TERP Fall 2024 / Connecting the University of maryland community From Ashes to Awe Outside Pompeii 6 A Big Ten Decade: The Highlight Reel 24 Connie Chung Õ69 Breaks a Story: Her Own 30 Welcome to the Hhotel Influenza A GROUNDBREAKING UMD RESEARCHER INVESTIGATING HOW RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS SPREAD ASKS VOLUNTEERS TO CHECK INÑAND GET SICK FOR SCIENCE. pg. 18 From the Editor This summer, when my senior-year Terp contracted COVID-19 for the third time, he felt more frustrated than sick. He quarantined in his room (again), missed an overnight trip to Ocean City with friends and didnÕt get paid for shifts he couldnÕt work at a local restaurant. My son doesnÕt know where he caught the virus, but heÕs relatively lucky. COVID killed 75,000 people in the U.S. in 2023, while the flu was fatal to at least another 25,000 and sickened up to 65 million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Figuring out how respiratory diseases spread is vital to saving livesÑalong with keeping society happily humming along. ThatÕs been the mission of Don Milton, a UMD professor of environmental health, since long before COVID struck. The pandemic exposed how little we know about thisÑremember wiping down our groceries before bringing them inside? It also brought to light how right heÕd been all along in pointing to microscopic droplets that linger in the air as the likely culprit. Years ago, Milton was ignored, even maligned for his theories. Now heÕs running a five-year study with $20 million in federal and private funding in a historic Baltimore hotel and a research team tracking if and how volunteers with the flu give it to their healthy counterparts. Writer Chris Carroll has been following its progress from the start for this issueÕs cover story, which follows MiltonÕs trajectory toward scientific vindication and reports that, yes, thereÕs plenty of room at the ÒHotel InfluenzaÓ this winter. (If youÕd like to check in, turn to the story on page 18 to learn about becoming a paid study participant.) For something completely different, turn to page 30 for Karen ShihÕs profile of Connie Chung Õ69 on the eve of her memoirÕs publication. Candid, vulnerable and funny, Chung talks about the double dose of racism and sexism she fended off on her way to the top of broadcast journalism. The ending, in which Shih explores how Chung inspired so many other Asian Americans, is especially poignant. Finally, as we unpacked our tailgating gear for football season, writer Annie Krakower unpacked what a decade in the Big Ten Conference has done for sports at UMD. We recall the uproar when the shift was announced, but you might be surprised to learn how well the Terps have performed, in every sense. Now excuse me while I hunt for my red and white pom-pom. IÕve got a Family Weekend game to attend. Adviser MARGARET HALL Executive Director, Creative Strategies Magazine Staff LAUREN BROWN University Editor JOHN T. CONSOLI Õ86 Creative Director VALERIE MORGAN Art Director CHRIS CARROLL ANNIE KRAKOWER SALA LEVIN Õ10 KAREN SHIH Õ09 Writers LAUREN BIAGINI CHARLENE PROSSER CASTILLO Designers STEPHANIE S. CORDLE Photographer JANNA SINGER-BAEFSKY Digital Asset Manager/Archivist RILEY N. SIMS PH.D. Õ23 DYLAN SINGLETON Õ13 Photography Assistants JAGU CORNISH Production Manager EMAIL terpfeedback@umd.edu ONLINE terp.umd.edu NEWS today.umd.edu FACEBOOK.COM/UnivofMaryland X twitter.com/UofMaryland INSTAGRAM.COM/univofmaryland YOUTUBE.COM/UMD2101 LINKEDIN.COM/school/university-of-maryland The University of Maryland, College Park is an equal opportunity institution with respect to both education and employment. University policies, programs and activities are in conformance with pertinent federal and state laws and regulations on non-discrimination regarding race, color, religion, age, national origin, political affiliation, gender, sexual orientation or disability. COVER Illustration by Noma Bar Lauren Brown University Editor ON THE MALL NEWS Testudo on Tap UMD Joins With Baltimore Brewery Co-founded by Alum to Offer New Beer As a student, Adam Benesch Õ98 shared his latest home brews with buddies on game days. Now, thanks to a new partnership between the University of Maryland and Union Craft Brewing, its co-founder and CEO is pouring frosty beers for the Terp community at large. Testudo Premium Lager, which Benesch (below) describes as Òa super drinkable, incredibly approachable, very flavorfulÓ classic lager, is available at UMD athletic venues including SECU Stadium and the Xfinity Center, as well as retail locations throughout the DMV. The partnership with the Baltimore brewery is also intended to provide internships and new learning opportunities for students studying in the fermentation science, marketing and other majors, while the Maryland mascot-themed beer will eventually offer a fertile testbed for incorporating hops and barley from the stateÕs farms into a popular product. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the One Maryland Collective, an endeavor composed of fans, alums, businesses and charities that helps UMD student-athletes capitalize on their name, image and likeness (NIL). ÒPartnering with Union Craft Brewing is a perfect union,Ó says Brian Ullmann, executive associate athletic director/chief strategy officer. ÒWe are thrilled to offer Testudo Premium Lager to all of Terp Nation, at our events and across the DMV.Ó For Benesch, whose father and siblings also attended the university, seeing UMD fans sipping beer he labored over at a game is bound to be an immense moment of pride. ÒI remember at Camden Yards first walking into a baseball game and seeing people drinking one of our beersÑI canÕt wait for that moment at a Terps football game,Ó he says. Benesch co-founded the brewery in BaltimoreÕs Hampden area in 2012 after the accounting major realized that instead of keeping track of othersÕ books, heÕd rather apply his business skills to a new career. When Maryland law changed to allow beer sales in brewery taprooms, the companyÕs popularity surged, prompting a 2017 move about a half-mile north into a much larger brewing facility. While still retaining a neighborhood feel at the brewery, UnionÕs distribution has expanded beyond Baltimore and now includes Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Delaware; the brewery expects to produce nearly 12,000 barrels of its various beers this year. ÒWe really think of ourselves as a mid-Atlantic brewery now,Ó Benesch says. ÒWeÕre less interested in shipping beers beyond our core region. We think thereÕs a lot of room for growth here, and weÕre more focused on being who we are, being authentic as Marylanders.Ó The partnership could be a boon for fermentation science students interested in the beverage-production side of the new major that also encompasses foods and biofuels, says environmental science and technology Professor Frank Coale, who led its development. ÒThe fact that Union Craft Brewing now has this relationship with the university opens up a great opportunity for them to host interns at their facility, and for the interns itÕs a chance to see the whole operation from raw materials to final product,Ó he says. Benesch says the UMD-Union partnership hits what it aimed for: a product that draws on UMD pride while embodying the breweryÕs quality goals. ÒItÕs instantly recognizable as a University of Maryland product, and also something that fans of Union Craft will recognize as our beer,Ó he says.Ñcc 2 Terps Take Gold Ê For the first time, two UMD graduates won gold medals in the same Olympic Games. Thea LaFond Õ15 took gold in the triple jump in Paris, the first Olympic medal for the Caribbean nation of Dominica, with a mark of 15.02 meters. ÒSometimes you wonder if being from a small country means that you have less accessibility to resources,Ó LaFond toldÊThe Washington Post. ÒBut weÕve been really big on (prioritizing) quality and just executing it.Ó Alyssa Thomas Õ14 helped the USA womenÕs basketball team capture its eighth straight Olympic gold medal with a 67-66 win over France. She averaged 3.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists at the Games. The pair became the 10th and 11th gold medalists in UMD history and the first former Terp student-athletes to win gold since womenÕs basketball legend Vicky Bullett in 1992. Lab Awarded Record-Setting Research Contract of Up to $500M Ê The University of Maryland received a new contract with a $500 million ceiling from the Department of Defense to support the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS) and its mission of tackling complex national security problems using a multidisciplinary approach. ItÕs the largest research contract in UMDÕs history.ÊÊÊ Located in UMDÕs Discovery District, ARLIS is one of 15 designated Department of Defense University Affiliated Research Centers (UARC) and the only UARC dedicated to intelligence and security. ARLIS bridges social and technical sciences to address national security needs, particularly in the areas of cognitive security, supply chains, technology engagement and insider risk. Its new one-year contract has four option years. ÒWe are so grateful to continue this collaboration with the Department of Defense, which has already yielded so many opportunities for faculty and students,Ó says UMD President Darryll J. Pines. CAMPUS LIFE From Ashes to Awe Students and Faculty Mark 20 Years of Excavating and Documenting Little-Known Ruins Near Pompeii Perched above the glittering Bay of Naples, Stabiae was the vacation destination of choice for the whoÕs who of ancient Roman society. TheyÕd flock to fabulous villas to host intellectual discussions, swim in the sea below and partake plentifully of the local wine, all while enjoying an unimpeded view of Mt. Vesuvius. The partying came to a sudden end in the year 79, when the volcano erupted, releasing toxic gases and boiling-hot ash that buried the resort area, its neighboring towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and thousands of their inhabitants. Yet the details on how the Roman elite lived, entertained and decorated their lavish homes have come to light two millennia later through excavations and analysis of the site led by University of Maryland faculty and students. This summer marked the 20th anniversary of their work in Italy, and a new book coming out next year will showcase their progress. The unlikely project began with Leonardo Varone M.Arch. Õ00, a native of the modern Italian city of Castellammare di Stabia. As a young boy, he had joined his father, who was a judge in Pompeii, along with a television crew and a nationally known reporter to see the ruins of the famous Villa of the Papyri in nearby Herculaneum. The vibrantly colored mosaics led to a love of Roman history. But the villas of ancient Stabiae were, Varone says, Òa second playerÓ compared to those at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Visitors could wander up the cliff and ask a guard to show them around, but the site lacked any formal infrastructure. At UMDÕs School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, his masterÕs thesis proposed turning the villas into an archaeological park, complete with a ticketing process, visitorÕs center and transportation between the site and the modern city of 65,000 below. Faculty members encouraged Varone to share his thesis with local government officials in C. di Stabia, who were excited about the prospect of increasing tourism to their town. The roughly 72,000-square-foot site, with its dozen or so villas, had undergone prior excavations: In the 1700s, Swiss architect and engineer Karl Weber and Spanish military engineer Roque Joau’n de Alcubierre, who was working for the Spanish king, dug up some of the site and made drawings of it, but the ruins were once again largely forgotten. In the 1950s, local scholar Liberio DÕOrsi excavated rooms from the Villa San Marco and Villa Arianna. In 2004, after several years of talks with Varone and the local government, UMD partnered with the Superintendency of Archaeology of Pompeii and the region of Campania to form the Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundation (RAS). Through RAS, led on UMDÕs end by Professor Emeritus Robert Lindley Vann, students and faculty began traveling to Italy each summer, excavating Villa Arianna and its gardens. ÒThe Italians were saying, ÔJeez, if the Americans are interested, maybe we should devote some more resources to this,ÕÓ says Matthew Bell, a UMD professor of architecture who serves as vice president of RAS and was VaroneÕs thesis adviser. ÒWe succeeded in getting attention for tourism resources and a research focus to the site that might not have arrived otherwise.