Issue 20

Fred Shepard ’14 Throws No-Hitter Against Fontbonne See Sports, Page 9

THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

VOLUME CXLIII, ISSUE 20 • WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2014

Tuition and Fees to Exceed $60,000

Jazz Ensemble Board Raises Comprehensive Fee by 4.2 Percent Celebrates 10 Years of Commissions Sophie Murguia ’17 Managing News Editor

Photography Editor Olivia Tarantino ’15

College Hall is home to the office of Chief Financial Officer Kevin Weinman, who said this week that the increase in tuition fees reflects the rising cost of educating an Amherst student.

Andrew Kim ’17 Managing News Editor The College’s comprehensive fee will surpass $60,000 for the first time next year, President Biddy Martin announced last week.

The comprehensive fee — which consists of tuition, room and board — will be $60,400, a 4.2 percent increase from this year’s fee $57,970. Tuition will rise from the current price of $45,800 to $47,720. Room and board will increase from $12,170 to $12,680.

Despite the increasing cost, the College is still committed to meeting the full calculated need of students and will change very little in

its financial aid policy. Admissions will still remain need-blind, and financial aid packages will still mainly consist of grants and scholarships. Students currently receiving financial aid from the college should not expect to see dramatic changes to expected family or student contributions for the next year unless their financial situation changes.

“Amherst’s stellar financial aid program allows us to assess families as we always have: based on their individual circumstances,” stated Dean of Financial Aid Gail Holt. “If families are experiencing a steady state in terms of their financial circumstances, then they can expect their financial contribution to be similar.”

It is possible that some students who currently pay full price may be eligible for financial aid when the fee rises next year. As long as students complete an application for financial aid, they will be individually assessed the amount of aid needed.

“We know that families who are paying the sticker price or close to sticker price are sacrificing a whole lot,” Holt said. “We’re very sensitive to that…[and we] really put a lot of thought and effort to make sure that any increase [in comprehensive fees] is used to benefit all students.”

Currently 60 percent of the student body reContinued on Page 3

Few small college music departments have the chance to debut a new piece by a celebrated composer. Next week, the Amherst College Jazz Ensemble will celebrate 10 years of commissioning original works from well-known artists.

The McBride ’59 Jazz Celebration will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the McBride Commission Series, named for alumnus and jazz musician Robin McBride ’59. McBride and other alumni will return to Amherst next weekend to hear the latest commission in the series and to honor the history of big band jazz at the College.

The event will kick off on April 4 with a performance by the Amherst Jazz Orchestra, a group of professional musicians who will be playing the nine previous commissions in the series. The following day will offer students, alumni and local jazz enthusiasts the opportunity to attend workshops and lectures led by alumni and other musicians.

The celebration will wrap up that night with a concert in which the Amherst College Jazz Ensemble will play the latest commission, “10 for Ten” by Jeff Holmes. In addition to being a respected composer and performer, Holmes is the Director of Jazz and African American Music Studies at UMass Amherst.

“It’s amazing that we’re able to get him to write something for a school our size,” said Will Savino ’14, president of Jazz@Amherst, the jazz organization on campus.

The commission series has its roots in a legacy of student jazz at Amherst that extends as far back as the 1950s. During that decade, underground jazz groups formed on campus including one group managed by McBride.

Continued on Page 2

Getting Strategic: Internationalizing Liberal Arts

Terry Lee ’17 Contributing Writer

This article is the second in a four-part series about the four core committees involved in this year’s strategic planning process.

Adapting to a changing world, bridging social divides and facilitating open and broad discussions from differing perspectives — these are some the goals of the College’s Strategic Planning Committee on Internationalization of Liberal Arts Education. One of the four main strategic planning committees that are currently brainstorming ideas to improve the College’s future, this committee is focusing on the many ways in which the concept of internationalization can be applied and improved at Amherst.

“Amherst College should strive to be a global institution that produces global citizens,” said Assistant Professor of Economics Prakarsh Singh, a member of the committee.

Like the other strategic planning committees, this new committee met over the course of the fall semester. At the end of the semester it cre-

ated five subcommittees to tackle a range of issues: curriculum and faculty, international partnerships, curricular and co-curricular activities, international students and study abroad. Now, the committee as a whole has reconvened and is hearing reports from each sub-committee and working towards a report that will be shared with all members of the college community.

One of the main goals of the committee is to make internationalization and global fluency core academic values of both students and faculty at the College. Some key areas include exploring the representation and experiences of international faculty and faculty with international expertise, ensuring that the curriculum devotes adequate attention to global issues and diverse regions of the world and strengthening study abroad programs and international partnerships.

With such improvements, the committee hopes to broaden students’ horizons intellectually, culturally and linguistically. It also hopes to enrich their international competencies by not only giving them more global knowledge, but also encouraging them to think in more global perspectives.

“Amherst College is part of a world in which identities and ideas are rapidly globalizing,” said Professor Amrita Basu, the committee chair and Professor of Political Science and Women’s and Gender Studies. “We have a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate how a small liberal arts college can challenge insularities and become a global institution.”

Committee members emphasize the need for faculty to play an integral role in considering these goals and bringing them to fruition. Some of the items under consideration to promote internationalization and global learning include providing faculty with opportunities to develop new pedagogies and to travel overseas to teach and work with their students. The committee also hopes to strengthen the mentoring and advising of international students.

Though academics undoubtedly plays a significant part in the internationalization process, the committee has also been focusing on student life outside the classroom. It has looked at everything from the composition of various student organizations to international student admissions and integration of international students

into the college community.

Basu said she would also like to “bridge the gap” between international students and domestic students. Committee members said they believe that forums should be created where international and domestic students can dialogue with one another. According to Basu, domestic students could benefit more from the increased presence of international students if the two groups have opportunities to share their experiences and perspectives.

She recalled one instance in which a Resident Counselor told her how several students arranged for all the students to discuss their life stories during their weekly floor tea time. Basu said that domestic students gained a new appreciation of the experiences of the international students in their residence. She pointed to this as an example of a successful dialogue between international and domestic students.

“We need to open things up and increase exchange and dialogue,” Basu said.

The Committee is considering admissions Continued on Page 2

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News

“The increase in the comprehensive fee is intended to reflect the overall growing cost of higher education.”

Tuition Increases Page 3

March 11, 2014 - March 24, 2014

>>March 11, 2014 4:43 p.m., Social Quad An officer responded to a complaint of loud music and found speakers set up in a window at a room in Pond. The volume was lowered. >>March 12, 2014 2:16 a.m., Hills Lot An officer on patrol checked on a man standing in the parking lot and discovered he had just been in an accident with a parked car. A report was filed and the owner of the damaged car was notified.

7:34 p.m., Charles Pratt Dormitory An officer encountered a resident who admitted smoking in the basement. The student was fined $100. >>March 14, 2014 1:37 a.m., Crossett Dormitory An officer responded to a complaint about loud music and issued a warning at a first-floor suite. >>March 15, 2014 4:55 p.m., Converse Lot An officer responded to a report of a male on the ground at the bus stop. The man, who was intoxicated, was from a neighboring town.

He did not require medical attention and was allowed to board a bus.

