UMBC undergraduates are stressed out and obese Maryland ...

volume 45 issue 14 TuesDAY February 8 , 2011 

retrieverweekly.com 

UMBC undergraduates are stressed out and obese 

Alethea Paul 

Senior Staff writer 

According to a National College 

Health Assessment (NCHA) survey, 

UMBC students are more stressed and 

obese than undergraduates at other 

college campuses. 

The survey includes questions from 

buckling seatbelts to the number of 

sex partners. 

The most recent results from the 

survey show that 26.1% of students 

feel their academic performance is 

affected by stress; 22.6% by anxiety; 

18.2% by sleep difficulties; and 

12.3% by depression. 

Dr. Jay Ingram, Director of the 

UCS's Student Development and Success 

Center, confirmed that, "Stress 

and anxiety are two of the highestrated 

problems for our [UMBC] 

students every year. And yes, these 

problems do have a negative impact 

on academic performance." 

UMBC students also have a higher 

Body Mass Index compared to students 

from other universities, making 

the campus more obese. 

Also, per the survey results, 91.2% 

are perceived to consume alcohol, 

and between 65-85% smoke cigarettes, 

marijuana, and hooka. 

Maryland will become the sixth state to legalize gay marriage if the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act passes. 

These figures, while somewhat 

amusing, point to a bigger problem. 

Stress, alcohol and drug dependency, 

and even weight/health issues all affect 

student performance. While 

UMBC is the #1 up-and-coming university, 

these concerns can weaken 

student achievement. 

As a result, UCS has begun to offer 

workshops in time management, procrastination, 

stress management, and 

test anxiety. UHS offers programs that 

address serving sizes and nutrition 

labels, and explain how much sugar 

actually is in the foods students eat. 

The NCHA will administer another 

survey measuring physical and mental 

health in early March. 

Comments can be sent to 

alethea1@umbc.edu. 

Maryland considers legalizing same-sex marriage 

Molly Bradtke 

contributing writer 

The Maryland senate will hold a 

public hearing on February 8th regarding 

a bill that will allow samesex 

marriage. Similar bills have been 

introduced twice previously, in 2008 

and 2009, but both failed to move 

through the Senate. This year, however, 

with a greater Democratic majority 

in Maryland's Senate, the bill 

is expected to pass. Governor Martin 

O'Malley announced that he will 

sign the bill if this occurs. Maryland 

will become the sixth state to legalize 

gay marriage if the Religious Freedom 

and Civil Marriage Protection Act 

is passed. Connecticut, Iowa, Massa- 

chusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, 

and Washington, D.C are the only 

other states that currently allow it. 

Rhode Island has begun considering 

legalization of gay marriage as well. 

Turning the bill into law does 

not guarantee a conclusion to the 

debate. Opponents could force a 

referendum in 2012, an action that 

some are already considering. Maryland 

voters would vote on the issue 

in the next election, should it come 

to referendum. Most Republicans in 

the Senate have officially taken a position 

against the bill, while those in 

the House are expected to take a position 

next week. The former Senate 

Minority leader, Republican Allen 

Kittleman, has formally announced 

his support of the bill. 

Democratic Senate President 

Thomas Miller opposes the bill. 

He relays the opinion of religious 

groups--that marriage between a 

man and a woman is the only kind 

that is blessed. According to those 

who agree with him, allowing samesex 

marriage will damage the entire 

institution of marriage. Dr. Roy 

Meyer, Professor of Political Science 

here at UMBC, disagrees: "My experience 

is that many gays and lesbians 

who enter into commitments to 

each other take those commitments 

very seriously," he says, "Therefore, 

recognition of same-sex marriage, 

could actually promote the institution 

of marriage." 

This controversial bill has drawn 

the attention of various interest 

groups nationwide. The Human 

Rights Campaign is a group dedicated 

to promoting equal rights for 

minorities--particularly gays. The 

National Organization for Marriage 

takes on the opposing position. 

Equality Maryland, an organization 

promoting the rights of the LGBT 

community, is hosting Lobby Day on 

February 14th. On this day, the public 

can rally at the state house and 

meet with legislators. Three student 

organizations at UMBC, QUMBC, 

WILL, and College Dems, are planning 

to attend the lobby. 

Despite the opposition, senior 

and MLL major Scott Gautney remains 

optimistic. "I am confident 

that the day of universal marriage 

for everyone is coming," he says. 

News 01 opiNioN 06 arts 10 sports 15 

inside box subtitle 

“Days of rage” in egypt the Joy of Pepsi 

Art of Thoughtography 

Getting national attention Double upsets 

Courtesy Getty ImaGes 

Freshman Caitlyn Leiter-Mason, a 

Political Science major, is excited at 

the prospect of the bill. "Many legislators 

and citizens have been advocating 

for this equality for a while," 

she says, "Now we have a chance to 

finally institute it." 

Dr. Meyer believes that recent 

legislation, such as the repeal of 

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" reflects a 

shift in acceptance of same-sex relationships. 

"I suspect that in another 

decade many people will be asking 

themselves, what were we worrying 

about?" 


bmolly1@umbc.edu.

2 News February 8, 2011 

The ReTRieveR Weekly 

Taking the electrichka to Pavlovsk 

Courtney Ring 

editorial Staff 

Today was fabulous. We set out 

via electrichka (commuter train 

kind of similar to our light rail) for 

Pavlovsk, one of the suburbs of St. 

Petersburg. This was Tsar Pavel I's 

(the son of Catherine the Great) 

summer residence and his favorite 

estate. Unfortunately, during 

WWII, the palace was completely 

bombed out by the Nazis. It is 

now newly and fully restored and 

open to the public, so we took a 

tour of the dvoretz (dvah-RYETZ - 

palace). Because the weather was 

wet, we were given disposable 

tapochki (house slippers) to put 

over our boots and sneakers, so 

as not to damage the satin-smooth 

parquet floors. Thus, instead of 

walking from room to room, we 

had to sort of sachet, or otherwise 

risk the danger of a fall. 

Even though it was furnished 

in the heavily ornate, inhospitable 

fashion common to most 

royal dwellings, this palace still 

felt much more like a home than 

some of the other grand houses 

I've toured in the past. Maybe 

because the rooms were smaller, 

it was easier to imagine windows 

thrown open to the breeze, children 

running in and out of doors, 

and grand ladies reposing on the 

ubiquitous divans. Maybe it was 

the sight of the grand ballroom 

with the lights softly admiring 

their reflections in the tsarina's 

crystal, set out on the tables as if 

still waiting for the grand folk to 

arrive. 

After lunch in the cafe, we 

were turned loose to explore the 

grounds. The rain whispered gently 

down all around us, muting 

Paul I looks down his nose at visitors to his summer palace at Pavlovsk. 

colors and softening sounds. It 

fit the mood of the place. Marija, 

Dan, Eva, and I wandered down 

around back and up to a ruined 

bridge and a parthenon built in 

the Greek style. The ruins, the 

dark sky, the gentle rain, and the 

haunted forest: it was absolutely 

perfect. Dan, however, was very 

perturbed to discover some trees 

whose leaves were already beginning 

to turn yellow and red. It was 

the beginning of September for 

crying out loud! 

Most of us headed back to the 

train station at about 5pm. We 

were all pretty damp and cold 

by this time. The train is not really 

like any train I've ever been 

on before. The coaches are bare 

and gray inside, with hard, dullcolored 

benches to accommodate 

passengers. Every once and again 

as we rode, we would hear an 

ominous thunk and wonder if our 

carriage would stay connected to 

the train. On the way to Pavlovsk, 

some musicians boarded the train, 

moving from car to car, singing 

songs and receiving the generosity 

of the appreciative passengers. 

Magazine and booksellers also 

hawked their wares on the train. 

All in all, it was kind of fun. 

It was neat to get out of the city 

for the day, but also really odd. 

The change from city to country is 

almost immediate. It's not like in 

America, where the city stretches 

its fingers out to surrounding 

neighborhoods, and suburbs encircle 

it for miles around. Here, 

you know as soon as you leave the 

city. One minute, you're chugging 

sluggishly past cement industrial 

complexes, and the next you are 

out in the low-lying marshes surrounding 

the city. The land around 

the city is almost completely flat 

and very empty, though to the east 

it's possible to see a dark pine forest 

and a rise in the ground. Along 

the tracks, though, we glimpsed 

a number of neatly kept flower 

and vegetable patches, some of 

which were surrounded by tiny 

shanties...shanties with chimneys. 

Some of the bigger ones huddled 

together, forming a tiny bastion 

in the middle of the swamp. The 

disconnection between city and 

country was so stark, it was almost 

absurd. From the opulent to 

the abject, how do you reconcile 

such wildly different images? 


me@retrieverweekly.com. 

CourtNey rING — trW


And the winner is...Pepsi-Cola 

Farrah Skeiky 


Why did UMBC swing from Coke 

to Pepsi? Most of us probably have 

been wondering about this for the 

past couple weeks. 

The university's contract with 

Coca-Cola expired, and Pepsi-Cola 

won the bidding process in a vendor 

competition. As of now, Pepsi caters 

to almost 80% of the colleges in the 

Baltimore, Washington, and Northern 

Virginia areas. 

According to Director of Campus 

Card and Mail Services George Vitak, 

Pepsi is also environmentally 

February 8, 2011 News 3 

Weeks later, “Days of Rage” continue to plague Egypt 

Olivia Ignacio 


Thousands of everyday Egyptians 

flooded the streets of Cairo on 

January 25, to demand the end of 

widespread poverty, unemployment, 

and government corruption in what 

would begin the largest and longest 

string of protests the country has 

seen since the 1970s. 

JaNuary 30 

Chesapeake Hall 

Alcohol Violation 

CDS, Possession (Marijuana) 

CDS Paraphernalia Possession 

oRl staff members requested police 

assistance at a party that involved 

underage drinking. investigation at 

the scene found evidence that several 

under-aged umBC student and nonstudents 

had been drinking alcohol. 

During the investigation officers discovered 

CDs and CDs paraphernalia 

in the room. A 19-year-old umBC student 

was arrested and charged with 

CDs violations. 

friendly and offers programs wellsuited 

to campus life. 

For example, the establishment 

of the Fountain Drink Club will offer 

a free drink following every five 

purchases. The Pepsi contract also 

includes an initiative that will allot 

students credit for recycling cans 

and bottles. 

However, for those who still 

crave their Coke favorites, the Yum 

Shoppe will continue to carry a variety 

of Coke beverages. 

As for the health benefits, Kathryn 

Henry, Director of the SGA's 

Department of Health and Wellness, 

explains that the nutritional differ- 

Inspired by the recent protests in 

Tunisia, demonstrators (led mostly 

by the tech-savvy youth) chanted 

"Down with Mubarak!" in an effort 

to end both the autocratic regime 

and President Hosni Mubarak's 30 

years in power. 

"Not only is it an autocratic government, 

but an unsuccessful one 

in terms of providing for the people 

economically," said Dr. Brigid Star- 

JaNuary 31 

Lot 20 (old walker apt) 

Theft from Automobile 

A umBC student reported that 

someone removed her laptop computer 

from her unlocked vehicle while 

it was parked. 

February 2 

potomac Hall 

Theft from Buildings 


someone removed money from his 

dorm room. 

ences are extremely small. 

"[Actually], I'd like to see students 

not buying any of these products at 

all—these types of foods should only 

be eaten on occasion," says Henry. 

In the meantime, several students 

seem content with the change. 

Senior political science major 

Natalie Patrick states, "If this switch 

can save us money and we just have 

to give up a brand of drink or food, 

I think people just need to suck it 

up–literally." 


fskeiky1@umbc.edu. 

Courtesy oF GooGLe ImaGes 

key, a professor of Political Science 

at UMBC. 

The government responded to the 

protests, which were also held in Alexandria 

and Suez, by first blocking 

Facebook and Twitter, both instrumental 

in organizing the rallies. All 

Internet access was cut off shortly 

after, and the government attempted 

to enforce a curfew. Riot police tried 

to stop the demonstrators by using 

February 3 

poplar ave. 

Theft from Automobile 


someone removed the license plate 

from her vehicle while it was parked. 

.. 

Thoughts on UMBC 

shifting from Coke to 

Pepsi? 

50.0% 

26.7% 

16.7% 

6.70% 

Ruined my life. 

It’s still soda. 

Is that why the cups at 

Salsaritas are smaller 

now? 

Mountain Dew! 

Vote in next week’s poll at retrieverweekly.com 

Left: Protestors rally against the current Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. 

batons, tear gas, and water cannons. 

"[The protests] are changing from 

day to day from when it first started," 

said Khalid Mutawalli, a senior 

and ELC student at UMBC, originally 

from Egypt. “But with more violence, 

it's getting darker every day.” 

On January 28, U.S. President Barack 

Obama urged President Mubarak 

to make an orderly transition 

to democracy and refrain from using 

violence toward demonstrators. 

The U.S. government currently has 

no plans to cut off aid from Egypt, 

which receives about $1.5 billion in 

foreign assistance from the U.S. 

President Mubarak later announced 

on state TV that he would 

not run for re-election in September, 

and appointed a new government 

Cabinet that consisted of supporters 

of the old regime and some new 

faces from industry. Unimpressed, 

protesters labeled the new Cabinet 

as Mubarak's feeble attempt to hold 

on to power. 

