Gabrielle Kratsas

As of July 1, 2012, seven varsity sports were officially cut from the University of Maryland’s athletic program, leaving 152 students to decide the fate of their athletic careers.

“If I was going to stop swimming, it was going to be on my own terms,” says Amy Halligan, a junior sports management major at Western Kentucky University. Halligan was once a Terp and a member of Maryland’s swim and dive team, but she felt that her career of swimming and competing for 15 years was not meant to end. “I want to make very clear that each and every person on our team, and each and every athlete who was affected by the cuts made the best decision for themselves; whether that decision was to stay or transfer.”

Halligan was “raised a Terrapin.” She was part of a legacy of at least six family members who had earned degrees from University of Maryland. Her grandfather was a faculty member and both she and her sister were baptized in the Memorial Chapel on campus. However, her sport’s loss was more than enough for her to transfer. She says, “It felt like I got punched in the face by my best friend.”

Imagine yourself hanging from a single harness on the side of a cliff that overlooks the Potomac River. You’re using your bare hands to cling to the rock while your feet feel for a sturdy hold to help boost you toward the top of that cliff. While you’re climbing, a rescue helicopter soars passed you at eye level in search of a missing kayaker.

Next, picture yourself covered in mud on the floor of a cave in West Virginia. With a single lamp on your head to light the way, you’re army crawling through the tightest of tunnels and squeezing between jagged and smooth rock walls on an underground exploration.

Now, open your eyes to see that same old dorm room or library desk in front of you piled high with notes, study guides and text books. Are you longing for a little adventure? Do you want to explore a little further than Looney’s Pub and RJ Bentley’s? Well, look no further.

The University of Maryland’s Outdoor Recreation Center is a little more than that tall rock wall and obstacle course you always wish you visited behind the Eppley Recreation Center.

The ORC actually hosts about 70-100 trips outside of College Park per semester. Trips you can take with the ORC include rock climbing, caving, backpacking, coastal kayaking, white water rafting, camping and mountain biking. You can also gather a group of friends to create your own custom trip!

No previous climbing, caving or kayaking experience? No problem. While some of the more challenging trips may recommend having some experience, there are absolutely no requirements for any trip other than a smile and the will to try something new.

With the New Year comes a new semester, a new class schedule and a clean slate. When you begin each semester, you have a chance to completely revamp your lifestyle and alter your college career for the better. So what are you planning to do with such a life-changing opportunity?

Yeah, we all know that most of us students will half-heartedly continue to write papers at the last minute, put off going to the gym for just another day, talk about how fun that club would be if you ever actually went and sulk about not having friends in any of your classes or dorms.

Well, it’s time to cut the bullshit and do yourselves a favor for once. Turn off your TV, “X” out of Facebook and work on some self-improvement. You didn’t get that GPA that you were aiming for last semester, did you? Now is your chance to make up for slacking in the past!

This semester, try actually going to all of your classes; even those lectures that no one else goes to and you think are unnecessary. When you go to the class and physically write down the notes, you will retain 50% more knowledge than if you skip and just read the book later. Even better, try writing your notes in different colors; you will retain about 50-80% more of that information without reading it over a second time.

Also, did you know that when you actually show up to class, you’re capable of building a better relationship with your teachers and TAs? That’s a no-brainer. Going to class will not go unnoticed, and if you are in need of help, your professors will be much more eager to help a student who they notice is actually trying in their class.

In early September 2011, many University of Maryland students flinched when they read The Diamondback article reporting, “This semester, Gov. Martin O'Malley's Office of Crime Control and Prevention awarded the department a $30,000 grant to crack down on underage drinking on and around the campus.”

There is no doubt in any student’s mind that this grant has come about because of the school’s new president, Wallace Loh, and his strict underage drinking policies. By diverting the University Police attention to busting house parties and hanging out in the local bars in order to catch underage drinkers, Loh really hoped to turn College Park into a “Real College Town.”

However, how are the students of College Park supposed to believe that they are living in a “Real College Town” when the crime rate on and around campus remains so high? On a website called studentsreview.com, members are able to submit reviews, statistics and other facts that contribute to overall reviews of specific colleges and their campuses. While the average “Perceived Campus Safety” of colleges currently earns a letter grade “B,” College Park’s perceived campus safety has be granted a “C-.”

The Department of Public Safety and University Police post a monthly crime log on their website, which is open to the public, but the number of logged cases is frighteningly high. As expected, the months of September and October contain numerous logs of alcohol related violations.

However, from September to today, 16 accounts of assault, six accounts of harassment/stalking, four armed robberies, 25 burglaries and 164 thefts have been logged on the website. Of those thefts, 17 were stolen vehicles.