Massachusetts Daily Collegian: November 6, 2014

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Thursday, November 6, 2014

Serving the UMass community since 1890

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Rideau speaks on press in prison Panel discusses

‘boxes’ women of color are placed in

Journalist spent 44 years behind bars

a hundred about the potential power that prison journalism has to advance public institutions in this country, as well as prisoners’ rights.

By Stuart Foster “Ending censorship is Collegian Correspondent the single reform that will Award-winning journal- induce on prisons the most ist, documentarian and pris- overwhelming benefit for the on reform advocate Wilbert prison and the public,” said Rideau visited the University Rideau, who spent 44 years of Massachusetts to share how in Louisiana’s Angola State he profited from his time in Penitentiary for the manslaughter of a bank teller in a prison.

Rideau presented “Can a 1961 bank robbery.

Free Press Flourish Behind Rideau spent 25 years Bars?,” a talk in the Cape Cod behind bars as the editor of Lounge Wednesday. Rideau spoke to a crowd of more than see RIDEAU on page 2

Faculty criticizes media stereotypes

By Sorelle Mbakop Collegian Correspondent

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

Rideau speaks about the injustices he faced in the prison system.

So fresh, so clean

CHRISTINA YACONO/COLLEGIAN

The Bike Coop runs the “Sexy Bike Wash” as part of Student Run Business Week which kicked off Monday. All student businesses are being promoted throughout the week.

The “Women of Color and Media (Mis) Representation” panel Wednesday set out to highlight how the mainstream media’s representation of women of color continues to confine them into categories that do not accurately represent all women of color.

The panel, which included three professors and two Ph.D., students, explained the problematic boxes Latina, African American and Native American women are often placed into by the media. Mari Castañeda, a professor in the communications department, along with the rest of the panelists called for a “broader intersectional of feminist analyses of the media.”

“I want people to walk away (knowing) that we are in a continual struggle to control our own images,” said Karen Morrison, a professor in the AfroAmerican studies department.

She called for the unification of women of color in order for them to “understand the contextualization within transforming systems of capitalism.” “(The) media’s representation of women of color has not been stagnant. It has changed over time. Different people have participated in

positive and negative ways, unfortunately the negative still prevails,” Morrison said. “(Women of color) are all in that fight to be more inclusive as a community – not just a national community, but an international community as well.”

Cassaundra Rodriguez, one of the panelists and a Ph.D. student in the sociology department, focused on how the negative depiction of Latinas in the mainstream media has led to a troubling representation of Latinas.

She said the stereotype of Latinas being maids and “spicy sex symbol(s) dehumanizes Latinas in a particular way.” She added “it is okay for a woman to be sexy and it is okay for a woman to be a domestic worker. There is a lot of dignity in that.”

Rodriguez finds the already small percentage of Latina actresses being confined to those roles demonstrates how “the representation (of Latinas) in the media is very different from the lived experience of Latinas.”

She explained how the problem goes beyond the stereotypical roles of Latinas in mainstream media and includes the media’s depiction of all Latinas as white-skinned Latinas. According to Rodriguez, that clearly shows how the media does not acknowledge the diversity within the Latino communities.

“When you do a Google see

WOMEN on page 2

Marriage equality wins in Mo. Obama recognizes Dems’ “This is a positive move forward for defeat, commits to action loving same-sex couples in the City of

By Doug Moore St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Denying Missouri’s gay couples the opportunity to marry is unconstitutional, a judge ruled Wednesday afternoon.

As a result, St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison said in his decision, marriage licenses could be issued beginning Wednesday.

“The Court finds and declares that any same sex couple that satisfies all the requirements for marriage under Missouri law, other than being of different sexes, is legally entitled to a marriage license,” Burlison wrote.

He said that the Missouri Constitution violates the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Burlison’s ruling comes more than four months after four couples were married at St. Louis City Hall, even though there is a 10-year-old constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

St. Louis. It is also a win for families throughout Missouri as another discriminatory obstacle is lowered.”

Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri

The act of defiance, choreographed with the support of Mayor Francis Slay and then-Recorder of Deeds Sharon Carpenter, led Attorney General Chris Koster to file an injunction preventing more marriage licenses from being issued to samesex couples.

It’s the second major victory in the state for same-sex marriage. Last month, a Kansas City judge ruled that marriages of Missouri gay couples wed in states or countries where such relationships are legally recognized must be honored by their home state. The decision

by Circuit Judge J. Dale Youngs was the first by any judge affirming same-

sex marriage in Missouri.

That ruling affected more than 5,400 Missouri couples.

In both cases, an attorney from Koster’s office defended the state constitution. Koster supports same-sex marriage but said he has a legal responsibility to defend Missouri law. However, after losing the Kansas City case, Koster declined to appeal, saying the state is obligated to honor contracts entered into in other states.

“Missouri’s future will be one of inclusion not exclusion,” Koster said. It was not immediately clear, however, whether Koster see

MARRIAGE on page 2

By Christi Parsons Tribune Washington Bureau

WA S H I N G T O N — President Barack Obama acknowledged Wednesday that he was disappointed with the wave of losses Democrats endured in the midterm elections but said he viewed the result as a sign that Americans want change in Washington and want elected officials to “get stuff done,” rather than as a repudiation of his policies.

Speaking at length to reporters, Obama resisted taking responsibility for the outcome, in contrast to his response to the last midterm elections in 2010, when he admitted his party suffered a “shellacking.”

“The American people sent a message, one that they’ve sent for several elections now: They expect the people they elect to work as hard as they do,” he said Wednesday. “They expect us to focus on their ambitions and not ours.

They want us to get the job done. All of us, in both par-

ties, have a responsibility to address that sentiment.”

But Obama signaled that he wouldn’t adopt a new strategy for dealing with Congress. He repeatedly invited Republicans to work with him but, short of that outcome, said he plans to march ahead on his own a range of issues including reform of the immigration system, climate change and the implementation of his landmark health care law.

That likely means through executive actions rather than legislation.

On immigration, he said he would act before the end of the year, though he would still rather see Congress pass a bill he can sign.

“If, in fact, there is a great eagerness on the part of Republicans to tackle a broken immigration system, then they have every opportunity to do it,” he said. “My executive actions not only do not prevent them from passing a law that supersedes those actions, but should be a

spur for them to actually try to get something done.”

Obama has invited congressional leaders to meet with him Friday, and he outlined three issues where he saw a chance for Republicans and Democrats to work together in the lame-duck session of Congress before the year ends: passage of a federal budget, taking on Islamic State militants in the Middle East and the response to the deadly Ebola virus.

To that end, he asked Congress on Wednesday for more than $6 billion in emergency funding to beef up the fight against Ebola in the three West African countries it is has ravaged and to monitor the U.S. system for preventing the spread of the deadly virus at home.

The request included $4.5 billion for equipping health care workers and clinics to fight the Ebola outbreak, while some $1.5 see

OBAMA on page 2

2

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Thursday, November 6, 2014

THE RUNDOWN ON THIS DAY...

In 1971, the United States Atomic Energy Commission tested the largest U.S. underground hydrogen bomb, code-named Cannikin, on Amchitka Island in the Aleutians.

AROUND THE WORLD

Jerusalem In a fresh outbreak of violence in Jerusalem Wednesday, one person was killed and at least a dozen others injured when a Palestinian man rammed his vehicle into pedestrians in what has become a familiar if unpredictable pattern of action in the troubled city.

According to eyewitnesses, a white van deliberately struck several police troops at a light-rail stop and continued to ram the vehicle into other pedestrians and cars before stalling at a traffic light 500 meters later. He got out of the car and began attacking passersby with a crowbar before a police officer who arrived at the scene shot him.

One victim died of fatal injuries shortly after the incident, described by authorities as a terror attack. Thirteen people were taken to hospitals throughout Jerusalem with varying degrees of injury, including several in serious condition.