Ó Over time, the TerpsÑand groups from Yale, Columbia, Emory and nearly 80 other universitiesÑrevealed more than 100 walls covered in richly colored frescoes of Roman gods, people, geometric designs and gardens, and a more extensive section of the gardens themselves. ÒItÕs stunning,Ó says art history major Stephanie Korth Õ25, who traveled to the site this summer. ÒAlmost all the walls are preserved. We have remnants of stairs leading up to a second story. You can still see the figures and all the little decorations.Ó The team has also found that villasÕ owners had set up their homes for rites related to the secret societies they belonged to, including the famous initiation known as the Eleusinian Mysteries. ÒThere are discs that hang from the ceiling or between columns, and wreaths and animal skins,Ó says Joseph C. Williams, assistant professor of architectural history and current supervisor of the project. ÒIn some cases, these artifacts have been preserved, and in others, theyÕre represented in the frescoes.Ó Now the UMD team is focused on documenting the paintings, plantings and general architecture of the houses. That process includes making line drawingsÑillustrations of the walls that feature digital measurements made by scanners and lasers. These illustrations are more nuanced and precise than photographs, says Williams. For Varone, now an architect in Washington, D.C., the growth of Stabiae is a victory. He has volunteered his time to the project, personally accompanied StabiaeÕs most famous fresco, ÒFlora di Stabiae,Ó from BaltimoreÕs airport to the National Museum of Natural History for an exhibit in the mid-2000s, and has seen the number of visitors to the site rise from just a couple thousand each year to some 100,000. ÒI did something well beyond my wildest imagination,Ó he says.Ñsl Farm to Table, UMD Style Terp Farm Celebrates 10 Years of Growing Fresh Produce for Campus Farm to Table, UMD Style Terp Farm Celebrates 10 Years of Growing Fresh Produce for Campus On a surprisingly breezy July morning, Laila Wilson Õ26 (right) and Ty Stanick Õ27 pull red twine along rows of Roma tomatoes, securing the growing plants as their oblong fruits inch toward marinara readiness. Fields of corn sway behind them, and up the hill, former tobacco barns stand starkly white against the blue sky, containing crates of Napa cabbage and fat bulbs of garlic hanging to cure. Soon, these products will appear on the plates of students in the dining halls as red sauces, pesto-coated chicken and tangy kimchi, all from UMDÕs Terp Farm. Students appreciate knowing where their food comes from, says Wilson, an architecture major with an interest in urban and community farming. ÒHelping to feed people on campus is really rewarding.Ó ThatÕs what Terp Farm has done for 10 years, providing vegetables and herbs to Dining Services for the dining halls, catering services and the Campus Pantry. Piloted in 2014 with a Sustainability Fund grant, the farm started as a two-acre plot in Upper Marlboro, Md., part of the 210-acre Central Maryland Research and Education Center (CMREC) operated by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Terp Farm has since expanded to use up to 10 acres each year. Farm Manager Guy Kilpatric initially tried more than 90 varieties of vegetables, such as peppers, beets, head lettuce and heirloom tomatoes. ÒThe culinary team was very excited, very complimentary about the quality,Ó he says. But producing 20 pounds of salad mix was barely enough to supply one of UMDÕs three dining halls for even a day. If the goal was to educate students about the source of their food, offering a dish just once a semester wouldnÕt register. ÒHow do you message around that?Ó Kilpatric realized he had to narrow it down. Today, basil is the farmÕs top crop. It grows well during the summer, when the Dining Services team has time to turn it into pesto, and can be stored for use throughout the school year in pasta, sandwiches, roasted dishes and more, labeled clearly as ÒTerp Farm Pesto.Ó Its products have now gained a reputation: When Dining Services ran out of the 15,000 pounds of Terp Farm-supplied tomatoes by mid-October last year and switched to another source, students noticed and wrote in, asking what had changed. Other main crops are sweet potatoes, winter squashes and daikon radishes, as well as spring mix grown in tunnel-like greenhouses called hoop houses. Throughout the school year, Kilpatric is the only staff member dedicated to the farm full-time. He collaborates with CMREC staff led by Donald Murphy and relies on partnerships with volunteer groups that come each Saturday, such as the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, Terps for Change and College Park Scholars. A Do Good Institute grant will support a new cohort of interns to help out this year. Terp Farm also has four full-time student workers each summer, essential for tasks like hand-planting 5,000 sweet potato vines or building the hoop houses to protect delicate crops. Most are from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, especially plant science and environmental science and technology majors, including Stanick, an Institute of Applied Agriculture certificate program student. HeÕd grown sunflowers and strawberries with his grandmother in their tiny New York City backyard, Òbut IÕve never had to weed before!Ó he says. ThatÕs one of the toughest parts of the job, which often starts at 6 or 7 a.m. to beat the heat. Terp Farm is also used for research, examining rainwater harvesting for urban farms or insect relationships with crops, as well as for classes. Some take place annually, such as ÒIntroduction to Sustainable AgricultureÓ and ÒFruit and Vegetable Technology,Ó while others do more one-off field trips to learn about nutrient budgeting or use it as a capstone study location. Kilpatric hopes to expand Terp FarmÕs scope with more student employees and greater production, planting crops like rainbow carrots and beets, as well as flowers to sell at the UMD Farmers Market. ÒI want the farm to be award-winning, nationally recognized and a model for the really cool campus farm programs out there.ÓÑks Sustainable Developments Grant Program Greens Campus For todayÕs Terps, scraping stir-fry scraps into compost bins at the Stamp Student Union, picking up free lamps and cereal bowls from the Terp to Terp ReUse Store and swimming in a moss-filtered pool at Eppley Recreation Center are part of everyday life. ThatÕs thanks to the Sustainability Fund, which has funded nearly 300 environmentally friendly projects over the past 15 years. ÒItÕs really rewarding to see how these new initiatives have become successful,Ó says Scott Lupin, director of the Office of Sustainability. ÒTheyÕve grown from grassroots to become part of the culture of campus.Ó Students, faculty and staff can apply each year for a grant to support sustainability-related research, internships and operational improvements. The fund has increased as the Student Government Association has voted to raise student fees; next year, a record $850,000 in grants will be disbursed.ÑKS High-impact projects include: Campus Creek Restoration Slowing the flow of water as it heads toward the Anacostia River and stabilizing the creek bed have improved the regionÕs water quality and led to the return of wildlife like fish and toads. Food Recovery Network A student idea to collect unserved food from dining halls and donate it to local shelters received a small grant over a decade ago. Now, the initiative operates on 195 campuses and has recovered more than 16.5 million pounds of food. Terps Heart the Tap Long before Stanley cups went viral, a grant supported the installation of filtered water-filling stations across campus. Now, there are more than 100, preventing the use of millions of single-use plastic water bottles. Terp to Terp ReUse Store This project collects gently used dorm essentials like lamps and storage solutions to pass on to other students for freeÑand keeps the items out of landfills. B ook Throws Jab at Art of Black Boxers Researcher Reveals How Stereotypes Were Reinforced In george bellowsÕ famous 1909 painting, ÒBoth Members of This ClubÓ (right), two prizefightersÑone white, one BlackÑare locked in an intense struggle. The Black boxer looks to be winning, his powerful back curving over his white opponent, whose face and arms drip blood. Though many art historians and critics have considered the artwork a daring representation of a victorious Black fighter, a new book by Jordana Moore Saggese argues that the paintingÑwhose original title contained a racist slurÑreflects widespread fears about Black people. ÒThrough the way Bellows paints this boxer, he becomes threatening, an aberration, a blob, this indiscriminate threat,Ó says Saggese, professor of modern and contemporary art as well as director of the David C. Driskell Center. ÒHe has no face.Ó In ÒHeavyweight: Black Boxers and the Fight for Representation,Ó she examines artistic depictions of Black boxers from the 19th through 21st centuries, revealing how their renderings reflected and reinforced stereotypes about Black menÕs physicality, celebrity, power and place in the United States. ÒThe book is about imploring people to look beyond what they think of as iconic images of sport to what they might reveal about Black bodies in the public sphere,Ó says Saggese. BoxingÕs popularity in the 19th century rose alongside the proliferation of print media, making it a favorite topic of many artists. The sport, which predated football and basketball as a phenomenon, created the countryÕs earliest Black athletes. Racist fears about Black boxers emerged in images. Jack Johnson, crowned the first Black world heavyweight boxing champion in 1908, was Òreduced to monkey images, shown eating fried chicken and watermelonÓ to diminish his strengthÑnot just as a boxer, but as a representative of Black men, says Saggese. Other boxers were celebrated rather than vilified. When late 19th-century fighter Peter Jackson was pictured from behind, fully nude, on the cover of a national newspaper, he was compared with the classical marble statue Apollo Belvedere, sparking debates about which was the more beautiful man. One of boxingÕs most famous images, the 1965 photograph of Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston during the world heavyweight title fight, also echoes neoclassical art, says Saggese. ÒYou have this pyramidal composition of the figures, someone standing in the center of the frame very dramatically lit, elevated on stage. It looks very similar to 19th-century history paintings.Ó For many Americans, she says, images of Black athletes remain the primary depiction of Black people in public life, making it essential to understand their impact. ÒImages of athletes are integral to our wider visual and cultural history of Black people in America,Ó she says.Ñsl Leveling Up Gender Diversity WomenÕs, Nonbinary Esports Teams Change the Game in Conference Competitions Carebear, Carrots, Lunarouse, Soap, Tuxedosam and Jiraffe might sound like a cute, cuddly crew. That is, until they expertly dodge enemy fire, neutralize explosives and slay their adversaries.Ê Playing the character-based, first-person shooter video game Valorant, the headset-wearing members of UMDÕs Team Lilac crushed Northern Virginia Community College, 3-0, in the Fall 2023 National Esports Collegiate Conference Mideast Championship. The womenÕs and nonbinary teamÑone of two competing under Terps EsportsÑhopes to step further into the male-dominated space this fall, as the Big Esports Conference (BEC), made up of Big Ten institutions, begins hosting competitions for marginalized genders. ÒWinning that opened many eyes,Ó says Saima Ahmad Õ26, who goes by the gamertag Carebear. ÒJust because weÕre women doesnÕt mean weÕre not good at esports.Ó Only around 8% of the estimated 5,000 varsity college esports competitors in the U.S. are women, and 5% of professional gamers are female. Research suggests that stereotyping and hostile gaming environments, including insults and cussing, perpetuate the underrepresentation. Ahmad and Aayush Nepal Õ23, a UMD Valorant player and captain while a student, organized tryouts for a womenÕs and nonbinary team last fall. Based on how 13 gamers worked together to plant or defuse the gameÕs explosive Òspike,Ó Nepal split them into two teams, Lilac and Lotus. ÒItÕs very cool that we were able to have two teams, because itÕs very hard to find women and nonbinary players, period,Ó says Nepal, aka Dustyyxo, whoÕs now the coach of both squads. They started out as part of the Gaming at UMCP club, then last spring joined the more official Terps Esports program, home of UMDÕs premier-level teams in games like Valorant, Overwatch and Fortnite since 2022. They hope to add a womenÕs and nonbinary Rocket League team to the mix this year. Players practice several days a week either virtually or in Ritchie Coliseum, scrimmaging and conducting ÒVOD (video-on-demand) reviewsÓ to analyze past competitionsÑmuch like rolling back game film. ÒThere are so many more things that a team can improve on that arenÕt raw skill,Ó says Soomin ÒCarrotsÓ Kim Õ26, who guided LilacÕs decision-making as in-game leader. ÒAs weÕve practiced, I have been able to naturally play off some of my teammates without even having to say anything. We just know each otherÕs play style.