Issue 7

Congressman Jamie Raskin Speaks on State of American Democracy, Jan. 6 Insurrection

Leo Kamin ’25 Managing News Editor

Petition Prompts Statement on Iran Protests

Maggie Sher ’26 Staff Writer

In response to an alumni-led petition, President Michael Elliott sent out a schoolwide letter on Oct. 12 condemning the ongoing attacks by the Islamic Republic on Iranian universities and student protesters.

For over a month, Iranians protesting the suspicious death of 22-year-old Mahsa “Zhina” Amini have faced brutal crackdowns from government police, bringing more demonstrators onto the streets de manding the overthrow of the Is lamic Republic.

Amini collapsed in police custo dy after being arrested for not wear ing her hijab in accordance with the Islamic Republic’s official dress code.

Many of the protests are tak ing place within schools and uni versities, and the government has

FEATURES 8

responded with mass arrests and detainments of underage protest ers. According to U.S.-based Hu man Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA), over 200 people had been killed in the protests as of Oct. 15, 29 percent of whom were under the age of 18. Several student dem onstrators in Tehran’s Sharif Univer sity of Technology were left injured after riot police surrounded the uni versity.

In his letter, Elliott wrote that he was “disturbed … by the attacks” on protesters.

“At Amherst, we prize free, open inquiry, including dissent,” he wrote.

“Repression and violence against peaceful protesters run deeply counter to our values.”

The letter also recognized the Is lamic Republic’s “long history of … human rights abuses against women in particular,” and announced that the college will be hosting guest

An Inside Look at Covid Policy Shifts: Julia Gentin ’26 explores the administration's rationale behind this year's shifts in pandemic policy.

speaker Dr. Negar S. Razavi via Zoom to further inform students of the situation in Iran.

Elliott’s letter was sent after pressure from alumni and current students for the college to publicly condemn police violence against Iranian student protesters. Written and organized by Navva Sedigh ’21, a petition called on Elliott to stand with Iranian students, urging Am herst to condemn the killing of the “bright minds and critical thinkers” of Iran.

“As [the college is] one of the most well-respected institutions in the United States, a statement from Amherst sets a precedent against institutional complacency,” the peti tion read, “which could prove criti cal in protecting students and facul ty in Iran who are guilty of nothing but demanding their human rights, yet remain in police custody where their lives are at stake.”

OPINION 11

Sedigh is an Iranian Ameri can who was inspired by friends at several University of California schools who were pressuring their administrations to make statements condemning the violence against Iranian students, and inviting other students to sign petitions via social media.

Hoping to raise awareness and “show a unified front against the vi olence,” Sedigh reached out to Elliott individually — but she didn’t get a response, she said. So she decided to create a petition to garner student support for the cause, which Sedigh felt “aligned with Amherst’s values.”

“I always felt that Amherst sup ported me as a student and was hopeful that they'd still be respon sive, even as an alum,” Sedigh said. “I know so many students at Amherst who are passionate about being ac

Jamie Raskin — Democratic congressman from Maryland, man ager of the second impeachment of Donald Trump, member of the Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, and parent of two Am herst graduates — spoke on cam pus on Tuesday, Oct. 18, as part of the Point/Counterpoint series “De mocracy at a Cross Roads.” Funding for the event was provided by the Seminars on Opposing Views Fund, which was established by the Class of 1970 and bolstered by continu ing contributions from alumni and parents.

A good bulk of attendees were students from the first-year semi nar “Progress?” which is split into four different sections. Students from those classes were required to attend, but a healthy mix of older students, faculty, and members of the broader community also attend ed the event, held in the Red Room. The result was an impressive turn out that forced many students to sit on the floor and stand in the wings.

Before this diverse audience, Raskin and the two moderators — James J. Grosfeld Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought

Continued on page 2

ARTS&LIVING 16

How To Navigate Office Hours: Mikayah Parsons ’24 begins her new advice column, "Kayah’s Corner," with recommendations for navigating office hours.

Try Not to Commit Infidelity Challenge: Willow Delp ’26 breaks down the recent Try Guys scandal, and critiques the emergence of the "wife guy" archetype.

Raskin rose to national prominence as an impeachment manager in Jan. 2021 and as a member of the Jan. 6 comittee.

on

Photo courtesy of Slate Taylor '25

News

POLICE LOG

>>Oct. 12, 2022

3:47 p.m., Barrett Hall ACPD responded to a re port of someone climbing the exterior of the build ing. The individual was gone on arrival.

>>Oct. 13, 2022

4:55 p.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory

ACPD responded to a pre-fire alarm. The cause was a person using a hair dryer.

>>Oct. 13, 2022

6:07 p.m., Hills Field

A town resident report ed loud music from the Athletic Fields. The game manager turned down the

music upon the request of ACPD.

>>Oct. 14, 2022

3:43 p.m., Tyler House

ACPD responded to a prefire alarm. The cause was a person using a hair dryer.

>>Oct. 14, 2022

7:01 p.m., Marsh House

A Community Safety Offi cer responded to a report of people spraying silly string on Marsh. CSAs

reported removing two people not affiliated with the college.

>>Oct. 15, 2022

9:45 p.m., Seligman Hall

ACPD responded to a prefire alarm. The cause was a person using a hair dryer.

>>Oct. 16, 2022

4:39 p.m., The Octagon

A Community Service Officer asked students to come off the roof of the

Octagon.

>>Oct. 17, 2022

9:15 a.m., Chapman House ACPD and AFD responded to a fire alarm and found the cause of activation to be cooking smoke.

>>Oct. 17, 2022 4:39 p.m., The Octagon

A Community Service Officer asked students to come off the roof of the Octagon.

Prominent Member of Jan. 6 Committee Talks Democracy

Continued from page 1

Lawrence Douglas and Professor of Philosophy Nishi Shah — discussed the threats facing American democ racy, Raskin’s experience on Jan. 6, and his roles in the impeachment and Jan. 6 committee hearings.

After a few questions about his early life and path into poli tics, Raskin did not mince words in discussing the threat he says the Republican party poses to Amer ican democracy. He described the “MAGA” wing of the party as a “cult” and laid out, with detail and clarity reminiscent of his perfor mance during the select committee hearings, the steps that Trump and his “minions” (Douglas’ words) took in their attempt to invalidate the 2020 election.

Raskin made clear that the ef forts to overthrow the election ex tended far beyond the events of Jan. 6. “Every nook and cranny in our antiquated Electoral College system became an opportunity to try to throw the election,” he said.

Raskin was catapulted into the national spotlight when he served as the primary manager for Don ald Trump’s second impeachment after the failed insurrection. He later played a key role in the wide ly-watched hearings of the Jan. 6 committee in the summer and fall of this year.

Echoing similar warnings from college President Michael Elliott’s

convocation address, Douglas told The Student that “Progress?,” his first-year seminar course, “chal lenges some conventional under standings of progress,” especially considering the fact that “recent history has revealed the profound vulnerabilities of our constitutional democracy.”

Raskin did lay out the case for optimism about the future of the American republic, despite the threats he described, and in the face of respectful skepticism from the moderators and student speakers. He pointed to a history of slow dem ocratic progress, usually marked by a string of constitutional amend ments capping off periods of social activism and guaranteeing new rights.

He conceded that the nation was in dark times, yet advocated for “pessimism of the intellect ... but op timism of the soul.” He maintained that American democracy could be led out of a difficult moment through political action, stating that Democrats must focus on “educat ing people about the process, about the rules, about people’s rights, peo ple’s responsibilities, and then what the issues are and what kind of prog ress we can make.”

Raskin also referenced his support for proposals such as the abolition of the filibuster to pass voting-rights legislation like the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact as a means to advance

democracy, while also describing the current Supreme Court as an “illegitimately composed institution rendering illegitimate decisions.”

Despite the serious nature of the subject matter, Raskin’s remarks were not short on humor. The big gest laughs came when Raskin pre sented his Republican colleagues as both insidious and ridiculous, proclaiming the GOP the “Banana Republic party” and comparing Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett to Mrs. Waterford, one of the primary vil lains in “The Handmaid's Tale.”

Raskin holds close personal ties to the college. His wife, Sarah Bloom Raskin ’83, is an Amherst alum and Board of Trustees member. All three of their children — Hannah ’14, Tommy ’17, and Tabitha ’20 — at tended the college. (Tabitha trans ferred, and did not graduate from Amherst).

Though Raskin largely kept his discussion to politics, it was clear that his son Tommy ’17 — who graduated from Amherst with a history degree but passed away by suicide just a week before the events of Jan. 6 — was never far from his mind.

He mentioned his late son in passing many times, making clear that Tommy had played an outsized role in his political career from the beginning, teaching his father im portant lessons (such as, “make friends with somebody you don’t

like”) and even introducing him at his first-ever campaign event when he ran for the Maryland state Senate in 2006.

Raskin tells the story of the 50 days between Tommy’s passing on the last day of 2020 through the im peachment trial in his new book — “Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy.”

“I figured I’d probably spend the rest of my life reliving and trying to understand these 50 days, if I didn’t try to commit them to paper and tell the story of what we had just experi enced,” said Raskin.

Douglas said that he hoped the event would provide his students a sense of hope. “I find that many students work from the default as sumption that the U.S. government is simply dysfunctional,” he said. “I would hope that [students] come away with an understanding of the possibilities for meaningful political engagement in today’s government.”

Reflections from attendees who spoke with The Student affirmed Douglas’ hope.

Isabel Martinez ’26, who is in Douglas’ "Progress?" section, de scribed the panel as “enlightening,” stating, “I haven’t been as connect ed to politics as I want to be — but this panel definitely made me more interested in looking into politics.”

Martinez said that she especially appreciated Raskin’s discussion of the history of American democra cy and how a series of struggles led

to new constitutional amendments and individual rights. “The way that he talked about [how] each individ ual can have an influence on democ racy was definitely something that I’m going to consider,” she said.

Sandor Weiss ’25, who has followed American politics and Raskin’s career closely over the past few years, said that he “really liked the event,” but had a few reserva tions.

He wondered whether Raskin’s positions as a progressive Democrat — political views shared by himself and most of the Amherst communi ty — were “pretty much reinforcing our opinions on American democ racy.”

Though he himself agreed with much of what Raskin said, he ar gued that “the point of the Point/ Counterpoint series is to provide alternative points of view.”

“I’m not sure [it] actually con tributed to a dialogue,” said Weiss. “We could have pretty much got ten that same sort of stump speech about Trump’s guilt and the sort of fragility of American democra cy if we had watched him on Jake Tapper,” he said, in reference to the CNN anchor.

Nevertheless, Weiss said, “That doesn’t mean that it’s not incredibly cool for him to say it to us himself.”

Raskin finished his day at the college with an appearance in Doug las’ Legal Institutions class, which covered similar subject matter.

Alumna Encourages Students To Advocate for Iranian Students

tivists — Amherst has always been a fertile ground for advocacy work.”

Continued from page 1 burn their hijabs or cut their hair in acts of resistance, and leaders of the movement are calling for revolution against the regime.

Within 24 hours of its creation, her petition had 139 signatures from current students and alumni alike, climbing to 159 even after the president’s office responded direct ly to Sedigh sharing their intention to make a formal statement soon, which came in the form of Elliott’s letter.

In considering next steps, Sedigh believes that Amherst is well-po sitioned to form a coalition of uni versities and colleges in the United States, the purpose of which would be to release a joint statement of condemnation of the actions of the Islamic Republic to the press.

Meanwhile, protests in Iran, led by young women, continue to rage over Amini’s death and subsequent state violence. Many demonstrators

Professor of History Monica Ringer, whose scholarship focuses on the Middle East, offered a his torical perspective on the recent protests in an interview with The Student: “[The protests] are signifi cant because they are a threat to the nature of the regime,” Ringer said. “It’s not simply about women being forced to veil. Gender is a funda mental construct of the Islamic Re public sense of itself and its social engineering mission. So that hits at the quick of the regime itself, not just on the government functionar ies or at corruption.”

While the Islamic Republic is no stranger to uprisings since its creation following the 1979 revolu tion, both Ringer and Sedigh agree that what sets this particular series

of protests apart is the distinct focus on gender — although Ringer not ed that Iranian women protesting is hardly a new occurrence. “What's new, I think, is that the issue of the veil and cutting one's hair is not sim ply about repression,” she said, “it's about the nature of the regime's vi sion of the modern Iranian citizen.”

As the number of Iranian citi zens born after the 1979 revolution grows, so does anti-regime senti ment, according to Ringer. Younger generations’ pushback against the “ideal new Iranian citizen education program,” she explained, upsets the regime because its attempts to ma nipulate the political attitudes of a new wave of Iranians has largely failed.

For Sedigh, it’s significant that this movement is being led by wom en and girls, and that it holds an additional role as one of “the first of its kind” to be led chiefly by Gen

Z — a fact that she believes should spur university students in regions without state-sanctioned violence to action.

Sedigh encouraged Amherst students to utilize their rights to free speech and advocate for Iranian stu dents on social media. “It's not per formative,” she said. “It’s amplifying the voices of Iranians and educating your circles.”

For institutions like Amherst, Ringer said that statements are largely symbolic actions. Their im pact is minimal, especially coming from the U.S., a nation with which the regime already has strained rela tions — and doesn’t expect its sup port in the first place.

But the limited power of a state ment doesn’t mean Amherst doesn’t have an obligation to make one, Ringer said. “We can’t necessarily change things by saying we don’t like it. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t

say we don’t like it.”

A more substantial next step, Ringer suggested, would be to in vite Iranian students to study at Amherst, which might inspire other U.S. universities to open their doors to Iranians.

While both Ringer and Sedigh agree that protests are not asking for direct U.S. intervention, Ringer be lieves that allocating funds toward special scholarships for Iranian stu dents would support “individuals who are committed to helping their communities [in Iran].”

“One has to take a stance, wheth er or not that will topple the Iranian regime,” Ringer said. “Principles al ways matter.”

Razavi’s talk, entitled “The Irani an Feminist Protests In Global Con text,” will be held on Friday, Oct. 21, in Fayeweather Hall’s Pruyne Audi torium, followed by a Q&A hosted by Ringer.

Loeb Center Rolls Out Social Impact Initiative

Cal Gelernt ’24 Staff Writer

As part of a broader push toward increasing opportunities for students interested in public service or non profit work, the Loeb Center for Ca reer Exploration and Planning held

a workshop on Thursday in Frost Library providing students with guidance on how to begin pursuing a socially impactful career.

