Weeping up with the Wandidates: Maine-Stream Music

After the Florida primary Newt Gingrich said in his speech that it was a two horse race.  

Today Rick Santorum said “We think this is a two-person race right now,” on CNN.

So there you have it. Only Gingrich and Santorum people have said it’s a two-person/horse/mammalian race, so it must be those two that are still in contention.

Looks like the Republican Party should just change its name to Tea Party with these two confident Tea Party kandidates leading the way.

Did I mention that moderate Mitt Romney won the week-long Maine Caucus? Because he did.

Alas, you can’t knock the kandidates for believing that it’s just them and Romney. Gingrich was in a comfortable second place to Romney when declared the head-to-head, and now Santorum is seemingly in the same position.

However, Ron Paul cannot be counted out just yet. Paul has been improving in the polls every week, and this week he finished in second place again. Less than 200 votes separated him from claiming his first victory in a state.

Paul is gaining new supporters every day. More and more do I see the students on this campus recruiting new supporters. Every time I pass them, I smile politely. One time I even said that the “Revolution is coming to College Park,” (but alas, only in my wildest dreams would Prince headline Art Attack.)

And on that musical note, enjoy the Grammy’s tonight. Seeing Bruce Springsteen without Clarence Clemons at his side will surely put a tear in my eyes. Seeing The Beach Boys reunite for a 50 year anniversary celebration will make me SMiLE. The rest of the night will make me wonder why all the music that’s winning awards sounds the same (I went there. Sorry.)

We also say a musical goodbye for Whitney Houston. Her music inspired many of today’s artists who grew up in Whitney’s prime. My honor to her was changing the K’s in my article’s title to W’s. Rest In Peace.

Before I take my leave, I must warn you that there will be no primaries until February 28. Do not fret, I’ll be checking in every so often to filter through the political jargon and maybe even voice my opinions on some things (my editor just died a little on the inside). Also, I’ll probably set up a Keeping up with the Kandidates Twitter page because why not.

So long, adieu.

Juan Cervantes is a junior history major and student blogger for The Diamondback.

UMD memes go viral among students

In the past 24-plus hours, more than 150 pictures have popped up on University of Maryland Memes, a nascent Facebook group that combines a bunch of meme-ready photos (most of which probably originated at 4chan.org and please, for the love of God, do not click that link) with campus-based slogans.

Since this image was posted to the group about a day ago, when we were all mere babes, the group has exploded, attracting more than 4,100 “likes” and probably a lot more word-of-mouth exposure as the pictures continue circulating the web.

The memes have so far run the gamut of single- and multi-panel constructions, from Scumbag Steve, to the “Y U NO” Guy, Good Guy Greg, the Socially Awkward Penguin and, fittingly, the College Freshman. If that sentence made no sense to you, you’re lucky. Run away while you can.

As of yet, the group’s proprietor has not come forward, so we’re forced to assume he’s an evil mastermind who, like Julian Assange, is disseminating memes from his estate in England, or, like, Wicomico Hall or something.

— Jon Wolper

General Assembly shelves bag tax bill; SGA spends 20 minutes debating it anyway

Wednesday night, the SGA threw its support behind a county-wide 5-cent plastic bag tax that had already died in the General Assembly earlier that day.

The body spent more than 20 minutes — the greatest debate of the night — discussing the tax, ultimately voting 10-4 in favor of a county implementation that many Student Government Association members passionately argued would better the environment. However, the vote may not mean as much in Annapolis, where the Prince George’s House delegation voted to shelve the bill hours earlier.

Robert DiMauro, the SGA bill’s sponsor, said he was aware the county legislation had failed Wednesday, noting there was “a lot of back and forth” between himself and Senior Vice President Matthew Popkin on whether to continue with the scheduled vote.

“A lot of things were transpiring as the meeting was going on,” DiMauro said. “I think it worked out in the end. There wasn’t any harm going over it that night. I think it’s still important for us to have a stance on this issue.”

The bill can still be revived. The House delegation can consider the issue two more times, the entire county delegation can vote on the bill even without the sub-committee’s endorsement. The bill needs at least 12 of the 23 county delegation votes to go in effect.

Next week, legislators will vote on the proposed Community Cleanup and Greening Act of 2012, which would place a statewide — rather than county-wide — additional charge on bags.

“This is not a dead issue,” Popkin said last night.

— Lauren Redding

Breaking news: Kids who go here are smart

Member of the UMD Class of 2016

This university has been inching forward in nationwide academic rankings for years now, and it looks like the next crop of freshmen — all of whom are seemingly more intelligent than Jimmy Neutron — will be keeping that trend alive.

Freshmen coming to campus this fall have an average weighted GPA of 4.11, according to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. You can compare those numbers to, say, the 3.96 average weighted GPA of the cave-dwelling mongoloids who matriculated here back in 2006.