Los Angeles Times

Canada The World Health Organization is asking Canada to justify its decision to restrict travel from the West African nations hardest hit by Ebola.

The Canadian government announced Friday that it would no longer issue travel visas or process permanent residency applications for people from the countries with “widespread and persistent-intense transmission.”

The move puts Canada at odds with the World Health Organization, which has repeatedly urged countries not to prohibit travel to and from Ebola-affected countries, including Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Los Angeles Times

Mexico Few dispute that the newly installed governor of Mexico’s Guerrero state has a radical past. The question is, just how radical?

Supporters of Gov. Rogelio Ortega Martinez, who took office last week amid a deepening crisis over the disappearance of 43 students from a rural teachers college six weeks ago, say the 59-year-old sociologist’s roots in the radical left might be just what’s needed to quell insurgent fervor in a state that’s been the cradle of numerous revolutionary movements.

But a criminal complaint lodged against Ortega charges that his radicalism went beyond politics to include kidnapping and extortion.

McClatchy Foreign Staff Distributed

by MCT Services

Information

This week on DailyCollegian.com Collegians bloggers write about the deterioration of the FAC The Collegian live tweeted the 2014 midterm election results, currently archived Columnist Steve Gillard reflects on the loss of his beloved dog Bailey

WOMEN

continued from page 1

search for a movie with Latinas or Latino families, you are going to see lighter skin Latinos,” Rodriguez said.

She continued, saying not only does the mainstream medium need to diversify the roles played

by Latinas, but they also need “to bring AfroLatinos in the space, (because) in the mainstream, they are not there.”

Rodriguez also found it problematic that mainstream television does not try to distinguish between different Latinas.

“When you have a Latina character, she is sort of a mix of all Latinas … so, the people that are writing these characters do not even know that Latinas are actually a really big group, with different histories, different ways of speaking and different takes on (Spanish) words,” she added.

The panelists emphasized the misrepresentation that women of color are often depicted

RIDEAU

as “exotic,” which many claim is used “to keep the purity of European women as mothers,” according to Donna L. Moody, a Ph.D. candidate in the anthropology department.

Allison Butler, a professor in department of communication, said white women are also confined to motherhood and purity, but because they have a bigger representation in the media in comparison to woman of color, they “are put into a box that is more flexible.”

“White women are compartmentalized in very damaging ways, but what we have to sort of fall back on, is that White,” she added.

Butler concluded that the bigger problem is that “people who are considered to be white have unwritten privileges, because White (has) become the unnamed normal against which others are compared.”

Sorelle Mbakop can be reached at smbakop@umass.edu.

DailyCollegian.com

Spanish nurse released after Ebola treatment

First to contract “I don’t know what virus outside Africa went wrong. I don’t

By Alexandra Zavis Los Angeles Times

even know if something I did went wrong. All I know is that I hold no resentment.”

A Spanish nursing assistant who was the first person known to contract Ebola outside West Africa in the current outbreak was discharged from a Madrid hospital Wednesday after almost a month there.

Teresa Romero, 44, credited her recovery to the care she received at Carlos III Hospital and offered to donate blood to help others infected with the deadly virus. But she was critical of Spanish officials who she said needlessly “executed” her dog, Excalibur.

Romero became ill after helping to care for two Spanish priests who contracted the virus while working in Liberia and Sierra Leone and later died at Carlos III. Medical officials have sug-

gested that she may have become infected by touching a glove to her face. But Romero said Wednesday that she doesn’t know the source of her illness.

“I don’t know what went wrong. I don’t even know if something I did went wrong.

All I know is that I hold no resentment,” she said in a statement she read as she was discharged. “But if getting this disease serves a purpose to anyone, to better study the disease, to help find a vaccine, or if my blood helps cure

Louisiana Supreme Court.

The Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the verdict, but the U.S. Supreme Court threw it out, calling it a kangaroo trial, something that blatantly disregards standards of law or justice. Rideau was tried twice more in Baton Rouge, in 1964 and 1970, and both cases resulted in a death verdict.

Yet in 1972, Rideau was resentenced to life in prison as a result of a Supreme Court decision, and his life was filled with hope given to him by reading.

“Books were what saved me,” Rideau said, emphasizing that the knowledge he gained inspired him to “not let the crime of youth be the final definition of me.”

Rideau began writing about prison life in Angola State, which was the most violent prison in the country at the time. Sixty-seven prisoners were stabbed to death there from 1972 to 1975 alone, and more than 360 were wounded in this time period.

Prison staff thought credible information about the prison would help penitentiary relations, and thus allowed Rideau to manage a small group of prisoner journalists, as long as ethics of professional journalism were upheld.

During his 25 years as editor, the members of The Angolite had the freedom to pursue stories, being allowed to leave the prison during the pursuit of stories and being referred to by prison staff as the “Prison Bureau.”

The Angolite gained the credibility of everyone within Angola, and helped free blind inmates, obtain interpreters for deaf inmates and “forced the state to spend millions to upgrade outdated equipment,” among other accomplishments. In 1989, The Angolite began to engage in broadcast journalism, airing documentaries featured on national television.

Rideau was eventually retried and found guilty of manslaughter, not murder, in 2005, after revealing that much of the original prosecution’s case was “exaggerated and fabricated,” with the grainy broadcast footage of Rideau’s confession disproving the later sensationalized testimonies. The maximum sentence for manslaughter was 21 years, which was 23 fewer than Rideau had served.

He was freed that day.

While Rideau is a free man, he has not forgotten how important prison journalism was for him and the institu-

Teresa Romero, nursing assistant

another person, then here I am.”

Officials said she received a variety of treatments, including the experimental drug Favipiravir and plasma donated by an Ebola survivor.

But they said it was impossible to tell what factors contributed to her recovery.

Romero described in vivid detail the loneliness she felt while in isolation. “When I felt I was dying, I would cling to my memories, to my family and my husband,” she said.

Romero’s husband, Javier Limon, read his wife’s remarks about Excalibur, explaining that she was too emotional to talk about the dog, who was like the child they never had, The Associated Press reported.

The decision to euthanize Excalibur caused an uproar among animal rights activists. When American nurse Nina Pham contracted Ebola, her dog, Bentley, was placed in quarantine for 21 days and later reunited with his owner.

continued from page 1

The Angolite, the first prison newspaper circulated in the United States. The Angolite received cooperation from both prisoners and prison staff, both of whom were initially cautious and paranoid of the newspaper.

“As we began winning national awards, we had no problem getting cooperation from anybody,” Rideau said of his significant accomplishments in jail. Rideau believes the in-prison reporting helped all of the members in the penitentiary gain awareness of one another’s situations.

“Employees understood the psychological problems of prisoners, and prisoners understood the humanity of the employees,” he added.

Rideau, who is AfricanAmerican, had great challenges in getting to such a position, as he “barely missed being lynched by a mob” after killing a white bank-teller, Julia Ferguson.

“That stupid and rash act is my deepest regret in life, and is an abiding source of shame for me,” said Rideau, who underwent several mistrials after being arrested at the scene of the crime. When the local sheriff assured Rideau his death was inevitable, he testified his

MARRIAGE would appeal today’s ruling. Gay rights advocates expect Koster will ask the Missouri Supreme Court to make a final ruling.

“This is a positive move forward for loving samesex couples in the City of St. Louis,” said Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri. “It is also a win for families throughout Missouri as another discriminatory obstacle is lowered.”

St. Louis City Counselor Winston Calvert said issuing the four marriage licenses in June “pushed the envelope on behalf of families throughout the State of Missouri who now can enjoy the dignity, stability, and security of a legal marriage.”

In arguments before Burlison on Sept. 29, Calvert told the judge that marriage is a fundamental right of all citizens, but the constitutional amendment “categorically denies that right to an entire class of people.”

