BOWL MANIA
BEAUTIFUL SLUMS
With the ACC in disarray, Terps have no bowl guarantees
Danny Boyle sets his colorful lens on India for Slumdog Millionaire
SPORTS | PAGE 12
DIVERSIONS | PAGE 8
THE DIAMONDBACK THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2008
THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER
99TH YEAR | ISSUE NO. 53
Economy may hinder funding plan Rosapepe pushes for higher education proposal to become law despite price tag concerns BY KEVIN ROBILLARD Senior staff writer
Maryland State Delegate Joseline PeñaMelnyk (right) addresses a small crowd of supporters during a rally advocating improvements to Route 1. ADAM FRIED/THE DIAMONDBACK
Officials lobby for Route 1 funding Money for redevelopment deferred by state in Oct.
State Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s) last night told a panel studying state funding of higher education that its goals need to be made into law. “This proposal is a good proposal,” Rosapepe said of the proposal to increase state funding and financial aid while capping tuition increases. “But those goals
need to be written into state law.” But Rosapepe’s recommendation to the Commission to Develop the Maryland Model for Funding Higher Education, which could insulate the university’s funding from the ups and downs of the economy, appears unlikely to generate much support as the state faces a $1 billion budget deficit next year. “Mandates, right now, are one of our big problems,”
said Del. Norman Conway (D-Wicomico and Worcester), the chair of the House of Delegates’ Appropriations Committee and a member of the commission. “We do need to have flexibility.” The commission, informally called the Bohanan Commission after its chair, Del. John Bohanan (D-St. Mary’s), heard Rosapepe’s recommendations last night
Please See BOHANAN, Page 7
Del. John Bohanan (D-St. Mary’s) heard recommendations last night about a higher education funding model developed by the commission he chairs. JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK
A BRIGHTER OUTLOOK Improved research facilities bring more positive outlook to annual bioscience event
BY ERICH WAGNER
BY NELLY DESMARATTES
Staff writer
Staff writer
More than a dozen residents, elected officials and students rallied outside the State Highway Administration’s district headquarters in Greenbelt yesterday morning to protest the department’s decision to defer Route 1 redevelopment funding. Officials have lobbied on behalf of the project for years, claiming it could improve the road’s safety, make the university more appealing and revitalize the downtown retail currently dominated by chain restaurants. Though officials thought the money was finally secured last year, it was yanked in October. A weak economy coupled with lowerthan-expected tax revenue prompted the state to trim its budget and defer $1.1 billion in transportation projects, including about $7 million in engineering and design funding for upgrades to the stretch of Route 1 between College Avenue and University Boulevard. Protesters stood outside the highway administration building yesterday, holding a banner that read “Rebuild Route 1 Now” and chanting as people arrived at a
Though guests at yesterday’s Bioscience Research and Technology Day marveled at the innovative and costly equipment filling the Bioscience Research Building, the state of research at the university was much grimmer just a year and a half ago. For years, university researchers have been plagued by leaking labs in H.J. Patterson Hall and other buildings, labs that were unable to maintain a proper atmosphere for experiments and equipment so dangerous that fires have broken out, killing one university employee. These conditions led to several scientists leaving the university. So when the Bioscience Research Building opened last year, scientists and administrators said it would be the beginning of a new chapter for the university’s science community. With the new technology and facilities, the research building is a great asset when recruiting faculty and students to join the university. More than a
Please See BIOSCIENCE, Page 3
Please See RALLY, Page 3
The modern science of Internet research
Univ. Career Center head leaves post
Harvard professor addresses future of the bioscience field during speech to about 700 students, faculty members BY CHRIS ECKARD For The Diamondback
BY MARISSA LANG Staff writer
University Career Center Director Javaune Adams-Gaston announced this week she will be leaving her position at the university to become the Vice President for Student Life at Ohio State University. Adams-Gaston, who in her 23 years at the university has also served as associate dean of undergraduate studies, assistant athletic director in the intercollegiate athletics department and a staff psychologist at the university Counseling Center, will be leaving in January. The university in the meantime is searching for someone to fill her position, but Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Warren Kelley will take on the role in the interim. Though Adams-Gaston said she will miss Maryland, she is not nervous about the transition.
Please See DIRECTOR, Page 2
TOMORROW’S WEATHER:
Hundreds of students pack a lecture hall at the Bioscience Research Building to listen to the lecture, "Darwin and the Future of Biology," by Edward Wilson, a professor from Harvard University. JAMES B. HALE/THE DIAMONDBACK
As the College of Chemical and Life Sciences celebrated its ninth annual Bioscience Research and Technology Review Day yesterday, Harvard University professor Edward Wilson attracted a crowd of about 700 students and faculty members to discuss
the future of the field. During his hour-long talk in the year-old Bioscience Research Building, Wilson emphasized the transformation in the field in the technical age, focusing primarily on the Internet as a tool to advance research and make information accessible to everyone.
Please See SPEAKER, Page 3 JACLYN BOROWSKI/THE DIAMONDBACK
Black leadership panel dissects race in current events BY DIANA ELBASHA Staff writer
The university chapter of the NAACP gathered last night for the group’s second annual State of Black Leadership Conference, to address the theme of “deconstructing barriers to unity.”
Cloudy/60s
With a historic presidential election still on people’s minds, the forum focused heavily on the success of President-elect Barack Obama (D) and the victory’s racial significance — his being black, the group said, should not be the main reason people are excited about
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his victory. The group came to a consensus that although having a black president is a turning point, it does not mark an end to the problems faced by racial minorities in society. Such issues were discussed in a dialogue among an eight-member panel comFEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 CLASSIFIED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
prised of culturally and politically diverse individuals from various walks of life. “The diversity of the panel was very good this year when it came to opinions. The conversation was better because we gave students the chance to ask questions. Last year we didn’t have time,”
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National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter president Wanika Fisher said. The NAACP-hosted event was also sponsored by 14 university groups. “It is important to have
Please See PANEL , Page 7
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