Category: Uncategorized

On Monday, April 8, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D) visited St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where he gave a lecture on political participation, while promoting new legislation put forward by the Democratic house. He then briefly took questions from the audience. The event was heavily attended by both students and members of the community, with barely any seats left open.

The lecture was sponsored by the Center for the Study of Democracy as well as the Patuxent Partnership, an organization working to “advance science and technology through speaker programs, forums, and networking,” focusing on “the exchange of ideas, information, and data related to technologies.”

Prior to becoming a senator, Van Hollen served in the House, representing Maryland’s Eighth Congressional district. He was elected to the Senate in 2016, when he ran to replace Barbara Mikulski. He is joined by Senator Ben Cardin (D) in representing Maryland in the Senate.

Van Hollen was introduced by President Tuajuanda C. Jordan, who briefly spoke about how thankful the college was that the senator made time to visit. Dr. Jordan also held a moment of silence for Michael Busch (D), the Maryland Speaker of the House, who passed away only a few short days ago. Busch was the longest serving speaker of the House in history, according to a tweet from Governor Larry Hogan (R).

Van Hollen took the stage to a warm welcome of applause, beginning by explaining that he had planned to talk about college debt, but decided against it, realizing that as students we are all too familiar with this concept. He did quickly elaborate on the need for more Pell Grants, scholarships and federal support, explaining that many students are “behind already because they have to dig themselves out of a big hole,” a comment which garnered many nods and murmurs of agreement from students.

Instead of focusing on the ever increasing levels of debt students are faced with, the senator launched into a discussion of the surrounding area, stating that “Southern Maryland is known for bringing together different parts of this community,” citing the Patuxent River Navy Base and the many local industries.

After a few short minutes Van Hollen pivoted, moving on to promote the “For The People Act” (H.R. 1), the first bill from the new Democratic majority in the House. Van Hollen summarized the legislation as a way to “refresh our democracy, to known down barriers, and to encourage more Americans to participate in the election and political process.” The bill is ambitious, and is composed of numerous goals, such as campaign finance reform, lobbying and better participation in elections.

Van Hollen focused on the abysmal voting rates among American citizens, stating that “It is disappointing when you look at how few people exercise their right to vote.” He went on to compare the United States with other nations where “people are yearning for the right to vote and participate in elections,” declaring that “here in the United States we take that for granted.” He drove this point home by reading out the statistics on voting in both the presidential elections and midterms, explaining that in presidential elections, roughly 60% of eligible voters cast votes, but that in midterms that rate drops severely to about 40%. The senator then compared these rates to that of younger voters, stating that in presidential elections there is about a 40-50% turnout, and 20-25% in midterms.

He also spoke about the need to make voting easier, thereby removing some of the barriers to participation that have historically stood in the way. Van Hollen was asked by an audience member if he supported making election day a national holiday, to which he replied that he was in favor, saying “It’s so important.” He highlighted the benefits of same day voter registration, a piece of legislation already enacted by the Maryland General Assembly, as well as the need to reaffirm the weakened Voting Rights Act.

Van Hollen also tackled the issue of dark money in politics, a term referring to money spent influencing elections by organizations that are not required to disclose the identity of their donors. He lambasted the the Citizens United decision, stating that it “took a bad system and made it much worse,” adding “I believe they twisted the first amendment.” Using this court case, Van Hollen dove home the importance of voting, explaining that this vote was a 5-4 decision, and like in so many other cases and elections, one vote made all the difference, setting a standard for decades to come. He pushed back against the idea that money in politics will self-regulate, stating that “when you unleash millions and millions of dollars, that doesn’t self-police,” gaining laughter from the audience.

The senator ended by re-emphasizing the need to participate in democracy, stating “Bottom line, every vote counts. Please do everything you can to participate in our democracy. At the very least take part in our elections.”

Rising temperatures, rainy days, and blooming flowers are some of the most telling signs of spring, but are generally less fun to observe than nesting osprey, which have long been touted as a symbol of the changing seasons. Osprey, more commonly referred to as Seahawks, became a hot topic of conversation on campus last semester after a family of the seabirds nested on top of Anne Arundel Hall’s Blackistone Room. The birds could be seen carrying their nesting supplies all over campus and in Historic St. Mary’s City, but their choice of location last season also raised some serious concerns.

In an interview from October 2018, Bradley Newkirk, Assistant Director of the Physical Plant, told The Point News “There are, from a facilities standpoint, concerns about the building being able to properly exhaust air or bring in fresh air, because a lot of those chimneys aren’t just aesthetic, they’re functional… If the exhaust is plugged up, it affects other building systems… We would prefer that they nest in other places.” He also noted that  “Once those nests have eggs in them, we can’t touch them until they migrate… If there’s just a few sticks up there and they’re in the process of building a nest, we can move them.”

Newkirk was citing the protection of osprey under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. According to the Chesapeake Bay Field Office of the US Fish and Wildlife Service  “Ospreys, like other migratory birds, are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Osprey nests can be removed without a permit if the nest is inactive. A nest is considered inactive if there are no eggs or young present in the nest. To remove an active nest requires a permit.”

At the time of the interview, Newkirk suggested the community garden as an alternate nesting site. “There’s a pole that we’re hoping to get them to nest on, and not on fresh air intakes.” He added, of the nest over the Blackistone room, “There were birds in it. There were babies. We took a drone up there and took pictures.” Once this step had been done, the Physical Plant contacted the Fish and Wildlife Service for recommendations on relocating the nest, who advised that the school relocate the nest after the hatchlings had fledged and “put up some sort of device so they don’t come back,” he stated, before quickly adding “we purposefully invite them to other places that don’t necessarily affect things.”

Sure enough, as fall approached the nest over the Blackistone room had been replaced with a wire cage designed to make the site less appealing to nesting birds, which seems to be working: there is no sign of a new nest on the air intake. But fans of the Seahawk, knowing they return to the same breeding ground each year, may not know where to look to see the beloved College mascot this year. Luckily, aspiring birders don’t have to look much farther than the old nesting site to catch a glimpse of the new nest, which sits atop one of the poles next to the boathouse. It is speculated that the new nesting site may be even better than the last, given its proximity to both the river and St. John’s Pond. Despite their being called “seahawks”, osprey are not true birds of prey: instead, these “hawks” hunt for fish.

Visitors to the boathouse should take a moment to look up and appreciate the return of the College’s mascot for the season. With any luck, the new nest will have eggs later this month or in May, which will be incubated by the mother osprey for about a month before they hatch. According to US Fish and Wildlife Services, young osprey attempt their first flight 60 days after hatching.

On Tuesday, March 26, Timothy Bingley, a former St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) student accused of secretly recording men in the Prince George’s Hall bathroom, waived his right to a trial in cooperation with state prosecutors. His case, a 17-count bill of criminal charges, was placed on the inactive docket.

Bingley will serve 100 hours of community service at no less than 16 hours per week. Bingley will also submit regular mental health reports, and is not permitted to share images or videos with anybody outside his immediate family.

An investigation by SMCM’s Public Safety office and the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department charged Bingley with recording, preparing and uploading videos of men using the bathroom, uploaded with titles such as “Cute Boy Takes a Gassy Poop” and “Big Daddy Has Diarrhea Explosion.”