UMD student, Internet Casanova featured on Tosh.0

Alex MacRae knows a lot about picking up women.

He may not lead with the winning line, “I study engineering at the University of Maryland,” but he does know that many things adults say can be taken the wrong way if they are not conveyed with “energy and fun.”

MacRae, who gained YouTube fame in 2007 after he made an informative web video on impressing the ladies for askromeo.com, had a chance at redemption June 26 on Tosh.0, but not before viewers had a chance to hear a bit more of his good advice.

A freshman’s guide to laundry room etiquette

Dorothy, you’re not in Kansas anymore. You’re in college and sooner or later you’ll find that you have to make a trip to basement of your building to do laundry. And you’ll find it was easier when you were at home and mom was the only person you had to worry about touching your delicates.

“People can be so impatient and obnoxious,” freshman journalism major Mia Simon commented to me recently.

Indeed, Simon. Wouldn’t it be so much simpler if everyone abides by the same rules? If there was a formal code of laundry room etiquette? Look no further—the following is my manifesto on community laundry facility etiquette: Anyone who does not have exact change is prohibited from entering the laundry room. Check yo self before you wreck yo self. Why would you put your laundry into a machine before making sure you can pay for the wash cycle? That washing machine is prime real estate and people don’t appreciate waiting while you walk around the building panhandling.

Students and the City: Help out a fellow Terp

Zach Lederer

Amid finals, papers, projects and stress galore, there is perhaps no better time to take a step back and reflect on what really matters — such as helping out your fellow Terps.

By now, everyone knows about Zach Lederer, the freshman who made headlines earlier this year for his fight against cancer. This Sunday, the first annual Zaching Against Cancer 3 vs. 3 basketball tournament will take place at the Armory starting at 10 a.m. The registration cost for each team is $21, with all proceeds going to cancer patients in the area through the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults.

Campus Complainer: SGA candidates really need a moon bounce

Just a thought, guys.

Ah, election season. One of my favorite times of year. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and mud is being slung through the air. We’re not talking the presidental election, people, it’s time for Student Government Association elections.

Why do I love them? Well (this is going to floor you), I actually hate them. I can’t stand the endless bombardment from candidates during the election cycle. The fliers, the emails, pitches during class — all of it.

I don’t care about your inconsequential platform you’re running on. I’d guess that neither does 70 percent of the student population. So, please stop shoving your platform down my throat. In fact, I’d rather you put an actual wooden platform through a woodchipper and sprinkle the wood chips on my tuna sandwiches (and I love my tuna sandwiches) than have to listen to a candidate drone on about how they’re going to increase the number of Inuits at our school.

Diversity as a platform? Really? It’s important in the grand scheme of things, but if you’re trying to get students to vote, that’s a surefire way to put them to sleep and to spread the apathy. You want to pull people out to vote and get your point across? Two words: moon bounce.

Is It Friday Yet?: The great caffeine crash of 2012

Remember that scene in George of the Jungle when George experiences coffee for the first time, eating coffee grounds straight by the handful? Well I just had one of the moments.

It’s a Monday night and I have an exam in the morning. Not to mention I also have two online quizzes and a writing sample due. I must also defeat Voldemort all by midnight.

Solution? Java, java, java, java, java, java!

I sip my first cup and sit down to my pile of demands. I crack my first book and suddenly feel a kick of adrenaline. I then sip my second, third and fourth cups — I have caught my second wind!

I soar through all my work, cramming for the exam, answering quizzes and jotting down written words. I am then physically able to cast the Patronus spell. (I was too weak before.)

I am on a roll. I fly through the pages with fire shooting from my pen and fingertips — cue the Rocky theme song.

I finish. All my work is done. Yes, I have even slayed Voldemort at the point of my caffeinated wand. So what do I do now?

I check Facebook, and it is a ghost town. Tumbleweeds roll across my news feed. Too bad Will Smith isn’t here to sing “Wild Wild West”. I think when there isn’t even anyone to talk to on Facebook, it’s time to go to sleep.

I lie down and fight to keep my eyes closed. My eyelids are arguing with me as if they are shades on a window. You remember the old one-sheet paper shades — no matter how hard you try to pull them down, they always spring back up? I guess this is how Edward Cullen feels, lacking the need to sleep.

I continue to lie awake thinking about what I can do with my jittered time. Then a light bulb goes on in my already illuminated mind, “I think I’ll go write a blog post about being up on coffee at 4 a.m.”

