December 03, 2013

The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper

T U E S DAY, D E C E M B E R 3 , 2 013

County votes to raise minimum wage Prince George’s minimum wage to increase from $7.25 to $11.50 an hour

By Jim Bach @thedbk Senior staff writer With a spate of gubernatorial candidates avowing their support for a statewide minimum wage increase,

Executive Rushern Baker, will affect students, as the university follows the recent passage of a Prince George’s raise the minimum wage incremen- state minimum wage laws.

Many on-campus jobs pay the County bill raising the minimum wage tally from $7.25 an hour to $11.50 might be the first step in swinging the an hour between October 2014 and federally mandated minimum wage October 2017. But while this campus of $7.25 an hour and should the state momentum for a statewide bill.

Last week, the Prince George’s is in Prince George’s County, it’s approve a similar increase, students County and Montgomery County unclear how the measure, which is councils voted to pass bills that would still awaiting a signature from County See wage, Page 3 wicomico hall and its neighboring dorms will house students to at least next fall. kelsey hughes/the diamondback

Wicomico, Caroline, Carroll to remain open Dorms won’t be razed until after fall 2014

By Dustin Levy @dustinblevy Staff writer A f ter i n itia l i ndecision over whether to tear down Carroll, Caroline and Wicomico halls when neighboring Prince Frederick Hall opens next fall, the university has decided to keep the dorms open for at least the fall 2014 semester.

Jon Dooley, Residential Facilities director, said the university’s current funding system for construction programs, in which departments request construction and renovations though the University System of Maryland, shows the site of Carroll, Caroline and Wicomico halls to be replaced with a new Worcester Hall in several years.

So for now, the buildings are staying.

“The thinking was, several years ago, start the construction of Prince Frederick,” Dooley said. “Once Prince Frederick opened, either that fall or within the year, [those buildings] could close.”

But that thinking has now changed, he said. The decision came down to

driving the dream University alumnus Sam Blum spends year with Oscar Mayer Wienermobile

By Jenny Hottle @JennyHottle Senior staff writer When university alumnus Sam Blum takes the company car to the grocery store or the movie theater, he’s ready for the cameras to come out.

And when he drives down the highway, other drivers honk,

wave or laugh. Each week, it’s a new city, but the same reactions and attention are nothing out of the ordinary for Blum, who is spending a year on the road as one of 12 Hotdoggers driving Oscar Mayer’s six Wienermobiles around the country.

“In the age of smartphones, people a re consta ntly ta k i ng photos on the road. Sometimes

it can be hard to change lanes because people are right next to us snapping away,” Blum said.

“We drive it every day, but it’s something that just doesn’t come around every day, so I can understand the excitement.”

Blum, who graduated with a marketing degree in May, was See blum, Page 2

‘It’s just a game. And you play the game.’

Graduate students struggle to enroll in language courses GSG president: Many encounter obstacles

By Laura Blasey and Zoe Sagalow @lblasey, @thesagaofzoe Senior staff writers

Documentary, panel discuss youth schooling

By Ellie Silverman @esilverman11 Staff writer With her dad in poor health, Manar Dajani found it hard to keep up with her 16-credit workload and maintain the grades necessary to keep her scholarship.

At last night’s screening of Race to Nowhere, a documentary depicting problems students face in the education system, Dajani found herself relati ng to a seem ingly stable young girl who committed

race to nowhere screening panelists (left to right) Eleonor Castillo, Francine Hultgren and Jennifer Rice discuss problems facing youth in America’s education system at Hoff Theater last night. lena salzbank/the diamondback suicide after feeling overwhelmed by schoolwork.

“All my life, I have been one of those students who you see in the documentary. It’s gotten to a point where, in college, you’re thrown into something you’re not totally prepared for,” said Dajani, a junior enrolled in letters and sciences. “In high school, I

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was a 4.0 student. Now, I’m dropping classes just to keep my scholarship.”

Dajani was one of about 30 students who stayed after the screening in Stamp Student Union’s Hoff Theater for a discussion with panelists Eleonor Castillo, a doctoral candidate, and See education, Page 2

For John Holland, taking a Chinese language course made sense. After all, the focus of his government and politics doctoral work was Chinese politics — but program administrators disagreed.

“My department wouldn’t let me,” Holland said. When Holland added the course to his schedule during his second year of graduate work, the government and politics program director contacted Holland’s adviser, who persuaded him to drop the class.

T h is u n iversity’s g raduate

programs rank among the best in the country, but rigorous and strict academic curricula accompany the prestige. As a result, students such as Holland said it is difficult to carve their own paths, especially when it comes to taking language courses.

“Red flags go up when students don’t conform to the recommended courses,” Holland said. “They de facto prevent you from taking language courses.”

Some graduate programs include a language requirement, but others, such as government and politics and other social sciences programs, traditionally don’t require language courses, Graduate Student Government President David ColónCabrera said.

“Many grad students are doing their research in other countries, so See language, Page 3

SPORTS

OPINION

TERPS PUT PAST BEHIND WITH WIN

STAFF EDITORIAL: Answering B1G questions

When N.C. State cut the lead to 41-21 on Saturday, the Terps were concerned the team’s history from 2011 could repeat itself P. 8

University still has to address conference move concerns P. 4 DIVERSIONS

PHARRELL VS. MILEY Two writers face off on the top pop artist of the year P. 6

2

THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2013

BY THE NUMBERS

11,000

60 x 24 x 18

140,500

A rear closet holds more than 11,000 Wiener Whistles

The Wienermobile is 60 hot dogs long, 24 hot dogs high, and 18 hot dogs wide.

The Wienermobile weighs 140,500 hot dogs, or 14,050 pounds.

SAM BLUM, a university alumnus, drives the Wienermobile as a brand ambassador and spokesman for Oscar Mayer. He and his co-driver, Cokie Reed, have visited about 15 states since starting their jobs in June. photo courtesy of sam blum; illustration by shinduk seo/the diamondback

blum From PAGE 1 selected from a pool of about 1,200 applicants for a oneye a r p osit ion a s a bra nd ambassador and spokesman for Osca r M ayer. He a nd his co-driver, Cokie Reed, a University of Texas alumna, have visited about 15 states to promote the company since starting their jobs in June.

In a typical week, they’ll devote one day to traveling, spending four to 13 hours in the Wienermobile. They’ve been north to Boston, south to Nashville, Tenn., and as far west as Chicago. In each city, they participate in three or four days of events, ranging from parades to car shows and state fairs, where they talk to people and pass out the famous Wiener Whistles.

People in their 60s and

70s often bring their Wiener Whistles and talk to the Hotdoggers about seeing the Wienermobile for the fi rst time as a child. Now, they bring their own children and grandchildren to see the spectacle.

“It’s awesome to be part of something that’s an American icon,” Blum said. “It’s been around for a while, but it’s still completely relevant.”

Blum is used to driving the Wienermobile — about 27 feet, or 60 hot dogs, long — but the size was a shock at fi rst. The largest model of the 2014 Ford F-Series pickup truck, America’s best-selling consumer vehicle, is just more than 19 feet in length.

“My first time seeing the Wiener mobi le wa s actually when I got this job,” he said. “We did a photoshoot during training. I saw the vehicle and thought, ‘Oh, I can’t believe this is what I’m

driving for the next year.’”

At Hot Dog High, where Hotdog gers le a r n p ubl ic rel at ion s a nd m a rket i n g sk i l l s, t hey s p end ab out 40 hou rs tra i n i ng before they’re allowed to take the Wienermobile out on the road.

Luckily, driving the giant hot dog is not as hard as it looks, Reed said. Powered by a Chevrolet-sourced V-8 engine, the Wienermobile feels like a minivan or large SUV, she said.

