Issue 22

VOLUME CLI, ISSUE 22

WEDNESDAY, April 6, 2022

amherststudent.com

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

ACPD Responds About Unmarking Vehicles Caelen McQuilkin ’24E and Sonia Chajet Wides ’25 Managing News Editor and Assistant News Editor

Photo courtesy of Matai Curzon ’22

Following student backlash on the recent unmarking of all ACPD vehicles, Chief of Police John Carter sent an email to faculty, students, and staff on Friday asking for input on whether the markings should be replaced.

College Loosens Testing, Masking Protocols Liam Archacki ’24, Eleanor Walsh ’25, and Jerry Zhang ’25 Senior Managing Editor, Managing News Editor, and Staff Writer On Monday, April 4, the college’s newest Covid protocols went into effect. Community members may now choose whether to wear a mask in a number of spaces that previously required masking, and the testing requirement for students has shifted from twice a week to once a week.

According to the March 30 email announcing these changes, which was signed by Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Health Readiness Group Kate Salop, wearing a mask is now optional

OPINION

except in academic instructional spaces, in service locations such as Frost Library’s information desk, when entering and exiting Valentine Dining Hall, and in athletic service locations including exercise rooms. Residence halls and outdoor spaces had already been designated mask-optional.

In the email, students were asked to select whether they would like to test on Mondays, Tuesdays, or Thursdays for the remainder of the semester. Faculty will sign up for one testing day each week, regardless of how frequently they are on campus. Community members who would like to test more frequently are allowed to do so.

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Climate Refugees: Tara Alahakoon ‘25 and Mohamed Ramy ‘18 urge the community to do more for those who lose their homes to climate change.

The mask policy at any given moment is largely determined by the people around you, the email states. As of April 4, masks are optional in shared workspaces when everyone present agrees, but everyone must wear a KN95 mask if someone with whom they are interacting asks them to do so. KN95 masks are also required in healthcare facilities and at organized indoor events.

Unvaccinated community members are still required to wear a mask at all times while they are indoors.

“The first days felt great to me,” said Poler Family Professor of Psychology Catherine Sanderson on the new protocols. “Obviously it didn’t change my experi-

ARTS & LIVING

ence in the classroom, in which we are all masked, but I’m giving students the choice during my office hours, and I had my first mask-free office hours visit yesterday.”

Despite the policy shifts, the email affirmed that “Amherst remains a mask-friendly community” and that community members are “expected to have a mask with them at all times.”

Even though many of the new masking protocols are based on individual preference rather than the physical space one is in, Salop was confident that the protocols would be upheld. “It is our hope that, having navigated the

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Film Festivals: Sarah Weiner '24 overviews two local film festivals that have brought together global perspectives and narratives.

SPORTS

In an email sent to faculty, students, and staff on Friday, April 1, Chief of Police John Carter issued a response to criticism over his recent decision to unmark all Amherst College Police Department (ACPD) vehicles. He expressed regret for not consulting with the community prior to making the decision, and requested that any individuals with input on the situation share their thoughts either directly or through an official pathway.

Carter’s email was prompted by concerns about the department’s newly unmarked police vehicles, as voiced by students and other community members in an article in last week’s issue of The Student.

Students shared that the inability to tell which cars belonged to ACPD did not increase their feelings of safety. They also expressed that Carter’s focus on the visual presence of ACPD exemplified a refusal to contend with more sweeping demands for police reduction, disarmament, and abolition.

In his email, Carter wrote that the decision was based on the

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Athlete Spotlight: Maya Reiner '25 interviews All-American Dani Valdez '22 on her illustrious career on the women's basketball team.

News POLICE LOG

Thoughts on Theses Riku Kusumoto

March 22, 2022 – April 3, 2022

>>March 22, 2022 8:42 a.m., Greenway Dormitories The Grounds Department called in a parking complaint after finding an unregistered student vehicle parked in front of a dumpster. Student was contacted to move their vehicle.

a 911 hang up call from an elevator emergency phone.

Upon arrival, no one was occupying the elevator.

1:39 p.m., Jenkins Hall Residential Life (ResLife) staff were notified about the presence of drugs and drug paraphernalia.

ResLife staff responded to confiscate these items, which were then turned over to the Amherst College Police Department (ACPD).

10:17 p.m., Stearns Hall A resident called in a complaint of loud music. Community Safety Assistants (CSA) asked a resident to turn the volume down.

>>March 25, 2022 10:56 a.m., Keefe Campus Center A 911 hang-up was received. Amherst College Dispatch (AC Dispatch) was able to speak with the party who reported no issues and the call was accidental. >>March 26, 2022 2:19 a.m., James Hall Caller admitted to accidentally hitting the emergency call button in the elevator.

No further assistance was needed.

2:34 a.m., Exterior of Hitchcock Dormitory Police responded to a request to check an exterior area for an intoxicated person. No one was found in the area. >>March 28, 2022 5:31 p.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory A detective responded to

>>April 1, 2022 2:49 p.m., Off Campus A detective took a report of a motor vehicle accident involving a college-owned vehicle.

>>April 2, 2022 1:08 a.m., Jenkins Hall A sergeant responded to a 911 hangup. Upon arrival the sergeant found the exterior phone vandalized.

2:07 p.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory A call was received from the emergency phone in the elevator. The responding sergeant found no one in the elevator.

2:45 p.m., Mayo Smith House A sergeant took a report of past vandalism of an exit sign.

10:37 p.m., Wieland Dormitory A noise complaint was made by a resident. CSAs responded and asked a group to lower the music volume. >>April 3, 2022 1:44 a.m., Seelye House A town resident made a complaint about noise at Seelye House. CSAs responded and ended the event.

Department of Political Science

Riku Kusumoto is a political science major. He is writing a political theory thesis on Ernesto Laclau’s work on populism. His thesis advisor is Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank ’55 Professor of International Relations Pavel Machala.

Q: What is your thesis about?

A: To put it in one word, it’s about populism. If you go into specifics, I follow the thought of one Argentinian political theorist by the name of Ernesto Laclau, who argues against the more commonplace notion of populism as this kind of manipulative leadership — like Trump — model. And he argues that, well, that’s part of it, but he kind of equates it more to politics in general. And he argues that whenever we have politics, we also do have populism. I kind of tried to think with and against him, in the sense that I tried to follow his arguments but also challenge where his arguments are weak, in an attempt to actually reinforce his arguments [and] work out all the complexities that he couldn’t really fully address.

fessor [of International Relations Pavel] Machala, who is my current advisor. And he got me interested in the idea of populism not being the more commonplace thing that we [think of it as], but actually something other than that. And I started digging around and found that Laclau seems to [have] one of the strongest theoretically grounded arguments that is made against that commonplace notion. That’s how I found him and I started reading him and he’s difficult, but also something feels right about him. So I just went deeper and deeper.

Q: What has the research process been for doing that?

A: It’s a political theory thesis, [so] most of my research is just reading.

It’s just reading different texts over and over again, especially for Laclau, who is the main thinker. I probably read all his books twice or three times, to kind of get what he’s really getting at because there’s this issue of people not really understanding where he’s coming from, because he has a very different understanding of politics in general. Yeah, so most of my research has been reading and reading and reading.

Q: You talked about the research and reading process, but how has the thinking and writing process been for you?

A: It’s been quite bumpy. I don’t know about other departments, but for political science, we have a first draft deadline in the beginning of January, where we try to write as much as possible and we get feedback on those first drafts. I actually was told to pretty much scrap the whole thing at that point. It wasn’t the idea; it was more about the writing and also how I organized my ideas. It was just not there. So in that sense, it was bumpy, but I also do think if I hadn’t done that, I probably wouldn’t be where I am right now. By putting everything on paper once, I was able to finally see what I didn’t understand.

Q: How did you get interested in studying Laclau in particular?

A: I’m a transfer student, and when I transferred in, we had a first-year seminar on populism with [Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank ’55] Pro-

Q: What has been the most rewarding part of the thesis process?

A: If I think about the thesis project itself, it’s probably been how far I’ve come in terms of understanding Laclau. When I read the same book for

the third time, I see the little notes that I made the first time, and I’m usually off point — I’m miles off the point. But that makes me realize how much I’ve come in the process of understanding his arguments, from the first time I read to the second time, to the third time. It’s just been a rewarding experience to work with Laclau for pretty much a year and evaluate his discussion and feel like I understood, to a certain degree, his arguments.

Q: What have you learned from some of the challenges or setbacks that you’ve had in doing your thesis?

A: I think one of the biggest things that I learned is how to accept criticisms in a very constructive way.

By that, I mean you have to really separate or be very clear about what they are criticizing. So for example, I got my first draft pretty much rejected, but when I was listening to their feedback, I noticed — and this was something that [William H. Hastie ’25] Professor [of Political Science Thomas] Dumm, who was my second reader, did really well.

He really separated my ability, my understanding from the paper itself, and he really criticized the paper, but he didn’t attack me as a human being or my abilities or anything like that. It was hard to accept [at first], but when I finally was able to separate those two, it gave me another bit of motivation to actually work on it again. So I guess in short, it would be learn[ing] how to internalize criticism in a very constructive way.

—Yee-Lynn Lee '23

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

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College Grants FLTAs’ Request for Compensation Yee-Lynn Lee ’23 Editor-in-Chief The college has agreed to compensate three Spanish Fulbright Language Teaching Assistants (FLTA) with room and board for the remote semesters of the 20202021 academic year, following a petition the three sent the administration last Wednesday requesting the payment.

The petition, which had received over 400 signatures from students and other community members before it was sent, noted that the Fulbright program stipulates that FLTAs receive a financial award covering room and board, as well as daily living expenses. In omitting credit for room and board from the FLTAs’

compensation package last year when they had to work remotely, the college failed to make good on its contractual obligation, the petition argued.

Two of the petition’s authors — Emilia Farias Ferreira and Johann Kevin Mafla Orjuela — requested to be compensated with the full $15,910 representing room and board for the 20212022 academic year, while the last author, Carlos Pech Guzmán, asked for $7,955, since he had been on campus in Spring 2021 and thus been credited with room and board for that semester.

In a statement made to The Student on Tuesday, April 5, Provost and Dean of the Faculty Catherine Epstein reported that she has made the decision to

grant the three FLTAs’ requests.

“Although the College was clear in its appointment agreements with the language assistants that they would not receive funds for room and board, I have been made aware of additional documents from Fulbright that may have confused the issue for them,” wrote Epstein. “In light of this confusion, and in recognition of our language assistants’ fine work, I have decided that we will provide them an additional stipend representing room and board for the 2020-21 academic year for the time that they were working remotely.”

Ferreira, Orjuela, and Guzmán told The Student that Epstein notified them of her decision on Monday night, after they

had met with her last Friday to discuss their petition.

“We were so happy about it,” said Ferreira.

She went on to express gratitude for everyone who signed and supported the petition. “All of the students that signed the petition were on our side, and I think that helped,” she said. “Because without that, I don’t think the college would be so willing to meet up and talk about our needs.”

“It goes to show that when the community bands together to a common goal, we can get there,” Ferreira added.

Orjuela said they were also grateful for the support they’ve received from the Spanish Department throughout their time

at the college, with Ferreira noting that “they did their best to give us everything that they could.”

The meeting with Epstein also provided an opportunity to talk about their broader experiences and challenges as FLTAs at the college, said Guzmán, beyond just the financial troubles that last year’s reduced compensation had brought.

“She was very open to discussion and she was very understanding of everything that was going on,” added Ferreira. “In the meeting, she asked us personal questions, and she was very willing to adapt the program to improve it and make it better for other Fulbrighters that may come here.”

New Affordable Housing Project To Break Ground in Town Ethan Foster ’25 Staff Writer This spring, the town of Amherst is set to break ground on a new affordable housing project called East Gables at 132 Northampton Road. The nearly six-million dollar project has elicited both support and concern from members of the college and town community.

Developed by Valley Community Development Corporation (Valley CDC) — a Northampton-based nonprofit that works to provide affordable housing in the Pioneer Valley — the East Gables project is one of several housing projects currently underway that respond to the local need for small, affordable rental units.

The project was initially proposed in 2019, and was approved in November 2020 by the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals. However, construction was ultimately delayed to spring of this year due to Covid-related slowdowns.

According to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, East Gables will consist of one building

equipped with 28 fully-accessible studio apartments of approximately 240 square feet.

Each apartment will be furnished with kitchenettes and bathrooms, in addition to a common room, a laundry room, and an office for onsite supportive services. The building will place a focus on energy efficiency, sporting rooftop solar panels which allow it to be powered without the use of fossil fuels.

Apartment residents will be selected through a lottery system, with residents who make between 30 and 80 percent of the median income being eligible to participate. In addition, several apartments will be specifically set aside for individuals who have recently been homeless, and for clients of the Department of Mental Health, a state resource providing support for residents’ mental health needs.

The town of Amherst has been experiencing a housing shortage for many years, due in large part to the many students in need of off-campus housing in the area. According to the

Continued on page 5

Photo courtesy of Aoife McGuire '24

The East Gables affordable housing project at 132 Northampton Road is being constructed in response to the town of Amherst’s lack of affordable housing.

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

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Differing Views on Partial Lifting of Mask Mandate Continued from page 1 past two years of the pandemic together, our community members can have respectful conversations about masking. It’s up to all of us to commit to and accomplish that,” she stated.

The updates to the college’s Covid protocols come after similar changes at several peer institutions. Within the past month, Williams College, UMass Amherst, and Smith College have all at least partially lifted their on-campus masking requirements. On Feb. 28, Williams

lifted its masking requirement except, most notably, in classes. UMass Amherst followed suit on March 9, fully lifting its campus-wide indoor masking requirement. And on April 4, Smith joined Amherst in partially lifting their mandate. Meanwhile, the other Five-College schools — Mount Holyoke and Hampshire Colleges — still require masking indoors.

While the college’s shift does align with recent decisions made by peer institutions, and administrators are in regular contact with other NESCAC schools,

Salop stated that ultimately Amherst makes decisions “based on what is best for our community” and follows its own timeline.

The new protocols come in the wake of increased debate among students over the mask mandate. Shortly before the protocols were lifted, heated discourse took place in the campus-wide GroupMe AmherstBussin about the safety of removing the mandate. In a poll sent to the chat on March 19, 107 students voted that they would like to see the mask mandate continued, while 79 indicated a preference

for ending the mandate.

“I think between some community members there’s definitely that mutual respect. I think in others that definitely does not exist,” Dania Hallak ’24 said. “I don’t think, I’ll be honest, that we can depend on that mutual respect regarding the masking.”

Other students have more positive feelings about the change. “I think we’re moving in the right direction, but I still think it’s a little strict,” said Nikhil Saldana ’25. “It feels like we’re constantly a step behind everyone else.”

