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Coming up on this addition of TerpVision: After a devastating injury ended his season
last year, C.J. Brown returns with big goals. Maryland student entrepreneurs travel to Nicaragua
to help launch local socially responsible businesses. A unique mashup of orchestral
music and video games. And new technology that solves the age old problem of bad calls.
It's all coming up next on TerpVision.
Hey again everyone, I'm Bonnie Bernstein. Time for another addition of TerpVision: A look at the people, places and programs that make
the University of Maryland one of the world's greatest universities. We are bringing you
today's program from a very special place to me. We are on set of my new show, The Download
on Campus Insiders where I'm the College Sports Network's Vice President of Content and Brand
Development. It's an incredible opportunity for me but one I know would never have been
possible without the amazing foundation I built at the Journalism School in College
Park. Our first piece today takes us to Nicaragua. Maryland has a long history of enlightening
students through real world experiences and this one certainly fits the bill. Lets look
in on a group of budding social entrepreneurs, helping locals start and grow sustainable
businesses in this developing nation.
In the villages of Nicaragua, something as basic as reading a book at night or cooking safely indoors can be impossible. Without solar lamps
to illuminate the pages, reading glasses to see the words or stoves that cook without
noxious fumes, residents are left with few options.
This summer, twelve Maryland students went to see how they could help.
White:Nicaragua is the second poorest country in Central America;
Haiti is the poorest. So, Nicaragua is beginning to develop a business class and work its way
out of poverty. It has been plagued by revolution, by natural disasters and has had difficulty
and just now is beginning to develop entrepreneurship. Bernstein: The students helped locals start small businesses,
selling essential items that would benefit the entire community. They trained them to
do eye exams... and sell glasses...and safe indoor stoves, solar lamps and water
filtration systems. These students were the very first members of the Maryland Social Entrepreneur
Corps, part of a national program started by two Peace Corps volunteers.
Frazier: The way that the social entrepreneurship corps model works,
They consign these individuals goods, train them on how to sell them and then they pay back the program based on what they sell.
Cosgrove: The other part of our program was a consulting agency where
students were assigned to businesses within the communities we were working in and we
developed plans for them about marketing and advertising; we developed logos and slogans.
Bernstein: It wasn't easy for these students of different ages and different majors to spend eight weeks
away from home. Several were out of the country for the first time and the challenges were
tangible. They had to speak exclusively Spanish. At times, they had no running water. And no
internet. But the students found solice in their mission. And helping so many people
in need made the obstacles fade away.
Cosgrove: It was so rewarding to be able to see just the look on a person's face
when they put on eyeglasses for the first time and they were able to read their Bible.
Bernstein: After a successful first year, there are plans to expand the program.
Lewin: The world's become very, very global, it's shrunk, borders have faded and disappeared
and we're all now very interconnected. In my dream, there would be 200 students
at least, from the University of Maryland, fanning across the globe,
using the lessons learned from business to solve social problems.
Bernstein: 2012 was supposed to be the of C.J. Brown, but his season was over
before it started when the Terp's quarterback suffered a torn knee ligament in the preseason.
Now, it's comeback time.
Announcer: Heading for the ten and to the five and to the end zone with a
dive for the touchdown! Twenty-one yards again for CJ Brown!
Bernstein: C.J. Brown has been a vital member of the Maryland Terrapins football team since his freshman year in 2008. Named
starting quarterback last season, Brown knew it was his time to shine on the field.
Brown: When I was first named the starter and Edsall came and approached me and said, "Look we're gonna
name you the starter," I was really excited. There's no better feeling than having the
confidence that your coaches are there saying, "Hey, you know it's your time you've earned it."
Edsall: When you see how hard he works, how hard he studies, how hard he prepares, how he handles
himself off the field as well as on the field, you know, he's a tremendous role model and
a tremendous leader for our football team.
Announcer: Maryland faces a monumental task this season after CJ Brown went down with a torn ACL.
Brown: You have your highs and lows...and this was definitely a low. Working so hard to you know earn that spot, to come into camp and you
know to tear your ACL knowing that you're gonna be done for the year. No bowl game,
no nothing. It's just heartbreaking.
Conaboy: It was a very, dramatic time for us and for him,and we all just tried to be there for him.
Bernstein: A number of unexpected injuries throughout last season made it a difficult one for the Terps. Brown was the first of four starting
quarterbacks injured throughout the season.
Brown: When you can't be out on the field you know and you're not having the most success it's always hard. Being injured, it's tough.