“The only thing we have to pl a n for i n adva nce i s parking,” Reed said. “We take up about three-and-ahalf parking spaces.”

Once in a while, they’ll have to parallel park. It’s a little tricky, Blum said, but one of the partners will step outside and direct the driver to safely park the Wienermobile.

“We don’t want to scratch our buns,” Blum said. “Sorry,

I’m loaded with puns.”

Driving the Wienermobile was never in Blum’s career plan. His application for the Hotdogger position was one of a long list of job applications he sent out as his graduation date drew closer. As he kept moving through the interview process and eventually received an offer, he realized it couldn’t have fit better with his interests.

“I saw two sides: I could get some practical experience with public relations and marketing,” Blum said. “I also get to have this adventure. I get paid to travel across the country, meet people and just do something different.”

Growing up, Blum was fascinated by cars, his mother said.

He had a huge collection of Hot Wheels cars, including a collector’s model of the Wienermobile.

But Roz Blum never thought her son would one day be driving the real hot dog vehicle, complete

with a license plate that reads “WNR MBLE.” Years later, though, she found herself riding “shotbun” in the Wienermobile in Laurel’s Fourth of July parade.

“It was g reat. T h is job sounded like it was going to be a fun and unique experience for him,” Roz Blum said.

“He really has a lot of opportunities to interact with the public, and that’s something he enjoys.”

Sam Blum and Reed will work together until January, when they’ll switch partners and move to new regions of the country. When his contract ends in June, Blum hopes to settle in the northeast and work at a public relations firm or advertising agency.

For now, he’s enjoying life on the road, meeting different people and seeing new parts of the country.

Blum and Reed will be on

“I SAW THE VEHICLE AND THOUGHT, ‘OH, I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS WHAT I’M DRIVING FOR THE NEXT YEAR.’” SAM BLUM

University alumnus

the campus with the Wienermobile today and Thursday to share their experiences as Hotdoggers and talk about job opportunities within the company.

“After this year is up, I don’t know how much traveling I’ll be able to handle, but it’s just been such a cool opportunity,” he said. “It’s weird with all of my friends moving to New York or D.C. and starting their desk jobs.

Even though I live in hotels, I get to see the country and meet all kinds of people. There’s just nothing else like this.” jhottledbk@gmail.com

MORE ONLINE

D.C. ON A DIME: CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY Remember the excitement of getting a Christmas tree as a kid? If you lived in a household that celebrated the holiday, the fun of picking out a tree and decorating it each year was probably second only to the big morning itself. For those of us who live on the campus, it’s a little too difficult to plant a 6-foot conifer in the common room for the next three weeks, but students and Washington residents alike can recapture the magic by going to any of the several tree-lighting celebrations in the area this month.

While the National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony on the White House front lawn is the most famous of all Washington holiday rituals, it’s also the hardest to get to. The lottery for tickets to stand on the lawn closed weeks ago, even though the ceremony is on Friday.

However, there’s still a chance that you could get close enough to see the tree and hear the bands and entertainers without buying a ticket.

Read more of Catherine Sheffo’s blog post on diamondbackonline.com. photo courtesy of chuck kennedy

panelists Eleonor Castillo, Francine Hultgren and Jennifer Rice discuss the documentary Race to Nowhere. lena salzbank/the diamondback

education From PAGE 1 education professors Francine Hultgren and Jennifer Rice. The experts used their academ ic, professiona l and personal experiences to of fe r i n s i g ht i nto t he documentary.

“W hen I see t he st ress level of my students, asking students what’s the normal course load here at Maryland, many of my students would say to me, ‘I’m taking five classes, I’m working, I have an internship, I need to graduate in this certain time period,” Castillo said. “As I was listening, I thought to myself, ‘Wow, five courses.’

It’s the notion that what is it systemically that we are asking of our students?”

The fi lm highlighted stress a s a c on s e q u e n c e of t h e modern norm of harboring a competitive academic environment. With stress comes a “fight-or-fl ight” mentality, which many students in the

film and audience said often leads to cheating just to keep up with work.

Erin Kelley, a senior computer engineering and mathematics major, identifies with the stress of academic requirements — stress she’s felt in both high school and college.

“You have so many assignments that you get with your buddy and say, ‘Man, I don’t have time for this. Can I just get the answers real quick, and I’ll learn it when it’s time for the exam?’” Kelley said.

“There’s too much work. You do enough to get by.”

I n col lege, Daja n i sa id she’s felt more pre ss u re than ever before to succeed academically.

“People think it’s just a grade, but when all that pressure is on you, you really lose it,” she said. “In high school, I could stay up all night and ta ke the exa m a nd ace it.

Now, I can’t really get a full night sleep. I read the book over and over again. It’s all the pressure.”

A graduate student and

adviser who requested anonymity because of her position said she’s experienced fi rsthand what students such as Dajani feel. The film discussed the robotic nature of high school, referring to the motions of going to school, continuing with sports practice or other activities and then doing homework. The graduate adviser said she’s worried about how to help students at this university.

Many students come to the university expecting to have plenty of time to figure out what they want to do, the graduate student said, but they find out later that they must start immediately if they want to finish on time.

“It’s just a game. And you play the game. And you’re successful if you can get the grade that you need, and you move on,” the student said.

“Qu ick learners are more successful at [doing all the work] and can ‘win’ the game in a way.”

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2013 | NEWS | The Diamondback

3

Cambridge Community convenience shop closes after small fire Sunday Firefighters respond; shop to open today

By Teddy Amenabar @teddyamen Senior staff writer

“If it had not been for the sprinklers, there would have been more extensive damage,” Brady wrote.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, he said.

Dining Services spokesman Bart Hipple said it is unclear how much repairs will cost.

Smoke and water caused more damage than the fi re, he said, and Dining Services employees had to throw away a “significant amount of product.”

Hipple said the store will open between 9 a.m. a nd noon today.

“We’ve had a crew on site since noon [Sunday], working hard to get it cleaned up and ready to open,” he said.

Prince George’s County fi refighters responded to a sm a l l f i re at t he Nor t h Campus Snack ‘n’ Shop early Sunday morning, according to fire department spokesman Mark Brady.

The first responders from the College Park Volunteer Fire Department arrived at 3:31 a.m. after an automatic alarm in the building alerted the department. Upon arrival, responders called for additional units to assist with putting out the fire, Brady wrote in an email. Those units helped control the sprinkler system and ventilate the store. tamenabardbk@gmail.com

the north campus snack ‘n’ shop was closed yesterday while workers repaired the store’s interior after a small fire damaged it over Thanksgiving break. lena salzbank/the diamondback

language

wage

From PAGE 1 they have to learn the language in order to be able to live in the other country and do the research,” he said.

Other times, he said, students realize later in their graduate careers they need to know another language, whether because of a new opportunity or a change in plans — but the problem isn’t easy to fix.

Carol Mossman, languages, literatures and cultures school director, wrote in an email that there isn’t anything standing in the way of graduate students who wish to enroll in introductorylevel courses. But ColónCabrera said students run into a tangled web of administrative obstacles that discourages them from taking language courses.

First, the introductorylevel language classes are designed for undergraduate students, and many are ineligible to count toward graduate credit.

Holland said cost was a major factor in his decision to listen to his adviser and drop the Chinese course. His assistantship would only pay for for-credit classes, and he didn’t have the money to pay for the Chinese class on his own or the spare time to do the work it required.

A nother cha l lenge is scheduling. Graduate classes tend to be smaller and offered at select times. W hen required classes fill up their schedules, students often have no choice but to forgo electives or potentially get off track with their course of study.

Even students in programs

dorms From PAGE 1 securing construction funding for the new Worcester Hall, which is scheduled to begin construction in the 2017 fiscal year, but other factors weighed in as well, s u c h a s a n e e d fo r m o re student housing.