The announcement also noted that these updated protocols depend on cases remaining low, and that the college is prepared to make adjustments if circumstances shift.

“My hope is that eventually we will return to pre-pandemic life, but I’m also mindful that different members of the campus community have different reactions to such changes. I don’t have any pre-existing conditions, I don’t live with medically vulnerable people, and I don’t have young kids who can't yet be vaccinated,” Sanderson said.

Community Calls Out Continued Inaction, Misaction from ACPD Continued from page 1 belief that “fewer marked police cars on campus would lessen the anxiety that they produce for some students.”

He noted that input from the community will be used to aid in the decision on whether to replace the markings on the cars, and affirmed his commitment to making the campus one where all community members feel safe.

Some were heartened by Carter’s openness to students’ perspectives in reconsidering the decision.

“Asking for feedback and [Carter] giving his explanation and making a way to communicate with him is a step at redressing this mistake, which is good,” said Victor Bowman-Rivera ’22.

Others viewed Carter’s efforts differently.

“The school is always asking for us to go to them,” said Mollie Hartenstein ’23.

“The idea that we have to make time out of our day to tell the chief [we disagree] when he knows it is idiotic,” she said.

“The idea that we have to make time for them, and not the other way around, is actually just … backwards.”

“I was really surprised to see that [Carter] was himself seem-

ingly surprised at the reaction,” said Michaela Brangan, visiting assistant professor of law, jurisprudence, and social thought.

“He said, you can either email me directly, or you can do it through these other channels … and that’s how we will receive your feedback as legitimate. But there’s already the series of articles … isn’t that feedback?”

Marina Maulucci, a former Valentine Dining Hall employee who now works as a contractor for the college, shared similar sentiments.

“It’s gaslighting in my opinion,” she said. “They’re just acting like the anti-police sentiment hasn’t been clearly argued and rallied for. It’s clear what the students want, and it isn’t police at all.”

Maulucci’s comment highlights a sentiment that ACPD decision-making is not taking into account widely shared student opinion.

There have been frequent student demands for change in the department over the past few years, many of which have called for structural changes to ACPD. Amidst a wave of national activism related to police brutality in summer 2020, the Black Student Union (BSU) and Black Amherst Speaks released the campaign to Reclaim Amherst,

which demanded the disarmament of all ACPD officers, writing that “as long as ACPD is armed, Black students will not be safe.”

Around the same time, student organizers made conversations around abolishing ACPD more public. In June 2020, a petition calling for the abolition of ACPD began circulating as the result of further-reaching student activism. It garnered over 200 signatures from students and alumni.

On April 14, 2021, following the police killing of Daunte Wright, the BSU officially demanded the abolition of ACPD. The AAS also updated its position on campus safety from reducing and disarming to abolishing the department.

In response to these demands, the administration and ACPD introduced the Community Safety Officer (CSO) and Community Safety Assistant (CSA) positions to handle incidences in dorms, increased the number of mental health counselors, reduced the number of campus police officers, shifted medical crises responsibilities from ACPD to Amherst College Emergency Medical Services (ACEMS) and the Office of Student Affairs, and adopted a comfort dog.

Carter described these chang-

es in a statement to The Student last week: “The focus of our certified police officers has shifted to public safety administrative tasks, community engagement and investigations.”

The changes were made following a number of open listening sessions hosted through the Campus Safety Advisory Committee, that were tasked with “generating options for a community safety model that will support the range of needs within our community,” according to its website.

Some, however, viewed the changes as still not in line with student demands. For example, at the beginning of this fall, students expressed confusion and concern over the CSA and CSO roles, citing a high level of surveillance. Many also viewed the department’s adoption of a comfort dog as a shallow and inconsequential change, distracting from the essential issue with the department.

Several interviewees noted a cyclical pattern of students calling for change, ACPD asking for feedback, and then making a shift that seemingly does not seriously consider said feedback, such as avoiding disarmament.

“Saying you want to listen to students is amazing,” said Jay Baldwin ’25. “But I feel like

when they do listen to students, they don’t do anything with it. ... They want to listen to the students until the students have something to say that they don’t agree with.”

Kamil Mouehla ’25 emphasized that students should be included in decision making processes in a way that goes beyond just offering input. “Decision-making, especially when it comes to power-wielding individuals, should be bilateral and the most important agent in such an important process is the students,” he said.

Edmund Kennedy ’23E pointed out the contradiction at the root of the disconnect. “The interests are different … Historically, [ACPD is] seldom needed or respond to calls where their presence is needed. However, I imagine they like their jobs and want to keep them.”

A student who wished to remain anonymous out of concern for their personal situation had similar thoughts. “Of course they’re never going to think policing is scary and dangerous, because that’s diametrically opposed to what they’re taught, which is that they are the good guys, and they keep us safe,” he said. “If they thought police were the bad guys, they couldn’t be police officers anymore.”

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

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2022-2023 AAS E-board Candidate Statements The Editorial Board On Thursday, April 7, the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) will hold elections for president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and Judiciary Council Chair. The students below have announced their candidacies for these elections.

Students who are interested in hearing from these candidates, or are interested in running but were unable to submit a candidate statement, should attend Speech Night on Wednesday, April 6, at 7 p.m. in Johnson Chapel.

All candidates are listed by position then alphabetically by last name.

President: Sirus Wheaton ’23 Hey, I’m Sirus and I’m running for AAS President. These are some of the activities I have been involved with here: • President of the Black Student Union • Senator for Class of 2023 • Diversity Outreach Intern • Black Minds Matter Walkout • College Council Member • Anti Racism Committee • Free Hygiene Supply Initiative • Integrate Amherst, Reclaim Amherst, Amherst Acts

• Club Soccer Captain Amherst hasn’t always been the amazing place that I hoped and wanted it to be. Constantly demanding and instilling change within both the administration and student community is the only way we can actualize the diverse and inclusive campus we were promised.

Michael Xu ’25 To be honest, I have zero experience with student government — not even as elementary school treasurer. But I do have experience connecting with you, the Amherst community. And, most importantly, I can promise to be real. Through laughing, eating, and balling with y’all, I’ve developed this unwavering belief that deep down, we are more the same than different. For me, the biggest obstacle to forming magical relationships is fear — fear of being rejected when reaching out. As president, I’ll focus my efforts on what matters most: human connection. I’ll accentuate what makes Amherst special for me: the TIGHTTT-knit feeling of community.

Vice-President: Taha Zafar Ahmad ’24 One of my favorite members of AAS, Basma, the current vice-president, is graduating. I have observed her maintaining the conduct of the Senate according to the agenda, and re-

spected the manner in which she keeps the Senate organized in its conduct/proceedings. I wish to follow in her footsteps. Being a member of AAS is the most formative experience of my time at Amherst. I have taken on diverse roles including organizing transportation, being part of the Community Standards Review Board, organizing a blood drive, and would love to use my experiences to build a better Senate for Amherst students.

Jaden Richards ’25 The vice-president should be comfortable communicating student desires to administrators. A vice-president should increase the Senate’s effectiveness while also improving its engagement with the student body. I believe I can do both of these things. This year I served on four committees — more than the typical three; from working to approve new faculty to creating club budgets, I will always speak up for the student body. My term would have more Senate-sponsored events (and food!), a monthly recap of Senate activity, and committee leaders to collect student feedback and keep committees active.

Vote for Jaden!!

Secretary: No candidates Treasurer: Dania Hallak ’24

As Amherst transitions back to pre-Covid times, it’s important to have someone with the experience, dedication, and representation to guide the student body and Budgetary Committee (BC).

I’ve been both an affinity/club leader requesting money and a BC member approving requests, and understand the complexity of funding. I’ve been a senator and BC member for two years.

As treasurer, I want to better educate the student body on funding and request processes to BC/ other administrational offices, alter policies to be equitable/considerate of affinity spaces and the changing times, and fund projects like Grammarly, Headspace, and FLI work compensation.

JC Chair: Alex Jabor ’23 Over my two terms I have seen JC’s potential to hold the Senate accountable and act in the student body’s interests. I have co-authored election reforms to increase transparency and expand voting rights, held a leading role in the recent complaint adjudication process and co-authored JC’s first judicial opinion in years. My leadership and legal experiences outside of JC, my passion for equity, and my dedication to the truth have prepared me to serve the Amherst community as an active JC chair. We must reform JC to ensure AAS reflects our values as an evolving

student body.

Shreya Susan Mathew ’25 I am Shreya Susan Mathew, from Kerala, India. My senatorial experience since 2021 has helped me understand the expectations of our community and implement projects like providing Grammarly Premium memberships for all our students. I am now running for the position of Judicial Council chair because I wish to work towards holistic development focusing on the academic and social well-being of Amherst College. I believe that my diverse background and experience will be an asset in the decision-making component that comes with my role. I vow to be impartial, prudent, and empathetic in my responsibilities as the JC chair.

Lucas Romualdo ’24 The Judiciary Council is meant to be a check on the AAS Senate and e-board. In past years, JC has been passive, providing advice in the case of disputes.

Having served on JC as a senator and on the e-board as secretary, that isn’t enough. JC needs to be proactive. We need a more thorough revision of the Constitution to promote student voice and accountability for AAS. We need a JC that is not on standby, but that actively pursues change.

I have what it takes to make that change, to lead JC, to build a better constitution for AAS.

East Gables Project Targets Dire Need for Affordable Housing Continued from page 3 Amherst Indy, UMass Amherst, which in 2021 had a total student enrollment of over 28,000 students, has only about 14,000 on-campus housing units. As a result, many students are required to find housing in the town of Amherst and surrounding areas, resulting in greater demand and higher prices.

Housing issues have only

been exacerbated as a result of the pandemic. A report released this year by the UMass Donahue Institute found that due to a “mismatch between available income and housing prices,” more than half of all renters located in the Pioneer Valley are housing “cost burdened,” meaning that they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing alone.

The East Gables project has

received support from members of the college and town community.

Professor of English and American Studies Karen Sanchez-Eppler, a resident of the town of Amherst, told The Student that “Amherst has long had a severe shortage of affordable housing, a situation that has significantly worsened over the pandemic with the steep rise in local housing costs. A broader

range of available housing, including true low-income housing, will make Amherst a better place to live for everyone.”

Sophia Harrison ’22, a student caseworker with Amherst Community Connections (ACC), expressed the group’s support in a statement to The Student, writing: “ACC believes that the East Gables Housing Project is a step in a positive direction. We believe any oppor-

tunity to build more affordable housing in the Pioneer Valley is a positive asset for our community. … This is just the beginning.”

Isabel Wood ’22, who also works at ACC, expressed a similar sentiment, telling The Student that the “East Gables Housing Project is a huge accomplishment for the Town of

Continued on page 7

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

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Jeremy Koo ’12 Discusses Path to Sustainability Consulting Pho Vu ’23 Staff Writer On Thursday, March 31, Jeremy Koo ’12, a Distributed Energy Resources and Electrification Associate at Cadmus Group, spoke with energy-interested students about his unique career pathway to technical consultancy. The talk, which took place in the Science Center, was part of the Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Development’s 2022 Alumni-in-Residence Program.

Koo’s work at Cadmus, an international, mission-driven strategic and technical consulting firm dedicated to advancing social good, focuses heavily on energy. In his talk, which was lauded by student attendees, Koo discussed the value of public-private partnerships and the power of a liberal arts education, among other topics.

Koo began the presentation by reminiscing on his days at Amherst as a young scholar.

Hailing from San Diego, Koo came to Amherst in September 2008 with a rough plan to go through 15 departments in his first two years’ worth of classes and, like any San Diegan, a reluctant readiness for Massachusetts’ notorious snowy winters. “It really started with ‘So what the hell do I want to major in?’ when I got to Amherst,” said Koo. “One of the attractions of Amherst was the open curriculum,” he said, attributing his well-rounded intellectual growth to the freedom to experiment, taking classes from different disciplines.

“The only thing that I really knew that I wanted to do was sing a capella when I got here.” Koo joined The Zumbyes in his first year and maintained his membership for the rest of his time at Amherst.

In his senior year, Koo declared a double major in music and environmental studies and wrote a thesis in music composition before graduating with a career-choice question: “So what the hell do I do with my life?”

Koo said that, after a period working as a graduate assistant in

the music department and then an assistant director of Amherst College Choral Society, he decided to turn towards his other major: environmental studies, and applied to be an intern at Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

“Despite how much I admired my professors, I would not say that they really got a bead on where the industry was at that time,” Koo said. Nonetheless Koo found that “[my] generalist approach to things and [my] mindset to learn quickly and adapt to different challenges” was extremely useful, especially once he moved to intern at Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) in 2013.

NESEA was a Greenfield non-profit working to “to help coordinate what had … been a nascent niche group of green-home builders to slowly develop a field of practitioners.” At NESEA, he eventually became a coordinator facilitating programs on sustainability and the built environment.

After a search of over 500 companies within the NESEA network, Koo moved to Meister, a small, Boston-based consulting firm. The firm was later acquired by Cadmus Group, where Koo has continued to work.

In 2017, Koo became a senior analyst at Cadmus, where he now works as an associate.

While “some consultants are a little bit like management consultants where they work 100 percent on individual long-term projects,” Koo is “on six to eight projects at the same time,” and manages about half of them.

Koo commented on the unpredictability of consulting. “Unfortunately, consulting is hardly a 40-hour-work week … I usually work around 44-ish hours,” Koo said. “You can’t really control clients … Sometimes, governments will just decide: ‘Hey, we need to spend all this money by this date.

Please respond to this request by sending in a 20-page bid on why we should hire you to develop a strategy by next week!’”

Koo was also surprised by the amount of writing that he had to undertake as a consultant. He cites

his work on reports, client communication, and presentations as places where an Amherst education came in handy.

He credited his time at Amherst for introducing him to the idea of working with the public sector through readings and group discussions from his environmental studies class. “I learned that there’s either ‘working for’ or ‘working with’ the public sector,” said Koo. Governments frequently work with the private sector; “The government doesn’t have staff on hand to be able to install solar,” Koo said.

“Governments lack in-house technical expertise … As a result, most governments fill in these capacities using a public procurement process that brings in private energy consulting firms to perform that work and avoid creating permanent positions.”

Koo assured students that their future hard-earned liberal arts degree will have practical applications.

In delivering his analysis of Amherst’s role in preparing him for the professional world, Koo stated that, while the college did not provide him with tangible subject-matter knowledge and technical skill sets, it exposed him to a wide range of environmental issues and gave him diverse perspectives for approaching problems and developing solutions, as well as a reasonable writing ability. “Courses at Amherst that emphasized how to frame and approach complex problems from multidisciplinary perspectives have been most valuable for developing strategic approaches to addressing my client needs,” Koo said.

