Other players would need to step up, and Ahearn was first to boost the Maryland attack. She scored the opening goal of the half and the first of her career.

The Terps quickly found themselves on the backfoot as Kavanagh scored two goals in quick succession. Kavanagh put on a show against Maryland, scoring a career-high

eight goals. The 2019 Tewaaraton Award watch list member brought her season tally to 12.

“She’s an awesome player,” senior Meghan Doherty said of the midfielder. “She’s competitive as heck, but we just didn’t execute what we were supposed to on defense.”

Ahearn tacked on a second goal after a feed from Warther, keeping the Terps in the game.

However, Florida regained its two-goal lead. Now it was Warther’s turn to tie, scoring two unassisted goals in a 36second span.

“Hannah came out and she was a spark for us with that comeback,” Doherty said. “She was absolutely phenomenal and she always has been. She goes hard all the time. We need to look at her and see, ‘Okay, I

need to give that 110 percent that she is giving.’ ... We need to learn to take [Ahearn and Warther’s] energy and put it into our own game and then play well together.”

Warther finished her day with a career-high four goals and two assists.

Despite the strong effort from less experienced players, a clutch goal from Kavanagh completed the upset of the defending national champions.

Still, midfielder Grace Griffin said Saturday’s performance was a strong indicator of how the younger players on the team will grow as the season rolls on.

“Having them engaged, staying with them, talking to them,” Griffin said. “Being confident knowing that we probably have more confidence in them

than they do in themselves.

Letting them fall into place, find their rhythm, find what works best from us and it will all come from there.”

Reese has emphasized that the team isn’t — and shouldn’t be — at their highest level of play at this point in the season.

But Reese and her players feel they’re ready to get back to work this week after leaving their home turf with an unfamiliar feeling.

“That’s what we need to start to see as we go through,” Reese said. “We want to be an offense where any of the seven players on the field can score … it’s nice to see people becoming more confident as they get going and trust themselves.” sportsdbk@gmail.com

men’s lacrosse

Maryland’s young backline ignites furious second-half comeback against Penn After staving off the Quakers’ attack while undermanned, the Terps fought back from six-goal deficit A Mary-

by

David Suggs l a n d m e n ’s @David_Suggs3 lacrosse army Senior staff writer of four stood i n f ro n t o f Chris Brandau early in the third quarter, prepared for yet another assault on the sophomore goalkeeper’s net.

Midfielder Roman Puglise and attackman Daniel Maltz had trudged off the pitch moments before for slashing, leaving an undermanned Terps’ penalty unit — John Geppert, Nick Grill, Brett Makar and Matt Rahill — to protect Brandau’s net and hold No. 6 Penn’s lead at five. The odds were clearly stacked against Maryland, having conceded 12 goals on 23 shots in the first half.

But the Terps’ backline held, with Brandau needing to

make only a single save while shorthanded. In the space of a minute, the Terps’ defense found its swagger — one that waned in the first half as shot after shot rustled the net.

As the second half progressed and the Maryland attack attempted to find its footing, its youthful backline stood tall, fueling a late rally on Saturday.

“I think in the second half, our mentality was just, ‘We gotta be ready for those guys, we know they’re gonna look to shoot, look to score,’” Makar said. “Our defense just stuck together one stop at a time — we came together in the second half.”

The second half didn’t get off to the smoothest of starts for coach John Tillman’s squad,

which saw its three-goal halftime deficit balloon to six less than eight minutes into the third frame.

And if not for Brandau, the Quakers’ edge could have bordered on insurmountable — the sophomore made eight saves in the third period, five of which came before the Terps got off the mark.

“It didn’t start great, but Chris actually made a couple early saves, and that got him going,” Tillman said. “When that got him going, that got the defense going, and I think it got the team going.”

With Puglise and Maltz momentarily sidelined, the defense responded, harassing the Quakers’ attackmen with a vigor that had been lacking in the opening 30 minutes.

with,” Cowan said of Smith.“He was huge for us, able to score some big buckets down the second half.”

The Spartans threatened to pull away, building a sevenpoint lead with 3:24 to play. But it was once again Smith playing the role of second-half savior.

The forward spotted up for a 3-pointer that found the bottom of the net and revived the Terps’ offense. On the next possession, Cowan took the reins, receiving a pass in the corner and draining another three — the first of three straight for the senior.

“He can hit any shot,” Smith said. “He just has that … sec-

ond-half blood in him.”

After securing the victory, Cowan was asked if he takes matchups against Winston — who finished with 14 points — and other highly touted guards personally. With the measured approach of an experienced senior, he paused for a few seconds and struggled to hold back a grin.

“Next question,” Cowan said through a wry smile.

If his facial expression didn’t reveal his answer to that question, his personal 11-0 run over the last 2:24 to close out the Spartans surely did.

