No word on whether Denzel is involved with this one.
Not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a hurricane coming, and everyone should buckle down, board up their windows and begin collecting two of every animal. Parts of New York City are being evacuated, Washington Mayor Vincent Gray and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley have both declared states of emergency and, if emails being sent to the university community are any indication, College Park is in for a serious whomping too.
“Maryland,” “The University of Maryland, College Park,” “UM,” “UMD” — the list goes on, but these are all names by which this university is known. With so many monikers, it begs the question, “How does one refer to this university?”
“Being from out of state I usually say ‘Maryland’ because as a respectable state school, people understand what I mean,” freshman architecture major Bridget Maley said.
For years this university has flip-flopped between the abbreviations “UM” and “UMD,” but all it took was a June Diamondback column to get administrators to decide on one official nickname: “UMD.”
“Even we in the Office of Marketing and Communications have been uneven in its application,” university spokesman Millree Williams wrote in an email. “The recent DBK opinion piece, among other references to the confusion created by ‘UM’ — especially in national media — only added a sense of urgency.”
And while students, staff and the media may still use “Maryland,” “University of Maryland,” and “The University of Maryland, College Park” interchangeably, having an official abbreviation puts this university one step closer to securing its identity.
Several students said the most important change that comes with using “UMD” is setting this university apart from the pack of schools that go by “UM.”
“There are a lot of states that start with M, so having UMD is easy to recognize as Maryland” freshman government and politics major Jasmine Jones said.
And now that administrators and public relations officials are all on the same page, Williams said such mix-ups are problems of the past.
“We believe that it will help us take a closer step toward distinguishing the University of Maryland, College Park from the myriad of other UMs out there,” he said.
— Rhiannon Walker
Although College Park residents may have once enjoyed the convenience of throwing a quarter into a coin-operated meter when stopping by the shopping center, they now have to grapple with more complex electronic pay stations.
Customers must now pay 25 cents for 20 minutes of parking at one of five convenient pay stations on the strip. And while the city may be boasting a more up-to-date method of parking, residents don’t seem to be enjoying the update.
“It’s stupid,” alumna Michelle Cleveland said. “It used to be so convenient to just throw your change into the meter, but now you have to take the time to go to the parking tickets box and it takes so much longer.”
Instead of simply using loose change to pay for a few minutes of parking, residents will now memorize their space number and enter it in the machine to pay; if a credit card is used, there is a 75 cent minimum, which translates to one hour of parking.
Some said this method is far less convenient than a coin-operated meter, and believe it is simply a method to generate more revenue.
“How is a person going to remember to check for a number, and then remember to [go to] this new machine?” junior Camille Sheehan said. “This is clearly a ploy to just get more money from tickets.”
In the past, no change meant no parking. Now, too much change might have the same effect.
— Sarah Hogue
Nothing says personal freedom quite like cruising down the street sans seat belt, medical marijuana and a gun in the glove box, on the way to your unlicensed embalming practice.
Yet, students at this university are settling for less, as a study released this month by two political science professors ranked the state last in granting residents personal freedoms and 43rd for overall freedom.
Much of the state’s low ranking is attributed to its strict laws regulating guns, gambling, homeschooling and occupational licensing, according to the study, Freedom in the 50 States, co-authored by Jason Sorens and William Ruger.
A ban on same-sex marriages — which came close to being defeated in the state House of Representatives in March — also lowered the state’s ranking, according to the study from the Mercatus Center, a research and education organization at George Mason University.
“Since spring, there’s been a lot of hope, but maybe I’m overly optimistic,” said Hannah Spiro, president of the Jewish LGBT student group Hamsa. “It’s a lot more on the agenda than it used to be, and I think peoples’ opinions are changing.”
The Free State lagged behind No. 48 New York in granting personal freedom, and although that state took last place overall, it legalized same-sex marriage on Friday night.
“I think we basically feel like it could be a lot worse because the climate in Maryland, as far as discrimination is concerned, is preferable to a lot of other regions in the country,” said Spiro, a senior Jewish studies major.
Junior psychology major Lauren Mendelsohn said the state’s ranking did not shock her because of its strict punishments for low-level possession of marijuana.
“Students have twice as many things to be afraid of,” said Mendelsohn, president of the university’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “In addition to the state being strict, our university is also extremely strict.”
A bill that would allow states to regulate and tax marijuana was introduced to the U.S. Congress June 23 and would also affect the university’s policies if it passes. Mendelsohn said policymakers should remain open-minded to avoid making laws that do more harm than good.
