Issue 14

THE AMHERST

THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

STUDENT VOLUME CXLV, ISSUE 14 l WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016

Men’s Basketball Competes in Conference Matchups See Sports, Page 10 AMHERSTSTUDENT.AMHERST.EDU

President Creates Task Force for Diversity Dan Ahn ’17 Managing News Editor

Sophia Salazar ’18 Staff Photographer

Prospective applicants see main campus with tour guide Manuel Morales ‘16. The college informed 180 students of their acceptance through Early Decision in December, and will notify Regular Decision applicants in April.

180 Admitted Early to Class of 2020 Jingwen Zhang ’18 Managing News Editor Amherst College accepted 180 out of 454 Early Decision applicants to the class of 2020 this past December, according to the Office of Admission.

The accepted applicants are expected to comprise about 38 percent of the target of 472 members for the class of 2020, a 2 percent increase from last year, according to Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Katie Fretwell. Overall, the college received 28 fewer Early Decision applicants than last year.

Of the admitted students, 46 percent are women. Thirty-seven percent identify as students of color, with record-setting numbers of students identifying as black, Latino and Asian, and three students of Native American background.

“We have been increasing our outreach efforts with Native students,” Fretwell said in an email interview, citing an admissions program to

fly in talented prospective applicants and the admissions office’s involvement in a college admissions workshop for Native American high school students. “We have never had a sizable number of Native American candidates in our ED pool, but I can confirm that our regular decision pool has a record number.”

The accepted students come from 152 secondary schools in 26 states and seven countries, including six who are not U.S. citizens. Fretwell noted a decline in the number of international applicants, especially from China, Canada and South Korea, but an increase in applicants from the mid-Atlantic region and California.

Fifteen students were admitted through the QuestBridge National College Match Program, which is designed to match students from lowincome families to 37 selective partner colleges and universities, including Amherst.

Additionally, 33 incoming students are children of the school’s alumni.

The college also received 92 transfer applications for the current semester, of which 13 were

accepted and 11 students enrolled. According to Fretwell, three of these transfer students are from community colleges, and one is a U.S. veteran.

“I am particularly pleased that among our ED acceptances are several outstanding musicians and the most diverse group of student-athletes I can recall,” Fretwell said.

The accepted students’ academic strength was similar to that of the class of 2019’s Early Decision students. The average ACT composite score of 32 is the same as last year, and the average SAT composite score is 2150, which is six points lower. Fretwell said that the number of applicants choosing to submit ACT test scores increased significantly, surpassing the number of students submitting SAT scores for the first time.

“One theory for this shift is that students are hearing more about the ACT as the SAT prepares for the launch of its newly designed test scheduled for rollout in March 2016,” Fretwell said. Applicants using the SAT for admission

Continued on Page 3

The Presidential Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion held its inaugural meeting on Friday, Feb. 5. President Biddy Martin created the task force to review and help implement the diversity initiatives recommended by the strategic plan, Amherst Uprising and other sources.

The group’s goals include coordinating efforts in diversity and inclusion across academic and administrative lines and increasing communication among those organizations, Martin said in an email interview. She said that the idea came to her last summer as the administration geared up to implement the strategic plan published in June.

The task force currently has 15 members: six professors, four students, one coach, interim director of the Multicultural Resource Center Adrianna Turner ’14, director of financial planning and analysis Katie Edwards ’87, Dean of the Faculty Catherine Epstein and Chief Student Affairs Officer Suzanne Coffey.

Martin said a special characteristic of the task force is that “it is composed of representatives not only from key administrative offices, but also from major governance groups, staff groups and students active in promoting inclusion.”

Members of the task force are responsible for relaying information to the groups they represent.

The task force plans to meet on a weekly basis throughout the rest of the academic year.

“I am hopeful that the task force will bring more attention and action towards building an integrated and positive community at Amherst for all members,” said Edwards, who represents the college’s Managers Council, a staff organization comprised of heads of administrative departments.

The written charge of the task force encourages keeping the membership capped at 13, but that number has proven flexible in the past week.

Members were appointed by various means, including direct appointment by the president and dean of the faculty and independent selection by the on-campus organizations and constituencies.

The charge of the task force also requires that it be led by the college’s chief diversity officer. However, because that position has been vacant since the resignation of Mariana Cruz on Oct. 6, Mar-

Continued on Page 3

Students Select Four Branches for Spring Trial Period Jeff Szulc ’19 Staff Writer Students participated in an online poll on Jan. 27 to determine which proposals for Branches would be implemented for this semester’s trial period. Three hundred and seventy-one students responded to the poll and selected four Branches to be formed. Enrollment for Branches will be open through Wednesday, Feb. 10.

The Association of Amherst Students administered the poll, which contained an accompanying statement that said “Branches will seek to engage students from across campus by diversifying nightlife, school-wide events, and other activities at Amherst, both for students who choose to join Branches and those who do not.”

The poll offered students seven proposals for Branches, and each student could cast up to four votes. Each proposed Branch was represented by a color and a mascot, as well as several ideas for college-wide events that the Branch would host.

“We wanted to keep [the process] studentcentric, so the work group was started by students, and the idea was brought forth by students, and then we wanted to open the creation of the clubs to students,” Kyndall Ashe ’18, a member of the work group, said. “We were really happy with the voter turnout, because it’s hard to get 300 students to do anything … and we’re really excited that so many people are still interested in the idea and are still providing an opinion,” she said.

The four Branches that received the most

support were the 301 Branch, the Buena Vista Branch, the SOS (Save Our Social Life) Branch and the Ailurus Branch. The two that did not receive enough votes for implementation were the Fourth Wall Branch and the Knights of the Triangle Table Branch. The 301 Branch, which garnered the most support with 238 votes, plans on hosting an Oktoberfest Potluck and a Mayfest as its campus-wide events.

The poll follows several months of organizing from the Social Project Work Group, which collected student feedback over the course of last semester The work group began collecting submissions for ideas in late November, about a month after the student body voted to approve the trial period. They met with each student or group who had submitted an idea to discuss

whether their ideas were feasible and eventually narrowed down the list to six.

The work group decided over winter break to change the name of the project from social clubs to Branches, because the board of trustees’ decision to ban on-campus fraternities in 1984 also explicitly prohibited “social clubs.”

After students finish submitting their preferences for membership in Branches, the work group will run the votes through an algorithm to distribute the students.

“The algorithm will tentatively be run this upcoming weekend, so people who enter into the algorithm should be placed in Branches in the near future, and Branches will begin operating shortly thereafter,” Tom Sommers ’16, another member of the work group, said.

News

Franklin Odo Feb. 1 , 2016 - Feb. 7, 2016

Fresh Faculty American Studies

>>Feb. 1, 2016 2:28 p.m., Valentine Dining Hall A student reported a lost bicycle.

6:21 p.m., Off Campus A student reported that she responded to an email and provided her password. The email she received was fraudulent.

10:50 p.m., Seligman House An officer investigated a smoke detector sounding in the kitchen. It appeared to have been activated when popcorn was cooked. >>Feb. 2, 2016 6:32 p.m., Garman House An officer investigated a smoke detector sounding in a third-floor room and discovered that the resident was cooking in his room. The cooking device was confiscated as it is prohibited under the housing regulations >>Feb. 5, 2016 12:05 a.m., Converse Lot An officer checked on an intoxicated man at the bus stop. He did not require assistance and left in a taxi.

1:11 a.m., Jenkins Dormitory Officers responded to a complaint of loud music and issued a warning at a second-floor suite.

Professor Franklin Odo is the John J. McCloy ’16 Visiting Professor of American Institutions and International Diplomacy. He received his bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies from Princeton University, his master’s degree in East Asian regional studies at Harvard University and his doctorate degree on Japanese feudalism from Princeton.

11:30 p.m., Jenkins Dormitory Officers responded to a complaint of a loud party and issued a warning at a secondfloor suite. >>Feb. 6, 2016 1:31 a.m., Boltwood Avenue An officer assisted a woman, who is a student in the fivecollege area, by transporting her to her residence. She was experiencing emotional difficulties, but required no further assistance.

11:09 p.m., College Street An officer encountered an underage student with alcohol.

The matter was referred to Student Affairs. >>Feb. 7, 2016 2:01 a.m., Social Quad An officer stopped two women, who are five-college students, after they had taken two items from a third-floor suite at Crossett. The items were returned and the residents did not want to pursue the matter further.

2:08 a.m., Morrow Dormitory An officer responded to evaluate an intoxicated student found on the ground outside of Valentine Hall. No medical assistance was needed.

1:17 a.m., Stone Dormitory Officers responded to a complaint of loud music and issued a warning at a third-floor suite.

3:00 a.m., Humphries House An officer discovered that alcohol was available at a party which was registered as alcohol-free. The matter was referred to Student Affairs.

11:01 p.m., Campus Grounds A caller reported what sounded like someone screaming in the area of the Athletic Complex. Nothing unusual was found when officers checked.

12:46 p.m., Valentine Dining Hall An officer encountered an underage student with alcohol.

The matter was referred to Student Affairs.

Picture this:

Contact astudent@ amherst.edu for more info

Q: Could you tell me about how you got into the field of Asian-American Studies?

A: It is actually a little bit complicated. I did my graduate work in Asian Studies. There was no such thing as Asian-American studies in the early 1960s, so I did a lot of work in Chinese history and did a dissertation on early-modern Japanese feudalism. I was teaching at Occidental College in Los Angeles beginning in 1968. That was a high point in the Asian-American movement: anti-war stuff, looking at black power and yellow power. So that helped me move from Asian Studies to looking at race relations in the United States through the prism of the AsianAmerican communities.

Q: Why did you decide to come to Amherst?

A: I’ve been retired for a while. I was a college professor for several decades. I went to the Smithsonian in 1997, left there in 2010 and spent a year at the Library of Congress. So I was an executive in federal government for some years. But I’ve sort of been out of a steady job, so to speak, so I was available when Amherst offered this opportunity. And I thought, this is a great way to get back to working with smart young kids, so we sold our condo in Washington D.C. and moved up here.

Q: What do you like about Amherst?

A: One thing is, it’s far from Washington D.C..

I didn’t really realize, I think, how debilitating D.C. is, with a lot of individualism and powerseeking. You’re inevitably caught up if you’re in a bureaucratic situation or an executive, because you’re aggrandizing constantly, in my case, trying to make headway for consciousness for the Asian-American racial grouping. It was a constant struggle, and it was a very difficult role to play. This is a very nice respite from that kind of work: getting back into reading, teaching students and it’s a nice place. I like it a lot.

Q: What classes are you teaching?

A: This semester, Japanese-Americans and World War II. That’s about the whole incarcera-

YOU

Positions open for the school year

tion issue, the internment. It was really the only time in the United States when the government has apologized and provided reparations to people for actions it considered unconstitutional and unjust. And there’s a lot of military history in there that’s really fascinating as well. So it’s a good block of history that allows people to take a look at the Constitution, Supreme Court cases, racism, resistance — all kinds of interesting stuff.

Q: What did you teach last semester?

A: I taught a course called “Race and Public History/Memory.” That was utilizing my work at the Smithsonian, Library of Congress and National Park Service to really take a look at how United States official agencies collected, interpreted and portrayed race within their institutions. Because it’s the federal government, it has a particular official imprimatur of what passes for the master narrative, what the country is expected to think about how race relations developed. So it’s an exploration of scholarly stuff that deals with these issues, as well as what the federal government says we should learn.