Ó While other esports tournaments donÕt restrict women and nonbinary players, having specific competitions for their teams in the conference will spotlight their accomplishments and foster camaraderie, says Erin ÒGojoÓ Maynard Õ26, who was a member of Team Lotus. ÒWhen youÕre playing with men, a lot of times (youÕre) not treated the best, unfortunately,Ó she says. WomenÕs and nonbinary tournaments are Òjust a really great place to bond with other people who have shared interests with you and just to feel safe doing what you love.ÓÑAK Esports Elite Besides Lilac and Lotus, two varsity, or Òpremier,Ó Terps Esports teams powered their way to success last season: Valorant ¥ Fall 2023 NECC Mideast Championship ¥ Spring 2024 NECC Mideast Championship Overwatch ¥ Spring 2024 NECC Mideast Championship ¥ First annual Big Esports Conference tournament champion ¥ 2024 NECC national championship title Learn more at esports.umd.edu. A New Reflection on History Physicist Who Helped Send Mirrors to Moon on Apollo 11 Prepares to Launch an Improved Model In july 1969, four faculty members traveled from College Park to Kennedy Space Center in Florida to provide last-minute instruction to a noteworthy pupil: an Apollo 11 astronaut about to become one of the first humans to set foot beyond Earth. Just days later, lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin would be following mission commander Neil Armstrong onto the moonÕs surface to deploy a UMD-led experiment. The suitcase-size array of retroreflectorsÑpainstakingly crafted hunks of glass able to reflect light directly back to its source from any angleÑwould serve as a target for powerful lasers on Earth and provide the first accurate measurements of the distance between the planet and its satellite. In a meeting with Aldrin, then-Assistant Professor Douglas Currie, an expert in laser light, asked if the former fighter pilot with a Ph.D. in astronautics had any questions. At a later lunar workshop, Currie recalls, Aldrin scoffed about the procedural instructions, ÒAhh, it was so easy I decided I could give it to Armstrong.Ó But the wisecracking astronaut had done his homework, and for the last 55 years, that array and two more placed by successive Apollo missions have yielded a wealth of data for NASAÕs Lunar Laser Ranging experiment, helping scientists detect our moonÕs liquid core, bolstering EinsteinÕs theory of general relativity and providing a better understanding of the evolution of the Earth-moon system, among other discoveries. Now the university is about to do it again with the launch of the Next Generation Lunar Retroflector, scheduled for later this fall. This time, Currie is principal investigator, a position held on the Apollo 11 project by the late physics Professor Carroll Alley. There are no astronauts to train for this mission; the chunky Òcorner cubeÓ retroreflector will arrive aboard an uncrewed craft launched by the company Firefly Aerospace as part of NASAÕs Commercial Lunar Payload Services program and remain atop the lander for its operational life. (Subsequent reflectors to be developed by NASA with UMDÕs help, based on CurrieÕs general design, are expected to be set up by astronauts in NASAÕs Artemis program, which aims to return to the moon later this decade.) ÒWhen NASA announced back in 2004 they were going back to the moon, I said that instead of an array of 100, we need to have one big one, and IÕve been playing with that since then,Ó says Currie, now a professor emeritus and senior research scientist in the Department of Physics. He and NASA hope the next-gen device boosts precision in distance measurements by perhaps a factor of 30, from several centimeters of uncertainty to less than one millimeter. The imprecision of the current device stems from the fact that observers watching from the ground donÕt know if a laser pulse bounces back from a reflector on the near corner or the far corner of the array, which are at slightly different and constantly changing distances from the ground because of the moonÕs slight back-and-forth movement relative to Earth. Having just one mirror removes uncertainty, Currie says. The new setup will also have the advantage of being shiny and new. Though still functional, evidence suggests the Apollo 11 mission array is significantly blocked by lunar dust; calculations suggest the new device will be 10 times as bright as the current arrays, says Stephen Merkowitz, whoÕs overseeing lunar laser ranging as Space Geodesy Project manager at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Solving these problems will contribute to another one, however. The hefty chunk of glass making up the new single retroreflector mirror soaks up and sheds more heat during frigid lunar nights and blazing days, creating a greater possibility for temperature gradients and distorted reflections. Currie and his partners at the National Laboratories of Frascati in Italy worked to minimize that with the retroreflectorÕs housing design. ÒA lot of what weÕre looking to do today builds directly on what was done more than 50 years ago, so DougÕs experience working on Apollo is valuable in the present,Ó Merkowitz says. Currie chuckles looking at a photo he keeps in his office in the Physics Building: It shows Aldrin strolling across the moon, swinging the original UMD mirror array in one hand and another priceless experiment in another. Times have changed. ÒNow weÕre told the astronauts have to carry it in both hands, even though it weighs only a fraction of what Buzz was carrying,Ó he says. ÒThey want you to do one thing at a time, I guess.Ó Ñcc UMD Casts HydroNet to Predict, Prepare for Floods Amid AnnapolisÕ picturesque Colonial-era buildings, brick-lined streets and sailboats gliding along the Severn River, a small solar-powered sensor perched atop a pylon just off City Dock is easy to miss. The modest device, though, is the star of a new UMD project to track water levels in a city all too familiar with flooding. The Maryland HydroNet will be a series of more than 20 sensors along the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries that pump out data to help researchers and local government leaders predict when, where and how much flooding will occur. ÒProjects such as the HydroNet are really the best symbol for what institutions of higher education like the University of Maryland can help accomplish,Ó UMD President Darryll J. Pines said during a June unveiling event with local leaders. Led by atmospheric and oceanic science Associate Professor Tim Canty, the HydroNet is part of the universityÕs Climate Resilience Network, funded by a UMD Grand Challenges Grant to prepare communities for the impacts of climate change. ÒThis project is the first step in providing the state with a larger network of water-level monitors to help better allocate resources and prioritize assistance for communities facing the most imminent risk,Ó Canty says.ÑAllison Eatough Õ97 Glowing ÒGem of the UniversityÓ MarylandÕs Little-Known Nuclear Reactor Observes a Half-Century of Fission Tech-minded terps can reel off some marquee research facilities that dot the campusÑthe historic Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel, the 367,000-gallon Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility built to support NASA operations, the quantum labs buried deep beneath several campus buildings. But one important site almost certainly not on those lists is UMDÕs nuclear reactor, which this past summer quietly marked its 50th anniversary. It has trained hundreds of students in reactor operations and provided radiation for countless experiments and tests. And, just maybe, it inspired AmericaÕs most famous fictional nuclear technician, Homer Simpson. (The late engineering Professor Joseph Silverman, who helped develop the reactor, is the father of a longtime animator/director of ÒThe Simpsons,Ó David Silverman.) But donÕt have a cow. If the Maryland University Training Reactor (MUTR) resembled the TV seriesÕ mishap-prone nuclear plant, federal nuclear safety officials wouldnÕt have recently used itÑthe closest reactor to the U.S. CapitolÑas a showcase and tour site for visiting international dignitaries. ÒThis is a gem of the university, and really, itÕs a national resource,Ó says Timothy Koeth, assistant professor of materials science and engineering and MUTR director from 2013-19. When he took over as director, campus and A. James Clark School of Engineering administrators were weighing closure of the reactor since the nuclear engineering major ended more than a decade earlier. Part of a class of reactors designed to be safe enough for student trainees to control, UMDÕs version doesnÕt generate electricity and is a pipsqueak compared to typical nuclear power plants. Even compared to the 23 other U.S. university research reactors, MUTR has just 1/40th the power of the largest. (An earlier UMD reactor was even less potent but used now-forbidden highly enriched uranium.) Koeth saw potential for teaching and research, and reinstated a reactor operator training program. Since 2015, it has graduated 15 students, many of whom have gone on to nuclear industry careers. The Clark SchoolÕs nuclear engineering minor heavily relies on MUTR; with interest growing in advanced nuclear power technologies, participation has surged from seven students in 2020 to 30 this fall, says Amber Johnson, current nuclear reactor and radiation facilities director. ÒYounger people seem to be oriented toward thinking about climate change, and how nuclear power can help prevent it,Ó she says. Operating on its original fuel, MUTR still develops about 60% of its maximum rated power of 250 kilowatts. In a highly choreographed and federally scrutinized operation, staffers brought in new fuel rods in 2017, storing them in the reactor tankÑ6,000 gallons of water that cools the core while the reactor is in operation. After technical and pandemic-related delays, the team plans to bring it back up to full power with a refueling operation this winter, followed by a new cooling system so the reactor can operate more hours per day. Mike Hottinger, radiation systems manager, points to the towering, red-painted concrete structure in the middle of a room in the Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building that houses the reactor pool and core. ÒIt can easily go another 50 years.ÓÑcc How to Zap Your Phone-Charging Phobias Some of us feel powerless to resist plugging in the moment our phone battery drops below 90%. Others canÕt be bothered until our charge is in the single digits. (Usually, these people marry one another.) Either way, are your charging habits keeping your phoneÕs battery in good shape? Michael Pecht is a Distinguished University Professor of mechanical engineering and founder of the Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, which focuses on product durability. Here, he offers tips on getting the most out of your cell phoneÕs battery.ÑSL DonÕt be OS-obsessed. Green bubbles or blue bubbles donÕt make a difference, says Pecht. Any name-brand phone running on an Apple or Android operating system is going to have a well-developed battery management system, which monitors the batteryÕs temperature and performance. DonÕt worry about reaching 100%. The higher you charge, the faster your batteryÕs lifespan fades. You may have noticed that getting up to around 80% is quick work, but the final 20% seems to take hours. That last bit is what degrades the battery, Pecht says, so donÕt think twice about unplugging before you hit triple digits. (In fact, most current batteries arenÕt operating at 100% charge even if they say they areÑphones are programmed to generally avoid such topping off, he says.) Take advantage of optimized charging. This nifty trick, which the latest iPhones do automatically unless told not to, learns based on your habits when youÕre going to do your longest charging sessionÑlike overnight. ItÕll pace its charging so that you donÕt exceed that 80% threshold. DonÕt confuse a sluggish battery with a dead one. Cell phone manufacturers Òhave this screwy definition of end of life,Ó says PechtÑtypically when your battery fades to about 70 or 80% of its capacity. But your phone will still work fine: ÒYou just have to charge it more often.