The push comes in response to student complaints about the lack of career-planning opportunities outside of high-paying fields like fi

nance, tech, and consulting. Mason Quintero ’23 and Charlie Sutherby’s ’23E three-part series “A Better Am herst,” published in The Student last year, consolidates much of this feedback. According to Quintero and Sutherby, Amherst has devot ed fewer financial and advisory re

sources to students interested in so cial impact work compared to other liberal arts schools. They also noted that Amherst grads’ career outcomes reflect this discrepancy: in 2020, only 9 percent of Amherst graduates took jobs in the government and nonprofit sectors, compared to 43 percent who took jobs in finance, consulting, or tech.

The Social Impact Exploration and Avenues Introduction Work shop on Thursday, which was at tended by approximately 20 stu dents, was a direct response to these concerns. The event’s main organiz ers were Loeb Center summer intern Brianne LaBare ’25 and Micah Ow ino, the director of the Loeb Center’s program for careers in government and nonprofits. Both LaBare and Owino cited “A Better Amherst” as an inspiration for the Loeb Center’s new social impact push.

The event began with LaBare lay ing out the Loeb Center’s plans for pushing students toward social im pact careers. She noted at the outset that her internship, which she com pleted over the Summer of 2022, was “born with the vision of bringing awareness to students about social impact careers and creating tangible resources for students interested in social impact.”

“What I was tasked with doing,” she told The Student, “was creating an expansive amount of materials for students who want to learn about not only social impact careers in general but also what the Loeb Center has to offer them.” The materials have since been published on the Loeb Center’s new Social Impact web page.

The Loeb Center has expanded its programming for social impact careers following student complaints about the lack of support.

In addition to presentations from LaBare and Owino, the event also featured a presentation from Paige Palley, the human resources manager at the Greater Boston Food Bank, a nonprofit whose mission is to “end hunger across Eastern Mas sachusetts.”

Under this umbrella of resourc es are opportunities tailored to what LaBare calls the three main subfields of social impact work: environmen tal impact, social impact and hu manitarian efforts, and civic impact. Students interested in each field can attend specialized workshops, as well as learn about internship op portunities and possible career paths through the Loeb Center.

Following LaBare’s presentation,

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

Photo Series: Community Enjoys Seasonal Favorites at Fall Fest

Food, Games, Leaves, Pumpkins, Hayrides, and More

Photos courtesy of Pho Vu ’23.

1. Students enjoyed a vari ety of fall-inspired food, in cluding a tent full of various pumpkin-flavored morsels.

2. Vendors prepare bags of kettle corn.

3. President Elliott got in on the action, trying his hand at cornhole.

4. Students relax on hay bales and enjoy live music.

5. A large number of pump kins were provided.

6. The fall festival was especially valuable to students in the wake of farm fest's cancellation.

7. Sydney Ireland ’23 and Luke Herzog ’24.

8. Also in attendance were many children of faculty and staff.

9. The games on offer included a massive connect-4.

10. A group of students poses for a photo.

11. Students enjoyed a horse-pulled hayride.

12. Attendees in the pro cess of pumpkin carving.

13. Students enjoyed the fall foliage and gazed out toward the Holyoke range.

14. The Virginia folk band The Wildmans performed at the festival.

Social Impact Event Highlights Non-profit Careers

from

Owino laid out several concrete steps the Loeb Center is taking to en gage students in social impact work. In fact, the creation of his position itself, which did not exist until he was hired in February 2021, is part of this push.

One additional step is the expan sion of the Trek Program, a series of multi-day immersive trips for soph omores, juniors and seniors explor ing a specific industry. This year, the program will feature a three-day sus tainability trip to Boston in January, as well as a four-day government and nonprofits trip to Washington, D.C., in March during Spring Break.

Owino said that on these treks, students will have the opportunity to meet with a wide variety of alum ni and gain a real understanding of what a career in these industries might look like.

Another aspect of the Loeb

Center’s programming is Amherst’s participation in Projects for Peace, a program by Middlebury College offering $10,000 grants to students who develop “innovative, communi ty-centered, and scalable responses to the world’s most pressing issues.” According to Owino, one Amherst student will be chosen for the grant to implement their project over the summer. Owino also referenced the Sandy Rosenberg Senior Grant, which provides a $2,000 stipend to graduating students who enter gov ernment or nonprofit work.

Owino’s presentation also fo cused on the relevance of social im pact work in the corporate world, stressing the importance of effec tuating social change even if one’s career is not specifically focused on public service.

“Let’s be honest, it’s a tough sell,” he told The Student, on the topic of encouraging students to pursue so cial impact careers. “The reality is

that a lot of Amherst students have an affinity for tech, business and fi nance, so we want to attract students with those skill sets to the social im pact space,” he said.

Ultimately, though, for Owino, the importance of doing public inter est work in college cannot be over stated. “Public service is extremely important for students to pursue at least at the collegiate level. It’s really imperative for students to know how things work at a grassroots level be fore they go into the workforce,” he said.

The event closed with Palley’s presentation, in which she discussed the work that the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB) does and shared her wisdom with students looking to pursue public interest work. This in cluded dispelling a few myths about the field.

For instance, the financial incen tive pulling students into profit-driv en sectors can outweigh their other

interests in doing social good. One point Palley made clear is that work ing for an organization like GBFB does not mean students have to give up these monetary gains. She offered a quote from Spencer Carpenter, a member of the food acquisitions team at GBFB, as an example. Ac cording to Carpenter, “social impact work is super welcoming and can both pay well and have comprehen sive benefits.”

“A Better Amherst” coauthor Quintero, who attended the event, complimented Palley, the represen tative from GBFB. “I think that Paige was phenomenal, I think we really need more things like that,” he said.

Sutherby, also in attendance, asked what type of skills Palley thought were most important for working at an organization like GBFB. She responded that many of the skills that are important for suc cess at a nonprofit are the same as those necessary to thrive at a liberal

arts school, such as “resilience, com munication and flexibility.”

Etta Gold ’23, another attendee, felt the event was useful but wished it had incorporated a broader under standing of what social impact work can include.

“I appreciated the event be cause I do feel like there is a lack of career-focused social impact oppor tunities,” Gold said. “But I didn’t feel like it was casting a wide net about what social impact could be. I think it would be cool to have an event that talks about more radical social impact work and the ways that that could be feasible,” she continued.

For Quintero, Palley’s presenta tion was long overdue. “We need to have people from organizations like GBFB coming to Amherst and giv ing talks,” he said. “That needs to be the standard — the same way that we have people from Bain, McK insey, and Goldman Sachs giving talks here.”

Mammoth Moments in Miniature: Oct. 13 to Oct. 18

The Editorial Board Administration Announces Raffle for Students with New Boosters

On Oct. 13, the administration announced that any member of the community who receives or has received a bivalent Covid-19 booster, either on or off-campus, will be eligible to participate in a raffle for the opportunity to win one of several prizes. Prizes include gift certificates to local businesses and lunch with Pres ident Michael Elliott. The raffle will be open for anyone who sub mits proof of booster vaccination by Friday, Nov. 18.

color from educationally under served districts for college and leadership roles. The run, which passed through various parts of campus, ultimately ended with cider, snacks, and awards for winners.

LJST Department Holds First “Fireside” Conversation of the Year

The Department of Law, Juris prudence and Social Thought held its first Fireside conversa tion of the year with Bertrand H. Snell 1894 Professor in American Government in the Department of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought Martha M. Umphrey.

Town of Amherst Holds 5k Run to Celebrate Local Nonprofit

On Oct. 15, the town of Amherst held the 5k Fall Foliage and Ci der Run in celebration of Am herst A Better Chance, the local chapter of A Better Chance, a national residential organization that prepares young students of

During the event, Umphrey dis cussed her recent research on the court cases surrounding the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepherd, in addition to answering questions from students about the role of the trials and plea deals in the le gal system and issues facing the Supreme Court in the upcoming term.

The 5k Foliage and Cider run was hosted by the town of Amherst in support of Am herst A Better Chance, a local charity. Many students participated.

Photo courtesy of Amherst A Better Chance

Features

Fresh Faculty

Aisha Yusuf

Aisha Yusuf is a visiting assistant professor of economics. She received a bach elor’s degree in economics from the American University of Nigeria at Yola, a master’s degree in economics from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and a Ph.D. in economics at George Mason University.

to understand why it persists, and then why it continues, how history plays a role, and also examining how effective laws are [at controlling it]. Because in many of these African countries, there are laws against FGM — but to what extent are these laws effective when it comes not to just eradicating FGM but also changing attitudes towards the prac tice of FGM?

diverse perspectives in the field of economics is important?

Q: You did your undergrad in Ni geria and then came to the U.S. for your master’s and your Ph.D. How do your experiences at an inter national university compare with your experiences at universities in the U.S.?

A: It’s very different — even though for my undergrad, I did it at the American University of Nigeria, where the curriculum was just like the U.S., but it was in Nigeria, in Yola, to be specific. The professors were mostly American and from different countries, but you can’t really com pare it to the U.S. because, you know, one is in the U.S. and then the other was in Nigeria. So you have two in stitutions, a different culture, [differ ent] people, but I enjoyed both. In a class like development economics, I would say it’s very different taking it in Nigeria, as opposed to the U.S. be cause even the language being used to describe developing countries, is different in Nigeria than in devel oped countries. In Nigeria it’s more optimistic. It’s more like, ‘Okay, we have this problem. What can we do?’

As opposed to in more developed countries where they think of devel opment or developing countries as kind of doomed, [like,] ‘How can we save them?’ So it’s very different, that lens being used, but I’m happy that I had the opportunity to study eco nomics both in a developing country and a developed country, so I know the differences and [I know] what to take [from each], and also what to leave out.

Apart from that, there are also the cultural aspects and the different shocks when it comes to meeting students and people and the norms. In Nigeria, for example, you’re more

collective. Collectivism is a huge deal there. Here, people are more individ ualistic, so they do things on their own. I literally had to learn how to do things on my own … just doing things that you wouldn’t do when you’re in Nigeria because you have lots of family and people to help out. But then it’s all for the best, because I learned a lot about being indepen dent. So that’s something I would say was really beneficial.

Q: Are you currently doing any re search?

A: I’m currently researching Nigeria. Unfortunately, Nigeria has experi enced different conflicts over the years. In the northwest, we have the bandit problem. In the northeast we have the Boko Haram, [a terrorist organization] that’s against educa tion, and then in the south we have the conflict based on oil in the coun try. So what I’m examining right now is the conflict in Nigeria, partic ularly in the northwest, and how that affects both health and educational outcomes.

Looking at those individuals that have been exposed to the conflict, for example, [my research asks:] How did that impact their educa tional outcomes? Were they able to finish school or did we have lots of dropouts based on being exposed to the intense conflict in those re gions? How does that affect differ ent health outcomes? For example, when it comes to children, [how are] their birth weights [affected by the conflict]? If you have a family that has different children, [you can see those impacts] by comparing sib lings, those born before the conflict, and those born after the conflict.

So this is what I’m examining right now, in my study on Nigeria — these conflicts and how they affect human capital.

Q: I also saw that you were doing research on female genital muti lation (FGM). What is it about? What led you to this topic?

A: Female genital mutilation, just to define it according to the UNICEF, is a procedure that is meant to alter or injure the female genitalia for non-medical reasons. This practice is not just in Africa, but also in differ ent continents, like among migrant groups in Australia, for example, here in the U.S., and also Europe. We have male circumcision, and people know that, but when it comes to fe male circumcision or FGM, many people have never heard about it. They have no idea what this entails or where it’s been practiced, because there’s some sort of secrecy when it comes to FGM. And unfortunately, with FGM, there are lots of health complications that could be shortterm or long-term. It can lead to childbirth complications, infertility, depression, mental health issues.

For many of these families and households that practice FGM, [the practice] is deeply rooted in their ethnicity. They grew up seeing their parents doing it and their grand parents doing it, [so] they feel that it’s kind of like an ethnic marker, and they have an obligation to con tinue with the tradition and norms that they’ve been practicing. But we know that there is no medical justi fication whatsoever for FGM. There are lots of health consequences, but then what are the benefits? So in my study, I examine the history of FGM

Q: The field of economics, espe cially here in the U.S., is stereotyp ically known as a field dominated by white men. As a Black woman with an international background, how do you navigate such a space? Do you find that it’s different when you compare between Nigeria and the U.S.?

A: That’s one of the things I noticed just coming here. During my under grad, there were lots of female stu dents in the economics department. Of course they’ll be Black, because it’s an African country, and then there were [also] lots of women. But then I remember going to my first class to do my master’s in Texas, and I was the only Black female, and I was wondering, like, ‘What is going on? Where is everyone?’ And that’s something that I didn’t expect com ing here, and it’s something that I’ve had to get used to, and then really set myself apart and then do more. Be cause given that women, particularly [women of color] are not really rep resented [in economics], that means that we have to do more just to be at the same level with white males. So that has been challenging in that way. It’s made me more driven, to put myself out there and do more research, but it can be tricky some times.

One thing that has also helped some is getting acquainted with other people of color and women to learn from them and their ex periences and what has worked for them. I’ve found that this is very important when it comes to mentor ship from different people who are out there, [who] are willing to take you along and make sure that you re ally succeed in the economics field.

Q: Why do you think increasing

A: I think it’s important because you can look at it from different perspec tives, right? Students, for example, want to study economics, [but] then they don’t see others like themselves in the field, and that kind of prevents them from delving into the eco nomics field because they don’t see diversity. They don’t see themselves represented because they don’t see minority groups. I think it’s really important to have diversity when it comes to gender, when it comes to religion, for example, and when it comes to your background [like] race. It’s very important as opposed to having just the stereotypical white male doing that.

Q: What do you hope students will take away from your classes?

A: When I teach classes, my goal is for students to take the main concepts that they’ve learned and apply [them] to the real world. For example, in my development class, we go over different topics like trade, and foreign aid, scarcity, trade-off incentives. My goal is for [students] to take this and then an alyze what they see around them. Use that in everyday conversation, to figure out what’s going on in the world and how to make the world a better place. There are lots of phe nomena in the world — we have the pandemic, for example, we have conflicts in different countries. So I want them to understand the tradeoffs, you know, winners and losers when it comes to trade and relation ships, and then use that to have a better idea of what’s going on in the world. That’s what I keep on telling them. I don’t want you to memorize, that’s not the key. The key is not for you to go in, take the test, get an A and that’s it. No, the key is for you to take the main idea and then use that towards understanding the world and making it better.