"It really puts the U.S. between 

a rock and a hard spot. I think we 

want to stand for democracy, but 

Egypt has been our most trusted ally 

under Mubarak," said Dr. Starkey. 

"It's truth time for the U.S." 

Many are looking to Mohamed 

ElBaradei to be President Mubarak’s 

potential successor. Nobel Prizewinning 

ElBaradei has a Western 

and Middle Eastern educational 

background and is now head of the 

International Atomic Energy Agency 

(IAEA). He joined the protests on the 

second day, declaring that he would 

like to lead Egypt to democracy. 

Pro-government supporters 

joined the commotion on February 

2, resulting in chaotic, rock-throwing 

battles with anti-government 

protesters. The level of violence 

increased throughout the day with 

pro-Mubarak forces using whips and 

arson to attack protestors, targeting 

foreign journalists. Military forces 

were soon brought in to reduce the 

fighting. 

UMBC freshman and Political 

Science and French double-major 

Anthony Rizkalla has relatives in 

Egypt who live in Cairo he says, 

“I've spoken to them about a week 

ago, but when things are as crazy as 

they are now, anything can happen 

in a week.” 

Anti-government demonstrators 

arranged for Friday, February 4 to 

be a Day of Departure and gathered 

in huge numbers to demand that 

President Mubarak resign immediately. 

Tens of thousands flooded into 

Tahrir Square to chant, sing songs, 

and wave Egyptian flags. 

“We’ve never given our opinion 

before, “said Mutawalli about the 

protests, “Its very different.” 


olivia.ignacio@umbc.edu.

4 News February 8, 2011 


SGA investigates issues of academic integrity 

Richard Blissett 

Sga correSpondent 

In the spring semester of 2010, 

a question came up on several online 

forums about the way academic 

misconduct was being handled here 

at UMBC. This sparked widespread 

discussions across the campus that 

included students, faculty, and administrators 

alike. From Facebook 

to UMBC Underground to myUM- 

BC, members of our community 

held heated conversation about the 

state of academic integrity. Several 

members of the SGA, including staff 

from the Office of Academic Affairs, 

spent much of the latter part of 

that semester meeting with various 

groups around campus to address 

the situation. A common theme 

that they found throughout these 

Involvement Fest 

proves successful 

Anita Dey 


In the usual effort to get students 

on and off campus more involved, 

the Student Involvement Center 

hosted the semi-annual Involvement 

Fest in The Commons on February 

2. 

“Spring is usually a small turnout, 

so this year, we Student Involvement 

Center decided to make it an event,” 

said Sara Leidner, Coordinator of 

Student Organizations and Involvement, 

on the Mardi Gras theme. 

There were jugglers, balloon making, 

cotton candy, and free Cajun 

food. 

“We asked students to choose the 

theme, and they chose Mardi Gras 

because it is a fun, festive holiday 

held in February.” Leidner explained, 

This year, it was the SIC’s goal to encourage 

students to learn about The 

Commons, so we spread the event 

throughout so students can utilize 

their resources on campus. 

Weed: To smoke or not to smoke? 

Emily Jackson 

HealtH correSpondent 

We often associate marijuana, or 

weed, with the lazy, the young, and 

unemployed college students. 

The truth is, the drug is frowned 

upon because it interferes with decision 

making and memory function. 

But that’s not all. Researchers have 

mapped a link between marijuana usage 

and psychosis, anxiety, depression, 

and schizophrenia. 

According to that National Institutes 

of Health (NIH), weed also increases 

the risk of cancer. Acetaldehyde, a 

chemical present in marijuana smoke, 

can damage DNA and thereby initiate 

cancer development. 

On the contrary, other research 

meetings was disagreement over 

what academic integrity meant and 

how it should be handled. Once 

finals rolled around and people got 

ready for the summer, the discussion 

seemed to fade and it looked to 

many students like people had just 

stopped talking about it. 

But they didn't. 

This past fall semester, a student 

workgroup of a dozen or so undergraduate 

students has continued to 

address this issue. They have met 

with groups ranging from the Council 

of Deans, to the Undergraduate 

Program Directors, to the Office of 

Student Life - and everyone's still 

thinking about it. A committee of 

faculty, staff, and students has been 

put together to address UMBC's culture 

of academic integrity, and the 

different subgroups are working on 

initiatives of their own. Based on 

The Student Involvment Center 

asked the clubs and organizations 

to think outside of the box when 

presenting themselves to other students. 

Among some of the ideas 

student organizations came up with 

were playing chess (featuring the 

UMBC Chess Team), live performances 

(including a number by The 

Stilettos), and a demonstration from 

the fencing team. 

Preethy Prasad, Director of RSA 

Events, thought the turnout was 

positive, too: “It was cool to see the 

different approaches people were 

taking to lure you into their club’s 

table. The Bengali Students Council 

had someone making free henna tattoos 

for people, which was pretty 

neat and effective.” 

And most popularly, SEB announced 

Quadmania 2011’s headliner: 

Snoop Dogg. 

Comments can be sent 

to adey1@umbc.edu. 

emphasizes marijuana’s medicinal 

properties. A 2009 study conducted 

in Spain, for example, showed that tetrahydrocannabinol 

(THC), one of the 

main chemicals in marijuana, destroys 

cancerous brain cells in rats. 

And thus, politicians continue to 

debate the legalization of medical 

marijuana. 

While states such as California 

and Colorado have already permitted 

the drug’s use for medical treatment, 

similar bills allowing legalization are 

currently pending in several states, including 

Maryland. 

In last year’s legislative session, Maryland’s 

medical marijuana bill, SB 627, 

passed the Senate 35-12 but stalled in 

the House of Delegates. Now, with two 

supporters in this year’s session (both 

the discussions from last spring, it 

seems apparent that there are serious 

issues with differences in perception 

between people about academic integrity. 

This resulted in confusion 

and frustration across campus, so 

this workgroup is working this year 

to fix that. For those involved in the 

discussion, the subject of academic 

integrity is constantly evolving, and 

it seems to be one of the most active 

campus-wide initiatives today. 

However, there's one question that 

still has yet to be answered, and it 

has become the source of many indepth 

discussions about just what 

to do to address academic integrity. 

What is academic integrity? 

For many, the idea of academic 

integrity circles around academic 

misconduct, making sure that students 

don't plagiarize and cheat 

and that in situations where it does 

SIC hosts Spring 2011 Involvement Fest. 

are senators and cancer survivors), the 

bill has a higher chance of passing. 

If passed, the law is believed to be 

the most restrictive in the country. 

Rather than following California and 

Colorado, Maryland’s law will allow 

distribution only through pharmacies 

(as opposed to dispensaries). 

However, one thing is pretty clear: 

marijuana use—if it should be used at 

all—should be restricted to medicinal 

purposes. 

While it may be cool to roll joints 

in the library every weekend, we are 

not doctors (yet) and may only end up 

hurting ourselves. And no one wants 

to smoke themselves to their graves. 


emjacks1@umbc.edu. 

happen, that those cases are dealt 

with appropriately. After all, that is 

the classical conception of the idea. 

However, recent discussions among 

the students working on this, as 

well as with faculty and administrators, 

have made the lines much 

more unclear. Many more questions 

have arisen. 

If this classical concept is what the 

community sees as academic integrity, 

how can the culture be changed 

such that incidences of academic 

misconduct decrease? If that is what 

it means, is it the environment that 

causes cheating to happen, or is it 

something else entirely? 

But what if that classical concept 

is too limited? What else is included? 

Does getting a quality educational 

experience out of your classes 

count as academic integrity? If so, 

what structures are in place to ad- 

SGA NEWS 

dress problems with that? How do 

these other issues affect each other? 

Of course, the follow up to all 

of these questions (and more) is 

this: How do we take the different 

ideas of faculty, staff, and students 

and put them together to create a 

community that is a reflection of 

everyone's perceptions of academic 

integrity? These are the types of issues 

that we face as we have these 

conversations. 

So, here's something to think 

about: What does academic integrity 

mean to you? Please send in any 

thoughts you have on the subject, 

as they will be greatly helpful in our 

efforts as a community to address 

this issue. 


am32283@umbc.edu. 

IaNIa ChatterJee — trW 

KaNaN PateL — trW 

a coffee shop in amsterdam serves many varieties of weed for your 

smoking pleasure.


Fish Head Cantina 

Wednesday Nights 

***Inside the Bar*** 

Free billiards & $2 Domestics 10pm-Close 

***Outside In the Concert Pavilion*** 

"No O'l Fogey Karaoke Contest" 

with 

UMBC's Own "DJ Spark's" 

8pm-1am- $25 winner every night 

No Cover Charge 

$1 Natty Boh Drafts; $2 Select Domestic Bottles; 

$3 Smirnoff, Captain, Bacardi, Jose Cuervo, SoCo, 

Malibu 

Thursday Night 

***Outside In The Concert Pavilion*** 

"Thumpin' Thursdays" Baltimore's/UMBC's Best DJ's 

Pump the JBL's for the Facebook/Twitter Crowd. 

No Cover for "Ladies" 

2 for 1 Drinks 10pm-Close!! 

February 8, 2011 Advertisement 5

6 February 8, 2011 

TRW 

Staff email addresses are first name initial 

followed by full last name @retrieverweekly.com 

Editor-in-Chief 

Paul-William deSilva 

410.455.1252 

eic@retrieverweekly.com 

Managing Editor 

Courtney Ring 

410.455.1253 

cring@retrieverweekly.com 

News 

410.455.1270 

news@retrieverweekly.com 

Editor 

Rima Kikani 

Assistant Editor 

Chris McKinney 

OpiNiON 

410.455.5898 

opinion@retrieverweekly.com 

Editor 

Collin Wojciechowski 


Ryenne Milani 

Arts 

410.455.5899 

arts@retrieverweekly.com 

Editor 

Anissa Elmerraji 


ingrid Garcia 

spOrts 

410.455.5984 

sports@retrieverweekly.com 

Editor 

Corey Johns 


Dan Levin 

phOtOGrAphy 

photo@retrieverweekly.com 

Editor 

Abnet Shiferaw 


Julian Brezon 

COpy editOrs 

- 

prOduCtiON 

410.455.1266 

production@retrieverweekly.com 

Manager 

Liz Scott 

Assistants 

Emily Beveridge 

Mallory Clites 

Wally Liu 

Kanan Patel 

teChNOlOGy 

410.455.3901 

tech@retrieverweekly.com 

Manager 

Darwin Mach 

online Editor 

Vania Dienzo 

System Administrator 

Paul Swenson 

Webmaster 

Greg Fiumara 

busiNess 

410.455.1261 

business@retrieverweekly.com 

Business Manager 

Nimit Bhatt 

Ads Manager 

Now Hiring 

FACulty AdvisOr 

Christopher Corbett 

desiGN 

Tazuko Sugajima 


opinion 

Involvement Fest face-lift needs more work 

to properly promote student organizations 

One would think that the school would try to support its student media 

more than it does. 

Last Wednesday at Involvement Fest The Retriever Weekly, UMBCtv, and 

WMBC, the campus’ three media outlets, had tables in the Office of Student 

Life & Student Resources, not exactly a prime area for getting students to sign 

up or to get information to join. Making matters worse, this newspaper’s table 

was behind a wall, although this was somewhat mitigated by the placement of 

a cotton candy stand that helped keep traffic flowing past the tables. 

On the whole, the ideas of a themed Involvement Fest and greater utilization 

of other areas of the Commons were good ones. One of the difficult things 

about this system, though, was that it was very hard to find one’s own table--in 

fact, it wasn’t even very clear at first that there were more levels to Involvement 

Fest. In the future, more signs and people on the lower levels directing foot 

traffic would make the system much easier to navigate. Additionally, rearranging 

some of the organizations’ tables might be a good idea. For instance, many 

of the Major Councils had tables down on Main Street, although those groups 

cater to a much more limited population and have easy access to that section of 

the student body via listserv e-mails. Placing groups that rely on broader participation, 

such as the campus’ media outlets, on Main Street would probably 

be more beneficial given the greater foot traffic through that area. 

UMBC has something of a reputation as a loner campus where students 

don’t get involved. The new and improved Involvement Fest is an important 

step in the right direction, but greater clarity would help draw more students 

to the organizations. 

Don’t punch journalists in the head 

courtesy of www.joemygod.blogspot.com 

Anderson Cooper: risking his life for the truth? 

Collin Wojciechowski 

Editorial Staff 

My life is full of paradoxes. I am 

an avid supporter of vehicular safety, 

but drive the most unsecure vehicle 

in Baltimore County. I call for political 

togetherness, but can't stop 

watching MSNBC. And I want to 

work in campaign politics but tend 

to think elected officials are sub-par. 

I admit it; I'm a confusing being. 

One of the most interesting of 

my contradictory life actions comes 

from these very lines you read. The 

sheer fact that I am a journalist (admittedly 

not a very good one) is, in 

itself, a bit of a paradox. You see, this 

past summer and fall, as I spent virtually 

every waking moment of my 

life on a campaign trail, I was accustomed 

to the mindset that reporters 

are not your friends. They may seem 

like they are and they may smile 

nicely and act like they want to go to 

Ruby Tuesday's and just chat about 

life, but in truth they are always out 

for the story-which, in the political 

world, is not what you want. 

