Issue 10

Men’s Soccer Advances to NCAA Sweet Sixteen See Sports, Page 9 THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

VOLUME CXLIV, ISSUE 10 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2014

Committee of Students Proposes Social Club Initiative Ricky Choi ’18 Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Candice Jackson ’17

Michele Deitch ’82, pictured, is a senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin and was one of the eight speakers at last Sunday’s second annual TEDx event. The event’s theme was “defining moments.”

College Hosts Second Annual TEDx Conference Sophie Chung ’17 Managing News Editor Several hundred people gathered in Kirby Theater last Sunday for the second annual TEDxAmherstCollege event.

A social justice reformer of juvenile policy, a paralympian and an Amherst College junior were among the speakers.

The event, which featured eight speakers in total, is one of hundreds of worldwide TEDx conferences that are organized each month. TEDx is a program that launched off the original TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference, which dedicates itself to “ideas worth spreading.” TEDx events are

independently organized events inspired by the original TED conference.

On Sunday morning, Amherst College President Biddy Martin welcomed attendees by introducing the event’s theme, “defining moments.”

“I see defining moments as those transformative moments of adventure, innovation, personal truths, moments when our ideas are challenged,” Martin said.

Following Martin’s opening remarks, the event’s host Amir Hall ’17 welcomed the first speaker, Ron Espiritu ’06, to the stage.

Espiritu is an ethnic studies and Chicano/ African-American studies teacher at Animo South Los Angeles High School. He is an

educator who fights for social justice both inside and outside of the classroom.

He stressed the importance of making ethnic studies pedagogy available to students of all ages. Espiritu discussed the need for such studies in allowing students to develop their intellectual identities.

Espiritu was followed by paralympian Eli Wolff, who discussed the power of inclusion in sports.

“My final defining moment really comes down to how I engage and how the sense of exclusivity and inclusivity is about interaction,” Wolff said, pointing to the exclusion he

Continued on Page 3

A committee of students recently introduced an initiative to create new social clubs on campus. The committee plans to propose the initiative to the administration and hopes to launch the new social club system next semester. “[The social club] is solely for people to come together and socialize — to have a place for those who want access to a consistent group of people they can hang out with as oppose to coming together to get a specific objective done,” said Association of Amherst Students President Tomi Williams ’16, one of the students spearheading this initiative.

The announcement comes a little more than three months after Amherst’s ban on fraternities went into effect. Over the summer, Williams helped organize a group of students to discuss improving Amherst’s social life in the wake of the fraternity ban and finding what he described as “a superior alternative” to fraternities.

The social club initiative is also in part a response to last spring’s National College Health Assessment, which showed that 76 percent of Amherst students reported that they have felt “very lonely” in the past year.

However, some students have asked for more recent data on loneliness at the college.

“I’m interested to see if we wait a few months and then take the temperature of the school again, now that fraternities have been banned, how that number would turn up,” said AAS senator Siraj Sindhu ’17.

The committee for social clubs is currently finalizing application processes for creation and membership of social clubs. In order to create a social club, students must create a petition and fulfill basic requirements, such

Continued on Page 3

Green Amherst Project Urges Board to Divest from Coal Industry Eli Mansbach ’18 Staff Writer This week the Green Amherst Project is holding a week of action in an attempt to convince Amherst’s board of trustees to divest from the coal industry.

The week kicked off on Thursday, Nov. 13 with an event called “Climate Change 101: How to Talk to Climate Change Deniers,” which included an introduction to the science supporting climate change and a discussion of the most common arguments made by climate change deniers. The group followed this event with a T-shirt-making event on Friday and an event on Monday called “The Frontline Speaks” in which students shared their personal experiences with climate change. On Tuesday, some senior Amherst administrators led a discussion in Frost Library about ways to address climate change.

On Wednesday, the group will hold a demonstration at 6:30 p.m. in Valentine Dining Hall. The week will conclude this Thursday, when members of the Green Amherst Project

will deliver a letter formally asking the board of trustees to divest.

For the past two years, the Green Amherst Project and other supporters have requested the board of trustees to divest from the coal industry, but they have yet to receive an official response. Recently, 22 Amherst professors sent a letter to President Biddy Martin and Cullen Murphy ’74, chairman of the board of trustees, requesting that the board divest from the fossil fuel industry. The letter discussed the effect that the coal industry has had on the global climate and cited the successful divestment from apartheid-era South Africa as precedent.

Jan Dizard, a professor of sociology, environmental studies and American studies at Amherst, was one of the 22 professors involved. Dizard also spoke at the Green Amherst Project’s event about talking to climate change deniers.

“My colleagues and I felt that the time was right to put this on the table forcefully,” Dizard said. “Not in a coercive way or an angry way.”

Dizard also said that the burden has been put on the private sector to divest because the

upcoming Congress will obstruct legislation restricting carbon dioxide emissions.

Green Amherst Project member Brian Zayatz ’18 said that GAP is asking for Amherst to divest from coal particularly because it is the “dirtiest fossil fuel.”

Ben Walker ’16, a main organizer of the week of events, said that the week of action was motivated by a concern about the global impact of climate change.

“Climate change is the defining issue of our time because it affects everyone,” Walker said. “Whether you live in the Upper East Side, whether you are living in the suburbs of Atlanta, whether you are living on the coast of Western Africa, you are affected in some way by climate change.”

Walker said that this issue is important to Amherst in particular because of the school’s focus on diversity.

“Climate change disproportionately affects working class communities, people of color and women,” Walker said. “The problem right now is that the marginalization [of these] communities is being exacerbated by climate

change, whether you want to believe in climate change science or not.”

However, not all Amherst students share this opinion favoring divestment from the fossil fuel industry.

Maximos Nikitas ’17 cited economic concerns in explaining his opposition to the divestment movement.

“I think we should consider the benefits that [fossil fuel industries] can have on investments for the school,” Nikitas said.

Neither Walker nor Dizard believes that the board will immediately approve divestment from the coal industry. Dizard said that after participating in efforts to divest from South Africa, he knows that this process may take a long time. However, members of the Green Amherst Projects say they will continue applying pressure to the board.

“We are trying to show that we haven’t forgotten about [divestment] and that we are going to keep applying pressure until [the board] gives us an answer,” Zayatz said. “If they say no, we are going to keep asking them for it.”

CONNECT TO US: AMHERSTSTUDENT.AMHERST.EDU • @AMHERSTSTUDENT • LIKE THE AMHERST STUDENT ON FACEBOOK

News

Peter Crane Thoughts on Theses

Nov. 3, 2014 - Nov. 17, 2014 >>Nov. 3, 2014 9:09 p.m., Frost Library A student reported the theft of a black “Acer” laptop which it was left unattended on A level.

It is valued at $300. >>Nov. 4, 2014 4:15 a.m., Wilson Admissions An officer investigated an intrusion alarm and found it was accidentally set off by an employee. >>Nov. 5, 2014 11:00 p.m., Campus Grounds A student reported misplacing her credit card and now fraudulent charges were being placed on the card. Case open. >>Nov. 6, 2014 12:42 a.m., Hills Lot An officer encountered an intoxicated woman walking along College Street. The woman, who is not associated with the college, was transported to her residence.

1:35 p.m., Alumni Gym An employee reported the theft of an iPhone 5s he left charging in a hallway. It was located. >>Nov. 7, 2014 12:52 a.m., Seelye House While at a second-floor room an officer discovered a smoke detector covered with a plastic bag and tape. The resident was fined $100 for tampering with fire equipment.

9:20 a.m., Mead Drive A caller reported an incident of “road rage” while on Route 9. Report taken.

5:51 p.m., Taplin House A student reported the theft of a Trek bicycle valued at $200.

10:37 p.m., Hitchcock House An officer discovered an unauthorized party with alcohol. The gathering was shut down and the the alcohol was disposed of. >>Nov. 8, 2014 3:59 p.m., Merrill Lot An officer investigated a car alarm and found the owner being assisted by a tow service because he had lost his keys.

4:35 p.m., Press Box Pratt Field An officer discovered two men in the Press Box elevator and one of them had urinated in it. After identifying them, they were ejected from Pratt Field.

5:25 p.m., Rental Housing Office Officers responded to a report of a man passed out on the ground. The man, who is a student, was evaluated by ambulance personnel and did not require hospitalization.

8:16 p.m., Social Quad An officer encountered an underage student with a 30-pack of beer. It was confiscated and the matter was referred to Student Affairs.

8:32 p.m., Pond Loading Dock An officer encountered two students with two unlicensed kegs. They were fined $100 each.

10:19 p.m., Seelye Street A caller reported a possible domestic problem between a male and female in a vehicle on Spring Street. The vehicle left the area and Amherst College Police alerted the Amherst and UMass police.

11:54 p.m., Coolidge Dormitory

Officers discovered a stairway completely filled with people due to parties in two suites.

Officers shut down the gatherings and cleared the people out of the stairway. >>Nov. 9, 2014 12:18 a.m., Mead Drive A visitor reported his car was missing. After checking the campus, officers learned that a friend had moved the car.

12:49 a.m., Chapin Hall An officer found a glass pipe with marijuana residue in it outside of Chapin.

1:10 a.m., Pond Dormitory Officers discovered a stairway completely filled with people due to parties in three suites.

Officers shut down the gatherings and cleared the people out of the stairway.

11:21 a.m., Amherst College Police A student was found in possession of a fake driver’s license and the driver’s license of another. The licenses were confiscated and a report was filed with the Registry of Motor Vehicles. >>Nov. 10, 2014 12:01 a.m., Stone Dormitory Officers responded to a report of furniture being broken in the basement of Stone. Upon arrival, it was discovered an unauthorized party with alcohol had taken place. The people gathered were dispersed and there was evidence of broken furniture. The matter was referred to Student Affairs.

1:55 a.m., Coolidge Dormitory Officers responded to a report that a window was smashed in an entryway by a group of women. After investigating the incident, two students were identified as being responsible.

The matter was referred to Student Affairs. >>Nov. 11, 2014 8:46 p.m., Tyler House An officer identified two students found smoking marijuana outside the building. The matter was referred to the Student Affairs Office.

11:26 p.m., Powerhouse A student reported she was receiving unwanted attention from another student.

The student involved was asked to leave the event, which he did. The matter was referred to Student Affairs. >>Nov. 15, 2014 4:09 p.m., North College Dormitory An officer investigated a smoke detector sounding in a first-floor room and discovered it activated when a hair dryer was used too close to it. >>Nov. 16, 2014 1:13 a.m., Powerhouse A caller reported a male near the food truck at the Powerhouse was harassing people.

No such activity was found when an officer investigated.

2:12 a.m., Powerhouse A grinder, used to grind marijuana, was found on the floor at closing of an event. It was confiscated.

3:43 a.m., Seelye House An officer discovered evidence of excessive drinking in violation of a registered option one party. Sixteen empty cases of champagne were found. The matter was referred to Student Affairs.

Department of History

Peter Crane ’15, a history and economics double major, is writing his senior thesis on debates over secularism in Pakistan immediately following its partition from India. His thesis advisor is Assistant Professor of Asian Languages and Civilizations and History Dwaipayan Sen. Q: What is your thesis about?

A: My thesis is about debates on secularism in Pakistan between 1947 and 1949, the first two years of the country’s existence. I am particularly looking at this one bill passed by the legislature called the “objectives resolution,” which is sort of a non-binding resolution on the objectives and goals that the newly formed state should have.The big founder, the father of the nation [M.A. Jinnah] had died a year into the country’s founding in 1948, so the new country didn’t have a very concrete set of goals on a lot of things, including the extent religion should play a role in governance. Around 14 to 15 percent of the country was Hindu and there were still religious minorities, even though Pakistan was created sort of for religious reasons. There were a lot of ideological discussions and debates, but also more blunt mechanisms of just political power — who is in control and who is grappling for power.