Read the full interview online at www.amherststudent.com

Photo courtesy of Emma Spencer '23E

Facing Drought, Book and Plow Shows Resilience

Nife Joshua ’26 Staff Writer

Though students have still enjoyed their fair share of vegetables from Book and Plow Farm in Valentine Dining Hall this semester, this year’s yield is smaller than in the past due to a drought that has affected the Northeast in recent months. Fortunately, the farm still achieved a successful harvest — the drought devastated only a selection of crops. But the misfortune nevertheless presents a chance to reflect the practices Book and Plow uses to stay resilient in a changing climate.

The drought afflicting the farm has impacted the entire New England area for the past few months. In June, Hampshire County received 2.54 inches of rainfall. The following months had 3.05 inches of rain and 2.78 inches, respectively, just a little over half of what’s typically expected for that time of year.

According to Maida Ives, manager of farm education and operations at Book and Plow, conditions at the farm seemed drier than usual beginning in June.

“[Typically] early June and mid-June, we transplant [vegetables] in the ground, and at that point, they really need a lot of water and support to get established,” Ives said.

The lack of rainfall has decreased crop yields for a number of vegetables, including onions, potatoes, and winter squash.

This year, Ives has also observed a noticeable decrease in the size of the crops. Due to a lack of water during the growth period, the potato plants, for example, produced smaller spuds than usual in addition to a lower yield. In fact, farmers at Book and Plow only harvested about 400 pounds of potatoes this summer, Ives said — drastically lower than the usual 1,500-pound figure, a yield great enough to fulfill the demand of both Valentine Dining Hall and orders from the farm’s community-supported agriculture (CSA) group, which is made up of individuals subscribed to consistently receive seasonal vegetables from the farm.

The reduced crop yield means that, this year, some of the Val produce demand ordinarily met by Book and Plow will have to be supplied by other local farms instead.

The lower yield does not reflect mismanagement on the part of the Book and Plow farmers. In fact, they met the challenge posed by the drought quite well.

During the summer, rather than planting and prepping as usual, Book and Plow farmers spent hours setting up drip irrigation and overhead sprinklers across four acres of crops to maximize their water intake. To further conserve water, these overhead sprinklers aren’t used during the heat of the day, when much of the water released would evaporate.

This type of adaptation is nothing new for Ives. For as long as she has been farming, “the topic of climate change and [its] unpredictability — what you can expect at certain times of the year — has always been present in the work.”

Despite the drought, “[o] ur goals haven't changed: we're here to support students, build healthy soil, and grow quality vegetables,” Ives said. “We are always adapting to produce food in this changing climate and protect our soil through both drought and extreme rain situations.”

as produce — helps the fields maintain moisture and reduces erosion.

And in addition to augmenting water conservation, farmers at Book and Plow grow a array of crops — carrots, lettuce, peppers, and more — which help circulate nutrients and microbes in the soil, and provide resilience in the case of events like droughts.

alternation between drought and flooding — the increase in extreme weather due to humaninduced climate change in general — in New England poses a significant threat to the area’s farms.

Farmers spent the summer working to conserve wa ter on the farm.

In addition to their preparation this summer to preempt the effects of the drought, Book and Plow has long employed strategies to conserve water. For one, the use of organic mulch to grow crops helps reduce both the water evaporation and soil erosion, while also increasing water infiltration. Book and Plow farmers are also mindful of overirrigation, which in addition to depleting the water supply can have unpredictable effects on the regional climate. Lastly, the use of cover crops — crops planted to protect the soil rather than

The farm has also long selected disease- or coldresistant seeds that are able to grow high-quality vegetables despite unpredicted shifts in the weather. Compared to other farms in the region, this has helped Book and Plow avoid some of the worst impacts of the drought, Ives said.

In the greater New England area, farmers who grow hay and straw, corn, or winter squash felt the drought’s strongest effects. Most of those farmers didn’t have pre-existing irrigation systems in these large fields, and they weren’t able to cover the costs of installing new ones.

And while the drought killed off many crops, heavy rain in April also did damage, since it’s very difficult to remove the excess water from the fields. The

While Book and Plow has managed the situation well, the drought is indicative of some of the more severe consequences of climate change. One of these is reduced access to water in many parts of the world. Climate change affects precipitation patterns, meaning that some regions now receive more precipitation than previously, while other regions receive far less. This disparity results in poorer water quality, because more precipitation leads to more runoff, which can become contaminated with fertilizers and promote the growth of algae that make people sick.

In light of the global nature of the effects of climate change, Ives encourages students to be aware of the complex ways in which agriculture is burdened by human-caused changes to the environment. For students at the college, Ives says, “the only suggestion I have is to continue to learn.”

Photo courtesy of Mariana Rivera-Donsky ’25

Hampshire County recieved around half of its typical rainfall this year.

Graphic courtesy of Nina Aagaard ’26

An Inside Look Into This Year’s Pandemic Protocol Shifts

Julia Gentin ’26 Staff Writer

Vanessa Fong, the Olin professor in Asian studies, has continued to hold her classes outdoors with required physical distancing and masking this semester.

“I’m at risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes,” she wrote in an email to The Student. “Also my anti-COVID reputation attracts a larger than usual proportion of students who want to avoid COVID, so I need to keep my class safe.”

While protocols like Fong’s were more typical in previous years, they are now the exception. As the college has ended mandatory surveillance testing, off-campus isolation, and widespread mask mandates this fall, some community members have felt that the college has abandoned the caution that has characterized its Covid policy over the past two years.

“There is a lot less effort to track cases and meaningfully implement mask mandates,” said Tylar Matsuo ’24. “There is a broader issue of not taking Covid seriously … and that’s deeply concerning.”

Underlying the policy changes, however, has not been a change in the college’s values, but rather the emergence of new tools to respond to the virus and the shifting nature of the virus itself, said President Michael Elliott and other members of the administration.

“We have a robustly vaccinated student population, which we know protects against severe illness and adverse outcomes,” said Director of Student Health Services Emily Jones. “We are now dealing with variants of Covid that are so contagious it is impossible to devise policies that prevent all infections or some spread.”

Guiding Values

The Health Readiness Group (HRG) — made up of administrators, medical staff, financial officers, and faculty who weigh various elements of campus well-being in their decision-making process — is responsible for the college’s Covid protocol changes.

Elliott, who is responsible for approving the HRG’s proposals, said

that his Covid response was not very different from former President Biddy Martin’s: “We both try to use the best resources and the best evidence available to support our policies.”

The college continues to follow rates of infection in the county, which are available on the college’s Covid dashboard, and the Covid patterns in nearby large cities, like Washington D.C. and New York City, because “those were bellwethers,” Kate Salop, Chief Strategy Officer, said. “We would say: What are they learning? What do they see? What are they doing? What should we be prepared for?”

The HRG considered the safety of on-campus staff in addition to students, Salop said.

“Think about our janitorial staff or our dining services staff — their roles require them to be interacting in a very close way with students in dining halls and in residence halls where they're unmasked,” Salop said.

“What are we doing that allows our students to be more relaxed and have a real experience, [while also being] respectful and appropriately protective of our staff.”

“It’s not always about [the medical side]. It’s [also] about what other values we are holding,” said Salop.

Student mental health has been one of these values.

“We were very aware of the impact [masking 24/7] was having on your mental wellbeing and your social connections,” Salop said. In addition to “masking all the time,” the 10-day isolation period was a “frustrating experience” for many, Salop said.

The vitality of the community has been a particularly important consideration.

“We’re recognizing the impact it's having on us as an institution and as a community not to have these moments [of gathering] together,” said Salop, “We heard from all members: ‘we want to be in community with one another.’ This is a really important part of the Amherst experience.”

A Change in the Balance Due to these impacts on

community well-being, the HRG has been looking at relaxing protocols for a long time.

Salop said that in early summer 2021, the HRG was prepared to open up campus with some of the policy changes implemented this fall. Then, the Delta variant hit, leading to a national spike in cases and a change in college policies, resulting in the presence of masking requirements in residence halls, mandated weekly testing, and early restrictions on indoor dining.

However, changes in the nature of the pandemic made the decision different this year.

Earlier in the pandemic, access to vaccines was more limited, but access has since expanded, allowing the campus to have two on-campus bivalent booster clinics, Jones said. The college tracks vaccine status for each student in their medical chart to assure that they are up to date with all vaccines, per state regulations and college requirements, Jones added. There is also increased availability of medication to mitigate the virus’ effects.

Conversations regarding this semester’s Covid policy informally started in mid-May, in conjunction with Martin, Elliott said.

Although many students

perceived the fall’s protocols as a dramatic transition, these changes have been part of a gradual process, Elliott said.

There was a “natural evolution” of protocols throughout the summer, Salop said.

This was because there were fewer students on campus, so the college could test out new policies and carry them through the fall because case numbers were decreasing, Salop added.

The changing circumstances of the pandemic allowed the college to prioritize student mental and social health.

As a result, the college removed the mask mandate in residence halls, and changed protocols for ending the 10-day isolation period so that “[students] aren’t going back to the residence hall when they’re still infectious, but we’re not keeping them [offsite] any longer than needed,” Salop said.

“I have seen that our students [now] feel less fear and stigma when they get Covid,” Jones said. “Students seem to be learning to navigate living with Covid and trying to make choices that protect their health and the health of their community, [while] also enjoying their college experience.”

Getting rid of surveillance testing was fueled by the realization that it wasn’t playing the same role as it did at the beginning of the pandemic: “we could never catch up,” Salop said. “We can test and test and test, but you could test [negative] in the morning and [positive] by the afternoon.”

Future Resilience

The college has maintained the capacity to return to weekly surveillance testing and off-campus isolation, Elliott said.

Elliott added that the college might always have to move quickly to adapt Covid policies in response to changing circumstances. Fortunately, with the current policies and state of the virus, the modifications the college would have to make would be fairly minimal even if cases increase.

“I’m impressed by the resilience from students, who have adapted and are much more reasonable than other segments of the American population,” Elliott said. “We simply can’t predict what changes might come. I realize that creates a lot of anxiety but I don’t think the nature of a pandemic allows us to dispel the uncertainty entirely.”

Read the full article online at www.amherststudent.com

Opinion

Making J-Term Work

January Term (J-Term) as we know it is no more. The Ad Hoc Committee to Evaluate the January Term (J-Comm) delivered a report that was largely inconclusive on whether or not J-Term should continue, but stated that a solution to the various problems presented by J-term would need to be found before the program was approved. Most important of those problems was the massive logistical challenge the program posed to staff. Administrative staff generally use the winter term to support the transition between semesters, and the added workload of a miniature semester during the month is excessive. As a result, according to J-Comm’s survey, 26 percent of staff respondents answered “definitely not” when asked whether J-Term should continue in the future, the largest fraction out of any group.

This news is therefore perhaps saddest for students, over half of whom responded “definitely yes” when asked the same question. For students, the reasons for loving J-Term and wanting it to continue in some form were myriad: many of us liked the intensive class format, enjoyed the extra-long break — which could be spent either on campus or off — and appreciated the opportunity to take three classes in the spring semester. J-Term, in short, created a type of flexibility in student schedules that is impossible to reproduce within a strict two-semester system — it provided a boon to our mental health throughout the academic year.

While J-Term as it has been run for the past two years is likely not to come back anytime soon, it is also certain that on-campus activities during the winter break are positive for the student body. In the past, the Interterm program, which offered non-credit classes on everything from “Thai Cooking” to “Financial Bootcamps,” offered an experience less strenuous for academic staff, while still providing students with learning opportunities. However, J-Comm warned against a simple return to this programming. Positive memories of these experiences, the committee explained, are possibly simply reflections of the “pandemic’s collective trauma,” and “the Siren Song of Interterm is best left unheard.” However, the possibility of relatively unstructured programming with some of the same goals as those of Interterm, like preparing students for careers or teaching them skills that could be useful in further classes for a department, is too enticing to leave as a failed experiment.

As a 2019 report on Interterm suggests, it has been a difficult program to administer due to inconsistent student participation and burnout in the aftermath of the fall semester. However, over the last few years, winter break has been a week longer than it was in 2019, and that extra time in between semesters is valuable in enabling students to engage more fully with Interterm programming

Winter term should be a time where experimentation is possible across campus. Faculty who are interested in providing winter opportunities for students — whether workshops for programs relevant to their field of study or field trips and other activities in the area — should be able to recruit students and apply for funding through an appropriate organization like the Center for Community Engagement or the Office of Student Affairs. These offices already administrate research programs through Gregory S. Call funding and work with the Loeb Center to offer opportunities like the college’s various career treks — longer versions of which could also be interesting to offer over January, especially if they could be hosted with local industries like agriculture and higher education.

Beyond just faculty-headed programs, the winter term is a perfect time for student organizations wishing to host their own opportunities. Any organization or group of students could apply for funding to host a winter-long book club, reading group, speaker series, or skill-based workshop. Then, students who want to engage more with their non-academic extracurriculars would be able to commit more time to them between terms in much the same way that athletes practice over winter or student researchers to further their projects.

The value of winter programming is manifold. The different kind of academic experience provided by a single intensive class is a valuable one in contrast to the semester’s workload — especially given the free time afforded by staying on campus over January. That free time speaks to a kind of camaraderie experienced by the suddenly-smaller campus. Friend groups switch around and coalesce in the smaller, quieter Val, and the compactness of our winter worlds makes this campus feel truly tight-knit in a way it can’t in the semester.

It is true that it will always be a logistical challenge to support any number of students on campus over the January term. As J-Comm’s report says, the college “isn’t staffed or budgeted for the 24/7/365 operations which it has grown into.” Until this essential issue of proper operational preparation is solved, any activities beyond those of the semesters themselves will be prohibitively difficult. The potential of student-led programming, among the other opportunities that various members of the college community want to explore, is so high that finding a solution to those questions is imperative. Winter term is too valuable to let fall away due to these unresolved concerns, and every effort should be made by every party to make winter programming a reality.

Unsigned editorials represent the views of the majority of the Editorial Board — (assenting: 22; dissenting: 0; abstaining: 0).

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Kayah’s Korner: How To Navigate Office Hours

Mikayah Parsons ’24 Columnist

Anonymous asks, “How do you make conversation with a professor during office hours?”