Contemplating the energy and utility consulting services industry in the next five years, Koo asserted that climate action is at a critical point. “By 2030, we’ll hit a major milestone for many governments engaged in climate action. [There are] unlikely to be magic bullets that solve our problems — only complicated answers to a complicated problem. However, the industry is growing, with increasing investment and dependency on public and private sector leader-

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

Jeremy Koo '12 gave a talk at the college on March 31 on his career path to energy consulting. ship. It is certain to me that there are a lot more opportunities to grow within the energy and sustainability space.”

Koo concluded his presentation with words of advice on career paths. “I was super anxious about entering the workforce without a clear career trajectory like other of my friends did. It took a while for me to finally realize it was okay to not know [firsthand] what you want to do. The rest of your life is a long time,” shared Koo. “It is okay to come out of school and just want to explore and try out different sectors and not feel like you have figured out what path in life you want to stay committed to eventually.”

Koo advised students to not limit themselves into any one particular field too soon.

In his closing remarks, Koo emphasized the importance of finding something that gives us enough joy and hassles that we tolerate enough. “It is great that a job can be your passion,” said Koo. “But a job can also just be a job.”

In the Q&A section, Sushan

Bharratai ’24 asked: “How equitable do you think the change in serving renewable energy is?”

In response, Koo explained that “There’s a lot of issues right now with equity. For better or for worse, we’re not as far as where we need to be on the point of global energy.” Koo cited policy in states such as New York, whose recent climate legislation sets aside interest revenue from new energy policy for low-income communities.

“I have been working particularly with policymakers and New York staff since 2015,” Koo said, “The question that they’re asking went from ‘How do we get these technologies?’ to ‘How do we get these technologies into homes so people can afford them?’ The questions are shifting.”

“Such an insightful presentation by Jeremy Koo,” said Micah Owino, Program Director for Careers in Government and Nonprofits at the Loeb Center. “He successfully illustrated how public and private partnerships can positively impact society.”

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

News

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From the Red Room: March 28 AAS Meeting Updates Liam Archacki ’24 Senior Managing Editor On Monday, April 4, the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) met for the eighth time this semester. The meeting was held in the Red Room, with several senators joining over Zoom.

The meeting’s agenda included a town hall with Dean of Students and Chief of Student Affairs Liz Agosto, a public comment regarding the Presidential Search Committee (PSC), and a bylaw amendment to pay future AAS members.

Once attendance was taken, Agosto’s Q&A-style town hall began, with senators asking questions about both the recent loosening of Covid protocols and Agosto’s new promotion from interim to permanent chief of student affairs.

Agosto affirmed that the current set of Covid protocols is expected to stay in place for the remainder of the semester, although further loosening may be possible in the fall. She also explained that the decision to require masking in classrooms

was rooted in the fact that, unlike events or other gatherings, students cannot choose to not attend class.

Regarding her promotion, Agosto said that while her work itself has changed little, not hiring an additional person to hold the role frees up money for other hires and resources.

When the floor was opened for public comment, Charlie Sutherby ’23E asked the AAS to sign a letter — which had been shared with senators ahead of time — addressed to the PSC. The letter urges the PSC to “select a candidate who will make social impact a College-wide priority.” Sutherby expressed that the AAS’ support of the letter would legitimize the initiative as reflecting the sentiment of the student body.

After asking Sutherby several clarifying questions, the Senate introduced and passed a motion to put the AAS’ signature on the letter.

After then approving the minutes from the previous meeting, the Senate reviewed the Budgetary Committee (BC)

discretionary funding recommendations and Senate fund requests.

Secretary Lucas Romualdo ’24, Vice-President Basma Azzamok ’22, Gent Malushaga ’25, and Mia Griffin ’24 each made Senate Fund requests for a total of $17,910. The BC recommendations, which were presented

by Treasurer Jae Yun Ham ’22, summed to $20,348.19. After discussion, both figures were simultaneously approved by the Senate.

Cole Graber-Mitchell ’22 presented the updated version of his proposed amendment to the AAS bylaws. Only taking effect after the Spring 2022 elections, the amendment institutes a wage of $15 an hour for all senators, executive board members, and at-large members on the BC and the Judiciary Committee. Only hours worked at mandatory, minuted meetings are eligible for compensation, and the total amount paid to each official is capped at $90 — or six paid hours — a week.

The proposal had initially had the cap set at four paid

hours a week, but several senators worried that Senate duties could require one to exceed the cap. After discussion, an informal poll revealed overwhelming support for six hours. The cap was then increased to six hours in the proposal.

Some senators praised the proposed amendment. Malushaga remarked that it would legitimize the Senate, and that he was not concerned about potential abuses given the restrictions in place. Others, however, expressed concern. Gavi Forman ’22 worried that not enough engagement had been had with the student body on the topic, noting that other valuable student groups do not get paid.

Before the Senate moved to a vote, Graber-Mitchell made final remarks on the proposal.

He suggested the amendment could make the AAS more professional, could make elections more competitive, and would reward AAS officials for their labor. A motion to vote on the amendment was introduced and passed, although some senators voted “no” or abstained.

The Senate then reviewed a proposal for a new AAS committee — The Amherst Dreamer Committee/Immigrant Alliance — which was presented by Lori Alarcon ’24. The proposed committee, which Alarcon had described at the previous week’s meeting, provides support for students without American citizenship at the college. Senators expressed support, and a vote to establish the committee passed handily.

Afterward, officers provided their weekly reports. Azzamok announced an upcoming meeting about campus safety with Chief of Police John Carter and Agosto to be held on April 7 at 1 p.m. Azzamok also remarked that the State of the College address will be held next Monday, April 11, and feature addresses to the college from Amherst President Biddy Martin and AAS President Angelina Han ’22. Romualdo reminded senators that AAS Executive Board elections will take place on Thursday, April 7.

The next AAS meeting will be held on Monday, April 11.

Affordable Housing Project Was Met With Support, Concern Continued from page 5 Amherst.”

Public comments made to the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals over the development of the project between 2019 and 2020 were similarly supportive.

One town resident stated that the project was a “well-designed response to a well-documented need in this area.” Another noted that “few projects in recent memory will so dramatically improve the lives of our most vulnerable citizens than the studio apartment project.”

One anonymous student expressed that Amherst “cannot welcome students of all income levels from around the country and world into its community … while simultaneously neglecting

to support the low-income families already living in [the town].”

However, responses to the project were not all positive.

Some residents took issue with the project’s location and size.

One resident, whose parents live adjacent to the project site, described the project as the building of a “monstrosity in a small neighborhood, the majority of which is owner occupied, single-family homes … [and] part of the historical district of Amherst.”

“It’s disheartening to know that an aging couple who have invested their life and their assets into the improvement of this neighborhood and their home can quickly get their home altered so greatly by the erection

of a 28 unit apartment complex,” they continued.

Still others, including Professor and Chair of French Laure Katsaros, worried that the project would not provide sufficient support systems for residents. “[I]n the current project, a manager would be present on site 20 hours a week only; no medical, social, or psychological support would be provided ... I believe providing more consistent onsite support for residents would be a good way to move forward,” she wrote in a letter to the council.

Dean of New Students Rick Lopez cited his concerns over the specific model of affordable housing that the plan proposed as his reason for opposing the project at the time.

A letter written to the Town Council and signed by 56 area residents, including several Amherst College professors, expressed concern with the project’s close proximity to Pratt Field. The letter conveyed the signees’ belief that the project’s construction near the Field, which is currently open to the public when not in use by the college, would “most likely result in the closing of this recreational area to public access.”

Many students were upset that Amherst faculty members would cosign the letter, with the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) releasing a response to this criticism and expressing their support of the project in November 2019, stating, “we support [the] work

to expand affordable housing in Amherst, so that all of our neighbors can have a safe place to live. We are prepared to do whatever we can to ensure that the development is successful and that the incoming residents have a smooth transition into their new homes.”

Three years later, despite the criticism and escalating construction costs, construction on East Gables has begun, and is expected to be completed in summer of 2023. Yet, the need for affordable housing is expected to continue far past the project’s completion. As Laura Baker, Valley CDC’s real estate development director, told the Daily Hampshire Gazette, “There just isn’t enough affordable housing.”

Op pinion

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Missing the Mark In an email sent by Chief of Police John Carter this past Friday, he expressed regret over his decision to remove markings on ACPD cars without seeking any input from the Amherst community beforehand. Carter reasoned that he believed fewer marked police vehicles would lessen anxiety for students.

Campus reaction to the unmarking of the vehicles was swift and unequivocal. Studentmade signs, campus-wide ridicule, and student quotes featured in The Student made it clear that unmarking the police vehicles was not an effective way to increase student comfort with the police presence on campus. The decision to remove markings from police cars demonstrates a complete obliviousness towards the concerns of the student body, and has succeeded only in making students feel more unsafe. Even more worryingly, Carter’s email reflects the unilateral nature of the decision: there was clearly no consultation with either the community or the police officers themselves before the decision was made. This is not a productive way to run any kind of organization, let alone one that already has such a fraught relationship with the students it nominally protects.

Calls for disarming and abolishing ACPD altogether have become dominant in on-campus rhetoric on the subject. The Editorial Board’s article from nearly a year ago echoes a call by the Association of Amherst Students to disarm ACPD and itself calls for the department’s abolition. And yet, with each of its responses to these calls, ACPD has failed to address — or even substantively acknowledge — student concerns. Their rhetoric centers around building trust with the student body, but that itself reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of students’ problems with police. The very existence of a police department is threatening to many students, especially Black students and other students of color, and there is no amount of public-relations spinning or friendly dog visits that can change that fact.

It is clear, therefore, that the end goal of police reform in the Amherst community must be the outright abolition of ACPD and the creation of a new structure focused on conflict resolution by unarmed members of the community. However, the administration is more than a little resistant to addressing student concerns so directly. The

abolition of ACPD will not happen quickly, but in the meantime it must change itself in order to be at least less antagonistic towards the student body — and unmarking police vehicles is not the way to do that.

Despite numerous listening sessions and nominal efforts to understand and adapt to students’ needs, there remain significant gaps in communication between students and ACPD. The decision to unmark ACPD vehicles came from a misconception of what students wanted, and a fundamental misunderstanding of why they wanted it. If it was clear to police administration that masking the police presence on campus only makes it more sinister and no less threatening, then the certainty of bad reactions from the student body, if not the obvious issues with their decision, would have dissuaded them from making the change.

Communication goes beyond the process of decision-making as well. We as students are not only upset by the unmarking of ACPD vehicles because it is a change we did not want, but also because it is one we were blindsided by. Without any formal announcement or explanation, news of it spread through word of mouth and means like AmherstBussin. When policies change, students should be informed. This means candid emails from the chief of police should always follow decisions made by the department. Communication also extends to a clear understanding of ACPD on the part of the student body. Students should know what ACPD’s purpose and policies are. We should know exactly what ACPD does as a department so that we may have a more productive relationship with it as a whole.

This is therefore a call for a kind of mutual transparency. Instead of “trust-building” events and policies that often feel like propaganda at best and downright sinister at worst, the inner workings of ACPD — as well as the thoughts and feelings of the student body — should be clear and very easily accessible to all parties. It is only through direct and obvious communication that we can ever hope to have our concerns heard.

Unsigned editorials represent the views of the majority of the Editorial Board — (assenting: 11; dissenting: 0; abstaining: 0).

THE AMHERST

STUDENT E X E C U T I V E B OA R D Editor-in-Chief Yee-Lynn Lee Senior Managing Theo Hamilton Liam Archacki Editors-at-Large Scott Brasesco Sophie Wolmer Managing News Caelen McQuilkin Tana DeLalio Assistant News Eleanor Walsh Sonia Chajet Wides Managing Opinion Kei Lim Dustin Copeland Assistant Opinion Tapti Sen

Managing Arts & Living Brooke Hoffman Alexander Brandfonbrener Aniah Washington Yasmin Hamilton Brianne LaBare Madeline Lawson Managing Sports Liza Katz Alex Noga Leo Kamin Nick Edwards-Levin Managing Podcast Sam Spratford Maggie McNamara Managing Photo Emma Spencer Managing Design Brianne LaBare

S TA F F Publisher Robert Bischof Ethan Samuels Digital Director Sawyer Pollard Social Media Manager Emi Eliason

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

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

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The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

Opinion

9

Who Are “Climate Refugees”?

Tara Alahakoon ’25 and Mohamed Ramy ’18 Contributing Writers Imagine that instead of white light streaming through your windows in the morning, bright orange blazes through, a warning glare signaling that you need to pack up your belongings and run. This is what Michelle Teixeira experienced during the 2018 Camp Fire, which leveled Paradise, California, and killed 85 people.

With her home destroyed, where does Michelle now live?

And where did the others who resided in 13,792 homes in the area go? The answer is simple: dispersed everywhere but those homes. They became refugees seeking a path to recovery, forced to sleep in parking lots and caravans as they await any form of help. While some were fortunate to have savings, family wealth, and community connections, others were left to fend for themselves because hardly any nation — including the United States — officially recognizes the existence of a “climate refugee.”

Even though the greatest contributors to climate change are in the developed world, the most affected countries are scattered across the developing world. Despite being the country most responsible for harmful emissions, the U.S. asylum system does not protect anyone — U.S. citizen or foreigner — from the dangers of drought, fires, floods, and hurricanes, all of which are occurring at an increasing rate due to climate change. Climate change alters the frequency, duration, and intensity of slow- and sudden-onset events such as flooding from rainfall or droughts resulting from high temperatures. It has been estimated that such events have displaced three times as many people as those fleeing conflict. So what is the world doing about this phenomenon? The answer: next to nothing.

The Paris Agreement is

Photo courtesy of Asian Development Bank

The 2010 flooding in Pakistan caused a major humanitarian disaster, displacing countless people. meant to coordinate international efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, especially to hold major representatives accountable and to keep this century’s temperature rise below 2°C. This has been one of the most significant initiatives pushing the international community to acknowledge that climate change is a reality that demands immediate action and directly relates to the topic of migration. In one of its preambles, the agreement stipulates that parties should “respect, promote, and consider their respective obligations towards migrants … when taking actions to address climate change.” It also requests, explicitly, that the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism create a Task Force on Displacement, as well as compile and recommend comprehensive approaches addressing displacement as a result of the adverse effects of climate change. In the international legal framework, the Paris Agreement is alone in its stipulation to focus on climate change as a factor of displacement.

Therefore, despite the lack of a legal framework focusing solely on climate-induced displace-

ment and recognizing “climate refugees,” international actors are at least aware that climate change is a contributing factor to mass displacements of human life. However, it is imperative that nations’ obligations to persons displaced by climate change are clarified. Otherwise, human rights, including an adequate standard of living, will be compromised. Cross-border displacements necessitate the application of an international legal framework, but without proper international recognition of the phenomena, organizations such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) cannot pressure nations to uptake policies safeguarding displaced persons because of climate-related events.