The landscape of samesex marriage has changed

guilt after being told such a result would allow him to see his mother, unaware the sheriff and local news network KLPC had agreed to secretly videotape the confession. This confession was then broadcast all over Southwest Louisiana, outraging citizens.

Rideau said it was ironic that he would become a part of the media – something that had used lies and manipulation to demonize him.

Five days after the crime, two FBI agents visited Rideau and similarly promised him a visit from his mother, as long as he signed a statement. The statement said he intended to kill all employees before he had even entered the bank, which qualified Rideau for the death penalty.

Rideau’s trial was no less legitimate, as the district attorney told the jury Rideau “shot the employees execution style,” and another teller testified that Rideau “slashed the throat of the victim ear to ear.” This would later be disproven in 2005, when autopsy experts revealed the incision on the neck was made by doctors in the emergency room.

No transcript was kept of the trial, and Rideau’s lawyers had to rely on scribbled longhand notes to appeal to the

continued from page 1

dramatically since June 2013. That’s when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act. That ruling allowed gay couples who live in states where their marriages are legally recognized to receive the same federal benefits as married opposite-sex couples.

Then last month, the Supreme Court rejected appeals from five states seeking to preserve their bans. There are now 32 states plus the District of Columbia that issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Marc Solomon, national campaign director for Freedom to Marry, said Burlison’s ruling “is very much consistent with the way judges have been ruling around the country since the Supreme Court took up the issue.”

The ruling today marks 49 successful challenges to same-sex marriage laws across the country, compared to three losses, Solomon said.

“There has just been incredible momentum,” he said.

OBAMA

tion he belonged to. Rideau said The Angolite, “helped the lives of both inmates and staff,” but he reiterated this should not be the conclusion to prison journalism.

“I’m here to tell you our prison fences didn’t fall, and the guard towers remained in place,” he said about the effects of the Angolite on his prison. He remains committed to the notion that “the walls of censorship behind this nation’s prisons are unnecessary.”

“Both the media and public get distracted by official rhetoric that inmates don’t have rights,” Rideau said, adding that the issue is “equally about the public’s right to know what goes on in public institutions.”

Rideau’s new memoir, “In the Place of Justice,” details the 44 years he spent in the public prison system.

The “Can a Free Press Flourish Behind Bars?” talk is a part of the yearlong “Social Sciences Matter: Perspectives on Inequality” series being held by the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

Stuart Foster can be reached at stuartfoster@umass.edu.

continued from page 1

billion would go into a contingency fund to cover future needs. The U.N. has said it will take at least $1 billion to fight the outbreak in West Africa.

He also said he would have a top military official brief leading lawmakers about the fight against Islamic State militants, and that he would continue discussions about a new congressional authorization to attack the extremists that is “rightsized and updated,” rather than relying on legal authority that Congress granted the president more than a decade ago to fight al-Qaida.

Obama also mentioned certain amendments to his signature health care law that he’d be willing to accept, possible peace offerings in the hours after Republicans swept key congressional races and set themselves up to take over both chambers of Congress early next year. He said he wouldn’t consider major changes like a removal of the provision requiring every person to have health insurance. But he said he

would be “open and receptive” to ideas for making “responsible changes.”

The Republican wins in key states coincided with votes in support of raising the minimum wage, giving hope to Obama that he might be able to work on that issue with GOP leaders.

White House officials also say Obama will raise the idea with congressional leaders of reforming the corporate tax structure to pay for infrastructure improvements, and that he’s open to discussing all the options that might make such a thing palatable to Republicans.

Still, hours after a sound defeat for Democrats in gubernatorial and congressional races around the country, the president didn’t appear to be contemplating any personal change in response.

“Every election is a moment for reflection,” he said. “Everybody in this White House is going to look and say, ‘What do we need to do differently?’ ... But the things that motivate me every single

day ... those things aren’t going to change.”

Republicans read the results of the election differently, talking about the perils of overreach during Obama’s remaining tenure. In his home state of Kentucky, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the president’s contemplated action would be like “waving a red flag in front of a bull.”

But McConnell extended an offering of his own, insisting that Republicans would not engage in brinkmanship over the federal debt ceiling as they did in 2011 or consider another government shutdown as they did in 2012.

For his part, Obama said he was savoring the possibilities of his remaining time in office, and vowed to work like he is playing the final period of a competitive basketball game.

Obama said he wants to be able to say, “We played that fourth quarter well.”

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Death sentence overturned for Houston man

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske Los Angeles Times

HOUSTON — A Houston man sentenced to death a decade ago for a fatal police shooting has won a new trial in a case that raised questions about the system used for selecting grand juries in Texas and California.

Alfred Dewayne Brown, 32, has always claimed he was innocent of the 2003 shooting of Houston Police Officer Charles Clark during a robbery at a check cashing store that also resulted in the death of a clerk. Another man, Elijah Joubert, is also on death row for the killings.

Brown’s attorneys did not immediately comment

Wednesday.

They had argued that crucial evidence was withheld during his 2005 murder trial, and that the grand jury that indicted him had intimidated Brown’s girlfriend, an alibi witness, into changing her story. A Houston Chronicle series noted that the grand jury included a police booster and that the foreman was an active duty Houston police officer.

Grand juries in Texas, as in California, can be selected using a “key man” system in which the judge picks one or more people to serve as commissioners, who then choose from a pool of volunteer grand jurors. Critics fault the system for producing grand

juries more sympathetic to law enforcement. The rest of the states as well as federal courts randomly select grand jurors.

On Wednesday, a year and a half after Brown’s trial judge recommended a new trial, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his conviction and sent the case back for potential retrial. The appeals court found that telephone records bolstering Brown’s case were withheld at trial, records that apparently surfaced last year when a homicide investigator cleaned out his garage.

Former Harris County District Attorney Mike Anderson had said a new trial was warranted.

Anderson died last year, and his widow, a former judge who was appointed to replace him then elected on Tuesday, said she was still deciding Wednesday.

“I will now carefully review and evaluate the case to determine the appropriate proceedings,” said District Attorney Devon Anderson, his widow.

Anthony Graves, another Texas death row prisoner whose conviction was overturned in 2010, had tried to help Brown win a new trial, speaking with Brown’s girlfriend about the case and to the Chronicle.

Graves, 48, who served a dozen years on death row for a series of murders he did not commit, has successfully pursued an ongo-

ing inquiry into whether there was misconduct by the prosecutors in his case.

He questioned why the court ruled in Brown’s case the day after the election, and said their cases “highlight the flaws of the death penalty.”

“If these flaws do not make us conscious that we are sending people off to murder them, shame on us.

Shame on us that we don’t want to make our system better,” Graves told the Los Angeles Times, “What are the safeguards that are now being put in place to stop this from happening? We’ve got a justice system going awry. I’m just hoping that he receives a fair trial.”

3

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“Ninety percent of politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.” - Henry Kissinger

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Editorial@DailyCollegiancom

Recent accidents in commercial spaceflight should not deter further efforts Last week was not a good omen for the future of human aerospace. After two high-profile cost-

Johnny McCabe ly disasters, one of which claimed a human life, the global media has been abuzz with skepticism and criticism over the responsibility of investing so much energy and capital into highly dangerous programs with seemingly no demonstrable immediate benefit.

Private companies have also been called into question, allegedly for prioritizing profit margins over the much stricter safety standards of government organizations like NASA. With widespread social inequality, conflicts in the Middle East and a recovering yet uneasy global economy, it seems like the worst possible opportunity to spend time and money researching space exploration. However, these disasters are only two of a likely multitude of necessary roadblocks on the way to unlocking one of humanity’s greatest limiters – our attachment to the finite planet Earth.

The first accident, which occurred last Tuesday evening, concerned the explosion of the Antares rocket and its accompanying Cygnus cargo vehicle a mere six seconds after liftoff at a NASA launch facility in Virginia. The rocket, which perished in a catastrophic fireball, was carrying food, hardware and other supplies destined for the International Space Station.