MSU From p. 12 “We had to stay into it,” Cowan said. “We knew they was going to make a run.”

With seven and a half minutes to play, Michigan State used back-to-back threes from forward Kyle Ahrens and Winston to break through and take its first lead since early in the opening period.

Aside from forward Jalen Smith, Maryland’s offensive struggles continued into the late stages of the second half.

Smith scored 10 of the team’s first 14 points in the second half, while the rest of the team shot just 5-of-18.

“When he’s on the court, he’s always a force you’ve got to deal

And once Penn midfielder Mitch Bartolo’s effort flew into Brandau’s stick, Tillman sensed it was a breakthrough moment for his defensive unit.

“We started off a little slow, dug ourselves a hole, I thought we lost our poise,” Tillman said.

“We got two men down, we kill it, and I think that gave us a little lift.”

The Terps began to hound Penn’s attackers, showing their athletic prowess against one of the most physically imposing sides in the country. Meanwhile, faceoff specialist Justin Shockey, who finished second best in the majority of his duels at the X in the first half, grew into the game, helping to limit the Quakers’ transition opportunities — an aspect of the game that gave Maryland’s backline

fits in earlier moments of the game.

“As the game got going, we made some plays — we seized momentum,” Tillman said. “You’d rather be up than down, but boy, when you start getting that momentum, and you’re playing to catch up versus playing to hold on to it, sometimes there’s a little bit of an advantage in that.”

The Terps’ backline pitched a shutout in the final 22 minutes, giving its attacking unit license to push forward in the hopes of slimming the margin further, a particularly impressive accomplishment given the inexperience present in the back at the moment. Makar, only a sophomore, has made the most appearances in defense out of any of the back four.

“I was watching the film last year against Penn, and Curtis Corley was out there, Nick Brozowski was out there, Jack Welding was out there, Michael Chiaramonte was out there,” Tillman said. “All of sudden you look and you’re like ‘Oh my God, this a new group.’”

But those last 22 minutes represent clear signs of progress for a young, yet talented crop of defenders. It lifted Tillman’s squad to an unlikely comeback victory against a national championship contender on Saturday. And with the Terps still getting themselves up to speed against some of the nation’s best, it was a showing that bodes well for the imposing matchups still to come. sportsdbk@gmail.com

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Gymnastics’ Peterman out for season by

A h ea d o f

Kevin McNulty Maryland @kmcnulty_219 gymnasStaff writer tics’ Feb. 8 meet at Nebraska, senior Kirsten Peterman sustained a hand injury that kept her out of the competition against the Cornhuskers.

Peterman sat out again on Sunday at Xfinity Center against Rutgers, and the team announced that she broke two bones in her hand.

She will miss the remainder of the 2020 season.

“This is really hard for her, but it’s hard for all of us,” coach Brett Nelligan said. “I just love how much KP loves Maryland and how hard she’s worked for us. She’s been a great representative for our program, so I’m heartbroken that she’s hurt in her senior year.”

Peterman, a native of Cambridge, Ontario, has b e e n w i t h t h e p rog ra m since 2017, and she previously competed all-around — Peterman scored a 38.450 during her last appearance in all-around, coming Jan. 19, 2019.

Peterman first competed in all-around in her freshman year, posting a 38.750 on Feb. 11, 2017. She scored at or above 39 four times that season, and did so eight more times as a sophomore in 2018. She only competed twice in all-around during the 2019 slate.

This season, Peterman performed solely on uneven bars and balance beam. She earned the second-highest score for the Terps on beam against Iowa on Jan. 19 with a 9.775 in the event.

“I’m just heartbroken for

her because this is a kid that committed to us in eighth grade,” Nelligan said. “She’s been a Maryland kid for eight years now.”

The Peterman injury adds to a long list of Maryland players currently sitting out. Juniors Audrey Barber and Collea Burgess have been inactive with an academic issue and a violation of team rules, respectively.

With the timing of the injury, Peterman will have another year of eligibility, but it has not been disclosed if she will utilize it, per a team spokesperson.

“She’s already finding other ways to influence this team and make us successful,” Nelligan said. “I love her to death, and I’m super proud of her.” sportsdbk@gmail.com

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12 | sports

monday, February 17, 2020

THIS WEEK’S GAMES

TWEET OF THE WEEK Feb. 16

Softball

“Michigan State really slapped the floor before giving up 14 pts over the last few minutes Roll Terps ” @ellismckennie, former Maryland football offensive lineman Ellis McKennie

Maryland Pittsburgh

10 9

Gymnastics 24 Maryland

Rutgers

Feb. 16

195.750 194.000

Women’s basketball

Feb. 16

10 Maryland

Penn State

106 69

men’s basketball

SPARTANs SINK julia nikhinson/the diamondback

Jalen Smith proves potent Terps display EAST Andy Kostka LANSING, Mich. — Of all @afkostka Senior staff writer the things Jalen Smith did Saturday night against Michigan State, it’s what he didn’t do that made it all possible.