Zeid Ra’ad Hussein, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, declared that “a continually warming world will be a graveyard for entire ecosystems, entire peoples — and potentially even entire nations.”

This statement is not a hyperbole: Tuvalau, a Polynesian island of 10,000 inhabitants in the South Pacific Ocean, is expect-

ed to become uninhabitable by 2050. With rising sea levels compromising agricultural activities, Tuvaluans have limited capacity to develop their economy and are forced to depend on nearby New Zealand for employment, foreign aid, and even potential relocation and resettlement.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) estimates that sudden-onset events between 2008 and 2016 were 99 percent responsible for the annual displacement of 21 million people. It is important to underline that not all displacement is directly attributable to climate change. It often instead acts as a catalyst that compromises, for example, sources of income, food and water services, ineffective governments, and cultural sites. In other words, significant alterations in the functioning of the community interact with these vulnerable conditions, leading to effects that, aggregated, force one to leave home.

But in instances where displacement is the result of exacerbated climate-related hazards, individuals cannot seek protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention, which only extends to those who have a well-found-

ed fear of persecution because of religion, race, nationality, or membership to a group of particular political opinion or social affiliation. Without an international agreement beholding national governments to provide adequate support, the international legal regime risks people in coastal and low-lying areas like Tuvalau being rendered stateless and without basic human rights.

Even within the United States and its territories — despite its status as a resourced nation — millions of people are projected to be displaced by climate change. The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season made shorelines nearly uninhabitable, followed by flash floods in New York City and the greater Northeast; Puerto Rico faces increased risk of coastal and inland flooding as sea levels rise; and wildfires have set California ablaze. Moreover, the U.S.-Mexico Border Patrol’s notorious culture of impunity allows incoming climate migrants to face routine acts of brutality in addition to the obstruction of humanitarian aid and the criminalization of ac-

Continued on page 10

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

Opinion

10

Displacement Forced by Climate Change Continued from page 9 cessing life-saving resources. As opposed to subsistence farmers and other rural communities around the globe, most Americans’ monetary wealth has distanced them from their environmental sources of livelihood and cushioned them from the blows of climate change. As a result, while the word “refugee” alone has long been stigmatized in the U.S., “climate refugee” is an abnormally foreign concept. Yet as climate change reaches new heights, we have begun to understand some circumstances of displacement for the first time.

Americans themselves are finally beginning to wonder: where

will we go?

Only widespread acknowledgment of the realities of climate change and climate-induced displacement can develop public understanding of the crisis and explicitly define the rights and protection measures of “climate refugees.” Climate change and its consequences are currently underacknowledged on campus. We encourage the Amherst community to reflect upon this and incorporate these terms into regular academic discourse: faculty should include this topic in their courses where appropriate — such as in those of anthropology, sociology, and political science — and we sug-

gest that the administration consider bringing speakers to campus who are informed on the matter. Amherst College should lead The Five College Consortium in this implementation.

To aid climate refugees, the Amherst community needs to work towards fostering a welcoming social and intellectual environment in which migration is recognized as an opportunity for the enrichment of our collective culture. Debate Society should present such issues to thread these ideas into discussion. Courses, publications, and clubs involving writing and art — especially those with a focus on human rights and migration

— must incorporate the climate crisis to spark this intersectional thought and conversation that has become essential as preparation for our future. Additionally, members can support organizations such as Welcome Home Refugee Resettlement Program, a diverse coalition of parties that helps refugees in Hampshire County to build and adjust to their new lives.

We must understand that our legislation is outdated — our world is evolving more rapidly than policy is catching up.

There needs to be greater concern for “climate refugees” and a plausible legal framework that integrates migration as an adap-

tation strategy. It is imperative that we each take the initiative to independently critically assess the needs of people due to the circumstances of our world, instead of waiting for legislation to first create a system of obligation within which we are compelled to act. Denial of the climate crisis inflicts on communities a form of “slow violence”: an attack so slow that it is often not perceived as real, so drawn out and complex that it is difficult to connect the harm with the cause. We must break the cycle to avoid becoming increasingly trapped — climate refugees in a state of liminality, and everyone else in circular conversations.

Seeing Double: I Will Never Donate to Amherst Thomas Brodey ’22 Columnist In two months, the Class of 2022 will cross the stage at graduation to receive our diplomas.

We will also receive a request for $20.22, the first of what Amherst hopes will be a lifetime of financial gifts to the college. Indeed, each year, about half of all Amherst alumni donate money to their alma mater.

I, however, will never give money to Amherst College. Now, let me start by saying that I don’t presume to tell anyone else what to do with their money. When I worked for the Amherst Phonathon, I spoke to many alumni who got great satisfaction from donating. For that job, I also heard (and made) many arguments for why all alumni should donate. Today, I’m going to explain my personal reasoning for not doing so in the hope of providing a different perspective before you send off that fat check.

The most common argument against donating to your college is simple. Many students see themselves in a purely transactional relationship with their school. Can you imagine if your dentist or landlord called you to ask for a donation out of respect

for their service? This alone is a fair reason not to donate, but let’s dig deeper.

Ultimately, college isn’t the same as a root canal or an apartment. It’s a transformative experience, and many people have a deep emotional connection to their school. That’s why so many alumni donate each year. However, to me, the deep bond is not with the administration or institution of Amherst — it comes from the people you meet here, the friends, the mentors, and arch-nemesis co-columnists.

Amherst is just the backdrop or mechanism, like the airline I took to Massachusetts or the internet provider that powers eduroam. If my co-columnist called me up in 10 years, asking for money as a favor, I would likely agree. But the institution of Amherst has no right to claim the kind of favors that we reserve for friends.

But enough with the sentimentality — there are also practical reasons not to give. I think it’s best to donate to causes that are both in need of help and will make effective use of money. Amherst is deficient on both counts. In its advertising materials, Amherst claims that programs like financial aid are de-

pendent upon alumni donations, and implies that the less money alumni donate, the less financial aid and other services students will receive. This is misleading.

Firstly, alumni donations make up only about 5 percent of the school’s operating budget. The school is about as dependent upon donations as the average student is on Starbucks gift cards. Secondly, Amherst’s core programs (including financial aid) are funded based on student need, not levels of donations. If Amherst receives more alumni donations than it wants, it ends the year with a surplus. If it gets fewer donations, it draws from its immense endowment to make up the difference. This is not to say that alumni donations have zero impact on students’ lives, but the college’s $4 billion margin of error means that gifts translate into only small improvements in the (let’s face it) incredibly privileged life of an Amherst student.

Take, for example, alumni’s tendency to choose which program or club receives their donations. Because of alumni donations, some clubs have more alumni money than they know what to do with, while newer and more obscure clubs are ignored. That leads to inequalities

and inefficiencies. I’ve seen this problem firsthand in Glee Club, which, before its recent merger with the more recently established Chorus, received vastly more donations than Chorus, despite having a fraction of Chorus’ members. Glee Club simply had no reasonable way to spend all its alumni money.

Most other charitable causes are far less fortunate than Amherst. Consider donating to Holyoke Community College, which spends roughly oneeighth as much as Amherst per student and has an endowment of just $15 million. Yet despite its relative lack of funds, HCC ranks as one of the best community colleges in the country.

Money given to HCC will go to necessities and will tangibly help the education of many students.

And that’s not even going into the thousands of other worthy causes, all capable of big impacts but needing funding, which are rigorously analyzed and compared by the nonprofit GiveWell.

I intend to donate a portion of my income to charities, but whenever Amherst calls me to ask for money, I’ll send a check to a needier cause.

The reason Amherst solicits donations from its alumni, as it

turns out, has less to do with the actual money (which Amherst does not need as desperately as it claims) and more to do with rankings. One of the key metrics on most college ranking systems is the percentage of alumni who donate annually. When an Amherst email begs you to donate even just $1, it’s not because Amherst is scrimping and saving like a kid trying to buy a used bicycle; it’s because Amherst wants to put you down as one of the loyal alumni in order to better game the ranking system.

I don’t intend to forget about Amherst after I graduate. I’m actually looking forward to getting calls from Amherst Phonathon because they will let me talk with current students and learn about changes at Amherst.

There are many ways alumni can remain loyal to the people of Amherst without sending checks to administrators. Alumni can advocate on behalf of students.

They can donate materials to the Amherst archives. They can advise and support their Amherst friends and classmates who run into personal or financial trouble. At the end of the day, these are the acts that support Amherst as a community, and not as a corporation.

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

Opinion

Red Herring: On ACPD

11

Isaac Streiff ’24

Rants and Raves: Elevator Etiquette Brianne LaBare ’25 Managing Arts and Living Editor On a typical morning, I exit my room and press the small plastic button on the wall indicating I need to descend to the first floor of my dorm. My suspended chariot arrives with a soft ding. I step into the wooden paneled box, greeted by a series of numbered buttons that ask me where I wish to go. The mechanical sliding doors close as I select my desired location, securely locking me in. I stand under the fluorescent lights, hands resting on the railings. A few seconds pass, and my chariot emanates a faint shuddering

— and sometimes screeching — alerting me that my journey has ended. But I am stopped as I go to step off the flat platform — pushed back. I am met with a direct force that prevents me from exiting my chariot and continuing on my way.

While encounters with elevators are not typically this theatrical, I would like to call attention to our student body’s lack of elevator etiquette — what, in my opinion, is considered the worst act a fellow human being can commit: entering an elevator before those previously on board can exit.

Many times, I or people I know have been bombarded by

a student (or students) rushing onto the elevator while we are exiting. While I understand you may at times be in a hurry and everyone’s time is valuable, correctly entering an elevator only takes a few extra seconds, and it’s much safer for everyone than rushing into the elevator as soon as the doors start to open. Waiting a moment to allow people to exit the elevator before entering ensures that both parties get to their desired destination.

In truth, elevator etiquette isn’t tricky. All it takes is a tiny amount of time, good manners, and common sense. But it can improve the experience in an elevator for everyone, including you.

Photo courtesy of Kei Lim '25

Brianne LaBare ’25 teaches simple elevator etiquette: let people first get off an elevator before you step on.

Amusements

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The Amherst Student Crossword | April 6, 2022 ACROSS 1 It's a long story 5 Bucket-meal sellers 9 Time's 2012 Person of the Year 14 School on the Thames 15 Asian sea 16 "___ de Lune" 17 Damage, so to speak 18 U2 frontman 19 Put off 20 Professors George or Gentler, perhaps 23 Not in, in Scotland 24 Antlered animal 25 Made-to-order 29 Tender touches 34 Cries before "Pick me!"

35 George Herman Ruth 36 "Don't move a muscle!"

37 Divvy up 38 Sphere 39 Eagle's nest 40 Money in Madrid 41 Vivi's or Lime Red drink 42 Car contract 43 "I'll take it all" 45 Burrowing rodent 46 "That's all ___ wrote" 47 Mrs., in Madrid 48 Mammoth's morning fix, or where to find it, along with 37-Across, 43-Across, 6-Down, and 10-Down 55 MIT's business school 56 Plugging away 57 Long-billed bird 59 Time off, briefly 60 Uber rival 61 Deliver a diatribe 62 Neither sharp nor flat 63 "Call Me by Your Name" role for Timothee 64 Storm centers

DOWN 1 Jiffy 2 Over 3 "Holy cow!"

4 Pro foe 5 Big bang 6 Wintry coating 7 Seven-time MLB all-star Robinson 8 Sow chow 9 One-eighth set, in statistics 10 Family disgrace 11 Rhyme scheme in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" 12 Coffee grinder 13 "___ we there yet?"

21 On the lam 22 Present 25 Mathematical subgroup 26 "Yep" 27 "... sugar is sweet and you" 28 Be subtly and snarkily insulting 29 Pasta and potatoes 30 "Take a Chance on Me" group 31 ___ Jessica Parker 32 Beethoven's "Fur ___" 33 Take the tiller 35 6-Down find

Liam Archacki ’24 Senior Managing Editor

Solutions: March 30

g Arts&Living

Local Film Festivals Highlight Global Voices Sarah Weiner ’24 Staff Writer The Amherst College Ibero-American Hybrid Film Festival — sponsored by the Spanish Department; the Latinx and Latin American Studies Department (LLAS); Sexuality, Women’s, and Gender Studies Department (SWAGS); and Film and Media Studies Department (FAMS) — is now fully underway, approaching the third film in its series. The format of the festival asks participants to watch each film on Pragda, an online streaming platform, then attend an in-person discussion on it, led by professors or Spanish language assistants.

Spanish language students and Nuevo Cine Mexicano (New Mexican Cinema) lovers alike kicked off the discussion portion of the festival on Tuesday, March 29, with a conversation about the film “Y Tu Mamá También” (“And Your Mother Too”).

The conversation, facilitated by R. John Cooper ’64 Presidential Teaching Professor of Spanish Paul Schroeder Rodríguez of the Spanish, LLAS, and FAMS departments, introduced questions about the film’s structure and use of symbolism. Schroeder Rodríguez’s knowledge of Mexican and Spanish culture, film theory, and his critique of “Y Tu Mamá También” in his book “Latin American Cinema: A Comparative History” provided a robust foundation for discussion.

Films in the festival tell stories from Guatemalan, Spanish, British, Argentinian, and German directors about Cuban, Mayan, Chinese, and Argentinian culture. The range of material in the program is augmented by the interdisciplinary studies of the professors leading discussions, including Professor of History and SWAGs Christine Peralta. Despite the particular theme of Ibero-American lan-

guage, which differentiates it from the college’s Spanish and Latin American Film Festival in 2016, this year’s lineup fosters a rich environment that welcomes contributions from students and faculty from diverse disciplines, both English- and Spanish-speaking.

A recurring theme in conversation about “Y Tu Mamá También” was its inadequate representation of Indigenous characters. Schroeder Rodríguez noted that it was disappointing to see these characters’ stories used as a crutch for the main plot, very literally relegated to the edges of the screen. In response to the topic of Indigenous representation, Schroeder Rodríguez and discussion host Sarah Piazza, lecturer in Spanish, brought two upcoming events to the attention of students: the next film in the festival, “Ixcanul” (“Volcano”), about a Kaqchikel-speaking community in Southern Guatemala, and this year’s Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival (MMFF), whose theme is “Indigeneities.”

The entirely virtual format of the 29th annual MMFF, presented by the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Film Studies Department and running from March 2 through April 27, brings additional considerations of Indigenous communities to the global perspective of the Ibero-American Film Festival. According to the program website, this year’s festival “explore[s] how contemporary Indigenous filmmakers and media artists leverage moving image forms to directly address the politics of identity and representation.”

