The Census is coming! The Census is coming!

In an effort to ensure that every one is counted, the U.S. Census Department is enlisting the help of colleges and universities around the country.

According to a letter from the Paul Gammill, the director of the U.S. Education Department’s Family Policy Compliance Office, Census officials will visit university campuses three times before the spring — Census Day is on April 1, 2010 — to collect information on “shared living” facilities on campus.

That means all of you in those forced-quad lounges won’t be forgotten.

Because all U.S. citizens are required by law to participate in the Census, the government is going the extra mile — on a national campus tour, that is — to see to it that everyone’s civic duty is fulfilled.

The education department said Residence Assistants would be put in charge of making sure everyone on their hall is counted. If a student does not fill out the necessary paperwork, however, the Census Department will go directly to the Registrar’s office to obtain students’ information.

So stand up and be counted!

Census Facts:

• Federal law protects the personal information you share during the census.
• In an attempt to reach everyone, Census forms will be printed in English and Spanish this year.
• Census data are used to distribute Congressional seats to states, to make decisions about what public services to provide to communities, and to distribute about $400 billion in federal funds to local and state each year.

Members of the SGA met with the university officials Monday to discuss the future of the Engaged University — a civic engagement program previously funded by the university, but the meeting turned out to be a quick review of already known facts about the program.

The Engaged University connects students with the community in service programs that teach sustainable living techniques, such as maintaining a vegetable garden and using biodiesel fuel. It’s funding is set to expire on Thursday, and the university still has not committed to refunding the grants that pay for its staff and projects.

Student Government Association members hoped the meeting would delve into the issue of refunding.

But according to SGA President Steve Glickman and Director of Environmental Affairs Joanna Calabrese, the meeting ended up being fairly pointless. The Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, Mahlon Straszheim, and the Dean of the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Cheng-i Wei, focused solely on questions about the program instead of its future.

Glickman said he thinks another meeting will most likely be held next week about funding the Engaged University.

The Student Government Association has long supported the Engaged University, but it has been increasingly vocal, as budget cuts threaten out-of-classroom experiences like this one.

Two weeks ago, the SGA passed a resolution supporting the continued funding of the program, in the hopes that such a sign of student support might sway the university’s decision.  No decisions have been made thus far about the future of the program.

— Emilie Openchowksi is The Diamondback’s SGA beat reporter. She can be reached at openchowski at umdbk dot com

Starting tomorrow, there will be a lot of new ways to break the law in the Free State, as most of the laws passed by the General Assembly during their spring session go in to effect. Here is the 117 page list of laws that will go into effect tomorrow, courtesy of the Maryland Department of Legislative Services. Don’t want to look through all those pages? Well, there are three big ones:

• A ban on texting while driving, which AAA is trying to take nationwide.
• Stiffer DUI penalties, which as Don Markus reports in The (Baltimore ) Sun reports, are being criticized for providing only punishment, not treatment.
• Tougher domestic violence laws.

And is posting a really stupid Facebook poll breaking the law? In one case, maybe. But the Secret Service is investigating a poll on Facebook asking if President Barack Obama should be assassinated. According to the Los Angeles Times‘ David G. Savage, threatening the president’s life is a crime. The options were ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ ‘maybe’ and ‘if he cuts my health care,’ according to The Huffington Post.

Meanwhile, Metro is trying to deter lawbreakers, installing surveillance cameras on subway cars, The Washington Post’s James Hohmann reports. A $27.8 million Department of Homeland Security Grant is paying for the cameras, which could be the beginning of a system-wide network.

Quick Hits

• A student at Miami University in Ohio has died from H1N1.
• Say goodbye to wine as binge drinking comes to Italy, Reuters reports.
• The best-selling book on campuses nationwide this month? Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

It’s happened to all of us.

You’re laying in your narrow dorm bed trying to somehow get comfortable on your ancient mattress when your hear it. The squeak of a spring. The rustle of blankets. The creak of a bedpost. Maybe a giggle or two.

Your roommate is hooking up. In the bed just feet away from  you.

Students at Tufts University are now prohibited from engaging in “any sex act in a dorm room while one’s roommate is present.” So Tufts kids looking to get some without consideration to their roomie, best think twice before getting busy in their bunk bed.

A crackdown on sexy time?

The regulation also states that “sexual activity in the room should not interfere with a roommate’s privacy, study habits or sleep.” So no more late night “study sessions,” either.

Apparently, at Tufts, this was the most common source of disagreement between roommates and ResLife there hopes the policy will help kids come to a resolution and compromise in these (dare we say it) sticky situations.

Is this a new rule that ResLife here at this university should consider? Well, with the influx of forced triples and quads here on campus, this could be quite a challenge. With multiple roommates and a set of bunk beds, we feel like the odds of running into this situation are both higher and even more uncomfortable (anyone who has ever had to share a bunk bed knows what I am talking about.)

On the other hand, maybe it is just not a problem here at this university. I mean haven’t the kids at Tufts heard of the simple yet staunch principle of  “sexiling” we all learn our freshmen year? If your roommate is next you with an unknown guest, both hidden by blankets, isn’t that a cue to grab your pillow and head to your best friend’s floor?