However, having worked on both 

sides of this spectrum, I am here 

to tell you, journalists are friends 

not foes (don't quote me on that, 

though). Journalism is an art which, 

at its root, is designed to protect the 

people. Democracy is built on the 

idea of free press because people 

need an open flow of information. 

This keeps us informed and well 

educated in both everyday life and 

the voting booth, protects against 

corruption and gives us something 

to gossip over when there's nothing 

good on television. 

This makes it all the more disheartening 

when I read of journalists 

covering the situation in Egypt 

being harassed, jailed, and even 

beaten. Countless reporters, correspondents, 

camera crews and photographers 

in Cairo have been subjected 

to attack, reported in prison 

or missing. 

This reality was brought front 

and center to my attention when I 

watched a video of Anderson Cooper 

and his camera crew being repeatedly 

punched as they fled a group of 

protestors whose story they were attempting 

to report. And it's not just 

because my grandmother says I look 

just like the CNN correspondent 

that I find this story upsetting. 

The fact of the matter is that Mr. 

Cooper and every other member 

of the media who is reporting the 

events unfolding on the streets of 

Egypt is there for a reason-to tell a 

story. And they are putting themselves 

in harm’s way to tell that story 

because that is what is just and deserved 

by everyone, everywhere. 

Whenever corruption or injustice 

is perpetrated upon any person or 

group of people, they deserve to 

have their story heard. And that is 

what journalists are for. 

To tell the tales of the lost and 

forgotten so that their struggles will 

not have been in vain. So that the 

lessons of the past can teach us to 

change the future and make it better 

for everyone. 

The story is what defines a people. 

It does not discriminate between 

good times and struggle because 

both are important factors. Make 

no mistake: Egypt is in the midst of 

revolution. Whether it will help the 

people or harm them remains to be 

seen, but regardless, the story will 

be reported. 

These reporters are not simply 

chasing protestors to get the most 

ratings, they are heroes chronicling 

history as it happens, and deserve to 

be treated as such. 


to cwoj1@umbc.edu. 

The Retriever Weekly welcomes your comments. Letters to the editor must be submitted before 5 p.m. Friday via e-mail to eic@retrieverweekly.com 

or delivered to The Retriever Weekly office, UC 214. Please limit letters to 300 words and include your full name, year and major. The Retriever Weeky 

retains the right to edit submissions for content and length. 

The Retriever Weekly staff editorials reflect the views of the editorial board; signed columns and advertisements represent the opinions of the individual writers 

and advertisers, respectively, and do not necessarily reflect those of The Retriever Weekly or the University of Maryland Baltimore County. The Retriever Weekly 

publishes weekly on Tuesdays during the regular school year. Editors can be reached at (410) 455-1260 during normal business hours or at University Center 214; 

1000 Hilltop Circle; UMBC; Baltimore, MD 21250. The Retriever Weekly is an equal opportunity employer.


February 8, 2011 opinion 7 

UMBC students discover the joy of Pepsi (and choice!) 

Ryanne Milani 


This year, UMBC officially became 

a Pepsi campus. What does this 

mean for students? Slightly more 

expensive drinks from vending machines 

(for those who actually use 

the vending machines), more money 

for UMBC, and a contract that allows 

for more drink choice around 

campus (don't believe me? Check 

out the Coke products that you can 

still purchase in the Yum Shoppe 

and the bookstore). In the long run, 

this switch may be better for us than 

most students are willing to believe, 

and I think we should welcome it. 

The biggest complaint about the 

switch so far is the price change. 

UMBC students simply don't want 

to pay an extra quarter for their 

carbonated beverages. Besides the 

fact that meal plans still include our 

drinks in the Dining Hall and the 

Commons (meaning that the price 

increase doesn't affect a majority of 

the meals students eat on campus), 

there's an easy solution to keeping 

that extra quarter: stop buying soda 

on campus. Honestly, if one quarter 

is enough to deter you from buying 

a soda, then why are you buying 

soda anyways? UMBC is only about 

five minutes away from several convenience 

stores, groceries stores, 

and a Wal-Mart stocked with almost 

any beverage a college student could 

desire. 

For the rest of us, at least we can 

rest assured that our money is going 

to a good place. The extra money we 

spend on our soda is going to help 

fund things at UMBC, which could 

help keep the cost of programs 

around campus down. The fact of 

the matter is, UMBC is a business 

that needs to make money in order 

to support its hundreds of employees. 

In these tough economic times, 

student and faculty employees 

should be happy that UMBC is still 

making enough money to continue 

to pay everyone, from desk staffers 

to professors to administrators, 

without having to make significant 

cuts to our salaries. 

Beyond that, Pepsi is spending a 

lot more money at UMBC in advertising 

than Coke spent in its contract. 

Did UMBC sell out for more 

cash? One could argue that way. On 

the other hand, is everyone benefitting 

from this change? Yes. As 

I said before, UMBC is a business 

that needs money in order to run 

smoothly. Pepsi is willing to provide 

some of that money in exchange for 

the use of their product on campus. 

Shouldn't we applaud this decision 

that could help our school? 

Despite all the money Pepsi is 

contributing to UMBC, its contract 

is still more relaxed than the old 

Coke contract. In years past, UMBC 

was not allowed to sell the products 

of any of Coke's competitors. That 

means, if you only drank Mountain 

Bring back the classic taste of Coca-Cola to UMBC 

courtesy of www.mycokecancollection.com 

Coke fans will miss the classic taste of their favorite beverage at UMBC. 

Dew with your meals, you would 

have to go off campus to get it. This 

year, one needs only to go into the 

Yum Shoppe to find old favorites 

like Coke, Vanilla Coke, Sprite, and 

Coke Zero. If you're unhappy with 

Pepsi, walk to the Commons and 

buy something else. We have that 

ability now. Pepsi understands the 

importance of choice. 

Of course, none of these reasons 

Chris McKinney 


I'm sure everyone on campus has 

become aware of the drastic change 

in UMBC's carbonated beverage 

choice since last semester. If you 

haven't, take an adventure out of 

the library and check out how Pepsi 

products, machines, and logos have 

taken over the campus. 

This is a very sad commentary in 

and of itself. Pepsi? I'm almost disappointed 

in UMBC. Granted, the 

introduction of Pepsi products to 

UMBC has brought Mountain Dew, 

which seems to be a popular fizzy 

brew among us college students 

(which I find, however, to be repulsive 

and just straight up nasty). And, 

contrary to popular belief, Dr. Pepper 

is not a Pepsi product. While it 

may be a viable addition to our repertoire 

of unhealthy yet tasty beverages, 

we could always revert back to 

the goodness known as Coke and 

still retain the unique 23-flavored 

infusion that is Dr. Pepper. 

The simple facts are that Coke 

just tastes better. You may think 

that's just my conjecture, my un- 

were responsible for convincing 

me to embrace the change. I was 

swayed by two words: Mountain 

Dew (arguably the greatest soda 

known to mankind). My all-nighters 

can finally be fueled by a beverage I 

actually enjoy, since I'm not a huge 

fan of energy drinks. Although Coke 

is delicious, Mountain Dew is better. 

I fully believe it will help me to 

become a better student and an all- 

Mountain Dew may possibly be the greatest beverage known to mankind. 

supported opinion. But the truth is, 

there is research. The critically acclaimed 

UCS, or the University of 

Common Sense, has scientifically 

shown (through extensive tests of 

taste bud reactions and ingredient 

alterations, among others) that Coke 

is superior. 

The coming of Pepsi may have 

helped the purse of the university 

overall, but it certainly hasn't done 

us students any favors. Example: All 

of those new Pepsi machines in the 

buildings across campus? Yeah, they 

hiked the price of a regular 20 oz. 

bottle from $1.25 (when Coke was 

here) to $1.50. So, what do we have 

to thank Pepsi for? One less quarter 

in our pockets. And that, my readers, 

could be the difference between 

doing your laundry with your dignity 

intact, or having to run down the 

hall and scrounge people on your 

floor for a measly little quarter. That 

may be a bit of an exaggeration, but 

who knows-it could happen to you 

tomorrow. 

Not only is Pepsi wreaking havoc 

upon our wallets, it doesn't see fit to 

stop there: the reality of the healthiness 

and tastiness of Coke products 

around nicer person (I may be exaggerating 

a bit, but Mountain Dew is 

seriously amazing). 

All in all, I'm excited about the 

change, and you should be, too. 

Welcome to UMBC, Pepsi. 


milani1@umbc.edu. 

courtesy of www.portwallpaper.com 

versus Pepsi only really hit me when 

I found that the Odwalla and Simply 

(particularly Simply Orange, 

but also the entire range of Simply 

drinks) disappeared from the shelves 

at Outtakes and was replaced by Naked 

(and I'm pretty sure prices went 

up). Not only do two Naked drinks 

not fit on one meal anymore, but it 

Simply doesn't taste as good. 

Now if you're worried about the 

health aspects of Coke versus Pepsi, 

I have to ask: seriously? We're already 

drinking sugary, caffeinated 

sodas. Does it really matter if Pepsi 

may or may not have twenty grams 

more sugar than Coke? Or that Coke 

is far more caffeinated than Pepsi 

(this is all just speculation)? No. If 

you actually want to try a healthy 

drink, try water. It's usually pretty 

cheap, and while it may not have the 

caffeine to keep you awake through 

ungodly hours of the night while 

writing that ten page research paper 

due tomorrow that you just started, 

it's actually good for you. Don't believe 

me? Ask a doctor. 


cmck1@umbc.edu.

8 opinion February 8, 2011 


From Amazonian Tribes to American Indians 

We’re all responsible for making the world a better place. 

Yasmin Radbod 

SEnior Staff writEr 

About one hundred uncontacted 

tribes remain around the world. 

Many of them are concentrated in 

the Amazon Rainforest, including 

Peru and Brazil. Peru is making 

me, and many other human rights 

and environmental activists, angry 

because the Peruvian government 

continues to refuse to crack down 

on illegal logging in the Amazon 

Rainforest. Illegal logging in Peru 

is displacing many of the uncon- 

tacted tribes living in the Amazon, 

and these tribes have been forced to 

migrate into Brazil, causing tension 

between the already settled and incoming 

tribes. 

Last week, Brazil's National Indian 

Foundation photographed five 

tribe members, and gave the photo 

to Survival International, in hopes 

that Survival International would be 

able to bring worldwide attention to 

the issue of illegal logging and pressure 

the Peruvian government to 

take action. In addition to me being 

extremely upset with the Peruvian 

government, I'm also disappointed 

with the movement to ban illegal 

logging in Peru. I think that nongovernmental 

organizations committed 

to the cause need to do a better job 

of mainstreaming their information 

so that the global public knows that 

these tribes are in desperate need of 

support. 

Of course, there is always the 

issue of the public not being interested. 

I can't help but wonder if 

the people of Peru care about this 

issue. I tried to research this question, 

but didn't find much about 

any national Peruvian movement to 

help these people. It would be easy 

for me to say, "Wow, Peruvians don't 

care about their people." But come 

on, we live in the United States of 

America-it seems more than a bit 

hypocritical. Look today at the United 

States. American Indians still face 

so many issues today, and the American 

public is either largely unaware 

or despondent. Obesity, diabetes, 

heart conditions, malnutrition, food 

sovereignty, poverty-the list of the 

multiple issues American Indians 

face every single day in the richest 

nation in the world goes on and on. 

It is really a disgrace. 

Again, I can't be a hypocrite. I 

haven't done much to solve those 

issues, like most Americans. I guess 

the bottom line of me ranting about 

indigenous tribes in Peru, hypocrites, 

and American Indians is that 

we all share one planet. We are all 

one species. We are one people, in 

my eyes. American Indian society 

should be important to all Americans, 

and so should illegal logging 

in Peru. Eventually the world goes 

around, and what happens in one 

place isn't isolated. In one way or 

another, everyone is affected. So, I 

try to think of myself as a global citizen, 

and I propose that we all need 

to strive towards reaching that. What 

I mean by global citizen is that we 

all need to make others a priority. I 

don't have the answers on how to do 

this, but picking up the newspaper 

and educating yourself doesn't seem 

like a bad place to begin. 


radbod1@umbc.edu. 

Eqyptians continue to fight for their rights through protest 

Mawish Raza 

Contributing writEr 

To most, Egypt is best known for 

its ancient history preserved via the 

monumental architecture of pyramids 

and sphinxes. The land combines exotic 

scenery and a striking culture, a 

twist of the Middle East flirting with 

the Western lifestyle. Even in pop 

culture, most have heard the 1986 hit 

single by The Bangles, "Walk like an 

Egyptian." 

Currently, over 83 million people 

live in Egypt--a great portion of which 

struggle to fight poverty and to eke 

out an adequate lifestyle in a failing, 

jobless economy. The present regime 

has continuously acquiesced to the 

authoritative direction of President 

Hosni Mubarak over the past three 

decades. This past week, however, 

Egyptians took matters into their own 

hands by rising against the regime in 

hopes of precipitating change. Millions 

of citizens around the country have 

been continuously rallying against the 

government to press for their demands 

to be met. 

But how is it that a dictator that 

fails to meet the fundamental needs of 

its people has carried on his reign of 

dominance for so long? Power. 