Dear Anonymous,

When I set foot on the Am herst College campus, I knew that I needed to go to office hours. It was an opportunity that had been stressed to me during Summer Bridge, a program that aims to help first-generation, low-income students transition to Amherst a few weeks before the start of their first year. Students in the program take four courses over the span of four weeks, classes that mirror the rigor of a typical semester-long Amherst College course. Summer Bridge office hours took place with professors who were aware of our socioeconomic status and general lack of familiarity with the space, but when the year started, I realized that not all office hours are like this — and many profes sors expect students to already be aware of this fact.

I will never forget the moment I hopped onto the virtual office hours Zoom link for one of my foreign language classes. It was, to

put it generously, brutal. My pro fessor and I exchanged greetings in Spanish before the conversa tion fell awkwardly into silence. The discomfort was only inten sified by the two screens existing between us, each of us waiting for the other person to say something first. What the professor didn’t know was that I had spent the last three weeks in office hours where Summer Bridge professors had prompted me and created topics for conversation, often framing the time as an informal space to catch up.

I learned the hard way that this is not characteristic of all of fice hours. I wish someone had told me what to expect. Instead, I found myself scrambling for generic questions to ask my for eign language professor. If you, like me, find yourself new to a class and unsure how office hours work, I would recommend three things:

The first recommendation is to play to your strengths. Is there a specific quote from the text or concept from the class that struck you? Perhaps you can articulate why this stood out to you. Why did it feel important? Do you see it connecting to work in your other classes and/or, perhaps, your lived

experience? Is there a final assign ment that you could see this con nection fitting into? Invite your professor to provide you with additional material that address es the theme or concept you’re attracted to — content that is ex tracurricular to the syllabus. Ask them if there will be an opportu nity to explore this topic further in the class, and — if there won’t be — if they will generate oppor tunities for such exploration. This approach has the additional effect of introducing your professor to your interests and how you, spe cifically, synthesize things. Pro fessors frequently enjoy matching students to opportunities on cam pus that they see fitting a student’s interests, and these opportunities often come with funding.

My second suggestion is some what opposite to my first: Address your points of difficulty. Note passages in the text or questions from the homework that were particularly difficult for you. Also spend time trying to understand why you’re struggling with them. Is there a particular component of the argument or step in the solution process that trips you up from understanding the rest of the assignment? Does the author do a poor job of considering the

lived experience of the demo graphic group to which they’re re ferring? Is the argument unclear and packed with jargon? Does the author’s argument hinge on assumptions that they don’t care to unpack? These are questions to consider as you read, and you can note any gaps you saw in the text — in either the content itself or in how you understood it — to discuss with your professor. Or perhaps you want more gener al tips about organization and time management for a particu lar course. Is your history course packed so full of reading that you aren’t sure where to begin or how to read for the class? In some cases, your professor is aware of how heavy the workload is and can suggest study strategies that were particularly useful for them or that accommodate your spe cific learning style. In other cases, the professor hasn’t yet heard that their course work is unmanage able and will consider adjusting the schedule to accommodate the needs of that specific class at that specific moment.

My last piece of advice is to introduce yourself to the profes sor by offering anything you feel comfortable sharing that they might not already know. For in

A Tribute to My Dear Friend, Franklin Odo

Robert Hayashi Associate Professor of American Studies

That smile. When I recall my friend and mentor Franklin Odo, it is his omnipresent smile that I picture: a big inviting grin. It is hard now to imagine walking through Morgan Hall without seeing it. For his smile didn’t just cheer you up on the gloomiest of cold New England February mornings (we get a lot of those here); it also embodied his wel coming and uplifting presence. He both pulled you in with his warmth and generosity and held you up in a net of support that spanned generations, encompass ing scores fortunate enough to

have been graced by his care. He advised and mentored countless undergraduates, graduate stu dents, activists, organizations, scholars, and even prospective Amherst students over the course of his life. Because his impact was so broad and sustained, outpour ings of shock and grief have rip pled across my social media feeds since his passing a few weeks ago.

I had known of Franklin Odo the figure, a leader in the field of Asian American studies, for years, but came to know Franklin Odo the person while working with a group of scholars for the Nation al Park Service on developing a theme study for Asian American and Pacific Islander history. It was a daunting and troubling task —

jamming centuries of histories of disparate peoples into a workable and limited frame. We managed in large part due to his engaging leadership, steady demeanor, and his characteristic unflagging ener gy. Did he ever stop? I recall chas ing him through the Metro during a field trip to Washington, D.C., after a snowstorm, careful not to get ditched as he scurried through the hordes of commuters.

He was also a connector: bring ing people in communion, as on that D.C. field trip where nearly 20 students from the Five Colleges were graced with a private tour of a new Smithsonian exhibit. . I’d known he would bring those qual ities to Amherst, but I never imag ined that he would have such an

impact during his too-few years here. He quickly made connec tions throughout the Five College community with numerous staff, faculty, alumni, and most of all, with students, for whom he was a beloved mentor, respected el der, and trusted confidant. I joked with him that he was the gift that kept on giving. Did he ever say no? Not to anyone I know.

As an activist, teacher, schol ar, public historian, and leader for over half a century, Franklin Odo committed himself broadly to justice and specifically to estab lishing a place for Asian American narratives in the national story. He was there in the nascent days of protest and possibility, and soon became an internationally

stance, as a low-income student, I have spent many semesters work ing upwards of 20 hours (and sometimes full-time), which is an extenuating circumstance that the professor should be made aware of. Or perhaps you filled out accommodations, but want to explain your preferences and set of circumstances to the pro fessor yourself, in a private space. Remember that you belong at this institution because you got in, and that the institution has a responsi bility to help you understand that and meet you wherever you’re at.

One final note: Professors also love to share things about them selves! Feel free to look at a faculty bio and follow up with the profes sor about their research in office hours. They spend their time out side of the classroom dedicating their lives to these topics, so it’s often rewarding for them to be able to share that with you.

But at the end of the day, re member that office hours are your time. Office hours are what you make of them. Whatever you feel pressed to discuss in that time is yours to share in the way that you feel most comfortable.

Sincerely, Mikayah

recognized figure. After building programs in academe, he made the uncharacteristic transition to public history, becoming the founding director of the Smith sonian’s Asian Pacific American Center. Over the years, he be came a polestar for generations inside and outside academe, of ten helping you without you ever knowing. His formidable career, coupled with his self-possession, humility, and aloha spirit remind ed many they had a place in the most elite spaces and could shape them while remaining themselves. He also reminded us how much our stories matter — to us and to the nation — and of the respon

Franklin Odo: A Friend, Mentor, Activist, and Scholar

sibilities we have as stewards of them.

In one of those many social media posts I’ve been seeing in recent weeks, someone described Franklin Odo as like a stream: clear and consistent, which he was. But being both a water lover and witness to his many contribu tions, I saw him more as a whole ecosystem — a Great Lake maybe, given all that he supported and nourished over generations.

One of his grieving former students sent me a message after his passing: “He left me no guide book.” I tried to assure her that he did — in how he lived. In his copi ous curiosity, unwavering care for others, and lifelong commitment to community. All of which was in that smile.

The Case for Mask-optional Classrooms at Amherst

Catherine Sanderson Poler Family Professor of Psy chology

On March 9, 2020, Amherst College became one of the first schools in the country to can cel in-person classes and move to online learning, even though not a single case of Covid had been detected on campus. At the time, this decision seemed like an over-reaction and prompted considerable criticism by many students and families.

Although Amherst’s decision initially appeared somewhat rash, its wisdom quickly became clear. And as an Amherst profes sor, I felt proud that we were one of the first colleges to make the difficult choice to send students home. We were making deci sions guided by science — and moving to online learning that spring clearly did save lives.

For the next two years, sci ence continued to guide campus policies. Throughout the 20212022 academic year, Amherst set strict rules for all mem bers of the campus communi ty: full vaccination (including

the booster), weekly testing, and wearing a KN95 mask in all classrooms. Once again, I felt pride — and relief — when talking to colleagues who taught at other schools, whose students were not required to be vaccinat ed and who were unable to in sist on masks even in their own classrooms.

But as of Oct. 17, our official Covid policy, in which mask requirements are determined based on anonymous voting, is clearly not based on science.

The new policy is — of course — absurd. It means some stu dents might attend three of their classes without wearing a mask, and wear a mask in their fourth.

It means that students eat all of their meals in a crowded campus dining hall, and may then pull out a mask to wear in class. Per haps most importantly, it means that the preferences of a single (perhaps anxious, perhaps hypo chondriac) student take priority over perhaps equally valid pref erences from their peers, who might struggle with hearing their professor’s voice through a mask or understanding explanations

when facial expressions are hid den. This policy seems especial ly unwarranted given scientific data showing that well-fitting KN95 masks provide excellent protection to the wearer, allow ing high-risk community mem bers to protect themselves even when others around them are unmasked. And on a campus in which all students, faculty, and staff are all required to be vacci nated and boosted, the risk of se rious consequences from Covid infection is extraordinarily low.

Most faculty are quite ready for the mask requirement to end. So why does this policy contin ue? In meeting after meeting, only a few faculty voices are heard — and those voices are loudly and vehemently calling for the policy to continue. These loud voices create the perception that these views are more com mon, and more fully accepted, than they actually are. This con dition, in which a majority of group members privately hold one belief but incorrectly as sume that most others feel dif ferently, is known as pluralistic ignorance.

Pluralistic ignorance occurs in part because we form norms based on public expressions, even when these statements do not reflect most group members’ private beliefs. For example, an in-depth study of a small Meth odist community in the 1930s found that a vocal minority led to the perception of strong com munity norms against gambling, drinking, and smoking, even though most residents were both supporting and engaging in such activities. Similarly, research shows that most college students feel personally uncomfortable with excessive alcohol use on campus, but believe that other students are perfectly comfort able with the amount of drink ing.

Given our innate human drive to feel connected to others in our social group, most people hes itate to express views that chal lenge the perceived norm — even if that norm is wrongly believed to be far more widespread than it actually is. Why is it so hard to challenge members of our com munity? Research in neurosci ence reveals that our tendency to

conform to the norms of our so cial group is hardwired into our brains. For virtually all of us, it is far more comfortable to fit in than to stand out — which helps explain why I, along with most of my like-minded colleagues, stay silent when the mask policy is discussed in faculty meetings.

But here’s the good news: As I’ve discovered in my own re search on social norms, often conducted in collaboration with my Amherst thesis students, ed ucating people about the errors we so often make in perceiving these norms helps reduce such misunderstandings. Most im portantly, explaining the psy chological processes that lead us to misperceive what those around us are actually thinking — to believe that most students are comfortable with the amount of alcohol use on campus or that most faculty are in favor of a classroom mask requirement — can help us resist the pressure to stay silent in the face of a small but vocal minority in all sorts of situations — with friends, with teammates, and even with facul ty colleagues.

Professor Odo and his trademark smile.

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

What I Wish I Knew About Studying Abroad

Maddie Hahm ’24 Contributing Writer

When it comes to studying abroad, I think that the U.S. has some very real misconceptions about the entire process. From what I’ve gathered, many people assume that once you commit to a pro gram, you will proceed to embark on a larger-than-life journey to the country of your dreams, where you will spend the entire semester par tying, sight-seeing, and occasionally attending class—and then return many months later a changed per son with, if you’re lucky, a foreign romance story to tell.

That has not been my experi

ence.

I have been living abroad in Spain now for a little over a month, and the adjustment has been any thing but easy. In the short time that I’ve been here, I have had to adapt to an entirely new culture, rewire my brain to a different language, alter my sleep schedule, navigate a for eign school system, make friends, and much more. There are so many aspects to being here that I wish I had known about prior to leaving the U.S.

First of all, though this might sound naive, I was taken aback at the sheer number of cultural bar riers that exist between the United States and Spain. There are so many

subtle differences between our two countries that I couldn’t have pos sibly prepared myself for before arriving. For instance, if you want to ride the metro here, you have to physically open the doors yourself in order to enter. It took me a few minutes of wandering aimlessly along the metro platform, wonder ing how so many train doors could possibly be malfunctioning at once, before I realized my mistake.

Additionally, unlike what some people might tell you, studying abroad can actually be incredibly isolating. In my head, I had this silly fantasy that, once I arrived in Spain, I would immediately become friends with the other students in

my program — at the very least, I thought that having a common na tionality would unite us.

But finding my place amongst this group has been unforeseeably challenging. Since I’m participating in a program run through a specific “host” university, the majority of the people in attendance are students from that school who already know one another. Unlike me, they have long-standing relationships with each other, and it feels awkward to try to insert myself into their lives, especially in my non-native lan guage.

Still, in my opinion, the most complicated, uncomfortable, and ostracizing part of the entire abroad

experience is, — and no surprise here, — money. (As The Wu-Tang Clan once so eloquently put it, cash truly does rule everything around us.)

Every weekend, the majority of my program’s members pack up their things, hop on a plane or bus, and then take a vacation to some beautiful (but pricey) European landmark that I would love to vis it with them but can’t afford. The thing that frustrates me the most isn’t the fact that I don’t have the same amount of money in my bank account or even that these students are taking regular trips; discrepan

Maddie Hahm's '24 experience in Spain has been filled with as many cultural differences and unexpected adjustments as beautiful sights and new experiences.

Graphic courtesy of Nina Aagaard '26

Reflections on Unexpected Experiences Abroad

cies between class and socioeco nomic status have always existed in a capitalistic society and will most likely persist for generations to come. (And I do have some plans to travel alone, staying in hostels and taking the cheap red-eyes.) What I can’t stand is the fact that I’m miss ing out on these bonding opportu nities with the other students, who seem to be making core memories

and building friendships on these weekly excursions together, while I, on the other hand, am not.

And, to clarify, it’s not like any of my peers are doing anything wrong or outwardly disrespectful. If they want to take trips on the weekends, they should be able to, and it’s none of my business. In fact, some of them have even invited me to join in on their excursions, which is thoughtful. However, because I can not afford the Airbnb’s, the airplane

tickets, the food, and all of the other small traveling fees, I always have to decline, making my chanc es of being asked again increasingly less likely. Instead, I have to be con tent with knowing that while they are off in some incredible new city, I made the “non-choice” choice to stay behind and work — that I can only live vicariously through their many Instagram posts.