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?

A: Oh, boy. There’s not that much of it. Read — I have a lot of reading to catch up on because I was in the bureaucracy for such a long time. So getting caught up on scholarship is something that’s a nice thing to do.

Q: Are you reading anything interesting now?

A: Yeah, actually — “The Oxford Handbook of Asian-American History.” This was just published this week, so it’s very new. One of the things about Asian-American studies is how extraordinary the progress has been in terms of scholarship. Mainstream, elite presses like Oxford University Press are beginning to publish a great number of monographs, handbooks and encyclopedias in the field. The scholarship is really extraordinary now.

— Ryan Cenek ’18

As a photographer for The Student!

Send sample photos to astudent@ amherst.edu

The Amherst Student • February 10, 2016

News

3

Archivist Discovers Recording of MLK Speech Kiana Herold ’17 Managing News Editor Amherst College archivists discovered a tape with the only known recording of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, “The Summer of Discontent.” College archivist Mariah Leavitt recently found the recording in a box donated by the WAMH radio station in 1989.

King’s speech took place at the New School, a university in New York City, on Feb. 6, 1964.

The speech was a part of The American Race Crisis Lecture series hosted by the New School that featured speakers from the civil rights movement.

The speech was pre-recorded and later aired on WAMH in December 1964 to the Amherst community on a program called “The Lecture Hall.” This program broadcasted twice a week and consisted of pre-recorded lectures hosted at Amherst and around the country. Other recordings dating from the 1950s to 1970s that were found with King’s speech include protests and lectures on the Vietnam War and lectures by Robert Frost and physicist Neils Bohr.

Mike Kelly, the head archivist of the college, emphasized the historic significance of the recording. “It wasn’t until we started talking to more people about this tape that we realized, where in the world would you have heard a complete Martin Luther King speech in 1963 or 1964?” Kelly said. “Yes, he is going to show up in the news, but you’ve got three national broadcast networks plus PBS, and they may cover a Martin Luther King event, but they aren’t going to play an hour-long speech.”

In August 2013, the New School discovered

a recording of the question-and-answer session that followed King’s speech, but did not find the speech itself. After Leavitt discovered the tape at Amherst, the college’s Archives and Special Collections began the project of verifying its authenticity and digitalizing the tape.

“When I first found the tape, I assumed that other institutions must have copies of it as well. It wasn’t until I started researching it that I realized it was probably unique,” Leavitt said in an email interview. “Even then, we were trying to guard our excitement because we knew that there was a good chance that the recording wouldn’t be recoverable or the speech might have been recorded over.”

Because the tape is too fragile to play without digitalization, its contents were unconfirmed until recently. The entire process happened quickly, Kelly said, allowing the archivists to achieve their goal of making the tape available by the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. “There is no point in having amazing stuff if only a handful of people are ever going to see it,” Kelly said.

The full recording of King’s speech is now online and accessible to the public on Amherst’s website.

“In the speech, King is addressing the reasons for the intense period of civil rights protests and activities in 1963. He takes as his topic ‘Why 1963?’ One could ask ‘Why 2015?’ and the many of the answers wouldn’t be that different,” Leavitt said. “Things have changed a great deal since 1963, of course, but the fundamental drivers of racial inequality are largely the same.”

Amherst College Archives and Special Collections

College archivist Mariah Leavitt discovered the first known full recording of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, “The Summer of Discontent.”

Biddy Forms Coffey Stays on in Student Affairs Task Force Phillip Yan ’18 Staff Writer

Continued from Page 1

tin plans to lead the task force until a new chief diversity officer is appointed. Currently, Turner, the interim director of the Multicultural Resource Center, sits on the task force.

At the first meeting on Friday, members discussed ways to maintain regular communication between the task force and the college community.

“It was a very helpful meeting that focused on people’s hopes for what the task force will achieve and on the importance of communications between the task force and the campus as a whole,” Martin said.

Suzanne Coffey has accepted an extension to her appointment as chief student affairs officer, President Biddy Martin announced on Feb. 3. This month marked the expiration of Coffey’s original two-year appointment.

The chief student affairs officer position was established in Feb. 2014 after the resignation of Jim Larimore as dean of students.

“As a member of the senior staff, the chief student affairs officer is an appointment that is made by the president,” Martin wrote in an email interview. “In this case, it was a matter of extending an appointment that was made two years ago, rather than a matter of making a new appointment.”

College Admits Early Applicants Continued from Page 1 must submit scores from an SAT I test plus two additional SAT II Subject Tests, whereas applicants using the ACT could submit scores from a single ACT test, and Fretwell says students may have preferred the latter.

Fretwell said that the admissions and communications offices worked on short videos to communicate with and recruit prospective applicants over the past year. Applicants and accepted candidates to the Class of 2020 are also the first to have received the redesigned purpleand-green print publications used by the admissions office to publicize Amherst.

Following the results of a study on prospective students’ visits, Fretwell said that the admissions office is “exploring and implementing new ways to introduce Amherst to our visitors and expanding our training program for our tour guides who we know play such a critical role in our work.”

The admissions office is currently reviewing applications in the Regular Decision pool, which includes those deferred from Early Decision.

Applicants who are accepted to the Class of 2020 will be notified in early April.

Coffey’s appointment in 2014 caused controversy among students because the student body was not consulted for the decision. The Association of Amherst Students published a resolution criticizing the lack of transparency in the hiring process.

The dean of students and chief student affairs officer divide responsibilities. The dean is concerned primarily with student life and student affairs, while the chief student affairs officer oversees the counseling center, health center and case managers, as well as reports from class deans.

“Over the last two years, we’ve been successful in creating a more trusted counseling center,” Coffey said. “We’ve hired a new counseling center director. We’ve hired a lot of new counselors. We’ve done the same thing with

the health center.”

Coffey was also responsible for moving the Office of Student Life and the International Students Office into Keefe Campus Center.

“Having four new residence halls coming online for the next fall, having the opportunity to open up social spaces across campus for access to all students, being able to change the dynamic over how residence’s life is managed bottom out — it’s a goal, a challenge, it’s exciting, and it’s a way I think we can change the social dynamic on campus,” Coffey said. “It is a way to bridge divide across various groups of students.”

In light of the events of Amherst Uprising, Coffey said she hopes to talk about students’ ideas on how to improve campus life and work with the students to realize those ideas.

Hitchcock Fellowship

The Department of Physical Education and Athletics invites applications for the Hitchcock Fellowship for the 2016-­‐2017 academic year. The Hitchcock Fellowship is awarded to a graduating senior who wishes to pursue a career in the field of athletics, primarily teaching and coaching. The Hitchcock Fellow will teach in the elective Physical Education program and be an Assistant Coach in at least two intercollegiate programs. The Hitchcock Fellow may be assigned and elect additional assignments in other areas of inquiry.

Individuals interested in the position should send a letter of application and current resume no later than February 12, 2016.

Jen Hughes

Assistant Athletic Director

Department of Physical Education and Athletics Amherst College

Amherst, MA 01002

jhughes@amherst.edu

Opinion

THE AMHERST

STUDENT

Fear and Learning

E X E C U T I V E B OA R D

Editorial

Fear is not generally a part of Amherst students’ philosophy of education. We often hear that we’re supposed t o feel uncomfortable with our education — that’s how we know we’re learning.

We come to Amherst because we want push ourselves beyond our own self-created intellectual boundaries. Why, then, are Amherst students so afraid to challenge themselves in the classroom?

A lot of students have great ideas but don’t actually speak up in class. There are many reasons: the worry about being judged by other students, the fear of being wrong, or the misguided belief that an idea must be perfectly worded before it can be expressed.

We’ve all been in a situation in which a professor asks students a question, only to be greeted by blank stares. But this shouldn’t happen. Amherst students are smart, inquisitive and opinionated people who (usually) do the reading. Often, students are quiet in class not because they don’t have an answer, but because they’re afraid to say it.

This problem extends to office hours too. Many Am-

herst students are embarrassed to admit to our professors that we don’t understand a concept, even outside the sometimes pressure-filled environment of the classroom.

This is a larger cultural issue. After all, from day one Amherst students are bombarded with the message that we are a cut above the rest, that we are somehow special.

So, many of us think, we should know the perfect answer or we should keep quiet. Students, in short, are suffering from an idea that we should not fail in any tangible way and, therefore, cannot push themselves too far.

The editorial board would like to push back against this culture of timidity. We would like to caution against becoming so wrapped up in your own inhibitions that you forget to be engaged in the class.

In other words, that means we should challenge ourselves to be uncomfortable and, most courageously, to be wrong in front of our peers. Yes, we’ll probably embarrass ourselves sometimes, we may really crash and burn, but we’ll grow in a way that will prove invaluable for our Amherst educations as well as our future careers.

Editors-in-Chief Elaine Jeon, Lauren Tuiskula Executive Adviser Sophie Murguia Managing News Dan Ahn, Kiana Herold, Jingwen Zhang Managing Opinion Johnathan Appel, Diane Lee, Julia Pretsfelder Managing Arts and Living Gabby Edzie, Paola Garcia-Prieto, Alida Mitau Managing Sports Jason Darell, Drew Kiley, Julia Turner Managing Design Gabby Bishop S TA F F Head Publisher Emily Ratte Design Editors Megan Do, Sunna Juhn, Adele Loomis, Zavi Sheldon, Chloe Tausk, Yrenly Yuan Assistant News Editors Ryan Cenek, Carlos Rivero Assistant Sports Editors Jeremy Kesselhaut, Jason Stein Photography Editor Kyra Gardner

Letters Policy

Networking and Motion Sickness Manny Osunlana ’18 Contributing Writer

When struggling with motion sickness, the best strategy is to sit completely still and look straight ahead. It has a grounding effect. Only after my first experience of driving through the snaking streets of San Francisco did I need to employ this tactic. My inaugural foray into the city marked the beginning of the innovation trek, which began in the home of Kelly Close ’90, founder of Close Concerns. As I sat unmoving in Kelly’s beautiful home, I ruminated on the absolute uncertainty of the future — I do this often. Swiftly, my thoughts led me to the question of what I wanted to do with my future, a topic that I continually returned to for the rest of the week. While the trek did not lead to any concrete answers concerning my future, it did help me utilize introspection to ask more nuanced questions about the future.

The innovation trek is an opportunity for twelve Amherst students from different class years with diverse academic interests to meet successful Amherst alumni in various sectors of the Silicon Valley (e.g. tech, venture capital, startup and private equity). I was very fortunate to be chosen to be part of the trek cohort, which met alumni through networking events, site visits, receptions and roundtable discussions. Throughout the trek, alumni detailed captivating stories of their paths from the East Coast to the West. We got accounts of how they leveraged their liberal arts backgrounds to succeed on the tech dominated West Coast.

Despite their divergent career paths, the alumni all echoed the same message throughout the week: know yourself in the context of your career goals.

On the third day of the trek, Gib Biddle ’84, product leader of the mobile app startup Life360, provided a wonderful framework to think about this by asking us if we were starters, builders or maintainers. Starters are individuals who dare to challenge the status quo with new ideas. Builders are those adept at the art of scaling a small idea to a big proven concept. Maintainers — as the name suggests — are natural at maintaining the company’s homeostasis. These classifications are not mu\ tually exclusive; one can fall into one or all of

the categories. Nor are they fixed and rigid. By asking this question, one is not making a determination of what one will forever be, but rather looking in a mirror and taking stock of where one currently is.