On an international scale, Egypt 

acts as a significant mediator in Middle 

Eastern affairs. Egypt's dependency on 

U.S. aid has cemented a secure relationship 

with Israel, as agreed through 

the 1978 Camp David Accord. Because 

of its geographically alarming 

situation, Israel relies on the support 

of the Egyptian government to deflect 

animosity from neighboring states. For 

instance, Egypt received about $1.3 

billion dollars in aid from the U.S. last 

year, in return for cooperative support 

and security directed at helping Israel. 

Due to the recent pressure placed 

by the Egyptian people, the U.S. has 

finally acknowledged the lack of support 

that has been provided to its people 

and has begun urging the Mubarak 

regime to step down. While many 

view this proposal as a valid action, 

appointing a new body in the place 

of Mubarak raises questions about 

the future of international politics and 

security and threatens to drastically 

change the current balance of power 

in the Middle East. 

The success of an Egyptian revolution 

may also instill doubt in the minds 

of nearby Arab autocrats. This movement 

marks one of the first revolts in 

the Middle East instigated primarily 

by domestic concerns. Earlier in January, 

Tunisia's people rose up against 

their own government and drove their 

president, Ben Ali, out of office. The 

success of their insurgence, aided by 

constant broadcasting of various media 

outlets, influenced suppressed citizens 

to exploit that energy and ignite 

change in their environment. Tunisia's 

achievements inspired current activity 

in Egypt, while also setting off a chain 

of events throughout other Middle 

Eastern states, including Jordan and 

Sudan. 

The power of the media has also 

been highlighted as another weapon 

in this struggle. Egypt felt threatened 

enough by the protests to cut off all 

Internet and satellite activity in order 

to restore order to the situation. 

courtesy of www.globalengage.ibo.org 

However, outlets such as Al Jazeera 

persistently changed channels and 

found ways to maneuver around these 

blocks. The compelling broadcasts 

brought to viewers and various news 

channels through the screen encasing 

Tahrir Square in Cairo offered the 

perspective of a society that has long 

outgrown Mubarak's regime demanding 

its freedom. While Al Jazeera 

minimized its perspective to key in the 

opinion of only one view, it remained 

strong enough to encourage the pro- 

Eqyptian rioters are wary of the armed police standing by. 

tests. The threat of the power of media 

flared a spark even in China, as the 

government blocked micro-blogging 

sites from allowing search of Egypt in 

order to prevent any possibility of rebellion 

in its own state. 

As the protests continue, the world 

watches closely as Egyptians fight for 

their rights. This past Thursday, renowned 

journalist Nicholas D. Kristof 

stated: "A tough day for journalists in 

Egypt. A Greek reporter stabbed; ABC 

reporter threatened with beheading; 

many beaten up or arrested. But remember, 

we have a measure of protection 

because of our foreign nationality, 

and we can always leave. It's the 

Egyptians who are stuck there, who 

take 10 times the risk, and who have 

none of our protections. Their courage 

awes me." 


razam1@umbc.edu. 

courtesy of www.msnbcmedia.msn.com


February 8, 2011 opinion 9 

Law firms, beef, and Taco Bell: Who cares if it’s fake? 

Josh Palmer 

Contributing writEr 

It's time, it's finally time. After 

hours of classes, homework, and 

dodging Nerf darts from zombie 

killing activists, I was able to take 

my car off-campus for some real 

food: Taco Bell. My elation was obvious 

as I drove to the take-out window. 

My hands shook as I took the 

bag from the cashier with the fake 

smile. I could barely control myself 

as I drove back to campus with the 

smell wafting through the car. It was 

perfection, pure perfection. 

I walked back to my apartment 

and opened the bag of happiness. Inside, 

a Crunchwrap Supreme and a 

soft taco. A large Mountain Dew was 

in my right hand. That's a number 

nine for you mere mortals who aren't 

familiar with the Taco Bell lingo. I 

opened the Crunchwrap wrapper 

and peeled away the tortilla. Staring 

at me was a couple pieces of lettuce, 

slices of tomato that still had most 

of their original color, cheesy goop, 

and sour cream clumped to one side 

of the giant taco shell. I applied my 

fire sauce, closed the wrap, and took 

a bite. The combination of the above 

ingredients hit me like a freight train 

of taste when combined with that 

greasy, brown, seasoned mea- 

WHAT?!? 

What is this madness?! This delicious 

meaty substance isn't actually 

meat? Well, so says some Alabama 

law firm who is suing Taco Bell. The 

firm claimed that the Taco Bell meat 

isn't actually meat. That delicious 

substance in your taco is, according 

to them, only 36% beef, which is 4% 

less than the official FDA definition 

of meat. Taco Bell didn't waste time, 

firing back a rebuttal claiming that 

You know the half-dozen large red signs 

around the Book Store that say “Course 

Materials Purchased Today Cannot Be Returned.” 

The signs that have been posted 

since February 1st, that say “Sorry... No 

Exceptions!”? The Book Store inadvertenly 

forgot to mention an exception. If you drop 

a class, you have until February 9th to 

return the books. The Book Store is not 

trying to mislead you into losing the money 

for the books of a class you dropped well 

before the drop deadline. They are not in 

the business of screwing over the students; 

they leave that to the book manufacturers. 

its mix is actually 88% meat and the 

rest is just filler and spices. 

My rebuttal: Who cares? Seriously, 

nobody has ever claimed that 

Taco Bell is good for you, and for 

$5, it tastes (and costs) way better 

than what Chartwells calls food. 

This is the stuff that, as listed on the 

Taco Bell webpage no less, contains 

autolyzed yeast extract, potassium 

phosphate, and sodium phosphate. 

Oh yeah, and sodium dioxide: more 

commonly known to us lowly folk 

as sand. I’ve seen no attention given 

to these items. This just seems like 

another law firm that has found another 

way to do what law firms do 

best: make money. 

So keep opening those hot sauce 

packets, taco enthusiasts. Meat or 

not, nothing tastes better on a drunk 

night (use a DD, please) than a soft 

taco supreme with a Wild Cherry 

Pepsi. If anyone was eating this de- 

courtesy of www.tacobell.com 

The Crunchwrap Supreme: delicious, cheap, and...not made out of real 

beef?!? 

licious junk before, this certainly 

won't cause him/her to stop eating. 

I just don't understand the ruckus, 

and I'm still trying to find a taco 

eater who cares. 

Yo quiero, Taco Bell. 

Commons’ Sense By: Anonymous 


jpa1@umbc.edu. 

Want 10,000 Baltimore students to see 

your advertisement? 

Support higher education. Advertise online or in print. 

For rates, see www.retrieverweekly.com/ads. To place an advertisement, 

contact ads@retrieverweekly.com 

Do you have an opinion about something going on in the 

world, on campus, in your home or in your bathroom? 

Do you have questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, 

proverbs, citations, quotations, dreams, hopes, or other 

adjectives on your mind? Have something you wrote in 

class, on a bus, on the back of a cocktail napkin, or on 

someone’s back? Have remotely interesting thoughts 

that your positive would make the world a better place 

if other people knew them? Have really not interesting 

thoughts that few people would really care about? Have 

a pulse and the ability to form sentences? 

If you answered yes to any of the above questions or just 

bothered reading that whole paragraph: Send Us Your 

Opinions. 

Email your thoughts to opinion@retrieverweekly.com and 

they may just appear in Commons’ Sense! 

It will make you friends! It looks great on a resume! Its 

what all the cool kids are doing!

10 February 8, 2011 


ARTS 

AOK exhibits potentially paranormal photography 

The current Library Gallery exhibition, entitled Psychic Projections/Photographic Impressions, showcases photographs, or “thoughtographs,” by Ted Serios. 

Tania Chatterjee 


This semester, the white walls of the 

Albin O. Kuhn Gallery are adorned 

with a series of black and white photographs. 

The gallery, called Psychic 

Projections/Photographic Impressions, 

features photographs with a distinct 

paranormal quality to them. 

The photographs are much smaller 

than expected; they are about the size 

of one's palm. Many of the photos are 

vague blurs of white and black, while 

others have distinct and recognizable 

shapes in them. 

In one frame, a startling photo of 

what appears to be the Greek Panthe- 

on stands out. The tilted Pantheon sits 

to the right, surrounded by a bright 

circle of white light against a dark 

background. Over in another frame, 

there are two soft figures which may 

represent an adult standing beside a 

child. On yet another corner of the 

gallery, a fuzzy photo of the famous 

Big Ben stands out against a pale gray 

background. Near the entrance to the 

gallery, there is a set of two photos 

titled "Obelisk." Each photo shows the 

top of a tall, Washington Monumentlike 

structure. One obelisk is shrouded 

in shadow, while the other one is in 

light. 

Each photo in the gallery has a 

haunting, surreal, and almost horror 

film-esque quality to it. These photos, 

also known as "thoughtographs", are 

the results of experiments conducted 

by University of Denver psychiatrist 

Dr. Jule Eisenbud in the 1960s with a 

man named Ted Serios. Serios, a native 

of Chicago, claims to have possessed 

the unique ability to transfer the images 

in his mind onto Polaroid film using 

psychic powers and energies. Thoughtographs 

are also known as both thermal 

projections and Nengraphy. Some 

of the photographs, like those of the 

Pantheon and Big Ben, are said to be 

of places that exist in real life, but can 

appear altered in the photos. 

Perhaps the most distinct and eyecatching 

photo is displayed on the 

panel in the middle of gallery. The 

photo is much larger than all of the 

other ones displayed. It shows the 

dark eyes, forehead and nose of an aging 

man. The rest of the man's features 

are shrouded completely in shadow, 

creating a very haunting air about the 

photograph. 

The other side of the panel describes 

Serios and the method used 

by Dr Eisenbud to generate the photographs, 

including the specific types 

of Polaroid cameras used. There are 

two photographs of Serios himself, not 

quite facing the camera and bent at an 

awkward angle. 

Since the publishing of these controversial 

thoughtographs, multiple 

critics have claimed that this feat is 

an impossible one given the laws of 

physics, and therefore the photos are 

nothing but a clever hoax. Famous 

magicians such as Persi Diaconi claim 

that the photographs are no more than 

a trick fabricated by Dr. Eisenbud to 

garner publicity and fame. 

Regardless of what you choose to 

believe about Serio’s thoughtographs, 

they are still pretty neat works of art. 


to chat1@umbc.edu 

Fanning stars in Coppola’s slow-paced Somewhere 

Daniel Supanick 

staff writer 

In the opening shot of Sofia Coppola's 

new film, Somewhere, we see a 

black car driving on a circular track 

in the desert. The camera sits still as 

we hear the car driving around, over 

and over again, until a few minutes 

into the shot, it stops right in front of 

the camera. Upon stopping, we see 

Johnny Marco, a bad boy movie star 

played by Stephen Dorff, step out 

of the car and simply look around, 

finding himself all alone. 

In many ways, this shot personifies 

the nature of Somewhere. It's a 

slow-moving, ponderous film. It 

dwells on certain subjects throughout 

the film by either keeping extended 

shots on them for minutes at 

a time, or by allowing scenes to play 

out in a realistic entirety rather than 

truncating them to move on to the 

next scene as quickly as possible. It's 

an odd choice to be sure, to make 

your film play out slowly with very 

little flair or extra detail coming out 

of the frame to distract the audience. 

It makes sense for this film, though. 

In Somewhere, we follow the aforementioned 

movie star Johnny Marco. 

He lives in the Chateau Marmont 

in Los Angeles, lonely and bored 

with the empty, faux-glamorous life 

that he's fallen into as a result of his 

fame. He spends his days attending 

press junkets for his films and preparing 

for his upcoming projects. 

He spends his nights attending parties 

and watching stripteases in his 

hotel room. Throughout it all, he's 

drone-like and bored. It's all repetitive 

and soulless, without the meaning 

he lost so long ago. 

The soul of the film comes from 

Johnny's daughter, Cleo (Elle Fanning, 

the less pretentious, far less insufferable 

Fanning sister). She's the 

one person that gives Johnny meaning, 

the one person that Johnny can 

invest himself in and who doesn’t 

offer a "surface" relationship. She 

cures him of his wayward longing 

that he normally compensates for 

with sex and excess. 

In this sense, we can see why 

Coppola would choose to make 

Somewhere play out in strides. If we 

are to simulate the experience of this 

isolated character, we are also to sit 

through long representations of his 

routine. It does move at a slow pace, 

but this isn't really a bad thing. It 

works for the film, which doesn't 

demand that the story move at a serviceably 

quick pace. The parts where 

the film seems to speed up a bit are 

in the scenes with Cleo, but this is 

probably intentional. In his times 

of happiness, things escape Johnny 

faster than he can grasp them. It's 

not exactly a tragedy, but it is one of 

the hardships of being him. 

This interpretation aside, Some- 

tania chatterjee — trW 

where is a pretty good movie. It's 

like a more dramatic version of Coppola's 

Lost In Translation, and shares 

many attributes with that film. It has 

some of what makes Coppola such 

an interesting director, and some of 

what makes her tendencies so frustrating. 

It's a good example of what 

makes her merely a good director 

and not so much a great one. 

The admirable qualities of Coppola's 

direction come out mostly 

in the way she tells a story that has 

admittedly been done in different 

incarnations before. As stated, the 

slow, natural pace was a good way 

to let the story unfold. She injects 

> see SOMEWHERE [12]


Liars liven up Monday night 

Vanessa Rueda 

staff writer 

Everyone has a secret. Everyone 

has told a lie. Two simple facts of 

the human race, yet ABC Family has 

managed to make a show out of it. 