Ó An InsiderÕs Look at a PrisonÕs Imprint Criminologist, Once Convicted, Studies Ripple Effects of Legal System Involvement On the last day of Assistant Professor Robert StewartÕs ÒCourts and SentencingÓ class, he reveals a familiarity with the topic thatÕs more than academic: He has a felony record and once served two years in prison. ÒItÕs easy to sensationalize because of TV shows, so itÕs important to put a real human face on the experiences,Ó he says. Today, the criminologist studies the social, political and economic effects of criminal legal involvement, from the pitfalls of background checks, which can hinder people from getting jobs and housing, to parenting consequences, such as being banned from volunteering at school. Stewart shares what landed him in prison, why he discloses his own criminal record and why policymakers should rethink taking away voting rights.ÑKS How did you become incarcerated? I grew up in a small town in southern Minnesota. Although I did well in school early on, I got involved with drinking and using drugsÑand later selling drugsÑin high school. In my 20s, I was arrested a few times for possession and eventually sentenced to serve 25 months in prison plus parole. How did you go from being convicted to studying the consequences of criminal records? In prison, I had the opportunity to earn a few credits through an in-prison college program, and enrolled at a community college after my release. I then started the application to transfer to the University of Minnesota, but when, on the last page of the application, it asked if I had ever been convicted of a crime, I was stunned and surprised. Although I eventually submitted it (and jumped through several hoops before I was accepted), that experience stuck with me. This inspired my dissertation project, in which I fielded an audit experiment to test whether criminal records can be a barrier to college. I found that applicants with records were three times as likely to be rejected. Why are you relatively open about your felony, and how does that connect to your research? Representation is important. Our criminology department includes former Justice Department officials, federal prosecutors and police chiefs, which is great. But there is also a lot to learn from the experiences of people who have been subjected to these systems. I donÕt believe my expertise comes from my lived experiences, but rather my doctoral training. However, my experiences do inform my research questions and interpretations, just like my colleaguesÕ experiences inform theirs. As the presidential election nears, what do you want people to know about felons and voting rights? The last decade has featured the largest expansion of voting rights, likely since Reconstruction. I joined the Sentencing Project in 2022, and weÕve estimated the total number of Americans who couldnÕt vote because of a felony record has decreased by 25% since 2016 to 4.4 million in 2022. I urge people to consider what value there is in stripping someone of their right to vote on top of their criminal sentences. People vote because they care about their communities, and I believe we should encourage that. Clear ÒViewÓ of Road Dangers From Sidewalks to Streetlights, Common Features Shown in GoogleÕs Tech Linked to Crash Frequency ost people use Google Street View to help find their way, but University of Maryland researchers employed it in a new study to locate spots where your journey might abruptly end. In the recent study in the British Medical Journal of Injury Prevention, the research team analyzed the serviceÕs 360-degree views with artificial intelligence tools to identify road-related features linked to collisions involving cars, pedestrians and cyclists. Then the AI system searched roadways nationwide for such features, correlating it with a census of all fatal motor vehicle collisions from 2019-21, as well as fatal and nonfatal crashes using Washington, D.C., traffic data. They found sidewalks and streetside greenery correlated to fewer collisions, while roadwork had the opposite effectÑan indication of how policymakers can use data to solve public health problems, says Quynh Nguyen, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics who led the study. ÒCar crashes are the leading cause of death for young people between 5 and 29 years old, so itÕs crucial to understand how the physical environment can increase or lessen fatal collisions and which communities are most affected by this,Ó she says. Ñsumaya abdel-motagaly Õ26 Seal of AI-pproval System Could Derail Video Fakes, Deep or Shallow In the early days of RussiaÕs 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared in a video telling his soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender. At least, thatÕs what it looked like. The clip was a high-tech deception, illustrating a danger that University of Maryland researchers are fighting with a new system designed to ferret out video and audio that have been altered to create a ÒdeepfakeÓ or a harder-to-spot Òshallowfake,Ó which changes only a few keywords or images. ÒThe gap between a generated video and real video is getting smaller,Ó says computer science Assistant Professor Nirupam Roy, who developed the new TalkLock system with Ph.D. student Irtaza Shahid. ÒThereÕs a good chance that in three or four years, the detection method used now will be impossible.Ó To ÒlockÓ their talk, speakers display an ever-changing QR code on a phone or other screen alongside themselves as theyÕre recorded on video. The system Òlistens,Ó and embeds elements of the speech in the code. Viewers can later scan the code to verify authenticity of any part of the video, even if itÕs posted in a different format or on a different platform. The video requirement means TalkLock isnÕt usable in many situations, Roy says, but future versions could replace visible QR codes with audio signals beyond human hearing to broaden its applicability. Feature Welcome to the Hotel influenza A GROUNDBREAKING UMD RESEARCHER INVESTIGATING HOW RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS SPREAD ASKS VOLUNTEERS TO CHECK INÑAND GET SICK FOR SCIENCE. By chris carroll illustrations by noma bar The stately 23-story hotel opened at the height of the Jazz Age, but less than a year later, Wall StreetÕs 1929 crash snuffed out revelry in the opulent ballroom and secret speakeasy. ThatÕs when the property, then one of BaltimoreÕs tallest buildings, supposedly began accumulating ghosts: failed businessmen, wiped-out tycoons, even a bankrupt couple reputed to have jumped to their deaths on a downtown street with their young daughter. Today, as tour groups try to detect the spectral child bouncing her ball down the halls of the hotel, University of Maryland researchers and colleagues are using the location to track an unseen presence thatÕs more substantialÑand threatening. Each year, according to the World Health Organization, seasonal influenza respiratory infections kill up to 650,000 people; while science has pinned down much of the biology of flu and other dangerous viruses, it hasnÕt yet provided a precise account of how theyÕre passed from person to person to cause illnessÑor clear answers about preventing their spread. Did you get flu from a dirty doorknob or a sneeze in the face? Or as recent research from UMD and other sources suggests, do airborne viruses ÒhauntÓ indoor air around infected people, waiting to be breathed deep into the lungs? As part of an audacious bid to put such questions to rest, paid volunteers have checked into a sealed-off floor of the hotel (which the managers asked Terp to avoid naming) over the past two winters, with more on the way this winter. During stays of up to two weeks, theyÕre participating in a randomized, controlled trial with a surprising objective: to spread, or catch, the flu for science. Supported by $20 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health and Balvi Filantropic Fund, the study could fundamentally alter how health authorities and the public fight respiratory infections. It brings together a multidisciplinary team from UMDÕs School of Public Health and A. James Clark School of Engineering, and the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, led by UMD MPower Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Donald K. Milton. He has spent much of his 40-year career analyzing airborne pathogens and advocating, at times controversially, for society to take greater precautions. It took the COVID pandemicÑwhen he played a pivotal role in overturning national and global health authoritiesÕ opposition to masking to stop airborne virusesÑfor his ideas to gain greater traction. But that was a little too late to avoid disastrous shutdowns of schools and other societal institutions. ÒI tried to find a way to avoid this calamity, but here we are,Ó he told Terp in mid-2020. ÒMaybe this tragedy will get us past our fear of the idea of airborne transmission and prepare to control it, which could help us to avoid all this next time.Ó Midway through his flu study, Milton finds himself in the odd spot of rooting for a virusÑwithin the walls of the hotelÑthat heÕs fought for decades. Invisible Threat Indoor air is about 90% of all the air most of us breathe, Milton says, so he frequently keeps track of whatÕs in his. In his office in the School of Public Health Building, Milton reaches over and plops a device on his desk reminiscent of a small digital clock. At the beginning of our interview, the big number on its LCD screen reads a little over 400, but some 45 minutes later, the number has risen dramatically. Our breath as we spoke boosted carbon dioxide in the room to nearly 700 parts per million. While the CO2 concentration itself is not a health hazardÑeven at much higher concentrations, like at a 2022 Maryland Public Health Association meeting he attended that had levels well over 2,000 parts per millionÑitÕs a worrying sign. The amount of CO2 in the air indicates the risk of infectious viruses floating around, according to a mathematical model Milton proposed with the late Stephen Rudnick of Harvard Medical School in an influential 2003 paper rejected by Science but published in Indoor Air. Respiratory disease has shadowed MiltonÕs life. He grew up in the Baltimore area in the 1950s and Õ60s, when factories and mills still crowded Sparrows Point and other parts of the city and belched pollution into the air far thicker than any hovering around Charm City today. As children, he and his two sisters watched their mother struggle with bronchiectasis, a condition that involves recurring, painful bouts of bronchitis and airway infection, and caused her death in 1995. ÒI think I may have gravitated toward studying respiratory issues from wondering as a child why my mother couldnÕt get out of bed, what we could do to help her.Ó He graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and later earned a doctorate in public health from Harvard. While serving as a practicing physician in environmental and occupational medicine, Milton began focusing on indoor air quality. One tragedy in particularÑthe death of a woman who had been among several workers in a badly ventilated room who developed adult-onset asthmaÑgalvanized his direction in medicine and public health. Her body was discovered in her home, clutching a rescue inhaler. ÒThat indelible image and the failure of medical treatments to save my patient keeps me focused on the importance of indoor air,Ó he says. Clearing the air Many prominent physicians (not to mention the disinfecting wipe industryÑÒkills 99.9% of viruses and bacteria!