Because a large number of the most successful unicorns — startup companies with a market cap above 1 billion dollars — have teams composed of starters, builders and maintainers, no specific skill class is better than another and one should not worry about which skill class they may be or develop into.

As I listened to Mr. Biddle speak, I thought back to the question of my future and what I hoped it would look like. I searched within myself and asked which skill classes currently best matched me. Naturally, I jumped to the idea of being a starter because I was enamored with the idea of being the next Zuckerberg.

But I quickly realized that I was not enthused by a specific idea which I was willing to make my life’s mission. After deeper thought, it became clear that my current skill class is that of a builder. In sum, through guided self-analysis I was better able to think about my current skills.

The following day, Mark Perry ’65, former general partner at the venture capital firm NEA, added another layer to help us think about our skill profiles. He encouraged us to ask: Does this job uniquely play to my strengths? Suppose an individual has two skills, one with excellent competency and the other with average. If this individual takes a job that caters towards their strength, he will flourish in that role. However, if he takes a job which requires utilizing his lesser skill, he will likely stagnate. This individual is not bad with either skill, yet the first mating of skill and role lead to better results than the latter. The key to getting the fit right is making sure that the job not only fits one’s strengths, but also that it uniquely does so. By being able to evaluate how my strengths coincide with potential work opportunities, I felt better prepared in next deciding where to start my career.

Jason Spero ’94, vice president of performance media at Google, framed the question of where to begin most clearly. He asked us to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of joining a young small company or an established

big company. If I happen to be an individual who wants to hit the ground running, then choosing a small company in its growth phase is perhaps the better option. Because these young companies are quite literally fighting to succeed, there is an expectation of immense responsibility and autonomy from the get-go.

This route is also very risky. The stakes are higher, and failure could swallow one whole at any moment. However, high risk may result in high reward in the case that I invest early in a company that later takes off. On the other hand, I can instead decide to start my career in a bigger company that is market-tested. This option is not fraught with the same risk levels of the first option. Established companies provide valuable training programs and resources to facilitate learning and growth. Furthermore, it is still possible to rise in leadership and take on more responsibility, albeit at a slower pace than the riskier alternative. Also, note that big companies with superb training programs provide an excellent platform to dive into more uncertain waters. Whether one joins a big or small company, one should make this decision only after concentrated contemplation.

It strikes me that the strategy for overcoming motion sickness also applies to the equally nausea-inducing movement from college student to increasingly independent adult. By sitting still and looking straight ahead, I am not only thinking about the future, but I am also thinking about the future in relation to where I currently am. By doing so, I was able to do honest self-evaluations when alumni challenged us with new questions to ponder.

On the subject of alumni, Mrs. Close actually nursed me back to health in her home by giving me a glass of sparkling water and continually checking up on me throughout the evening.

At the risk of abusing my metaphor, I will add that her compassion for me, an individual she had just met, is similar to the help that alumni can provide when one is sitting still and staring straight ahead (i.e. thoughtfully analyzing the future in relation to their present selves).

To fuel effective self-analysis, introspection need not be done alone — we have amazing alumni who are willing and qualified to offer us splendid additional input.

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 noon 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.

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 2291, Amherst College Amherst, MA 01002-5000 The offices of The Amherst Student are located on the second floor of the Keefe Campus Center, Amherst College. Phone: (413) 542-2304. All contents copyright © 2015 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.

Connect to Us

Email: astudent@amherst.edu Twitter: @amherststudent Instagram: @theamherststudent Like The Amherst Student on Facebook

Web Version

The Amherst Student is available to read online at amherststudent.amherst.edu.

The Amherst Student • February 10, 2016

It’s Time to Stop Using Plastic Water Bottles

Alisa Bajramovic ’18 Contributing Writer Every time I sit in Frost Cafe, I see student after student go up to the counter and buy a plastic water bottle. They toss them in their backpacks and drink them throughout the day. When they’re done, they throw them in the recycling if it’s convenient or just toss them in the trashcan if it’s nearby.

This is me asking you, all of you who are still using plastic non-reusable water bottles, to stop.

You probably know, to some degree, that bottled water takes a toll on the environment.

Most assume the environmental damage comes from not recycling. The problem, however, starts far before that point. Every stepfrom the creation of the plastic to getting the bottle to Frost, is part of the problem.

The plastic, which is usually polyethylene terephthalate (PET), is created with petroleum and natural gas. According to an estimate by the Pacific Institute, an environmental and water think tank, 17 million barrels of oil, a fossil fuel, are used yearly to create the PET for water bottles. Burning those 17 million barrels leads to the annual emission of an estimated 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is one of the leading contributors to climate change. During manufacturing, a considerable amount of water is used, so that for every single bottle sold, three

times as much water was used to create it. Finally, the finished good is loaded onto a truck, freight train, ship or airplane. By the time one bottle of water gets to its final destination, the Pacific Institute estimates that the amount of oil used could fill a third of that bottle.

And then, you get your bottle of water. You bring it to class, to the gym, to your dorm.

When you’re finally done drinking, there’s a good chance that it’s going straight into the trashcan. The Container Recycling Institute estimates that almost 80 percent of all plastic water bottles don’t even get recycled.

But maybe, instead of immediately disposing of your bottle after a single day, you’re the type to reuse it, refilling the same water bottle until you lose it or buy another. Doing this could potentially pose a serious health risk.

Some studies have shown that reusing water bottles that are made out of PET can lead to the breakdown of DEHA, a potential carcinogen, and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), an endocrine disruptor.

Since the environmental and health issues all point to the problems of bottled water, why else could you still be using them?

“Bottled water tastes better than tap water!”

There’s a good chance it doesn’t. A number of taste tests have concluded that people either cannot tell the difference between tap and bottled, or they even prefer the taste of tap water.

And if you still don’t think Amherst’s tap water is great, there are many reusable water bottles

Politicians or Preachers?

A Look at Ted Cruz’s Presidential Campaign Galen Muskat ’18E Contributing Writer Even when I lived in Illinois, I did not pay attention to neighboring Iowa. For all its virtues — corn, rolling plains, the rare Iowa Pleistocene Snail — my attentions were elsewhere. It had, perhaps, an “Iowa aura.”

But since the presidential campaigns for 2016 started last year with my best friend working as a paid organizer for Hillary Clinton’s team in Fairfield, Iowa — I have dared to look deeper at that Midwestern outlier.

It is at least an outlier in terms of how its population appears based on the voter turnout at last week’s Iowa Caucuses. I was startled to read 91 percent of registered voters were white. What shocked me more, though, was that 65 percent of voting Iowans were evangelical Christians. I realize we are, by and large, a majority-Christian country. Yet with evangelicals alone making up such a large proportion of an electorate (and for religion to even matter in a country founded on principles of separation of church and state), I understood at last why political analysts say Iowa is a bad predictor of how the rest of the country will vote in presidential elections.

But back to the separation of church and state, even if the voters use their religious convictions in deciding whom to support because of course we all have different ways of making a decision (eeny-meeny-miny-mo?), I’m glad the presidential candidates won’t bring the devout Christianity of Iowa’s religious mainstream into office.

Or so I thought.

I spit out my cold oatmeal when I read that Ted Cruz celebrated his victory by saying, per the New York Times, “To God be the glory.”

But a campaign advertisement for Marco Rubio took religiosity to new heights by proclaiming, “the free gift of salvation offered to us by Jesus Christ.” Plus, when Rubio mentioned in the final, pre-caucus debate, “Jesus Christ, who came down to earth and died for

our sins,” I found myself asking how such overt Christian language can be found anywhere near a presidential nomination contest. Even democratic candidate Hillary Clinton spent several days touting her Methodist faith and Biblical knowledge as though it were a reason for Iowans to support her.

Perhaps Jerry Falwell, Jr., the son of a famous religious televangelist and a sought-after endorsement by conservative candidates, would be pleasantly surprised by the evangelical tenacity of a candidate like Rubio. I myself started to wonder whether the candidates were trying to court voters in a political competition or boost the membership of the Christian church.

I won’t even begin to try to make sense of how Mr. Cruz’s wild desire to ‘carpet bomb’ whole neighborhoods of innocents aligns with his oft-professed “good Christian values.”

At least some voters seem to recognize the contradictions underlying the messages these supposedly “devout” Christian candidates espouse. Clara Frechette, a voter in New Hampshire, was quoted by the Times explaining why she does not plan to vote for Ted Cruz: “You think he’d be looking at the Bible and say, ‘The man should be the head of the household and the women should do what the men say.’”

Ms. Frechette’s view led me to conclude that Iowa’s borders cannot ebb the evangelical rhetoric of the Republican candidates’ reactions to the nation’s first caucus. It spreads nationwide.

Again, I wonder: how can we, Republican or Democrat or Independent, allow this religious pandering to play into and play a role in nominating a person to the presidency of a nation which has the Establishment Clause as a fundamental part of its Constitution? How can a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu or even a non-evangelical Christian, feel comfortable living in a nation where a potential president entwines his or her political decisions with spirituality?

Cruz has been on something of a literary bender. In addition to his recent memoir, “A Time for Truth,” he wrote the epilogue

that come with a personal water filter inside of them.

“I only buy bottled water with electrolytes.

There aren’t electrolytes in tap!”

Electrolytes are electrically-charged minerals found in your body, and are often lost by sweating. After a heavy workout, electrolytes are often necessary in order to replenish your body. Instead of going with sports drinks or enriched bottled water, there are many other ways to get back those lost ions.

The most common electrolytes, according to MedLine Plus, are magnesium, potassium, sodium, calcium, chloride and phosphorus.

Instead of Gatorade, you can go with bananas, peanut butter, spinach, tomatoes, beans, raisins and yogurt — all of which, by the way, can be found in Val. And if you still need something to drink, there are plenty of recipes online for a homemade electrolyte drink — and none of these options require buying bottled water.

Opinion

5

“Reusable water bottles are too expensive!”

During my first-year orientation, Amherst gave me two or three reusable water bottles.

If you (like me) have lost those in this time, there’s great news! You can get a reusable one, such as a Nalgene or a Polar Bottle, for under $10. And if each disposable water bottle you buy costs $2, this investment pays off in less than a week.

“Okay, fine, I’ll use a reusable water bottle. But which one should I buy?”

There are so many reasons to love reusable bottles, and the vast selection is one of them.

There are glass and stainless steel ones, ones with personal filters, insulated ones and ones with easy-to-use spouts. You can buy them at a wide variety of places, from grocery and convenience stores, to sporting goods shops, to bookstores, to mass retailers.

So please, if you’re one of the people left on campus who still lugs around a Smartwater, it’s time to recycle and move on.

Consider the Hamster: Amherst’s New Mascot Alexander George Professor of Philosophy I know that Lord Jeff, our quondam mascot, has hardly been buried, right next to The Moose, his would-be successor. So I hope it won’t appear too ugly to be rushing in with a modest proposal for a modest mascot. If not, I’d like to present to you for your earnest consideration, ladies and gentlemen, the Hamster. Now before you cast wild regretful eyes upon Lord Jeff with sighs of “What a falling off was there!” let us take a moment to consider the Hamster. It has a lot going for it.

— Hamsters are mammals. This is good. Most Amherst students and alumni are too.