This isn’t to say that I am not enjoying being in Spain or that I

don’t feel like I am gaining some thing valuable from the experience. I would still highly recommend a semester abroad, and I already have a long list of unforgettable experi ences that I’ve stored away in my brain. Still, I do wish I had known a little bit more about what exactly I was getting myself into before I said goodbye to my friends, my family, and my home. More importantly, I wish that I had been able to see that leaving the U.S. didn’t mean leaving

behind its societal inequities.

I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how this semester unfolds. I am, after all, only a month into this en tire experience. Instead of worrying about what the other people in my program are doing, I’m going to fo cus on what I can control: myself. Because, at the end of the day, I am still in Spain. And, who’s to say what the future holds? Maybe a European love story is still in the cards for me … your guess is as good as mine.

Mammoth Mind-Pho-ness: Clean Your Drive Storage!

Pho Vu

Columnist

In 2021, Google announced that starting July 2022, it would be putting an end to free, unlimited storage for all Google Workspace customers, comprising a large number of its higher education clients. The company imposed a new 100 TB cap on pooled storage for those clients on the most basic of the new Workspace plans, forc ing institutions who rely on Goo gle’s cloud storage to evaluate and make changes to their data storage practices rapidly.

Schools affected by the change have responded in different ways. Select institutions, like NYU, part nered with Google to negotiate an extension until July of 2024, giving those universities enough time to reassess suitable commu nication e-tools to support their research, academic, and adminis trative needs as well as developing a well-rounded technology solu tion for their community.

Case Western Reserve Univer sity published an article under the UTech News page on its website detailing how Google’s new policy works and urging the community to begin to cut back its reliance on Drive storage by 75 percent at the earliest possible time.

In South Korea, higher institu tions like Yonsei University, Kyung Hee University, and Korea Nation al Open University took prompt action. In a Facebook post, Yonsei told students and affiliates to free up space in their account so that

their total would be 20 GB before Oct. 4, 2022. This total is not lim ited to Google Drive, but also in cludes Gmail, and Google Photo files. After the deadlines, accounts that exceed allowed capacity will be blocked from logging in and receiving emails. For those who wonder if Shared Drive will be a likely option, the university re sponded that the “Shared Drives” function would disappear. In ad dition, the university understood its tight announced deadlines, and thus offered students extensions to clear up their spaces through different rounds of signup on a Google Form.

In addition to making a similar announcement, Korea University already made a transition to NAV ER WORKS, a South Korea-based search engine which promises each student 30GB of storage.

Meanwhile, Seoul National Uni versity still plans to stick to Goo gle by purchasing a license to use Google Workspace for Education Plus, which allegedly will cost the school more than 100 million won (approximately $70,000) a year. Overall, universities in South Ko rea learned that nothing was for free, even with Drive.

Meanwhile, Amherst College hasn’t issued any official statement regarding Google’s new policies.

But according to the school’s web site, the college has been operat ing its collaborative platform on G Suite for Education, now known as Google Workspace for Educa tion. This suggests that we will be impacted by Google’s future cap of

100 TB.

At the same time, another arti cle by Carly Walker provided rea sons why higher institutions need a Google Workspace for Educa tion audit at least every two years, urging the IT Specialist Team of each college to check administra tive settings and map out Goo gle’s domain services to solidify the system and better curate it for space-saving purposes. Doc umentations of the audit team’s progress can help IT Specialists of these clients look into deeper problems of the system.

Recently, I went to the first floor of Seeley Mudd to meet with one of the specialists at the Infor mation Technology (IT) Depart ment. He told me that Amherst College shouldn’t be impact ed much by the policy change, meaning students will still have access to unlimited storage until we graduate. When I asked him why we received such special treatment, he pointed at the perks of being a small college. Com pared to NYU’s massive student population, Amherst has way fewer students, for whom Goo gle’s calculated space for “approx imately over 100 million docu ments, 8 million presentations, or 400,000 hours of video” is more than enough. In addition, he said that the college could scale to “get students accommodated” should the institution exceed its cap. The specialist also suggested that in comparison to Dropbox, Google Drive was more disorganized in folder structures, but was doing

better at enabling sharing access among members in the organi zation. This may lead to an even tual move away from Dropbox to Drive, due to the culture of work ing together across shared files at Amherst.

Until then, we don’t know what other limits will prevent us from storing files and photos that we deem necessary, including those that serve work purposes or hold emotional value for us. So, what can we do to preserve our files?

Consider other storage options like Dropbox. Amherst College is currently supporting this applica tion. Reach out to the IT Special ists Team (or run over to Seeley Mudd where they’re based) to get an invitation to join Dropbox.

For now, create a second Goo gle account. With a username fol lowing a format like [firstname] [lastname]backup@gmail.com or any customized format, this seems to be an ideal workaround for this current crisis. You will be given 15 GB, so try to only “archive” what you really need. Here’s a tip: For each categorized folder of backed up items, create a text file outlin ing what these items are and why they go under the same folder. As someone who was on the lookout for a safe haven for my files, I of ten rushed the process and ended up confusing which folder held which files. A note to remind me why I had a certain way of or dering the files in a given folder would come in handy for my gold fish memory.

Post photos of special moments

to social media so that you have a social copy of them. Worried if they come at the cost of your pri vacy? Enable Private Mode. If you happen to be storing photos and videos for a project, get your feet on it right now! It can be hard to let go, but rethink what’s import ant to you, and delete the rest.

Scale up the situation a bit: if you were in a fire, what would you bring with you on your escape?

Asking that question multiple times might help.

In line with Amherst College’s Electronic Resources Acceptable Use Policy, members are to use e-resources that may be used only for the purposes authorized by the College. These purposes are believed to be related to “work, study, research, service, or stu dent residential activities consis tent with the College's mission and priorities.” Although storing photos of quality time with family and hangouts with friends in the school account is prevalent among college students, saving only doc uments that abide by the college’s original policy significantly helps in this context of Drive reduction.

The remaining, if needed, can be relocated to a flash drive.

After Covid, things seem to go at double the speed. Even though this change is due in two years, and nothing has changed, yet, about the storage size of our Amherst Gmail accounts, the im mensity of the storage reduction means that we need to start re-ex amining the purpose of every byte of our Drive now.

Amusements

Puzzle Palooza | Sudoku and Minis - Oct. 19, 2022

John Joire ’26

Puzzles Editor

Liam

Arts&Living Try Not To Commit Infidelity Challenge

Willow Delp ’26 Contributing Writer

I’m not going to pretend I’m different: Like countless Internet denizens, I tuned into the “Ned Fulmer cheating” scandal and watched it hungrily.

For those unfamiliar, the dra ma centers around a popular YouTube comedy channel called “The Try Guys,” run by four ex-Buzzfeed employees who try goofy challenges. One of the Try Guys, Ned Fulmer, spent years accumulating fame and renown, largely because of his much-pub licized, “aww”-worthy relation ship with wife Ariel Fulmer. The Try Guys published videos like “every time ned fulmer says ‘my wife’” and “ned and ariel being absolutely perfect.” The couple even published a cookbook to gether. However, when photos leaked that Ned had cheated — with a Try Guys employee, no less

— all hell broke loose.

It didn’t matter that I didn’t know who Ned Fulmer was be fore the scandal, or that I had never watched a “Try Guys” vid eo before, or that I only had a vague awareness of who all these people were. My friends and I scrutinized it all with a mor bid fascination, rooting for the wronged wife, booing the philan dering husband.

As a non-fan, I was surprised by my own reaction. Cheating, in my eyes, constitutes the most fundamental moral wrongdoing in a relationship, and here I was reading about the whole situa tion with the lurid fascination of colonial America reading the Reynolds Pamphlet. It’s anoth er simple, satisfying narrative to watch and enjoy, my eyes glued onto the Try Guys’ interperson al dynamics as they turned into public entertainment.

I mean, “consensual workplace

relationship” — come on.

Ned Fulmer is a prime exam ple of the “wife guy,” a new, re freshing flavor of the archetypal heterosexual man. Cultural critic Amanda Hess defines this phe nomenon with scathing accura cy for the New York Times: “The wife guy exists at the intersection of relationship status and influ encer branding, and he exhibits a heady combination of privilege and desperation … The wife-guy identity is often not just a per sonal choice but a professional gambit.”

The wife guy’s fame and career stems from the fact that he makes his relationship a thing of virtue, of abject goodness. He becomes something like a people’s cham pion, in a world where celebrity culture is all-encompassing, and our choice of idols defines our allegiances. Who we choose to venerate, especially online, be comes a key part of our identities.

As sexual misconduct allegations have in recent years darkened the image of many prominent male celebrities, famous men have be come subject to a greater level of scrutiny in their personal lives than during the presidency of Bill Clinton — who remained presi dent even while Monica Lewin sky faced a years-long firestorm of hatred.

The Try Guys, in their heyday, were extremely popular among those who rejected sexist main stream celebrities. Therefore, the status of “wife guy” served as a way for this straight male ar chetype to build and sustain his fanbase. His doting affection for his wife cloaks him from fourthwave feminist suspicion.

In the entertainment industry, straight men who unabashed ly love their domestic lives have become something of a novelty: something new, something in teresting, something marketable.

Young adults, many jaded by their parents’ failed relationships and tired of mass media feeding them decades of content about the endless pains of heterosexual marriage, have been primed to be the audience. Look: This is how good a straight man can be.

The “wife guy” doesn’t chal lenge our culture’s predominant narratives but instead presents a wholesome alternative. He is happy to watch other celebrities gripe about their nagging wives because it ultimately provides him with more clout. He’s not like them, you see. He is elevated by the existence of the “non-wife” guys, the lesser people who don’t place their wives on impossible pedestals and use their presence for fame.

His feminist laurels come pre-packaged with the wedding ring. Our society adores straight men for doing the bare mini mum; but he goes above and be yond by actually celebrating the woman he’s dedicated his life to — how noble.

Most Gen Z and millennial college students like myself still have years to go until we seri ously consider marriage for our selves. However, the way that this relationship scandal was splat tered across social media should give us pause. In an age where the Internet is so integral to our daily lives, where we are all con sumers, it is important to apply critical thinking to our online en gagement. What makes someone worthy of heaping praise? How genuine is a relationship in which displays of affection become mar ketable content?

Perhaps we shouldn’t devel op parasocial attachments (un balanced relationships in which fans obsessively dote on someone unaware of their existence) with celebrities. However, that may be too lofty a goal. I offer another possibility: Perhaps we shouldn’t applaud men for the bare mini mum of loving their wives.

“The Try Guys” cheating scandal, which revealed that Ned Fulmer cheated on his wife with a coworker, recently went viral. Willow Delp ‘26 critiques the “wife guy” archetype, a man who uses his wife to endear himself to others.

Photo courtesy of Wired

A Study of Studio Ghibli’s Hidden Gems

Joe Sweeney ’25 Staff Writer

Founded in 1985 by Hayao Mi yazaki and Isao Takahata, Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio that sets the international standard for animated filmmaking. To mark the end of Ghibli Fest 2022 (which will conclude with showings of “Spirited Away” at the Cinemark at Hampshire Mall on Oct. 30-31 and Nov. 1-2), and to commemorate my recent viewing of all 23 Ghibli films, I’ve put together a discussion of some of the most underrated Ghibli films, as well as my complete ranking of all the films. I hope this article will both serve as a gateway into Ghibli’s cat alog for the unfamiliar, and inspire discussion among longtime fans.

So let’s get to it!

“Porco Rosso”

Hayao Miyazaki has written and directed 10 films for Studio Ghibli, and is the auteur behind some of the studio’s most widely-beloved films (“Spirited Away,” “Princess Mono noke,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “Howl’s Moving Castle,” “My Neigh bor Totoro”). Putting aside my per sonal preference for Ghibli films by Isao Takahata, it is hard to name an animation director who rivals Mi yazaki’s level of achievement. Indeed, I’d be hard-pressed to think of anoth er director in any medium who has written and directed as many as 10 universally acclaimed films.

Of those 10, an underrated gem that I think more people should talk about is “Porco Rosso.” Only after spending the 1980s laboring over the nuances of “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service” could Miyazaki, in 1992, come out with a film as flawlessly executed as “Porco Rosso.” For most of its runtime, the film effortlessly unfolds as a riveting adventure movie, only to flip that premise on its head in a single, won drous, heartbreaking scene: It turns out that “Porco Rosso” is really about what it means to build a life around the things you cannot forgive your self for.

Some people hate the end of this movie, which concludes the seem ingly straightforward story on a strange and ambiguous note. For

my part, I think it might be the best ending to any movie ever. Watch and decide for yourself.

“From Up On Poppy Hill”

Although it is firmly outside the recognized Studio Ghibli canon, “From Up On Poppy Hill” never theless, in my opinion, stands at the upper margin of the studio’s master pieces. Goro Miyazaki, son of Hayao, sat in the director’s chair for his sec ond time, five years after his first film “Tales From Earthsea,” a film that I (and most others) view as one of the studio’s rare duds.

Maybe it was because Hayao wrote the script for this one, but “Poppy” is astonishingly confident in itself, far more so than “Earthsea.”

Hayao Miyazaki’s best films perform a highwire balancing act between the familiar and the strange. Goro takes what at first appears to be a simple story of blossoming teen romance and proves not only that he is capa ble of this virtuosic balancing, but that he has a strong grasp on what makes a powerful epiphany.

The self-revelations of Umi — a young woman who raises nautical flags from atop Poppy Hill in re membrance of her father who died at sea — flow organically from her experiences of the world around her. Her hometown feels like a reflec tion of her own subconscious; only at certain times do key images and objects arise and shine out from the darkness. Umi’s whole world, then, is composed not only of her longing for what she cannot have (the beauti ful, inexplicable things which appear from and vanish into the darkness of her mind), but of something greater as well, which imbues her longing with a strange life of its own. In other words, the world teaches Umi that not even longing can be possessed; held on to forever.

A great movie. Check this one out, especially if you’ve already seen a few Ghibli films and want a change of pace from the usual fantasy fare.

“Pom Poko”

If you only take away one thing from this article, it’s that you should be interested in the films of Isao Takahata, who co-founded Studio Ghibli alongside Miyazaki. Takaha

ta wrote and directed five films for the studio before his death in 2018. His third, “Pom Poko,” is not among his most critically lauded, and yet it may very well be the film which best demonstrates his unique genius.