Q: What was your pre-writing process like?

What kind of research did you do?

A: I first met with professors, including Professor Monica Ringer. She knows a lot about ideological debates between secularism and Islam, whereas Dwaipayan Sen is more geographically linked to what I do. I had been talking to them about these interests. I was actually interested in different things because a lot of what happens [with] thesis writers is sort of they have one interest, they read about it and there’s this other thing that they actually want to go to. A big part was just reading the general history of the country and starting to narrow it down. I [first] wanted to look at between 1947 and 1956, then it was between 1947 and ’53, and now it’s between just 1947 and 1949. Once you’ve really decided [on the topic], then you really drill into that, and that means first mastering the secondary sources, seeing what people have written before and then going to their footnotes. This involves a lot of research techniques I hadn’t used before, using inter-library loan and getting archival documents. I have four feet of books of parliamentary procedure and debate for the country for three years that has to be kept in the archives.

Q: What kind of background knowledge did you have on the topic?

A: The first course that linked me to this type of thinking was this course co-taught by Monica Ringer and a professor named Trent Maxey, who taught a class on the idea of religion as a colonial, exported product. Also, I had a survey course with Professor Sen on South Asian history, which involved a lot of Indian history, but also partition and a few issues with Pakistan. [The course] combined those theoretical discussions with that geographic context.

Q: What’s the timeline for your overall writing process?

A: The goal is to have two chapters [out of three] by the end of the semester. One chapter is the minimum. The deadline is one chapter by Dec. 8. Then, in mid to late February, the whole thing is due, so that means doing a lot of things over interterm. And then it’s a month or two of sheer editing. Then, some time in April, you start working on your oral presentations.

Q: What is your favorite part of the thesis writing process?

A: It is going through the archival documents, like the constituent assembly debates and seeing things people haven’t talked about before. A lot of people assume Pakistan is a Muslim country, it’s always been homogeneous, [and] people correlate it with terrorism and things like that, [but] in the first two years of the country, a lot of things were very different. Looking at the actual documents and seeing, well, they actually cared about things that aren’t talked about anymore or are forgotten — that’s a cool part.

Q: What is the hardest part of the process?

A: [Many] studies in this area have not been completely thorough, so a lot of times, I’ll be reading things and they won’t be well cited, and I’ll go to the few citations they have and [they] won’t be well supported by the evidence or the evidence is hard to find. You are kind of on your own when you venture into this area, and that’s good because everything you find is an original discovery, something you can contribute, but it’s also very hard because you’re putting a lot more time into researching than actually analyzing.

Q: Who or what have been your best resources throughout the process?

A: Definitely my advisor. One, he’s just a complete master of that area and that time period especially, and he’s been able to point me to places to look, because a simple Google search of something like that is not going to tell you the right places to find certain things. If I say, “What were the biggest newspapers in East Bengal in the 1940s?” he would know. Also, the library has been super helpful. Apparently I have a reputation in the inter-library loan office just because of the sheer volume of stuff I’ve been getting.

Q: If you had any advice for future thesis writers, what would it be?

A: Make sure you decide to do something you like first before you decide to do a thesis. A lot of people decide to do a thesis, and then pick a topic second, and then just kind of muddle through something. To really have that relentless drive, you need to be passionate about something.

— Nolan Lindquist ’18

Faculty Discuss Schedule Conflicts Daniel Ahn ‘17 Managing News Editor Faculty and staff met in the Cole Assembly Room of Converse Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 18, for the final faculty meeting of the semester.

Professor Adam Honig, on behalf of the Committee on Educational Policy, discussed the issue of overlapping class schedules between the 12:00 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. time frames on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. A motion to remove the 12:30 p.m. class block passed.

Following the vote, student activists involved in the Black Lives Matter Awareness Week gave a presentation to address the controversy surrounding the All Lives Matter campaign. They proposed to address issues related to race, identity and conflict resolution through programs, such as cultural and diversity education programs for

faculty members, especially those from outside the humanities departments. Other ideas include a “Speak-Out” event, in which faculty would facilitate all-day discussions on race and identity.

Next, Honig, on behalf of the Committee on Educational Policy, proposed that mandatory course evaluations extend to senior as well as junior faculty members, and that evaluations move online by default. After debates over the online medium, the storage and privacy of past evaluations, the motion passed with 88 voting in favor, 20 opposing and seven abstaining.

Director of Communications Pete Mackey spoke on the series of alerts, simulating the threat of an active shooter on campus, which took place on the morning of Nov. 18. He explained that the large volume of notifications was primarily to test the system’s effectiveness during potential chaotic emergency situations.

The Amherst Student • November 19, 2014

News

College Hosts Second Student Committee Annual TEDx Event Proposes Social Clubs Continued from Page 1 experienced firsthand as an athlete with disabilities. “Are you wearing the glasses of inclusion and opportunity, of difference as an innovation? Or are you seeing through exclusion?” Wolff asked.

Next, event organizers played a video of a talk by Andrew Solomon, a writer on politics, culture and psychology, spoke about how the worst moments in life mold and define people.

Drawing on personal experiences as a homosexual man, Solomon said, “Forging meaning and building identity does not make what was wrong right. It only makes what was wrong precious.” He stressed that misfortunes led people to search for meaning and that those painful events could be transformed into a narrative of triumph.

Next, Ashley Burns, an assistant professor of political science at the college, spoke about the importance of defining moments and stories beyond the initial circumstances into which people are born.

“We really have to think of ourselves and the people around us. The interactions that we have with those people as defining moments in each other’s lives,” Burns said. She spoke on lessernoticed daily interactions as opportunities for people to create defining moments in the lives of others.

“We don’t help because we don’t understand all the time, but that’s not the point. The question I want to challenge you with today is, ‘Will you be a defining moment in someone’s life?’” she said.

After breaking for lunch, the event resumed with a talk by Michele Deitch ’82, a senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, whose expertise is in the management of juveniles in the adult justice system. Deitch called attention to alarming statistics about children under the age of 18 subject to the adult criminal system and confinement in adult prisons. She cited the particular cruelty in throwing children into the adult system for a lifetime in prison, when the juvenile system was set up as a platform for rehabilitation and not merely for punitive ends.

“If a parent treated a child like these adult prisons do, it would be considered abuse,” Deitch said. “Simply put, adult prisons and jails are a poor fit for children.”

Philosopher Ruth Chang followed Deitch in a pre-recorded talk from another TEDx event.

“Hard choices are precious opportunities for us to celebrate what is special about the human condition ... we have the power to create reasons for ourselves to become the distinctive people that we are,” she said.

Sheile Chukwulozie ’15 gave the event’s next talk, on the topic of redefining success.

Chukwulozie, currently pursuing a bachelor of arts degree in theater and dance, as well as a Five College certificate in international relations, was the winner among seven other students in a competition to speak at the event. She sought to redefine success in her own terms and to claim agency in asserting her right to defy the standards of success.

The final speaker of the afternoon was John Levy ’76, who is known for his entrepreneurship and work to effect social change. His defining moment was his realization of the need to harness a tremendous social mission on a business model, especially with the issue of climate change.

For the team of people who organized the event, Levy’s talk was a successful conclusion to the conference.

Terry Lee ’17, the head student organizer, said that although the process was long and extensive, organizing TEDx was a fruitful, satisfying experience.

“By picking diverse speakers, we try to get a wide cross section of the student body engaged. We wanted a lot of student groups to get involved along with the faculty and staff,” Lee said. In order to get more and more people involved, this year, TEDx also had four spin-off events that built up to the conference.

“It’s an all-encompassing, campus-wide thing. It was definitely a rewarding experience through which lot of people met others because they wanted to get involved in all of this,” Lee said.

Continued from Page 1 as having a minimum number of participants.

Additionally, each club is expected to organize at least one campus-wide event per semester.

One possible idea for determining club membership would involve both applicants and club leaders ranking one another by preference. A third party would then attempt to make unbiased matches based on these rankings.

Committee member Brian Lobdell ’15 said that the social clubs initiative is intended to be open and transparent.

“We want it to be very public and publicized.

We want everyone to have the opportunity to join one if they choose to,” Lobdell said.

Committee member Jennifer Fitzpatrick ’15 said that while inclusion is an important value driving the initiative, social clubs would need to be somewhat exclusive to an extent in order to give students the power and choice to organize themselves. Each club would therefore determine its membership based on the characteristics laid out in its mission statement. The committee has said that the goal is for social clubs to be “selectively inclusive.”

Some students have expressed concern regarding the effect that social clubs may have on student life at the college.

“I’m anxious that social clubs, in the way in which they have currently been devised, will lead to more social structure on campus. My fear is that social structure will affect social maneuverability,” Sindhu said.

“By creating selective social groups en masse, we are de-democratizing the campus and reinforcing the social hierarchies which have plagued Amherst since its founding,” said Sam Rosenblum ’16.

Some students have questioned what they see as potential similarities between social clubs and fraternities.

“I’m skeptical, and I think others are as well, about whether these social clubs are really different from fraternities, insofar as they have an application process from which one can be

3

rejected and given that in their current form they could be single-gender,” Sindhu said.

In response to these concerns, some students argued that there would be a fundamental difference between fraternities and social clubs.

“We don’t criticize the fraternities for having allowed people to come together in a purely social manner, but our concern was that it did not provide this opportunity equally,” said AAS Chief of Staff Tommy Raskin ’17.

“Our hope with these social clubs is that they will give everyone an opportunity to bond.”

Committee members also expressed hopes that social clubs will give more social options to non-athletes.

“Because we have such a large percentage of our student body that already gets social organization from participating in sports, we can’t stop that. But we can make this type of organization available to all students,” Williams said. At Amherst, 32 percent of the student body participates in varsity athletics, with approximately 80 percent competing in intramural and club sports.

As with athletes and members of club sports, social club members will be required to sign a no-hazing contract and participate in bystander training. Unlike the former fraternities, they will also have a public presence and work with the administration.

“There was a lack of oversight for the previous fraternities because they were underground. But with social clubs there is oversight by administration and the leaders of the clubs,” Williams said.

To further regulate the social clubs, there are plans to create a Social Club Oversight Committee composed of club leaders and administrative members. The committee will maintain interclub relations and ensure that clubs follow the guidelines that are to be set in place.

To engage the larger community in the current discussions about social clubs, there are also plans to hold dorm talks and workshops in the weeks after Thanksgiving break.

AC Republicans Bring Israeli Informant Yousef to Campus Jacob Pagano ’18 and Sitina Xu ’16 Staff Writer and News Section Editor Mosab Hassan Yousef spoke on Thursday, Nov. 13 at Johnson Chapel about his experience of defecting from Hamas and joining the Israeli internal security force Shin Bet. At the event, Yousef shared his thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and his reasons for choosing to work as an Israeli informant. The Amherst College Republicans hosted the event, which was also sponsored in part by Association of Amherst Students, the Young America’s Foundation, the college’s Political Science Department and the Smith College Republicans.

Amherst College Republicans President Robert Lucido ’15 said he became interested in inviting Yousef to campus after hearing about his story over the summer. Lucido said that the decision was influenced in part by his belief that the reporting of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict was “too frequently onesided.” More than 400 members of the Five College community attended the event. After the lecture, Yousef signed copies of his book “Son of Hamas.”

Yousef, whose father is a founder and leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas, opened his talk by asking the audience members to think about what they would do if they were in his shoes.

