The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper
M O N DAY, M A R C H 2 , 2 015
Riverdale Park development begins construction Despite concerns from College Park council, county approves Whole Foods phase start By Holly Cuozzo @emperorcuozzco Staff writer Although College Park representatives initially opposed the Riverdale Park Station construction, the project is now underway after the Prince George’s County Council voted to rezone the land and approve necessary preliminary changes. The project, which began in Febru-
ary, will create a mixed-use development area on Route 1 in Riverdale. The project’s first phase involves creating a Whole Foods grocery store, more than 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and 22,000 square feet of office space, said Jonathan Ebbeler, Riverdale Park councilman and the city’s Economic Development Committee chairman. The second phase includes the creation of 981 residential units — 855
multi-family homes and 126 townhomes — as well as a 120-room hotel. Calvin Cafritz Enterprises, one of the largest developers in Washington, will privately fund the $350 to 400 million project, Ebbeler said. Cafritz owned the land since the 1950s and tried several times to develop it, but a lack of local support blocked the plans. But this year, Cafritz “negotiated a deal that was mutually beneficial both to the town and the developer,” Ebbeler said. The finished product will connect City council members meet in February. Construction on Riverdale Park Station, which began in February See riverdale, Page 3 despite the council’s disapproval, will include a Whole Foods and 981 residential units. file photo/the diamondback
U jumps in Peace Corps recruiting University produces 38 volunteers in 2014 to work in foreign nations By Eleanor Mueller @eleanor_mueller Staff writer
Members of a university research team set up a detector to record bat sounds in Chevy Chase on Feb. 22. The group is studying the impact of urbanization on bat behavior. joe zimmermann/for the diamondback
right off the bat University research team studies impact of urban environments on bat behavior in mid-Atlantic By Joe Zimmermann @JoeMacZim Senior staff writer By day, it looks like what it is: a big painter’s pole shooting 20 feet out of the ground with a piece of pool noodle on top and electronic equipment stored in a secured box. But by night, it works as a data collection spire, recording all
nearby sounds and amassing information on the nocturnal creatures that live in the area. Using this tool and equipment like it, university researchers hope to better understand the region’s bats. A team led by Shannon Pederson, a marine-estuarine-environmental sciences doctoral candidate, will start a two-year project this week in which researchers will visit 27 sites
in this state, Washington, Virginia and Delaware in an effort to understand how bats adapt to changes in their environment. “What I’m looking at is if different levels of urbanization are impacting bats,” said Pederson, who is conducting this study for her doctoral thesis. The 27 sites are split equally among urban, moderately urban and rural areas.
Pederson and her team visited the Woodend Nature Sanctuary in Chevy Chase to practice setting up equipment and collect preliminary data starting in September. Using a microphone attached to a painter’s pole, they are able to record the sounds of bats flying at tree level, Pederson said, and they later use See bats, Page 2
Socially responsible business symposium draws 600 By Naema Ahmed @thedbk For The Diamondback More than 600 student entrepreneurs from this university and across the country aimed to use thei r busi ness sk i l ls to i mpact social issues at Stamp Student Union last week. The Center for Social Value Creation held its annual Social Enterprise Symposium on Friday, featuring a speaker from TOMS Shoes, a Do Good Challenge showc a se a nd severa l le ct u re s a nd workshops. The center is one of the business school’s 12 Centers of Excellence, which conducts research and prepares business students to enter particular marketplaces. “O u r m i s s i o n i s to c re a te a
shira shafir, director of social innovation and impact for TOMS, speaks at the Social Enterprise Symposium in the Grand Ballroom of Stamp Student Union on Friday. The annual event, which aims to combine social responsibility and innovative business, drew more than 600 attendees. stephanie natoli/the diamondback better world through business,” said Ryan Steinbach, the center’s community manager. T hrough the symposium, the
ISSUE NO. 79 , OUR 105 TH YEAR OF PUBLICATION DBKNEWS.COM
Submit tips, comments and inquiries to the news desk at NEWSUMDBK@GMAIL.COM
@thedbk
TheDiamondback
Scan the QR Code to download our mobile app
center hopes to encourage students tackling similar social causes, to tackle world issues from a business Steinbach said. perspective and show how members of the university community are See symposium, Page 2
Amanda McCullough was a senior at this university in 2010 when she realized she had no idea how she wanted to spend the first months of her professional life. So the graduate student decided to join the Peace Corps and spend three years without pay in Peru as a youth development facilitator to try to find her purpose. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do,” McCullough said. “But I knew I wanted to help people and I knew I liked to travel, and I didn’t want to go to graduate school right away.” This university ranks 18th in the country — five spots higher than last year — among large schools that produce the most Peace Corps volunteers, according to Peace Corps rankings released last month. The school produced 38 Peace See corps, Page 3
USM lobbying day focuses on protections for interns, tuition By Carly Kempler @CarlyKempler Staff writer University students traveled to Annapolis on Friday to advocate for an intern protection bill and lower tuition as part of the University System of Maryland’s annual Lobby Day. The University System of Maryland Student Council and 10 state public schools developed a list of issues for students to discuss with state legislators, said Dirk Parham, a second-year graduate student studying finance and applied anthropology. Six students from this university attended, said Aiden Galloway, a junior government and politics major. “Lobbying is one of the most important things that we do as the See lobby, Page 2
SPORTS 18 UP, 18 DOWN
OPINION
The Terps women’s basketball team capped an18-0 run through the Big Ten regular season yesterday afternoon with a 69-48 victory over No. 25 Northwestern P. 8
Dining Services plan to sell local foods is a win for univ P. 4
STAFF EDITORIAL: Local food initiatives
DIVERSIONS
IT’S ON US Good Kids at The Clarice explores modern sexual assault P. 6