The Massachusetts Daily Collegian: March, 2nd 2017

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Thursday, March 2, 2017

Tips to know for ‘Blarney Blowout’ Tickets for Blarney show still available

By Will Soltero Collegian Correspondent As Mar. 4 weekend and “Blarney Blowout” approaches at the University of Massachusetts, several changes are to be expected in terms of University policy and police presence around the campus and in the community. With events such as the “Mullins Live!” concert entering its third year, the University hopes to build upon the positive results of last year’s Blarney weekend and avoid a repeat of the infamous Blarney Blowout of 2014.

A variety of notices have been sent to UMass students from Residential Life, Parking Services, and Off-Campus Student Life detailing what to expect for this upcoming weekend. However, the

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UMass Police Department was unavailable to comment.

Here is a guide for all you need to know.

Know the changes to the Residential Guest Policy.

Starting Thursday, Mar. 2 at 8 p.m. and continuing through Sunday, March 5 at 11.p.m., students living in residence halls may sign in up to four UMass students as guests. Non-UMass guests must be checked out prior to the beginning of the weekend by 8 p.m. Thursday, Mar. 2.

Residence hall security desk hours will be expanded for the duration of the weekend to enforce the planned changes, with security in place from 12 p.m. Friday until midnight on Sunday.

Expect a strong police presence. see

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AAKANKSHA GUPTA/COLLEGIAN

Eileen Baah, a public health sciences major speaks with a representative at the IPO Study Abroad Fair Wednesday, March 1 in the Student Union Ballroom.

UMass students rally during Advocacy Day Students advocated against tuition hikes

By Abigail Charpentier Collegian Correspondent

Students from public universities and colleges in Massachusetts gathered in the State House in Boston to advocate against rising tuition and schooling fees on Wednesday for Advocacy Day. The event, hosted by the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts, was held at the State House, and allowed students to share their personal stories of affording college with legislators and representatives.

Students asked for legislators to invest in faculty and campuses and protect immi-

grant students and communities. Students specifically were asked to lobby for the Finish Line Grant, a bill that provides one year of free tuition and fees after a student’s first year.

Although State Sen. Stan Rosenberg was unavailable, his Senior Legislative Aide Stephen Maher, was able to give insight to Rosenberg’s stance. Maher talked about Rosenberg attending the University of Massachusetts and how “It took him almost 10 years to get that degree because, like many of you, he did not have a support structure that was able to pay for him to go to college.”

“Higher education will continue to be a priority for Stan,” Maher said.

State Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis, despite being one of

Framingham’s representatives, was happy to sit down with UMass students to discuss public higher education.

Lewis explained the most effective way to advocate is to write emails and personal letters sharing your story to your representative and state senator.

“We need to do everything in our power to make sure that everyone who lives in the Commonwealth has access to higher education,” Lewis said.

Lily Wallace, a UMass senior political science and BDIC major and Student Government Association vice president, explained the SGA’s role in Advocacy Day. The Center for Education Policy & Advocacy puts on the event, while the SGA financially helps out and takes a

lot of ownership in the logistics (i.e. transportation and food). The SGA wants CEPA to focus, “mostly on working collaboratively with organizations like PHENOM to create the demands, see the progress, and do the research that you’re seeing.”

Wallace attended the three previous Advocacy Days because she needs to work four jobs in order to pay for the costs of school that her scholarships and federal aid do not cover. Working multiple jobs has caused her to fall behind a semester, ultimately leading to more education costs and student loans.

“These people in the ivory tower are here and need to have their policies humanized,” she said.

Zac Bears, the executive

director of PHENOM, shared how his family was middle class growing up and made just above the median income.

Despite earning scholarships and partially paying out of pocket, Bears had to take out thousands of dollars in loans.

He claims he was lucky to have only $30,000 of student debt.

Bears says the only solution is to have, “empowered, informed and engaged people coming together to create and discuss in this democratic society.” He urged people to “be informed, be loud [and] be engaged.”

State Rep. Natalie Higgins shared her own personal student debt struggle. After graduating from UMass, she attended graduate school and racked up $100,000 of debt.

“It makes every decision

that I make a little bit harder– well, a lot harder,” she said.

“We all deserve public higher education,” PHENOM student organizer Amy Blanchette said.

“High-quality higher education is the right of every student in Massachusetts,” Matt Patton from Fair Shot for All said.

Monica Bhakhri, a junior from Worcester State University motivated attendees, stating, “We are the future of the Commonwealth.”

Following the rally, speaking program and meeting with legislators, UMass students were invited to the UMass Club for the IMPACT reception.

Abigail Charpentier can be reached at acharpentier@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @abigailcharp.

Q & A: Derek Dunlea runs President Trump’s speech for student trustee position to Congress: fact-checked Dunlea to bring finance knowledge

By Danny Cordova Collegian Staff

Student trustee candidate Derek Dunlea, a junior political science and economics major, is running unopposed to be the University of Massachusetts campus representative within the Board of Trustees, the legislative body of UMass. The board permits five students, each representing the five UMass campuses and elected through the student body, to vote on general policies governing the University. Dunlea currently serves as the secretary of finance in the Student Government Association.

Here’s the transcript of the question-and-answer in preparation for Sunday’s SGA executive debate from 6-8 p.m.

in the Commonwealth Honors College Events Hall. SGA elections will be held from Mar. 6 to Mar. 8.

those loan amounts went up to about an average of $29,000 for people who left the University.

That’s a huge increase in that timespan. As student trustee, What policies do you intend to I will be able to sit down on pursue as student trustee? the budgeting administration Derek Dunlea: “A little bit of and finance committee of the what I’ve been campaigning Board of Trustees. UMass will on has a lot to do with my have a vote on the board, so if finance background. As the I was elected to the position, I secretary of finance, I focused will have a vote in committee a lot on making sure that meetings in that board. What fees for students aren’t going that means is when I say I up. But the problem is that I want to vote against fee and don’t have any direct say in tuition increases, I can and that statement. Really, what I that’s exactly what I am going can do is observe and report. to do.”

I go to administrative meetAny other policies? ings. Getting involved in the finances specifically is really DD: “I want to connect more important to me. A big rea- with graduate students. The son why is because students reality is, especially over the at this University pay a lot to past year, I learned that being come here. From 2001 to 2014, a graduate student at this it went from 50 percent of stu- University is very different dents to 75 percent of students who had loan amounts and see DUNLEA on page 2

Los Angeles Times

Presidential speeches to joint sessions of Congress normally get meticulously scrubbed to ensure accuracy.

In past administrations, even minor misstatements have sometimes turned into major issues.

The Trump administration has a very different relationship with facts, as has been repeatedly documented.

Tuesday night’s speech by President Donald Trump had fewer untrue statements than many of his remarks, but still included several that were false or misleading.

Here’s a rundown of some of the most notable claims: JOBS “Since my election, Ford, Fiat-Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Softbank, Lockheed, Intel, Wal-Mart and many others have announced that they will invest billions

of dollars in the United States and will create tens of thousands of new American jobs.”

The president often takes credit for these job announcements, but some of the decisions were made long before his election. Softbank, for example, announced its expansion plans weeks before the November election. Fiat’s chief executive has said the company’s decision to expand was made long ago and had nothing to do with Trump.

“We must honestly acknowledge the circumstances we inherited ... 94 million Americans are out of the labor force.”

Sounds like an ominously large number. Is it accurate?

Well, if you include roughly 41 million who are retired, yes. You also have to include about 15 million students who are not looking for work.

Homemakers make up anoth-

er big chunk.

In short, while a large number of Americans don’t work, most of those who aren’t working have good, traditional reasons for not doing so.

Hiding behind Trump’s misleading statistic is a real issue: The share of Americans who are in the labor force has gone down in recent years.

Some of the decline comes from the aging of the huge baby-boom generation, now moving into retirement. But part of the decline also represents people who have dropped out because they can’t find jobs that pay enough.

Economists differ about how many of those discouraged workers exist and whether that number is still on the rise.

see

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Thursday, March 2, 2017

BLARNEY

the University.Register your off-campus party.

On top of notifying your neighbors in advance, designating sober hosts, staying on your property and making sure everyone has a safe ride home, consider going through the Party Smart Registration.

