Issue 5

THE AMHERST THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

STUDENT

CROSSWORD page 10

VOLUME CLI, ISSUE 5 l WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

AMHERSTSTUDENT.COM

As Progress Stalls on Roofies Investigation, Students Question College Response Rebecca Picciotto ’22 Editor-in-Chief

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

In an update on its investigation into the presence of roofies on campus, ACPD informed the campus community that amphetamines were detected in a cooler found in Hitchcock Dormitory labeled “Barrel of Fun.”

OLs, CAs Frustrated by Delays in Receiving Pay Yee-Lynn Lee ’23 Managing News Editor Orientation Leaders (OL) have not been paid yet for their work, even though New Student Orientation took place nearly a month ago. Several Community Advisors (CA) also experienced delays in receiving their biweekly paychecks in the first few weeks of the semester. Students expressed frustration at the administration’s lack of communication and concern around the delays, with several noting that such attitudes fall within a larger failure to value student workers at the college.

OLs who spoke to The Student said that they had been expecting their $600 stipend to come in on Sept. 3, at the end of the first pay period of the semester. They did not receive the stipend at the end of the following pay period either,

which was two weeks later. As of the time of publication, OLs have not received compensation for their work from Aug. 22 to Aug. 29 preparing for and leading orientation. The initial paychecks for approximately 20 percent of CAs — who were supposed to receive their first paycheck on Aug. 20 — were also delayed by two weeks, with two students’ paychecks delayed past Sept. 3.

Delays in receiving pay can place great burdens on students relying on that money to cover hefty expenses at the beginning of the semester. Speaking from her experience as a low-income student, Jeanyna Garcia ’23, who served as an OL, said, “One of the reasons why a lot of people do this job is because it’s a way to make sure you’re financially okay to start a new semester, because books are expensive and living

here is expensive.”

“Some of us have credit card bills due, some of us were expecting this money to pay off various debts that we have,” added Sophie Kubik ’23, also an OL. “It really sucks to [be] promise[d] $600 and then just not [be] give[n] it in a timely manner.”

The stress and uncertainty caused by the delay in payment is exacerbated by administrators’ lack of communication, students said. “If it weren’t for us continuously texting in the GroupMe with the OLs and [Director of New Student Programs] Marie [Lalor], like ‘Hey, when is this payment coming?’ I don’t think we would [get any information],” said Garcia. “[It’s] very frustrating because we want to be sympathetic towards Marie, we know that she’s doing a lot, but at the same time, sending a message is super helpful and

calms down a lot of people’s anxiety in terms of like, ‘Am I getting my bills paid? When is the money coming in?’”

“It’s frustrating and sad that we don’t get that communication unless students are the ones stepping in to ask for some sort of transparency,” she said.

Ella Rose ’23, another OL, reported that the last update they received about their pay came from Lalor on Sept. 17. “As of right now, we don’t know when we’re getting paid,” she said. “There’s been a frustrating lack of updates, and it feels like pulling teeth [trying] to get any information about it.”

Students stated that even those updates that did come failed to provide any explanation for the delay. “We were just given non-responses, like ‘I can’t believe you

Continued on page 4

With just over two weeks since rumors of roofying at campus parties started circulating at Amherst and even less time since the Amherst College Police Department (ACPD) officially announced the launch of its investigation, developments in conclusive evidence remain scarce. Still, the presence of date rape drugs on campus continues to loom on students’ minds, some of whom question, in general, the administration’s response to issues of sexual misconduct on campus.

The second and only follow-up update on ACPD’s investigation after its initial Sept. 23 email was an alert of possible amphetamine drugs found in alcoholic drinks in a cooler labeled “Barrel of Fun,” found in Hitchcock Dormitory. The discovery included two other drink coolers, both of which were tested for substances but did not show up positive for signs of drugs.

With the student activism at UMass responding to their campus’s reports of date rape drug-related sexual assault, rumblings have begun to spread at Amherst that the roofies may have been connected to UMass visitors.

Chief of Police John Carter notes that as far as the department’s investigation goes, “There currently is no indication that University of Massachusetts stu-

Continued on page 5

News POLICE LOG

Sept. 22, 2021 – Sept. 28, 2021

>> Sept. 22, 2021 2:38 p.m., Merrill Lot An officer places a boot on a vehicle that was parked in violation of parking regulations and is on the boot list. >> Sept. 23, 2021 1:09 a.m., Boltwood Avenue An officer assisted the town police with a vehicle after observing the vehicle driving in an abnormally slow manner.

11:50 a.m., Amherst Police Department An officer responded to assist the town police with an individual that was arrested by the town. >>Sept. 24, 2021 12:35 a.m., Moore Dormitory Residential Life (ResLife) staff responded to a report of writing on the ceiling of an elevator. There are no know suspects at this time. >>Sept. 25, 2021 2:09 a.m., College Street An officer assisted the town police with two individuals that took a cone from the town.

3:18 p.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory An officer responded to a request from ResLife staff to assist with a well being check.

10:13 p.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory ResLife staff responded to a report of an unauthorized party.

10:22 p.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory ResLife staff responded to

Thoughts on Theses Tim Song

a report of two individuals, not affiliated with the college, who walked through the residence hall. They were not located.

10:32 p.m., Hitchcock Dormitory A Community Safety Officer (CSO) responded to a call on the emergency line where no one answered the dispatcher. No one was found in distress in the area. >>Sept. 26, 2021 12:07 a.m., Fayerweather Hall An officer responded to assist a student having difficulty accessing a locked room.

7:42 a.m., Campus Grounds An officer confiscated a state ID that misrepresented an individual’s age. >>Sept. 27, 2021 6:26 a.m., Val Loading Dock ResLife staff and an officer responded to a report of a vehicle blocking the loading dock from deliveries.

Department of Music

Tim Song is a neuroscience and music double major. His thesis looks at how K-pop affects mental health and Asian American identity. His thesis advisor is Professor of Music Jeffers Engelhardt.

Q: What is your thesis about?

A: My thesis is about how K-pop affects mental health. That’s my general topic, and I’m still currently exploring what I want to do with it, but it originally stemmed from an idea in terms of how K-pop affects mental health and Asian Americans. Especially through the recent Korean Wave, there’s been a lot more Korean media [and] K-pop in America, and the identity of the Asian American has also been a lot more prevalent in social media and in general. I wanted to see how the prevalence of both of these events — the rise of both the Asian American in society, as well as K-pop and Korean music — would affect mental health.

Q: What inspired you to pursue this topic?

A: Back in [my] second year, I had a pretty rough time with my own mental health. I had a pretty severe depressive episode in 4:10 p.m., Chapin Hall the fall of 2019 and through this An officer took a report of time, I wasn’t really able to rely on an image drawn on a white- anything — I wasn’t able to reach board. out to my friends, I wasn’t able to reach [out to] family, [or at least] it 11:30 p.m., Nicholls Biondi didn’t feel like I was able to. But one Hall thing that did help me through this Amherst Fire Department [time] was my reliance on K-pop, (AFD) and an officer reboth as a genre and as an industry. sponded to an alarm and Through fandoms and social mefound it was set off by dia and just consuming culture, I cooking smoke. was able to see myself and find serotonin and little things here and >>Sept. 28, 2021 there. But also the music, both in 5:33 a.m., Keefe Campus terms of lyrical content and sonical Center elements — how the melody was Officers responded to an structured and the instrumentalalarm and found no smoke ization of each piece — helped me or fire. to maintain my wellbeing.

With this personal experience of having gone through a crisis [and been helped by] K-pop, I also began to be more aware of how, at large, society is affected by K-pop as well. I often saw accounts on Twitter of different people being like, ‘Oh, I’ve been able to get through so-and-so situations because of K-pop.’ I saw a lot of my other friends as well were able to be sustained [by] K-pop through their own troubles, and I thought that this would be a really interesting phenomenon to look at through a more academic lens. I did my own research while studying for some of my music classes on where that intersectionality lies in terms of K-pop, Asian identity, American identity and mental health, and I found that there was almost no literature done on this topic. I feel like it’s important, especially with the rise of popular culture in a more global sense, that this topic be looked at academically as well.

Q: What is your favorite part of the research process so far?

A: My favorite part so far has just been being able to bring the artists that I enjoy talking about and listening to, as well as my own experiences, into a more academic setting. Combining my non-academic, more musical, interests, along with what I’ve enjoyed doing in terms of the analysis of music, has been also a really enjoyable time, just being able to integrate all of that.

Q: What are some challenges that you’ve encountered in your research?

A: I’ll mention two of my biggest issues that I’m facing right now. One would be the fact that there isn’t an Asian American studies major on campus. That really makes things so much harder because I want my thesis to be able to focus on Asian American studies and how mental health has been a theme that’s been brought across from America to Asia and K-pop serves as the best vessel in terms of both sending the theme of mental health over to Korea, but also bringing it back to America as well. It’s kind of being used to bring awareness to Korea of what mental health is. Because I don’t have any guidance in terms of how to navigate that from an Asian American [studies] lens, it’s been difficult. And because of that, my second worry [is] it’s been hard to find what direction to approach this [from], whether it be a psychological approach where I look more at how the brain is shaped by music, or a more anthropological approach where we look at how culture and music shapes the self.

So because I’m stuck at a point where [I’m not sure how] to even start dissecting these arguments, I think those are my two big issues.

Q: How have you been working to overcome these challenges?

A: I really think it’s just continuing to let it brew, talking to a lot of people about it or reaching out to both my advisor and also other people in adjacent fields. I think that’s the best way to get at it, honestly.

—Brittney Nguyen ’25

News 3

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

Students Plan Off-Campus Travel Over Fall Break

Sonia Chajet Wides ’25 Staff Writer The college announced that it will not restrict off-campus travel during Fall Break (Oct. 9-12), but that it “strongly encourages students to stay on campus,” in an email sent by Dean of Students Liz Agosto on Sept. 11.

The college’s decision regarding fall break travel has been up in the air since Aug. 24, when President Biddy Martin wrote that it was “possible” that travel would be restricted. The determination came alongside news about the loosening of other protocols, most notably the reopening of indoor dining on campus.

The college is primarily concerned with the broadening of sources from which students could contract Covid-19. Director of New Student Programs Marie Lalor told The Student that the college partially attributes this semester’s “very small number of Covid-19 cases” to the off-campus travel boundary of Hampshire County.

“Fall Break presents the first opportunity where students may travel well beyond the county, including to hot spots where the variant continues to infect significant numbers of people,” Lalor said.

Despite these concerns, the college is allowing students to travel beyond the county in an effort to provide a “more ‘normal’ campus experience,” coupled with safety measures such as a travel form and mandatory testing upon returning to campus.

Students’ plans for the break vary. Many students, particularly upperclassmen, plan to leave campus and either return home or travel elsewhere for vacation with friends. “I very much feel the urge to branch out, see something other than just the town,” Emma Daitz ’23 said.

Multiple students cited their desire for a “real break” that offers a change of scenery and routine. “Even though now it’s not a literal bubble, … college

is still sort of metaphorically a bubble…,” said one student who preferred to remain anonymous, “and so it’s always nice to have a chance to do something different and remember that we’re part of a bigger world.”

Jeanyna Garcia ’23 referred to her experience in the campus bubble last year as a reason that she is eager to leave the campus for the break.

“I was living, breathing, sleeping Amherst 24/7 … I felt the bubble very close,” she said, “I don’t want to repeat those same scenarios.”

Other students will remain on campus. Quincy Smith ’25 said that he sees “no point” in traveling home due to the short length of the break.

Garcia explained that she did not travel home during her first year because it was expensive and required too much planning; she sees this as a common barrier

for other students traveling home as well. Even students who live close to the college — and could travel home — lack the necessary funds or the bandwidth to deal with logistical factors.

