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Univ, Big Ten: Only freshmen eligible By Len Frosh @bofadeez15 Senior staff writer
basketball players fail their classes freshman year because they’re too focused on athletics, they’ll have the next three years to improve The Big Ten is hoping for support their academic standing,” univerfrom its member institutions to sity President Wally Loh said. “And begin a “national discussion” about if you support it, you are basically ruling only freshmen eligible for saying very clearly the No. 1 priority football and men’s basketball, ac- is the athlete in student-athlete.” The University Athletic Council melo trimble might have played his final season as cording to a document obtained by met yesterday afternoon to discuss The Diamondbag. a Terp if the NCAA declares sophomores, juniors and seniors ineligible. security camera 4/for the diamondbag “This way, even if football and a Big Ten proposal to examine “the
health of the athletic experience” titled “A Year of Athleticism,” which equates to a freshmen-only NCAA. “I want to listen to the council,” said Nick Hadley, athletic council chairman and physics professor. “As a faculty member, it’s hard for me not to support something that would increase the freshman experience.” T he document, which shows football and men’s basketball as the only sports with freshmen par-
ticipation rates less than 75 percent across the NCA A, states that a push for sophomore, junior and senior ineligibility would benefit athletes academically. Te r ra p i n s m e n’s b a s k e tb a l l coach Mark Turgeon said he’d be fine with the proposal, especially after Diamond Stone, a 6-foot10, 250-pound five-star center recru it, verba l ly com m itted to this university.
Univ to turn Cole into water park By Ace Reportera @lamename Staff writer University officials are scrapping plans for a football practice facility and will instead turn Cole Field House into an athletes-only, multilevel water park. The Board of Regents approved the plan yesterday to build the estimated $155 million park, with construction set to begin July 1 and an opening scheduled for August 2016. “T he water pa rk faci l ity a nd water slide complex are critically needed to recruit and support the student-athletes, and to be competitive in the Big Ten Conference,” the proposal states. A private donation will fund most of the construction costs, said university spokesman Brian Ullmann. University officials noted all other Big Ten schools have theme park attractions, and this campus needs its own to keep a competitive edge for student recruitment. Penn State’s football program offers a bumper car to each new athlete and at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, athletes can ride the “Bad Badger” roller coaster to class. “This decision couldn’t have come at a better time for our athletes. Go Terps!” university President Wally Loh said.
I CAN HAZ MUSIC? meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow.
Team of university cats creates music suited for professors, academic professionals By Fritz Keys @thedbk For The Diamondbag
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t’s common knowledge that professors are hard to please. Academic professionals often keep to themselves and are sometimes reluctant to show affection for or even approach other humans. While it may seem that there’s no way for university instructors to let loose and warm up to others, professors are reacting positively to recently released music — music that comes from an unexpected, fuzzy source.
A team of cats has written music exclusively for academic professionals, and professors at this university can’t get enough of it. “It’s amazing,” said Thomas Furrington, a professor of mechanical engineering at this university. “Normally, human music is just sort of scary to me and my colleagues, but this [music] appealed to me in a way nothing else has. This really has been the cat’s meow.” The process of composing the music entailed walking across pianos, scratching violins and hissing into microphones. The music was intended to approximate the types of sounds that would be comforting to academic profession-
NCAA grants C.J. Brown seventh year
Officials revise designs to fit in better with city business landscape By Leslie Knope and Ann Perkins @justGoogleus We both work here
By Joe Biden @whoistheVP? Vice senior staff writer
C.J. Brown, Terps quarterback, was granted a seventh year of eligibility. Brown, who missed two seasons because of a shoulder injury and torn ACL, plans to attend his final three eateries in the spring and summer before the start of the 2015 season. The super senior said he is most looking forward to The Jerk Pit, but the other two restaurants, Sakura Seafood Buffet and Ikea, are “nothing to shake a drumstick at.” “I would like to thank the NCAA for giving me this opportunity,” Brown said. “It was an unorthodox decision, but it’s important for college students to diversify their pallets — especially in a town like College Park, which provides a wide range of culinary cultures and styles.” Brown joins a short list of Division I
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als, such as the atonal noises of classrooms and the clamor of academic conferences. “We wanted to produce something that would be comforting to them, something that would make them feel happy and safe,” Fizzgig Flouncytail, the lead cat in this project, wrote in an email to The Diamondbag. “Now that it’s out of the bag, we hope to bring it to more academic professionals.” After finishing an album of original music for professors, the cats plan to bring their talents to another hard to please group of humans: officials at the Department of Transportation Services.
ArtHouse to have pizza theme
Move will allow Brown more time to eat local
Terrapins football quarterback C.J. Brown has inexplicably been granted a seventh year of eligibility by the NCA A, the program announced Tuesday. Coach Randy Edsall applied for the waiver on the grounds that Brown, 24, has yet to eat at every restaurant in College Park. The NCAA granted the waiver unanimously, an unprecedented move considering no player has ever been awarded an extra or seventh year of eligibility for anything outside of medical reasons. “Again, we’re very excited to have C.J. back under center for us next season,” coach Randy Edsall said. “He’s a tremendous leader, a warrior on the field, and his fundamentals and technique are unparalleled in Division I football.”
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football players who have been granted a seventh year of eligibility by the NCAA. Utah running back Darryll Poston earned a seventh year after transferring and suffering season-ending injury at two different universities. South Florida offensive lineman Cliff McCray, meanwhile, was awarded a sixth and seventh year of eligibility because of a preexisting heart condition. “ We k now it wa sn’t a u s u a l procedure,” Edsall said. “But, for once, the NCAA is acting with the student-athlete’s best intentions in mind. Considering what he’s done for this university, C.J. deserves to eat where he wants.”
A m id shouts of “ We wa nt pizza!” Tuesday in front of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, executive director Martin Wollesen announced The Clarice is revising plans for its anticipated art house in the spot of the former Barking Dog bar to resemble a 15story Papa John’s Pizza. “We just wanted to do what’s right for the students,” Wollesen said, his voice barely audible over the barrage of students who had congregated outside The Clarice to demand pizza. The new version of the project, dubbed Papa John’s Pizza Mall, will include a separate floor for each type of pizza, including pepperoni, pineapple and a vegetarian floor made out of real vegetables. Papa John’s has been brought on to replace Philadelphia venue Milk-
CORRECTION
Due to sourcing, reporting and editing errors, the March 24 article “Jessie J to headline Art Attack XXXII” incorrectly stated which alliteratively-named artist will perform. Rapper Juicy J will headline the show. We regret the error.
Boy’s management role. “You should see the broccoli chairs we’re importing from Jason Mraz’s farm,” said John “Papa John” Schnatter, founder of Papa John’s and purveyor of Super Bowl commercials. Literally 1,000 students occupied The Clarice lawn in protest of the original art house design, which they said didn’t fit into the cheesy cultural landscape. “Art is, like, dumb,” said a student who asked not to be named because he has always wanted to be an anonymous source. “You can’t eat art.” The decision to go Papa John’s came after a university wide survey, conducted by Student Entertainment Events, found students were concerned about the lack of pizza available within walking distance of campus. Students and faculty named the franchise’s food No. 1 in all the land for its bland taste and rubbery consistency. University President Wally Loh supported the decision for the Pizza Mall, but suggested that the contractor add more floors. “Why stop at just a mall?” he asked. “I know we can be the leader in the burgeoning pizza skyscraper industry.”
OPINION
GUEST COLUMN: DOTS director David Allen Frequently paying parking tickets builds character P. 4
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PHOTO ESSAY: The Loh Down University President Loh explores the artistic side of selfies P. 6