If you are registered and the Amherst Police Department receives a complaint, you will be given a courtesy call giving you 20 minutes to end your party. Register any Friday or Saturday party by 4 p.m.

Thursday at the Off-Campus

Student Center in the Student Union.

Remember “Mullins Live!” starts Saturday, Mar. 4 at noon.

While floor tickets are no longer available, general seating tickets are still up for grabs according to Daniel Fitzgibbons, associate director of news and media relations for UMass. Tickets can be picked up at the Mullins Center Box Office with a valid UMass UCard while sup-

plies last up until the event.

Students with tickets must present both their ticket and a valid UMass ID in order to attend.

Transportation plans.

The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority will be following its usual weekend schedule with no delays or interruptions to service planned.

Parking Services will be restricting campus parking to valid UMass permit holders from 5 p.m. Friday until

continued from page 1

than being an undergraduate.

There’s a whole different host of challenges associated with it. It usually means higher costs to attend the University, less funding opportunities, there’s a lot more research work and there’s a lot of ground work that graduate assistants have to do, they have a harder course load and usually less instructions in that course load. We also have a large international student body here. What is already a tougher transition for being here in Massachusetts specifically is a higher cost of living in the Pioneer Valley that translates hard for graduate students who do not have those funds, which is a lot of our graduate students. I need to be accessible to graduate students. I need to hear their stories. I need to help them with their struggles. In the past, graduates, while not forgotten, haven’t been represented as well. And maybe that’s because undergrads have been representing them.

I want to be part of the situation which is to help graduate students as much as I’m going to attempt to help undergrads.

QUOTE OF T H E D AY “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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continued from page 1

In line with previous years, police forces from surrounding Western Massachusetts communities and the Massachusetts State Police will be present over the course of the weekend. Last year’s Blarney was considered relatively calm by many, with only seven arrests and 10 summonses recorded. “The police are there to provide a presence, to make sure large crowds don’t gather and to ensure that rowdiness doesn’t occur,” said Ed Blaguszewski, director of news and media relations for

DUNLEA

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

I also want to help student activists. Running with organizations like the Center for Education Policy and Advocacy and making sure that those organizations are helped the most and that they have the tools they need is vital. They are the ones that are able to speak for our whole campus. That’s the way we are going to make systematical change. It’s not by sitting in the system, but it’s by helping to change the system.”

How will you communicate with other trustees?

DD: “I’ve been talking to other [student] trustees about this.

The biggest thing I heard constantly is being about to caucus with students. As five [student trustees] if we don’t have five votes, we are able to examine and look at our priorities together and be able to mobilize from that. We need to figure out how we feel about certain topics. I heard mixed reviews of [other] trustee members. One of the biggest challenges is being able to caucus with those members and finding allies. I’ve been informed of a few different

people who could possibly be allies who are sitting in the board. So, reaching out to those contacts that we already have is vital. But, more from that, is being able to cooperate and work with that.”

As the representative of the Amherst campus, how do you intend to communicate with the student body?

DD: “It kind of goes back to the point I made about graduate and undergraduate students.

From what I heard from other people it’s the toughest part of the job. Being able to communicate with student voices and figuring out which are issues you are able to legitimately champion on and fight on and which ones you are going to have to refer to other sources. I’m a resident assistant so I’m used to serving people resources. I’m used to people coming to my door and them asking a question and me not knowing the answer.

So, it’s being able to communicate with students and say, ‘Hey, I’m not sure about this yet, but I can forward you to somebody.’ Or, ‘Hey, I’m not sure about this yet, but I think

I can help you with this issue and I’m going to do this with A, B or C.’ I can’t be a bandage situation for 26-plus thousand people on campus. I need to be able to be a resource that can be utilized by people. I really want to work on fixing the problems I can fix and not overpromising. The reality is that the whole campus is my constituency and I don’t descriptively represent the campus. I’m a white male in UMass. There are other white males in UMass. There are others that identify differently than me. There are people from different communities who I don’t necessarily agree with their viewpoint, nor am I going to represent their viewpoints and what their struggle has been. But a big part of what I need to do is to be able to reach out to people and to make a coalition of people around to be resources to me.”

Danny Cordova can be reached at dcordova@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @DannyJCordova.

5 p.m. Sunday. Vehicles without a valid parking permit will be subject to ticketing and/or towing. Off-campus students and employees who need weekend access to park on campus and do not have a valid parking permit may receive one at no cost by visiting one of Parking Services’ locations at 51 Forestry Way near Lot 25 or in room 229 in the Campus Center.

Both Fitzgibbons and Blaguszewski expressed confidence in a continued trend of safe Blarney weekends. “Last

year was a success in that there were very few problems.

Students seemed to have a good time over the weekend,” Fitzgibbons said.

“We’ve really been moving in the right direction. This is a collaboration of many different individuals and groups in the school and the community,” Blaguszewski said.

“Ideally, we’d like to see the Mar. 4 weekend be just another weekend.”

Will Soltero can be reached at wsoltero@umass.edu.

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Thursday, March 2, 2017

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Tornado tears 15-mile path through Mo. county

By Kim Bell St. Louis Post-Dispatch PERRYVILLE, Mo. - The tornado that roared across Perry County tore a 15-mile long path and cost 60 families “just about everything,” the mayor said Wednesday.

One person was killed in the storm Tuesday night, and at least 10 others were injured. Rescuers searched 180 homes, and about 60 percent of them had moderate to major damage.

At least 30 and as many as 60 would be considered “leveled” to their foundations, Perryville Mayor Ken Baer said.

“Can you imagine?

You can’t even drive away because your car is gone, totaled. All you have is what is on your back,” he said.

“Sixty families,” he added, “lost just about everything.”

The path was 13 to 15 miles long. One mile of the tornado ran through the city; 12 or more miles through the county. It tracked to the Mississippi River and may have extended into Ava, Ill., although a survey crew says it may have lifted off the ground during its route.

The National Weather Service said the tornado could be an EF2 or EF3, with winds of 115 mph and higher. Its report should be out

by Thursday.

TRUMP

The supercell that spun the tornado tracked all the way to Indiana. The storm itself was moving at about 60 mph - the winds within the tornado easily twice that fast - and may have been on the ground in Perry County for 10 or 15 minutes, said meteorologist Robin Smith.

The tornado killed one motorist. Police identified the victim as Travis M. Koenig, 24, of Perryville. He was driving on I-55 when the twister knocked his car over and he was thrown out. He died at the scene.

Most of the damaged homes were in the Moore Drive subdivision along Highway 61. Perryville is about 80 miles south of St. Louis.

Bill Jones arrived within minutes to a home on Highway 61 where the first floor had collapsed into the basement. A middle-aged couple was trapped.

Jones, the Perryville assistant fire chief, said crews worked around live electrical wires and used an ax and a prying tool to get to the couple.

“We moved piece by piece, chunks of wood, chunks of chairs, brick, whatever it was,” he said, adding the couple was pulled to safety.

Jones said seeing the aftermath, he figured more people would be dead or seri-

ously injured. The key, he said, is that most took cover in basements.

“It’s mind-boggling, I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” said Hank Voelker, a lifelong resident of Perry County who heads up the emergency management agency. “It’s like a bomb went off.”

Heavy equipment brought in to move debris was initially delayed by felled telephone poles blocking the road.

No one was missing Wednesday afternoon, although officials were concerned by widespread debris fields.

“We thought maybe more people were in there,” Voelker said. “But it’s a small town so we had people on the phone calling Aunt Betty and Uncle Whoever” to make sure everyone was accounted for.

Perry County’s population is about 19,000, he said.

When Diana and Paul Schroeder heard the roar Tuesday night, they took shelter in the basement of the home where they’ve lived since 1968.

“Halfway down the stairs, rain and trash blew in,” Paul Schroeder said. The winds ripped the roof away.

On Wednesday morning, Diana Schroeder, who is 84, shuffled past muck and

debris into her kitchen. She cradled a damp and creased black-and-white photo of her firstborn son and kissed it.

In the next room - the one with a gaping hole where once there stood a wall nieces sorted through more of the Schroeders’ belongings.

