THE RETRIEVER UMBC’s Student Newspaper INSIDE Volume 39, Issue 7 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250 October 12, 2004 UMBC RANKED #1 IN News 02 SEATBELT SAFETY KARISSA BRAMHALL ident Dominic Retriever Weekly Staff Writer Cirincioni. They also dis- played the award that was When compared to other col- given to the police depart- leges in Maryland, UMBC is the best ment in another presentation Tea time, Religion at buckling seatbelts. the previous Monday. on campus, and The Chief’s Challenge is a com- “We’ve been participating for UMBC students petition in which all the different six years, and this is the first time police departments in Maryland we’ve won,” said Bowers. In past fling poo. compete. years, Towson University has won The Department of the competition. Transportation for the state of The judges for the Chief’s Opinion 06 Maryland holds an annual award Challenge are high-ranking police presentation for the department to officers in county or state police see who shows the most successful departments. enforcement. The purpose is to get During the time of judging, seat belt usage up, and to promote which takes place in late Spring, awareness of seatbelt safety. officials look at how well each This year, UMBC tied with police department publicizes seat College Park for first place in the belt enforcement and enforces the competition’s university category. seat belt law. Officers from each The students at UMBC are department take surveys to see how Gearing up for elec- better at buckling up than the staff. many drivers out of 100 are wear- tion 04, domestic Students reportedly have a 95 ing their seat belt. violence awareness, percent compliance with the seat “In Maryland, there is an 89 and tax loopholes. belt law, while the faculty and staff percent overall compliance,” said have 90 percent. Bowers. “Our compliance was Kaidye Hansen [Retriever Staff] During an award presentation higher, and our student compliance Burning Bush: The Arbutus volunteer fire department was called to campus last Monday, Officers David Bowers was the highest, which is great. It yesterday to put out a fire in front of the physics building. Firefighters Features 16 and Manuel Lewis gave plaques to shows that the students care,” he quelled the blaze quickly, and only one bush was damaged. President Hrabowski and SGA pres- concluded. UMBC gets faced on www.thefacebook.com BRANDY KELLER aimed at allowing students on they are enrolled in to build a “We were so surprised by its Retriever Editorial Staff campuses around the country to personal network of classmates growth because we thought it Mama’s Boys take Baja connect with others from their and fellow UMBC students. was something that would just Fresh by storm, The UMBC joined the list of 168 schools, this Sunday. Much like Myspace or be for Harvard students. We Chocolate Festival hits colleges to be hosted on theface- Students registering for face- Friendster, students are able to didn’t think it would be this Baltimore and new art book.com, an online directory book accounts list the courses post pictures, link to friends and big,” Chris Hughes confessed to subsection unveiled. list personal interests. UMD’s The Diamondback. “But The goal of thefacebook.com I guess that shows it’s what peo- is to promote dialogue between ple wanted.” Sports 27 students at Universities, rather By listing their high school than to make friends on the users are also able to browse internet. graduates and current students Thefacebook.com has been of that school. mentioned in Newsweek, Time, What differs with facebook, the New York Times and has also however, is that one’s personal been on CNN.com. The web- network is limited to students site’s popularity is no surprise, from their campus only. as in the past two months there “What I don’t like about it have been 131 colleges added to is that you can’t join groups at (Midnite) Madness their site, which at the time other schools,” said John Byer, is upon us, Field hosted around 190,000 profiles. senior Computer Science major. hockey drops Thefacebook.com is still rel- “That’s a pretty significant games, Volleyball atively new. Harvard University restraint.” plays twice, and junior Mark Zuckerberg created Since thefacebook.com Cross country is the website as a means for his became public for UMBC stu- State Champion. fellow students to get to know dents, a total of 202 members each other. Zuckerberg has have registered. To sign up for taken this semester off to work your own faceboook account, ALSO: Brandy Keller [Retriever Staff] on the website with other visit www.thefacebook.com. A Your profile here:UMBC students can now edit their own profiles for others to see. Harvard students, including valid UMBC e-mail account is