The same limitations are also barriers to enjoying an on-campus Fall Break as well; Garcia cited the fact that she doesn’t have access to a car on-campus, and therefore has less mobility when at school. This is another reason that she wants to travel home to New York City, a place where she can “regain [her] independence” through public transport.

The college is attempting to schedule school-sponsored activities to keep students occupied and ultimately compel them to stay on campus. Lalor said that the Student Activities office has planned a full schedule of activities for students that remain on campus during Fall Break, including trips to Mt. Sugarloaf,

Park Hill Orchard, and Flayvors of Cook Farm.

When asked about the college’s expectations in terms of student response to the guidance, Lalor expressed that the college wants “to stress for students the importance of thinking through how their behaviors off campus might affect the health of our entire community.”

Several students are not basing their travel decisions solely on the college’s guidance. “If people are planning on going, they’re gonna go,” Daitz said.

However, there are those that are factoring Covid-19 into their decisions. Some students are traveling to nearby locations instead of their home states or to other Covid hotspots. Daitz, for example, said that she “would’ve considered going somewhere like Florida for fun,” but that she will instead most likely travel somewhere close by. Others

mentioned changing their travel plans to exclude flying. “I think there is more of a Covid risk … where I’m from, and also just in the process of traveling there [by plane],” said the same anonymous student, “whereas here I’m still kind of staying in the general region and I’m definitely planning on being very careful.”

Students also expressed gratitude for the return testing protocol, saying that it makes them feel safer because they do not know where classmates might end up over the break.

“I’m kind of scared. If people are going over there and coming back,” Smith expressed, “I think [the college’s approach] makes sense.”

The college’s fall break policy encompasses its attempt to find a middle ground between opening things up and mitigating risk.

“Striking that balance is not easy or simple,” Lalor said.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The Office of Student Activities has planned a full schedule of activities for students remaining on campus over Fall Break, including trips to Mt. Sugarloaf, pictured above.

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

News 4

Handling of OL, CA Pay Delay Shows Disregard for Student Workers Continued from page 1

haven’t gotten paid yet,’” said Diana Daniels ’22, an OL. This lack of transparency makes it difficult for students to hold the college accountable. “It’s never been directly communicated to us, ‘This is who you need to be talking to,’” said Kubik. “And because we don’t exactly know who we need to be talking to, I think that’s also allowing them to kind of kick the can down the road a little bit more.”

“Money at this college has always been a cavernous, secretive thing, like where does it come from, where does it go?” she continued. “These sort of mysterious inner workings of the money structure at Amherst are just completely unknown to us, and because of that, we don’t know how to actually force them to pay us.”

In a statement to The Student, Lalor explained that the delay in pay is caused by “the multistep process in the new Workday system to hire and pay student staff, coupled with staffing chang-

es among those who are most knowledgeable in these systems.”

She stated that “we are actively working with both Student Employment and Payroll, as well as with the larger Student Affairs division, to process these payments as quickly as possible.”

Associate Dean of Students Scott Howard and Director of Residential Life Andrea Cadyma described the delay in CA paychecks as “the result of an unexpected employee departure in the Office of Financial Aid who processed payroll in the college’s new system (Workday).”

They added that all students who reached out with concern were offered immediate interim financial support, whether through a pay advance or direct assistance with expenses. “While these errors are certainly frustrating and inconvenient, we have not been notified of any student experiencing hardship as a result of these delays,” said Howard and Cadyma.

Both OLs and CAs affected by pay delays reported, however, that administrators did not in-

form them of resources available for financial aid immediately in response to initial delays, if at all.

“We weren’t given any direction or guidance, like ‘If you need something specifically because you don’t have this money, reach out here,’” said Daniels. “I think that’s something that they assumed students would just figure out on their own, which is kind of unfair.”

Obed Labra-Pelaez ’23, a CA who did not start getting paid until Sept. 17, said that he had emailed Cadyma about the issue on Aug. 20, the day he was supposed to receive his first paycheck, but was not informed that he could request financial support until Sept. 3. He explained that he interpreted the update he got on Sept. 3 to mean that he would be paid on Sept. 7, the following Tuesday, but as the days went on and he still didn’t receive his paycheck, he eventually had to reach out to case management for money to buy books he needed for his classes.

Labra-Pelaez acknowledged that mistakes happen, but ex-

pressed that what really upset him was the lack of concern he felt from the administration for his situation. “When I first talked to them, they were just like, ‘Oh, there’s an issue with the system.

We’re going to look into it.’”

“I just felt like they had no urgency,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what was being said behind the scenes, but I essentially felt like they were just like, ‘He can wait, he can wait,’ like there was no real concern for getting me my money. I just felt like they thought I didn’t need it.”

Speaking on behalf of the Union of Student Workers at Amherst College (USWAC), Bargaining Chair of USWAC Ella Peterson ’22 stated, “This is not the first time we’ve heard of the administration messing up people’s pay periods and kind of just sweeping it under the rug, like it doesn’t really matter, it’s not that significant.

The fact that so often, the administration’s attitude is one of like, ‘Oh, well, we’ll fix it in the next pay period, don’t worry about it’ — that’s not sufficient if you need

to buy textbooks now or you have upfront costs right now.”

“If you’re a FLI [first-generation and low income] student, you don’t have the resources available to just take [money] out of your savings account or have your parents just send you money,” echoed Labra-Pelaez. “I needed the money, and [the delay] has just thrown a big wrench in everything. For that to happen at the beginning of the semester, that had a lot of impacts. It caused me a lot of distress.”

In the view of many students, the administration’s cavalier handling of the payment delays boils down to the lack of regard the college has for its student workers. “I feel like this is part of that bigger problem that like Amherst College as an institution just doesn’t value student workers as much as they should,” said Rose.

Garcia agreed: “The college needs to treat us, not only as workers that need to represent Amherst, but [as] actual human beings that they respect. I don’t think we’re seeing that respect.”

Photo courtesy of Jianing Li

OLs still do not know when they will be paid for the work they did during Orientation like welcoming new students, as pictured above.

News 5

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

Concerns Over College’s Approach to Sexual Misconduct Continued from page 1

dents have been involved or even have been present at the locations where the reported medical emergencies originated.”

With no other developments in the ongoing investigation, some students have been left with concerns of how the college has approached reports of sexual safety hazards and sexual misconduct at large.

After hearing about the reports of roofying, an anonymous source, hereinafter referred to as Student B, drew parallels to their own experience with sexual harassment and assault at Amherst.

“I read The Amherst Student and one thing that really struck me was how Student Affairs wanted to speak with Student A to address her alleged violation of the Student Code of Conduct by engaging in underaged drinking,” said Student B. Student B was not alone in feeling put off by this response from the Office of Student Affairs (OSA).

Discussion in the campus-wide GroupMe echoed

Student B’s unease with this response. Some mentioned that the threat of retaliation from OSA for transgressions like underaged drinking could discourage students from coming forward to report.

With respect to these concerns, Senior Associate Dean of Students Dean Gendron told The Student in an email sent Sept.

27, “Because of the unique circumstances of the current investigation, the college is extending amnesty to anyone who provides information, regardless of whether the circumstances would otherwise qualify for amnesty...”

On this, Carter also noted, “The criminal process does not absolve one of responsibility under the Student Code of Conduct, and ACPD will provide information to the Office of Student Affairs to support that process.”

Members in the campus-wide GroupMe further commented on how the administration’s focus on underaged drinking rather than the potential drugging spoke to a general lack of urgency from the college.

The sense of administrative dismissal toward Student A’s report particularly resonated with Student B. “Student A had to be proactive about it and sort of had to pursue it on their own terms, it didn’t seem like there was any feeling of urgency from the college or from ACPD to address [Student A’s experience] themselves,” Student B said.

In Student B’s experience, once they had filed a report with ACPD, they found themselves in a cycle of having to defend and manage their own case in order to find tangible recourse.

Their ACPD report was sent to the Title IX Office — ACPD is a mandatory reporter — which Student B was not aware would happen. “I really wish I had known that beforehand since that might have changed how I approached it.” Once the report reached Title IX, Student B met with Gendron.

“I met with Dean Gendron and, at first, I thought he was handling it well, but then I kind of realized that the language he was using to describe it was a little off.

He started off basically saying, ‘I

want to support and I really like all the students on this campus, so I definitely want to support you, but I also really want to support the perpetrator as well,’” said Student B. They also recalled Gendron suggesting that the unwanted sexual advances by the perpetrator may have just been a sign of romantic interest.

Student B continued, “I was increasingly getting the impression by that point, that what Amherst College, at least what the administration would do, would be very much limited to whatever I could advocate for them to do and I would have to really be managing my own case, which isn’t really that great in such a complicated situation where I’m in the middle of it.”

Further, Student B felt that the college was doing its best to treat the report as a “conflict between students” rather than a serious legal violation, worsened by the fact that at the time of the sexual harassment, Student B was a minor. “I think that they didn’t really investigate it to determine what to do from a more proactive, pros-

ecutorial stance,” said Student B. Student B was ultimately able to obtain recourse against their perpetrator and to protect themselves but said, “I would have rather it be that I can send [the administration] the information and they’re going to get it figured out without me needing to actively be politicking and figuring out exactly what I need to do in order to get them to do anything.”

While concerns of how topics of sexual misconduct are handled at the college are accountable to the college administration, Student B also acknowledged the role of students in creating an authentic culture of sexual respect and safety: “I think that students are way more reluctant than they should be to take that active bystander role.”

Regarding the roofies, Student B reflected, “There’s other students that might have seen stuff that they thought was suspicious but for whatever reason they’re not reporting it. For me, there were multiple witnesses to pretty much all of it. Not one of them really stepped up.”

Weston Dripps ’92 to Head New Center for Sustainability Ryan Yu ’22 Editor-in-Chief On Sept. 24, the college announced that it has hired Weston Dripps ’92 as the new director of sustainability and inaugural director of Amherst’s new Center for Sustainability, a role he is set to start on Jan. 1, 2022. An Amherst alum, Dripps comes to the college from Furman University, where he is the executive director of the Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities and a professor of earth, environmental and sustainability sciences.

The Office of Environmental Sustainability (OES), which the Center for Sustainability is replacing, has been left unstaffed since Laura Draucker, the previous director of sustainability, left her position on May 17, 2020. The OES itself was established in October 2014 to “improve [the college’s]

operational sustainability and engage students on sustainability issues both inside and outside the classroom,” and has been involved in a number of campus initiatives such as the Climate Action Program and green building design.

According to Provost and Dean of the Faculty Catherine Epstein, the college is replacing the OES with the Center for Sustainability “primarily because we believe that sustainability is a broader concept than just environmental sustainability.” Practically, the new Center for Sustainability will be more pedagogically focused and report directly to the Provost.

“We also really want to focus on academic and other programming as well as student opportunities around sustainability,” Epstein said. “In the past, the office was more focused on the technical aspects of environmental sustainability. While the new director has

lots of technical expertise, that expertise is also found among others [who] work in our facilities operations.”

Dripps expressed enthusiasm for the new role, and noted that he is excited to explore and expand the college’s sustainability programs when he arrives on campus.

“I imagine I will spend much of my spring getting acclimated, taking a deep dive to assess and understand where Amherst currently is with its sustainability efforts and where the opportunities for improvement are, and listening to, meeting with, and working on relationships with the various campus stakeholders,” Dripps said. “It takes a campus to really do sustainability well, and so those relationships are critical for real progress to be made.”

In particular, he underscored the importance of the Center for Sustainability’s new pedagogical

focus to equip the campus to deal with present and future issues with sustainability.

“I see achieving sustainability is the defining idea of our era; the consequences of not achieving sustainability are potentially catastrophic. Education is perhaps the most viable pathway to sustainability as it shapes perceptions and values needed to pursue this path,” he added. “My hope is to develop educational programs that equip learners to deal with the sustainability challenges we face and new ways of thinking based on complexity, interconnected systems, long time frames and multiple scales from local to global.”