Paul Schroeder spent part of the morning searching for tools in a massive heap of debris. He suffered some scrapes on his head when the tornado struck but was otherwise unscathed.

Jerry Fulton, 54, stepped on his back porch when his cellphone sounded an alert.

He saw an ominous-looking form moving up Highway 61 behind his home. A flash of lightning made it appear green.

“Mary, it’s coming,” he shouted to his wife.

They hustled into the basement. Their ears felt a sudden pressure. Their heads felt like they might explode.

“We felt the house rattle and shake,” Mary Fulton said.

They huddled in a corner and prayed.

“I said an ‘Our Father,’ and a half a ‘Hail Mary’ and it subsided,” Mary Fulton, 57, said.

The tornado lifted the middle section of their roof and slammed it back down.

It demolished their shop, which housed thousands of dollars worth of siding, windows and equipment for their siding company.

A 7,000-pound siding tool was 50 yards away. The siding trailer flew to a field 200 yards away. A neighbor’s home was demolished, and from their yard they can see the leveled homes of Moore Drive.

“It’s hard to stomach, but things can be replaced,” Jerry Fulton said.

The same storm system struck in Illinois, too, where two people were killed.

Reuters reported that a man was killed by a falling tree when a tornado struck LaSalle County, about 90 miles southwest of Chicago, and one person was killed in the rural town of Crossville in southeastern Illinois, where several homes were leveled.

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump had been monitoring the Midwestern storms.

“Three lives have already been tragically cut short.

The families of those victims and also those who have had their homes and property destroyed are in the president’s thoughts and prayers.”

Dan Bachmann said rescue workers came to

his door after the tornado passed. He and his wife, Renee Bachmann, and some neighbors had taken refuge in the basement of their home outside Perryville.

They emerged to find the neighbors’ mobile home destroyed and a wall of the Bachmanns’ garage gone.

“We’re lucky compared to what happened to others,” Dan Bachmann said.

Trees and power lines were reported down and residents pitched in to help clear Highway 810 of debris.

Volunteers with the Southeast Missouri Red Cross opened a shelter for victims.

The storms left a mark across the St. Louis area, too. The largest hail from Tuesday’s storm in the St. Louis region was 2 inches wide in Troy, Ill., at 5:40 p.m.

On the Missouri side, hail measuring 1.75 inches in diameter was spotted southeast of Byrnes Mill at about 5 p.m., the Weather Service said.

A second round of storms moved in early Wednesday.

Winds clocked at 70 mph hit Cahokia at 2 a.m. Wednesday, and the weather service had four other reports of winds between 45 and 65 mph in St. Clair County Wednesday morning.

price of the fantastic new F-35 jet fighter.”

As with the announcements by companies of new jobs, Trump is taking credit for a decision that was made before he took office. The amount he claims to have saved is similar to a cut that was already planned.

LOBBYING BAN “We have begun to drain the swamp of government corruption by imposing a five-year ban on lobbying by executive branch officials.”

Trump’s statement is true, but only partially. The part he didn’t say is that the ban he imposed is less stringent in some regards than similar bans that existed under George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

CRIME “The murder rate in 2015 experienced its largest singleyear increase in nearly half a century.”

This statement provides a good example of how an accurate statistic can be used in a misleading manner.

The murder rate in 2015 was about 10 percent higher than in 2014. That’s a big singleyear increase. But the reason the increase was big in percentage terms was partially because the 2014 murder rate was among the lowest in decades. A relatively small

increase in the absolute number of killings yielded a big percentage increase.

The increase that did take place mostly reflected more killings in a small number of cities, including Chicago and Baltimore. In most of the country, the murder rate continues to be at a historically low level.

OBAMACARE “Obamacare is collapsing, and we must act decisively to protect all Americans.”

This is a major exaggeration.

Health insurance premiums on marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act did increase markedly this year in many parts of the country as insurers dealt with higherthan-expected medical claims from patients.

But most consumers are still able to get health plans for less than $100 a month on the marketplaces, thanks to insurance subsidies made available by Obamacare.

More broadly, Trump’s attacks miss a much larger part of the Obamacare story.

Marketplaces represent a fraction of the overall system, providing coverage to only about 11 million people, most of whom cannot get coverage through an employer or other government program.

By comparison, more

than 150 million Americans get health coverage through an employer. An additional 55 million elderly and disabled Americans get coverage through the federal Medicare program.

Health care costs in the employer market and in Medicare have been rising at historically low levels since the enactment of the 2010 health law.

In 2016, for example, annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of just 3 percent, according to a survey by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust.

And since 2011, premiums have risen 20 percent, far less than in the previous five years, when premiums jumped 31 percent, and even lower than in the five years between 2001 and 2006, when they shot up 63 percent.

Medicare has seen a similar slowdown, as the cost per enrollee has grown by an average of just 1.4 percent annually since 2011, according to the last report by the program’s trustees.

That was the lowest growth rate in Medicare’s history, dating to 1965.

Meanwhile, the law’s coverage expansion has helped

more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans get health coverage.

And new research shows the law is dramatically improving poor patients’ access to medical care, particularly in states that have used the law to expand their Medicaid safety nets.

IMMIGRATION “By finally enforcing our immigration laws we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions and billions of dollars and make our communities safer for everyone.”

The issue of whether immigration holds down wages is a hotly debated one.

Economists who have studied the issue have generally found a fairly small impact, mostly on workers at the bottom of the pay scale.

Immigrants have a lower crime rate than native-born Americans, so enforcing the immigration laws may not have much impact on crime.

The claim that immigration enforcement will save “billions and billions of dollars” is almost certainly an exaggeration. Immigrants in the U.S. illegally impose costs on some parts of the economy and produce benefits for other parts. Most studies have shown that the net value is positive.

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“We’ve lost more than one-fourth of our manufacturing jobs since NAFTA was approved.”

U.S. manufacturing employment has fallen by one-fourth since the North American Free Trade Agreement took effect in 1994. But American factory payrolls were declining well before NAFTA, and most of the job losses have not been a result of the trade deal.

Moving work to Mexico and especially to China has cost American manufacturing plants and jobs, but most economists believe the bigger culprit was automation and new and faster ways of producing goods: robots and the internet, for example.

U.S. manufacturing output today is at a record high even though many fewer workers are employed in manufacturing. More goods are being produced than ever before, but with far fewer workers - 12.3 million manufacturing workers as of January, compared with 19.3 million in the same month in 1980.

“We have undertaken a historic effort to massively reduce job-crushing regulations ... stopping a regulation that threatens the future and livelihoods of our great coal miners.”

The move Trump referred

to stopped an environmental rule meant to protect streams from pollution stemming from mining.

Coal companies cheered Trump’s decision, but whether it will actually bring back very many coal mining jobs is a different issue.

Environmental regulations are not the main reason the coal industry is shrinking - the realities of the energy market and cheap natural gas are. Trump can do little to change that.

That much was clear when operators of the biggest coal plant in the West, the Navajo Generating Station, announced in February they could no longer afford to keep it going. The planned closure by 2019 of the plant near Page, Ariz., will likely mean the loss of hundreds of coal-related jobs in a region that badly needs work.

Community leaders demanded that the Trump administration step in with a plan to save them. But the owners of the plant say relief from environmental regulations is not what they need.

The only way to save the plant, they say, would be an expensive federal bailout.

F-35 FIGHTER JET “We’ve saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by bringing down the

Bush’s daughter supports Planned Parenthood

By Anna M. Tinsley Fort Worth Star-Telegram FORT WORTH, Texas — Barbara Pierce Bush, daughter of former President George W. Bush, said Wednesday that she strongly supports Planned Parenthood despite continued Republican efforts to defund the group.

“I am very proud to stand with Planned Parenthood,” Bush told a crowd of around 1,000 people gathered at the annual Planned Parenthood luncheon in Fort Worth’s downtown Omni Hotel. “I am proud to stand with Planned Parenthood not only because women, regardless of where they are from, deserve to live dignified, healthy lives, (but) ... because it’s a really good investment.

“We know that when women are healthy, their fam-

ilies and their children are healthier too.”

But Bush, whose father staunchly opposes abortion, did tell the crowd that she’s “a little bit frustrated that we are still making the case of why women’s health matters in 2017.”