Is it Friday yet? Maybe this caffeine will wear off by then.

— Liz Lane is a junior journalism major and student blogger for The Diamondback

The truth about YOLO

“You only live once, that’s the motto, n—- — YOLO.” That line from the popular rap song “The Motto” by Drake is the motto of this generation. It also happens to be the best excuse to do all the things common sense tells you not to do. All you have to do is call out “YOLO” right before you do it, and everything will be OK. We know this because Drake signed a contract reassuring your well-being and taking all financial responsibility for your hospital bills.

If you’re going to do something stupid for the sake of YOLO, you need to post it on a social networking site. Otherwise, it’s just seen as you being stupid. You need to yell out “YOLO” so other people can hear it, or it doesn’t count. Try doing something dangerous and call out “YOLO” when no one else is around. It just won’t feel the same. It’s like the age-old question, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” If you yell “YOLO” and jump from a tree in the forest with no one around to hear it, your doctor will know by the x-rays that you made a sound — the sound of your leg snapping in half, not “YOLO.”

Vigil to be held tomorrow for Trayvon Martin

Weeks after the initial event, thousands are still outraged at the controversy surrounding the Trayvon Martin case. Tomorrow, students across the nation will demonstrate their feelings through a moment of silence.

The 1,000 Campus Vigil For Trayvon Martin starts at precisely 8:02 p.m. tomorrow and lasts for 15 minutes. This university’s Black Faculty and Staff Association endorsed the event, entitled “Let’s Light Up the Sky.”

The creators of the group, the members of the Malik Fraternity, clearly state, “We are demanding justice for Trayvon Martin and others who fell victims to the evil acts of racists, bigots and discrimination.”

Campus Complainer: There are worse things than secondhand smoke

I was strolling along McKeldin Mall the other day between classes and plopped down in front of the library to talk on the phone. Outside of McKeldin is a popular spot to stop for a cigarette. Students and professors alike congregate just outside of its doors to literally blow off smoke before diving into the books.

As I sat, I noticed a common occurrence: Multiple passersby doing the loud, over exaggerated fake cough. It happened once and I paid no mind. Twice and my ears perked up. When it didn’t stop, I was shocked.

 

Is it Friday yet? Mac’s: 1, PC’s: 0

In class, I basically beg people to stare at me. No, I’m not the girl wearing a skirt that suddenly becomes a belt when she sits down — the only downside to this warmer weather we were experiencing before Spring Break.

I own a PC. Yes, I am that girl.

Students from Massachusetts weigh in on Romney’s chances

With the Republican GOP race heating up, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is a faltering front runner. Many critics believe Romney to be a flip-flopper who always tells the public exactly what they want to hear, and it may not have been an easy transition from governor of Massachusetts — a historically Democratic state — to Republican candidate in the presidential election.

In fact, fellow Republican candidate Rick Santorum said on Monday, “To be attacked on television as someone who is authentic conservative by a Massachusetts governor [Romney] is a joke.”

Some university students from Massachusetts said they have seen firsthand how much Romney has changed politically since his gubernatorial days from 2003 to 2007.

Sophomore letters and sciences major Pat Lortz, a registered Republican, said while he believes Romney is the right man for the job, his tenure in Massachusetts may work against him.

“I know he did a great job as governor and did many positive things there,” Lortz said. “But now he is forced to change his ideals to appeal to the far right and people are seeing right through it.”

Lortz graduated from Acton-Boxborough Regional High School in Acton, Mass., where ten students in its 2011 graduating class came to this university. Patrick Grucela, a political science and history teacher at the high school, called Romney an “easy target” for his competitors, and said in watching Romney’s campaign it was  “hard to follow him from thought to thought.”

“A conservative Republican wasn’t going to win any office in Massachusetts,” Grucela said. “To win the Republicans, Romney is now going to have to change some things.”

Sophomore letters and sciences Drew Snadecki said he is still unsure whether he will join his neighbors back home in Marblehead, Mass., in supporting Romney.

“I haven’t followed the GOP as much as I should, but being from Massachusetts I know that locally Romney was strongly favored early on in the race without a doubt,” Snadecki said. “I read articles criticizing Romney’s performance during the debate, which proved that I shouldn’t support Romney for the heck of it, so I reevaluated my opinion and started following the GOP more.”

— Peter Kollm is a sophomore letters and sciences major