“We sti l l had a wa iti ng list for students this year,” Dooley said. “A fter doing a quick assessment of the bu i ld i ng, we felt t hat we could keep the buildings open clearly after Prince Frederick came on line for at least a year, if not several years.”

And while Prince Frederick is on schedule to be turned over to the university at the

From PAGE 1

some University Graduate students are struggling to fit introductory level language courses into their schedule. sung-min kim/the diamondback requiring language courses he had to ta ke i nstead of s tep s to a l low for e a sier h ave d i f f icu lty f itt i ng i n the Chinese class. The de- access to language courses. the classes. Students in the partment prepares students T hey’ve h ad d i scu ssion s Maryland Opera Studio have for academia, he said, but with language department to take at least one semes- he doesn’t want to be a pro- officials about offering the ter of Ita l ia n, French a nd fessor and he didn’t feel the required language courses German, Madeline Miskie, classes, which he was told online, though nothing is a graduate fellow in musical he needs to take to prepare set yet. for second-year exams, were Colón-Cabrera will bring arts, wrote in an email.

While Miskie took enough as valuable for his intended up the issue at Wednesday’s Graduate Council meeting language courses during her career path.

More and more graduate and possibly at a future Uniundergraduate years to fulfi ll the prerequisites, she said students are choosing to take versity Senate meeting.

In the meantime, students many of her fellow students their degrees outside of acaweren’t as prepared and wound demia’s ivory towers in favor are left to either audit or pay of real-world applications, for the courses or drop them up using private tutors.

“Their class schedule is so graduate school dean Charles while they wait for change.

“I had a lot more flexibility tight that there are no classes Caramello wrote in an email.

“Ma ny successf u l doc- when I was an undergraduat the time when they might be able to take them,” said toral graduates nationally — ate student to take whatever Delores Ziegler, chairwoman roughly half the total number courses I wanted,” Holland of the music school’s voice/ — are finding research-ori- said. “I could register for opera division. “Especially ented careers in sectors of the whatever I wanted, whenever when they’re in production economy outside of higher I wanted, and didn’t have week, they’re working some- education — in government, to worry about Big Brother NGOs, private companies micro-managing my course times 10 hours a day.”

Hol l a nd especia l ly was and so on,” Caramello wrote. schedule.” frustrated with the govern- “UMD is part of this trend.”

Ziegler said they are taking newsumdbk@gmail.com ment and politics courses

end of the spring semester, officials have to prepare for the worst-case scenario. “ Yo u a l w a y s w a n t t o h e d ge yo u r b e t s a n d no t say the buildings are going to be closed and torn down when you’re not sure if you got yo u r b u i ld i n g d e l ivered,” Dooley said. “There still could be a hurricane or something like that could set it behind schedule.”

The condition of the buildi ngs ma ke them less tha n i d e a l l iv i n g s p a c e s, s a id Thomas Yang, a sophomore computer science major who lives in Caroline Hall.

“It’s unlucky we live so close to the constr uction site,” he said.

Yang said he would like to see his dorm torn down if it

meant better living conditions, such as the inclusion of air conditioning.

“It’s freaking hot in the summer,” said Bryan Hand, a freshman enrolled in letters and sciences.

H a n d , h o w e v e r, s a i d he prefers to live in Caroline Hall over a new highr ise dor m becau se of t he “smaller, tight-knit community” established in his dorm. He sa id that wh i le students in the dorm often complain about conditions, it’s “not that big a deal” to live there.

Dooley said the decision to tear down the old buildings or leave them standing would not change how Residential Facilities maintains them.

The three dorms, which all

THE DIAMONDBACK IS HIRING! Do you have what it takes to be a news reporter for The Diamondback? We’re looking for motivated and dynamic reporters to join our team for spring 2014. Staff writers cover a beat and write two to three stories a week. The position is paid. Applicants should send a cover letter, resume and three clips to news editors Laura Blasey and Jenny Hottle at newsumdbk@gmail.com by Friday, Dec. 13, at 11:59 p.m.

action at the state level to adjust this; it’s likely.”

The standard debate on minimum wage pits advocates, who see a wage floor raise as the solution to a rapid rise in the cost of liv ing, against opponents, who see higher minimum wage as an added business expense. Supporters argue a higher wage could make a dent in poverty, whereas opponents threaten to avoid these costs by cutting hours and workers.

Paul Sonn, general counsel and program director at the National Employment Law Project, said impoverished families aren’t the only important group to consider when it comes to the minimum wage debate.

“Huge numbers of college students these days work very substantial hours in large part because tuition is going through the roof and school aid hasn’t kept pace,” Sonn said. “If they don’t have higher wages, they’re going to be graduating with a lot more debt and they’ll be that much farther behind the eight ball.”

However, Anderson said it is uncertain, given the large number of students who work within the campus community for minimum wage, whether an increase will necessarily lead to fewer job opportunities or be a heavy burden on university fi nances. It is still unclear whether the state will take its own actions to raise the minimum wage, but Anderson said the issue “will be something that we’ll be watching with interest.”

“It would have an impact, no question, on budgets,” Anderson said. “On something like this, the sooner we know about it, the better.”

work i ng at or nea r t he university could see more money for their expenses and, in some cases, the funds could help cut into their tuition bills.

Sophomore kinesiology major Robert Gandy, Jr., who works as a community assistant and earns minimum wage, said he saves his money and a slight increase would go a long way toward putting more money into his pockets. He said he is sometimes taken aback by the relatively low pays he receives when he isn’t working long hours.

“They should pursue a raise in the minimum wage,” Gandy said. “It would be very helpful; it would be easy for me to save up more money to pay for school.”

B ut ju s t b e c au se t he county bill raises the wage doesn’t mean university officials will do the same. While the university is in Prince George’s County, the county bill doesn’t have the authority to dictate minimum wage laws within a state institution that has its wage laws set by the state, which still has a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

University Human Resources Director Dale Anderson said the fact that many of the gubernatorial race candidates support such a raise gives supporters and experts hope for a state increase.

“It is highly likely that we will see legislation at the state level,” Anderson said. “Since the [county] bill doesn’t take effect until October 2014, I could see jbachdbk@gmail.com

opened in 1954, will all be safe for students to continue to inhabit next school year.

“T here’d be no wa lki ng away from repairs if something’s broken,” he said. “If something doesn’t work, we continue to maintain for the foreseeable future, like we’ve been doing up to this point.”

Tom Minnis, a sophomore business major who lives in Wicomico Hall, is bothered by his small room and the lack of functioning dryers in his building, but the problems aren’t big enough to encourage him to live elsewhere.

“I have no problem living here,” he said. “I don’t see why they’d need to tear [these buildings] down.” dlevydbk@gmail.com

prince frederick hall construction is on schedule, officials said. kelsey hughes/the diamondback

Follow @thedbk

4

Opinion

THE DIAMONDBACK | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2013

EDITORIAL BOARD

Mike King

Editor in Chief

DAN APPENFELLER Managing Editor

Deputy Managing Editor

maria romas Opinion Editor

ADAM OFFITZER Opinion Editor

CONTACT US 3150 South Campus Dining Hall | College Park, MD 20742 | opinionumdbk@gmail.com PHONE (301) 314-8200

STAFF EDITORIAL

Looking at the B1G picture Just more than a year after university President Wallace Loh’s announcement that this university would move from the ACC to the Big Ten in July 2014, the initial backlash from students, alumni and fans has long since dissipated.

The public outcry may have faded, but for now, this university’s future still appears to hang in the balance.

With seven months to go before the official move, a number of crucial facets still seem very much up in the air.