— Some hamsters are male and some are female. This is also good since our college is co-ed.

— Hamsters come in a veritable cornucopia of colors and hairstyles, and from all around the world. Again, a plus. We are now a very diverse college.

— Hamsters are nocturnal creatures and are especially active at night.

Students here have been known to burn the midnight oil.

— Hamsters enjoy playing on hamster wheels, infernal contraptions to which many an Amherst student has compared the social-scholastic pressures at Amherst College. (Heads up: the college has plans to install hamster wheel standing desks in all new dorm rooms.)

— Our college is now very much about doing the right thing by its students. And unlike most other four- or even two-legged creatures, the hamster has played a role in advancing

to his hyper-evangelical father’s latest book, in which he discusses the “hostility to religious liberty, and Christianity in particular,” in the U.S. Somehow, he overlooks the myriad hate crimes of vandalism, looting and arson of Muslim mosques across the country, and he equates the same-sex marriage rights as an assault on Christian freedom. Same-sex marriage may go against Mr. Cruz’s or Mr. Rubio’s, or any of the other candidates’ Christian

human rights. According to Wikipedia (so this must be true), “In 1774, Friedrich Gabriel Sulzer, a companion of Johann-Wolfgang von Goethe, devoted a whole academic monograph in the domain of social sciences and natural history to hamsters, entitled ‘An approach to a natural history of the hamster.’ In several instances, he used the hamster to document the equal rights of all beings, including Homo sapiens. Check it out yourselves: The book, Versuch einer Naturgeschichte des Hamsters, is available from Amazon. (The original’s cover is lovely.)

— Hamsters can be very cute but they can also be mean-ass vicious. This is good for a sports mascot.

— “Hamster” rhymes with “gangsta,” which could prove very useful.

— Die-hards can still sing the old songs: “Oh, Lord Jeffery Hamster was a rodent of the King…”

— Finally, there is the most compelling reason. “Hamster” is an anagram — the only anagram — of “Amherst.” The significance of this fact cannot be overstated. Most features of this college are subject to change: our size, our student composition, our faculty’s IQ, how well endowed we are, the number of cereals on offer in Val and on and on. But there is one fact about Amherst that will never change.

For the board of trustees has declared: “Amherst College will always be the name of the school.” Hence “hamster” will always be spot-on. It will never be dated, never be overtaken by a changing institution or shifting moral standards. It is now and will remain forever the scrambled mirroring of who we are and always will be. Lord Jeff is dead. Long live the Hamster.

values, but those Christian values deserve no place in the decisions underlying the government of the United States.

Yet, based on the proclamations and practices of the presidential candidates, we ought to be wary of how one person’s exclusive religious rhetoric and view of how the world ought to operate may threaten our country’s religious pluralism and freedom of religion.

Arts&Living

Photos courtesy of Maya Fuhr

Toronto-based band Born Ruffians consists of Luke Lalonde (lead singer/guitarist), Mitch Desrosier (bassist), Andy Lloyd (guitarist/keyboardist) and Adam Hindle (drummer).

Playing “RUFF” : An Interview with Born Ruffians’ Mitch Desrosier Gabby Edzie ’17 Managing Arts & Living Editor There’s something quite comforting to be found in the caffeinated, jittery sound that is Toronto-based Indie Rock band, Born Ruffians. The band, inspired by groups like Talking Heads and Pixies, has stayed loyal to the under-produced sound that is quintessentially indie. This remains true for their recent 2015 release, “RUFF.” The album sounds charmingly defiant, yet neat when it needs to be.

I had a chance to Skype with the band’s bassist Mitch Derosier in the midst of the band’s international tour to speak about “RUFF,” the essence of indie music and Bruce Springsteen-shaded dreams. As Derosier describes it in an ‘ou’- void Canadian accent, “RUFF” is a slight departure from the band’s previous albums as it exists as a compact “thing,” rather than a “time capsule” of songs that the band happened to make that year.

Q: You’ve faced a slew of reviews that describe your sound for you. How would you describe it?

A: I always find that to be a difficult question. Sometimes I think it is better described by other people because when we first started our band, we didn’t create a certain type of music or sound a certain way. We just started creating the type of music we make, if that makes sense. We started in high school when we were all still basically learning our instruments. I always think that we learned how to play them together more than alone, so our songs have that written into them. I don’t know — I agree with some ways that people describe us and disagree with others. I think were always trying to hone that sound into something. With each record we try to not perfect it, but we try to nail down what we really want to do. Song to song is different, but I’ve basically dodged that question. Next question.

Q: Who are your musical influences?

A: We kind of together have a lot of influences, and then have individual influences. As a band, I think we’re all pretty influenced by bands like Talking Heads, the Pixies and Violent Femmes. We started being a band partly because of the Strokes; when we saw them on SNL we were kind of like that’s awesome, let’s do that. And then personally, I feel like I have different influences for playing bass.

Q: How did Born Ruffians come into existence?

A: Luke (vocals/ guitar) and I are cousins, so we’ve known each other since we were babies.

So it was the two of us and our first drummer Steve, who drummed with us for most of the band’s lifetime — we met in high school.

Then when we moved to Toronto, we met Andy (guitar/keyboard,) who plays with us now. Adam — our current drummer — we have actually known since we were babies, as well. He’s a family friend. So, it’s weird: as a band we’re pretty close and have known each other for a long time.

Q: How does your song writing process usually go?

A: It’s kind of different with each song. On this record we had a rehearsal space that also had a studio in it in Toronto — just kind of like a converted garage. And we would go there and whether it was just me and Luke working on stuff, or just me alone or the whole band, we would spend a lot of time there demoing and we’d try to jam new songs in. There are some songs on the record that Luke wrote and demoed all on his own and then we kind of recreated and there are some that started as just Luke and I were working on stuff together and then brought in Adam and Andy to work on.

There’s other stuff where we would just start jamming in a room and see what came out.

And that’s kind of how its always been. Each song has its own blueprint and each comes together differently.

Q: How do you think the sound of “RUFF” is different from that of your last album?

A: The record itself feels really whole. Our past records have kind of done this thing where — I feel like a lot of bands do this — it’s almost like a time capsule of “well we wrote this group of songs from this year, let’s pick our favorite 11 songs,” and that’s the record.

This time we still did that, wrote a bunch of songs in a time period, but when we were picking them it was less so just picking the best ones or our favorite ones. We had ones that were written to fit the record and we picked ones that fit the vibe or sound. With “RUFF,” there was an idea behind it and there was a theme in writing. Like lyrically, Luke tried to focus on writing as not a concept, but having familiar lyrics throughout the record, so a lot of the lyrics do have crossover with some of the songs. That’s to me, maybe, where the separation in our sound comes from.

Q: Favorite song on the album?

A: I don’t know, it’s hard. It’s weird: for all of our other records I see them as collections of songs, but this record I really see as its own thing. It’s harder for me to separate the songs because they feel so complete to me. I feel like if I had to pick though, I think “(Eat Shit) We Did It” is my favorite just because it’s got a humor to it, but it’s also weirdly — I don’t want to say an empowering song because that makes it seem like it’s more important than it is — but it’s just one of the first songs we wrote that has that feeling to it. I think with most of our other songs you either have the sad lyrics or something like that. But this one’s the only one that’s just like totally happy, and it’s kind of a cocky song, which we’ve never had before, so I really like that. And I think it turned out really good when we recorded it and it’s just really fun to play.

Q: How do you think you’ve been influenced by the rise of electronic music? Lalonde’s solo album “Rhythymnals” seemed to have a slightly produced sound to it.

A: I don’t know if we have any influence, but maybe we react to it a bit more. Like on “Birthmarks” we experimented a bit more with a different sound that was a little more produced and polished. And we kind of wanted to make a record that was in the studio and that we could not worry about how we were going to play it live-type thing. We didn’t use anything too out of our element on that record, but it was different, and I don’t know — if things had gone differently we could’ve gone further in that direction and embraced maybe a more electronic or at least maybe a more produced or over-produced kind of sound. We kind of went the other way and were like no we kind of want to just make a rock record … a really live feeling rock record and one that’s fun to play and one that we can just pick up and play and jam. I think we, if anything, went in the opposite direction, and I really like that.

It’s how we stated and where we came from.

Luke’s record — I really love and I think that was him really coming into his own as a producer even and exploring that idea. I think its great and it was one of my favorite records of that year, but for us as a band to go that route — I think it would be putting on costume or something, playing pretend.

Q: Could you speak to your reaction to popular music criticism? Does it impact your

work?

A: It’s difficult. It’s hard to not read reviews or not read any kind of criticism. You always kind of want to keep to yourself when you’re making music and when you’re on tour and stuff when it comes to that. But of course, you end up reading it. Who else is reading that but the bands that make those records or play those shows? In the end, if you start making music for someone to write about you or to like, if you start listening to that and changing how you write or what you do you’re so lost, like what’s the point of that? I feel like when it comes down to it, even with making music for the fans of our band, you still just want to make something that you believe is good or that you like and hope there’s going to be other people that feel the same way. When it comes to reviews and stuff, you just can’t get sucked into that. That’s when you start making bad music.

Q: What is it like being a musician specifically in the Indie music scene as opposed to the popular music scene?

A: It’s weird. They do seem like two different music scenes, and really, two different anything — two different art forms. It’s crazy: I went and saw Taylor Swift when she came to Toronto and I was just trying to wrap my head around the difference between what’s going on there and what we’re doing as a band, and they’re just not the same thing. The enormity of it all is so different — it’s weird to think someone might consider us in the same job.

It’s just so different, in a better or worse way, it’s just different. And I think our aspirations as a band are always: when you’re making music, at least for us, you make a record and you take it on tour, and that’s what you do.

Everytime you do it, you are pushing to be better, playing for more people, playing bigger rooms, whatever. Your’e always moving forward and driving yourself forward because if you ever are at a point where you’re like there that’s good, then you’re kind of done. So you always want to play to more people, but you’re always realistic about it, too. We’re not on this record going “and now were going to play that same stadium that Taylor Swift was in.”

It’s like no, we’re just always moving forward and we always have that drive to be better and play bigger shows. That’s always the goal … or make a record that you think is even better than the one before. That’s what keeps you

Continued on Page 7

Arts & Living 7

The Amherst Student • February 10, 2016

“RUFF” is a Slight Departure in Form from 2013 Release, “Birthmarks” Continued from Page 6 going.

Q: What have been some of your favorite live performance memories?

A: We’ve had a lot of really good ones. I mean Toronto is obviously special to us because

it’s where our family and everyone we know come to the shows. And two years ago we had a really big one where we went all out and got balloons and we had the fans do karaoke before the show and we had one of our favorite Toronto bands open up. It was just a really fun and big show. I just remember it pretty vividly.

Q: Is there anyone you’d really like to collaborate with?

A: I had an idea for our last records. There was a line or a part in a song that I really thought Bruce Springsteen would sound awesome singing, but I’d say that was a lofty goal to say the least. Or at least get him on karaoke. We’ll do karaoke, and that will be good enough for

me. We’ll sing “Rosalita” and that’ll be the highlight of my life.

If you missed Born Ruffians on their stop in Northampton, be sure to check out their album. For all those abroad in London or Paris catch them in March and April, alongside their opener, Young Rival.

