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The Diamondback,TRANSCRIPT
THE DIAMONDBACKTHE DIAMONDBACK
BACK TO WORKAfter preseason injury,Burns contributes to Terpsdown final stretchSPORTS | PAGE 8
GROSS OUTLondon band Yuck
plays in Washingtonfor the first time
DIVERSIONS | PAGE 6
TOMORROW’S WEATHER: Rainy/60s www.diamondbackonline.comINDEX NEWS . . . . . . . . . .2OPINION . . . . . . . .4
FEATURES . . . . . .5CLASSIFIED . . . . .6
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Our 101ST Year, No. 142THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPERThursday, May 5, 2011
BY CHRIS ECKARDSenior staff writer
Forward Jordan Williams, theTerrapin men’s basketball team’sleading scorer and rebounder lastseason, has hired an agent and willremain in the NBA Draft, effectivelyending a productive but short-livedcareer in College Park.
After the sophomore officiallydeclared for the draft March 29,many — including coach Gary
Williams — speculated he wasmerely testing the draft waters andwas intent on returning.
A flurry of reports in the wake ofhis announcement hinted at Williams’eventual exit to the professionalranks, where his future — as well asthe league’s — was far from certain.
Yesterday, the forward made itofficial.
“I feel like now was the bestopportunity for me after workinghard, extremely hard, in the past
month and a half or so,” Williamssaid on Comcast SportsNet lastnight. “I feel I put myself in the bestposition to get drafted at a good areain the draft.”
Team officials didn’t know ofWilliams’ intentions to stay in thedraft until yesterday afternoon.
“We wish Jordan well as he pur-sues his dream of playing in theNBA,” Gary Williams said in a
Williams remains in NBA DraftSophomore forward ends Terrapin career after signing with agent
The loss of Terrapin men’s basketballAll-ACC forward Jordan Williamsstands to have a significant impacton team. FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK see WILLIAMS page 8
Senate: Univ.must acceptself-signedsick notesHealth center mustissue notes on test days
see EXCUSES, page 3
SGA appoints new executive, legislative officialsAppointees discuss goals; three of seven committee positions split up
BY SARAH MEEHANSenior staff writer
A newly inaugurated SGA assumedits first order of business yesterday —stocking its cabinet.
At yesterday’s meeting, leaders ofthe Student Government Associationappointed speakers of the legislatureand cabinet members. They spent thenight testing their hands at debateunder the leadership of new Speaker ofthe Legislature Carson McDonald, wholeft his seat as engineering legislator totake the position.
“I think that my passion for thisschool, my passion for this organizationand the dedication that I’m going toshow would make me a good candi-date,” McDonald said.
He defeated outlying commuter leg-islator Brendan Cusack for the posi-tion in a 19-15 vote.
Other legislators said they felt con-fident in McDonald’s ability to suc-ceed in the position that requires him
to conduct all SGA meetings, mentorlegislators and serve as a bridgebetween the executive board andother group members.
“He understands both sides ofdebate, and he’s incredibly level-headed when it comes to controver-
sial issues,” journalism legislatorMichelle Chan said. “I think he’d be aphenomenal speaker and a greatfriend and leader.”
Next, a rookie versus veteran debate
see APPOINTEES, page 3
Carson McDonald (left) was elected speaker of the legislature. Andrea Marcinwas elected speaker pro tempore. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK
Univ. may decrease how longlicense-plate numbers are keptUniversity Senate suggests change inresponse to student privacy concerns
BY SPENCER ISRAELStaff writer
Those concerned about Big Broth-er watching may have won a smallvictory last night after the UniversitySenate recommended the universitydecrease the amount of time license-plate numbers are stored from a yearto no more than 30 days.
The issue, which was presentedyesterday afternoon to the universi-ty’s most powerful voting body by asenate subcommittee, was born outof student concerns over privacy.
But University Police officials,who noted the change was far fromideal in regard to campus safety,said preserving privacy may meansacrificing security.
Students disapproved of a provi-sion of the Department of Trans-portation Services’ license-platerecognition system, which was imple-mented last semester, that storedtheir information in a database acces-sible to University Police for a year.Yesterday, the senate recommendedthat time period be decreased to nomore than 30 days.
DOTS stopped issuing plasticparking permits last semester, optingfor license-plate scanners to verifywhether cars are parked in their as-signed lots instead. After studentsvoiced their concerns and the Stu-dent Government Association unani-mously voted to limit the amount of
see SENATE, page 2
ADVERTISEMENT
BY YASMEEN ABUTALEBStaff writer
Professors must now accept students’self-signed notes excusing them fromclass at least once per semester due to aUniversity Senate vote yesterday, eventhough ill students have been allowed toprint out such notes for seven years.
After the University Health Centerstopped issuing sick notes for singleabsences in 2004, students have been leftwith the option of missing class unex-cused or attending class while sick. Butafter a senate subcommittee crafted legis-lation to overturn the vote two years ago,members finally saw the policy passedwith a 75 to 4 vote in favor of providingstudents at least one self-excusedabsence as well as health center-issuednotes on test and presentation days.
Many students said this would alleviateworry and provide them with the healingtime they needed.
“I think it’s a good idea, especially forclasses that are attendance-based,” saidsophomore kinesiology major Kesley Cof-sky. “You can feel fine one day and thenwake up the next day feeling lousy. It hap-pens. Everyone needs their day.”
The new policy will require professorsto outline guidelines in their syllabi formedical absences and allow students toprint one note per class from the healthcenter website stating the date and rea-son for absence that professors mustaccept. The policy also states that thehealth center must provide students withan excused note for absences that aremore than seven days, which is alreadyrequired by the university.
Matthew Stamm, who chaired the
The power of learningIndian diplomat says education fuels economy
BY MOLLY MARCOTStaff writer
An Indian diplomat visiting the campusyesterday said her country’s economy is onthe upswing — and education is the drivingforce behind it.
Indian Ambassador to the United StatesMeera Shankar told about 35 students andfaculty members yesterday that within thecoming decades, India will likely emerge asone of the largest economies in the world.But while India’s economic development rap-idly progresses, she said one of the govern-ment’s biggest challenges is securingenough resources to keep up.
Shankar’s 40-minute speech — an eventhosted by the university’s Institute for Inter-national Programs — centered around thereorientation of economic policies in the
southern Asian country to accommodate itsgrowth, which has been most pronouncedwithin the past 10 years.
Part of helping the country grow econom-ically is harnessing the pool of humanresources India has to offer in order to reachits potential. And Shankar said education iscrucial to engaging more of the populationin their economy’s expansion.