“If you were the son of the founder of Hamas and were taught that it was your duty to fight Israel, what would you do?” he asked.

As he gave these opening remarks, three members of the audience walked to the center of Johnson Chapel and held up signs protesting the Israeli presence in Gaza. Two campus police officers promptly removed them.

Yousef said that for years he had followed his father’s orders and worked for Hamas, living as a “praised prince” in his homeland.

However, in 1997, at the age of 17, he was arrested by the Israelis and asked by the Israeli intelligence force Shin Bet if he wanted to be an informant. Yousef said he initially agreed in order “to take revenge” on the Israeli people.

“I understand the suffering of our people, and this is why I was motivated to take revenge,” Yousef said.

However, after spending 16 months in an Israeli prison, Yousef said he witnessed firsthand the methods Hamas uses to “torture its own people” and the use of “suicide bombers [sent to] places with women and children.” After this realization, he decided that working for Israel was the more just choice for him.

“Is torture and terrorism their claim of emancipating and liberating our people? Is this their justice? I prefer the Israeli justice,” he said.

He further elaborated on his frustration with Hamas.

“The Palestinian people go through hell, but they cannot blame everyone in Israel. They need to look within and see the problems in their society and face it with courage,” Yousef

said. “If the leadership in Hamas is taking a whole nation to destruction, someone has to stand and say enough is enough.”

He also explained the philosophical motivation behind his choice to turn against his homeland.

“For me, I knew there was no way to go wrong by saving Palestinians, by preventing suicide attacks,” Yousef said. “You cannot go wrong by saving a human life, and that is the fuel that keeps me going.”

Stakes were high working as an informant.

Yousef told the audience that if Hamas “found out he had a relationship with Israel, I’d get killed on the spot and everybody on the street would participate in my killing, even though my father was a top leader.”

His talk was followed by a tense question and answer session, during which several people questioned whether Yousef fully appreciated the thousands of Palestinian deaths the operations of the Israeli Defense Force has caused in Gaza. One student pressed him on the imbalance between Palestinian and Israeli deaths throughout the conflict. Others questioned his support for the construction of settlements in the West Bank, to which Yousef replied, “Construction, wherever it is, is better than destruction.”

Controversy had also emerged before Yousef ’s event on Thursday, as some AAS senators and other students opposed the AAS’s decision to fund Yousef ’s speech.

Controversy arose within the AAS as to whether the funds allocated to the Amherst

College Republicans last semester to bring “major speakers” to campus could justifiably be re-allocated this semester in order to host Yousef. Several senators questioned whether hosting Yousef was in the interest of the entire student body, especially after a student from Gaza said during an AAS meeting that she felt her personal safety would be at risk if Yousef were to speak.

To address this issue, Amherst College Republican leaders Alex Southmayd ’15 and Lucido asked the Amherst College Police to run a security threat analysis. College police contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and a preliminary analysis concluded that bringing the speaker to campus posed no greater threat than any other controversial speaker did.

The debate, though initially focused on funding, eventually developed into an issue of freedom of expression at the college and the extent to which AAS should co-sponsor a speaker who received such strong opposition from members of the college community.

“Having the AAS fund someone is saying the student body wants him to come, and if the majority of the student body is unhappy with the choice of speaker, I think it is justified to prevent the speaker from coming,” AAS senator Olivia Pinney ’17 said.

Lucido responded to arguments such as these by writing a letter to the senate questioning whether the AAS should make “value judgments on whom the Republican club brings to campus.”

Opinion Editorial

Social Clubs Are a Band-Aid, Not a Cure

Loneliness is a problem at Amherst College. The 2014 National College Health Assessment conducted last semester reported that 76 percent of Amherst students felt “very lonely” within the past year, compared to 56 percent nationally. But this isn’t a new issue for us: the Student Health Educators began their “social cups” initiative in 2013 to combat the stigma associated with going to Val alone. Additionally, with the abolition of fraternities last semester, many ex-fraternity members protested against the ban, referencing the isolation and displacement within the Amherst social sphere they had experienced before joining their fraternities. While loneliness and social isolation have unfortunately been facts of life at Amherst for a while now, the recent release of the NCHA assessment’s stark data has thrown loneliness into the spotlight as a “state of emergency” on campus that calls for immediate address.

Over the summer, a group of nine students, comprised mostly of ex-fraternity members and varsity athletes, resolved to tackle the issue of improving student life on campus. Their proposed solution is the “social club”: a system of exclusive groups bound together by a set of specifically articulated values. The committee, which includes Association of Amherst Students president Tomi Williams ’16, debuted their proposal to the administration and then the student body about two weeks ago in a Powerhouse town hall meeting.

Since the initial presentation, members of the committee have been doing a fantastic job seeking feedback from as many students possible. But the conversation has been limited. Very few students besides ex-fraternity members and varsity athletes (people already fully invested in exclusive organizations) actually took part in the initial construction of the idea. Regardless of good intentions behind social clubs, it is undeniable that the people who have the ear of the administration have a clear motive in continuing their way of life. A major structural change that will fundamentally affect the social life of every single member of the student body must include every single member of the student body.

Further, to make sure that social clubs have the support of the student body, we simply need time to consider all the options. We’ve so far only had a brief moment to consider the implications of this proposed change to our social life: Social clubs were only announced two weeks ago, yet many members of the social clubs committee and Office of Student Affairs want a pilot of this program to be launched next semester. While there are numerous problems with this timing, including the probability that the recently disbanded fraternities reform, the most pressing issue is the danger of imposing this universal policy on the student body, not as an option, but as a mandate. Whether or not we want to admit it, loneliness is a problem on campus. It may even be an emergency. But it has been one for a long time. This is not a new issue that can be addressed with a quick Band-Aid solution. Mending social issues at Amherst will require a long look at the structural issues that have affected this campus since before women were let on campus, much less before spring of 2014. We need to have a longer conversation about what a feasible solution is and what Amherst could look like 50 years from now. We simply can’t do that if the social clubs are already decided upon. The student body needs more time.

“Anyone can join our social club! Just as long as they’re not friends with anyone else.”

E X E C U T I V E B OA R D Editor-in-Chief Sophie Murguia Executive Adviser Brendan Hsu Managing News Dan Ahn, Sophie Chung, Elaine Jeon Managing Opinion Johnathan Appel, Marie Lambert Managing Arts and Living Marquez Cummings, Liz Mardeusz Managing Sports Andrew Knox, Katie Paolano, Lauren Tuiskula, Nicole Yang

2014: A Historic Year for Women, Minorities and Republicans Robert Lucido, Jr. ’15 Contributing Writer The 2014 midterm election was historic for political parties, minorities and women.

For political parties, the American people voted decisively against the failed policies of the Obama administration, which the President himself said were “on the ballot, every single one of them.”

Voters gave Republicans a majority in the Senate and the largest majority in the House in 86 years. In fact, since President Obama took office, Democrats have lost at least 13 seats in the Senate and 69 seats in the House — the greatest number of seats under any president since Truman.

Voters gave Republicans new governorships in the deep-blue states of Maryland, Massachusetts, and even the President’s home state of Illinois. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker easily won his third election in four years, Ohio governor John Kasich crushed his Democratic challenger by 30 points, and Florida governor Rick Scott defeated Charlie Crist, making him the first candidate to lose in three different political parties. Even Kansas governor Sam Brownback, who was widely projected to lose his bid for re-election, won a second term by over 26 points.

Voters gave Republicans majorities in 68 of the 98 partisan state legislative chambers — the most in the history of the party. Come January, Republicans will hold the governorship and both houses of the legislature in at least 23 states, creating a real opportunity for conservative reform at the state level.

For minorities, these midterms offer encouraging indications that a candidate’s race is becoming increasingly irrelevant in elections, as it should be. Forget about the number of GOP victories: consider who was elected.

Voters in Utah elected the first black woman the GOP has ever sent to Congress — Mia Love.

Voters in South Carolina elected Republican Tim Scott, the first black senator in the South since Reconstruction, making him the first black man elected to both houses of Congress.

Voters in Texas’ traditionally democrat and heavily Hispanic 23rd district elected their state’s first black Republican to the House of Representatives since Reconstruction — Republican Will Hurd.

At a time when race relations are tense, South Carolina, the very state that

S TA F F Design Editors Gabby Bishop, Megan Do, William Harvey, Sunna Juhn, Andrew Kim, Chloe Tausk News Section Editor Sitina Xu Sports Section Editors Dori Atkins, Jason Stein, Jeremy Kesselhaut Publishers Emily Ratte, Tia Robinson Photography Editor Olivia Tarantino

started the Civil War, elected its first black man to the Senate. Utah elected a black female Republican over a white male Democrat after the state’s Republican voters chose her to be their nominee over a white male Republican by a margin of 56 points. My home state of Maryland, which is over 30 percent black, elected a white Republican to Annapolis over a black Democrat incumbent lieutenant governor. Republicans received ten percent of the black vote nationwide; while this is admittedly low and demonstrative of the party’s past failures since the 1960s, it is progress.

Voters in Texas’ heavily Hispanic 23rd district elected a black Republican over a Hispanic Democrat. According to the New York Times’ exit polls, Republicans received 37 percent of the Hispanic vote. Again, while this is certainly below satisfactory for the GOP, it represents a seven-point increase from the 2012 total.

In some races, like the Texas senate race, Republicans even won the Hispanic vote.

However, the most striking nationwide swing this election came from Asian voters, whom Republicans won by a single point. While that might not seem like a huge victory, Republicans lost the Asian vote by 47 points just two yeas ago.

For women, this election demonstrates that a candidate’s gender is also becoming increasingly irrelevant in elections, as it should be. In addition to the election of Mia Love, many other milestones were reached this year: Voters in Iowa elected their first female senator — Republican Joni Ernst.

Voters in New York elected the youngest woman ever to Congress — Republican Elise Stefanik (30 years old).

Voters in West Virginia elected the state’s first woman to the United States Senate — Republican Shelley Moore Capito (who was also the first Republican to win a full term in the Senate from West Virginia since 1943).

Voters in West Virginia also elected the youngest woman ever to public office — Republican Saira Blair (18 years old).

Thus, female and minority candidates, all of whom were Republican, achieved historic progress all across the country.

Despite this historic progress that the black community made, the NAACP released its statement on the election with not one mention of the historic elections of Mia Love and Tim Scott. It’s time to discard the mainstream mantra that Republicans are racist and sexist, and instead subject liberal organizations, like the NAACP, to some scrutiny.

Letters Policy

The opinion pages of The Amherst Student are intended as an open forum for the Amherst community.

The Student will print letters under 450 words in length if they are submitted to The Student offices in the Campus Center or to the paper’s email account (astudent@amherst.edu) by 12 p.m. on Sunday, after which they will not be accepted.

The editors reserve the right to edit any letters exceeding the 450-word limit or to withhold any letter because of considerations of space or content.

Letters must bear the names of all contributors and a phone number where the author or authors may be reached. Letters and columns may be edited for clarity and Student style.

The Student will not print personal or group defamation.

Publication Standards

The Amherst Student is published weekly except during College vacations. The subscription rate is $75 per year or $40 per semester. Subscription requests and address changes should be sent to: Subscriptions, The Amherst Student; Box 1912, Amherst College: Amherst, MA 01002-5000. The offices of The Student are located on the second floor of the Keefe Campus Center, Amherst College. Phone: (413) 542-2304. All contents copyright © 2014 by The Amherst Student, Inc. All rights reserved. The Amherst Student logo is a trademark of The Amherst Student, Inc. Additionally, The Amherst Student does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or age.

The views expressed in this publication do not reflect the views of The Amherst Student.

