Issue 10

THE AMHERST THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

STUDENT

CROSSWORD page 12

VOLUME CLI, ISSUE 10 l WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2021

AMHERSTSTUDENT.COM

Town of Amherst Goes to Vote on Town Council Seats, Jones Library Renovation Yee-Lynn Lee ’23 Managing News Editor

Photo courtesy of Emma Spencer '23E

Valentine Dining Hall is operating at full capacity for the first time since the pandemic began on Oct. 20. Above, students enjoy dinner in the newly opened Russ Wing of the dining hall.

As Val Fully Reopens, Staffing Shortages Limit Options Tana DeLalio ’24 Assistant News Editor Following the college’s loosening of Covid restrictions on Oct. 20, Valentine Dining Hall (Val) has returned to full capacity. The change signals a long-awaited return to normalcy after months of outdoor and to-go dining. Val now holds approximately 750 seats, which underclassmen are able to help fill for their first time at the college. But while students are ecstatic about the once-again lively atmosphere in Val, its staffing shortage has resulted in a lack of options for students with dietary restrictions.

Many students are thrilled to experience dining inside Val at full capacity. Margaret Pearson ’24 expressed feeling “super happy” about the change to indoor

dining because “just sitting outside in the cold made you feel like you were never really sitting down for a meal.”

In a statement to The Student, Director of Dining Services Joe Flueckiger echoed this positive sentiment. “I am thrilled to have students back in Val en masse,” he said. “It brings me joy to hear the buzz of students enjoying the space collectively.”

The increase in indoor capacity has been accompanied, however, by a more limited menu for those with dietary restrictions.

A couple weeks ago, the dining hall eliminated its single-serve, pre-packaged foods — including yogurts and Brekki overnight oats — which many students relied on as supplements to their meals. Flueckiger stated, “Eliminating the cans and other packaged items was very intentional.

These past 20 months have been very challenging in terms of the impact on our waste stream. We believed it was time to move back to a more sustainable approach.”

Moreover, instead of adding more menu items to the Allergen Free section to compensate for the lack of pre-packaged foods, Dining Services has actually reduced the number of items available. For instance, the chickpea tofu, a protein staple for many vegetarians and vegans, was unavailable two nights this past week even though it was listed on the online menu. Additionally, Val does not offer gluten-free or vegan alternatives for many of its new menu items, such as waffles and pizza. As a result, many students with dietary restrictions now have more limited options than prior to Val’s

reopening.

Pearson, who eats gluten-free, feels the effects of the reduced allergen-friendly menu. “It’s just hard because there are obviously more options for people without dietary restrictions,” she said.

Pearson went on to describe how there are even fewer gluten-free options available now than during the height of the pandemic. “Last year, there were sometimes gluten-free pancakes — and yes, now they have the gluten-free waffles and donuts that you can get and put in the toaster, which is great — but they don’t [serve] many gluten-free breakfast options [now],” she noted. “More gluten-free carbs would also be nice because there are some times, like Pasta Night, when those just aren’t available.”

Continued on page 4

In tandem with the rest of the country, the Town of Amherst held its municipal election on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Seats for the Town Council, School Committee, and Housing Authority, as well as the six Jones Library trustees and position of Elector Under the Oliver Smith Will, were on the ballot. Voters also participated in a referendum on the $36.3 million Jones Library expansion and renovation project. Polls were open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at various designated locations across town.

Nineteen candidates, including nine incumbents, ran for the 13-member Town Council, which comprises two seats from each of the town’s five districts and three at-large seats. District seats are decided by voters in the district, while at-large positions are voted on by the whole town. There was a contest for the at-large positions, with two incumbents — including Mandi Jo Hanneke, wife of Professor of Physics David Hanneke — and four newcomers vying for the three seats. Races for the District 3 and District 4 representatives were also contested.

Unofficial election results released by the Town on Tuesday night showed that while the two at-large incumbents held on to

Continued on page 4

News POLICE LOG

Oct. 26, 2021 – Nov. 1, 2021

>>October 26, 2021

8:40 a.m., Cohan Dormitory A report was received of significant damage to a tiled wall and a broken paper towel dispenser. >>October 27, 2021

9:40 a.m., King Dormitory A detective concluded an investigation and retrieved property that was previously reported stolen.

4:58 p.m., South Parking Lot A detective responded to a motor vehicle accident with no injuries.

>>October 29, 2021

10:17 p.m., Humphries House CSAs, Residential Life staff, and detectives responded to a report of stalking and violation of a college administrative order.

10:59 p.m., Woodside Day Care Center A detective assisted a group to a safe location away from an ongoing investigation. >>October 29, 2021

11:30 p.m., South Pleasant Street at Northampton Road A detective assisted the town police with a motor vehicle accident where an individual ran into the road and was struck by a car.

Ren Wiscons

>> October 30, 2021

12:36 a.m., Humphries House A detective observed a photograph banner stolen from the Main Quad and confiscated it.

12:50 a.m., The Quadrangle Detectives spoke with individuals operating a vehicle with empty beer cans. There were no signs of impairment.

2:39 a.m., Golf Course A detective observed a golf flag pole stolen from the Amherst Golf Course and confiscated it.

>>October 28, 2021

1:08 a.m., Humphries House A Community Safety Assistant (CSA) responded to a noise complaint.

Fresh Faculty

>>October 31, 2021

9:50 a.m., Science Center A detective responded to a report of a broken window with no known cause.

3:36 p.m., Hitchcock Dormitory A detective responded to a report of damage to exit signs, a bathroom, and a fire extinguisher.

4:03 p.m., Mayo Smith Dormitory A detective observed a snow blower stolen from a storage container and confiscated it.

1:54 a.m., Seelye House A detective took a report of a stolen coat from a residence hall. >>November 1, 2021

2:30 p.m., Webster Circle A detective placed a boot on a vehicle on the boot list and parked in violation of parking regulations.

Department of Chemistry

Ren Wiscons is an assistant professor of chemistry. She received her bachelor’s degree at Oberlin College, and completed a master’s degree and doctorate at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Q: How did you become interested in chemistry?

A: Chemistry was not something that came particularly easily to me — I was not intending to go into chemistry when I started in undergrad. I was actually quite interested in going into architecture. I really liked how structures that people surround themselves with, like buildings, change the way people think about the world, and it also changes the way that we structure our communities and our societies. I found that really fascinating.

But when I went to Oberlin for undergrad, I realized that being on the design and the engineering part of architecture is totally different. It's very specialized in a way that didn't fit well with the way I like to approach projects, which is being able to understand all the pieces. And at the same time, going to a liberal arts college, I was really exposed to a lot of areas of STEM that I wouldn't have been had I gone to another type of institution, so it was taking geology classes that led me to taking crystallography classes.

The crystallography really satisfied the part of my brain that was very interested in structures. I realized if I went into chemistry, I [would be able] actually design those architectures on the nanoscale and manipulate them into technologies that affect the way people interact with the environment and interact with each other — in very similar ways as architecture could — but I [could] have a very holistic involvement in the design process as well. That really attracted me to the field. Since then, I've just been really committed to learning more [about] chemistry and problem solving in chemistry.

Q: What are you currently doing research on?

A: My current work focuses on designing small molecules that, when they crystallize, form materials that can serve as replacements for inorganics in portable electronics — so, semiconductors and data storage materials. There are a lot of reasons why this would be an attractive alternative, but the one that I find most compelling is that if we can design electronic technologies that can be dissolved and recrystallized and still maintain their function, then these types of technologies [become] as accessible as a printer cartridge. Anyone who's interested could design a circuit on their computer and print it off. And all of these small molecules that eventually form a semiconductor when the ink dries out could be something that anyone could buy.

And so, I see these technologies that I'm interested in designing as a tool to enable people who are really quite talented at circuitry and electronics, but may not have access to pristine silicon-based materials — to [allow them] to really thrive and design ingenious new technologies based around these organic alternatives. But other features about these potential materials are that they could have higher performance efficiencies, while also being less expensive and less toxic and weigh[ing] a lot less as well — things that the consumer would be interested in as well.

Q: What factored into your decision to come to Amherst?

A: I was interested in Amherst because of its pedagogy around

teaching and the relationships that are really at the center of the student learning experience here at Amherst. Having gone to Oberlin, I really do believe that having professors that you can humanize is a big part of motivating students to do well in their courses and actually genuinely engage with the material. That is something that I wanted to be a part of and probably one of the primary drivers for why I ended up at Amherst.

Q: How have your first few weeks teaching here been?

A: Very chaotic. I am still trying to learn how to balance all of the different parts of me that have to come together to do research and teaching. I know there's not a lot of mentorship that's required of me in my first year, but I really do want to interact with students. Especially for those that are applying to graduate school right now, I feel like I have a lot of very recent experience that's helpful to those students, and some networking connections that could also help their decision-making process be a little bit smoother. I have been trying to do some of that, but the mentorship part’s the easiest part, because you get to sit with students and chat with them and have really fun conversations. It's really finding the time to prepare for classes and making sure that my lab is a safe space where learning can happen, but also really vibrant research can happen as well. So yeah, just really chaotic.

—Yee-Lynn Lee ’23

News 3

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Kwame Anthony Appiah Debates the Reality of Race with Adolph Reed Jr. Brittney Nguyen ’25 Staff Writer On Oct. 29, first-year students and faculty gathered in the wooden pews of Johnson Chapel to hear a conversation between Presidential Scholar Kwame Anthony Appiah and Adolph Reed Jr. Moderated by Professor of Philosophy Nishiten Shah, the two discussed whether reckoning with racial history is necessary for progress, and contemplated if race is a myth. The event kicked off the college’s Fall 2021 Point/Counterpoint Series.

Appiah is a renowned ethicist and professor of law at New York University. He is known for his work in cultural differences and political philosophy. His most recent book is titled “The Lies that Bind.” Reed is a professor emeritus of political science at University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of the acclaimed book, “Class Notes: Posing as Politics and Other Thoughts on the American Scene.”

Shah opened the event with an introduction of the speakers. In his opening remarks, Shah outlined how President Biddy Martin created a comprehensive plan to create a campus “in which all of us can learn, work, and live free from the indignities of racial discrimination and the threat of racial violence.”

Shah also said that the conversation was part of the First Year Seminar curriculum and had the goal of introducing “perspectives not well represented within our own academic community.”

After their introductions, Appiah and Reed took turns speaking about their work, and told anecdotes about their experiences as first-year students in college.

During their conversation, the speakers brought up several points for discussion. First, they discussed their renowned arguments regarding the myth of race, and how they have come to this conclusion. Appiah, on the one hand, spoke about the issue through the lens of his brief education in the field of medical sciences. “[The] thought that these social divisions by race were grounded in some kind of objective set of biological

differences … was terrible science,” he posited. “The myth was that these [social categories] were grounded in objective reality.”

Reed, on the other hand, spoke in the context of political science and anthropology. “I confirmed pretty early on that there are no subspecies level differences among human populations,” he stated.

“The social work, or any logical work that race does as a category is masking [other social issues].”

Next, Shah asked why human beings have yet to “throw out” racial categories altogether. Drawing on a parallel example, he proposed that maybe in the same way that individuals have abandoned the concept of calling people witches, they should stop using racial identifiers. In response, Appiah stressed that racial categories are more socially produced than the concept of the witch.

Appiah went on to acknowledge the importance of racial identifiers in some situations, calling upon an example of the creation of camps for Ghanian women who are accused of being witches.

“In that context, it would be profoundly unhelpful not to recognize that there's a category of people to protect,” he said.

Appiah also pointed out that conversations about racial language can deter from other more significant discussions. For example, he proposed that focusing on whether “so-and-so is really Black or really white [instead of] how they think of themselves [and] who they are in solidarity with [is] one of the besetting sins of intellectuals in actual political circles.”

He added that discussion of race often “fiddles around with the practicalities of getting stuff right, rather than facing the big issues.”

Reed echoed, “It’s very important for us to make a distinction [between categories of race in practice] … The trouble with confusing them is, well, is loss of analytical clarity.” The speakers continued their conversation, exploring various examples to further reinforce their points.

Shah then led the discussion to the speakers’ writings. First, he

questioned Reed on his paradoxical thesis, which Shah paraphrased as, “if you really care about racial justice and getting rid of [racial disparities], you should stop focusing on race.”

Reed responded by referencing the liberal focus on racial disparities during Covid, saying that “most public health research [uses] race as a proxy for class … Blacks and Hispanics are more susceptible and have worse outcomes because they work jobs that engage them in public.” Another example he used was the displacement that occurred after Hurricane Katrina.

“Right after the storm hit the nation rediscover[ed] racial inequality and injustice on the Gulf Coast … I don't know what you thought [about] that woman who turned down the bed cover [in a] hotel … what kind of money she makes.”

Further, he continued to support his point with a discussion of the racial wealth gap, explaining that the disparities are mainly between the rich and poor of each racial group rather than the racial groups themselves. “The racial wealth gap is the wealth gap between the wealth that rich black people hold and the wealth of rich white people,” said Reed.

The last question turned the conversation to Appiah, regarding a claim he made in his book, “The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen.” Shah paraphrased the claim: “When you look at the history of moral revolutions … everyone knew the moral arguments [against different events, but] you didn’t get changed. You needed some extra ingredient, either a sense of personal honor or national honor.” He then asked the speakers to explain the argument, whether they thought civil rights would come as a revolution and whether they believe if we’re experiencing a moral revolution currently.

Appiah brought up the concept of footbinding in early Chinese societies and slavery. “What would be in favor of a practice that involves causing intense pain to three year old girls?” he asked. “It's not that people didn't know [of

the pain caused to young girls] …

In each of these cases you get abolitionism, in which people come to identify very deeply with [the cause]. They don't say ‘I'm in favor of abolition;’ they say, ‘I'm an abolitionist,’ … that evolution is about expressing your own sense of the value of people of your own kind.”

To conclude this portion of the talk, Appiah explained the cause for economic disparity and encouraged activism. “If you're doing something for working people in this country, you're doing something for Black working people and brown working people, but you're also doing something for white working people … and that’s, among other things, strategic … If you get the people who have been screwed together [then] you … make life better for all people,” he maintained.

Afterward, the floor was opened to students to ask the speakers questions. There were a total of two questions asked.

The first question came from Jaden Richards ’25. “Do you believe in the notion that only groups affected by slurs and other types of racialized language should be the only ones using them?” asked Richards.

Reed replied, “It's kind of a minefield … moral panic is always ugly and frightening and potentially dangerous, whether it starts from the left side of the bench or right side.” Appiah expressed the harmfulness of such language and his support for reclaiming language. “Decent and sensible people don't do that, don't use insults of that sort against other people … It can be okay [for people in a group to reclaim language that has been used against them]; that’s how queer got from being an insult to an affirmative thing taken up by large numbers of people,” he said.

The second question referred back to Shah’s reference to witches for clarification. “People are racialized, they are treated in ways through these [racial] categories.

We should, especially [in] the academy, demystify the categories,” answered Appiah.

Many students appreciated the speaker’s unorthodox perspectives, but wished that they had taken the opportunity to discuss those perspectives more. “I really liked how Amherst decided to bring in controversial speakers,” said Ethan Gilman ’23. “I wish they actually leaned into the controversy a little bit more … It seemed like they were trying to tame some of their beliefs [and] beating around the bush for a couple questions.”

Others disagreed and said that the speakers expressed their controversial perspectives well, but the lack of disagreement from the audience made it seem as though their ideas were not as radical as they were. “I think they leaned in in some areas,” commented Jonathan Curlin ’23. “It may not seem that way just because there wasn't as much pushback as they might have anticipated from some of that. But it was nice to see an unorthodox approach to the issues of racism in the country.”