We started off really well and to see how injuries kind of impacted that and the more adversity
that we faced the tougher our team had to fight. It was a tough situation where I don't
think any school or team has ever had to go through.
Bernstein: Although Brown couldn't play he remained an important member of the team, making the most of his recovery time by mentoring
younger teammates from the sidelines.
Brown: You know it's never a good feeling not being able to get out there and compete or help the guys in that kind of way but knowing that you still
have a voice, you still can help out with the younger guys in the film room and just
kind of help with your experience.
Conaboy: C.J. never stopped being a leader last season. He was still a leader on the sidelines. He still helped out in the meeting rooms, he still
helped out all the coaches on the practice field so he was he was still there and that
was really good for us to see. He is getting better and he is going to come back and be
the same leader that he was.
Edsall: He was on a mission. He worked extremely hard in his rehab. He
also prepared just like he was playing and understand the game plan. He helped coach
those younger guys up. He was doing everything he could to help his teammates get ready to
go out and try to win games last year.
Brown: The biggest thing was doing what, you know, the trainers wanted me to do, whether it was in the swimming pool in the Swimex or, you know,
doing single legged squats or kind of going out and running or, you know, just doing stride
by stride but knowing, you know, that I wanted to push myself but they were going to kind
of hold me back cause they know, you know, I'm a competitive guy.
Bernstein: Knowing he'd have to compete for the starting quarterback position again, Brown worked hard to reclaim his spot on the team.
Edsall: He was our starting quarterback but he still needed to go out there and prove
that he was the guy that he was before. And I think that just makes everybody better.
I know C.J. wanted it that way. CJ didn't want to have something that was just handed
to him. You know he is one of those guys that just comes from a great family and he's always
been taught that hey you get what you earn.
Bernstein: The road to recovery wasn't an easy one but Brown has surged back with a vengeance from the injury that erased his 2012 season.
Edsall: I think C.J. has done a great job coming back from his injury and showing no ill effects
from that injury. I think he's throwing the ball extremely well. He's running really well.
He's, you know, leading the team. He's got command and presence of the huddle and of
what we're doing.
With the injury behind and a bright future ahead, Brown hopes the team's
last season in the ACC will be their best yet.
Brown: For this year I just want to continue to be a leader you know be more vocal for these guys and lead this program in the right
direction. We definitely want to contend for an ACC Championship, go to a bowl game, and
just kind of, you know, bring back you know this winning tradition
Bernstein: At first glance, orchestral music and video games may seem worlds apart. But sometimes the most beautiful music can
come from the most unexpected pairings.
Whether it's Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, or Pacman, anyone who has ever spent time in an arcade or with a game controller
has a favorite video game. But have you ever stopped to appreciate the game's
soundtrack or imagined how it might sound performed by a full orchestra?
A group of University of Maryland students has done just that turning their passion for gaming and
music into something much more than child's play.
Founded in 2005 by Michelle Eng, the Gamer Symphony Orchestra brings together a diverse group of students from all majors
who share a love for gaming and music.
Eng: The Gamer Symphony Orchestra is the first collegiate level symphony orchestra that
is dedicated to video game music.
I've grown up playing video games since I was young and I always had an interest in music. It was around 2004,
Video Games Live, which is a professional touring orchestra -- they play video game
music- really inspired me to start the GSO, the Gamer Symphony Orchestra.
Bernstein: For many members who grew up playing video games, being part of this orchestra revives incredible childhood memories.
Beck: My first memories are playing video games with my older brother. I noticed the
music, even as a little kid. When I heard about the Gamer Symphony Orchestra and when
it occurred to me that this is something I can do that was really exciting.
Eng: I think that it has to do with wanting to relive your childhood and the nostalgia factor. A lot of people
grew up playing games and they're also musicians.
Ryan: I've always had an interest in the music from videos games too
and just kinda you know how that can either tie back to memorable moments
in the games or just how that's just good music in and of itself. I'd always wanted
to perform that music cause it was the stuff I had kinda the biggest connection to. When
I found the GSO coming here that was kinda like a, pretty much a dream come true almost.
Bernstein: Starting with just 10 students in the early days, the group now boasts more than 120.
It has attracted hundreds of loyal fans, of all ages.
Beck: We have all kinds of fans. Our fans are students and parents and even people just in the community who aren't really affiliated
with the University.
Bernstein: For its members, the Gamer Symphony provides an opportunity to
pursue their passion for music while focusing their academic efforts elsewhere- and allows
them to access the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Maryland's home for artistic
expression and experimentation.