Ó) still hew to the idea that the primary routes of infection are through the spray of a sneeze or cough directly into the face, or onto a surface to be transferred by touch to the mouth, eyes or nose. The developing idea that Òaerosols,Ó fine particles that can remain suspended in the air for considerable periods, can hold enough exhaled virus to cause infection was increasingly bringing Milton into conflict with the medical establishment. One of MiltonÕs papers, which examined the possibilities of airborne smallpox soon after the 2001 attacks with the deadly anthrax bacteria when there was concern about bioweapons in Iraq, was met with livid responses from reviewers, including charges he was a Òquack and a charlatan,Ó he says. To prove his point about whatÕs in the air, he developed a machine, which he named Gesundheit II (above); the vaguely steampunk assemblage of tubes and gauges leads to a Victrola-like horn into which visitors to his Public Health AeroBiology Laboratory stick their faces so the machine can capture their breaths and extract viruses. In a 2013 study published in PloS Pathogens, he used it to demonstrate flu virus could be captured from infected peopleÕs breath and cultivated. The paper also showed that surgical masks reduced the amount of influenza virus escaping into the air from an infected person by 70%. A past collaborator of MiltonÕs, Raymond Tellier, an associate professor and microbiologist at McGill University in Montreal, says the backlash against Milton in part stems from scientific disputes stretching back to the early 20th century, when doctors fought unscientific beliefs about Òmiasma,Ó or unhealthy night air thought to cause everything from cholera to the bubonic plague. The idea led to measures that encouraged disease, such as buildings designed to prevent ventilation with outside air; while such thinking has been universally rejected, its echoes remain, he says. ÒThe idea of aerosols with virus particles was being lumped together with the old reaction against the miasma theory,Ó says Tellier, who adds that today those who refuse to consider MiltonÕs ideas are the ones ignoring science. Milton also attributes some of the reaction to hospital administratorsÕ unwillingness to swallow the cost of air cleaning or issuing masks that are more protectiveÑand expensiveÑthan surgical masks. But the resistance is underlain by the idea that Òthis is how weÕve always done it,Ó he says. ÒItÕs dogma, not science,Ó he says. ÒIÕm allergic to dogma.Ó As the COVID-19 pandemic began, Milton watched with dismay as his work seemed to have little effect on what medical and public health authorities were telling people; masking was initially widely dismissed, and social distancing, handwashing and even wiping down supermarket purchases were presented as the best means to stay COVID-free. But in March 2020, Milton and several co-authors posted a paper online that was soon published in Nature Medicine. The study used Gesundheit II to confirm that surgical masks could stop coronaviruses as well as influenza when worn by infected people. Its impact was life-changing for much of the world: Mask use soon became widespreadÑeven mandatory in many placesÑperhaps signaling a growing open-mindedness about the route of transmission Milton had been focused on for two decades. He quickly became a standby source for journalists covering COVID-19 and other respiratory infections, spoke to the White House and Congress, and served on an increasing number of global public health advisory boards. ÒAlthough his contributions are now widely recognized, Don has not received the accolades that he has deserved,Ó says Jonathan M. Samet, professor and former dean of the Colorado School of Public Health. ÒIt took a pandemic É for his work to finally receive an appropriate level of attention, given its implications.Ó High-risk, high-reward MiltonÕs latest major study began in 2021 with $15 million in funding from the National Institutes for Health, although fieldwork at the hotel didnÕt kick off until late 2022. For the first time, it joins a full range of scientific elements and expertise to document in detail a flu transmission, says Professor Jelena Srebric, the Margaret G. and Frederick H. Kohloss Chair in Mechanical Engineering, an expert in indoor air quality and computational fluid dynamics, and one of MiltonÕs co-principal investigators. ÒOf course, you canÕt actually see individual viruses causing someone to be infected, but the design of this study will give more understanding of every step along the way than we have ever had before,Ó Srebric says. ÒWeÕll know what made you sick and what didnÕt make you sick.Ó Unlike other controlled trials of virus transmission, the hotel-based one calls for flu recipients to quarantine in their roomsÑreading, working remotely, watching TVÑwhen theyÕre not being intentionally exposed to infected flu Òdonors.Ó Previous hospital-based studies that discount the importance of airborne transmission didnÕt take steps to ensure people werenÕt picking up the virus at home or elsewhere. As a result, they mean little, Milton contends. In the Baltimore hotel study, participants are brought together in a common room at intervals throughout the day to play cards and board games, do yoga or belt out renditions of ÒBaby Got BackÓ and ÒIÕll Make a Man Out of YouÓ from DisneyÕs ÒMulanÓ in karaoke. Among other tightly controlled factors, Srebric and colleagues are testing different room ventilation rates to see if cleaner air results in fewer infections via the airborne route. To examine other modes of infection, randomly chosen participants use hand sanitizer and wear face shields to prevent viruses from being propelled into their nose, eyes or mouth from coughs or sneezes, and to prevent them from touching their faces; others are unprotected. All participants are then instructed to pass digital devices and other common objects around to test touch as a route of infection. Constant rapid PCR testing, using machines donated by the Balvi Filantropic Fund, keeps track of who has the flu and who doesnÕt, while the Gesundheit II allows researchers to measure how much virus donors put in the air; molecular sequencing at NIH tracks what strain virus donors bring in. A team led by School of Medicine Professor Wilbur Chen, an infectious disease physician-scientist, oversees the medical testing while keeping constant tabs on the well-being of participants; another led by mechanical engineering Professor Don Devoe focuses on creating novel testing devices and technology for analyzing airborne viruses. In another element of the experiment funded by the Balvi gift, which invests widely in respiratory infectious disease research, the researchers will test whether a new type of germicidal ultraviolet light devices prevents infections. That would support the theory that the flu virus is transmitted in room air and provide a silent and energy-efficient way to sanitize indoor air. All told, the extremely complex project could change how the world thinks about infection, or it could go off the rails. In the experimentÕs first year, an unusually early flu season struck before the team was ready to quarantine participants; last year saw several flu donors, but with a dearth of recipientsÑjust 11 in total, despite room for nearly 50Ñthe illness hung back in the shadows like a shy ghost. No volunteer recipients tested positive for the flu virus during quarantine, although one later showed chemical markers of an infection in a blood test.ÊAnd in an illustration of the challenges of human studies, another participant who developed mild symptoms despite testing negative never returned to confirm whether they had been infected. Ironically, to better fight the flu, the research team needs the flu to do better this winter. ÒWe are going to do everything we can, so all those hotel rooms are filled,Ó Milton says. ÒThe point is to get more people exposed for more time.Ó A former colleague at Harvard Medical School uninvolved with the current study says MiltonÕs scientific reputation and administrative abilities helped him secure funding for a type of study that is rare in the world of science. ÒIt says something about Don that heÕs able to launch these human-to-human transmission clinical trials,Ó says Edward Nardell, a physician who specializes in tuberculosis research. ÒThese are high-risk studiesÑand high-reward if they succeed.Ó ÒLike Summer CampÓ Soon-to-graduate UMD student Priscila Terry was entertaining competing thoughts when she arrived in the sumptuous hotel lobby in February: The information science major was unhappy that her sick roommate had coughed freely around their apartmentÑincluding directly into a fan as she sleptÑthe likely source of TerryÕs flu. On the other hand, the payment involvedÑdonor participants in the trial receive up to $1,900, while recipients can receive $2,500Ñwould allow her to repay her parents for the fee theyÕd covered when she canceled a semester abroad to graduate early. And she was wrestling with the complex ethics of medical trials, particularly those meant to induce illness: ÒI was always taught you should try avoiding coughing on peopleÑitÕs gross. ItÕs inconsiderate. But now I was supposed to make people sick.Ó Qualms like TerryÕs were unnecessary, says Lehua Gray, who also participated in a February quarantine. The 36-year-old digital user experience designer from Baltimore County first signed up for so-called Òchallenge trialsÓÑwhere scientists manually infect participantsÑto help develop a COVID-19 vaccine, but was not chosen. While MiltonÕs airborne transmission hypothesis lacks the electricity of the high-stakes fight against the pandemic, the deep scientific and policy questions involved quickly grabbed her. One of the most surprising aspects of the experience to Gray was the bond that the recipients developed during their activities over their two weeksÑÒlike summer camp.Ó Several have since stayed in touch, even meeting for drinks and lobbying with administrators to check back in as a group this winter. ÒI could randomly catch the flu going to the grocery store, and it wouldnÕt help anything,Ó Gray says. ÒIf I get it as part of this study at the hotel, maybe it will help science understand something we donÕt understand as well as we thought we did.Ó terp Feature 10 in 10 From Titles to Revenue to academics, Maryland scored by joining the Big Ten conference. Here are 10 ways itÕs been a b1g Decade. by annie krakower With 2023Õs March Madness just a calendar page away, fans packed the Xfinity Center stands to soak in a matchup of top-10 titans. The No. 7 University of Maryland womenÕs basketball team was eyeing its fifth straight victory as it hosted No. 6 Iowa and star shooter Caitlin Clark, known nationwide for her deep threes. But that night, it was the TerpsÕ Brinae Alexander who lit up the scoreboard, draining six three-pointers to lead UMDÕs 96-68 blowout of the Hawkeyes, their biggest loss of the season. The conference clash had the raucous and rowdy energy of classic Maryland rivalry gamesÑa feeling that many fans worried would evaporate when UMD, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference since 1953, joined a national wave of realignment and announced in 2012 it would move to the Big Ten starting July 1, 2014. Ed Woods, a longtime fan and 1984-85 walk-on for Lefty DriesellÕs basketball squad, couldnÕt believe thereÕd be no more Duke, Carolina or Virginia. For alums and donors like Stan Goldstein Õ68, who hadnÕt missed an ACC Tournament from 1975 on, annual appointments would become mere memories. But 10 years later, they and many other fans have come around to MarylandÕs decision. (ÒI sleep a lot better in the Big Ten,Ó says Woods, and Goldstein calls it Òone of the smartest, most brilliant moves ever.Ó) Indeed, itÕs turned out pretty well for the Terps, who through a storm of shifting conference allegiances that aimed to ease growing and expected financial pressuresÑsalaries, facilities, player compensationÑhave found safe harbor in the Big Ten. ÒWeÕre sitting in a very, very good position as an institution to be in a conference where weÕre on the inside, not on the outside looking in,Ó says Damon Evans, Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics. ÒStability and continuity are what help programs like ours continue to grow.Ó UMDÕs athletics revenue has received a substantial boost from the conferenceÕs $7 billion media rights deal with FOX, CBS and NBC, which has also exposed viewers across the nation to Terp teams. New and renovated facilities touching each of MarylandÕs 20 varsity sports have opened or are being built. And the Xfinity CenterÕs trophy cases have filled up with hardware from dozens of titles won. Their first year in the conference, the powerhouse menÕs soccer, field hockey, womenÕs basketball and menÕs and womenÕs lacrosse teams won titles. Those sports have combined for 27 regular-season, 18 Big Ten Tournament and six national championships since joining. ÒMaryland came in and set the standard for what excellence is,Ó says Christy Winters-Scott Õ90, a former ACC-champion womenÕs basketball player and now a color analyst for Big Ten Network. ÒThey changed the style of play, the pace of play.Ó The football team is fresh off three consecutive bowl wins but is still chasing championship glory in a conference loaded with national powerhouses. The menÕs basketball team won the regular-season championship in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, but fans expect regular title runs. Across programs, UMD is still building new traditions and forming new rivalries, even 10 years laterÑfew are getting riled up about a game against Rutgers or Nebraska just yet. But as the Big Ten grows to encompass four new West Coast universities, the opportunities expand, too. Woods has season tickets, and Goldstein already has a trip to Oregon planned as fans embrace the conferenceÑand the conference embraces the Terps. ÒThe Big Ten has benefited greatly from MarylandÕs contributions since joining the league,Ó says Big Ten Chief Operating Officer Kerry Kenny, Òand weÕre excited to see how the Terps and the 17 other member institutions in the conference continue to provide successful opportunities for student-athletes in the classroom, on the playing surface and in the professional world post-graduation.