Editor in chief
On Friday, Sept. 6, I wrote my first of these weekly columns at the start of the fall semester of my year as editor in chief.
“Looking at the budgets for a week of newspapers is a bit like skimming through a syllabus on the first day of class,” I wrote at the time. “When you look at everything you’ll have to do, it seems impossible; all those readings, papers and group projects seem overwhelming.”
Over the past year, we at The Diamondback have done a lot. Sometimes it seemed impossible, but we did it. I’m most proud of the Friday digital editions we pioneered this year. I can only imagine how amazing those will be in coming years.
This week, my final one as editor in chief of The Diamondback, capped off a wild year. A student was found dead, there was drama in Student Government Association elections, another pedestrian was struck (sparking hopefully helpful changes), we published excellent features and yesterday’s print issue was 20 pages long.
During our nightly editors’ meeting last night, I took a moment to take it all in. I’ll miss this place. I’ll miss writing these columns. And I’ll miss you.
And so, with that, here’s my final small sample of content from this week that we here in the newsroom are glad to share with you:
Monday
A pedestrian was struck while crossing Route 1 near R.J. Bentley’s early Saturday morning, police said, in the fourth such collision in about 10 months.
—Laura Blasey
In the wake of that latest collision, the editorial board wrote that the university and the city should implement effective measures to make Route 1 safer for pedestrians.
In the start of an unexpected saga, SGA Student Affairs Vice President Josh Ratner was unopposed in the race for SGA president as of Monday, when campaigning started. But that was soon not the case, as you’ll see in the following days.
—Jeremy Snow
The Terrapins men’s lacrosse team (10-2, 4-1 ACC) earned a 12-8 victory over Notre Dame (6-5, 2-3) in Saturday afternoon’s contest in South Bend, Ind., to clinch the ACC regular-season title.
—Daniel Popper
Tuesday
A university student was found dead in an off-campus apartment Sunday.
Prince George’s County Police responded to an off-campus apartment Sunday and found an unresponsive 23-year-old male student, spokesman Harry Bond said. The student, a junior, was pronounced dead at the scene.
—Laura Blasey
In a whirlwind turn of events, the SGA decided to give students three more days to register to run in the 2014 election after finding Sunday night that previously reported unopposed candidate Josh Ratner was ineligible to run for presidency.
Ratner later confirmed to The Diamondback that he was declared ineligible due to a low GPA. The SGA bylaws require that all eligible candidates have a minimum GPA of 2.5.
—Jeremy Snow
Twenty years ago, a show righteously claimed it was “fresh out the box.” And while reflecting on All That is full of nostalgic goodness, 20 years is a pretty terrifying interval.
Despite All That premiering when I was only a little more than a year old, the Nickelodeon sketch show aimed at children was still a major part of my childhood.
—Dustin Levy
Wednesday
College Park city officials, residents and students continued discussions about pedestrian safety on Route 1 at the beginning of Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
—Ellie Silverman
The Open Party announced Tuesday night that sophomore Patrick Ronk will run for SGA president.
“Given the circumstances, we have been preparing a contingency plan if things had gone south,” Open Party ticket chairman Ryan Belcher said. “Because of Patrick’s role in SGA and his experience, he was the natural student candidate.”
Ronk, a government and politics major, is the SGA student groups director. He previously was running for student affairs vice president.
—Jeremy Snow
Students who have recently attempted to enter the university greenhouse likely have been forced to enter through a side or back door, and at least one student has faced the consequences of trying to cross enemy lines.
A goose and her male counterpart, a gander, have been closely guarding the door to the facility, which is north of Comcast Center. While it might appear they are merely annoyed by the visitors, the birds actually are nesting nearby, and the gander turns defensive when anyone approaches.
—Eli Davis
Thursday
The university will launch a pedestrian safety campaign next week, after four pedestrian traffic collisions occurred off the campus on Route 1 in the past 10 months.
University President Wallace Loh sent an email to the university community yesterday morning, asking pedestrians and drivers to take responsibility in a “Street Smart” campaign.
—Teddy Amenabar and Jenny Hottle
The editorial board wrote on the promising pedestrian safety developments, writing that the proposals in Loh’s email to students mark an important step toward making Route 1 safer for pedestrians.
He walked through a crowd of trainers and boxing coaches, up the stairs and past the 10-foot-tall inflatable bottle of Corona Light on the stage. Then Lamont Roach Jr. ripped off his sweat suit, stripping down to light-blue compression shorts.
The man with the microphone announced Roach’s name, and the 134-pound 18-year-old stepped onto the scale for his first professional weigh-in at the Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel on Friday afternoon as a loud cheer filled the grand ballroom.
—Read the rest of Aaron Kasinitz’s “Getting in the ring: Lamont Roach Jr. goes pro while still student.”
COMING BACK AGAIN
After senior captain’s season ended in January with torn Achilles, Katy Dodds is set to return for one more year with Terps.
—Ryan Baillargeon
LASTING IMPACT: One Hundred Years of Solitude —Looking back at Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez’s greatest work.
—Jonathan Raeder
Students and researchers are making miniature robots to use in disaster exploration and surgery.
—Michelle Chavez
Friday
News
[ READ MORE: Open Party’s Ronk is lone candidate for SGA president ][ READ MORE: Supreme Court upholds affirmative action ban ][ READ MORE: SGA presents bill for gender-neutral restrooms ][ READ MORE: Guided by galleries ][ READ MORE: Donald Webster replaces Vincent Novara as University Senate chairman ]
Opinion
Columnists and cartoonists shared their strangest encounters with people throughout their time in college.
Diversions
Every spring, hundreds of families and visitors from across the state descend onto the campus for Maryland Day, a celebration of this university and its rich history.
This year’s Maryland Day — which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow — features 450 events all across the campus, highlighting student groups, academic colleges, and food. Always food.
Sports
The No. 1-seed Terrapins men’s lacrosse team plays No. 4-seed Notre Dame in the first round of the ACC tournament today in Chester, Pa. Senior staff writer Daniel Popper previews the game by taking a look at the conference’s historic season in which the ACC’s six teams all spent time ranked in the top 10 in the country.
Thanks for reading.