The Amherst Student • November 19, 2014

Opinion

5

So Many Essays, No Time to Learn Madeline Ruoff ’18 Staff Writer Like so many Amherst students, I am all too familiar with 4 a.m. The kind of 4 a.m. where you’re hunched over a desk, accompanied only by your notes and a mug of lukewarm coffee. You’ve stared at a computer so long you can’t tell what the words you wrote just a few hours ago even mean. You’ve refreshed Facebook for the 80th time. I’ve been at Amherst for three months, and I’ve already had my share of those nights. Upperclassmen assure me it gets worse.

So, on Monday, Oct 6, the morning after I’d stayed up late completing a take-home exam for Spanish and had woken up early to practice bass, I was irritated to check my email and have Dean of New Students Rick López ask me and the rest of my class, “Are you putting in enough time?” I was more frustrated when, according to this email, I was not. Dean López says that students should be completing an average of 10 hours of outside work per week for every course. So,

for a standard course load, 40 hours a week of homework.

That means six hours of homework a day, provided I take something of a Sabbath and only complete four on Saturday. That’s a ludicrous amount of time, especially for Amherst, a liberal arts college, which preaches balancing schoolwork with unstructured learning. But, whatever, Amherst is all about rebranding its image. I’m a new student in a new class; if the message Amherst wants to send to us is that we’ll work to the point of exhaustion, fine. We’ll be scholars, alone in our rooms, sipping Earl Grey tea and poring over leather copies of Søren Kierkegaard’s “Fear and Trembling.” When we’re up at 4 a.m., meticulously crafting essays on Danish philosophy, we’ll appreciate it, damn it, because that’s what a college education is about.

Fast forward two weeks. It was Monday, October 20. This time, I was not surprised to check my email and see Dean López tell the class of 2018 to complete four to eight hours of homework each day. But I was frustrated to,

in addition to that, be told to exercise every day. I was even more frustrated to be told I should be getting at least eight hours of sleep per night.

Let me put that in perspective. I’m in class or at my job an average of five hours a day, not atypical among Amherst first-years. Six hours of homework, one hour of exercise, and eight hours of sleep puts me at 20. Give me an hour to shower and get ready for the day, an hour break from my 6 of studying, a half hour for breakfast, a half hour for lunch, an hour for dinner… and, look, I’m out of time.

There’s my day.

If Amherst expects its students to lead balanced, healthy, fulfilling lives, this schedule just is not possible. If it preaches 40 hours of homework a week, there is no way it can expect us to be well rested. It’s one thing to assign a massive amount of work; it’s another to deny its impact.

When students are doing 40 hours of homework and sleeping 56 hours every week, there is no time left for anything non-academic. I wouldn’t be able take an extra long shower or

call my mom, let alone take advantage of on-campus activities or pursue my non-classroom interests. I should feel guilty for writing this article because it took up time I should have spent studying.

With the schedule Dean López lays out, I can’t spend time chatting in the common room. I shouldn’t even learn the names of my floormates.

Attending speeches or campus events would be rare. Joining clubs would be irresponsible. Playing on a varsity team would be impossible. Walks into town? Strolls through the Mead?

Chats over coffee? Out of the question. An hour on Netflix means I’ve failed as a student.

If this is the schedule Amherst students are supposed to maintain, why did Amherst build the Powerhouse?

Why does it bring in speakers and musicians? Why does it fund extracurriculars? Dean López’s emails contradict what the administration has preached in its brochures, its tours, its welcome speeches. They also contradict everything we’ve learned about leading a healthy lifestyle.

There are not enough hours in the day to live up to the administration’s expectations. If Amherst expects a full workweek’s worth of homework, it needs to acknowledge the sacrifices that come with it. The first is sleep, because as students, our lives involve so much more than just schoolwork.

College to me, and I’m sure most students, meant becoming engaged in an environment. I was excited to take classes, yes, but also to, you know, meet people, make friends and have conversations about things other than school. The implication of these emails is that a social life is unnecessary.

Amherst students, by virtue of being human, cannot be expected to follow Dean López’s schedule and lead meaningful lives. These messages blatantly contradict the effort the school has put into building a community and funding activities. And they are extremely insulting to us as students as they deny the toll a heavy workload takes on one’s sleep schedules and imply that nothing should matter to us but schoolwork.

An Open Letter on Social Clubs Dear President Martin, Chief Student Affairs Officer Coffey, Dean of Students Vasquez and members of the administration: On Tuesday, Nov 4, students received an email from the Office of Student Affairs, signed by a coalition of nine students, inviting them to a “Social Club” Town Hall Meeting. At the meeting, while repeatedly citing the alarming statistic that 76 percent of Amherst students self-report loneliness, the committee of students proposed the creation of “selectively inclusive social clubs.” Though presented as merely propositional, committee members, under the auspices of Chief Student Affairs Officer Suzanne Coffey and Dean of Students Alex Vasquez, said that they wished to implement such social clubs as a pilot program during the spring semester. Responding to a question about the haste of implementation, Coffey said that the administration received criticism for acting too slowly and thus felt that it needed to do something. Due to these time restrictions, the core questions of the proposal — what it involves and its method of implementation — were not up for substantial debate. However, as students, we must be critical and consider their answers or lack thereof. It is with profound concern regarding those unanswered questions and a love for Amherst that we object to the current “social clubs” proposal.

The 1984 Board of Trustees resolution on fraternities, recently reaffirmed and strengthened by the current board, bans membership in any

“fraternity, sorority or other social club, society, or organization (however denominated).” The language is clear: organizations for the express purpose of “social activity,” including “social clubs,” are banned. On these terms, the current proposed vision of the future is simply a desire to return to the past.

We believe that the problems that arose from the social space created by fraternities, many of which contributed to the board’s decision to reaffirm the 1984 ban on fraternities, will re-emerge with the proposed social clubs. At the very least, the proposal and the meetings and conversations which have ensued have entirely failed to convince us otherwise. Social institutions of this sort, whether called fraternities or social clubs, create and reinforce social hierarchy by means of exclusion. We have heard assurances that the social clubs will constitute a “free market” of social relations, that if we dislike one we can simply refuse to join; we find this argument wanting.

Institutions freeze in place our social relationships and thus preclude our encountering new perspectives and forging new relationships across lines of culture, class and ideology.

The social clubs may open a space for some to make themselves feel comfortable and develop bonds of trust, but this comfort comes at the expense of their own personal growth. In this way, this proposal makes us smaller, not bigger; it nurtures our current selves rather than opportunities to help us learn and mature.

Ryan Arnold ’15 Lizzy Austad ’16 Tess Banta ’16 Jane Berrill ’16 Timothy Boateng ’14E Dana Bolger ’14E Rebecca Boorstein ’15 Grace Brotsker ’16 Kari-Elle Brown ’15

Furthermore, fraternities, athletics and other institutions of this kind re-generate social forms which have historically been complicit in violence, misogyny and a culture of exclusion at Amherst. The ban on fraternities, driven by a period of several years during which fraternities were accused repeatedly and in various contexts of complicity with sexual assault and the perpetuation of rape culture, is not yet a year old.

It is worth reinforcing, then, that the concern many of us shared with regard to fraternities and other similar social forms was never primarily that they were not enjoyable and even valuable for the people included in them. We do not doubt that, within their boundaries, genuine friendships were sometimes formed, genuine bonds of trust and moments of personal growth fostered. We have never doubted that privilege is usually fun for the privileged, that it increases quality of life in various ways, arguments we might make about the ways in which power hurts both the oppressor and the oppressed aside.

Neither do we doubt that fraternities selectively diversified and occasionally participated in campus action against, for example, sexual violence.

That is, to put it in the politest of terms, missing the point. We instead draw attention to those members of the community — especially women — excluded from and violated by members of these organizations. We emphasize the ways in which formal exclusion facilitates that violence.

The committee’s proposal ultimately calls for the reconstitution Catherine Bryars ’12 Ethan Corey ’15 Alex Diones ’14 Sonum Dixit ’13 Kyle Ferendo ’17E Edward J. Kim ’15 Jeong Yeop (Terence) Kim ’14 Andrew Lindsay ’16 Yasmina Martin ’14

of exclusive social clubs. Its proponents claim that it “democratizes” social clubs by no longer merely offering such social institutions to varsity athletes and former fraternity members, but to campus members at large. The clubs seems to be, in light of the ban on fraternities, a means to prop up non-athletes to a social level equal to that of athletes (and to relieve the anxiety that the so-called athlete-non-athlete divide seems to consistently generate in our community, which deserves its own conversation). However, we ask you to step back and notice the familiarity of the language employed in the proposal and by representatives at the meetings, the ways in which it compulsively repeats the form of the fraternity by drawing on the desire for tradition to allow for the possibility of initiation criteria and gender-based exclusion.

Citing the 76 percent loneliness statistic, supporters claim that these social clubs will create another form of “community.” We reject the thought that any solution to the problems of Amherst students’ communities can be decided by any group less than the entire community of students in creative deliberation. We cannot accept the logic that, because we need a solution, any solution is better than no solution; such thinking is anathema to the kind of critical thought that we desperately need at this moment in Amherst’s history. We reject the idea being played out in this proposal that students are the objects, not the subjects, of any consideration of com-

munity at Amherst. We reject the thought that administrators know what is best for us, and hence should play this heavy-handed a role in deciding our future. Fiat by the administration or a select group of students can never succeed on its own terms, and neither is in keeping with Amherst’s spirit of learning and being.

We reject a vision for the future that is, in the final analysis, a yearning for an unjust past. This letter, written in the spirit of remembrance, constitutes a refusal to forget. We hope that our refusal cuts through the disorientation engendered by the four-year turnover specific to the institution of the university.

No committee of students, no matter how diverse, can speak for the entire student body. We recognize this in our own selves as well.

Our advantage is in understanding our own inadequacy to coordinate, much less create, a solution to this problem on our own. The spirit of Amherst can only be realized in its students as we constitute a deliberative public, a community. You cannot, as much as you would like to, prod us into action. Let us speak in our own voices.

For this reason, we will make no recommendations as a group. We instead call for an immediate end to the pilot program. This is a pre-condition for the environment — in conversation at Valentine, in essays published in The Student and AC Voice, at the protests against Board of Trustees meetings — in which a true public discussion among all of us can proceed.

Laura Merchant ’15 Joe Park ’15 Kinjal Patel ’13 Lucas Rénique-Poole ’15 Samuel Rosenblum ’16 Siraj Sindhu ’17 Sunil Suckoo ’16 Sam Tang ’15 Julia Vrtilek ’15

Arts&Living

Image courtesy of gogreennation.org

“Citizenfour,” a new documentary by Laura Poitras, marks the final installment in her trilogy of post-9/11-themed films. This one focuses on Edward Snowden.

“Citizenfour” Explores Conflict Between Privacy and National Security Alexandra James ’16 Contributing Writer The story of Edward Snowden provoked a whirlwind of controversy as the world watched in awe. United States’ Big Brother-esque NSA spying program became the focus of conversation as almost every country in the world recoiled at the extent of the surveillance practices by the U.S. Citing national security, the United States continued to defend the program until the second shoe hit: The NSA had been spying on innocent Americans. When this information leaked to the public, the whistleblower was revealed to be an inside man named Edward Snowden.

Aside from the news coverage of the event, not much is known about Edward Snowden. And so begins Laura

Poitras’s documentary film, “Citizenfour.”

There has always been a distinct unreliability associated with the screening of a documentary. After all, how can documentary hide personal bias when the camera shoots from the director’s point of view? Poitras makes an effective narrative decision to embrace this inherent subjectivity by focusing on her personal interaction with Edward Snowden and the stories that follow.