8:04 p.m., Off Campus Locations An officer investigated a motor vehicle accident. >>March 16, 2014 10:35 a.m, Tennis Barn/Caddy Shack An officer discovered graffiti spray painted on a storage near the tennis courts.

7:19 p.m., 40 Dickinson St. An officer discovered graffiti spray painted on the rear of the building. >>March 18, 2014 11:49 a.m, Gym Loop Road An officer investigated a motor vehicle accident. >>March 19, 2014 12:52 a.m., Porter House While investigating a smoke detector sounding in a second-floor room, it was discovered a student has smoked marijuana in the room. A small amount of marijuana, and a pipe used for smoking was confiscated. The student was fined $100 for the smoking violation and the matter was referred to the Dean’s Office. >>March 20, 2014 2:42 a.m., Marsh House Officers and the Fire Department responded to an alarm and found it was activated by a basement detector for an unidentified reason.

Paty Cardenas

Thoughts on Theses

The system was reset.

6:13 a.m., Moore Dormitory While in a third-floor room on a medical call, an officer confiscated a small amount of marijuana and a glass bong with marijuana residue in it. The matter was referred to the Dean’s Office.

1:16 a.m., Newport Dormitory A resident reported the theft of a bag containing a cell phone and equipment. >>March 21, 2014 12:35 p.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory An officer investigated a smoke detector sounding in a second floor room and found it activated when a hair dryer was used too close to it.

1:06 p.m., Porter An officer investigated a smoke detector sounding in a second floor room and found it activated when a hair dryer was used too close to it. >>March 21, 2014 11:39 p.m., Stone Dormitory An officer discovered a fire extinguisher had been discharged in the building for no apparent reason. >>March 23, 2014 12:01 a.m., James Dormitory Officer issued a written notrespass order to a man found at James.

11:50 p.m., Amherst College Police While checking for identification in a found wallet, a license belonging to someone other than the owner of the wallet was found. A report was filed with the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

10:04 p.m., Coolidge Dormitory An officer responded to a noise complaint and issued a warning to a second-floor resident who answered the door. Approximately an hour later a second complaint was received. An officer returned and discovered a group of people with an unlicensed keg in the suite. The gathering was shut down and the keg was confiscated. >>March 24, 2014 1:03 a.m., Pond Dormitory Officers responded to a noise complaint and found approximately 30 people in a second -floor suite with alcohol. The gathering was shut down.

1:16 a.m., Pond While investigated a noise complaint, an officer discovered an unlicensed keg. One resident was fined $100.

Department of Theater and Dance Paty Cardenas is a double major in Spanish and Theater and Dance. Her Theater and Dance thesis, “A quinceañera” will be performed at 8 p.m. in Holden Theater on April 10, 11 and 12. Her advisor is Professor of Theater and Dance Wendy Woodson.

Q: Tell me about your thesis.

A: My thesis is a senior project in performance and I, in collaboration with my cast, have written a play. I am directing it and I will also star in it. Its title is “A quinceañera” and it follows a girl as she celebrates her quinceañera.

Q: For those who don’t know, what is a quinceañera?

A: A quinceañera is a tradition celebrated in many Latin American and Latino communities. When a girl turns 15, she has a mask and will have a party. She will have a beautiful poofy dress, and get dressed up, get makeup and get everything done.

This play really follows her through that day from beginning to end. She really grapples with some questions about coming of age, about what it really means to be a woman and a little bit about being Latina. So that’s my play.

Q: What was your inspiration for this performance?

A: Freshman year spring semester, I took Latino Literature with Professor Stavans and we had to come up with our own final project. I was really drawn to quinceañera so I wrote a how-to book about quinceañera, though my focus was really about having the most extravagant one, and really playing up to a commercialized version of a quinceañera which is what is has become, honestly. And I just have been fascinated with the performative aspects of it and the extreme over-the-top rituals that go into it.

Q: What has been your favorite part working on this performance?

A: My favorite part has been getting to know my cast. I should point out that I have two cast members from Amherst and I have one cast member from Hampshire. And it’s been so much fun get-

ting to work with them and getting to know them as not only performers but also just as people.

We’ve had some great discussions about differences between Amherst and Hampshire, so it’s just been fun getting to know them in a different kind of setting. It feels a little more organic the way we’re getting to know each other because it’ll usually happen when we’re working on a scene and it’ll remind us of something and we’ll chuckle about it and then go back to work so it feels more natural.

Q: What has been the most challenging part?

A: Well, learning to direct others. The work I’ve previously done as a performer has been selfdirected and I’ve only had to worry about myself.

And now I have more bodies in the space needing me to direct, guide and give information and direction to, and it’s been a bit of a challenge to articulate what I’m seeing and my vision to them. Also, learning to be a little blunt and saying, “I don’t like that. Do it again,” in a good, positive and constructive way of course. It’s been a challenge learning to work with others in a creative context and sharing that creativity, letting them feel as much part of the process as they are really.

Q: Do you have any advice for someone thinking about doing a performance thesis?

A: I’d say just own your creativity. People may not take you seriously because you’re writing a performance thesis but I think own it because not everyone can put on a show and perform in it. And really just be confident in that you are a creative person, you know what you’re doing and really just have fun with the process because ultimately you’re going to find your end result. It might take you a while but you’ll get there, so you might as well be confident in all of it.

— Sitina Xu ’16

Strategic Planning Discusses Internationalizing Education Continued from Page 1 policies for international applicants and international faculty hiring and study abroad programs.

It will consider recommending an increase in the proportion of international students on campus, currently at 8 percent. Amherst’s admissions policies are rare in that the College is need-blind for international students; however, as the number of international applications has steadily increased over the past several years and continues to do so, the percentage of international students has remained at 8 percent of the student body.

“We have so many qualified and talented international applicants who need to be turned down,” Singh said.

Furthermore, committee members expressed their hope that the College might be able to delve further into not only looking at the countries of international applicants, but also their regions and backgrounds. In terms of faculty, the Committee is looking at ways to continue promoting the hiring of international faculty and those who specialize in international regions and having Amherst professors teach abroad. In considering study abroad, the committee wants to strengthen opportunities for students to explore more nonwestern countries as well as grow the number of international partnerships with other colleges and universities around the world.

The committee has also said the College has

faced some challenges this year because of staffing vacancies. There has been a yearlong vacancy in the International Student Advisor position.

A search for a new Class Dean and Dean of International Students is currently underway. The Dean of International Students position has traditionally been the main point of contact for international students.

“Staffing is a big problem,” said Khushy Aggarwal ’16, an at-large member of the Committee for Internationalization of Liberal Arts Education and chair of the International Students’ Association. She also pointed out that unlike many other institutions, Amherst College does not have an international students’ office nor any designated areas on campus for international students.

Aggarwal said that one of her personal goals in this committee is to help facilitate what she calls a “fifty-fifty relationship” between domestic and international students — a mutually beneficial partnership in which both sides’ needs are met halfway and both sides are given equal opportunity to thrive.

To begin dealing with some of these aforementioned obstacles, the committee hopes to encourage more conversations between student groups, more campus-wide events dealing with international issues and more dialogue between faculty and students about improving student life.