Trying to describe it now, the phrase that comes to mind is “im possibly great.” Why does this movie about anthropomorphic, shapeshift ing raccoons, who protect their for est by pummeling humans with their ballsacks (yep), bring me to tears? It has something to do with the great exuberance of the raccoons; the silli ness of their spirit, which seems to transcend death. Always just behind this jubilee, however, is humankind’s looming ruinous presence, which, by the film’s end, has crept forward to lay its hand upon everything.

The subtlety of that creeping change is absolutely tantalizing. Takahata communicates his en vironmentalist message through cinematic language that is at once compelling and undeniably origi nal. I cannot believe I’ve never seen anything like it before, to the same extent I cannot imagine anyone else pulling it off.

Here’s an example: At times, the film changes animation styles so that the raccoons are drawn realistical ly. In these moments, the racoons face the viewer with a charged si lence that is equal to the vivacious livelihood of the anthropomorphic raccoons. The thought that the elec tric quiet of these animals can be so carelessly annihilated — that the life behind it can be discarded without

ever being seen or known — feels al most unbearable. What at first seems like a lighthearted kids movie is thus actually a film about how the human soul comes to destroy itself in its own stumbling ignorance and apathy.

But that makes the movie sound more ponderous than it is. Really, the only consistent trait of the film is how often it surprised me; how cu riously it got under my skin. Please watch this movie. You will laugh; you will cry; you will look on in wonder.

“The Tale Of Princess Kaguya”

Adapted by Takahata from a 10th-century Japanese folktale, “The Tale Of Princess Kaguya” opens on a bamboo-cutter who discovers an infant princess sent from the Moon Kingdom, hidden in a bamboo stalk. He carries the princess to his rural home, where he raises her with his wife. The princess grows rapidly, ag ing years in mere weeks. One day, the bamboo-cutter finds gold in a bam boo stalk, which allows him to move his family to the city and raise his adopted daughter as a true princess. This pedigree, however, comes at the price of the princess’s freedom — a tension that simmers and boils over in unpredictable ways.

I have presented a synopsis be cause my own words are completely inadequate. All I do have are a bun dle of clichés and contradictions; the film is instantly recognizable yet completely otherworldly, sublimely strange yet painfully familiar. It is a rhapsody of wonder and disappoint ment. Its images shout secrets that

cannot be known. Please watch this movie. There is nothing else to say.

Alright! Now, the list, in descend ing order of greatness:

Masterpieces

The Tale Of Princess Kaguya Grave Of The Fireflies

My Neighbor Totoro

Only Yesterday Princess Mononoke Pom Poko Great Films

Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind Porco Rosso

From Up On Poppy Hill Ponyo The Wind Rises

Kiki’s Delivery Service

Whisper Of The Heart Spirited Away When Marnie Was There Good Films Castle In The Sky Howl’s Moving Castle

The Cat Returns My Neighbors The Yamadas Ocean Waves Wouldn’t Recommend

The Secret World Of Arrietty Tales From Earthsea Earwig And The Witch

Surprised? Shocked? Outraged? All the Ghibli films (except for “Grave Of The Fireflies”) are stream ing on HBO Max (which means they are free for Amherst College students through xfinityoncampus). Make your own ranking of what you’ve seen and send it to me. I’d love/hate to see it.

Staff writer Joe Sweeney ‘25 celebrates the end of Ghibli Fest 2022 by discussing some of his favorite Studio Ghibli films and ranking them all for new and veteran fans alike.

Photo courtesy of aheporfalamisso.com

An Analysis of the Criticism of Halle Bailey as Ariel

Mackenzie Duncan ’25 Contributing Writer

On Sept. 9, Disney released the highly anticipated trailer for “The Little Mermaid.” Fans were thrilled about the live-action adaptation of the childhood favorite. Despite this excitement, there are some fans who disapprove of the casting of Halle Bailey, a black actress, as Ari el, who is white in the original film. This controversy began with the original announcement of the film; however, the release of the trailer reignited the criticism. Bailey’s Ariel will not be Disney’s first black pro tagonist, though: Tiana from “The Princess and the Frog,” Joe Gardner from “Soul,” and the protagonist of the cartoon “Doc McStuffins” have all preceded the live-action film. This representation is far from eq uitable, however: since the release of Disney’s first animated feature film, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” 59 other movies have been released, only eleven of which have main characters that are not white.

Critics have made an array of claims against Bailey’s portrayal of Ariel. One of the most popular of these is that she does not look like the cartoon Ariel, who has fiery red hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. On these grounds, critics argue that Bailey cannot do justice to the orig inal film because, as a black woman, she does not have these features. They also say that Disney is diverg ing from their established trend of casting actors to play live-action princesses who look similar to the original cartoons.

These claims that Bailey is unfit to play the role of Ariel because of her race are illogical. However, mer maids are fictional creatures, not humans. Therefore, their race is not crucial to their character, and the idea that they would be white, or of any particular human race, is irra tional. For me, this illuminates the fact that when considering charac ters, a white visage is automatically the default, even when the presence of whiteness in the situation, plot, or setting is not logical.

Additionally, the new cast of “The Little Mermaid” includes nu

merous other people of color play ing some of the previously white characters in the film: Simone Ash ley, the stunning lead of the Netflix drama “Bridgerton” and recurring character in “Sex Education” and Noma Dumezwni, a two-time Lau rence Olivier Award winner for her roles in “A Raisin in the Sun” and the West End production of “Harry Pot ter and the Cursed Child” to name a few. However, Bailey has been the only actor to receive outright con tempt from the movie’s supposed fans. Is this due to the fact that she is playing the lead role of Ariel? Per haps some fans are more unaccept ing of a black person, or another person of color, taking the lead role in a film than they would be if they simply took a supporting one.

Bailey’s portrayal of Ariel is not the only black casting of a previous ly white character that has caused a stir. This has become a pattern in Hollywood: whenever a black person is cast as a previously white character, the perception is that they take the role away from a “canoni cally accurate” white actor. In 2014, when the musical “Annie” was re adapted, the talented Quvenzhané Wallis was cast as Annie. Wallis was certainly qualified for the role, as she was the youngest person ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2013 for her film “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” At the time, she was only nine years old. Despite her numerous qualifi cations, she still faced negative re actions from fans who claimed that Annie was supposed to be white.

A more recent example of this phenomenon is the reaction to Leah Jefferies casting as Annabeth Chase in the anticipated upcom ing Disney+ series, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” adapted from the popular young adult series of the same name. She received hate, unlike her colleagues, because An nabeth was described to be white and blonde in the book series. Some fans believed that Annabeth’s race and appearance were central to her character and thus would not accept Jefferies as a casting choice. This sentiment is repeated with Bailey’s announcement as Ariel despite the fact that she too, with her long his

tory with Disney, as well as her very successful place in the music indus try in her duo Chloe x Halle, is very well-qualified for the role. If Quven zhané Wallis, Leah Jeffries, and Hal le Bailey were all qualified for their roles, then why is there such hostile public discourse surrounding their castings?

When white actors play roles meant for people of color, on the other hand, the (usually white) public reaction is not nearly as neg ative. One of the most recognizable examples of this was Liam Neeson’s portrayal of Ra’s Al Ghul in Christo pher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy. Neeson’s depiction of this character completely erased his background, as Ghul is canonically Middle Eastern. This is also particularly concerning because Ra’s Al Ghul’s ethnicity is central to his character and the role he takes within the context of Batman. However, No

lan neglected this by casting Nee son and overlooking the qualified Middle Eastern actors who could have easily taken on the role. This example is particularly hypocritical in light of the criticism of Bailey’s casting because of a belief that her race would render her portrayal of Ariel inaccurate, when Neeson him self disrespects the canonic accurate ethnicity of Ghul’s character.

Based on the threads I have seen on Twitter and Tiktok, there have been a large number of black chil dren who are overjoyed by the fact that their new Ariel looks like them. Considering the way that film has historically portrayed black char acters with violent and rebellious stereotypes, and the way that Dis ney has followed this trend with the plethora of sassy best friends in many of their television series, Bailey's casting seems to be a step in the right direction. The critics

who berate Bailey's casting as Ariel overlook one major positive: black children will be able to see them selves presented in a non-stereo typical way, something that was not available to me as a kid. I grew up only seeing myself presented within these dehumanizing stereotypes.

Of course, Bailey’s casting is only the first step towards rectifying this issue of representation, and I hope it will become the norm within Dis ney and other companies targeting young audiences. While the racist and hypocritical criticism of Bailey’s casting is a potent reminder of the problematic lack of black represen tation in the film industry, Bailey’s role in the film will have a positive impact on children of color for gen erations to come. Young black chil dren will see themselves represent ed on screen, and in true Disney sentiment, will believe that they can be anything they put their minds to.

Contributing writer Mackenzie Dunson ‘25 breaks down the racist criticisms against Halle Bailey’s casting as Ariel in Disney's live-action "The Little Mermaid."

Photo courtesy of alafuga.com

“Survivor” Season 43: Episode 3 & 4, Reviewed

Vaughn Armour ’25 Staff Writer

Episode 3

On Wednesday, Oct. 5, “Survivor 43” released its third episode. It was fairly straightforward, but enjoyable nonetheless. When the cut-and-dry episodes are this entertaining, you know you’re in for a good season.

The episode started at Vesi beach, with the fallout from the Justine blindside. Dwight didn’t want to vote her out, so Jesse left him out of the loop. As a result, Dwight was shocked at Tribal, and this changed Dwight and Jesse’s relationship. Both would still like to work with each other, but they’re not each oth er’s number one allies as they had been previously.

Over at Baka, Elie and Jeanine were on cloud nine. They thought they were running the game to gether, with the three boys (Gabler, Owen, and Sami) eating out of the palms of their hands. They wanted Gabler out next, so they tried to con vince him that the idol he found was only good for the first Tribal Coun cil of the season, instead of the first Tribal Council he attended.

This plan was subpar: Gabler had obviously already read the rules for his idol, and if he was unsure, he could have just asked production.

The execution was far worse. Elie and Jeanine first told Sami that they would try to trick Gabler. Sami went right to Gabler and Owen, which not only ruined their plan, but fur ther solidified the three boys against them. Sami even told Gabler that the girls went through his bag to read the rules of the idol themselves.

Next, Elie was not slick during the conversation with Gabler. Even if he didn’t already know what she was doing, he definitely would’ve seen through her facade. He played dumb, and she bought it — Elie went away giggling with Jeanine, confident that Gabler wouldn’t play his idol. The pair thinks that they are running Baka, but they may be in for a rude awakening.

On Coco beach, Karla found the beware advantage. This was the same advantage that Cody found last episode, with the same rules.

Production had placed beads on the bags of every player in her tribe before the season, and she had to collect those beads in order to have a vote. She used multiple tactics to accomplish this. She got James’ and Geo’s by telling them that she was making a bracelet for her wife, and then actually traded her earrings for Cassidy and Lindsay’s beads. She got the last bead from Ryan by trad ing a bracelet for him to give to his

girlfriend. This was an impressive move: She showed poise under pres sure and now has an idol to show for it. It was interesting to see her use such a different strategy than Cody. He used his wacky personality, while she appealed to emotions and bar gained when that wasn’t enough.

At the immunity challenge, Nne ka cost Vesi yet again. The tribe had a massive lead, but she squandered it with her inability to complete the puzzle. Nneka was still aligned with Cody and Jesse, but tribe strength became a significant factor: They couldn’t keep losing challenges. The other option to vote out was Noelle. She had the closest relationship with Justine, so the previous vote left her on the outs. However, Noelle is also a strong challenge performer. She showed her social chops in this ep isode, bonding with Owen (Baka) and James (Coco) during the voterisk dilemma, and explaining to them that she was on the outs. This was the same set-up as in episode one, where each player could either risk their vote for a shot at an advan tage, or protect their vote.

Because of the strong connec tion that the three quickly formed, James and Owen let Noelle have the advantage. They thought she need ed it the most. This ended up being a steal-a-vote — Noelle could take anyone’s vote she wanted at a Tribal Council, and decide who to vote for with it.

This was awesome social work for all three of these players: Look for them to work together at the merge. Noelle also connected with the audience in this episode. She told the story of the mo-ped acci dent that took her leg. She was a college athlete, and had to miss two lacrosse seasons after the accident. However, she came back to play during her last two years, and even tually became a paralympic sprinter. Noelle placed 6th in the world at the Tokyo Olympics, and even broke the U.S. women’s 100-meter paralympic record. She’s a resilient person, and I’m definitely keeping an eye out for her going forward.

Noelle only told Dwight about the advantage, lying to the rest of her tribe. Dwight didn’t reveal this in formation to anyone else, which was

telling — those two seem tight. Be cause of Nneka’s challenge struggles, the tribe voted her out unanimously. This led to an emotional response by Jesse. Both he and Cody genuinely cared for Nneka, but it was different for Jesse. Nneka reminded him of his late mother. Both women took in kids in need of housing, and ran ministries to feed the homeless. For Jesse, voting out Nneka was like vot ing out his mom. This is a reminder of why “Survivor” is so brutal. These people aren’t chess pieces, unaffected when moved and sacrificed. They’re complex individuals that you spend every waking moment with — eat ing with them, joking with them, surviving with them. Then you have to scheme to eliminate them. You not only have to watch their torch get snuffed, you have to be the rea son why.

The makeup of Vesi will be fasci nating to watch going forward. No elle and Dwight seem like a pair, and Cody and Jesse seem like a pair. This leaves them at a 2-2 stalemate. Even if Jesse flips on Cody to reunite with Dwight, Cody could save himself with his idol.

Fifteen castaways remain. Tune in next week to see how this season of “Survivor” continues to unfold.

Episode 4

On Wednesday, Oct. 12, CBS released another solid episode of “Survivor.” Like the last one, it was pretty straightforward, but still en tertaining.

At the reward challenge, Vesi pulled out a rare victory. The tribe’s reward was unexpected: an oppor tunity to steal any item from either tribe. Safe to say, this could have in-game consequences at the merge when the tribes become one. How ever, Vesi ended up sending Cody to Coco, and he played it beautifully. He initially told Coco that his tribe wanted him to take their machete, but negotiated to receive only their fishing gear and some taro root. Cody left Coco with more than he planned on getting and still came out looking like the good guy — fan tastic work from the salesman.

Vesi carried the momentum to the immunity challenge, which they won handily — getting rid of Nneka

seems to have been the right deci sion. After completing their puz zle, Vesi chose to help Baka solve theirs, which caused Coco to lose the challenge. In my opinion, this was a short-sighted decision. I get that they wanted Coco to lose their first tribe member in order to even things out. But in “Survivor,” re venge outweighs gratitude. Helping Baka likely won’t change much, but Coco tribe members will never for get this challenge. This decision in creases the likelihood of Vesi being targeted at the merge tenfold.