Although her bias shows through the first-person intertitles throughout the film, this subjectivity never seems to take anything away from the film. She is, in fact, a seasoned documentarian, and “Citizenfour” represents the final movie in her trilogy about post-9/11 America.

Poitras begins her tale with a dark screen and a streak of light (perhaps the light that will guide her to the ulti-

mate truth). She calmly narrates her correspondence with Citizenfour, a mysterious figure who merely wants to leak information for the public good. We follow this correspondence partly in the dark and partly aware that when this information leaks, the world will change forever. At least that is how Poitras attempts to paint the situation.

Slowly but surely, the film rolls on to unveil more and more about Citizenfour until we reach the big reveal: Citizenfour is Edward Snowden.

Of course, this is not the climax; Poitras chooses to calmly breeze past this revelation and proceeds focus on the manhunt for Snowden. Poitras contrasts images of frantic television reporters wondering when the manhunt will end with

GRADUATE FROM THE status quo.

Management and business skills are critical tools to help you accelerate your career growth.

The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University now offers an MS in Management Studies to help graduating college seniors jumpstart their careers – in less than a year: • Kellogg’s top-tier education, with classes taught exclusively by Kellogg faculty – in downtown Chicago • Membership in the global Kellogg alumni network

LEARN MORE

• Highly personalized career coaching and preparation

ATTEND OUR INFO SESSION:

SEPT. 25, 7:30-8:30 PM

CAREER CENTER - COLLEGE HALL

VISIT OUR WEBSITE:

kell.gg/msms-ignite

Continued on next page

Arts & Living 7

The Amherst Student • November 19, 2014

Documentary Portrays Snowden as Catalyst for Change in NSA Policy Continued from previous page

shots of Snowden sitting on a bed in a cramped Hong Kong hotel. Snowden knows the government will find him. “I don’t want this to be a story about me,” Snowden remarks as he, two reporters and Poitras discuss how he leaked the documents to the general public.

Snowden is right: the act of secret government surveillance of innocent lives is a phenomenon that eclipses his actions; Snowden is simply the guy who decided to lift the curtain. At the same time, Poitras gives the audience so many close-ups and glimpses of Snowden that you cannot help but feel that he chose to become a martyr for the cause.

And what is this cause? Poitras never really secures an exact answer; she focuses sometimes on debates over privacy versus national security and sometimes on Snowden’s humanity, without ever landing on one specific theme.

Perhaps this is the greatest flaw of “Citizenfour”: the film seems to drone on after the documents have been leaked and the aftermath has been recorded.

It’s not until Poitras revisits Snowden to fill him in on the extent of his actions that the film quietly fades to black. Once again, Poitras’ calm demeanor emanates from the screen as the audience finishes the film with an unsettled feeling, fully aware that the ripples of Snowden’s actions are far from over as more information about the NSA’s actions trickles to the public.

While “Citizenfour” has its faults, these imperfections are secondary to the film’s successes. From the beginning, Poitras makes it clear that she wants her audience to think; this is not a film for those who are imagining a dramatic biopic. Instead, watch this film if you wish to learn more about who Edward Snowden is and how he tried to incite change in a system that has been betraying its own citizens for 13 years.

The entire film passes by like a current of electricity as we anticipate the worldwide reaction to the NSA’s leaked documents. Poitras acknowledges and utilizes her own involvement with this global event as the film’s narrative force.

She adopts the camera as her eyes and ears. In this way, Laura Poitras becomes the ultimate documentarian by merely recording everything she sees; she does not try to paint the NSA as an evil villain, but rather uses this film to reopen a debate that seems to have died down since the documents leaked.

Perhaps our society needs to take another look at the illusions we continue to harbor about privacy. Has our collective short attention span allowed us to forget that every keystroke we make is recorded on a database? Have we forgotten that our webcams and microphones can be remotely turned on without our knowledge? Or perhaps 73092 Image courtesy of hollywoodreporter.com we do not want to remind ourselves of this disturbing reality; after all, ignorance is bliss.

Documentarian Laura Poitras’ newest film is a “Citizenfour” is now playing at Amherst Cinema. study of whistleblower Edward Snowden.

WE TAKE THE

THRILL OUT OF INVESTING.

At TIAA-CREF, we believe the less excitement you find in your portfolio the better. When we invest, we do it for the long term, steadily.1 Our approach works so well it earned us the Best Overall Large Fund Company award two years in a row by the independent research firm Lipper.2

Learn more in one click at TIAA.org or call 855 200-7243.

Consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing.

Go to tiaa-cref.org for product and fund prospectuses that contain this and other information. Read carefully before investing. 1 TIAA-CREF funds are subject to market and other risk factors. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

The Lipper Award is given to the group with the lowest average decile ranking of three years’ Consistent Return for eligible funds over the three-year period ended 11/30/12 and 11/30/13, respectively. TIAA-CREF was ranked against 36 fund companies in 2012 and 48 fund companies in 2013 with at least five equity, five bond, or three mixed-asset portfolios. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, and Teachers Personal Investors Services Inc. C18456B ©2014 Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America – College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), 730 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10017.

2

BEST OVERALL LARGE FUND COMPANY The Lipper Awards are based on a review of 36 companies’ 2012 and 48 companies’ 2013 risk-adjusted performance.

2

Arts & Living 8

The Amherst Student •November 19, 2014

Debut Album Sets Banks Apart from Other Female Rap Artists Evan Paul ’18 Staff Writer Outspoken rapper, singer and songwriter Azealia Banks finally released her longawaited debut album, “Broke With Expensive Taste” on Nov. 6. Banks, a native New Yorker, started out in the music industry at the age of 17, when she began to upload her music to MySpace. After releasing both the EP “1991” and the mixtape “Fantasea” in 2012, Banks landed on almost everyone’s radar. However,

Image courtesy of wikimedia.org

“Broke With Expensive Taste” isn’t a perfect debut album, but it offers a selection of catchy and unique tracks.

her career so far hasn’t lacked struggles; the artist has hit more than a couple of rough patches that have both inhibited her debut album’s release and made her famous for the wrong reasons.

Banks is known for her spitfire attitude and her penchant for getting involved in Twitter feuds. To date, Banks gotten into cyber-arguments with performers Kreayshawn, Iggy Azalea, Lil’ Kim, Nicki Minaj, Jim Jones, Angel Haze, Diplo, Rita Ora, A$AP Rocky, Lily Allen, Lady Gaga and Pharrell .T.I. Banks’ aggression toward her peers has also caused trouble with management. She signed with and subsequently left XL Management after less than a year of work together. The musician then moved on to Troy Carter, who manages Lady Gaga, but she lasted only seven weeks under his management. Prior to the release of “Broke With Expensive Taste,” Banks was in a long battle with Universal Records. Under this label, the release of Banks’ album was pushed back three times. She left Universal in July 2014. After two years in limbo, “Broke With Expensive Taste” dropped this month under Prospect Park Records.

“Broke With Expensive Taste” mixes electronica, hip-hop and a genre called “witch house.” Witch house — electronic music’s creepy cousin — heavily features synthesizers and repetition, qualities for which Banks’ music is known. The effect of Banks’ blending of these genres results in a cacophonous album. Despite its often-jarring sound and specificity of genre, the album has done considerably well on the charts. “Broke With Expensive Taste” fell within the Top 50 on Billboard’s Top 200 list and reached the No. 2 spot on Billboard’s Independent Albums

and Top Rap Albums lists. These results are even more impressive considering the fact that Banks “pulled a Beyoncé” by dropping her album without any advance notice to her fans or even to media outlets.

Reviews of Standout Tracks: “Idle Delilah”: As far as opening tracks go, this one is pretty strong. The track features a nice beat under hypnotic lyrics that come so quickly from Banks’ mouth that it’s difficult to discern what she is saying. Regardless, the song is catchy. It’s eerie, too, and part of a group of tracks on the album featuring the spirits of the dead as their subject. (The other tracks are “Wallace,” “JFK” and “Miss Camaraderie”). According to Banks, Delilah was the six-year-old daughter of a slave owner.

Her father’s slaves brutally murdered her and covered her in tar before placing red bows atop her head. Delilah is intended to represent procrastination, Banks has said. In order to conjure Delilah’s spirit, Banks suggests that her listeners visit a playground at 3 a.m. “with a red candle and two red bows in hand.” She also suggests that the conjurers leave Delilah three cents.

“JFK”: Although the majority of this song sounds similar to many of Banks’ other tracks (like she dropped a few verses over a bad club remix), it does offer a nice example of Banks’ vocal prowess. The track also features Theophilus London, another New York rapper.

Banks’ vocals on the track are actually reminiscent of Erykah Badu in her most famous “Tyrone” and “On & On” days back in the nineties.

“Wallace”: Banks’ singing is at its best on this track, which details the relationship between

Banks and a man named Wallace, who has the head of a Rottweiler. Compared to her other tracks, “Wallace” is more stripped down. It features simple background instrumentals with Banks’ singing and rapping.

“Ice Princess”: This song begins with an unsettling combination of sounds: howling winds, a tune reminiscent of a young girl’s music box and a tribal beat. “Ice Princess” is a narrative about stealing someone else’s boyfriend. She sings that she’ll be “legendary” when she is done. Banks described the song as “the story of how I met your man in the summer, stole him by September and moved into the mansion in December.”

“Soda”: “I’m tired of trying to try not to cry,” Banks admits on this fast-paced track.

Banks has said that this song “is all about selfmedicating.” It may be the best song on the album. It’s a departure from her usual formula; she sings the chorus and raps quickly during the verses. This track is composed almost completely of Banks’ vocals. As with “JFK,” listeners get a feel of the artist’s versatility on this track.

With “Broke With Expensive Taste,” Azealia Banks shows promise. Although her sound definitely won’t appeal to everyone, she does maintain her reputation for being a different kind of female rap artist. Additionally, Banks already exhibits a strong sense of independence that most female rappers at an early stage in their careers do not. The artist cowrote every track on her debut and weathered considerable setbacks to release her album.

Regardless of how you feel about Azealia Banks, there is one thing that all can agree on: she’s one of a kind. If you haven’t yet checked out Banks’ music, now is the time.

Disney Triumphs With Heartwarming “Big Hero 6” Claire Jia ’15 Staff Writer Disney’s first venture into the Marvel world is poignant and hilarious, with “Big Hero 6,” in theaters Nov. 7. Based on the eponymous Marvel comic, “Big Hero 6” tells the story of teenage genius Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter), who must choose whether to use his intellect for money or for discovery. He also must choose between revenge and forgiveness.

It’s a lot to cover in 102 minutes, but “Big Hero 6” pulls it off, albeit with a few bumps and awkward plot developments. “Big Hero 6” wraps up very serious, mature themes — grief, hatred and forgiveness — in the loveable, huggable package of Baymax (Scott Adsit), a “personal healthcare companion” created by Hiro’s brother Tadashi.

The story unfolds in futuristic San Fransokyo, a dazzling amalgamation of San Francisco and Tokyo, complete with a torii-gate-adorned Golden Gate Bridge.

Hiro is a back-alley robot fighter, but his life changes after he sees Tadashi’s tech lab at San Fransokyo’s Institute of Technology, where Tadashi’s friends create electromagnetic wheel axles and precision laser cutters. After seeing the lab, Hiro decides to apply to the Institue of Technology, hoping to follow in Tadashi’s footsteps and use his big brains for more meaningful ends.

As his application for the school, Hiro creates “microbots,” tiny robots that can bond together to create virtually anything — a bridge, a car, a weapon. When tragedy strikes and the bots are stolen, Baymax helps Hiro face the masked culprit. Add Tadashi’s colorful array of “nerd friends,” and you’ve got a superhero movie.