To that end, Dripps sees the need for a dual focus on both faculty and student development on sustainability. He seeks to integrate sustainability education into faculty pedagogies with help

of the Center for Teaching and Learning, and hopes to offer an array of experiential learning programs to help students develop a sustainability-based worldview.

Beyond the next steps needed for a sustainable Amherst, Dripps is also excited to finally return to his alma mater, almost thirty years after his graduation.

“I have such fond memories of my time as a student at Amherst — the curricular and co-curricular experiences, the faculty, the students. I am excited and honored to be coming back and look forward to helping build a robust, engaging, and dynamic sustainability center,” Dripps said. “I dream big and, as you will soon see, bring a lot of energy, enthusiasm and passion for sustainability, and aspire to make Amherst a national leader in this space! I couldn’t think of a better place I would like to be.”

News 6

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

Full Student Return Provides Major Boost to Town Economy Leo Kamin ’25 and Jerry Zhang ’25 Staff Writers Students are back in the Town of Amherst, stimulating the recovery of the local economy.

UMass Amherst and Amherst College are nearly a month into the fully in-person academic year and so far, it appears the influx of students has provided a major boost to the local economy, though business is still not back to pre-pandemic levels.

The beginnings of Amherst’s economic downturn can be traced back to early March of 2020, when the virus first began to spread. On Mar. 9, Amherst College sent students home and UMass followed four days later.

Businesses like Antonio’s Pizza, the local branch of CVS and Amherst Books were decimated.

Amherst Books, a “non-essential business,” was closed, and forced to lay off the majority of its staff. Most other local businesses

did the same.

Sales plummeted. Before the pandemic, Sterlen Deplata, operation manager at CVS, said they would see between 50 and 100 customers per hour; during the pandemic, these numbers dropped to 20 to 30. Shannon Ramsey, co-owner of Amherst Books, reported sales being down by 75 percent. Aidan Lyons, assistant manager at Antonio’s pizza, saw sales drop from around 1000 or more orders a day to just 400.

With UMass and Amherst now fully-in person for this school year, local businesses are beginning to see more customers come through their doors.

Ramsey is pleased to see that students are browsing in person again: “It’s been nice to have everyone back,” she said. Unfortunately, even upon the return of students, business still is not where it used to be.

Ramsey said that sales at Amherst Books have only rebounded

to about 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels. She partially attributes the slow return of business to a lack of events. “In the pre-pandemic, we had 170 events every year,” she said. Especially in the busiest seasons, like in the beginning of the fall and midspring, we would have events every single day.”

Although Amherst Books put on their first post-pandemic event last week, Ramsey isn’t sure if events will be held as often going forward. Continued hesitancy surrounding the pandemic and a restructuring of the aisles to facilitate social distancing (which placed shelves in the open area in which events used to be held) has made gatherings more difficult to put on.

Stores like Antonio’s and CVS have seen greater rebounds since the start of the school year. “We’ve seen upwards of five to 800 more orders a day,” says Lyons, assistant manager at Antonio’s. Lyons

continued, “On weekends, we’re doing really well. But we’re still not quite seeing the numbers that we used to do during the weekdays.”

The experiences of these downton businesses seem to reflect the general trends throughout the greater Amherst area.

According to Claudia Pazmany, Executive Director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, “most restaurants and businesses are still at 50 percent of where they were pre-Covid,” which is up from last year, when most establishments saw only about 25 percent of normal business.

Still, the increased business has caused growing demand for employment. To accommodate the rise in business, CVS went on a hiring spree. “We went from a crew of about six or eight people.

And now we have about a total of 20 people on staff,” said Deplata.

After Hampshire County un-

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Local businesses in the town of Amherst have seen depressed sales since the beginning of the pandemic.

The return of full student populations has provided a welcome boost, although concerns over safety remain.

employment spiked as high as 12.5 percent last year, it has been gratifying for managers to grow their workforces again. “It feels good to be able to, you know, hire more people and get more people paid,” said Lyons.

With the elevated demand for labor, some employers in the area have struggled to fill certain roles. Ramsey said that Amherst Books has had to cut down on some of its late-night hours, which it found especially difficult to staff.

Pazmany, from the Chamber of Commerce, attributes much of the slow recovery across the region to these staffing struggles.

Although things seem to be getting closer to the pre-pandemic normal in Amherst, businesses will retain some practices that they adopted over the last 18 months. Antonio’s, for example, developed a system for inhouse deliveries, which they will continue to use going forward.

Deplata stated that some sanitation practices adopted to stop the spread of Covid will continue into the foreseeable future at CVS. Pazmany stated that the majority of businesses now use social media for marketing, whereas before the pandemic, most businesses had little to no presence online.

Despite some optimism, Amherst businesses sense that the pandemic is yet to be over, especially given recent concerns over the Delta variant. Businesses do not necessarily fear another complete shutdown but are still anxiously watching the numbers.

Local workers are also still engulfed by the daily anxieties that accompany laboring in a pandemic. For example Deplata has the same trepidations each time that a customer approaches the register. Internally she questions individuals who are shopping for cough medicine and other flu/cold products. “You question people who come up with cough medicine and stuff like that.You’re constantly wondering, ‘Oh, does that person have Covid?’”

Op pinion

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Shaping Sexual Safety No student should have to travel across campus afraid to walk alone, party with friends while worrying about being taken advantage of or wake up in the morning unsure and uneasy about what may have transpired the night before.

Unfortunately, due to new reports of date rape drugs both on campus and at neighboring UMass, students no longer have the luxury of feeling safe at a place that should feel like home. These reports bring to light a deep sense of distrust and campus-wide disregard for creating a safe social and sexual environment that students, especially women, are forced to navigate whenever they socialize on campus.

One obvious culprit, per usual, is the administration.

Students have reported that claims of potential date rape drugs have gone almost completely ignored by Student Affairs, with one student even being asked to discuss why she had been drinking underage rather than about the events of her potential drugging. Many say they feel as though the administration doesn’t care unless they have incontrovertible evidence of wrongdoing, something difficult to provide when you’re a drugged student rather than a sober investigator. These feelings discourage students from coming forward in the first place, as the result seems more likely to be the victim receiving a citation for drinking rather than support in finding the wrongdoers. Once again, by failing to promote a sense of trust and care between students and administrators, the college has set a dangerous precedent which may prevent further issues from being brought to light at all.

However, while much can be said about the administrative failures regarding the unfolding sexual safety issue — they even failed to notify students of reports of potential date rape drugs before the satirical Amherst Muckrake posted memes about it on Instagram — they are not the only ones who must be held to account. After all, they are not the ones partying on the weekends.

Rather, it is us, the student body, who bear the burden of creating an environment in which every one of us feels safe. As cliché as it sounds, we need to be willing to stand up for one another in the moment, avoiding the bystander response that puts so many in danger in the first place. We need to be willing to take responsibility for the feelings of fear on campus, regardless of whether the administration is willing to stand behind students or not.

However, for better or worse, cultural change cannot be a solo effort and cannot stop at the edge of campus. As part of the Five College Consortium, Amherst students interact with Five College students on a daily basis. No cultural change, especially regarding sexual respect and safety, can be complete without working with our fellow Pioneer Valley students, especially those at nearby UMass.

Fortunately, many at UMass seem to be on the same page, as the campus undergoes protest after protest targeting two fraternities accused of using date rape drugs.

Students have even held a referendum urging the UMass administration to institute the student-drafted Survivor’s Bill of Rights. Even so, the UMass administration has so far failed to act, and UMass and town police have harassed protestors outside the Theta Chi fraternity house, warning them, “Don’t lose your education over this!”

The Student’s Editorial Board stands in solidarity with UMass student protestors in their demands for justice and support from the UMass administration. We hope that Amherst College students will support UMass students by joining protests, publicizing the issue on social media and putting pressure on administrators to take survivors’ demands seriously. Similarly, we hope that UMass students will work with Amherst students to create long-term change, rather than abandoning the work after solving the short-term issue of two problematic fraternities.

But what would a true culture of sexual respect look like on our campus? An instructive example might be seen on women’s sports teams at the college, where upperclassmen help younger students navigate socializing safely and teammates look out for one another on nights out. Broadening a similar structure to other social groups on campus, especially men’s sports teams where upperclassmen can play a decisive role in shaping culture and acceptable behavior for a large percentage — almost 40 percent and rising — of the college’s men, would go a long way toward improving accountability within social groups and strengthening trust across the broader campus community — just a few leaders taking decisive action could rapidly alter campus culture for the better.

Campus safety is a serious issue. Recent debates at the college about police, CSAs and security on campus have all demonstrated that we have a long way to go before we all feel safe here, but also that many of us are willing to do the work to address these issues and improve the Amherst College experience. Sexual safety and respect are just another part of the larger campus safety puzzle, and as with the others, there remains much to be done before the issue is fully solved. We hope that students in the valley will come together, across social circles, teams and even campuses, to generate the progress that is so evidently needed to make our town safer for everyone.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual misconduct, resources are available both here at the college (such as the Title IX Office, Amherst College Police Department, Counseling Center, and Survivor Support Group) and in the local community (such as the Center for Women and Community, 24-hour help hotlines, and the Victim Rights Law Center).

Unsigned editorials represent the views of the majority of the Editorial Board — (assenting: 10; dissenting: 0; abstaining: 6)

THE AMHERST

STUDENT E X E C U T I V E B OA R D Editors-in-Chief Ryan Yu Rebecca Picciotto Managing News Zach Jonas Sophie Wolmer Yee-Lynn Lee Assistant News Caelen McQuilkin Tana Delalio Managing Opinion Scott Brasesco Skye Wu Assistant Opinion Kei Lim Managing Arts and Living Theodore Hamilton Brooke Hoffman Alex Brandfonbrener Managing Sports Ethan Samuels Liza Katz Liam Archacki Managing Podcast Sam Spratford Maggie McNamara Managing Design Anna Smith S TA F F Publishers Emmy Sohn Digital Director Sawyer Pollard Social Media Manager Emi Eliason

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The offices of The Amherst Student are located in the basement of Morrow Dormitory, Amherst College. All contents copyright © 2021 by The Amherst Student, Inc. All rights reserved. The Amherst Student logo is a trademark of The Amherst Student, Inc. Additionally, The Amherst Student does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or age. The views expressed in this publication do not reflect the views of The Amherst Student.

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

Opinion 8

Seeing Double: We Need More Mammoths Thomas Brodey ’22 Columnist We like to think of Amherst as a small, sleepy liberal arts college, but that was not always the case. For two years (albeit in the 1800s), our ‘tiny college’ was the second biggest in the country, after Yale. Amherst was never supposed to be a small college; in its early years, it argued that its ability to provide a high-quality and affordable education to large numbers of students gave it “vast public importance.” Today, the best way to continue Amherst’s mission is by admitting more people into our little community on the hill. In short, it’s time for Amherst to grow.

Students who attend Amherst possess enormous advantages.

They receive a first-class education from some of the most distinguished academics in the world. While the Amherst financial aid system is not without its issues, it is still one of the best in the nation. Amherst graduates also have access to a lasting support structure and the nation’s fourth most supportive alumni network. It’s no wonder that the latest Wall Street Journal rankings show that Amherst has the 19th best student outcomes of any college or university in the United States. Shouldn’t we extend these benefits to as many people as possible?

Admitting more students would also enable Amherst to further diversify. Today, Amherst has almost as many students from the top one percent of the income scale as it does from the bottom 60 percent. That’s in part because Amherst has to admit roughly 150 varsity athletes each year, students who overwhelmingly come from wealthier backgrounds. Expanding the student population would give an opportunity to reduce the proportion of students from the top income brackets and reflect the socioeconomic diversity of the country.

Despite the benefits to expansion, Amherst remains stub-

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

Despite the fact that a historically large freshman class was welcomed to Amherst this fall, the college’s admissions rate was only eight percent, falling lower than the average of past years. bornly exclusive. Between 2010 and 2019, enrollment increased by just two percent, even as the number of Amherst applicants increased by 30 percent. Many of these applicants, including large numbers from disadvantaged backgrounds, would have thrived at Amherst.

