Today, Gov. Martin O’Malley gave his fourth annual State of the State address. And, according to Maryland Reporter, it looked like this:

So now that you know that O’Malley talked a lot about ‘Maryland,’ ‘business,’ ‘jobs,’ and ‘choices,’ you’re probably wondering what it is he said exactly. Here’s the text of O’Malley’s remarks as prepared for delivery. Don’t want to read the whole thing? First, here are some highlights. As for the higher ed arena, O’Malley said the following:

It is not by chance but by choice that – alone among the 50 states – we have made college more affordable for more families in Maryland by going four years in a row without a penny’s increase in college tuition for Maryland residents.

And that was it, except for a mention of “rebuilding community colleges” and some discussion of research and an innovation economy, in which science, technology, engineering and math are all bound to play a role. So what else did he talk about? Jobs, mostly. From Aaron C. Davis and John Wagner’s report in The Washington Post:

But, in a speech that included about three dozen references to ‘jobs,’ O’Malley said that ‘progress requires that we focus the energies of this session on three primary actions: creating jobs, saving jobs and protecting jobs…’

O’Malley’s proposals include a $3,000 tax credit for every person companies hire off Maryland’s unemployment rolls. The initiative would be capped at $20 million in the coming year.

Before the speech, Wagner predicted it would basically serve as a kick-off to O’Malley’s election campaign. And it was. O’Malley used a frame of ‘choice, not chance’ to take responsibility for various positive developments — a top K-12 education system, rock-bottom crime rates — in the state over his four years, and during the 27-minute long speech, he also said — as he repeatedly has — that Maryland is weathering the recession much better than the average state.

Unsurprisingly, Republicans didn’t give the governor the benefit of the doubt. From the Post (emphasis ours):

“Words aren’t going to solve this problem, a good speech isn’t going to make the people of Maryland have jobs tomorrow,” said Senate Minority Leader Allan H. Kittleman (R-Howard), who taped a response to the speech without having seen it.

And those Republicans look likely to rally behind the mantle of former Gov. Robert Ehrlich, who O’Malley ousted. Larry Hogan, who served in Ehrlich’s cabinet, dropped out of the gubernatorial race on Sunday, and called for Ehrlich to enter it, making Ehrlich the likely GOP nominee in 2010.

Turns out Maryland stands to benefit from President Barack Obama’s proposed budget cuts, despite predicted record deficits. The plan would increase funding to clean up the Chesapeake Bay, up aid to state Medicaid programs, increase pay and job openings for federal workers and even salvage some NASA jobs in Maryland.

The $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2011 will allot money for improving Chesapeake Bay watershed. Funds to clean out the bay would be increased to $63 million plus $72 million for a separate effort to reduce farm runoff into the bay.

The budget also reaches out to state Medicaid programs with 25.5 billion in additional aid, a measure Gov. Martin O’Malley is “thankful” for.

The plan would mean a 1.4 percent annual pay increase for federal workers. Construction for military and civilian projects in Maryland will get $800 million.

And though many NASA officials are upset by Obama’s plan to cut the $49 billion Constellation human spaceflight program, NASA employees in Maryland are safe. Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt (College Park’s very own neighbor) will as of now not see any cutbacks.

Even Maryland Republicans admitted begrudging satisfaction. Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett of Frederick, though insistent on a more “tightfisted approach,” had this to say:

“proposing a little bit of budget restraint in the future is better than the dangerously bloated and unsustainable budget that the president and the Democratic congressional majority approved last year.”

Quick Hits:
Tuition rates are increasing nationwide. Turns out at least the University of Maryland system is not the hardest hit as schools like University of Illinois and University of Wisconsin pay 9 percent more.

Metro transit police held a terror drill this morning at Union Station during morning rush hour in order to demonstrate increased preparedness for possible terrorist attacks.

A Culpeper County school will not remove Anne Frank’s diary from the curriculum though controversy over the book was stirred-up last week when a parent complained about some of the content. The school is now set to appoint a committee to review the book for future educational purposes.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty is receiving donations for his re-election campaign from a few Hollywood big shots like Lost creator J.J. Abrams.

So here is The Situation. If you don’t know The Situation, we are about to tell you The Situation. Cuz that’s The Situation.

Though Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino of the hit reality series The Jersey Shore may be off gallivanting the country showing the ladies his trademark abs and hosting hot tub parties (We’re making a reasonable assumption), another cast member also near and dear to our hearts could be more close by.

The one and only DJ Pauly “D” DelVecchio, a.k.a. Pauly D is coming to — and spinning at — The Thirsty Turtle March 1st, according to a Facebook event.

So, Jersey Shore fans, get out your favorite Ed Hardy shirt, find some gravity-defying hair gel, spray on your fake tan and get ready for the shameless reality show star to spin some sweet beats and pump some fists at Turtle next month.

What should you expect? More tan, less clothes and even less dignity. Maybe not a recipe for success, but certainly for an awesome night. From the mouth of Pauly D himself :

We’re beatin’-up-the-beat, that’s what we say when we’re doing our fist pump. First, we start off by banging the ground, we’re banging it as the beat builds ‘cause that beat’s hittin’ us so we’re fightin’ back, it’s like we beat up that beat.

The show about eight very tan, very single self-identified guidos and guidettes (only one is actually from New Jersey) who spend a summer living in Seaside Heights, a Jersey Shore town, has literally become a pop culture sensation. The crew has made the late-night talk show rounds and inspired countless spoofs and paraodies that are sweeping the Internet.

And cast members have apparently been raking in the dough. According to CNN Interational, the cast appears on behalf of MTV, but are also keeping busy making individual appearances. The article says that Pauly D and Sorrentino have reportedly been paid $10,000 individually to appear at events.

And that’s not all. Jenni “JWoww” Farley has apparently been selling some of her signature clothing off of her website so quickly, that she has not been able to keep up with demand.

The show has caused its fair share of controversy as well. Italian Americans felt that the show was ruining their ethnic group’s reputation, because The Sopranos and The Godfather movies hadn’t done that already. And domestic violence groups were upset MTV’s plan to air an episode in which Nicole “Snookie” Polizzi was punched in the face by a man at a Seaside Heights bar. But all of it turned out to be a recipe for success with 3.6 million viewers tuning in.

So get ready College Park, because according to Facebook, tickets go on sale some time this week. So buy your tickets, get into your “G.T.L.” (gym, tanning, laundry) routine and be ready for March 1st.

Other things to look forward to in the meantime? The show will officially be getting a second season, though not in New Jersey, a decision that has led to a whirl of speculation as to the crew’s next stop. Check out TV.com’s best predictions. And Snookie may even get her own show similar to Tila Tequila’s Shot of Love in which Snooks would look for the bronzed, muscular man of her guidette dreams.

And for right, right now, enjoy this:

This campus has seen a few hazing allegations in recent years, but no Maryland Greeks has seen the same consequences as six Sigma Gamma Rho students at Rutgers — jail.

The students were charged with aggravated hazing, a felony in New Jersey that carries a sentence of up to 18 months, for allegedly beating three pledges this month.

One pledge, the first to alert authorities, was hospitalized after she said she was paddled 201 times over the course of a week.

The victim told authorities that she was explicitly told that the paddling was not actually hazing, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

In a further action — which this campus is more familiar with after a fraternity or sorority is accused of hazing — Rutgers suspended its Sigma Gamma Rho chapter.

Also in the last week, the Texas Christian University chapter of the Kappa Sigma is being investigated over allegations that some of the fraternity’s members have spent more than a year branding the frat’s letters — and those of the Tri Delta sorority — into another member’s backside.

The victim’s family is still considering criminal or civil charges, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.