Bush’s comments come as there is much at stake for Planned Parenthood, a group Texas officials continue working to defund. President Donald Trump has taken up the fight at the federal level, having signed an executive order in January barring federal funds from groups that promote abortion across the world.

As Bush spoke, more than a dozen protesters gathered outside the hotel to criticize the former first daughter for supporting Planned

Parenthood.

“It’s important to make sure there’s a consistent and sustainable pro-life presence at events like this,” said Jillian Ferguson, a 23-year-old Students for Life of America member who drove in from Waco for the event. “We don’t want to leave Planned Parenthood unchallenged, especially with George W. Bush having left such a prolife legacy.

“We don’t understand why Barbara Bush would go against that legacy.”

This Planned Parenthood chapter raised more than $400,000 Wednesday for local efforts, which officials say will help make sure people who need health care get it.

And officials stressed that they are continuing to diversify funding to make sure

clinics that provide a variety of health services, including abortions, stay open.

“Health care is a right, not a privilege and not a ... political statement,” Ken Lambrecht, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, said during the luncheon.

“We promise with your help, we are battle ready.”

Bush, a 35-year-old New York philanthropist, has called Planned Parenthood an “exceptional organization.”

The older of the twin daughters born to former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush didn’t wade into politics during her speech.

But she did note that she agreed to speak to Planned Parenthood back in October.

“I was under the assumption things would go differently,” she said, referring to

the 2016 presidential election.

“That’s not a political statement.

“I thought the cards were going to fall in a different way,” she said. “And I could not be more happy that I said yes (to speaking at the Fort Worth luncheon) now.”

Bush has long political ties to Planned Parenthood.

It was her father who ousted the late Ann Richards from the Texas governor’s mansion in 1994. Before that, Richards drew national attention for her 1988 Democratic National Convention keynote speech in which she said, “Poor George.

He can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth,” about Bush’s grandfather, George H.W. Bush.

Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, is the

daughter of Ann Richards.

Outside, protesters carried signs that read “We don’t need Planned Parenthood” and “Planned Un-Parenthood,” as they hoped to draw attention to the fact they believe Bush shouldn’t speak in support of the organization.

“The Lord led me out here,” said Travis Land, a 40-year-old from Chico who stopped when he saw other protesters outside the Omni Hotel. “Jesus came to set these people free ... from their sins.”

Each year, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas hosts a well-known speaker - from feminist icon Gloria Steinem to environmentalist activist Erin Brockovich - to come in to help raise money for local health care services.

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.” - Roger “Verbal” Kint

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Don’t demonize people who voted for Trump About a week ago, member, he couldn’t look I was riding the bus past Clinton’s mistakes in to the University of Benghazi. He believed that Clinton was corrupt, cold Anthony Mulligan and aloof. Lastly, he was a white man who grew up in a Massachusetts. I was run- lower-class home. His mothning late, so I asked the er had worked long hours bus driver to call ahead to provide for him because and make sure the bus to his family was denied benAmherst wouldn’t leave efits for reasons he believed until I got there. They were due to their race, so did, and I made it to the when he saw government Amherst bus on time. The handouts for illegal immidriver, having done me a grants, it upset him. favor, asked half-jokingly if These statements were I could repay him by doing all valid points, I thought. I a “huge favor” and throw know little about Benghazi, away his Slim Jim wrapper. and Joe did his research, I obliged, and we began polite discussion about why I was headed to Amherst, what my major was and the like.

As we passed Hampshire College, our conversation shifted to how he was upset about the institution taking down the American flag because, so I’d let him have the ben“The government doesn’t efit of the doubt on that give a d*** about whether issue. In addition, there you fly the flag. The only is little argument against people you are insulting by Clinton’s gaming the systaking it down are the men tem and corrupt political and women who shed blood dealings. In regards to the to defend it.” From here, the benefits exclusion, I can discussion became political. attest to many instances in The bus driver, Joe, voted for my life when I was given aid Donald Trump in the 2016 and my white peers were presidential election. Being denied, seemingly for no a white-passing Hispanic other reason than because I with a lesbian mother and can check a “Hispanic” box. a liberal bubble constantly White privilege is real, but surrounding me, I was a bit poverty is colorless. taken aback. I had voted for Joe was not wrong about Hillary Clinton (while defi- the fact that immigration antly wearing my Bernie laws exist to be enforced, 2016 pin) because despite and that there is injustice in my disdain for her, she how our government assisseemed like the better of tance programs tend to look the two options. at minority status instead Despite my disagree- of need. However, he also ments, I held my tongue. I had many points I found was interested in hearing invalid, like his defense of the reasoning of someone Trump’s racist, sexist and who was moderate-right ableist statements as “just in their political views, harmless talk that guys do,” because every discussion I or his claims that Trump have had with Trump sup- would “fix healthcare.” porters online ended in When Joe began talking them dismissing me as a about these points, I con“liberal cuck,” and not pro- fessed to him that I was fairviding any real answers for ly liberal, but considered their vote beyond trolling. myself to be level-headed, Joe explained to me that and that I wanted to hear as a former Army Reserves his points. He was surprised

that I didn’t start ignoring him or attacking him for his beliefs halfway through our discussion, because his view of liberals was that they were whiny and outof-touch with “the silent majority.” I debated him on his dismissal of Trump’s offensive language, and he eventually conceded that it was inexcusable, but he still felt actions were louder than words. I admitted to him that I didn’t like Clinton or Trump, so I went with the lesser of two evils based on my place in society. As it turns out, he felt the same. I thanked him for his service and for his time speaking to me, and I got off the bus.

The current divide in American politics doesn’t have to be as polarized as the political parties themselves.

At the end of the day, we are all people, and a little decency goes a long way.

Sure, I still think Trump is a walking trash can, but Joe isn’t. Not everyone who voted for Trump is inherently racist and bigoted.

Everyone has their reason for why they voted the way they did, and it isn’t fair to make assumptions until you hear their logic. The fact is, Joe and I are not so different. We are both Americans who felt disconnected from our political system. If I was him, who am I to say that I wouldn’t have more conservative views? Even if, like many of my Facebook friends, you find yourself to be a liberal crusader, hell-bent on preaching peace and love for all, loudly screaming your opinions in the faces of others is not the way to do it. The fight for a more liberal America, if you make that your goal, cannot be won without understanding and convincing people with opposing views, including Trump supporters.

“Everyone has their reason for why they voted the way they did, and it isn’t fair to make assumptions until you hear their logic.”

Anthony Mulligan is a Collegian contributor and can be reached at acmulligan@umass.edu.

Editorial@DailyCollegian.com

Understanding semantics on CNN The debate between year. In 2017, it is expected Sens. Bernie Sanders and to surpass $1 trillion.

Ted Cruz, hosted by CNN When Cruz or Republicans talk about the Isaac Simon cost of healthcare spending, they have a point. in early February, was At one point during the more about semantics and debate, when referring to less about healthcare. the cost of developing new The debate lasted a lit- drugs, Cruz said, “Right tle over 90 minutes, with now, it takes $2 billion both Sanders and Cruz to approve a new drug.” attacking each other. The This is, for the most part, debate also boosted the rat- a true statement. Even ings for CNN, which had though Doctors Without roughly 2.5 million view- Borders has dismissed this ers over the course of the claim, Cruz is drawing program’s duration, with this information from the almost 38 percent of its Tufts Center for the Study viewing demographic fall- of Drug Development. It ing between the ages of 25 is worth noting that there and 54. are both ‘time’ and ‘out of Talking about health- pocket’ costs which Cruz care isn’t attractive, nor failed to acknowledge duris it particularly popular. ing the debate. That being The logistics of healthcare said, there is truth to the are complicated, and many senator’s statement.

Americans have latched on As far as policy is to certain words and phras- concerned, very little es as their primary way of was learned during the staying informed. Words debate. From the outsuch as “pre-existing con- set, Sanders supported dition” and “government- a universal healthcare run healthcare” are some of the phrases that come to mind, as these phrases have been used since the beginning of the topic’s discussion.