When Smith picked up his second foul — a ticky-tacky moving screen — with 4:40 remaining in the first half, coach Mark Turgeon signaled to the bench. Forward Ricky Lindo entered, and toward the end of that four-minute span without Smith on the floor, the Spartans went on a 7-0 run to add a hint of doubt into an otherwise dominant opening period.

But Smith never drew a whistle in the second half, and that allowed him to stay on the floor for 17 more minutes.

Guard Anthony Cowan sealed Saturday’s 67-60 victory with his 11-point burst at the end, but for all intents and purposes, it was Smith’s ability to score early in the half that ensured things didn’t get away from the Terps.

And it was Smith’s clutch 3-pointer late and his help defense on guard Cassius by

Winston that allowed Cowan’s three straight triples to capture the headlines from a big-time road win at the Breslin Center.

All because Smith didn’t foul.

“When he’s on the court, he’s always a force you have to deal with on the offensive end, defensive end,” Cowan said. “He was huge for us; they would’ve scored some big buckets down the stretch.”

In a first half that included two missed dunks, Smith didn’t make much of an impact. But once he stepped out of the locker room for the final 20 minutes, the 6-foot-10 sophomore gave Maryland a lifeline. Smith scored the Terps’ first three baskets after Turgeon called a timeout one minute after intermission to settle down his side, and the big man posted 10 of the team’s first 12 points.

Then he hit that all-important three, the one that ended Michigan State’s 12-2 run — which saw the home team’s lead balloon to seven points — before triggering a 14-point swing in the other direction. After Smith’s long distance make, Cowan did the rest, turning a seven-point deficit into

a seven-point advantage and an all-important road victory.

“Whenever you can come into this building — which I think is one of the best buildings in the country — and beat one of — I think — the best coaches in our generation, it’s exciting,” Turgeon said. “And the way we were able to win it was fun.”

Cowan made the shots, but so much of that ending in East Lansing came down to Smith’s defense on Winston.

With six seconds left in a seven-point ball game, Winston sprinted up the floor anyway.

Smith met the Spartans guard at the logo and tracked him all the way to the wing, arms outstretched, feet shuffling, not letting Winston make a meaningless shot or pass the ball away.

The Baltimore native had done that to Winston for much of the final few minutes.

It’s a skill that stems from oneon-one sessions with Cowan this summer, when the senior guard would challenge the Maryland forward with matchups such as Saturday’s in mind.

“You gotta be able to step up and guard guards,” Cowan said.

And Smith stepped up, helping hold Winston to just one shot in the final three minutes.

Postgame, Winston admitted Smith’s reach made it hard for him to find any open looks from beyond the arc, closing down space rapidly and showing enough lateral quickness to pester the guard.

“Ant’s one of the fastest players I’ve ever played,” Smith said. “Just knowing I’m able to stay in front of him, I can stay in front of anybody.”

But Smith was able to be in those positions — carrying a languid offense after the break, guarding one of the silkiest shooters in the conference — because of what he didn’t do.

Without Smith on the floor in the first half, forward Xavier Tillman had his way down low and Michigan State made a run.

So Smith knew he couldn’t afford any more fouls, potentially limiting his minutes in the game.

“I knew my team needed me on the floor,” Smith said.

His team did. And Smith was there for them. sportsdbk@gmail.com

Cowan shows off his clutch gene by

EAST

67-60 victory over the Spartans. wanted to prove himself against behind the play of Cowan and

Eric Ayala.

“We’ve got some tough guys, Winston.

LANSING, Eric Myers Ayala took control for just over Winston hit an early 3-pointer @EricMyers531 Mich. — For starting with Anthony Cowan,” Senior staff writer t h e s e c o n d coach Mark Turgeon said. to help the Spartans take an early a one-minute stretch, hitting time in under a minute, all Rocket Watts could do was throw his hands up in frustration.

The Michigan State guard had allotted Anthony Cowan a minuscule amount of space on the outside, but that’s all it took for the Maryland men’s basketball senior to change the game. So Cowan pulled up both times, and both times he knocked down crippling 3-pointers — the first to give the Terps a lead once more and the second to ice the contest with 23 seconds remaining.

Maryland had led by as many as 15, although Michigan State whittled that down and eventually took a lead of its own.

But in Cowan’s last visit to the Breslin Center, his final two shots ensured the No. 9 Terps remained in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with a

“He’s as tough as they come, pound-for-pound.”

Cowan, who finished with a game-high 24 points, scored 11 straight to finish the game, including three triples and two free throws to extend his team’s winning streak to eight. He ended the game as he started it.