Ryan: I was in school bands just kind of as a thing to do but I
was pretty much gonna drop it after high school but when I found the group I immediately called
my mom and I was just like "Tell my little brother I'm gonna need my trumpet back."
Beck: I love that I get to play my flute in a fun environment. We take what we do seriously
and we work hard but we also have fun with each other and I love that.
Coppage-Gross: This orchestra really is a kind of neat thing that we have here at Maryland, bringing together all these
different people from all these different backgrounds and getting in touch with that
kind of like modern musicality that people can appreciate.
Bernstein: Word of Maryland's Gamer Symphony
Orchestra has spread... and students from across the country and abroad have contacted
the group about starting similar symphonies or choirs of their own.
Eng: This group has actually
inspired other GSO's or Gamer Symphony Orchestras to form. So there is definitely a huge interest
in this type of orchestra.
Bernstein: Balls and strikes are as much a part of baseball as home runs
and double plays. Maybe more than anything else in the game, balls and strikes cause
controversy. Every ump has a different strike zone and it's easy for them to make a bad
call simply because of human error. But with the help of a new invention those mistakes
may be a thing of the past.
It's one of the most difficult jobs in sports: Deciding whether
a baseball pitch is a ball or a strike. Hundreds of times a game. Did the ball, often moving
at close to 100 miles per hour, travel over the 17-inch wide plate, and did it stay between
the batter's shoulders and knees. It's a task that tests the limits of the human eye and
brain. Not surprisingly, umps sometimes make mistakes, to the frustration of hitters,
pitchers, managers and fans.
Now, two University of Maryland researchers and a local inventor
have developed an automated system they say will all but eliminate these mistakes.
The idea was hatched with Hagerstown's Jerry Spesserd. He's been around
baseball more than 40 years. As a kid, Spessard played on two little league World Series teams
and he later coached his own son who became a star in College Park.
Spessard: I've played a lot of baseball myself, my son played here at the University of Maryland, and so I've attended
many, many baseball games and the two factors that offend me are the umpire doing incorrect
calls and taking the game away from the batter or the pitcher. And number two, when I go
to a baseball game, I go to enjoy it and I hate the verbal abuse that the umpire has to take.
Bernstein: Spessard isn't a scientist, and he needed help to make his Home Plate idea a
reality. So, he came to the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, or MTech, which connects
entrepreneurs to University researchers who take ideas from concept to market. There,
Spessard met Maryland computer engineering professor Chris Davis. He had no interest
in baseball, but was still intrigued.
Davis: I thought it was a really neat opportunity to use optics
to solve yet another interesting problem and my lack of interest in baseball didn't deter
me from being interested in this as a scientific problem to be solved.
Bernstein: After several months of work, Davis and his research associate, John Rzasa, came up with a model.
Davis: The key features of this prototype are two slots, front and back, from which a vertical curtain
of infrared light comes up and two photo detectors. And the photo detectors will pick up the light
that illuminates the baseball and scatters it down. And that tells you a baseball's crossed the plate.
Bernstein: Software translates the sensors' data into strikes or balls... It also collects
data on the speed, location and angle of pitches.
Spessard: I feel that the Electronic Home Plate is going
to be a training device in the first couple years. Where it's gonna be used in the bullpens.
It's going to be used for practice games and inter squad games, and they're gonna get so
used to it that eventually it will end up in games.
Bernstein: Spessard isn't the first to invent an automated model that determines balls and strikes... Every major league ballpark has
a sophisticated multi-camera system, but the TV networks use it more to give fans a better
view of the action and less to come to the aid of the umps. Each of those systems costs
millions. The Electronic Home Plate will be much more affordable.
Rzasa: What we're trying to do is give a system where you can get that
same type of information basically anywhere there's a baseball field.
Bernstein: Even though he grew up playing cricket across the pond,
Chris Davis has become more interested in baseball since starting the project.
Davis: I'm exactly the same name as Crush Davis from the Baltimore Orioles, who's having a fantastic season,
so there's an instant connection in a way.
Bernstein: Davis and Rzasa are now in the process of ironing out kinks in the device and they hope to have the finished version early next year.
Then, Spessard can begin manufacturing. He plans to take the Electronic Home Plate
to market by next summer.
Thanks so much for joining us on this latest edition of TerpVision.
Until next time, I'm Bonnie Bernstein. Fear the turtle.