Why is the University of Maryland Men's Track Program Being Cut?

On November 14, 2011 the men's and women's track and cross country teams were called to a meeting at Kehoe Track. It was there that it was initially announced that the entire men's program; cross country, indoor track and outdoor track were all being recommended to be cut the following year. Over the next week, emails were sent, letters were written, thousands of people joined a Facebook group, a petition was formed and tweets were posted all to get the word out to help save UMD Men's Track.

Despite all of the efforts, it appeared that the President and his Commission had already made their final decision about cutting sports. On November 21, President Wallace Loh announced that the program would officially be cut on June 30, 2012, after allowing the athletes to finish the remaining seasons in the 2011-2012 school year.

Terps to Cut Eight Athletic Teams from Sam Nassau on Vimeo.

As President Loh stated in the previous video, one of his main reasons for cutting the 8 teams was to help improve the remaining teams by increasing funds for the other 19 sports. Currently the average cost per student athlete with 27 teams is $67,389.71, which is the second lowest out of all of the (newly configured) ACC schools including Syracuse University and Pittsburg University.
In the following audio clip, a member of the women's track and cross country teams, Kallie Fehr discusses this concept.



The idea is that if the number of teams and the number of student athletes is decreased, then the remaining student athletes will be provided with better equipment to improve in athletics and academics. According to the Report of the President's Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, with only 19 varsity sports rather than 27, the projected investment per student athlete in 2013 is $107,849.78. The new plan for student athletes involves enhancements in academic support, health services, and media relations support.

Most collegiate athletic departments gain most of their funding from the football and/or basketball teams, unless the funding is provided by the state. In the case of University of Maryland, the funding for the athletic department is not related to the funding of the University as a whole nor does the athletic department receive funding from the state of Maryland. Therefore, the majority of the UMD athletic department's money needs to come from the football and basketball programs. However, in recent years, University of Maryland has fallen short on these profits. Of the 8 ACC schools that reported their financial reports, University of Maryland was ranked last based on football revenue.


Atlantic Coast Schools ranked by football ticket sales
1. Virginia Tech University $12,039,528
2. Clemson University $12,010,706
3. Florida State University $11,204,615
4. University of Virginia $9,097,643
5. North Carolina State University $8,163,107
6. University of North Carolina $6,659,501
7. Georgia Tech $5,879,818
8. University of Maryland $4,355,874



Sean O'Leary, author of an article featured on Flotrack (one of the most popular websites among runners) and a member of the UMD Men's Cross Country and Track Team gives a brief overview of his take on the President's Commission's Report and discusses what is in store for the future for Men's Track.



President Loh certainly argues that money can solve the problems of intercollegiate athletics at University of Maryland. And yes, maybe it is possible that increased funding for some programs will help the athletes and draw in recruits, therefore benefiting those programs. However it can also be argued that money can't buy championship level teams. The only way to do that is through hard work, determination and dedication. These are 3 things that the members of the men's cross country and track team have. Additionally, they are some of the hardest working student-athletes academically, winning the President's cup (An award given to the sport with the highest cumulative GPA) 5 out of the last 15 years. To watch a program with a group of amazing STUDENT-athletes get cut would be a shame.

The future of the University of Maryland men's track and cross country teams is now in the hands of its supporters. If funding for the next 8 years, nearly 4.2 million dollars, can be raised by the end of June, 2012, then the men's track program can be saved. Although this is definitely a far-fetched goal, it is also very attainable to come up with the money before July, 2012. With support from people like Al Carey (CEO of PepsiCo) and Coach Andrew Valmon, who is the head coach of the Olympic men's track team for 2012, there is a lot of publicity, and therefore more supporters will find out about the cause and can donate to the team.
To donate, go to this website: http://www.umterps.com/school-bio/save_track.html

VO2 Max Testing: What it is and What we can do with the Results

Doctor Hagberg is a Professor in the Kinesiology Department at the University of Maryland. His major academic emphasis is research and teaching and he has been funded by NIH (National Institutes of Health), the VA (Veteran's Affair), the American Heart Association and the US Olympic Committee. His current professional research is addressing the effects of genetics, aging and physical activity on conventional and novel cardiovascular disease risk factors. He is also doing research on the VO2 Max Levels of runners on the track and cross country teams at University of Maryland. In the following video, Doctor Hagberg explains what VO2 max testing is and how it is done. There are other factors regarding the track athletes that would effect their performance other than VO2 Max that we can test. Running economy and lactate threshold can be measured as a prediction of performance and a representation of current fitness level. I asked Doctor Hagberg about the other aspects of running performances. The following is his response. In this video, Doctor Hagberg goes into great detail about blood lactate testing. Blood lactate levels can be tested by having a person run for a period of time and prick their finger in order to find out the lactate level. As intensity increases over time, the lactate level should be tested again, in order to check for changes.