Some students were left wanting more clarification and expansion of ideas from the speakers. ”[The conversation] went well, but I felt that there were certain areas they should have explained more,” expressed Muhammad Sabally ’23.

“What [do they] mean when they say race is not grounded in objective reality?”

Overall, the conversation challenged some of students’ and faculty’s preconceived notions, encouraging many to explore the ideas for themselves. “It was refreshing to hear [them] remind all of us that race is something that we just made up,” said Richards. “While it does correspond to things in the real world, that doesn't necessarily mean race is real as well.”

He contested, however, the speakers’ opinion about the existence of race as a concept. “I think [race] exists because people believe it exists,” he said. “We have all decided to buy into it, we all identify with it, [and] therefore it is real. There are parts of racism that are social, emotional, and psychological, that simply don't go away by becoming more wealthy.”

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

News 4

Staff Shortage Causes Struggle for Students with Dietary Restrictions Continued from page 1

Omisha Purohit ’23 also lamented the lack of options available for her as a vegetarian.

“Most of the time, there's a vegetarian substitute like tempeh or tofu, but it is often really rubbery,” she said. Additionally, like many vegetarians, she doesn’t eat eggs, which eliminates yet another protein option from her diet. “My option for protein used to be Brekki, but now that they don’t have those, I will literally get a cup full of beans or chickpeas and just eat those plain because I still want a sizable amount of protein.”

Purohit explained that having such a small selection of food to eat takes a toll on her mental health. “Eating good food keeps you healthier and helps you work better,” she said. “It’s really frus-

trating because a lot of times, if the food is bad, I just don't go to Val and rely on ordering food or eating things that I might have in my room. So there have been times where I just don't go to Val for two or three days.”

The college’s new Menu Coordinator and Nutritionist Megan Scutti is hoping to reduce students’ stress surrounding food. She told The Student that “our team also acknowledges that we have plenty of room to improve and not only add more pre-Covid options but new options as well.”

Scutti specifically addressed the large amount of student feedback regarding the lack of vegetarian and vegan protein options: “Dining Services wants to make sure that the students here at Amherst know we did not take these complaints lightly.

Immediately our staff reworked the upcoming week to increase the amount of vegetarian [and] vegan options in general. We are working on ensuring that moving forward there will be a larger variety.” She noted that students’ concerns about gluten-free options are also on their radar and that they are working on how to best increase options while avoiding cross-contamination.

Val’s limited menu at this point in the semester is mainly a consequence of the dining hall not being fully staffed, added Flueckiger. He noted that Dining Services is currently short about eight people at 40 hours per week, or 320 work hours each week. “Everything we do comes with added workload, so we have been opening up additional options as we have been able to hire more people,” he said. “As we get

closer to full staffing we will be able to increase what is offered.”

Pete Charron, a Dining Hall Supervisor at Val, commented that the short staff has only been strained further by the new responsibilities that come with fully opening up the dining hall, making it more difficult to offer a full array of options. “Since there are a lot more people, there are just a lot more tables being used and food being served, [and thus] many more dirty tables and floors that need to be cleaned,” he said. “I think that our staffing is always a concern in regards to being able to supply demand properly.”

Even though the staffing issue may not be resolved in the immediate future, Scutti and Flueckiger both pointed to some improvements to the menu that will be made soon, including

the implementation of a new fountain beverage machine specifically for flavored sparkling waters and the reintroduction of flavored waters made in house.

Additionally, the stir-fry station has been made available again as of Tuesday, Nov. 2.

In the meantime, until Dining Services is able to hire more employees, some students just hope for more food options they can eat. Purohit posited, “For the last couple years through the pandemic, I get that there were times when it was just not possible for them to provide allergen-friendly options. But I feel like now that life has sort of gone back to normal, they should start providing those alternatives, but they haven’t. I feel like if there were more options for me to eat, I would just do better in every regard.”

Jones Library Renovation Approved by Voters in Referendum Continued from page 1 their seats, one incumbent from each of Districts 3 and 4 lost their seats. A total of six new members will serve on the next Town Council, which will be more racially diverse and include more women as a result, according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

Nearly every other townwide position was also contested, as seven candidates sought the five seats on the School Committee, two ran for the Elector Under the Oliver Smith Will position, and four competed for the three-person Housing Authority. All incumbents prevailed except for one member on the School Committee, to which two new members were added.

The six trustee positions for the Jones Library were the only townwide positions to be uncontested, as five incumbents — including William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science Austin Sarat — ran alongside with one newcomer.

But while the race for library trustees was uncontested, the

question on the back of the ballot — which asked voters about their approval of a $36.3 million expansion and renovation of Jones Library — “drew many voters to the ballot booths,” reported the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

The renovation proposes to expand and rehabilitate the building to create new dedicated spaces for children and more room for special collections, in addition to making much-needed physical renovations. Supporters of the plan see it as the smart choice socially, environmentally, and financially — given that it will only cost the town $15.8 million, with the state providing an additional grant of $13.8 million.

Opponents of the plan, however, argue that the project is a waste of resources and has not been planned with enough community input.

Tuesday night’s election results revealed that voters approved the project, with 3,187 votes for “Yes” and only 1,683 votes for “No.” As the referendum was binding, the town will thus move forward with the renovation of the library as planned.

Photo courtesy of Emma Spencer '23E

William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence and Political Science Austin Sarat ran for reelection as a trustee of Jones Library in Tuesday's election.

News 5

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

College Comments on Generous Budget of Bicentennial Party Sonia Chajet Wides ’25 and Eleanor Walsh ’25 Staff Writers The college’s spending on its Oct. 15 Bicentennial Party has not been disclosed, remaining a question among students. The lavish celebration included a variety of crowd-pleasers, from a ferris wheel to a performance by Grammy award-winning artist Common. The Student investigated the planning of the celebration, in an effort to illuminate the motivation behind the spending, as well as the source of the funds.

According to Chief Communications Officer Sandy Genelius, the college began preparations for the Bicentennial nearly three years ago, viewing it as “a natural opportunity for the community to not only reflect on the college’s history — warts and all — but also to look forward to what the college still can be and to build community.”

The Bicentennial Advising Committee — which included students, faculty, trustees, staff, and alumni — was charged with reviewing project proposals submitted by members of the community. These proposals were initially solicited from Amherst community members in 2019. The form where proposals were to be submitted in-

cluded the following note: “There will be some College funding available for Bicentennial-related projects, but it will be limited,” and asked applicants to describe existing funds “available to use for this project.” The college declined to comment on how much money was initially earmarked for the Bicentennial initiatives overall, or where that money came from.

In addition to these community suggestions, the committee also took into account “information from many peer institutions” who were celebrating similar milestones, said Genelius. A smaller steering committee then recommended certain proposals to President Biddy Martin.

The initial committee goals included building pride, commemorating Amherst’s 200-year history, and “articulat[ing] and celebrat[ing] the importance of the liberal arts.” Guiding principles included planning a variety of events, incorporating art, and “not gloss[ing] over moments of conflict in the college’s history.”

The structuring of the budget changed along with the plans for the Bicentennial when the pandemic began.

The launch for the Bicentennial was originally scheduled to begin with Commencement 2020 and

end in the fall of 2021. The pandemic put a wrench in those plans, and virtually all of the planned events were cancelled or changed to be virtual. “As the pandemic continued to affect in-person events, we concentrated effort on other outlets for marking the event: the Bicentennial website and social media channels,” Genelius said. Virtual initiatives included an interactive timeline, essays, archives, and an anniversary event of the Amherst Uprising.

Bridget Carmichael ’22E, who joined the Bicentennial Committee in fall 2019, noted that students on the committee “were told not to have any financial restrictions in terms of our project ideas.” However, she could not speak to the budget after Covid hit: “We had continued meetings, and then they just completely cut us off cold turkey. And then we never heard from them again.”

As Covid restrictions began to loosen, the committee looked to a singular in-person event to culminate the programming and celebrate the Bicentennial in a “celebratory” way, which came in the form of Oct. 15th’s Bicentennial Party.

Despite student curiosity, the college declined to share a specific number for the Bicentennial Celebration’s budget. “Because they felt

no obligation to share the budget, we are left to guess how much it must have cost — and if their silence says anything, it says that they spent far too much money,” said Edmund Kennedy ’23E. In a statement to The Student, Genelius and interim Chief Financial Officer Tom Dwyer described the party as “not identified as one of the needs and priorities of the College’s budget expenditures because of its small size… and the fact that it is a one-time, as opposed to an ongoing, budget expense.”

Genelius wrote that “the budget was generally consistent with a variety of similarly conceived campus events,” such as Fall Fest. Like with Fall Fest, Dining Services handled much of the catering for the Bicentennial Celebration. The celebration also included food from Daddy’s Fried Dough, Giggles, Wildwood BBQ, and Mom On the Go. Grammy-award winning artist Common’s performance and the elaborate music-accompanied fireworks show were additional expenses as compared to Fall Fest.

Genelius and Dwyer said that the funds for the celebration came from “a combination of regular event budgets and designated gift accounts,” highlighting the fact that there were leftover funds for events due to the lack of in-person events

Photo courtesy of Amherst College

Grammy Award-winning artist Common performs at the Bicentennial Party. The extravagance of the Oct. 15 festivities led students to question the amount the college spent on the event.

such as FallFest and WinterFest during the pandemic. Genelius and Dwyer emphasized the college’s “solid financial footing” in their statement, and the “very strong” endowment return from FY21, factors also cited in the recent announcement of financial aid expansion.

Following the celebration, students expressed concerns about the optics of the party during a week in which other conversations around budgeting, such as the payment of Dining Services staff and the work of the Counseling Center, were occurring.

“While it was a fun party, I can't help but be bothered that they were willing to spend an exorbitant amount of money on a party but drag their feet with paying workers, both in Valentine dining hall and student orientation leaders, what they are owed,” said Kennedy.

“Their priorities are in the wrong order … My recommendation for the Tricentennial: pay your workers better instead of having one night of ‘fun.’”

Carmichael was told that the festival was meant in part to celebrate the class of 2021, but once the pandemic forced the Bicentennial into the fall, “there was no student input in terms of Bicentennial planning.”

Not every student felt as if the budget was too much. “I personally think it was probably pretty high,” said Fritz Lalley ’25. “But for the 200th anniversary of an institution, price is no obstacle. And I’m assuming that’s the way they were looking at it.”

Primarily, some students were concerned with the lack of financial transparency, and confusion around budgeting in general. “This administration and administrations in the future need to get used to being more transparent with how they are spending the money,” Kennedy stated.

Lalley expressed similar sentiments. “I probably should have a right to that sort of information, being that I’m a student here,” he added, though he also acknowledged that it would “make the administration’s jobs harder” to share information consistently.

News 6

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

From the Red Room: Nov. 1 AAS Meeting Updates Karina Maciel ’25 Staff Writer On Monday, Nov. 1, the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) held its sixth weekly meeting of the semester. Senators discussed Budgetary Committee (BC) requests, reviewed officer reports from President Angelina Han ’22 and Vice President Basma Azzamok ’22, and appointed members to a series of new committees.

The meeting began with approval of the BC’s requests, led by Treasurer Jae Yun Ham ’22. Some of the organizations that requested funding included Club Volleyball, Mock Trial, the Asian Students Association, Liyang Amherst, Health for Humanity, and the Black Student Union.

This week’s budget requests totaled $18,398, and all funding requests were approved.

Following the BC requests, Han and Azzamok gave their officer reports. Han discussed the possi-

ble implementation of a diversity committee, a collective of members from different student organizations and affinity groups on campus that would meet to discuss diversity and inclusion. The main goal of the diversity committee would be to create a space for students and groups to raise concerns to the Senate regarding equity on the Amherst campus, so that the Senate could ultimately bring those concerns to administration or the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The committee is now in the process of being approved and formed.

Azzamok reviewed the creation of the AAS’s “Fund for Indigenous Peoples,” which would “allocate grants to Indigenous people’s organizations and charities, as a part of a larger effort to give back to Native American, Native Alaskan, and Native Hawaiian communities.”

According to Azzamok, the AAS worked with the Native Indigenous Students Association (NISA) to

identify a Native nation to receive the donation, ultimately deciding to give $5,000 to the Nipmuc Nation from the AAS general fund. The funds will be distributed during the spring semester, and in coming years, the AAS plans to continue working with NISA to donate $5,000 each year.

Following the officer reports, Senators were nominated to represent the AAS at a Judiciary Committee hearing regarding a complaint filed against the Senate about an email sent last Spring. The email expressed solidarity for Palestinians in the context of the Palestinian-Isreali conflict. Senators nominated to defend the Senate’s right to send out communications of this sort included Kya Rincon ’22, Mia Griffin ’24, and Dania Hallak ’24.

Senators were also nominated to serve on a number of new committees. One committee is the Sustainability and Climate Committee, which is charged with evaluating and promoting sustainability on campus

and offering ways for the student body to be represented in climate equity and sustainability efforts of the college. Each member of this committee must serve a term of two years. In addition to the Senators, two members will be chosen from the student body at large. Senators chosen for the Sustainability and Climate Committee include Gent Malushaga ’25 and Hannah Kim ’25.

Senators serving on this committee for their second year include Allie Ho ’24, Cole Graber-Mitchell ’22, and Sofia Guerra ’22.

Other committee nominations that occurred include the selection of Lorett Alarcon ’24 to replace Taha Ahmad ’24 on the Library Committee, and the election of Kim, Griffin, and Isaiah Doble ’25 to the Arts Committee. The Arts Committee’s purpose is to make the arts more visible and accessible on campus, as well as continually seek new opportunities to advance art creation and expression on campus.

The last committee election was for the Powerhouse Committee, which will put together more student events at the Powerhouse and work closely with the Office of Student Activities to make the Powerhouse a more accessible space for student use. The Senator chosen to serve on this committee is Fareeda Adejumo ’23.

Finally, Malushaga and Yvette Kiptoo ’23 discussed updates for their Senate project. Malushaga, who is working on developing the app SuperFan for campus-wide use, said that the app is in its final stages and is almost ready to be released. Kiptoo mentioned the need for more college involvement with the town of Amherst. Kiptoo volunteered to work with the Senate to create a community service day for the campus at large. This project is in development and will be discussed at future meetings.

The AAS will meet again next Monday, Nov. 8.

An Interview with Presidential Scholar Kwame Anthony Appiah Sophie Wolmer ’23 Managing News Editor The Student had the privilege of interviewing Presidential Scholar Kwame Anthony Appiah, a renowned philosopher and author, to discuss his background, career as a writer and thinker, and hopes for the future of philosophy. Appiah gave his keynote address, “What is Racism? One Story,” on Saturday, Oct. 30, in Lipton Lecture Hall.

Appiah earned his B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, and then went on to teach at Yale, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, and Princeton. Presently, Appiah is a professor of philosophy and law at New York University. He has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society and inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Appiah holds honorary degrees from Bard College, Berea College, Colby College, Colgate University, Columbia University, Dickinson College, the University of Edinburgh, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Harvard University, the

New School, the University of Richmond, and Swarthmore College. He was awarded the Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize by Brandeis University in 2008. Appiah’s most recent book is entitled “The Lies that Bind.”

Q: What drew you to philosophy and what questions were you looking to answer when you began your career?

A: The way that I came into philosophy was, I suppose, the same way as many people in the European tradition, because I came to philosophy through religion. I was a very devout evangelical Christian teenager, and I read a fair amount of theology. I read 20th century theology — people like Carl Bart — who were all drawing on philosophical language. And so pretty soon you think if I'm going to make any sense of this, I turned to the philosophers. And that became a large part of my life. I got more and more interested in philosophy itself, and less and less interested in the religious questions — in particular, in theological questions, questions about the nature of God, and just more interested in questions about

epistemology and metaphysics more generally, not on the ethics side at the start.

I was reading with a group of friends and an advisor who was an assistant chaplain. We even had a go at [Immanuel] Kant's “Critique of Pure Reason” — though, as you can imagine, reading that by yourself isn't super rewarding as a 17-year old. And then I discovered Alfred Ayer. In the college book room, there was a copy of “Language, Truth, and Logic,” which I picked up — I don't know why. And I found that very bracing and exciting. Pretty soon, I was reading philosophical stuff in high school just because I wanted to, and not because it was helping me to understand my religious situation. A little bit later I lost my faith, but by then, I was deeply into philosophy. I don't think the losing of the faith was much connected with philosophy.

Q: Sometimes, when I write about philosophy, I discover things that I did not anticipate. Have you ever come to unexpected conclusions that challenged your pre-existent beliefs?

A: Oh, all the time. You think about a question and have a first-off reaction and intuition about what the right answer might be. Sometimes I don't know what I think about something, but sometimes I have a fairly clear initial intuition. Then I have to write down a defense of it and explore the question. I think one of the things that you discover in philosophy is that, if you go very carefully through an argument, there are steps where you identify assumptions that you've made, and you realize that you don't actually believe the assumption.

That step can't go through without some other supporting bits. It may be valid, but it's unsound because the premise isn't true. And so the first thing that you do is see if there's some other premise that would do the work. You don't immediately abandon your intuitions.

I always tell my students that they don't know what they think until they try to argue for it — until they've made a careful defense of it.

It's one of the great privileges of a literate society that we all have access, not just to reading, but to writing as a mode of thinking. Writing as a mode

of thinking is very different from the interior monologue.You can be more disciplined if you write it down, because you can go back over the argument again and again, holding things constant. Certain kinds of intellectual progress in human history only began after writing.

Q: Your works have problematized nearly all of my identity labels, as I'm sure they have for your audience as well. They've also simultaneously led me to appreciate my uniqueness. If individuals are not united by their shared experiences, how do you suggest that they avoid feeling isolated by their uniqueness?

A: I think precisely because of our shared identities. Each of us lives our identities in our own way. I'm the only man who has been a man in the way that I'm a man. And you're the only person who's ever been whatever your gender identity is in the way that you have done it. And not everybody recognizes that about themselves. They think, 'I'm just a

Continued on page 7

News 7

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Kwame Anthony Appiah on Identity, Anti-Racism & Philosophy Continued from page 6 woman like my mum,' or 'I'm just a gay man, like Oscar Wilde.' But that's not true. There's diversity within every kind of identity.

Nevertheless, there are things to be learned from what John Stuart Mill called other people's experiments of living — things that other people have tried. On the one hand, your situation has never been lived before with the exact range of options, identities, family background, social context, political context. No one's ever had your situation before.

On the other hand, lots of people have faced similar situations, and you can learn from them. And one thing that helps you pick the people to learn from is that they share some identity with you. We're unique, in part because we have lots of identities, and there are so many options.

There are so many options for racial identities and gender identities and national identities — those have more than 190 options. By the time you've looked at all the possible combinations, there are many more possible combinations than there are people on the planet. No two people have the same identity, never mind the same lives. And identities aren't the only things that we have. We have lots of other properties that are not social identities, and we're different in those as well. So yes, we're unique, but these identities provide links, and other things provide links, that serve as shared agendas.

Q: Currently, our understanding of identity is at the forefront of national conversations. How do you think that our society's understanding of identity is going to change in the years to come? What new direction do you hope that today's students will take in these conversations?

A: A lot of the national conversation is, just to be frank, a little silly. When people criticize what they call identity politics, they're often assuming something — they think that if it matters what your race means, you can't think that anything else matters. That's just a stupid thought.

It's just a silly idea. W.E.B. Du Bois cared very deeply about the fact that he was Black and an African Ameri-

can. But, he also did care that he was in America. He engaged in projects whose point was to redeem America from racism and, and other classist perspectives and to some extent as well. So the idea that we have to be a feminist to count as an anti-racist is just stupid. I'm going to vote in the elections for the new mayor of New York. I'm going to vote for the next governor of New York. I'm going to be voting in the presidential election, I will vote for two senators and a congressperson. And those are all different levels of political identity.

But it's, it would be absurd to say that you have to choose between being a New Yorker and being an American when you're voting for the mayor of New York. That's just not true. And I think similar confusions are pervasive in discussions about these matters.

So there's a perfectly sensible set of discussions to be had about whether we're giving the right weight to considerations about one group or another. But I feel that sometimes people at this moment — and this is not just an American thing — get too wrapped up in ethno-racial identities in a way that that deprives them of cosmopolitan engagement with people of other ethno-racial identities, and also in a way that tends to homogenize their own racial identity or their own ethnic identity. I would urge people to remember that there are many ways of being white, many ways of being Black, many ways of being Asian, many ways of being Native American. And there are many things to be gained by working with people who are of different racial identity than you.

Q: When you receive criticism, whether it be from scholars or colleagues, what approach do you take when responding to them?

A: Well, I sometimes get upset by critics mostly when I think they've been unfair when they've attacked a position. I [would hope] that anyone who's reading me [is doing so] with the kind of respect that you want to read people [with]. And so I have to say that I have to hold my tongue for a bit sometimes too. But look, when I started out, I had a view that a lot of racism in the world was the

result of false belief and that, if you just corrected the beliefs, you could put things right. I'm reassured by the fact that it's a view W.E.B. Du Bois had when he started out, and he was a fairly smart fellow. So, I don't feel so bad about it now. And eventually, he came to a deeper understanding of the role of false belief and ideology. W.E.B. Du Bois found that we should have the desire to dominate the production of the false belief, not the false belief it produces.

Now, why am I saying all of this?

Because I think that some of the resistance to things that I've said is ideological: it comes from people who think that if they agree with me, they'll have to follow some political conclusion that they don't like.

And I'm just used to that now. And I probably do it myself, and probably read other people in that sort of way and don't like their conclusions.

The one deep thought from the long history of Western epistemology, I think, is fallibilism — it's learning to recognize what Socrates knew already, which is that smart and thoughtful people can just be wrong.

And since most of us aren't either smart or thoughtful, people can be wrong. And we should just accept ourselves. We're going to make mistakes. And part of the point of critics is that, if you're lucky, they'll get through to you and help you correct your mistakes.

Second thing, I am very conscious of the fact that if I feel that somebody has misunderstood me, I may have [avoided]it if I'd been clearer. Or if I had anticipated a thought that I see that they've had, I could have preempted a misunderstanding. Some people willfully misunderstand, and you can't stop that. But sometimes people misunderstand you in ways that you could have entirely predicted if you thought about it more. And that's on you.

Q: You have a humble view of your own work. How do you see your work contributing to anti-racism efforts?

A: [My view of my own writing] is realistic. If I thought that I could abolish racism by writing a book that was super clear, I would do that. But I don't think that. I can contribute, but

my book is not going to break the back of the thing. That's the thing, it's not really just about ideas — it's about feelings and art. A significant part of the struggle against racism is being conducted by artists — not by people making arguments, but by people presenting pictures of ways of living, or drawing attention to things that people are doing right or wrong — not making a proposition about it. It's about eliciting a response from people and getting them to see, 'I shouldn't be doing that' or 'Or, gosh, I didn't think about it that way.'

There's a whole repertory of cultural tools that are working to make our lives better. There's also a whole country, a repertory of cultural tools trying very hard to make our lives worse, and we have to combat those.

But you know, what gets to one person won't get to another person. So, my goal is to make a contribution to some agendas.

Q: Do you ever think about the role that you have played in shaping young minds?

A: What comes first is that I have had the privilege of being allowed to decide what I think about and then trying to get straight about it for myself. And then discovering that it's useful for other people — don't tweet that — and trying to make it more useful to other people. Because of the things that I've learned myself, I'm able to help fellow academics. In elite institutions, like the ones that I've taught in, people have enormous privilege, because they're allowed to set their own intellectual agendas mostly. We're allowed to spend time with smart young people who want to know about the things we're doing. I have discovered much through what they tell me and teach me.

When they don't understand, and you help them understand, you will improve your own understanding.

I think about certain people who are out in the world and becoming known, who have helped me. I sometimes think, that's one of mine. The other day, I went to a dinner to raise money for PEN, the writers organization, and they gave some awards. One of them was to my oldest dearest friend, Skip Gates.

And the presenter was somebody whom we both taught together,

then a young woman called Jodie Foster, who was our student and wrote a wonderful senior thesis about Toni Morrison when she was a student at Yale. From time to time, she says something and I think 'Oh, you know, I had a role in making that person.' And that pleases me.

I mean, I don't have children of my own, but I have some children. Not that I made them — that would be ridiculous — but that I helped them.

That's the great privilege of being a university teacher, that you're allowed to spend time thinking about things you want to think about, with people who want to think about them with you.

Q: Is there a particular discovery shift or change in the field of philosophy that's surprised or impacted you?

A: The turn among this generation started a while ago, but it's certainly present in this generation of graduate students and younger philosophers. The turn was to a genuine concern about engaging with real problems in the world. Cornel West wrote a wonderful book called “The American Evasion of Philosophy,” whose central thesis was that American philosophy professionalized itself in the mid-20th century by moving away from the kind of philosophy that [came from] someone like John Dewey, which engaged with the world in a professionalized discourse. Dewey focused on issues in the epistemology and philosophy of language of mind, which did not have much to do with politics or social life. When I was becoming a philosophy undergraduate, John Rawls had just published “A Theory of Justice,” and that book revivified analytic normative philosophy.

When I wrote a paper on racism in the 80's, there was very little on that topic written by philosophers.

Even though people criticize it for not being directly enough connected with applied questions, it did provide a framework for thinking about applied questions and also began a move to engage with questions about identity, politics, power, and equality. Not in a way that's just about dotting I’s and crossing T's, but about thinking what's helpful to move us ahead.

Op pinion

w

Holding Each Other Accountable Let us state the obvious: you should not smash down a bathroom wall. Nor should you shatter vending machines, or break exit signs, or lob giant pumpkins onto the floors of dorms. This semester, however, the obvious has not deterred such vandalism. Why not?

To the Editorial Board, there appear to be two clear causes. First, in the not-so-distant past, the college tore down the Socials, the one unified place for students to gather and socialize on campus, without providing any real replacement. This left a gap in physical social spaces that remains to this day.

Second and more recently, limits on gatherings due to Covid forced students’ social activities underground, leading students to plan and monitor their own parties while hiding from the administration and campus police.

This led to a decrease in accountability as events, and the students who attended them, were incentivized to remain hidden — meaning all sorts of negative outcomes, like vandalism, were made more likely to be met without any effective response.

Vandalism, while indefensible, is clearly rooted in, or at the very least, made easier to commit, due to deeper problems within the community. As the Editorial Board discussed the issue, we settled on two possible solutions if we hope to put an end to the burgeoning vandalism problem. The administration should focus on liberally opening up spaces for students’ socialization, in order to disincentivize the harmful underground nature of student life during the pandemic. And more importantly, students need to show that they deserve the trust we so often demand by taking more direct responsibility in governing the Amherst social scene in an open and transparent way in order to disincentivize destructive actions like those of the past couple weeks and make it easier to hold those who commit such actions accountable.

The administration should not be the only force behind the organization of parties on campus. Before the pandemic, students had to fill out an official registration form for all events (including student-run parties) in order to reserve a location, whether it was a dorm’s public common room or a venue like the Powerhouse. The policy was suspended by the college, however, due to the pandemic in an attempt to prevent and mitigate the spread of the virus on campus.

In this void, covert student coordination became the basis of social planning at the college. This planning, of course, was less effective than it could have been if it could be transparent and make use of the larger spaces on campus without fear of administrative reprisal.

We acknowledge that the pandemic still largely shapes the college’s decision-making, but the administration should implement changes in their regulation of public spaces that will facilitate building a safer and healthier party scene in the long run. For example, more public locations such as the Powerhouse could be designated as

party-specific on most weekends, so that students would not be forced to hold parties in dorms, where vandalism more directly compromises the safety of the students living in those dorms, even those who do not choose to party, and perhaps more importantly forces the college’s already mistreated staff to do extra work to clean up. Having more college-sanctioned non-dormitory spaces would also allow parties to be less hidden, in turn facilitating greater transparency and accountability on the part of students.

We see this semester as a perfect time to develop a student-led model that will reestablish a norm of accountability by allowing for responsible self-governance.

That specifically means a student-run registration process, directly placing the responsibility for party organization in the hands of the students who want to have parties.

While we should incorporate the aspects of the previous registration system that worked, we should aim to develop a new, student-governed structure that allows students control over their social spaces.

Through a party registration system mainly governed by students, we can directly hold each other accountable for actions that violate our community expectations. It would make it easier to attribute responsibility to the people liable for incidents like the vandalism mentioned earlier or for simply cleaning up afterwards because students are the ones actually at parties when these events take place.

Apart from that, we would also enjoy greater flexibility and accessibility when it comes to booking a space or assigning cleaning duties. Both will reduce the workload of college administrative offices and prevent the over-involvement of the ACPD, who most students don’t want to see on their weekend nights out.

Having social events planned, coordinated, and overseen by students will ensure that students themselves are actively looking out for each others’ best interests and well-being. It would also be a boon for our overworked staff, removing unnecessary additions to their workload.

Without administrative intervention, students will be incentivized to take the responsibilities of partying into their own hands. Students that want a vibrant social scene will be given the power to create it, and the centralization of party registration under students alongside the availability of public advertising in school-sponsored spaces will allow those people to gather much larger numbers of students into one place. Parties, by the virtue of centralized selfgovernance, will become more consistent, better advertised, safer, larger, and have less administrative intervention.

The past week hasn’t been a proud one for Amherst partiers. We know that we’re capable of more, and it’s time for students to take action to show that.

Unsigned editorials represent the views of the majority of the Editorial Board — (assenting: 12; dissenting: 0; abstaining: 7).

THE AMHERST

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

Letters Policy

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

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

The editors reserve the right to edit any letters or to withhold any letter because of considerations of space or content.

Letters must bear the names of all contributors and a phone number or email address where the author or authors may be reached. Letters and columns may be edited for clarity and Student style.

Publication Standards

The Amherst Student is published weekly except during college vacations. The offices of The Amherst Student are located in the basement of Morrow Dormitory, Amherst College. All contents copyright © 2021 by The Amherst Student, Inc.

All rights reserved. The Amherst Student logo is a trademark of The Amherst Student, Inc. Additionally, The Amherst Student does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or age. The views expressed in this publication do not reflect the views of The Amherst Student.

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Opinion 9

Seeing Double: F*ck You, Foucault

Photo courtesy of Flikr/Thierry Ehrmann

Columnist Thomas Brodey ‘22 wrestles with nihilism and apathy as he argues over the implications of Michel Foucault’s philosophy to his own life and studies, wondering if it is possible for the college to produce true idealists within a postmodern framework.

Thomas Brodey ’22 Columnist It’s hard for me to be an idealist at Amherst College. Principles like justice and freedom, which once seemed unambiguously good, seem unattainable or even undesirable after three years here. My moral compass feels like it has lost its magnetic pole. One might feel tempted to blame the detachment caused by the pandemic, but I think the reason for the apathy so many of us feel goes beyond Covid. Much of it comes from things we learn in our classrooms.

A specter is haunting Amherst — a specter known as postmodernism. In essence, postmodernism argues that all supposedly objective truths — morality, instinct, and even many sciences — are constructs built on social and historical processes. Postmodernism challenges what people think to be universal truths as instead relative to the historical moment in

which those truths live. I am not here to argue that postmodernism is wrong or should no longer be taught, but rather that when misinterpreted in undergraduate settings, postmodernism has the potential to breed apathy and nihilism. It’s not hard to see why. If our ethics, beliefs, and values are all entirely contingent on historical conditions, how can any action be objectively good? If postmodernism is correct, how should we live our lives?

One classic example of the way postmodern philosophy might inspire nihilism is the classic 1971 debate between postmodernist legend Michel Foucault and famous anarcho-syndicalist Noam Chomsky.

In the debate, the two thinkers discussed what a perfect human society might look like. Or rather, Chomsky did, describing in detail his goals of justice and “the realization of the essence of human beings.” Foucault, on the other hand, proposed no ideal society, but with Gallic aplomb

denied the existence of any true concept of justice or human essence: “One can’t, however regrettable it may be, put forward these notions to describe or justify a fight which should – and shall in principle – overthrow the very fundaments of our society.”

After the debate, Chomsky described his shock at the cynicism of Foucault’s argument: “He struck me as completely amoral, I’d never met anyone who was so totally amoral.” The assertion was probably unfair. Many philosophers have argued that postmodernism in no way entails amorality or nihilism. Indeed, I am not a philosopher (just like my sophist of a co-columnist) so I can’t speak to the intricacies of Foucault’s writings.

What I believe, however, is that just like Chomsky heard Foucault and imagined him existing in a world without morality, Amherst students may have difficulty squaring Foucault with any kind of moral

framework. If it can happen to an academic with the pedigree of Chomsky, it can happen to an undergraduate, and speaking from personal experience, it has certainly happened to me. Worse yet, Foucault is everywhere in undergraduate humanities. He is far and away the most cited 20th century scholar in the humanities, to the point where I rarely have a class that doesn’t mention him at some point.

That’s worrying because a serious dissonance exists between postmodernism’s important place in academia and Amherst’s idealistic mission. Amherst as an institution marinates its students in the very universalist idealism that postmodernists critique.

Even our motto, “Terras Irradient,” speaks of Amherst as a moral force for good not only in our own community, but throughout the world. That moralistic vision extends to today, when Amherst gives its speech competitions broad (and to a postmodernist, irresponsibly global) themes like

Justice, Freedom and Truth. Yet at the same time, the postmodernist bent of its classes suggests to students that it is impossible to agree on the meaning of those very same ideals.

The problem is not postmodernism itself. Rather, it is the deconstructionist way in which people often interpret it. Instead of just tearing down all ideas of morality or society, we should emphasize the ‘what now?’ Many brilliant postmodernists, such as Jacques Derrida, have attempted to lay out a kind of postmodernist ethics, that explains how we can value principles while acknowledging that they are social constructs. We must ask the central question: how can we live good lives within a postmodernist framework?

The college should produce idealists. Grounded and well-informed ones, but idealists nonetheless. Yet the way we teach has made idealism difficult. If even liberal arts students cease to be idealists, who will be?

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Opinion 10

Public Letter: It’s No Time for Speaking Cuts Students for Public Speaking A Group of 12 Students Last week’s article on the Writing Center’s programming cuts mentioned, quite casually, that the changes include canceling the college’s annual public speaking contest “indefinite[ly].” The speaking competition — put on by Susan Daniels, the Writing Center’s associate in public speaking, for the last three years — is one of the only college-sponsored events that encourage students to practice their public speaking and rhetoric skills. Cutting it would be a massive mistake.

Public speaking is one of the most important skills a student can have. We already teach it too little. In every academic field, from lab sciences to literature, the ability to effectively communicate is crucial.

You can have all the good ideas you want, but if you can’t relate them to others, you might as well not have them. Writing is one way of communicating, and Amherst makes sure to teach it. Speaking is another, yet we rarely focus on it.

Besides their importance to our academic studies at Amherst and beyond, public speaking skills also help us navigate our complex social worlds. We all need to be able to advocate for ourselves in doctors’ offices, boardrooms, workplaces, and relationships. The ability to distill our thoughts into clear, coherent speech that can convince other people isn’t something we’re born with, but it is necessary for everyday life.

And finally, strength in public speaking is integral to being an effective, good citizen. Democracy withers when we reduce it to merely examining candidates and picking one. Instead, a strong democracy requires that people take part in their own governance. That could mean speaking at a school board meeting, running for office, or going door-to-door to convince your neighbors to vote for a particular candidate. All three, and the countless other ways to become actively involved in politics and civic life, require public speaking and persuasion skills.

Amherst students should have the tools to make a differ-

ence in their communities after they graduate. The college will have failed us if we don’t graduate with the strength of mind, confidence, and eloquence required to stand up for what is right even when nobody agrees with us. Public speaking teaches those skills.

The Writing Center’s rationale for canceling the speaking competition — diversity, equity, and inclusion — makes no sense.

In the last three years, several students of color have excelled in the speaking competition, and speech topics have invariably touched on anti-racism.

How does it increase diversity, equity, and inclusion to cancel the only speaking program on campus that allows every student to participate? Instead, we should expand public speaking on campus: hold more contests, provide more workshops, and tailor support towards inclusion.

This takes more investment, not less.

Amherst has long acknowledged speaking’s centrality in a liberal arts education. Oration used to be a common part of an Amherst student’s life. Now-

Photos courtesy of Amherst College

The Writing Center, located in Charles Pratt Dormitory, professes the teaching of public speaking to be a major offering, but only has one staff member, Susan Daniels, dedicated to the skill. adays, institutional support for good speaking and fluent argument is all but missing. We have essay contests, literary magazines, and countless opportunities to improve our writing outside class, but the speaking competition and the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition (which is only for thesis writers) are basically all there is when it comes to speaking — and those are the brainchildren of a single staff member dedicated to speaking. Compare that to the many staff members who train students to write.

Putting an “indefinite” pause on the speaking competition —

an event that prompts dozens of students each year to write and give an original speech on a topic meaningful to them — diminishes this college’s support for speaking when we should be expanding it.

To meet the challenges of the coming decades, we need effective and strong speakers.

Turning away from the only campus-wide speaking event is an unforced error that will only make students less capable.

Our motto tasks us with enlightening the world. There’s no better way to shutter Amherst students’ light than to reduce support for public speaking.

done. Lastly, having the library open 24/7 would actually allow students who go to bed and wake up early to have a space to work with some tea or coffee before breakfast or classes.

I do acknowledge the reasons behind our current library hours. It can be argued that as college students, we should all be getting much more sleep than we actually do, and 24-hour libraries would only encourage sleep deprivation. While I do agree with this to a certain extent, staying up to finish work sometimes is not a choice for many of us. If I have to stay up to work anyway, I would rather do it in a place like the library where I can be sure of my productivity.

Leaving Frost by 1 a.m. does not imply more sleep for me — it

just means that the quality of my work goes down thereafter.

Keeping the library open would also create more job openings. I understand the concern about having late-night positions, but there are a lot of people who sleep late and would love to be paid extra to take the late night shift at Frost. We could implement a system for Frost mimicking the Science Center where the library ends keycard access at 1 a.m., but people can stay inside however long they want from then on.

Ultimately, while I understand that having Frost Library open 24/7 brings a lot of complications, the benefits that it will bring to the students outweigh the drawbacks and make life as an Amherst student much easier.

Frost Should Be Open 24/7 Tapti Sen ’25 Assistant Opinion Editor Like many other Amherst students, I spend lots of my time in Frost Library. I’ve found that the library is the perfect place to study: you can get work done while soaking in the atmosphere of dark academia; you don’t have to longingly stare at your bed while trying to work in your room; and you don’t have to bother your roommate by having a light on. Aside from studying, the library offers easy socialization: you can talk quietly and study together with friends without giving up the studious environment that the library provides. However, I believe that the library’s hours should be more accommodating for stu-

dents’ needs.

Frost’s hours are currently between 8 a.m. and 1 a.m. on weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturdays, which is more hours than schools like Williams. However, many of our other peer institutions — including Columbia, Johns Hopkins University, and MIT — have libraries open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s weird that Amherst’s library does not have this ability, especially since our Science Center is (technically) open 24/7. While some might point out that a 24-hour library seems redundant considering the existence of the Science Center, I argue that the library provides numerous benefits for students, some of which the Science Center simply does not offer.

First, it allows students to study uninterrupted. Being interrupted and asked to leave at 12:50 p.m. during an attentive study session could be annoying. Second, if you have an assignment that you need to stay up late for and you don’t want to bother your roommate, the library provides a great space to work, especially in solidarity with your friends if they too have late assignments. Third, I personally find it difficult to work in my room — I just can’t work in the same place that I sleep; the bed is too tempting — as other people I know expressed similar feelings. The library, therefore, is a safe haven for me to do my work. However, having it only open until 1 a.m. lessens my opportunities to get work

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Opinion 11

A Commitment to Beauty in College Row’s Shadow Dustin Copeland ’25 Assistant Opinion Editor Over the next several months, there will be much discussion on campus about what we want our new student center to provide.

What will make the building an effective center of community on campus? What elements make other institutions’ campus centers work in their environment, and what does Amherst need out of its center that is specific to the college?

The college will certainly solicit student opinions about what should be included within the walls of the structure: do we want a new Mammoth Market?

A black box theater? What about group study spaces, or space for dining, or even partying?

It is true that conversation about the student center should focus on the practical ways of using it. But I have to wonder whether the student body will ever be asked exactly how we feel the new student center should look.

In fact, one thing that keeps the new student center so mysterious is our utter lack of knowledge about its architectural appearance. There has been no communication throughout the process, no public design study, and no indication from administration about aesthetic goals for the space. For all we know, the new student center could be a one-to-one copy of Merrill (unlikely), a monumental neo-Gothic community cathedral (also unlikely, unfortunately), a block of glass reflecting the Science Center but even more effective at killing birds (a little bit more likely), or something entirely new (literally who knows).

Given the Student Advisory Committee’s stated goal of analyzing peer student centers, maybe the architecture, too, will take inspiration from the likes of Williams’ Paresky Student Center, with its gorgeous national park lodge fireplaces and timber-clad walls and furnishings.

I would adore this sort of inte-

rior feel on campus, but Paresky’s competent modern exterior doesn’t quite fit the privileged seat the new student center will enjoy.

As the spot on which it will be built overlooks basically all of the Greenway, from Keefe to well-past Hitchcock Field, the new student center will be perhaps the defining building of the east side of campus, stealing stardom from the Science Center which so humbly hides its mass.

The first campus building I saw as an Amherst student proper was Merrill, from the parking lot first-years passed through to get tested on move-in day. I remember being slightly off-put by the gaping obviously-abandoned windows — I was promised New England red-brick austerity, not a terrifying very cyclops-evoking modernist tribute to the same. To replace it with something different, therefore, will be welcome.

President Biddy Martin said at the opening ceremony for the new Science Center that Amherst had a “commitment to beauty,” a statement either confidence-inspiring or disheartening, depending on your opinion of that building. I choose to take some heart in the quote: a commitment to beauty is a recognition that architects are artists, and gives those architects the freedom to create something that doesn’t just fulfill the brief given to them, but adds to their portfolio as work to be proud of.

It is perhaps lucky, then, that we have contracted Herzog and de Meuron. Winners of the 2001 Pritzker Prize, builders of the Tate Modern, the Beijing National Stadium (the “Bird’s Nest,” as it’s colloquially known), the Elbe Philharmonic Hall, and the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford, Herzog & de Meuron is one of the most prestigious architectural firms in the world.

In order to understand what our student center might be influenced by, one must understand the builders.

Herzog & de Meuron’s ear-

ly works are obviously and intensely modern — 1992’s very rectangular Goetz Collection could be a Donald Judd sculpture — but their more recent work is not just adherence to modernist forms. Many works of the past two decades have been inspired more by “the search for a plasticity of the forms” that is exemplified by a commitment to architectural strangeness. The forms of newer buildings, like the concert hall most recently completed in Elbe, are utterly strange, like blown-up versions of desk art or building-sized sculptures. They use nontraditional materials, odd shapes, and ever more advanced methods of construction to make buildings that sometimes seem unnatural or impossible. Some of them, like Madrid’s BBVA headquarters, look downright extraterrestrial.

But what beauty hath not some strangeness in its proportion? In terms of artistic influence, Herzog & de Meuron take much inspiration from a collaboration with Joseph Beuys, himself one of many founders of the Fluxus movement. The firm, empowered by the postmodern egalitarian-ization of media that Fluxus was representative of, sought to draw together art and architecture in a time when the two were culturally very separate. Thus, the firm’s frequent collaborations with artists from Beuys himself to Ai Weiwei were and are a conscious effort to make architecture into a generally-accepted art form — a commitment to beauty all their own.

Herzog & de Meuron take the artistic elements one might associate with the art-deco futurism or abstract swoops of coffee table art and blow them up to building scale.

Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government is such a building, there applied for academic use. Its many layers of eccentric discs are a part of the university’s nearly peerless architectural history, though they are a little jarring next to the me-

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Dustin Copeland ’25 imagines a Herzog & de Meuron student center towering over campus, like the Lincoln Cathedral over Lincoln, England. dieval buildings that sandwich the structure. Such dissonance seems disconcerting since nothing on Amherst’s campus could be compared to Blavatnik, but I can’t deny that it would be really nice to watch the Greenway from those panoramic windows up on high, comforted by coffee and laptop outlets.

Of course, this is pure speculation. We have absolutely no clues as to what the new student center might look like, and what we want it to look like might be even more difficult to ascertain.

I firmly believe that the building should not serve to further disconnect east campus from the main quad, as the two spaces already feel almost like completely separate worlds (though again, giving the trees a few years to grow will likely help at least a little). Therefore, this building cannot be a flying saucer sat down without context atop the mount that is Merrill — what would Charles Pratt Dormitory look like next to such an alien structure?

One thing that modern campus architecture has succeeded at is paying tribute to the architectural DNA of the college — Beneski’s reflection of Fayerweather’s proportions and the Science Center’s own

Beneski-esque facades a case in point. So while I could see this as an opportunity for east campus to develop something completely separate from College Row’s historical dominion, I do not think some new monument will be erected in postmodern opposition to Johnson Chapel’s austerity. I think Herzog & de Meuron will take Amherst’s history into their capable hands to craft a building that is largely inoffensive, perhaps disappointingly lukewarm, but ultimately serviceable as a space.

I hope, however, that something truly monumental is built here. A new era of Amherst architecture could be brought about, defined by a commitment to beauty above mere utility, twisting College Row’s architectural genome into something not only useful and worthwhile as a community space, but something awe-inspiring — a building to be proud of. Beauty has utilitarian purposes too, after all. Ugly spaces quickly become avoided spaces, ones that raise questions on tours and miss an opportunity to inspire the students who use them. No one spends time in ugly spaces, and I would like it if our student center were a place that students did spend time in, a place that they love.

Amusements

w

Five College Consternation | Crossword ACROSS 1 Russian country house 6 An egg cell 10 How a reigning champion acts, maybe 14 Razor owner before Harry or Gillette 15 Initials for a 1933 labor law 16 Partner of por, in Madrid 17 Judge Prue of “Bake Off ” fame 18 Passive income, perhaps 20 Careful thought 22 D-H link 23 Found on mountains or in computers 24 Shoelace features popularized by “Phineas and Ferb” 27 Flavor enhancer initials 28 Therefore 30 2011 animated macaw movie 31 Desert shrub that can grow to 20 feet 34 Ranked the most haunted college in the U.S. 36 Blunders 37 Some religious sects 39 The tigerstaden (tiger

city) 40 Home to the tallest library in the U.S. 42 Like a dorm room final exam 44 One who makes calls, for short 45 “Planet of the ___” 47 Hit anime in which giant humanoids terrorize humanity: Abbr.

48 “Swing ___?” (batter’s dilemma) 50 Struck by a cold or flu 51 Briny expanse 54 Auditory feature of a home theater 58 College known for its use of “narrative evaluations” 60 Actress who plays Moira on “Schitt’s Creek” 61 Mountain on the border of Europe and Asia 62 Grimes’s ex 63 Japanese beer 64 Wilder of “Young Frankenstein” 65 It smells 66 Fencing blades Madeline Lawson ’25 Staff Writer

Solutions: Oct. 27 DOWN 1 ___ & Gabbana 2 ___ spades 3 Keeping in the loop via Gmail 4 Writer of “With the Lapps in the High Mountains” 5 First institution with an undergraduate neuroscience department 6 Lunch time, perhaps 7 Covid test container 8 Sky bear 9 Brand found in laundry rooms 10 Tie up loose ends?

11 Picking one’s nails or nodding often 12 Suffix for press

13 The “G” of LGBTQ+ 19 Takeoff, Offset, and Quavo, collectively 21 Component of many fantasy novels 25 Words at the top of this page 26 Trendy Manhattan neighborhood 27 Rolling stone’s lack 28 Fitzgerald and Lorde 29 Final LOTR novel 31 Abalone 32 Tool brand with an unlimited lifetime warranty 33 Medieval stringed instrument 35 Not worth debating 36 Franc successor 38 Closes with wax

41 Japanese beverages 43 The eldest Sister 46 Fowl with an eye-catching mate 49 Jobs’s favorite fruit?

50 Destructive 2011 hurricane 51 Gaze 52 34A, according to rankings 53 “___ man” (one admired for masculinity) 55 2.2 lbs 56 Cupid’s Greek counterpart 57 Send by sea 58 May be given to a beloved stuffed animal 59 “___ we there yet?”

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Amusements 13

Red Herring: Missing Umbrellas?

by Isaac Streiff ’24

Satire

Event Policy Revived, Students Excited to Party for First Time Andrew Rosin ’25 Satire Columnist With the new Student-Hosted Event Policy now in effect, Amherst students are excited to go out and party for the first time during the 2021-2022 school year.

Students report that they have been patient to receive the college’s approval before hosting or attending any parties. “I’ve been waiting patiently all fall for any sort of mixer, formal, or authorized event,” said club volleyball member Meghan Tresplay ’22. “There are only so many weekends I can spend sober in

my dorm room reading books, playing board games, and writing short stories with my fellow non-partying teammates.”

Tresplay added that Hitchcock, Jenkins, and Morris Pratt Dormitories have felt noticeably empty on Friday and Saturday nights this semester with the absence of college-sanctioned parties.

On Saturday, the day after the policy was released, seniors purged all of their alcohol over 30 percent ABV in an effort to comply with the new guidelines.

“There goes my vodka, there goes my whiskey, there goes my gin,” exclaimed Cameron

Ford ’22E as he and his friends downed the remainder of their hard alcohol. “We’ve always been committed to creating safe spaces for unsafe alcohol consumption.

We just don’t feel comfortable asking people to come into our bedrooms to share our vodka.”

Ford and his friends were later handed a citation by the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) for consuming alcohol at a time other than Friday or Saturday night.

First-years, too, have been anxiously awaiting their first opportunity to attend a party. “Per the policy, I’m not allowed to consume alcohol, but I look forward to being surrounded by it,”

commented Gill Freebaum ’25.

“Mike’s Hard Lemonade is my favorite type of alcohol to look at, followed by Whiteclaw, and finally Smirnoff, which is the least pleasant type of alcohol to look at. If the policy didn’t prohibit bringing alcohol for other guests, I would ask my senior friends to buy me some alcohol to observe but not consume during parties.”

Freebaum added that he’s managing his expectations about Amherst’s party scene “considering that the occupancy limit of the Lipton basement common room is 99 guests and that one of the hosts must live in said res-

ident hall.”

With the return of parties, students hope to take Amherst’s social scene to new heights.

“Amherst’s party scene is about to go from ‘Pretty Disappointing’ to ‘Impressively Mediocre,’” Tresplay claimed.

In terms of social life rankings, Amherst sits comfortably between Creighton University in Nebraska and Sheridan College in Wyoming. “We’ve all shown impressive restraint to this point, but now it’s time to let loose and have some fun,” Ford declared as he logged onto his 60-minute Zoom training session with the OSA.

Arts & Living 14

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Spice Spice Baby: Four Must-Try Fall Recipes Sofia Rodrigo ’24 Staff Writer Fall is one of the best times of the year — cooler weather, changing leaves, haunted houses, Halloween spirit and, most importantly, the food! This season is a wonderful time to get creative in the kitchen and whip up something delicious. The following recipes, curated from popular food blogs that embrace the changing of the seasons, are some of my favorites to make during the fall. And as an added bonus, they go hand-in-hand with other fun fall activities!

Apple Cinnamon Bread If you went apple picking like a true New Englander this season, you may be struggling with how to best use all those apples you picked. This seasonal dish is a scrumptious solution, and it’s one of my favorites to make this time of year. Sally’s Baking Addiction’s apple cinnamon bread can be enjoyed for breakfast, as a snack or as dessert! The recipe is easy to follow and calls for basic ingredients that are likely already in your kitchen. Uniquely, the recipe calls for applesauce in the batter, lending more apple flavor on top of the Honeycrisps you might have picked last weekend. The perfect combination of sugar and spice, apple cinnamon bread is a must-have this fall!

(Pro tip: for an even more enjoyable experience, pair this treat

Photo courtesy of Emma Spencer ’23E

Pumpkins are a fixture of the season, but they aren’t just for carving. Many recipes use pumpkin as as a sweet element that pairs well with warm spices. with a glass of apple cider.)

Halloween Candy Blondie For anyone with a sweet tooth like me, Halloween is a great opportunity to indulge in candy. Whether you went trick-ortreating, bought bags of candy in bulk or stocked up on the candy offerings in Valentine Dining Hall or Frost Library, chances are you have a ton of leftover candy laying around from this weekend

— perfect for easy Halloween blondies by Joy the Baker. While you can use virtually any type of candy for this recipe, my personal favorites are Kit Kats, M&M’s and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

However, be sure not to use gummy candy, which will disappear in the oven, leaving sticky burnt bits in your blondies. If you’re feeling really festive, candy corn is a fun addition that looks super

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Sofia Rodrigo ’24 presents seasonal recipes like apple cinnamon bread, a Halloween candy blondie and pumpkin cinnamon rolls.

cute. Prepare the batter, throw in all the candy your heart desires, mix it together and enjoy!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds It’s pumpkin season! If you are in the spirit and carve a pumpkin this year, make use of the leftover pumpkin seeds by making this tastefully crunchy treat! Culinary scientist and author Jessica Gavin’s recipe for roasting pumpkin seeds is easy, and the best part is getting to choose the seasoning. You can be as simple or as bold as you’d like — some may stick to the basics and use salt, while the more adventurous pumpkin seed roaster might add their own favorite spice blend.

My personal favorite is a combination of sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder for a savory kick. If you’re looking for a sweeter option, I recommend a mix of cinnamon and brown sugar. Whether you’re feeling savory or sweet, roasted pumpkin seeds are always an excellent choice to satisfy your culinary

cravings!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls The possibilities for pumpkin-infused treats are never-ending. This next recipe in particular is the epitome of fall: a pumpkin flavored twist on a classic breakfast treat. Inspired

by Charm’s recipe takes cinnamon rolls to the next level, pairing pumpkin with autumn spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. The maple cream cheese frosting adds the perfect touch of rich New England flavor to the fluffy interior of the roll.

This sweet treat is perfect for breakfast on a chilly fall morning with a cup of hot coffee!

The options are endless when it comes to autumn snacks and yummy treats. I hope you’ll feel inspired to get in the kitchen, get creative and enjoy a few of my personal favorites this fall season. Happy cooking!

Links to all recipes can be found on The Amherst Student website.

Arts & Living 15

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Slice Slice Baby: An Homage to Fruit Ninja Alex Brandfonbrener ’23 Managing Arts and Living Editor I have two memories from my childhood of playing Halfbrick’s groundbreaking 2010 game, Fruit Ninja. The first was in 2012, when Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast from Canada to the Caribbean. Like many families, the Brandfonbrener household was left without electricity. For two weeks, my brother, sister and I confronted the same biting early November temperatures as students currently face on Amherst campus.

To distract ourselves from the cold, we played Fruit Ninja. My brother’s iPhone 4S (which he could charge at school) became a little portal to normal times. Gathered around the colorful, flashing lights of the tiny screen, we chopped pineapples and coconuts by candlelight.

My other memory of Fruit Ninja is, in many ways, the opposite experience. A few months after Hurricane Sandy, my family and I went on vacation. Basking in tropical warmth, enjoying (mock) cocktails and lots of free time, the frigid power outage a few months earlier was a distant memory.

But during the lazy vacation moments when other people sunbathed, we played Fruit Ninja. There was something naughty about using that precious family time so trivially. And that made it all the more satisfying.

Here’s what you should take from

those anecdotes: no matter the circumstance, Fruit Ninja is addictive.

It’s all a part of the game design.

Halfbrick has made an app chalk full of psychological traps, ensnaring you to play “just one more game.” There are three modes of play: Classic, Zen and Arcade. It feels like Halfbrick has devoted all of their resources to Arcade Mode. All of its special features are absent in the other two modes. You might think that this is bad game design. Why make three modes when only one of them is playable?

Play a round of Arcade mode.

There’s your answer: it’s just that fun.

The structure is simple. It’s one minute of fruit slashing. One fruit slashed equals one point. But you’re not just slashing supermarket staples like apples and pears. There are three special, glowing bananas that change the nature of the game. The Freeze Banana slows down time, halting the one-minute countdown and making it easier to score combos — that is, slicing three or more fruit with a single stroke, which gives twice as many points. The Blitz Banana sends a copious amount of fruit flying onto the screen, making it easy to rack up points through combos. Finally, the Double Banana doubles any points, even additional combo points, you get during its timer.

These three power-ups are designed around encouraging the player to focus on getting combos.

Indeed, this is the way the game lets

Photo courtesy of TechAdvises.comv

Fruit Ninja, originally released in 2010, holds up as one of the best mobile games available, claims Managing Arts and Living Editor Alex Brandfonbrener ’23. you reach high scores. It’s all about combos. The first step is to quickly make combos involving at least eight fruits: say, a combo of five followed by a combo of three, or a combo of four, then three, then three.

Once this happens, the game enters a “combo blitz,” granting five bonus points and increasing the pace of the game. Then you do it all over again. Another set of combos of at least eight fruits. The combo blitz increases and increases, giving you even greater point bonuses each time. The fruit gets faster and faster, the music speeds up and the background rolls and vibrates excitedly.

The combo blitz feature is the main reason why the game is so

Photo courtesy of Blogspot

For Brandfonbrener, Fruit Ninja is a source of nostalgia. He says that the game lives up to his memories, still just as captivating as years earlier.

addictve. It requires intense focus to maintain a blitz. Fruit can be difficult to combo, requiring twisty strokes of the “blade.” If you do not make combos quickly enough, the blitz will end, and the game will slow back down. You also have to carefully avoid bombs, which immediately end your blitz and return the game to the same slow speed as the start of the round. Hitting one is the worst feeling, like stepping on a Lego.

Conversely, keeping up the blitz feels great. If you manage to have two of the special bananas active at once, both effects activate. So the fruit can be slowed by the Freeze Banana but also drastically increased in number by the Blitz Banana. This makes huge combos with more than 10 fruits possible. Pairing either of those bananas with the Double Banana still doubles your points. And having all three bananas active at once is the best feeling. It’s almost as if time stops in the real world, and all there is to do is slash those fruit.

This combo-based point system takes inspiration from traditional Japanese fighting games like “Street Fighter” and “King of Fighters.”

These games required players to string together complex sequences of button inputs to “juggle” the opposing fighter, preventing them from using their own button inputs.

Before the age of widespread household gaming consoles, people played these games in arcades, hence why I think Fruit Ninja’s Arcade mode

was named as such. But instead of intricate combinations of buttons, you simply drag your finger on the screen.

Much like how arcade games repeatedly demand coins, mobile games allow companies to make a profit through repeated microtransactions. In Fruit Ninja, you can spend “Starfruit,” the in-game currency, to buy additional power-ups.

This doesn’t require actual money, though, because you accumulate starfruit simply by playing. So there’s no reason not to buy the powerups, and so, there’s no reason to stop playing. This is a fundamental part of mobile game design. By creating the illusion of choice, the game tricks the player into thinking that they have agency.

Through its careful, challenging and captivating game design, and a physics engine that was cutting edge at the time of the game’s release, Fruit Ninja is still one of the best mobile games available, even compared to its sequel, Fruit Ninja 2.

For devoted video game fans, mobile games have a bad reputation: unfulfilling gameplay marred by microtransactions. Fruit Ninja argues against such thinking.

There’s something soothing about picking up a round or two of Fruit Ninja in the middle of the day — exactly when you should be productive — and succumbing to the pitter-pattering splashes of sliced fruit.

Arts & Living 16

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Fright Fright Baby: Top Halloween Costumes 2021 Brooke Hoffman ’23E Managing Arts and Living Editor Halloween: the time of year when the costumes come out and the creativity comes on. From classic costumes — cats, witches, athletes, characters from the beloved ‘90s sitcom, “The Office” for the third year in a row — to the new — Pitbull, President Biddy Martin with a basketball, Baby Yoda, and more — this Halloween was one for the books.

Whether you want to relive the best of this spooky season, or kickstart your costume prep for next year, we’re capping off Halloween 2021 with a rundown of this year’s top costumes. Let’s start with the celebrities.

Lizzo as Baby Yoda from “The Mandalorian” If you were on the internet at all this weekend, chances are you probably came across Lizzo’s next-level costume at some point. From the full length robe to the green body paint, singer Lizzo transformed into Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian, taking Halloween to new heights and arguably clinching the title of best Halloween costume of 2021.

Harry Styles as Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” Another star turning heads this Halloween was singer Harry

Styles. Performing at his show ‘Harryween,’ Styles dressed up as Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz.” Sporting the iconic blue and white plaid dress and ruby red slippers, Styles excited his fans and turned the stage into his own personal yellow brick road.

The Weeknd as Don Corleone from “The Godfather” One of the best-executed celebrity costumes of the year, singer The Weeknd spent Halloween as Don Corleone from “The Godfather.” Donning a suit and impressively realistic makeup, The Weeknd had this costume perfected down to a T, even taking to Instagram to show off a pretty spot on portrayal of the famous character.

Rihanna as rapper Gunna Singer and Fenti mogul Rihanna dressed up as Gunna, sporting a recent outfit of the rapper, with knee-high leather high top sneakers, tank top vest and oversized sunglasses.

Lebron James as Freddy Krueger from “A Nightmare on Elm Street” Frightening in the paint and in the costume department, Lebron James took spooky season to the next level. Dressed as Fred-

dy Krueger from “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” James’s costume captured Krueger in all his scary might and raised the bar for the celebrity costume game this year.

While these celebrities certainly deserve applause, our very own Amherst College student body gave the stars a run for their money, crafting top-notch costumes that undeniably impressed.

Suni Lee and Simone Biles What’s better than dressing up as Olympic gymnasts? Dressing up as Olympic gymnasts and getting their attention on Instagram.

Hannah Collaizo ’23 and Grace Tarantola ’23 came to compete and won the gold this Halloween, creating a look so good, it caught the attention of Suni Lee and Simone Biles, who commented on Collaizo’s Instagram post of the costume.

President Martin Playing Basketball A Halloween half-court press?

Recreating an iconic, viral photo, Emma Cape ’22 dressed up as President Martin playing basketball.

Commenting on the inspiration behind the costume, Cape explained “I think the photo of

Photo courtesy of Hannah Collaizo ‘23

Olympic dreams realized. Hannah Collaizo ‘23 and Grace Tarantola ‘23 earned a perfect 10 this Halloween in costume as Suni Lee and Simone Biles.

Biddy breaking ankles is absolutely iconic and the people loved it when I originally posted it on Twitter, so I thought ‘what better way to celebrate my last Halloween at Amherst than as the main character herself.’”

Megamind Best in Blue. Sydney Larsen ’23 went all out, transforming into the animated character Megamind.

With a full-length cape, blue facepaint, blue hairspray, and long black gloves, Larsen undeniably understood the assignment.

v Photo courtesy of Emma Cape ’22

v Photo courtesy of Sydney Larsen ‘23

Dressing up as Biddy playing basketball, Emma Cape ‘22 costume was a slam dunk.

Sydney Larsen ‘23 brought Megamind to life with her stellar costume this year.

Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox Colaizzo and Tarantola’s costume wasn’t the only one to garner the attention of celebrities this Halloween. Diana Daniels ’22 and Lisa Zheutlin ’22 recreated some photos from Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly’s notorious GQ photoshoot. Their Intstagram post was shared on Megan Fox’s own Instagram, offering further proof

Amherst students crushed the costume game this year.

Other top costumes on campus included Pitbull, the Val Dasani cans, the cast of “Squid Game,” and T-Bo from “iCarly” And if you’re looking for inspiration for next year, here’s a list of popular costumes across the country from classic to clever to straight-up comedy: - Mr. Clean - Moira and Johnny Rose from “Schitt’s Creek” - Napoleon Dynamite - “Scooby Doo” characters - Guy Fieri - Powerpuff Girls - Thing 1 and Thing 2 from “Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat” - Characters from the Mario video game franchise - The dwarfs from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” - Wanda and Cosmo from “The Fairly OddParents” - The Addams Family

Arts & Living 17

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Space Space Baby: Villeneuve’s “Dune” Falls Flat Miles Garcia ’25 Staff Writer How can a movie as expansive as Denis Villeneuve’s latest sci-fi epic “Dune” feel so small? Adapted from Frank Herbert’s hefty 1965 novel of the same name, the film version fails to translate much of the wordy, expository details of Herbert’s original source material to the big screen. Indeed, in each of Villeneuve’s new science fiction films (the previous two being “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049”), the scale of his stories have become too much for just one movie to handle. Perhaps that’s why we get a reminder within the opening minutes of “Dune” that this is just part one.

Since the world of this film is so unfathomably large, with rules that I didn’t have time to fully comprehend as an audience member who has read the book, the whole experience ends up overwhelming.

Granted, I haven’t read the original novel, which is likely just as complicated as what I watched. Am I saying the film needed to be longer than two-and-a-half hours? Not exactly. But the time we do get seems to go to waste.

Villeneuve simplifies everything in Herbert’s book to its most basic level. He doesn’t give enough attention to the characters that need it — it’s often difficult to tell which characters are more important than others, or at least who they are beneath the movie-star personas we all know and love (Timothée Chalamet, Jason Mamoa, Oscar Isaac, a disappointingly underused Zendaya). And it gives too much attention to the generic futuristic landscape on display. For that reason, the film simultaneously does both too much and too little.

The story follows Paul (Timothée Chalamet) as he learns from his mother Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) about some vague telepathic system of communication. At the same time, Paul is trying to follow in the footsteps of his father Duke Leto (Oscar Isaac), the leader of the people of Atreides on the planet Caladan. The plot really kicks into gear when Leto forfeits control

Photo courtesy of Blogography

“Dune” is acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve’s newest blockbuster film. Adapting Frank Herbert’s novel, the film suffers from a twisting, underdevelopped plot that fails to bring its numerous characters to life. over Caladan to make an alliance with the Fremen people who live on the planet Arrakis, a rich source of “spice,” a substance essential for interstellar travel.

The film does an okay job of making that nonsense I just wrote appear normal and comprehensible, which also belies the paradox of “Dune.” If it were to make these details any less digestible than they already are, it would be a complete mess. But by telling this story in such a dumbed down, simplistic way, the world of “Dune” can’t help but feel meaningless in itself.

Multiple times I wondered why this film should have more value to me than the latest “Star Wars” or even Villeneuve’s previous two films.

The effect of its compound mass of gibberish names and seemingly

useless facts is an experience that, while not annoying, needs a better reason for existing. For “Dune” to justify its presentation as a film, it would need to use the medium in a way that could not be replicated in any other art form. More than an exposition dump, and more than a visualization of things that readers of the novel have already imagined for themselves. As it stands, a simple retelling of the novel, however faithful, doesn’t really entertain me as someone unfamiliar with the original.

However, if “Dune’s” primary goal from the start of its production was to be a technical marvel for moviegoers, it definitely succeeds at that. Villeneuve’s films are always visually striking and appealing, no matter how complicated the story

and subject matter. “Dune” is no different. Every shot is careful and deliberate, creating a world that feels lived in, disconnected from the year 2021 and fully transporting us to a hypothetical 10191. Though the movie takes place mostly in a desert, Villeneuve and his cinematographer Greig Fraser find ways to effectively incorporate various color palettes. The film transitions from an orange-tinted evening in the desert to a bluish-green political meeting with ease, keeping every aspect of costume and production design feeling like they come from the same universe.

Beyond the beautiful designs showcased within each shot, “Dune” boasts exciting action sequences that combine the highwire intensity of Christopher No-

lan’s “Dunkirk” with the tangibility of the original “Star Wars” trilogy.

The booming score also does its part to imbue climactic moments with a desolate sense of dread and chaos. Having watched the film on HBOMax, I can only imagine the chills that people who saw the film in a theater must have experienced.

But to what end? For every scene of theatrical thrills that do justify its cinematic context, “Dune” has two more filled with expository dialogue and derivative thematic ramblings. It’s worth seeing for yourself at a theater with your friends, but to understand the meaning behind the madness that is contained within these 155 minutes would be a cumbersome task. For how densely packed “Dune” is on the surface, the aftertaste is surprisingly hollow.

Photo courtesy of Blogography

The film boasts impressive visuals of futuristic landscapes, a benchmark of Villeneuve’s recent high budget films. But it’s all gloss, covering a mediocre and poorly written film, says Miles Garcia ’25.

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

“

Arts & Living 18

The Indicator ×

THE STUDENT These three pieces — “Five Til Noon,” “We Sell Care,” and “A Prayer for Ella” — were initally published in The Indicator’s 2021 issue “Ecology of Care” and are presented here in colloboration with The Indicator.

“Five Til Noon” Sam Spratford ’24 The Indicator Staff Writer

I first ran a lap in a scarlet sunrise, magenta clouds parting. Do you remember the way my hands shook as I tied my shoelaces in the humid mist, double knotted?

Sprinting into the wind so quickly it was suffocating? Staring at blank, ruled lines was the same and my heart was pounding as I clutched your hand in chemistry, learning that too much oxygen could poison you. I guess there was such a thing as being too free.

I had only planned on one lap, but I squinted and turned the corner. I would catch my breath.

It did happen, you know, when I flew back to Chicago on the first straightaway and found solace in a yellow-lit chair. Massachusetts winds howled through the cracks in the stucco, but they were warmed in the space between a bed and a dresser, an alcove above my childhood radiator. You were too far away to chill me, and so I turned the last corner at a slow jog, my footsteps keyboard strokes as I steadily clicked out a novella. It did happen, you know.

I had somehow outrun the wind, now at my back; I clenched my jaw and said it would stay that way. But by nature, you’re not all that obedient, and I never was all that assertive, anyway. Now, I am

perched on the bleachers and biting away at the skin around my cuticles, like watching a televised war and feeling the hope of victory plummet from a bottomed-out stomach. Why? I remember my fate, and I am safe. Yet I stil; crane my neck back in suspense to inspect myself — a blurry figure going around and around in dizzying monotony and collapsing into the grass, swarmed by flies in the 11am sunlight.

I watch her crawl to lay under a leafy awning, a maple tree fashioned for tire swings and picnic blankets.

She’d come back the next day with these relics but for now, She slips off her shoes, the double knot unraveling like a sigh, and liquid sunlight cools burning cheeks, and the whole world exhales.

Back in my pavement-level bedroom, I invite you through open windows.

You brush against my bare shoulders and you are not a sharpened gale, but a springtime breeze — nostalgia distilled.

For this final straightaway, I will invite myself into your passenger seat, hitchhike on your pillowy back.

Promise me, and I’ll promise you, that you will come as you are.

“We Sell Care” Mikayah Parsons ’24 The Indicator Staff Writer

My gaze floats up to her lips, red and drawn into a thin line with a slight upward tilt. She speaks as she looms behind the counter, “Yes, ma’am. SO you’ve purchased the basic package, which is really just the skeleton of the work we do here.” Her eyes widen, and she flips to a random catalog page. I eyeball the receipt book next to her, still awaiting her disorganized scrawl. Her raised brows betray her Cheshire-like smile. “Is that right?”

I hesitate, stumbling slightly over the syllables. “Y-yes?” I curse the unsteadiness in my voice.

Her filed French tips reach for a pen with a feather on top. I watch with mild interest as she begins to write, but—as if on cue—her intern rushes through the front doors.

The girl is short, large red

frames sitting comfortably on her nose as she observes me. She wrinkles her nose, dropping the large box of self-care items cradled in her arms on top of the desk.

French Tips has restored the pen to its desk holder, but there’s no receipt on the counter. I blink, impatient, and prepare to ask for my money back.

“Oh, honey.” The intern walks my way, cute bob and gray pantsuit heavily influencing me. I back away from her abruptly. She pretends not to notice, grabbing my left hand.

“Don’t you know what we sell?”

Blood rushes to my cheeks, and I shift my weight slightly. “I think so.” Her lips are the same deep red color as her supervisor’s. But her dark brown skin is like my own. As if realizing this, she tilts toward me, dropping her voice low in my ear.

“They sell products for people like us. Think about it.” She gives

Original art by Hannah Zhang ‘22

my shoulder a playful nudge. “The one place with our shades too.”

My voice catches somewhere in my throat, and I set my microchip down silently. Finally, I whisper, “And how much is the premium package?”

I don’t think I imagine it. For a split second, she looks disappointed. She looks like I’ve broken her heart. She fashions a sweet smile as she recites the price, adding, “And what a little price to pay with the benefits we add.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask exactly what they sell, when French Tips returns to the conversation. “Sweetheart, didn’t you hear? We sell care here.”

I don’t question my ability to care for myself. I don’t pursue a relationship with the persevering intern. I simply buy the product that they sell.

They sell care here.

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

“

Arts & Living 19

The Indicator ×

THE STUDENT

Original art by Hannah Zhang ‘22

“A Prayer for Ella” Maggie Wu ’22 The Indicator Staff Writer Dear Ella, Tonight marks three years. I think of you as I play the piano — you were my first teacher. I think of you when I see brown Converse — the shoes you wore. I think of you as I celebrate today — my college friend’s birthday, and cut cake slices onto tea trays. You know, I met her only a few weeks after I lost you. That the universe,

or God, should paint such beautiful patterns into this canvas — it’s just wasted on someone like me.

As a child, I was an impulsive liar, excessively spoiled and self-reverential, and misanthropic to a sociopathic degree. Rarely did I bestow a compliment, let alone a kind word, on my peers, whom I found to be of inferior, frivolous intellects. It did not help that I was afraid of heights and had weak arms, so I could not join the girls in my class as they played on the monkey bars at recess, nor

did I like to run, play tetherball, wallball, or do the other humiliating exercises that they enjoyed.

From the sidelines of the playground milieu, I looked at their sweaty, pasty, underdeveloped faces as they shrieked about Disney channel shows that I had not watched, and I both envied and hated them.

I did not take naturally to other people, nor know how to love them, yet I desired to be loved.

I did not understand what was wrong with going up to a classmate and saying that they were “annoying” or insulting another one’s outfit — from a young age,

I had a proclivity towards candor over opiate pleasantries. I was rather a debased little glutton.

Still, my disdain could not possibly have extended to you.

You, l;ike a lantern in the dark, with your bushy, aureate head and sunny disposition — I saw you on the first day of second grade and I knew that I just had to be your friend — the other new, short girl. You, who showed me kindness when no one else did — was it because you loved me or because of your God? I remember your extreme fidelity, your refusal to sing the “Dreidel” song during the holiday assembly because you weren’t Jewish. And when we were supposed to bring five items that represented us in a paper bag to class, you brought your silver cross necklace: “I am a big Christ fan,” you unabashedly proclaimed. “When I was a kid, I wasn’t supposed to survive — I was born too little. I had to get seven surgeries and I almost died several times. But through God’s love, I am still here.” That was the first time I heard about your beginnings, your sufferings. You were the first person I knew who believed in anything.

God, you loved God. Your faith was blazing, you were so much better than any of us.

After all, what does a seven-year-old in white Suburbia need God for when everything we wanted was right in front of us, or available with the whisk of our parent’s credit cards? What is self-abasement to a new stuffed animal, what is suffering when we endured nothing? For your

10th birthday, you asked us all to give you old shoes so you could donate them to orphans in Haiti.

I couldn’t understand why you didn’t want anything for yourself, so I got you something anyway. At night, I think about us at summer camp, of how you wrote me a jingle to help me learn how to climb out of my bunk bed and conquer my fear of heights. God, you were so much better than us. Even back then, you were so much better.

Still, I hate your God, and your blind faith.How dare He write you a beginning and fill you with light and devotion, how dare He leave you unfinished, barre you from the best years — your college years. He cut you off in the middle of a sentence, you were here, ordering your cap and gown, and then you were gone; you never got to walk. How dare He, choking you in the hospital bed--I wonder if you died on an inhale or an exhale. I wonder if you died with God on your mind. Did you realize that it was all a ruse, or did you see the gates of Heaven?

And selfish, shallow me; silly, wicked me, who is evil and undeserving of living, was rewarded with the college acceptance season of my dreams. When you died, I had gotten everything I wanted in an Amherst acceptance letter, and I was bopping off of the walls as you were lain to rest.

And when they told me you died, I didn’t shed a tear, because nothing could dampen the high spirits of reaching my dream. And all I could think about was how you weren’t there to share in my reverie and superiority.

Sp ports Football Stuns Undefeated Wesleyan in 4OT Thriller Ian Donahue ’24 Staff Writer A marquee matchup between two members of “Little Three” surpassed all expectations, as Amherst’s football team stunned the Wesleyan Cardinals in walk-off fashion, winning in a quadruple overtime thriller on Saturday, Oct. 30.

The Mammoths came into the game looking to play spoiler against the undefeated Cardinals on the road, where they have fared well so far this season, recording a 2-1 away record. Wesleyan, on the other hand, looked to continue their 2021 dominance, entering the game with a perfect 6-0 record, having outscored their opponents 176-113 during that span, and coming off of an impressive 24-0 win against Middlebury College the week prior.

The game’s opening quarter was marked by stout defense from both teams, with both offenses going three and out on each of their first two drives. The heavy rain played a massive role throughout the game, forcing both teams to rely heavily on their run game instead of their passing attack. Defensive lineman Manni Malone ’23 was a frequently called-upon member of the Amherst defense, recording three solo tackles against the Cardinals’ rushing attack. In the slippery weather conditions, offensive yards were especially scarce, as neither unit was able to muster more than 13 yards on any drive, none of which extended beyond three-and-a-half minutes in length. Thus, after 12 minutes of football, the first quarter closed with the score remaining at 0-0.

The second quarter marked a complete shift from the offensive stagnancy of the first quarter, as the Cardinals’ offense began to find a rhythm. Following a punt by the Mammoths to open the quarter, Wesleyan put together what was arguably their best drive of the half — advancing 60 yards on 15 plays — marked by a seven-yard connection between quarterback David

Estevez and wide receiver Logan Tomlinson on a crucial fourth and four to extend the drive. However, two holding penalties on the Cardinals would prove costly, stifling any further advance and returning the ball to the Mammoths without a score. Following another three and out by the Mammoths, the Wesleyan offense maintained their rhythm, marching 42 yards on just four plays to set up a second and goal on the Amherst one-yard line. The Cardinals’ broke the deadlock on a oneyard run by tailback Charlie McPhee to put them up 7-0. The Cardinals’ extended their lead on their next drive, covering 59 yards on six plays to set up another redzone situation.

A touchdown strike from Estevez to McPhee put Wesleyan up 14-0 at the end of the first half.

However, the Amherst offense did not wait very long to respond.

Quarterback Brad Breckenridge ’24 jump-started the offense in the second half with three completions for 66 yards to put the Mammoths’ offense in the redzone for the first time all day. The offense capitalized immediately, executing a trick play to perfection, with receiver Carson Ochsenhirt ’23 connecting with fellow receiver Turner Garland ’22 on a nine-yard touchdown pass to put the Mammoths within one score.

The Amherst response was completed with efficiency they hadn’t yet achieved: in just under two minutes, the team marched 65 yards downfield in only five plays. Neither team would threaten again in the third quarter, with the Cardinals’ drives being stifled by a number of penalty calls. Three of these such penalties would almost prove beneficial for the Mammoths to close the quarter, placing them within field goal range with 1:30 remaining. However, a missed 38-yard field goal attempt would keep the score at 14-7 to close the third quarter.

The Mammoths’ defense was the one to come out firing to open the fourth quarter, stuffing a Wesleyan run to prevent a crucial third-and-

Photo courtesy of Amherst Football Parents Association

Tailback Kellen Field ’22 lowers his shoulder on a run between the tackles during the “Mud Bowl” victory against Wesleyan University. seven conversion. Linebacker Tim Swope ’24 produced a number of key tackles for the Mammoths, leading to yardage losses for the Cardinals’ offense en route to a turnover on downs. With two minutes and 26 seconds remaining in the game, the Amherst offense put together a crucial last drive. Utilizing all three of their remaining timeouts, the Mammoths’ marched 57 yards downfield in six plays, including four consecutive completions from Breckenridge. The last of these four completions was secured by wide receiver PJ Clementi ’22 on a sixyard touchdown pass to knot the game at 14 with only 17 seconds remaining on the game clock. Despite their struggles early in the game, the Mammoths’ offense made remarkable adjustments, once again summoning their fourth-quarter clutch factor, to force overtime.

Overtime marked the implementation of new NCAA overtime rules, wherein each team started their first drive on the opposing 25yard line. Starting with the ball, the Wesleyan offense threatened immediately, advancing 18 yards on three plays to set up a potential game-win-

ning situation. Once again, however, the Amherst defense would prove their might — stuffing the Cardinals on four consecutive plays to prevent the Wesleyan victory. The Mammoths’ offense was unable to capitalize on the defense’s remarkable stop, as Breckenridge’s pass was intercepted in the endzone by Cardinals’ defensive back Danny Banks, quickly ending the Mammoths’ drive.

Neither team was able to muster positive yardage for their second overtime attempt from the 25-yard line, resulting in two quick three and outs — and sending the game into triple overtime. In the third overtime, the new rule took effect, and each team began at the opposition’s two-yard line in a one-play, two-point conversion battle. Neither team scored on their first attempt, resulting in a replay (and thus, a fourth overtime period). Once again, the Amherst defense did not let up, stuffing the Wesleyan rushing attack on the goal line. On their second try, the Amherst offense mustered arguably their greatest clutch play of the season. The play began disastrously, with Breckenridge mis-

handling the snap, resulting in the mud-coated and drenched football rolling astray. Remarkably, Breckenridge immediately scampered on top of the ball, shook off a Wesleyan defender, rolled out of the pocket, and shovel-passed the ball to Ochsenhirt cap off the 16-14 walk-off victory for the Mammoths — it was their first lead of the game.

Joe Masterson ’22 paced the Amherst offense with 97 receiving yards on six receptions. Clementi added 69 receiving yards and a touchdown reception. On the defensive side, Swope led the team with 11 total tackles. Ricky Goodson ’22 added four tackles of his own, in addition to two interceptions, en route to his second consecutive NESCAC Defensive Player of the Week honor.

Moreover, Malone recorded six total tackles in addition to a sack.

Having snapped the Cardinals’ undefeated streak, the Mammoths will look to maintain their dominant form against the Trinity College Bantams (6-1), who had their own undefeated streak broken by Williams this past weekend. The Mammoths will travel to Hartford on Nov. 6, with kickoff set for 1 p.m.

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Sports 21

Women’s Soccer Downs Trinity In NESCAC Playoffs Violet Glickman ’25 Staff Writer On Saturday, Oct. 30, the top-seeded Mammoths defended their home turf against the Trinity College Bantams once again.

After the thrilling game last Tuesday between the two teams, they faced off again this past weekend in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC Championship Tournament. The league’s regular season champions started the game out strong with a corner from Corner Kick Queen™ Sophia Fikke ’22 herself (get a load of this gal, am I right?) less than a minute after kickoff. Natalie Landau ’22 recorded the first shot of the game at 1:16, which turned into a nice little double whammy with her second one coming only a minute later. The first-years dominated the seventh minute of the game with Carter Hollingsworth ’25 and Sierra Rosado ’25 both notching shots on frame within 30 seconds of each other.

The purple back line proved to be as impenetrable as ever; it wasn’t until the 11th minute that superstar Mika Fisher ’24 first got her eyes on the prize and her hands on the ball. Ruby Hastie ’22 paid homage to the absolute banger by LMFAO (ft. Lil Jon) with two rapid-fire shots, testing the Trinity keeper with her first in the 13th minute and slightly overestimating the size of the goal on second, with her well-hit shot rolling just barely wide less than a minute later.

At the 22-minute mark, Trinity managed to switch the momentum and push the Mammoths into their own half. Over the course of the next few minutes, they managed to fire off a few shots of their own, all of which avoided the goal like a first year in her Econ lecture trying to avoid the senior she matched with on Tinder the day before.

But, the Mammoths proved once again that teamwork really does make the dream work, as the flawlessly running machine that is the Amherst back line denied a header by the Trinity attack in

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Forward and team co-captain Ruby Hastie ‘22 strikes a through ball against Keene State College. Hastie scored her second overtime game-winner in as many games on Saturday, sending the Mammoths to the semifinals. the 29th minute. Hastie retaliated with another shot less than a minute later, driving blue back onto the defensive. Maya Scholnick ’22 and Abby Schwartz ’24 had chances of their own in the 30th minute, but both were blocked by the Bantam defense. In the 31st minute, Rosado fired off a kick near the top of the box that also rebounded off a Bantam defender; rumor has it the resounding thud can still be heard echoing throughout the Pioneer Valley.

To add insult to blue’s amassing pile of injuries, Isabel Stern ’23 stripped two Trinity players of both their dignity and the ball in the 34th minute, managing to win a white throw-in both times.

The run of play went back and forth between the two teams in the last 10 minutes before the whistle blew to end the half with a 0-0 score; this time though, Amherst seemed to have the better of the attacking play, notching 13 shots to Trinity’s eight.

Despite the rain beginning to come down harder, the Mam-

moths took to the pitch in the second half with their tusks held high. The Herd’s charge was led

by Landau, driving through two defenders and firing off a shot in the 47th minute. In the next 18 minutes, Schwartz, Fikke, and Landau all saw multiple shots stopped by the Trinity keeper, who, as one spectator (and clearly avid reader of the Student) put it, “really did have an affinity for round objects.”

In the 68th minute, Kim Zhou ’22 nailed a beautiful header in the midfield that dealt her Trinity opponent with a wipeout worthy of being featured in a Swiffer commercial. But Trinity managed to once again put Amherst on the defensive in the 72nd minute, with four of their 10 second-half shots coming in the next few minutes. The two teams battled for dominance, intensity rising faster than the atmospheric temperature over the past 20 years. Finally, in the 80th minute, Rosado found an opening through the Bantam defense

and sent the ball to Hastie who fired it into the net. Cheers filled the air from both the bench and the stands, but Trinity refused to give up. Less than two minutes later, the Bantam attack managed to find the back of the net to even the score at 1-1. Amherst may have been wearing white but they refused to wave the flag in surrender, as Fisher saved another attempt from Trinity to end regulation time.

With 10 minutes of overtime set on the clock, both teams returned to the pitch but purple was determined to show blue that they did not come here to play games. Only two minutes in, Fikke saw her free kick pushed over the crossbar by the Trinity keeper, then did what she does best with another corner kick that Hastie managed to get a foot on, sending a shot just high of the goal. Stern then saw her shot blocked in the 94th minute, but the Mammoth defense took the Golden Rule to heart, with Zhou blocking a shot from the Bantams

two minutes later.

Purple pushed blue back onto defense, and then, it happened.

The ball flew past the Trinity keeper into the goal, courtesy of Hastie, the crown jewel of the game and the conference, winning NESCAC Player of the Week for her performance. The scoreboard read 2-1. Screams filled the air as parka-covered players rushed the field. Enthusiastic members of the baseball and track teams followed suit, sliding down the muddy hill with more grace than Biddy’s horseback promenade during the Bicentennial party to join the celebration.

Tail feathers tucked between their legs, the Bantams accepted defeat for the second time that week as the Mammoths advanced to the NESCAC semifinals. Women’s soccer will now be hosting the rest of the championship tournament at home so, as always, roll Hitchcock Field Saturday, Nov. 6, at 11 a.m. to watch the Herd take on Middlebury College with a spot in the final at stake.

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Sports 22

Men’s Soccer Suffers Shocking Penalty-Kick Defeat Leo Kamin ’25 Staff Writer Soccer is the rare sport in which a team can thoroughly dominate a game and still lose. That is exactly what happened to the Mammoths on Saturday, Oct. 30, in the first round of this season’s NESCAC playoffs. Amherst, the number-two seed, fell to the number-seven seed Colby Mules on penalties, 3-4, despite outshooting them 21-3 in open play.

The Mammoths, who comprehensively beat the Mules 2-0 just a week earlier, came close to scoring time after time but never broke through.

Typical of a high-pressure playoff matchup, the first half was relatively cagey — with a number of

fouls on both sides of the ball and few shots. The ball-dominant Mammoths prevented the Mules from taking a single shot, but failed to produce offensive opportunities of their own at the level they typically do. They mustered just four shots in the opening 45 minutes, and forced the Mules’ keeper to make only one save.

However, the Mammoths surged forward in the second period; they took 11 shots and challenged the Colby keeper five times.

This left them slightly more open to the Mules at the back, allowing for a few offensive chances — three shots, two on net. The increased offensive pressure for the Mammoths found no outlet, though, and the teams entered the 20-minute golden-goal (sudden victory) overtime period

deadlocked.

Amherst had good looks on net in the first 10 minutes of overtime, but the Colby keeper mustered saves on three separate occasions to keep the clock running. Colby failed to take a single shot across the 20 minutes of extra-time, but they did enough to keep the game even — forcing penalty kicks.

Across two matchups, in the regular season and playoffs, the Mammoths outshot the Mules 34-5; Amherst keeper Kofi Hope-Gund ’22 was forced to make just two saves in 200 minutes of play. At the end of overtime at Hitchcock Field on Saturday, though, none of that mattered.

The Mules shot first in penalty kicks, scoring their attempt. The Mammoths responded in kind to

put the score at 1-1. Both teams made their second looks, before Hope-Gund made a full-stretch save on Colby’s Colin Sullivan attempt, opening the door for the Mammoths: if they made their last three penalties, they would be moving on.

Colby keeper Noah Jackson came up with a huge save on the third penalty, though, keeping the teams even. Both teams made their fourth attempts. Mario Simoes then put his team’s fifth attempt past HopeGund, placing the pressure on the Mammoths. Star forward German Giammattei ’22 stepped up to the spot. Bailing his team out — not for the first time in either the shootout or the game — Jackson again made the save, clinching the 4-3 win.

The Mules streamed onto the field, piling on top of their keeper.

They will continue on to face number one seed Connecticut College in the semifinals this coming weekend.

Amherst’s season may not yet be over, but the team’s most obvious route to the Division III national championships — the automatic bid that goes to the NESCAC champion — has closed.

Their regular-season record may still be good enough, though, to punch their ticket to the tournament via an at-large bid. The Mammoths fell in the NESCAC tournament the last time it was played, in 2019, but still managed to make the national playoffs — in which they made it all the way to the national championship game.

The Mammoths will learn whether or not they’ve made the tournament on Monday, Nov. 8.

Women’s Crew Medals in First Regatta Since 2019 Ethan Samuels ’23 Managing Sports Editor On Saturday Oct. 30, the Amherst women’s crew team traveled east to Worcester, Mass. to compete in the Wormtown Chase Regatta, medaling in two of their three events.

The day started early for the rowers, as the team departed from Amherst at 5:50 a.m. en route to their first competition in nearly two years. Upon arrival, the misty, cold, and wet conditions were anything but pleasant.

The Mammoths sent four boats on the water, entering one into the

Collegiate 4+ race, one in the Collegiate 8+ competition, and two into the Collegiate 8+ Novice contest.

The Collegiate 4+ boat featured Zoe Levin ’23, Tiana Hamamoto ’22, Eden Martinez ’23, and Captain Gavi Forman ’22, led by Captain Amaya Smole ’22 in the coxswain seat. After a grueling race in the rain, the squad came in second place, leaving their competitors from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and Clark University more than a full minute behind with a time of 23:28.396.

According to Levin, the team’s second-place finish marked an exciting surprise. “We were definitely the underdogs and we did shockingly

well. It was actually such a dope moment to see us cross the finish line in second place. There was a lot of adrenaline and it was the best feeling watching the rest of the team cheer us on,” Levin said.

Six boats registered for the Collegiate 8+ Novice race. Amherst and WPI each put two teams on Lake Quinsigamond and Clark and Conn College filled out the rest of the field.

The majority of the Mammoths in this race had no rowing experience.

Lucy Merickel ’23 and Cayla Weiss ’23, who were on the team in 2019, led the way on the first boat, surrounded by Carla Mattaliano ’24, Isabel Davis ’24, Julia Woodword ’24,

Gillian Campbell ’24, Ellie Kerns ’24, Fiona Anstey ’24, and Brooke Alexander ’24.

Merickel and Weiss’s boat began second in the race’s staggered start, with the team chasing WPI’s A-boat from the onset. By the time the Mammoths crossed the finish line, they had cut WPI’s initial headstart in half, knowing they had bested at least one opponent. Soon, however, the squad found out they had won the race outright.

Weiss attributes the win to a strong season of fall practices. “The focus of most of our practices has been working on timing and keeping the boat balanced. Considering

the less than ideal weather conditions, it worked very well and everyone was doing their part,” Weiss said.

She also emphasized that the chemistry on the boat was special during the 22-minute race. “There was great atmosphere on the boat the entire way through, and it was a fun surprise to win. Everyone was doing a really good job supporting one another. The captains Gavi and Amaya have done a great job fostering a great community on the team,” Weiss continued.

The team will compete next in the spring semester as they look to build on their dual-medal fall performance.

Beth Williamson ’23E took a shot on goal, but it was saved by the Bowdoin goalkeeper. At the end of the first period, the score stood at 1-0, with Sara Nidus ’24 holding her own in goal for the Mammoths.

Lacking an offensive spark through the first, Amherst would need to ramp up its energy in the following quarters if the team hoped to overcome Bowdoin’s 1-0 lead.

The second period contained strong defensive play. In the 24th minute, Bowdoin midfielder and forward Maya Malenfant fired a

shot on goal, but it was saved by Nidus. She blocked another Polar Bear attempt on goal in the final moments of the second period.

Despite allowing a goal early in the first, Nidus became an impenetrable wall in front of the net as the game wore on.

The third period did not feature an offensive breakthrough for either team. The quarter consisted mostly of back-and-forth play between the teams, and no shots on goal were taken until the final moments of the period. However, in

the 44th minute, Bowdoin’s Caroline Higgin’s earned a penalty corner after an Amherst foul. This shot missed, but it allowed Bowdoin’s Georgie Coetzer another on-goal opportunity — which was blocked by an Amherst defender.

In contrast to the game up to that point, action ramped up in the fourth and final period. Responding to a flurry of Polar Bear shots, Nidus performed exceptionally well, making deft saves in the 46th, 47th, and 50th minutes. Having struggled to find scoring opportu-

nities all game, Amherst still found itself in a position to tie up the game in the final 10 minutes. Shots on goal by Abbey Kays ’25 in the 55th minute and Beth Williamson in the 59th minute were saved by the Bowdoin keeper. Despite their attempt at a final push, the Mammoths fell just short, losing the tough defensive match 1-0. The loss marks the end of Amherst’s season, which ended with a respectable 11-5 record. The team will return to action in 2022, surely hoping to compete for the NESCAC title.

Field Hockey Suffers Season-Ending Loss to Bowdoin Luke Padian ’24 Staff Writer

Coming off a tough loss against Trinity the week prior, Amherst field hockey hoped to start off the NESCAC tournament with an upset over the Bowdoin Polar Bears this past Saturday, Oct. 30 in Lewiston, Maine.

Despite a valiant effort, the squad came up just short. Bowdoin started the scoring early with a quick goal in the first two minutes.

In the eighth minute, Amherst’s

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Sports 23

Shockwaves in the NHL After Hawks’ Sexual Assault Scandal Alex Noga ’23 Staff Writer Content Warning: Sexual Assault This past May, a former Chicago Blackhawks player filed a lawsuit against the the team alleging that he and a teammate were sexually assaulted by the team’s video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010, and that the team completely ignored their claims. The Blackhawks’ initial response was to dismiss the allegations as baseless — the team has spent the last five months attempting to find loopholes to get themselves out of the situation.

However, the results of an independent investigation conducted by the law firm Jenner & Block released on Tuesday, Oct. 26, found that senior Blackhawks executives held a meeting to discuss the allegations shortly after they were reported and deliberately chose to keep them quiet so as not to distract from the remainder of the postseason. The report has led to a number of resignations from high-level team executives who were present for the meeting, and the aftermath has shaken the whole league’s core, prompting questions about the NHL’s commitment to accountability and the safety of its players.

The events described in the lawsuit took place during the 2009-10 season, during which the Blackhawks went on to win their first Stanley Cup since 1961. The plaintiff, who was originally listed as “John Doe” but just this week revealed himself to be Canadian winger Kyle Beach, claims that Aldrich, who was employed as a video coach at the time, got Beach drunk and tried to perform oral sex on him.

Beach reported Aldrich’s behavior to skills coach Paul Vincent, who was formerly in law enforcement, just before the start of the Western Conference Finals. Vincent subsequently informed the team’s leadership group, which consisted of team president John McDonough, general manager Stan Bowman, vice president of hockey operations Al MacIsaac and mental-skills coach James Gary, and he advised the group to thoroughly investigate the situation in accordance with team policy and

file a report with the Chicago Police.

However, no report was ever filed. The meeting to discuss the allegations was held on May 23, 2010 following the Blackhawks’ series win against the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals, in which the aforementioned leadership group was present, along with executive vice president Jay Blunk, assistant general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and Head Coach Joel Quenneville. At a minimum, all who were present were informed of the allegations.

A discussion took place during this meeting regarding whether it was the right time to address the allegations in light of the upcoming Stanley Cup Final. The report notes that McDonough and Quenneville cited the challenge of reaching the finals and a desire to focus on the team and their task at hand. Ultimately, no action was taken, and Aldrich was allowed to continue his duties as video coach for the Western Conference Finals and the six games of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. After the Blackhawks won, Aldrich was allowed to pose with the team on the ice with the cup following their overtime victory in Game Six, was present for the team’s Cup parade in Chicago and is in the official team photo from the morning of the parade. Aldrich was also allowed to have a day with the Cup, as all members of the winning organization are, and his name is still engraved on the Cup to this day. Following the parade, Aldrich quietly left the team and, from the Blackhawks perspective, was never heard from again.

After leaving the team following the 2010 season, Aldrich joined the coaching staff of a boys high school hockey team in Houghton, Michigan as a volunteer assistant coach. An extraordinarily unusual step down from the NHL, Aldrich claimed to be burnt out by the massive commitment that the NHL requires. His first stint was incident free, and he later took a job as a video coach for the Miami (Ohio) University hockey team in 2012, only to abruptly leave the team after only four months on their coaching staff. The details as to why he chose to leave are unclear, although Miami University has con-

ducted their own investigation of Aldrich’s conduct while working for the school in the time since the allegations against him have surfaced.

Following his time at Miami, Aldrich returned to Houghton to once again work as a volunteer coach for the 2012-13 season. But this stint was not like the first: in December 2013, Aldrich pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct with a student between 16 and 18 years old.

He was sentenced to nine months in Houghton County Jail and five years of probation and is now a registered sex offender in Michigan. A second lawsuit against the Blackhawks was filed in May of this year by Aldrich’s victim in Houghton, alleging that the Blackhawks organization failed to properly respond and investigate the allegations of sexual assault against Aldrich and chose to provide positive references for future employers.

Beach came forward publicly as “John Doe” on Wednesday, Oct. 27, the day after the results of the investigation were released, in a comprehensive but difficult-to-watch interview with TSN. In the interview, Beach said that he chose to pursue legal action after learning about the teenage victim in 2013. He added that he feels like he didn’t do enough to bring Aldrich to justice and that the abuse of the 16-year-old was somehow his fault.

Beach was only 20 years old at the time of the assault and was just a “Black Ace,” a minor league player who was called up for the playoffs and was likely not going to be playing in any games, barring major injuries to other players. Beach was an up-and-coming prospect — the 11th overall pick in the 2008 NHL draft — but his promising career was entirely derailed by the attempted assault. In training camps following the 2010 season, Beach was constantly associated with having character issues and was deemed lazy by his coaches.

He also spoke of being the recipient of hurtful homophobic comments from his teammates, alleging that virtually every member of the team knew about the situation. Beach never played a game in the NHL and is currently playing in a third-tier league in Germany at the age of 31.

The events that took place during

Photo courtesy of Sarah A

Blackhawks players and coaches watch from the bench during a stoppage in a regular season game. the 2010 season were obviously drastically life altering for Beach. “I buried this for 10 years, 11 years, and it’s destroyed me from the inside out,” said Beach in the interview, his voice cracking. “I felt like I was alone and there was nothing I could do and nobody I could turn to for help.” He also noted that he turned to alcohol and drugs at one point in his life as a way to numb the pain and acted out in ways that he otherwise never could have imagined doing.

When the results of the investigation were made public, both Bowman and MacIsaac, who were still with the Blackhawks, resigned from their positions on Oct. 26.

Quenneville, who at the start of this season was the head coach of the currently unbeaten Florida Panthers, has also stepped down, though he waited until Thursday, Oct. 28 after coaching in the Panthers game on Wednesday night. The investigative report evidently was not enough to cause Quenneville to step down, as the interview with Beach, in which Beach indignantly called Quenneville out for believing that “trying to win a Stanley Cup was more important than sexual assault,” seems to be what sparked his resignation.

Quenneville is currently second in wins among coaches in NHL history, behind only general manager Stan Bowman’s father Scotty, and was beloved in Chicago, but his obsession with winning over everything else essentially nullifies what should have been a lasting legacy. Earlier this year, Quenneville was steadfast in his assertion that he was unaware of Aldrich’s actions the entire time he was

employed by the Blackhawks organization, and he even wrote a glowing performance review for Aldrich following the 2010 season.

The only other executive who was present in the 2010 meeting and still currently works in the NHL is Cheveldayoff, who is now the general manager of the Winnipeg Jets.

Following a meeting with NHL commissioner Gay Bettman on Friday, the league released a statement concluding that Cheveldayoff is not responsible for the decisions made by the Blackhawks and thus will not face any disciplinary actions.

The Chicago Blackhawks are one of the most storied franchises in the NHL. An Original Six team, the Blackhawks were nothing short of a powerhouse in the early 2010s, winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. All of these victories are now greatly tarnished, as it is clear that the organization placed team success above the safety of individual players. The league now faces a critical juncture concerning how best to proceed.

As Beach said in his interview, “The NHL has let me down and they’ve let down others as well, but they continue to try and protect their name over the health and the well-being of the people who put their lives on the line every day to make the NHL what it is.” The Blackhawks and the NHL failed Beach in a way that cannot be repaired, and the league will continue to fail its players unless concrete steps are taken to enact structural changes rather than simply issuing empty statements regarding the matter.

The Amherst Student • November 3, 2021

Sports 24

Amherst XC Starts Postseason with Two Top-10 Finishers Anya Ramras ’22 Staff Writer The NESCAC Cross Country Championships were held at Wickham Park in Manchester, Conn. this past Sunday, Oct. 31. Each race consisted of 11 different teams, with the men’s team finishing in sixth place and the women’s team finishing in fifth place. Owen Daily ’23 and Mary Kate McGranahan ’23 both finished in eighth place and left the course with All-NESCAC honors.

Starting with the men’s race, the Mammoths finished in sixth place overall, recording an average time of 26:13.18. There were 146 runners who completed the eight kilometer course, and Daily finished in eighth place with a time of 25:24.0.

Daily’s performance is even more impressive given the fact that his time improved by over 24 seconds since his last race at the Connecticut College Invitational (25:48.5). Daily commented on the race and his performance: “NESCACs was a true cross country course with difficult hills and muddy terrain, but I felt prepared from all the work I put in this summer and fall. My finish proves that all the effort I put in for years was worth it, and despite [the] setbacks I was able to run my best race when it counted most.”

Two seniors in their final NESCAC Championships, Billy Massey ’22 and Ajay Sarathy ’22, finished strong and crossed the finish line together with times of 26:16.5 and 26:18.9 for 26th and 28th place, respectively. Not far behind them, Oliver Spiva ’24 finished in 39th place with a time of 26:33.0, Nick Edwards-Levin ’25 came in 40th with a time of 26:33.5, and Braedon Fiume ’24 crossed the line right after in 41st place with a time of 26:33.9. Spencer Davis ’22 finished in 74th place with a time of 27:20.3, and Daniel Martin ’25 notched a time of 27:24.6. Fellow first-year Alex Rich ’25 was the last Mammoth to place in the top 100 runners, recording a time of 27:50.2.

Next across the line were Keon Mazdisnian ’23, Fritz Lalley ’25, Bobby Innes-Gold ’22, and Luke Munch ’25, who finished with times of 27:57.0, 28:03.9, 28:07.0, and 28:28.4 respectively. Ben Callon ’25 was the final Mammoth for the men to cross the finish line, with a time of 30:01.5.

Moving on to the women’s race, 144 runners completed the six-kilometer competition, with one top 10 finish from McGranahan. McGranahan’s stellar race helped the women’s team finish in fifth place overall, with an average time of 24:59.06.

McGranahan was awarded

GAME SCHE DULE

All-NESCAC for her impressive time of 23:53.2 and her eighth place finish. McGranahan reflected, “It was one of the toughest courses I’ve ever seen, it was very hilly and the whole course was muddy from the week of rain so you sank into the mud especially on the hills. It was really a day where you just had to keep your head up and keep pushing through it because the course never let up.”

“NESCACs is always a meet with a lot of energy so that helped a lot out, Amherst had a lot of people out cheering which I really appreciated and to be running against some of your biggest rival schools/ best schools in the country, as well as knowing that every place I passed would help my teammates is really what kept me moving on a tough day,” she added. “I was excited about my finish, my goal was to go out hard, try to not lose sight of the lead pack and just be competitive with them because I knew this was a pack I’d been chasing this season. I’m hoping to carry the competitive energy into regionals and know the rest of the squad has some big races ahead of them too.”

Sophia Price ’25 and Julia Schor ’25 followed close behind McGranahan with logging times of 24:50.7 and 25:58.4. Sole senior finisher Eline Laurent ’22 claimed 42nd place with a time of 25:26.5.

Photo courtesy of Ian Dopp

The women’s cross country team huddles before NESCAC Championships this past Sunday.

Claire Callon ’25 ran a 25:46.5 time for 53rd place, and Annika Paylor ’24 crossed the finish line at 26:30.2.

About the race, Paylor noted, “The course and conditions were super tough, very hilly and muddy. Since the guys raced first, it was pretty torn up by the time the women were on the course. It definitely wasn’t our best day as a team, but we also had some solid individual performances.”

Rounding out the scoresheet for Amherst in 85th place, Sidnie Kulik ’25 crossed the line in 26:43.7; soon after, Margo Pedersen ’25 finished in 26:53.0, and Sylvan Wold ’25 finished with a time of 27.33.4.

In two weeks, the top seven

highest scoring runners for Amherst will be competing in the NCAA Regionals at Harkness Park in Waterford, Conn. On the women’s team, Kulik, McGranahan, Schor, Price, Laurent, and Callon are set to run, with the seventh spot still up in the air, with the runner to fill it depending on injuries and how training goes this week. On the men’s team, Daily, Sarathy, Massey, Mazdisnian, Dassin, Spiva, and Edwards-Levin will be competing. Having just run the same course two weeks ago at the Connecticut College Invitational, the Mammoths are more than prepared to record excellent times once again.

SAT

SUN

Women’s Soccer vs Middlebury, 11 a.m.

Women’s Soccer NESCAC Finals, 12 p.m.

FRI

Football @ Trinity, 1 p.m.

Volleyball NESCAC Finals, Time TBD.

Volleyball vs. Middlebury @ Bowdoin, 7:30 p.m.

Volleyball NESCAC Semifinals, Time TBD.