The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper
W E D N E S DAY, A P R I L 8 , 2 015
Student Internet protection bill passes Univs could be banned from requiring access to social media profiles
CONSTRUCTION takes place on the Route 1 lot that will become a new hotel. tom hausman/the diamondback
Businesses sign leases for spaces under hotel
By Jon Banister @J_Banister Senior staff writer
Bagel shop, pizza parlor, spa to join Franklins grill By Joe Atmonavage @Fus_DBK Staff writer For junior Joe Palazzo, bringing any restaurant with authentic New York pizza or bagels to fill a void in College Park is a plus. T he civ i l eng i neer i ng m ajor and New York native, along with all university students, will have access to these goods after The Hotel at the University of Maryland brings four new businesses with it when it opens in January 2017, city officials said. Franklins Oyster Bar and Grill, Potomac Pizza, Bagels ‘n Grinds a nd El izabeth A rden Red Door S pa a l l w i l l h ave lo c at ion s i n the building. Potomac Pizza and Bagels ‘n Grinds are both local brands managed by Restaurant Zone Inc. “M a r yl a nd bagels a re worse than the pizza,” Palazzo said. “The bagels in Maryland make me proud to be a New Yorker.” The opportunity to bring authentic New York pizza and bagels to Col lege Pa rk — speci f ica l ly
TIMOTHY CANTY, an atmospheric science professor, teaches a weather and climate class outdoors after power went out on the campus. josh loock/the diamondback
darkest hours Pepco substation failure leaves univ without power for several hours By Jeremy Snow @JeremyM_Snow Senior staff writer For about five hours, an equipment failure in Charles County left the campus without power while Facilities Management and Pepco officials worked to bring back electricity. The campuswide blackout began at about 12:45 p.m., said Bill Olen, planning and construction interim executive director. Pepco, a major electricity provider for the Washington Metropolitan area, experienced an equipment failure in a substation in Charles County, which caused the incident. University President Wallace Loh closed the school at 2 p.m. as Pepco and campus facility crews continued to work on the issue. Firefighters went from building to building to help those
stuck in elevators. Crews restored power to most of North Campus by 3:41 p.m. before reaching the whole campus by 4:50 p.m. It will take awhile for water heaters and generators to heat back up in dorms, University Communications Director Katie Lawson said. Stamp Student Union closed at 4 p.m. and canceled all events, but a few of the restaurants in the food court continued to serve food until then, Stamp Director Marsha Guenzler-Stevens said. The Eppley Recreation Center also closed early and canceled its evening classes and programs, while the University Health Center closed shortly after power went out. “After PEPCO was able to restore power to their substation we were able to restore power
The House of Delegates and state Senate both passed bills to strengthen students’ online privacy by prohibiting universities from intruding on private social media accounts. The chambers passed slightly different versions of the bill and are voting this week on a uniform final version to send to Gov. Larry Hogan. The bill would prohibit any university administrators, officials or coaches from requiring students to grant them access to accounts that are not public. This makes it illegal for a coach to force an athlete to friend them on Facebook to look at their pictures or for a professor to mandate students accept their follow requests on a private Twitter or Instagram account. “It’s the First Amendment,” said Sen. Ronald Young (D-Frederick), the bill’s sponsor. “They can’t come ask you, ‘Can I sit in your house and listen to your phone calls, or can I come read your mail?’ Reading your private correspondence is the same thing. If you’re having a private conversation with someone via social media, it’s no one’s business but the two of you.” To alleviate University System of Maryland concerns that the bill would inhibit teachers from using the Internet and social media as teaching tools, an amendment was added saying the only reason universities can get access to students accounts is for educational purposes. Even then, the students must have the option to create a new account solely for the course. “We support the bill and support the spirit of the bill, for sure, that
See outage, Page 2
See hotel, Page 3
See privacy, Page 2
Univ students start prison letter project
South Campus Commons, Courtyards applications up Following housing lottery changes, more upperclassmen seek spaces in apartments
Pen-pal program matches univ students with incarcerated kids
By Morgan Eichensehr @MEichensehr Staff writer
By Rokia Hassanein @rokiahass Staff writer When sophomore Laura Miller heard about former inmates’ experiences in juvenile detention facilities, she wanted to find a way to give young people in the justice system a voice. After listening to advocates for the Just Kids Partnership — a nonprofit against charging incarcerated youths as adults — the management major knew she could lead a program on the campus to help reach this goal. “Once you kind of hear about it, how can you not get involved?” Miller said. “After seeing those who have had experiences with it and came out and advocated — it’s just
karla luetzow, a junior elementary education major (left), and Laura Miller, a sophomore management major (right), have started a pen pal program for kids in a local juvenile justice facility. james levin/the diamondback so powerful.” Miller is in charge of a pen-pal prog ra m that i nvolves send ing letters and poems back and forth w it h i nc a rcerate d yout h . T he p ro g r a m w a s c r e a t e d b y T h e Voice, a student group that aims to connect students with imprisoned youth and simultaneously advocate for juvenile-justice reform. The 50 university students participating along with Miller will w rite to about 30 i nca rcerated youth members ages 15 to 21 for four
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weeks through the English class poetry unit at the New Beginnings Detention Facility in Laurel. The students in The Voice received their first letters yesterday. The participants and those incarcerated will send original or famous poems to one another, said Danielle Van Horn, a program volunteer. The detention center will send the letters or poems on Tuesdays, and the university students will send See VOICE, Page 3
L ea si ng appl icat ion s for South Campus Commons and The Courtyards at University of Maryland spiked this spring, which likely was impacted by changes in university housing policies, Resident Life officials said. The Department of Resident L i fe i s g iv i n g f resh men a nd sophomores priority for onca mpus housi ng, prompt i ng upperclassmen to look into the campus-affiliated, public-private partnership student apartment communities. S t u d e n t s t u r n e d i n 2 ,7 16 leasing applications for Commons and Courtyards this
spring, the highest number since spring 2011, said Kelly Ridings, Resident L i fe’s Hou si ng Pa r tnerships manager. The Housing Partnership staff also saw 2,430 open-leasing appointments, the most since 2011. “[Leasing] went pretty much how we were ex pect i ng it to,” Ridings said. “Whenever people would ask for predictions, I said: ‘We really think we’re going to fill, and we think it’s going to be mostly rising juniors.’” Of the 1,523 students who signed n e w l e a s e s fo r Co m m o n s a n d Courtyards for the 2015-16 year, 1,382 are rising juniors, Ridings said. T here were also 97 rising on-campus seniors, 11 on-campus rising sophomores, 11 rising fifthyear seniors and 22 off-campus students, she said. “Last year, rising juniors made up about 73 percent of our new residents,” Ridings said. “Now, they make up about 90 percent.” K atie Fau l kner, a sophomore See COMMONS, Page 3
SPORTS
OPINION
SEASON IN REVIEW: WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
STAFF EDITORIAL: Highway user revenue
Despite entering the season with tempered expectations, the Terps reached the Final Four and won a Big Ten title this year P. 8
Prioritizing city infrastructure would be a wise investment P. 4
DIVERSIONS
GIRLS SAVE THE DAY, TOO More women are entering the pages of comic books P. 6