Editor in chief

One year ago this week, the university community reeled after hearing the news that a murder-suicide near the campus had killed two students and injured another.

In The Diamondback’s newsroom, we worked to bring the community up-to-the-minute, accurate news, and our editorial board helped find the words to express our collective “endless” grief (in the words of university President Wallace Loh). A few Diamondback staff members worked for nearly 36 hours straight to find out what had happened.

I feel like more than a year has passed since that horrible day, but the emotions are still close to the surface. Every time I heard about a shooting — school-related or not — in the ensuing year, I immediately thought about the wrenching feeling in my gut when I heard that two of our students had died.

In some ways, we will never heal. The fear, confusion and anger will always be with us. But a year later, thanks to many university and state initiatives, we have a safer place (in the words of University Police Chief David Mitchell). We know some of what went wrong, and many of us are trying to ensure that the future is less horrific than the past.

I hope The Diamondback never has to cover such a shooting again.

Other than that anniversary, we brought you more great content in print until school was canceled due to the snow (at which point we published here, on the website). Here’s some of what I enjoyed the most:

Monday

News: Police officers from this university, Prince George’s County and Maryland-National Capital Park Police came together for a basketball game with local youth at the College Park Community Center on Friday night.

— Teddy Amenabar

Opinion: Considering the university’s decision to offer on-campus housing to Freshmen Connection students starting this fall, the editorial board wrote, “ … this university should pay more attention to how it addresses and cares for these students — who, though accepted for the spring semester rather than the fall, are still in fact accepted.”

Sports: CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — With just less than 11 minutes remaining in the Terrapins men’s basketball team’s bout at Virginia last night, guard Roddy Peters sliced into the lane in transition and rose up for a layup that could have tied the game at 37.

Instead, it turned into a play that keyed the No. 17 Cavaliers’ 61-53 win.

— Aaron Kasinitz

Diversions: Fans and critics were not complaining about Archer’s quality, but Adam Reed, the creator of the FX animated comedy, subverted expectations by seamlessly altering the entire premise of the show and preventing a potential plateau for the witty series.

— Dustin Levy

The Terrapins men’s lacrosse team defeated Mount St. Mary’s, 16-3, on Saturday with the help of attackman Matt Rambo.

— Daniel Popper

Terrapins men’s basketball forward Jake Layman’s desperate dive was the type of play the Terps will need in coming weeks as their NCAA tournament hopes remain in limbo.

— Daniel Gallen

Tuesday

News: The state legislature could soon prohibit grain alcohol with a state bill sponsored by Sen. Richard Madaleno Jr. (D-Montgomery).

— Darcy Costello

Opinion: “The state needs to up its investment in the University System of Maryland, rather than putting more burden on students and tuition,” the editorial board wrote.

Diversions: Two diversions staff writers face off on whether it is still possible to enjoy the films of acclaimed director Woody Allen amid resurfaced sexual assault allegations.

— Dean Essner and Michael Errigo

Wednesday

News: “Three doors down from the end of the street, a house on 36th Avenue sits quietly, undisturbed.

A takeout menu is wedged in the screen door. A few pieces of mail stick out from the mailbox. Broken boxes lie in a pile on the front stoop.

Strips of torn caution tape that read ‘Fire line do not cross’ hang from a downspout and a broken wooden fence leading into the backyard.

Neighbors said no one appears to live there anymore, not after what happened one year ago.

In the backyard of the two-story house on 36th Avenue, gunfire broke out at about 1 a.m. on Feb. 12, 2013. University graduate student Dayvon Maurice Green, 23, shot two of his roommates, killing 22-year-old Stephen Alex Rane and injuring then-22-year-old Neal Oa, before turning the gun on himself.”

Read the rest of senior staff writer Jenny Hottle’s powerful retrospective here.

Opinion: Reflecting on the anniversary of the off-campus murder-suicide, the editorial board wrote, “With more funding, more awareness and more staffing, perhaps the brave people working to help those with mental health problems can help make sure that this university will not only emerge from collective sadness, but also establish a community both stronger and safer than ever before.”

Diversions: The remade RoboCop is a tale of conflicted intentions that almost ruin a solid trashy genre film.

— Warren Zhang

Thursday

News: A fourth North Campus dorm was hit with a string of robberies Wednesday.

Several Ellicott Hall residents reported a suspicious man entering dorm rooms, according to a University Police news release. When officers arrived, a student pointed out the suspect, who was attempting to leave the building.

— Laura Blasey

Sports: After switching schools, Terrapins women’s basketball guard Katie Rutan revamped skillset to become a full-time contributor to the No. 9 Terps.

— Paul Pierre-Louis

Friday

News: The state’s call for an increase in the minimum wage is picking up momentum, but it is still unclear to what extent on-campus student workers, who in many cases earn the federal minimum wage, will be affected. 

— Jim Bach

A little more than seven months after this university and other institutions in the University System of Maryland implemented campus smoking bans, the state might make it more difficult for residents younger than 21 to smoke.

— Erin Serpico

Our weekly roundup features a snow day bonfire at Memorial Chapel.

Opinion: It’s that age-old source of sadness: being single on Valentine’s Day. But columnists Maggie Cassidy and Erik Shell argue that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Opinion editor Adam Offitzer pieced together a Storify recapping Thursday’s #UMDSnow, using tweets and pictures to track how the day went down.

Diversions: Valentine’s Day can be a good excuse to go out with a loved one or an annoying reminder that you’re alone. Regardless of how you’re planning on spending your day, we figured you could always use some more suggestions. Check out OkCupid. Listen to the best hip-hop love songs. Watch an ironic movie. Enjoy the many flavors of love on 69 Love Songs. Or, best of all, watch our evolution of Valentine’s Day in GIFs.

Sports: With the Terrapins men’s basketball team traveling to Duke for the final time as an ACC opponent Saturday, beat writer Aaron Kasinitz chronicles the history of the rivalry in a story accompanied by photos and newspaper headlines from past matchups. Columnist Daniel Gallen writes on his feelings about the Terps-Blue Devils rivalry and what it means to him as in-state student at this university.

The women’s basketball team, meanwhile, won last night at Miami, 67-52, and beat writer Paul Pierre Louis has the story.

See you next week.