The idea of school expansion isn’t new. In recognition of the growing applicant pool and their own duty to educate, many universities have dramatically increased their enrollment in recent years. Arizona State more than doubled its student body over the past fifteen years, all while increasing its diversity, academic rankings, and graduation rate. The trend even extends to elite private schools. Yale increased its undergraduate enrollment by 15 percent between 2017 and 2020, and Princeton and Rice are enacting similar plans. In recent years, numerous small liberal arts colleges have also expanded their academic offerings and revitalized old departments by increasing enrollment. None of these schools have lost academic rigor or prestige from the change.

So how many more mammoths could we feasibly teach?

The answer is hundreds, perhaps

thousands. Right now, the two main limitations on Amherst size are physical space and personnel.

Physical space is easy to extend. The Student’s editorial board recently pointed out the need for the college to expand its infrastructure; why not do it with the goal of adding more students? Amherst has a $3.75 billion endowment and owns huge swathes of unused land in town and around campus. The recently finished Science Center and under-construction Student Center represent the scale of Amherst’s abilities. If we chose, we could build enough new dorms and class buildings to accommodate hundreds of new students.

The personnel limitations are also important to consider. What use is a larger campus if we don’t maintain our small classes and academic rigor?

Fortunately, the nation has a huge surplus of brilliant academics who can’t land positions on the tiny and insular faculties of top schools.

By hiring dozens of new faculty, Amherst could not only bring in gifted young instructors, but it could also address some of its other lingering problems.

Amherst has long struggled to create a faculty that represents its diverse student population.

Remaking the faculty through a slew of new hires would give Amherst an opportunity to resolve some of that imbalance in one fell swoop.

Staff shortages are another surmountable obstacle. We all know that Amherst has had difficulty recruiting staff, but that is due to low pay, rather than a labor shortage. If Amherst used some of its ample funds to increase staff salaries to well above minimum wage, it could both attract more staffers and give its employees fairer compensation.

The pandemic has demonstrated that if they choose, Amherst administrators and faculty can move heaven and earth to increase capacity, whether by renting out hotel rooms in town or using tents outside Val. Imagine what the college could achieve if it expanded as part of a yearslong project instead of scrambling to respond last-minute to a public health and overenrollment crisis.

Some might protest that even if such a program were physically and academically possible, dramatically increasing enrollment would destroy Amherst’s identity. Changing identities, however, isn’t always a bad thing. Look at my co-col-

umnist, who used to reek with theater kid energy, but has over the past few years managed to reduce that stench to the occasional whiff.

Expanding Amherst would change student life, but so did the decision to become co-ed in 1975, to adopt the open curriculum in 1971 or to go secular in the 1900s. In fact, expansion is part of the Amherst identity. In 1825, the college housed just 152 students, but it grew rapidly. Between 1924 and 1938, for example, the campus doubled the area of all its campus buildings. The last few decades of enrollment stagnation are the exception, rather than the norm.

In a world that seems decidedly illiberal and anti-intellectual, it can be tempting to shore ourselves up in our ivory tower and content ourselves with the idea that at least we few Amherst students can weather the storm together. But that mentality ignores Amherst’s duty to serve the public interest. Imagine the countless people just as qualified and capable as us who are barred from Amherst because of an arbitrary and discriminatory admissions system. We can admit them, and we should. That’s why it’s time to think big.

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

Opinion 9

Letter to the Editor: In Defense of President Martin

Judith Frank Professor

Dear Amherst Student:

I found The Student’s editorial on President Biddy Martin’s successes and failures to be insular and narrowly-considered: it says almost nothing about the contexts in which Biddy was operating during her time at Amherst.

She succeeded Tony Marx, who had brought a newly diverse population to a college that had not yet put into place the supports it needed to make itself into an actual community. She arrived during Hurricane Irene, which was shortly followed by a Halloween snowstorm that destroyed scores of trees on campus and beyond and knocked out electricity in the region for days. Those natural disasters would presage her entire tenure at Amherst.

She contended with incidents of alleged murder, suicide, assault and hate speech, as well as a fiveday internet outage that brought college business to a halt. She was Amherst’s president during the Trump administration, which required her to write almost weekly

missives to the community detailing how the college would try to protect our international students, students of color, women students, queer students, trans students and more, from the barrage of attacks on their lives and personhood.

And she’s been our president during a global pandemic, during which it’s been her responsibility to at once protect lives and protect the ideals of the residential college. She was the first president to send students home in March 2020, a decision that enraged and devastated students and that was replicated, in the weeks that followed, by almost every college and university president in the country.

This year, her decisions have been challenged by students and mocked by the press – and as I write this, during a nationwide surge of the Delta variant, our academic year proceeds in person and exactly zero students have Covid-19.

Biddy’s legacy will be discussed and debated over time. But it can’t be properly assessed without considering the truly epic historical challenges she has faced.

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

President Biddy Martin delivered her inaugaural address on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011, becoming the Amherst’s first female president.

Editors’ Note: Introducing Paid Newsroom Positions Ryan Yu and Rebecca Picciotto Editors-in-Chief Historically, the institution of journalism has failed to adequately represent people from low-income backgrounds, as well as people of color, both in its newsrooms and in its stories. We here at The Student are sadly no exception.

The long, unpaid hours that have characterized the workload of The Student are unrealistic for anyone who is already struggling with financial stability at college or who needs paid work for their tuition. Combined with the lack of previous exposure to journalism that underrepresented students often face, the ultimate result is a newsroom whose barriers to entry are so high that an

unrepresentative level of privilege is required to overcome them.

In the particular work of journalism, lacking representation on staff often directly translates to lacking representation in coverage. It means that editorial choices, discussions and steering will inevitably be based on a financially privileged, often white-dominated, experience. It ultimately means that for a large proportion of the Amherst student body, we are not adequately telling their story, nor are we providing them the skills they need to tell it themselves.

Creating a more inclusive and equitable newsroom will not happen on its own. We must take active steps to open the gates that have systematically kept people out.

That’s why we have partnered with the Association of Amherst Students to launch The Amherst Student Voices Fund, a program that would sponsor a number of paid positions in our newsroom for students from underrepresented groups, including students from first-generation or low-income backgrounds as well as students of color.

As a pilot, the Voices Fund will finance three paid positions at $15 a hour for an average of five hours a week for the 20212022 academic year, which will subsequently increase to six paid positions in the following academic year supposing successful implementation of the program.

We do not expect students to have prior newsroom experience, only an interest and a willingness

to learn.

To that end, each of the student reporters selected through this process will be paired with an experienced editor who will guide them through the ins-andouts of contributing to a newspaper. This will include workshops and training that cover basic concepts of news-writing and reporting, among other things. Student reporters will work with their assigned editors to determine the style of content best suited to them, and will produce articles (or other equivalent content) that are of their own interest and articles that are directly assigned to them.

Adequate representation and accessibility is not an easy task.

But it must start as early as possible, for the inequities in experi-

ence at the college level will only replicate and escalate if left alone.

This program, in our eyes, is a first step.

Even so, we acknowledge that The Voices Fund is not the endall remedy. We approach this program with the knowledge that underrepresentation is a deep problem requiring a multipronged solution. The Voices Fund is just one prong. As such, we intend to take further action to foster a supportive space for our staff. With a renewed focus on mentorship and training, we are diligently working to ensure that all prospective student journalists are not just welcomed into the newsroom but feel equipped to stay there.

You can apply for the Voices Fund at tinyurl.com/voices-fund.

Amusements

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Departmental Dealings | Crossword ACROSS 1 Dept. that examines our place of residence; or, this paper, in brief 5 An evil demon in Islamic mythology 10 Half of a Roman D 13 Military mind game, for short 14 Mario Vargas ____ (2010 Literature Nobelist) 15 “Yes,” in Yokohama 16 Rite-ly rejects?

17 Dept. that studies this frequent feature of the A&L section 18 Make waves, at a salon?

19 Return mail provision, briefly 20 Nabisco’s black-whiteblack 21 Largo or allegro, e.g.

22 A third of (one of ) the longest-named departments 26 Some students’ goal on Wall Street (abbr.)

28 Homer, to Bart 29 A line of taxis?

30 Astley’s “Never Gonna Give ____” 32 Dept. that might study Du Bois, Fanon, and Baldwin

35 Cash-givers, for short 38 Now, to Nero 39 Lord and Lady Macbeth, e.g.

40 Streetcar, in Soho 41 Most performative dept.

42 Dept. with most popular major 43 “____ relax” (Calm down) 44 “Little” suffix 46 Necklace on Lanai 47 Mercury (abbr.)

48 A third of (one of ) the longest-named departments 54 First in the rankings 55 At the drop of ____ (Quickly) 56 Come crawling back, say 59 Champion figure skater Michelle 60 High hairstyle 61 “You got ____ to pick!?”

63 “A spider!!!”

64 Dept. with most major requirements 65 ____ Starr, possibly the best Beatle 66 Number 9 of this lies between Lipton and Buckley 67 10 cents, for a dime 68 Labor away

Solutions: Sept. 22 DOWN 1 Area studied by ASLC 2 Recurring limb-related “Spongebob” gag 3 One who loves cheap shots?

4 Covers with Cottonelle, briefly 5 Emmy-winning actress Woodard 6 Frequent ____, in the air 7 Caramel Hershey candies 8 Suffix for a doctrine 9 Student who grades and holds office hours (abbr.)

10 Dept. that titrates 11 “____ diem!”

12 Fancy cars 13 Threads in beds 18 Of children’s health 20 Like one or three

21 Formalwear, informally 23 Subject of Amherst’s newest major 24 Snoozing session 25 Pics from parlors 26 Peer of Ibsen?

27 North’s opposite lost its cross 31 Commit oneself to a task 32 Add to a chain, sneakily 33 Lavatory, in Leeds 34 Subway stop (abbr.)

36 Dept. with most majors in total 37 Urban haze 39 Permeate, with “into” 43 Commandments 45 Add a “b,” and it’s three times the size!

46 Frozen’s “___ It Go” 48 Villainous prankster who lives

Ryan Yu ’22 Editor-in-Chief

in a society 49 Dry, so to speak 50 Rival to the Phantom of the Opera 51 Amherst graduate and President of Kenya 52 Actor Willem ____ 53 “Real Housewives of New York City” cast member ___ K. Williams 57 Dept. that might teach what you’re currently reading 58 Dept. that rocks 60 “Pod” occupant 61 Stuck in the middle of the department?

62 An especially natural dept.

64 Las Vegas’ state (abbr.)

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

Amusements 11

Red Herring: Architectural Review

by Isaac Streiff ’24

Satire by Rosin

Dining Hall Employee Forced to Teach Labor Course Andrew Rosin ’25 Columnist Valentine Dining Hall staff member Samuel Marcs was asked on Monday to fill a teaching vacancy in the Education Studies department as the college continues to struggle with employment shortages.

“I’ve been assigned to teach EDST-145, ‘Work,’ on Tuesdays and Thursdays, a topic which I

know nothing about,” Marcs said with a wink. “No potential job candidate wants to come here and prepare a continental breakfast in the morning and lecture on labor unions in the afternoon. At this rate, current dining hall employees will be working mid-level administrative positions by the end of the month.”

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, before lecturing on labor force participation, Marcs will com-

plete a 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. dining hall shift serving scrambled eggs, sausage and pancakes.

After leading student discussions on workplace conditions in minimum wage industries, he will return to Val to finish a two-hour lunch shift. Marcs will then hold office hours on the Main Quad from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. to discuss questions related to ethical management strategies before completing the day with a

dinner shift that ends at 9 p.m.

“I’m stretched too thin,” Marcs explained. “I can’t prepare superior herb-roasted chicken while also providing the research into exploitation of immigrant labor that’s now expected of me as a professor.”