college news 02 Chris Hughes. required for registration. world news 04 Four Day classifieds 30 trw.umbc.edu 410.455.1260 Forecast tues: 69/44o wed: 69/51o thu: 65/52o fri: 65/45o 2 News October 12, 2004 THE RETRIEVER BehindtheScenes College News The Tea Empire takes over College students little factor SUN semester- the group has done a Chinese in Washington elections Retriever Staff Writer tea, Russian tea and Kashmiri tea rituals, to name a few. The group plans future tea WASHINGTON (AP)- It’s a political Last week’s tea feature was Irish tea. parties and is looking into Moroccan and truism that college students are among the It was not green, much to one mem- Japanese tea ceremonies. Sun [Retriever Staff] most liberal voters, willing to support ber’s dismay, but it should be noted that The meetings are well-structured and Honest Tea: Club members remain true to spirit fringe candidates and radical ideas. Ireland’s national color is not green, but organized, most definitely a component of tea ceremonies from around the world. But in Washington, election results BLUE. Go brag about that to your par- to the research done before the meeting. from college towns seem little different ents, boys and girls. The Tea Empire’s “This would be impractically hard from results in other places. There is little secret mission is to educate one about without the Internet,” admits McGuigan. look where we are.” sign that college students in places like cultures that span the globe, while drink- Ng and McGuigan research the tea The Tea Empire meets in the Harbor Pullman or Cheney or Bellingham have ing everyone’s favorite beverage: tea. ceremony thoroughly and open up the Café. It was fate that the club and that much impact on local elections, even “The whole world drinks tea; each meeting with history and tea trivia. For room come together; it holds the perfect though college students make up a sub- country developed their own culture instance, did you know that Ireland has ambient atmosphere. Also, it provides stantial percentage of the population in all with tea, incorporating it into their own the highest per capita consumption of tea enough room for all its members. three places. tradition,” explains co-founder and pres- in the world? “The membership has ballooned,” Political scientists point to two rea- ident Claire Ng. In the background of the meeting notes McGuigan sons for this: College students as a group “We wanted to share that insight plays traditional Irish music while the “When you talk to people, they rarely vote. And those who do often cast with a broader group,” added co-founder method of the ceremony is described. For always come up with varieties of tea cer- absentee ballots in their home counties. and vice president Colin McGuigan. the Irish ceremony, founders told mem- emonies other cultures do,” Ng adds. “When you’re talking 18-year-old The Tea Empire was brewed after bers that Irish people put milk and sugar The list sounds endless. If you want kids, that’s the lowest participating group informal nightly sessions at Ng’s place, into their cups before placing the tea in. to divulge in some tea culture and meet in the electorate,” said Todd Donovan, a where she and friends would drink tea During the focus on Chinese tea, Ng some intelligent personalities, come to political scientist at Western Washington and hang out. Ng and McGuigan decid- gave a demonstration of a traditional the next Tea Empire meeting on October University in Bellingham. ed to combine their common loves and Chinese tea ceremony with authentic sil- 21 for the British tea ceremony at the In the 2002 general election, just 20 excitement over tea and share it with the verware. The Empire provides snacks that Harbor Café. percent of registered 18 to 24 year olds rest of the campus. usually accompany a country’s tea time cast ballots in Washington, compared to “We have a very diverse group of presentation. nearly 40 percent of the total population, friends,” Colin replied. The club has come a long way. Sun is a writer for The Retriever’s according to the Secretary of State’s It was this diverse mix that led the “We used to meet in the Chesapeake Weekly. She may be reached for comment at Office. two to explore the tea drinking rituals in lobby last semester,” Ng remembers dis- [email protected]. other cultures. Since their birth last mally. But her face brightens, “But now Prince Harry ‘cheated’ on exam, Eton teacher claims: report LONDON (AFP) - Prince Harry, the third in line to the British throne, stands accused of cheated on a finishing exam at the prestigious Eton College. Police Log One of Harry’s former teachers was due Sunday to make the allegations before an industrial tribunal, where she would describe being ordered by a open.