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THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 2008 | THE DIAMONDBACK

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Toddler dies in hit-and-run on Route 1 A 2-year-old boy was killed in a hit-and-run Sunday outside of Laundry World. The boy, Alexander Nucumendi of Greenbelt, was with his mother and siblings when he ran out of Laundry World to follow a sibling into the street. Though his mother, Rosa Grajales, attempted to grab the boy before he left the store, he ran onto Route 1 and was hit by a black Ford F-150 pick-up truck, witnesses and family members told Prince George’s County Police. The driver honked his horn and then kept going, witnesses also told police. Alexander was pronounced dead at an area hospital later that night. — Compiled from wire reports

Congress passes sweeping higher education bill WASHINGTON — Congress passed a bill Aug. 1 that included a variety of initiatives to keep costs down for college students, including requiring colleges to adopt a code of conduct regarding student loans, requiring textbook publishers to disclose pricing to faculty and allowing low-income students to get Pell Grants year-round. The legislation, which is the first time in a decade Congress has reauthorized the main federal law overseeing higher education, follows two other moves by Congress to make college more affordable: In October, the legislative body provided the single largest increase in federal student aid in decades and, in June, boosted college benefits for veterans by expanding the GI Bill. Specifically, this act will focus on protecting college students from loan abuse by banning lenders from offering gifts to college officials as a condition of making student loans, will require the Department of Education to compile and publish a list of which schools have most rapidly increased their tuition and will ask colleges to give students advance information on textbook prices and costs. The act will also increase funding for graduate study at institutions that primarily serve minorities and will provide financing for new scholarship programs and support centers for military veterans. — Compiled from wire reports

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@M Student opinion split about rankings ARYLAND

RANKINGS, from Page 1 “The reason these rankings are developed is a commercial enterprise,” Clement said. “I think we aren’t very certain about the scientific nature of the surveys. Until you understand the total nature, I might be skeptical about the results.” In contrast, Senior Associate Athletics Director Kathy Worthington, who was pleased with the athletic facilities honor, as well as the university receiving a No. 2 ranking in the “Students Pack the Stadiums” category, believed the survey results should be taken seriously. “Princeton Review is a well-respected publication,” Worthington said. “We take great pride that they appreciate what we have to offer.” In fact, the Athletics Depart-

ment puts such stock in the Princeton Review rankings that it posted a press release on its website in an effort to attract future students. “We want our recruits to know how well liked our facilities are by our students,” Worthington said. But Kate Gannon, an associate director in the office of undergraduate admissions, said students shouldn’t take the Princeton Review rankings too seriously. “I think prospective students regard the Princeton Review rankings as fun facts or points of interest, but I don’t think they make their final decisions on where to apply or where to attend based on them,” she said. Clement, who did not mention the university’s placement in any specific ranking, agreed with Gannon, adding that her skepticism stems from her years as an

Bars increase prices MEETING, from Page 1 was organized by College Park Public Services Director Bob Ryan and included 10 various university and city officials, Brayman said the meeting was not closed-door and also included some city staff, county councilman Eric Olson, city manager Joe Nagro and five students. Specifically discussed at the meeting were Thirsty Turtle’s 25-cent Thursday night summer rail specials, which have been criticized by university and city officials. But while Brayman said “we’re not in the business of threatening people,” the city also told bar owners at the meeting they could attempt to persuade the state to adopt legislation against such low prices, as they encourage “binge drinking and overdrinking,” Brayman added. This week, Thirsty Turtle has changed its prices, bumping the 25-cent rails the bar has advertised all summer to $2. However, in contrast to Bray-

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man’s statement that all the bar owners agreed on the price floor, a Facebook message sent to the members of group “THIRSTY TUESDAYS ONE DOLLAR PITCHERS and DRINKS” Tuesday stated, “THANKS TO THE LOVELY CITY OF COLLEGE PARK WE HAD TO CHANGE OUR PRICES...SORRY GUYS...” Thirsty Turtle co-owner Alan Wanuck could not be reached for comment. But some students, such as senior economics and linguistics major Lori Hoglund, said the change in prices will affect their downtown habits. “I would still go Monday nights because they have $2 Long Island iced teas, but if it were not for that, probably not,” she said. “[The price increase] is a huge switch because a lot of other people only go because of the 25-cent drinks.” roxanadbk@gmail.com, holtdbk@gmail.com