The university remains embroiled in a legal battle with the ACC over the $52 million exit fee. And after a Prince George’s County judge halted the university’s lawsuit against the conference and a North Carolina appeals court rejected the university’s attempt to dismiss the ACC’s litigation, that conflict looks far from resolved.

The Big Ten’s geography further complicates the move. While the ACC’s members are mostly along the East Coast, the Big Ten’s schools mostly spread across the Midwest.

The move will all but eliminate bus travel to away games, forcing athletic teams to travel by plane and muddying the university’s firmly established sustainability initiatives.

Beyond complicating adherence to green principles, however, the increased traveling distance will hit the university’s pocketbook even harder.

Travel costs are projected to double from $3 million to $6 million, no small figure for a heavily indebted athletic department forced to cut seven teams the summer before the Big Ten announcement. And while Loh and Athletic Director Kevin Anderson have stated the issue is mostly resolved, al-

MATT SCHNABEL

location of funds has proven problematic for the department in the past.

The profound cultural shift from the ACC to the Big Ten compounds these financial issues. This university’s football attendance — lackluster even in the basketball-crazed ACC — pales in comparison to Big Ten schools such as the University of Michigan and Penn State, which regularly draw more than 90,000 fans to home football games.

OUR VIEW

The university should answer lingering Big Ten questions.

Truth be told, “lackluster” hardly begins to cover this university’s lukewarm support for the Terrapins football team’s first winning season since 2010. Fostering a cultural turnaround will take time — certainly longer than the several months until the conference change.

It’s clear that many of the biggest questions facing the university remain unanswered as the move draws closer. In the face of such uncertainty, it’s important for the athletic department and university administrators to concentrate their efforts on what they can control.

The exit fee battle’s outcome is essentially out of university officials’ hands. Both the bid to dismiss the ACC’s lawsuit and the university’s countersuit have failed. The university could very well be required to pay the $52 million, and as such, it should proceed prudently without overstretching its resources.

However, at its core, the motivation

behind the move was money — and the university is slated to reap the benefits from the switch to the revenue-sharing Big Ten. The university is expected to earn nearly $100 million more than it would’ve in the ACC by 2020 and will net an estimated $32 million in the 2014-15 academic year, according to Sports Illustrated. Moreover, the Big Ten has conceded a subsidy worth tens of millions of dollars to help cover increased travel costs, The Baltimore Sun reported in March.

Those sums will likely secure financial stability, with or without paying the exit fee. Assuming the athletic department avoids falling into the same fiscal hole in which it found itself in 2012, one task remains: bringing this university up to par with the Big Ten athletic culture.

The majority of this university’s athletic programs should remain competitive in the Big Ten and more than a few should emerge dominant. Officials have already formulated preliminary plans to build an indoor practice facility for football, something each of the conference’s member schools already have in use.

The largest undertaking left on the table is rallying a university community frequently criticized for its underwhelming turnouts at sporting events in advance of joining a conference with some of the nation’s largest and most ardent fan bases.

As the conference move hastens ever nearer, little seems certain. But with farsighted action on the athletic department and university officials’ behalf, a move in which many outcomes are still up in the air can only prove positive.

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Praise for new program TIFFANY BURBA

any student interested in studying the intersection between law, justice and society from a social science perspective. It is important for students to be aware of the institutions and policies that shape the ways we interact with one another in a civil society. This minor will fulfill this goal while exposing participants to the skills necessary for government work in Washington.

By keeping the numbers small, the program has the opportunity to be very selective. Small class sizes will facilitate meaningful discussions and encourage more faculty-student interaction. These relationships will prove invaluable for academic and personal growth. Not to mention taking courses taught by actual law professors could work very nicely for graduate school letters of recommendation.

Another advantage of enrolling in the minor is that all of its law-related coursework is grouped into one school and can be reflected on an academic transcript. As a pre-law student myself, I have attempted to take interdisciplinary coursework. While many courses are offered — on topics such as American constitutional law, media law and business law — they are often difficult to get into and do not always mesh well with my government and politics coursework. The courses open to everyone often have too many prerequisites for a non-major to complete, and other courses are restricted to students in a particular school’s or major’s program. By enrolling in the Law and Society minor, students will have the luxury of taking interdisciplinary coursework without worrying about registration barriers.

I could not be more excited that an undergraduate institution is finally catering to the needs of pre-law students through an official program. While it would be foolish to have a law-related major (lawyers should bring an integrated worldview to the table), the minor is golden.

As a senior, it’s hard for me to get excited about the university’s upcoming developments, such as housing reform, when I know I will not be around to enjoy them.

However, this is not the case with the law and society minor that will start next fall. Applications are being finalized and will be available to students later in the academic year.

This new academic concentration reflects a unique collaboration between the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s law school and this university, driven by the MPowering the State program. Its goal is to provide undergraduates with an unparalleled opportunity to explore law and legal professions through interdisciplinary coursework, internships and extracurricular opportunities. Students who have earned at least 30 college credits (including at least 15 from this university) are welcome to apply to the minor, which aims to accept 75 students for the upcoming year.

The minor is an 18-credit program designed for students interested in studying through a series of different lenses how law affects ordinary life. These six classes include a mandatory introductory course, a final capstone course, six credits in a particular track or field of interest and most likely a required internship or experiential credit. This program is the first of its kind and offers several signature opportunities. Many of the minor courses will be taught by both an undergraduate professor and a professor from the law school, and they will aim to greatly expand students’ analytical and research skills. Students will also have the opportunity to visit various governmental and nonprofit organizations while meeting with national leaders. Tiffany Burba is a senior government This program is an asset not only and politics major. She can be reached for pre-law students, but also for at tburbadbk@gmail.com.

‘Love’ stinks: One columnist’s advice ROB COBB

BEN STRYKER/the diamondback

International perspective on the US ANAND GUPTA As a young boy growing up in India who dreamed of traveling and learning in the wide-open world, I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to study here as an undergraduate. In my time here, I have often been asked what my impression of the country is. I’d like to share my perspective — and obviously, this list is not comprehensive — of how America is different from what I’ve experienced growing up elsewhere.

First, the work ethic in this country is all about integrity and progress.

Rarely have I come across anyone resorting to plagiarism or cheap shortcuts. Progress is defined and measured through performance on clearly outlined objectives.

Second, Americans don’t shy from using the right resources to achieve their objectives. Be it the optimum quality cellphone, iPad, computer, chair, car, printer or whatever else you might require to get the job done, you get those resources. This does lead to wasteful spending at times, but as long as you get your work done, you’re justified in your spending.

Third, Americans have respect for the law. I was pleasantly surprised when at 4 a.m. on a deserted Route 1, the few cars on the road respected

traffic signals. These cars’ drivers actually stopped at the red light. I found that fascinating. In India and elsewhere in the developing world, such occurrences are rare. Beyond that, respect for contracts — meaning not breaking the law to suit one’s convenience (marijuana use and underage alcohol consumption are exceptions) — is common practice abroad, whereas it’s not here.

Fourth, Americans have intellectual freedom and utilize a data-based approach. The problem-solving approach in general is to have a hypothesis, gather data and then validate or invalidate that hypothesis. I’m sure you can relate to this, as you have been trained to hypothesize in your classes — not to stick to others’ formulaic viewpoints — and write papers making an argument for what you believe.

Fifth, building on that, America is a truly democratic society. People from the Occupy Wall Street school of thought may argue otherwise, but the fact that they can make that kind of argument is itself a testament to America’s thriving democracy. If you can debate your side and channel it through the right medium, more often than not, you add value to the debate.

Sixth, Americans value doing their own work. You get your own groceries, fix your own furniture, etc.

Perhaps this ethic is derived from the Protestant philosophy of love of labor.

