072111 by The Diamondback

SEEING GREEN

BROKEN RUDDER

Details of new contracts for Turgeon, Edsall revealed

311 delivers a boring album of repetitive songs

SPORTS | PAGE 10

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Athletics’ financials to be examined

DIVERSIONS | PAGE 7

THE DIAMONDBACK Obama to host forum in Ritchie In fourth on-campus appearance, Obama expected to discuss debt ceiling, budget BY YASMEEN ABUTALEB Staff writer

Dept. exhausted funds in previous fiscal year BY REBECCA LURYE AND JONAS SHAFFER Senior staff writers

Our 101ST Year, No. 154

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER

President Barack Obama speaks to a packed audience in Comcast Center in 2009. FILE PHOTO/THE DIAMONDBACK

After a recent high-profile Twitter town hall meeting, President Barack Obama is stepping out from behind the White House podium screen and speaking to Americans face-to-face — and he’s chosen this university as a location for the discussion. On Friday, Obama will arrive on the campus to hold a town hall meeting at 11 a.m. in Ritchie Col-

University President Wallace Loh charged a newly created commission Tuesday with tackling the mounting financial difficulties of the school’s varsity sports programs, which have emptied the athletics department’s budget and perhaps threatened the long-term sustainability of several teams. Vice President for Student Affairs Linda Clement, one of two co-chairs on a 17-person commission composed of representatives from the athletics department, Student Government Association and other groups, said the athletics department spent $1.2 million more than it earned this fiscal year, fully depleting the university’s athletics reserves as it sought to make up the difference in the annual budget. In a letter addressed to the university committee, Loh wrote that the school’s commitment to serving its student-athletes has become “constrained by financial concerns.” While a slumping economy has played a hand in the athletics department’s bleeding funds, its sheer size could be on the cutting block. Only two ACC schools — Boston College (31) and North Carolina (28) — support more varsity sports than this university, which boasts 27. Clement, who has helped in deciding whether to add sports teams to the university’s varsity roster,

iseum. Although the subject of the forum had not been announced as of Wednesday evening, university spokesman Millree Williams said it will most likely revolve around the federal debt-ceiling debate. As the Aug. 2 deadline by which the debt ceiling — a cap on how much money the federal government can borrow — must be raised to prevent default rapidly approaches, debt discussions have dominated the federal agenda.

During his on-campus meeting, Obama will continue his recent engagement of Twitter users in national discussions. A portion of the attendees will be drawn from @WhiteHouse followers from this state, Virginia and Washington who registered to attend the event on Wednesday. A limited number of general admission tickets will be available on Thursday at 9 a.m. in

see OBAMA, page 2

Growing spaces University officials refocus efforts to enhance arboretum outreach

see ATHLETICS, page 3

Coalition vows to end alleged staff abuse Group prepares for fall semester action BY LEAH VILLANUEVA Senior staff writer

A growing coalition of university employees, students and other community members have pledged their support in pressuring administrators to act on reports of workplace abuse. On July 15, about 60 people attended a solidarity forum hosted by the university’s Black Faculty and Staff Association in the Nyumburu Cultural Center to discuss how they should organize to increase awareness of the alleged sexual harassment, racial discrimination and verbal abuse in university workplaces that has surfaced in recent months. In addition to showing support for victims of such practices, attendees of the forum criticized administrators for not taking swifter action on the reported abuse during the summer. On May 27, almost two months prior to last week’s forum, members of the BFSA presented a 56-page report to university President Wallace Loh, highlighting the grievances more than 70 employees reported in surveys and more than two dozen staff members voiced at two on-campus forums held in May. At that time, an administrative investigation was already underway regarding an anonymous letter comparing the environment in the university’s Campus Projects department to a “labor camp” and a

see FORUM, page 3

TOMORROW’S WEATHER:

The university's greenhouses are located behind Comcast Center.

MATTHEW

CREGER/THE DIAMONDBACK

BY KIRSTEN PETERSEN For The Diamondback

With a cemetery nearby and an inconspicuous location near Byrd Stadium, the small one-story building dubbed the Apiary may not appear to be the control center for this university’s nationally recognized arboretum. While it used to host a swarm of

bees and was home to the university’s beekeeping course, the buzz around the building shifted focus this March — now, it is all about the trees. Facilities Management refurbished the Apiary this spring to create the Arboretum Outreach Center, the university Arboretum and Botanical Garden’s hotspot for educational initiatives, and the presence of this home enabled new pro-

grams to be launched this summer. “We would really like to have all of the students think of the campus as their own backyard, frontyard and to take ownership of the physical environment of their campus,” said Carin Celebuski, the volunteer coordinator for the Arboretum and Botanical Garden. The American Public Gardens Association officially recognized

the university as a national arboretum in 2008, and consequentially, the center was proposed in 2009. The Arboretum and Botanical Garden received permission to occupy the Apiary later that year. “I really see the arboretum as that fabric that weaves us together,” said Karen Petroff, assistant director for

see ARBORETUM, page 2

JOHN TOLL, 1923-2011

‘He was relentless in his pursuit of excellence’ BY YASMEEN ABUTALEB Staff writer

Even when transforming colleges into nationally recognized public institutions was exhausting, John Toll did not show it — his cheerful attitude never wavered. Toll, 87, a former university president and the University System of Maryland’s firstever chancellor, died July 15 from respiratory failure, according to family members. Yet, state and university officials said the impact he had on this university is everlasting — they credit the institution’s recent rise to Toll’s vision two decades before. “He had the personality of a cheerleader; he was always very positive,” said state Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s). “Lots of people have good ideas, but a smaller number are able to turn those ideas into reality, and Johnny Toll was one of

Sunny/90s

INDEX

those relatively small number of people who can lead big changes in big institutions.” After receiving degrees from Yale and Princeton, Toll arrived at this university in 1953 to chair the physics department at the age of 29 — one of the youngest department chairs the country had seen. He remained in the post for 13 years and led his department to become the only program at this university ranked in the nation’s top 20. In 1965, Toll moved to New York to become the first president of Stony Brook University. He took the university from an enrollment of 1,700 students up to 17,000, according to The New York Times, adding numerous departments to transform it into a major research university. “Johnny never held back,” said Deborah Toll, his wife of 40 years. “He was putting

see TOLL, page 6 NEWS . . . . . . . . . .2 OPINION . . . . . . . .4

FEATURES . . . . . .5 CLASSIFIED . . . . .6

John Toll, the University System of Maryland’s first chancellor, was called a visionary. PHOTO COURTESY OF WASHINGTON COLLEGE

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