The Amherst Student • March 26, 2014

News 3

Board Raises Comprehensive Fee to $60,400 $70,000

The Cost of Amherst Over Time

$70,000 $60,000

Comprehensive Fees

ceives some amount of financial aid. The average student at Amherst receives $46,809 in aid, $1,800 of which comes from work study. This year, the College has awarded approximately $44 million in aid, with $12 million from the endowment and $32 from a mixture of unrestricted funds in the endowment, donations and tuition revenues.

Amherst students have also been able to graduate with less debt than the average college student. According to Holt, of the class of 2013, 29 percent of students borrowed at some point during their Amherst careers with the average per-borrower cumulative principal being $15,466. In comparison, a 2013 study conducted by Fidelity Investments stated that 70 percent of 2013 graduates nationally graduate with some college-related debt, averaging at $35,200 per student.

Of this year’s $1.823 billion endowment, one-sixth of it, or around $300 million, is restricted to financial aid.

The actual price of an Amherst education is $89,365. However, due to gifts from alumni and parents and earnings from the endowment, the comprehensive fee is discounted by 44 percent.

According to Tom Parker, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, freezing the comprehensive fee to the current price would unsustainably deplete the endowment.

“What we think about ourselves as is a perpetual institution,” Parker said. “The Board of Trustees can’t just think about next year, they need to think about 25 years from now, 50 years from now.”

Because of Amherst’s large endowment and generous financial aid policy, net tuition revenue at Amherst is lower compared to other comparable schools. Although net tuition revenue has risen, it is increasing at a lower rate than the increase in scholarship aid per student.

Over the years, funding for the College’s budget has increasingly depended on the endowment compared to revenues generated

by comprehensive fees. In 1989, the endowment only provided a third of Amherst’s expenses and net revenues from comprehensive fees covered nearly half. By 2013, this statistic has flipped, with endowment funding half of the budget and comprehensive fees covering around one-third.

The increase in the comprehensive fee is intended to reflect the overall growing cost of higher education. According to Chief Financial Officer Kevin Weinman, the 4.2 percent increase will be used towards enrolling and educating talented students regardless of economic circumstances, recruiting faculty, improving student life on campus and enhancing opportunities for learning and networking.

Given that 60 percent of Amherst’s spending goes to employee salaries and benefits, the increase in price will account for modest wage increases and rising health benefit costs. Despite improved energy efficiency, the College is also expecting increases in fuel costs for the next year.

“Lastly, we do expect some targeted additional investments in certain important areas such as student life and safety,” Weinman said in an email.

Although projections for future tuition rates are difficult to calculate, the Board of Trustees estimates future comprehensive fees based on assumptions regarding the growth of the endowment, donations and tuition. However, these estimates are always reviewed in light of changing economic circumstances.

The cost of an Amherst education has been increasing at rates between 3 to 6 percent for the past 10 years. In the years immediately after the recession in 2008, the rate of increase had slowed until peaking in 2011. Since 2011, the growth rate has been declining from 5 percent that year to the current rate of 4.2 percent.

Amherst College’s comprehensive fee is comparable to that of other NESCAC colleges.

For the 2014-2015 academic year, Williams’s fee will be $60,790, while Bates and Tufts expect to charge $60,720 and $61,100, respectively.

$60,400 $57,970

$60,000

$55,510 $60,400 $53,370 $50,000 $57,970 $50,820 $55,510 $48,400 $53,370 $46,760 $50,000 $45,000 $50,820 $43,360 $40,000 $48,400 $40,980 $46,760 $38,940 $45,000 $43,360 $40,000 $36,910 $40,980 $38,940 $30,000 $36,910 '03-'04 '04-'05 '05-'06 '06-'07 '07-'08 '08-'09 '09-'10 '10-'11 '11-'12 12-'13 '13-'14 ’14-'15 $30,000 '03-'04 '04-'05 '05-'06 '06-'07 '07-'08 '08-'09 '09-'10 '10-'11 '11-'12 12-'13 '13-'14 ’14-'15

Academic Year 6%

Percent Change in Comprehensive Fees

Continued from Page 1

5.8% 6%

5.5% 5.8%

5%

5.5% 5.2%

5.0%

5.0%

5.2%

5.0%

5.0%

4.9% 5%

4.4%

4.9% 4%

3.9%

4.0%

3.8%

4%

3.9%

4.4%

4.2% 4.2%

3.5%

4.0%

3.8% 3%

3.5% '03-'04 '04-'05 '05-'06 '06-'07 '07-'08 '08-'09 '09-'10 '10-'11 '11-'12 12-'13 '13-'14 ’14-'15

Academic Year

3%

Music Department Honors College’s History of Jazz '03-'04 '04-'05 '05-'06 '06-'07 '07-'08 '08-'09 '09-'10 '10-'11 '11-'12 12-'13 '13-'14 ’14-'15

Summer courses for credit include: Organic Chemistry Introduction to Political Thought Medical Ethics Sherlock and Victorian Detective Fiction World Politics Speaking with Confidence Elementary Japanese The Hunger Games: Young Adult Dystopia in Popular Culture Social Psychology

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Make your summer count.

At Mount Holyoke.

On campus or online | May 27–July 2 and July 8–August 13 www.mtholyoke.edu/go/page | 413-538-3478 | page@mtholyoke.edu

Teaching English as a Second Language (certificate) Motivation in Education See all course offerings: mtholyoke.edu/go/page-courses

Continued from Page 1 Faculty and students put their support behind a more formal jazz studies program beginning in the 1970s and 1980s.

Since then, the College has hosted concerts by a host of big-name artists, including legendary jazz pianist McCoy Tyner. More recent concerts on campus have featured groups such as The Bad Plus, the John Hollenbeck Large Group and the Dave Holland Quintet, as well as individual performers such as Vijay Iyer, Ruddresh Mahanthapppa and Gretchen Parlato.

According to Bruce Diehl, the College’s Director of Jazz, the idea for the commission series came in 2004, when the work done by the jazz program sometimes received less attention than concerts by the orchestra or choral society.

“We initially started the project to try to increase awareness of what we’re doing in the department,” Diehl said. “It was trying to increase our presence here, and also trying to increase our audience size.”

Diehl said that in addition to filling more seats in Buckley Recital Hall, the commission series allowed the jazz program to increase the range of its repertoire and to establish a valuable connection between performers and composers.

“The composer would send us bits and pieces before sending us the completed work,” Diehl said, describing the typical process for previous commissions in the series. “So we had direct contact with the composers throughout the process.”

The past 10 years have brought a wide range of commissions, from darker pieces like

Earl McDonald’s 2010 “Smoke & Mirrors” to more lighthearted works like Frank Newton’s 2009 “The Art of the Matter.”

“We give very few guidelines to the composers,” Diehl said. “We do tell them about the strength of our performers. Generally the question of lead trumpet range comes into play, and who are our great soloists. But beyond that, I try to let them do their thing.”

For some composers, the series has earned them praise far beyond the walls of Buckley.

The 2012 composer, Christine Jensen, reworked her piece “Blue Yonder” for a professional band and included it in her new album, which has won several awards. Just last month, she and her sister played the piece at the Vermont Jazz Center.