That’s where this university comes in,university President Wallace Loh said inhis introduction to the lecture. In keep-ing with his goal of fostering moreglobal partnerships, he announcedthis university will host approxi-mately 30 to 40 vice chancellorsand senior officials from Indian
JEREMY KIM/THE DIAMONDBACK
see SHANKAR page 2
2 THE DIAMONDBACK | NEWS | THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011
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SUMMER DIRECTORY
universities who will be visitingthe United States to participatein a higher education summitthis fall.
Loh also cited this univer-sity’s relationship with India andIndian organizations, specifi-cally the business school’s sus-tainability project with theEnergy and Resources Instituteof New Delhi and the engineer-ing school’s partnerships withthe Indian Institute of Technol-ogy, Mumbai.
“[University partnerships]have become one of the manyconnections which continue tofunction outside what govern-ments can do and which pro-vide the kind of strength to therelationship,” Shankar said afterher speech.
India’s physical infrastruc-ture needs substantial develop-ment to accommodate the rateof growth, with an assessed $1trillion investment needed overthe next decade to build sea-
ports, airports, roads and rail-ways, she said.
“Because our economy isgrowing so fast, our infrastruc-ture growth has not been ableto keep pace with demand,”she said.
Shankar also focused onincluding the entire populationthrough government-sponsoredeconomic programs, such as aprogram guaranteeing 100 daysof work per year in environmen-tal or sustainability-focusedfields for one person from eachlow-income family.
“In terms of ensuring inclu-sive growth, we’ve ... created asocial safety net to reduce vul-nerabilities, particularly in therural economies,” she said.
Shankar also touched uponeconomic relations between theUnited States and India, men-tioning the export of Indianinformation technology serv-ices in exchange for Americanfinancial consulting and educa-tional services.
“Overall, the relationship isbecoming a two-way relationshipwith growth and prosperity on
both sides,” she said. Shankar’s speech was an
installment of the Ambassador-ial Lecture Series program — a10-year-old initiative bringingforeign ambassadors to the uni-versity. Several student atten-dees said the lecture series pro-vides valuable insight into con-temporary issues they may notget the opportunity to learnabout in classes.
“I do think it’s really one ofthe great strengths of our uni-versity, that we’re so close toD.C. and you can have peoplelike this come on a regularbasis,” said junior environmen-tal science and policy majorHilary Staver. “It’s about addingto your general knowledge baseabout the world.”
time the numbers are storedto 30 days, the senate decidedto talk with DOTS and Univer-sity Police officials to findcommon ground.
“It’s a good compromise,”DOTS Director David Allensaid. “We don’t even need [thelicense-plate numbers] for 30days, but the police still do.”
University Police spokesmanCapt. Marc Limansky said thechange wasn’t optimal for hisdepartment.
“If we could keep [license-plate numbers in the system] fora year, it’d be better for investiga-tory purposes,” he said. “Butwe’ll have to live with it.”
Also at yesterday’s meeting,the senate delayed the final draftof the Facilities ManagementMaster Plan because the plan’sdevelopers want more facetimewith the senate.
Because last month’s senatemeeting was canceled due to alack of a quorum — not enough
voting members were present— the body had a full agendayesterday, and Facilities Man-agement Director and actingAssistant Vice President forAdministrative Affairs FrankBrewer had fewer than 10 min-utes to discuss the draft.
The final update to the planwas originally slated to be pre-sented to university PresidentWallace Loh and the Board ofRegents — a 17-person boardthat governs the University Sys-tem of Maryland — in Septem-ber. After presenting the plan’sfirst draft to university officials,the College Park City Counciland the SGA, Brewer said hewanted one more meeting withsenators in the fall before thedepartment goes ahead withthe proposal.
Lisa Delplace, CEO of thedesign firm hired to assistFacilities Management in theplan’s update, said they hopedto receive feedback from sena-tors at the meeting, but timewas too constrained.
SENATEfrom page 1
Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar spoke last night about hercountry’s recent economic growth. JEREMY KIM/THE DIAMONDBACK
SHANKARfrom page 1
ensued, as legislatorsargued who should assumethe role of speaker pro tem-pore. The contest wasbetween Andrea Marcin, amember of this past year’sSGA, and newcomerTokunbo Okulaja.
“When you go to makechange and to make a struc-ture more efficient, youhave to have a basic under-standing of where it was,”Senior Vice PresidentMatthew Popkin said.
Neighboring commuterlegislator Aaron Zaccariadisagreed.
“I don’t think that youneed to be a member of theSGA to have the relevantexperience to succeed inthis job,” he said, noting thatoverall leadership experi-ence and personality aremore important.
In a 19-14 vote, Marcin,the South Campus Com-mons legislator, won thesecond-highest position,which is charged with over-seeing the committee boardand filling in for the speakerin his absence.
Following their appoint-ment, SGA President KaiyiXie presented fresh mem-bers of the cabinet for thelegislature’s approval.
In choosing his cabinet,Xie appointed co-directorsfor three of the seven cabi-net positions. Jimmy Grayand Traci Siegel wereappointed co-directors ofstudent groups; StaciArmezzani and Hafie Yillahwill be co-directors of com-munication; and Rachel
Burke and Michelle Kimwill assume the roles of co-directors of sustainability.
Because the positionsinvolving juggling multipleresponsibilities, Xie said hedecided to appoint co-direc-tors to a role usually filledby only one person.
“When we interviewed,we felt like a lot of the appli-cants were well qualified forthe position, just in differentways,” Xie said. “They won’toverlap each other, they willcompliment each other, sofor a lot of the positions thatwas the goal.”
Other members of thenew cabinet include Chief ofStaff Steven Hershkowitz,Director of GovernmentalAffairs Zach Cohen, Direc-tor of Programming andTraditions Bill Braun andDirector of AdministrativeAffairs Mary Gillis.
Of all of the leadersappointed last night, eightwere veteran SGA membersand five were newcomers.
Because several of thepositions were filled by rep-resentatives initially electedas legislators, the appoint-ments left five legislativepositions open.
Following the appoint-ments, the legislatorsattempted a debate for thefirst time as one body. Theypored over two bills fundingseparate events: a studentleadership conference calledONE UMD and the FirstLook Fair.
The SGA voted to allocateabout $3,000 to ONE UMDand front $15 for each clubparticipating in the FirstLook Fair — which will amount to roughly $5,000.
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011 | NEWS | THE DIAMONDBACK 3
SUMMERDIRECTORY
BY YASMEEN ABUTALEBStaff writer
Officials are speeding up theimplementation of a new gen-eral education plan after theUniversity Senate approved amodification yesterday of thecommittee charged with over-seeing the new plan.
The senate’s CORE Commit-tee, which oversees the soon-to-be-eliminated CORE pro-gram, will no longer be respon-sible for the nuts-and-boltsdetails of the new general edu-cation plan. It will insteadsupervise the remainder of theCORE program and monitorthe replacement program’sprogress from a big-pictureperspective.