While the explosion took place on a NASA launchpad, the rocket itself was designed, developed and built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, an aerospace contractor. Nobody was harmed, although both the loss of the rocket and the extensive damage to the facility come at a significant cost to NASA. The second accident involved a failed test flight of private spaceflight company Virgin Galactic’s prototype “SpaceShipTwo” commercial spaceflight vehicle, which “came down in pieces” in the Mojave Desert after separating from its parent aircraft, accord-

ing to The Verge. One test pilot was killed in the crash, while the other was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Each disaster is completely unrelated, but both serve as jumping-off points for critics of space exploration and private enterprise in spaceflight. While the Antares rocket was on an unmanned cargo run, Virgin Galactic has occupied a unique and extremely public role at the forefront of commercial space travel. The waitlist for its prohibitively expensive services features celebrities and multimillionaires butting elbows with each other.

With such an elite potential clientele, it becomes very easy to construct a narrative, which paints the immediate future of space travel as the sole providence of the ultra-rich and greedy inhu-

its missteps would be to deny the incredible changes it has made to our society over such a short period of time.

Furthermore, to demonize the private industry for its shortcomings in much the same way only stifles the pace of further innovation and fails to recognize the powerful potential for progress of an energized and competitive private sector. Companies like SpaceX have made revolutionary breakthroughs in reusable spacecraft propulsion and launch systems, and have worked closely in concert with NASA to hasten the pace of research as much as possible. In many ways, SpaceX represents a natural response to the shortcomings of governmental space agencies, which may or may not be hampered by bureaucracy or lack of funding.

The developments over the past few years and the success of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Dragon reusable spacecrafts clearly illustrate that neither the private sector nor the government should pursue space exploration and travel in a vacuum – more is accomplished when they work together than could ever be trivialized by their failures.

Despite recent setbacks, we should not shy away from the boundless possibilities that further research into space and space travel will undoubtedly provide, merely because we fear the possibility of failure. It is natural, and even responsible, to question the ways in which both governments and entities in the private sector go about conducting this research. But we should do so in an effort to keep them responsible, efficient and accountable, not for the sake of tearing them down. We have progressed from air travel to space travel within the past century – this is a rate of technological progress that has never before been achieved in human history. It would be a shame to retreat back to dry land just after getting our feet wet.

“Each disaster is unrelated to the other, however both serve as a jumping-off point for critics of space exploration and private enterprise in spaceflight.” man corporations. Furthermore, the Antares explosion makes NASA look unprofessional and irresponsible for jeopardizing resources and funding on rockets that can’t even get off the ground.

However, these narratives do very little to consider the innumerable positive technological, social and scientific gains that space exploration has yielded over the scant decades since it became an actual practical possibility. Advances in satellite technology yielded GPS and massive advances in telecommunications.

Breakthroughs in robotics have completely redefined medical science and industry and developments in solar energy used to power spacecraft and orbital installations have opened incredible doors to sustainable, renewable energy. All of this progress has come at the expense of accidents, errors and dead ends – however, to characterize the nature of space exploration by

Johnny McCabe is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at rjmccabe@umass.edu.

Scott Brown shouldn’t have been allowed to run in New Hampshire Scott Brown ran for Senate in New Hampshire. Thankfully, he lost. If you pay any attention

Ian Hagerty to politics much, you know that Brown is a former Senator from Massachusetts. For most of his life, Brown has also been a citizen of our state. What gives him the right to run for Senate in an entirely different state?

In a debate recently, Brown defended himself.

“The first three years of my life I lived on Islington Street in Portsmouth,” he said.

Right off the bat, this sounded like a poor excuse for a connection to New Hampshire. You don’t need any further background knowledge to know that no one remembers his or her life at three years old. Personally, I can’t believe he would be idiotic enough to use that as an example of his connection to New Hampshire at all. It wasn’t even a good, dodgy, non-answer.

Scott Brown is a seasoned politician and he should know this.

“Scott Brown ran for Senate in New Hampshire.

Thankfully, he lost.”

5 THE ELECTION reasons why

CHANGES NOTHING

1 2 3 4 5

MA considers itself a progressive state, yet has elected less women to office then Arizona and South Carolina Mitch McConnell will outlive us all Staten Island reelected a Congressman who has been indicted by the federal government Weed is still illegal, or is it decriminalized. Are we allowed to have it? Who knows Less than desireable employers will continue to abuse their low-wage employees, even with mandatory paid sick leave

Brown also had the audacity to mention his vacation home as validity for his Senate race.

“But most importantly, my wife and I have been property owners and taxpayers for over 25 years,” he added in a debate.

When I picture someone with a vacation home in another state, I surely don’t imagine him or her being a citizen of that state.

Vacation homeowners have nothing to do with the local people or economy, let alone the local rustic businesses. I grew up in an area of Connecticut that has many summer homeowners, usually from the New York area. The summer vacationers have absolutely no

concern for the local citizens and in my experience, actually treat the year round population quite badly. You don’t even feel welcome in your own neighborhood when the summer homeowners are around. When I hear Scott Brown using his summer home as a justification for running for the New Hampshire Senate, I hear a cheap excuse. I hear the voice of a man using a community for pleasure, not concerned with its problems.

Brown also said that he used to often escape to New Hampshire to stay at his grandparents’ house because of problems within his own family in Massachusetts.

While anyone can appreciate the comfort Brown might feel when he is staying in New Hampshire, I feel as though his usage of this personal history was over the top and pointless. While I do feel bad that Brown had a problematic childhood and I understand the mentality of needing an escape from such problems, that still doesn’t make him a citizen of the state.

Mentioning this just served as an attempt to guilt the public onto his side. It was in cheap taste and irrelevant.

The popular term coined to describe Scott Brown is “carpetbagger” and I think he fits the title quite well. Carpetbaggers are known for moving from their respective homes to run for political office in another place simply as a power or money grab. Why else would Scott Brown be interested in an office in New Hampshire? It seems to me like he has played out his options elsewhere and is looking for another score.

Thankfully though, the people of New Hampshire knew better.

Incumbent Jeanne Shaheen, a citizen that actually knows the state, and lives in the state, defeated Scott Brown. She may be from Missouri, but she has lived in New Hampshire for 40 years. The locals can live free without dying hard.

Ian Hagerty is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at ihagerty@umass.edu.

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The Massachusetts Daily Collegian is published Monday through Thursday during the University of Massachusetts calendar semester. The Collegian is independently funded, operating on advertising revenue. Founded in 1890, the paper began as Aggie Life, became the College Signal in 1901, the Weekly Collegian in 1914 and the Tri–Weekly Collegian in 1956. Published daily from 1967 to 2014, The Collegian has been broadsheet since January 1994. For advertising rates and information, call 413-545-3500.

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Thursday, November 6, 2014

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FILM REVIEW

‘John Wick’ warns you not to mess with the wrong dog A vengeful Reeves kills in comeback

By Sutton Bradbury-Koster Collegian Correspondent

Forget horror movies this season, if you want a real thrill ride, go see “John Wick.”

You may have heard some of the buzz surrounding this film, which is largely due to Keanu Reeves’ “return” to the silver screen. Despite this popular belief, in the past decade since the third and final installment of the “Matrix” trilogy, Reeves has appeared in about 15 films. In “John Wick,” Reeves portrays a stonecold ex-hit man who must come out of retirement to exact revenge on Russian men who stole his car and killed his dog. While this synopsis sounds clichéd and stale, the film does an excellent job of distinguishing itself from other action movies.

Firstly, the acting. In most action-thrillers, we have simply accepted bad acting as a staple of the genre – poor performances are acceptable because

viewers are only going to see an action movie to watch guns fire and cars explode.