Despite being named an adjunct professor in the Education Studies department, Marcs reported being compensated only in the form of a one-time $500

sign-on bonus, coupons to local restaurants, and a cotton teeshirt from A.J. Hastings. He has also been asked to advise five thesis students whose research analyzes worker mistreatment in the restaurant industry. In response to his complaints about the extra work, the college assigned two members of the campus security team and custodial staff to serve as the course’s teaching assistants.

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

Arts & Living 12

Met Gala 2021: Where History Meets High Fashion

Sofia Rodrigo ’24 Contributing Writer

After a long hiatus, the fashion world’s biggest night of the year came back in full swing. Postponed from its usual May date due to Covid-19, the Met Gala was instead held on Sept. 13 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. To celebrate the Costume Institute’s new exhibit, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” the theme this year was a tribute to the history of American fashion, leaving designers with plenty of room to get creative. With a broad theme open to interpretation, and hundreds of looks to choose from, there are four looks in particular that I think best captured this year’s theme and paid homage to American history in noteworthy ways.

Nikkie de Jager Makeup artist Nikkie de Jager, popularly known as NikkieTutorials on Youtube, honored trans icon Marsha P. Johnson with her Met Gala debut. Marsha P. Johnson was a prominent leader of the LGBTQ liberation movement in the United States and played a role in the Stonewall Riots. De Jager, who came out to the public as trans last January, arrived at the Met Gala in a teal Edwin Oudshoorn Couture tulle dress, adorned with flowers and a bow on the bottom reading “Pay it no mind,” a phrase Johnson would use to respond to questions about her gender. De Jager also wore a flower crown resembling one Johnson often wore. By drawing attention to LGBTQ history in the U.S., De Jager’s look amplifies an element of American history that is too often overlooked, executing this year’s theme impeccably.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sparked a great deal of political controversy with her Met Gala look. Intertwining fashion and politics, AOC was styled in a custom Brother Vellies white gown with the message “Tax the Rich” written boldly in red across the back, accessorized with a red handbag carrying the same message.

Immediately, her look broke the internet as her political statement generated scrutiny from all areas of the political spectrum. AOC’s look made an attempt to address the history of class relations in the U.S., and while some have defended her for speaking on wealth inequality, others have labeled her a “hypocrite” and “performative activist.”

The ability for people of opposing opinions to vocalize their thoughts on AOC’s look is another fundamental aspect of American history that AOC managed to incorporate into her look: political debate.

Quannah Chasinghorse Making her debut at the Met Gala this year, 19-year-old model Quannah Chasinghorse served looks and Indigenous representation in the fashion world. The beauty of her identity shines through in a stunning gold gown with chain accents and a flowing cape styled by designer Peter Dundas. Most importantly, Chasinghorse pays tribute to Native American culture through her jewelry, wearing turquoise and silver pieces loaned to her by her aunt, a member of the Navajo tribe. In an American history full of mistreatment and misrepresentation of Native American culture, Chasinghorse’s authentic representation of her heritage reminds the world that we cannot erase Native American history from American history.

Amanda Gorman Activist and poet Amanda Gorman, best known for reciting her poem “The Hill We Climb” at Joe Biden’s inauguration, attended her first Met Gala as a co-host of the event. Wearing a strapless, royal blue Vera Wang dress paired with matching royal blue heels and an elegant braid, Gorman came prepared to impress. Her most noticeable accessory, a blue book shaped clutch that reads “Give us your tired,” plays perfectly into this year’s theme. The line is a quote from the poem on the Statue of Liberty that represents a call for inclusivity, a vision where immigrants and refugees are welcomed and embraced. What could be a bigger tribute to American history?

Makeup Artist and YouTuber Nikkie de Jager dressed in Edwin Oudshoorn Couture (left).

Representative Alexandria Occasio-Cortez dressed in Brother Vellies (right).

Illustrations by Alex Brandfonbrener ‘23

Model and Activist Quannah Chasinghorse dressed in Peter Dundas (left). National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman dressed in Vera Wang (right).

Arts & Living 13

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

“Ted Lasso” Brings Complexity to Feel-Good Comedy

Ethan Samuels ’23 Managing Sports Editor

Last week’s Emmy Awards were dominated by “Ted Lasso,” a television series that lies at the intersection of sports, humor and drama. The show picked up wins in seven categories: Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series (Jason Sudeikis), Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series (Hannah Waddingham) and Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series (Brett Goldstein), among others.

The Apple TV+ hit follows the fictional Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis), a former Kansas football coach hired by Rebecca Walton (Hannah Waddingham), the owner of an aggressively mediocre Premier League soccer team, in an attempt to spite her superfan ex-husband. Although Lasso has no experience with The Beautiful Game, his unrelenting optimism bridges gaps between a divided locker room, eventually winning over the hearts of the players, fans and Walton herself.

Much of the “Ted Lasso” praise emerges from the notion that the show offers something society desperately needs in 2021: truly kind characters delivering light-hearted, apolitical laughs. But this sentiment,

however common it may be, misses the point entirely.

“Ted Lasso,” especially in season two, is anything but light-hearted.

How can a show whose protagonist constantly struggles with the effects of his father’s childhood suicide be labeled light-hearted? And how can a show that spends an episode tackling the incredibly timely issue of athlete protests — specifically against an oil company covering up environmental degradation in Nigeria — be apolitical?

Critics desperately want “Ted Lasso” to be an escape of the last 18 months. They want the show to be the feel-good haven where they can tune out of the real world. They want “Ted Lasso” to be “Friends” or “Seinfeld.” But it’s not, and it shouldn’t be.

Here are just two of the hundreds of quotes that embody “Ted Lasso.”

Season 2, Episode 3: “Honestly when bad things happen to, uh, people like me [white men] y’all have a tendency to write about it without being asked. Sam had to go and get y’all’s attention, you know? So, if you have any more you wanna know about, you can ask [Sam].”

Season 2, Episode 7: “I can diagnose myself in a heartbeat. I thought being invulnerable would protect me, so I pushed people away for years, leading me directly to my greatest

fear: Being alone.”

Ted Lasso is not “Friends” and it is not “Seinfeld.” Shoving the show into the genre of mindless, feel-good comedies is an injustice, not only to the show and its creators, but to the issues “Ted Lasso” grapples with: toxic masculinity, mental health and divorce, to name a few.

And yet, “Ted Lasso” is also a comedy that feels good. That’s the only way to describe its core. As a review from The New Yorker articulated, “You don’t discuss what the show is about but, rather, how it feels to watch it.” And watching “Ted Lasso” feels like when Francesca Romero

asks to slow dance with you at Max Rubenstein’s 2013 Bar Mitzvah.

It’s akin to hitting a walk-off double against Collin, your childhood arch-enemy, in a 2011 Little League baseball game.

Ted Lasso, the mustached midwestern football coach whose quixotic optimism is at times overwhelming, works in a way so unique it forces you to smile. For example, when asked if he believes in ghosts, Lasso responds, “I do, but more importantly, I believe they need to believe in themselves.” He’s the underdog that says, “Even Buzz and Woody got under each other’s plastic,” and “If

we see each other in our dreams, let’s goof around a little bit, pretend like we don’t know each other.”

The success of “Ted Lasso” is driven by its unique ability to make audiences feel so warm while the characters grapple with real, uncomfortable issues. Instead of replacing the real world with feel-good sentiments, Sudeikis does the opposite. He unites them. And yes, at times it does seem a bit much, almost as if the show is trying too hard to make you chuckle.

But in these moments, even when the show is flirting with cheesiness, it’s so much easier to give in to the urge to smile.

uncomfortable mass. Any cutting wit or humor that had been present in “White Noise” has been washed away by the bland premise of his newest work: what if, suddenly, all the world’s technology went dark?

The novel follows two sets of couples and a fifth wheel straggler as they try to navigate this strange new world. Or rather, it follows them to an apartment in Newark, NJ where the older couple, by a couple generations, waits in preparation for a Super Bowl party. The younger couple, Jim Kripps and Tessa Berens, are on their way back from a Paris trip.

Their plane crash-lands, and after a hurried, desperate sex scene in the bathroom —– the relief of surviving after a plane crash being too overwhelming to bear (the last human moment we’ll see in the novel) —– they rush to the Super Bowl party.

The older couple, Diane Lucas and Max Stenner, are waiting for them, along with Martin Dekker, a former physics graduate student of Diane’s.

For the next 80 pages, the characters talk in circuitous routes, mostly discussing Albert Einstein. Dekker is the worst offender for this kind of dialogue. After Stenner leaves to wander around the new world, Dekker begins spouting lots of physics terms. It’s hard to understand him as really saying anything meaningful beyond voicing DeLillo’s own contrived philosophical thoughts.

In this way, Dekker is just an editorial agent. As a character, he doesn’t seem much bothered by the titular silence descending on the world, the total technological blackout. He is inhumanly stoic. Max, mercifully, eventually returns, ending Dekker’s ramblings, although nothing seems

to have been gained from his journey out. The novel ends, the premise unexplored, the silence unheard.

In some ways, “The Silence” is a boomer’s fantasy, a global comeuppance for a generation that moved too fast. The premise is never explored, and it’s never explored because DeLillo clearly doesn’t really understand technology. That’s obvious from the novel. He can’t pull anything of substance from the concept. There are no situations where the lack of technology is made painfully, existentially apparent, where its loss is felt. And besides, his main technological props are te airplane and the TV, technologies that are today somewhat relics. Smartphones are only briefly mentioned. So, he contorts the novel’s characters, trying to find something to say and saying nothing. The novel ends up

lacking human realness. It is composed purely of ideas: no character, no substance, nothing which one would normally read fiction for. It is a Foucaultian puppet show, but without any of Foucault’s depth or charisma.

In previous DeLillo novels, the characters would editorialize at times, but they never felt fully like puppets. They spoke meaningfully about real problems and their resulting predicaments, while literally strange, seemed to capture some ephemeral human angst. There was something underneath his style. But “The Silence” is a distorted pane of glass, with nothing underneath.

At certain angles, the impression of substance is given. But looking plainly for any length of time you’ll soon realize it’s nothing. Just silence in the aftermath of real meaning.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Studies Online

Airing on Apple TV+, “Ted Lasso” both embraces kindheartedness and interrogates social issues.

Don DeLillo’s “The Silence”: Stagnant and Uninspired

Ross Kilpatrick ’23 Staff Writer

American novelist Don DeLillo sits at the precipice of post-modern mastery. Best known for the 1985 novel “White Noise,” which won him the National Book Award, his referential and strange style combines with sometimes inhuman and puppeted character dialogue to act as a mouthpiece for his own strikingly powerful ethos and ideas.

“White Noise” exemplifies these traits. It was his eighth novel.

“The Silence,” published last October, is his seventeenth. DeLillo is approaching the end of his career, and on more than one occasion while reading through “The Silence,” I wished it would have ended earlier. “The Silence” embodies all of his worst impulses, crystallized into an

Arts & Living 14

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

“Shang-Chi” Riddled With Orientalist Undertones

Tapti Sen ’25 Contributing Writer

“Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings” is an homage to both “wuxia” dramas and Jackie Chan movies, ripe with both the traditional mythological elements of Chinese culture and traditional martial arts, and the modern grittier bus chase scenes that harken back to “Police Story.” The film tells the story of Shang-Chi, played by Simu Liu, a young man living in Los Angeles and his fight against his warlord father Wenwu, owner of the titular Ten Rings and played by the incredible Tony Leung, who is trying to destroy his mother’s mythical village.

Also along for the ride are ShangChi’s younger sister Xialing, played

by Meng’er Zhang, and Shang-Chi’s American-born Chinese (ABC) best friend Katy, played by Awkwafina.

To be honest, the movie was kind of a let-down.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad. For a superhero movie — and for a Marvel movie at that — it was good. It had an incredible soundtrack, beautifully choreographed fight scenes and even made me laugh at times. Plus, Tony Leung’s acting was convincing, as always.