“Anomolisa” Offers Meaningful Commentary on Corporate Mundanity Sophia Salazar ’18 Staff Writer “Anomalisa,” this year’s animated darling for many top-notch film critics, has been touted as the “most human film of the year,” sans any humans on the screen. From the creative mind of screenwriter and director Charlie Kaufman, “Anomalisa” emerges as a stark contrast from its competitors in the Academy Awards’ Best Animated Feature Film category, which includes Pixar’s crowd favorite, “Inside Out.” Once watching the film, I realized the critics’ frequented line of praise foreshadows a much deeper truth that emerges within the context of the film’s narrative.

Before anyone watches this film, they should be addressed with a disclaimer: “Anomalisa” being an animated film does imply that its story will have you leaving smiling and uplifted. In fact, the film had quite the opposite effect on me.

While swiping into Val after the movie, a friend of mine stopped me and asked why I looked so sad — apparently my frown that grew from the film’s ending was still showing. However, despite the themes and content that are geared towards an older audience in “Anomalisa,” Kaufman leaves viewers pondering age-old questions about life, much like its Pixar counterpart “Inside Out.” The film’s questions, such as the causal relationship between capitalism and loneliness, are just slightly more sophisticated. Moreover, these themes are amplified by Kaufman’s skilled use of stop-motion and audio effects.

The premise of the film is anchored in one of the most mundane adult experiences in existence: a business trip. It is set in the near past, during President George W. Bush’s second term, and is concentrated in an upscale Midwest hotel.

Michael Stone, the story’s flawed protagonist, is a published author on business efficiency and holds a small degree of fame and fortune in the customer service sector. He travels from Los Angeles to Cincinnati to deliver a speech to a batch of his admirers at a seminar. Having lived in both cities, I was keenly aware of the symbolism they embodied in the film; despite their

contrasting reputations, both atmospheres can be excruciatingly artificial and mundane.

From the very beginning, when the screen is still showing the opening credits and a B-roll of random dialogue is playing behind it, you may notice something awry. There are multiple conversations overlapping each other, but each voice sounds bizarrely similar. As the screen opens on an airplane from the window view of a passenger seat within another airplane, the murmuring conversations continue to overlap one another.

Hundreds of humans, confined in small capsules in the sky, making connections through conversation, all appear to sound the same — that is, until a man grabs Stone’s hand in fright during the plan’s landing. Stone’s British accent delineates his voice from the rest. They exchange the movie’s first awkward dialogue — arguably almost every conversation in the movie is awkward — and move along.

As the film carries on, you realize not only does each character besides Stone sound the same, but everyone also has same face as well, regardless of gender or body type. Stone speaks with his wife and son over the phone to check in, and they both sound the same, his son sounding even more robotic than the rest of the characters.

As a result, Stone finds himself making attempts to feel emotion again.

Following a series of rather disheartening endeavors, Stone overhears a voice from the hotel hallway. It is a distinctly high, melodic voice, different than the rest of the voices in the film. He rushes to put on his clothes and begins to knock on doors on his floor to find the owner of the mystical voice. He finally finds the voice, belonging to a woman named Lisa, who with her friend came to attend the seminar. Enamored, Stone invites the two women for drinks at the bar. Ultimately, he invites Lisa back to his room. Shocked by his offer, Lisa humbly agrees. Lisa is clumsy, admits she is not educated and is extremely selfconscious about a scar on her right eye, which she covers with strands of hair. She is confused and embarrassed by Stone’s interest in her and assumes that she is being taken advantage of. He, however, insists that he finds her beautiful and

Photo courtesy of youtube.com

Kaufman utilizes stop motion and auditory effects to amplify themes of modern monotonous routines. urges her to talk and sing. Lisa’s voice is quite literally music to his ears, and they eventually sleep together. After having a strange nightmare, Stone wakes up the next morning fearful that he would never find another woman like Lisa again and ventures to extend their time together. What happens next is the beginning of an unhappy denouement that is revealing of life’s truths.

Ultimately, what we see is an aged, accomplished white man, with perhaps the biggest bounty of societal privileges, who is emotionally constipated, depressed and, despite being constantly surrounded by people, alone. He is in a line of work that is centered on human connection, yet under the artificial auspices of capitalistic gain. The irony of Stone’s life, as we see through this telling snapshot, is astounding.

During the movie, pangs of fear drove through my stomach as I realized that my life could be as sad as Stone’s if I were to one day be “successful” in the corporate world one day.

When leaving Amherst Cinema, I ran into

a friend of mine who also watched this movie.

During the walk back to campus, we bantered over how frustrated we were with the film — how the main character was a manipulative jerk who never solved his own problem, and how dark and depressing a movie starring puppets could actually be. However, after wrestling with the dark ideas “Anomalisa” brings about, I more closely understand its significance. “Anomalisa” is a movie you should watch not solely for entertainment purposes.

I urge you to also process its warning about the often sterile, monotonous cycles that are entrenched in our society’s fibers. Though the plot focuses on a mid-life crisis, it draws many parallels with many of the internal crises Amherst students battle on campus: loneliness, depression and apathy. Kaufman’s call to action is implicitly evident through the film’s abrupt ending. By introducing us to a 24-hour time-span of Michael Stone’s mundane nightmare, Kaufman is urging us all to wake up.

Photographer Steven Rosenfield Visits Amherst for Community Photo Project

Photo courtesy of Steven Rosenfield

Rosenfield was surprised by the demographic of the project’s participants.

DivineAsia Miller ’19 Staff Writer In a partnership with the Office of Student Life and the Multicultural Resource Center, photographer Steven Rosenfield visited the college between Feb. 2 and Feb. 5 to work with students on Amherst Community Photo Project.

Rosenfield is known for his “What I Be” project, a collection of photographs paired with deeply intimate statements from people from all over the U.S. addressing their deepest insecurity. Since “insecurity” is a huge concept, the specific content of the photos in the project are varied, including themes such as sexual assault, transgender identity and Alzheimer’s disease.

The participants of the project range from high school students to elderly members of a nursing home and thus capture an extremely diverse set of perspectives. Evocative portraits of participants with words written on them with marker that summarize or exemplify their insecurities comprise the body of the photographs. These images are very powerful and have been showcased on Huffington Post and ABC News.

“I think everything comes from insecurities,” said Rosenfield on the project. “Fear comes from insecurities. Hate comes from insecurities. A lot of bad things come from insecurities — just holding them inside and not allowing ourselves to talk about them or share them. So I think when we honestly share our insecurities, it creates a safe space for other people to share their insecurities as well.”

While the Amherst Community Photo Project is not a segment of the “What I Be” project, its objective is similar and translates well to

the themes on Amherst campus. He asked one question: “What type of insecurities do you have based around your race, culture or ethnicity and when did that become apparent to you?” This is an especially salient issue on campus in the wake of November’s Amherst Uprising, which was a contentious topic, with much debate on censorship and generalizations about non-marginalized groups. However, through the Community Photo Project, Rosenfield is hoping to instate unity.

“My goal is to tell a story about individual people’s insecurity that comes through their race, through their ethnicity or through their culture — things that they’ve realized growing up, whether it’s against them or them doing it against others, “To allow people to open up and start a dialogue about a participant that usually gets ignored because it’s an uncomfortable conversation for most people,” Rosenfield said.

Rosenfield’s process of doing this was very similar to his process for the “What I Be” project: a 45-minute interview carried out in the format of a casual conversation and a short photography session with the participant (usually lasting for just a minute or two), who has words written on them somewhere visible in the portrait.

The main difference between the interviews in the usual “What I Be” project and the Amherst

Community Photo Project is the topic of the conversation and the way the conversation is held. Conversations in the former can go anywhere, and are led by the participant. At Amherst, however, Rosenfield gave the participant a specific prompt: insecurity around race and ethnicity.

Rosenfield was surprised by the demographic differences between the usual participants he receives and those at Amherst. Like most other schools he visits, the vast majority of participants at Amherst were female. However, the racial distribution among participants was significantly different.

“Usually at the ‘What I Be Project,’ most of the people who participate are white women,” said Rosenfield. “[At Amherst] the people who were coming to me weren’t your average person talking about race and ethnicity; I thought they were all really conscious and progressive and for the movement, for the most part.”

The Community Photo Project will be compiled and shared with members of the Amherst College Community by the Multicultural Resource Center and the Office of Student Affairs in conjunction with the intention of stimulating more dialogue about race, ethnicity and culture even after the end of the Amherst Uprising movement.

Arts & Living 8

The Amherst Student • February 10, 2016

Alexandra Theall ’19 Speaks at Latest “Life Stories” Lunch Series Sophie Currin ’17 Staff Writer I walked into the McCaffrey Room in Keefe on Friday at noon to hear Alexandra Theall ’19 share her personal rendition on the beauty of life, or as she so eloquently deems it, “The Improbability of Existence.”

Theall’s talk was one of many in the ongoing Life Stories lunch series organized by the Wellness Team, a group of students who work with Jessica Gifford in Mental Health Education.

During these talks, a variety of students, faculty and staff members share personal stories about challenges and stimulating moments from their lives. The aim is to connect members of the campus community beyond the sphere of academia and to spark conversations about how challenges exist for everyone. It also strives to break down the facade of outward happiness that many tend to give off by making clear that most people undergo far more negative and complicated experiences than one might initially assume.

Annika Nygren ’16, a member of the Wellness Team, noted that the creation of this series stemmed from the observation that students’ external presentations at Amherst are unusually susceptible to being fossilized by the community.

“At Amherst, it is easy to feel as if you know much about a person simply based upon their ‘social résumé’: what their major is, who their friends are, where they eat in Val, what floor of Frost they study on, etc.,” Nygren said. “Through [Life Stories] I have felt validated in the knowledge that struggle is inevitable, and with a little bit of vulnerability and courage, we find we are not all very different from each other after all.”

By the time I arrived, the room was not quite full, but I was immediately surprised by the large number of people scattered on couches and chairs, making themselves comfortable in

their seats, speaking to each other in subdued, but excited voices or grabbing their sandwich and snack of choice.

Theall began by explaining that her existence itself was uncanny — that she was born against all physical odds. Her mother had grown up in Colombia and survived a rare and, more often than not, incurable cancer before moving to Boston, where she met her future husband inside a random building while both were taking shelter from an intense blizzard. Additionally, when Theall’s mother was pregnant with her, the doctors told Mr. and Dr. Theall that their daughter might be born brain-dead. Yet today, she is a pre-med student at Amherst College.

Theall then described a moment in her life when moving seamlessly from day to day became difficult. The thesis of her talk was that during hard or unfortunate times, it is important to reflect on and remember that existence remains rare and life remains incredible.

After her story, the audience was allowed to ask questions. One exchange was especially worth noting. In response to her confidence in serendipity, a young man asked, “Do you intentionally go out and meet people or do you wait for miracles to happen?” Theall simply replied, “Don’t be docile about your life.”

The interaction between people of various roles, ages and affiliations at the event was very apparent. Whether through asking the speaker questions or continuing the dialogue amongst each other and with Theall personally afterwards, conversations crossing between all types of people and topics, were alive and prevalent.

Theall, too, believes in the power of Life Stories: “There are so few moments in our busy lives for us all — students, faculty and staff — to sit down and have a conversation about ourselves and our experiences,” she said. “I am glad that this lunch series gives us such an opportunity.”

If you missed “The Improbability of Exis-

The eerie vibe of Night Vale isn’t apparent in writing.

