the retrIever UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, BALTIMORE COUNTY’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER weekly . 02.24.09 VOLUME 43 ISSUE 19 retrieverweekly com For those willing to walk, parking on campus is plentiful provements on existing spaces every Ryan Wiggins year, the student body remains largely EDITORIAL STAFF dissatisfi ed. While The Retriever Weekly has reported in the past on the dispar- Senior and commuter Melinda Gos- ity between available parking spaces and selin has a serious issue with parking at the number of vehicles needing spaces UMBC. on campus, the problem lies as much in “I have yet to fi nd the right time to convenience of location as availability. get on campus,” said Gosselin, who “Parking on [the Loop] is rare,” said commutes to early afternoon classes senior Teresa Foster. “The spaces seem to four days a week and estimates that she be full of teaching staff and employees.” spends 6-to-eight hours (counting a half- Foster also said that she usually parks hour commute and time to fi nd parking) on the main road into campus near the weekly, just getting to and from class. overpass because of the lack of parking “Most Monday-Wednesday class days I near Academic Row, adding that “de- drive around the parking garage and Lot pending on the parking location and 12 for a good 15 to 20 minutes before I class location, it usually takes me 5 -to- can fi nd a spot.” 10 minutes to walk.” And she is not the only one. Looking This estimation meshes with one made for parking before her 1 p.m. Tuesday- by Vice President of Student Affairs Nan- The Retriever Weekly Thursday class, Gosselin fi nds that “in cy Young, who told each row of parked cars there is one new last semester that the administration had car sitting, waiting for someone, anyone performed research and concluded that to come out of class and leave. it took “no more than 10 minutes [to “If every row has a ‘waiter’ than you walk] from the farthest parking spaces to know that there’s no chance,” she add- Academic Row.” The Retriever Weekly ed. decided to look NOAH BENNETT — TRW It seems that in spite of the $350,000 > Newly instated SGA president Gabe Rettaliata poses in his office on the second fl oor of the Com- dollars UMBC allocates to parking im- > see PARKING [5] mons. Read The Retriever Weekly’s interview with the new SGA president on page 3. Catonsville promenade development causes controversy Liz Scott bookstore. Ground breaking is planned tion of its historic gatehouse. CONTRIBUTING WRITER for 2010 and the opening is scheduled Matt Skolnik, a senior in psychology, for 2012. Whalen Properties already has mixed feelings about the develop- Lately in Catonsville, blue signs have owns 17 acres of land and are interested ment. “My main problem is the location been popping up, warning of more traf- in buying 29 more acres from the state. of the development...there is a reason fi c and advocating for open spaces. The Opposition comes from the group Catonsville doesn’t already have a Center ongoing debate is over the proposed Catonsville Voices. Michele Abrams, a like the one proposed: because there just development of the state-owned land at leader in the organization, spoke about is no room.” the Spring Grove Hospital Campus and a main problem with the development: Several college-aged Catonsville stu- will affect students here at UMBC. Spring the land is not currently for sale. Spring dents are discussing the topic on Fa- Grove is located very close to UMBC, Grove is the second oldest functioning cebook. Katie Reese, the creator of this and is listed as one of the major institu- psychiatric hospital in the country. With group, states, “Catonsville is a close-knit tional anchors on the Whalen Properties that, it is a successful hospital and it is community…It has great schools, is a website. operating at capacity. According to the safe area where people can go on carefree The Promenade at Catonsville is a members of Catonsville Voices, the plans runs/walks, and has preserved its history development plan for the open space in and the location are not compatible. through places like the Trolley Trail and Spring Grove. According to Steve Whalen, on the Spring Grove. These are all reasons for According to the Whalen Properties’ other hand, the Spring Grove hospital Catonsville being named one of the top website, whalenproperties.com/index. is currently serving only 380 patients, 50 towns to live – without the Prom- php, the development will include space when at its peak the same facility held enade.” LIZ SCOTT — TRW for retailers, restaurants, offi ces, residen- 3,600 