This film, while showcasing incredibly accurate gun physics and perfectly choreographed fight scenes, allows the key thespians to generate applaud-worthy performances. Reeves’ portrayal of the titular hit man is believable and stirring.

The plot allows for little variation from the classic, emotionless and revengedriven killer we’ve all come to know and love.

Yet when there is wiggle room for deviation from this norm, Reeves takes full advantage of it.

In most scenes, he is too busy murdering people to blow us away with his acting prowess, but there were points in the film that left myself and my fellow movie-goers shivering in fear and, oddly enough, bursting out with laughter. None of these reactions seem accidental – he is simply a more complicated character than expected, and Reeves embodies him expertly. Willem Dafoe and Alfie Allen (Theon Greyjoy in the popular HBO series “Game of Thrones”) also display talent worth mentioning.

Secondly – the plot.

Again, like many other revenge or coming-out-ofretirement-for-one-last-job stories, a thick fog of confusion and lack of prior knowledge blankets much of the movie. Thankfully, the story is accessible despite this. Nothing is too easy figure out, but at the same time, the movie doesn’t treat you like an idiot. You feel rewarded by thinking critically, but you can still enjoy the film even without doing so. Modern films should take note of this technique.

Throughout “John Wick” you begin to understand that Wick was previously involved in some sort of hit man corporation, as many shady characters in the movie not only recognize him, but know him by name. The proceedings of this corporation are kept very secret, but as the story progresses, we begin to understand how they work and what their purpose is exactly. This falls on the back burner, however, as deciphering the prologue of Wick is far more interesting.

It would feel wrong to not mention the score.

The opening scene, while

FILM REVIEW

SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT

John Wick (Keanu Reeves) hunts down the killers of his beloved dog in this new revenge thriller. also cinematically striking, speaks volumes about the choices of music. It is nearly completely devoid of dialogue. The music does all the talking – blending soothing strings with ambient synths to generate a raw, emotional atmosphere that seems nearly misplaced given the movie it resides in. While this atmospheric and emotional

presence does not remain throughout much else of the film, it is still worth mentioning. The rest of the film’s score features a pulsating, intense low-drive bass drumbeat that establishes a tense yet epic feeling.

Despite predictability and a few hiccups in comprehension of the story, “John Wick” has (and

rightfully so) received positive reviews on almost all fronts and placed second at the box office in its opening weekend. As a result, rumors of a sequel are already in circulation, which, in this one reviewer’s opinion, would be very welcome.

Sutton Bradbury-Koster can be reached at sbradburykos@umass.

TELEVISION REVIEW

Gyllenhaal at his best as a ‘Gracepoint’ hits the mark is uneven sociopath in ‘Nightcrawler’ Program but still captivating

Film skewers world of crime journalism

By Cory J. Willey Collegian Staff

“Nightcrawler” is everything it promises to be and more. What starts as a film with seemingly no direction, following a sociopath around the streets of Los Angeles, turns into a brilliant display of character acting from the inimitable Jake Gyllenhaal, and a poignant critique of the state of the modern 24-hour television news system.

Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, the sociopath in question. He is yet another poor, jobless twenty-something living in a one-bedroom apartment in L.A., stealing and lying to survive. One night he comes upon a car crash on the highway and pulls over to watch as the police try to pull the victim from the car. A van pulls up and two men with cameras leap out and begin recording the scene, delighted by the crash and how it might sell.

It is here that Bloom is introduced to the seedy world of nightcrawlers, people who roam the streets at night waiting to hear about some accident or crime that is occurring so they can rush to the scene, film it and sell it to the local morning news.

Bloom is fascinated and decides this is his new passion. He buys a camera and begins his life as a nightcrawler.

Throughout the first half of the first act of “Nightcrawler” it is almost impossible to guess where the film is going. It turns out that this is writer and director Dan Gilroy’s design all along. We are introduced to Gyllenhaal’s directionless, yet deter-

mined, Bloom at the lowest of low points in his life.

He is stealing fencing and metal from construction sites and selling it to other construction sites to make what little money he can.

When a security guard on site catches him in the act, he lies his way through an awkward conversation trying to get out of it. He notices the man’s watch and immediately flips a switch, strangling the man, taking the watch and immediately moving onto another construction site to sell the stolen metal. These first few minutes show us exactly who we are dealing with in Bloom.

Gyllenhaal is absolutely amazing in this role, portraying Bloom as a sociopath whose smile is just a shallow cover over a madness that could surface at a moment’s notice.

Considering he only really “loses it” once or twice in this film makes this all the more impressive on Gyllenhaal’s part.

He is given a well-written and despicable character, placed in a disgusting world and simply let loose.

The result isn’t just another intelligent psychopath – a character archetype which we have seen done to death in recent years. Gyllenhaal brings his incredible talent for immersing himself and the audience entirely in a character, giving us an anti-hero we despise yet find ourselves unable to look away from.

Bloom is truly vile, and because of Gyllenhaal’s fantastic performance, the greater message of the film is able to hit home that much more strongly.

TV news and crime journalism take center stage in this thriller, shining a light on a problem that has only gotten worse and

worse as stations vie for more ratings. Turn on any local news channel and more often than not you’ll see stories about gruesome crimes committed in seemingly safe suburban neighborhoods. The film progresses methodically, giving us a deeper understanding of this world that many only see in a superficial sense. Bloom is able to reach higher up the ladder because he doesn’t care about human life. As his takes get more gruesome, they make more money.

Once Bloom becomes invested in this world, the film takes off, both in terms of suspense and the message it is trying to drive home. Gilroy and Gyllenhaal work in perfect harmony, ramping up the suspense and story in tandem. Bloom is never over the top and he never really uses physical violence to get what he wants. You won’t know exactly what kind of monster he is until the film’s final moments, making him an incredibly effective and interesting character to behold on screen.

Leaving the theater, it feels as though this is Gyllenhaal’s film alone.

It seems like he has been given a loose outline of a character and left to play in a twisted world not unlike our own. While the film benefits greatly from his fantastic performance, what makes it great is the pacing. It slowly and intelligently builds up tension, leading to one of the most intense third acts of any film released this year. These, coupled with its deeper message about the state of the 24-hour news cycle, make “Nightcrawler” an indispensable thriller.

Cory J. Willey can be reached at cjwilley@umass.edu.

By Eli Fine Collegian Correspondent Editor’s Note: The following review contains spoilers for the first five episodes of “Gracepoint.”

Fox’s “Gracepoint” is an American remake of the critically acclaimed British television series “Broadchurch.” Together, they explore the reaction of a small, tightknit community to the murder of one of its youngest residents. Chris Chibnall created “Broadchurch,” and he returns to run this new show. “Broadchurch” starred David Tennant and Olivia Colman as two detectives with very different approaches to their job. Although his character name has been changed, Tennant reprises his role from “Broadchurch.” Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad), however, replaces Colman.

Gunn plays Ellie Miller, a detective and long-time resident of Gracepoint, a small beach town. Miller anticipates a promotion to lead detective, but learns that the job was given to an outside hire instead.

The new lead detective, Emmett Carver (played

by Tennant), is a rude, somewhat misanthropic man who immediately clashes with the less-hardened Miller. When Danny Solano, a 12-year-old boy, is found dead on the beach, the two detectives have to find a way to work together to solve the murder.

Gunn is really terrific here, taking the character originally portrayed

by Colman and making it her own. Whereas Colman played Miller sour-faced and guarded, Gunn allows herself freedom to be looser in the role, making Miller seem happier and slightly more naïve without diminishing the

character’s intelligence.

Tennant’s performance here is odd.

While inarguably a great actor, he is Scottish and has difficulty with the American accent that this role calls for. The accent throws the whole performance off, and Carver comes off strangely stilted in a way that the creative team probably didn’t intend. Once you get past his off-kilter accent, Tennant gives a decent performance, although one that couldn’t possibly be compared to his brilliant work on “Broadchurch.”