Unfortunately, the film is bloated with predictable plot twists and too often takes the easy way out. The villain is at best only a little threatening. In addition, “Big Hero 6” tries to take on too much. For instance, in the penultimate act, there’s a

Image courtesy of staticflickr.com

With stunning visuals and a talented cast of voice actors, Disney’s “Big Hero 6” delivers a tale filled with an abundance of laughs and exhilarating action. scene wherein Baymax is told to “destroy.”

He suddenly becomes Baymax Version 2.0, a.k.a. “Bad Baymax,” and we have a waytoo-brief discussion about the uselessness of revenge.

However, the movie more than redeems itself with its snappy dialogue and endearing characters. Hiro is a charming smart aleck whose friendship with Baymax could melt even the hearts of the most cynical moviegoers. There’s also Hiro’s Aunt Cass (Maya Rudolph), whose flustered parenting style wins the sympathy of us all. The rest of the film’s characters vary in their talents and bring distinct personalities to the table.

Wasabi (Damon Wayons, Jr.) is cautious and precise (he’s the one with the laser cutters). GoGo (Jamie Chung) is tough and no-nonsense, saying little besides the occasional piece of advice, like “Woman up!” At first, Honey Lemon (Génesis Rodriguez) seems like your typical sorority girl, but she rebuts that stereotype by displaying her aptitude for chemistry. Finally, we have Fred (T.J. Miller), a self-described “mascot by day, and by night, also a mascot” who doesn’t know how to make robots, but whose moments of meta-clarity bring to

light why “Big Hero 6“ differs from the average superhero movie.

As the team faces trial after trial, Fred makes comments such as “This is our origin story!” and “We’re getting attacked by a real supervillain!” that remind us that this is a superhero story with protagonists who lead surprisingly normal lives. The characters are just college students thrown into the unlikely position of “superheroes,” and their fights against the masked bandit are not only scary, but also exhilarating.

They’re simultaneously adults bearing a responsibility to fight evil, and kids experiencing the coolest thing that has ever happened to them. Baymax, with his balloon-like shape and passive nature, stands in blatant contrast to the sleek, sexy Iron Mans and Transformers of the superhero film genre. When Hiro tries to fit him into a suit, Baymax says, “This may undermine my non-threatening, huggable design.”

Unlike most superheroes, his goal is not to conquer, but to heal. He’s the star of the movie, and my near-constant sobbing over his cuteness probably distracted me from making any more sophisticated observations about the film.

Reminiscent of a children’s movie like “Air Bud” or “My Dog Skip,” this film is tragic at points and ridiculously adorable throughout. In fact, this entire review could have been one large, 72-point-font “SO CUTE,” and that probably would have captured the essence of the “Big Hero 6” more succinctly.

Hiro and Tadashi’s brotherhood and friendship represent the centerpiece of the film, despite the fact that they have relatively few minutes on screen together.

Tadashi’s compassion and love for others eventually become Hiro’s. From the start, we often see Baymax saying, “Tadashi is here,” while touching his heart. It seems like a tired cliché, but when Baymax says it, the phrase takes on a whole new meaning.

“Big Hero 6” is about loss, but the film doesn’t let itself dwell within sadness.

Instead, it manages to build something to smile about, and I left the theater feeling warm inside. I’ll admit, the movie does juggle a few too many moral dilemmas, but at the heart of it is a story about learning how to move on. And even if we don’t all have huggable healthcare companions, the Baymax on the screen may be just enough.

The Amherst Student • November 19, 2014

Sports 9

Men’s Soccer Advances to Sweet Sixteen for Third Straight Year Jason Stein ’16 Sports Section Editor This past weekend, the Amherst men’s soccer advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament after victories on consecutive days in Amherst’s ninth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The weekend before the NCAA Tournament, the Jeffs advanced to their fourth straight NESCAC Championship game. However, this year the Jeffs came up just a bit short in their title defense. The Jeffs, at 14-1-5, will now look to do more damage in the NCAA third round and beyond.

After a victory over Colby (the No. 7 seed) in the NESCAC Quarterfinals, the second-seeded Jeffs topped the eighth-seeded Connecticut College Camels on Saturday, Nov. 8 by a score of 3-2 to advance to the NESCAC championship.

“Connecticut College is a good team and that was a good win,” Coach Justin Serpone said. “We would have liked to not have given up a goal in the first 10 seconds, but I was happy with how the guys battled back.”

The Jeffs looked to carry the momentum from their homecoming weekend win into their NESCAC Championship matchup the following afternoon on Hitchcock Field against the sixth-seeded Bowdoin Polar Bears.

In the first half, both the Jeffs and Polar Bears had six shots apiece, but neither team was able to put one across.

In the 77th minute, a legitimate scoring chance from Nico Pascual-Leone ’16 hit the post, while the rebound off the attempt from sophomore midfielder Bryce Ciambella finished just wide.

As the game was scoreless through regulation, the game headed to overtime. With little doing in the first overtime, the Jeffs had several opportunities to put the game away in the second, but Amherst was unable to convert any of its scoring chances.

For the second day in a row, the Polar Bears

forced penalty kicks, as Bowdoin won 3-2 following a 0-0 tie after two periods of overtime against Middlebury in the NESCAC Semifinals. Once again, the Polar Bears performed exceptionally well in the shoot out. After they converted the first shot, Van Siclen turned away Amherst’s first attempt.

With Bowdoin leading 2-1 in the first two penalty kicks, Thomas Bull ’16 made the clutch save for Amherst on Bowdoin’s third. With Bowdoin holding a 5-4 edge after six penalty shots, Van Slicen made the final save for the Polar Bears to knock off Amherst in the NESCAC championship.

Regarding the NESCAC Championship game, Coach Serpone, that that “we had our opportunities, but didn’t finish. Credit to Bowdoin on the victory, they executed their game plan well, and their penalty kicks were fantastic.”

On Saturday, Nov. 15 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Jeffs faced the Fitchburg State Falcons on Sandy MacAllaster Field in Canton, New York. Against the Falcons, the Jeffs played well defensively and used two first-half goals from first-year forward Aziz Khan to earn the victory.

Fifteen minutes into the game, Khan received a pass from forward Kieran Bellew ’18, and put it left of the goalie to put the Jeffs ahead 1-0.

In the 37th minute, a short corner kick from sophomore midfielder Forest Sisk found junior midfielder Tommy Haskel, who then set up Khan for a header that landed in back of the net and doubled Amherst’s lead going into halftime.

Ultimately, the Jeffs outshot the Falcons 32-2 in the 2-0 victory. Defensively, Bull and the Amherst defense carried the Jeffs to the team’s ninth shutout of 2014.

After the win over Fitchburg State, the Jeffs faced ninth-ranked St. Lawrence Saints (who entered with a 17-2-1 mark) on St. Lawrence’s home field. Both the Jeffs and the Saints were held scoreless over the first 45 minutes.

More than 20 minutes into the second half

Volleyball Ends 2014 Season with 21-7 Record Drew Kiley ’18 Staff Writer

The third-seeded Amherst College volleyball team reached the semifinals of the NESCAC championship last weekend, defeating Connecticut College before falling to second-seeded archrivals Williams. Hoping for an at-large bid, the Firedogs were ultimately denied a chance to play in the Div. III volleyball championship as three teams from the NESCAC (Williams, Tufts and Bowdoin) made the 64-team field.

On Friday, Oct. 31 Amherst traveled to Tufts, the host of this year’s NESCAC tournament. In quarterfinal action on Friday night, the Firedogs defeated Conn. College, 3-1 (20-25, 25-14, 25-12, 25-13). Maggie Danner ’17 put in a terrific effort for Amherst, flooring 18 kills on a .378 hitting percentage to lead the Firedogs to victory.

Nicole Carter ’16 and Kate Bres ’17 directed the Amherst offense with 25 and 20 assists, respectively. Jennifer Mackinnon Krems ’18 and Nicole Gould ’17 each claimed nine kills, and Katie Warshaw ’16 recorded a match-high 22 digs.

Asha Walker ’18 contributed in multiple categories with 13 digs, six kills and five service aces.

The first set was tied eight times, with the last tied score at 18-18 before the Camels went on a 7-2 run to claim the win, 25-20. Andrea Mullaney proved to be hard for Amherst to contain, flooring five kills en route to Conn. College’s 1-0 lead.

The second stanza started similarly, with the two teams exchanging points until the match was tied at nine. Seizing the lead behind Walker’s serve, the Firedogs gained momentum to claim the set, 25-14, and tie the match at one.

Amherst dominated the next two stanzas, roaring out to early leads and then building on them to claim each set easily and the match, 3-1.

With the win, the Firedogs moved on to the semifinals.

Amherst then took on archrivals Williams on Saturday afternoon with a trip to the championship match on the line. Danner once again led the Firedogs with 12 kills, but the Ephs claimed the victory in straight sets (25-23, 25-19, 25-21) to move on to the final.

Gould added six kills for Amherst while Lizzie Ahern ’16 floored five. Warshaw recorded 12 digs and eight assists, and Carter claimed 10 assists to go along with eight digs. Bres added nine assists and six digs while Walker recorded six digs.

The Firedogs claimed an early lead in the first set, but Williams went on a run to tie the score at eight. Amherst then fought back to claim a sevenpoint lead, 20-13, before the Ephs went on two 5-0 runs.

Amherst once again jumped out to an early lead in the second set, but the Ephs responded again to match the score at eight. This time Williams claimed the lead and then kept it throughout the set to win it, 25-19, and claim a 2-0 advantage in the match.

The Ephs took the lead in the third stanza and retained it for most of the set. The Firedogs eventually fell, 25-21, and lost the match 3-0.

“I’m really proud of the team for how we played and how much we improved,” Danner said. “I don’t think our best came through in the last match against Williams, but the matches when we played our best make me really excited for next season and all we can accomplish.”

The team ends its season with a 21-7 record, their second straight with at least 20 wins. Senior middle blocker Lauren Antion will graduate in the spring, but the Firedogs will return the rest of the roster for the 2015 season. With a more experienced team across the board and a new recruiting class, the Firedogs will be serious challengers for a NESCAC championship and an NCAA tournament bid next fall.

of play, Amherst positioned themselves well in the match with a goal from sophomore defender Cameron Bean. While Saints goalie Aaron Costello saved Bean’s first shot attempt, Bean was able to put the rebound into the net for the score, giving Amherst the 1-0 lead.

In the 79th minute, the Saints’ Manny Collins scored the equalizing goal. The game remained tied until the end of regulation and during the overtime periods, resulting in another Amherst game going to a shoot out for the second time in its past three games.

During penalty kicks, first-year goalie Lee Owen was put in goal and made some clutch saves for Amherst. The Jeffs received a significant contribution from another first-year, as Bellew buried home Amherst’s fifth and final penalty kick of the afternoon to give the Jeffs the victory (after winning the penalty kicks 3-2). With the win, the Jeffs eliminated a talented Saints team for the second consecutive season in the NCAA tournament.

Up next, the Jeffs will face fifth-ranked Brandeis (who enters play at 19-1-2) in the NCAA

third round on Nov. 22 at 1:30 p.m. Brandeis advanced to the Sweet Sixteen after defeating Bowdoin 1-0 in the NCAA Second Round and beating Husson by a 3-0 tally in the NCAA first round.

A win for the Jeffs on Saturday against Brandeis would put Amherst in its third consecutive Elite Eight (after the Jeffs lost to Williams in both the 2012 and the 2013 NCAA Elite Eight).