patients. Whalen sees the property There are concerns that in an already > Opponents of the promenade fear that the new retail complex would take tial units, hotels, a health club, recre- as an ineffi cient use of space proposing a away from Catonsville’s unique history. ational facilities, cinema, and a national consolidation of the hospital and restora- > see CATONSVILLE [4] NEWS 01 OPINION 06 ARTS 12 SPORTS 19 ONLINE TRW speaks Taking a look Panel of Mens Sentencing with the new at student professors swimming and in UMBC SGA president controversy preach the diving win sixth construction power of straight AEC InsIde corruption case passion Championship 2 News 02.24.09 The RetrIever Weekly foreign desk Valentine’sXativa and Horxata Day in Valencia Melanie Bryant was more a matter of a slipping FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT back into a role I fi t into perfectly, the role of explorer, adventurer. The 10 a.m. Saturday morning A 45-minute train ride later, sunshine found me walking a new through valleys, orange groves, route to the Valencia city center small towns, and stone monuments, on my way to the Stación del Nor Ken and I found ourselves in Xa- and the train that would take me to tiva, a small medieval town turned Xativa. The light, fi ltered between modern. Through a maze of wind- palms and apartment buildings, ing narrow streets lined with shops caught my eyelashes and momen- and cafes, we could glimpse a green tarily blinded me. I had never taken mountain rising above the tall- this road before and hadn’t realized est buildings, the ruins of a castle what a treasure I’d been missing still standing proudly on its ridge. out on. A bookshop, its sign hand- We made our way along the stone drawn and hung crookedly over streets to the tourist information the door, advertised one Euro used offi ce, where we found a map and books for sale. Jack London’s White were given implicit instructions Fang caught my eye. Later, I passed from the kindly lady to visit the ba- several specialty food stores I prom- silica. Since it was barely noon, we ised to remember, as well as one visited that fi rst, then made our way MELANIE BRYANT —TRW store boasting a giant marijuana leaf up the mountain to the castle. > The scenic town of Xativa is located in the Valencia province of eastern Spain at the bank of the river as a symbol. I walked unhurriedly We soon understood the lady’s Albadaida. on to meet Ken at the station. insistence. The basilica was nearly The stone pavement was hard be- as large as Valencia’s own cathedral, visitors, our footsteps echoed and mountain was nestled quietly in We walked back down the moun- neath my feet, but I couldn’t help and equally magnifi cent (despite its our hushed voices sent eerie echoes groves of green shrubs and trees. tain by a different route, pausing but grin at the comfort my entirely lack of shriveled saints’ arms). Out throughout the hall. We took several shortcuts on little only for a quick call across an ocean American and no-longer-white front stood two statues, both of the But then there was the tower, worn dirt paths only wide enough and a hastily wished “Happy Valen- sneakers provided. Having convert- popes who happened to hail from which almost put all the rest to for one, the breeze bringing the tine’s Day!” We walked amid the tall ed fairly quickly to the Spanish fash- Xativa, which is a small miracle in shame. Wide, low, spiral stairs scent of newly-bloomed fl owers and green grass, spreading trees, and old became progressively steeper and rustling the leaves all around, caus- stone churches until we eventually narrower as we made our way up. ing the speckled shadows to weave made it back to the town itself, and Gaps in the stone every few stories around us. people surrounded us once more. illuminated our progress. The fi rst When we turned the fi nal corner We sat at a café and had horxata, showed rooftops at eye level, then of the winding path, the castle’s en- the milk-based cold signature drink the high front facade of the basilica trance took us by surprise. It seemed of Valencia, dipping in sweet light itself, then the cliffs and mountains to be more of a fortifi cation than a breadsticks. After struggling to surrounding the city. Several rickety habitation of any sort. Perched on fetch out pieces of bread from the iron stairways later, we stood on a the narrow peak of the mountain, tall, narrow glass and dripping (hopefully) solid stone dais next to it had few towers but rather sturdy horxata down my chin, a kindly old a larger-than-life Virgin Mary and walls and ramparts with slits for man offered me a spoon, chuckling.