Perhaps it’s derived from economics.

(In India, labor is so cheap that you can get your groceries inexpensively delivered to your doorstep.) Perhaps it’s derived from both.

Seventh, in this country, people work hard and play hard. No one will deny you the moral right of partying hard or doing whatever you want within legal bounds — to have a good time so long as you have met your work-related responsibilities.

Eighth, physical fitness is important here. Contrary to many reports, the Americans I know, on average, are not obese. Most of the people I’ve come across are very healthy and give a lot of importance to being fit by working out, running, playing some sports and eating right (measured by caloric intake).

Ninth, Americans have a sense of modesty. In general, people here don’t go around flaunting their achievements.

Tenth, America has a high standard of living. No matter what class of society you’re from, most people have access to food, shelter and health services.

Finally, on a slightly cynical note, America is overcommercialized. I still don’t understand why Americans shop on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Anand Gupta is a senior environmental science and policy major. He can be reached at aguptadbk@gmail.com.

regularly are, successful and happy and unromantic. And unromantic does not necessarily mean alone, although that’s all right, too; friendship and platonic love are regularly more important to people’s lives than sex or dating.

The story you have been told is a lie. Your happiness will not suddenly appear once “the one” stumbles into the life you’ve built — a life that was only missing him or her. Sexual relationships can be rewarding, but they sometimes suck, and they all require an investment of time and emotion that dramatized love never captures.

Of course, most adults are surrounded with enough reality to have a good sense of what is real and what is imagined Hollywood entertainment. We students are learning, experimenting with sex and dating and friendships. But children grow up without the context to understand and balance out the distortion of the relationship dynamics they are surrounded with in movies and other examples. It takes lots of work to build a better understanding of love from the wreckage of the myth, and some people never figure it out.

So if this idea of love is so bad, what do we do about it?

For ourselves, we can try our best to form a vision from scratch, instead of using the fuzzy amalgam of happily-ever-afters from movies as our baseline. Maybe you don’t want romantic love; life can be just as meaningful and worthy without it. Maybe you want two or 10 loves — that can be OK too! We ought to judge life based on our own ideas of what we want from sex and relationships, not the impossible baloney we are fed about “true love” and the pursuant eternal, effortless happiness.

Physics: Now that’s what makes the world go ’round!

Love: It makes the world go ’round; it’s patient and kind; it’s strange; it waits; it is a battlefield; it’s what I got.

I t d o e s n ’ t t a k e m u c h to notice the love-centeredness in our culture. We see in far too many movies the common cultural narrative, “Love is what really counts,” with the implied subtext “…and nothing else.” Not money, not careers, not hopes and dreams, not independence or individual strength. If anything else matters, it is only inasmuch as it is instrumental to getting to love.

And not just any love! The love needed here is a special, romantic, “true” love — a forever, happily-ever-after love that makes everything else shine perfectly.

And while it might be changing, the “love” we idolize is a heterosexual white one, between goodlooking 20- or 30-somethings from well-to-do backgrounds, usually shown from their initial meeting until a fitting conclusion — the kiss in the rain or engagement or wedding. They are the stars of jewelry commercials, the couple in the movie’s final scene, the image of love we are taught from a young age to cheer for, the love that justifies everything else in the story.

Real love isn’t like that. Real life isn’t like that. Relationships don’t stop when the end credits roll after the final kiss. Life is about way more than finding a soul mate and spending the rest of your life with him or her.

Not that romantic, sexy love isn’t great; I am a fan. But it is far from the most important thing in life, and it is certainly not the un- Robert Cobb is a senior computer derlying justification for the rest engineering major. He can be reached of existence. People can be, and at rcobbdbk@gmail.com.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2013 | The Diamondback

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HOROSCOPE STELLA WILDER

orn today, you are always willing to play second or even third fiddle because your contentment rests not with being the most visible or important contributor to an endeavor, but with the act of contributing itself. To take part and lend your talents in any way to a worthy endeavor is never a waste of your time or a challenge to your sense of identity or worth. You are a patient person overall, and you know that if you bide your time and take advantage of opportunities as they arise, you will be able to climb the ladder of success and eventually play a starring role -- if, indeed, that is something to which you aspire in the first place.

You are well-liked and widely admired, and those around you are likely to think you are far more interesting than you do! Indeed, there may be times when you are quite a hot topic of discussion among those who know you even casually -- and this always makes you shake your head in pleasant disbelief.

Also born on this date are: Holly Marie Combs, actress; Daryl Hannah, actress; Julianne Moore, actress; Ozzy Osbourne, rocker; Andy Williams, singer; Bobby Allison, auto racer.

To see what is in store for you tomorrow, find your birthday and read the corresponding paragraph. Let your birthday star be your daily guide.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4 SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- You’ll have something very

good to report to those who are keeping track once the day is done.

Don’t be premature, however!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- You can raise the bar, and others are likely to admire how you are able to get better and better with each passing day.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -It’s a good day to think about new strategies for reaching those who have been resistant either to your ideas or to your natural charms.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -- Those who are younger than you may actually have something valuable to teach you. As a result, you’ll enjoy making a new discovery.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- The outcomes you face may not be congruent with every one of your plans. You’re going to have to adjust your expectations.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- You can enjoy success in most if not all areas, provided you devote yourself to endeavors that are in your sweet spot.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -You’re eager to see what someone else can bring to the table, and

you’re probably going to have to be the one to grant the opportunity.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -You may feel a lack of support as the day opens, but if you can stick it out on your own for a while, you’ll attract the help you need.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- You want to involve others more personally in what is going on with you and around you all day long.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -You may feel as though you have been abandoned in some way, but the truth is, you’re merely overlooking something obvious.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -You’re going to have to do some extra work in order to provide others with the up-to-date information they’ve been asking for.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- What provides you with excitement may not be the best thing for you, but there are compromises you can make, surely.

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Diversions

THE DIAMONDBACK | TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2013

SELFIE DEFENSE

ON THE SITE

Senior staff writer Dean Essner argues that selfies are a uniquely personal mode of self-expression. Meanwhile, The Diamondback’s Elana Dure reviews the new Britney Spears album and Alana Pedalino blogs about ice cream. For more, visit diamondbackonline.com.

ARTISTs OF THE YEAR

2013 was a big year for many big names, but iconic producer Pharrell and Disney-starlet-turned-provocateur Miley Cyrus stood at the top of the pop music industry PHARRELL | MORE THAN “LUCKY”

By Eric Bricker @EricCBricker Senior staff writer In 2013, there are myriad ways to find mainstream pop success.

But it seems there are really only two ways to become the kind of artist whose name is synonymous with a particular year. The easier of the two is to cash in on your Disney princess reputation, play up your sexuality and go for easy shock value, as Miley Cyrus has done (successfully) throughout the year.

But there is another way: You can work. You can grind. You can keep your head down, and you can worm your way into some of the biggest pop hits of the year without even seeming to try.

Miley Cyrus won 2013 with the oldest tricks in the book — she was young and provocative and relevant and white and blonde. Hip-hop crooner and producer Pharrell Williams, on the other hand, ascended to the top of 2013’s pop mountain by being Cyrus’ exact opposite: a 40-year-old dad whose best work seemed to belong firmly to t h e l a te ’ 9 0 s — o n p a p e r, Pharrell

seems closer to Billy Ray than his daughter.

And yet he crushed it this year. There is no more articulate or effective way to phrase it. For seemingly no reason whatsoever, Pharrell became 2013’s most ubiquitous pop presence, and he managed to do so without ever wearing out his welcome.

Miley may be shocking. She may be entertaining. She may even be important. But she’s not cool. We see her scraping and clawing for every tabloid headline, strutting and fretting for every out-there AMA performance spot and straining for every second of Bangerz’s eclectic runtime.