Early episodes of “Gracepoint” rely heavily on heart-wrenching moments involving Danny’s family. When Carver and Miller tell the Solano family that the boy found dead was Danny, their emotional, visceral reactions are presumably meant to be painful to watch. Unfortunately, this effect is stymied by a bad performance.

Virginia Kull, who plays Beth, Danny’s mother, overacts hysterically in almost every one of her scenes. This might not be entirely her fault, as she’s being asked to sob wildly for the majority of her time on screen, but a better actress could surely do more with the material.

The vastly superior Michael Peña plays Danny’s father, Mark. Peña plays Mark subtly, expressing his anguish in smaller, more meaningful ways. In an early episode, the show misdirects us to think that Mark killed his son, because he doesn’t have a solid alibi for the night Danny died.

At this point in the original series, I guessed that Mark was innocent and that he didn’t want to give his real alibi to the cops because he was cheating on his wife that night. It was obviously too early in the season to expose the mur-

derer. Here though, Pena plays the misdirection so well that I was fooled into thinking he might actually be the killer.

One of the key elements of the original series’ critical success was its beautiful cinematography. Every shot of every episode was calculated to mine as much beauty from the scenic British town as possible.

“Gracepoint” mimics the original and is not entirely unsuccessful. Many of its scenes play like shot-forshot remakes of scenes from the original, but if you haven’t seen the British series that won’t bother you. You’ll be able to appreciate the visuals for what they are, as opposed to being bothered by how closely they align with those of “Broadchurch.”

The show’s impressive supporting cast, which includes Nick Nolte, Jacki Weaver and Kevin Rankin, fill out the rest of Gracepoint’s residents.

Everyone in this town has a secret, and anyone could have killed Danny.

We spend each episode exploring the history of individual townspeople and crossing them off the suspect list. As the season draws nearer to a close, we have fewer and fewer eligible suspects and we’ll ultimately learn which of these suspicious characters committed the murder.

Although “Gracepoint” doesn’t achieve the greatness of the show it’s based on, it is successful in setting up a mystery that will intrigue audiences. The show’s producers have stated that the killer is not the same person here as it was in the original, and I, for one, am curious enough about who killed Danny Solano to happily watch the remaining episodes of “Gracepoint.”

Eli Fine can be reached at elazarfine@ umass.edu.

6

Thursday, November 6, 2014

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Comics “Junior Mints: They

T he P seudo –I ntellectualist

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Questions? Comments? Email us: comics@dailycollegian.com

are very refreshing.”

B y C hlo Ë M orse

Mono–sodi–yum–glutamate!

aquarius

HOROSCOPES Jan. 20 - Feb. 18

leo

Jul. 23 - Aug. 22

Highlighting as you read helps you keep focus This weekend, amp up your snacking! Instead on the words, but it will not help you of the same mundane pizza, order a pizza to successfully return the book to the store. break up onto your homemade pizza.

pisces P oorly D rawn L ines

B y R eza F arazmand

Feb. 19 - Mar. 20

virgo

Aug. 23 - Sept. 22

Don’t refer to someone near and dear to as Another suggestion, instead of a standard “honey” unless you want them to be swarmed mozzarella topping, try just shredding a grilled by hundreds and hundreds of bees. cheese instead.

aries

Mar. 21 - Apr. 19

taurus

Apr. 20 - May. 20

gemini

May. 21 - Jun. 21

libra

Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

scorpio

Oct. 23 - Nov. 21

Show your professors your intense love of the I have two words that are going to rock your class by editing all of your graphics for world: dessert calzone. presentations in MS Paint.

When you’re looking for hosiery to wear to an For breakfast, you had a bagel and cream interview, going to Home Depot to shop will cheese and now you’re eating a grilled be a lot more time intensive than you think. cheese. I see you have a rainbow of tastes.

sagittarius

Nov. 22 - Dec. 21

You can’t blame anyone except anyone but you.

If it came out of a cow, it’s good to melt.

cancer

capricorn

Jun. 22 - Jul. 22

The next holiday is not Christmas. I repeat, you can leave all your gourds out because they are fitting for Thanksgiving.

Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

Using two brownies instead of bread in a ham sandwich isn’t “giving up” so much as it is pure freedom.

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MEN’S SOCCER

7

Thursday, November 6, 2014

NFL

UMass to host Bonnies ‘Gienie’ in a bottle: Pick’em and Packers in 2014 season finale Bears renew old rivalry

Keys and Schwartz play in final game

By Adam Aucoin Collegian Staff

It’s been a long and difficult season for the Massachusetts men’s soccer team.

It’s a season that has seen the Minutemen be competitive at times. But they were a team that never really found their stride.

With UMass (2-14-1) losing its last game against a strong Davidson team on the road, the Minutemen fell out of contention for an Atlantic 10 tournament berth. UMass had yet another strong start against Davidson. However it failed to finish the game strong, a trend that’s been the Achilles heel for this team all season long.

Interim coach Devin O’Neill is cognizant of the fact that the team is out of contention for a playoff berth, but is hoping for them to come out strong Saturday.

“We hope to come out with energy and excitement Saturday,” O’Neill said. “The guys know that we are out of contention, but we have preached to them to continue to represent the program well and compete in the best way we can. I’m hoping we come out with some intensity on Saturday.”

The Minutemen were able to sneak into last year’s tournament with a late run, getting knocked out in the

first round against top seed Saint Louis. Unfortunately, the final push in the 2014 season simply wasn’t good enough.

“Every season is different and comes with its own challenges,” O’Neill said. “I think we have played pretty well, but we just haven’t been able to get anything out of those games.”

St. Bonaventure, UMass’ opponent on Saturday, currently sits at the bottom of the conference, as the Bonnies are 1-14 and are currently riding a ninegame losing streak heading into this game.

Despite their opponent’s struggles, the Minutemen won’t take the final match lightly.

“No matter who we play, we hope to show up with a great performance,” O’Neill said. “I’m sure St. Bonaventure wants to end their season on a high note just as bad as us.”

With this end of the season comes another big blow to the Minutemen.

Saturday marks the last game defender Matt Keys and forward Josh Schwartz will ever put on an UMass uniform. The loss of these two players will not be easy for the team.

Keys has been a fouryear starter for the Minutemen and a defensive stalwart for the team.

Along the way, he tallied nine goals and four assists for the team. Schwartz has also produced for UMass over the years, scoring 17 goals in his career and claiming the title as lead-

ing goal scorer for the team this year (four). Along with being a special talent on the field, Schwartz was named an academic all-district team member for the third straight year.

“Matt and Josh are both examples of what we want our soccer players to be,” O’Neill said. “They strive to excel both on the field and more importantly in the classroom. They have had great careers and the example they set is perfect for our team.”

Even with this being the last game of the year, there is still plenty of dedication and pride going into the game on Saturday.

“It’s all about playing to your own standards and doing the things that won’t show up in that stat sheet,” O’Neill said. “Things like challenging balls and going for headers and all those effort categories are important to us and are what we look for in our guys.”

Despite the tough season, O’Neill believes there is much hope for the future of UMass soccer.

“We think the future of UMass soccer looks very strong,” O’Neill said. “Our younger guys have responded well to the senior leadership on this team. I’m hoping sooner, rather than later this hard work pays off for them.”

The game against St. Bonaventure starts at 1 p.m. Saturday at Rudd Field.

Adam Aucoin can be reached at aaucoin@umas.edu.

HOCKEY

Minutemen to face familiar faces against Yellow Jackets Vatrano, Power to rekindle old friendships vs AIC

By Jason Kates Collegian Staff

When the Massachusetts hockey team takes the ice against American International College this Friday night at Mullins Center, there will be no shortage of storylines.

UMass redshirt sophomore Frank Vatrano will face his brother’s former team, senior captain Troy Power will be facing off against an old friend, and goaltending coach Matt Voity will be up against his former employer.