And that’s not all — the average weighted GPA for incoming freshman admitted to the honors college is 4.39. Half of these students have beaten Stephen Hawking in a game of chess and a third helped build the Large Hadron Collider. Another quarter of honors kids have pyrokinesis and two or three of them have probably figured out the answer to the universe, but aren’t telling.

That’s not true, but here’s something that is: This university’s newest crop of  honors students is a full .08 arbitrary GPA points smarter than the normal Duke University Class of 2016 student, according to Collegedata.com, which is great news if you need more reasons to hate the Blue Devils. Go Terps?

— Jon Wolper

UPDATED: Has the College Park Cuddler taken to the Internet?

UPDATE 11:36 p.m.: Tincher received a message saying, “I was the one who made up the College Park cuddler secret. It was a joke. I’m a stupid college kid. Get over it.”

Good one.

—

The student-run blog, TerpSecret, where users can anonymously post their secrets, has gotten a lot of attention recently. But sophomore journalism major Sarah Tincher, who created the site, probably never expected to receive this secret:

“I’m the College Park cuddler. Some may not understand why I like to get in bed with girls, but I think it’s the sexiest thing ever. To be in a bed with a girl who has no idea I’m there turns me on more than anything. I will strike again.”

(For those of you who don’t know, the College Park Cuddler is the colloquial name for the unknown perpetrator of a string of 2008 alleged sexual assaults that appear to have started at Georgetown University. Two College Park victims reported a man snuck into their beds in the middle of night. The assaults stopped for a while, but similar incidences took place in September around the Leonardtown Apartments.)

Although it’s unclear when the secret was sent to Tincher, she posted it on her blog yesterday. Tincher said a friend Facebook messaged her about reporting it to police. She’s conflicted, however, whether or not to protect the poster’s anonymity. Tincher posted a poll on her blog tonight to see what other students think she should do.

As of 11 p.m., most had voted yes, she should report it. What do you think? Is it really the cuddler or just a dumb kid who’s probably going to get in trouble if Tincher turns him in?

— Lauren Redding

Keeping up with the Kandidates — Rocky Mountain High

My experience with the Iowa caucus on Jan. 3, watching and waiting until 3 a.m. for the final tally to be decided, was unreal. Last night at 1 a.m., flashes of Iowa were reflecting out west in Colorado.

The night had grown weary. I sat in darkness in the center of an apartment where three others rested comfortably their respective beds. I longed for my precious mattress and my eyes began to slowly lose a battle with gravity.

I listened to the Talking Heads and I listened to what the CNN analysts had to say. I did that for more than four hours.

But at last, at 1 a.m. (11 p.m. mountain time), Colorado’s GOP Chairman appeared on CNN saying Rick Santorum has won Colorado’s Republican primary.

Feb. 7, 2012 belonged to Rick Santorum.

Across the country, Santorum supports are raising their brooms high above their heads. This was a sweep that nobody but them saw coming.

If you told me that Santorum would win all three states yesterday, I would have looked at you in the same way that I would have looked at someone in September telling me the New York Giants were going to win the Super Bowl this year. I would’ve laughed in your face.

However, on any given Tuesday, anything can happen.

Santorum did it. And he did it with a frothy mix of hard work, dedication, patience and support.

According to CNN, he also did it by pulling a strong Evangelical vote (which these days in Colorado now includes a certain outspoken football player.)

Santorum is steaming. There may not be a happier person in the world right now then him. Can he keep it up or is this just a premature reaction to a lucky day?

Maine finishes up their week long voting period Saturday. Get your lobster ready.

Juan Cervantes is a junior history major and student blogger for The Diamondback.

Keeping up with the Kandidates: Holy Santorum!

Time and time again, while watching the Republican race unfold, I have been waiting for Rick Santorum to drop out. I figured he didn’t stand a chance and was just sticking around to hurt Newt Gingrich’s chances.

I’m currently eating my words and they taste awful.

Santorum won tonight and he won big. CNN projected his victory in Missouri (where no delegates were at stake) around 9:45 p.m. That’s where it began.

He would finish in Missouri with more than double the amount of votes of the second place Romney.

At 10:32 p.m., CNN projected his victory in Minnesota, also by a large margin. Ron Paul finished second in the land of the lakes.

I’m not even including Colorado, which will get its own blog post tomorrow. As I write this,Santorum is leading in the Rockies, but Romney is keeping it close.

In Missouri and Minnesota, though, how could the low-budget Santorum take down Romney, the big spender?

Just like in Iowa, Santorum spent a significant amount of time in the states that went to the polls tonight. According to CNN, he spent 22 days in the three states — ten more days than any other candidate.

And, just like in Iowa, Santorum came out and let it be known that he isn’t one to bow out because everyone else — including this blogger — said he would.