Based on Sara Shepard's eight-book 

series, Pretty Little Liars traces the 

lives of four high school girls dealing 

with the secrets that spurred 

from the death of their friend, Alison. 

Constantly receiving messages 

from someone who seems to know 

all those secrets, the four girls set 

out to discover the identity of a 

stalker, while trying to keep their 

lives as normal as possible. 

Set in the small town of Rosewood, 

Pretty Little Liars deviates 

majorly from the book series, throwing 

curve balls at the audience and 

keeping us guessing. Bursting with 

drama from all angles, the show is 

a guilty pleasure that provides an 

outlet for dull Monday nights. The 

show recently came back from a 

midseason hiatus, pleasing its fans 

with new characters, new twists, 

and new bits of drama. Although 

this is a recipe for an after-schoolspecial 

type of show, it really focuses 

on mystery and the consequences of 

lying. Add to that a crazy stalker 

who knows all the girls' secrets and 

you have a sitcom thriller. 

The show first aired on June 8th, 

2010 and, after ten episodes, the network 

saw the effect it had on young 

audiences and decided that twelve 

more episodes were in order. These 

twelve episodes started on January 

3rd of this year much to the excitement 

of kids everywhere. While the 

show might echo other sitcoms like 

Hannah Montana or Wizards of Waverly 

Place, it's closer to the vicinity 

of The Secret life of the American Teenager 

and Greek. Granted, these are 

all high-school shows, but they're 

Russell’s The Fighter rings true 

Morey Rosner 


For any Rocky fans, a new boxing film 

is out in theaters that is receiving critical 

acclaim. David O. Russell’s The Fighter 

is a sports drama that tells the story of 

boxer “Irish” Micky Ward. Micky is 

played by Mark Wahlberg, who successfully 

portrays a man fighting two battles 

at once. The first of these battles is in 

the ring, where Micky must continually 

overcome seemingly stronger and more 

entertaining—if not for the plot line 

then for the characters. 

The story centers around Aria, 

Hanna, Spencer, and Emily: the 

punk, the glam queen, the futurevaledictorian, 

and the sexually-confused 

swimmer, respectively. After 

the disappearance of their friend 

Alison, the four girls went their separate 

ways for a year (though in the 

books it's for three years) and then 

reunite during the pilot when they 

learn that Alison was found dead. 

This sad and macabre finding is not 

the only thing that bonds them. At 

the end of Alison's funeral, they 

all get a text saying, "I'm still here, 

bitches. And I know everything. A" 

This text was the catalyst that set 

in motion the search for A, for she 

(or he) is not only sending texts 

and emails: A is out to destroy the 

girls' lives. From splitting up Aria's 

parents and getting Spencer caught 

for plagiarism, to humiliating Hanna 

and further confusing Emily, A is out 

for blood. 

These are all the secrets that the 

courtesy Paramount Pictures 

Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale star in this drama. 

courtesy www.nydailynews.com 

Stars Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings, Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields, 

Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin and Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery. 

experienced opponents. However, this 

is not his greatest challenge. For all of 

his strength and vigor, Micky’s greatest 

conflict is his inability to fight for himself 

outside of the ring. With his overbearing 

mother as his manager, and his crack-addicted 

brother as his coach, Micky finds 

that he must be able to stand up for himself 

while keeping his family together. 

One of Russell’s greatest successes in 

the film is his selection of phenomenal 

co-stars who help accentuate Micky’s 

familial crisis. Christian Bale excellently 

girls know about each other, but 

there are also the secrets that only 

Alison knew and swore to take to 

the grave. Ironically, that was not 

the case. A also seems to know about 

Aria's liking older men, Hanna's 

money problems, Spencer's affinity 

for her older sister's boyfriends, and 

Emily's sexual preference for women. 

This stalker knows a lot. Too bad 

the girls don't have the slightest idea 

who is messing with them. 

The show keeps the audience 

guessing the identity of A, and only 

as of now, have the writers been 

dropping hints so that those who 

watch can attempt to find out who 

the stalker is (does anyone smell a 

contest from the network?). As for 

me, I don't want to ruin the surprise, 

but I do have a very good guess of 

who A is. 

Everyone has a secret. Everyone 

has told a lie. But if you had a psycho 

stalker, would you come clean? 


vanessa5@umbc.edu 

portrays Micky’s half-brother, Dicky Eklund, 

a drug addict who trains Micky 

while destabilizing him due to ill-advised, 

mismatched fights. Bale’s performance 

epitomizes a self-absorbed showboat, 

adding a comedic side to his character. 

Mirroring Dicky is Micky’s girlfriend 

Charlene Fleming, played by Amy Adams. 

With past films including Talladega 

Nights, Enchanted, and Night at the 

Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Adams 

enjoys a much more serious role in The 

Fighter. Where Dicky’s lifestyle leads 

Micky astray, Charlene provides Micky 

strength of a kind much different than 

the kind he has in a ring. Casting Adams 

gave her the opportunity to reveal a 

much different side of herself, appearing 

as a supportive friend with an attitude 

who urges Micky to break away from his 

family. 

A theme that Russell focuses on 

throughout the film is the concept of 

family ties. Micky is attempting to win 

the welterweight boxing title, but at 

the same time, he is struggling with the 

woes of his own family. Dicky ends up 

in prison, though he still tries to coach 

his own brother. Micky is disgusted with 

February 8, 2011 arts 11 

BY DANIEL SUPANICK 

The eAgle [Pg-13] 

Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell star in this swords-and-sandals 

epic about a Roman soldier who goes on a quest to find his father 

and the missing Ninth Legion. Looks decent enough. Nothing in 

the trailers has indicated anything I should be dreading about it, 

but I guess I don’t hate Channing Tatum as much as others do. 

gnomeo & JulieT [g] 

This movie sounds like the idea of the way-too-jolly woman who 

accrues “collector’s item” kitsch and thinks her ideas are ohso-cute. 

Basically, Romeo & Juliet is retold with wacky garden 

gnomes voiced by James McAvoy and Emily Blunt, and the whole 

thing is set to classic Elton John music. Adorable, right? I sure 

hope the gnomes don’t kill themselves at the end, though. That’d 

be a really dark ending for an animated family comedy. 

JuST go WiTh iT [Pg-13] 

Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, together at last! In this one, 

Sandler is a bachelor who pretends to be divorced to get with 

women, finds the love of his life who sees his bluff, and attempts 

to trick her by having Aniston pretend to be his ex-wife. See, guys? 

This is what happens when you don’t watch Sandler in his good 

movies, like Funny People. He makes awful tripe like this and 

Grown-Ups. Oh, and apparently Nicole Kidman is in it, too. Why? I 

don’t know. I guess just because. 

JuSTin BieBeR: neveR SAy neveR [uR] 

I’m not going to bash Bieber’s success. He made it, and that’s 

fine. I just hate that we now have a (3D) documentary telling us 

how hard he works and how unique he is. He’s not. He’s doing 

a low-rent version of what everyone else on the radio is doing, 

which isn’t good as it is. At best, we’ll look back at Bieber as the 

Aaron Carter of today: Something kids liked that they didn’t realize 

sucked, and will laugh about later. This documentary will be a 

relic of this sentiment. 

CedAR RAPidS [R] 

From Miguel Arteta, the director of the hilarious and under-seen 

Youth In Revolt, Cedar Rapids stars Ed Helms as a naive insurance 

salesman who must represent his company at a nationwide 

convention. While there, his eyes are opened to the wild insurance-sales 

scene. I can’t wait to see this. Word out of Sundance 

was good, and if Youth In Revolt was any indication, Arteta is a 

dependable comedic director. 

Dicky’s predicament and cannot stand 

the sight of him. However, as he returns 

to the ring, he soon learns that he needs 

his brother, the man who had been training 

him for so many years. 

A separate conflict is between Micky 

and his mother, Alice, played by Melissa 

Leo. Alice acts as Micky’s manager, 

though at the same time, she never treats 

him as well as she treats Dicky. Altogether 

ignoring her older son’s addiction, 

she loves him far more than Micky, possibly 

just for Dicky’s greater success as a 

boxer in his earlier years. Lastly, Charlene 

enters this spider knot of relationships, 

trying to guide Micky, showing concern 

and care. When his motivation seems to 

degrade, it is Alice who immediately and 

hypocritically accuses Charlene of confusing 

her son. 

For action fans and boxing lovers, 

The Fighter has very promising fight 

scenes. It is here that Russell’s genius 

truly emerges. Through the angles of the 

cameras, the viewer is left to believe that 

he or she is actually watching a boxing 

match on television. This ranges from the 

overhead view of the start of the match, 

to the zoomed-in shots of the fist swing- 

ing. When Wahlberg is slugging down 

his opponents, or taking a beating at the 

hands of a difficult boxer, the scenes are 

realistic, if not believable. Going back to 

Russell’s themes in the film, the brutality 

in the ring are ever comparable to Ward’s 

struggles with his many relationships, 

from Dicky and Alice to Charlene. 

Thanks to Russel’s incredible casting, 

screenwriting, and directing, The Fighter 

has been ranked one of the most popular 

films of 2010. With Sylvester Stallone’s 

Rocky legacy still in the minds of viewers, 

it took much diligence and effort to create 

a new successful boxing film. Although it 

follows the same story, by turning it into 

a biographical film, and focusing on the 

plight of one man, the film has earned 

much recognition. With the 83rd Academy 

Awards fast approaching, The Fighter 

has received the nomination for Best 

Picture, along with Best Director, Best 

Supporting Actor, and others. For Russel’s 

hard work, paired with the extensive 

efforts of his cast, it is time for The Fighter 

to receive the credit that it is due. 


morey1@umbc.edu

12 arts February 8, 2011 


Somewhere, a beautiful rehash of common Coppola concepts 

Cleo (Elle Fanning) ponders on her father’s inadequacy in Somewhere. 

Tower of Babel 

courtesy Focus Features 

> from SOMEWHERE [10] 

the film with very pertinent symbolism 

that doesn't bear down on her 

story. She also has a way of letting 

the film's smaller, more tender moments 

play out in a way that doesn't 

scream of sentimentality, but actually 

feels quite natural and earned. On 

top of all that, the film looks gorgeous. 

Each shot in the film could 

probably be made into a work of art 

on its own. 

Coppola's less admirable qualities, 

however, do come out along 

with some of her better ones. While 

the slow pace was a good choice, she 

sometimes lets it get the best of her 

instincts, and indulges in the length 

of the film's later shots. After we've 

already grasped the idea of Johnny's 

existence, she continues to let certain 

shots play out, sometimes past 

their welcoming period. She has a 

tendency to sometimes shove her 

intentions in front of the audience 

when we already understand what 

she's getting at. She also needs to 

get away from telling stories about 

the rich and powerful losing their 

well, we 

WERE an 

up-and-coming 

school 

hjosh2@umbc.edu 

way. Again, Somewhere is simply a 

more dramatic and ponderous version 

of her Lost In Translation, and 

shares minor qualities with Coppola's 

Marie Antoinette. Truth be told, 

this is simply a variation on themes 

she keeps harping on. She needs to 

move on to something new. 

Somewhere is a highly admirable, 

very artful film. It looks beautiful, 

it's paced nicely for the most part, 

and it finds a new way of portraying 

a pretty common story. It features 

two very good performances from 

Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning 

(who, if she doesn't prove to be as 

talented as Dakota, will certainly 

prove to be far more enjoyable to 

watch), and some very good artistic 

choices in terms of the film's look. If 

it weren't for some of Coppola's personal 

indulgences, it would probably 

be a better film. As it stands, 

it's not a film that's worth missing, 

and it's not for everyone, but it's one 

that is worth appreciating for what it 

is on its own. 


daniels7@umbc.edu 

Joshua Hooks 

Timb Mantegna 

If you prefer Coke, please send comments to man3@umbc.edu


Top ten budget friendly on-campus date ideas 

Megan Irminger 


Let’s face it. College isnt easy. Between 

balancing the school-work, the social 

life and the athletic events, who has 

time for dating? It’s a phenomenon that 

best flourishes under one single word: 

convenience. It’s the new in thing that’s 

catching on like wild fire on campuses 

across the U.S. UMBC hosts many dating 

environments, from casual to semiformal—all 

of which are convenient for 

students in terms of transportation, time 

and even cost. 

Watch a movie. I’m not talking sitting 

in a dorm room and trying to get 

comfortable on a twin sized bed. This is 

real theater style. Located in Lecture Hall 

I, there are weekly screenings of newly 

released movies. Tickets are two dollars 

at the Commons Information Center. It 

may be a good idea to stop by Outtakes 

and grab a bag of popcorn or box of 

candy to share with your date. 

Date Total = $4 

Transportation = Walking 

Take a stroll. Although walking around 

Hilltop Circle may be a good way to burn 

calories for many, it is not a suitable date 

setting. Instead, take your sweetheart 

down to Pigpen Pond, located next to the 

pedestrian boardwalk that connects campus 

to the Research Park. There’s nothing 

like a sunset overlooking still waters to 

set the mood! 



Grab a bite to eat. Now here is an obvious 

dating ritual. UMBC offers options 

as diverse as sushi in the Commons, to a 

casual coffee and scone at Starbucks or 

Au Bon Pain. There is also the Skylight 

Room, which is located on the third floor 

of the Commons and includes a buffet 

style eating experience as well as a spectacular 

view of campus. It costs roughly 9 

dollars, but is well worth the money. 