The committee, which wasrenamed the General Educa-tion Committee, was previouslyresponsible for reviewing andapproving individual coursesfor the new general educationplan, which has been touted asa progressive and innovativemodel for higher education andwill effectively replace the cur-rent CORE program in fall2012. But members of the com-mittee said its widespreadresponsibilities did not givethem enough time to monitorthe program as a whole. Thenewly named committee will nolonger review individualcourses but will instead beresponsible for ensuring that
the new program follows theguidelines outlined in theimplementation plan, whichwas approved in February andaddresses its broader goals.
“Doing that work left thecommittee with very little timeto look at how the entire pro-gram as a whole was function-ing and whether it was meet-ing the needs of our students,”Associate Dean for GeneralEducation Doug Roberts said.“The committee now hasmuch broader oversight ofhow the general educationprogram is serving our stu-dents. ... It will be looking at itas an entire program.”
Some student senators at themeeting said they were con-cerned about the student repre-sentation on the new committee— despite the reorganization,they will still constitute fewerthan one-fifth of the members.
“How engaged are [stu-dents] on this committee, andhow can we as undergraduatesbe sure their concerns arebeing addressed?” said under-graduate student senator JeffCalderon. “This plan is meantfor undergraduate students, soI feel like this committeeshould ensure that their needsare met by this plan.”
Committee ChairwomanLaura Rosenthal said shecould not include more stu-dents because she did notwant the committee to be too
large. She said all studentneeds will be met regardlessof representation.
Roberts said the work ofreviewing individual courseswill now fall to nine newlyformed faculty boards, whichwill report to the General Edu-cation Committee but will nottechnically be part of the Uni-versity Senate. This will allowthe General Education Commit-tee to take a broader approach.
“There really was no bodythat really looked at things in amore holistic way,” he said.“Instead of looking at this planpiece-by-piece, it was importantthat there be a committee thatlooks at it as a program.”
The delegation to the facultyboards is expected to bring par-ticipation from more parts ofthe university community.
“One of the goals is to havecourses part of General Educa-tion ... come from all over thecampus instead of coming pri-marily from three colleges,”Roberts said, noting mostCORE courses currently comefrom the colleges of arts andhumanities, behavioral andsocial sciences, and computer,mathematical and natural sci-ences. “We’re expectingcourses from everywhere. ...The committee felt it importantthat the membership be fromall the different colleges.”
General ed. plan will progressSenate streamlines committee that oversees curriculum;change will provide broader understanding, officials say
Eric Kasischke, the new chairman of the University Senate, will preside over the body responsiblefor approving changes to the general education plan. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK
committee that devised thelegislation over the past year,said students will not abusethe system, saving their oneabsence for a day they reallyneed it.
“This would give studentsthe ability to excuse them-selves from class withoutoverburdening the healthcenter,” he said. “The way weview it is like sick leave — youcan excuse yourself fromwork for a day or two as longas you don’t abuse it. As longas we give this to studentsonce a semester, they’ll use itresponsibly and not exposeother students to whateverthey have.”
Before 2004, the healthcenter issued notes grantingstudents permission to missa single class. Officials saidstudents abused this policyand would ask for notes sim-ply to get out of class; thehealth center employees
ended up spending nearly aquarter of their time writingsuch excuses.
And while health centerofficials said they are antici-pating an increase in the num-ber of requests for sick notesbecause they are required toissue notes for absences ontest and presentation days,they will comply with thepassed legislation.
“We’re one step closer tomaking a sort of more con-certed effort on behalf of theuniversity to treat our stu-dents like adults,” health cen-ter Director Sacared Bodisonsaid. “I think we will try to doour part and make sure thatwe follow the new policy.”
Many senators threwtheir support behind theupdated measure at yester-day’s meeting and said theytrust students to adhere tothe honor code.
“We’re teaching theseyoung students to be adults inthe workforce, and as adults,we need to regulate ourselvesto say, ‘I’m tired, and I needone day to rest,’” said senator
Gloria Coates, a staff mem-ber. “I have a daughter who isof college age, and she had acold, and if she had taken theone day rest, then it would nothave escalated, so I think thisis a wonderful policy.”
However, other senatorssaid they were afraid studentswould abuse the right to issuea self-signed note.
“My concern is that thiscould be negative on a bit of abigger scale as far as under-age drinking goes,” said stu-dent senator Vas Blago-darskiy. “If you’re hungoverand don’t want to go to class,this gives students a way out.”
Supporters said studentsare still accountable for mak-ing up the work.
“I think we should be heldresponsible to take our ownsick leaves,” said AlexMiletich, an undergraduatestudent senator. “We’re stillmissing material, we’re goingto have to catch up, so therearen’t reasons to skip a classjust because.”
EXCUSESfrom page 1
The SGA’s incoming Speaker of the Legislature CarsonMcDonald accepts the gavel from his predecessor,Kevin Ford (right). CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK
APPOINTEESfrom page 1
While a summer dreampaints tomorrow’s hori-zon, today we preparefor the annual flood of
responsibilities. A frantic air hasgripped the campus’s side. Men andwomen rush about these halls.Rumor has it a tidal wave of Scant-rons is swiftly approaching! Our fateis all but delivered. Soon we will beburied beneath a barrage of paperand pencils. Now, our actions moveto align with the turn of the clock.
Today’s student lives a hurriedexistence. He or she is led to risefrom bed not for a duty to mankindbut for the faithful execution of adaily ritual. It is a ritual marked byits tedium. The student senses apressing urgency to recite, to per-form and to succeed. With perfectclockwork every deadline is met.And as long as the inventory isaccounted for, there is neither worrynor reason for second thought. Aman might think to himself, “I havedone everything required of me. I
have performed due diligence inreviewing my checklist not once, nottwice but three times more. Surely,the day will arrive when I will reapthe fruits of my labor — a job, a cor-ner office or even a pin-striped suit!”And in his head he will truly believehe has succeeded. Yet withoutknowledge of self, he will have failedto live.
What defines the Americanscholar? Today’s student has a fan-tastic inclination for meeting thebare minimum. A student is morelikely motivated by a fear of failurethan a desire to improve his own lot.The emphasis is placed on graduat-ing and not, unfortunately, learning.I cannot blame the student when the
system is designed accordingly.Lecture halls are packed to the
brim not because of students’ infatu-ation with the subject matter butbecause of universities’ love of num-bers. When a university places thequota of seats before students’needs, it marginalizes the product itprovides. When an institutiontrumps its rankings over the sub-stance of the content that is taught,that institution has lost sight of itself.
Colleges were erected as templesof knowledge. It was never intendedthat a singular doctrine be wor-shiped or one ritual promulgatedabout the masses. A student needsboth his mind and soul to beactively engaged. I know a greatnumber of students who feel theyare just that — one of a number ofstudents. This cannot be the trueaim of education.