Michigan State (17-9, 9-6 Big Ten) has the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year in guard Cassius Winston, but it was Cowan who took over in the early stages of the game.

Cowan said all the right things Friday when previewing his matchup against Winston, the latest installment in a saga that has extended over the two players’ four-year careers.

Cowan called him a “competitor” and “another really good guard in the league,” but the Bowie native seemingly

5-0 lead before Cowan willed his team out of a tepid start. The senior leader knocked down back-to-back shots from beyond the arc, then followed with a pair of free throws to swing the lead in Maryland’s favor.

That stretch represented Cowan’s emphatic response from missing a pivotal free throw that nearly cost his team a home victory Tuesday night against Nebraska.

“He was really mad at himself for missing that free throw,” Turgeon said. “He’s been locked in since that game ended. …

You could see he was locked in.

He was locked in early, kind of helped us weather the storm early.”

The Terps (21-4, 11-3 Big Ten) never relinquished that advantage in the first half and extended their lead to as many as 15 points

two layups before knocking down a 3-pointer to push Maryland’s lead to double-digits.

The advantage escalated to 15 when freshman forward Donta Scott knocked down a corner 3-pointer with just under three minutes left in the first half.

For as quickly as the air left the Breslin Center when Scott’s triple swished through the net, Michigan State renewed the energy just as fast. The Spartans reeled off seven straight points in the final two and a half minutes to cut the Terps’ lead to 39-31 at the break.

That momentum persisted into the second half, and the 7-0 run grew to a 20-6 stretch that brought the Spartans within a point with 12 minutes remaining in the contest.

See MSU, p. 11

mettle on road

EAST LANSING, Andy Kostka Mich. — Mary@afkostka Senior staff writer l a n d m e n ’s basketball learned something here last year. Even with a top-15 ranking beside its name, it didn’t belong with the likes of Michigan State — not yet, at least. “[They] let us know how far we were from being elite,” coach Mark Turgeon said in the buildup to Saturday’s contest.

Back then, it was the No. 6 Spartans who ran the Terps out of Breslin Center, 69-55, holding guards Anthony Cowan and Eric Ayala and forward Jalen Smith to no more than seven points each. Back then, Turgeon’s team was one of the youngest in the country, and they allowed five Michigan State players to score in double figures.

Back then was over a year ago, though. This Maryland team is different than that Maryland team. And when Cowan pulled up three times from long distance during the final three minutes of Saturday’s affair, all three fell through.

Maryland had done its utmost to blow Saturday’s matchup at the Breslin Center, surrendering a 15-point edge before trailing by seven with 3:24 remaining. But the Terps didn’t roll over, didn’t give way to the hyped-up green-andwhite crowd around them.

That might be the biggest difference between that team and this team, the one that looked out of its depth and the one that managed to win its fourth straight road game, maintaining sole possession of first place in the Big Ten. “They’re a lot tougher team,” Spartans guard Cassius Winston said. “Years before, we kind of just played harder than them, you could kind of see them fold a little bit. This year, they punched us in the mouth.”

Even just a month earlier, a finish like Saturday’s might’ve gone differently — it did in a two-point road loss against Wisconsin, a game where by

Turgeon’s squad surrendered a second-half advantage at the buzzer. That’s when the Terps were winless on the road.

But in the month since then, Maryland’s done nothing but win. Turgeon’s squad got the road monkey off its back against Northwestern and Indiana, and then it dispatched a ranked Illinois team away from home to obtain first place in the conference.

And Saturday, to snag their eighth straight victory, the Terps managed to edge out Michigan State the way they’ve done often throughout this winning streak — with the ball in their best players’ hands as the game clock ticks down to zero.

“We’ve gotten better in some of those situations,” Turgeon said. “And we stopped listening to all the noise and now we just believe in ourselves.”

Maryland earned its first win at the Breslin Center since 2014, and it becomes the third team this season to travel to East Lansing and leave with a victory.

Earlier in the season, Turgeon felt his unit might’ve been overrated, having done nothing on the court to earn a preseason No. 7 slot. Maryland might be meeting those expectations now, and a lot of it comes down to its ability to battle back into games such as Saturday’s.

“Every time we come into a game, we’re going to give a fight, no matter what,” forward Jalen Smith said.

It’s still just a Feb. 15 win, far from the unpredictable Big Ten and NCAA tournaments, where one slip-up can nullify all the good before.

“We still ain’t win anything,” Cowan said. “I still don’t have a ring; my teammates still don’t have a ring.”

He’s right. But games such as Saturday’s are necessary on the path toward bigger things.

And with Cowan leading the way late, Maryland did what it might not have in past years — win in a difficult environment with the stakes at their highest. sportsdbk@gmail.com