Date Total = $6-$9 


Drinks and laughs. For those on campus 

who are the legal drinking age, grab 

a couple drinks at Flat Tuesdays. They 

also serve food such as wings, pizza, and 

quesadillas. This environment provides a 

casual yet fun way to get to know your 

date while remaining on campus. 



Exercise. UMBC offers plenty of ways 

to have athletic based dates. The RAC 

provides classes such as ab class or 

Zumba, which make a flirty yet competitive 

dating environment. There are also 

basketball courts, exercise machines and, 

if that still isn’t your style, there are plenty 

of fun and athletic games to get involved 

in around campus. Humans vs. Zombies, 

Ultimate Frisbee, or even taking a 

run with that special someone can really 

spark the flame. 



Explore the city. We are the University 

of Maryland, Baltimore County for goodness’ 

sake! Make a day of it by taking 

your date on the Transit Bus, leaving from 

the corner of Poplar Avenue and Hilltop 

Circle, into Baltimore and explore what 

the city has to offer. There are restaurants, 

shops, and even the National Aquarium, 

Baltimore. Being adventurous with your 

date will really help to bring out both of 

your personalities and make it easy to get 

to know each other fast. 


Transportation = Transit Bus 

Get Involved. Believe it or not, UMBC 

hosts many events ranging from stand-up 

comedy to Milk and Cookies Flip Cup. 

All of these on-campus events provide a 

fun setting where you can mingle with 

other people and make new friends while 

getting to know your date. 



Concerts. Yes, UMBC does have a 

symphony orchestra. They have several 

concerts throughout the semester and 

these are a perfectly classy way to attract 

that special someone. Classical music 

isn’t your thing? UMBC also has a dance 

company that performs at various times 

and may bring out the artistic side of 

February 8, 2011 arts 13 

Celebrate your single status this Valentine’s Day 

Courtney Haupt 


Each February couples around 

the United States celebrate love and 

affection. But did you know that in 

China, college students celebrate 

Single's Day for those who remain 

unattached? Here are some simple 

ways that you can celebrate your 

own version of Single's Day this 

February the fourteenth. 

1. Go off-campus. Get dressed up 

and venture off campus with a group 

of single friends. Go out to dinner 

at your favorite restaurant or catch a 

movie that you've been dying to see. 

For those who are over 21, check 

out the Stupid Cupid Party at Ram's 

Head. This will give you a much deserved 

night off from studying. 

2. Have a movie marathon. Watching 

chick flicks will only worsen 

your sour mood. Instead, get a 

bunch of friends together and have a 

scary movie marathon. I suggest My 

Bloody Valentine, though be warned, 

it is a typical slasher film. If horror 

movies aren't your thing, try movies 

that are a departure from the typical 

romantic comedy, such as The Break- 

Up or He's Just Not That Into You. 

3. Focus on yourself. Instead of 

moping about being single, spend 

the night catching up on laundry, 

organizing your calendar, or getting 

a head start on homework. At first 

this may sound kind of lame, but 

you'll be surprised at how good you 

feel when you're done. You don't 

need a significant other to go to bed 

feeling accomplished. 

4. Cook yourself dinner. A 

home-cooked meal can really improve 

your mood. On Valentine's 

Day, take a break from dining hall 

food and cook a fancy dinner with 

some of your friends. Check out 

http://allrecipes.com for tons of quick 

and easy meal ideas. 

5. Be Active. We all know from the 

movie Legally Blonde that exercises 

releases endorphins, and endorphins 

make you happy. So go to the 

gym with a few friends, or even just 

take a walk around campus (weather 

permitting, of course). Exercise will 

also give your brain a boost and help 

you focus on studying. 

6. Throw an anti-Valentine's Day 

Party. Chances are you know people 

who hate Valentine's Day just as 

much as you do. Throw an anti- 

Valentine's Day Party complete with 

a heart-shaped piñata and a baseball 

bat. Oh, and don't forget the chocolate. 

7. Do not mope. Even though it 

may be hard, try to treat Valentine's 

Day like any other day. Do not sit 

around and feel sorry for yourself. 

Millions of people around the United 

States will also be single on Valentine's 

Day. You are not alone. 

This Valentine's Day, throw convention 

aside and embrace your single 

status. Happy Valentine's Day. 


chaupt2@umbc.edu 

courtesy jamieumbc.edu 

Who’d have thought that the RAC could provide a (cheap!) romantic setting? 

Throw an anti-Valentine’s Day Party with a lot of dark chocolate 

courtesy neW line cinema 

your date. Dance performances aren’t 

your thing? Quadmania always hosts a 

well-known music artist in the spring. 

You can join your fellow classmates and 

rock out with a popular artist and bring 

out your wild side. 



Athletic Events. Watching sports on 

television is so ordinary and over-rated. 

Instead, try going to a soccer game, lacrosse 

game, or track meet on campus. 

There is nothing like grabbing some hotdogs 

and chips and watching your fellow 

students as they try their hardest to represent 

their school. All UMBC students also 

get free admission to all athletic events. 



Take a hike. Patapsco Valley State Park 

is located just a few miles away from 

campus. There are many trails to explore, 

as well as picnic tables for enjoying a 

surprise lunch. Patapsco Park is home 

to much wildlife and, if your date is an 

animal fanatic, you can bird watch or just 

take a stroll and see how many different 

animals you can spot! 


Transportation = Walking/ Biking/ Car 


megan23@umbc.edu

14 arts February 8, 2011 


CRoSSWoRd 

ACRoSS 

1. An Indycar or F1 car 

6. Put one’s foot down 

11. Third person pronoun 

female 

14. Armadillo 

15. Become narrower 

16. Writing tool 

17. Walk about 

19. Dine 

20. A jury or board 

doWn 

1. Sexual assault 

2. Gorilla 

3. Automobile 

4. Historical period 

5. Barricade 

6. Bowl over 

7. Story 

8. October birthstone 

9. Encountered 

10. Keep from 

happening 

11. Hex 

SudoKu 

21. A flow control device 

23. 4-door car 

26. Bank employee 

27. Underclothes 

31. Indicate 

32. A liquid wall covering 

33. Peanut butter and 

___ 

36. Parisian airport 

37. Sully 

12. Retch 

13. Go in 

18. Pow! 

22. Computer key 

23. Sleep sound 

24. Ancient Roman 

magistrate 

25. Declare untrue 

26. Canvas dwelling 

27. Once ____ a time 

28. Not together 

29. Increase 

TueSdAy, FeBRuARy 8 

UMBC Stilettos Spring 2011 Auditions 

FA 015 8 p.m. Do you think you can sing better 

than those American Idol contestants? Are you 

mad that they didn’t host the auditions right here in 

Baltimore? Tryouts for the UMBC Stilettos acapella 

all-girls group are this week, Tues and also Thurs 

at 8 p.m. 

Yoga Club 

Women’s Center 4-4:40. Every week on Tues and 

also next Monday, the Women’s Center located 

in the Commons, right next to the Yum Shoppe 

will be hosting yoga sessions. Monday times are 

12-12:45. 

Resumania 2011 

Shriver Center or Career Services Center MP 4th 

floor) 12-4pm. Stop by the Shriver Center or the 

Career Services Center for helpful tips on improving 

resumes. Remember that the Summer Internship 

Fair is coming up next week! 

WedneSdAy, FeBRuARy 9 

UMBC Talks 

38. French Sudan 

39. Born 

40. Analyze, in a way 

41. Row of shrubs 

42. Underground 

44. Sags 

47. Avoid 

48. Refute 

49. Sucker 

53. Beer 

30. Ore digger 

33. Fatigued 

34. Seaweed 

35. Bearing 

37. Restaurant bills 

38. List of choices 

40. A wedge-shaped tent 

41. A rope for raising or 

lowering a sail or flag 

42. Former French coin 

43. Repose 

44. Slow speech pattern 

Crossword puzzle 

for February 4, 

2011 

OSL’s Mosaic Center (Commons 2B23) Noon. This 

week’s topic: “365 Black; Deconstructing Black 

History Month.” Groups of 10+, please RSVP via 

mosaic@umbc.edu. 

Lecture by author Antero Pietila 

Library Albin O. Kuhn Gallery 4:00-6:00 p.m. Author 

Antero Pietila speaks about his book “Not in My 

Neighborhood,” an honest and bold look at Baltimore 

and how racism along with bigotry seeped 

through the neighborhood. 

Independent Film Series: The Girl with the 

Dragon Tatoo 

Skylight Lounge 7:00 p.m. The first part of the 

international bestselling book will be screened 

absolutely free. A discussion will follow the movie. 

ThuRSdAy, FeBRuARy 10 

Open Mic Night: Duets 

Sportszone 8:00-10:00 p.m. Join SEB and other 

competing duet performances. Winners get a date 

night sponsored by SEB. 

Baltimore Dance Project 

UMBC Theatre 8 p.m. Baltimore Dance Project 

presents yet another exhilarating performance that 

will run from Thrusday February 10-Saturday February 

12. $15 general admission, $10 students and 

seniors, $7 UMBC students. 

Weekly Movie: Megamind 

LH1 10:00 p.m. SEB’s weekly movie, free popcorn 

will be provided. Tickets are sold at the Commons 

Front Desk. 

CRoSSWoRd 

SudoKu 

Last modified: January 17, 2011 

Copyright 2011 Mirroreyes Internet Services Corporation. 

FRidAy, FeBRuARy 11 

Valentine’s Day Craft 

Main Street, The Commons 12 noon. Make your 

own Valentine’s craft, make it for someone you love 

or make an anti-valentine’s card too. 


LH1 8:00 p.m. 

Live Music: Mosh Night 

Flat Tuesdays 9:00-11:00 p.m. A night of metal 

and mosh. Bands that will play: Where the fear has 

gone and Embers for Ashes. 

SATuRdAy, FeBRuARy 12 

I Heart Chocolate Party 

Skylight Lounge 7:00 p.m. Valentine-themed event 

party, tons and tons and even more chocolate will 

be provided for. 


Sportszone 8:00 p.m. 

Super Hero Dance Party 

Flat Tuesdays 9:00 p.m. Come out and dance 

with other fellow super heroes. Free food will be 

provided. 

mirroreyes.com/crossword 

ACROSS 

1. An Indycar 54. Favoring or F1 car social 

6. Put one's equality foot down 

59. Is, formerly 

11. Third person 60. Birth-related pronoun 

female 61. Perch 

14. Armadillo 62. Caustic 

63. Believe 

15. Become 64. narrower Packed 

16. Writing tool 

17. Walk about 

19. Dine 

20. A jury or board 

21. A flow 45. control Pass-the-baton device race 

46. Overweight 

23. 4-door 49. carMaori 

club 

26. Bank employee 50. “Oh, my!” 

27. Underclothes 51. Slant 

52. Initial wager 

31. Indicate 55. Needlefish 

32. A liquid 56. wall Fish eggs covering 

33. Peanut 57. butter Charged and particle ___ 

58. Donkey 

36. Parisian airport 

37. Sully 

38. French Sudan 

Solution for Crossword Puzzle of January 26, 2011 

39. Born krazydad.com/sudoku SoluTionSDOWN TO LAST WEEK’S PUZZLES 

40. Analyze, in a way 1. Sexual assault 23. Sleep sound 41. A rope for raising or 

41. Row of shrubs 2. Gorilla 

WhAT To do: 

42. Underground 3. Automobile 

Fill all empty squares 

44. Sags 

4. Historical period 

so that the numbers 

47. Avoid1 

to 9 appear once in 5. Barricade 

48. Refuteeach 

row, column and 6. Bowl over 

24. Ancient Roman 

magistrate 

25. Declare untrue 

26. Canvas dwelling 

27. Once ____ a time 

lowering a sail or flag 

42. Former French coin 

43. Repose 

44. Slow speech pattern 

45. Pass-the-baton race 

49. Sucker 3x3 box. You might 7. Story 

28. Not together 46. Overweight 

53. Beer want to use a pencil! 8. October birthstone 29. Increase 49. Maori club 

54. Favoring social 9. Encountered 30. Ore digger 50. "Oh, my!" 

equality 

10. Keep from 33. Fatigued 51. Slant 

59. Is, formerly happening 

34. Seaweed 52. Initial wager 

60. Birth-related 11. Hex 

35. Bearing 

55. Needlefish 

61. Perch 

12. Retch 

37. Restaurant bills 56. Fish eggs 

62. Caustic 

Back to the puzzle. 

13. Go in 

38. List of choices 57. Charged particle 

63. Believe 

18. Pow! 

40. A wedge-shaped 58. Donkey

15 FEBRUARY 8, 2011 

Dan Levin 

Editorial staff 

It's like joining the Yankees, Lakers, 

or any other team on any level whose 

history can be described in one word: 

winning. Joining the UMBC men's swimming 

and diving team means you are 

joining a team that has won 13 straight 

conference championships and seven 

straight America East titles. 

Transitioning from high school or club 

sports to Division One collegiate competition 

is hard enough without the pressure 

of not wanting to be the first class 

to lose. This challenge comes with the 

territory of joining this elite squad, and 

is something UMBC freshman have faced 

for the last decade coming into the swimming 

program. 

Four years ago, a record-setting class 

of 24 freshmen (15 men) came to UMBC 

under Chad Cradock to help continue 

the winning ways of the Retrievers. Two 

of those men are now captains of the 

team while one holds two individual 

school records and is looking for a third. 