These same lecture halls are toooften occupied by a senseless mass— students who passively regurgi-tate and attend the ritual. If a student
is merely here, so that in proper timehe may sport a cap and gown, he isdelaying the inevitable. A safe returnto the nest all but awaits him. A stick-ered college window is not the markof a person’s character. Nor will adiploma glorify one’s cause. If onehas no stake in his or her education,then what is the former but a pieceof paper?
I have no doubt many are herebecause they hate ignorance andhave a love and thirst for knowledge.Yet I cringe over the person whosimply signs off on a blank check. Isay cash your checks in full! We can-not hope to gain anything from edu-cation if we fail to keep our side ofthe bargain. Education is not themark of a superior intellect. Knowl-edge of one’s self is the true barome-ter of wisdom. Everything else fallsinto place accordingly.
Steven Spinello is a junior economicsmajor. He can be reached [email protected].
0pinion 3150 SOUTH CAMPUS DINING HALL | COLLEGE PARK, MD 20742
[email protected] | [email protected]
Unlike most of my under-graduate cohorts, I wasin high school on Sept.11, 2001. I remember sit-
ting in class watching the horrorunfold on television, and I recallthinking the world had changed for-ever. Later I joined the army andspent many months overseas onmissions best described to othersas “counterterrorism.” On Sundaynight, I was on an airplane when Ilearned of Osama bin Laden’sdeath. When the captain informedthe passengers the face of terrorismhad met his maker, the cabinerupted in a brief volley of clappingand cheering.
When we landed, a lone televi-sion in the quiet terminal wasbroadcasting President BarackObama’s address. Passengers stoodthere, frozen, listening to our presi-dent as the glow of the televisionbounced off their faces. While wait-ing at the luggage terminal, Ilearned through Facebook andTwitter that people were celebrat-
ing on the streets of Washingtonand downtown College Park. I wenthome though, because it had been along day, and I was tired. I wasn’tsure why, but the hullabaloo mademe sort of uncomfortable.
So that night I lay in bed, trying torestore order to my brain. I wasn’thappy so much as grateful — notthat bin Laden was dead per se, butthat he was over. How he died oreven whether he died seemed unim-portant. For 10 years, I thought, wehad been swinging at that stupidpiñata, and we finally hit it. But alongthe way we destroyed just abouteverything else in the room. In those10 years, we’ve lost about 6,000 serv-ice members. We’ve spent about atrillion dollars. We’ve overlookedour own human rights standards inthe name of justice.
Now is not the time to dance inthe streets, but I understand whypeople did it. To me there’s a dis-tinct generational line that was cre-ated on 9/11. Undergraduates atthis university were generally
between the ages of 8 and 12 on thatday, and while they certainly havememories preceding 9/11, thememories are of their lives, not lifein general. Children are by natureself-centered and unable to reallyunderstand anything beyond theirown lives, so anyone who was still achild on 9/11 doesn’t really knowthe world as it was before that day.
As we all know, the post-9/11world is one of body scanners andcasualties, Ground Zero and threatlevels. The people partying outsidethe White House never knew theinnocence of a time when our coun-try was riding the dot-com wave ofeconomic and military invincibility.So they danced. They waved flagsand sang songs about America as
they celebrated the death of a manwho stole a part of their childhood. Ithink that’s fair.
“Tis better to have loved and lostthan never to have loved at all,”Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote. Thoseof us who had grown up before 9/11have the advantage of knowing whatwe lost on that fateful day. We knowthat now is a time not for jubilation,but for solace. I’m reminded of aquiet song by Norah Jones, “TheLong Day Is Over,” which deals withthe mélange of emotions at the endof a long day. Her smoky voice elic-its the final glowing embers found ina peaceful pre-dawn fire as shesings: “Feeling tired/ By the fire/The long day is over.”
This day is indeed over but, asalways, the end of one day is thebeginning of another. It too will betaxing and arduous. I hope the revel-ers are prepared.
Christopher Haxel is a junior Englishmajor. He can be reached [email protected].
YOUR INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARKPHONE: (301) 314-8200 | FAX: (301) 314-8358
THE DIAMONDBACK LAUREN REDDINGEDITOR IN CHIEF
JUSTIN SNOWOPINION EDITOR
KEVIN TERVALAOPINION EDITOR
Higher education: Got knowledge?
They can be seen zipping through traffic and on sidewalks, dodgingpedestrians and other motorists. Scooters and bicycles are asmuch a part of this 1,250-acre campus as tailgates and Testudo.After several students — including Terrapin football players Pete
DeSouza and Dexter McDougle — were injured last semester in on-cam-pus crashes while riding motorized scooters or bicycles without helmets,the issue of student safety was suddenly thrust into the spotlight.
For years, university of ficials had been concerned about the issue,specifically as it related to helmet use (or lack thereof), but little concreteaction had been taken. Indeed, according to Darryl Conway, thespokesman for the athletics department, when stu-dent-athletes first started to ride motorized scooters in2005, of ficials were concerned about their failure towear helmets. But outside of recommending helmetuse, there was little that could be done because thedepartment lacks the authority to mandate studentstake such precautions.
But last semester’s accidents have served as a wake-up call for university of ficials and student leaders,who, since the beginning of the year, have taken theinitial steps toward increasing scooter and bicyclesafety on the campus.
After replacing Ralph Friedgen, Terp football coachRandy Edsall, for instance, in January banned the use of motorized scoot-ers for all football players. The University Senate’s Campus Affairs Com-mittee began to publicly study the feasibility of mandating that all bikeriders wear a helmet, holding a forum on the issue in February. And theResidence Hall Association voted 27 to 5 on Tuesday to pass a resolutionsupporting a university-wide helmet requirement for all motorizedscooter riders.
And while it is a sad statement on the culture of this university that ittook several serious accidents to force students to take notice and univer-
sity officials to take action, the steps that have been taken in recent monthsare a positive first step toward enhancing the safety of all members of theuniversity community.
After all, with scooter and bicycle riders sharing the campus with thou-sands of students and hundreds of cars, helmets are a necessity and apotential lifesaving measure that should be mandated for all those individu-als who choose to ride a scooter, bicycle or motorcycle on this campus.
Some students, such as sophomore letters and sciences major ChristyGoldmann, a member of the women’s track and field team, have stated that“it’s just more of a hassle to bring [helmets] to class.” But the safety bene-
fits of mandating their use far outweigh the devices’inconvenience. Indeed, according to the WorldHealth Organization, wearing a helmet has beenshown not only to decrease the risk of death in a traf-fic-road accident by almost 40 percent, but also tohelp significantly reduce health-care costs followingsuch an accident.