Greg Hauprich Explains the Difference Between AM and FM Radio

Before interviewing Greg, I had a chance to look into his blog post about AM and FM radio. Before reading his blog, I was unaware of the actual difference between AM and FM radio other than the fact that I would actually listen to FM radio and I would never listen to AM radio other than the times that I am trapped in a car with my father while he is listening to this talk radio shows. In Greg's blog, he explains that AM radio sounds old and FM radio sounds better, although still not up to par with the sound of Sirius XM radio. After listening to all three, I would have to agree with his statement. A very important aspect of Greg's blog was explaining WHY there are differences in the fidelity between AM and FM radio. In the following clip he explains the difference between the two.

listen to ‘Greg interview 1’ on Audioboo

The differences in fidelity betwen AM and FM radio have resulted in different types of programs being played. AM radio typically consists of mainly news and talk stations, therefore appealing to those seeking information about news, traffic alerts or weather updates. Additionally, FM radio has a higher fidelity, thus, FM radio stations typically play only music for people to listen to. According to Greg's blog, AM listeners are willing to put up with lacking signals to get their news, yet still trust it enough to return to AM radio. Although AM radio has its disadvantages, it is still popular among people to get news. There are far more AM radio stations for news than FM, however there are almost twice as many total FM stations than AM. With the higher fidelity, it definitely attracts more listeners and produces more revenue.

Coach Desmond Dunham: His Road to Coaching

Coach Desmond Dunham had not always wanted to be a coach as he was growing up. It was a good decision to become one on his part due to his great success as a high school track coach. His girls' 4x800 relay team broke the National Record in 2008. He was named the Coach of the Decade by The Gazette (2000-2010), and his history-making 4x800 relay team was named the ESPN/Dystat Relay of the Decade. In this clip, Coach Dunham talks about his introduction to coaching and the impact it had on his life.

listen to ‘The Beginning’ on Audioboo

He is not only a great coach in that he can produce champions on the track, but he also help produce champions in life. As the current head distance coach of the University of Maryland Track and Field Team, Desmond Dunham is always the first to promote doing things the right way instead of the easy way. He wants his athletes to excel in all aspects of life which makes him a great person along with a great coach. He likes to push people to their limits, and he goes into more detail about this in the following clip.

listen to ‘Favorite Part of Coaching’ on Audioboo

In the 2008/2009 school year, he switched from coaching at Eleanor Roosevelt High School to coaching at University of Maryland as the head distance coach. His successes here include former athlete Alex Lundy qualifying for Nationals in cross country in 2010.

The Benefits and Strategies of Successful Radio Advertisements

The 13,000 AM, FM and HD radio stations broadcasted in the United States reach 93.1% of the population over 12 years old every week, according to Arbitron's American Radio Listening Trends report (data from 2009 and 2010). Therefore, with radio there is rarely a doubt about whether you will be able to reach your target audience. 

Since it reaches so many people, it is easy for radio to advertise a large variety and a growing number of products ranging from vitamins and nutritional supplements to CD's, music, and health and beauty items. Additionally, radio advertising includes categories such as household cleaning products, kitchen/cooking products, and travel offerings. Basically, almost all types of products have a target audience somewhere listening to the radio.


Another benefit of radio advertising is the low cost of a commercial. Where the most simple and inexpensive TV spot advertisements will easily cost well over $50,000 and take months to produce, you can get a radio spot for less than $1,500 in a matter of days according to http://www.strategicmediainc.com/radio-advertising.php.

http://www.gaebler.com/Radio-Ad-Rates.htm is a website that will give potential advertisers the going rates to play a radio advertisement in every state and it goes into detail about how much it would typically cost for each station in specific areas. From there you can pick a radio station, for example, 94.7 FM in the Silver Spring area, and it provides you with information about what kind of music is played/ what is being discussed on the station, the company that owns the station and finally, it goes into cost. For a 30 second spot on 94.7 Fresh FM, the average rate is about $396.00, however, seasonal factors, time slots and volume discounts should be considered.

Radio is a valuable option for advertisers because it is an affordable ad medium that can reach a mass audience, yet there are properties of radio advertising that must be included for a radio ad to be successful. The frequency of ads is very important in selling a product. Based on the "five keys to radio advertising success," "a radio commercial needs to air multiple times before it sinks in with the listener." Everyone knows the little jingles from radio ads that they have heard multiple times. Most people wouldn't remember the Empire Today tune if they only heard it played once. Since it is repeatedly played on the radio, people are going to remember it and the idea of the product will sink in. 