At the same time, though, CNN was told that the Romney camp wrote these victories off. Romney didn’t campaign nearly as hard in these states as he did in the ones that he claimed victory in. The losses were expected, campaign officials said.

However, it had to hurt to get beaten as bad as Romney did. And when America sees results like tonight’s, it only will garner more support for the victor, Santorum.

In Santorum’s speech tonight, he took a chance to swing not at Romney or Gingrich, but at President Barack Obama himself.

“I do not stand here to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney; I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama,” Santorum said to a supporting crowd in St. Charles, Missouri.

Santorum is alive and well. Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich was seemingly nowhere to be found.

Have the tides truly turned for Santorum? We’re about to find out.

More on Colorado tomorrow.

Senate passes stricter smoking policy, then does nothing to enforce it

The University Senate spent two years tossing around the idea of whether or not to ban smoking on the campus. After two years of discussions, debates and sending the issue to different committees, the university’s most powerful legislative body came to a swift decision in September — instead of full-out banning smoking, university policy would be amended so smokers now had to stand 25 feet, instead of the original 15 feet, away from a building to light up.

 
At the time this was proposed, undergraduate senators pointed out the obvious: The policy change would mean little if enforcement didn’t take place. Officials’ answer to this? They would place “no smoking” signs and cigarette receptacles around the campus.

 
Sure, that definitely counts as enforcement.

 
That was five months ago. Guess what’s been done since then? You guessed it. Not a whole lot.

 
According to Facilities Management Director Carlo Collela, “there is no cigarette police,” and the policy is virtually unenforceable.

 
Collela said officials still need to replace old signage that reflects the old policy and move cigarette urns further from buildings. He expects the policy to be fully in effect in the next two months.

 
It took two years to get the “policy” passed. While it was being discussed, issues students actually care about — ahem, the Good Samaritan policy — were being pushed to the back burner.

 
Please tell us, University Senate: What was the point of passing this measure in the first place?

 
— Jim Bach and Lauren Redding

More than 100 participate in first Black History Month portrait

There was a cool bite in the air and an ominous threat of rain, and the sun played hide and seek behind the clouds. But that did not stop black students all across the campus from gathering together Saturday afternoon for the university’s first annual Black History Month portrait.

More than 100 students donned their Sunday finest and flocked to the Main Administration Building and then the Nyumburu Amphitheater for the photoshoot, and in spite of the bleak weather, the crowd remained positive and enthused. Ladies were positioned in the middle and men stood along either side, imitating the black-and-white schoolhouse photos of the early 20th century. Students shouted, “Wooo!” in jubilation after the first shot was taken, and “Black Power” fists were raised during the final photos.

The event was spearheaded by junior physiology and neurobiology and community health major Damien Pinkett, president of the university’s Black Student Union. Pinkett said as he was researching black history to prepare the organization’s events for the month, he stumbled upon the story of Hiram Whittle — the university’s first black undergraduate. Whittle first transferred from then all-black Morgan State University in 1951, and in a 1952 Terrapin yearbook photo, Whittle stood out as the only black student in the photograph.

Pinkett said this inspired him to take a whole new photograph — one that displayed just how much the campus has changed in the 61 years since he enrolled.

“I just wanted to show a picture, show how far we’ve came since then,” Pinkett said. “I chose the administration building to show how far we came on the University of Maryland, from not being admitted to now where we’re striving and black retention rates are going up as well.”

Pinkett said a framed photograph will be sent to university President Wallace Loh, and he also hopes to have it mass-produced and distributed to every student on the campus.

And the meaning behind the photograph was not lost on the students who attended.

“I thought it was a good thing to give us a symbol of what it means to be united,” said senior government and politics major Adedoyin Adedapo, who serves as president of the university’s NAACP chapter.

But current students weren’t the only ones in attendance. 1995 university alumna Deborah Pollock also learned about the portrait through Facebook and decided to take part.

“I think it’s a struggle for people of color at the University of Maryland,” Pollock said. “I think it’s good when we can come together and show support.”

And Pinkett hopes this first photoshoot will only be the start of an annual tradition.
“We’ve accomplished something and shouldn’t stop here,” he said.

— Ashley Dupigny-Leigh is a sophomore letters and sciences major and a student blogger for The Diamondback.

Solar Decathlon project bought by Pepco

The university’s award-winning Solar Decathlon project, WaterShed, has a new home.
The Washington-area utility provider Pepco purchased the solar house last week for an undisclosed sum. The house will be moved to a Montgomery County facility, officials recently announced.
After winning the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon in October, the house was placed on display and then moved back to College Park. The team considered offers from various sources before finally deciding to sell to Pepco.
The house, which is completely solar powered, takes advantage of recycled water to be energy-efficient. The combination of energy efficiency and beauty spurred Pepco’s interest in the house.
According to a university press release, the house will serve as an educational facility for the public.

— Fola Akinnibi