Ó Celebrate UMDÕs 10 years in the Big Ten with the ultimate highlight reel of B1G moments, facts and figures. 6 National Titles UMD stands third behind only Penn State and Ohio State since 2014-15: ¥ 2015, 2017 and 2019 Ð WomenÕs lacrosse ¥ 2017 and 2022 Ð MenÕs lacrosseÊ ¥ 2018 Ð MenÕs soccerÊ 49 Conference Titles Third behind only Michigan and Ohio State since 2014-15 Fiscal Strength The Big Ten led all Power Five conferences in revenue generated in fiscal 2023 with $880M. The ACCÕs totaled $707 million. MarylandÕs total athletic revenue increased from $88M in 2014-15 to $110M in 2023-24. ÒThat was one of the main reasons why we left, to provide us a little better financial footing,Ó says Evans. ÒItÕs not only the financial footing today, but itÕs the financial footing in the future.Ó Across sports, Terps games are now available on Big Ten Network to approximately 50M households. ÒThe amount of texts I received after (our first Big Ten Network game), I would liken it to when we were in the postseason in the NCAA Tournament nationally,Ó says longtime womenÕs basketball head coach Brenda Frese. ÒThatÕs when I knew we were in so many households.Ó 1 A Slam Dunk Intro The womenÕs basketball team took its new conference by storm in the 2014-15 season, going a perfect 18-0 in Big Ten play. The Terps went on to capture the tournament title and surged to the NCAA TournamentÕs Final Four for the second year in a row, with head coach Brenda Frese earning Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. 2 Bye-Bye, Badgers In 2021, in front of 1,828 Terp fans in the Xfinity Center Pavilion, an undefeated UMD volleyball team took down previously unbeaten, No. 2-ranked Wisconsin, winning the thrilling back-and-forth match, 3-2. The Terps made history in the process, earning the programÕs first victory against a top-10 team. 3 Champs x2 The womenÕs lacrosse team capped an undefeated 2017 season with a national championship win over ACC member Boston College, just a day before the menÕs squad also hoisted the trophy. While the women had also won two years earlier in their first season in the Big TenÑwhich now also includes Johns Hopkins for lacrosseÑthe menÕs victory over Ohio State ended a 42-year title drought. 4 reaching their goal A 57th-minute penalty-kick goal by midfielder Amar Sejdic decided the 2018 menÕs soccer national championship game, a 1-0 win over Akron that gave the Terps their first title since 2008. Through five NCAA Tournament matches, UMD didnÕt allow a single goal. 5 Sticking to Success The field hockey team not only won conference titles its first three years in the league, but it also flexed its muscles in the NCAA Tournament, appearing in nine of the past 10 and reaching national title games in 2017 and 2018. 6 Saving the Way to Historic Honor For 18 years, the Tewaaraton Award, given annually to the top male and female college lacrosse players, had never gone to a goalkeeper. That changed in 2019, when MarylandÕs Megan Taylor recorded a .551 save percentage, the best of any Power Five goalie. She notched 10 saves in UMDÕs 12-10 victory over Boston College, the TerpsÕ third national championship in five years. 7 Perfect season, Perfect ending After falling one win short of the 2021 title, the menÕs lacrosse team defeated Cornell, 9-7, the following year to put a championship cherry on top of a perfect 18-0 season. The Terps became just the fourth undefeated team in the sportÕs NCAA history. The last team to do it? The University of Virginia, which had bested UMD in the title game the year before. 8 The College Park Regional As if winning the 2022 Big Ten regular-season titleÑMaryland baseballÕs first conference championship since 1971ÑwasnÕt enough, the TerpsÕ program-record 44 regular-season wins helped them earn the right to host one of 16 NCAA Regionals for the first time. 9 A Stormy Night In his first season at UMD in 2023, menÕs basketball head coach Kevin Willard led the team to a 68-54 upset of No. 3 Purdue, sparking the sellout crowd to storm the Xfinity Center court. The win was MarylandÕs first over an AP top five team since 2016, and it extended its program-record Big Ten home gameÑwinning streak to 11. 10 Back-to-Back-to-Back Bowls From Pinstripe to DukeÕs Mayo to Music City, the football team won three consecutive bowl games over a three year stretch for the first time in program history, from 2021-23. The Terps are one of only four teams to win their last three bowls, joining Georgia, Minnesota and Texas Tech. Wins Beyond the Field Besides netting athletic achievements, MarylandÕs conference move has also provided a boost through the Big Ten Academic Alliance, a strategic partnership among member institutions that encourages collaboration and co-investments. Highlights from the past decade include: Leadership Development More than 50 UMD faculty members have participated in the Big Ten Academic Leadership Program, a yearlong initiative to help participants sharpen their university-level administrative leadership skills. Research Big Ten institutions engage in $10 billion in funded research each year; the alliance allows members to partner and leverage resources and facilities. During the pandemic, for example, UMD joined other researchers in the conference in creating a registry to analyze COVID-cardiac associations among athletes. CourseShare This program allows students to take language courses offered at other Big Ten schools from a distance. For example, the UMD class ÒKorean Food Cultures: Past and PresentÓ in Fall 2022 also included students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Illinois. Libraries Under the allianceÕs UBorrow program, students, faculty and staff across the Big Ten have rapid access to member institutionsÕ holdings, which total over 90 million books. Feature Connie Breaks a Story: Her Own Trailblazing journalist Connie Chung Õ69 battled misogyny and racism to reach the pinnacle of TV news. In a new self-titled memoir, she shares what it took to get there. By Karen Shih Õ09 Photographs by stephanie S. cordle The first thing Connie Chung Õ69 will tell you these days is that sheÕs 3 inches shorter than she used to be. ItÕs a little ironic, considering sheÕs never shrunk from anything. Not when she was a 25-year-old reporter covering Watergate, coming face to face with President Richard Nixon as he tried to dodge the media while evidence mounted against him. Not when people told her she Òslanted the newsÓ or produced Òyellow journalismÓ because she was Asian American. Not when a sports reporter asked her on air, ÒWhen is my laundry going to be done, Connie?Ó ÒMy M.O. was to throw it at them before they threw it at me,Ó she says. ÒI would tell a racist joke because I could tell it was coming, or tell a sexist joke to a man to throw them off. I donÕt recommend it to anyone, but I had to find a way to navigate the overwhelmingly white male settings.Ó The groundbreaking journalist, who became the first Asian American and second woman to anchor an evening news program, details it all in a new memoir out Sept. 17, titled ÒConnie.Ó Nearly a decade in the making, the book reveals for the first time how Chung experienced the highs and lows of her long career that spanned every major news network. ÒItÕs a delicate balance,Ó she says of the writing process, which forced her to exhume and reexamine some painful memories. ÒI felt like, ÔIÕm not allowed to tell how I feel.Õ I didnÕt want anyone seeing me as some kind of crybaby.Ó Largely out of the spotlight for the last two decades, she evokes my Asian aunties as she walks into her publisherÕs office in New York City, looking up from her visor to give me a warm hug. Chatty and full of self-deprecating quips, she seems far removed from her days on camera, interviewing world leaders and covering national tragedies. She squeals with delight when a photo of my young girls pops on my phoneÕs lock screen. But the strength and determination that got her to the top of the cutthroat television news business, decades before the #MeToo reckoning and Stop Asian Hate campaign, are still inside herÑand thatÕs the story sheÕs now ready to share. ÒItÕs easy to tell the truth,Ó she says, about those who stood in her way. ÒThe question is, Do I throw them under the bus? Or gently place them in the line of traffic?Ó From the ÕVous to TV In another life, Chung could have been an accountant or a scientist, toiling in obscurity. Her parents had barely escaped as China fell under Communist rule in the 1940s, bringing her four older sisters to America by boat and settling in Washington, D.C., where Chung was born. But her discovery of boys and beer while at the University of Maryland put those more traditional paths to rest. Busy drinking at popular bar the ÕVous and dancing to the Rolling StonesÕ ÒSatisfactionÓ at fraternity keg parties, she saw her grades plummet in business, then biology, and she had to find a major for the third time. Then she had a chance encounter with U.S. Rep. Seymour Halpern of New York while taking a friend on a tour of the Capitol. He offered a card; she dialed the number for a summer job and wound up writing press releases and briefing papers. ÒI saw members of Congress like rock stars,Ó she says. ÒIt was like seeing Springsteen or Bon Jovi.Ó Chung switched to journalism and stayed an extra year to finish her degree, writing for The Diamondback and reporting for WMUC radio. She credits one of her UMD professors for telling her to start searching early for a job in TV. She pitched herself at local stations in January, finally landing a gig as a part-time Òcopy boyÓ at WTTG-TV Channel 5. But after she graduated, the only job that management offered her was newsroom secretary. She took it, confident that all she needed was a foot in the door. ÒAs strong and tough as the next guyÓ In 2020, a photo of young Chung (left) went viral on social media. SheÕs facing the camera, looking tired and exasperated among a sea of white men after a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Watergate. Journalist Marian WangÕs Twitter post declared it a Òmood,Ó and commenters said they couldnÕt imagine Òthe amount of B.S. she put up withÓ and that Òall women know what sheÕs thinking.Ó What Chung felt was this: She was thrilled to be covering the scandal as a young reporterÑbut she always felt the pressure to Ògive 200%Ó and prove herself in a male-dominated industry. The networks had hired no women until they were forced to do so after the 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed sex discrimination, says Merrill College Professor Emerita Maurine Beasley, a journalism historian. ÒThey were afraid of getting sued.Ó But the men werenÕt thrilled to have women in their midst. To navigate the countless Òhe either wants to f*ck you or f*ck you overÓ situationsÑlike when presidential candidate Sen. George McGovern tried to kiss her in a deserted hallwayÑChung writes that she relied on her quick wit. ÒI had to be as strong and tough as the next guy,Ó she says. ÒI lowered my voice. I had swagger and false bravadoÑand a potty mouth.Ó When she was thrust into the impeachment of President Richard Nixon, she chased key figures as they left for work before dawn, accosted others for a soundbite on their way to church and even cold-called those on his infamous Òenemies listÓ at 3 a.m. Her relentlessness caught the attention of her role model, iconic CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite, who sent her positive notes through interoffice mail. He was Òjust plain nice,Ó she writes, and his encouragement pushed her to keep going. Hours before NixonÕs resignation, Chung got exclusive insight into the outgoing presidentÕs mood from his top aide, which led to her first on-air appearance with future co-anchor Dan Rather. He was magnanimous and friendly then, but their relationship soured as she climbed the ranks. Rise and Fall at CBS After Barbara Walters became the first woman to co-anchor an evening news program in 1976, it took nearly two decades for another to follow in her footsteps. But while graphics had gotten snazzier and shoulder pads had gotten bigger, male egos and attitudes hadnÕt changed. What started as ChungÕs proudest achievement also became her most painful experience. She decamped to L.A. post-Water- gate, anchoring for seven years before moving to NBC headquarters in New York. There, she hosted an early- morning show and contributed to the evening news. She resented being assigned salacious stories on weight loss, sex and celebrities by the NBC Òmale brigade,Ó so she returned to CBS in 1989. As the host of ÒFace to Face with Connie Chung,Ó a weekly newsmagazine, she secured major interviews, including with the ship captain involved in the Exxon Valdez spill, and reported on the dangers of silicone breast implants, which led the Food and Drug Administration to ban their use until more stringent regulations were implemented. Then, as ratings dropped for the Rather-led ÒCBS Evening News,Ó she was hired as co-anchor in May 1993, becoming the first Asian American to hold the coveted spot. He was condescending from the start, she writes, telling her during their initial sit-down she would have to Òstart reading the newspaper.