Just like with every ad you create, whether it is an advertisement on tv, in a magazine, newspaper, etc., you must know the audience you are targeting. Advertising children's toys on Nickelodeon would make sense, however an advertisement for the same toys on Spike TV would not. That is why it is important to find out what type of people would be listening to different stations. The specific radio station frequency and the type of station it is are provided on http://www.gaebler.com/Radio-Ad-Rates.htm and the audience/age group for each type of station is provided on http://www.strategicmediainc.com/radio-advertising.php. Together, these websites are a tool for potential advertisers to figure out what stations to try to buy an advertising spot.

Runner's World Magazine

Kinesiology is defined as "The study of mechanics of body movements." As a Kinesiology Major and a runner, Runner's World Magazine is a magazine that I find interesting, and also really informative. I found myself getting distracted from completing this assignment from all the information on the Runner's World website. Runner's World presents information on many topics involving the best ways to maximize running performance based on research of body movements. The magazine provides information about training and racing, stretching, nutrition, and injury prevention, all topics covered in Kinesiology classes, but specialized towards runners.

This magazine is advertised for being only one dollar per issue, which is below average, and therefore a selling point to anyone interested in running. Many of my friends that are also runners have many copies of this magazine laying around their houses and have monthly subscriptions to keep up with all the latest running information.

Although most people reading Runner's World Magazine are only in the category of runners, and mainly   being distance runners, the number of magazines sold has increased since 2004, where other magazines have been losing sales. In 2004, the magazine had a full redesign, which probably affected its circulation. Since then, it has been recognized as number 1 on Adweek's Hot List and has been nominated three times for National Magazine Awards.

The latest issue of Runner's World for November 2011 includes a cure for knee pain, a way to double your endurance, how to recover from a bad run, 10 healthy meals for a runner's body, exercises to increase fitness and other information related to running and keeping your body healthy.

William Randolph Hearst: A Legend in the Newspaper Business

William Randolph Hearst was born April 29, 1863 in San Francisco, California, the son of a multimillionaire, George Hearst. In 1903, Hearst married Millicent Wilson, and together the couple had 5 sons. Hearst had an open affair with Marion Davis and he lived with her in an elaborate mansion after he and his wife had separated in the 1920s. However, he remained legally married to Millicent for the entirety of his life. Today, the mansion in which he and Marion lived is a California landmark well known as the Hearst Castle.

When Hearst was twenty-four, and searching for a job, he took over management of a newspaper that his father had purchased, the San Francisco Examiner. He then hired the most talented writers of the time and acquired the best equipment for the newspaper. After just a few years, the San Francisco Examiner dominated that area in terms of newspapers. Hearst opened newspapers in other cities including Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles. By the mid-1920’s he had 28 newspapers including the Boston America, the Atlanta Georgian, the Chicago Examiner, the Detroit Times, the Washington Post and the Washington Herald. Hearst also began publishing books and magazines, some of which include Good Housekeeping, Town and Country and Cosmopolitan.

Hearst once said, “News is something somebody doesn't want printed; all else is advertising.” With these words, it shows his ideals when it comes to journalism. Although the term, “yellow journalism” was created originally to describe the reporting practices of Joseph Pulitzer, Hearst demonstrated that he also had a knack for using such techniques in his writing. “Yellow journalism” is defined as the type of journalism that relies on sensationalism and lurid exaggeration to attract readers. According to the book Unreliable Sources, by Martin Lee and Norman Solomon, Hearst “routinely invented sensational stories, faked interviews, ran phony pictures and distorted real events.” Additionally, according to Upton Sinclair, Hearst’s newspaper employees were "willing by deliberate and shameful lies, made out of whole cloth, to stir nations to enmity and drive them to murderous war." Although many people criticized his work, his businesses sold and still sell many copies of magazines and newspapers. Furthermore, during the period of the Holocaust, when many newspapers downplayed the mass murders, Hearst covered it as the important news that it was.

Along with his great influence on the newspaper business, Hearst was also an active member of politics. He was elected twice as a Democrat to the House of Representatives. He unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of New York City in 1905 and 1909, for Governor of New York in 1906 and Lieutenant Governor of New York in 1910. He is also accredited with creating the Independence party.

The movie Citizen Cane was loosely based on parts of William Randolph Hearst and his life. Hearst used all of his power and influence in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the release of the movie. However, Hearst managed to limit the bookings of Citizen Kane in movie theaters. Even with his efforts, the movie was ranked number one on the list of American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Films of all Time in 1998 and 2007. Unfortunately for Hearst, his image today has been shaped largely by the film, which shows a negative view of him as a man.