The Towerlight, February 5, 2009

The 20th annual African-American Read-In kicked off Black History Month with readings and performances Monday in the Loch Raven Room of the University Union... page 16 TheTniuerlighb.Eom. Go online to view footage of the Rodgers Forge protest of the arena expansion % Thursday n www. thetowerlight. com f ' "Mm Published by Baltimore Student Media for the Towson University Community m February 5, 2009 Coach begins rebuilding Tigers Eric Gazzillo / The Towerlight New football head coach Rob Ambrose has been active on the Maryland recruiting scene during his first month on the job. Commentary Strong first class paves way for future in-state recruiting sucess KEVIN HESS Associate Sports Editor I’ll say this about new Tigers head coach Rob Ambrose. The guy can move, and fast. Since arriving on campus just one month ago, Ambrose has been out and about, implementing his plan of rebuilding the Towson program. The early returns can be summed up as promising. And if he wants to deliver on that promise, something that ex-coach Gordy Combs couldn’t do in the last two years of his tenure, Ambrose has to keep the fire and intensity he displayed at his opening press conference. Pumping up the football program to potential recruits will greatly help. With little time to work on establishing pipelines since his arrival, his incoming recruiting class should be seen as impressive. Even without a full staff, particularly on the defensive side of the See COACH, page 22 Ambrose institutes new attitude, drives program during first month PETE LORENZ Sports Editor Surrounded by text-filled white¬ boards and scrambled documents, new head football coach Rob Ambrose sat at one end of a long table in a room at the Johnny Unitas Field House Wednesday afternoon. Offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator John Donatelli accom¬ panied him, along with wide receiv¬ ers coach Guilian Gary, quarterbacks coach John Kaleo and the rest of the revamped staff. It was national signing day in the Tiger football war room. With such a quick turnaround following the release of longtime head coach Gordy Combs, the crew was lucky to have anybody left over from the previous regime’s recruiting class. They had that, plus a few more graduating high school seniors, most of them from the state of Maryland, all in just 29 days of stressful phone calls, meetings, workouts and sig¬ natures. "We did three months' worth of work in three weeks,” Ambrose said. "Stress? I told my wife it was the happiest 20-hour-a-day job I’ve ever had in my life. Normally in the transition period, you’re going to lose them all, and there were kids that were on the list before that we desperately wanted to keep and we kept them." See SIGN, page 22 Towson Center talks hit standstill University officials, town representatives meet, but can’t find middle ground KIEL MCLAUGHLIN Editor in Chief NICK DIMARCO Senior Editor The Rodgers Forge Community and University administration were unable to move toward a middle ground concerning the Towson Center expansion during a meeting Monday evening. The two sides left the table without any changes made to the most recent plans for the $45.4 million addition that would include a 5,000-seat basketball venue on Lot 21. Another closed meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 10. According to Marina Cooper, the special assis¬ tant to the president for external relations and communications, University officials presented the potential alternative locations and estimated additional costs to the project. These locations included moving the addition closer to Auburn Drive, further down the side of the current arena while remaining on Lot 21 and construct¬ ing the adjacent facility on the opposite side of the Towson Center into Lot 20. By moving the addition closer to Auburn Drive, the building would be more than 400 feet away from the University’s property line that meets Rodgers Forge and it would be even fur¬ ther if located on Lot 20. In both cases, Cooper said, the increased costs would be in the mil¬ lions of dollars due to additional rock removal and topography changes. President Robert Caret has said in prior interviews that the University would be unable to increase its budget any fur¬ ther and that additional costs would be difficult to incur. See ARENA, page 8 AtU resident*, -4. ^ oAVour ^ ^ г \s\and fix? 18 Allegheny Ave Towson Next toTHB! 7am - 7pm Mon. - Sat. 7am - 3pm Sun. www.chilimanweiners.com