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Warrant discrepancy in raid at mayor’s home UPPER MARLBORO — Despite what Prince George’s County police said initially after a drug raid at the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo, narcotics officers and SWAT team deputies did not have the type of search warrant that would allow them to enter the home without knocking. A review shows the warrant was a standard search warrant. Officers and deputies broke down Calvo’s door July 29, after he brought a package addressed to his wife inside from his front porch. The officers shot and killed Calvo’s two Labrador Retrievers. Police spokesman Henry Tippett says the initial information about the warrant came from the head of the narcotics control division. Tippett says he could not explain the discrepancy. Calvo’s attorney, Timothy Maloney, calls the raid “a lawless act by law enforcement.” — Compiled from wire reports

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admissions director. “I was an admissions director here for a long time, and I would always tell people about these rankings, and I didn’t have concrete confidence in them and to not trust rankings — we don’t know the force of the research,” Clement said. But despite Clement’s warnings, some students were already reading into the rankings this week. “It sounds like some priorities are a little bit backwards,” said Michael Sweeney, a senior computer science major, upon learning of the university’s equally high marks for sporting event attendance and lack of studying. Yet Sweeney did not hold the university responsible, saying, “You’ve got to blame the students on that — it’s your decision to study or not.”

Junior theatre major Thony Mena also sensed a set of misguided priorities, except on the part of the university, not the students, in regards to the highly rated athletic facilities. “The athletic fields are apparent,” Mena said. “God knows how much money they spend on athletics when you’ve got kids without housing.” But junior criminology and criminal justice major Ian Nabb was able to see the positives from the rankings and said he is proud the university trails only the University of Florida in “Students Pack the Stadiums.” In recent years, both Florida’s football and men’s basketball programs have won national championships. “Coming second place to [Florida] is not too bad,” Nabb said. “I think it shows a lot of campus involvement and school pride.”

Incoming sophomore transfer students Kristen Harris and Oona Urbanski, both letters and sciences majors, did not expect to be entering a student body rated amongst the least-active studiers in the nation. “It doesn’t really discourage me, because it’s not going to make me study less,” Harris said. “I’ll just study harder, and that will make us look better.” But when told the university actually failed to make Princeton Review’s list of top-20 party schools, after receiving such an honor repeatedly in recent years, Urbanski noticed an obvious contradiction — and reflected a different type of student disappointment. “If we study the least, we better be a good party school,” Urbanski said. penndbk@gmail.com

Services of two desks to be eliminated MCKELDIN, from Page 1 away after that evening with an enhanced appreciation of where they were with respect to late night,” Vikor added. “For me, that was the prime and the determining factor.” However, Vikor would not comment on where the university will now look to trim costs in order to pay for more expensive journal subscriptions, the reason the university was considering getting rid of late-night study. “I will work that out with the provost, and I think as far as students and other users of the library goes, we’ll deal with that in due time,” Vikor said. For his part, Farvardin acknowledged the rising cost of journal subscriptions and agreed the library’s budget will continue to be analyzed. “The cost of subscriptions and acquisitions and books goes up

much faster than the budget of the library can ever go up; they can’t buy as many books or subscribe to as many journals as they would like,” he said. “That’s something that has prompted this effort, to look at how much money the library is spending.” To keep students involved with the decision-making process regarding the library, a student advisory committee to libraries will be created, Vikor said. Student Government Association President Jonathan Sachs, who will be involved with the committee, added “This is going to be an important step in moving forward with library policy.” Senior English and history major Anne Price said she was pleased with the decision to keep late-night study. Price, who has worked at late-night study in previous semesters, is also a member of the group Students for a Democratic So-

ciety, which helped organize the forum last month. “I only hope that the administration has learned a lesson from this incident, and in the future, they will do more to understand undergraduate needs at the university when making large and important decisions about things that effect undergraduate students,” Price said. Yet while late-night study will continue, the government documents and periodical desks will no longer exist, Vikor said. Both services will be merged with other desks on the front floor, and though there are no final dates yet, government documents will probably phase out in the fall and periodicals in January, Vikor said. The decision to cut those desks had nothing to do with late-night study, he added. roxanadbk@gmail.com, holtdbk@gmail.com