Ó She still found success, such as interviewing Chinese Premier Li Peng on the fifth anniversary of the government crackdown in Tiananmen Square. But when she anchored the Oklahoma City bombing coverage while Rather was on vacation, he seethed, telling The New York Times Òit was like trying to swallow barbed-wire-wrapped ball bearings.Ó By April 1995, she writes, Rather delivered an ultimatum to CBS President Peter Lund, and Chung was out. (Rather denied it, telling The Washington Post that ÒNobody has heard a critical comment from me about ConnieÓ and that her removal Òcame as a surprise to us.Ó) She got the call from her agent just minutes before going on air, but she composed herself and delivered the news. ÒI was devastated,Ó she says. ÒBut they knew me better than I knew me. They figured I wasnÕt going to be a maniac, even though I was on live TV, and they were right.Ó Inspiring a New Generation Grappling with her legacy has always been a challenge for Chung, who rebuilt her career by returning to newsmagazines after leaving CBS. ÒIÕm perpetually wondering if I should have taken the other road,Ó says Chung. ÒIÕm a big Ôwoulda-coulda-shouldaÕ personÑit drives my husband crazy.Ó That husband is Maury Povich of ÒYou are the father!Ó fame on his eponymous three-decade talk show known for its DNA test reveals. But to her, he was her steadfast support as she navigated the treacherous waters of television news. ÒI have always, for the last 40-odd years, thought of myself as ÔMr. Chung,ÕÓ he saysÑa nod to how their doorman addressed him when they first got married. The one thing sheÕs sure of is adopting their son, Matthew, when she was almost 50 years old. She struggled for years with failed IVF procedures and miscarriages, and writes that she was humiliated when CBS pressured her into putting out a statement when ÒFace to FaceÓ was canceled, saying she was leaving to focus on conceiving a child. ÒI never wanted my private life to be public,Ó she says. Serendipitously, she got the call that Matthew would be born right when she lost the co-anchor job, giving her time to devote to being a full-time mom. ÒMatthew is meant to be my son and MauryÕs son. This is the way it was supposed to be for me. ItÕs so fulfilling and heartwarming and indescribably wonderful.Ó Deciding she was too old to have another, she didnÕt adopt a little Chinese girl as originally planned. But in 2019, she was contacted by fellow journalist Connie Wang, who had discovered dozens of Asian Americans like her born throughout the 1970s to 1990s and named Connie in homage to Chung. ÒI always knew she had that kind of impact, but she never believed it,Ó says Povich. ÒIt took that moment for her to realize. All she cared about was doing the job. She had blinders to how much the other aspects of her life were so meaningful.Ó My immigrant parents were among many who took comfort and pride in ChungÕs achievements when they arrived from Taiwan (though they didnÕt go so far as to name me Connie). They looked to her as a hopeful possibility as their daughter eschewed their plans for law or med school to instead scribble in a notebook and tell stories for a living. Subverting expectations is a theme Chung heard over and over when she finally met 10 of her namesakes at the photo shoot for the ÒGeneration ConnieÓ piece in The New York Times. As photographer Connie Chung Aramaki told her, being named ÒConnieÓ means Òyour parents want you to work hard and be brave and take chances.Ó ÒIÕm finally able to get my arms around this phenomenon É my living legacy,Ó Chung says. Her impact is broad and undeniable. Just turn on the TV to watch Norah OÕDonnell solo-anchoring CBSÕs weeknight newscast or John Yang hosting ÒPBS News Weekend.Ó During ChungÕs book tour this fall, sheÕll have the chance to encourage even more women and people of color to blaze their own paths. ÒIÕm hoping that for those who loved her and loved her work, the memoir will confirm that,Ó Povich says. ÒAnd for those who may never have seen her work at all, the younger generation, this will be an inspiration.Ó TERP Close-up on CoupleÕs Support Chung is grateful for the lessons she learned at UMDÕs journalism schoolÑand UMD is grateful for her and husband Maury PovichÕs longtime support. She was a co-chair of UMDÕs ÒGreat ExpectationsÓ fundraising campaign and has funded a scholarship in her name; he and his siblings helped establish the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism, named for his father and late Washington Post columnist, as well as the George Solomon Endowed Chair in Sports Journalism. ChungÕs most famous interviews Magic Johnson (1991) It was a shock when the NBA superstar announced he was retiring from the Los Angeles Lakers because he tested positive for HIV at the height of the AIDS epidemic. Chung, who had become friendly with him during her time as an anchor in L.A., camped out at his agentÕs office until he acquiesced, and she secured the first interview after his diagnosis. ÒMagic was honest and open, answering every uncomfortable question, (including) how heÕd told his wife, Cookie, who was pregnant with their first child,Ó Chung writes. Kathleen Gingrich (1995) The sit-down with then-House Speaker Newt GingrichÕs mother, in which she faux-whispered to Chung her sonÕs thoughts on then-first lady Hillary ClintonÑÒSheÕs a bitchÓÑjust about Òincinerated my career,Ó Chung writes. The blowback was immediate, with him accusing Chung of tricking a Ònice simple womanÓ and critics calling her a Òpredator.Ó Gary Condit (2001) When D.C. intern Chandra Levy went missing, all eyes quickly went to U.S. Rep. Gary Condit of California, who was rumored to have had an affair with her. Chung got the exclusive, though the congressman remained tight-lipped about their relationship and denied involvement with her disappearance. (Her remains were found a year later; the murder remains unsolved.) Disney President Bob Iger, owner of ABC, emailed Chung to say she was Òtough, focused, relentless, tenacious, and even charming!Ó It became the highest-rated news program on any network that year, with 24 million viewers. Alumni Association Letter from the Senior Executive Director I am deeply honored to write to you as the new senior executive director of the University of Maryland Alumni Association. This role is truly a dream come true for me. Maryland has given me so much: my education, my husband, Chad Roberts Õ01, cherished friendships and a rewarding career for the past 15 years. I am overjoyed to give back to my alma mater in this new way. My passion for our association and my fellow alums knows no bounds. It is the people I get to work with every day and the remarkable community of alums IÕve had the pleasure of meeting who inspire me daily. As your new leader, I promise to reinforce the mission of the Alumni Association to be a partner and a resource for Terps everywhere to pursue excellence and impact in every stage of life. We are committed to: Helping you propel your career through enhanced professional programming and valuable corporate connections Empowering you to lead a life of meaning and impact with ongoing opportunities for lifelong learning Increasing the value of your membership with expanded benefits and more opportunities to make an impact Elevating the value of your degree by enhancing UMDÕs reputation and rankings I take great pride in the achievements of our Alumni Association and the incredible contributions of Maryland alums across the globe. My goal is to amplify the impact of Terps everywhere and to encourage each alum to contribute to our alma mater in at least one way each year. You can help strengthen our university by joining the association as a member or buying exclusive merchandise from our online store, attending an event or nominating a fellow alum for an award, or volunteering with a Terp network or contributing to our community service projects. We have a shared responsibility to contribute to the universityÕs success and its legacy. Terps together stay fearless forever. I look forward to connecting with each and every one of you. Jessica K. Roberts Õ02 Senior Executive Director University of Maryland Alumni Association Homecoming Week 2024 oct. 13-19 Come home to Maryland to cheer on the red, white, black and gold with fellow Terps. TERP CARNIVAL OCT. 18, 5-8 p.m. Kick off Homecoming weekend with this family- friendly event on McKeldin Mall. Enjoy food, games and a spectacular fireworks finale. LIFE WALL UNVEILING OCT. 19, 3.5 HOURS PRIOR TO KICKOFF See the names of new Alumni Association lifetime members etched into the Frann G. & Eric S. Francis Lifetime Member Wall next to SECU Stadium. HOMECOMING TAILGATE OCT. 19, 2.5 HOURS PRIOR TO KICKOFF The annual beer garden and tailgate in Moxley Gardens will feature drinks from Terp-owned breweries, delicious food, a live DJ and more. Members will receive one free food and drink voucher at the tailgate. EXCLUSIVE T-SHIRT starting oct. 1 For the first time, the UMD Homecoming T-shirt will be available to all Terps! Get yours at homecoming.umd.edu. Tailgates, Touchdowns and Togetherness Homecoming Fans Reveal What Gets Them Hyped Homecoming at UMD isnÕt just an annual tradition. ItÕs a rite of passage for thousands of returning Terps. We caught up with a few who are eager to celebrate and embrace the Terrapin nostalgia this fall with fellow alums. Preet Mandavia Õ14 North Bethesda, MD. What brings Preet Mandavia Õ14 to Homecoming? Without question, tailgating. And when the festivities keep going past kickoff, heÕs content to catch the game via a grandpaÕs iPad (although he admits inside SECU Stadium is the ideal location). Preet loves nothing more than cooking and partying with the people he made lifelong connections with in college, especially if those friends are traveling from far away. ItÕs his perfect recipe for a weekend filled with Terp pride. Brooke Parker Õ14 & Dan Zawacki Õ13 Hanover, MD. Thanks to a floormateÕs family tailgate over a decade ago, Homecoming is where Brooke Parker Õ14 learned to pick a crab like a true Marylander. These days, she and her husband Dan Zawacki Õ13 love strolling around campus at Homecoming, seeing what has changed and catching up with friends as they hop from tailgate to tailgate. But ultimately, they canÕt wait to visit the spot on campus where they shared so many special memoriesÑthe Memorial Chapel gardensÑand make new ones with their future Terp. Lade Gbolade Õ21 Highland Park, n.j. Sitting in the stadium stands and cheering on the football team is the No. 1 Homecoming tradition for Lade Gbolade Õ21. This year, she is looking forward to the SEE Comedy Show, as well as reconnecting with the amazing friends she met through the Student Alumni Leadership Council. But her favorite memory? It was attending last yearÕs Division of Student Affairs Homecoming Leadership Celebration and commemorating the mark she and other student leaders have left on campus. Andrew String Õ21 New York, N.Y. For Andrew String Õ21, Homecoming is the perfect opportunity to see all the changes at Maryland, whether new buildings, academic programs or student groups. Plus, itÕs always fun to show his family and friends what his campus life was all about. He isnÕt able to return to College Park this year, but plans to catch the game with fellow members of the New York Terps Alumni Network at Abbey Tavern, its official game-watch bar. HeÕs looking forward to connecting with recent grads and introducing them to the strong New York Terp community. For more information on these events, visit alumni.umd.edu/homecoming. What Happens in Vegas (Is Thanks to a Terp) Alum Brings Big Concerts to Sin City Staging a cole field house concert during basketball season under coach Gary WilliamsÕ reign was like trying to make a half-court shot. But for musical greats Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, Sid Greenfeig Õ99 (above right) hit nothing but net. He and fellow Student Entertainment Events (SEE) members raced across the arena the moment the final buzzer sounded one November evening in 1998, removing courtside chairs and loading in equipment throughout the night for the next dayÕs sold-out show. ÒYouÕre 21 years old and youÕre setting up for two legends,Ó says Greenfeig. ÒIt was really cool.