Overall, the movie provided a pretty enjoyable viewing experience.

Even so, there are so many wasted opportunities within “Shang-Chi.” I wanted to see more of the father-son relationship, and the resolution of their conflict. I wanted to see ShangChi discuss why he had abandoned Xialing who he knew didn’t get along with his father. I wanted to see Xialing hash it out with her father about his treatment of her. Most importantly, I wanted the climax of the movie to be centered around the two siblings and their father, rather than watch two CGI monsters — that maybe got five minutes of exposition combined — fight each other.

It felt like the directors couldn’t decide whether they wanted it to be a family movie, a superhero movie or a mythology movie, and so tried (and failed) to do all three.

The way the screen time was split up also felt odd. Half the time spent on expensive CGI elements could have been spent developing Xialing whose story is worth diving into

Photo courtesy of Ebay

In “Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings,” Marvel tries to market to its Asian American audiences but disappoints. more deeply. In the middle of the film, Xialing discusses how she was sidelined during her childhood for being a girl and how she grew beyond that, only for the film to sideline her for the rest of the story. It’s as if the directors were playing some sort of cruel joke on her. I wanted to see much much more of her and much much less overtly annoying jokes and remarks from Katy – who the filmmakers apparently could not decide whether she spoke Man-

darin or not. Awkwafina is not my favorite person on the best of days, but especially in this movie, it felt as though her only role was basically to be the funny American (as opposed to the funny white person, who is, of course, Ben Kingsley).

I also think that this movie falls into a bit of an orientalist narrative.

The movie is chock-full of Chinese mythological references, which are quite beautiful, but at the same time, seem accentuated for the white gaze.

Everything in the movie – from the narrative of the mythical village to Shang-Chi’s father’s war mansion to the giant dragon that flies out of the water in the climax — feels overly ethnicized and visually fetishized.

This, by itself, might not be a flaw — after all, a film with a Chinese superhero should showcase Chinese culture. But it’s tiring to absorb a narrative about ancient Chinese culture and wuxia when all we see are copies of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Drag-

on” and “House of Flying Daggers.”

Of course, there are also the general pitfalls of any Marvel movie: very odd pacing at times, underdeveloped characters and overdeveloped comic relief, extremely overthe-top CGI, the apparent necessity to have a sky portal with so many monsters coming out of it that you don’t know what’s going on. But honestly, I do think this is one of the better Marvel movies, which does count for something.

Arts & Living 15

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

Social Media Comes Alive in “The Circle”

Brianne LaBare ’25 Contributing Writer

Reality television took the early 2000s by storm as shows like “Big Brother,” “American Idol” and “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” flooded networks with countless hours of unscripted entertainment.

While these shows live on through their die-hard fandoms, a new type of reality television has emerged on Netflix, specifically through the hit show “The Circle.”

The premise of the show relies on all contestants being isolated from one another in separate apartments — not a far stretch from what we’ve experienced in the past year and a half — and only able to communicate with other contestants through a group messaging system unique to the show called “The Circle.” Much like the talk-to-text feature on every smartphone device, a computer program transcribes the messages for the chat.

Unlike other reality shows, where the authenticity comes from individuals acting, well, authentically, “The Circle” gives its contestants the choice to either “catfish” — create fake profiles to compete with — or play as themselves. Once each contestant has created their digital profile, the group gets to know one another, as authentically or unauthentically as they want. Randomly throughout an episode, the competitors independently rank each other — the one with the highest accumulated ranking gets crowned the “Influencer” of “The Circle.”

Influencers get the opportunity to “block” one contestant, eliminating them from the game. Occasionally, the contestants will go head to head in curated digital games that both stimulate suspicions and strengthen alliances. Of course, this is all in the hopes of winning the $100,000 prize, awarded to the contestant who is ranked the Influencer in the last ranking of the season.

“The Circle” combines the strategic nature of “Survivor” with the drama of “Desperate Housewives.”

All the while, both the show’s participants and viewers cozy up on the couch or bed to watch the mayhem unfold on their respective screens.

The show launched in January

2020 with an 81 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience score of 70 percent. This bodes exceptionally well for the kickstarter project whose reality show counterparts on Netflix have not received the same ranking. Such as the Netflix original “Love Is Blind” which saw a 68 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating as well as “Too Hot To Handle” which scored an audience rating of 32 percent. The show’s explosive growth has accelerated further since a number of micro-celebrities, like Chloe Veitch from Netflix’s “Too Hot To Handle” have made guest appearances. The show has even managed to draw global pop sensations such as NSYNC’s Lance Bass into the competition — or at least his personal assistant posing as him.

What has set “The Circle” apart from the flurry of other reality television shows is its organic flow. Netflix’s no-commercial policy allows the show to keep its momentum going. Without disruptive ads, the show’s gravity actually gets a chance to build rather than waiting between commercial breaks, after yet another cliche cliffhanger.

In theory, a lack of commercials should offset the production value of a television show. But in Netflix’s case, the striking production quality of their shows has thrived on this anti-advertisement format.

“The Circle’s” brilliant storytelling promises to not only launch the unscripted category as one of Netflix’s most successful genres — it also allows the platform to receive a major boost in marketing as viewers come back week after week to watch the newly released episodes. The establishment of this cyclical pattern, with episodes being released in clusters over several weeks, puts several of Netflix’s reality shows on the trending page on Twitter, as well as keeping ratings up. Old viewers return, and new ones emerge through the storms of hype that erupt each week.

While the excitement around “The Circle” and its sister shows on Netflix continue to thrive among the regularly scheduled and varied media Netflix produces, the question arises as to whether or not Net-

flix will be able to amass the success of reality franchises in the broadcast realm. So far, the answer to this question remains to be seen, but for now “The Circle” and shows like it have helped establish Netflix in the reality television genre and catapult the streaming service to new heights of viewership.

“What has set ‘The Circle’ apart from the flurry of other reality television shows is its organic flow...”

“The Circle” embraces an unorthodox format, forcing its contestants to communicate via a fake social media platform.

Photo courtesy of Startpage

Sp ports Field Hockey Defends Title In Bruce Bogtrotter Competition

Photo courtesy of Angelina Han ’22

Sarah Edelson ’23, Beth Williamson ’23E, Muffie Mazambani ’24 and Charlotte Domittner ’25 (left to right) celebrate their victory in the 2021 Bruce Bogtrotter Competition.

Ethan Samuels ’23 Managing Sports Editor On Saturday, Sept. 25, the field hockey team defended their 2019 trophy to become back-to-back winners of Amherst’s time-honored Bruce Bogtrotter cake-eating competition.

Every year, the women’s athletics teams gather for a tradition unlike any other, an everlasting relic of Roald Dahl’s 1988 classic novel, “Matilda,” where Miss Trunchbull forces the ill-fated Bruce Bogtrotter to eat an entire 18-inch cake in front of the whole school.

Take that timeless scene, add a bit of competitive flare and western Massachusetts ethos to the mix, and there you’ll find the Amherst College rendition of Bruce Bogtrotter’s humiliating punishment.

The ice hockey team organizes the event, setting rules that are harsh, yet concise. Each team designates four cake-eaters, who pair up and eat together in three-minute intervals.

The pairs alternate until the entire cake is gone, although one “celebrity” eater can be subbed in at any point for one minute of eating.

Headed into the competition, the field hockey team’s confidence was

on full display. The team was led by Beth Williamson ’23E, Sarah Edelson ’23, Muffie Mazambani ’24 and Charlotte Domittner ’25. Field hockey’s dynasty can be partly attributed to their high Bruce Bogtrotter IQ, as the team pours water on the cake to make it more digestible. “With two veteran eaters and a set strategy, we were well-prepared to defend our title,” Edelson said.

Marie Fagan ’22, captain of the women’s swim and dive team, has participated in the competition since her first year on campus. “I’ve never done anything like speed eating in my life, but the energy of Bruce Bogtrotter is off the charts. As female athletes, we truly get to lean into our competitive energy while building real support across women’s athletics. I feel like garbage afterwards every year, but the love and energy from my team and other teams is healing,” Fagan commented.

Field hockey’s dominance began as soon as the competition began.

Zoe Levin ’23, an eater for the women’s crew team just one table away from field hockey, was shocked at the voracity demonstrated by the four eaters to her left. “I’ve never seen anyone consume anything that quickly.

I was bewildered and amazed all at

once,” Levin emphasized.

The ice hockey and basketball teams fought valiantly, finishing in a dead-tie for second place, with swim and dive following closely behind.

A number of people, however, were skeptical of field hockey’s superiority. One anonymous source claimed to see cake thrown under the table.

“I can neither confirm nor deny any shenanigans, but I will say field hockey finished suspiciously ahead of everyone else … I know they’re undefeated and all, but we might have to keep our eyes on them,” another anonymous source said.

When The Student approached the field hockey team about the cheating allegations, Gwen Allen ’23, an eater for the 2019 winning squad, responded bluntly. “Grow up,” Allen said.

The volleyball team was unable to compete due to a Saturday match in Vermont, but defensive specialist Makaela Weeda ’22, a member of volleyball’s 2018 cake-eating championship crew, backed field hockey’s integrity. “People always accuse the winning team of cheating,” Weeda said, “When we won my freshman year, we had to face the same allegations.”

After the competition, those

Photo courtesy of Angelina Han ’22

Sarah Edelson ’23 and Beth Williamson ’23E, dominating the competition, inhale their fair share of chococlate cake.

Photo courtesy of Sydney Larsen ’23

Gluten and dairy-free lacrosse attacker Katie Hadro ’23 lies motionless on the campus grass after suffering a gut-wrenching defeat in the annual eating competition. who compete suffer a fate similar to Roald Dahl’s Bruce Bogtrotter. “I felt like I had sugar coursing through my veins all night,” Mary Kate McGranahan ’23, a long-distance runner on the track team said.

Katie Hadro ’23, an attacker on the lacrosse team who is dairy and gluten-free, told The Student that this would be her last time competing in the race. “There is nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of shoving handfuls of watered down cake and sharing the whole experience with my best friends. To put all that work in and not come out on top was a

little bit disheartening. I didn’t [want to] puke for an hour afterwards for nothing. But that’s competition and that’s life, we’ll get ‘em next time …

And by we I mean other people on our team because I will never do that again,” Hadro said.

In 2022, field hockey will look to build on their winning streak, aiming for an immaculate three-peat which would memorialize the team in Bruce Bogtrotter history forever.

“The field hockey team was ecstatic but not surprised by our two-peat.

We look forward to continuing our reign next year,” Edelson said.

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

Sports 17

Despite Strong Defense, Football Defeated in Home Opener

Jackson Reydel ’23 Staff Writer

For the first time since 1998, Amherst Football has lost to the Colby College Mules. After 22 consecutive victories in as many seasons, the Mammoths were defeated 10-7 on Pratt Field on Saturday, Sept. 15.

The Mules came out of the gate firing, forcing a three-and-out on the first Amherst drive. They then put together a 13-play drive of 71 yards ending in a two-yard touchdown run. Both defenses stood strong for the rest of the first quarter with neither team able to string together multiple first downs.

In the second quarter, the Mammoths drove deep into Colby territory but a huge interception by the Mules on fourth down stopped Amherst from getting points on the board. The Amherst defense responded to the pick by stuffing Colby, which forced a poor punt and helped the Mammoths retain possession of the ball in Colby territory.

Quarterback Chad Peterson ’23 and senior tailback Kellen Field ’22 took advantage of the great field position, rushing on four consecutive plays to gain all 46 yards needed to score.

Field capped off the drive with an eight-yard rushing touchdown and Conor Kennelly ’23 added the extra point. Strong defensive play by both

teams for the rest of the quarter left the score tied heading into halftime.