As with Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and all of her dance-pop rivals, when Miley puts on the white leotard she inadvertently calls our attention to all the labor that goes into manufacturing and maintaining pop success in a post-postmodern

photos courtesy of stoneyroads.com and billboard.com

MILEY CYRUS | CAN’T BE STOPPED

media landscape. Pharrell is working in the same field, but he has freed himself of such restrictions. We don’t see him working; we don’t see him sweat. He just needs to arrive in a shiny suit and half-smirk and any party instantly goes from good to great.

Pharrell has made himself ever-present simply by showing up. His is a no-pressure kind of pop stardom, complete with the kind of elder-statesman status that gives him full permission to coast. But rather than lying back and taking it easy, Pharrell used 2013 to re-stake his claim on the Top 40. He took risks, but he stayed backstage.

He played it big, but he kept all of his cards close to his immaculately tailored vest.

Take Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” one of the biggest jams of the summer (regardless of how you feel about its, um, problematic messaging). A producer and backup singer on the track, Pharrell gets to bask in all of its glory (One of the biggest pop hits of the year! Song of the summer!) while distancing himself from its controversies (Trigger words! Antifeminist!). It’s a balancing act that’s tricky to pull off (just ask Miley), but Pharrell managed it.

Besides palling around with Thicke and a cadre of naked models, 2013 found Pharrell turning into an unofficial Daft Punk front man and spinning a killer soundtrack for Despicable Me 2 (“Happy” may actually be the best pop song of the year — but that’s for another column). He made disco seem like it never left.

He repeatedly performed with robots and still managed to b e t h e c o o l e s t person onstage.

Pharrell is pushing the limits of music stardom. ebrickerdbk@gmail.com

By Beena Raghavendran @thebeenster Senior staff writer This year, one woman stands above the rest.

Her name has been whispered and shouted and buzzed about through social media and social interactions. She has co-opted the twerk and the wrecking ball and shoved them both into the limelight. She needs no last name.

She is Miley.

S u re , s h e s ta r te d o u t r i d i n g the coattails of her father’s fame, dropped into a Disney Channel show in which she conveniently played her teenage self for a few years, developing a raspy, twangy singing voice.

She told us to party in the U.S.A. She did a chick flick. And then she dropped off our radar for a few years.

Then, in 2013, she came back bigger than ever before. It was the year of Miley.

Pop culture gives stars only a few chances to redefine themselves. Child stars see the shift between being a kid and being an adult. Most go into it with a bang. Few people, however, do it with the unapologetic energy and commitment of Miley.

Few of us are brave enough to put ourselves out there, to steal the twerk and make it our own, to grind on Robin Thicke at the VMAs. “She knows what you think about her — and she totally doesn’t care,” a Rolling Stone headline from a M iley i n te r v i e w i n the magazine’s October issue reads.

Miley was arguably the most random transformation to happen this year. But she sends an honest message to all 20-somethings: Don’t be afraid to be yourself.

Embrace who you really are.

Because no

matter what the haters say, I think there’s something beautiful about h e r n a ke d v u l n e ra b i l i ty i n t h e “Wrecking Ball” music video and something so pure about her energy among the shenanigans in the “We Can’t Stop” video. There will always be critics. Real art blossoms despite what others say.

Miley has reminded mainstream music this year to put aside norms and experiment outside the lines again. But mostly, she’s reminded society that real art comes from honesty and confidence. She made it OK to be weird again, and some of the year’s most real art — not manufactured, just pure self-expression — has come from her. Well done, Miley. It’s evident in the energy and passion in your work that you’ve left your mark better than anyone else could. braghavendrandbk@gmail.com

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2013 | SPORTS | The Diamondback

LETDOWN From PAGE 8 liked, the Terps played well enough to build a comfortable lead early and keep the game out of reach. So despite his apprehension, the third-year coach got exactly what he wanted out of Friday’s game: a comfortable win and a chance to build his depth.

“It was good to have a game like that and get to play a lot of guys and share the minutes,” said Turgeon, whose team struggled with slow starts to games earlier this season. “It’s all part of our maturation process.”

In hopes of avoiding a letdown, Turgeon gave his team an extra day off last week.

The Terps flew back from the Caribbean on Tuesday and rested Wednesday before a practice Thursday morning, keeping the team fresh.

Turgeon even mentioned that the time off helped Layman have the energy to shoot 7-of-10 from three-point range and score a career-high 27 points.

“Days off are great to rest our legs and stuff like that,” Layman said. “Especially coming off the Virgin Islands — three games in four days.”

The Terps’ spryness was evident early as Layman’s first 3-pointer of the night gave the team a 22-9 edge less than eight minutes into the contest. The quick double-digit lead was a welcome change for the Terps, who were trailing at halftime of their first two games this season and then went into halftime tied with Oregon State.

“I think in games like this, we have shown that we have come out slow and played down a little bit, but we can’t take it like that,” Smotrycz said. “We need to try to hit teams first and be the aggressor, and I thought we started out pretty good.”

The quick start afforded Turgeon the chance to turn to his bench early in the game, which served several purposes.

First, the Terps reserves helped reduce the wear and tear on starters who played major time in the Paradise Jam. Against Morgan State, no Terp played more than 30 minutes.

Second, Turgeon used the drubbing of the Bears to give younger players more experience, which could pay off in coming weeks. Turgeon’s been

review From PAGE 8 three weeks before the season started, when setter Mackenzie Dagostino, who led the team with a 5.90 assists per set average in 2012, transferred to Florida. Her absence triggered a downward spiral at the position. A number of setters were injured in the preseason, leaving walk-on freshman Julia Anderson as the team’s starting option.

“To go from that to a kid who’s never set and a kid who’s a walk-on freshman, that’s tough,” Horsmon said. “Imagine a walk-on freshman quarterback having to play in that league and be expected to win games.”

Anderson’s primary backup for most of the season was converted libero Amy Dion.

And when Anderson fractured her pinky in October, Dion slid into the starting rotation and setter Whitney Craigo, who has less than two years of experience at the position, became the backup.

For all of their problems at setter, the Terps did have a constant presence at libero. Sarah Harper started all 32 of the Terps’ matches, impacting each contest with relentless hustle.

On Nov. 10 the senior recorded the 1,169th dig of her career, becoming the program’s all-time leader in the category on Senior Day. “It was amazing,” Harper said after breaking the record. “It’s definitely going to be one of the moments I remember forever.”

Harper wasn’t the only senior to receive a significant accolade during the season.

On Sept. 27, outside hitter Mary Cushman was honored

7

“WE KNEW IT WAS A CHANCE TO GET BETTER FOR OUR TEAM. HAVING DAMONTE GET MORE MINUTES TONIGHT, A LOT MORE MINUTES, BECAUSE HE MIGHT HAVE TO PLAY A LOT OF MINUTES AGAINST OHIO STATE, IT WAS GOOD FOR US.” JAKE LAYMAN

Terrapins men’s basketball forward pining to let forward Damonte Dodd see the floor for extended time this season because he knows the lanky freshman has potential to make an impact as a shot blocker once he gets more acclimated to the college game.

Dodd got his chance Friday and impressed his teammates and his coach with stiff defensive play in his 13 minutes on the court. He recorded one block and held his own against 7-foot-2 Morgan State center Ian Chiles.

“We knew it was a chance to get better for our team,” Layman said. “Having Damonte get more minutes tonight, a lot more minutes, because he might have to play a lot of minutes against Ohio State, it was good for us.”

D o d d wa s n ’t t h e o n ly reserve who spent significant time on the court Friday.

Guard Roddy Peters scored seven points and dished out six assists, and former walk-on guard Varun Ram played 11 minutes, continuing his trend of impacting games with defensive pressure.

