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Tuesday, September 19, 2017
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SPIRE changes, expands options
it a t - whirl !
Preference can be altered during year By Alvin Buyinza Collegian Staff
For the first time, students at the University of Massachusetts have the option to include their gender and sexual orientation on SPIRE. Not only are students able to indicate their gender and sexual orientation, they are able to update this information over the course of their time at UMass. Students can log in to their SPIRE account and under “Gender and Sexual Identity” in the “My Personal Information” tab, they are given options such as androgyne, trans, bisexual and more. High school students applying to UMass through The Common
JESSICA PICARD/COLLEGIAN
Freshman Rachel Higgins and sophomore Alex Fischer learn to swing dance at the Ballroom Dance Team’s social event at the FAC, Monday, Sept. 18, 2017.
Application are given the option to indicate their gender and sexuality as well. These changes largely came from a group effort from the Stonewall Center, the University registrar’s office, University admissions and the Office of Information Technology. Genny Beemyn, the director of the Stonewall Center, said that they have been advocating for a number of years for UMass to get gender identity and sexual orientation on The Common Application. Beemyn said that this is also important in order to get accurate sense of the LGBTQ+ population at UMass. According to Beemyn, the majority of transgender students at UMass identify as non-binary, and see
SPIRE on page 3
Amherst College students, administration discontented Noose sparks serious debate W ill Soltero Collegian Staff
Only three weeks into the
school year, Amherst College has already experienced a possible hate crime, a controversial banner on 9/11 and a flyer viewed by some as anti-
President
Martin,
statements coming from the
District Attorney’s office in
“We kind of viewed that as a
Democrats thought the flyers
in a letter addressed to the
Bitty
president’s office and mem-
response to the noose’s dis-
group…making a broad inter-
were an important response
school’s students, faculty and
bers of both the Amherst
covery, no further action will
pretation
to the noose incident.
staff, referred to as an “act of
College
be taken by the college, see-
Mayers said. He went on to
“The
hate.”
Democrats.
ing as “neither the Honor
say that while the posters
Republicans decided that the
“I call on every member of
Republicans
and
of
Republicans,”
Amherst
College
“The noose incident is not
Code nor the law was bro-
were placed throughout the
flyers were about them for
our community to join me in
one to be taken lightly,” said
ken by any member of the
campus, the one in the win-
some reason. I think that proj-
condemning it and in stand-
Brantley Mayers, the vice
College community,” wrote
dow of their meeting room
ects pretty clearly on them-
ing with those directly tar-
president
Caroline
was put first, and intentional-
selves that they think that
geted by an act of this kind,”
College
ly faced inward so that those
[the flyer] reflects on them
wrote Martin in the letter.
phone interview.
Communications, in an email.
in the room could see it.
somehow,”
“You have my assurance that
“It’s important that we under-
Several days after the discov-
In a Facebook post on
“That says a lot about them.”
of
the
Amherst
Republicans,
via
Hanna,
Amherst
College Director of
Media
we are taking this act seri-
stand that the noose that was
ery of the noose, and possibly
September
ously and that the perpetra-
found on Pratt field was an
in response to the event, a
Republicans
that,
On the first day back on
of the flyers, Deatrick said
tors will be punished appro-
act of white violence,” said
flyer was posted around the
“While the flyers are related
campus, a tied noose was
he applauded recent events
priately.”
President
Amherst
Amherst College campus that
to another incident on cam-
found on the football field.
on the Amherst College cam-
In another letter, Martin
College Democrats Alexander
read, “THIS IS OUR CAMPUS,
pus…the
place-
After
by
pus, including a demonstra-
wrote that the action may
Deatrick in a phone interview.
NOT THE KLAN’S,” with the
ment of the text facing the
the Amherst College Police
tion against hate that took
be investigated as a hate
“I think the news shows us
image of a fist below it.
room…leads us to suppose
Department, multiple juve-
place on September 12 in the
crime,
the
that the campus is not neces-
The poster drew attention
this is an accusation of ACR
niles
Valentine
N o r t h we s t e r n
District
sarily a safe place, and that’s
from the College Republicans
being connected to the KKK.”
credited the Black Student
an
investigation
were
identified
and
conducted
by
the
the
College
said.