Although state law requires motorcyclists to wearhelmets at all times, it does not do so for riders ofbicycles or motorized scooters that primarily operateat a speed of under 35 miles per hour. Only individu-als under the age of 16 are required by law to wearhelmets if they operate the aforementioned vehicles.
Through mandating that all individuals — whether they ride a bicycle,scooter or motorcycle — wear a helmet on the campus, this universitycould significantly increase the safety of its students and help minimizepotential injuries from accidents.
While enacting such a policy will no doubt require the collaboration ofvarious university departments and voting bodies, we hope the universitycommunity can work through the bureaucracy to emerge with a plan thatcan help keep individuals safe. Let’s not wait for another tragic accident totake action.
Staff editorial
Our ViewThe university community
must work to once and for all enforce an
on-campus helmet policy to ensure the safety
of students.
9/11: The generational gap
The April 28 staff editorial, “Aneeded transformation,”did not make an adequatecase for the necessity of any
of the changes that it proposed, a traitit shares with the April 26 article(which seemed inappropriatelyplaced outside of the opinion section),“Finding a place of their own.”
The April 26 article quoted stu-dents arguing that special considera-tion is required to make sure trans-gender individuals are not made toshare rooms with “intolerant room-mates.” However, the article pre-sented no examples of intolerance,just an interview in which a transgen-der student expressed feelings of dis-comfort living in dorms. The studentstated, “My first roommate was finewith it, but I was not comfortable onmy floor at all.”
Does this mean a person’s hous-ing assignment should depend onwhether that person uses feminineor masculine pronouns to refer tosomeone who is biologically one sexbut practices behaviors culturallyreserved for the other? Or a person’swillingness to consider female amale dressed in clothing typicallyworn by women, or vice versa? Thisis an unreasonable requirement forroom assignments.
If, on the other hand, that meanspairing transgender students withroommates who will not harass themabout their identities or behaviors,then this does not require anythingbeyond policies already in placeagainst harassment. It seems unrea-sonable to assume any student is morelikely to face inappropriate behaviorfrom someone who is not lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender than fromsomeone who is, and that’s why segre-gation proposed is a problem.
The April 28 editorial went muchfurther, advocating the constructionof private bathrooms in every univer-sity building and calling the lack ofthese facilities and special housingaccommodations “unsafe.” The edito-rial gives no examples or other evi-dence that this situation places mem-bers of the university community atrisk of suffering from any injury what-soever and instead cites students’ feel-ings of discomfort in using the samefacilities that everybody else uses.The editorial board makes a down-right offensive attempt to link vaguelydefined “trans-phobic” feelings andpolicies with an assault at a McDon-ald’s in Baltimore County — an eventthat certainly has nothing to do withthis university.
To warrant the enormous expensethat would be required to install pri-vate bathrooms in every universitybuilding, I believe the burden fallsupon the editorial board to show thatthese feelings of discomfort aresomething more than paranoia expe-rienced on the part of some transgen-der individuals and also that suchproblems are separate from the gen-eral presence of violence at this uni-versity and in College Park.
Because sexual assault and harass-ment are actual problems at this andother universities, it is certainly rea-sonable for women not to want men intheir restrooms, just as it is reason-able for a woman not to want a maleroommate, regardless of whetherthat biological male identifies as aman or a woman (sexual orientationis generally separate from genderidentity). And I don’t see why it is theresponsibility of taxpayers and tuition-payers to build hundreds of privatebathrooms to alleviate the discomfortfaced by a very small subset of people,rather than it being the responsibilityof these people to either overcomethis preoccupation or use the existingprivate restrooms.
Michael Kossin is a sophomorephysics major. He can be reached [email protected].
Enforcing common sense
THE DIAMONDBACK | THURSDAY, MAY 5, 20114
Guest column
PPOOLLIICCYY:: Signed letters, columns and cartoons represent the opinions of the authors. The staff editorial represents the opinion of The Diamondback’s editorial board and is the responsibility of the editor in chief.
An unreal
proposal
HHAAXXEELLCCHHRRIISSTTOOPPHHEERR
Address your letters orguest columns to the OpinionDesk at [email protected] letters and guest columnsmust be signed. Include yourfull name, year, major and day-and night-time phone num-bers. Please limit letters to 250words and guest columns tobetween 550 and 600 words.Submission of a letter or guestcolumn constitutes an exclu-sive, worldwide, transferablelicense to The Diamondback ofthe copyright of the material inany media. The Diamondbackretains the right to edit submis-sions for content and length.
AIR YOUR VIEWS
SSPPIINNEELLLLOOSSTTEEVVEENN
Editorial cartoon: Kevin Brooks
ALEX KNOBELMANAGING EDITOR
MIKE KINGDEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR
Born today, you are knownfor being more frank, moreforthright and more free
and honest in your dealings withothers than most other people,and this can surely prove astrength in both work and play.But it can also be a liability whenyou find yourself saying anddoing things that are premature,ill-advised or simply unwise giventhe circumstances. It’s importantfor you, always, to think throughthe possible effects of your wordsor actions, and to acknowledgethat the impact you may have onothers may outweigh the immedi-ate rewards enjoyed as a result ofsaying or doing what pops intoyour mind.
When you are young, you maybe seen as the type to pursue cer-tain endeavors. But as you growand develop, you’re likely to movein directions that take everyone— even yourself, possibly — verymuch by surprise. The course youfollow will be one of your ownmaking, surely.
Also born on this date are TinaYothers, actress; Tammy Wynette,singer; Pat Carroll, actress; Ann B.Davis, actress; Tyrone Power,actor; Karl Marx, author and polit-ical philosopher.
To see what is in store for youtomorrow, find your birthday andread the corresponding para-graph. Let your birthday star beyour daily guide.
FRIDAY, MAY 6
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) —You’re going to want to spendsome time doing a little some-thing special for yourself in andaround the home.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — Ifit’s privacy you want, it’s priva-cy you can have — but first youmust dispense with one nag-
ging bit of public business.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) —The more demanding you be-come, the more likely you are tobe disappointed when all is saidand done. Negotiate more gen-tly.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — It’s im-portant that you reach at leastone of your preliminary goals;without that sort of measurableprogress, frustration sets in.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Youmay be trying to decide whichdirection to go once a currentproject has come to a satisfacto-ry conclusion. Many optionsare viable.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Youmay have to change your plansdue to environmental forces. Inother words, the weather maycramp your style at this time.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) —Someone who has known youonly a short time is likely toidentify certain key motiva-tions that may surprise evenyou.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)— You may feel unusual pres-
sure from the right and the left— and you won’t be able tomake everyone happy with anyfinal decision.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) —Your own creativity is achingfor release; take advantage ofan opportunity that comes toyou as a result of unexpectedchanges.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) —Stay focused, and keep yourhead in the game; let yourselfbe swayed by an attractive dis-traction and you may be quitesorry.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) —You may be the source of muchgood fortune for those whochoose to remain in your com-pany. It’s only part luck, howev-er.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) —Things may evolve more quick-ly than expected, and you’llhave to keep your wits togetherand be on your toes morning,noon and night.