The Terps never let their lead sink into single digits in the second half against the Bears, dodging Turgeon’s concerns of a listless performance. So the Terps can now turn their attention to a trip to Columbus, Ohio, where they’ll have a chance to prove their worth against the consistently dominant Buckeyes.

But the Terps had to avoid a slip-up against Morgan State first, and they had enough focus on Friday to do just that.

“We know the intensity that we need to play with every night,” Layman said after the game. “Tonight, we had it.” akasinitzdbk@gmail.com

for recently recording her 1,100th career kill. Two days later, however, the senior sprained her ankle in a 3-1 loss to Clemson, further hindering a Terps team that was already missing Crutcher.

“I thought this was going to be the culmination of three years for them of really busting their rear ends,” Horsmon said.

“If you were to ask me two weeks before the season started, I would have told you I’d bet the house that we’d be in the NCAA tournament this year.”

Despite a difficult October, the Terps had an opportunity to end the month on a high note, as they traveled to North Carolina for matches against North Carolina and N.C. State. The Tar Heels were ranked No. 14 in the RPI, and the Wolverines were ranked in the top 50. Victories likely would have given the Terps’ ranking a significant boost.

With Crutcher back in the lineup, the Terps took North Carolina to the fifth set but ultimately lost, 3-2. The team appeared dispirited and upset the next day, losing to N.C. State, a team Horsmon said they could have beaten.

The Terps appeared to be ACC contenders in the preseason. They possessed a promising young setter, a dominant outside presence and reliable veteran leadership.

But as the season wore on, each of these elements fell, slowly but steadily contributing to the team’s discouraging decline.

“If some of those things maybe would have gone a little differently,” Horsmon said. “Maybe we would have had a much different season.” jneedelmandbk@gmail.com

HISTORY From PAGE 8 that really helped us continue to push through.”

Craddock was one of the first Terps to experience the similarities between Saturday and a past matchup with the Wolfpack. He hit two field goals from 33 yards — one to cut an early N.C. State lead to 7-3 in the first quarter and another in the second quarter to put the Terps up, 20-7 — which was the exact distance from which he missed in October 2012.

In 2011, a 46-yard touchdown run by running back Davin Meggett gave the Terps their 41-14 lead with 10:50 remaining in the third quarter.

BOWL From PAGE 8 with winning the final games on the schedule. But the implications of finishing the season strong weren’t lost on them.

“I’m going to look at it now, but before, I wasn’t trying to look at it,” wide receiver Nigel King said. “I was trying to focus on this game, so right now, seeing that we won how we did, we might go somewhere better.”

Outside linebacker Matt Robinson said the first thing he would probably do on the flight home from Raleigh, N.C., would be to check out

steffen From PAGE 8 George Kuntz said. “Even the DVDs that we have on that guy don’t give him credit.”

Kuntz said Steffen’s performance Sunday night was as much about the little things as it was about the game-saving stops. The coach told his players before the game to send crosses into the middle in an effort to pull Steffen out of the goal and potentially cause the freshman goalkeeper to slip up — something he struggled with early in the season.

Kuntz’s tactics proved futile, though. Steffen, who made five saves in the match, was assertive and confident on balls in the air for the full 90 minutes, thwarting a number of threatening crosses

Saturday, it was the pass from Brown to Reid, and that came just more than one minute into the second half. And when N.C. State answered immediately with a six-play, 48-yard drive to make the score 41-21, it seemed the Wolfpack could be poised for another epic comeback in Raleigh.

“I didn’t remember the score, but I remember the situation,” Brown said. “I knew we were up big and they started creeping back and we knew that situation. … It definitely flashed through my mind and we weren’t going to be denied. We understood: Protect the ball when you’re out there, just be smart and make sure we don’t kill ourselves with penalties.”

On the sideline, the Terps worked to stay focused and keep the memories of the past two heartbreakers against the Wolfpack out of their minds.

While they wouldn’t name specific players who made their voices heard, the Terps made it clear they weren’t about to let history repeat itself for the third straight year.

“I would say I helped with it. … It really was a team thing,” Monroe said. “You’d just hear one person say it and then the next person comes out of nowhere and says it and it just felt great to see that we were all on the same page and had the same attitude.”

In the end, the defense held the N.C. State offense in the second half. After the Wolf-

pack’s touchdown drive on its first possession, the Terps pitched a shutout despite N.C. State advancing into Terps territory on its final four possessions.

And while the past may have made the game feel closer than it really was, the Terps kept it out of reach to carve a new place in history with Edsall’s first winning season in College Park.

“Just because the crowd wasn’t into it early and then they were into it down the stretch made it seem like they were coming back when, really, they were driving and we were stopping them, but I don’t know,” outside linebacker Matt Robinson said.

“Then we stopped them.”

where the Terps might be headed over the holidays. Robinson is one of only a handful of players left from the 2010 Military Bowl team.

“It definitely feels great knowing that we’re not just going straight back to workouts and starting the offseason right now,” Robinson said. “Still in season, still got a whole other month left. It feels good that we’re going to be playing around the holidays.”

Despite the struggles of clinching bowl eligibility — the Terps lost three straight games after winning their fifth game— being on the cusp for so long never wore on the team.

Though they were relieved and jubilant after beating the Hokies for their sixth win, the Terps said beating a heavily favored opponent on the road late in the season was just as big of a deal.

Edsall has preached the “one game at a time” mantra all season long, and his players have been quick to accept and echo it.

“I just had the whole philosophy of just play, worry about what’s in front of you at the time and everything else will lay out and just be happy and thankful when that time comes to be able to play again,” defensive end Andre Monroe said.

Now, the Terps have a few

weeks off and the chance to play in any of several different scenarios, whether it’s the Military Bowl or some other contest.

The postseason has returned to College Park, and Edsall is intent on reaping the benefits.

“This is huge for us,” Edsall said. “It’s huge for the program. Huge that we’re going to get extra practices for these young guys. It’s like an extra spring practice. But most importantly, it’s for those guys in that room over there because they’re the ones that got it done on the field today.”

from UC Irvine attackers.

“It really settles a team when you have that much confidence in your goalkeeper,” Kuntz said. “If you’re in the backline or midfield and you see guys picking balls out of the air like that, he did a pretty good job.”

Steffen’s development and transition into Division I soccer has not been an easy process, however. Through the first seven games, the freshman sported a 1.81 goalsagainst average, ranking him outside the top 150 goalkeepers in the nation.

Ye t C i r o v s k i n e v e r wavered from Steffen — who won a preseason competition against three older goalkeepers for the starting position — and in the past 16 games of the season, the freshman has allowed just 13 goals, compiled eight shutouts and improved his

goals-against average to a respectable 1.11, which ranks 76th in the country.

Many of Steffen’s early season struggles resulted from his health. The Downingtown, Pa., native took two and a half months off this summer nursing an injury and admitted he was still rusty during the Terps’ opening slate. After Steffen returned to form, though, Cirovski said he started to show signs of improvement with each practice and game.

The freshman pointed to Mullins as a main reason for this growth.

“It’s hard to move up into the college level, and Pat here has taken everybody underneath his wing,” Steffen said. “He’s helped us out a lot. He always is positive, and it always helps us even when we’re playing bad or in the negative times.”

Steffen’s shutout against the No. 12-seed Anteaters propels the No. 5-seed Terps to a quarterfinal matchup at No 4-seed California on Saturday afternoon. The game will be a rematch of the Terps’ 3-2 road loss against the Golden Bears on Sept. 1, which ended when Steffen mishandled a shot in overtime, leading to an easy rebound goal.

This time around, though, Cirovski said California can count on Steffen being at the top of his game.