I screened and attended a discussion about last week’s film “Maliglutit” (“Searchers”) — a Western genre inspired epic from Inuk director Zacharias Kunuk. The film takes place in the Northern Canadian Nunavut territory, where Kunuk is from.

Photo courtesy of Emilia Farías Ferreira

Sarah Weiner ‘24 reports on two ongoing film festivals, the Ibero-American Hybrid Film Festival and the Massachusetts Multicultural Film Festival, which feature global perspectives and often marginalized stories.

Because all the film screenings and discussions are virtual, Kunuk was able to join the festival’s director Daniel Pope (a UMass Film Studies professor), assistant curator Nefeli Forni Zervoudaki, and the audience for a conversation and Q&A streamed on YouTube Live. The isolation I felt watching the characters traverse the snowy tundra from my comfy spot in Frost A Level was dissolved by Kunuk’s warm and open comments about his creative process, including the critical role of the Inuit community in creating a genuine on-screen world for the all-Inuit cast to inhabit. Participating in the Ibero-American Festival offered me an immersive experience of sounds, images, and stories from Spanish-speaking countries, with the expansive potential to approach them from many disciplines. But the ability to interact in real time with Kunuk provided a different kind of immersion into the culture and

artistry of the filmmaker.

On an episode of “UMasterclass,” a Spotify podcast of the UMass Film Studies program, host Emily Ko sat down with the MMFF staff to talk about this year’s festival. Pope elaborated on the privilege of being able to bring in such celebrated artists as Kunuk: “We were able to actually get filmmakers who otherwise it would be hard to have as guests even in non-Covid times because of distance of travel … whereas online we can have somebody join us at an appointed time, and we have a really vibrant dynamic conversation and bring questions from the audience.” Although participants are unable to have the “in the room experience” that the Ibero-American Festival boasts of, MMFF is truly able to welcome voices from all over the world — one of the festival’s defining features, Pope said.

The opportunity for students to immerse ourselves in

the multisensory elements of a film, interpret its story and structure through various lenses, and converse with the brains behind it are equally valuable experiences. Both of these festivals span nations by telling stories from many corners of the world, drawing in students across disciplines and interests.

As Amherst’s Ibero-American Film Festival, along with other film festivals, return to preCovid, in person models, can we still maintain this sense of global reach?

This week, the Ibero-American Festival presents “Yo Niña” (“I Girl”), with an accompanying discussion on Thursday, April 7.

MMFF is also showing a collection of Tracy Moffat’s early films with an accompanying discussion this evening, Wednesday, April 6, at 7:30pm EDT. Next week’s discussion will be about “Ste. Anne.” Find more information about the MMFF program on their website.

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

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film society X THE STUDENT

Film Society x The Student is a collaboration between Amherst Film Society and the Student’s Arts and Living section. This week, Diego Duckenfield-Lopez '24 writes about Kogonada’s “After Yang.”

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Diego Duckenfield-Lopez ’24 of the Amherst College Film Society explores Kogonada’s “After Yang,” and how the film reimagines common sci-fi tropes of androids to scrutinize social classifications.

“After Yang” is Korean American filmmaker Kogonada’s follow-up to “Columbus,” an understated film with awe-inspiring images of architecture that frame the characters’ exploration of the human condition. In “After Yang,” Kogonada brings this exploration to science fiction. The exploration of humanity is a sci-fi trope that seems almost inherent to the genre, and it’s part of why I love the genre so much. I had doubts that “After Yang” would bring anything new to the table, but it proves to be a unique addition to the genre, questioning not only human identity but the basis of our identities itself.

The film starts with a family taking a picture. The mother (Jodie Turner-Smith) is Black and the father (Colin Farrell) is white, and next to them is an Asian child and a young Asian man. This initial image suggests that the film takes place in a post-racial future.

However, we slowly learn that many American racial categorizations still exist in this world.

Kyra and Jake’s daughter, Mika, is adopted from China. So they buy Yang (Justin H. Min) — an android from a company called Second Siblings — to teach Mika about Chinese culture and language.

The film explores the aftermath of a sudden malfunction in Yang and how it affects each family member. We learn about Yang through memories — those of his family members, and also Yang’s own, which a repairman discovers in a chip inside his body. The father, Jake, is the one who primarily watches his memories and wonders about the extent of Yang’s internal life — his humanity. This is familiar territory for a sci-fi film, but this film goes beyond simply questioning Yang’s humanity and explores the plasticity of the identities that make us human.

The father, Jake, has a strong prejudice against androids and clones, whom he sees to be less than human. Yang’s memories lead him to believe that Yang thought of himself as human.

However, he is berated later in the film for assuming that Yang would want to be human. He learns that it is human hubris to assume that other beings would want to be human. Why must a living being be human in order to be worthy of respect?

In a memory, we see Mika ask Yang about her parentage. Yang decides to take her to a grove with grafted trees. He explains that even though her parents did not conceive her, she is still part of the family tree, just like a branch from one tree that becomes fully incorporated into a new tree.

Although I am not a transracial adoptee, this scene stuck with me as a multiracial person who has often questioned the validity

of their identity. I have often felt pressure to identify as either Black or Latinx. The grafting metaphor shows the fluidity of identity and that one can be distinct from the original tree but still be fully a part of it. Blood does not determine a person’s identity nor their family.

In a recent conversation on the A24 podcast with Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast, Kogonada discusses the burden of representation put on Asian American artists, noting that he often feels pressure to predominantly represent his own demographic. “After Yang” is Kogonada’s response to this expectation. The film is not as interested in simply presenting positive representations of Asian characters as it is in questioning the social construction of race.

In the film, Yang questions his Chinese identity. He asks how he could be Chinese if he has no parents. Is it enough to just look Chinese and know a lot about China?

What are the criteria for claiming a racial, ethnic, or national identity — DNA and cultural knowl-

edge?

Kogonada turns the question of humanity back onto the audience. So often in sci-fi, the focus is on androids that want to emulate or become humans. This is usually accompanied by a fear that the androids will want to dominate humans, as seen in films like “Ex Machina,” “The Matrix,” and “Blade Runner,” which are also notorious for borrowing East Asian aesthetics in a way that reduces cultures and people to mere stereotypes. “After Yang” directly confronts the dehumanizing effects of Asian stereotypes in sci-fi and the assumption that humans are the most advanced form of life that can exist, and that anything else would either want to emulate humanity or destroy it, never in between. “After Yang” asks what the world would look like if the line between human and non-human were not so fixed. It similarly extends this question to identities like race, which are not as fixed as we make them out to be. “After Yang” asks us to embrace the ambiguity.

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

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“Death on the Nile”: Revival of a Classic Mystery Eren Levine ’24 Staff Writer As an avid Agatha Christie fan, I was very excited when I heard about the new “Death on the Nile” movie, which premiered on Feb. 11. Having read the novel and watched the 1978 film adaptation — and loving them both — I knew I would either be very pleased or very disappointed with what I found in the new version. I had reason to be hopeful, having enjoyed the 2017 remake of Christie novel “Murder on the Orient Express,” which had the same director and same actor (Kenneth Branagh) playing Hercule Poirot as the new Christie adaptation.

Further, the cast of “Death on the Nile” is filled with famous actors whose work I often enjoy, such as Gal Gadot, Emma Mackey, and Russell Brand. While the overarching plot of the movie remained true to the original novel — a murder mystery aboard a glamorous river cruise — many details were changed and added: some improved the story, others felt unnecessary, and a select few seriously detracted from the authenticity of the story.

In terms of production, the movie was captivating and visually pleasing. The costumes and sets were beautiful, the acting was top-tier, and there was no point at which I felt the plot was moving too slowly. The suspense that builds throughout the movie was intense, and even though I knew how the story would end, I was still on the edge of my seat at the height of the drama. There were characters with whom I empathized, such as Rosalie Otterbourne (Letitia Wright) and Bouc (Tom Bateman), and characters I was wary of, such as Bouc’s mother (Annette Benning) and Dr. Windlesham (Russell Brand).

I think these factors are crucial to the enjoyment of a mystery. I wanted Poirot to succeed in finding the murderer, and I was upset each time an additional character was killed. All in all, I think the movie was a success and would recommend it to anyone who is

a fan of Agatha Christie or loves mysteries.

The biggest difference in the plot of the new movie compared to the original was the introduction of Bouc, Poirot’s righthand man. (Poirot has a different friend in the novel.) Bouc was a character in the aforementioned “Murder on the Orient Express” movie, and the director wanted to include Tom Bateman’s role in this story as well. Bouc’s character arc is nuanced. We see Bouc defend his romance with Rosalie Otterbourne after his mother expresses disapproval. However, his connection with Rosalie also leads him to make some questionable decisions with negative repercussions. Because Bouc was one of my favorite characters, and his relationship with Poirot was so well-depicted, I found the addition of this character to be a positive change. However, without spoiling the film, I must say that Bouc’s ending is not exactly what I would have hoped for.

Salome Otterbourne (Sophie Okonedo) and her niece, Rosalie, also had different roles in the adaptation than in the original story.

In particular, the director chose to make these characters Black, unlike in the original. Salome and Rosalie discuss difficulties they face because of their race, adding a degree of relevance and gravity to the story, and making a fairly straightforward murder mystery into a more meaningful and complex narrative. Another minor change was that Marie Van Schuyler (Jennifer Saunders) and Mrs. Bowers (Dawn French), a nurse and employer duo, turn out to be in a romantic relationship. While this didn’t detract from the plot at all, I also didn’t think it added much to the story. It is always important to include diverse storylines and characters, but there was no additional value added to the movie beyond this. Unlike with the Otterbournes, the movie neither explored these characters’ new identities nor deepened the significance of including the changes.

The most significant difference

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Eren Levine ’24 analyzes the new cinematic remake of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile.” The new adaptation is a fresh twist on the story last adapted in 1978, incorporating the political circumstances of 2022. from the original — and the one I took most issue with — was that this version included a deep look into Poirot’s past, including a romance from years prior. Hercule Poirot is an iconic character, and I have always loved reading his stories and watching Peter Ustinov portray him in the original film adaptations. One of the reasons Poirot is so likable, however, is that he is a brilliant detective who manages to avoid drama and impress people wherever he goes.

With the addition of a sad backstory, this loveable and sometimes comedic character became someone whom I pitied and felt bad for throughout the story. I understand that this change was supposed to show character development and add depth to his character, but personally, I prefer Poirot the way he is usually portrayed.

I very much enjoyed getting to see a new adaptation of a story I love so much, and for the most part, I had very few complaints

about this version. If it were up to me, however, I would have kept Poirot’s character mysterious and not forced a romance upon him. Other than that, I believe the changes made to the original were acceptable, if not positive. At the end of “Murder on the Orient Express,” there was a scene hinting that another movie would be made. While this was not the case in “Death on the Nile,” I would be very excited to watch another Kenneth Branagh Poirot mystery.

The Amherst Student • April 6 , 2022

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“Sur vivor” Season 42: Episode 4, Reviewed

Photo courtesy of besttvshow.mirahaze.org

Episode four of “Survivor” was less riveting than the last, but still delivered for Vaughn Armour ‘25. He recaps the building tension and excitement of this week’s episode.

Vaughn Armour ’25 Contributing Writer On March 30, “Survivor” followed the previous week’s alltime great episode with a less thrilling, yet still solid experience. The voting results might not have been earth-shattering, but several plot points were set up that might pay off in exciting ways down the line.

The episode began with the aftermath of the Jenny vote-out.

The vitriol toward Daniel was exceedingly apparent. It’s going to be hard for him to shake the “snake” label throughout the rest of the game, and it looks like he’s going to be the next target if they return to Tribal Council.

In a good move, Hai pulled Mike in, adding him to his alliance with Lydia. In just one day, those two went from a minority position to having all the power in Vati. This was also an impressive show of flexibility by Mike, who could’ve chosen to go down with

the sinking ship of Daniel and (somewhat) Chanelle.

In the reward challenge, Taku won again through another dominant performance by Jonathan.

Their group of four is incredibly strong, but Jonathan’s persistent heroics are already making him a threat to others in the game.

In “Survivor,” the tribes merge when around 40 percent of the initial players are gone. Once this happens, immunity becomes individual instead of tribal, meaning that only one person wears the immunity necklace at Tribal Council that protects them from being voted out. Historically, players who pose massive threats are often targeted at the merge for this reason. Only two of these sort of players (Ben Driebergen in Season 35 and Mike Holloway in season 30) have ever been able to make it to the end, so Jonathan’s odds of winning aren’t looking great. To make matters worse, Jonathan unwittingly remarked in front of

everyone after the challenge that the “Taku Four” was strong. This makes all of them a target during the tribe swap (when the tribes are randomly reshuffled premerge), because other tribes will fear that they will dominate the post-merge game together. Although Taku earned some massive fish to satiate their hunger, the reward challenge was likely a net negative for them.

At Ika, Rocksroy continued to be a nuisance to his fellow tribe members with his patronizing bossiness. Best described as a curmudgeon, he’s even disliked by his alliance of Romeo and Drea, who are keeping him around just to maintain a majority. Since his chances of swaying a jury toward voting for him to win at the end of the season are almost zero, look out for him getting dragged to the end as a “goat” — if people know he’ll be a zero-vote finalist, they’ll work to make sure he’s sitting next to them to boost their own odds.

Earlier in the season, Drea proposed a girls’ alliance between Tori, Swathi, and herself, but neither of the two younger Ika members trusted Drea.

This episode, the two of them schemed up a way to turn the tables and blindside Drea. I didn’t think the idea was great, because Drea was their best bet at gaining a majority in the tribe. The execution was even worse, as Tori decided to pitch the idea to Rocksroy, using Drea’s secret — that she had an extra vote that she kept from him — to sway him. The issue was that Rocksroy was more loyal to Drea than he was to Tori, and simply didn’t believe her. He never even considered the proposition, immediately running to Drea instead, who promptly lied to him about the extra vote and began gunning for Tori.

In the immunity challenge, Taku dominated again, with Vati barely beating Ika for second place. The blame for Tori and

Swathi’s plan ended up boomeranging back to Swathi, who had initially managed to escape the blame. The vote came down to the two of them, and they knew it. Each threw the other under the bus as much as they could.

In the end, Swathi became the fourth player to be voted out.

Tori is left in a precarious position and seems like the obvious next boot if they return to Tribal.

This was a solid episode of “Survivor” that could have serious repercussions down the line.

Jonathan will have to maintain his insane pace to avoid elimination, and Rocksroy will have to gain social skills to have any modicum of winning equity.

Daniel will have to do serious work to regain his footing in this game, and the Taku Four is just waiting for rougher tides: as we know in Survivor, nothing stays easy for long. With a potential tribe swap looming, the game is in a fascinating spot.