The term “government-run health- approach. Such a plan care” can be understood as would eliminate the insurnothing more than a scare ance companies entirely. tactic. The military, police In his view, the corporate officers, firefighters and model is the model that public employees are all has failed us. It is worth examples of government noting his consistency on jobs, but when it comes to this issue. Sanders voted healthcare, it’s more com- in favor of the Affordable plicated.

Care Act back in 2009 and “Medicare and health” argued on its behalf durmade up a little less than ing February’s debate, say40 percent of the mandato- ing it was a step in the ry federal spending in 2015. right direction. Sanders Much of what Cruz dis- was successful in moving cussed in the debate, with his former opponent in the respect to the Affordable Democratic presidential Care Act, had to do with primary, Hillary Clinton, cost. In 2010, the year the to the left on healthcare, health law was imple- playing a large role in her mented, spending for the eventual support for what Department of Health and the New York Times called Human Services exceeded a “Medicare for more” $846 billion, a $50 billion plan. increase from the previous One of the key words

of the debate was access, which each speaker discussed in different ways.

Regarding the issue of healthcare as a right, Cruz said, “You have a right for government not to mess with you. So what is a right? It’s access to health care.” Cruz applied his own parameters for a “right,” defining it as something that boils down to access. This prompted Sanders to respond by saying, “Access to what? You want to buy one of Donald Trump’s mansions? You have ‘access’ to do that as well.” To Sanders’ credit, access has never been the issue, because what our society defines as accessible is not limited to specific income brackets. What is important is the cost, and for Sanders, the issue of affordability.

This debate reminded me of an episode from “House of Cards” where President Underwood (played

by Kevin Spacey) speaks to the nation on the issue of entitlements.

He says, “Let me be clear. You are entitled to nothing.” The message resonates, and is in many ways reminiscent of Cruz’s argument.

Cruz alluded to this point without having to say it.

Words like “access” and “freedom” are arbitrary, especially when it comes down to debating the definition of what a “right” is and isn’t. Ultimately, both candidates agreed that Obamacare is not the solution. Granting more power to insurance companies was never something the American people wanted.

Although I must say, the beauty of the debate was its lovely diversion from Donald Trump.

Isaac Simon is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at isimon@umass.edu.

“Words like ‘access’ and ‘freedom’ are arbitrary, especially when it comes down to debating the definition of what a ‘right’ is and isn’t.”

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Thursday, March 2, 2017

“My greatest pain in life is that I will never be able to see myself perform live.” - Kanye West

Arts@DailyCollegian.com

FILM REVIEW

‘John Wick: Chapter 2’ is a frenzied, bloody good time Film is effortlessly, perpetually cool

By Charlie Turner Collegian Correspondent John Wick is really bad at retirement. Just when the world seems to have let him vanish away to the quiet life he so desires– casually playing fetch with his dog and drinking bourbon like the classy man he is–opportunity comes knocking at his door (literally) and sends him back into the crossfire of assassination. However, the question isn’t whether or not John can survive the new dangers that await him, but rather, how many buttons should his new suit have?

For those unfamiliar with the original film, “John Wick,” starring Keanu Reeves, is about a recently retired hit man forced out of retirement when everything is taken from him in one tragic night.

Part story of revenge, part personal discovery, “John Wick: Chapter 2” follows the titular character on a journey to make all those responsible pay for what they’ve done to him. It’s through this murderous rampage that he is sucked back into the world he once desired so much to leave, relinquishing any chance of a peaceful existence behind.

In “John Wick: Chapter 2,” the legendary assassin is once again forced out of retirement. However, this time, it’s to fulfill a debt to an old colleague. Betrayals break promises, mayhem ensues, and the body count only continues to rise as

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A seamless combination of intricate world-building and high-octane action, “John Wick: Chapter 2” is a grand orchestra of frenetic violence.

John must make tough, life-changing decisions in order to prevent war from erupting among his fellow assassin colleagues.

While at first glance this may sound like your standard story of revenge, “John Wick: Chapter 2” creates and expands on a well-thought-out universe of underground societies and exclusive clubs, a universe that sets it apart from any other action franchise.

This isn’t just a world of assassin versus assassin; it’s a highly sophisticated and elegant organization that relies on a strict code of conduct that everyone must follow.

A great example of this world’s richness is the Continental–a chain of hotels that act as safe havens for assassins.

One of the most strictly enforced rules is that blood must never be shed upon the grounds of any Continental, which leads to some fascinating–and sometimes amusing–halts in violence when the fighting crosses the hotel property line.

A world can only be as good as the characters within it, and luckily, this film is full of interesting people to discover. John, while practically unstoppable even when the odds are

completely stacked against him, comes from a very dark and sad past. A man of few words, he has more than a professional vendetta to pursue. Strings from long past relationships are severed, and although adequately suited with money, weaponry and friends, he is still someone who knows he has nothing left to lose.

Following the title character, we have Winston (Ian McShane), who manages the New York Continental hotel and acts as one of John’s closest allies. He’s a man of mystery, but the spark of friendship that he and John share could just be enough to save his life.

quick and brutal violence of the film, his delivery as the master assassin is OK at best. Reeves’ dialogue often feels awkward, forced and borderline cringe-worthy. At times, it’s hard to tell if this awkwardness is intentional or accidental.

All of this being said, the true star of “John Wick: Chapter Two” is the relentless action. More than half of the two-hour running time is filled with brutal and intense close-quarters combat. Wick is the conductor of an orchestra of frenetic violence, with every gunfight being comprised of dozens of moving parts that all come together to create a truly chaotic and mesmerizing experience.

Reeves shows once again why he’s a gun-fu master, as he switches seamlessly between rapid gunplay to intimate, gruesome handto-hand combat that speaks volumes to the intricacy of director Chad Stahelski’s design. The things he has Wick do with a pencil…

Action films can feel like a dime a dozen nowadays, but “John Wick: Chapter 2” is the intricate and wellworthy sequel of an already fantastic action flick. The violence is loud and relentless, while the world surrounding the assassins is unique and full of mystery.

While the acting isn’t fantastic, the characters are still genuine enough to maintain one’s attention.

Who knows, maybe one day John will finally be able to drink his glass of bourbon in peace.

Another big addition to the film is Bowery King, played by Laurence Fishburne. This is the first time Fishburne and Reeves have worked together since filming “The Matrix” trilogy in the late 90s and early 2000s; and while his character is pretty small at this point–severely lacking in screen time–it’s exciting to think of what the universe may have in store for him in future installments.

While the world building and characters are fantastic, the acting leaves something to be desired. Reeves is known for his muted emotions, and although he Charlie Turner can be reached at may be an expert with the chturner@umass.edu.

FILM REVIEW

‘O.J.: Made in America’ explores race, celebrity and America A haunting, massive remarkable account B y Jon H o Collegian Correspondent What makes the O.J. Simpson case so fascinating? It has been more than two decades since Simpson was acquitted in the so-called “Trial of the Century,” but he still feels as relevant as ever.

Just last winter, the FX show “The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” aired to high ratings and much critical acclaim.

Is it that crime stories just fascinate us? Does Simpson’s fall from football hero to pariah make for a good cautionary tale?

Maybe there’s comfort in nostalgia?

There is some truth to all of these theories, but after seeing “O.J: Made in America,” I realized what makes Simpson such a captivating figure. Simpson, more than anything, is a product of America and its indiscretions. While the 7.5hour documentary is about Simpson, it also touches on racism in America and the harsh realities some face as they pursue a comfortable life in America. The film is thought-provoking, haunting and one of the most mesmerizing documentaries made in recent years.

Throughout the film, director Ezra Edelman uses Simpson’s story as a touchstone to talk about

America’s history of segregation. With footage and photos, he illustrates the archetypal American dream as Simpson (someone who grew up with the same economic disadvantages as many other Black Americans) pursues success. Yet, he puts Simpson’s personal struggles beside America’s history of racism by also showing the story of the racial tensions that have occurred in Los Angeles since the 1960s.

With amazing editing, Edelman is able to perfectly contrast the world of celebrity that Simpson lived in with the world of civil rights and racism that the rest of Black America dealt with on a day-to-day basis. Edelman accomplishes this by showing footage from Simpson’s perspective and then contrasting it with footage from the perspective of the African-Americans outside of Simpson’s orbit. In one scene in the first part of the film, we see comedian Bob Hope make jokes about Simpson at the University of Southern California amidst the announcement of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder.