“They’re very strict with being caught with possession in any amount, even little crumbs in a bag,” she said. “They can charge you with a year for having just a teeny little piece of bud in your pocket.”
The study declared the most personal freedom was in Oregon, and New Hampshire took first place overall. Respectively, those states refuse to authorize sobriety checkpoints and seat belt laws.
— Rebecca Lurye
What would you do if you had already won four Tony awards?
If you are Brian MacDevitt, you win a fifth. The associate professor at this university’s school of theatre dance performance studies recently won another Tony award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical in The Book of Mormon.
Although claiming that “after the thrill of the first [award], it’s never the same again,” Professor MacDevitt said that he is proud of the music and that he greatly admires the musical’s writers: Robert Lopez, Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
MacDevitt attributed the show’s success to the help of two former students, Ariel Patterson and Jonathan Dillard, who recently finished their master’s of fine arts in theatrical design.
Patterson said working on a Broadway show with her mentor was “life-changing.”
“[MacDevitt] is just so passionate, which makes him a great teacher. He chose to teach because he loves it so much,” Patterson said. “He never forces his views on his students; he encourages us to find our own way.”
But MacDevitt said his students are the secret to his success.
“They keep me honest,” he said. “They are always asking me what the purpose for my designs is.”
Next up for the professor is a new production about the last day of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, called The Mountaintop. The Broadway musical will feature Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett and opens Sept. 22 in New York.
— Matt Fleming
A group of engineering students made history last month when they set two national records with the flight of their human-powered helicopter at the Comcast Center.
According to the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center’s website, the National Aeronautic Association observed as Judy Wexler, a life sciences graduate student and the helicopter’s pilot, hovered the helicopter off the ground for 4.2 seconds. This flight earned the team national records for both the duration of a human-powered helicopter flight and the first flight of a human-powered helicopter by a female pilot.
The world record for duration of a human-powered helicopter flight is held by a Japanese team, Yuri I, with a flight of around 20 seconds, said Brandon Bush, a graduate project manager on the team. Bush said he hopes the next major stepping stone for the project will be to break that world record.
“Even if we just broke the record, if we got, say, 25 seconds or 30 seconds, that would be huge because we would have the world record,” Bush said.
The ultimate goal is to qualify for the Sikorsky Prize. According to the American Helicopter Society’s regulations, to qualify for the award, their human-powered helicopter must achieve a 60-second hover time, momentarily reach an altitude of 3 meters and stay within a 10 square meter area. No team has been able to meet all of the requirements.
The helicopter, named Gamera by the team, is powered by hand and foot pedaling. The pilots undergo physical training in order to successfully pilot the craft.
Wexler, the pilot for the record-setting flight, is in California working on a graduate program, so the team may use one of its other two trained pilots for the upcoming test flights, Bush said.
With hopes of taking the next test flight in July, the team is working on minor modifications to some of the structural aspects of the helicopter, particularly blade design, Bush said, hoping to beat the world record.
“The blades are one of the most critical pieces, so if we can make those lighter or somehow get them to give us more thrust for less power, then we’re much better off for it,” Bush said.
–Annie Emberland
Many students had a real scare Saturday, but their worries weren’t over final exams or term papers — they thought yet another College Park bar might be closing its doors.
ESPN sportscaster Scott Van Pelt, a university alumnus who frequently touts R.J. Bentley’s while on-air, tweeted Saturday the popular bar might be replaced by another well-known establishment, The Greene Turtle.
But City Planning Director Terry Schum said Bentley’s owner John Brown had confirmed this was just a rumor.
Junior journalism major Jamie Forzato said she was stunned when she heard the rumor, especially because the low number of bars in College Park makes for a consistently high turnout.
“Bentley’s is getting great business now because [Thirsty] Turtle, the Mark and Santa Fe are closed down,” she said. “That place is packed every single night because there are only two bars now downtown.”
Forzato said junior journalism major Brendan Ponton was the first to tweet the rumor. Ponton said he got the tip from “somebody that had good knowledge about what was going on,” but would not reveal his source.
After he tweeted it, Ponton said Van Pelt picked up on the rumor and texted Brown, who said it was not true. Ponton, however, said he stands by his source, adding that although he was not completely taken aback by the rumor, it was still somewhat of a surprise considering Bentley’s long tenure in the city — it has been open since 1978.
Forzato said Bentley’s closing would have been a real loss to students.
“We’d only have one bar in College Park for a school with 30,000 students,” she said. “It would be a shame.”
— Lauren Kirkwood
It’s the time of year for a senior class to look forward to that fateful graduation day with impending dread — the fear that once they have their diplomas in hand, they’ll march off the stage and into the unemployment line.