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

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Green Room’s Ten Minute Play Festival Wows Theo Hamilton ’23 Senior Managing Editor

This past weekend, the Amherst College Green Room put on its annual Ten Minute Play Festival, a collection of six short student-written plays performed in Johnson Chapel. The festival, which has become a Green Room tradition over the last several years, invites students to experiment with playwriting through its accessible 10-minute format, and gives them a chance to see their original pieces performed. This year, the plays foregrounded a number of parodies while also incorporating drama and discussion of more serious topics to provide a fast-paced and entertaining start to the Green Room’s spring semester schedule.

The festival opened with a performance of “A Soul Isn’t Worth Much,” written by Ross Kilpatrick ’24E and directed by Rachel Hendrickson ’25.

As the lights dimmed, the audience’s attention was centered on a figure (Ricky Andrade ’25) scribbling away at his notepad on a table covered by discarded scraps of crumpled-up paper. As we learn when a mysterious stranger (Grace Walker ’24) enters the room, the would-be writer is Ernest Hemingway, albeit a young version of him still struggling to find literary success and working as a journalist. To Hemingway’s disappointment, it quickly becomes apparent that the guest is not a fan of his work, but his interest is piqued by a supernatural offer that leaves him weighing the value of fame and success against happiness and a long life.

After the cast and crew managed the first of five remarkably fast set changes, the next play — “The Haunting,” written by Audrey Rosevear ’22 and directed by Anika Grimsrud ’24 — took things in a more comedic direction. Featuring an inept, first-day-on-the-job ghost (Max Hauschildt ’25), alongside Pete (Maryam Abuissa ’24), a paranoid new homeowner, and Emma (Sam Beach ’22), his occultist housemate/ beard, “The Haunting” twists the standard haunted house plot by presenting Pete and Emma as completely unimpressed by the ghost’s haunting. Instead, the two spend most of the 10 minutes in an increasingly heated argument about whether the

Photo courtesy of Emi Eliason ‘23

The Amherst College Green Room put on its annual Ten Minute Play Festival this weekend. Senior Managing Editor Theo Hamilton ’23 summarizes the short and punchy sketches. ghost is actually a ghost or an undercover FBI agent trying to unveil Pete’s homosexuality, while the ghost is eventually left begging them to perform a banishing ritual.

“The Pearly Gates” (written and directed by Langston Prince ’25), also features the undead: this time in a waiting-room-like setting that is apparently heaven. St. Peter (Suvansh Manektala ’22) escorts newcomer Jamie Clarke (Revival Afolabi ’25) through the pearly gates, where he is surprised to find that his companions for the rest of eternity are longtime residents George Washington (Eleanor Winterer ’24), Barry Goldwater (Austin Xiong ’23), and Karl Marx (Free Rabb ’25). The four are left to decide whether to stay in the waiting room for eternity or walk through an exit that leads to nonexistence. God walked out that door almost two decades ago, on “the day the second Matrix film was released.

She couldn’t stand the disappointment. We lost a lot of good people that day,” Marx says. Jamie eventually decides to step through the door, while each of the historical figures stay behind.

The plays’ effectiveness was heightened by the 10-minute play structure, which gives each play enough time to reflect on or make a parody of its subject matter while simultaneously keeping any individual aspect from becoming overplayed. As an audience member, I felt engaged and kept on my toes by the thematic transitions from drama to slapstick to political comedy, with the contrasts produced by each transition making every play more enjoyable.

“Couples’ Therapy,” written by Leland Culver ’23 and directed by Bianca Sass ’23, was a case in point, providing a dramatic tone shift from the last two comedies toward a more experimental format that left me appreciating the contrasting potentials of both forms. The play opens with Margaret (Audrey Rosevear ’22 and Fen Riverston ’25), a woman struggling with depression, in what seems to be a therapy session with her psychologist, Dr. Sherry Griffin (Ella Rose ’23 and Piper Mohring ’25). But in one of the most impressively surreal plays that I’ve seen, the situation is complicated as the line

between Margaret’s imagination and reality blurs, and questions are raised about whether Dr. Griffin is actually her therapist or her partner.

After “Couples’ Therapy,” the curtains lifted to reveal a first date between Tighe, an aspiring standup comic (Sarah Quiros ’23), and Amelia (Yaffa Segal ’25). The twist of “Idiosyncrasies” — written by Nathan Grove ’23 and directed by Shay Hernandez ’23 — comes from the fact that Tighe is advised throughout the date by an angel on one shoulder (Eva Tsitohay ’24E) and a devil on the other (Reina Corcoran ’23). Describing these two figures as an angel and a devil might be too simplistic.

Over the course of the date, the devil tries to convince Tighe to act spontaneously and “be yourself,” while the angel tries to keep things composed and respectable. After trying to balance between these two poles, Tighe ends up deciding to embrace radical honesty, closing the play with a hilarious and genuinely unnerving rant that veers between advice on investing in NFTs, an analysis of Zendaya’s acting skills, and self-pity about getting called a furry on Twitter.

That emotional rollercoaster was followed by a literal rollercoaster during the festival’s final play, as a pair of thrill-seekers prepare to ride the state-of-the-art, “three times taller than any other coaster out there,” Masochist Mountain in “The Seventh Inversion,” written and directed

by Luke Herzog ’23. As the characters begin their gradual ascent to the top of the coaster, the play experiments with the mad scientist trope as one of the riders, Brian (Matt Vitelli ’24), first reveals a worrying amount of knowledge about this roller coaster’s design and a fascination with serial killers, and then begins to drop hints about loose axles and unlocked buckles. The other rider, Heather (Caroline Seitz ’22), is unsure whether to be fascinated or terrified, and ends up being both through the rides’ various twists and turns. All in all, the Ten Minute Play Festival’s rapid fire mix of content provided an exciting, funny, and thought-provoking start to Green Room’s set of performances for the semester, as well as a great chance to see Amherst students’ original writing across a wide range of genres and topics.

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

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Photo courtesy of Picryl

Poetic Perspectives Melinda Arthur ’25 presents two poems, inspired by “Starry Night” by Vincent van Gogh and “Garden of Earthwly Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch.

Inspired by “Starry Night”: Dear me, you, sky, blue //what do you seek (does the tucked away flame in the gloomy, sharp corner, contribute to the cloying sense of yellow, sickly brightness in every star? In the cage of your demise, the question is; what strokes are the boldest–notice how they whirl, rolling in this dreamscape surroundings, breathing in the higher power of the G x zero zero d–God. The townspeople look up at the waves of red, intermixed with blue, swirling about the sky, creating an intangible burden of ‘what do we do now?’ the church that reaches the sky, twirls its pin-point cross in a curve, hoping to hook the moon and the flames right back down to earth. Do you notice the crimson dripping down your ear that outlines the mini houses way past the breeze? Do you? Tell me that you do. For example, each dash, wave, line is made for you to connect the dots and create a new type of syntax awash in blood-orange discipline, regime, & routine. Meanwhile, the mountains sink into spots far, far away in the blurring vision of the sky’s glasses, twisting till they are one or nothing; together / and / apart.) from this painting?

Inspired by “Garden of Earthly Delights”: crawl out of the serene rivulet on your crimson stained hands and knees performing a dainty, twisted movement that crumples your woolen socks, to witness the bubble-gum wrapped figure echo a connection of marital ties between the ceramic-colored bodies resting in the palm of his hand. pause to feel, in circular motions, the smoothness of the shell-rose bird before it takes off in search of the saffron-covered peach it caws the

s-u-n. swim in emerald, past the cerulean, lithe with the vertebrae of a three-legged cat, till you reach the edges of the whale-infested ground.

Then, allow the tiny bees of prey to suckle honey from the sticky-red blooms that line your skin.

--now empty, emerge from the lined silk of a rotten clam’s house with a lover whose skin mesh with pleasure lines the inside of your eyelids heavy with a gaze that freezes gaunt planes of waxen, melting at the tips of mosaic-patterned fingers. grasp the √ of bunched up socks ÷ the lost puffs of solitary breaths + the racing pulse of your still-beating heart – hands learning to map boulevards of desire × the quivering flames of yearning turned upside down = being found weak-kneed, over wispy plumes, flying not towards the sun, but into the inky sky.

---watching carefully with tear-stained eyes, stand on the soles of your silly, shark socks to take inventory of the sky slick with floods that paint the ground irregular. blink away the mist caused by the torrential downpour and mold the bones of your neck, stiff with disuse and petrified from the movements of speed, to glance up, up, and away; all to avoid sloshing the scarlet that colors the pink of your mouth unto the wet ground. remain silent till the softness of the mud sinks you whole then hurl the collection of bones known as your body forward with the speed of a bullet released from its masters barrel, tossing and turning, as the stalks of grain graze hungrily at the pile of bloodsoaked flesh.

Escape. Escape. From the garden of earthly delights.

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

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On a Dark and Stormy Night in Iceland…

Mase Peterson ’23E Contributing Writer

October 2021 I keep driving — despite the fact that I’m craning my neck above the steering wheel and can’t see shit through the 2:00 a.m. void. The Ring Road, or what most native Icelanders refer to as Þjóðvegur 1 (Route 1), is the most steadfast geographic accommodation to outside visitors, churning round the jagged circumference of the entire island and connecting all major towns and tourist ventures with the southwestern capital of Reykjavík. With the headlights turned off and no other late-night travelers in my vicinity, the route feels more endless and devouring than before. Thankfully, I’m too far from my Maine homestead to worry about any oblivious moose.

But let’s be real: this hail-beaten tin can disguised as a Suzuki Swift would be the actual victim in any freak collision. Despite my lack of concern, all I can see now are shadowy resemblances of the southern coast: a two-dimensional array of high peaks that fortify an unsteady terrain, filled with magma and moss; the ancient stomping grounds of Giants and Berserkers.

It’s funny. As a kid, I used to have repeated nightmares of this exact scene: me, alone in the dark, helplessly driving on some strange highway with no predetermined end, my little hands clasped tightly onto the wheel as I sink into the dread of where I might arrive. Drifting. Unseen.

Suspended in the Unknowing.

And I would wake up feeling as though several hours, sometimes years, had passed. I would even check the bathroom mirror to see how much I had aged until I eventually remembered that dreams are their own ontological dimension of space and time; where only one law dictates and that is lawlessness. But now, as a 26-year-old grasshopper who occupies the unstable signifier of “American” while roaming the vestigial landscapes of “western Europe,” I’ve somehow become

an intimate companion to the unknown and undeterminable.

My phone buzzes, and I briefly glance at the cracked screen. Take action! Heavy wind storm with even stronger gusts approaches your area. Thanks, Master Google. I take a sip from my bottle of Appelsín — it is, in fact, an orange-flavored soda. But this country seems pretty fond of cheeky misnomers, given its historically deceptive name — and then continue to peer at the black sky ahead. Nothing. An absolute, vast nothingness. ****

It’s about five or so minutes before I realize someone has been following me. Not very strange considering this is the primary route that Icelanders and non-Icelanders use to get around, but I start feeling somewhat unsettled. How have I not seen them yet? Have they not had their headlights on this entire time? Maybe we have similar intentions tonight but dammit I should be the only one allowed to sneak up on people. I quickly revert my focus to the vehicle behind, attempting to discern what or who they could be. Then, out of nowhere, the driver pulls over to the side of the road; a widely condemned practice since there’s no shoulder to pull off onto. Police, maybe? Car troubles? An unaware tourist? Rather than be plagued with questions that fuel my current anxiety, counterintuitively, I decide to expose myself to the potential risks and slow down enough to stop.

When I pull over, I sit and wait to see what happens. The stranger’s bright headlights beam in my rearview, but there’s no sign of anyone leaving the vehicle. They just sit there for a long while, about 50 feet behind where I’m parked, and I increasingly feel as though we’re both playing a mind game of who will get out first to investigate. But then nothing happens. My adrenaline must be more intense than noticeable because I don’t realize that my car’s radio is still playing. Is that Jason

Photo Courtesy of Mase Peterson ‘23E

Mase Peterson '23E presents a lyric essay inspired by an experience abroad in Iceland. Driving down a remote road, Peterson struggles with isolation on a search for the Northern Lights.

Derulo? It’s like I never left home.

So I shut the music off. And as if on cue, the headlights diminish, leaving nothing but the cold night between us. Nope nope nope. I start to seriously rethink my choices when the driver’s door opens and a tall figure steps out. Before I even consider how hazardous this could be, I follow suit and exit the Suzuki.

My eyes still readjust to the total-darkness but I already can tell that there are multiple figures clumped together in a group outside what I think is a small minivan. And at this moment, all that loops inside my head is: please don’t be a secret Swedish cult that targets sleep-deprived genderqueers; I haven’t even finished undergrad; what if I die and never get to become a problematic Buddhist vegetarian film director?

Rather than waiting to find out, I tentatively step towards them

and decide to initiate.

“Hi, is everything okay?” I ask, surprised by the relaxed tone of my voice, waiting for a response before moving any closer.

“Oh hi!” the friendly voice of a young (presumably) woman answers. “Yeah, we’re totally fine! We’re just looking for the lights — they’re apparently really bright tonight?”

An immediate calm trickles from my brain down to my body.

I smile, easing my shoulders, and step forward. I don’t move much closer, so as not to cause any discomfort among the women. Even though I’m not a man, most people automatically assume that’s the case, and I’d rather avoid any harmful messaging.

“Yeah but we’ve had zero luck finding them,” says another young (presumably) woman, though this time I make out a distinct West Coast accent. “Are

you by yourself tonight?”

“I am! But nothing on my end, either. I was hoping I could see more with the headlights off. Not even flickers,” I say, admitting to my unsafe approach.

“Wait, are you American?!” another woman gleefully inquires.

“Yeah!”

“Are you studying abroad?

Where are you from?!” the first woman asks.

“I am! I go to school in Massachusetts.”

The group is surprised and becomes jubilant by this answer.

“Wait, holy shit, us too! Where do you go?!”

“Amherst College! What about you?!” I ask, trying to match their energy.

You can find the rest of the piece on the Amherst Student website.

Sp ports

Baseball’s Struggles Continue, Losing 5 of 6 Games Alex Noga ’23 Managing Sports Editor Coming off a week in which they lost three straight games, the baseball team’s losses continue to pile up, as they dropped five out of six games over the past week. The Mammoths fell in a devastating 11-10 defeat against Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) on Wednesday, March 30. They then opened NESCAC play against Little Three rival Wesleyan, losing the series two games to one, before dropping their Monday contest with Rhode Island College and Tuesday contest against Westfield State University.

The Mammoths’ first four games of the week were characterized by strong starts and poor finishes. No game better exemplifies this than their result against WPI. The Mammoths’ offense erupted for a nine-run top of the first inning, batting around the lineup and registering six total hits, with seven different players registering an RBI. They looked to be on cruise control through the first half of the contest, as starting pitcher Sam Robin ’23 allowed just three runs on seven hits and one walk through his six innings on the mound. Robin exited the game with a comfortable 9-3 lead heading into the seventh inning.

But the Engineers would not go down quietly, plating four runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Mammoth’s lead to two. The Mammoths added one back in their half of the eighth, but the Engineers responded with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to make the score 10-9 entering the final frame.

In the top of the ninth, the Mammoths went down in order on three consecutive groundouts. Then, after tying the game on an RBI double, the Engineers singled with the bases loaded to walk it off against the Mammoths 11-10. Ian Donahue ’24 was credited with the loss, his first of the season.

The Mammoths then turned to their first three-game series in NES-

CAC play against Wesleyan. In their first game on Friday, April 1, the Mammoths fell 6-5. They jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning, but the Cardinals countered with four runs of their own in the top of the third inning, capped off by a two-run single with two outs in the frame. Jackson Reydel ’23 hit his team-leading third home run of the year, a solo shot in the third inning, to cut the Cardinals’ lead down to just one. The Mammoths then seized the lead in the fifth after getting two runs off a Daniel Qin ’22 RBI single and a Reydel sacrifice fly. The Cardinals struck again in the sixth inning, however, with a two-run home run to take a 6-5 lead. This would prove to be the final score, as the Mammoths only managed one baserunner in the final four innings of the contest.

Sachin Nambiar ’22 was tagged with the loss. He pitched six innings, allowing six runs on five hits — though only three were earned runs — and tallying five strikeouts.

Tyson Luna ’25 was dominant in relief, allowing no hits and adding four strikeouts in the final three innings of play.

In the second game of the series on Saturday, April 2, which was the first of two seven-inning games, the Mammoths once again exploded in the early portion of the contest, this time pushing across seven runs on eight hits in the top of the second inning. Their lead dwindled as the game progressed — with the Cardinals scoring six consecutive runs — but the Mammoths shut the door in the final inning for a 7-6 victory.

Nick Giattino ’24 tallied his second victory of the year, allowing five runs, all unearned, on five hits and adding five strikeouts through five innings of play. Alan Dai ’24 recorded his second save of the year, allowing one run on one hit and registering two strikeouts through the final two innings.

In the game-three rubber match, the Mammoths kept with their theme, scoring four runs on four

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Daniel Qin '22 focuses during his at-bat. Amherst's season has been disappointing so far. straight RBI singles in the top of the first inning to jump out to an early lead. The Cardinals responded immediately, however, scoring five runs without recording a single hit in their half of the opening frame.

The Mammoths added one run back on a Chris Murphy ’22 RBI single in the second inning, his second of the game and his fifth hit in seven at bats on the day, but this would be all the Mammoths could muster offensively, as the Cardinals went on to score 15 — yes, 15 — unanswered runs to defeat the Mammoths 20-5. Luna, making his second appearance in the series, was tagged with the loss, bringing his record to 1-2.

The Mammoths then took on Rhode Island College in a weekday away game on Monday, April 4. The Mammoths fell behind early, allowing six runs in the first two innings, and ultimately fell 14-1. Their lone run of the game came on a solo homer from Christian Limon ’25 in the seventh inning. Caden McClure

’24 received the loss, his first of the season.

A busy week continued yesterday, April 5, as the Mammoths hosted Westfield State University at Memorial Field. Robin got the start on the mound for the Mammoths, his second of the year. In contrast to their fast starts earlier in the week, the Mammoths fell behind early against the Owls. Westfield kicked things off with a two-run homer in the top half of the first inning, and they tagged on another via a solo shot in the second. No further runs were scored across the next three and a half innings, as strong pitching and fielding dominated. After three-straight outs on defense in the top half of the sixth, the Mammoths finally put a run on the board in the bottom-half: Reydel sent a solo shot to left.

It was three-up-three-down for both squads in the seventh. The Owls then stretched the lead out three runs in the eighth with an RBI

single. The Mammoths began to claw the game back in the bottom of the inning. A Luke Padian ’24 single brought in Reydel, who had reached base on a walk. Despite this spark of life from the Mammoths, though, the Owls put the game to bed in the ninth. A wild pitch allowed Westfield State to score their fifth run; an Owl was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, sending home the sixth; a second wild pitch scored the seventh, and final, Owl run.

The Mammoths, carrying a record of 5-10, look to bounce back with another NESCAC series, this time against Hamilton, on Friday, April 8, and Saturday, April 9. All three games will be played at home.

First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 4 p.m., and game one of Saturday’s doubleheader is scheduled to begin at noon. The Mammoths will then travel to Newport, Rhode Island, on Monday, April 11, to play out of conference opponent Salve Regina University.

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

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No. 19 Women’s Lacrosse Loses Thriller to Bowdoin Carter Hollingsworth ’25 Staff Writer

Coming into their game on Saturday against No. 16 NESCAC opponent Bowdoin, Amherst — ranked No. 19 in the nation — was looking to add to their impressive six-game win streak. However, the Mammoths went down two goals as the Polar Bears established their lead early in the first quarter, and Bowdoin would not trail for the remainder of the match.

Not to be put down without a fight, the Mammoths got on the board with 34 seconds left in the first when midfielder/ attacker Lauren Friedman ’25 scored her team-leading 20th goal of the season to narrow the early deficit to 3-1.

In the second quarter, scoring went back and forth between the Mammoths and the Polar Bears, with Bowdoin putting up three goals to Amhert’s two.

Another first-year midfielder Rachel Rogers ’25, along with senior captain Becky Kendall ’22, led the Mammoths’ offense in the second frame, scoring a goal each to keep them within striking distance. But Bowdoin still held a 6-3 lead going into halftime.

Headed into the half, the Mammoths were hopeful at their chances given the slim deficit, and it showed coming out of the break.

Bowdoin scored first, but that first third-quarter tally was no match for Amherst’s four consecutive goals, part of a scoring run that swung momentum in the Mammoths’ favor. Kendall netted her second of the game before senior attacker Marina Bevacqua ’22 took over, scoring the next three goals to lift the Mammoths from a three-goal deficit to a 7-7 tie. Her third goal came with only 16 seconds remaining in the third quarter to level the score.

Despite the impressive scoring

run for the Mammoths, Bowdoin responded with another goal with just two seconds remaining in the third to maintain a narrow lead going into the final period.

Amherst started the fourth quarter with a goal from Kendall that was disallowed after it was ruled that she was pushed into the crease by a Polar Bear defender.

The nullified goal, which would have tied the game at eight apiece, ended up being a crucial moment, as Bowdoin opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a goal that put them up 9-7. Not to be discouraged, midfielder Fiona Jones ’23 netted her sixth goal of the season to bring the Mammoths back within one, with the score standing at 9-8 with 3:36 to go in the game. It was then that Polar Bears shut the door on the Mammoths’ advance, adding two more to their score to put the game out of reach. Attacker Kendyl Stewart

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Grace Wyckoff '24 cradles the ball against Bowdoin. ’23 scored one more goal with two seconds left, but in the end, the Mammoths just ran out of time.

Despite the final score of 11-9, goalie Caroline Fischer ’22 tied her career-high of eight saves in the loss, her second straight game recording that total. Kendall netted multiple goals for the third straight game

— extended her goal-scoring streak to thirteen games — and Bevacqua led all Amherst scorers with her first career hat trick.

Women’s lacrosse will return on Wednesday, April 6, to take on NESCAC rival Wesleyan on Pratt Field at 6 p.m., searching for their first win on the road to a Little Three championship.

Softball Wins 3 of 5, Including 2 Walkoff Wins Alex Noga ’23 Managing Sports Editor Building off a successful week, the softball team continued their hot start to the season, opening NESCAC play with a twogames-to-one series win against Middlebury on Friday, April 1, and Saturday, April 2. They then played local rival Smith on Tuesday, April 5, but unfortunately lost 5-2 to the Pioneers.

Last week, the Mammoths picked up two wins against WPI in dramatic fashion, winning on back-to-back walk offs.

Their flair for the dramatics was present once again in their first game against Middlebury.

The Mammoths jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning, but the Panthers tied the score with a three-run homer in the sixth inning and pulled ahead in the seventh with an RBI double.

Down to their final three outs, the Mammoths evened the score after Autumn Lee ’23 singled home Me-

gan Taketa ’23, who led the inning off with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Rachel Lovejoy ’23. With the score knotted at four apiece, the teams entered extra innings.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Panthers managed to get runners on the corners with two outs in a prime chance to take the lead, but Audrey Orlowski ’23, who came on in relief in the seventh inning, got the final out via a lineout to left field. It was then the Mammoths’ turn to mirror the Panthers by putting runners on first and third with two outs in the frame, but with the speedy Taketa at the plate, the Mammoths produced a much different result. Taketa drove a ball to shortstop and beat the throw by half a step, scoring the runner from third and securing the Mammoths’ sixth consecutive victory.

America Rangel ’25 got the start and was dominant from the circle for most of the contest. She tallied eight strikeouts through six innings pitched and did not

allow a hit until the sixth inning.

Orlowski, who pitched the final two innings in relief, recorded her third win of the season.

Game two was a back-andforth affair that saw numerous Mammoth comebacks and once again went into extra innings, but the Mammoths fell 8-7 in the ninth inning. After going down four runs in the first inning, they tied the score 5-5 in the fifth inning. The Panthers seemed to have the game in hand after scoring two runs in the eighth inning, but solo home runs from Lovejoy and Dani Torres Werra ’25 evened the score once again. However, the Panthers added another run in the ninth and the Mammoths stranded the tying run at third in their half of the inning. Talia Bloxham ’22, who came on in relief and pitched 5.1 innings, was pegged with the loss, bringing her record to 3-2.

The final game of the series was a dominant showing from the Mammoths, needing only five innings to defeat the Panthers 8-0

due to the eight-run mercy rule.

The Mammoths went up 3-0 in the first inning, added two more runs in the second, and brought their total to eight in the third by adding three more. Werra got the start for the Mammoths and controlled the Panthers all game, pitching the full five innings and allowing just two hits and picking up three strikeouts on the way. The win brings her early season record to an impressive 4-0.

Their game against Smith on Tuesday, April 5, by contrast, was a defensive battle, with the Pioneers holding a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth. This is where the Mammoths made their breakthrough, with Taketa singling in the leadoff position before stealing second. A sacrifice bunt by Lovejoy got Taketa to third, and Lee brought her home with an RBI single to tie the game at one-apiece. Neither team scored in the final frame, and the game moved to extra innings; but this time, the Mammoths could not

finish the job. They gave up four runs in the top of the eighth inning to a Pioneers squad that found its groove late in the contest, and only managed one of their own in their response to make the final score 5-2 in favor of Smith.

Taketa was awarded NESCAC player of the week honors for her remarkable performance in the Middlebury series. She went six-for-nine in the series with a .769 on-base percentage, scoring seven runs and adding two RBIs, including a walk-off single, and made some sensational plays in the outfield, including a diving catch to save a crucial run in game one. On the season, Taketa boasts a .389 batting average and has been a perfect seven-for-seven on stolen base attempts.

With a record of 10-4 on the year, the Mammoths will travel to Clinton, New York, to play a threegame series against Hamilton, with the first game occurring on Friday, April 8, and a doubleheader to follow on Saturday, April 9.

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

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Dani Valdez ’22, 2022 All-American, Looks Back on Career Maya Reiner ’25 Staff Writer Dani Valdez ’22 ended her collegiate basketball career as a Division III All-American named to the WBCA Division III All-Star Team, and a First Team All-Region I selected by D3Hoops.com. Staff writer Maya Reiner ’25 sat down with Valdez to talk about her past four years as a star on the women’s basketball team. Responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

Q: It is extremely impressive that you have been selected as a Division III All-American, named to the WBCA Division III AllStar Team, and selected as a First Team All-Region I by D3Hoops. com. What were your immediate thoughts when you got these honors? Who did you think about, and what experiences did you think back on?

A: I kind of get emotional thinking about it just because I never really expected to win these awards.

I came into this season with an open mind, and when I came in, I had two things that I really wanted to accomplish: winning the NESCAC championship and winning a national championship. I was never really thinking about individual awards — rather, my main goal was team awards and what we, the senior class, could do in order to accomplish as much as we could in the three years that we were given. My first thought on receiving these awards was to look at how much we accomplished as a team.

I don’t really look at the awards as individual [honors] — I think it showcases how good of a team we are. I would never have been able to win these awards without my teammates. Without them passing me the ball or finding open looks to pass to me, I honestly would not be able to get anywhere close to what I accomplished.

I also thought about my parents, because they put so much time into bringing me to practices and coming to my games, and always supporting me. I also look at it as an accomplishment for them, too. What also made me emotion-

al about receiving these awards was that, in high school, I never won awards. I also never thought of myself as having the ability to even reach these or to go to Amherst and play for a top program in the country. I feel like there were also a lot of people saying, like, “Oh, Dani can’t do this, Dani can’t do that.” I think that there were a lot of things thrown at me, and a lot of adversity that I battled throughout. It’s cool to look back and see how much I have grown as a person and also as a player. I really owe all that to my teammates, my parents, and my coaches. I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without them.

Q: Covid-19 shut down your 2019-2020 (sophomore) season when you made it to the Sweet 16, and then kept you from having your 2020-2021 (junior) season. How did the team bounce back? What made your team so successful, despite all the adversities that you guys had to face?

A: When our [2019-2020] season got canceled, it was pretty rough.

We were all pretty upset, and I think that we had a good shot of winning [a national title] or getting to the national championship. It was kind of difficult in the beginning, just to come back, because we took a year off. We all took time off to play basketball.

We were still working out, but it was different between training by yourself and training with the team. So coming back from the Covid break, we all were kind of trying to wipe the grease off and just get back into the swing of things. Although we had a pretty young team, everybody just clicked, and it was easy to play and come back. Everyone was able to connect and just have fun. Everybody also came in with an open mind. … I think that as the older group, the seniors also learned a lot from the younger players. That made it a cool dynamic, but also made it kind of like an even playing field, which was really exciting.

Q: Throughout your four years here at Amherst, did you ever

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Dani Valdez '22 was named to the WBCA Division III All-Star Team and earned NCAA Division III All-American honors. She lost her sophomore year season due to Covid-19. find it difficult to balance your athletic and academic endeavors? What advice would you give to other athletes here?