However, as Simpson gets to bask in the glow of his success, he loses his identity. When Simpson is asked to be a civil rights activist, he refuses. To him, image and fame are everything. We see at a young age that Simpson’s goal was

to be famous. He even tells his friends that someday their kids will look up to him. He believes that in order for him to be successful he needs to be seen as more than just Black. His motto, after all, was “I’m not black. I’m O.J.” The more successful Simpson became, the more he ingratiated himself with the wealthy, white community in Southern California, even marrying a white woman named Nicole Brown – a marriage that would infamously end in tragedy.

In addition we see how, because of his celebrity (which persists even today), he was treated differently by the media than other Black men who have stood accused of a violent crime.

We see the two sides of Simpson – the warm and charming guy that the public sees on TV, and the narcissistic, egomaniacal wife-abuser who always got what he wanted because of the sheer, often violent, force of his personality.

The stories come together when Simpson is charged with the murder of Brown and Ronald Goldman. While a majority of white Americans believe he is guilty due to the mountains of evidence against him, most of Black America believes he is innocent because of their distrust of the police and the justice system in general. Simpson’s defense

JOHN KRAL/MIAMI HERALD

This documentary shows how the story of O.J. Simpson is the story of America, in all of its messy glory. team then decides to use the Los Angeles Police Department’s history of racism to smear the evidence against him. In an ironic twist, Simpson’s defense is trying to convey him as a Black victim of Los Angeles’ racist justice system, when for decades he had done everything in his power to shed his Black identity.

We also learn a lot from those who are interviewed in the film. These include interviews with Simpson’s former friends, LAPD officers and others connected to the film’s central figure. Two interviewees that stand out are Joe Bell,

one of Simpson’s childhood friends, who talked about what Simpson was like when he was younger, and a juror who confesses that the jury acquitted Simpson partly as payback for Rodney King–a victim of police brutality whose attackers were never punished.

As someone who knew quite a bit about Simpson and the trial beforehand, I was shocked by how much more to the story there was under the surface. On the surface, Simpson’s story is a tragedy about someone who fell from being a celebrated icon to an infamous outcast, but the reality is

much more complicated.

His tale contains multitudes. We can understand that he was the victim of white supremacist police officers who planted evidence to build their case, while still seeing him as an unrepentant murderer who wiggled out of the consequences of his actions.

But when you look deeper, his story is a mirror of America’s fundamental faults. As the title states, America made O.J. Simpson.

Jon Ho can be reached at jho@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @jonathanho77.

6

Thursday, March 2, 2017

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Comics

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Winner Of Every Award, Ever

Q uote

of the

D ay

“I’m Slim Shady, yes I’m the real Shady.

All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating.”

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B y J ack B rady

W ondermark

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I Did It My Way

aquarius

HOROSCOPES Jan. 20 - Feb. 18

I see great things in your future! Well, not great for you, but great for your doctor!

pisces

Feb. 19 - Mar. 20

What do I have to capture to get unlimited gold? Is it a genie? Or a fairy? Or former Florida governor Jeb Bush? Or a leprechaun?

aries

Mar. 21 - Apr. 19

taurus

Apr. 20 - May. 20

gemini

May. 21 - Jun. 21

leo

Jul. 23 - Aug. 22

Are you down with the sickness? If you are, drink lots of fluids and get some rest.

Ooh wah-ah-ah-ah.

virgo

Aug. 23 - Sept. 22

Ball up your fist and just sock life right in its smug face. Life has had it coming for a long time. Life knows what it’s done.

libra

Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

scorpio

Oct. 23 - Nov. 21

Life isn’t complete until you’ve found someone When you’re feeling low, just remember a lot special who can lift you above their head like more people have it worse than you, and you in that scene in “Dirty Dancing.” can just laugh at them to cheer yourself up.

Words words words I am typing words blah blah blah more words here and we’re almost done and there that’s long enough.

Word of advice: Never mix up jugglers and juggalos. They are two very different things.

You only make this mistake once.

cancer

Jun. 22 - Jul. 22

Please keep off the grass. Also the sidewalk.

And don’t go in the road, obviously. Just to be safe, hover constantly.

Fun Fact: “Comics” is just a typo. It’s really supposed to say “Cosmic”, and this page should be all about space.

sagittarius

Nov. 22 - Dec. 21

Be careful, there’s a real nasty bug going around. His name is Jim and he’s a six-foottall cockroach that punches people.

capricorn

Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

I don’t see what’s so great about Aquaman.

I can talk to fish too! It’s just that they don’t respond because they’re jerks.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

Thursday, March 2, 2017

7

BASEBALL

UMass baseball readies for start of the 2017 season UM travels to N.C. to face Pheonix

By Philip Sanzo Collegian Staff

The unseasonably warm weather in the Northeast is a pleasant reminder that baseball season is just around the corner. For many college baseball teams, the 2017 season has already begun, but the Massachusetts baseball team will open its season this Friday against Elon University down in North Carolina.

With nine games under their belt, the Phoenix (3-6) have been playing against other schools for nearly two weeks. Their success has varied, but so has their level of competition. Elon has already played four games against nationally-ranked opponents, including No. 12 Clemson and No. 9 East Carolina, and have lost each

of them.

The Minutemen’s season traditionally starts a few days after Mar. 1, so facing a team that is already two weeks in is nothing new.

“It’s always an adjustment process at the beginning of the season,” coach Mike Stone said. “For us, when you first start to play and play outside, that’s something that our guys are aware of from year-to-year.”

For Stone’s 30th and final opening day as coach of the Minutemen, he will be sending sophomore right-hander Justin Lasko to the mound.

In 10 starts last season, Lasko finished with a 4-1 record and an 4.19 earned run average. Though not credited with the loss, Lasko’s first start of 2016 lasted only two innings against Charleston Southern. At the time, the freshman gave up seven runs on nine hits.

If Elon follows the same four-man rotation they did to start the season, the

“It’s always an adjustment process at the beginning of the season. For us, when you first start to play and play outside, that’s something that our guys are aware of from year-to-year.”

UMass coach Mike Stone Minutemen should be facing Ryan Conroy in the first game, Robbie Welhaf in the second and Kyle Brnovich in the final game on Sunday.

Welhaf pitched a no-hitter in his first start of the season against Longwood Feb. 18.

Following Lasko in the first game, Stone intends for freshman left-hander Brooks Knapek to pitch the second game on Saturday and senior right-hander Mike Geannelis to round out the series Sunday at 12 p.m.

Knapek, a freshman from Albany, joins the Minutemen along with twin brother Carter and has proved he’s capable of being a starting

WO M E N ’ S L AC RO S S E

pitcher.

“I just feel like he is one of our top guys and plus he’s a lefty and that mixes it up a little bit,” Stone said of Brooks Knapek. “But he’s progressed to the point where he’s ready to go.”

Knapek and fellow freshman Nolan Kessinger are the only two left-handed pitchers on the Minutemen’s roster.

The Phoenix boast a lineup that has good power but not a very high average. They have hit seven home runs on the year; good enough to tie for second in the Colonial Athletic Association yet are toward

the bottom of the conference with a team batting average of .245. Their most telling stat, however, is the CAAleading 99 strikeouts, over 20 more than second-worst James Madison with 71.

“We’re not going in thinking we need to have a certain amount of strikeouts or to not strike out a certain amount,” Stone said. “We’re just trying to execute in what we attempt to do.”

Offensively, Stone is just hoping to see his batters comfortable and aggressive in the batters box without thinking about how many runs they will score.

“The team that is the most comfortable the soonest during the game wins the game and that’s really what we need to focus on,” Stone said.

The UMass pitchers will have to get more comfortable throwing to a new catcher.

With the graduation of John Jennings, the Minutemen plan on splitting time at the position between senior

Matt Bare and junior Keith Linnane.

“It will either be to start with Matt Bare or Keith Linnane, he’s [Linnane] had a little bit of an arm issue but we’re working past that now,” Stone said. “He’s a very good receiver, I know pitchers like to pitch to him and I think they feel the same about Matt Bare. I think he throws the ball well and blocks well and has done a great job for us for the last three years, so he’ll get an opportunity.”