“Brandeis is traditionally a very strong program and will be a tough test,” Bull said. “Our goal against any team is to break them down with high pressure and hard work. This is especially important when playing against a possession-orientated team like Brandeis in order to disrupt their rhythm. During the NCAA tournament, however, it is all about finding a way to advance to the next round no matter the opponent. I believe we have a group of guys that are battle-tested and have the ability to beat any team in the country on any given day. I’m excited about our prospects moving forward in the tournament and am excited to get to work in practice this week ahead of our Sweet Sixteen matchup.”

Senior defender Bubba Van Wie has stepped up huge as a transitional forward in post-season play.

Men’s and Women’s XC Headed to NCAA Championships Holly Burwick ’16 Senior Staff Writer Men The Amherst men’s cross country team turned in an impressive two weeks. They traveled to Westfield, MA on Saturday, to compete in the ECAC Div. III Championships. Impressively, the men finished third in the 43-team field.

Steven Lucey ’17 had a very impressive race.

His average mile time of 5:09.3 brought him to a first place finish in the 303-person field. Lucey is the first Amherst runner to finish first at this event.

The men’s cross country team also had an incredible weekend at NCAA Regionals, finishing second in a 54-team field.

The Jeffs were expected to place fifth at the event, but they exceeded expectations this weekend. Colby won the event with 63 points, while the Jeffs finished closely behind them with 69 points.

“The guys raced and competed extremely well, and definitely went after it with purpose and conviction,” said Coach Eric Nedeau. “Each week we have been getting better and learning about ourselves.”

Leading the effort for the Jeffs was Mohamed Hussein ’18. Crossing the tape in 25:30:3, Hussein took fourth place overall in the 373-runner field.

“Each race I ran has been a learning opportunity for me as well as training with dedicated and driven teammates,” Hussein said. “I never doubted my talent nor did I had to prove it to my coach and teammates, because I knew that once I was ready to compete, I would compete with the top runners from the region. This race was the culmination of a great season.”

Thanks to these strong finishes, the Jeffs have qualified for the NCAA Div. III National Championships for the first time since 2009. It will be their

fifth appearance in program history.

“We have been focused all season on performing our best at the end of the season and on having our best race at Nationals, so this weekend’s race showed that we are on the right track for a big race in Ohio this coming Saturday,” Coach Nedeau said.

Amherst will travel to Mason, Ohio for the championship race Saturday, Nov. 22.

Women The Amherst women’s cross country team continued its successful season, placing sixth at the ECAC Championships last weekend and fourth at the NCAA Regionals this past Saturday.

Finishing first for the Jeffs was Olivia Tarantino ’15, whose 23:03 finishing time made for a 16th place finish in the 338-runner field. Six seconds later, Tess Frenzel ’17 finished to come in 21st.

The team continued its winning ways by taking fourth place at NCAA Regionals on Nov. 15.

Savanna Gornisiewicz ’17 paved the way for the Jeffs, taking ninth overall in the 387-person field.

“Saturday was the best day for Amherst crosscountry since I’ve been coaching here,” Coach Funke-Harris said. “The men really started things off on a great note. Seeing them race so incredibly well really set a good tone for the rest of the day.

It got our team excited to compete and see what they could do.

“It was awesome to have four runners finish in the top 25, and that bodes very well for us this weekend at nationals,” Coach Funke-Harris continued.

As a result of their performance, the Jeffs received an at large bid to the NCAA Div. III National Championships. This will be Amherst’s 13th appearance at the event, and the program’s first since 2012. Nationals will take place on Saturday, Nov. 22 in Mason, Ohio.

10

Sports

The Amherst Student • November 19, 2014

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Schedule FRIDAY

Men’s Basketball vs. Johnson State, 6 p.m.

Women’s Hockey vs. Wesleyan, 7 p.m.

Men’s Hockey at Trinity 7:30 p.m.

Women’s Squash vs. Northeastern, 11 a.m.

Men’s Soccer (Sweet 16) vs. Brandeis (at SUNY Oneonta), 1:30 p.m.

Men’s Cross Country at NCAA Championship

Men’s/Women’s Swimming & Diving vs. Colby, 2 p.m.

Women’s Cross Country at NCAA Championship

Women’s Hockey vs. Wesleyan, 3 p.m.

Men’s Squash vs. Northeastern, 11 a.m.

Men’s Hockey at Wesleyan, 3 p.m.

SATURDAY

Women’s Soccer Advances to Third Round of NCAAs with 2-0 Win Over NYU, Face Heartbreaking Loss In PKs Virginia Hassell ’16 Staff Writer After receiving an unexpected berth into the NCAA tournament early last week, Amherst women’s soccer focused on sharpening their attack in preparation for first round opponent, NYU. In Saturday’s game, the Jeffs found the back of the net in each half, advancing with a 2-0 win over NYU. In the first half alone, Amherst posted a 5-3 shot advantage. Sophomore Quinn Phillips, first-year Meredith Manley and junior Jessy Hale combined to deliver four of the five shots on goal, but NYU’s keeper Cassie Steinberg denied their efforts.

At the 30-minute marker, Rachael Abernethy ’16 scored the first goal after connecting with Megan Kim ’16, tallying her seventh goal on the year and putting the Jeffs ahead 1-0.

Amherst continued to attack, countering NYU’s increased offensive pressure. Amherst junior goalkeeper, Holly Burwick amassed five of her six saves in the second half en route to her ninth shutout of the season.

Kim tallied her second assist of the game when she found sophomore Alex Sotak, who was able to slot the ball into the left side to push the Jeffs ahead by two.

Though Amherst posted a slim 8-7 shot advantage in the second half, the Jeffs remained poised to capture the 2-0 victory. With the win, Amherst advanced to the second round of the tournament, where they faced Nazareth in a nail-biter. Though the Jeffs would be unable to secure the win, the Purple and White showcased a heroic second half performance, forcing the game into two overtimes and penalty kicks.

Amherst struggled to find their rhythm in the first half as Nazareth dominated play. Nazareth jumped out to an early lead when Courtney Malia netted a goal 1:22 into play. Nazareth continued applying dominant pressure, finding the back of the net for the second time in the 20th minute of play.

Down 2-0 at the half and being outshot by Nazareth, Amherst’s chances did not look promising.

“We definitely didn’t play that well first half, but we really stepped it up in the second and came back and scored two goals,” said Emily Masten ’17.

With a second half momentum shift, the resilient Amherst squad refused to go down easily. In the 64th minute, senior Ariana Twomey assisted Hannah Guzzi ’18, who found the back of the net to slice the deficit in half and record her 10th goal on the year.

With two minutes remaining in regulation, the Jeffs fought to remain alive. Sophomore Emily Hester beat the Nazareth goalkeeper to tie the game at 2-2 on an assist from Twomey.

Asher Chris Tamasi Lichtig ’15 ’16

Marie Maxwell ’18

Favorite Team Memory: Beating Williams last year Favorite Pro Athlete: Madison Bumgarner Dream Job: Physician for the SF Giants or 49ers Pet Peeve: Smash being left on in the common room Favorite Vacation Spot: Puerto Rico Something on Your Bucket List: Go into space Guilty Pleasure: Legend of Korra Favorite Food: CBR Calzone with extra ranch from Bruno’s Favorite Thing About Amherst: Very little walking to get around campus

Favorite Team Memory: When we had midnight practice on Halloween Favorite Pro Athlete: Madison Bumgarner Dream Job: Pediatrician Pet Peeve: Slow walkers Favorite Vacation Spot: New Orleans Something on Your Bucket List: Scuba diving Guilty Pleasure: Binge watching “Say Yes to the Dress” Favorite Food: Ice cream!

Favorite Thing About Amherst: Being a part of the swim team

Swimming Prevails in Season Opener

Lichtig ‘16 and Maxwell ‘18 Earn POW Honors

Sarah Zuckerman ’17 Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Hannah Guzzi ‘18 tallied 21 points with 10 goals and an assist to cap off her rookie campaign.

After two scoreless overtimes that saw the Jeffs post a 4-0 shot advantage in the first and Nazareth record a 2-0 shot advantage in the second, the game moved into penalty kicks.

Amherst nailed the first two attempts, while Nazareth missed their second. With a 2-1 advantage, Amherst failed to capitalize on the opportunity, missing the third take. Tied at 2-2, both teams punched the next attempt into the back of the net for a 3-3 tie. The game would be left up to the fifth and final penalty kick.

The Jeffs missed the kick, and Nazareth drilled theirs into the back of the net to defeat Amherst, 4-3, and advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

Nazareth held a 16-15 shot advantage. Amherst goalkeeper Holly Burwick ’16 recorded an impressive performance, tallying 10 saves.

Finishing the year with a 12-5-1 record, the Jeffs appeared in the NCAA tournament for the 14th time and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. Though the Nazareth game didn’t turn out in the Jeffs’ favor, the players delivered a terrific effort in the hard-fought loss.

“Despite the loss, I am still very proud of how we played that second half. We definitely weren’t going to give up without a fight,” Masten added.

Last Saturday in Pratt Pool, Amherst’s men’s and women’s swim and dive teams opened their seasons with two decisive victories over Union College.

The men crushed Union 202-91, winning 14 events in the process. Amherst’s 200 medley relay team, consisting of Sam Spurrell ’18, Greg Han ’17, Matt Heise ’16 and Tyler Hampton ’15 handed the Jeff ’s their first victory of the afternoon, touching the wall at 1:36:84. In the meet’s closing event Spurrell and Hampton swam with Alex Dreisbach ’17 and Connor Sholtis ’15 to bring home the final victory of the afternoon in the 200 free relay.

Ben Grimes ’15 demonstrated his versatility by bagging victories in both the 1,000 yard freestyle and the 200 individual medley. Sholtis, on the other hand, proved his dominance in free by winning both the 100 and the 200 in addition to his relay success. The medley relay team proved that they earned their first win of the day when Spurrell, Han and Heise won 100 fly, 200 back and 200 breaststroke, respectively.

The last three wins of the day are credited to Jeff Anderson ’16, who won the 200 fly, Elijah Spiro ’18, who won 100 breaststroke and John Janezich ’18, who won the 500 free.

The men were helped to their overall victory by Asher Lichtig ’16, who won both diving events of the day. He claimed the 3M with a score of 265.24 and the 1M with a NCAA-qualifying score of 290.95. His accomplishments at the meet

were highlighted when he was named NESCAC performer of the week.

The women of Amherst swim and dive also opened their season with a victory, defeating Union 168-118. Seven of 13 victories to come that afternoon would be claimed by three firstyears. The first came via first-year Marie Maxwell’s 200 free win. Maxwell followed her first win up with two more, this time in the 500 free and 1,000 free. Maxwell’s performance in her first collegiate meet earned her the NESCAC Performer of the Week honor.

Stephanie Mariarty ’18 added another two individual wins, taking home the 100 and 200 back in addition to being a member of the victorious 200 medley relay team. Garelyn Lam ’18 rounded out the first-year performance, winning the 100 and 200 fly to add two more wins to the Jeffs’ total.

Emily Hyde ’16 added to her victory as part of the 200 medley team by claiming both 100 and 200 breaststroke. Hyde earned her last win of the day in the 200 free relay alongside Sarah Conklin ’16, Sabrina Lee ’15 and Ashleigh Stoddart ’15.

Conklin and Lee earned the last two individual wins of the day. Conklin claimed 100 fly and Lee took 100 free.

“We were psyched as to how fast we all swam, and especially proud of the freshmen. They really stepped up to the plate and owned their events,” Conklin said. “We’re looking forward to another fun and successful season.”