Copyright 2011United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
ACROSS1 Engrossed5 Dusting powder9 Big party nights13 Dormant15 Have poison ivy16 Relax17 Ginza locale18 Ore deposit19 Horrid-tasting20 Flight dir.21 Part of an orange23 Enhanced
the flavor25 Toy on a string26 Picked27 Indy participant30 Carioca’s home31 Pseudonym32 Five-gallon
container (2 wds.)37 Mountainous st.38 Think alike40 Jot41 Comes by43 — -ski wear44 Oz. or lb.45 Rabbit ears47 Some August kids50 Greenhouse
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appearance
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in spying52 Letter encl.53 Ibsen woman
54 Wife of Osiris55 For fear that58 Upsilon preceder60 Dinny’s rider
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PREVIEW | YUCK
BY REESE HIGGINS
Senior staff writer
For Yuck, a London-based four-piece, rising to indie-rock stardomdoesn’t come with any breaks. Theband has learned this the hard way,trudging through visa troubles and amassive snowstorm — just to make itsfirst United States performance inNew York earlier this year.
Guitarist Max Bloom has been sickwith a cold this week, and despitefeeling very ill, the young axe-manhas performed every night withYuck, which will bring its noisy,melodic rock to the Black Cat inWashington tomorrow.
“The worst part was in Toronto,”Bloom said. “I was feeling ridiculousdrunk from feeling ill almost. I [had]to concentrate really hard to makesure that I [sounded] all right. … Itturned out okay in the end because Iwas concentrating really hard, but itwas horrible feeling so shit on stage,but it was all right; I just kind of gotthrough it.”
Canceling a show, or simply beingabsent from the stage for a night, isnot an option.
“Definitely not,” Bloom said. “Theonly way I would not play is if I brokemy hand — if I was like physicallyincapable of doing it. If I felt a little bitbad then that’s just a bit stupid.”
Despite the pressures of critical
praise and new fan attention, thestruggles are worth it, according toBloom. With the group’s debut, self-titled album released in February,Yuck is still new to the large, sold-outconcert halls the band has been play-ing on its tour with headliner TameImpala. The opportunity to tour in theU.S. is a much-appreciated joy.
“It’s incredible to be playing infront of so many people, and you dokind of forget about that once you’reup there,” Bloom said. “But it’snever going to be a chore; it’llalways be I’m extremely gratefulthat I’m able to come to a dif ferentcountry and play for so many peo-ple. It’s incredible.”
Although the group hadn’t touredin the U.S. before crafting its splen-did songs, it’s clear the band mem-bers have had their ears tuned to theunderground American rock sceneof the past few decades. The band’sclassic indie-rock sound has gar-nered innumerable comparisons tothe music made popular by DinosaurJr. and Pavement in the 1990s. Thecomparisons aren’t off base forYuck. The group’s debut full-lengthis full of distorted guitars and fuzzy,summertime melodies.
Having toured extensively over thelast year, the relatively young band hasbenefited greatly from the time on theroad. Whether it be locking in to agroove with his bandmates or getting
past any stage fright, Bloom says tour-ing has been helpful.
“More than anything, touring givesthe band the chance to be more cre-ative on stage,” he said. “Once you getpast the anxiety of people looking atyou because you’re up there on thestage — which is something reallyweird and not many people are used to— once you’re sort of more comfort-able you can experiment more. Youget really tight as a band, and you canjust experiment more with what you’redoing and play around with stuff.Touring is basically for putting on thebest shows possible.”
Even though the group has earned
praised from massive media outletssuch as Rolling Stone and tastemak-ers including Pitchfork, the acco-lades haven’t gone to the members’heads. Bloom and lead singer DanielBlumberg began Yuck out of an urgeto write music. The good fortune thathas come with the band’s qualitysongwriting has just been icing onthe cake.
“There was no, like, motivation. Itwas just making music,” Bloom said ofYuck’s late-2009 start. “Me and Danielwanted to make music. I wasn’t doinganything, Daniel was sort of not doinganything. ... I was just living with myparents. So Daniel and I just spent
every day together and wrote loads ofsongs, and I recorded songs all day,every day. It was really fun. We just didit because for the joy of writing thesong and nothing more really. At thebeginning, our dream [was of] playinga gig, and so eventually we got [drum-mer Jonny Rogoff and bassist MarikoDoi] involved in rehearsing. And thentook it in stages, I guess.”
At this rate, the stages Yuck takeswill only get bigger.
Yuck will play at the Black Cattomorrow. Doors open at 9 p.m. Theshow is sold out.
London indie-rock band Yuck’s debut album is full of fuzzy guitars and memorable melodies. PHOTO COURTESY OF YUCK
SO SICKYuck fights setbacks to succeed
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK 7
SUMMERDIRECTORY
said. “She’s an energizer. It’sgood to have her because she’sloud and she can get everyonepumped up.”
“I’m really just hoping tobring them up,” Acosta said.“I’m just being myself, I guess Icould say. I’m hoping they justfollow and get as excited andloud as I am.”
While the rest of the Terps(37-14) follow Acosta’s lead onthe field, they also follow her at
the plate, where she fills therole of sparkplug at the top ofthe order. At Acosta’s positionin center field, coach LauraWatten said, she can see all andbe heard by all.
“When we’re quiet on thefield, it causes us to maybe notbe ready in situations,” Wattensaid. “We really press them alot to be vocal and talking allthe time so we can communi-cate about situations.”
Acosta, who is batting .282with one home run and 15 RBI,said she can’t remember notplaying the game in the same
outspoken manner she doesevery day.
“I guess it kind of just hit mewhen I was in high school,”Acosta said. “There had been agame where I had gotten sodown and the team had gotten soquiet. My high school coach justkind of pulled me aside and waslike, ‘Sara, I don’t think you real-ize the impact you make.’ CoachWatten has brought it to myattention, too. If I’m down, it kindof feels like the rest of the teamaround me is down, so I just gotto stay positive and stay upthrough everything. That is my
personality, and it’s not normalfor me to be quiet or be down.”
In Acosta’s two years on theteam, Watten said she’s noticed atelltale sign for when thingsaren’t going well: silence fromAcosta. As she’s become one ofthe Terps’ leaders, her chirpynature has handed her whatamounts to another on-fieldresponsibility. Watten said Acostaisn’t doing her job if she’s notkeeping the Terps on their toes.
“Every team has vocal lead-ers,” Watten said. “There isn’t ateam out there that has 20absolutely, totally loud vocal
leaders. You’re going to have afew that are going to lead thatarea of the game.”