The third quarter saw a continuation of excellent defensive plays as the Mammoths held Colby just two first downs in the third quarter. The Mammoths put together a drive late in the third quarter and into the beginning of the fourth quarter but wide receiver Turner Garland ’22 was tackled a yard short on fourth and 12 on the Colby 17-yard-line.

Using the momentum from their big fourth down stop, the Colby offense drove 62 yards to set up a 38yard field goal with just under nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.

After getting stopped on the next drive, Amherst punter ​​ Michael

Mitchell ’25 pinned the Mules deep, back to their own five-yard line. The Amherst defense stood tall forcing another poor punt to the Colby 41yard line. The Mammoths got the ball with 3:35 left to go in the game and took it down to the Colby 13 before quarterback Brad Breckenridge’s ’24 pass was intercepted on the one-yard line with 25 seconds left. Colby ran out the clock to finish the game.

The Amherst defense was stellar in this game, holding Colby to just 170 yards of total offense and 12 first downs. Leading the way were linebackers Tim Swope ’24 and Joe Kelley ’22 as Swope had 12 tackles with 2.5 sacks and Kelley added

seven tackles including 1.5 for loss.

Offensively, the quarterbacking duo of Peterson and Breckenridge combined for 164 yards through the air and another 39 yards on the ground.

Amherst combined for 101 yards on the ground led by Kellen Field’s 34 yards. Carsen Ochsenhirt ’23 led the Mammoth receiving core with 3 catches for 38 yards. The struggle for Amherst came in the red zone as they turned the ball over twice inside the Colby 20-yard line, unable to capitalize on their best scoring opportunities. The Mammoths (11) will take on Tufts (0-2) at home next Saturday, Oct. 2, and will be looking to get back in the win column against the Jumbos.

Men’s Soccer Continues Hot Streak With Pair of Close Wins

Photo courtesy of Cayla Weiss ’23

Gabe Gitler ’22 passes up the sideline during the Mammoths’ 1-0 victory against Stevens Institute of Technology.

Leo Kamin ’25 Staff Writer Men’s soccer made the trip down to New London, Conn. this past Saturday, Sept. 25, picking up a big away win against conference rival Connecticut College. They followed it up with a 1-0 win over Stevens Institute of Technology in Amherst yesterday, Sept. 28.

Goals from forward German Giammattei ’22 and defender Felix Wu ’22 helped the Mammoths to a 2-0 victory in New London. Giammattei scored

again against Stevens yesterday.

Defender Gabe Gitler ’22 tallied assists on a set-piece deliveries in both games.

The wins made it five straight for the Mammoths, and they are now 6-1 on the season, 2-1 in conference play. They have not conceded a goal since losing 1-0 to Bowdoin on Sept. 11.

The game against Conn College was a hard-fought, physical contest from the opening kickoff, with four fouls in the first 10 minutes of play. Both teams defended energetically through the first half hour, with the

Mammoths and Camels combining for just five total shots.

Amherst definitely saw the bulk of the possession, though, sending cross after cross into the Camels’ box.

The Mammoths’ first clearcut chance of the game came in the 34th minute, when Giammattei found himself one-onone with Conn College goalkeeper Sam Maidenberg in the box; Maidenberg stayed composed and punched Giammattei’s strong, right-footed effort wide for a corner kick.

The Mammoths were not to be denied, though. Sent up from the back line into the box for the corner, Wu drifted from the goal line towards the penalty spot to meet Gitler’s in-swinging cross.

He drove a glancing header into the bottom-left corner.

The goal — a rarity for a defenseman — was the third of Wu’s career.

Almost immediately after play resumed, the Mammoths doubled their lead through Giammattei, the reigning NESCAC and NCAA Division III player of the year.

He picked up the ball on the right wing and began to dribble inside. The Connecticut defense forced the right-footed Giammattei to his left; he seemed

unbothered, calmly curling a left-footed shot into the side netting.

The Camels turned up the pressure a bit after the second Amherst goal, forcing goalkeeper and reigning NESCAC Player of the Week Bernie White ’23 to make two saves in the final five minutes of the half.

The Mammoths saw less of the ball in the second half, as the Camels sent more players forward in an attempt to chip away at Amherst’s lead. While Connecticut got some good looks, outshooting the Mammoths 6-2 in the second half and forcing White to make three saves, Amherst was able to absorb the pressure relatively comfortably and see out the 2-0 win.

Head Coach Justin Serpone celebrated his defense’s performance in New London, especially that of his goalkeeper.

“Bernie has been great,” he said. “Knowing that you have somebody solid that’s going to make the saves and come up with the balls in the air, it just gives your defense a lot of confidence.”

The defense stayed sharp at home against Stevens, as well, but the Ducks’ offense presented less of a challenge than the Connecticut front line. White saw

no shots on goal in the first half, and he was forced to make just three saves all evening.

In the 72nd minute, Giamattei got on the end of a free kick taken by Gitler. His header found the back of the net and gave the Mammoths the 1-0 win.

It was his third of the season.

Though the defense has been staunch to start the year, Serpone hopes to see his offense fully come into its own in the weeks ahead, especially after a 2019 campaign in which the Mammoths scored 58 goals — “probably the best attacking year that we’ve ever had.”

With six goals in his team’s last three outings and Giammattei beginning to heat up, Serpone sees things trending in the right direction offensively.

Amherst will need all the firepower it can get this week for what might be its most challenging stretch of games. Amherst faces arch-rivals Williams at home on Saturday, Oct. 2, followed by a trip up to No. 13 Middlebury on Sunday, Oct. 3.

The Mammoths’ performances next weekend will say a lot about how far the team will be able to go this season. The Williams game is at 2:30 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 2 at Hitchcock

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

Sports 18

Women’s Soccer Downs Camels, Lions in 2-0 Week Violet Glickman ’25 Staff Writer

Women’s soccer has been wiping the pitch with the Connecticut College Camels for years and this past Saturday, Sept. 25, was no exception.

Mika Fisher ’24 once again proved to be the solid goalkeeper her team can rely on, blocking three shots from the Camels’ attack within the first four minutes alone. Not to be outdone, the Mammoths retaliated hard and fast with a shot by Julia Ralph ’22 sandwiched between two from Alexa Juarez ’23E. In the 20th minute, Natalie Landau ’22 put the first point on the scoreboard for Amherst, recording her ninth goal of the season so far.

Just a few minutes later, with an assist from Carter Hollingsworth ’25, Landau struck again, sending the ball flying past Connecticut’s keeper.

For the rest of the half, purple

dominated the field, posing constant threats to Conn College’s defense with five more shots and three corner kicks. In the 44th minute, the first-year dynamic duo of Patience Kum ’25 and Hollingsworth stepped up to the plate: Kum’s receival of the corner kick and smooth layoff to the back post allowed Hollingsworth to send it with one touch right to the back of the net.

Reflecting on her first collegiate goal, Hollingsworth revealed that “as a defender, I don’t often get opportunities to shoot so it felt great to be able to get a goal for the team.”

The first-year also mentioned the time the team has been putting into practicing corners and enjoyed “being able to apply our training to a game and see it pay off.”

The Mammoths ended the first half with four offsides and two fouls, a testament to the team’s eagerness to place a few more in the back of the net.

With the second half came a renewed energy and determination from both sides, resulting in several fouls by both. The 58th minute brought a yellow card on Maya Scholnick ’22 as tensions continued to rise between the two teams. Amherst managed to bring the score up to 4-nil in the 67th minute with a goal by Kum, her sixth of the season so far.

The Mammoths kept up the intensity until the final whistle blew, with the attack testing Connecticut goalie Ella Kharl while the midfield and back line kept the Camels at bay. Despite their best efforts, the Camels could not put one past Fisher, who saved another three shots from the Conn College attack. Amherst women’s soccer’s performance on Saturday brings their record to 5-1 with exclusively shutouts as their wins.

On Tuesday, Sept. 28, the team posted yet another dominant 4-0 shutout, this time against Emerson

College. The goals kept coming on Tuesday night, with Ralph scoring her first goal of the season with a header off a free kick from Sophia Fikke ’22, before Fikke found the back of the net to bring the score to 2-0 only 90 seconds later. Shortly after halftime, the team kept up the pressure, with Izzy Geneve’s ’23 goal making the game 3-0 in favor of

the Mammoths. A Landau penalty kick, her team-leading ninth goal of the season, capped off the scoring for Amherst in the 81st minute.

The Mammoths hope to keep up their momentum this coming weekend, when they host rival Williams at home on Saturday, Oct. 2 before traveling to Middlebury to play the Panthers on Sunday, Oct. 3.

Photo courtesy of Greg Chin

Mika Fisher ’24 makes a diving save in the Mammoths 4-0 win over Connecticut College.

Volleyball Splits Two-Game Weekend at Middlebury & Brandeis Mike Schretter ’23 Staff Writer

The volleyball team has been off to a dominant start in 2021. Entering last weekend, they were 5-0 coming off two commanding threeset sweeps of NESCAC opponents Colby and Bates College. However, the Mammoths were in for a tougher challenge this weekend as they

headed up to Vermont to play the undefeated Middlebury Panthers on Friday, Sept. 24 and the Brandeis Judges on Saturday, Sept. 25. The Panthers bested the Mammoths in five sets (15-13), but Amherst came back strong with a dominant threeset win over the Judges.

Back in 2019, Middlebury knocked the Mammoths out of the NESCAC tournament back so

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Outside hitter Jamie Dailey ’22E rises up to spike the ball during a 2019 home match.

Amherst was looking to get even for that loss. But that was turning out to be a difficult feat with Middlebury coming into the match with an 8-0 win streak – Amherst had a tough matchup on their hands. The match turned out to be a thriller with impressive play on both teams.

Middlebury came out of the gates hot with a 25-20 first set win, but Amherst responded with a set win of their own, 25-17. Middlebury turned the momentum right back to their side with a big third set win 25-17 and positioned themselves to win this contest in four sets. Amherst responded with clutch play in set four, which had many twists and turns and ultimately resulted in a two-point win for the Mammoths, leading to a fifth set.

The fifth set was played to 15 and was nothing short of an intense battle. Amherst and Middlebury went back and forth until the score was tied at 13. Unfortunately, the deciding bounces and plays went the Panthers’ way as they held on to win 15-13 in a highly intense fiveset match.

Some key player stats from the

game included captain Jamie Dailey’s ’22E 21 kills to lead Amherst, Skyleur Savage’s ’22 three aces, Carly Cooper’s ’24 44 assists and Lizzie Papalia’s ’25 24 digs.

When asked about teachable moments from this first loss for the Mammoths, Sierra Cox ’22 said that the Mammoths “learned to be resilient and push for every point, no matter what the score looked like.”

Resilience is a major theme in team sports and the Mammoths showcased that effort even though this contest did not go their way. Middlebury is the best opponent the Mammoths have faced so far this season and Cox claimed that they “were able to find [Amherst’s] weak spots and really hammer down on them … their offense was unpredictable and extremely consistent.”

The Mammoths responded to the loss by making adjustments and dominating in a three-set sweep against Brandeis on Saturday, Sept.

25. The Mammoths won the first set 25-14, the second 25-19 and the third 25-14. Dailey shined with 17 kills, Cooper contributed with 30 assists, Alex Rone ’22 and Sophie

Launsbach ’22 both led the Mammoths with two blocks, Sami Underwood ’23 led Amherst with one ace and Papalia had 12 digs to lead Amherst for the second straight game.

When speaking about the adjustments made to win this contest following a difficult loss, Cox spoke to the flexibility of this team.

According to Cox, Brandeis was a match where “[Amherst] used positive energy and determination.”

She explained that it was more about how the squad responded as opposed to their opponent making them play out of character. “When we focused on what we were doing on our side, we were able to come out on top,” Cox said The Mammoths did indeed come out on top on Saturday, and have another huge contest this upcoming Friday against NESCAC opponent Trinity College. Cox said the team is, “even more fired up to play another NESCAC game and especially a consistent team like Trinity.” Amherst plays Trinity at LeFrak Gymnasium at 7 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 1.