Photo courtesy of Alexandra Theall ‘19

The Life Stories lunch series seeks to foster a sense of community by providing a venue for students, faculty and staff to tell otherwise unheard stories. tence,” you still have the chance to be a part of the Life Stories lunch series. Five more lunches for the semester have been planned, one every two weeks, all taking place from noon to 1 p.m

in the McCaffrey Room in Keefe Campus Center. Speakers to look forward to are Angie Tissi, Tomi Williams ’16, Biddy Martin, Dean Charri Boykin-East and professor Austin Sarat.

Trite Immigration Plot Renders Crowley’s “Brooklyn” Lackluster

Photo courtesy of wikimedia.org

Ronan and Cohen star in “Brooklyn,” an account of a young woman’s immigration from Ireland to Brooklyn.

Simon Stratcher ’18 Contributing Writer Saoirse Ronan (“The Lovely Bones,” “Hanna” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel”) and Emory Cohen (“The Place Beyond the Pines” and “The Gambler”) dazzle in “Brooklyn,” a historical drama set in the early 1950s. The film is directed

by John Crowley (“Intermission” and “True Detective”) and is based on Colm Tóibín’s novel of the same title. “Brooklyn” depicts a young Irish woman’s immigration to America and the hardships that come with it.

Ronan and Cohen marvelously play a young couple in love, alongside a cast that excites — par-

ticularly Julie Walters, who plays a curmudgeonly landlady. Crowley also artfully portrays 1950s Ireland and Brooklyn. The set pieces he creates are magnificent in a way that might make your grandmother tear up and pine for the past. Unfortunately, not much else dazzles in this film. “Brooklyn” offers no new insights about the immigrant experience, falls into the same repeated and tired tropes about working women and is as predictable as it is boring.

Ronan plays the protagonist Ellis, a young woman who cannot find work in her homeland and thus sets off to the United States for a new beginning. But — and stop me if you have heard this before — there she finds that the America is not

at all what she thought it would be. She yearns for her home and for her mother and sister, whom she left behind.

But when Ellis meets a man, all her troubles go to the wayside. They have their “meet cute” at a Friday night dance, and suddenly, she likes her job, starts taking classes at a local college and begins to earn more respect from her housemates.

Sure, these may be coincidences, but the story might have been more original had the audience not seen the same implicit sexism that is so commonplace in movies. What the story suggests is that a heroine is never complete until a man enters her life, and becomes a catalyst for changes that follow.

Admittedly, I may be looking too far into the subconscious of this film. Perhaps it really is just a sappy love story, with no evil ulterior motives at work. But even ignoring that, the overarching psyche of this film is flawed — there are still problems abound. Mainly, it is boring.

The only real intrigue in this film is when Ellis returns to Ireland and must decide whether to embrace her past or to make a future for herself in America. But even this decision is hampered by the complete lack of ingenuity in the plot. Girl goes on adventure, girl has trouble at first, but then she adapts. However, then she comes across some unforeseen challenge, which calls into question everything she knows about herself and the world, and she must make a choice between the two worlds. It is almost as if the director took the story right out of some manual for basic movie plots.

A familiar plot is not always a bad thing, but the ending is too predictable, and it is always clear which country and which destiny Ellis will choose. While the stakes are high, the suspense is nonexistent.

The lack of suspense and ham-fisted plot waste a couple of truly incredible performances. The cast is the strong part of this otherwise trite film.

In particular, Ronan, who has rightly been nominated for an Oscar, gives a virtuoso performance.

A star in the making, her and Cohen’s romance is believable, and even touching. At certain parts in the film, she and Cohen are able to make the audience forget that they are watching nothing exciting. It is the kind of performance that makes you want to look up Perez Hilton or People to see if the pair actually are an item. And admittedly, I did so (they are not as far as I can tell). Their romance is the most believable thing in this film, even if it is at the expense of Ellis’ individuality and autonomy.

Perhaps, if you are not a cynic about cliché love and destiny, or if you ache for the good ol’ days, you’ll enjoy “Brooklyn.” But for those looking for creativity, excitement and a nuanced comparison of Ireland and Brooklyn in the early 1950s, you will leave the theater sorely disappointed.

The Amherst Student • February 10, 2016

Sports 9

Men’s Basketball Defeats Bates, Falls in Showdown with Tufts

Photo courtesy of Mark Box

In Amherst’s game against Bates, an emphatic dunk from David George ’17 stopped a 10-2 run from the Bobcats and catapulted Amherst to victory.

Julia Turner ’19 Managing Sports Editor The Amherst men’s basketball team split its two conference games this week, beating Bates easily on Friday night and falling in a close matchup with Tufts on Saturday afternoon.

The men’s performances this weekend dropped them in the league standings to second place, behind Trinity and tied with next Friday’s opponent Middlebury for second place.

The men traveled to Lewiston, Maine to visit NESCAC rival Bates on Friday and handled the team with ease, using a balanced attack to record a 88-69 victory for the purple and white. Sophomore guard Johnny McCarthy, who contributed a game-high 25 points and 13 rebounds, led Amherst in the winning effort. Once again, Amherst capitalized on their sharpshooting from the field and from

behind the arc. Led by McCarthy’s 5 for 6 effort from downtown, the purple and white hit 48.6 percent from the field and nine of 18 from three-point range.

Jayde Dawson ’18 also stuffed the stat sheet for Amherst, recording 22 points along with a game-high eight assists. The athletic guard also went 7 for 10 from the free throw line with three steals.

Bates took an early 4-2 lead, with both baskets coming from their big men in the paint, but a three pointer from McCarthy put Amherst ahead. The purple and white held the lead for the rest of the game, but the first half was closely contended. With eight minutes to go in the half, the Bobcats went on a 10-2 run that closed Amherst’s lead to two at 29-27, but an emphatic dunk by David George ’17 reinvigorated the purple and white. The George dunk, followed up by a McCarthy three, triggered Amherst’s own 12-6 run to close out the

half at 41-33 for the purple and white.

The second half saw Amherst score 18 of the first 24 points to secure a 20-point lead.

Dawson helped the visiting Amherst squad pull away, with 15 of his 22 points coming in the second. Dawson then capped the game for the purple and white when he swished a 3- pointer with a minute left on the clock for the final score of the game.

The next day, Amherst traveled to Medford, Massachusetts to take on Tufts. Although Tufts has suffered several in-conference losses, they are arguably the most evenly matched team for Amherst in the NESCAC. These two teams average the most points per game in the conference as well as the most three-point shots and both squads’ offensive firepower showed in their recent matchup.

In the fast-paced matchup, Tufts eventually emerged 84-73 behind a balanced offensive effort in which four of their five starters scored in double figures.

The purple and white were led by a 28-point, nine-rebound effort from senior swingman Connor Green. Despite the loss, McCarthy stayed hot with a 4 of 6 effort from behind the arc.

Amherst got off to a slow start when Tufts jumped out to a 23-16 lead in the first ten minutes of play. Eric Conklin ’17 worked hard in the paint to bring the team within five points, but Tufts answered with a run of their own to take a 42-21 lead as the clock ticked to a close on the first half of play. Luckily, a McCarthy three reversed the Jumbos’ momentum as the purple and white went on to score 10 of the last 13 points in the first half, bringing Amherst within reach at a 45-31 halftime score.

Entering the second half, Amherst continued to chip away at Tufts’ lead when 3-pointers from McCarthy and Eric Green ’16 cut their deficit to seven points with just under two minutes left on the clock in the second half.

Amherst intentionally fouled to save time,

but the Jumbos hit eight out of their 10 free throws and secured several keyboards in the final moments of the game to pull away and ultimately take the game.

Amherst returns to LeFrak to round out their regular season with two crucial conference games this weekend. The purple and white will host Middlebury on Friday evening and will be looking to break their tie with the Panthers for second place in the NESCAC, and then finish off against Hamilton for a special senior day game at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Photo courtesy of Mark Box

Johnny McCarthy ’18 went 9 of 12 on threes in two games last week.

Women’s Track Claims Three Men’s Squash Records 10th Straight Top-Two Finishes at Tufts Invite Quarterfinal at NESCAC Tourney Nate Tyrell ’19 Staff Writer

Cole Steiger ’19 Staff Writer

The Amherst women’s track and field team competed and impressed in the Tufts Invitational last Saturday.

First-year Julia Asin finished sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.42, while Sarah Whelan ’17 and Katherie Hom ’19 finished back-to-back to take both 10th and 11th place. Whelan completed the race with a time of 28.50, and Hom 28.64.

Asin also competed in the 400-meter dash, claiming second place overall with a time of 59.54. Danielle Griffin ’18 finished fourth in the event with a time of 1:02:73.

Amherst impressed in the 600-meter run finishing back-to-back, with Victoria Hensley ’16 earning second and Leonie Rauls ’18 third. Hensley finished with a time of 1:39.68 and Rauls with a time of 1.39.95.

Senior Keelin Moehl was Amherst’s top finisher coming in second place in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2.20.86.

The purple and white also took ninth, 10th and 11th in the event with first-year Lela Walter coming in at 2:25.92, followed by Kaeli Mathias ’18 (2:25.92) and Adele Loomis ’18 (2:26.94).

In the long-distance events, first-year Christina Scartelli earned eighth in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 3:14.15, and running in the 5,000-meter run, senior Betsy Black placed 11th with a time of 18:32.18.

The 4x200-meter relay team which consisted of Hensley, Hom, Asin and Abbey Asare-Bediako ’18 placed second with a time of 1:50.64. The quartet of Rauls, Walter, Moehl and first-year Isabel Balcezak finished right behind in third with a time of 4:13.58.

The purple and white also competed well

This past weekend, men’s squash traveled south to Trinity to compete in the NESCAC championships, which stretched from Friday, Feb. 5 to Sunday, Feb. 7. The team was coming off of a disappointing 0-2 showing at the Little III championship on Jan. 31, where the purple and white fell 8-1 to Williams and 5-4 to Wesleyan in a heartbreaker which nonetheless included several bright spots for Amherst. Senior captain Noah Browne continued his dominant play on the first court, where he started down two sets but fought back for a 3-2 victory to the tune of 8-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 111. Cameron Bahadori ’18, playing in the second position, came up with an excellent comeback of his own, winning 9-11, 4-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-5.

Michael Groot ’17 and Jeremy Van ’17 posted Amherst’s other two wins against the Cardinals.

These results saw Amherst earn the No. 8 seed in the NESCAC tournament bracket and a date with ninth-seeded Tufts on Friday afternoon, with both squads eyeing a quarterfinal berth. What looked like a close match proved to be nothing of the sort, as Amherst dropped just one of 28

sets en route to a 9-0 win and the program’s 10th consecutive trip to the quarterfinals. Next up the team hosted national powerhouse Trinity, the perennial No. 1 seed. After an 8-1 loss, Amherst regrouped for a rematch with Colby, the five seed, in the consolation bracket. Two first-years shone brightest for Amherst. Harith Khawaja and Lucas Sheiner each managed exciting 3-2 victories from the fourth and seventh courts, respectively. Noah Browne ’16 also won in a 3-0 sweep on court one.

However, the purple and white dropped the contest 6-3.

