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OPINION
Taking conflicting modern lessons from Margaret Thatcher’s long-reaching political shadow
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P. 4
Fall Out Boy’s Save Rock and Roll disappoints by proving the band’s obsolescence this decade P. 6
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The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper
ISSUE NO. 126
ONLINE AT
103rd Year of Publication
diamondbackonline.com
TOMORROW 70S / Sunny
TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2013
Election season starts for SGA Time Party challenges incumbent Go Party By Sandra Müller Staff writer
Alex Len, Terrapins men’s basketball center, will enter the NBA draft, athletic department officials confirmed yesterday. file photo/the diamondback
University confirms Len entering NBA draft
wmuc has championed college radio for more than 65 years. An exhibit this fall will highlight the station’s wild history and various struggles to stay alive. photos courtesy of university archives
Len, Turgeon will speak about decision today By Connor Letourneau Senior staff writer Terrapins men’s basketball center Alex Len will forgo his final two years of eligibility and enter the NBA draft, the athletic department announced yesterday after several media outlets, including The Diamondback, reported the news Sunday. Len and coach Mark Turgeon will address the media at 2:30 p.m. today to discuss the decision. “I’m very grateful for the two years I’ve spent at Maryland and for everyone that has supported me during my time here,” Len said in a news release. “It’s been an honor to play here, and I’ve learned so much.” Len is projected to go within the first 14 picks in the June 27 draft, which will be held at Newark’s Prudential Center.
please don’t stop the music Archivists commemorate WMUC’s decades of strife, successes in upcoming exhibit By Laura Blasey Senior staff writer The story of WMUC is one of resistance, resilience and revolution. World War II, Vietnam and Apollo 1; Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino and The Beatles — a microcosm of modern American history. And the university’s student-run radio station has been around to see it all. In honor of the station’s 65th year under its present call letters, university archivists are assembling an exhibit on the station’s history. The exhibit, titled “Saving College Radio: WMUC Past, Present and Future,” will open in September in Hornbake Library’s Maryland Room and run through July 2014. For project leader Laura Schnitker, it’s a look into
the past of the college radio station she’s come to love, both as an ethnomusicologist and as a station volunteer for the past eight years. “I like the spirit of college radio. I like to hear stories about especially undergrad students who come to the university and maybe feel like they don’t quite fit in for whatever reason,” she said. “And they find WMUC is a very supportive community, and they feel comfortable there and are able to find their own voice.” To the students who have come and gone over WMUC’s airwaves, the station means everything. It’s not only been a second home but launched the careers of the likes of news anchor Connie Chung,
Two SGA presidential hopefuls began vying for students’ support yesterday, leaving voters to choose between an incumbent candidate who hopes to continue lobbying for students in Annapolis and a challenger who plans to use technology to increase the student voice on the campus. The Go Party, led by Student Government Association President Samantha Zwerling, plans to build on its work over the past two semesters by advocating for textbook affordability, increasing student participation in city council elections and further improving SGA’s allocation of the student activities fee. Challenger Noah Robinson of the Time Party, however, said he will gear his focus toward oncampus issues, such as dining plan and on-campus parking issues, through an interactive website that will allow students to voice their concerns. “I have gained so many experiences and built so many relationships this year — I have just figured out how the university works,” Zwerling, a junior environmental science and policy major, said. “I don’t want to throw all of that away, but continue to advocate for students.” “It’s time for a better campus,” said Robinson, a junior psychology major who was previously The Diamondback’s relationship columnist. “All of our ideas are the next step of what happened so far.” Even before campaigning began, the two candidates clashed. Earlier in April,
See WMUC, Page 3
See LEN, Page 2
See ELECTION, Page 2
Boston bombing sparks fear among univ. students Blasts kill three, injure more than 100 Monday By Jenny Hottle Senior staff writer Garrett Gleason had been following his mother’s progress in the Boston Marathon all Monday morning through text updates from the race’s website. His mom, Marilee Gleason, crossed the finish line about seven minutes before an explosion, followed by another, shattered windows and knocked runners and spectators to the ground, killing at least three people and injuring more than 100. As soon as a friend alerted the senior music major of the blasts, he began dialing and learned a few minutes later his mom and dad were safe. “But those five minutes of two failed calls toward them were terri-
INDEX
fying,” said Gleason, whose parents were already driving out of the city when he reached them. “I know what happened with my mom was a coincidence, luck. She just squeezed through. I’m just so thankful. My concerns are going out to any runners who didn’t get to finish but also any marathon watchers and families who were injured by it or affected at all.” Authorities did not know who or what was responsible for the incident as of Monday evening, President Obama said in a White House news conference, but officials would heighten security around the country “as necessary.” “Make no mistake, we will get to the bottom of this, and we will find out who did this. We’ll find out why they did this,” Obama said. “Any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Two explosions near the Boston Marathon’s finish line caused national shock and increased security measures. Some known details:
4:07 448 47
Time into the marathon when the first bomb exploded at the finish Maryland residents who competed in Monday’s marathon*
Maryland runners who never finished; they may have been pulled from the race*
*Numbers courtesy of Boston Athletic Association New York- and Washington-area police put additional officers on duty as a precaution, according to multiple reports. Prince George’s County Police and University Police have also increased surveillance, though University Police reported there were no threats to the campus or area. Officers found several other explosive devices near the marathon finish line, according to Associated Press reports.
NEWS 2 OPINION 4 FEATURES 5 DIVERSIONS 6 CLASSIFIED 6 SPORTS 8
See BOSTON, Page 3
Death penalty’s uneven past lingers after repeal Univ. study shows state’s racial, regional biases in punishment By Jim Bach Senior staff writer The death penalty may be gone, but the discussion about criminal justice is far from over in Maryland. Throughout the debate, critics of the death penalty were quick to point out the state’s history of racial bias when it comes to sentencing convicts to the punishment, noting some county jurisdictions were more lenient than others. But some experts said capital punishment wasn’t the problem — it was a culture of unfairness and inconsistency that ran much deeper in the state’s penal system, and a policy repeal wasn’t going to fix that.
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University criminology professor Raymond Paternoster studied more than 6,000 state homicide cases, pulling together a picture of a state justice system that doled out punishment unevenly along racial lines. The punishment was rarely used, with state judges sentencing 10 convicted citizens to death since the punishment’s reinstatement in 1978. The state executed only five of those individuals before the penalty’s repeal in March, but the trends Paternoster saw in the data were alarming. For example, homicide cases that involved a white victim were three times more likely to involve a death sentence than cases in which the victim was nonwhite. Even more glaring was the discrepancy from county to county: One step
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See repeal, Page 3
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