Towson's campus and community news source thetowerlight.com
Thursday, 5-12-11
Groundbreaking moment in TU athletics
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Casey Prather/ The Towerlight
From left to right, former Baltimore County Executive Dennis Rasmussen, former Board of Regents member David Nevins, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, San Antonio Spurs guard Gary
Neal, Interim President Marcia Welsh, Director of Athletics Mike Waddell, men’s basketball Head Coach Pat Skerry, women’s basketball Head Coach Joe Mathews, Baltimore County Council member
David Marks, state delegate Bill Frank, state delegate Steve Lafferty, and volleyball Head Coach Bruce Atkinson ceremonially break ground on Towson University’s $62 million Tiger Arena.
ANDREW CONSTANT
Sports Editor
Tuesday morning on Lot 21, members of
the Towson University community gathered to
officially break ground on the new Tiger Arena
project, slated to open in the spring of 2013.
Interim President Marcia G. Welsh, Director
of Athletics Mike Waddell, Baltimore County
Executive Kevin Kamenetz and former Board of
Regents member David Nevins spoke about the
potential impact that the new 5,000-seat arena
will have on the campus and community.
“I want to be the best Towson we can be and
that’s where our goals have to be," Waddell
said. "And this arena, Tiger Arena, will put our
coaches into the perspective of being able to sell
that dream that we’re not going to settle for any¬
thing less than being the best. We want to be at
the top of the CAA, and if you’re at the top of the
CAA, you’re at the top of the national spectrum.
That’s the goal."
Tiger Arena will be the new home for the
men’s and women’s basketball teams and the
volleyball and gymnastics teams. Like the cur¬
rent Towson Center, it will also be the place for
commencements and special community events.
New men’s basketball Head Coach Pat Skerry
said the Tiger Arena has been a strong selling
point as he pitches Towson to potential recruits.
"It’s huge because it’s going to give us that
’wow’ factor when a kid steps on campus," Skerry
said. "With the shovels and the machinery going
to work, we’ve got something visual to show
them and sell them, and you can’t put into words
See ARENA, page 22
Fake it to make it into bars:
Towson's fake ID culture
ALISSA KATZ
Senior Editor
While some college students regard fake
IDs as a rite of passage to drink and
have a good time, Maryland U.S. Attorney
Rod J. Rosenstein stressed their illegality
Thursday by announcing federal charges
against a University of Maryland, College
Park junior who is accused of making and
selling illegitimate driver’s licenses from
his dorm in 2009.
Theodore Stephen Michaels, a straight -
A triple major, could face decades in prison
if he’s convicted of the 16 counts returned
against him.
"Keep in mind that the media will
always state the maximum penalty,"
Towson Attorney Lee Jacobson, who has
represented clients in fake ID trials before,
said. "Even though a crime may carry a
heavy penalty, it’s ultimately up to the
trial judge what should be imposed. The
judge has a wide discretion from probation
before judgment, to the maximum penalty,
to anything in between."
Jacobson, who confirmed that produc¬
ing and distributing fake IDs is illegal, also
said that if Michaels is found guilty
See FAKE, page 17
Director of Athletics
casts away Seaman
SAM SMITH
Assistant Sports Editor
Baltimore Lacrosse Hall of Famer Tony
Seaman will not be back next season as the
head coach of Towson’s men’s lacrosse team.
Seaman will leave Towson with a 99-93
record in his 13 seasons of service as the Tiger's
coach and a 263-166 career mark in his 30
seasons of coaching, which include stints with
Johns Hopkins, Penn and C.W. Post. His 263
wins rank him seventh among active coaches.
A 3-10 record and a 1-5 mark in Colonial
Athletic Association play this season kept the
Tigers out of the CAA Tournament for the first
time since 2008.
Towsontigers.com reported that Seaman
resigned, but Seaman said his exit was a
decision made by Director of Athletics Mike
Waddell.
“[He] made the decision and we talked
about it several times. He told me about his
concerns and I told him why I thought I should
get another year and right this ship a little bit,
but [I] understood: 3-10, it’s got to be looked
at," Seaman said. "Even though last year we
were 5-1 in the CAA and were pretty successful
and made it to the championship game and
lost, and the year before we were 4-2, it hasn't
been as bad as everybody thinks it is when you
wind up 1-5. But he wanted a different change,
and he's the boss.”
Waddell has asked Seaman to stay on and
See SEAMAN, page 22