For Vatrano, whose brother Greg Vatrano was a member of the Yellow Jackets from 2008-2010, playing against his brother’s alma mater is something that he’s always been looking forward to.

“I know last year he was here when we faced them but I wasn’t playing, so it’ll be nice to play against them,” Vatrano said. “I used to watch (Greg) play at AIC all the time so it’ll be cool because it’s like a hometown school to me.

Playing in this game should be fun.”

While a sibling rivalry looms, Vatrano said he hasn’t spoken to his brother at all about the upcoming game, but was constantly reminded of last year’s contest when AIC shocked the Minutemen 3-2 at Amherst.

“I haven’t really spoken to him about it,” he said. “I know last year all I heard was ‘AIC beat UMass’ so hopefully we can change

that around this year.”

After an exhausting six-game road trip that featured four Hockey East contests, Vatrano believes this Friday night will be extremely important as the team looks to get back in the win column.

From Teammates Opponents

to

West Coast and have found themselves commanding two teams from Western Massachusetts.

“It’s something that I never really thought we’d be doing,” Power said. “I know Steven’s a great leader, he was a great leader when I played with him, and I’m sure he’s doing a great job over there at AIC.” “It’s just kind of wild that we both ended up so close to each other, and also as captains,” he added.

Like Vatrano, Power thinks this game presents a huge opportunity for UMass to gain some confidence, especially since the team’s next game isn’t until Nov. 21.

The redshirt senior said the team is looking forward to Friday, with one of the main reasons being they are looking to show they can win at home after a poor display in their first game versus Boston University.

“The last time we played in our rink we were embarrassed, and that’s something that will be in the back of our minds as we look to redeem ourselves,” Power said. “If you look back at this game from last year, we felt like we were the better team that night and they won. We need to show up on Friday night ready to win a hockey game – do the things we need to do to be successful.”

In 2006, Troy Power and Steven Hoshaw were members of a Bantam AAA team, the California Wave, that won a national championship.

The team was so popular a documentary In The Crease was created, featuring both Power and Hoshaw as key players.

Eight years later, the two California natives are now in their last year of college hockey, and both boast the role of captain for their teams, with Hoshaw being the leader of the Yellow Jackets.

“He’s a really, really close friend of mine and a good family friend, so I’m obviously excited about playing against him,” Power said. “Our relationship goes back probably eight or nine years, so we’ve known each other for a long time and still remain close to this day.”

With the game being on Friday, Power said he hasn’t gotten in touch with Hoshaw yet, but will certainly send him a message before they hit the ice.

“I’ll probably send him a text as the day gets closer, maybe tomorrow or Friday, but I’m definitely excited to see him,” he said.

This game will also be a bit unusual regard- Jason Kates can be reached at ing the two captains, as jkates@umass.edu and followed on both leaders hail from the Twitter @Jason_Kates.

By Ross Gienieczko Collegian Staff

The second edition of Pigskin Pick’em resulted in another successful weekend. I was 3-2 outright and 4-1 against the spread for the second week in a row. Without further delay, the week 10 picks:

down to their competition, and could come out motivated for a showdown against a fellow 4-4 playoff contender.

most talented team in the league. I thought he was crazy. I’d like to apologize for questioning his judgment. With one of the The pick: New Orleans 34, best crowds in the league, I don’t see the Cardinals San Francisco 17 letting St. Louis off the Detroit Lions (-3) vs. hook.

Miami Dolphins

Calvin Johnson will be back in the lineup for Detroit. The Dolphins thrive on running the ball, and the Lions are one of the best in the league Thursday Night: at stopping it. Miami has Cincinnati Bengals looked impressive the (-6) vs. Cleveland last few weeks, but has Browns injury concerns with runAn old AFC rivalry. ning back Lamar Miller Temperatures expect- banged up and safety Reshad Jones now out for ed to be in the 30s. In the season. I’m not going other words, the perfect to overthink this one – the set up for some good, oldbetter team is playing at fashioned, smash-mouth home. football. I can’t see either team pulling away from The pick: Detroit 28, the other. Thursday night Miami 16 games are notoriously sloppy, and the Bengals and Browns have a recent Arizona Cardinals (-7) vs. St. Louis Rams history of playing ugly football, even in wins. I like Brian Hoyer and the The Rams pulled off Browns have been frisky an upset of the 49ers this year, but the Bengals at home last week, and have the better team over- the Cardinals had the benefit of Dallas going all. full-Weeden on them.

The pick: Cincinnati 17, Still, the Cardinals are the best team in the Cleveland 14 NFC. Before the season, Rodney Harrison said New Orleans Saints that Arizona might be the

(-4.5) vs. San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers – after a brutal 13-10 loss to the Rams – are in the midst of a debacle in San Francisco. With Jim Harbaugh’s leadership being questioned, and his days with the team possibly numbered, it’s a bad time to catch a hot Saints team. With extra rest coming off a Thursday night game combined with home field advantage, I could see the Saints turning this one ugly. One concern – the 49ers usually play up or

AIC

continued from page

and that guys feel confident with,” Micheletto said.

American International enters the contest at 2-41, but is trending in the right direction. The Yellow Jackets swept Niagara last weekend, and had a strong offensive showing with seven goals scored in the two game series. AIC is led by head coach Gary Wright, in his 31st season as head coach of the team, while senior forward Alexander MacMillan leads the team in goals with five, and goaltender Alex Murray is 2-1-1

The pick: Arizona 28, St. Louis 10

Green Bay Packers (-7.5) vs. Chicago Bears Each team was blown out in week eight and had a bye week to recover from their respected losses. The difference – the Packers loss was a fluke, whereas the Bears loss is closer to the team they actually are. Big spreads are always dangerous, but this Green Bay offense is the real deal. The Bears had no answer for Tom Brady, and I see no reason why they would have any answer for Aaron Rodgers.

The pick: Green Bay 38, Chicago 21 Ross Gienieczko can be reached at rgieniec@umass.edu, and can be followed on Twitter @RossGien

MCT

Aaron Rodgers has thrown for 19 touchdown passes to just three picks.

8 this season with a .954 save percentage.

Although AIC is not a Hockey East foe, Kravchenko said that UMass still has to be prepared and play their best hockey.

“They’re going to bring their best,” he said. “Any team can win on any given night. I’m assuming it’s going to be a hard game, and we have to bring our A game.”

To play their “A” game, UMass is going to have to play a full 60 minutes of

hockey. It’s something that Micheletto and Kravchenko both spoke about, and it’s clear that a complete effort was a focus in practice and preparation this week.

“We’ve gotten good parts and pieces depending on the night in different areas of the game,” Micheletto said. But, he went on to say, “We’re striving to get 60 complete minutes of hockey out of everybody.”

Faceoff from Mullins Center will be at 7 p.m. on Friday.

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Thursday, November 6, 2014

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FIELD HOCKEY

A DYNASTY IN THE MAKING

UMass seeks third consecutive A-10 Championship UM to face Lock Haven in semifinal

By Jamie Cushman Collegian Staff

ALEC ZABRECKY/COLLEGIAN

Melanie Kreusch dribbles the ball downfield against Lock Haven, UMass’ opponent on Friday, earlier in the season.

By Tyler Fiedler Collegian Staff

For the Massachusetts field hockey team, the confidence level is the highest it’s been all season, and it could not have come at a better time.

The Minutewomen are heading to Richmond this weekend for the Atlantic 10 tournament, having won eight of their final 10 regular season games. With the A-10 regular season title locked up, they earned the top seed in the conference tournament.

UMass has all of that riding for it when it plays Lock Haven in the first round of the A-10 Tournament. The Minutewomen enter the game 5-0 all-time against the Lady Eagles.

When asked if the 5-0 record gives UMass added confidence, head coach Carla Tagliente said she does not think so.