Ó Today, heÕs booking Grammy award-winner Adele for a months-long stop at Caesars Palace and K-pop superstars BTS at Allegiant Stadium as Live NationÕs senior vice president of concerts in Las Vegas. Business is booming as consumers shift their spending to experiences and more artists turn to live showsÑparticularly convenient residenciesÑto make money in the streaming age. ÒMy favorite moment of every show is before the artist takes the stage, when itÕs completely dark and the crowd just goes ballisticÑjust knowing that I had a part in this moment for everyone in the room,Ó he says. As a finance major at UMD, Greenfeig had never considered an entertainment career until friend Jared Paul Õ99 asked him to help with a SEE show. After getting his first taste of backstage access, Greenfeig joined the club to book major acts, starting with the Wu-Tang Clan. ÒIt was one of the scariest nights at the beginning,Ó he says, due to a miscommunication about payment, which he and Paul quickly sorted out. Once the hip-hop group got onstage, it got the crowd so pumped upÑMethod Man even hung from the raftersÑthat students damaged the newly renovated Ritchie Coliseum and got SEE banned from the facility for a few years. Undeterred, he and Paul teamed up again shortly after graduation, this time overseeing entertainment at the new MCI Arena in Washington, D.C. ÒPeople would see two kids, and theyÕd try to take advantage and call us every name there was,Ó he says. ÒBut thatÕs where we cut our teeth.Ó His work for Madison Square Garden, MGM Resorts and now Live Nation has taken him from south Florida to Los Angeles to Philadelphia. Las VegasÕ unusual venues, including the recently opened Sphere with its unique audio and visual capabilities, make it an essential stop for performers, he says. He oversees marketing, ticket sales and logistics, juggling multiple shows at once. Not having a traditional 9-to-5 has been tough at times as he and wife Amy Herr Greenfeig Õ00 grew their family. Overseeing concerts can keep him out until 2 a.m., and a call about a last-minute snafu could pull him from the sidelines of a soccer game. But these days, his three kids (especially the 15-year-old) have caught on that Dad has the connections to get them into the hottest shows, such as the iHeartRadio Music Festival. He credits UMD with steering him on the path to success, Greenfeig says, especially Stamp Student Union Director Marsha Guenzler-Stevens, who put her trust in Òa couple of idiotsÓ when he and Paul, now an entertainment manager, led SEE. ÒShe gave me a huge opportunity,Ó Greenfeig says. ÒNow, IÕve created a career and lifestyle, and I wouldnÕt trade it for the world.ÓÑks Greenfeig Raves About His All-time Faves ¥ Perry Farrell, War and Adam Levine in the Viper Room (~2015). ÒItÕs a really small room, maybe 600 people,Ó he says. Seeing artists from such different genres collaborating up close blew his mind. ÒI remember Perry Farrell singing ÔGet Up, Stand UpÕ with War, and IÕm like, ÔWhatÕs going on here?ÕÓ ¥ Jay-Z and Eminem at Yankee Stadium (2010). ÒI grew up a Yankees fan, so when I saw they were playing there, I was like, ÔIÕve got to go.Õ I É realized as I was trying to find my seats that IÕm on the field, getting closer and closer. IÕd already been in the business for 15 years, but it was still amazing.Ó ¥ The Killers at T-Mobile Arena (2022). ÒI was brought on when the building was just starting to be constructed, so we wanted to do a big opening show. I had this vision: We should do something for the locals, brand it, so we got the Killers, who are from Las Vegas. It was a whole journey, opening the venue, booking something, creating something out of that.Ó Class Notes ÒHeavyweight: A Family Story of the Holocaust, Empire and Memory,Ó a graphic memoir by Solomon J. Brager Õ10, was published by William Morrow. They hold a doctorate from Rutgers University, New Brunswick; teach history, media and gender studies at Rutgers; and are director of community engagement for Jewish Currents magazine. Ê Michelle (ÒSunÓ) Choe Õ91Êis the new global brand president ofÊthe apparel brand Vans. She previously led design and merchandising for lululemon, Marc Jacobs, West Elm, Madewell, Urban Outfitters, LeviÕs and the Gap.Ê Scott Foster Õ91 was among the referees at the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. Over his 30-year career in the NBA, heÕs officiated more playoff games than anyone, including 25 in the finals. Joan Vassos Õ85 was named the first ÒGolden BacheloretteÓ in the latest iteration of the dating reality TV series, slated to air on ABC this fall. She works in alumni relations at a private school in Montgomery County, Md., and was a contestant on ÒThe Golden Bachelor,Ó but left in Week 3 due to a family emergency. Rick Eberst Ph.D. Õ77 was named chief docent for AugustÕs Pebble Beach Concours dÕElegance, the Super Bowl of classic car shows, conducting tours and ensuring that the team is knowledgeable about all 225-plus entries at the event. The professor emeritus from the California State University SystemÊhas restored 45 cars himself and still drives his Terp-red 1966 Corvette Coupe. Behind BaltimoreÕs Closed Doors Alumna Investigates the Small Histories in Charm CityÕs Houses In the corner of East Fort Avenue and Webster Street in South Baltimore, Katie Labor Ph.D. Õ23 is making a new friend: the owner of a rowhouse whose exterior brick wall boasts two mid-century murals advertising Fort Avenue Pharmacy, which occupied the space for nearly 50 years. The owner, Michael Perry, who was heading to his car as Labor admired the mural, takes her inside and on a digital tour of the houseÕs renovations, flipping through his iPad to show how the basement used to hold swivel chairs and blow dryers for the beauty salon that replaced the pharmacy. Labor beams with excitement. Her quest to unearth BaltimoreÕs hyper- local history isnÕt always this easy. As the sleuth behind the X/Twitter account @BehindBmoreLots, Labor typically digs through newspaper archives to find the human dramas behind Charm CityÕs historic homes and businesses. ÒIÕve always liked finding out about the places I lived in, and Baltimore has been fantastic, because everythingÕs old,Ó she says. LaborÕs project started one morning two years ago, when she was taking the bus to her job at Johns Hopkins University, where sheÕs now a pre-professional academic adviser. As she gawped at the more than 100-year-old rowhouses along her route, she began entering their addresses into newspapers.com, where she had an account for genealogy research. ÒOne of the houses had two articles come up,Ó Labor says. ÒOne was about a little girl whoÕd stuck a pencil in her ear, and then two years later, there was another article about the same little girl getting hit by a streetcar. She was extremely accident-prone. I was so charmed by that.Ó (The girl sustained only minor injuries in both incidents.) A bit of benign busybody-ness also stoked LaborÕs dissertation in UMDÕs history department. She pored over American travel narratives from the 18th century to investigate how peopleÕs sense of personal privacy was changing. ÒItÕs a time of transition when most people go from living in one or two rooms to living in true houses,Ó she says. ÒPeople are starting to get more used to the idea of basic personal privacy.Ó Thankfully, a growing sense of privacy didnÕt keep people from spilling details of their personal lives to newspapers, which for much of the 20th century functioned in part as social registers for cities and towns. In The Baltimore Sun or the Baltimore Afro-American, residents made sure all their neighbors knew about the engagement parties they threw for their daughters or the births of babies. Most houses held sad stories, too. In one on Light Street, a mother pleaded for help finding her son, a vaudeville and circus performer whoÕd been missing for four years. In another, a teenager named Alexander was arrested in 1913 for stealing materials to bring gas heat to his house. Several months later, The Sun reported that his father had Òstarted for parts unknown, leaving his wife and childrenÓÑexacerbating the familyÕs apparent financial struggles. Just a few years later, Alexander died after being wounded in battle in France during World War I. ÒI think about the things about the past that weÕll never be able to recapture,Ó Labor says, Òand looking at old newspapers, you get those glimpses that donÕt get passed down.ÓÑsl Back to the Buzzer After 9 Wins on ÒJeopardy!,Ó History Grad to Return for Tournament of Champions An alum with a penchant for Õ70s-inspired attire and a quick witÑand buzzer fingerÑwill get a chance to add to the $215,390 heÕs already won on ÒJeopardy!Ó when he competes in its Tournament of Champions in early 2025. Isaac Hirsch Õ14 became the TV showÕs second-biggest winner of 2024, taking down the competition for nearly two weeks in July with his pop culture know-how, wordplay skills, and literature and history expertiseÑthanks to his UMD degree. ÒWhen youÕre up there, your brainÕs in low-power mode. YouÕre using like 20% of it, so youÕre trying to make mental connections with the scraps of whatÕs left,Ó he says. Multiply that by playing five games, back-to-back, with just 20-minute breaks to change clothes, and his nine-game winning streak looks all the more remarkable. He credits his decade of experience as a part-time comedian, starting from when he was president of UMDÕs standup club, and his previous appearances on trivia shows ÒWho Wants to Be a MillionaireÓ and ÒThe ChaseÓ with helping him stay relaxed on stage. Hirsch grew up in a multigenerational ÒJeopardy!Ó familyÑhis dad appeared on the show in the early 1980sÑand his parents were librarians who stocked the house with reference books. He got his first taste of TV trivia competition when he joined the ÒItÕs AcademicÓ team in high school, then competed for UMDÕs Quiz Bowl team, though he spent most of his time on the ÒBÓ squad. ÒMaryland has a very good team,Ó says Hirsch, a customer support team lead for a software company from Burbank, Calif. ÒÔBut Quiz Bowl tests depth of knowledge, and I donÕt know a lot about anything. ÔJeopardy!Õ tests breadth of knowledge, and I know a little about everything.Ó Since filming wrapped in May, heÕs been brushing up on weaker topics, like geography and science, to get ready to face off against fellow contestants who won five games or more. ÒIÕm going in with a lot to prove,Ó says Hirsch. ÒPeople will look at me like one of the favorites, but thereÕs a lot of luck involved. So IÕm preparing as if itÕs tomorrow!ÓÑKS Spring in Their Step Spirited students leapfrog over one another during the 1991 Homecoming step show, a former annual tradition for the University of MarylandÕs Black Greek-letter organizations. Recognize any of these talented Terps? Or were you part of the Cole Field House crowd mesmerized by their moves? Share your memories with us at terpfeedback@umd.edu, and check back in the next issue to find the responses and another fun snapshot of UMD history.ÑAK From the Last Issue Many Terps wrote in about their gripping experiences in the 1986 hunger-fighting fundraising stunt Hands Across America, from landing on the front page of The Baltimore Sun to being mistaken for standing in a Grateful Dead ticket line. But we heard from only one alum in the campus photo shown in the Spring 2024 issue: Michael Heitt Õ89 recognized his freshman year roommate, Bryan Gordon Õ90 (about 20 people from the left in a dark shirt), and himself (the shorter man to his left). ÒI remember the day fondly because it was when I first spokeÊto my wife, Sandy Hawkins, who was in town for a campus tour,Ó Heitt wrote. Another part of the day he canÕt forget? The eventÕs theme song performed by Toto, which he said Gordon played nonstop on the sixth floor of Cumberland Hall. Parting Shot Track Record Newly laid tracks for the stateÕs light-rail Purple Line curve past Reckord Armory and up to Campus Drive. The university worked with the Maryland Department of Transportation to accelerate construction, with major projects in the campus core wrapping up in the fall. When completed in 2027, the project will span 16 miles from New Carrollton in Prince GeorgeÕs County to Bethesda in Montgomery County. Five of the 21 stations will be on or near UMD, and students, faculty and staff can ride for free between them. The transit system is expected to reduce the universityÕs greenhouse emissions while expanding TerpsÕ access to the region with connections to Metro, MARC and Amtrak. Photo by john t. consoli