Back at Coco Beach, fans were re minded of an old “Survivor” truism: winning can be a curse. Most players apply for years before getting a call back, let alone getting on the show. They spend countless hours watch ing others play the game, planning what they would do in their spots. However, when these players actual ly get on the show, but go multiple rounds without voting, they get ant sy. This episode, Lindsay became a prime example of this.

Geo was the easy vote since the majority (Karla, Cassidy, James, Lindsay) saw him as bossy. He had previously made a sloppy move, tell ing Karla that Cassidy was the boot without asking for any input; this didn’t signify trust in any way, and Karla was right to read this as bossy. However, Lindsay then made the same mistake as Justine two weeks prior. She told James and Karla that she feared the vote turning against her. There was a four-to-two advan tage, but even if only James and Kar la voted with Lindsay, there would at least be a tie. Basically, Lindsay told her two closest allies that she didn’t trust them to vote with her. Like two weeks ago, why would you trust someone that doesn’t trust you? Lindsay’s paranoia made her look unreliable as an ally and got her eliminated in a 4-1-1 vote. Lindsay voted for Geo, Geo voted for Cas sidy, likely in case of an immunity idol, and the four remaining mem bers voted for Lindsay.

Fourteen remain. The merge typ ically happens with about 10 to12 castaways left on the island, so it is quickly approaching. Tune in next week to continue to see how that merge will shake out.

Vaughn Armour ‘25 continues his “Survivor” series with a recap of the third and fourth episodes.

Graphic courtesy of Nina Aagaard '26

Volleyball Follows Close Losses With Dominant Win

Carter Hollingsworth ’25 Staff Writer

Amherst women’s volleyball took on a trio of teams from Mas sachusetts this past week. After nar rowly losing in close games against Springfield College and Tufts, the Mammoths bounced back with a three-set sweep against UMass Bos ton.

First up was a contest with Springfield College on Thursday, Oct. 13, where the Firedogs were bested in a close four-set match. In the first set, neither team led by more than two until the Pride scored four straight points to take a three-point lead. Responding fiercely, the Mammoths scored three straight points to tie the match again. It would stay close un til seniors Sam Underwood ’23 and Jacqueline Kortekaas ’23 hit crucial kills to take the first set.

The second set was much the same. The two teams stayed with in two points of each other until Springfield scored the final five

points of the set to win 25-22, tying the game at one set apiece.

Starting strong in the third set, the Mammoths took a 9-2 lead with seven straight service points from Kortekaas. The Pride responded, however, putting up eight points to tie the set at 10-10. Another seven-point run placed Springfield up 22-17 and, despite the Mam moths fighting back to get within one, Springfield gutted out a 25-22 win.

In the decisive fourth set, Am herst was determined to come out strong, taking an early 4-0 lead, but fell behind once again late in the set. A kill from senior Caroline Tilton ’23 tied the match at 25-25, but Springfield scored the final two points to take the set 27-25 and close out the match with a 3-1 vic tory.

The team’s next contest was against NESCAC rival Tufts two days later. Amherst took control early in the first set, amassing a 9-4 lead. And while Tufts came firing back to even the score at 12, the

Mammoths notched seven consec utive points to take control back and went on to win the set 25-17.

However, the Jumbos stormed back, taking both sets two and three by scores of 25-15 and 25-11. There were bright spots, though, as spec tacular efforts by sophomores An aya Thomas ’25 and Lizzie Papalia ’25 kept the Mammoths’ momen tum going into the fourth set.

The Firedogs came up strong in the fourth set, taking a 21-8 lead behind senior Lani Uyeno ’23, who served 10 of those points. They went on to beat the Jumbos 25-11 and sent the game into a first-to-15 fifth set. In the winner-takes-all final set, Jumbos took an 11-5 lead, but the Mammoths remained steadfast and closed the gap to 14-13 before the Jumbos ended the set — and the match — at 15-13.

“The past two games were both super close, and I think our team grew a lot from them,” Papalia said. “We learned a lot about playing close games and are working on be ing a better closing team. I believe

these losses will prepare us very well for the next couple of games, and, more importantly, the NES CAC tournament. I am very excited for the competition coming up and think we are set up to do well.”

And with excitement, the Mam moths took on UMass Boston on Tuesday, Oct. 18, handily defeat ing the Beacons in three straight sets. After a relatively close first set that the Mammoths closed out by a score of 25-17, the Mammoths

took control of the match, winning the next two sets 25-11 and 25-8 to shut the door. In a game in which almost every member of the team saw the floor, Charlotte Rasmussen ’26 led the way with 12 kills, while Kortekaas added 11 assists.

The Mammoths will play at home on Saturday, Oct. 22, at 2 p.m. against Emerson College, when they will celebrate Senior Day and the contributions of their four seniors.

Golf Teams End Fall Seasons With Top-three Finishes

Liza Katz ’24 Managing Sports Editor

The Amherst golf teams took to the links for the last time in 2022 this past weekend, with both teams competing at the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association (NEIGA) Championship on Oct. 15 and 16. The men’s team took third in the field of 22 teams, while the women rallied from a poor showing on day one to take second place in their 11-team competi tion.

Men

Backing up their first tourna ment win in four years a couple of weeks ago, the Mammoths have found another gear of late, finish ing in the top five of a tournament for the third straight week at the 2022 NEIGA Championship.

This week, it was the team’s first-years that led the way as the team returned to Amherst with a third-place finish. Mark Vitels ’26 was the top finisher for the Mam moths on the weekend, with a 1-over-73 on Sunday that secured him 13th place with a two-day to tal of 146, four strokes over par.

Fellow first-year Paari Kaviyara su ’26 nabbed the second-highest placement on the team, recording a two-day total of 149 after leading the Mammoths with a 1-under-71 on day one, tying for 17th place. Not far behind, John Beskid ’26 finished his Sunday round with a 76, netting him a total of 155 for the tournament, 11 over par, and tying him for 40th overall.

Sophomore Steven Chen ’25 continued his good form this weekend, coming in 23rd with a two-day total of 150 (6 over par,

with two rounds scoring a 75).

Classmate Teddy Freking ’25 was the other Mammoth to score, carding an 88 on Sunday.

Over the course of the week end, the Mammoths shot a collec tive 597 for the tournament, with a 295 on Saturday and a 302 on Sun day. This performance left them nine strokes behind NESCAC ri val Middlebury in second place, and 18 strokes back of tournament champion Babson.

The NEIGA Championship was the Mammoths’ final tourna ment of 2022. The team will take the winter off before returning to play in five months, in March 2023.

Women

On the back of first-year Kaia Wu ’26, the Mammoths stormed back from a nine-stroke day-one deficit to nearly take the NEIGA

Championship title before ulti mately falling just short and finish ing second.

Wu carded one of her best rounds of her rookie season on Sunday, recording a 1-over-73 to begin the Mammoths’ charge to take down first-place Williams. She birdied on both the eighth and 18th holes during her stellar round, which was a nine-stroke improvement over her Saturday score. She finished the weekend with a two-day total of 155 (11over par) which tied her for 10th overall.

Classmate Lindsay Huang ’26 and junior Priya Bakshi ’24 also put in strong rounds on Sunday, both scoring 4 over 76. Bakshi and teammate Jessica Huang ’25 both put in two-day totals of 151, with Bakshi’s rounds of 76 and 77 and Huang’s 73, 78 weekend tying the

two Mammoths for third place overall. Gihoe Seo ’25 was the fi nal Amherst golfer to score, with a one-birdie round of 6 over 78 net ting her a 13th place finish with a 12-over-156 total score.

The team’s efforts and a daytwo team score of 303 gave them a two-stroke lead late in the day on Sunday; however, it was not enough, as the Ephs regained the top spot and ended the tourna ment only two strokes ahead of the Mammoths. The second-place fin ish was the Mammoths’ second in two weeks, after falling to Williams in the NESCAC Fall Qualifier last weekend (Oct. 8 and 9).

As with the men’s team, the NEIGA Championship was the Mammoths’ final tournament of 2022. They will take the winter off to rest before returning to the course in March of 2023.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Setter Carly Cooper '24 leads the Mammoths in assists.

Around the Herd: Your Weekly Mammoth Sports Update

Liza Katz ’24 and Alex Noga ’23 Managing Sports Editors

Field Hockey

On Thursday, Oct. 13, field hockey played their only game of the week against the Springfield College Pride. The team dedicated their game against the Pride to the Hidden Opponent, a non-profit organization focused on breaking the stigma of mental health in ath letics — and they did so in style, thoroughly demolishing their local rivals 8-0 despite the down pour that persisted throughout the game.

The No. 5 Mammoths came out firing, scoring their first goal of the game after only four and a half minutes of play. It came by way of Beth Williamson ’23E, who put a pass from Kat Mason ’25 past the goalkeeper to open the scoring. They wasted little time in getting their next two goals, both scored by Muffie Mazambani ’24 within 10 minutes of each other. The first came off an assist from Williamson, who put her defend er in the spin cycle before finding the junior in front of goal, and the second was dished by Gwen Allen ’23, whose individual effort left Mazambani with the whole goal to shoot into. She easily tapped the ball in for a 3-0 lead.

Only two minutes after Ma zambani’s second of the night, Mason got herself on the board, juking her way past three Pride defenders on the baseline and backhanding a shot to the near post to extend the margin to four. They made it 5-0 shortly thereaf ter, with Paige DiBiase ’25 getting her third goal of the season via an assist from Anna Aiello ’26 to go into the half in the driver’s seat.

And then, Aiello took over. She scored a hat-trick in the third quarter alone, with the first of her goals being her first collegiate tal ly. Aiello ended the night with sev en points, including her assist to DiBiase. The first two of her three goals were unassisted, coming off of stellar individual runs in which she beat multiple Pride defenders. The third, a diving finish, came off an assist from Mason. It was her

second dish of the night and sealed the Mammoths’ largest win of the season by a score of 8-0.

Amherst didn’t just own their opponents on the scoreboard, but demolished them in the box score as well. The Mammoths outshot the Pride 24-0 in the contest, including 13 shots on goal. They also record ed nine penalty corners to zero for Springfield over the course of their 60 minutes of utter domination.

The Mammoths will return to the field on Wednesday, Oct. 19, on the road against Smith. The game is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. in Northampton.

Cross Country

After two weeks off, the Am herst cross country teams returned to action this weekend at the Con necticut College Invitational. The men’s team finished 11th out of 23 competing teams, while the wom en’s team finished fourth out of 22.

On the women’s side, four Mammoth runners placed in the top 25 to pace the team’s finish, with seniors Sophie Wolmer ’23 and Mary Kate McGranahan ’23 leading the way. Wolmer was the first Amherst racer to cross the finish line, with a time of 21:40.9 netting her fourth place. It was her fourth top-five finish this season. McGrahanan backed up her win two weeks ago with another strong race, crossing the line in 15th (22:15.1).

While team success didn’t come for the men’s team this weekend, individual runners found success.

Both teams will be back in action in two weeks time at the 2022 NES CAC Championships, held at Ham ilton College on Saturday, Oct. 29.

Men’s Tennis

The men’s tennis team wrapped up their fall season at the Wesleyan Fall Invitational this past weekend, with solid individual performanc es across the board.

Four Mammoths competed in the A draw of singles beginning on Saturday, Oct. 15. First-year Jakob Esterowitz ’26 was the quarter’s best finisher, making it all the way to the semifinals on Sunday morning be fore falling to the eventual tourna

ment champion from Middlebury 2-6, 7-5, 10-3. On his way to the semifinal, Esterowitz received a bye in the round of 32 before dispatch ing a competitor from Division I Sacred Heart University in the round of 16 and defeating another Middlebury player 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinal. Ed Opie ’25 won his first match in the round of 16, best ing a player from Bowdoin 6-3, 6-3, but he fell in a close match in the quarterfinals 6-4, 4-6, 10-6. Kobe Ellenbogen ’25 defeated an oppo nent from Sacred Heart 8-6 in the round of 32 but lost 6-1, 6-3 in the round of 16. Sujit Chepuri ’25 fell in the round of 32 to yet another Sacred Heart challenger and lost a close match in the quarterfinals of the consolation round the next day 5-7, 6-2, 10-7.

In the singles B draw, Georgios Chaidemenos ’26 put together the Mammoths’ best performance of the tournament. After receiving a bye in the round of 32, he cruised past his competition in his next three matches, winning all three in straight sets to earn a berth to the final. Unfortunately, he lost an incredibly tight final match, falling to an opponent from Middlebury 4-6, 6-3, 10-6. Marshall Leung ’24 was the three-seed in the B draw, but he fell to the same opponent as Chaidemenos in the round of 16, 4-6, 6-3, 10-7.

The Mammoths did not find as much success in the doubles por tion of the tournament. In the A bracket, Esterowitz and Opie were seeded fourth and received a bye through the round of 16, but they were upset by Babson 8-5 in the quarterfinal. In the B bracket, the team’s two captains, Zach Ostrow ’23 and Shaw Rhinelander ’23, came in as the one-seed, but they were similarly upset by a Babson pair 8-5 in the quarterfinal. Micah Elias ’24 and Chaidemenos won their first match in the round of 16 of the B draw, but they fell to the eventual champion from Sacred Heart 8-3 in the quarterfinal.

Playing just three tournaments during the fall season, the Mam moths will now begin the long wait until March, when their spring season begins.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Field hockey dominated in their only game of the week.

Women's cross country finished fourth of 22 teams.

Men's tennis finished their fall season this past weekend.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

2022-23 NBA Season Preview: Awards and Title Prediction

Hedi Skali ’25 Staff Writer

With the NBA season com ing around the corner, it’s time to overreact to training camp and the preseason with a few predic tions for my NBA award favorites, including my title favorites.

Rookie of the Year

This year’s draft class doesn’t seem as deep as the last, and two of the top five picks are already injured, one of whom will not be playing for the entire year. Out of the other three featured in the Summer League, Jabari Smith Jr. looked completely incompetent with the ball, even with his es teemed raw athleticism, leaving us with Keegan Murray and No.1 pick Paolo Banchero.