Both men’s and women’s swim and dive return to Pratt Pool on Saturday, Nov. 22 to face off against rival Colby at 2 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Captain Connor Sholtis ‘15 has claimed six all-conference honors with two NESCAC titles and All-America honors just last year.

The Amherst Student • November 19, 2014

Women’s Hockey Opens the Season with Record of 2-0 Nell Patterson ‘15 Staff Writer The Amherst women’s hockey team opened its season with a very successful weekend, beating Hamilton twice to start their season at 2-0. Last season, the Jeffs amassed a 13-11 record and made it all the way to the NESCAC Semifinals before falling to Bowdoin, the eventual NESCAC champion.

The Jeffs look to improve on last season, returning four key players in the class of 2015. Captain Tori Salmon ’15 led the team in points last season with 25. Last season was also the inaugural one for their coach, Jeffrey Matthews, who hopes to improve on last season in his second year.

Erin Martin ’16, who scored the sole goal in the second game this weekend, said that “our biggest strengths are our trust and dedication. We trust the player next to us on the bench to do their job so we can each focus on our own role on the team. We are also all completely dedicated to making this a successful season.”

The Jeffs began their 2014-2015 season with a home game against the Hamilton Continentals at home in Orr Rink. First-year Brenna Sullivan put the Jeffs on the board tallying her first collegiate goal at the 9:28 mark in the first period. Sullivan scored again in the second period of a pass from Caroline Bomstein ’16 to put the Jeffs up 2-0. Amherst held the advantage in shots throughout the period putting pressure on the Hamilton defense. The Jeffs ended up with 27 shots during the game compared to 14 for the Continentals. Yuna Evans ’17 made an impressive 14 saves in her first career start, ensuring a victory for the Jeffs.

The next day, the Jeffs traveled to Hamilton to face the Continentals again as part of their doubleheader opening weekend. Knowing the Continentals would be eager to avenge their loss, the Jeffs realized they needed to bring the power on Sunday at the visitor rink.

“After Saturday’s win, we knew that Hamilton would come back at us even harder on Sunday at their own rink, but we did not change our approach to the game,” Martin said. “We trust that our systems give us the best opportunity to win, and we want teams adjusting to our play. “ The first two periods were a defensive battle, as neither team was able to find the back of the net.

Evans had a huge role in the Jeffs’ victory, accounting for 18 saves on the day. The Jeffs defense was also able to kill three power plays over the course of the three periods. The Jeffs offense remained powerful, racking up 32 shots, but were only able to find the net once. Erin Martin scored in the third period during an Amherst power play. Salmon and Lynndy Smith ’17 assisted Martin on the goal, which ended up being the game-winner. Hamilton was unable to answer the goal for the rest of the period.

“Both games, I thought we got better with each period,” Coach Matthews said. “On Sunday, our players really battled, and had a very strong second and third period, and did what they had to do to win.”

Looking ahead, Martin said, “we have a very talented roster giving us the depth we need to be a championship team.”

The Jeffs will look to defend their unbeaten record in the second weekend of their season against Wesleyan. Games start on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m., both at home in Orr Rink. The Cardinals split their opening weekend games against Williams, falling 3-1 in the first game and winning 5-0 in the second.

Coach Matthews said that the matchup will be a test as “every team we play in the NESCAC is a tough opponent, and that is no exaggeration. Every team in our league has excellent goaltending and enough talent to be very dangerous. It makes things fun for all involved, as all of our league games are intense and fast-paced.”

Sports

11

Men’s Hockey Defeats Hamilton 3-1 in Season Opener Greg Williams ’16 Senior Staff Writer The men’s ice hockey team is coming off a stellar 2013-2014 campaign and looking to match or better their success from last year.

With a number of key players returning, the Jeffs already look poised for success, but they will need to find their identity with this new unit before they can do so.

Last year’s season ended with a thrilling double overtime game in the NESCAC championship versus the Trinity Bantams. Unfortunately, despite a well-played game, the Bantams were able to use home ice to their advantage to find the back of the net on now-junior Dave Cunningham. Cunningham had excellent year in his second season as the Jeffs’ net minder, and will be a cornerstone of the 2014 team.

Senior captains Mike Rowbotham and Jake Turrin will provide leadership on both the offensive and defensive end as two of the most complete players in the NESCAC. The offense returns eight forwards, including a number of 10+ point scorers from last year and their leading scorer Conor Brown ’16. The defense returns as veteran group as well, with six of the eight having played at least one year in the purple and white and the leading assist-getter Aaron Deutsch ’15. Amherst’s six first-years and on sophomore transfer will also look to provide important depth for the group’s success.

Coach Jack Arena ’83 will be coming into his 31st year at the helm of the program and will look to continue to build on the team’s recent success. Back in the day, Arena capped off his senior year by winning the Hoby Baker award as the best player in Div. III ice hockey.

After that year, he took over as the head coach

and has enjoyed tremendous success. This year, he has a chance to increase his all-time record to over 100 more wins than losses, a testament to his ability as a coach.

The Jeffs opened their season last Saturday at Hamilton College in New York. The evening game ended with a 3-1 Amherst victory, in which the Jeffs took the first right step of the season. Following a scoreless first period, the Amherst offense found its stride in the second period as they managed to break the tie with a goal from first-year David White off of a solid passing effort from Topher Flanagan ’16 and Keenan Hodgson ’18. In the third, Jeffs put away two goals, one from Turrin off of a pass from Thomas Lindstrom ’18, son of former Detroit Red Wing and NHL future hall of famer Nicklas Lindstrom, and the other off of a shot from the point by Xavier Louis Reed ’16.

Hamilton outshot the Jeffs for the game 3229, but thanks to Cunningham’s solid 31 save effort the Jeffs held on for a 3-1 win. The Jeffs racked up six penalties throughout the game to Hamilton’s four, and the Continentals managed to capitalize as their only goal was found on a power play.

“I was pleased with our efforts on Saturday night. We were far from perfect, but worked and competed hard. It was nice to get a solid contribution from our first years and David Cunningham was excellent,” said Coach Arena.

This weekend will be a challenge with Trinity coming off back-to-back seven goal games and is as talented as any team in the country. Wesleyan is a high-tempo, attacking team that will put a lot of pressure on our team defense. This will be a good test to see where we are.”

Amherst returns to action this Friday night at Orr Rink, where they have their home opener against Trinity.

GET IN THE GAME THE QUINNIPIAC MASTER’S IN SPORTS JOURNALISM Step up your game and get into the action with the MS in Sports Journalism from Quinnipiac. Bring your passion and drive and we’ll prepare you for a career in this fast-paced field.

• Great Northeast location easily accessible to some of the country’s most dynamic sports media companies • Faculty of experienced journalists offering real-world perspective and support • Outstanding facilities, cutting-edge equipment, and the multimedia and mobile tools you’ll need – in the studio or the field • Learning opportunities covering Division I sports at one of New England’s best college venues, Quinnipiac’s TD Bank Sports Center • Two tracks, on-campus broadcast/multimedia track and online writing track

Learn more or apply: www.quinnipiac.edu/gradprograms graduate@quinnipiac.edu

800-462-1944 | Hamden & North Haven, Connecticut

Sports

“Defensively, Bull and the Amherst defense carried the Jeffs to the team’s ninth shutout of 2014...”

Men’s Soccer Advances to Sweet Sixteen... Page 9

Photo courtesy of Mark Box

The football team capped off an undefeated 2014 campaign with a 17-9 victory over arch rival Williams on Homecoming weekend at Pratt Field.

Champions Again! Football Finishes Undefeated, Mills Named NESCAC Coach of the Year Nell Patterson ’15 Staff Writer Perfection. A word rarely used in our language, but it does describe the Amherst College football team’s 2014 season. The 17-9 victory over Williams on Saturday, Nov. 8 sealed the unblemished season for the Jeffs and earned the team a NESCAC championship all to themselves. “Ending the career as undefated NESCAC champs with this group of seniors is a dream come true,” Colman Duggan ’15 said. “There’s been some comparisons between this team and the team that went undefeated our freshman year; both groups had some awesome wins with a lot of memorable moments but I think for me the difference was really the camaraderie of our team this year.”

It unclear from the beginning that the Jeffs would be victorious as Amherst once again struggled offensively. Williams outpaced the Jeffs in terms of offensive yards, netting 290 to the Jeffs’ 267. The Jeffs also turned over the ball three times, while the Ephs lost possession only twice. Ultimately, the Jeffs defense was able to hold the Ephs to only nine points through the four quarters for an Amherst victory. Senior captain Chris Tamasi praised the strength of the defense all season, “We

had a special group on defense this year. Everyone committed to doing their job and our defense was able to keep our team in games based off the outstanding effort by our guys. Our guys took pride in our operation and never gave up when faced with adversity,” Tamasi said.

The first Amherst drive, led by senior Max Lippe, did not last long as sophomore Nick Kelly fumbled the football on third down. Williams was able to recover the football on the Amherst 33yard line. Although deep into the Jeffs’ territory, Williams was only able to attempt a field goal after a few shots at the endzone. The kick was good, and the Jeffs trailed 0-3 for the remainder of the first quarter.

With only three minutes left in the half, Lippe and the Jeffs took control of the ball again on their own 47-yard line. Lippe relied heavily on Gene Garay ’15, as he has all season, to move the Jeffs down the field. Lippe dropped back to pass on a second down and 14 play and found junior receiver Jackson McGonagle ‘16 in the end zone for a touchdown. Senior kicker Philip Nwosu’s extra point attempt was good and lifted the Jeffs to a 7-3 lead. The score would remain the same moving into the locker-room for halftime.

Knowing a four-point lead was not good

enough, the Amherst offense came out firing in the second half. Lippe found two of his favorite receivers, McGonagle and Garay, for 13 and 36 yards, respectively, which helped motor the offense down into Williams territory. The Jeffs capped the drive with a 14-yard completion to Garay in the end zone.

On the next Amherst possession, Lippe once again strung together an impressive drive relying on a combined running attack from Myles Gaines ’17 and Raheem Jackson ’17. Lippe also worked in sophomore Devin Boehm for a big gain of 27 yards on the drive. In the end, the Jeffs settled for a field goal attempt that Nwosu made easily.

The Ephs threatened the Jeffs lead late in the fourth quarter. Williams scored a touchdown with three minutes left in the game narrowing the Amherst lead to eight. Tamasi made a huge play on the extra point attempt, blocking the Ephs’ kick and putting the game out of Williams’ reach.

With the 8-0 season, the senior class ends their careers with a 29-3 record, making them the winningest class in Amherst history. When asked about their favorite moments from the weekend, almost all the seniors remember walking off the field as a unit and playing their last game together.

“I am so happy most of all for the other guys in

my class, that we were able to accomplish everything we could have asked for in our time with the program,” Jonathan Woodrow ’15 said. “Perhaps more importantly, we were able to do it together in a way that I believe embodies the spirit of Amherst, its entire athletics program and the men we are all striving to become.”

“I wouldn’t want my last season, our last season as a class, to have gone any other way.” senior captain Scott Mergner commented. “I feel a special bond with all of my teammates this year, but especially the seniors, who have done this together for four years. It’s an amazing way to go out.”

“It is so special to finish our careers at Amherst with an undefeated season, and recounting the challenges faced in each game makes it even more memorable,” Tamasi added. “We battled every game and did what we had to do to win. I love our group of seniors and am so proud of what each of them have accomplished individually and what we have been able to do as a collective unit. A 29-3 record is one hell of a run, and I couldn’t imagine spending four years with a different group of guys.”

Mergner, Garay, Deane, Tamasi, Lehrman, Spears, Nwosu, Kelly, Duggan and Johnson received All-NESCAC honors.

Photos courtesy of Megan Robertson ‘15