A: It’s definitely challenging being a student-athlete. I know my freshman year, it was really hard for me to adjust to balancing being an athlete — well, being a student first and then being an athlete. As the years went on, it was easier to adjust. I knew exactly what was expected of me, but I also owe a lot of that to my parents for grounding me at times when I felt very stressed out. And also to my professors. I’m a math major, so I am able to know a lot of the faculty who work in the math department. They made it so easy for me to play the sport that I love, but also to be able to get the best education that I could. I like our team’s academic liaisons, Professor [of Mathematics] Danielle Benedetto and [William J. Walker] Professor [of Mathematics] Rob Benedetto. Especially this year, it was super hard for me to adjust, getting back to the swing of things of being a student and an athlete.

I definitely had moments where I felt very stressed out, or I felt like, “How did I do this sophomore and freshman year?” (We had a whole year off my junior year, so I wasn’t

on campus.) It was definitely different coming back, but our team liaisons and also, in general, the math department would be super willing to meet with me over Zoom if I had questions or to answer some of the questions or concepts that I missed or that I was not really understanding. So I could handle the academic part because the professors made it possible by being so open to helping me outside of class and discussing these topics so that I could really nail it down. I also use the Quantitative (Q) Center a lot. [Associate Director of the Q Center] Allison Tanguay especially has helped me a lot with a balancing [academics and sports]. For example, my “Groups, Rings, and Fields” class last semester was one of the hardest classes I’ve taken at Amherst, and she was able to really help me and go over the homework, as well as help me review the test. This semester I used Tim from the Q Center as well. He’s been really helping me with “Graph Theory.” The Q Center is such a helpful tool. I really recommend using the Q Center.

It’s something that a lot of people don’t use, but it’s a good tool to have in your pocket in case you don’t understand concepts and you need extra time outside of

office hours or in class to review topics.

Q: What lessons and experiences have you gained throughout your four years that you’re going to take beyond Amherst?

A: I learned to be confident. Coming into college, I wasn’t really confident in my abilities or confident with myself. I’m an only child, so I kind of learned a lot from people around me. For a lot of lessons growing up, I had to learn through my own experiences, and I didn’t really have someone to always look up to. So I think coming in, I was a little awkward and a little bit shy.

But I think that by playing on the team, learning from past players, the underclassmen, and also my class too, I think I learned to be self-assured and not say sorry as much. I used to say sorry a lot and just did not feel very confident in my abilities. Another big lesson that I learned was putting myself in other people’s shoes because, as I said before, college is really stressful and people are going through so many different stages of life. I think it’s important to think about what other people are going through and to really try to be as positive as you can while also giving as much support to people as you can.

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

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Track and Field Starts Season Strong Against DI Schools Liza Katz ’24 Managing Sports Editor On Sunday, April 3, the track and field teams opened their seasons with a bang, making the short drive across town to UMass to compete in their first outdoor meet of 2022. Despite being the only Division III school in the field of Division I Massachusetts schools, Amherst more than held their own, with four Mammoths winning individual events, and the men’s and women’s teams placing third out of six and third out of seven, respectively. (On the men’s side, one jumper competed unattached.)

Men The men’s success started in the field events, with six Mammoth competitors finishing in the top 10 of their respective events. Gabriel Dos Santos ’24 and Camden Heafitz ’25 kicked things off, finishing in podium position in the high jump with jumps of 1.85 meters (second) and 1.80 meters (third), respectively. Adrian Friedman ’24 kept the ball rolling, coming in second in long jump at 6.47 meters, while Kelechi Eziri ’23 came in second in triple jump with a

jump of 13.39 meters. With sixthand seventh-place throws of 48.44 meters and 47.90 meters, respectively, Troy Colleran ’22 and Kevin Ryu ’25 scored team points for the Mammoths in javelin.

On the track, the results were just as impressive. Henry Buren ’22 won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.03, a full 10th of a second faster than the second-place finisher, Zachary Fisher of Merrimack College. Buren also won the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.27 seconds, this time finishing almost two 10ths faster than Fisher.

Of his performance, Buren said, “To be honest, at this point of the season, I’m not concerned with winning my races … What I’m most concerned with is running a solid race and trying to implement what I’ve been working on in practice. If I happen to win, that’s just a cherry on top.”

Jack O’Hara ’25 set a personal record in the 800-meter run, with his time of 1:56.77 being a full two seconds better than his previous best. And Ben Wadsworth ’25 finished in the top three in his event, placing third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.59 to round things out for Amherst.

Women Coming off an appearance in the event at the 2022 Indoor NCAA National Championships, Julia Zacher ’25 won the high jump with a leap of 1.66 meters and finished eighth in the 100-meter hurdles in a great day for the first-year. Jordan Hecker ’25 also maintained her run of great form, setting a new school record in the pole vault at 3.40 meters (11 feet 1.75 inches) and finishing in the top five. Mia Bawendi ’24 and Payton Sorensen ’25 also finished in the top 10 in that event, and all three Mammoths recorded vaults that bested Bawendi’s old school record of 2.90 meters, which she set in 2021.

The field events continued to bear fruit for the Mammoths, with Muffie Mazambani ’24 finishing fourth in her event, the long jump, with a leap of 5.21 meters on her first attempt. Mazambani also finished third in the triple jump at 11.15 meters, and teammate Anaya Thomas ’25 landed right behind her in fourth with a jump of 10.91 meters. Carolina Andrade ’24 finished fifth in the javelin with a throw of 34.49 meters. Finishing the day off with a bang, classmate Bethany Mar-

tin ’24 notched a heave of 42.73 meters in the hammer throw, also setting a new school record in the process.

Not to be outdone by their teammates, Amherst’s track competitors stood out as well. The 1,500-meter run was a highlight, with three Mammoths recording times under five minutes. Julia Schor ’25 won the event by almost three seconds, finishing with a personal-best time of 4:41.50. Fellow first-year Sylvan Wold ’25 finished in a personal-best 4:54.40, and sophomore Ally Deegan ’24 rounded out the Mammoths’ subfive finishes with a time of 4:59.39.

In the short-distance events, Anna Madden ’22 set a new school record and personal best in the 400-meter dash, coming in third with a time of 57.36. Juanita Jaramillo ’22 also set a personal best in the event, with a time of 58.04 earning her a fifth place finish. Casie Eifrig ’25 finished in the top 10 as well, coming across the line in 1:00.39. All three also ran in the 4x400-meter relay, with Nicole Barbaro ’24 joining them to notch a second-place finish in the event with a time of 4:00.38.

Amerley Lokko ’25 recorded a top-10 finish in the 100-me-

ter dash, with her time of 12.70 earning her the seventh slot, and Ava Zielinski ’25 recorded a sixth place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:19.21.

Two Mammoths finished in the top five in the 400-meter hurdles — Ava Tillman ’23 finished fourth (1:06.76) and Trinje Nydam ’24 finished right behind her in fifth (1:06.89) — and Sophie Wolmer ’23 and Sidnie Kulik ’25 finished one-two in the 5,000-meter run, with their respective times of 17:07.44 and 17:13.39 being 20 seconds faster than the third place finisher, a runner from the University of Hartford.

Looking ahead, the men’s and women’s teams are looking to build on the successes they enjoyed this weekend. “The team feels really good coming out of this meet because a lot of people had really strong — school-record strong — openings to the outdoor season,” Buren said, “so people are excited to build upon that momentum and build up on groundwork laid down [this weekend] in order to succeed at … the most important meets of the season.”

The first events are set to begin at 11 a.m. on Pratt Field, and will continue throughout the day.

Women Sweep, Men Split in Tennis’ Trip to Maine Leo Kamin ’25 and Alex Noga ’23 Managing Sports Editors Both men’s and women’s tennis teams traveled to Maine over the weekend to play NESCAC Mainers Bowdoin and Colby on Saturday, April 2, and Sunday, April 3, on each team’s respective home court. The No. 9-ranked women’s team flexed their muscles in both their matches, defeating No. 16-ranked Bowdoin and No. 32-ranked Colby by identical 8-1 scores. The No. 20-ranked men’s team fell in a tight matchup against No. 7-ranked Bowdoin 4-5, before defeating No. 33-ranked Colby 8-1.

Women Playing indoors on Saturday,

April 2, the Mammoths dominated Bowdoin for their second NESCAC victory of the season. The three doubles pairs of Jackie Bukzin ’22 and Mia Kintiroglou ’25, Julia Lendel ’24 and Deliala Friedman ’25, and Amy Cui ’25 and Anya Ramras ’22 swept the opposite pairs of Polar Bears, winning 8-2, 8-4, and 8-2 respectively. The Mammoths continued their stunning display of supremacy into their singles matches, as they won five of six matches in straight sets to secure the 8-1 win.

The Mammoths carried their momentum into Sunday’s match against Colby to secure their third NESCAC victory of the year. They matched their results from the previous day, convincingly sweeping the three doubles matches with

scores of 8-3, 8-3, and 9-1, and winning five of six single matches.

With a 5-4 overall record and a 3-1 record in the NESCAC, the Mammoths look ahead to a home match against No. 8-ranked Middlebury on Saturday, April 9. They will then travel to Williamstown, Massachusetts, to battle perennial rival No. 18-ranked Williams the following day.

Men The men faced one of their toughest challenges of the season against Bowdoin. They lost by the finest of margins, 4-5, for their first conference loss of the season. The top doubles pairing of Damien Ruparel ’22 and Sujit Chepuri ’25 continued to dominate, winning

their single-set match 8-5. The other two pairings, Harris Foulkes ’22/Ed Opie’25 and Kobe Ellenborgen ’25/ Micah Elias ’24, lost.

Many of the singles matches were lopsided affairs. Ruparel dropped his match at the top of the ladder 6-1, 6-2. Foulkes won at the two-spot, dropping just two games.

Chepuri suffered the same fate as his partner, dropping his match while capturing just three games. Opie played the closest match of the day, winning the first set 6-4, but losing the second set in a tiebreaker 10-5.

Willie Turchetta ’22 dropped his match 6-2, 6-0, so Ellenborgen’s 7-6, 6-2 win in the No. 6 spot was not enough to right the ship. The Mammoths fell just one win short of overall victory.

The weekend continued as the Mammoth’s trudged northward to take on the Colby Mules. Chepuri and Ruparel lost 8-4, but the Mules’ success stopped there. Foulkes and Opie eked out a tiebreaker victory, and Ellenborgen and Elias calmly dispatched their opponents 8-2.

From there, the Mammoths dominated the singles matches, capturing wins at all six spots.

After the weekend’s sojourn in Maine, the Mammoths sit at 6-4 on the season, and they are 3-1 in NESCAC play. They face their most imposing weekend slate this coming week, taking on No. 9 Middlebury on Saturday, April 9, before a matchup with No. 6 Williams on Sunday. Both matches will be played at home.

The Amherst Student • April 6, 2022

Sports

24

After Bowdoin Loss, Men’s Lacrosse Seeks Improvement Mike Schretter ’23 Staff Writer

Men’s lacrosse has had an upand-down season this year, and their Saturday game at Bowdoin did not bode any easier for the Mammoths. Amherst entered the game 4-3 on the season after winning 11-10 over Western New England University last Tuesday.

Bowdoin entered the game 8-0 and ranked No. 11 in the country, with big wins over Middlebury, Wesleyan, and Williams already under their belt. But Amherst has played a tough schedule so far this season, so another ranked opponent was nothing new for the Mammoths.

The Mammoths demonstrated just this in the early going, as Jake Bennett ’24 started the scoring with an unassisted goal to make it 1-0. However, Bowdoin responded with two goals of their own to take the lead back. Amherst was soon able to tie it up with a goal from Tanyr Krummenacher ’23, but Bowdoin ended the quarter with two more goals to take a 4-2 lead into the second quarter.

A Brock Gonzalez ’23 goal in the second quarter narrowed the margin to one, but after that point, the game quickly got out of hand.

The Polar Bears got into a groove, scoring seven unanswered goals to extend their lead to 11-3 with 5:20 left in the second quarter.

Bennett said that this huge swing in momentum came down to the fact that “we [Amherst] had a lot fewer ground balls, which meant a lot less possession time from our offense [during the scoring run].”

Because of this difference in possession, Bowdoin was able to get into their offensive third to attack more readily, and establish their sizable lead by providing many offensive opportunities for Donald Mullane, the second-leading goal scorer in the NESCAC, who trails only Gonzalez in goals scored. After this shock to their system, Amherst was able to get two goals back, and narrowed the margin to 11-5 through a goal each from Gonzalez and captain PJ Clementi ’22.

Amherst continued to respond in the second half, demonstrating the grit they have accumulated from battling adversity all year long. Bayard DeMallie ’23 made it 11-6 with a big goal to start the third quarter, and then Krummenacher scored another to make it 127. Bowdoin’s last goal of the frame made it 13-7 Polar Bears entering

WOMEN'S LACROSSE April 6: vs. Wesleyan, 6 p.m.

April 9: @ Colby, 12 p.m.

April 10: vs. Tufts, 1 p.m.

MEN'S LACROSSE April 6: @ Wesleyan, 6 p.m.

April 9: vs. Colby, 1 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Jake Bennett '24 cradles the ball in a game against Western New England University. the fourth quarter. However, Amherst showcased the best of their talent in the fourth quarter as they continued to slice into that Bowdoin lead: tallies from Clementi and Connor Guest ’24, as well as two from Gonzalez, made it a 14-11 game with seven and a half minutes to go. Unfortunately, the Polar bears shut the door on the Mammoth comeback with another goal, and ultimately came away with a

15-12 victory.

Bennett said that Bowdoin was a tough one to swallow because “our shooting percentage was a lot lower than normal [and] we let up a lot of goals in transition, so playing more settled defense will be a focus of ours going forward.”

While the team was frustrated with this loss, they have a huge opportunity to get back on the right track against Little Three rival

Wesleyan on Wednesday, April 6.

Bennett said that the team is excited for the game, and that the keys to victory are “being gritty when the balls are on the ground and coming up with extra possessions.” Amherst has been resilient all year long, and they remain confident in their abilities as they head to Middletown, Connecticut, to try and defeat the Cardinals. The game is set to begin at 6 p.m.

GAME SCHEDULE BASEBALL

April 8: vs. Hamilton, 4 p.m.

April 9: vs. Hamilton, 12 p.m. (DH) April 11: @ Salve Regina, 3:45 p.m.

SOFTBALL April 8: @ Hamilton, 5 p.m.

April 9: vs. Hamilton, 12 p.m. (DH)

MEN'S GOLF April 9-10: Brown Invitational (Skidmore College) @ Ballston Spa, N.Y.

WOMEN'S TENNIS April 9: vs. Middlebury, 10 a.m.

April 10: @ Williams, 1 p.m.

MEN'S TENNIS April 9: vs. Middlebury, 2 p.m.

April 10: vs. Williams, 12 p.m.

TRACK & FIELD April 9: Amherst Spring Fling Meet, 11 a.m.