“She’s really getting the mileage out of that,” Diehl said.

Another piece, David Springfield’s 2006 “The Art of the Matter,” was well received by a Chilean audience when the Amherst College Jazz Ensemble went on a concert tour to Valparaiso, Limache, Casablanca and Vina del Mar. Diehl acknowledged that it is expensive to commission new works, but he said that the College gets its money’s worth in the end.

“I love having off-campus people come in and bring what they have to our students,” Diehl said. “There’s a kind of energy that exists with that, and the students in the ensemble sit on the edge of their seats a little bit more, they sit a little taller and they pay a little bit more attention when they know they’re doing a world premiere.”

Jamie Sandel ’17 contributed reporting.

Opinion Editorial

Talking about Tuition Last week, President Martin emailed Amherst students and their families to inform them that the comprehensive fee for the 2014-15 academic year would be increased to $60,400. This represents a 4.2 percent increase over the current fee, which far outpaces the 1.5 percent annual inflation rate in 2013. While surpassing $60,000 may seem like a watershed moment, next year’s increase in tuition is not surprising, and is consistent with the trend of rising costs for higher education in the past decades.

Nonetheless, without additional information, Martin’s email should not be cause for alarm. The media tends to sensationalize rising tuition fees, especially at selective private colleges, without properly considering the effect of financial aid. This contributes to the misperception that the top private colleges in the United States are inaccessible to the working and middle class. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite. Charging high fees for students who can afford to pay and offering generous financial aid for those who cannot creates a progressive system in which revenue from students who are wealthy enough to afford the full comprehensive fee helps subsidize the education of the rest.

What is far more important for the majority of students is not the actual sticker price of college, but their expected contribution after receiving financial aid. Despite the increase in tuition, the College remains as committed as

ever to providing financial aid. Students currently receiving financial aid should expect their financial contribution next year to be similar, and as for the 40 percent of the student body that currently receives no financial aid, it is possible that some may be eligible for financial aid when the fee rises next year.

The media is wrong to sensationalize rising tuition fees because it equates nominal fees to the actual costs of education. While the former is irrelevant without factoring in financial aid, the latter is important. What is most concerning about Martin’s email is not that tuition will soon surpass $60,000 next year, but rather that the actual cost of educating one Amherst student for one year is already nearly $90,000. Amherst is first and foremost an educational institution and we are not demanding that it be managed cost-effectively, but as long as the College must operate with finite financial resources, there will be trade offs. If the College remains committed to enrolling more working and middle class students, which it should, relying on higher tuition is not a sustainable fiscal strategy because achieving greater socioeconomic diversity entails enrolling fewer students that will pay full tuition. What is necessary, and what the College has failed to convincingly demonstrated given, (for example, its management of the construction of a new science center) is an ability to contain costs.

“60k could buy a lot of dog food, Biddy.”

Letter from the Editor: On behalf of The Amherst Student, I’d like to apologize regarding the comment moderation of Andrew Lindsay’s article from March 12th, “The AC Voice Problem: Activist Olympics and Silent Discourse.” Lindsay’s article generated a great deal of online traffic and sparked several conversations in the comments section, some of which were productive and others that were not. All comments that are submitted to our website must be approved before becoming visible to the general public, and before approving any comment we make sure to give it a quick read-through, usually for spam or hateful language.

In the specific case of Lindsay’s article, we were not as diligent as we should have been in moderating several comments; as such, some of the comments approved were anti-semitic and offensive. Although these comments have since been deleted, they should not have been approved in the first place. I would like to sincerely apologize to those who were offended and vow to implement a more thorough moderation policy so as to avoid any similar situations in the future. We urge those who feel strongly about a certain article to share their thoughts, either through a comment or a letter to the editor. It goes without saying that these should be constructive and not hateful, and we look forward to reading them.

—Emmett Knowlton ’15 Editor-in-Chief

E X E C U T I V E B OA R D Editors-in-Chief Brendan Hsu, Emmett Knowlton Executive Advisor Brianda Reyes Managing News Andrew Kim, Sophie Murguia Managing Opinion James Liu, David Chang Managing Arts and Living Meghan McCullough, Elizabeth Paul Managing Sports Andrew Knox, Nicole Yang

“It’s time to look into seriously reforming this system. ” Let Go of Val... Page 6

Letter to the Editor Rebecca Sinos, Professor of Classics, writes in response to “Frost to House Humanities Center.”

First-year Sophie Murguia’s article on the Humanities Center slated for Frost Library presents the project mostly from the viewpoint of its supporters. She notes, however, that the need to displace stacks and faculty carrels has aroused faculty concern. Given Bryn Geffert’s optimism that “only one or two percent of the collection” will be removed from the library, and that the library will be able to provide carrels for those faculty members displaced from carrels on Frost’s second level, readers may wonder why faculty members, a large number of them in fact, have objected to placing this Center in Frost Library. Here are two reasons: 1) A large percentage of the space now allocated to open stacks (much more than one or two percent) will be lost to that purpose, simply to provide “talk space,” the kind of thing that could be and is now accommodated in shared space elsewhere.

2) There exists now a waiting list of faculty members who would like to have carrels in Frost but cannot because twelve of the fifty-seven faculty carrels will no longer be available for regular faculty use.

The College’s Humanities Center plan echoes

those of librarians all over the country who are embracing monotonous “centers” for which they gut the browsable stacks, ignoring faculty alarm about losing a facility critical to the methods of some disciplines. The irony of the Humanities Center plan is that it is faculty in the traditional humanities disciplines who will suffer most if our stacks lose their integrity, and who would use the carrels that are going to disappear.

At Amherst, our Librarian’s stated concern not to diminish greatly our print collection is heartening. But this fall we received a statement of “Library Collections Management” for the College which articulates this principle: Any new renovations or additions to Frost — be they for study, teaching technology, collaborative work, research or new programs — will require moving additional print materials to the bunker.

This statement, if it stands, will effectively freeze the number of books in Frost, a library that has not expanded since its opening in 1965 and has been culling books for offsite storage for years.

It is time for this College to stop postponing a long overdue expansion of Frost and for our Librarian to embrace a vision of a library that can serve our disparate needs.

Bike Share Coming Soon Robert Neel ’16 Contributing Writer The Amherst Bike Share is a project aimed at generating an on-campus student resource for bicycle rental. The goal behind its development is to promote sustainable travel and recreation to a student population that may not have the tools necessary to participate in an environmentally conscious platform of transportation.

The Bike Share we have planned will allow students to rent bikes for up to 24 hours at a time to take anywhere they please for free. From the start of the spring semester, Ben Walker and I have taken steps to build on the work we have done in the fall to upstart the program. With the help of AAS Senator Richard Park ’16, who has made a campus Bike Share program one of his primary Senate goals, the two of us have made significant strides towards establishing a Bike Share system on campus.

At the end of last year the College told us that they had over fifty unused bikes that they would be willing to grant the project. Unfortunately, upon our return to campus this winter we found that Amherst had donated all of the usable bikes to charity. Although the bikes were attributed to a good cause, this was a large step backwards for the Bike Share team. However, we have appropriately retooled our design in order to reach our goal of setting up a trial Bike Share program by the end of the semester.