However, this year’s graduating seniors might be able to rest a whole lot easier than last year’s.
According to a recent report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, employers plan to hire 19.3 percent more college graduates this year. And right here on the campus, the University Career Center has seen a jump in employer activity across all fields and departments this year.
William Jones Jr., the career center’s assistant director for employee outreach, said the number of on-campus interviews between this April and last year’s increased from 41 to 74, and the number of employers posting part-time and full-time positions on Careers4Terps also increased by 55.25 percent through March of this year. Moreover, the number of employers at campus career fairs had also spiked since last year.
Jones attributed the renewed employer interest to a recovering economy, career center outreach efforts and the university’s ideal location.
“In this area, hiring is still a lot better than many other places, we’re in one of the best regions to get a job,” said Jones. “But we did see a small decrease this semester in the government sector.”
While graduating seniors were encouraged to hear about these numbers, they said finding a good job was still no easy feat.
“It doesn’t really make me any less worried about finding a job,” said senior history major Ashley Chapman. “It also makes me wonder what types of jobs are hiring more. Anyone can get a job in retail, but I am looking for something that I can support myself with.”
— Kelly Farrell
There was a DJ, game of pong and over a hundred people — but it wasn’t a frat party.
The 2013 Class Council hosted a donation drive at the Eppley Recreation Center’s outdoor pool last night to collect old shoes, clothes, money and cans of soup to be given to My Sister’s Place — a non-profit organization that offers battered women and their children shelter and programs in Washington.
Although donations were mandatory, council Vice President of Marketing Kristen Fiery said the group also provided incentives, providing students with one raffle ticket for each given item. Students could win prizes including a Nintendo Wii, a $100 Visa gift card and Skullcandy headphones.
“We also encouraged people to donate because the more donations they [brought] — money, a can of food, T-shirts or sneakers — the better chance they have of winning,” Fiery said.
The event also hosted splash contests, water balloon tossing contests, chicken wing eating contests, cornhole tournaments and water pong tournaments.
“Our main goal was just to get a large group of people here for the whole duration and not just come get food and leave,” Fiery said. “We were hoping that it will be one of the biggest events we have thrown since freshman year just because we now have more connections and a better idea of how to run things.”
And students came from different all classes to check out the event — and to donate.
“Our friend was coming from our sorority so we decided to come, too, even though we aren’t sophomores,” freshman Russian and government and politics major Peyton Wilson said of she and her friend junior public health major Brittany Merek.
“We’re really glad we came, we’re having a lot of fun,” Merek added.
From 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., students from every class swam, played basketball and ate free pizza and Rita’s water ice. At the end of the event, the donated items spanned several folding tables.
“It was a success, a really, really big success,” said class president and sophomore business major Joseph Sakla.
— By Erin Egan
While community members, alumni and their children enjoyed a sunny Maryland Day Saturday, University Police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration provided students and residents with a place to drop off unwanted drugs just a few minutes down the road.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., DEA officials collected 27 pounds of over-the-counter and prescription drugs as part of National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day — an initiative that began in September to let people get rid of unused or unwanted prescription drugs — for the second time at this university.
Even though officials did not collect as much as last year, when they collected 49 pounds of drugs, DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Carl Kotowski said any drug collected prevents potential abuse.
Last year, the DEA collected 245,000 pounds of drugs from take-backs across the country, and about 3,700 of those pounds came from this state, DEA Special Agent Melissa Bell said. Data from this year’s collection are not yet available.
Kotowski said drug collections like Saturday’s, outside University Police headquarters near Route 1, gather pain killers like Vicodin, Percocet and Oxycodone and stimulants like Ritalin and Valium.
Bell said the purpose of having this event is two-fold.
First, there’s no proper mechanism for disposing of unwanted drugs currently, so there’s a good chance they’ll be thrown away or flushed down the toilet and contaminate the water. Second, there’s a high chance the unused drugs could be abused.
“Most young people don’t think it’s a big deal, that because they got it from a doctor or a pharmacist that it’s safer than going and finding a seller on the street,” Bell said. “But they don’t know what’s going into their bodies and what it could do to them.”
The pamphlet from Saturday’s event said the non-medical use of prescription drugs ranks second only to marijuana as the most common form of drug abuse in the country. Most prescription drugs are found in the family medicine cabinet, it said.
The DEA advises that, other than dropping drugs off on National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, the best way to get rid of drugs is to take the medications out of their bottles, mix them with something unappealing “like used kitty litter or coffee grounds,” seal them in a bag or disposable container and throw them away.
— Erin Egan and Leah Villanueva