RIVALRIES between schools are curious things. They can be based on regional schisms (the University of Georgia and Florida, for example)or on the close proximity of two highly visible schools, like Stanford and Berkeley. Sometimes, a famous athletic match-up in the past can breed a fierce rivalry, like that between the University of Maryland and Duke that came to fore after Maryland's loss to the Blue Devils in the Final Four several years ago. These animosities may be in some strange way justified, even if upon closer rational scrutiny they're actually fairly silly.
But other such "rivalries" lack even that small kernel of rationality that makes them appealing to both sides, and result in a sadly one-sided scenario in which one body of students cares and the other ... well, just doesn't. The University finds itself in just such a place today: confronted by so-called "rivalries" with Virginia Tech to the South and the University of Maryland to our North, the University's student body is visibly unenthused about either one. The Hokies and Terps would do well to put this talk of "rivalries" to rest.
Competition between universities who are supposed to be partners in a greater project of learning and research is ridiculous. So when the University of Maryland's President Mote, in a meeting of their Board of Regents, openly called the University "overrated" and its status "ridiculous," one has to wonder about his intentions. Could the University of Maryland really consider itself a rival
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