This semester we have drafted an operating action plan and business proposal that will be presented to the student board and administration for funding. This business plan includes a budget that would cover the purchasing of ten to fifteen new bikes for the program. In addition, we have received verbal approval from the Amherst College Facilities Department to set up bike racks on either side of Stearns and James

S TA F F Design Editor Brian Beaty Opinion Section Editors Darya Barshak, Ashley Montgomery Sports Section Editors Dori Atkins, Jason Stein, Jeremy Kesselhaut Publishers Connolly Bottum, Diana Lopez, Syeda Malliha, Nazir Khan, Tia Robinson, Valerie Salcido Photography Editor Olivia Tarantino

dormitories. Two weeks ago, we secured access to a room in the basement of James to use as an operating station, storage space and mechanical shop. We plan to operate our program out of this central location and hope it will provide students with an accessible platform for bicycle rental.

Moreover, we have been conducting market research over the past few weeks via online surveys that aim to assess the on-campus demand for a Bike Share program. Through a preliminary 150 responses, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive: 94% of Amherst students polled have expressed explicit desire for a college bike share program.

Two weeks ago, we also met with the Amherst College Information Technology team in order to explore the possibility of creating an automated system for the Bike Share. Although they could not provide any immediate solutions, we were successfully directed to the Five College library managers to discuss the prospects of implementing the automated library system, called “ALIF”, to the Bike Share project. This program allows us to rent out bikes just like renting a book. The ALIF system gives us the infrastructure we need to record bike rentals electronically and apply late fees. We also recently met with Beth Carmichael at the Five College Risk Management Center to begin drafting a waiver to be used to cover the liability process for the Bike Share. With luck, we will have a waiver suited to the project by the end of spring break. Additionally, we just finished our first draft of our official business plan, and we plan to present to the AAS and the rest of Administration after spring break to receive approval for the project. We look forward to what is to come and to continue on our path towards environmentally conscious student travel. If you have any questions about the Bike Share please email rneel16@amherst.edu, bwalker16@amherst.edu or rpark16@amherst.edu.

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The Amherst Student • March 26, 2014

It’s Time to Let Go of Val 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.

This is a hard topic for me to write people or risk bumping into people about, simply because too much ink you’d rather avoid.

Aha, I can hear you say — but, has been spilled over it: it’s hackneyed, it’s clichéd, it’s what we all say to make Meghna. Technically, nobody is forcconversation with each other when ing you to eat at Val. You’re right, interthere’s nothing to talk about. “So, how locutor, nobody’s holding a gun to my about that Val food, eh?” After four head — but my rebuttal to that would years here, we get it. Val’s food has a be a basic point about capitalism (how stereotype of not being particularly is it always this?): how free are you to gourmet. Val’s been slowly and steadily choose when you are materially conimproving. Val needs more vegetarian strained from doing so? In terms that the econ-majors would like, the opfood. Val’s trying. Give Val a break.

Why I want to bring up and dis- portunity cost of having a meal away cuss Val today, however, is because of from Val is six to seven dollars. We’ve two things: 1) a problem I have, not already paid for a year’s worth of meals: with the actual dining hall itself, but skipping a meal at Val would be tossing the very culture of one dining hall and away a plate of food we’ve spent good a compulsory, all-encompassing meal money on. For many of us, that’s just plan, and 2) the larger problem of in- not an affordable option — and even if fantilization and social stratification we can afford it, it still haunts us with the guilt of wastage and superfluous that this represents about the College.

Valentine Dining Hall is not as bad spending.

There shouldn’t be a seven-dollar as we make it out to be. There’s a decent variety of food, it’s always been on an tax on choosing to spend a night in upward trend to improvement and the at home recovering from your busy staff are some of the most lovely, coop- schedule and resuscitating your menerative, kind and helpful people at the tal health. There shouldn’t be a sevCollege. We’ve all survived after four en-dollar tax on just not wanting to be years of eating there. There’s a decided in a particular busy social space. There lack of gluten free and vegetarian op- shouldn’t be a seven-dollar tax on tions, an issue that must be looked into, avoiding the possibility of triggering but overall — the problem is not the or panicking yourself. There shouldn’t be a seven-dollar tax on choosing to content of Val. It’s the form.

There’s an arguably decent rationale go out to dinner to celebrate a friend’s behind having one small dining hall: it birthday. There shouldn’t be a seven fosters a sense of community, an idea dollar tax to want to bake on the weekthat at the end of our busy day doing ends, or to try a new home cooked recdifferent things, we come home to have ipe, or to eat at a coffee shop while writa family dinner. However, as we’ve all ing your essay, or because you napped noticed — this backfires quite spectac- from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., or because you ularly at Val, which is one of the most want to order in a late pizza for dinsocially segregated spaces on campus. ner while you catch up on TV shows.

Moreover, Val is often the subject of a There shouldn’t be a seven-dollar tax host of awkward social situations — on choosing to treat yourself to a fancy ranging from somewhat irritating (see- meal at Moti’s to celebrate an achieveing a hookup from last night that you ment. There shouldn’t be a seven-dollar wanted to avoid) to outright triggering tax on just wanting a choice, a change, and harmful (seeing your sexual as- something different.

There shouldn’t be a choice, either, saulter and his friends walk by you, an example outlined in It Happens Here between that seven-dollar tax, and the magazine). The impulse to generate social isolation that comes with abancommunity and school spirit may be doning the meal plan altogether, and noble in some peoples’ eyes, but it is not being able to enter Val for team and undeniable that if that is the purpose of club dinners or group meetings or class Val, it fails more than it succeeds, and get-togethers or the language tables, it has given more people anxiety and without paying.

The system is too constraining and tension than it has the sense of family infantilizing, and disadvantages in and unity.

The worst part about social awk- particular those who cannot afford to wardness or outright triggering at Val, skip a meal they have already paid for, however, is the complete inescapability not to mention those who suffer from from it. We have two meal plan op- anxieties or triggers, or those who are tions: with breakfast or without break- vegetarian or gluten free. It also doesn’t fast, which solely concerns our life achieve the end it purports to, and is before 11 a.m. (something that doesn’t a model widely ignored by our other exist for many of us, including me). peer institutions. It’s time to look into Essentially, if we live on campus, un- seriously reforming this system, beless we have an exceptional excuse, we cause it’s crippling our independence must eat at least two meals a day at Val, and also our social happiness and no exceptions. Considering we’re tech- community spirit. The best move to nically banned from taking food out of foster in us what Val aims to foster in Val, this means that either we “suck it us is to let lax on Val a bit—give us all a up” and deal with situations that can be flexible meal plan with meals that can extremely debilitating and disempow- carry over, or be transferred off camering for us — including the possibility pus on days we chose to, or that can of being triggered or getting anxiety work at Schwemm’s at the very least. attacks or feeling social isolation — or Give us the opportunity to live indewe risk complete isolation from the pendently. Give those of us in dorms social scene at Amherst. There’s no in or houses with kitchens the chance to between — no “maybe I can skip Val exert our independence and buy grojust for today, my anxiety is too much/I ceries and cook. Give us choices withdon’t want to face people” — no option out caveats.