Republican.
of
7,
Deatrick
stated
deliberate
In addition to the response
Quad.
Deatrick
found to be responsible for
Attorney’s office.
something we need to work
following the possibly-inten-
The post went on to condemn
the incident.
Union and the Direct Action
toward.”
tional placement of one flyer
“white supremacy, the KKK
Coordinating Committee.
The event began the year
the college has primarily been
Although legal action may be
in the window of their meet-
and related groups, etc.”
with what Amherst College
one of condemnation, with
taken by the Northwestern
ing space.
Deatrick of
The response from around
the College
see
NOOSE on page 3
Thomas Suarez leads talk A Q&A with the nonprofit on Israel-Palestine conflict DKMS ambassador to UMass Author discusses other perspective By Caeli Chesin Collegian Staff
Author Thomas Suarez spoke to a group of nearly 100 on the third floor of the Integrative Learning Center last night on the subject of his recent novel, “State of Terror: How terrorism created modern Israel.” The talk started with an introduction, followed with an hour-long speech from Suarez and then led to an open discussion among the audience. The talk was co-sponsored by Jewish Voices for Peace, Interlink Publishing, Media Education Foundation and Students for Justice in Palestine. Suarez started by stating that the Palestinian and Israeli conflict is not the
irreversible conflict that it has been made out to be; the common goal for everyone is to reach an end to the conflict. “That’s why we’re here,” Suarez said. Within the next hour, Suarez explained the rise of the issue and what he sees as viable solutions. Throughout his talk, he worked to redirect the narrative the conflict has been given in the past, pressing on the point to re-examine what has already happened. He explained that Zionism, a movement originally for the the re-establishment and now protection of a Jewish nation—currently Israel—is not Jewish self-determination but actually the exact opposite. He went on to explain instances in which, in the attempt to make Israel purely Jewish, Palestinians were forced out of Israel in vicious ways. It was a time
where it was seen as worse to raise your kids in a nonJewish home than it was to be a murderer. “The fact is that the agency placed Zionists’ need for ethically-correct settlers above the lives of the people,” Suarez said. Near the end of his talk, he explained that while it may feel like the situation’s intensity calmed after the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, the notion is false; zionists, ethnic cleansing and terrorist attacks are still relevant. “Here we are seven decades later...how do we finally fix this instead of going around talking about it? How do we finally bring peace? Increasingly, it is clear that the only possible solution is what should have happened in 1948— a single, democratic, secular state of equals,” Suarez said near see
ISRAEL on page 3
What DKMS does on UMass campus By Abigail Charpentier Collegian Staff
Business senior Jennifer Santos wasted no time at the University of Massachusetts when it came to her involvement with Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS) on campus. On top of advocating for the organization, she has recently started up the “Delete Blood Cancer DKMS” club. Abigail Charpentier: What does DKMS do?
try that matches blood cancer patients or people with a blood disorder in need of a blood marrow transplant or stem cell transfusion with people who are essentially a genetic match with the cancer patient, so they can donate to that patient. So, it’s really important because it’s really hard to find a match. A lot of people think that you can find a match within your family or with a sibling, but only 30 percent of people can find a match within their family, which means that 70 percent of blood cancer patients rely on complete strangers that are in the registry who are willing to donate for them. Essentially, you’re signing up to potentially be matched with someone and save their life.
Jennifer Santos: DKMS is an international non-profit organization that works to register individuals into the national bone marrow registry. This is the regis- AC:
How
did
you
get
involved with DKMS? JS: I got involved with DKMS in my senior year of high school. My principal came to me, said his wife was diagnosed with lymphoma and was in need of a bone marrow transplant and asked that I host a drive. She was having a really hard time finding a match because she was Armenian—part of registering and finding a match is ethnicity does play a role, so it was especially hard for her to find a match. I hosted a drive and registered a third of my senior class. This drive showed me the importance of hosting a drive and getting as many people to the registry as possible. So when I came to UMass,
see
DKMS on page 2