To be honest who knows. But as someone who has lived in the dorms and in a triple, I have no trouble imagining that a policy like this would go unenforced here as well.

Today in The (Baltimore) Sun, African-American studies professor Darrell J. Gaskin co-wrote an op-ed about the economic impact of racial health care disparities with Johns Hopkins public health professor Thomas A. LaVeist.

A study that we performed for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington-based think tank, found that, between 2003 and 2006, 30.6 percent of medical care expenditures for African-Americans, Asians and Hispanics were excess costs that were the result of inequities in the health of these groups. Between 2003 and 2006, the combined direct and indirect cost of health disparities in the United States was $1.24 trillion (in 2008 inflation-adjusted dollars). This is more than the gross domestic product of India and equates to $309.3 billion annually lost to the economy.

In 2002, the Institute of Medicine released “Unequal Treatment,” a comprehensive report that documented extraordinary disparities in the quality of health care received by the various American racial and ethnic groups. Since then, health-care advocacy groups have relied on a compelling social justice argument to press policymakers to direct resources to efforts to address racial and ethnic inequities in health, with the premise that doing so is in keeping with American values.

Despite this gap, campus minority groups aren’t focusing much with the health care debate.

Also, last week, Towson University political scientist Richard Vatz wrote an op-ed sharply criticizing a poll released last week that painted a relatively rosy picture of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s chances for re-election. Here’s the harshest part:

Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies just produced a widely publicized Maryland poll whose omissions and ignoring of intensity crippled its validity. The poll claims, among other things, that Gov. Martin O’Malley leads former Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in a hypothetical rematch based on the question, “If the November 2010 general election for governor were held today, for whom would you vote [between these two candidates].” The results, 49 percent for Mr. O’Malley and 38 percent for Mr. Ehrlich (with 13 percent undecided), are reported without any evident attempt to measure their intensity or stability. There was no mention of those criteria despite the overwhelming publicity advantage of the current governor – and the fact that Mr. Ehrlich is not currently a candidate.

The poll also asks respondents what is “the most important issue facing the state of Maryland today.” To give the Gonzalez pollsters some credit, this was ascertained by asking “open-ended questions” rather than providing predetermined categories. That adds somewhat to the validity of the answers. But what did they do with those answers? Nothing.

Of those polled, 62 percent said the most important issues related to the economic condition of the state: “economy,” “taxes” and “budget deficit.” There were, however, no questions in the poll relating to three important financial matters likely to be focused on in an Ehrlich-O’Malley rematch: the Democratic quashing of slots for five years, budgetary spending policy, and the 2006 Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. 72 percent rate increase – all of which could affect voter choices in an election.

How intensely do supporters of Mr. O’Malley and Mr. Ehrlich feel regarding their support of these possible gubernatorial candidates? No attempt, apparently, is made to even consider this.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a good old fashioned riot.  Feeling nostalgic?  Just check out this footage from The Pitt News that shows students rioting in the streets on Saturday night — one day after the G20 and the protests that left hundreds of protesters in handcuffs, local activists gathered to demonstrate alleged police brutality from the day before.

Post-G20 Protest Against Police Brutality from Pitt News Multimedia on Vimeo.

The G20 summit, so named because it is a gathering of 20 leaders of nations representing 85 percent of the world’s wealth, was designed to facilitate discussion about the economy. James O’Toole and Dennis B. Roddy of the Philadelphia Inquirer describe the riots that prompted the alleged police brutality on Friday:

Two squads of Greenpeace activists tried to rappel simultaneously down the sides of the Fort Pitt and West End Bridges. Police nabbed the five activists on the Fort Pitt Bridge, but eight protesters at the other bridge managed to unfurl an 80-by-30-foot banner proclaiming “Danger: Climate Destruction Ahead,” while dangling above the Ohio River as police waited them out.

By early afternoon, those protesters climbed back up and were all arrested, along with a ninth team member who remained on the bridge to assure police that the activists were peaceful and were experienced, equipped climbers.

All 14 demonstrators were taken to the Allegheny County Jail.

At other universities, administrators are giving their students reasons not to riot.

University of Florida, for example, is implementing a new initiative that would allow students to get digital versions of the same textbooks required for their classes for free. For those who really want a hard-copy, the university system will offer custom-bound ones for less than $50, wrote Shannon Colavecchio of the St. Petersburg Times.

At other universities, admissions officials are worrying about how the economy will impact enrollment, and what they can do to help families and soften the blow, Jacques Steinberg and Theo Emery of the New York Times reports.

The talk this week at an annual gathering of college admissions officers and high school counselors included the usual topics, like how to deal with “difficult” parents and the names of hot student prospects. But the conversations — in panel discussions, in hallways and over crab cakes — always seemed to circle around to one subject: the economy.

