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Student riders already have several Shuttle-UM options for traveling farther off-campus than the Orange bus can take them. But on a new DOTS route this semester — and likely for a limited time only — students can get to Baltimore for free on weekends. Weekday service will continue. file photo/the diamondback
Baltimore bus opens to students DOTS may cancel route’s weekend service next semester By Sarah Sexton Staff writer Students can get a free ride from the campus to Baltimore on a bus route that is open to them this spring for the first time, but the service likely will not continue on weekends after this semester. The Residence Hall Association passed a bill in November to approve allowing students to ride buses that were already being driven to Baltimore every day as part of a contract with the University of Maryland, Baltimore. The buses service UMB’s routes for the day and then return to College Park. “So many students want to get to Baltimore,” said Margaret Doyle, the RHA Transportation Advisory Committee’s chairwoman. “They want to go to Orioles games or the Inner Harbor, concerts or visit friends or family. We figured since the bus was already running, we might as well put students on it and make everyone happy.” Funded by UMB, the bus picks up in Lot 4J, near the Comcast Center, at 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and arrives at UMB’s Pearl Street Garage, about 20 minutes walking from the Inner Harbor, at about 4:50 p.m. The bus departs from the garage at 12:10 a.m.
The bus also runs on weekdays, picking up in Lot 4J at 5:15 a.m. and departing the Pearl Street garage at 11:50 p.m. to return to this campus. Several students said they were not aware of the new bus route, and DOTS Director David Allen said only one student has used the service so far this semester. Allen said DOTS did not publicize the route because officials were uncertain about its longevity, as it is contingent upon UMB continuing its current contract. “It’s very likely that the University of Maryland, Baltimore will discontinue its weekend bus services, so they wouldn’t need us to send buses on Saturdays and Sundays,” Allen said. “We know most students want to go to Baltimore on weekends, but if UMB ends its weekend bus services, we can’t offer the route to students anymore.” Allen said DOTS has not made plans to replace the bus service to Baltimore if the current route is canceled. The bus will continue running during the week, though the 5:15 a.m. pick up time is likely to deter students from using it, Doyle said. Students who use the bus will arrive at the Pearl Street Garage on the UMB campus, where “there’s a Charm City Circulator bus stop within walking distance that can take you all around the city,” Allen said. The garage is also within walking distance of Camden Yards, Doyle said. Although the weekend service may only be available for this semester,
several students said they would be likely to use it this spring. One student said he might take the bus and walk to Camden Yards to watch Saturday or Sunday night Orioles games. “Once the baseball season starts, I’d like to go see our Orioles,” said Francis Becknell, a sophomore mechanical engineering major. “The timing of the bus might work out really nicely to go see a game.” Another student who travels to Baltimore regularly on the weekends said she would like to take advantage of the opportunity to get to Baltimore without having to drive herself. “I go down to Baltimore nearly every weekend to visit my boyfriend and all of his friends,” Emily Selsky, a senior communication major, said. “I would definitely consider taking the bus because sitting in traffic on [I-95] is never fun, and it would save me money on gas.” Although the bus route will likely be discontinued after this semester, RHA’s public relations and outreach officer, Meenu Singh, said she hopes students will take advantage of the service that has been made available. “Students who live in Baltimore can visit their families,” Singh said. “I’ve heard a lot of people say they want some way to get to Baltimore easily, so I want students to know this bus is an option.”
graduate student involved in the Got Flu? research. “Each year, new strain of the virus will appear due to the change of genomic sequence,” she said. “The mutation of influenza this year appears to be more infectious. The dorms and classrooms, where the ventilation is not great in the winter, and constant interaction make it hard to avoid the spread of the flu virus.” The Health Center has also observed an influx of flu-infected students pouring in for medical care over the past few weeks, University Health Center Director Sacared Bodison said. The high concentration of flu patients has stretched the staff schedule, leading many to work longer hours, she added. “We’re finally having a flu season — this amount of infected students is more like a normal season,” Bodison said. “By contrast of previous years, which had very little flu cases, this seems like a huge jump.” The Got Flu? study, however, has seen the silver lining in the outbreak of flu on the campus — researchers have been able to report more accurate findings for the causes of the sickness. Milton attributes this not only to the increase in flu cases, but also to the fact that more people are aware of their research. “This has definitely helped us by allowing us to recruit a lot more cases of flu,” he said. “Word has really gotten out that we’re doing this. People are excited to say that they got sick, and that they got paid for it.” Professors and students involved in the study said they hope the research will prevent a large outbreak from happening again. Influenza and other respiratory agents can be transmit-
From PAGE 1 with Katherine Pedro Beardsley, an associate BSOS dean. The proposal has two prime components: time and clarity. “Typically, a student who submits an appeal, regardless of whether it has merit, has been frustrated by a professor or class,” Popkin said. “If the appeal is dismissed, it should be clear as to why and when such a decision was made.” However, faculty senator William Walters said the tight time limits would be a headache to those processing the appeals, who already have plenty of business to tackle. “This five-day stuff should not be in these regulations,” he said. “They are a burden beyond administrative capacities.” Walters said requiring a “prompt” response is sufficient, perhaps to be accompanied by a two-week guideline that could be laid out in the bill’s text. In 2010, the university amended its appeal policy — called the Procedures for Review of Alleged Arbitrary and Capricious Grading — in a way Popkin said made the policy stronger across the board but should have included better time and explanation specifications. The plan suggested in the official proposal, then, was “not a radical change but more of an update,” he said. Though Senate Chairwoman Martha Nell Smith found the proposal partially unclear, she said the time limits