Seniors Eric Jones, Brad Reitz, and 

Keilan Freeman all came to UMBC four 

years ago with the expectation of winning. 

But is there a lot of pressure coming 

into a program that expects you to win 

immediately? 

"I didn't really feel any pressure as a 

freshman because, just looking at the 

seniors, they were a powerful class with 

depth," said Jones. "I wasn't worried 

about it then, and I'm still not really worried 

about it now because my class and 

our incoming class is powerful as well 

and we have a lot of depth. I never think 

of losing." 

And losing is something Eric Jones just 

doesn't do. He has won 15 straight 200 

free competitions and with one more to 

go in his career, he plans on finishing out 

number 16. 

"I'm not going to lose it. I won it last 

year, so I'm trying to win it again this 

year," said Jones. "I'm trying to go after 

Justin Bronson's team record as well." 

Bronson, a graduating senior of 2009, 

is also someone whom Jones credits with 

really helping him in his transition from 

club swimming to college. Bronson was 

one of the best freestyle swimmers in 

UMBC history, and still holds some team 

records. 

"He [Bronson] really helped me fine 

tune how to swim the 200 free—like 

how I should practice, and how to communicate 

with coaches," said Jones. 

"Some of the new guys also helped me 

push to new limits. Pierre [de Waal] 

trains so hard every day, its amazing. He 

taught me how to push myself even further 

then I ever thought I could." 

A big part of these athletes pushing 

themselves also has to do with Coach 

Chad Cradock and the word, "spizzerinctum." 

It's a made-up term from Hall 

of Fame Olympic swimming Coach Ray 

Bussard that Cradock likes to preach to 

his players. 

"I worked alongside him [Bussard] 

in Canada at Camp Chikopi," said Cradock. 

"He used that word and, basically 

,the definition really is within yourself. 

It's, what is that x-factor that will make 

you do something better then you've 

done before?" 

Perhaps the definition of that word is 

Brad Reitz. He holds two individual team 

records in the 200 fly and 200 IM and 

is looking to break the 100 fly record to 

close out his final season at UMBC. 

It was never really a question of where 

Reitz would swim in college. Cradock 

had been his coach since a young age, 

and his brother Freddie Reitz was also a 

swimmer here when Brad came. In fact 

the two even won relays together during 

Brad's first two years here. With all this, 

there was not even a thought of losing at 


After 13 straight championships, they don’t want to lose it 

Brad Reitz (above) and Eric Jones (below) have been two of the men’s swimming and diving team’s top performers since they joined the team four years ago. 

any point. 

"Having the dynasty behind us really 

helped drive us to win more championships," 

said Reitz. "And I think we're going 

to do it again." 

They will get that chance to "do it 

again" in just about one week's time as 

the conference championships will get 

underway February 17 in Boyds, Maryland. 

Just as they were freshman year, 

the seniors and the rest of the team are 

confident in their abilities. 

"We have a lot of confidence on this 

team because we have a tradition of winning," 

said Freeman. "We've been swimming 

really well this year, and I think we 

have the attitude and the fire power to 

win again." 

Tradition. It's something very important 

not only to the current batch of 

swimmers at UMBC but also to recruits 

who are trying to figure out where to 

swim in college. When young kids look 

at the Retrievers program they will see 13 

straight conference championships. That 

is 13 trophies Chad Cradock can show a 

recruit on his/her visit and there's something 

to be said for that. 

"Success breeds success," said Cradock. 

"People understand that UMBC 

swimming and diving is the real deal 

and that allows them to be more excited 

about coming to the school, looking at 

the school, and that sort of thing." 

Courtesy athletiC CommuniCations 

That was the idea that drew Freeman 

to UMBC back in 2007. Originally from 

Canada, he was helped by an American 

recruiter who showed him UMBC and it 

was a fit. A successful relay swimmer, he 

also credits good leadership when he was 

young to the success he's having now. 

"One of my favorites was a captain, 

Adam Eiben," said Freeman. "He was my 

lifting partner and he showed me around 

and helped me get used to the campus, 

get used to being away from home." 

Now that all three are seniors with 

only two meets left in their college careers, 

they have no plans of losing again. 

Going out on top is something every 

> see WINNERS[18] 

Courtesy athletiC CommuniCations

courtesy athletic communications 

DID YOU 

HEAR 

THAT? 

Athlete of the week: 

Justin fry 

Corey Johns 



Graduate center Justin Fry helped power the mens basketball team 

to back-to-back wins over Binghamton, 83-79, and Maine, 84-79. 

Against Binghamton, a team that saw the return of first-team All- 

Conference forward Greer Wright, Fry scored 10 points and had 

eight rebounds. A few days later against Maine, which was half a 

game out of first place in the America East, Fry scored a career-high 

20 points off 9-for-10 shooting. Fry was limited with foul trouble 

in the first half of the game but scored 14 points in the second half, 

helping spark UMBC to a 17-2 run to comeback from a 14-point 

second-half deficit. 

Comments can be sent to cjohns2@umbc.edu. 

Chattin’ With: Mo Drammeh 

In just his first season at UMBC Mo Drammeh has provided the Retrievers with another strong jumper, replacing 

former Field Player of the Year, Victor Gilreath. In eight indoor meets Drammeh has four top-ten finishes and 

tied for first place in the high jump at the Bison Opener, his first ever collegiate meet. Drammeh also finished 

second in the high jump at the George Mason Patriot Games and has also served as the teams triple-jumper. 

The Retriever Weekly: What do you do in between 

events during all day meets? 

Mo Drammeh: Cheer on other teammates, warm up for 

our next events, cool down. 

TRW: How long have you been a part of track and field 

and were you ever a runner? 

MD: Ive been apart of track and field since my sophomore 

year of high school and I did run but I was a 

better jumper so [my coaches] put me into that 

TRW: What is your highest jump? 

MD: 6’7” and 40’ in the triple jump 

TRW: Did you ever play basketball? 

MD: I did play basketball but I was good at track so I 

stuck with that. 

TRW: How has the transition from high school to college 

been? 

MD: I thought it would be a big transition but its not 

that much of a difference. The competition is obviously 

better because its a higher level but its nothing to me 

that I have to adjust to other than the competition. 

Interview conducted by Dan Levin 

Courtesy athletiC CommuniCations 

FEBRUARY 8, 2011 sports 16 

LAST WEEK’S RESULTS 

M. Basketball 

UMBC 83, Binhamton 79 - Brian Neller had a game-high 21 points and Laurence 

Jolicoeur hit two free throws with under two seconds left to send it to overtime, 

where UMBC won their fourth game of the year. 

UMBC 84, Maine 79 - Justin Fry scored a career-high 20 points and Chris De 

La Rosa recorded 24 points with 13 assists and six rebounds and the Retrievers 

overcame an 11-point halftime deficit and outscored Maine 51-35 in the second 

half for their second-straight win. 

W. Basketball 

UMBC 40, Binghamton 47 - The womens team came up short in a battle for second 

place in the conference. Michelle Kurowski recorded her third double-double 

of they year scoring 17 points with 11 rebounds. 

UMBC 56, Maine 49 - Junior Erin Brown posted a career-high 26 points with a 

career-high 11 rebounds as the team avoided another late loss to Maine. 

M. Tennis 

UMBC 7, St. Francis 0 - Christian Hodel defeated Elahn Pogue in men’s number 

one singles in three sets while all other singles matches were won by UMBC in just 

two sets including #125 Joseph Adewumi, who did not lose a game to Nate Fleming 

in mens number two singles. 

UMBC 6, Villanova 1 - UMBC swept all of the doubles matches and won every 

singles match in straight sets except number one singles when Christian Hodel fell 

to Thomas O’Brien in a thrilling three set match. 

W. Tennis 

UMBC 7, St. Francis 0 - Womens tennis knocked off St. Francis of PA, winning 

every match without losing a single set. The Retrievers Kim Berghaus defeated Tina 

Miller in number one singles without losing a game while Emily Mannix and Kyri 

Hadji each lost only game in straight set wins. 

M. Track and Field 

UMBC at The Amory Invitational - The Retrievers set four new season high 

marks over the weekend with the teams best finish coming from freshman 

Jake Albino who finished second in the 800-meter run. 

W. Track and Field 

UMBC at The Armory Invitational - The Retrievers set four new season high 

marks with the teams best finish coming from senior Sara Parkinson who 

placed ninth in the womens 1-mile run with a season best time of 4:59.81. 

To see full game stories log on to 

www.retrieverweekly.com 

and see Volumn 45, Issue 13 

THIS WEEK IN SPORTS 

Wednesday 2/09 

M. Basketball vs. Vermont 7:00 p.m. 

W. Basketball at Vermont 7:00 p.m. 

Friday 2/11 

M. Track and Field at Rider/Lafayette Invitational All Day 

W. Track and Field at Rider/Lafayette Invitational All Day 

W. Swimming and Diving at Terrapin Invitational 10:00 a.m. 

M. Swimming and Diving at Terrapin Invitational 11:00 a.m. 

W. Lacrosse vs. George Mason 5:00 p.m. 

Saturday 2/12 

M. Tennis at Old Dominion 12:00 p.m. 

W. Tennis at Old Dominion 12:00 p.m. 

M. Lacrosse vs. Drexel (exh.) 1:00 p.m. 

M. Swimming and Diving at Terrapin Invitational 6:00 p.m. 

W. Swimming and Diving at Terrapin Invitational 6:00 p.m. 

M. Basketball vs. New Hampshire 7:00 p.m. 

Sunday 2/13 

W. Tennis at VCU 11:00 a.m. 

W. Basketball at New Hampshire 1:00 p.m. 

To see full game stories log on to 

www.retrieverweekly.com 

and see Volumn 45, Issue 14 

I just dug into their pride a little bit. “I guess Maine is too good and we can’t win so I 

guess we should give them the win now.” Some eyebrows went up and they took that 

as a challenge and went out and played good basketball.” 

Randy Monroe said he told his team who trailed by 11 points at half-time, before going 

on a 17-2 second half run, leading to an 84-79 win over Maine.

17 sports FEBRUARY 8, 2011 


Corey’s 

Corner 

COREY JOHNS 

Don’t make a habit out 

of rushing the court 

After UMBC won their fourth game 

of the season with an 83-79 victory, 

somebody told me that the students 

rushing the court was embarrassing. 

After I thought about it a little, I did 

find the humor in fans rushing the 

court after a four-win team beat a sixwin 

team. 

Usually, rushing the court is reserved 

for big feats like championships, major 

upsets, or wins over a hated rival. That 

game wasn’t any of those, but it was on 

television, so I didn’t see any harm in 

the fans rushing the court. It gave the 

camera a good view of the school spirit 

and the number of fans in attendance 

(2,108, the most this season), since 

the majority of the fans packed the 

side of the RAC the television cameras 

weren’t facing. 

For not being known as a sports 

school, UMBC has some dedicated 

fans. The last two years have been anything 

but easy to endure. Last season, 

the team didn’t even win a game in the 

RAC and this year the team has had 

another rough season. But through 

all the hardships, the student section 

has still been packed each game, even 

in the winter or during a snow storm 

that closed school early. For the third 

time this season, they got to witness a 

successful outing, a ray of light in an 

otherwise dark season. 

When UMBC beat Niagara for their 

first victory of the season while snapping 

an 18-game home-losing streak, 

rushing the court also seemed like a 

natural. It was a rather big moment for 

the team and the fans. 

When UMBC upset preseason favorite 

Boston University, 71-67, for their 

first conference victory of the year, 

rushing the court only seemed like a 

natural thing to occur, it was a big moment 

for the team and the fans. 

When UMBC beat a struggling 

Binghamton squad in overtime, rushing 

the court wasn’t exactly necessary. 

It was a big moment for the team and 

fans but it was the second time in three 

games the team won in the RAC, and 

it was against a team the Retrievers 

should have beaten. 

There is no problem with going to 

celebrate with the team (men’s basketball 

coach Randy Monroe will usually 

do that after wins, and sometimes 

even losses, by going over to the Dawg 

Pound to give the students high-fives 

while thanking them for their support, 

for being loud, and for giving 

his players energy to feed off of). But 

there are plenty of ways to embrace a 

victory besides rushing the court. The 

best celebration of all shouldn’t have 

the luster taken away by having the 

fans do it after each win. Fans should 

save it for the biggest, most important, 

most special wins. 


cjohns2@umbc.edu. 

harish trivedi — trW 

The men’s basketball team has put a terrible start to the season well behind them and have won four of their last seven games, while remaining competitive 

in their losses. After struggling to find out the right combination of players for his starting five, head coach Randy Monroe has seemingly found one that 

works, featuring Player of the Year candidate Chris De La Rosa (top right), who is averaging 16.7 points per game (second most in the conference) a leaguehigh 

7.2 assists per game, and 4.9 rebounds per game. Next to him in the backcourt is senior Bakari Smith (top left). While Smith hasn’t scored many points, 

he has been like a second point-guard on the court while providing good defense. Brian Neller, who has made made 21 3-pointers in the team’s last seven 

games, has worked his way in with graduate center Justin Fry (next page, left), who scored a career-high 20 points against Maine, while increasing his points 

and rebounding totals from 9.2 p.p.g. and 5.7 r.p.g. to 11.1 p.p.g. and 6.0 r.p.g. in conference play. Sophomore Adrian Satchell and freshman Chase Plummer 

have been splitting time as the team’s power forward depending on matchups, though Satchell has started on more occassions. Satchell has averaged 

5.7 points per game while playing good defense, and Plummer, who is averaging 6.6 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game, recorded his first career 

double-double against Stony Brook last week. Graduate transfers Travis King (next page, right) and Laurence Jolicoeur (next page, center) have given great 

efforts off the bench for the men’s basketball team. Down two with less than two seconds to go in regulation against Binghamton, Jolicoeur went up for a 

desperation three but caught Greer Wright in the air, forcing a three-shot foul. Jolicoeur extended the game into overtime, where the team won. With their 

recent turnaround, the men’s basketball team has given Retriever fans (below) something to cheer about this season.