Our peer institutions have many alto choose between times you want to go and meet your friends and times ternative models, and it’s time we start where you want to stay in or not meet seriously looking into them.

Opinion 5

Standing Up for The Flag Robert Lucido ’15 Contributing Writer About a week ago, I walked into class reading an article about the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ unanimous decision to uphold a high school’s policy barring students from wearing American flag clothing on Cinco de Mayo. The largest court of appeals in the United States ruled that such a ban did not violate its students’ constitutional right to the freedom of expression, due process or equal protection under the law because it was intended to quell possible racial tensions.

But this decision should not have been particularly surprising. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is not only the most liberal circuit court in the country, but it also has a rich history of being the most reversed by the Supreme Court. During one term in the mid-1990s, the circuit court saw 27 of its 28 decisions reversed or vacated by the high court.

As my class was about to begin, a classmate walked in wearing a red Soviet Union CCCP T-shirt, complete with the hammer and sickle.

The dichotomy could not have been clearer.

The United States government had literally just upheld a ban on clothing containing our country’s own flag; yet a student was perfectly free to sport the flag of the Soviet Union — a dictatorial regime that was synonymous with brutal op-

pression, devoid of individual liberty and responsible for the death of over 23 million people — whenever and wherever he/she so pleased.

I asked him if he planned to sport a Swastika armband, an Iraqi National Progressive Front hat or a Rwandan Interahamwe hoodie to our next class. He was speechless.

This ban is characteristic of a larger trend of censorship in schools dating back to the 1969 Supreme Court decision in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. This landmark decision allowed “schools to forbid conduct that would ‘materially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school.”’

While there is an undeniable need for ensuring safe and productive learning environments, school administrations have invoked this ambiguous language to claim more and more circumstances as interferences.

Fort Collins High School in Colorado blocked its student council selected theme, ‘Merica Monday, for a day during spirit week because, according to a member of the council, “they didn’t want to offend anyone.”

The member continued, “I’m personally outraged at the school that we can celebrate every other culture but our own. We have activities that go on during Cinco de Mayo, but we can’t celebrate and honor our own country [where] we live.”

Canyon High School in Anaheim Hills, California, refused to allow a girl to enter because her National Rifle Association T-shirt was said to encourage violence, while 14-yearold Jared Marcum is facing a fine and up to a year in prison for refusing to remove his National Rifle Association T-shirt at school.

Schools have even gone as far as to ban certain colors due to their associations. One school in Yuba County, California banned the colors red and blue because of their use by gangs, while an elementary school in Frisco, Texas banned its students from wearing the colors of red and green during the winter holiday season.

Tinker also says, “It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

In fact, Justice Fortas, who delivered the majority opinion, deemed it significant to make that clarification first. He continued, “undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression…

School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students.

Students in school, as well as out of school, are ‘persons’ under our Constitution.” Perhaps the judicial and school systems should be reminded of these equally important lines the next time they motion to ban the American flag.

Further Exploration: Self-Discovery Through Education Defining Amherst

Seewai Hui ’16 Defining Amherst is an initiative about exploring the purpose of an Amherst education. For more information, visit definingamherst.wordpress. com.

Before coming to Amherst, I had a very noncommittal stance on my mixed race. I laughed along with both comments of “you’re basically white” and “you’re so Asian.” Depending on the situation, I was one or the other. Without realizing it, I let myself believe that I could only be one race at any given time. When I got an A on a math or science test, I was Asian. When I had slumber parties with my friends, I was white. The only time I was ever really both was when I was explaining to someone “what” I am. My lack of self-confidence only made matters worse. I was very quiet and found it difficult to speak up. Explaining the pronunciation of my name was the farthest I could get when it came to asserting myself. Although I was smart, I didn’t feel like I had any authority over matters of race. When I was only Asian sometimes and white sometimes, how could I ever really know what it meant to be either of those things?

My high school in New Mexico had very few Asians compared to Amherst, so when I came here I found myself faced with a new, stronger force of authority. My new friends grew up in communities where white people were the minority. They have shared under-

standings of what it means to be a young Asian-American. As we got to know one another, they would make jokes about their own culture or reference childhood experiences.

I understood some of their jokes and references, but each one I didn’t get felt like a wrong answer on a test.

While my new friends didn’t care too much about how Asian I was, I could feel their confusion on where to place me. Their usually silent hesitations about my race were enough to return my mind to the question of whether I am more Chinese or more white. The more I thought about it, the more impossible it seemed to answer.

I have since slowly come to the decision that I’m always both Chinese and white. Recognizing the unchangeable nature of my multiple races sounds straightforward and obvious, but it hasn’t been easy to get here. The thing that has helped me the most is the academic growth I’ve made at Amherst. I have learned not only how to develop my ideas more fully but also to trust that they’re good enough. It’s this small confidence boost that has made me realize that my opinions have value and that my voice has authority.

It also allowed me to start feeling like I have a place in the classroom.

Class participation is something I always have and still do struggle with. I used to attribute this to my quiet and shy temperament, but I have discovered that classroom dynamics are much more complicated than can be explained by students’ dispositions. Our race is an important piece of who we are and for many people, it is a defining part of their lives. Inevitably, the way we feel about our own race and how we see others perceive it contribute to our sense of self-worth. We have to feel like we are worth something as people, before we can feel our ideas are good enough to be shared in a discussion.

I still often feel conflicted by my dichotomous race and by others’ perception of it, but I no longer feel like I need to choose between its two components. This experience has showed me how my education can help me grow personally, which is not something I expected. Coming to Amherst, I knew education was important, but I saw college mostly as the inevitable next step in my life and as a place to figure what I want to do with my life. Now, the purpose I ascribe to my education is more meaningful. Its purpose is to give me the tools I need to figure out who I am.

Arts&Living

“The Pioneer Valley’s ripe with venues to see high quality music and theater” Exciting Pioneer Valley...: Page 7

Four Films You Can’t Miss This Summer

Image via imnotobsessed.com

“A Million Ways to Die in the West” is Seth MacFarlane’s first chance to direct since his hit “Ted.” Marquez Cummings ’16 Contributing Writer Before I begin, I would like to start out by apologizing in advance for my list. Because I go into every summer ready to watch the next superhero, action or comedy flick, I thought it best to make a list that not only reflected those genres, but also provides films that many viewers might avoid seeing.

Next time, I will scour Netflix for “under-the-radar” movies of all types for you all to check out. But, in the meantime, let’s start the list.

“Godzilla” (May 16th) When I saw the first image of this movie on IGN last summer, I felt a level of nostalgic excitement that I haven’t experienced in a long time. “Godzilla” has always been an iconic pillar of my childhood and of the film industry as a whole. Yet, I think the themes of “Godzilla” have gone heavily unnoticed by today’s audience. Godzilla, as a character, represents something more than an enormous lizard destroying everything in its path: he was created in response to the terror of nuclear war after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII (fun fact: Godzilla’s original design was chosen to represent the appearance of a nuclear burn victim). More to the point, Godzilla represents what happens when mankind attempts to resist Mother Nature.