“This five-day stuff should not be in these regulations. They are a burden beyond administrative capacities.” WILLIAM WALTERS Faculty senator
were a sensible idea to take under consideration. “If what’s wanted is timeliness and a sort of order to things [and] getting the results out, that makes sense to me,” she said. The policy in place — which Popkin and Beardsley seek to amend, not replace — was first passed in 1990 before its update in 2010 and deals with any grades assigned “on some basis other than performance in the course,” according to the written policy. The proposed amendment, whether it passes or not, will have no effect on the policy beyond outlining timetables and explanatory requirements. Popkin said the proposed changes promote simplicity and efficiency. “This should not be a complex or costly change,” he said, “but one seeking to provide more clarity to a process that is undertaken in unusual circumstances.” Not everyone on the executive committee thought such specific time constraints were necessary. “‘Promptly’ seems to me to be what we want. It doesn’t matter if it’s four days or six days,” Gay Gullickson, a faculty senator on the executive committee, said in the meeting. The background information accompanying the proposal also included some misinformation about the differences between the university’s
past and present graduate and undergraduate appeals policies, Smith said. “There are some mischaracterizations of things as they are in the proposal,” Smith said. Senate Director Reka Montfort will not officially charge the APAS Committee with a review of the proposal, she said, until the background information is smoothed over. Still, the policy suggestions will soon move ahead for review, as Popkin said he sent along a revised copy over the weekend. “I don’t think we’re philosophically opposed to putting in the time constraints,” Montfort said. Smith said she hasn’t noticed pervasive problems with unpredictable grading or the appeals process under the current policy. “When I’ve had to deal — in any way, shape or form, either on a panel or as a professor myself — with somebody about grading, it’s always worked out,” she said. Given the intensely private nature of grade appeals, Popkin said it was impossible to gauge demand for the proposed specifications, but that it shouldn’t matter. “There shouldn’t have to be a demonstrated problem to make sure that we have clear guidelines,” he said. newsumdbk@gmail.com
Money paid to students for the Got Flu? study
Student participants in Got Flu? since Jan. 22
Flu-associated hospitalizations in this state ted in three ways: contact, large droplet spray and aerosol transmission. It is still unclear which transmission path is the leading one, Yan said. The study’s purpose is to determine if influenza is transmitted primarily through one of these routes, as well as to study the effectiveness of nonpharmaceutical interventions. “If we could figure out the leading path of transmission, then we will be able to protect the infection in a more effective way,” Yan said. “We hope our students on campus could stay healthy. As a student, I knew the pain to go to class or take an exam when you are sick.” Some students, such as Alicia Arbaiza, a freshman business major who began to develop flulike symptoms last week, agreed determining the origins of the illness would help the student body stay healthy. “It is definitely important for researchers to discover how to prevent the flu from spreading,” she said. “I had to miss classes when I was sick, and if that could be prevented through their research, then I support that.” Officials have observed that the number of flu incidents has begun to progressively decrease as the weather has grown warmer and the flu season is finally coming to an end. “I think we’re starting to plateau now,” Bodison said. “It’s typical of a strong flu to last longer, but I believe that it will definitely taper off now.” newsumdbk@gmail.com
The “Harlem Shake” made its way to McKeldin Mall for the second time on Sunday. Juniors Chris Cervenka (top left) and Chike Nwankwo (right) helped plan the flash mob event. zainab mudallal/for the diamondback
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From PAGE 1 September’s “Gangnam Style” flash mob, which drew hundreds of students to McKeldin Mall but suffered because of a lack of adequate speakers. This time, Abdelgawad and Nwankwo, who started a company called A.C.E. Beats that sponsors events at The Barking Dog, brought a large speaker set that blared the music across the mall. And junior economics major Chris Cervenka DJed the dance with a microphone. Route One Apparel, a studentfounded clothing company, helped advertise the event and gave discounts on many of its items at Cornerstone Grill and Loft on Sunday afternoon. Although more than 600 students said they were attending on Facebook, only about 40 showed up to dance. Still, Heilmann said he had no expectations — his goal was just that some people would come and have fun. And that they did. At about 3 p.m., a group of students in front of McKeldin Library throbbed wildly to the music, dressed in everything from tight, lime-green full-body suits and robber masks to horse-head costumes, Hawaiian leis and karate uniforms. Two dogs trotted past in Terps fan gear, and six members of the university’s cheerleading team performed tricks. In the 50degree weather, several students were dressed in summer clothing — one male student wore nothing but a pair of red swim trunks. Junior Guido Pelaez flailed his
arms in the front, pumping his organic chemistry textbook up to the sky. “My sense was that I’m cramming the orgo material,” the food science major said, jokingly. The organized flash mob wasn’t the first of its kind, and several students worried the craze over the video — which several schools across the country have mimicked — had already died down. Last week, McKeldin Library organized its own version. And during the men’s basketball game against Duke, students performed the dance live. Junior journalism major Sung-Min Kim said although there were significantly fewer people attending than the amount who came to the “Gangnam Style” flash mob, he thought students would still enjoy the video. “Honestly, people enjoyed that things still happened for ‘Gangnam Style’ even if it didn’t work out to what they wanted it to,” Kim said. “Whatever they do, people are going to enjoy it.” Seniors Indraja Karnik and Gleda Kuperman said they came to show a sense of school spirit despite the sobering events over the past few weeks. The two danced toward the front of the group, enjoying their last semester of college by crazily waving around light sabers. When asked why they came, Karnik laughed. “Why not? It’s a Sunday afternoon,” she said. The two said to them, the dance was “freedom.” “It means nothing, but it’s a chance to let loose completely,” Karnik said. “I think it’s a way to show that the student body as a whole is still free and happy.” newsumdbk@gmail.com