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

Sports 19

NCAA Policy Allows Athletes to Monetize Their Image Alex Noga ’23 Staff Writer

Virtually since its inception, the NCAA has built its foundation on the principle of amateurism.

Collegiate athletes — intentionally dubbed “student-athletes” — are expected to place their studies above their athletic ventures, even though the schedules for high-level Division I athletes are often as much of a time commitment as a full-time job. NCAA regulations have resultantly prevented students from receiving any form of monetary compensation while playing for their respective institutions, even though it is estimated that the top Division I schools earn about $8.5 billion in annual revenue from college athletics. However, pressure has been building over the last few decades from players and fans alike to adapt their current policy into one in which student-athletes are able to receive financial compensation for representing their schools.

In July of this year, the NCAA finally passed an interim policy in which collegiate athletes in all three divisions can benefit from their name, image and likeness (NIL).

The new policy allows student-athletes to limitlessly profit from endorsements and sponsorships while still retaining NCAA eligibility. NIL can be monetized in various forms, including traditional endorsement deals, selling merchandise, private training lessons, monetization of YouTube channels and autograph sales. Perhaps the most prevalent form of NIL monetization has been sponsored social media posts via Instagram and Twitter.

While the NCAA’s new policy has been anticipated for some time, the real catalyst was the landmark decision in NCAA v. Alston, the first case regarding the NCAA to make it to the Supreme Court since the 1980s. The case concerned former West Virginia University running back Shawne Alston, who argued that capping education-related compensation (such as payments for academic tutoring or scholarships for graduate or vocational school) by the NCAA was fundamentally unfair and violates federal

antitrust principles. Oral arguments were heard in March 2021, and the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the NCAA cannot limit education-related payments to student-athletes on June 21, as it violates antitrust law. Though the decision seems limited in scope, it has seemingly opened the door for future plaintiffs to invalidate the NCAA’s amateurism standard as a whole.

Just nine days after the Supreme Court ruled against the NCAA, the NCAA Board of Directors adopted the temporary rule change to allow NIL activity, which went into effect July 1. The NCAA has also committed to working with Congress to create a permanent federal NIL law that will supersede all state laws. Even under the temporary NCAA measure, student athletes are still prohibited from receiving compensation related to pay-forplay, which includes benefits that are contingent on enrollment at a school or based on an athlete’s performance or statistical achievements. While a student-athlete’s NIL value can be enhanced based on his or her individual performance, financial incentives cannot be based on stats – for instance, a college quarterback can’t get paid more for throwing a certain number of touchdowns.

Some states have passed their own NIL laws as well. In 2019, California was the first state to pass legislation that prohibits schools from punishing athletes for accepting endorsement money while in college, which was scheduled to go into effect in 2023 and put pressure on the NCAA over the past few years to adopt an overarching policy for all schools. 27 other states have since followed California’s lead and implemented their own regulations on top of the NCAA’s new policy. Those states that have yet to implement their own regulations will adhere to the temporary policy put in place by the NCAA. The temporary rules will serve as a stopgap until federal legislation or new permanent NCAA rules are adopted, though schools and conferences may choose to adopt their own additional policies as well.

With this new NCAA regulation in place, college athletes have wasted no time in signing endorsement deals with both large companies and local businesses, and many of the deals are astronomically large. University of Miami quarterback and NFL draft prospect D’Eriq King was one of the first to sign an endorsement deal, partnering with College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving for a reported $20,000 the same day the rule change went into effect. According to University of Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban, sophomore quarterback Bryce Young’s deals are “approaching ungodly numbers,” and while he wouldn’t go into specifics, Saban stated that they are nearing “almost seven-figures.” Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has appeared in nationally televised Dr Pepper commercials, though the financial details of the deal have not been made public. Perhaps the most outrageous deal is the one signed by incoming Tennessee State University basketball player Hercy Miller. Miller, who is only 19 years old and whose father is rapper Master P, signed a four-year endorsement deal with tech company Web Apps America worth $2 million before even playing a collegiate basketball game.

The megadeals signed by individual athletes have predominantly been with big-name players who play skill positions, most of whom will likely play at the professional level. However, fewer than two percent of all college athletes go on to play at the next level. To capitalize on the rest of the market, companies have also made significant deals signed to represent entire teams. The University of Miami’s football team signed with MMA training academy American Top Team, which agreed to pay every player on the Hurricanes football roster $500 per month, a total sum of $540,000 for the entire roster. All 90 players on Georgia Tech’s football team have signed with TiVo, each receiving a TiVo Stream 4K, a TiVo branded football and branded silk pajamas, along with a $404 prepaid debit card as an homage to Atlanta’s area code. BYU’s brand deal

with Built Brands has perhaps the greatest impact on its players out of any NIL deal, as their partnership provides fully paid tuition for BYU’s walk-on players.

There have been a handful of Mammoth student-athletes who have joined in on the NIL frenzy.

Dan Schlakman ’24, a sophomore forward on the men’s basketball team, has partnered with custom footwear company iSlides. Schlakman interned at the company when it was in its infancy, and iSlides has since expanded to acquire licenses for professional sports leagues like the NBA and NHL. Once the NCAA amended their NIL policy, Schalkman reconnected with the company, which had launched “iSlideU” as an opportunity to connect college athletes to larger companies and to give athletes a means of learning about marketing and selling their personal brand. Schlakman designed his own slides and socks, for which he gets a portion of the individual sales, and he also receives a percentage of the sales from any purchases made that use his code “DS5” at checkout.

Jayna Park ’24, a sophomore on the women’s hockey team, chose to partner with hydration company Liquid I.V. “Not only do they have great products, but they also give back to the community by serving homeless shelters, places impacted

by natural disasters, hospitals and more, which is why I really support them,” said Park. She was able to establish her partnership by reaching out to the company and filling out an athlete application. Park now gets sent products monthly and has a discount code that other patrons are able to use. Park holds up her end of the deal by having “Liquid I.V. athlete” in her social media bio and sharing sponsored posts periodically.

Many other student-athletes have partnered with social media juggernaut Barstool Sports, like Mammoth linebacker Clay Zachery ’23. After filling out an online application, Zachery and other athletes who have partnered with Barstool — reportedly over 100,000 student-athletes across the country — receive “Barstool Athlete” branded merchandise not available to the general public in exchange for having “Barstool Athlete” in their social media bios.

The new policy is a massive step forward for the NCAA, an organization that has too often been accused of taking advantage over the very people who generate their profits. If the mad dash from student-athletes to profit from their NIL can serve as any indication, it is likely only a matter of time before the entire concept of amateurism is challenged.

Photo courtesy of Dan Schlakman ’23

Dan Schlakman’s ’23 signature slides via his partnership with iSlides.

The Amherst Student • September 29, 2021

Sports 20

The Fighting Poets: A Humorous Look at Field Hockey’s Week Ethan Samuels ’23 and Alex Noga ’23 Managing Sports Editor and Staff Writer What do the following all have in common: Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics, FDR in the 1936 election and Amherst field hockey through their first six games of the season? The answer — all three are synonymous with sheer dominance.

The field hockey team flexed their undeniable supremacy again this past week, defeating the MIT Engineers by an uncharacteristically close score of 3-1 on Wednesday, Sept. 22, before returning to their usual form and decimating the Connecticut College Camels 7-2 on Saturday, Sept. 25.

Perhaps initially underestimating the Engineers — or Nerds, as they should be more appropriately dubbed — the Mammoths allowed an early goal in the first quarter to fall behind for the first time all year. Like William Henry Harrison’s presidency, however, MIT’s lead was short-lived. Sam Maynard ’25 scored her fourth

GAME SCHE DULE

goal of the year in the second quarter to level the score at 1-1.

The Engineers, perhaps too concerned with doing whatever engineers do, allowed another goal within less than a minute, as Muffie Mazambani ’24 buried one in the upper-90 for her fourth goal of the season to give the Mammoths a 2-1 lead, and, like Ted Cruz boarding a flight to Cancun, they never looked back.

In an homage to the classic tune from “Annie Get Your Gun,” Maynard was not to be outmatched by her teammate, and she added her fifth goal of the year late in the second quarter to bring the score to 3-1. Unlike the Golden State Warriors, the Mammoths did not squander their lead, and the score held for the remaining two quarters.

Though the score seemed close, the Engineers, likely still upset they ended up at MIT rather than Harvard, were outmatched through the entire game. The Mammoths outshot the Nerds 28-14, registering 14 shots on goal to the Engineers’ five. Brick wall in human form Kaitlin Broda ’23 recorded four

saves in the win.

The Mammoths rode their momentum into Saturday’s game in New London, Conn. against Connecticut College like teenage penguin Cody Maverick shredded waves in Sony’s criminally underrated 2007 film “Surf ’s Up.” New London was once one of the largest whaling ports in all of New England, but the Camels’ measly harpoons were clearly no match for the might of the Mammoths.

Kat Mason ’25 opened the scoring in the first quarter, and though the Camels somehow managed to sneak one by the Mammoth netminder shortly after, Beth Williamson ’23E added her sixth goal of the season in the second quarter to give the Mammoths the lead — a goal so exciting that President Biddy Martin started chanting “I’m not f*cking leaving,” much to the dismay of Wolf of Wall Street fans.

Though their play was immaculate, credit must be given to Sarah Edelson ’23 for her inspirational antics coming out of the halftime break. As the players once again took the field,

Edelson placed two basketballs underneath the back of her shirt and proceeded to get down on all fours and chant “hee-haw” as if to mimic the sound a camel makes — though we aren’t quite sure if this sound is biologically accurate. Soon, all the Mammoths joined in and, surprisingly, so did all of the members of the away crowd. The hee-haws were deafening and could be heard around campus — Conn. College Campus Safety Operations Manager Jonathan Pardo said, “I was ready to sound the alarm — I thought we were being attacked by a herd of camels!”

Akin to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Natalie Hobbs’ ’23E goal in the first minutes of the third quarter sparked a slaughter the world had yet to see. Some may say that this goal was the final straw to break the camel’s back. In reality, the camel’s back broke the moment Conn arrived at Silfen Field. We don’t think the camel even had a back to begin with. Or humps.

Or legs. The camel wasn’t even a camel — onlookers likened it to a half-baked horse.

Though the Camels attempted to strike back with a goal of their own, the Mammoths strung together four unanswered ginos to put the game away like Mom puts the cookies on the top of the fridge. Hobbs and Williamson both added their second tallies of the game, while Mazambani and Maynard also added goals of their own.

Remarkably, camels can survive for up to 15 days without water, but these camels clearly couldn’t survive four quarters in the face of local redcoat Bob Cooper ’23, who taxed the Camels’ tea for 51 minutes of play.

Besides for their two goals, the Camels failed to record a shot on goal, while the Mammoths registered a whopping 17.

The field hockey team hopes to continue their scorching start on Tuesday, Sept. 28, as they take on Clark University in their first game on the new Hill field. The Mammoths then take on two NESCAC rivals, playing the Williams Ephs on Saturday, Oct. 2, before travelling to Vermont to battle the Middlebury Panthers on Sunday, Oct. 3.

FRI

Field Hockey vs Williams, 11 am

SUN

Women’s Tennis @ Bowdoin

Women’s Soccer vs Williams, 12 pm

Women’s Golf @ Williams

Cross Country @ Lehigh, 11 am

Football vs Tufts, 1 pm

Men’s Tennis @ Bowdoin

SAT

Volleyball vs Trinity, 2 pm

Field Hockey @ Middlebury, 1 pm

Women’s Tennis @ Bowdoin

Men’s Soccer vs Williams 2:30 pm

Women’s Soccer @ Middlebury, 2 pm

Women’s Golf @ Williams

Field Hockey @ Connecticut College 11 a.m.

Men’s Soccer @ Middlebury, 3 pm

Men’s Golf @ Tufts

Women’s Golf @ Wesleyan