Much like the inevitability of a hurricane or a tsunami, Godzilla cannot be stopped or prevented once he begins to rampage cities. He can only be endured. However, this isn’t the first re-

boot of “Godzilla.” In 1999, an updated version of “Godzilla” hit theatres and was immediately met with a ton of criticism. This was largely due to how the film ignored the source material and the themes that made “Godzilla” such an impactful piece of art in the wake of a World War. Luckily, in a couple months, “Godzilla” will finally be given the reboot it rightfully deserves. This year’s take will connect to the original narrative arc, but instead of nuclear testing being the source of Godzilla’s awakening, his awakening will be part of a larger conspiracy. Essentially, the government’s “nuclear tests” were not tests at all: they were failed attempts at destroying the beast when it emerged from the depths of the ocean. This is an interesting spin on the original story that makes perfect sense for our world today. With the recent exposure of the privacy violations committed by the NSA, most Americans have become even more distrustful of our government. Now, “Godzilla” can mean something again as a 300-foot walking embodiment of a major government conspiracy that threatens to “send us all back to the Stone Age” (this line will be delivered by Bryan Cranston. Yes, the Bryan Cranston of the epic “Breaking Bad” series). Out of all the movies on my list, “Godzilla” has me the most hopeful for success.

“A Million Ways to Die in the West” (May 30th) Seth MacFarlane impressed many critics and viewers debut alike with “Ted,” and in many ways it was hard

to believe that “Ted” was MacFarlane’s directorial debut. With his second film, MacFarlane looks to change things up in a big way. Set in 1882, “A Million Ways to Die in the West” will tell the tale of an Arizona sheep farmer (played by MacFarlane) who gains the help of a gunslinger’s wife in order to win the back the woman who left him.

The big names in the film include Liam Neeson, Neil Patrick Harris, Amanda Seyfried, Sarah Silverman and Charlize Theron.

This is one movie that I do not have a lot of information about. But judging from the first trailer, I am confident that MacFarlane has produced another hit. The film takes a different approach to the image of the Old West established by the Western film genre.

Instead of having honorable and heroic cowboys who inexorably go toe-to-toe with outlaws in order to maintain the social order, “A Million Ways to Die in the West” hilariously emphasizes everything wrong with the era, specifically how everything can kill you. Combine this with MacFarlane’s well-timed humor and a great supporting cast and you definitely have my money. You don’t get to see too many light-hearted Western films so I definitely had to include this movie on my watch-list.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” (August 1st) Since “Iron Man” in 2008, the Marvel cinematic universe has expanded into an interconnected series of stories and characters, which led to “The Avengers” in 2012. This summer, Marvel looks to bring more characters into the fold with “Guardians of the Galaxy.” This film follows the story of Peter Quill (Christopher Pratt), a human space adventurer who finds himself on the run from a galactic villain named Ronan (Lee Pace) after stealing a mysterious orb that holds immense power. Due to his predicament, Quill must team up with a rag tag group of interstellar convicts — Rocket (Bradley Cooper), a gun-wielding, trash-talking raccoon; Drax the Destroyer (Jose Bautista of WWE), a revenge thirsty behemoth; Gamora (Zoe Saldana), a green-skinned assassin and Groot (Vin Diesel), a tree-like humanoid reminiscent of the Ents from “The Lord of the Rings.” Together, this group of volatile misfits must work together in a last ditch effort to defend the universe from a force that threatens to destroy it.

This is not your run-of-the-mill superhero blockbuster. Yes, this film will have superhuman abilities and people in vibrant costumes, but “Guardians of the Galaxy” seems to be more than that.

For one, the film takes place away from Earth. As of yet, superhero films have remained more or less earthbound. By taking the adventure to the cosmos, “Guardians of the Galaxy” looks to shake things up with a major change in setting that will be sure to captivate a wide range of viewers (especially you Sci-Fi fans out there). Although an outlandish ensemble, the Guardians will undoubtedly broaden what Marvel Studios has built thus far with “The Avengers.” Although I won’t spoil any plot points here, I assure you that each character brings plenty of heart and life to the big screen. Hell, I even guarantee that Rocket Raccoon becomes a fanfavorite that will rival any Marvel character brought to the big screen (Yes, I even mean Iron Man). Also, check out the cast! I only listed the main characters; that just scratches the surface of the well-known faces that will appear in the film. Long story short, I implore you to give “Guardians of the Galaxy” a chance this summer. It will definitely be an exciting ride.

“Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” (August 22nd) Building on the gritty, visually stunning neo-noir film “Sin City” of 2005 (based on a graphic novel of the same name), this year’s sequel looks primed to deliver something special.

The basic narrative remains more-orless the same: there are several storylines that will cross, there’s a femme fatale and there will be a lot of gore (warning to those who are faint of heart). Additionally, the casting for this movie is top-notch with Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jessica Alba rounding out the list.

This is a film that threatens to be

the most forgotten film of my list, largely due to the fact that it will play more to a more specific crowd of viewers.

For starters, it’s primarily a black-andwhite film. I say “primarily” because, throughout the movie, there are points where certain colors are highlighted.

For example, the dame that everyone in the film is killing for has red lipstick and bright green eyes. Although this contrast between color and black-andwhite is a spectacle on-screen, this style isn’t just for show. Each color will give the audience insight on specific characters (for the dame, the colors red and green combine to accentuate how desirable she is to everyone fighting for her favor). Although this style seems cheesy, I think that it plays wonderfully with the over-the-top and visceral world of Sin City. And that leads me to my next point: the world of Sin City is plagued with a lot of sex, violence, and crime. All of the characters are more or less driven by at least one of these factors, so action movie junkies will feel right at home watching this film. Even if you don’t find yourself interested in anything that I have described, I would still give “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” the old college try; you might be surprised at what it has to offer.

That does it for my list of movies to look out for in the coming months so. If you haven’t already, check out the trailers for all of them. If you have any additions to the list or any arguments against any of the films that I chose, feel free to comment on the website. Summer 2014 will surely be a year to remember across all genres and I cannot wait for my local theater to take my money over and over again.

Image via evfxonline.com

Frank Miller’s “Sin City: A Dame to Kill” For hits theaters this summer, August 22.

The Amherst Student is in dire need of a comic strip!

Interested?

Email mmccullough15@amherst.edu or epaul16@amherst.edu

The Amherst Student • March 26, 2014

Arts & Living 7

The Closet Struggle is Real

Queeriosity Kane Willis ’15 Queeriosity is 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.

Amherst College is the biggest tease. I have never seen such a collection of beautiful men in one place all at the same time. However, as a gay or bisexual man all you can do is look because 97% of the male population identifies as “straight.” And there’s not much to choose from in the 3% that are actually out since we’re all friends, so you turn to the UMass gays. That gets really old and really stupid really fast and all of a sudden you download Grindr and Tinder to try and meet some decent guys.

Sadly, all you find are the very same guys you see at every flipping gay thing you go to until you get a message from a guy you’ve never seen before, a guy who’s not open or out about their sexuality, someone who’s closeted.

After getting matched and messaging with whoever this closeted UMass guys is you just don’t know what to feel. He’s sweet, he has a wonderful smile and he’s really attractive.