The loss to Colby sent Amherst to the seventhplace match on Sunday, where they would face Bowdoin, seeded seventh entering the tournament. The purple and white rode a true team effort to victory. David Merkel ’19 on court three, Darian Ehsani ’17 on court five, Michael Groot ’17 on court six, Lucas Sheiner ’19 on court seven and Jeremy Van ’18 on court eight all won. In addition, Noah Browne ’16 collected a 3-1 victory to extend his individual record to 12-1 on the season. And so, the purple and white outperformed their seed with a seventh-place NESCAC finish.

Amherst will return to action at the CSA Championships at Yale this weekend Feb. 19-21.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Louise Atadja ’16 claimed 15th in the long jump with a 4.54 meter leap. in the field events at the invitational. Louise Atadja ’16 placed 15th in the long jump with a distance of 4.54 meters, while first-year Emily Flaherty took 20th with a jump of 4.43 meters.

Asare-Bediako claimed third in the triple jump with a distance of 10.88 meters and Flaherty finished 10th with a jump of 10.02 meters.

Next up, the purple and white will travel to Boston University to compete in the Valentine Classic on Friday, Feb. 12.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Competing from the No. 2 spot against Tufts, Cameron Bahadori ’18 posted a three-set victory while Amherst rolled, 9-0, against the Jumbos.

10

Sports

The Amherst Student • February 10, 2016

Women’s Basketball Looks to Bounce Back from First Loss of the Season Kelly Karczewski ’18 Staff Writer The Amherst women’s basketball team suffered its first home loss in 121 consecutive games this past Saturday afternoon, when talented NESCAC rival Tufts bested the squad.

The purple and white began the week of games with an impressive win over Bates, defeating the NESCAC opponent with a score of 63-44. Three Amherst players scored in double digits, exhibiting a strong depth in their offense, translating into the win. Meredith Doswell ’17 led with 12 points, sophomore Jackie Nagle put down 11 and last week’s NESCAC player of the week Hannah Hackley ’18 added 10. The win marked the team’s 121st consecutive win at LeFrak, which was a record dating all the way back to January of 2009.

The monumental streak came to an end the next day though, as the purple and white experienced the first loss of a previously undefeated season to Tufts in a heartbreaking 52-51 matchup. The squad was able to maintain the slightest lead until the fourth quarter, when the score leveled back and forth, until

the Jumbos were able to capture and keep the one point lead that showed at the final buzzer.

Hackley led Amherst’s scoring with 15 and was crucial in the fourth quarter in keeping the score as close as it was with clutch foul shooting and smart, successful decisions on the floor. Meredith Doswell dominated the boards with 11 rebounds, and Hackley led the team in assists with two dishes. Junior Ali Doswell also exhibited a strong performance, contributing eight points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Jackie Nagle contributed nine points and six big rebounds.

Just before the final buzzer, Cheyenne Pritchard ’16 launched an attempt at saving the game, but unfortunately the shot fell short, and the purple and white felt the heaviness of the season’s first loss.

Though the LeFrak win streak has ended, the record was impressively the longest of its kind by any women’s basketball program, and is second only to the University of Kentucky’s men’s basketball program which leads the category with 129 consecutive wins.

Up next, Amherst faces off against Middlebury for an away battle this Friday at 7 p.m.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Noah Browne ’16 Favorite Team Memory: Beating Drexel 5-4 at nationals Favorite Pro Athlete: Zlatan Ibrahimovic Dream Job: Cosmonaut Pet Peeve: Straws that don’t bend Favorite Vacation Spot: Montibello Something on Your Bucket List: Circumnavigating the globe via sailboat Guilty Pleasure: Coloring outside the lines Favorite Food: Easy mac Favorite Thing About Amherst: Pink lemonade at Amherst How He Earned It: Senior captain Noah Browne has been a huge asset to the Amherst men’s squash team this year, playing in the number one spot and losing only one match this season. He continued to impress this past weekend in the NESCAC championships, winning all four of his matches.

Browne swept his opponent easily against Tufts, leading the team to an overall sweep of the Jumbos in the first round. Browne finished up the weekend with a 3-1 victory over Will McBrian of Colby and a sweep of his Bowdoin opponent to lift the team to a win over the 21st-ranked Polar Bears.

Alex Toupal ’18 Favorite Team Memory: Team meals at Chipotle Favorite Pro Athlete: Any athlete that eats Chipotle Dream Job: Chipotle taste tester Pet Peeve: When people don’t like Chipotle Favorite Vacation Spot: Anywhere with a Chipotle Something on Your Bucket List: Eat at every Chipotle restaurant in existence Guilty Pleasure: Chipotle Favorite Food: Chipotle Favorite Thing About Amherst: Chipotle is a five-minute drive away.

How She Earned It: Sophomore forward Alex Toupal had a huge weekend, contributing to all three Amherst wins.

Her goal in the third period against Saint Anslem on Friday night helped lift Amherst to their tight 3-2 victory. In the team’s blowouts of Manhattanville and Salem State, Toupal scored two goals and added two assists in each game.

Toupal’s stellar performance this week adds to her 15-goal total this season.

Women’s Squash Competes Against Tough In-Conference Opponents Mary Grace Cronin ’18 Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studtos, Inc.

Sophomore forward Hannah Hackley nearly led Amherst to a win against Tufts, and is averaging 11.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per contest.

Men’s Track & Field Perpetuates Winter Success at Tufts Invitational Caleb Winfrey ’19 Staff Writer On Saturday afternoon, the Amherst men’s track and field team competed in the Tufts Invitational at the Baronian Field House in Medford, Massachusetts. Thomas Matthew ’16 qualified for the final heat and finished fifth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.31. David Ingraham ’18 and Stadtler Thompson ’19 finished back-to-back in the 200-meter dash to take eighth and ninth overall with marks of 23.59 and 23.75, respectively. Ingraham also enjoyed success in the 400-meter dash where he placed sixth, coming in at 52.13.

In the middle distance events, firstyear Kristian Sogaard claimed second in the 600-meter run (1:23.52), Jesse Fajnzylber ’17 earned 12th in the 800-meter (2:01.41) and Kevin Connors ’17 put up a time of 2:30.55 to claim second place overall in the 1000-meter run.

The purple and white also had great success in long distance events. Steven Lucey ’17 earned second in the one mile run with a mark of 4:17.07. Fajnzylber was the second purple and white runner to cross the finish line, placing 10th with 4:31.49. Running in the 3,000-meter run, first-year Cosmo Brossy claimed seventh (8:34.90), and Mohamed Hus-

sein ’18 placed second overall in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:36.60. Jeff Seelaus ’16 took eighth in the event (15:02.34), while Dan Crowley ’16 finished tenth (15:14.11).

The Amherst men’s track and field team also fielded a talented 4x800-meter relay squad. The quartet of Connors, Brent Harrison ’16, Lucey and Sogaard placed second overall in the 4x800-meter relay with a time of 7:53.50.

In the field events, senior Khalil Flemming took ninth in the long jump with a distance of 6.09 meters and fifth in the triple jump (13.15 meters).

Matthew finished seventh in the 20-man shot put with a distance of 13.02 meters, while first-year Sam Amaka claimed ninth (12.94 meters). With a distance of 13.2 meters, Matthew also earned ninth in the weight throw.

“The cross country guys are adjusting pretty well to the track. The squad this year is really young and thus far the first-years have raced superbly,” Hussein said. “All the guys have put in a lot of work over interterm and now are reaping the benfits. We’ll see the best from most of the guys in the upcoming weeks as we head into championship season.”

Amherst track and field travels to Boston University to compete in the Valentine Classic on Feb. 12 beginning at 10 a.m.

The Amherst women’s squash team survived their toughest week yet as their season reaches its latter half. They enter their next competition with a respectable 9-5 record against some of the country’s top squads. On senior day, the purple and white cruised against the Lyons of Mount Holyoke en route to a perfect 9-0 victory.

Throughout their dominant performance, no player lost more than one match, and six different women managed to secure pristine 3-0 wins.

“We have a deep ladder, with really talented players all the way down the lineup from spots one through nine,” senior captain Khushy Aggarwal said. “With five seniors graduating, we’re really looking to make a strong impact this year.”

With the purple and white securing their 16th rank, they also clinch the chance to compete for a B Division national title, their experience and leadership have driven them time and time again.

After the excitement and success of their senior day matchups, the Amherst women were

ready to take on the best of the NESCAC in a matchup at Trinity.

A win against No. 5 in the league, Bowdoin, would have protected the team’s postseason hopes and send them to the NESCAC semifinals.

The Polar Bears proved to be a formidable opponent, and highlights included the gritty play of Haley McAtee ’18, who narrowly won her set, 3-2. Amherst proved to be too much, and fought for their first win of the tournament, 6-3.

They then tok on the host and top-ranked Bantams, who have been perfect in the NESCAC this season. Amherst suffered a 7-2 loss, with Taryn Clary ’16 and Mae Cromwell ’18 both netting the team’s only victories in 3-1 wins.

The women were back on the court the following day to compete against a strong Middlebury team who beat the purple and white 6-3.

Although their NESCAC tournament hopes concluded on a low note, Amherst continues their season at Yale on Friday, Feb. 19. Their competition is yet to be determined, but with some time to regroup, the team hopes to get their season back on track.

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Women’s squash looks to continue their season by impressing at Yale University in the B Division National Championship Tournament.

The Amherst Student • February 10, 2016

Sports

Men’s Hockey Splits Two Tough Games Against NESCAC Opponents

11

Chris’ Corner Chris Rigas ’16 Columnist Peyton Manning is under attack for investigating those who claim he took HGH. Chris explores the double standards in the media concerning privacy and ethical behavior.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Forward Will Vosejpka ‘18 has five goals in 20 games played this season.

Sarah Wagner ’19 Staff Writer The 5-6-3 in conference men’s hockey team was faced with two battles against NESCAC rivals Bowdoin and Colby this weekend. Both games were tight, with each game decided late while the losing side had its goalie pulled.

Bowdoin managed to earn the win Friday night, but Amherst conquered Colby the next afternoon.

Bowdoin struck first in what would end a 3-1 game with a bar-down shot at the end of the first period. The second stanza opened with penalties on both sides. Amherst controlled the play during two successive power plays; the second man advantage allowed Thomas Lindstrom ’18 to put away senior Conor Brown’s rebound and tie the game.

Bowdoin did not back down, however, and used the crucial post-goal shift to draw a penalty. Only three seconds into this power play, Bowdoin’s Spencer Atunez regained the lead.

The purple and white worked for goal-scoring chances, but their efforts did not pay off, even when sophomore Patrick Mooney’s shot slid past the Bowdoin goaltender and spun to a stop inches from crossing the goal line.

The third period also saw exciting chances for Amherst, including a 5-on-3 man-advantage that materialized when the Polar Bears were called for a penalty and then was whistled for a too-many-men infraction. Unfortunately, Amherst was unable to capitalize on this opportunity, shooting too many pucks straight at Bowdoin goalie Peter Cronin, resulting in easy saves.

With a tying goal continuing to elude the purple and white, Amherst head coach Jack Arena pulled goalie Connor Girard ’18 fol-

lowing the end of the penalty. Again, Amherst fought hard but failed to put away the equalizer. The game ended with an open-net insurance goal by Bowdoin’s Matthew Lison.

The hosting Amherst team had more luck against Colby and skated to a 2-1 win on Saturday afternoon.

The teams were evenly matched through the first period, with each posting eight shots on net and finishing the first twenty minutes in a 1-1 draw. Just six minutes into the game, Amherst’s consistently productive line came through again when Will Vosejpka ’18 put away a Lindstrom pass with a quick backhand shot past Colby’s Verrier.