That the sophomore fromAnaheim, Calif., is now one ofthe Terps’ most vocal anddynamic characters is a sur-prise given her other athleticpursuit. During her four yearsat Loara High School, Acostagarnered most valuable playerhonors four times on theschool’s golf team — a sportnot exactly known for its color-ful personalities.
“My math teacher was ourgolf coach in high school and
had asked me to come out,”Acosta said. “It’s a lot dif fer-ent for me. It’s kind of like aquiet sport. [You] keep toyourself. I play softball with alot of emotion.”
And while that might notalways please the umpires whoat times have to endure herjeers, it suits the Terps just fine.After all, as long as Acosta’stalking in a game, the Terpsprobably have a shot at a win.
“That’s just who I am,” Acostasaid. “That’s just how I am.”
ACOSTAfrom page 8
BY JEREMY SCHNEIDERStaff writer
Curtis Lazar and the Terrapin base-ball team weren’t worried. Even as Lazarwatched the Terps’ one-run lead overTowson evaporate in the bottom of theeighth inning, little could sway the firstbaseman’s optimism.
“So what? It didn’t really matter,”Lazar said. “We were confident that wecould get the job done and that we weregoing to take care of business.”
But as Lazar and the Terps walked offthe field at Schuerholz Park last night,that same self-assurance had beenreplaced by the sullen realities ofanother loss. Tiger first baseman AustinHarclerode’s walk-off solo home run inthe bottom of the 11th inning clinched a3-2 victory and a sweep of the Terps inthe home-and-home series.
A day after the Terps’ pitching staff letthe game get out of hand in an eventual10-6 loss in College Park, they domi-nated the Tigers, allowing only one runthrough seven innings. Left fielder KyleConvissar’s two-RBI single in the fourthgave the Terps a 2-0 lead that Towsoncut to 2-1 in the same frame.
But the offense didn’t strike again forthe rest of the day, held scorelessthrough the final seven innings.
“Any time the other team scores tworuns though 10 innings, then I’d say thepitching did its job for sure,” coach ErikBakich said. “Certainly, we pitched wellenough to win the ballgame, but we justdidn’t do enough offensively.”
The Terps (20-29) outhit Towson 9-7,but they couldn’t deliver when needed,stranding 10 runners on base in a fourthstraight loss.
“We didn’t get the timely hits, the two-out hits with runners on base that couldhave blown the game open,” Bakichsaid. “We had opportunities to get thatbig, clutch two-out hit — just didn’t capi-talize on it. In a game like today, whereit’s a midweek game and it’s a low-scor-
ing game and you got a chance to blow itopen, sometimes you got to find a way toput pressure on the defense and makethat happen.”
Towson, meanwhile, made the mostof its opportunities. An error by Terpthird baseman Tomo Delp extended theeighth inning, and the Tigers tookadvantage of their new life to score thetying run.
The Terps had to stave off the Tigers(22-21-1) in the bottom of the ninth, withConvissar throwing out Tiger secondbaseman Pat Fitzgerald at the plate tosend the game into extra innings.
But the outfield assist only delayedTowson’s eventual celebration.
Facing Terp closer Korey Wacker inthe bottom of the 11th, Harclerodelaunched the first pitch of the inning justover the left-field fence.
Bakich didn’t fault Wacker afterward,instead rueing the uneven output fromthe Terps at the plate and on the rubberover the past two games and throughoutthe season as a whole.
“We’ve got to get firing on all cylin-ders. There are games that we hit welland don’t pitch well or pitch well anddon’t hit well,” Bakich said. “We’ve got tomatch up those positives so we can havea chance to come out on the right side ofthe scoreboard.”
While the game was much closer thanTuesday’s four-run defeat, it was stillanother loss in a season already filledwith them. The fact that the Terpspitched well yesterday and came withinonly a few outs of a victory hardlyappeased Bakich.
“It’s not a positive. You can play welland lose, and when you play well andlose, that’s going to happen. But that’snot the case here,” Bakich said. “I’m notsaying we’re playing terrible baseballright now, but I’m certainly not going tocontinue the thought that, ‘Well, we did-n’t get blown out, so it’s not that bad.’”
BBAASSEEBBAALLLL
Tigers’ walk-off solo home runclinches 3-2 win, series sweep
ACC Tournament, takes pride in.“That’s my favorite thing to do,”
said Burns, who has picked up 12groundballs and forced fiveturnovers this season. “It’s prettymuch the equivalent to an offensiveguy scoring a goal. Clearing the ballout and pushing transition is big.”
Burns’ recent resurgence haslong been in the making. After run-ning with the team’s first midfieldline for much of 2010, he entered thisseason with a nagging back injuryand didn’t see the field until theTerps’ eighth game of the yearagainst North Carolina on March 26.
“To have him back, being at fullstrength, it really showed,” coachJohn Tillman said. “He was sensa-tional on the faceoff wings, ground-balls, midfield defense and clearing.He’s a pivotal guy for us.”
Burns has rounded out his over-all game this season, becoming theteam’s top short-stick defensivemidfielder, and he believes his jour-ney back from injury has made hima better player.
“It’s been a really long road hav-
ing to sit out that long, especiallybecause it’s my senior year,” Burnssaid. “During rehab, I was reallymotivated knowing I would missgames in my last year. I feel like Icame back faster and stronger thanI was before.”
TERPS’ TIME OFF
After playing 13 games in nineweeks, the Terps finally receivedsome much-needed time off lastweekend with a bye week.
Following a stretch of two gamesin three days last weekend en routeto their first ACC Championshipsince 2005, the Terps used the breakto rest and catch up on schoolwork.
“It’s nice to get our legs back andjust have some time off and relax,”midfielder Kevin Cooper said. “Weget to hang out and be a regular stu-dent for a couple days, which is nice.”
The Terps took Monday, Tues-day and Friday last week off, and,without an opponent to preparefor, focused on individual work inshortened practices Wednesdayand Thursday.
“The main thing of the bye weekis not worrying about any of theteams and worrying about us,”
Burns said. “We’ve got to stay hum-ble after a big ACC win.”
The team ran a clinic for the inner-city program Charm City YouthLacrosse on Saturday before holdingan intrasquad scrimmage and fullyreturning to practice Monday.
CHAMPIONSHIP MINDSET
Despite their obvious excitementin claiming an ACC Championship,the Terps have seemingly alreadymoved on from their title run.
The team realizes its larger goal— a spot in the Final Four and achance to play for the nationalchampionship — looms on the hori-zon with the NCAA Tournament setto begin May 14. Complacency, theTerps said, is not an issue.