“I don’t necessarily think that,” Tagliente said.

“Anything can happen in a tournament game.”

In their previous meeting on Oct. 3, three first half goals from Izzie Delario, Sarah Hawkshaw and Melanie Kreusch gave the Minutewomen a win over Lock Haven 3-0.

Tagliente expects a much different game then the one they saw earlier in the

season.

“We are expecting their best game,” Tagliente said.

“I think that game was a lot closer than what the score said.”

The Lady Eagles will have plenty to say come game time on Friday. Lock Haven finished with a 6-2 record in conference play this season. However, it did not end the season in a particularly strong fashion, as it dropped its final two games of the regular season.

UMass, however, is a team on a mission. It posted a 7-1 conference record and turned its season around after a very slow start. The Minutewomen started the season 2-7 before reeling off eight wins in ten games, regaining their confidence and making the immaculate turnaround for a season that was heading in the wrong direction.

But this will not be an easy contest for the Minutewomen.

Their main focus will have to be defending the tough front from the Lady Eagles.

Nakira Downes and Rachel Valentine pace the Lock Haven offense. Downes has a team-leading 24 points, including nine goals, while Valentine has chipped in seven goals for the Lady Eagles.

“We have the ability to win it all.

We just need to believe in ourselves and play together.”

Carla Tagliente UMass head coach

“They have good front players who are very quick,” Tagliente said. “We need to stop them up-field before they can generate anything.”

UMass has focused primarily on its defensive front, according to Tagliente. The defense will have receive added bonus when Lauren Allymohamed returns after taking a ball to the face in the previous game.

Allymohamed is the captain and anchor of the Minutewomen defense that has improved their play from the start of the season. That defense will need to play at its highest level if it is going to be able to maintain the Lock Haven scorers.

“We have really focused on our defense all week,” Tagliente said. “In order to stop (Lock Haven), we need to organize quickly and stop them up the field.”

UMass is fortunate enough to have another anchor to that defense in goalkeeper – Sam Carlino.

Carlino has posted yet another outstanding season in net for the Minutewomen, as she posted 1.74 goals per game average and started every game this season.

The Lady Eagles have a stonewall of their own, as goalkeeper Elaina White has posted 1.35 goals per game average while making 74 saves on the season. “(White) always seems to have big games against us,” Tagliente said. “She has an aggressive style, so we need to make sure we are in the circle ready for rebounds and deflections.”

Tagliente knows her team will be ready for the challenge this weekend, and is fully confident her team can get the job done.

“We have the ability to win it all,” Tagliente said.

“We just need to believe in ourselves and play together.”

Tyler Fiedler can be reached by email tfiedler@umass.edu and on Twitter @ Tyler_Fiedler.

The Massachusetts field hockey team will look to capture its third straight conference title as it enters the Atlantic 10 tournament as the top seed. The Minutewomen (10-9, 7-1 A-10) will begin tournament play against Lock Haven on Friday in Richmond, Virginia in a semifinal match.

The Minutewomen have experienced tournament success in the past and enter the tournament as the top target. But according to coach Carla Tagliente, there isn’t an added pressure of being the tournament’s top seed.

“It’s just a number,” Tagliente said. “It’s nice (to recognize) the team for the work they’ve done all season, but it doesn’t carry much weight at this point. I mean you still have to win two games. If it gave you a goal advantage that would be awesome. But it doesn’t so it’s just for seeding at this point.”

Midfielder Hailey Cockrum agreed and recalled last year’s semifinal, in which UMass escaped Virginia Commonwealth in double-overtime, 1-0.

“We know going into this tournament that just because we’re ranked first doesn’t mean that our first round is going to be easy,” she said.

With two A-10 titles already on her resume, senior midfielder Renee Suter has the leadership to know what it takes to win in the tournament.

“Be confident and stick to the game plan,” she said.

“It’s just another game.

Obviously there is more on the line, but at the end of the day it’s just another game that we need to come out on top for.”

The Minutewomen faced the Lady Eagles at home back on Oct. 3, a game in which UMass won 3-0.

Tagliente believes it will take

hard work and determination to beat the Lady Eagles for the second time this season.

“They’re not going to be an easy opponent,” Tagliente said. “They defend with numbers. (In the first matchup) we found it challenging in parts of the game to get some attack generated.”

In the first matchup, Lock Haven’s playing style presented a difficult task for the Minutewomen. The Lady Eagles featured a defensive alignment that used all ten players defensively and attacked with as few as five players.

“Our defensive structure and our organization was a bit clustered at times because we had three or four more players than they had,” Tagliente said. “We just need to simplify it, communicate and play our game.”

The tournament comes at a good time for the Minutewomen, winners of eight of their last ten games.

“We’ve peaked at the right time,” Cockrum said.

“We’re going in with a lot of momentum and team comradery. We’re confident not only just with our position of being first, but our play as well.”

Suter is eager to get her final A-10 tournament underway, confident in the team’s ability to secure another title.

“I’m excited to go into the game,” she said. “I feel like we’ve really started to come together as a team. We’ve been playing really well.

We’re been scoring goals, not just off corners but in the field which is important for us. Those are really good things to have going in to the A-10 tournament.”

The game between Lock Haven and UMass is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Friday, following the other semifinal matchup of Richmond vs Saint Francis at 11 a.m. The two semifinals winners will square off for the A-10 title on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Jamie Cushman can be reached at jrcushman@umass.edu.

HOCKEY

Minutemen look“They’re togoingrebound vs AIC on Friday to bring their best. Any team

UM to host Yellow Jackets at Mullins

By Ross Gienieczko Collegian Staff

Last weekend, in a series against Maine, the Massachusetts hockey team played well at times. Friday night, it recovered from deficits of 3-0 and 5-3 to tie the game, and on Saturday it jumped out to a 2-0 lead in two periods.

However, sometimes playing well isn’t good enough, as the Minutemen failed to gain any points in the series in two losses against the Black Bears.

UMass (2-5, 1-4 Hockey East) returns to Amherst for just its second home game of the season. After the sea-

son-opener against Boston University, the Minutemen embarked on a six-game road trip that included games at Michigan State, Maine, Boston College and Northeastern University.

They went 2-4 on the trip, with the two wins coming against the Spartans and Huskies.

Of fensively, the Minutemen are led by freshman center Dennis Kravchenko, who enjoyed a breakout weekend against Maine. After recording just two points in the five games prior to the Maine series, Kravchenko exploded with three goals and an assist over two games. The three goals scored were enough to give him the team lead.

“His game definitely took a step,” coach John

can win on any given night.”

Dennis Kravchenko UMass forward

Micheletto said. “But having said that, I think he’s been really good for us, and it just hasn’t shown up as much on the score sheet as it did on the weekend. He’s a talented player with a diverse skill set.”

“It’s a good feeling,” Kravchenko said. “Overall I feel like my game has been good … things just clicked this time.”

Other big contributors to the attack have been sophomores Steven Iacobellis and Ray Pigozzi. The linemates have each recorded two goals and four assists, and have been the most consistent playmakers for UMass thus

far.

In net, the Minutemen have used a rotation of senior Steve Mastalerz and freshman Henry Dill so far this season. Dill has backstopped UMass to both of their wins, and has appeared in five of seven games so far. Mastalerz had a rough start to the year against the Terriers, allowing six goals and another five against Michigan State. But he bounced back Saturday with a strong performance against the Black Bears, making 35 saves in a losing effort.

“It was important for him to kind of get back on the horse a little bit,” Micheletto

ALEC ZABRECKY/COLLEGIAN

Defensemen Oleg Yevenko goes to poke the puck away vs. BU on Oct. 10 said.

Mastalerz appears to be regaining his form in net, and Micheletto talked about how important it was to have two capable goaltenders

available.

“It’s big for us, as a team, to have more than one goaltender that can get the start see

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