The Mules responded a few minutes later and entered the second period hopeful. These hopes were dashed, however, by first-year Max Roche’s first career goal at the 14-minute mark. This tally, assisted by Kevin Ryder ’16, would turn out to be the game-winner. The last stanza of the game, however, went backand-forth while the Mules pushed for a tying goal. The most notable of these occurred right after the final buzzer sounded, when Colby’s Kai Frankville, buoyed by the Mules’ sixth player on the ice (in exchange for their pulled goalie), knocked the puck into the Amherst net. The referees reviewed the play and ultimately disallowed the goal, sealing the 2-1 win for the purple and white.

The team will play another two home games this coming weekend against two more NESCAC rivals. First, they play Tufts at Orr Rink on Saturday, Feb. 13. Then, Amherst hosts Connecticut College on Sunday, Feb. 14. The purple and white will hope to use the home-ice advantage and their league standing above both teams to maintain their winning record at Orr Rink.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Building on his strong first-year season, forward David White ‘18 is powering the purple and white’s offense with his team-leading 11 assists in 20 games.

Apparently it isn’t the Super Bowl unless an all-time great quarterback goes through a minor controversy in the week leading up to the game, only to lead his team to a legacycementing win. (Although “lead” might be too strong of a word for what Peyton Manning did on Sunday.) Last year Tom Brady and Deflategate entertained us, and this year we have Al-Jazeera’s report that HGH was sent to Manning’s house.

A quick summary of the Manning situation: In a documentary titled “The Dark Side,” Al-Jazeera reported that HGH was sent to Manning’s house by the Guyer Institute of Molecular Medicine, based on a video recording of Guyer Institute employee Charlie Sly. Manning was only one of the athletes named

by Al-Jazeera; others include Ryan Howard, Ryan Zimmerman and James Harrison. Manning originally denied that the drugs were even sent to his house, and hired Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary, to manage his publicity during the crisis. Later, Manning admitted that the drugs were sent to his house, but still maintains that he did not use them. Three days before the Super Bowl, the Washington Post reported that, after being informed of the report by Al-Jazeera, Manning and Fleischer figured out that Sly was the employee making the accusations on camera. In an attempt to track Sly down, they sent two private investigators to Sly’s parents’ house. The men apparently scared the Slys, who called 911, but they later agreed to talk to the private investigators. The police never came, and Sly, who was not aware that he was being recorded by Al-Jazeera for “The Dark Side,” later recanted his statements about Manning.

There has been a bit of pearl-clutching about Manning’s investigation since the Washington Post report. The report contributes to the idea that Manning’s investigators were hired thugs by breathlessly announcing that the men wore “black overcoats and jeans.” A writer for CBS Boston said that “for a supposedly innocent man with nothing to hide,” Manning’s “approach to the whole situation has seemed oddly aggressive.” Deadspin described the investigators as “goons” and “private dicks.”

What was so terrible about Manning’s investigation? After all, it seems only fair for Manning to be able to confront his accuser.

The fact that the accusations were made without Sly’s permission is Al-Jazeera’s fault, not his.

Let’s take a look at the ways in which Manning’s investigation was reprehensible, at least according to the Washington Post and Deadspin. One of Deadspin’s complaints is that “Manning’s spooks refused to reveal their employer to the Slys … one of them, according to the call, falsely claiming to be a cop.”

Interesting. It probably is more ethical, when you are investigating something, to identify yourself honestly to the people you are investigating, and it is certainly unethical to lie about who you are in order to get someone to say something that they might regret.

That sounds like a good standard for news outlets reporting stories like these. Surely the Al-Jazeera reporters identified themselves to Charlie Sly when they were originally working on the story, or at the very least, did not lie about who they were? Here’s the Washington Post report: “In the Al-Jazeera documentary, Liam Collins, a former British hurdler, went undercover and claimed to pharmacists and doctors he was trying to revive his running career and was willing to cheat. With hidden cameras, Collins recorded Sly and asked him about procuring performance-enhancing drugs.”

Oh, I guess Al-Jazeera, a media company, simply isn’t held to as high a standard as Peyton Manning, a private individual.

Deadspin is also upset at Manning’s investigators for bringing Charlie Sly’s family into the investigation and scaring them, writing that “the investigators spooked Sly’s family, which led to them making a 911 call.” This also seems reasonable; it is probably better and more ethical to keep the family members of those under investigation out of the story.

Surely Al-Jazeera must have done Peyton Manning the courtesy of leaving his family members out of their story?

Not quite. On an appearance on the Today Show, Deborah Davies, the reporter for Al-Jazeera who worked on the investigation, refused to explicitly accuse Peyton Manning of using HGH, saying that the documentary only claimed that HGH was sent to his wife.

This is technically true, and a good way to avoid a libel suit, but not a good way to justify the Manning portion of the documentary. As the Today Show hosts point out, Ashley Manning’s medical records are not a national news story. To justify her report without admitting it’s about Peyton Manning, Davies falls back on this excuse: “You have a drug that is actually illegal to prescribe to a patient for anything other than one of three incredibly serious illnesses.” Again, Davies did not say this because Ashley Manning’s medical history is anyone’s business, she said it to avoid a lawsuit.

So Deborah Davies did not do Ashley Manning the courtesy of leaving her out of the investigation. Instead, she invited the entire country to speculate about Mrs. Manning’s possible medical conditions in order to avoid being sued.

Manning’s hired investigators might be “goons,” but that still puts them one rung above “investigative reporters” on the ethical ladder. The fact is that the tactics Manning used to investigate Sly are almost indistinguishable from the tactics used by Al-Jazeera to investigate him. The only difference, apparently, is that Manning is a private citizen, and Al-Jazeera is a media outlet.

It probably would have been better if Manning had refrained from sending investigators to the Slys’ home. At the very least, it was unseemly, and, at the worst, it looks like Manning was trying to intimidate Sly into recanting his unwittingly recorded statements.

It certainly would have been better for Sly’s family if they didn’t have to go through that particular bit of unpleasantness.

However, it really would have been better for Sly and his family if Al-Jazeera had refrained from recording him without his consent in the first place. Having your unflattering private conversations recorded and then broadcasted to a national audience must be at least as traumatic as being visited by a couple private investigators, even if those investigators were wearing — gasp! — “black overcoats and jeans.”

I’m getting at a larger problem with investigative journalism: By claiming that they are dedicated to the pursuit of truth, journalists get away with doing all sorts of sleazy and underhanded things that we would not normally accept.

This is not to say that investigative reporting is always harmful, but only that “the pursuit of truth” often results in real casualties.

If a story is going to seriously damage someone’s reputation, it better be investigated in an ethical way and be genuinely important. The Al-Jazeera story is neither. HGH use, while against the law and NFL rules, is basically a victimless crime, and I’ve already been over the ethically shaky way in which Al-Jazeera conducted its investigation.

Sports

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Erin Martin ’16 scored five times in games against Manhattanville College and Salem State to bring her season tally to a team-leading 17 goals.

Women’s Ice Hockey Dominates Scoreline in Two Non-conference Matchups Devin O’Connor ’16 Staff Writer The Amherst women’s ice hockey team added three wins to its record after a trio of non-conference games last week. The purple and white had an exciting 3-2 win in the final minutes of play over Saint Anselm on Wednesday, Feb. 3. The women then traveled to Rye, New York on Saturday to defeat Manhattanville, 9-1, and finished up their non-conference win streak back at home on Tuesday night, when they took care of Salem State 10-0.

The game at Orr Rink last Wednesday was a nail-biter. Senior captain Eileen Harris led the purple and white’s offense with two goals in the second period to contribute to the win, while Sabrina Dobbins ’18 made 35 saves between the pipes.

The first period was scoreless, and Amherst only had four shots on goal in contrast to Saint Anselm’s 12. But the home team came out firing in the second stanza, as Harris put the first goal on the board just 12 seconds into play. The forward

took advantage of a rebound in front of the net after shots from Alex Toupal ’18 and Erin Martin ’16.

Three minutes later, Harris found the back of the net again to give Amherst a 2-0 lead. The Hawks managed to bring the game within one, scoring with 4:52 to play in the period. The score was 2-1, Amherst, at the close of the second stanza.

The third period was back and forth until the last four minutes of regulation. Saint Anselm managed to tie the game with 3:31 on the clock.

It seemed as though the game would go into overtime until Toupal scored the game-winning goal with 1:22 to play. Amherst won 3-2 and carried the momentum from the victory into its game Saturday afternoon.

Saturday’s matchup did not begin as a blowout.

The first period was scoreless until the last 14 seconds, when Martin received a pass from Camille Herzog ’17 and put the puck in the back of the net.

The forward didn’t let up, and she gave Amherst a two-goal lead two minutes into the second stanza.

Lynndy Smith ’17 and Caitlyn Ryan ’17 assisted

FRI GAME SCHE DULE

Women’s Track & Field @ Valentine Invitational, Noon.

the goal.

Just 30 seconds later, first-year Jocelyn Hunyadi sent a pass to fellow first-year Katie Savage, which resulted in a third goal for the purple and white. Martin scored goal number four for Amherst, her third of the night, with 9:35 to play in the second period.

Manhattanville managed to get one on the board before the period ended to make the score 4-1, but Amherst restored their four-goal lead with just 16 seconds to play in the second period when Hunyadi netted after receiving a pass from Brenna Sullivan ’18.

The purple and white added four more goals in the final 20 minutes of regulation. Sarah Wagner ’19, Savage, Harris and Toupal contributed the last four scores against the visitors. Sophomore Bailey Plaman tallied 11 saves in the net during the 9-1 winning effort.

The Amherst women returned to Orr Rink on Tuesday night to face Salem State. After getting off to a gentle start with only one goal in the first quarter, contributed by sophomore forward

Brenna Sullivan in the third minute, the purple and white offense picked up, scoring three in the second period and capping off the game with a huge six goals in the third.

Martin impressed again, adding two goals to Amherst’s grand total of ten, with the other seven goals coming from Herzog, Ryan, Emma Griese ’18, Molly Connolly ’17, Harris, Toupal and firstyear Jamie McNamara. Bailey Plaman impressed again in goal, tallying 14 saves in Amherst’s shutout of Salem State.

Amherst will take on Hamilton at Orr Rink in two games this weekend. They take on the Continentals at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12 and again the following day at 3 p.m.

“Hamilton is having a great season so far, and we’re excited to get back into NESCAC play and have a strong rest of our season,” senior captain Caroline Bomstein said.

Amherst has only five games left in the regular season and the team is keeping in mind that each game counts in the hunt for a NESCAC championship.

SAT Women’s Swimming & Diving @ NESCAC Championship, TBD Women’s Basketball @ Middlebury, 7 p.m.

Women’s Ice Hockey vs. Hamilton, 7 p.m.

SUN

Women’s Swimming Men’s Basketball & Diving vs. Hamilton, 3 p.m. @ NESCAC Championship, TBD Men’s Track & Field Men’s Ice Hockey @ Valentine Invitational, Women’s Basketball vs. Tufts, 7:30 p.m.

10 a.m. @ Hamilton, 3 p.m.

Men’s Basketball vs. Middlebury, 7 p.m.

Women’s Ice Hockey vs. Hamilton, 3 p.m.

Women’s Swimming and Diving @ NESCAC Championship, TBD