“We knew we had a special goalkeeper when we recruited him, but he’s an even better person,” Cirovski said. “And because of that character, he’s shown tremendous strides and growth throughout the season to now where I wouldn’t trade him for anyone in the country.”

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2013

MEN’S SOCCER

Steffen stifles Anteaters in victory

By Daniel Popper @danielrpopper Staff writer

GOALKEEPER ZACK STEFFEN recorded his fourth shutout in five postseason games Sunday against UC Irvine in the NCAA tournament third round. The Terps play at California on Saturday. christian jenkins/the diamondback

Ten minutes into the second half of Sunday night’s NCAA tournament third-round match against UC Irvine, the Terrapins men’s soccer team clung to a one-goal lead.

After a sluggish first half on both sides of the ball, the Anteaters emerged from halftime with an aggressive offensive formation and shifted an extra midfielder forward to provide another attacker. Coach Sasho Cirovski said the Terps defense initially struggled to adjust to the change, and the Anteaters almost

capitalized on the strategy on a number of occasions.

Goalkeeper Zack Steffen eagerly awaited the challenge, though.

With 32:33 remaining in regulation, forward Enrique Cardenas collected the ball at the top of the box, but the Terps backline failed to pick him up.

With space in front of him, Cardenas took two touches before connecting on a left-footed bullet that appeared to be on a direct path to the top left corner of the net. Steffen followed it all the way, though, diving and extending his hand at the last second to tip the ball over the crossbar.

“As a goalie, you want to be a fire preventer,” said forward Patrick Mullins,

who scored the match’s lone goal in the 32nd minute. “You want to see what’s going to happen before it does, and I think he puts himself in great positions to make those saves. And obviously, he’s got great athletic ability and reactions to be able to make those saves.”

With just more than four minutes remaining in the match, forward Lester Hayes III broke free from his defender in the box and fired a pointblank header on cage, but Steffen was there again, making a quick reaction save to preserve his fourth shutout in five postseason matches.

“He’s good,” Anteaters coach See STEFFEN, Page 7

FOOTBALL

the rest is history

safety anthony nixon (left) tackles N.C. State quarterback Brandon Mitchell during Saturday’s 41-21 Terps win. Cornerback Isaac Goins (top right) helped shut down the Wolfpack offense, while quarterback C.J. Brown (bottom right) had five touchdowns. alik mcintosh/the diamondback

With memories of 2011 collapse on the mind, Terps hold off N.C. State with stout second-half defense Saturday

By Daniel Gallen @danieljtgallen Senior staff writer

RALEIGH, N.C. — Randy Edsall said he doesn’t remember Nov. 26, 2011. The Terrapins football coach has a short memory, especially when it comes to bad moments on the football field.

When N.C. State erased a 41-14 deficit with 42 straight points for a 56-41 victory, that day certainly qualified as such.

So as running back Albert Reid caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from quarterback C.J. Brown early in the third quarter and the Terps took a 41-14 lead over the Wolfpack on Saturday, Edsall’s mind didn’t wander back to the disastrous ending to his first season in College Park.

While the parallels between Saturday’s game and the game two years ago crept

through the Carter-Finley Stadium press box and through the minds of the fans watching the game, the players made sure to squash those comparisons and move on. This time, they held firm for a 41-21 victory. It wasn’t 2011 anymore, or even 2012, when kicker Brad Craddock clanged a potential game-winning attempt off the left upright at Byrd Stadium with seconds remaining to clinch another loss to the Wolfpack.

“When that came up, maybe once or twice or three times it came up, ‘Man, two years ago’ or ‘Man, last year this happened,’” defensive end Andre Monroe said. “But we said, ‘This is this year. We’re going to make it different.

Stop thinking about the past, and we need to move forward and worry about what’s in front of us right now.’ And I think with that attitude, See HISTORY, Page 7

After earning seventh win at N.C. State, Terps allow themselves to survey postseason possibilities, landscape

By Daniel Gallen @danieljtgallen Senior staff writer

RALEIGH, N.C. — In the days following the Terrapins football team’s sixth win a few weeks ago, players and coaches were measured when discussing the significance of the win.

The Terps’ 27-24 overtime upset at Virginia Tech clinched bowl eligibility for the first time in coach Randy Edsall’s three years in College Park, and it boosted the season’s record to equal the combined win total of his first two seasons.

But while the atmosphere surrounding the program was upbeat, Edsall made it clear he felt there was still much more at stake.

After securing a winning season with a 41-21 win at N.C. State on Saturday, though, Edsall and the Terps finally relaxed and

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Terps avoid letdown in victory over Bears Game at No. 5 Ohio State looms tomorrow

By Aaron Kasinitz @AaronKazreports Senior staff writer Before hosting Morgan State on Friday, coach Mark Turgeon worried that his Terrapins men’s basketball team might overlook the Bears, considering it was the Terps’ first game since claiming the Paradise Jam title in the tropical Virgin Islands four days earlier.

Plus, Turgeon’s players had dug into Thanksgiving meals the night before — forward Evan Smotrycz ate at guard Nick Faust’s home in Baltimore,

while forward Jake Layman visited his uncle in Randallstown. Maybe most concerning to Turgeon was that the Terps’ next game, a visit to No. 5 Ohio State tomorrow, warranted some advanced attention.

But rather than open sluggishly and allow Morgan State to gain some confidence, the Terps shot 62.3 percent from the field en route to a convincing 89-62 victory.

Although Turgeon said his team wasn’t as sharp as he would have See LETDOWN, Page 7

allowed themselves to look ahead to the last week in December when they’ll likely be playing in their first bowl game since 2010.

“Wherever we go, we’re going to be pleased, and we’re going to be happy,” Edsall said. “The thing that I’m so proud of with these guys is we knew that we probably — but there was no guarantee — that we go somewhere with six wins, but I know this, we’ll go somewhere with seven.”

Edsall said he would let Athletic Director Kevin Anderson handle the Terps’ bowl fate — projections from CBS Sports, SB Nation, Sports Illustrated and ESPN all have the Terps playing in the Military Bowl in Annapolis — while he worked on recruiting during the next few weeks.

The players are starting to look ahead, too, after saying they were only concerned See bowl, Page 7

VOLLEYBALL | SEASON IN REVIEW

Unexpected changes Preseason transfer, untimely injuries spoil promising season

By Joshua Needelman @JoshNeedelman Staff writer Ashleigh Crutcher stood behind the end line, preparing to serve to her teammates at a practice in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Sept. 19. With the outside hitter leading the way, the Terrapins volleyball team was 8-1 three weeks into the season.

It was the night before the Terps’ biggest challenge of the early season as then No. 24 Ohio and No. 10 Michigan awaited them the next day.

The Terps had pledged confidence in an array of lofty goals — an ACC Championship and NCAA tourna-

ment appearance among them — and matches against the two powerhouses presented a chance for the team to prove itself.

Crutcher prepared to serve, muscle memory taking over. But as the junior went through the motion, a freak accident occurred. She breathed incorrectly, straining her intercostal muscle, causing her to miss a month of action.

Without the honorable mention AllAmerican on the court, the previously potent Terps sputtered, dropping seven of the next nine contests.

And even by the time Crutcher returned Oct. 18, the damage had been done. The team’s confidence was shaken and despite a promising

opening to the season, the Terps ultimately finished with a 13-19 record, falling short of their objectives.

Crutcher was leading the team with 3.72 kills per set before her injury, and her absence epitomized an issue that plagued the Terps all year long: unexpected change.

“Our sport is such a momentum sport,” coach Tim Horsmon said.

“Our kids were playing confidently at that moment. Even that weekend, we played some good volleyball that weekend. We battled, and it got tougher and tougher.”

The Terps’ first surprise came See review, Page 7