Murray honestly surprised me — he displayed excellent vision in transition, shot the three ball extremely well, and his wingspan allowed him to play smother ing defense on the ball — and I believe he could help propel the Kings into a play-in appearance. Nevertheless, Paolo is Paolo — the definition of the “NBA ready” draft prospect. In their duel against each other, Murray hit every clutch shot, even send ing the game into OT, but Ban chero showed composure under the brightest lights. I was mostly impressed by how Banchero was unfazed by double teams, making the right reads every time, which eventually led to his game-win ning assist. Murray will be an incredible spark for the Kings, but Banchero could become the face of the league in the next five years. Paolo will be the Rookie of the Year.

Most Valuable Player

The last four MVP races have been dominated by international players. The last two races were won by Nikola Jokic, with Joel Embiid falling short right be hind him. Third time’s the charm, right? I believe the international player trend will continue, but with Luka Doncic.

Ever since his rookie sea

son, Luka has been averaging MVP-caliber numbers, carrying his team to the playoffs where he has consistently shown up against all-time great players — and he’s barely 23. There is no doubt in my mind that Luka is a top 5 player in the league at this point, yet he has still not been able to truly carve out a place for himself in the MVP race.

While the award claims to be an individual one, the success of a candidate’s team might just be as important as their impact on the court. Out of the past 20 MVPs, 17 out of their 20 respec tive teams have been the first or second seed. The Mavericks have not placed above 4th during Lu ka’s tenure but have quietly had one of the best off-seasons in the NBA. Last year, the introduction of Jason Kidd propelled this team to defensive-juggernaut status for the first time in quite a while, but they were still missing a defensive anchor. Now, they signed Javale McGee and traded for Christian Wood. As an unlikely three-time NBA champion, McGee only protects the rim but is extreme ly efficient at it, directly filling a much-needed role. On the other end of the court, Wood is a stretch big who could be the perfect pick-and-roll partner for Luka while serving as another shooter to spread the floor for him. They drafted an incredible high school prospect in Jaden Hardy, who fell to the second round only be cause of an injury-riddled college season, and Tim Hardaway Jr. is coming back from an injury that kept him out all of last year. This team is complete and much better than it ever has been. They will get the first or second seed in the west, propelling Luka to his first MVP at the age of 23.

NBA Championship

The Boston Celtics will win the 2022 NBA championship. If you had asked me a few months ago, I would have been a little more confident in my pick, con sidering the turmoil this team has recently experienced. And, of course, it’s no secret that the

Celtics are my own home team. Nevertheless, they have all the ingredients to win the chip, and they will do so.

Earlier this summer, the Celt ics traded for Malcolm Brogdon, the former Rookie of the Year and the starting point guard on a top-seeded Bucks team from a few years ago. While he has suf fered from some injuries, it seems people have unjustifiably forgot ten how good Brogdon is, and the Celtics gave up nothing for him. As a defensive-minded guard, he’s the perfect fit to lead this team’s second unit.

The Celtics originally signed Danillo Gallinari on a cheap deal as an extra scoring big off the bench, but he has suffered anoth

er ACL tear and will not return this season. On the other hand, the team added former All-NBA player Blake Griffin, who should offer some much-needed cen ter play off the bench in Robert Williams’ absence. GM Brad Ste vens extended Sam Hauser to an extremely cheap three-year, $6 million deal, and he has shown he can become as good of a shooter as any wing in the league.

The roster is talented across the board, but their unified de fensive front is what propelled them to the NBA Finals last year. While the Celtics have lost head coach Ime Udoka, interim head coach Joe Mazzulla has been credited with orchestrating the defense last season, so there is lit

tle reason for the defense to suffer in Udoka’s absence.

Most importantly, however, is the two-headed beast that leads this team — Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. These two play ers led their team to the finals last year at the age of 24 and 25, respectively, they haven’t even reached their primes yet, and the team around them is significant ly better. With both improving within an even more talented ros ter that has already brought them to the Finals, it would be ridicu lous to even suggest the Celtics will not at least win the Eastern Conference. Look forward to Sixth Man of the Year Malcolm Brogdon, 60 wins, and a Jaylen Brown Finals MVP.

Hedi Skali '25 provides his expert predictions ahead of the start of the NBA season.

Late Rally Falls Short, Football Loses Fifth Straight

Drew Stephens ’26 Staff Writer

The Mammoths found their form late in their matchup at Col by this past Saturday, Oct. 15, but still came up just short of their first win of the 2022 season. They will look to get in the win col umn next week with a matchup at Tufts.

Despite another stellar perfor mance by the Amherst defense, the Mammoths struggled to get on the scoreboard against Colby until a fourth-quarter rally. How ever, their clutch-time surge end ed up being too little too late, and the Mammoths fell to the Mules by a final score of 17-12.

Neither Colby’s nor Amherst’s offenses could get much going in the first half, as the only score of the half was a 34-yard field goal from Conor Kennelly ’23 in its final seconds. The kick put the Mammoths up 3-0 heading into halftime.

After going scoreless in the first half, the Colby offense came out swinging in the second half, and they scored on their first two offensive possessions. With the

Mammoths unable to muster a response, an early fourth-quarter field goal put the Mules up 17-3. With only one quarter of play left, Amherst quarterback Mike Piaz za ’24 threw an interception deep in Colby territory. With little time on the clock, the Mammoths’ hopes looked bleak. However, the Mammoths’ defense responded strongly — defensive lineman Ke mit Fisher ’26 came up with a cru cial tackle for loss on third down to force a Colby punt out of their own endzone. On the following play, Adam Tolk ’24 flew in un blocked from the right side of the defense and tackled Colby’s punt er while he still had possession of the ball, scoring a safety for the Mammoths. This score made it 17-5 with 9:08 left in the fourth, and gave the Mammoths’ offense the ball back.

After the safety, the Amherst offense jolted into action. They took over possession with great field position at their own 43-yard line following the Colby free-kick. When the Amherst drive almost stalled in Colby territory, they de cided to try a risky fourth-down conversion on a fourth-and-nine

at the Colby 33-yard line. On the play, Piazza connected with Jack Roberge ’24 for a 10-yard gain and a new set of downs. The Mammoths went for it on fourth down once more later in the same drive, with the ball on the Colby 17. This time, the team faced a fourth-and-four. Piazza stood in the pocket amid the Colby passrush and connected with Owen Gaydos ’25 as he was hit to get the first down. Three plays later, Piaz za ran up the middle, and despite getting his momentum stopped by the Colby defense, was able to push into the endzone with help from a collection of seven Am herst players behind him. The touchdown made it 17-12 with 5:32 left in the game.

The Amherst rally contin ued on the defensive side: They forced a Colby punt on their next possession, and the Mammoths got the ball back with 3:38 to go at their own 20-yard line. Piaz za completed a screen pass to Roberge, who ran 30 yards after the catch to midfield. However, the Mammoths soon ended up in another fourth-and-long situ ation following a false start pen

alty. On fourth-and-eight, Piazza threw a pass to Gaydos which fell incomplete. This gave Colby the ball back with 1:21 to go. While the Mammoths defense again put up a fight and got the team the ball back with 12 seconds left, they were deep in their own terri tory with no timeouts. The clock ran out in the middle of a 34yard pass from Piazza to receiver Carson Ochsenhirt ’24, who was tackled well short of the endzone. Despite their mammoth effort, the final score was 17-12.

The loss on Saturday makes it five straight weeks without a win for the Mammoths. The Am

herst defense has been strong all season, but the offense has been spotty. Despite their strongest performance of the year last week at Bates, the Mammoths offense struggled for most of the contest at Colby. While the Mammoths still outgained Colby with 337 to tal yards to the Mules’ 239, they were only 5-19 on third down compared to Colby’s (significant ly better) 9-20 conversion rate.

Amherst football will take the field again next week at Tufts in search of their first win of the sea son. Kickoff in Medford, Massa chusetts, on Saturday, Oct. 22, is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Amherst’s Dual Athletes: Dedication and Determination

Maya Reiner ’25 Staff Writer

When most people reminisce about their college years, they think about being clad in their school merchandise, sitting in the stands, and cheering for their respec tive athletics teams. But for some people, that narrative is different. About one in three Amherst stu dents play a varsity sport, a pro portion that (due to the college’s small size) is substantially higher than at most other schools. That commitment is a lot to juggle for most people — practicing almost every day with games, meets, and competitions all taking time away from academics. However, a small number of those athletes manage an even more impressive feat: they take on the impressive load of play ing on two varsity teams. Playing

two different sports requires sus taining passion and focus during both seasons. Still, according to Muffie Mazambani ’24, a member of field hockey and track, and Jacob Bruno ’25E, a football and lacrosse player, the reward for doing so is tremendous.

One of the most important aspects of any team is your team mates, and both cited this bond as one of the reasons they play an ad ditional sport.

“I love that I get to meet many new people and make some great friendships,” Mazambani said. “It’s also nice being able to play a sport I enjoy all year round, and staying fit is a bonus.”

Bruno is also extremely thank ful for the friendships he has made.

“I love having a large group of guys [on both teams that] I can count on for anything,” he said.

While for some, the challenges of moving from one sport to anoth er could be daunting, Mazambani believes that the physical and men tal overlaps make that transition easier. For example, while, unlike track, field hockey involves a stick and ball, the position Mazambani plays is sprinting-focused like her track events.

“Physically, I get a lot of sprint ing practice at track, and I use my speed a lot when I play [field] hock ey,” Mazambani said. “However, running with a stick and ball and running without [it] require differ ent fitness levels.”

Though the outcomes of Ma zambani’s track events and the field hockey team differ, both sports have the collective goal of wanting to do well — both for themselves and for Amherst.

“They both need you as the in

dividual to do well,” she said, “but also, there are others who contrib ute to the success of the team.”

Bruno also finds similarities in many physical and mental aspects of lacrosse and football, despite the two sports' inherent differences.

“In lacrosse, you have someone beating you with a metal stick,” he said. “In football, you have a bunch of angry guys trying to crush you. Regardless, there is a certain phys ical toughness in both sports.

There’s also an aggressiveness that is shared in both sports. When you are on the field, you have to be will ing to hit the person across from you as hard as you can and not feel bad about it afterwards.”

Mentally, both lacrosse and football “are very cerebral,” Bruno added.

“Whether it’s identifying what coverage the defense is in in foot

ball, or knowing the slide packages in lacrosse, both sports share a deep mental aspect,” he said. “[Both] re quire you to make calculated de cisions in a split second, and that split-second decision is often the difference between success and fail ure.”

Though being in-season more often than not can be stressful and highly time-consuming, Mazamba ni and Bruno both emphasized that they would not change anything.

“Deciding to play football [in addition to lacrosse] is the best decision that I have made at Am herst,” Bruno said. “What makes the decision worth it is the people I have met and the relationships I have created through the team. I can’t imagine what my college ex perience would be like without the friends I have made through foot ball.”

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Football's fourth-quarter comeback fell just short.

Women’s Soccer Adds Two Wins, Undefeated in Last Five

Alex Noga ’23 Managing Sports Editor

On Sunday, Oct. 16, the No. 13 Amherst women’s soccer team made the trek to Henniker, New Hampshire, to take on the New England College Pilgrims. They headed into the game with an al ready-impressive 9-2 record and returned home with a tenth tally in the win column.

Even from the starting whistle, it was clear that Amherst was the dominant team on the field. Just five minutes into the game, Sarah Sullivan ’23 and Abby Schwartz ’24 sent two rapid-fire shots at the NEC keeper. Those shots may have gotten the ball rolling, so to speak, but senior captain Isabelle Geneve ’23 started the scoring ac tion several minutes later with her first goal of the season.

Geneve’s tally opened the floodgates, as a flurry of goals ensued. Schwartz doubled the Mammoths’ lead less than three minutes later, her goal coming off an assist from Sullivan, and Geneve was then able to capital ize on a blocked shot by Schwartz, which she tapped into the net past the already-dow New England keeper for her second goal of the

contest — it was now 3-0 Mam moths after less than 20 minutes.

But the Mammoths continued to pile on, adding three more goals before halftime via a penalty kick from Isabel Stern ’23, and the first collegiate goals for both Sophia Haynes ’26 and Brooke Ingemi ’26 to enter the break up a lopsid ed six goals to none.

Though the game was essen tially all but over, the Mammoths took no chances in the second half, continuing to add to their massive lead. Stern scored her second of the game just five min utes after halftime, and Charlotte McGuire ’25 and (Managing Sports Editor) Liza Katz ’24 each added a goal of their own to ce ment the commanding 9-0 win for the Mammoths. The Mam moths ended the game with a ridiculous 39 shot attempts, 28 of which hit the target, while the Pilgrims only had three attempts, none of which were on goal.

The Mammoths carried the momentum into their weekday game against NESCAC opponent Connecticut College on Tuesday, Oct. 18, striking first just two min utes into the game off a goal from Stern, her third in two games. The 1-0 scoreline carried into halftime, but the Camels found

the back of the net seven minutes into the second half to even the score. The Mammoths responded by applying their trademark high pressure defense, which eventu ally paid off with the team’s sec ond goal of the contest. Patience Kum ’25 blew by her defender down the right wing and crossed a dangerous ball on the ground

to the back post, which a Cam els defender misplayed into her own goal. Schwartz then added her NESCAC-leading 10th goal of the season in the 87th minute to solidify the Mammoths’ lead and secure a 3-1 victory.

The Mammoths, now 11-2 overall and 6-2 in the NESCAC, currently sit in seccond place

GAME SCHEDULE

with two games to go in the reg ular season. Those two remaining games are both important NES CAC contests to be played on the road this coming week. They will travel to Hamilton College on Saturday, Oct. 22, before a week day game under the lights against Trinity College on Tuesday, Oct. 25.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Oct. 22: @ Hamilton, 11 a.m. Oct. 25: @ Trinity, 7 p.m.

FIELD HOCKEY

Oct. 19: @ Smith, 6:30 p.m. Oct. 22: @ Hamilton, 12 p.m. Oct. 25: @ Trinity, 6:30 p.m.

VOLLEYBALL

Oct. 22: vs. Emerson, 2 p.m.

MEN'S SOCCER

Oct. 19: vs. Connecticut College, 7 p.m. Oct. 22: @ Hamilton, 1:30 p.m.

FOOTBALL

Oct. 22: @ Tufts, 1 p.m.

Captain Isabelle Geneve '23 lines up a shot in a game against Smith. Geneve scored her first two goals of the season in their 9-0 win over New England College.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios