Issue 14

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THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

VOLUME CXLIII, ISSUE 14 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014

Jim Larimore Announces Decision to Step Down as Dean of Students

Sophie Murguia ’17 Managing News Editor

Several students gathered in front of Converse Hall on Tuesday said they were concerned that students had not been consulted in the search for a new administrator to take over Larimore’s duties.

Sophie Murguia ’17 Managing News Editor Jim Larimore stepped down from his position as Dean of Students in an unexpected move announced Monday evening.

Although no new Dean of Students has been named, former Athletic Director Suzanne Coffey has assumed the position of Chief Student Affairs Officer, taking on many of Larimore’s previous responsibilities. Larimore will remain at Amherst as an advisor to President Biddy Martin until the end of the academic year. Don Faulstick, formerly the associate athletics director, has assumed the job of Interim Athletic Director.

Larimore, who held the Dean of Students position for less than a year, e-mailed the campus community on Monday to say that he had chosen to leave his post. He described the choice as “a very difficult personal decision.”

“I have come to realize that implementing changes in the organization, staffing and management of the Dean of Students Office — changes that are necessary and that I support — would also mean, for me, increasingly and indefinitely moving away from the more personal aspects of

being a dean that I love the most,” said Larimore in his e-mail.

Both Martin and Provost Peter Uvin later said that Larimore’s decision was born out of a realization that the job was not a good fit for him. Uvin characterized Larimore’s departure as “Dean Larimore deciding to move on to a job that better fits his many talents.”

Larimore could not be reached for further comment regarding his decision.

An hour after Larimore’s e-mail, Martin sent out an e-mail of her own naming Coffey to the newly-created student affairs position. Martin said that Larimore had been on board with changes that needed to be made in student affairs and echoed Larimore’s characterization of his decision as “personal.”

Larimore “has set some changes in motion, but there are others that still await our full attention,” said Martin. “We cannot afford the time it would take to conduct a lengthy search, nor can we afford a brief interim solution.”

Martin presented Coffey’s appointment as a response to this “urgent need for change.” Coffey has been appointed to the student affairs job for a two-year term.

“I will oversee the immediate review of all aspects of student life at Amherst,” said Coffey in an e-mail to The Student. “My charge is to accelerate the pace of change in key areas where structural and policy reform is needed.”

In her e-mail, Martin said that Uvin will be assisting Coffey in her new position. She later clarified that Uvin’s assistance will be informal and that he will provide the kind of help a provost would normally provide to a student affairs officer. The responsibilities of the Provost job will not change.

“I don’t really know very concretely yet how I will assist Suzanne Coffey,” Uvin said. “It remains to be determined as her and the office’s needs warrant. Obviously, I will assist her through general brainstorming, also bringing in ideas from strategic planning as they emerge.”

As to Larimore’s role, Martin later clarified what his responsibilities will be as her advisor.

“Jim has identified a consultant that we will use to help with the implementation of changes in the Dean’s Office and in the broad area of student affairs,” she said. “In addition to the consultant’s Continued on Page 3

New Party Policy Hopes to give Students More Options Sitina Xu ’16 News Section Editor The College recently launched a new party policy that makes easier to reserve and plan parties in public common room spaces.

The changes to the policy came after December’s Crossett Christmas event caused severe overcrowding in the four social dorms. The new party policy is just one step in addressing unsafe party conditions; yesterday the AAS held an open meeting to discuss how to make parties safer.

Former Dean of Students Jim Larimore sent out an e-mail explaining the new policy on Jan. 22.

“We want to make it easier for students to register and host parties in a variety of residential and non-residential locations, to give students greater autonomy and responsibility for hosting safe parties, and to give us all some time to gain experience with these changes as we consider possible future adjustments or refinements to College policies,” said Larimore.

The major update to the new party policy is the simplification to the process of registering parties.

“First, you reserve a space with an RC, which will take a couple of days, and then submit an online form to Dean Fatemi,” said AAS President George Tepe. The updated and clarified online form asks hosts to list all the party sponsors (one for every 50 people), the time of the party and whether it has a Bring Your Own Beer (BYOB) Option. At parties with a BYOB option students 21 and over will be able to bring their own beer and wine to consume. Hard liquor is prohibited, and the BYOB option is available only for parties with 99 or fewer guests.

“The reason we went with the 99 or less is that if there is more than 100 at a dance party, then you need a crowd manager at the party,” said Interim Dean of Student Conduct Susie Mitton Shannon, referring to a mandatory provision in Massachusetts crowd manager law.

Additionally, alcohol is now permissible in public common rooms without a Training for Intervention Procedures (TIPS)-certified server, provided that guests bring their own beer and wine.

Continued on Page 2

Catherine Epstein Named New Dean of Faculty Evelyn Ting ’17 and Sophie Murguia ’17 Staff Writer and Managing News Editor Catherine Epstein, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of History, will become the College’s next Dean of the Faculty on July 1. President Biddy Martin announced Epstein’s appointment in an e-mail to the campus community dated Jan. 27.

Epstein will replace Gregory R. Call, the Peter R. Pouncey Professor of Mathematics, who has decided to return to teaching full-time after an eleven-year term as Dean of the Faculty. President Martin announced Dean Call’s decision to step down in an e-mail in October.

“I came to Amherst with the desire to teach,”

said Dean Call in an interview. “After eleven years I feel it is time to pass the role onto another colleague.”

In the intervening months, a search committee chaired by John Servos and comprised of Professors Amrita Basu, Sandi Burkett, Michael Hood and David Scheider identified three finalists for the Dean of the Faculty job. They presented their choices to Martin, who elected to offer the position to Professor Epstein.

“I was pretty surprised, but it was very exciting,” said Epstein of her reaction to the offer. “I didn’t think that I’d be chosen necessarily, but it’s a great honor to be chosen, and I’m delighted to be working with President Martin and Provost

Uvin.”

Epstein “will be leading the faculty during a period of renewal, occasioned in part by retirements and in part by a modest expansion recommended by the 2006 report of the Committee on Academic Priorities,” said History Professor John Servos, who chaired the search committee. Epstein has previously chaired the Committee on Priorities and Resources, and the Fellowships Committee. She is also the current chair of the History Department. Epstein comes from a family of historians who study Germany.

“I was always really interested in German history,” Epstein said. “You could say that it was a failure of imagination to become a historian, because

it was almost the family business.”

She has published three books related to twentieth-century German history.

As Dean of the Faculty, Epstein wants to place more emphasis on professional development for professors at the College. She also wants to help faculty members achieve greater work-life balance.

Epstein has previously worked in this field to ensure that faculty giving birth receive a full semester of leave from teaching.

Epstein said she looks forward to her new role.

“Amherst College is in good shape,” she said.

“What I’m looking to do is improve things in little ways that should make it a better place for faculty.”

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News

“I feel like more people of color should pursue things that interest them even when are seemingly difficult.”

Nicholas Ball, Fresh Faculty Page 3

Jan. 28, 2014 to Feb. 3, 2014

>>Jan. 28, 2014 6:27 p.m., Hitchcock House An officer investigated a smoke detector sounding in a first-floor room and found it was caused by use of a candle. The resident was fined $100. >>Jan. 30, 2014 05:40 p.m., Converse Hall Officers responded to a report of a man sleeping in a second-floor office.

He was identified and it was determined that he was authorized to be in the office. >>Jan. 31, 2014 12:49 p.m., Valentine Dining Hall An employee reported an incident between himself and another employee. A report was taken and the person’s supervisor was notified.

10:42 p.m., Charles Pratt Dormitory Officers responded to a noise complaint at a second floor room and located several people with alcohol. The non-residents were directed to leave and the alcohol was disposed of. >>Jan. 31, 2014 10:53 p.m., Charles Pratt While responding to a noise complaint at a second-floor room, officers confiscated alcohol because the residents of the room were underage.

The matter was referred to the Dean’s Office. >>Feb. 1, 2014 1:02 a.m., Keefe Campus Center Officers responded to a report of several intoxicated people in the building.

They were gone when officers arrived.

2:34 a.m., Morris Pratt Dorm A resident reported that while away from his unlocked room, someone entered the room and splashed liquid Nyquil over a desk, clothes, books and a wall.

1:04 a.m., Hitchcock Upon returning to Hitchcock House for additional noise complaints where a “small party” was registered, officers discovered the building overcrowded and evidence of hard alcohol in addition to beer available. Officers spent a significant amount of time shutting down the event and clearing the house. >>Feb 2, 2014 1:21 a.m., Tennis Courts A community service officer reported fireworks being set off in the area of the tennis court parking lot. Because of a high volume of calls at the time, no police officer was available to respond.

12:46 a.m., Hitchcock While at Hitchcock House for a noise complaint, officers were notified by a resident that she had been hit in the face by another student. The incident was investigated and the matter was referred to the Dean’s Office.

5:45 a.m., Seelye House While checking the house after a registered party, an officer found evidence of excessive amounts of alcohol. There were empty cases of beer, bottles of hard alcohol and an empty ten-gallon container that once contained an alcoholic beverage. Chocolate syrup was also found all over the floor near an entryway. The matter was referred to the Dean’s Office.

3:22 p.m., Porter House An officer responded to a report of loud males and females in the first floor women’s room at Porter. It was discovered students were working on a theater class film.

12:12 p.m., Bike Path A caller reported an unusual encounter with a man while on the bike path.

An officer checked the area but the man could not be located.

>>Feb. 3, 2014 1:48 a.m., Pond Dormitory Officers and the Fire Department responded to an alarm in a second-floor suite and found it activated when a non-resident set a paper bag on fire.

The person was fined $200 and the matter was referred to the Dean’s Office.

>>Feb. 2, 2014 12:10 a.m., Valentine Dining Hall Three students were observed engaged in destructive behavior. They were identified and the matter was referred to the Dean’s Office.

2:00 a.m., Pond While investigating a fire alarm at a second floor suite, an officer discovered a small bag of marijuana in the common room. The matter was referred to the Dean’s Office.

Reported Incidences of Sexual Assualt At the beginning of every month, The Amherst Student will print incidences of sexual assault as reported in the Clery Report during the previous month. Except for the month in which the assault occurred, all details of the incidences will be omitted to protect the identities of the victims.

Amherst College Police have received a report that in the fall of 2013 a sexual assault took place on campus. A male person, whose identity is not known to Amherst College, allegedly assaulted a female student late at night in a public space. It was reported that the alleged perpetrator did not have a personal relationship with the female student.

A report of a sexual assault that occurred in the Fall of 2008 was reported to a member of the Title IX Team. Amherst Police have also been advised of the report.

Anyone that may have witnessed the incident or may have information is asked to contact the Amherst College Police at 413-542-2291.

Resources and information regarding Sexual Misconduct are available on the College’s Sexual Respect and Title IX webpage here: https://www.amherst.edu/aboutamherst/sexual_respect

Linen Fire in Valentine Sparks Quick Response Emmett Knowlton ’15 Editor-in-Chief Amherst Fire Department (AFD) arrived on scene late Monday night in response to to a pulled fire alarm within Valentine Dining Hall after three students noticed smoke coming from within the dining area. While cutting through the Dining Hall on their way back from a mock trial meeting, juniors Dan Kang and Joy Huang and sophomore Sirvet Bayimli immediately smelled smoke and quickly called Amherst Campus Police.

“We thought initially that it was from the leaf blower at the entrance,” said Bayimli of the smoke. “But after walking into the atrium we noticed the dining hall was foggy and decided to call the police.”

Huang, who made the call to campus police at 11:59 p.m., was told immediately to pull the box fire alarm located within the building.

“Within minutes of the alarm triggering, police cars began swarming in and blocking off the area as fire trucks followed shortly after,” said Huang.

Although neither AFD nor Amherst College Police could be reached for comment, according to Amherst local Larry Kelley, the editor of local blog Only in the Republic of Amherst — the fire began in a hamper of clean linens and was quickly extinguished.

In all, AFD Engines 1, 2 and 3 (Student Force) responded on site, along with an ambulance, AFD Chief Nelson and two assistant chiefs. Several town and College police officers were also on sight, as were the students forced to evacuate from their rooms in the upper floors of the building.

Although the entire situation lasted approximately an hour and a half, according to Bayimli, students outside were never made explicitly aware of the situation within the building.

“I was surprised that neither campus police nor the fire department gave students anye explanation about the incident,” Bayimli said.

In compliance with Massachusetts State Law, Valentine Dining Hall is equipped with multiple sprinkler systems. However, the heat of Monday night’s fire never reached a temperature high enough to trigger their activation.

Body Found Saturday on Smith College Campus Brendan Hsu ’15 Editor-in-Chief On Saturday, Feb. 1 at around 1:30 p.m., a body was found on Smith College’s campus.

The man was identified the next day as Kyle William Amidon, 35, of Florence. An official statement from the college said that the body was found by a student near the Japanese tea

hut, and that he has no official affiliation with the college.

Though the circumstances of Amidon’s death are being investigated by police, the Northwestern District Attorney has stated that foul play is not suspected. Smith College affirms that if a threat to their campus should ever be suspected, the community would be alerted via mass notification.

Students Register Parties Under Revamped Policy Continued from Page 1 In order to guarantee a space and properly register a weekend party, party sponsors should start planning by Tuesday evening by first reserving the space through the RC, then filling out a form detailing party sponsors, time, location and party options. Dean Fatemi then reviews the form.

Tepe said that hosts must “give a good faith” effort to sponsor responsible parties.

“It is our expectation that party sponsors will be proactive in addressing underage drinking, noise complaints, and crowding, thereby negating the need for police involvement,” said College Police Chief John Carter. “The police will continue to address underage drinking as we always have, holding the individual responsible. In terms of noise complaints, we will give sponsors an opportunity to address noise without having the event ended. Egregious violations (e.g. widespread underage drinking, gross overcrowding) will still result in an event being ended.”

Several parties have already been registered under the new policy, the first one occurring the weekend the policy was launched in the basement of Crossett. Richard Park ‘16, one of the party sponsors, said he is happy with how it went.

“The only concern the school was when campus police made their rounds early in the morning and the area wasn’t cleaned up yet, and they found a hard alcohol bottle,” Park said. “I told

Dean Mitton Shannon the deadline for cleaning up is noon, so we made sure to clean the party up before then. As for the hard alcohol, it wasn’t ours and we didn’t provide alcohol that night, so we weren’t sure how we are going to safeguard that.”

Ultimately, AAS leaders and administrators say the new party policy aims to stimulate a culture change by shifting the dispersing the social scene across campus, instead of only at the social dorms.

“I hope this opens up more opportunities so that there will be a more vibrant social scene but being able to have many of these small gatherings happening throughout campus where students don’t feel like the only option is to go into the social dorms,” Dean Mitton Shannon said.

Michelle Nessen ‘14, who attended a registered party at Hitchcock, agreed.

“I’m excited to be able to go back to spaces like Hitchcock,” Nessen said. “My freshmen year it was a lot happened there, and I think since then there has been a decline in parties and social gatherings in the Triangle.”

The new party policy gives students more options and a greater freedom to plan their party.

But Tepe emphasized that with these new selections come new responsibilities.

“I think the administration has put a lot of trust in the students, more so than they ever have,” Tepe said. “So there is a big responsibility and the student body needs to step up and be responsible for the parties. I know we can do that.”

The Amherst Student • February 5, 2014

News 3

AAS Election Candidate Statements Senator for the Class of 2015: Amani Ahmed Hi 2015! My name is Amani and I’m running for the Class of 2015 Senate. Not including the semester I was away from Amherst, I’ve been on Senate my entire time at Amherst. I have the experience necessary to continue the meaningful work I have done as a Senator. I was a member of Budgetary Committee — the committee that allocates funds to student clubs on campus, in addition to the First-Year/Orientation and the Appointments Board committees. I have always worked to be both a dedicated and an approachable senator — and your vote will allow me to continue that. Vote for me!

Kyra Ellis-Moore Hello! I’m running to represent the Class of 2015. Last semester I studied abroad in South Africa, which was a great experience, but has made me excited to return to campus and

continue work that I started as a senator my freshman year. I am heartened by the progress that Amherst has made over the past couple of years promoting mental health, grappling with sexual misconduct, and increasing resources for students, but much more needs to be done.

I am ready to work tirelessly for the cause and would love the opportunity to do so as a senator! Thank you.

Andrew Hurn Hi, my name is Andrew Hurn, I’m a Biology major and a contributor to various campus organizations. Amherst has changed a great deal in our time here, a lot of that credit goes those in the AAS that have served earlier. They have done so much for our class, and I want to do my part and contribute to making Amherst a more perfect community. I’m running as a senator because I am a confident, capable and enthusiastic leader, with a voice to share and an ear to lend to

every member of the class of 2015.

Christina Won I’ve spent my time here trying my best to make small contributions to our campus community. During my two years on Senate, my favorite project was coordinating a successful outreach campaign to increase women and varsity athlete members in the 2013-14 Senate. I loved the chance to work towards what felt like a more complete picture of the Amherst community, and I’d love to keep working in similar ways to serve you and our campus. Thanks and happy spring semester!

Member of the Judiciary Council: Johnathan Appel ‘16 My name is Johnathan Appel and I’m running for the available at-large seat of the Judiciary Council. As a member, I’ll be excited to work with the JC chair and the other members

on a proposed revitalized involvement of the Council into AAS activities. I will help codify and streamline the process of the continuous review and recognition necessary for our students groups to function and connect with the AAS’s resources. I’m eager to gain a full understanding of the AAS’s laws and constitution and work with the other branches to ensure transparency and efficiency for the student body.

Savannah West ‘15 Hello! My name is Savannah West and it would be an honor to serve as a member of the Judiciary Council for this semester. If elected for this position, I would work tirelessly to understand the letter and spirit of our Constitution and to encourage efficient legal procedures in the AAS. I can and will serve the Judiciary Council and student body with reasoned judgement, integrity, and zeal. Vote for Savannah for Judiciary Council!

Introducing Fresh Faculty Larimore Steps Away from

Nicholas Ball Department of Chemistry Born in Chattanooga, Tenn., Ball’s fascination with Chemistry started in his early days and followed him from Macalester College, where he received his BA in Chemistry, to Univ. of Michigan- Ann Arbor (Masters) and California Institute of Technology where he received his PhD. Q: How did you begin studying your subject?

A: Our elementary school had this scholastic book club, and I purchased a space-rock crystal kit that had a solution you could place a rock into to form crystals. I didn’t know at the time, but it was essentially organic chemistry at work, using a saturated solution to form crystals! It basically built from there.

Q: Did you major in Chemistry at College?

A: I went in there planning to do bio, and like most science students, I was convinced I would do pre-med and become a doctor. During a summer science program much like the one here, a chemistry professor took interest in me and invited me into his lab. His interest in me really got me initially fascinated. People should be able to ask questions, know how to take things apart and put them back together. I just liked trying to understand the things that go on around me. On a separate note, I feel like more people of color should pursue things that interest them even when they are seemingly difficult, and get those credentials that let them do the things they want without being secondguessed.

Q: Tell us about your organometallics and catalysis lab. Where did the interest begin?

A: My interest really began during my PhD research. I wanted to develop a reaction that people would actually use, and I think that people are really intrigued by the idea of using waste materials to create new useful compounds. We figure out ways of incorporating waste molecules into organic molecules using metallic catalysis. If we turn on a car engine and spill out carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, we start to think “oh. They are just staying up in the air and polluting our environment”. The same elements in these pollutants are used to synthesize some of the most useful industrial

chemicals are still present in these pollutants.

We use modern organic chemistry to develop new methods of incorporating atmospheric pollutants into useful organic compounds.

Q: Can you give us an overview of your Organic Chemistry II class?

A: It is the quintessential liberal arts course. We take your skills from aero-pushing mechanisms and acid-base chemistry and kick it up a notch.

You cannot memorize information; you have to appreciate a new language, learn how to draw structures (it’s a kind of art) and learn to appreciate the synthesis of important molecules.

We do exactly what they do in drug companies and agrochemical companies and we learn a lot about metal catalysis and how to make carboncarbon bonds and carbon- heteroatom bonds.

Q: Which myths did you hear coming into Amherst? Have they been debunked or confirmed?

A: I was told that the faculty have a lot of input in the school, and until I got here I had not realized how much input that meant. It is really interesting to work in a place where you are actively involved in trying to improve your work environment. Regarding students, I came in expecting to find students singing in all sorts of random places, and I must say, I did not. Thirdly, I was told that Amherst Students tend to get trapped in an ‘Amherst Bubble’. We need to create more ways for students to get off campus and see some of the things available to them off campus. I would endorse The Book Mill, Montague and Easthampton.

Q: What do you want to contribute to Amherst during your time here?

A: To stick with the status quo would be a disaster. I believe the faculty is having many thoughtful conversations about how the future of the college should go structurally and otherwise. What I hope to do is to keep being a part of that conversation. But above everything, I hope to get better and better at delivering quality education to my students while getting them interested and involved in research.

— Joyce Wamala ’17

Dean of Students Post

Continued from Page 1 recommendations, I will draw on Jim’s knowledge of student affairs in considering the kinds of changes that make sense. Jim is already working with Suzanne Coffey to ensure a smooth transition.”

Many student responded to the pair of announcements by expressing their surprise and confusion. At the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) meeting on Monday night, several senators said they disapproved of the personnel changes and were uncertain about what role Coffey will play as Chief Student Affairs Officer. The AAS narrowly passed a resolution condemning the way the changes were handled and requesting clarity as to the extent of Coffey’s new job.

“We believe that the student body deserves both an explanation and a role in the restructuring process,” the resolution concluded. “We request immediate action, including a timeline for a search that incorporates student input on this issue.”

Some senators and other students reiterated these concerns on Tuesday morning, where several students gathered in front of Converse Hall to protest what they perceived as a lack of transparency and student input in the personnel changes.

The protesters held signs that said “Two Years Is Too Long,” “Ask Us” and “Student Input.”

“She’s supposed to be a liaison for the students,” said Andrew Edelman ’15, one of the students present, of Coffey’s new role. “She’s supposed to be focused on us as students, and yet we were given no voice in choosing her.”

Later on Tuesday, Martin sent an e-mail to senators, Resident Counselors and club leaders apologizing for the anxiety caused by the announcements and inviting any interested students to attend a meeting with her that night to learn more.

Both Martin and Uvin attended what turned out to be a two-hour meeting, held in Cole Assembly Room. The two administrators answered questions about the recent changes and solicited input about how to move forward with restructuring the Dean of Students Office. At the meeting, students voiced concerns about Suzanne Coffey as an administrator and about the lack of student input in her hiring.

Martin also helped to clarify how specifically the College plans to change the handling of student affairs.

The concerns about Coffey’s appointment emerged largely as a result of her role in last year’s debate on sexual assault. In February 2013, Political Science Professor Thomas Dumm wrote a letter to The Student arguing that the College should examine a connection between sports culture and sexual assault. Coffey wrote a letter in response to Dumm that defended athletes and described Dumm’s letter as “deliberately hurtful.” She lauded the achievements of Amherst’s student athletes

and said they were not any more responsible than any other group for the College’s problems.

Many students at the meeting worried that Coffey’s letter ignored the possibility of a connection between athletic culture and rape, and some said they would have trouble trusting Coffey because of the attitude revealed in this letter.

Martin said she was surprised that students had so many concerns about a single letter, and she praised Coffey’s achievements as Interim Title IX Coordinator. However, Martin acknowledged that the student concerns seemed legitimate and promised to reread the letter. She added that the letter should be a part of discussions going forward and urged students to reach out to Coffey with any worries they have.

Martin praised Coffey as an exceptional administrator, echoing her email which described Coffey as “one of the most talented and effective administrators I have known over the course of my career.” She said that good administrators are difficult to find, and she chose Coffey for the role because she already believed that Coffey had the rare talent needed to do the job well.

Martin also explained the lack of student input in Coffey’s new role by saying that Larimore’s decision to step down came as a surprise, and Martin felt it was important to assign a new person to handle student affairs immediately. By giving Coffey a two-year term as opposed to a short interim position, Martin hopes to allow Coffey the time she needs to enact meaningful change.

Finally, Martin elaborated on some of the extensive changes that she hopes to make in the realm of student affairs. These changes include changing the leadership of the Counseling Center, providing better support for mental health and wellness and reexamining the relationship between the Counseling Center and the Dean’s Office. Martin also questioned whether Class Deans should be overseeing discipline at the same time that they oversee academic and personal support. Other changes she discussed included working to build up student-alumni relationships through the Career Center, improving services for international students and building up the residence life program. She said the College will also continue trying to step up its efforts to fight sexual assault.

Throughout the meeting, Martin repeated that Larimore’s resignation was surprising for her as well, and she does not yet have answers to all of students’ questions about the future. For instance, she does not yet know what will happen after Suzanne Coffey’s two-year term expires. Martin said that Coffey will not automatically become Dean of Students or keep her role as Chief Student Affairs Officer, but it is also possible that Coffey will be given a permanent position.

Martin concluded the meeting by thanking students for coming and emphasizing that she will make herself available to meet with anyone who wants to discuss concerns or offer input.

Opinion

Letters to the Editor regarding recent campus developments can be sent to astudent@amherst.edu. We encourage thoughtful and passionate contributions at this important juncture.

Editorial

Change We Can’t Believe In: Examining Administrative Turnover lutions. They require administrators who will see the process from start to finish. The high turnover in administrative staff hinders the development of institutional memory, which is crucial to resolving the entrenched cultural and structural issues that the College faces.

The College expends a tremendous amount of effort meticulously selecting new administrative hires. When new administrators leave after only a brief period, the College must expend further resources searching for and hiring replacements. This is not sustainable, and after a certain point, it becomes too urgent or too expensive to make a carefully deliberated and judicious decision.

It seems that the College’s staff turnover is exceedingly high relative to other organizations.

A quick Google search reveals that The Dean of

On Monday, Dean Larimore resigned as the College’s Dean of Students. The Student sincerely regrets his leaving. It was only a year ago, last February, that Dean Larimore was selected through an extensive search process to be the College’s new Dean of Students. Since then, he has established a genuine and meaningful relationship with the students, and many cannot help but feel that his resignation is both abrupt and perplexing.

In recent history, the College has gained, lost and reassigned an innumerable number of administrators. The turnover in administrative staff is alarmingly high, as illustrated in the infographic featured below.

This is not an effective way of running an organization. The problems that confront the College require long-term and visionary so-

Williams College keeps their position for three years before undergoing review. Tim Foster — Dean of Student Affairs at Bowdoin — has kept his position since 2006 and Swarthmore’s Liz Braun has been Dean of Students since 2010.

Amherst, since 2010, is now onto number five.

If a corporation were to have as a high turnover in upper management as the College does in administrative staff, we would not hesitate to call it a corporation in distress. While Amherst is not a corporation with shareholders to answer to, it does have students. And with each turnover, we indeed are growing more distressed.

The College is highly receptive of student feedback and eager to send out constant updates when hiring new administrators. In contrast, when an administrator leaves, the College

continues to inform students with a cryptic brevity.

Dean Larimore’s decision to leave the College should be respected, and students should not groundlessly speculate on his personal reasons for leaving. Nonetheless, many cannot help but feel left in the dark. Speculation does not abound when there is transparency, and if anything, students’ current inclination to speculate is a result of the administration’s opacity and inability to once again deliver satisfactory answers. Why does it appear so difficult for Amherst to retain critical administrative staff? What are its causes and how can we fix it?

Dean Larimore’s resignation seems surprising and unusual, yet it is also, paradoxically, characteristic of a pattern in the administration that is gradually becoming more and more evident.

A Recent History of Administrative Change Pre-2010

President

2010 Spring

2011 Spring

Fall

2012 Spring

Fall

Angie Epiphano’s account published

2013 Spring

Fall

2014 Spring

Biddy Martin Summer 2011-Now

Tony Marx 2003-June 2011

New position: Dean of Student Affairs

Dean of Students

Allen Hart Late 2010-July 2012

Ben Lieber 1984-Late 2010

Athletic Director

Charri Boykin-East July 2012-July 2013

Jim Larimore July 2013-Jan. 2014

Charri Boykin-East ?-March 2012

Counseling Center Director

Suzanne Coffey Jan. 2014-Now DonFaulstick Feb. 2014-Now

Suzanne Coffey 2006-Feb. 2014

Title IX Coordinator

Molly Mead Aug. 2012-Oct. 2012

Suzanne Coffey Oct. 2012-Dec. 2013

Laurie Frankl Dec. 2013-Now

Debra Edelman Dec. 31st 2013-Feb. 2014 Jackie Bearce ? (at least 2002)-Dec. 2013

Dean of Student Conduct

JamesSpivack Feb. 2014-Now

Liza Nascembeni Sometime 2010-Nov. 2012

In light of recent developments within the College administration, The Student did its best to compile a list of the various changes in personnel since 2010. You will note that this is not an exhaustive list, nor is it perfect; indeed, the information necessary to compile such a graphic was difficult to find and, in large part,

Chris Friend ’14 Contributing Writer

Fall

Susie Mitten-Shannon Dec. 2010-Now

lacking. Campus-wide e-mails and press releases proved most reliable in our search, however we hope the snapshot this graphic captures will also serve as a commentary on the accessibility of public information regarding these issues.

Note that italicized names indicate interim positions.

Regarding the New Dean(s) of Students

Surely we deserve to be annoyed at somebody.

An obvious choice is Jim Larimore — after an exhaustive national search to find him, did he not realize the sort of job he was getting into? If he didn’t realize that becoming Dean of Students at Amherst after a number of very public failures at the College, would mean that he would have to institute changes in “organization, staffing and management,” then either we failed to mention that to him or he somehow failed to ask about the job description. To leave in the beginning of a semester without even completing a year leaves the sour taste of abandonment in the mouth.

That would be one way to interpret the scenario. Another possibility is that Jim Larimore was forced out or was not given the power/resources/ etc. that he wanted or needed to complete the job.

Perhaps Jim Larimore did not mesh well with President Martin or Peter Uvin, and continued stonewalling and infighting between them led to his demise. In that situation we can certainly be annoyed with Uvin and Martin, as Larimore had earned the trust of the student body in an excep-

tionally short period of time. Larimore was instrumental in getting a new party policy approved for the student body — in six months.

Either way, we can never really be sure about what happened because no one will ever tell us the truth (or, if they do, we would not be able to believe either of them). The only thing we can be nearly certain of is that for the next two years (probably two and a half — is Suzanne Coffey going to step down in mid-February?), Suzanne Coffey is our new Chief Student Affairs Officer.

Without even addressing the preposterousness of that title, it’s a way for us to get a new Dean of Students without referring to it by that name.

Yes, Suzanne Coffey is going to be an excellent administrator. The Dean of Students Office is a black hole of organization misguidance, which has swallowed up at least three Deans of Students in just my short time at Amherst. She will be able to reorganize and fix many of the structural issues with the Dean of Students Office that leave us vulnerable, both legally and morally. Over the next two years I have no doubt that many necessary changes will occur in the office and we will have an office that will be ready for our next Dean of Students. It will be great to be a member of Class

of 2021.

But the next two years might be rough. The email from President Martin says that Suzanne Coffey “will lead the implementation of organizational, personnel and management changes,” implying that she will be dealing mostly inside the Dean of Students Office itself. It is notable, then, that responsiveness to student concerns and issues is not on the list of things that Suzanne Coffey will be dealing with. Again the name is also telling — no longer do we have a Dean of Students, but rather a Chief Student Affairs officer.

To fix this, I would like to propose adding a Dean of Students position in addition to the Chief Student Affairs Officer. Yes, the changes are necessary and it does not seem like we could have one person who could handle both fixing the Dean of Students Office and responsiveness to student concerns. We should have a Dean of Students to handle things like interacting with students, committee meetings, serving on the Committee on Discipline and general aspects of responsiveness to the student body. I hope that President Martin will take up this consideration over the coming weeks.

Because even if Suzanne Coffey had the time

to deal with responsiveness, I do not think she is particularly talented at responding to student concerns. The efforts of the Athletic Department to prevent the forming of club soccer teams last year (and club sports teams in general) were significant enough to go beyond pure bureaucratic incompetence. As well, in the middle of a series of high-strung letters that were written to The Amherst Student about athletes and sexual assault, Suzanne Coffey wrote an op-ed that essentially suggested that people who perform socially worthy activities are less likely to commit sexual assault. That was bad, to say the least. But what was equally concerning is that when she felt attacked, Suzanne Coffey responded by attacking back (with a significant amount of vitriol).

She did not ignore the attack. She did not act self-reflective. She did not respond to any of the criticisms with the possibility that she might be wrong and that she was interested in investigating the truth. When you are the Dean of Students (or whatever Suzanne Coffey is), you are almost constantly under attack from all sides. When Suzanne Coffey inevitably comes under attack as the Chief Student Affairs Officer, how do we expect her to respond then?

The Amherst Student • February 5, 2014

Why the ASA is Right and President Martin is Wrong

Nasser Hussain Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought The vote in mid-December by the American Studies Association to approve the academic and cultural boycott of Israel (as part of a larger call from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement — a movement of more than a hundred Palestinian civil society organizations that includes doctors, lawyers and teachers) unleashed a furious and punitive backlash. The resolution was years in the making, the result of open forums and a membership-wide vote. The boycott does not target individuals, only institutions. Israeli scholars of all political persuasions may visit, lecture and publish. The response to this modest and entirely democratic vote, led by individual heads of institutions and legislators, has been extreme. A number of colleges have severed ties with the ASA, and recently the New York State Senate passed a bill that would deny state funding to any academic institution that supports the BDS movement or the ASA.1 In her letter of Dec. 30, 2013, expressing Amherst College’s opposition to the ASA Resolution, President Martin, even if unwittingly, joined this ugly attack, lending it her credibility and the credibility of Amherst College. Here is why I think she is wrong and the ASA is right.

What about Israel’s security? The settlements have nothing to do with Israel’s security. Many of them are bedroom communities (for Jews only), houses built on land violently and illegally taken from Palestinians and connected to Israel proper by overpass roads (for Jews only) that glide over the squalor of Palestinian refugee camps, choked by checkpoints.2 Before there was a Hamas, there were settlements; before and after the Oslo accords, there were settlements. It is this relentless and continuing dispossession and occupation that the BDS movement and the ASA resolution hope to halt.

Isn’t the Resolution an assault on academic freedom? This is the central claim made by those who oppose the boycott but the claim doesn’t hold together. As mentioned, the boycott doesn’t curtail any individual’s speech or job. On the other hand, those who oppose the boycott seldom complain about Israel’s systematic curtailment of the academic freedom of Palestinian scholars. Israel uses checkpoints and closures to curtail educational access

Editors-in-Chief Brendan Hsu, Emmett Knowlton Senior Editing Advisor Brianda Reyes Managing News Sophie Murguia Managing Opinion James Liu, David Chang Managing Arts and Living Meghan McCullough, Lizzie Paul Managing Sports Andrew Knox, Nicole Yang

when it seeks to punish Palestinians.3 It hinders Palestinian scholars from leaving and assuming fellowships that they have already been awarded, or U.S. scholars from collaborating with their Palestinian counterparts in the West Bank (the subject of a recent Modern Language Association resolution).4 To worry about academic freedom without even raising these issues is to subject Palestinians to what David Lloyd and Colin Dayan have called a double injury: dispossessed of their lands and livelihoods, they are then told they do not even merit a mention in debates over academic freedom. It is possible to oppose the ASA vote while calling for academic freedom for Palestinians.

President Martin’s letter does no such thing.

Why pick on Israel, the only democracy in the region, when there are states with worse human rights violations? A call for sanctions is not an abstract position on human rights in general. Rather it is a strategic and focused form of pressure to change a remediable harm. Even if, arguendo, Israel is the only democracy in the region, this makes a call for a boycott all the more sensible, for faced with international opprobrium and economic pain, Israeli citizens can pressure their government to stop building settlements and end the occupation.

It is doubtful that President Martin will change her position. I am sure the response to this letter will be that it is academic freedom that allows me to publish it — a position besides the point since neither the ASA nor I have ever called for the punishment of anyone for what they have written. However, given the concern for academic freedom, the least the President and the incoming Dean of Faculty can do is issue a public statement, affirming that junior faculty at Amherst College who engage in and support the BDS movement will not face pressure or punishment as they approach tenure. We shall see if even that statement is forthcoming. And if it is only academic freedom that troubles people then perhaps we can oppose the boycott but ask the investment committee to look into divesting endowment funds from Israeli companies http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=5324 and http://mondoweiss.net/2014/01/ punishing-israel-boycott.html 2 Eyal Weizman, Hollow Land: Israel’s Architecture of Occupation (2007).

3 http://www.unicef.org/oPt/UNICEF_Under_Occupation_final-SMALL.pdf#page=1 4 https://chronicle.com/article/MLA-Delegates-Approve/143985/ 1

Design Editor Brian Beaty, Andrew Kim Opinion Section Editors Darya Barshak, Ashley Montgomery Sports Section Editors Dori Atkins, Jason Stein, Jeremy Kesselhaut Publishers Nazir Khan, Connolly Bottum, Valerie Salcido, Syeda Mahilla, Diana Lopez Photography Editor Olivia Tarantino

Letters Policy

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

The Student will print letters under 450 words in length if they are submitted to The Student offices in the Campus Center or to the paper’s e-mail account (astudent@amherst.edu) by 12 p.m. on Sunday, after which they will not be accepted.

The editors reserve the right to edit any letters exceeding the 450-word limit or to withhold any letter because of considerations of space or content.

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

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The Amherst Student is published weekly except during College vacations. The subscription rate is $75 per year or $40 per semester. Subscription requests and address changes should be sent to: Subscriptions, The Amherst Student; Box 1912, Amherst College: Amherst, MA 01002-5000. The offices of The Student are located on the second floor of the Keefe Campus Center, Amherst College. Phone: (413) 542-2304. All contents copyright © 2011 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.

Opinion 5

Do You Take Up Space in the Classroom?

Writing from the Left

Meghna Sridhar ’14 Meghna Sridhar ‘14 is a Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought major with a penchant for coherent incoherency. She writes from a leftist perspective on global and local politics and political theory.

In this week’s column, Meghna discusses problems with classroom dynamics at the College.

What is your favorite sitting position in the classroom?

A. Legs spread, hand slung over the chair next to you, lazily twisting up your wrist instead of raising your hand to respond to a question.

B. Slightly in front of everyone else, even when the class is arranged in a semicircle/round table/other ostensibly egalitarian form.

C. Just sit somewhere, I guess.

When a professor asks a question posed to the class in general, do you: A. Rack your mind frantically for something to say so that you can be the one to speak, regardless of whether or not you actually have something to contribute or ponder over.

B. Go on a rant about something irrelevant just because you have the floor.

C. Speak if you have something to say or know the answer.

Who’s your favourite rap artist?

A. Macklemore B. Macklemore C. …anyone but Macklemore Satirical faux-Buzzfeed quizzes aside, classroom culture at Amherst is something that seriously needs to be addressed and investigated. As a second-semester senior, I’ve occupied a range of different classrooms over the years, accompanied by a host of classmates that have ranged from overbearing and annoying, to thoughtful people who have become my friends for life. The question of how to constitute a healthy classroom, and how to contribute to one yourself; how to ethically conduct oneself in a classroom setting, has been on my mind a lot recently.

The Amherst classroom polarizes: I’ve often seen people inhabit two ends of a spectrum that seems to begin with unending arrogance and ends in intense insecurity and selfscrutinization. And it wouldn’t be surprising if we were to discover that one was linked to the other: when certain students vocally and vehemently take up space in the classroom, it makes it extremely difficult for those who already question their own inputs extensively to feel comfortable expressing themselves in a hostile, combative or survival-of-the-fittest sort of environments. This division, of the speaks and the speak-nots, is undoubtedly coloured by racial, gendered and class overtones as well: speaking from the personal experience of sitting in several economics, political science and LJST classrooms, it is often surprising to me to learn that the gender ratio of the classes is quite even, when it appears that men take the floor far more often than women do. Certain disciplines have a history of domination under cis, white male opinions, and hence it is not surprising that, though ostensibly unintentional or well-meaning, those are the voices that feel most comfortable speaking out in classes under those disciplines. The media, too, contributes to the continuation of the silencing or discomfiture of marginalized voices: TV channels, especially news channels, are domi-

nated by white male talking heads (although there are notable exceptions), and other floors of political debate too are dominated by white male voices (senators, “experts,” representatives of institutions, etc.), simply because white male voices dominate institutions of power, politics and economy.

Class, too, plays a role in who’s comfortable speaking out in the classroom and who isn’t. Coming from a higher-class background imbues one with “cultural capital,” giving one more authority to off-handedly address topics that aren’t always accessible to people of diverse socio-economic backgrounds — how a trip to Paris feels like, for example, or a work of high art, or your experience horse riding or caviar-eating over the summer. Further, a more privileged class background also could point to a history of supportive classrooms and public speaking and public debate opportunities that not everyone is afforded, making it easier for one to take up the floor and take up space without immediate realization that one is doing it. Class, race, gender, etc are not indicators of who has more knowledge or capability of mastering a subject, then, but simply things that condition one’s experiences and affect their likelihood of speaking out in a classroom setting that 1) discusses something most often discussed in the public by people of a certain type of privilege and authoritative tone, demeanor and voice, and 2) privileges a confidence, tone, manner of speaking and presentation that is more accessible to people who’ve grown up comfortable with certain opportunities than people who haven’t. Silencing in the Amherst classroom, then, isn’t always intentional or deliberate: it is simply what happens when there is a collision of institutional oppressions, individual insecurity and unacknowledged privilege in a space that is already affected by the various power dynamics that constitute an elite institution and academia itself.

Since we inhabit a liberal and reactionary campus, allow me to make some disclaimers. The power dynamics at play in the classroom that I wish to point out are not damning or all-encompassing: of course there are white male voices that are thoughtful and conscientious about their place and privilege in discussions; of course there are people of color or people of non-privileged backgrounds who are comfortable speaking up and may in fact take up too much space in the classroom. This doesn’t change the fact, however, that there are certain institutional factors that inevitably structure the world outside the classroom, and find their way inside the classroom as well. These are verifiable both empirically and experientially in the Amherst classroom: certain people find it easier to speak than others, and sometimes by virtue of the way they speak or the kind of class atmosphere created by their tone, make it difficult for certain other kinds of people to speak. This is no doubt reinforced by

Amherst’s own place as an elite institution and the rhetoric of leadership, hierarchy, exclusivity, meritocracy and superiority it constantly employs. The inaccessibility of academia, too, and its incestuous or self-absorbed nature, contributes to this distorted power dynamic as well (and by inaccessibility, I do not mean difficulty, but the fact that it is written in certain forms of jargon easier understood by those conditioned to it previously; written predominantly by certain authors who write in a jargon more familiar to certain classes of people; and are written holding certain assumptions that are again, only held by certain classes of people).

We cannot change institutional oppressions through individual actions alone, nor can we make extensive change within the already elitist space of academics and Amherst. I feel, however, that keeping in mind the skewed power plays that creep in from the outside world into the Amherst classroom, and also keeping in mind basic rules of etiquette and respect in an attempt to foster an egalitarian community in an egalitarian world, we are ethically obliged to question and reform our behaviors in the classroom to ensure a more respectful classroom setting. How can we do this? Well, the solution, especially if you talk a lot in class (and I do this myself), isn’t always obvious: and it certainly isn’t to cut down, martyr-like, on your own class participation in some sort of charitable move to letting the non-speakers speak, as though all they were waiting for is the benign step down of the vociferous participators. Instead, I think, it is to question thoroughly your own motivations, always, for speaking in class: is it to assert your presence, intelligence and authority, or is it to genuinely push the class forward to make a new discovery or a new insight?

Further, is your voice dominating, and dominating particularly because of some privilege you have that might help in making your voice seem more authoritative? Are you giving enough space in your discussions for others to participate and amend, or are you speaking to win? Are you speaking in an attempt to exert hierarchy — over the text, over the professor, over fellow students — or speaking to participate?

How much are you doing to make the class a community that can move together in examining, deconstructing and getting the most out of the assigned material, and to make it a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere for fresh participation?

I think these are the important questions we must all constantly be asking ourselves as we take classes at Amherst, especially examining them in light of our backgrounds and privileges. I think we have an ethical commitment, not only to our peers but also our education, to combat power, domination and hierarchy in the classroom as best we can and as much as we can by being the most respectful member of the classroom we can possibly be.

Arts&Living

“I find myself frustrated that many people think of sexuality as either “‘this or that.’”

Bisexuality: Answering the... Page 7

Valentine’s Day: How to Not Dread It

Image courtesy of www.jolietdowntown.com

If you can’t stand the sight of bouquets of red roses on Valentine’s Day, know that you are not alone.

Isabel Camacho ’14 Staff Writer Dreaded by some, eagerly awaited by others, inescapable for all, Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching.

This particular day at Amherst (and beyond) can stress us out for a multitude of different reasons. For those without significant others, it can be a lonely 24 hours overflowing with jealousy and handfuls of food that we will regret consuming later.

For others who are in that weird in-between with another person it can hold immense pressure to do just enough but not too much.

And then for those in serious relationships it can be held to such an impossible standard that anything short of perfection is a disappointment.

I write this article to challenge all of us to alter the way we view Valentine’s Day. Who says it all has to be about romance? Who says it’s only a consumer holiday that is ruled by candy and greeting card companies?

Sure it’s a fun excuse to be extra romantic if you have the chance, but

can’t it also be a day dedicated to love for … everything and everyone? Can’t we use February 14th as a reminder that we are surrounded by compassion, by friends and family who support us and are there for us, as a day to show some appreciation for these people and to feel the ap-

“Instead of letting our

happiness on this one arbitrary day of the year be ruled by our romantic relationships, I say we construct ourselves an entirely new perspective on what Valentine’s Day can truly be.

”

preciation back? I believe it should be a show of love in all of its forms, be it amongst a sports team, within a room group, between a club or a band or family. Valentine’s Day can be so polarizing, and coming up with some methods to diminish any negativity and make the day about

communal love and gratitude could make a huge difference. I’m here with a few easy ways to do it.

Something we’ve been doing on my team for Valentine’s Day for years is buying a piece of construction paper for every team member and writing each person’s name on the top of their own page. Then we all get together with candy and music and pass around the sheets so that every single person on the team has written something on everyone else’s page. At the end of the night we each leave the meeting with a piece of paper overflowing with positive remarks about ourselves, with a little bit of love from every person on our team written out for us in one place. We keep the notes anonymous and they can range from three words to a full-blown epic, but they’re always positive and supportive. It is so amazing to read a note from someone telling you about the ways you’ve inspired them, or another about the fun times you’ve shared or even one that lifts your mood with a compliment about something as simple as your hair.

I’ve found that little notes like these can be a great way to share your love for your teammates, for those who are with you through thick and thin and who seem to be the only ones who truly know what you’re going through sometimes. I think this activity can be effective in spreading warmth and appreciation with any group of people.

Another fun thing to do is exchanging secret Valentines. These can be special (but cheap) things you buy for someone else (chocolate, something related to an inside joke, etc.) and then blindly exchange and try and guess who bought whose gift. Another take on it that I’ve done with my roommates came about when we were all lazily sitting in our common room. We suddenly decided to pair up and take two minutes to run into our rooms and find or create something to give to the person we’d been paired with.

Sure this can end up involving gifts made of tissues and rubber bands, but at the same time it’s an incredibly fun and spontaneous way to share the love.

Another alternative would be to

gather a group of friends (or people you’d like to get to know better!) and have a pseudo-potluck dinner and a movie. Each person can bring something different (it can even be french fries swiped from Val or some Schwemm’s M&M cookies), and you can all watch a movie together while eating and enjoying each other’s company. (I’d steer you away from something along the lines of “Titanic” or “The Notebook.”) This would be a relaxing opportunity to be with your friends and can be so much fun for couples and single people alike.

Instead of letting our happiness on this one arbitrary day of the year be ruled by our romantic relationships, I say we construct ourselves an entirely new perspective on what Valentine’s Day can truly be. Integrating some of these activities can bring people together through the lens of love as a general concept rather than as something that can only be shared between two intimate people. They might even stick and become fun traditions that make us look forward to this day every year, regardless of the romance or lack thereof in our lives.

Image via bestvalentinesday2014.com

This year, ditch the heart-shaped gummies and throw a potluck with friends!

Thinking about writing about the latest cultural trends and news?

A&L Wants You If you are interested in writing for A&L, email the editors at mmccullogh15@ amherst.edu or epaul16@amherst.edu.

The Amherst Student • February 5, 2014

Arts & Living 7

Bisexuality: Answering the Questions Queeriosity

Alexandra James ’16 A bi-weekly column dedicated to discussing LGBTQ student life at Amherst College. If you are interested in contributing to the Queeriosity column, contact the Amherst College Pride Alliance at pridealliance@amherst.edu!

Growing up in New York City, specifically a neighborhood with a strong LGBTQ community, I was used to same sex-couples walking by as I went to the corner deli to grab some candy. It never truly occurred to me until middle school that having an attraction to a girl was wrong.

For the longest time, I was confused about how to define myself because I had crushes on both girls and boys. Even my very first kiss was not from an awkward boy in middle school: my first kiss happened with a girl, and it felt just as natural as it did when I kissed a boy a few years later. The word “bisexual” never even entered my purview until my high school friend came out as a bisexual senior year. To find a word that defined my sexuality was completely liberating; I could finally explain my attractions and finally felt like I belonged in this world. My next step was to come out to my family, or so I thought.

I chose to explain my sexuality to my mother over dinner. I began by talking about my friend who had come out the week before. My mother simply looked at me and said, “Sweetie, I hope you realize that bisexuals don’t exist.

Your friend is simply a confused lesbian.”

That statement would stay with me; to hear from my mother that my sexuality was a myth shocked me. I knew that I was not just a lesbian. My mother’s response shut down all my preconceived notions that I could be accepted by anyone who loved me. I never told her my sexuality, and it very well may be that I can never tell her. I still love my mother, but I’ve always

held a slight resentment against her because of her inability to understand that there is more to sexuality than just being either straight or gay.

Of course, my life changed dramatically once I arrived at Amherst. Here, I have never felt stifled to keep my sexuality a secret. People here accept and welcome me for who I am, not who I’m attracted to. But Amherst is not without its problems. While students accept my sexuality, I still get questions: “Are you attracted to everyone,” “Is it just a phase,” or “Are you confused?” The list goes on. To me, these questions are just as ridiculous as asking a straight woman, “Are you attracted to every man?”

These questions are offensive. I understand that people are curious, but there are other ways to ask about bisexuality without making backhanded comments. But what shocks me most is that these questions come from members of every sexuality.

As time passed and I became more comfortable with who I am, I expected to get confused looks when I told someone I was bisexual.

To be fair, I really only expected it from the heterosexual community. This idea was quickly shot down when I spoke to both my aunt and a colleague at Amherst. Both are lesbian, yet when I spoke to them about my experiences regarding my sexuality, I was immediately told that I should question my attraction to men simply because, “it’s not right to like both genders.” This does not go to say that every member of the LGBTQ community has some sort

of biphobia, but it definitely left me feeling out of place in a world of either exclusive heterosexuality and homosexuality. It always feels to me that I somehow have to choose a side. I find myself frustrated that many people still think of sexuality as either “this or that” when it really is a spectrum.

It’s clear to me that Amherst College students, while accepting, need more of an education about bisexuals and bisexuality. I want people to have a full understanding that bisexuality is simply a romantic attraction to males and females, nothing more, nothing less. The Queer Resource Center is a great place to learn about the various types of sexuality. What I find to be the source of the various opinions and myths on bisexuality is simply rooted in the very idea that sexuality needs to be black or white. However, with my friends, I always feel safe and ac-

cepted. I’m never bombarded with questions and I feel free to talk about my crushes or dates without needing to censor my thoughts. It has been liberating to just simply be seen as a person rather than some oddity that does not fit in with the accepted ideas of sexuality.

Overall, I’m thankful for my life here at Amherst, but, I can still see room for improvement in attitudes surrounding sexual identity.

The biphobia that I have experienced is something that is easily reparable. The questions people ask me are solely based on the little information they know. Hopefully, there will be a time when those questions stop and I don’t have answer endless questions about my sexuality.

If you are interested in contributing to the Queeriosity column, contact Matthew Randolph ’16 at mrandolph16@amherst.edu.

Image courtesy of lovemystarfire.deviantart.com

Sexual identity is often more complicated than the expected black and white of homosexuality or heterosexuality.

“Her”: A Glimpse at the Future of Love Liz Mardeusz ’16 Staff Writer Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) has been having a difficult time processing the dissolution of his marriage to his first wife, Katherine (Rooney Mara): they grew up together, they went to college together, they saw each other through the hardships of establishing careers and beginning their adult lives. But he’s met someone new — her name is Samantha and she’s really great, super funny, smart, friendly, kind. She also sorts emails and files with ease, keeps track of calendar dates and events and wakes Theodore when it’s time to get out of bed in the morning.

Samantha (Scarlett Johansson) is a highly intelligent operating system and Theodore is deeply in love with her.

Film Review “Her” Written and Directed by Spike Jonze, 2014

Spike Jonze is probably best known for directing the 1999 film “Being John Malkovich” and 2009’s “Where the Wild Things Are,” the much-anticipated adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s story. “Her,” both written and directed by Jonze, almost makes his previous films irrelevant. It’s that good.

Set in a Los Angeles of the not-sodistant future, this is no Jetsonsstyle, cartoonish future, — flying

cars and metallic jumpsuits are nowhere to be found. When “Her” begins, it’s obvious that the film is set in the years ahead: Jonze shows us gadgets that haven’t been invented yet and it seems that the currently ubiquitous iPhone has been replaced by a new sort of device with an earpiece.

The realm of “Her” is simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary, and that’s the beauty of it: the technology, clothing, and architecture in the film are different enough to be new and unfamiliar to viewers, yet they still manage to resemble the styles we see today just enough to make the time period portrayed in the film seem plausible and even a bit unsettling.

Throughout the film, Theodore’s loneliness becomes painfully clear. He works at a company called BeautifulHandwrittenLetters.com.

Day in and day out, he sits alone in a cubicle, composing intimate messages for the loved ones of individuals who can’t seem to find the time to do it themselves. In the future, Jonze seems to be saying that we as a society have outsourced emotional connection. We no longer have either the time or the inclination to love. A hired worker handles that now — and it’s ironic that it’s someone as isolated and love-starved as Theodore. At work, he interacts with only one colleague. When he does leave the office, it seems that he has just one friend, Amy (played

by Amy Adams), who appears to be just as isolated as Theodore. Everyone is too “plugged in,” too engaged in their technology to interact with other people.

One evening at the train station, Theodore sees an ad for a new, hyper-intelligent and super-personalized operating system: a highly evolved version of Apple’s Siri, if you will. Soon enough, he’s bought the software and installed it to his home computer and cell phone. Samantha, as the operating system decides to call herself, has arrived. Theodore and Samantha begin chatting immediately, and their conversations quickly become flirtatious.

“Her,” is a classic guy-meetsgirl-and-falls-in-love story, but in this case, it’s guy-meets-computer.

Samantha rescues Theodore from his loneliness; instead of traveling, working and relaxing at home in silence, he now has someone to talk to, even if it is just through an earpiece. Scarlett Johansson is a fantastic choice for Samantha: she may never be seen on film, but the expressiveness of her husky voice gives her more than enough presence. Maybe that’s one of the reasons Theodore falls in love with her. And as Theodore, Phoenix is wonderful. The actor expresses Theodore’s profound sadness and desire for emotional connection without ever making him seem pathetic or crazy. Yes, he’s falling for his operating system, but this somehow seems plausible and acceptable. We feel badly for Theodore, but we can also see parts of ourselves in him.

Humans are meant to be together, to interact, to share with each other, to love each other, and it seems that the technology of “Her” has made that impossible. Theodore is grasping at what he can to have a fulfilling rela-

Image courtesy of ohtobeamuse.com

Spike Jonze’s “Her” gives us a heart-wrenching look at what love could be like in the future. tionship. Unfortunately, it appears that machines have become the best option.

Spike Jonze’s “Her” is beautifully shot. Panoramic scenes of a future Los Angeles alternate with close ups of actors’ oft-pained faces and scenes of Theodore’s whimsically decorated loft apartment. There’s something unsettling about the style of the set and costumes in that they’re simultaneously futuristic but reminiscent of a past era. The mustard yellows, corals, and geometric patterns of the character’s clothing and home decoration harkened back to the 1960s or 70s. The men of “Her” wear high-waisted pants and retro hornrimmed glasses. It appears that as gadgets and computers have progressed, while fashion has, in a way,

regressed — harkened back to styles evocative of decades gone by. Is this a metaphor for a tech-obsessed society? We’re plugged into our phones and computers 24/7 and our devices have never been more “intelligent,” but we’re deteriorating in other ways.

As our machines get smarter, we get stupider, unable to interact with those around us and retreating further and further into ourselves at the expense of genuine human contact.

In “Her,” computers have gained human-like capabilities while humans have all the feeling of a computer. That such a situation seems like a real possibility is what makes Jonze’s film so profound and unnerving. “Her” gives us a glimpse at love in the future, and we’re not supposed to like what we see.

8 Arts & Living

The Amherst Student • February 5, 2014

Drunk in Love: Yonce Owns Grammys Brittanie Lewis ’15 Staff Writer In a time in which pyrotechnics, seizure-inducing flashing lights (reference absolutely intended), elaborate costumes and entire troupes of backup dancers are valued in live musical performances, Beyonce decided that she needed nothing but a chair, a rotating platform and her husband to intoxicate everyone with her performance of “Drunk in Love” at the 2014 Grammy Awards on Sunday, Jan. 6th.

It shouldn’t be any surprise that her approach was simplistic, nay purist in nature — we are not talking about Katy Perry, after all. Beyoncé doesn’t need the same kind of help.

She without a doubt knows by this point in her career that by virtue of the unprecedented culture that surrounds her persona, she can convey quite a bit to an audience with very little. And so she did; at the 56th annual Grammy Awards she took full advantage of her ability to basically do whatever she wants.

I can’t claim to fully understand the executive liberty they allow Bey in choosing what and how to perform,

but this performance seems to reflect a significant personal touch on her part. Rocking a new cropped hairstyle that only Beyoncé could successfully pull off, plus a strappy bodysuit that left just enough to the imagination and a pair of Jennifer Fisher dagger earrings that cost roughly onequarter of a year’s tuition at Amherst College, Beyoncé’s aggressively posed body stood in relief against a single spotlight as the show began.

She straddled the chair; she began to sing; people began to lose their minds; the very substance of the universe began to tremble. I must admit that I was a bit surprised when the chair began to rotate; I found the rotating platform unnecessary and even awkward at times when Beyoncé was prowling around on the floor and could not seem to reconcile the platform’s movements with her own. But around the platform rotated Beyoncé as she sang and seduced the crowd with her endless confidence.

At certain points in the performance, Beyoncé was bent over backwards entirely parallel to the floor, gyrating on and around the auspicious piece of furniture, moving in a

way that any normal person would find difficult to do. Singing while moving like she does would not even be a reasonable consideration for most of us. But regardless, she managed to belt through every flawless, well-considered motion. The accuracy with which she replicated her recorded performance of her new hit was wonderful. As the performance continued, she alternated between standing up and dancing and sitting on the stage. She crawled around a bit, gracefully arose and then — who would have guessed — Jay-Z came swaggering out from behind the stage to fulfill his role as Beyoncé’s surfboard. I mean, perform his verse.

I don’t know if there was any conceivable way to successfully merge their respective stage presences. I actually laughed a bit as Jay began to rap and Beyoncé kind of just grabbed him by the hand and began leading him downstage. He was clearly not finished rapidly gesticulating, but Jay-Z made do with an awkward cross-body embrace with his wife as they came together to wrap the performance up. A sexually-suggestive brush of the hand, a shot of Taylor

Image courtesy of popsugar.com

Singing while moving like she does would not even be a consideration for most of us.

Image courtesy of makingafashionstatement.blogspot.com

Beyoncé dazzled on the red carpet in a sheer dress designed by Project Runway winner Michael Costello.

Swift getting down with her awkward self once again alluded to the provocative and a final (quite adorable!) hug ended the undoubted performance of the night.

I’m not going to elaborate on the anticipated criticism that she received for her provocative routine; it most definitely incited some sort of Twitter war between morally stalwart soccer moms and anybody between the ages of 16 and 25. Nothing new was added to the highly intellectual discourse of what is appropriate to be showing on live television. The criticism that she and Jay-Z collectively received for the infamous “Eat the cake, Anna Mae” line, however, deserves some attention.

A number of websites decided to publish opinion pieces in response to the couple’s choice to stick with the allusion to Tina Turner’s biopic “What’s Love Got to Do With It” and the do-

mestic abuse that Turner endured by the hand of her husband, Ike Turner.

Many websites criticized the duo for so casually referencing a documented case of domestic abuse within the sexually-charged context that “Drunk in Love” indisputably (gloriously) establishes. Others questioned whether the line should be a point of concern or not; some decided that it was not surprising, considering the climate of the music industry today and the frequency with which these potentially unsettling remarks appear with casual intentions. Nonetheless, the differing opinions did incite an interesting discourse on Beyoncé’s self-declared feminism and whether her behavior, such as the performance at the Grammys, works to substantiate or contradict this.

All things considered, I must say that I really enjoyed the performance.

Also, surfboard.

Five College Events Thursday, February 6

“What is Africa to Me? Yoruba Traditions and the Meaning of Africa in America” 5p.m.–6:30 p.m., Mount Holyoke College Exploring the Yoruba tradition in the United States, Hucks theoretically engages the image of Africa as an epistemic resource of authentication, rehumanization and as a symbol of religious value and meaning for black North Americans across several centuries. As one of the many religious alternatives to Black Christianity that emerged in 20th century North America, Yoruba religion created room for African Americans to grapple with ambiguous questions of origins and identity while resisting depreciative images of racial and social blackness. For African Americans in the 1960s who envisaged their North American presence from a position of historical exile, Yoruba religion offered textured notions of home, homeland and belongingness to a pre-slave past and to primordial origins rooted in Africa. Ultimately, Hucks weaves historical, sociological and religious analyses of the relationship between black cultural nationalism and reinterpretations of the complex meaning of Africa within the African American community.

Friday, February 7

“Party Hearty! Network Blacklight Dance” 10 p.m.– 2a.m., Mount Holyoke College The Network presents: Party Hearty. The theme will be a tacky high school valentine’s day dance. There will be lots of silly decorations and classic high school throwback jams. Dressing up is welcome. Who knows, maybe you’ll find that special someone to be your Valentine. Open to all 5-College students.

“Music In Deerfield: A Far Cry,” 8p.m.- 10:30 p.m., Smith College A Far Cry, the Boston-based wide-ranging ensemble, performs music by Ives, Gerschwin, Ljova, Kip Jones and Dvorak. Smith College Music Department and Music in Deerfield present acclaimed artists and ensembles in Sweeney Concert Hall, featuring pre-concert talks, free to ticket-holders, in Earle Recital Hall.

For program details, concert times and to order tickets, call MID box office at 413-774-4200 or visit www.musicindeerfield.org.

“Western Mass Jungian Association Lectures,” 7 p.m., Smith College Anita Greene: “Contempt/Shame.” Of the archetypal affects universal to human beings, extreme shame is, perhaps, the most toxic as well as the most human of all the emotions. Lewis Stewart, who reassessed Jung’s thoughts about affects, believes that contempt and shame belong together as two sides of the same bipolar emotional dynamic, depending on whether one is on the giving or receiving end. Both are the human response to alienation and rejection. Contempt in its extreme form exudes a deprecating superiority, similar to today’s bullying. Shame, in its extreme form obliterates a sense of self-worth and authenticity. Clinical examples will demonstrate how this bipolar dynamic operates in all of us. Anita Greene, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst and Rubenfeld Synergist is a graduate of the New York Jung Institute and teaches at the Boston Jung Institute.

She has a private practice in Amherst.

“Cultivating Peace,” 12:30 p.m.–1:30p.m, Mount

Holyoke College An hour of open meditation, with practices and inspiration welcomed from any tradition or spiritual path.

Led by Multifaith Chaplain Leslie Fraser.

Saturday, February 1

“OWN IT - APAU dance party” 10p.m.–2a.m, Mount Holyoke College Don’t miss out! APAU presents OWN IT dance party.Guaranteed sell out event! This event will be held at the Mount Holyoke Blanchard Campus Center Great Room and is open to all. The event will cost $5 at the door before 11p.m. and $7 at the door after 11p.m. This event has been sponsored by the Association of PanAfrican Unity.

by Elizabeth Paul ‘16

The Amherst Student • February 5, 2014

Sports 9

Women’s Hockey Splits Swim Teams Crush Springfield Pair with Conn. College Patrick Yang ’16 Staff Writer

Holly Burwick ’16 Staff Writer This past week the Amherst women’s hockey team lost two out of three games, dropping their record to 10-5-3 overall and 6-2-2 in the NESCAC. On Jan. 28, the 10th-ranked Jeffs competed against No. 4 Norwich in a rematch of the game that took place right before interterm. In the Dec. 8 matchup the Jeffs fell 4-3, losing with just 1:47 left in regulation. This time the Jeffs again fell by just one goal, losing 2-1.

“It is unfortunate that we could not pull out a win, but it was still a great game and hopefully we can build off of that,” reflecting on the game, Hayley Opperman ’14 said.

In the Norwich game, the Cadets put away their first goal on a power play in the first period.

Likewise, Amherst responded in the second period with a power play goal of their own when Emily Flom ’15 buried a tally for the Jeffs off of a Caitlyn Ryan ’17 pass.

When Norwich responded with another goal a couple minutes later, Amherst couldn’t find the net, even after pulling goaltender Kerri Stuart ’14, who finished the game with 19 saves.

Following the loss, the Jeffs looked to regroup in their double-header with Conn. College. Although Amherst held a 47-19 shot advantage in the Fri. Jan 31 contest, they suffered a crushing 5-4

loss. Thanks to goals by Melissa Martin ’15, Barrett McBride ’14 and Erin Martin ’16, the team entered the third period with a 3-2 lead. However, Conn. would go on to score three consecutive goals. McBride’s second tally of the game late in the third period would not prove to be enough to overcome the deficit.

On Sat. Feb. 1, the Jeffs managed to redeem themselves, avenging the previous night’s loss with a 3-0 win over the Camels. With 3:35 remaining in the first period, Martin put away her seventh goal of the season. It proved to be the game winner in the eventual shutout. This marked the fourth shutout in five collegiate appearances for first-year goalie, Yuna Evans.

With 2:45 remaining in the first period, Madeline Tank ’15 buried another goal for the Jeffs. The lead improved to 3-0 as a result of an empty-netter goal by Tori Salmon ’15 with 16 seconds remaining in the game.

“The split games at Conn. were a disappointment, but we battled back on Saturday and ended the weekend on a good note,” said Opperman.

Commenting on moving forward into postseason play, Opperman added, “Every team in the NESCAC is competitive so each game is a big game and counts towards end of the year standings.”

Continuing with this mentality, the Jeffs will take on NESCAC archrival Williams College on the Ephs’ home ice this Friday, Feb. 7 at 7 pm.

Photo courtesy of The Office of Public Affairs

Kerri Stuart ‘14 has been dominant in goal for the Jeffs with 245 saves.

Men The Amherst men’s swimming and diving teams traveled to Middlebury on Jan. 31 to participate in the two-day Middlebury Invitational against Williams, Tufts and Middlebury.

Despite the team’s inability to win any of the relay events, there were a series of impressive performances by individual Jeffs.

First-year Nick Lafky was the first to shine, finishing runner-up in the 200-yard IM. He also won the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, which demonstrated his versatility by swimming in three different relays as well.

John Brody ’17 turned another impressive importance for the Jeffs. The rookie dominated the 1000-yard freestyle almost a full nine seconds ahead of his closest competitor. Even though he finished second in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyles, Brody displayed why he is such a promising swimmer with three years of his Amherst career remaining.

Senior Tyler Bulakul again showed proved his importance on a dep squad, winning the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.51 seconds.

Jeff Anderson ’16 just lost out to Bulakul by 0.47 seconds, taking second.

Sebastian Cruz ’16 wasn’t to be outdone by his teammates, posting a series of very fast times, headlined by the 1:56.57 he put up in the 200-yard butterfly and the 22.31 in the 50-yard freestyle.

Amherst hosted Springfield College on Feb. 2, looking to finish the regular season on a high note with one last victory. They did just that, dominating their opposition and winning 169117. The actual margin of victory, however, was much greater; it is common courtesy in swimming and diving to stop scoring if the lead becomes too big.

The Jeffs dominated both relays, finishing with at least teams in first and second place in each. In the individual events, the Jeffs performed admirably, winning every single event and often taking second place as well.

The divers meanwhile, continued to prove why they are the best diving squad in the NESCAC as Colin White ’14 won both diving events and Asher Lichtig ’16 battled a bad back to fin-

ish second in 1-meter dive.

All in all, the Jeffs displayed their numerous individual talents and proved that the men have an excellent chance to win the NESCAC title.

The NESCAC Championships will be held Feb. 21-23 at Bowdoin.

Women The Amherst women’s swimming and diving team joined Williams, Tufts, UVM, Springfield College and host Middlebury for the twoday Middlebury Invitational.

The Jeffs didn’t win any of the relays, finishing second in three out of the five. However, many encouraging individual performances showed the Jeffs are real contenders to repeat as NESCAC champs.

The sophomore duo of Emily Hyde and Charlotte Chudy continued their excellent seasons, winning the 50-yard freestyle in 25.21 and the 1650-yard freestyle in 18:03.50, respectively.

They hosted Springfield College on Feb. 2, winning their final dual meet of the regular season to finish 5-2 on the year. They easily defeated their opposition despite losing both diving events.

The addition of junior Aline Kim, who recently returned from a semester abroad, bolsters a team lacking in numbers. She finished second in the 100-yard backstroke and will be a dangerous new weapon in the women’s nautical arsenal.

First-year walk-on Kasia Ifill showed has made significant strides in the pool this season, posting respectable times of 28.29 in the 50-yard butterfly and 26.10 in the 50-yard freestyle.

The Jeffs have a number of star swimmers, notably, Hyde winner of three events, Sarah Conklin ’16 and Sabrina Lee ’15 winners of two each and Chudy, who won her sole event by nearly six seconds.

With the regular season now in their rearview, the Jeffs have the chance to defend their NESCAC title Feb. 14-16 at Williams.

“After a three days of hard fought competition last weekend, we feel like we are in a great position to be successful at NESCACs. We feel like we have momentum on our side, and we will be able to take advantage of what has been a very successful season thus far,” said Chudy.

Men’s Basketball Survives Tough End to January

Ninth-Ranked Amherst Falls to Colby, Squeaks by Bowdoin

Jason Stein ’16 Sports Section Editor

With four games this past week against tough competition, Amherst men’s basketball earned three victories and suffered a close conference loss that snapped their 25-game NESCAC winning streak. The Jeffs now stand at 18-2 overall and 6-1 in the NESCAC with three regular season games remaining before the conference tournament.

Amherst’s week began on Wednesday, Jan. 29 with a matchup against the Rhode Island College Anchormen at LeFrak Gymnasium.

The first half was extremely close between the two sides, with the score tied 36-36 at the break.

The first 20 minutes of play consisted of a whopping 12 lead changes and six ties. Rhode Island College held a seven point lead at 16-9 just over seven minutes into the half, while Amherst was up by as many as four when a free throw from senior guard/forward Tom Killian made the score 9-5.

In the first half, Amherst shot a higher percentage from the field than Rhode Island, but the Anchormen converted eight more free throw attempts than the Jeffs.

Star guard Aaron Toomey ’14, who sat for most of the first half due to foul trouble, was held scoreless in the opening half, before turning it on in the second 20 minutes.

Though the Jeffs were trailing Rhode Island 49-40 with 16:30 left to go, Toomey and the Amherst offense would catch fire and carry the Jeffs to victory. Beginning with a three from Toomey, the Jeffs responded with a 10-0 run to take back

the lead at 50-49, and would essentially lead for the rest of the way, as Amherst scored 40 points over the final 15 minutes of play.

Toomey scored 22 points in the second half alone and had six assists on the game, while fellow senior captains Killian and senior guard David Kalema both made major contributions. Killian had a game-high 26 points, shooting 9-14 from the field and 4-7 from deep, to go along with nine rebounds and five steals while Kalema poured in 13 points.

As the Amherst offense exploded, the defense also turned it up a notch, holding the Anchormen to 24 second-half points, including 11 points over the final 16 minutes, to give Amherst an 80-60 win. En route to victory, the Jeffs closed out the game on a 30-5 run.

Regarding this dominant stretch against Rhode Island College, coach David Hixon ’79 said that the run “was as good as I’ve seen us play.”

Two days later, the Jeffs traveled to Maine for a NESCAC matchup and suffered a major upset at the hands of Colby, who entered play with a lone NESCAC victory over Wesleyan.

Amherst took a 41-34 lead into the halftime break following an 11-1 run near the end of the half. Later on, the Jeffs appeared to be in command with a 56-47 lead six minutes into the second half, but the Mules would answer the Jeffs’ challenge.

As hot as the Amherst offense was at the end of their game against Rhode Island, the Jeffs struggled offensively in the final portion of the Colby game, as the Jeffs did not convert a field goal in the last 10 minutes of the contest. Ultimately, Amherst’s offensive woes proved to be too big of an

obstacle to overcome, falling to Colby by a score of 80-75. The Mules outscored the Jeffs 33-19 in the final 14 minutes of play.

The Mules were led by the contributions of Patrick Stewart, who scored 25 points and had five rebounds against Amherst and was recognized as NESCAC Player of the Week for his efforts. In the loss against the Mules, Amherst had a trio of double-digit scorers. Toomey scored 26 points, grabbed seven boards and dished out five assists, Kalema had 14 points and sophomore forward Ben Pollack earned the double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Prior to their loss against Colby, Amherst was last beaten in NESCAC play in February 2011, ending a 25-game NESCAC winning streak.

The next afternoon, the Jeffs responded with a thrilling victory over No. 19 Bowdoin.

Sophomore guard/forward Connor Green carried the offense and provided impact scoring with 26 points, including six three-point field goals and was the only player on either squad to score upwards of 20 points in the game. Toomey notched a double-double on 16 points and 10 assists.

The Polar Bears had a two-point lead at halftime and jumped out of the gates in the second half, as they scored the first six points to give them a 43-35 edge over Amherst.

However, Green helped jump the offense in the second half with multiple scores from long distance and the Jeffs stormed back to take a 63-56 lead with about seven minutes remaining in the game.

From there, the Polar Bears whittled down Amherst’s lead to 68-67 with 24 seconds remaining, but Toomey nailed a pair of free throws to ice the 70-67 victory for the Jeffs and deal the Polar Bears their second loss this season.

As a team, the Jeffs netted 15 three-pointers and limited themselves to just five turnovers. On one hand, the Polar Bears held a sizable rebounding edge, but committed 18 total turnovers and Amherst capitalized on Bowdoin’s ball-handling mistakes by turning those lost possessions into 21 points.

“Bowdoin was 17-1 coming into the came and pretty comfortable in a lot of their results, so they’re a really good team,” Hixon said. “For us to beat them on the road, after spending all the energy we did trying to come back against Colby, I think it was a terrific win for us.”

Last night, after trailing 19-4 early in the game against Lasell, Amherst went on a 41-12 run to take a 47-40 at half. The Jeffs went on to win 95-74.

“It is good to play tough teams, and it is good to play close games. I don’t think that the Colby loss really hurt us. As long as we don’t take many other dings and can take care of business, we are in good position for everything [going forward],” Hixon said, summarizing the week.

Up next, the Jeffs face Conn. College (9-9 overall and 2-4 in the NESCAC) on Friday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. in LeFrak.

Amherst has a quick turnaround, as they are set to take on Wesleyan (whom Amherst beat 7662 in mid-January) the next afternoon at 4 p.m. in front of the home crowd fans.

10 Sports

Schedule WEDNESDAY Women’s Squash vs. Mount Holyoke, 6 p.m.

FRIDAY Women’s Basketball vs. Conn. College, 6 p.m.

Men’s Hockey vs. Colby, 7 p.m.

Women’s Hockey @ Williams, 7 p.m.

Men’s Basketball vs. Conn College, 8 p.m.

Men’s & Women’s Squash @ Division III Individual Invitational (@ Bowdoin), TBD SATURDAY Women’s Basketball @ Wesleyan, 2 p.m.

Men’s Hockey vs. Bowdoin, 3 p.m.

The Amherst Student • February 5, 2014 Men’s Basketball vs. Wesleyan, 4:00 p.m.

Men’s Squash @ Division III Individual Invitational, All Day Women’s Squash @ Division III Individual Invitational (@ Bowdoin), TBD Men’s Indoor Track & Field @ Valentine Classic (@ Boston University), TBA Women’s Indoor Track & Field @ Valentine Classic (@ Boston University), TBA SUNDAY Men’s Squash @ Division III Individual Invitational (@ Bowdoin), TBD Women’s Squash @ Division III Individual Invitational (@ Bowdoin), TBD

Men’s Hockey Skates To Second in the NESCAC

Greg Williams ‘16 Staff Writer

The Lord Jeffs returned to conference play this past weekend with two strong victories over NESCAC rivals Trinity and Wesleyan, two wins to finish a grueling road trip. The team is looking forward to returning to Orr Rink this weekend afer a month on the road to make a run at a regular season NESCAC championship.

Amherst improved to 9-3 in NESCAC play, good enough for second in the league, right behind the Williams Ephs.

The Jeffs traveled to Hartford, CT on Saturday night to play the Bantams on their home ice. Much of the first period was scoreless, but towards the end of the period, Ryan Edwards ’14 netted the game’s opening goal off of an assist from Elliot Bostrom ’14.

Trinity outshot Amherst in both the first and second periods, leading to a Bantam goal early in the second period to tie the game at one.

The Jeffs took the lead again just minutes later when senior captain Andrew Kurlandski converted a feed from Edwards.

Trinity, however, didn’t give up and managed to tie the game again halfway through the second period. The third period remained tied at two until the five-minute mark when Erik Hansen ’14 scored the game-winner on an excellent individual effort.

The Jeffs overcame two penalties at the end of regulation to secure the win, and sophomore goalie Dave Cunningham finished with a whopping 43 saves, continuing his solid year between the Amherst pipes.

Sunday afternoon the team traveled to Middletown, CT and played Wesleyan at Spurrier-

Snyder Rink. Following a scoreless first period, the Jeffs broke the tie in the second when they scored two power play goals during a Cardinal five-minute major.

Brian Safstrom ’14 notched the first goal six minutes and twenty-eight seconds into the game, assisted by Bostrom and Topher Flanagan ’16. Two minutes later, Conor Brown ’16 scored his seventh goal of the season off assists from Bostrom again and Kurlandski.

The Jeffs continued their offensive onslaught in the third period when Brendan Burke ’16 scored Amherst’s third goal of the game with just overfive minutes remaining. Patrick Arena ’16 and Mike Cashman ’15 assisted on the score, before Arena added a goal of his own to give Amherst the 4-0 lead. Wesleyan managed to squeeze a goal by Cunningham with just under two minutes left. Amherst finished with a 4-1 victory.

“This past month has been a tough test for our team and we are all disappointed with our recent performance, and more generally speaking, our record so far in January. A lot of our problems this past month have stemmed from our current nine game road stint. It has been difficult for us to play away from Orr rink for a full month, as we haven’t been able to get a steady rhythm going like we had in the earlier part of the season. Our greatest weakness so far has been our inability to play with consistent effort for 60 minutes” said Bostrom.

The Jeffs have four home games coming up against Colby, Bowdoin, Conn. College and Tufts, their first in over a month. These games will be important in determining final seeding for the playoffs, and there will be some excellent hockey in the upcoming weekends on campus.

Photo Courtesy of Chloe McKenzie

Senior defenseman Elliot Bostrom’s performance this past week earned him NESCAC Player of the Week honors. Bostrom has six assists on the season.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Erik Hansen ‘14

Taryn Clary ‘16

Favorite Team Memory: Winning the 2012 NESCAC Championship.

If you didn’t play hockey, which sport would you play?: Tennis Pet Peeve: People looking at Snapchat videos with sound in public.

Celebrity Crush: Kate Middleton Favorite Movie: “Casablanca” Favorite Book: The Great Gatsby Favorite Food: Steak sandwich Favorite Thing About Amherst: My teammates

Favorite Team Memory: When an a capella group sang to us at our team dinner at Nationals last year If you didn’t play squash, which sport would you play?: Golf Pet Peeve: People pee in the Crossett stairwell.

Celebrity Crush: Chris Evans Favorite Movie: “Zoolander” Favorite Book: A Prayer for Owen Meany Favorite Food: Ravioli Favorite Thing About Amherst: People watching in Val

Women’s Basketball Wins Four Straight on the Road

Dori Atkins ’16 Sports Section Editor

First-year Ali Doswell led the women’s basketball team to another NESCAC win as the Jeffs took on Colby in Maine last Friday night. The 6744 victory was Amherst’s 13th-straight win over the Mules.

Doswell led all scorers with 17 points on 6 of 15 shooting and collected a career-high 13 rebounds, while also matching her personal best with six assists. Ali’s twin sister Meredith Doswell ’17 also tied a career-high with eight boards and chipped in 13 points. Jaimie Renner ’17 was the only other Jeff in double figures, finishing with 13 points on a perfect 6-of-6 showing from the free throw line.

The Jeffs got off to a fast start as Renner scored the game’s first six points. Desi Smith of Colby put the Mules on the board with a solid three-point play at the 17:15 mark of the first half, and moments later, Jen Nale converted from long distance to pull the Mules even.

Up 14 at the intermission, Amherst opened the second half with a 7-1 run to build a 40-20 lead.

Colby converted four-straight from the free throw line to reduce the margin, but an Ali Doswell layup at 14:28 sparked a 9-2 Jeff spurt that made the score 49-26. Seven-straight Mule points allowed Colby to get back within 16, but Meredith Doswell had the game’s next five, extending the lead to 21 with less than nine minutes remaining in regulation. For every Mule run, the Doswells had an answer.

“The Colby game was a good team win,” said Ali Doswell. “The special thing about our team is that we have different people that step up for each game. I just happened to play well that game and fed off of other people playing well. We have three home games left in the regular season and then we begin tournament play. Hopefully if we keep working hard and fix a few little things, then we can make a great postseason run.”

On the other side of the ball, Amherst played stifling defense, holding the Mules shot just 21.8 percent (12-of-55) from the floor and 23.8 percent (5-of-21) from three-point range. Colby turned the ball over 14 times, leading to 12 Amherst points.

Holding a 47-37 rebounding advantage, the Jeffs outscored Colby 20-6 in the paint and 12-2 in second chance points. The purple & white reserves also held the upper hand over their Mule counterparts, finishing the game with a 21-10 scoring edge.

On Saturday, the Jeffs continued their Maine road trip as they traveled to Brunswick to take on the Polar Bears of Bowdoin. The Jeffs 65-57 victory gave them a 6-1 record in the NESCAC and 19-2 overall.

Marley Giddins ’16 netted a team-high 14 points with eight rebounds, while Renner contributed a solid all-around effort, finishing with 13 points, five boards and five assists. Savannah Holness ’15 and Meredith Doswell each added 12 points, while Holness also matched a career-high of 11 rebounds.

Ali Doswell was the only other Jeff in double digits, scoring 11 points and pulling down eight rebounds.

Behind 30-28 at the intermission, Shannon Brady of Bowdoin opened the second half with a layup to even the score. Giddins responded with a jumper on the other end, but six-straight Bowdoin points gave the Polar Bears a 36-32 edge just over five minutes into the second half.

Refusing to back down, Amherst pieced together a 19-5 stretch over a span of six minutes and eleven seconds, tying the game at the 12-minute mark.

Hannah Peterson ’17 later broke the deadlock with a three-pointer before a pair of Meredith Doswell free throws increased the margin.

With Bowdoin shooting 47.8 percent (11-of23) in the first half, including 83.3 percent (5-of-6) from three-point range, the Amherst defense stiffened over the final 20 minutes, holding the Polar Bears to just 31.3 percent shooting (10-of-32) in the second and an 0-for-7 showing from behind the arc.

The Jeffs will host Connecticut College in LeFrak on Friday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m.

Photo Courtesy of Chloe McKenzie

Haley Zwecker ’16 leads the Jeffs in assists this season with 55.

The Amherst Student • February 5, 2014

Jeffs Lead Pack at Springfield Invitational

Chris Rigas ’16 Staff Writer Men The Amherst men’s indoor track team took three of the top five spots in the 600-meters on its way to a fourth place finish at the Springfield Invitational Saturday. Senior Matt Melton won the event in 1:22.40, while Brent Harrison ’16 (1:23.60) and Nick Codola ’15 (1:24.93) finished second and fifth respectively.

“The 600 was definitely a strong event for us,” noted Head Coach Eric Nedeau. “We got some great marks in the jumps with Khalil Flemming ’16 getting over 45 feet in the triple and Mark Cort ’15 a big personal best — over 22 feet — in the long,” Nedeau added.

Flemming’s jump earned him third place, while Cort took second.

Melton and Harrison joined Greg Turissini ’15 and Romey Sklar ’15 on a distance medley relay team that placed second with a time of 10:39.75.

Turissini also ran the mile in 4:17.16, earning third place.

Rounding out the top five finishes for the Jeffs, sophomore Judd Liebman’s time of 53.13 was good for third in the 400-meters, and junior Lucas

Lebovitz took third in the 800 with a time of 2:00.52.

The team will travel to Boston Univ. next weekend to race in the Valentine Classic.

Women The Lady Jeffs indoor team also competed in Springfield; their second place finish was highlighted by victories in the 60-meter dash, the 5000-meter run and the high jump. First-year Karen Blake sprinted the 60 meters in 7.90 seconds, just threehundredths of a second faster than Wheaton’s second place finisher, Francesca Flynn.

Lizzy Briskin ’15 ran away with the Jeffs’ second victory of the meet in the 5000-meters, as her time of 18:07.99 was 52 seconds faster than Trinity’s Cassandra Cronin ’17, who took second. First-year Kiana Herold captured another first-place finish for the Jeffs in the high jump, winning the event for the third time this season, with a jump of 5.80 meters.

In the 600-meters, Keelin Moehl ’16 ran a 1:41.09 to finish in second place. Sophomores Victoria Hensley and Sarah Foster finished the 800 in 2:26.13 and 2:29.42, respectively, good for third and fifth. Three Jeffs finished within seconds of each other in the 1000, with Amy Dao ’14 (3:04.10), Hannah Herrera ’17 (3:05.39) and Kelli Ellingson ’15 (3:06.96) taking third, fourth and fifth places.

CLUB SPOTLIGHT: The Army of Darkness

Andrew Knox ’16 Managing Sports Editor

The men’s Ultimate Frisbee team enters their spring season not only one of the top teams in the Northeast, but also in the country. They will look to prove that they belong this weekend as they travel to sunny Southern California to compete in a tournament in Riverside against other top Div. III teams.

A successful fall season saw the Army of Darkness participate in a number of tournaments, including ones at both Yale and Saratoga. Amherst fared well in both tournaments as, winning a number of their games. During the fall, they also played UMass Amherst and UVM in close competitions.

As they leave for California, Amherst will look to validate their no. 1 national rank by Ultiworld and no. 6 ranking in Skyd Magazine, respectively.

“Our expectations are pretty high going into California. We believe that we can be the best team in Division III and that we can impress ourselves at nationals,” said junior captain Andrew Edelman.

Amherst will face tough competition in the tournament as two top 15 teams, Puget Sound and Carleton, are in the Army of Darkness’ opening pool.

The 13th-ranked Puget Sound Postmen entered the season as the second-ranked team in Div. III, according to Ultiworld, and will look to improve on a strong fall season and unseat an Amherst team that is ranked just

ahead of them.

Carleton, a perennial power in Ultimate Frisbee, opens the season at no. 9 in the open division. Winners of the 2009 and 2011 national championships, Carleton will look to use this tournament as a stepping stone to their third national championship in five seasons.

Amherst hopes to advance out of the opening round, where they could potentially face two top ten teams from the other side of the bracket.

The tournament will provide the Army of Darkness a great opportunity to start of the spring season with momentum against top competition, “that all starts in California because of the high level of competition,” said Edelman.

This will be the first cross-country trip for the Army of Darkness as they secured funding from the AAS to pay for both the tournament fee and for hotel runs.

Despite the AAS funding, the Amherst men are still bearing the brunt of the costs.

“We have been doing alumni fundraising, but again, the costs are mainly being paid for directly by the guys on the team, which makes this tournament a huge commitment,” said Edelman.

As the team departs for the warmth of California, they will look to capitalize on an opportunity to prove themselves as one of the best teams in the country and in a position to make a statement when they travel to nationals later this spring.

Photo Courtesy of Fred Shipley ’13

Amherst will look to build off last season’s semi-final appearance at nationals last season with a strong showing this weekend in California.

A Super Dud

Sports 11

The J.J. Report Jeremy Kesselhaut ’16 and Sam Javit ’16 Superbowl XLVIII promised an instant classic pitting the top offense in the league against the league’s top defense. The fell short of expectations, but did generate intrigue about Peyton Manning’s legacy as well as a debate about the dominance of the Seahawk’s defense.

Expectations were a mile high for Super Bowl XLVIII; a promising matchup pitting thetop seeds from each conference against each other in the nation’s biggest city.

The hype assured an unforgettable game.

Many predicted a “blizzard bowl” with treacherously frigid conditions. Pundits expected that the weather would be a determining factor in a team’s success in the Super Bowl. Cold temperatures supposedly favoring Seattle and their number top ranked defense, while warmer temperatures favoring Denver and their top ranked offense.

The day of the Bowl, the weather was clear and in the 40s, giving the Broncos the supposed “advantage”; however, it proved not to be a determining factor.

What actually transpired was quite possibly the worst Super Bowl in NFL history.

Nobody predicted a 43-8 Seahawk rout.

Steve Rosenbloom, a Chicago sports columnist, made perhaps the best prediction, picking a 75-0 lopsided victory in favor of his hometown Chicago Bears. To be fair, the difference between a 35-point win and a 75-point win is negligible…

In all seriousness, the two teams matched up perfectly on paper. This Super Bowl set the top seeded teams against each other for the first time since 1993, and still... 43-8?

The Broncos had the most prolific offense in history this past season, scoring an NFL record 606 points during the regular season, an average of 37.9 points per game.

The Seahawks held them to a mere eight.

Peyton Manning averaged 3.44 touchdowns per game, and the Seahawks held him to one.

So what does this say about Peyton and his legacy? What does it say about how good the Seahawks’ defense was this year? Where do they rank all time?

When asked that very question, Richard Sherman responded by comparing the 20132014 Seahawks defense to other dominant defenses including the “Steel Curtain” in Pittsburgh in the 1970’, the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins and the Mike Ditka coached ’85 Chicago Bears. “We’re in there somewhere. As long as we’re in that mix, we’re alright,” said Sherman.

For the first time in his life, Richard Sherman might have been too modest. While the Broncos record breaking offense was nothing short of amazing this season, Seattle’s defensive unit may have been the only thing more impressive.

The Broncos’ offensive onslaught was incredibly impressive, but the Seahawks defense allowed an equally shocking league best, 14.3 points per game to their opponents. Seattle allowed the least amount of passing yards per game (172), and ranked seventh in rushing yards against per game (102), making Seattle the top ranked yardage defense in the league (274).

Their stalwart secondary proved to be the perfect match for an offense with seemingly unlimited weapons on offense. Denver wide receiver Eric Decker, who averaged 81 yards per game during the regular season was held to just one catch for six yards, while Julius Thomas, who averaged 56 yards per game, was held to just four catches for 27 yards.

Seattle’s linebackers pressured Manning,

who went basically untouched before the Super Bowl, forcing him to make quick decisions and rush passes. Cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Byron Maxwell covered the boundaries, while safeties Earl Thomas and Kim Chancellor patrolled the middle of the field once Peyton released the ball.

While Peyton’s Super Bowl performance was not on par with his spectacular 55 touchdown, MVP regular season, he really did not play as poorly as the score suggests.

In fact, he broke a Super Bowl record for completions, going 34 for 49 for 280 yards.

Admittedly, he also threw two costly interceptions, and one of those turnovers was returned by Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith for a 69-yard defensive touchdown that firmly gave the Seahawk’s the momentum.

Manning completed so many passes because Seattle completely blanketed the Broncos’ wide receivers on the deep ball, forcing Manning to attempt to “dink and dunk” the ball down the field.

In the regular season, Manning’s bigbodied receiving targets (Julius Thomas, Eric Decker, and Demaryius Thomas) and the elusive Wes Welker turned pedestrian five-yard passes into big gains by breaking tackles and avoiding defenders after the catch. Seattle’s tackling, however, proved again that it was the best in the league last night, rallying to Broncos receivers and tackled them as soon as they touched the ball. Consequently, the Broncos offense struggled to move the chains.

After beating the San Diego Chargers in the divisional round of the playoffs a couple of weeks ago, Manning mentioned in the post game conference that he was eager to drink a Bud Light. Peyton might have wanted an entire 30-rack after last Sunday’s game. Super Bowl XLVIII will surely haunt him and stake its place as a night that he would rather forget.

So, following Sunday’s disappointment, where does Peyton rank amongst the greats?

He is arguably the best regular season quarterback of all time, but his postseason career is comparatively dismal. After the loss to the Seahawks, Manning’s career postseason record dropped to 11-12, and his Super Bowl record is now 1-2.

Can a quarterback be considered one of the best of all time with a sub .500-career postseason record? When it matters most, a great performer and leader like Manning must rise to the challenge, rather than shy away from the moment.

All of Peyton’s critics point to his inability to win the big game. Peyton has one less Super Bowl ring than his brother, Eli, and only one more than his brother Cooper, who doesn’t even play in the NFL. He also has the same amount of rings as Raven’s starter Trent Dilfer, arguably the worst starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl.

This Super Bowl was Peyton’s opportunity to silence his critics once and for all, and to stake his place as the best quarterback of all time. At the end of the day, he, along with the rest of the Broncos didn’t rise to the occasion.

With his future in question due to health concerns about his longevity, the question becomes: Will Peyton have one more shot to win the big game? His legacy hopes so.

www.BluebirdAirportTransportation.com

Sports

“Brian Safstrom ’14 notched the first goal six minutes and twenty-eight seconds into the game...”

Men’s Hockey Skates to Second... Page 10

Photos courtesy of The Office of Public Affairs

Photo courtesy of Chloe McKenzie ‘14

Co-captain Lena Rice ’14 (left) also went 3-1 for the women, who took sixth. Scott DeSantis ’15 (right) went 3-1 at the NESCAC Championships last weekend to help his team defeat Conn. College and Colby.

Squash Teams Go 2-2 At NESCAC Championships Browne, Clary Continue On-Court Dominance

Lauren Tuiskula ’17 and Devin O’Connor ’16 Staff Writers

Men The Amherst men’s squash team traveled to Hamilton this past weekend to compete in the annual NESCAC Championships. The team was seeded seventh out of eleven teams, and justified their seed by placing seventh overall.

The Jeffs opened up play on Friday, Jan. 31 with a first round 7-2 victory over Conn. College, just as they did in the 2013 NESCAC Championship.

Despite missing their no. 6 player, junior Max Kardon, for the duration of the weekend, and thus having to shift up the bottom of the lineup, the top six spots on the roster still managed to earn six of the Jeffs’ seven victories in the match. Noah Browne ’16 continued his dominance at the top spot, sweeping his opponent easily by a score of 11-3, 11-6, 11-9.

On the no. 2 court, Scott DeSantis ’15 also had a solid win for the Jeffs. The junior narrowly edged out a victory in the first game,14-12, before handing John Sluder of Conn. College resounding 11-3 and 11-4 losses in the following two games to win 3-0.

Senior captain David Kerr earned the a 3-1 victory in the no. 3 spot, while Alex Southmayd ’15, Michael Groot ’17 and Darian Ehsani ’17 all battled in come from behind victories in the fourth through sixth spots, respectively.

The Jeffs faltered a bit in the seventh and eighth positions, as Jeremy Van ’17 and Rodrigo Quan Miranda ’14 both lost hard-fought matches in five games.

Playing in the no. 9 spot, Thornton Ellis ’16 also earned a victory to help send the Camels to the consolation bracket.

The next day, the Jeffs faced second-seeded Bates and were swept by the Bobcats, 9-0. This loss eliminated the team from contention for a NESCAC title.

Notably, Groot’s match went to five games as the first-year put up a respectable fight against his junior opponent, Andy Cannon. The final score of the match was 11-8, 5-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-4.

Later that afternoon, the Jeffs faced sixthseeded Bowdoin in hopes of bettering their initial

seed, but the team suffered a heartbreaking 5-4 loss.

Browne was able to earn a 3-2 victory in the first position in an exciting, closely contended match where no game was won by more than five points.

The top of the lineup remained reliable for the Jeffs, as they had victories in the no. 2, no. 3 and no. 4 spots as well with DeSantis, Kerr and Southmayd all edging their opponents, respectively.

DeSantis had a close match, defeating his opponent in four tight games, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7.

Kerr swept his opponent, 11-4, 11-8, 11-8 in the no. 3 spot, while Southmayd needed five highly contested games to defeat his opponent, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9.

It was not enough to earn the overall win, however, as the Polar Bears battled in the five through nine slots to earn the victory, 5-4.

Amherst finished up play on Sunday, Feb. 2 by handing eighth-seeded Colby a 6-3 loss.

Browne wrapped up an impressive weekend with a comeback 3-2 victory over CJ Smith. The sophomore dropped the first two games 8-11, before coming back to win the match 8-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6.

DeSantis also went to five games, as he dropped the competitive first game, 10-12, before battling back to claim the second game 11-8. In the third game, DeSantis only managed to score a single point, but bounced back to win the fourth and fifth game 11-5, 11-7, respectively.

Kerr won the third slot handily, sweeping Yuga Koda 3-0, by a score of 11-9, 11-5, 11-9.

Southmayd’s contest in the no. 4 spot also went the distance to five games. The captain was up the first two games, 11-7, 12-10, but dropped the next two games, 5-11, 6-11. He prevailed in the fifth with a 11-6 victory.

Groot rallied from behind to defeat his senior opponent 3-1 in the no. 5 position by a score of 7-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-9.

Quan Miranda also went five sets in the No. 8 spot to defeat Steve Caroll, 3-2, by a score of 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-3.

Ranked 22nd in the nation, the Jeffs look to refocus in order to prepare for the CSA Team Championships in two weeks.

The Trinity College Bantams defeated Wil-

liams in the championship match to take the NESCAC Championship title for the eighth straight year.

This weekend, Amherst will take its top four players to play in the Div. III Individual Invitational at Bowdoin.

Women The Amherst women’s squash team went in seeded sixth and finished sixth in the conference at the NESCAC Championship at Hamilton last weekend.

The Jeffs opened the weekend with a dominating 8-1 win over 11th-seeded Conn. College, as all Jeffs except Ericka Robertson ’16, in the no.

1 spot, were victorious.

Notably, Corri Johnson ’16 had an excellent match, allowing her opponent barely any points, winning by a score of 11-2, 11-0, 11-1.

The next day, the Jeffs squared up against archrival Williams, seeded third. The team fought hard in all their matches, but ended up falling to the Ephs, 2-7.

Sophomores Khushy Aggarwal and Taryn Clary were the only two Jeffs to win their matches.

In the no. 6 spot, Aggarwal triumphed in a five game match, 6-11, 11-7, 6-11, 13-11, 11-8, while Clary won in the no. 7 spot, 5-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-4.

At the no. 9 spot, captain Lena Rice ’14 almost secured a third victory for the Jeffs as she jumped out to a two game lead, winning the first games by a score of 11-6, 11-6. However, the senior then lost the following three games 11-5, 11-4, 11-4.

Meyha Sud ’16 also had a highly contested match in the no. 3 spot. Though the sophomore lost in three games, the game score does not reflect the intensity of the match, particularly the first game, which finished 18-16. Sud lost the second game by a score of 11-5 and the third by a score of 12-10.

Later that day, Amherst faced seventh-seeded Bowdoin in the consolation round. Many of the matches went to four or five games, with the Jeffs prevailing to defeat the Polar Bears, 5-4.

Sud, Evelyn Kramer ’14, Clary, Johnson, and Rice, all earned wins for the women.

At the no. 1 spot, Robertson was up two games, 11-6, 13-11, before dropping the next three games, 11-6, 11-0, 11-6.

First-year Tiana Palmer-Poroner had a com-

petitve match as well, losing to her opponent in four games.

The next day, the Jeffs hoped to increase their initial seeding with a win against fourth-seeded Hamilton. Amherst had the victory at its finger tips, but ultimately suffered a 5-4 heartbreak.

In the no. 1 spot, Robertson lost her match, 3-0, wrapping up a winless weekend for the sophomore. Arielle Lehman ’15 had an extremely competitive match in the no. 2 spot, winning the first game 11-8, but was unable to clinch the others, falling in the next three games, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9.

Sud brought home a victory on court three.

The sophomore won the first game handily, 112, before playing three more tough sets against Hamilton’s Lillie Simourian. Sud pulled out a 1614 win in the fourth game to seal the victory.

Poroner-Palmer played five closely-contested games in the no. 4 spot and was able to bring home the win, 6-11, 12-10, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9.

Clary and Rice were the other victories for the Jeffs, as Clary swept her opponent in the seventh spot and Rice defeated her opponent in four competitive games, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.

In need of only one more win to come out victorious in the match, the Jeffs suffered two heartbreaking losses in the no. 5 and no. 8 spots.

Kramer and Johnson both went to five games but neither were able to notch the win for their team. Co-captain Kramer jumped out to a two game lead 11-8, 11-7, but couldn’t hold on, losing the next three games to Hamilton’s Lindsay Arader, 12-10, 11-4, 11-9.

Johnson, on the other hand, was down two games, 6-11, 9-11, but battled back to win the following two games 11-8, 11-4. In the fifth and final game, the sophomore needed to stay cool under pressure but was unable to claim the victory, falling 17-15, in a marathon finale.

When asked to comment on the team’s weekend, Clary remarked, “Everyone played confident and smart squash even when we were exhausted.

All the girls showered real determination, and I was proud to be on a team that fought so hard.”

The 17th-ranked women have a home match against 22nd-ranked Mount Holyoke on Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. The top four players will then travel this weekend to compete in the Div. III Individual Invitational at Bowdoin.