While Stone is sure the pitchers have a catcher they prefer to throw to, their input is not taken into account.

The hope is that they will feel comfortable throwing to both.

The first game of the three-game series will be played in Elon on Friday at 4 p.m.

Philip Sanzo can be reached at psanzo@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Philip_Sanzo.

SOFTBALL

Minutewomen return home UM looks to rebound Friday heads for to Garber Field on Sunday UMass Bulldog Slamboree Kiley Anderson is emerging as a star

By Ryan Ames Collegian Staff

After 25 days away from the friendly confines of Garber Field, the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team returns home this weekend, looking for its second win of the season.

UMass (1-3) welcomes Connecticut Sunday in another non-conference battle with its nearby resident from the Constitution State. “[We’re] really excited to play them,” Minutewomen coach Angela McMahon said.

“Being our neighbor state school rival, [we] have a lot of connections. I used to coach there, Kelsey McGovern was supposed to go there originally and a lot of these kids have old high school teammates [at UConn].”

“Most of our games have all been really close contests. We had an overtime game with them a couple of years ago,” McMahon added. “I think they’re really fired up and looking forward to playing a good opponent on Sunday.”

Last season, UMass beat UConn (2-2) 15-6 and that sparked the Minutewomen to a 16-game win streak that carried all the way to the NCAA Tournament.

The Huskies enter the matchup following a 13-9 win over New Hampshire Feb. 26

and are led by junior Grace Nolan (20 points) and senior Jacqueline Jordan (14 points).

“No, at the end of the day it’s still a non-conference game,” McMahon said when asked if Sunday is a must-win game.

“We want to win, we want to compete. Most importantly, we want to improve from our last time out and make sure we’re doing everything in our control to play the best lacrosse we can. If we do that I’m confident that we’ll put ourselves in a good situation.”

Redshirt sophomore Kiley Anderson played the best game of her career with the Minutewomen this past Saturday, recording four goals.

Her emergence as an impact player will be crucial for UMass the rest of the season.

“Having a 6-foot-3 target, not too many teams have that,” McMahon said of Anderson.

“It’s not just her height. Her attitude, her ability to finish – she’s got great stick-work and I think she’s been steadily improving and really working hard. I’m glad to see her hard work is paying off with production.”

McMahon mentioned that ball security was a problem after Saturday’s game but feels that has improved in the week of practice since. She also noted the mental toughness of her team and how positive results will follow if that aspect is smoothed out.

The last outing at Garber for the Minutewomen was

an 18-10 loss to then No. 17 Boston College, their first loss at home in three seasons, and this upcoming game against the Huskies will be a great opportunity for redemption for UMass.

“We always want to defend our home field,” McMahon said. “We love playing at home.

We get good crowds especially with this now being a weekend game. Hopefully we’ll get a lot of fans coming out and supporting. We want to keep our home record as best as we can.”

The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start Sunday.

Murphy Named for Tewaaraton Watch List On Tuesday, senior Hannah Murphy was announced as one of the 50 players in the nation on the watch list for the Tewaaraton Award, the highest honor in college lacrosse.

This is Murphy’s first time being named to the watch list and joins former Minutewomen Erika Eipp (2016) and Kate Ferris (2013, 2014) as UMass members on the watch list.

The nominees will be trimmed down throughout the season and the five finalists will be announced May 11, with the Tewaaraton Award Ceremony June 1 in Washington, D.C. Ryan Ames can be reached at rames@umass.edu or on Twitter @_RyanAmes.

By Liam Flaherty Collegian Staff

The Massachusetts softball team didn’t rise to the level of competition that head coach Kristi Stefanoni would have liked last weekend, when it dropped all five games it played at the Baylor Invitational.

“We played a little bit better toward the last two [games],” Stefanoni said. “We played much better defense.

[We’ve] definitely started taking better approaches at the plate and [we’re] swinging the bat a lot better.”

Coming off another lackluster performance in Florida the week before, UMass (2-8) will look at this weekend’s travel and tournament in Mississippi as an opportunity to compete in games that it hopes will come with more positive results.

With just three tournaments remaining and conference play closing in, sophomore Kaitlyn Stavinoha expressed that the time for the Minutewomen to improve and prepare for the start of the regular season is now.

“Obviously it’s not going exactly as we planned so far with wins and losses,” Stavinoha said. “But, we’re doing the best we can to at least get some good experience in the preseason and get ready for Atlantic 10 play.”

The coaching staff is preaching a message of

increased aggressiveness at practice this week.

“Just getting on the bases and going one base at a time isn’t going to cut it for us,” Stefanoni said. “We’re going to have to be more aggressive earlier on if we’re going to score some runs and win some games.”

At the Baylor Invitational, the team produced a total of just nine runs over five games. However, in the last game of the weekend against Saint Francis, Stavinoha provided a spark to UMass that it hopes will carry over into this weekend’s play.

In the top of the third, Stavinoha came up to the plate with the bases loaded following three consecutive singles and hit a grand slam over the fence in right field.

“It felt great honestly,” she said. “It was great how pumped up everybody got and I think it’s just a little glimpse of what we can do this season.”

But the Minutewomen’s bench wasn’t the only spot of excitement surrounding Stavinoha’s four runs batted in, which came in one swing.

Her whole family, which resides in The Woodlands, Texas, was there to see her first collegiate home run.

With only five returning players on this season’s roster, UMass will look to its younger, more inexperienced players to carry some of the weight over the course of the long season.

In the circle, freshmen Candace Denis and Quinn Breidenbach will be crucial to

assisting junior Meg Colleran in shouldering the load of pitches that comes with so many games.

Along with her first start with the Minutewomen last weekend, Denis pitched 18 innings over three appearances and gave up a total of seven earned runs while striking out 21.

I know that on paper it doesn’t show that she she did very well in terms of wins and losses, but [Denis] was definitely a big bright spot in the tournament,” Stefanoni said.

In the 1.2 innings that Breidenbach appeared in relief Feb. 24th, the freshman gave up two runs in UMass’ 8-2 loss to SIU Edwardsville.

On Friday at the Bulldog Slamboree, the Minutewomen will take on Central Arkansas and Mississippi State, followed by Samford in the morning and bracket play on Saturday and Sunday.

Matching up with a team like Mississippi State, which plays in the Southeastern Conference, will be a good competitive test for the Minutewomen.

“We’re going to see some really good pitching,” Stavinoha said. “We need to make sure that we’re really there, playing to win and getting some good reps in before we open with the Bonnies on Mar. 25.”

Liam Flaherty can be reached at lpflaherty@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Liam__Flaherty.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Sports@DailyCollegian.com

@MDC_SPORTS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Richmond sours Senior Night for UMass UM shooting falters as Spiders ride a 22-to-2 run in 75-64 victory

By Andrew Cyr Collegian Staff

For a while, it looked as if the Massachusetts men’s basketball team had finally turned the corner and were playing a better brand of basketball than it has shown all throughout conference play.

Going with the same starting five the Minutemen (14-16, 4-13 Atlantic 10) rolled out in their last win against La Salle, UMass picked up right where it left off and extended its lead to double digits in the first half thanks to constant ball movement and a new-look 3-2 zone defense that kept Richmond’s shooters at bay.

But just as quickly as the Minutemen showed signs of improvement, their old ways came back to haunt them, falling to the Spiders 75-64 at Mullins Center Wednesday on Senior Night.

“I’ll break it down quick and easy,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said to open his press conference following the game. “We got out to a good lead and I didn’t think we closed out the half. In the second half, they came out and we just didn’t score. I mean, we really didn’t execute offensively against their switching man-to-man defense and then their 3’s were coming from everywhere.”

After missing open looks throughout the first half, Richmond’s shooters finally caught fire by making its first six 3-pointers, while converting 7-of-9 in the second half.

JESSICA PICARD/COLLEGIAN

The Minutemen shot just 3-for-17 from 3-point range as UMass falls to the Spiders in the final home game of the season.

Spiders guard ShawnDre’ Jones spearheaded their comeback, scoring eight points during Richmond’s 22-2 run that stretched from the 6:01-mark of the first half until 16:16 remaining in the second half. He finished with a game-high 26 points, with 20 coming in the second half.

