April 2, 2015

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The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper

T H U R S DAY, A P R I L 2 , 2 015

Loh: Offensive email did not violate univ policy Investigation found no evidence of misconduct; Author issues apology for writing, sending message By Ellie Silverman @esilverman11 Senior staff writer The university’s investigation into the offensive email sent in January 2014 by a former university Kappa Sigma fraternity member found the email did not violate university policy, according to an email

university President Wallace Loh sent to the university community last night. The Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct, University Police and Prince George’s County Police conducted the investigation, which found the email signed “AJ Hurwitz” posed no explicit need for disciplinary action, said Catherine

Carroll, the office’s director and Title IX Officer. Investigators conducted extensive interviews about the email’s content as well as the “time, place, manner, and effects of the message,” and did not find any subsequent conduct “that raised safety concerns,” Loh said in his email. “The email is generally protected speech under the First Amendment,” Carroll said.

Students Marched around Fraternity Row on Friday in protest of what they said is an intolerant environment. The See email, Page 3 demonstration was sparked by a leaked email that contained racist and sexist language. rachel george/the diamondback

Alcohol sale proposal to move foward after vote Athletic Council moves to recommend allowing alcohol in sports venues By Taylor Swaak @tswaak27 Staff writer

University and community figures add the first piles of dirt to a new oak tree being planted on McKeldin Mall at an Arbor Day celebration in front of Symons Hall yesterday.

stephanie natoli/the diamondback

taking new root among tradition Univ celebrates state Arbor Day with tree planting ceremony on McKeldin Mall By Jeremy Snow @JeremyM_Snow Senior staff writer Dennis Nola sees the oak trees that tower over McKeldin Mall as cathedral-like. The willow oaks planted in 1941 line the green space, thei r bra nches cu rved toward the sky. “You’re outdoors but you’re indoors,” said Nola, the assistant director and coordinator of the

undergraduate landscape architecture program. “Our alumni say this is their No. 1 memory; they remember the oaks on the mall. Countless people walk up and down through these trees. Some people fall in love here.” In the spirit of appreciation of this university’s trees, a crowd of about 20 gathered to watch university Arboretum and Botanical Garden staff celebrate this state’s Arbor Day yesterday by planting a new oak tree in

front of Symons Hall. Officials, including Provost Mary Ann Rankin, agriculture and natural resources Dean Cheng-i Wei and College Park Mayor Andy Fellows, shoveled dirt to commemorate the new tree. Afterward, attendees joined in the digging, as did a few students walking by. The new tree, brought in from a nursery in Laytonsville, replaces an older oak that stood in the same spot but died this past fall, univer-

sity arboretum volunteer coordinator Carin Celebuski said. While the new tree is 10 years old and about 15 feet tall now, she said, it will quickly grow to about 100 feet. T he old tree died from root damage caused by the heavy foot traffic, Celebuski said. To help prevent the same damage to the new trees, the arboretum fluffed out the soil and discouraged students See ARBOR, Page 2

Researcher uses Twitter to track vaccine public views Social media becoming powerful research tool By Joe Zimmermann @JoeMacZim Senior staff writer In addition to changing the way people connect with old friends or share pictures of food, social media has brought forward new possibilities for researchers. Sandra Quinn, a family science professor, is pa rt of a recently launched study that uses Twitter data to analyze public opinion of vaccines. “One of our aims is to develop a computational tool that … uses social media to identify different groups that share attitudes or share narratives in terms of how they understand vaccines,” she said. By comparing it to survey statis-

for some time, said Ben Shneiderman, a computer science professor. He said social media and other Internet applications are increasingly important to research. “Never before has so much of what we do been online,” Shneiderman said. “And never before in history have we had such powerful tools to analyze and visualize it so as to derive meaningful insights.” Shneiderman was part of a team that developed the network visualization software NodeXL for MiSandra Quinn, a university family science professor, poses for a portrait. Quinn uses information crosoft Corp., which is now used from Twitter to assess people’s attitudes toward vaccines. stephanie natoli/the diamondback for pulling data from Twitter and tics, the researchers can ensure the sense of where the public is with drawing and analyzing the netTwitter data is valid, Quinn said, and regard to these public health issues works of connections. Je n n i fe r G o l b e c k , a n i ncan find out if there are correlations in a way that could be quicker and or differences between the sources more cost effective than national f o r m a t i o n s t u d i e s p r o f e ssor, said social media provides surveys,” Quinn said. of the data. Though the study is in the prelimi- new ways of v isualizing and “The results might provide us with some level of confidence that we can nary stage, researchers have been look at social media and have some using social media as a research tool See twitter, Page 2

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The proposal to expand the sale of alcohol at this university’s athletic events is gaining momentum after the University Athletic Council voted on the measure March 24. The council voted 16-1 in favor of sending a positive recommendation to university President Wallace Loh on approving the expansion to all athletic venues. The recommendation affects the general public of legal drinking age, said Nick Hadley, the Athletic Council’s chairman. Byrd Stadium and Xfinity Center already sell alcohol in their suites. “T he cou nci l took t h i s ver y See council, Page 3

UMPD praises Jeanne Clery Act at 25 years Act’s provisions useful tools, campus police say By Talia Richman @talirichman Senior staff writer After several thefts were reported in North Campus dorms last year, University Police sent out a safety notice warning students to be wary and report suspicious behavior. Maj. Marc Limansky said he’d like to think that alertness is what encouraged a student to call police after seeing an older man in an Ellicott Hall dorm room. Thirty-four-year-old Sentayehu Negussie was arrested and later sentenced to 60 years in prison, following a criminal history spanning 15 years and 41 arrests. “The information we were pushing out caused prompt reporting from the community, enabling us to capture the individual,” he said. University Police alerts to the community about crimes on the campus are one safety measure m a nd ated i n the Jea n ne Cler y

SPORTS

OPINION

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GALITSKY: NCAA student athletes

Terps men’s basketball star guard Melo Trimble announced he’ll return to the Terps for his sophomore season after muling over his NBA draft stock P. 8

See clery, Page 2

There are huge risks involved with paying student-athletes P. 4 DIVERSIONS

DURST IS THE WORST The HBO series The Jinx has shaped real world events P. 6


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