Vote in November to elect a College Park champion
Many thanks to all those – students, faculty and staff – who came out to vote Sept. 12. The only way for the university’s interests to be advanced is if members of the community participate in the democratic process.
Thanks as well to so many who supported my candidacy for state Senate. College Park needs a champion in Annapolis, and that’s what I will be.
The November election provides one more opportunity to choose state officials who will stand up for the university, not roll over for special interests who refuse to invest in this campus.
Please come out and vote Nov. 7. I ask for your vote on that day as well. If you have any questions or would like to help, call me at (301) 441-8690 or e-mail jcrosapepe@yahoo.com.
Jim Rosapepe
College Park
Democrat for state Senate
Cornerstone needs to start enforcing its own safety measures
After the incident that occurred on Saturday night outside of Cornerstone Grill and Loft, I almost found it ironic to find the front page of yesterday’s Diamondback with a headline stating that crime in the city is decreasing. I was unfortunate enough to have been at Cornerstone the night of the violence as a witness to the fights and a person who heard the gunshot.
I have a problem with Cornerstone owner Mark Srour’s comments in regards to the incident, stating that the fights and gunshot had nothing to do with Cornerstone. While the fight might not have occurred inside the bar, I cannot believe that he honestly thinks the bar is not involved. Of course everyone appreciates that these patrons were thrown out, but my question is, why were these people (rumored not to be college students) in our bar in the first place?
There is a sign on the door of the bar saying that the cover charge for non-students is $50. But how many people, students and not, have actually been asked to provide their student ID along with their license? Cornerstone obviously has the right intentions in keeping “locals” out of our college bar with that idea, but if it’s not being enforced, then what is the point?
In my three years as a Maryland student, I was fully aware of the significant amount of crime in the city, but not until Saturday night did I ever feel unsafe. If Cornerstone is worried about losing money from their “fake ID” patrons by requiring backup student IDs, they may want to consider the amount of customers they will lose after Saturday because people are fearful for their safety. I know that I, for one, won’t be back to Cornerstone for a long while unless they decide to actually enforce their safety measures.
Laura Humphreys
Senior
Marketing
See the September 18 article on the shooting incident: “Reports of shots fired outside Cornerstone”
Underage drinking can only be solved by the community
This is in response to the recent letters to the editor regarding resident assistants and underage drinking. While I agree that RAs can have a strong impact on decreasing underage drinking on the campus, it is important to realize that most of the responsibility lies with every student on this campus and our surrounding College Park community. Most underage drinkers get their alcohol from students who are 21 years or older, and to compound the problem, many local liquor stores refrain from doing their job and checking IDs. In addition to our administration, the student government and Resident Life, residents and the local community should realize and take responsibility to help stop underage drinking. I believe we all could help to dramatically decrease this problem on our campus.
In addition, RAs are not baby-sitters; they do not and are not allowed to enter a resident’s room every five to 10 minutes unless given permission by the resident themselves. While it is obvious when a loud party is in a residential room, quiet drinkers are unfortunately not so blatant. RAs spend a lot of time in training learning how to respond to different situations. And because RAs are usually the first responders to almost every emergency or non-emergency situation, the police are only notified when necessary. When was the last time you saw a police officer casually patrolling the dorms?
Underage drinking will decrease when students begin to realize that prohibition of underage drinking is not just a university regulation, but a federal law. Furthermore, students should try to encourage their friends to stop drinking if they are under 21. If each person on our campus would work together, do you realize the difference that we could all make?
Natalie Monkou
Sophomore
English