Richmond (18-11, 12-5 A-10) star big man T.J. Cline was held to just nine points—tied for his worst scoring performance of the season—how-

ever seven of those came in the final 5:03 in the first half when he made two 3-pointers, and was fouled on the second to cut the Minutemen’s lead to 32-31 heading into halftime.

Cline finished with seven assists, good for second most in the game. “[Cline] didn’t score like he usually does but his passing in that zone was just like, I mean it was hitting his hands and that ball was in the right spot at the right guy before we

M E N ’ S L AC RO S S E

their lead to as much as 11 on a Rashaan Holloway tip-in layup with 6:01 remaining in the half before Richmond went on its monstrous run.

Kellogg thought Richmond’s defensive adjustments were the biggest difference maker down the stretch.

“I think [the man-to-man, switching defense] froze us a little bit,” Kellogg said. “You work on those things in practice. We didn’t have all the rotations down. I thought it froze us some and you really have to get the ball and jam it inside when they’re in that. We didn’t take advantage of our size and our physicality down low until the end.”

The Minutemen scored just 21 points for the first 16-plus minutes in the second half before adding 11 in the final 3:34.

Luwane Pipkins led all UMass players with 19 points, making the Minutemen’s only three 3-pointers of the evening. Outside of Pipkins, they shot 0-for-14.

Brison Gresham had one of his better games of the season, finishing with a career-best 12 points while also adding eight rebounds and a pair of blocks. Holloway added 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

Outside of those three, the Minutemen were 8-for-29 from the field.

UMass heads to St. Bonaventure this weekend for its regular-season finale before heading to Pittsburgh next week for the A-10 tournament.

can ever rotate out of it especially in the second half,” Kellogg said.

“I thought he played an MVP-type game tonight without even dominating the stat sheet.”

UMass’ best stretch came following the under-16 media timeout in the first half when it went on a 13-2 run where the Minutemen held the Spiders to just one field goal from Andrew Cyr can be reached at 15:02 until 9:38. arcyr@umass.edu, and followed on Twitter The Minutemen would extend @Andrew_Cyr.

HOCKEY

UM falls to Albany on the road Minutemen prepare for Minutemen still winless Hockey East playoffs through first four games B y Jamie C ushman Collegian Staff

After a competitive first quarter, Albany outscored the Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team 7-1 in the second quarter on the way to a 17-8 victory Wednesday.

UMass (0-4) exchanged goals with Albany (2-1) in the opening quarter, but the Great Danes seemed unstoppable in the second quarter, ending the frame with six unanswered goals.

CHRIS O’KEEFE/COLLEGIAN “It seemed like we were ready The Great Danes score six unanswered goals in second quareter to earn 17-8 win. to play,” Minutemen coach Greg Cannella said. “We played fairly well early in the game into the sec- Redshirt senior Dan Muller goals is because the goalie on the and Carr led the UMass other end of the field, Albany’s J.D. ond quarter, then they offense with two goals and Colarusso, played just as well, makwent on a run and we Albany 17 six shots each, while red- ing 13 saves. weren’t able to stop the shirt sophomore Dom St. “We didn’t shoot particularly run. We weren’t able UMass 8 Laurent added a goal and well early, similar to the Army to win a faceoff, get a an assist. game where we shot the ball at the ground ball and we had

“Muller’s been very consistent goalie’s stick early,” Cannella said. a couple chances on offense to score throughout the year, so he did his “You do that with a goalie, you give the ball and stop the run, and we thing in the midfield in terms of him a little bit of confidence. He’s weren’t able to do it.”

UMass showed signs of life in playing offense and defense, clear- a good goalie and he made a couthe second half when junior Buddy ing the ball scoring goals,” Cannella ple good saves, particularly one on Carr scored back-to-back goals for said. “No one played great, if you Buddy Carr one-on-one, but we’re the Minutemen in the third quar- asked those guys I’m sure they’ll still not a very good shooting team.” ter, the first time UMass had scored tell you they could have played bet- Great Dane senior Bennett Drake scored early and often, earnconsecutive goals all game, but an ter.”

Albany goal a minute later and a One of the lone bright spots for ing a hat trick by the second quarpair of goals to open the fourth put the Minutemen was the play of ter before adding two goals in the an end to any possibility of a come- senior goalie D.J. Smith. It might fourth quarter for a five-goal game. seem odd that a goalie who allowed Juniors Justin Reh (four goals) and back.

While Cannella acknowl- 17 goals played well, but the final Connor Fields (three goals) also edged that the lack of momentum score would have been even more added hat tricks for Albany. didn’t help, it wasn’t what cost the lopsided if Smith did not make the The Minutemen will look to earn 14 saves he did.

Minutemen. their first win of the season when “Of course [it hurt] but if you’re “D.J. was outstanding, he made they travel to Yale on Tuesday for keeping pace it’s OK because the saves on a barrage of opportuni- their fourth-straight road game. longer you’re in a game with a team ties,” Cannella said. “He was very Opening faceoff is scheduled for like that, the tighter they’ll get. But good early, really good in the third 4 p.m. they were able to stretch it, they and fourth quarter as well. The were able to loosen up and play shots they took in the second quar- Jamie Cushman can be reached at loose and play the way that they ter were just outstanding shots.” jrcushman@umass.edu, and followed on love playing,” Cannella said.

The reason UMass lost by nine Twitter @Jamie__Cushman.

UMass set for rematch with No. 10 Providence

By Nicholas Souza Collegian Staff

it reveals a lot about these kids and their make-up,” Carvel said. “We’ll find out which kids really have the character, and who are the kids that can rise to the challenge. It’s easy to play when you haven’t won a game in months and there’s no real expectations, but we’re going into this series thinking we can play these guys hard and find a way to win.”

In order for the Minutemen to have a chance against the Friars, one player that will have to be on his game is freshman goalie Ryan Wischow.

Wischow was an integral part of pushing the Friars to OT in the last meeting with 40 saves. Following the opening goal by PC’s Garrett Gamez just 4:46 into the game, he kept the Friars out of the net for nearly 60 minutes and denied PC at every turn, including keeping the Friars off the scoreboard in each of their eight power-play chances.

Wischow will be part of a Minutemen team that will be comprised largely of freshmen who will be exposed to postseason hockey for the first time in their young college careers.

“We’re going to dress quite a few freshmen in this game with the understanding that we’ve spent the entire year trying to teach and develop,” Carvel said. “This will be the best stage for the younger kids on our team. Hopefully we’ll play as many playoff games as we can, because it’s the best form of education this group will get.”

Given the rebuild and overall youth of this team, it’s relatively apparent that this post season for UMass is largely about building towards the future. Each playoff game will be another step in the learning curve for the entire program at this stage.

Puck drop for the first game of the series is set for Friday at 7 p.m.

The Massachusetts hockey team will be facing No. 10 Providence for the third, fourth and potentially fifth straight time this weekend as the Minutemen (5-27-2, 2-19-1 Hockey East Association) get set to take on the Friars (20-9-5, 12-73 HEA) in the first round of the Hockey East Tournament.

This three game series will take place entirely at PC’s Schneider Arena in Providence, as the Friars hold the fifth seed in the bracket and UMass the 12th.

The Minutemen’s most recent trip to Schneider on Feb. 25 resulted in a thrilling overtime game that ended with UMass’ 15th straight loss in a 2-1 defeat.

However, the Minutemen’s ability to hang with a team as strong – particularly on defense – as PC, which holds the third best scoring defense (2.29 goals per game) and is tied for the second best penalty killing unit in the conference at 85.6 percent, has given the team some confidence.

“To be able to go into Providence and play that team into overtime, for us it’s almost like a win because we haven’t won a game in a long time,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “They’ve got a really good team, a top 10 team in the country, and we played them tight. It gives us a little bit of confidence going into the playoffs.”

Carvel and the Minutemen have recognized throughout the season that this is the start of a rebuild.

It hasn’t diminished the effort on the part of UMass, but it may have relieved some of the pressure when not much was expected of them.

That will change come this week- Nicholas Souza can be reached at end. njsouza@umass.edu and followed on Twitter “I love these situations because @nicksouza27.