Quick Hits:

• The Washington Post alleged the Metro’s new initiative to sandwich older train cars was a PR move used to off-set bad press caused by Metro crashes and passenger deaths.
• Acclaimed director Roman Polanski was finally arrested — after more than 30 years on the run, during which time he made movies and won an Oscar. Go figure.
• St Paul looks to hold landlords responsible for underage drinking in their rental properties, according to the Minnesota Daily.
• Drugs used to medicate attention deficit disorders are being used by college students to allow working 24 hour days, reports The Guardian, begging the question of how far is too far to go for mental enhancement.
• The New York Times asks: is college really worth it?
  

Student activist Malcolm Harris posted the university’s budget online earlier today, doing an end-around the administration, which had refused recent requests from students to do so.

Harris, a Diamondback columnist who ran for the Student Government Association presidency last semester, posted the document on his blog, 24 Percent. In a blog post, he said SGA Legislator Kenton Stadler, who ran on the Student Power Party ticket with Harris, obtained the actual document.

Earlier this week, students had pressed Vice President for Administrative Affairs Ann Wylie and university President Dan Mote to post the budget online during a town hall meeting. This is what Wylie told The Diamondback’s Carrie Wells in an interview after the meeting:

“I’m not going to take the time to post it online to the world… I don’t feel that it’s my responsibility to put it online, to put our people’s salaries all over the nation. Why do I have to? I have no obligation to publish it.”

It’s safe to guess the administration won’t be happy about this.

Here’s a link to the actual budget document, which is in PDF format.

If you’ve been walking around near Stamp today, you may have seen the curious sight of our dear Senator Ben Cardin clad in Spandex. A cardboard cut-out version of him that is. You’ll find him next to a MaryPIRG table announcing National Call-In Day for Global Warming Solutions. And why is he dressed this way?

“Because we want him to be a superhero for global warming!” said Brian Lentz, campaign director.

The group is organizing an effort to flood the senator’s office with calls demanding stronger targets in the Senate version of the Climate Energy Bill, which is currently being drafted in committee.

While MaryPIRG may be after the politicians, other environmentalists are after your behinds. That’s right: they’re coming for your toilet paper. David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post has the story:

It is a fight over toilet paper: the kind that is blanket-fluffy and getting fluffier so fast that manufacturers are running out of synonyms for “soft” (Quilted Northern Ultra Plush is the first big brand to go three-ply and three-adjective).

It’s a menace, environmental groups say — and a dark-comedy example of American excess.

The reason, they say, is that plush U.S. toilet paper is usually made by chopping down and grinding up trees that were decades or even a century old. They want Americans, like Europeans, to wipe with tissue made from recycled paper goods.

It's not easy being green.

After all the grandstanding on climate change at the United Nations on Tuesday, President Obama returned home to find some very real challenges awaiting him in Congress. According to the Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Power:

How’s this for awkward timing? As President Barack Obama tries to persuade leaders of other countries gathered at the U.N. and G-20 meetings that the U.S. will take action on climate change, senators in both parties are moving to limit the steps his administration might propose to fight climate change.

At issue are two amendments to a huge government spending bill nearing a vote in the Senate that would pare the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate various industries’ greenhouse-gas emissions.

At least General Electric seems to be on board with President Obama’s renewable energy goals. Martin LaMonica with Cnn.com reports:

In 2011, the energy giant expects to produce solar panels made with cadmium telluride, a thin-film solar cell material, said Michael Idelchik, vice president of advanced technologies at GE Global Research at the EmTech conference here on Wednesday.Solar at GE is a relatively small part of its sprawling energy portfolio, which covers everything from nuclear power plants to natural gas turbines. But GE expects that solar has the potential to grow rapidly, as its multi-billion dollar wind business has done over the past five years.

“Solar is definitely the next wind for us. It’s not there yet but it’s moving very rapidly,” said Idelchik. Solar is more expensive than wind right now, but GE expects that renewable energy mandates will help drive growth and bring costs down, he said.

Today on campus:

• Today and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., meet by the Campus Creek near Comcast Center to learn abour rain gardening: planting and maintenance, preservation of Maryland native meadow plants, creek bank vegetation restoration and invasive plant management.
• Transfer students – get to know each other and learn about campus resources today in the Charles Carroll room at Stamp at 3:30 p.m.
  

Ever been to the Hyattsville Arts District?

Yeah, we didn’t know it existed either. But apparently, it does. And sadly, it’s not flourishing. Just two-and-a-half miles south of the campus, urban planners have envisioned a U-Street corridor fit for Prince George’s County. Nearly ten years ago, the planning began, and in 2003, the state designated a strip of Route 1 in Hyattsville, “The Gateway Arts District.”

The result? Well, according to today’s Washington Post, progress has been slow.

“Auto repair shops, industrial buildings and empty storefronts occupy prime real estate. Mounds of dirt and overgrown weeds sit behind a sign announcing that stores, lofts and restaurants are “coming soon” as part of a $150 million project being developed by the Bethesda-based firm EYA. The sign has sat by the side of the road for almost two years.”

About 150 artists have moved into the area, and a handful of art galleries have sprouted up as well. A museum dedicated to African American history is being planned for the area, as is a Busboys and Poets.

But proponents of the plan say investors have been shy to put drop cash in the area amidst the dour economy.

The Hyattsville Arts District - From the Washington Post