Back-to-back wins give Retrievers hope 

Corey Johns 


Embracing their mascot's name, 

the UMBC men's basketball team 

is showing true grit and starting to 

surge at the end of the season. After 

a 1-16 start, they could have packed 

things in and just gone through the 

games to end the season on a real 

down note. But they didn't do that. 

Instead, the men's basketball team 

kept working hard, trying to get better, 

trying to made a bit of a splash 

in the America East. 

Since the team suffered an 85- 

48 blowout loss in Vermont to the 

reigning champion Catamounts, the 

men's basketball team has been playing 

much improved basketball, winning 

four of their last seven games, 

including back-to-back wins in their 

last two games. 

These aren't bottom feeders that 

the men's basketball team is getting 

wins against, either. They upset the 

preseason favorite Boston University 

Terriers, a first-place Hartford team, 

a Binghamton team that returned a 

first-team All-Conference forward 

that missed most of the season with 

an injury; and, most recently, Maine, 

which was half a game out of first 

place in the conference. 

"We don't give up, we don't. We 

continue to fight," Coach Randy 

Monroe said. "If we go and do 

the things we need to do, then we 

can compete with anybody in this 

league." 

Led by junior point guard Chris 

De La Rosa, who is averaging 16.7 

points, 6.7 assists, and 4.5 rebounds 

per game, with increases to 18.5 

p.p.g., 7.2 a.p.g., and 4.9 r.p.g. in 

conference play, the Retrievers have 

one of the most dangerous players in 

the conference. 

"He's the best guard in our league," 

Monroe said without any hesitation. 

"Chris has really stepped his game 

up from last year to this year and has 

gotten better each game. There is no 

doubt in my mind that he's a Player 

of the Year candidate." 

The difference now, though, is that 

the players around him are starting 

to step up and are giving key contributions 

to the team. Against Binghamton, 

sophomore shooting guard 

Brian Neller hit five 3-pointers in 

a 21-point performance and added 

two more three-pointers for six 

points in an 84-79 defeat of Maine. 

Neller also made six three's in an 

earlier victory against Hartford in a 

24-point game, one that led to him 

being put in the starting lineup. 

"He's just feeling more and more 

confident in himself as a player and 

has really been playing savvy," Monroe 

said. 

Meanwhile, Chase Plummer has 

been coming on stronger and stronger 

as the season has progressed. 

After recording his first career 

double-double against Stony Brook 

he scored 12 points off the bench 

against the Bearcats. 

Also, sophomore Adrian Satchell 

has put a disappointing start to 

the season far behind him and has 

averaged a solid 6.7 points and 3.9 

rebounds per game. 

"I'm really proud of how the guys 

have been progressing the last five 

to six weeks of the season," Monroe 

said. "They seem to be gelling and 

understanding each other as players 

and really figuring out the things 

that need to be done. That's what we 

need to do coming down the stretch 

in the last few games of the season." 

But even more than those underclassmen 

stepping up, the team's 

four seniors have started to give 

UMBC big nights. Against Maine, 

Justin Fry recorded a career-high 

20 points, scoring 14 in the second 

half. He also averaged 15 points and 

5.5, rebounds per game in the Retrievers 

last two victories. 

"Justin has been putting good 

games together in conference play, 

and it's just terrific because he's going 

out on a positive note," Monroe 

said. "He's playing with a sense of 

urgency." 

Meanwhile, Travis King powered 

UMBC to a victory with 17 points 

and five rebounds against Binghamton. 

Bakari Smith has been like 

a second-point guard on the floor, 

starting 17 games this season next 

to De La Rosa, giving the team good 

defensive effort night in and night 

out. Finally, Laurence Jolicoeur, who 

averaged 9.5 points between the two 

games, has given UMBC more than 

just good scoring nights. 

"Sometimes people think [that], 

to be playing good basketball, you 

have to be scoring points. But that's 

not necessarily true; a guy who is 

playing good basketball is playing 

good defense, making good hustle 

plays, talking on the floor, and has 

an energy that everybody else can 

feed off of," Monroe said. "Those are 

things Laurence brings." 

After a turnover that gave Binghamton 

a two-point lead with 

7.3 seconds left in regulation on 

Wednesday night, Jolicoeur may 

have come up with the play of the 

game, catching Binghamton's Greer 

Wright in the air for a three-shot 

foul, forcing overtime. Then, against 

Maine, after a 17-2 run to give the 

Retrievers a seven-point lead midway 

through the second half, the 

Black Bears were starting to get 

momentum back and were chipping 

away at the lead. But on back-toback 

possessions, Jolicoeur made 

shots from three-point range, which 

cut all the momentum Maine had, 

killing a chance at a comeback. 

"It's their will, their drive," Monroe 

said, referring to his seniors and 

his team's turnaround. "These guys 

come to practice every day and have 

given something. Most teams would 

have given up and given in...a lot of 

[this team's success] has to go with 

the seniors’ understanding of what it 

takes to compete and to get after it 

in these situations." 

While the season as a whole 

hasn't gone according to plan, the 

Retrievers have proven they are no 

longer a cake-walk for any team. 

They jumped up two spots in the 

conference standings in one week, 

from last place to seventh, and will 

look to prove themselves even more 

in an upcoming game against the 

first-place Vermont Catamounts on 

Wednesday in the RAC. 

"This is the time of the year where 

we talk about playing our best basketball," 

Monroe said. "There is no 

better time to do it than now in the 

month of February going into the 

end of conference play." 


cjohns2@umbc.edu. 


“I don’t 

think about 

losing” 

> from WINNERS[15] 

athlete strives for, and for this team that 

comes with extending the streak. 

"I think winning would be fantastic," 

said Freeman. "It's been my goal since I 

got here to keep up the winning tradition 

and it'd be amazing to get one more." 

But it doesn't just stop there. The seniors 

truly believe that the winning does 

not end when they graduate. They have 

faith in their large freshman class that the 

tradition of winning at UMBC will go on 

long past them. 

"I think we have a great group of newcomers, 

transfers, and freshman with 

a lot of great talent, so I think they can 

keep up our legacy and our tradition," 

said Freeman. 

With such a successful group assembled 

together, how can they lose? 

The talent seems to breed other talent, 

and for incoming freshmen and transfers 

it seems to help take off the pressure of 

trying to do it all in their first year. 

The America East Championships are 

just around the corner, and Chad's bunch 

is ready to bring home title number 14. 

"We are ready to go," said Cradock. 

"What we're really excited about is that 

we're hosting it, and I think it's going 

to be a great environment. I don't really 

want to talk about my next championship, 

I just want to talk about the fact that 

we are going to be very successful." 

comments can be sent to 

daniel23@umbc.edu.

19 sports FEBRUARY 8, 2011 


Adams among top 20 assistant coaches in the country 

harish trivedi — trW 

Men’s assistant soccer coach Anthony Adams has been with the team for 14 years as a coach and played for the team for four seasons. He was recognized 

as one of the nation’s top assistant coaches for the fifth time in his career by College Soccer News, a leading media source in college soccer. 

Corey Johns 


For 14 seasons, men's assistant 

soccer coach Anthony Adams has 

been traveling the world in search of 

recruits, spending countless hours 

breaking down film and putting 

scouting reports together, and keeping 

track of all equipment, uniforms, 

and travel needs for his team. For the 

fifth time in his career, he has been 

named one of the top 20 assistants in 

the nation by College Soccer News, a 

leading media source for college soccer. 

"It's nice to be recognized for your 

work, but it's really just another feather 

in the cap for the program," Adams 

said. "Any time a player or coach gets 

an award it just shows what direction 

our team is headed." 

As an assistant, Adams primarily 

works with the team's defense, 

where he played for four years as a 

Retriever from 1992-95. As a starter 

during his last three seasons, he was 

known as "Tank" by his teammates 

and coaches. 

This season, the Retrievers recorded 

six shutouts and allowed only 

25 goals in 20 games. Three of those 

shut outs came in conference play, 

where they allowed only seven goals. 

UMBC shut out New Hampshire in 

the America East Championship, a 

game they won in penalty kicks, and 

shutout William & Mary in the second 

round of the NCAA College Cup 

before losing in penalty kicks. 

Along with being listed as one of 

the top 20 assistant coaches in the 

country by College Soccer News five 

times, Adams was named the AFLAC 

Assistant Coach of the Year in 2003 

and was the 2005 NSCAA Mid-Atlantic 

Assistant Coach of the Year. 

Despite his years of experience, numerous 

awards, and oppurtunities to 

move to head coaching jobs at other 

schools, Adams is getting ready for 

his 15th year as a coach for UMBC. 

"I'm happy here," he said. "I work 

for a great boss." 

That boss is Head Coach Pete Caringi, 

for whom Adams played while 

at UMBC. 

"As a player I had tremendous respect 

for him as a coach. That's why 

I came here," Adams said. "We have 

a good working relationship; we're 

always right next to each other on the 

bench talking." 

At 23-years of age, Adams started 

his coaching career at UMBC working 

part-time for $8,000, with full-time 

hours. That year, 1997, Adams was 

handed his first big recruiting job. 

Caringi sent him over to England and 

told him to bring back two players. 

The two players he brought back with 

him were Andy Wells, a four-time 

first-team All-Northeast Conference 

and three-time all-South Atlantic Region 

defender, and James Hamilton, 

UMBC's all-time assists leader. 

"There's no exact science in recruiting," 

Caringi said. "As a recruiter it 

really helped his confidence that he 

brought over two guys that had an 

impact on the program. That led to 

him having confidence in himself and 

me having confidence in him." 

Since then Adams has made several 

recruiting trips back to England 

as well as to Scotland, Ireland, and 

Canada. He also keeps up with lo- 

cal high school talent. The team had 

four international players on the team 

last season, including Canadian midfielder 

Milo Kapor, English defenders 

Liam Paddock and Joe Green, and 

Scottish defender Daniel Welsh. 

Adams said that when he first 

started coaching it was "a little weird" 

because he was coaching former 

teammates. But UMBC's last recruiting 

class was half his age, making 

him feel that he is "no longer a young 

coach anymore." 

But Adams did start coaching at a 

young age- even younger than when 

he took the job at UMBC at 23-years 

of age. When he was 15 years old, 

Adams coached an U11-12 team, 

the Soccer Club of Baltimore Stars, a 

team that had former Retrievers P.J. 

Wakefield and Billy Nelson on it. 

Since then, Adams was a dedicated 

club soccer coach as well—so dedicated 

that, in his senior year of high 

school at Calvert Hall, after his team 

won a State Championship on a Saturday, 

he stayed in Baltimore while 

his teammates went and celebrated in 

Ocean City. This was because the club 

team he was coaching was playing for 

the State Championship the next day 

and he had to finish putting together 

a scouting report. 

As a club coach, Adams has won 

several state and regional titles with 

his U15 team, and in 2002 he cofounded 

the Baltimore Bays, which 

has been the No. 1 club team in the 

nation the last three seasons. 

Working with club teams has also 

helped Adams recruit as well. Not 

only is he gaining local contacts in an 

area that is ranked No. 1 for youth 

soccer programs, but he also gets a 

better gauge on the talent in the area. 

"I'm knocking out two birds with 

one stone," he said. "I'm working 

with all these recruitable athletes all 

the time and the NCAA allows it, so 

[I] might as well [do it]." 

As they say, continuity breeds success. 

One of the reasons both Adams 

as an assistant, and the men's soccer 

team have been so successful is because 

Adams (as well a goalkeeper 

coach Sam Debone) has been with 

the program for so long. Debone has 

served as an assistant for 15 seasons. 

"I take it as a compliment that they 

would be here with me," Caringi said. 

"We haven't had any turnover. When 

you constantly have turnover, the 

players can see it. Here, the players 

come in and are very comfortable." 

With Adams as an assistant, the 

men's soccer team has won two conference 

championships, including an 

undefeated regular season in 1999 as 

well as this past season's championship, 

and has accumulated a record of 

161-88-36. 

"I'm very happy for his success," 

Caringi said. "It's well deserved; he 

puts a lot of time and effort into the 

program. As an assistant coach, you 

don't get the credit you deserve. This 

time, nationally, people are recognizing 

our program and he's a big part 

of it." 


cjohns2@umbc.edu.


The men’s basketball team 

has won back-to-back games 

to moved up two spots in the 

America East standings 

see page 17 

Pictured: travis King harish trivedi — trW 


NOT DONE 

YET 

15 Winning tradition 

19 Getting recognition 

WEB MBB upsets two

UMBC undergraduates are stressed out and obese Maryland ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?