“Our guys, because we’re a sen-ior-laden group, they realize theirtime is short,” Tillman said. “Wewere able to achieve one of ourgoals. Now, it’s, ‘OK, let’s continueto get better and see if we canachieve our next goal.’ It’s going tobe difficult, but that’s why you comehere. Those are the goals of the pro-gram every year.”
NOTEBOOKfrom page 8
A win at Duke on April 24 was attackman Ryan Young and the Terps’ last game. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK
RoommatesCan’t live with ‘em, can’t afford to live without ‘em.
Diamondback ClassifiedsIn Print / Online — One Low Price
3136 South Campus Dining Hall301.314.8000 www.diamondbackonline.com
8 THE DIAMONDBACK | THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011
SportsTennis receives new honor
Two Terrapin women’s tennis team members willparticipate in the individual national championshipslater this month. Read more at TerrapinTrail.com.
BY DANIEL GALLENStaff writer
In an April 19 game againstBinghamton, Terrapin softballpitcher Kerry Hickey delivereda two-strike pitch that appearedto graze the outside corner fora called strike three.
Umpire Kerry Joseph, how-ever, saw things differently.Instead of pumping his fist topunctuate an inning-endingstrikeout, Joseph quietly calleda ball.
As the crowd at Robert E.Taylor Stadium let out a lowgroan, a sound pierced the air
from center field.“Oh, my God!” the voice
exclaimed before trailing off.The Terps didn’t even have
to look up to know its origin:outfielder Sara Acosta.
Moments like those havecome to help define Acosta’splace on the best Terrapin soft-ball team in more than a decade.As the voice of the team, the out-fielder is charged with keepingthe team alert, motivated andfocused on the field.
“She gets people going,” fel-low outfielder Vangie Galindo
SSOOFFTTBBAALLLL
statement yesterday.The Torrington, Conn.,
native set a program recordwith 25 double-doubles thisseason, averaging 16.9 pointsand 11.8 rebounds a game andgarnering first-team All-ACCand honorable mention All-America honors.
Williams has signed withAndy Miller of ASM Sports,according to a WashingtonPost report. Miller’s clienteleincludes such establishedstars as Boston Celtics for-ward Kevin Garnett and NewYork Knicks guard ChaunceyBillups.
“It definitely was a toughdecision,” Williams said lastnight. “People are going tospeculate ... but I didn’t com-pletely stop going to class oranything like that.”
Williams’ sole focus will nowbe the June 23 NBA Draft, inwhich his standing has improveddramatically since he first filedhis paperwork to declare.
The decisions of severalhighly touted underclassmenpost players to return to school,including Ohio State’s JaredSullinger, Baylor’s Perry Jonesand North Carolina’s HarrisonBarnes and John Henson,helped send Williams up manyexperts’ draft boards.
The most recent mock draftsat www.NBADraft.net andwww.HoopsHype.com both haveWilliams going to the DenverNuggets with the 22nd pick inthe first round, whilewww.DraftExpress.com has himslotted in the mid-secondround. Only first-round draftpicks are guaranteed contracts.
“Williams is one of the fewtrue low-post players in the draft,and a terrific rebounder,” ESPNNBA Draft analyst Chad Fordwrote Tuesday. “A month ago itwas virtually unanimous thathe’d be a second-round pick. Butthe more that NBA scouts havegone back to the tape, the moretheir attitude has begun to
change. Combine that with wordout of Las Vegas, where he’sworking out, that he’s alreadydropped weight, and teams arestarting to give him a legitimatelook in the first round.”
Williams’ decision stands as amajor blow to a program stillrecovering from its first seasonwithout a postseason appear-
ance in 17 years. Gary Williamshad initially expressed confi-dence his best player would beback in a Terp uniform this fall.
“I fully expect Jordan to comeback because of the lockout pos-sibility,” Williams told The Wash-ington Times in late March. “Noone knows anything about thedraft right now except the NBA.”
Williams’ departure, com-bined with the graduation ofstarting forward Dino Gregory,leaves the Terps without aproven option in the frontcourtnext year. Forwards HaukurPalsson, Ashton Pankey andJames Padgett and centerBerend Weijs have combined forthree starts in their careers, andnone averaged more than nineminutes per game last season.
Other options may includeMartin Breunig, a 6-foot-9 highschool forward who will jointhe team next season, and for-mer Kansas State forwardWally Judge, who is consider-ing transferring to the Terpsand may receive a hardshipwaiver that would allow him toplay immediately.
Even as a group, those Terpslikely will be unable to matchthe production Williams pro-vided last season. For now,Williams’ departure is as mucha harsh reality as it is a daunt-ing challenge.
“I love the University ofMaryland, I love the atmos-phere, I love the fans,” Williamssaid. “It was definitely a toughdecision for me to make, but Ithink that the best decision fornow, for myself and for my fam-ily is just to try to go up to thenext level.”
Staff writer Conor Walshcontributed to this [email protected]
MMEENN’’SS BBAASSKKEETTBBAALLLL
Some recent projections of the NBA Draft have forward Jordan Williams, a first-team All-ACC selection last season, slottedas a late first-round selection. Only first-round draft picks are guaranteed contracts. FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK
Williams leaving TerpsIn hit to team next year, sophomore forward signs with agent and remains in draft poolWILLIAMS
from page 1
BY JAKOB ENGELKESenior staff writer
After collecting a feed from goal-keeper Niko Amato with just morethan a minute left to play in the thirdquarter against Duke in the ACCChampionship on April 24, Ter-rapin men’s lacrosse midfielderDan Burns immediately collidedwith two Blue Devil defenders.
The blindside hit didn’t af fectBurns, who spun between the twoplayers and then took a couplemore steps upfield before finallybeing dropped by an illegal hitfrom a third opponent, Dukeattackman Christian Walsh.
The play gave the No. 6 Terps(10-3) a man-up opportunity andpossession in the offensive zone,but it also served to illustrate theimpact Burns has made in theteam’s clearing game since fullyrecovering from a back injury hesuffered during the preseason.
Against the Blue Devils, theTerps converted 11 of 13 clearattempts, many of which resultedfrom Burns taking the ball himselffrom one end of the field to theother. It’s an oft-overlooked stat thatBurns, who was given the team’shard-hat award for his play in the
Now healthy, Burns emerges as clear forceMMEENN’’SS LLAACCRROOSSSSEE || NNOOTTEEBBOOOOKK
Midfielder Dan Burns, right, has emerged as theTerps’ top short stick defensive midfielder thisseason. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACKsee NOTEBOOK, page 7
Center fielder Sara Acosta, left, dives for a ball during a gameagainst NC State last month. The sophomore is hitting .282this year for the Terps. CHARLIE DEBOYACE/THE DIAMONDBACK
see ACOSTA, page 7
Talking thetalk, andthen some
Acosta guides Terps as vocalleader and leadoff hitter
Midfielder recovered from back injury;team recovers physically during week off