You have great conversations with him and he makes you laugh, but the only time he actually wants to see you is after 2 a.m. on a Friday or Saturday night after he’s been drinking with his friends. But you want to see him because you think he’s amazing and

really freaking cute. However, the next day you see this guy at Starbucks and he pretends like he’s never even seen you in his entire life; and the awkward thing is your mutual friend introduces you to the guy you’ve been talking to for a month and he says, “Hi, I’m [insert name here]” and not “lawls, we already know each other.”

Then this cycle continues and each time you think, “this one is going to be different,” but it never actually changes. You end up talking to guys who are ashamed to be seen with you because they haven’t fully developed their feelings and emotions towards their own sexuality.

Then you just end up feeling awful about everything, literally, because you ask yourself: “what does this imply about me?” “What does playing this closet game as an open gay man say about my morals towards my sexuality and myself as a person?” This experience inflicts a deep wound, and you say you’re never going to see any more closeted guys again until something very interesting happens.

Until you notice that Amherst guy you’ve been practically in love with for a very long time actually looks back at you in a very interesting way one day; or when you get

matched on Tinder with one of the Amherst guys you’ve had crush on since your sophomore year. Your first reaction is, “Holy shit! And then you’re like nah, stuff like this doesn’t happen at Amherst; there’s no way that he’s gay or even bi, nor would he openly admit it.”

Then all of a sudden you and this guy start to get closer but you can’t seem to read him, but he’s leaving you little hints here and there. Your mind and heart go like a billion miles per hour just feeling and thinking about how you’re going to get hurt, and if anything happens it’s only going to end badly; but every time you see him your heart beats so hard it feels like it’s going to fall right out of your butt. You want so desperately to be with him but you just can’t help but think that when something happens he’s just going to ignore you and the fact that anything happened.

Then this implies that there is something inherently wrong with who you are, because he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s been with another man since that is not the “norm;” therefore, it implies who you are is wrong and not normal.

There’s nothing at all wrong with being a person who is not out and still in the closet. In no way is someone a bad person for being in the closet. Every queer person’s closet takes a different form and shape depending on who they are and what their sexuality actually means to them, simply because everyone is different. Hopefully, one day, people

in the closet will come out when they’re ready to embrace everything they have to offer. In my experience, being trapped in a closet wasn’t the healthiest thing in the world. When I go out at parties I can see the pain and fear in the faces and eyes of those who are still in the closet; it’s so easy to recognize because I’ve seen that same face and those same eyes in myself when I looked in the mirror when I wasn’t out. But when I busted that door down I had never felt so light and happy in my entire life, because it seemed like thousands of pounds were just taken off my shoulders. Having any type of physical and

emotional relationship with someone who still is in the closet seems to complicate things both internally and externally for someone who is open and comfortable with theirs.

We must remember, though, that the person who is still closeted is hurting in very different ways. For someone to share his true sexuality and self with you is very special, and to help someone come out is a very special gift that you should treasure. Amherst College is a great and accepting place for people who are queer, but it doesn’t exactly foster the type of atmosphere that allows for people to come out.

Image courtesy of travelandleisure.com

Although Amherst College can be a safe space for the LGBTQ community, it still has a long way to go.

Exciting Pioneer Valley Destinations

Image courtesy of reminisce.com

On March 29th and March 30th, the Pioneer Valley Ballet will present “Beauty and the Beast” at the Northampton Academy of Music.

Liz Mardeusz ‘16 Staff Writer As Amherst students, we’re pretty spoiled with theater, dance and music performances, art exhibits and cultural activities. With the Mead Art Museum, regular shows put on by our on-campus a capella groups, and various other arts events, sometimes it seems that there’s little need to leave the College to get a culture fix. Though supporting on-campus groups by attending their concerts and recitals is great, sometimes escaping the Amherst bubble seems necessary and a change of pace feels sorely needed. Luckily, the Pioneer Valley is ripe with venues to see high-quality music and theatre. In Amherst, Northampton and surrounding communities, entertainment op-

portunities abound.

Amherst If you’re stuck without a car and don’t feel like dealing with the PVTA, the town of Amherst features lots of cultural activities within walking distance from campus. Amherst Cinema, located behind Amherst Coffee and GoBerry, boasts three screens that mainly play independent features and classic films. The movies you’ll find here are a little different than what usually screens at the multiplex on Route 9. If you’re looking for something a little more intellectually stimulating than the latest Hollywood blockbuster Amherst Cinema can fulfill your needs. It also subscribes to the National Theatre in London’s “National Theatre Live” series, meaning that sold-out performances

of popular plays and ballets are broadcasted live from England to cinemagoers in Amherst.

Ticket prices here are lower than those charged at the Hampshire Mall cinema, and the programming is a lot more unique, making it a great choice for a Saturday afternoon spent offcampus. This week at Amherst Cinema, “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Wind Rises” and “Tim’s Vermeer” are playing. Evening showings cost $7.75 with a valid student ID, matinees $6.75.

If movies aren’t your thing, there’s also the Amherst Art Walk, a free event held on the first Thursday of each month. These monthly Art Walks promote local artists, engage students and residents with the town’s art community and celebrate Amherst’s small businesses. During an Art Walk, participating venues are open from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. to display the creative work of local artists. These “open houses” — at locations as varied as Gallery A3 on Amity Street, the Burnett Gallery in the Jones Library and High Horse Brewery — are often accompanied by live music, lectures or demonstrations.

Northampton Northampton is a short distance away, and access to it opens up an entirely new set of entertainment options. This community is renowned as an arts and culture hub in Western Massachusetts, so finding something to do won’t be difficult if you’re in the mood to see a play, a comedy act or music.

The Northampton Academy of Music should be on any theater lover’s list of destinations. It has served as a performance venue since 1891. Today, it’s home to the Pioneer Valley Ballet and the Pioneer Valley Symphony, as well as theater troupe Old Deerfield Productions. The Academy of Music also hosts the productions of local youth performance groups. On March 29th and 30th, The Pioneer Valley Ballet will present “Beauty and the Beast.”

The Iron Horse Music Hall, the Calvin Theatre, The Basement and Pearl Street serve as venues for musical acts, comedians and speakers of varying fame. Tickets to these sorts of events can be a bit pricier than the opportunities previously mentioned, but totally worth it, especially if a performer you like happens to make the trek to Western Massachusetts. For example, best-selling author and humorist David Sedaris paid a visit to the Calvin Theatre this past year to speak to sold-out audiences. In April, Feist will play at the Calvin, along with other musical acts. Comedian Brian Regan will also perform on April 13. Tickets for these events range in price from approximately $25 to $50.

In terms of other cultural offerings, Northampton boasts a multitude of art galleries and museums. The Presidential Library and Museum of Calvin Coolidge is located in town, as well as the Historic Northampton Museum and the Smith College Museum of Art. A varied selection of photography, jewelry and craft galleries exist in the area, too. These are, in general, free of charge to enter.

If you’re interested in venturing further into the Pioneer Valley, there are museums to be visited and events to attend aside from the ones previously mentioned. The Wistariahurst Museum in Holyoke is a historic family estate with lush gardens to explore and a permanent collection of art and historical papers. Even Chicopee, Easthampton, Hadley and Florence — all within driving distance from campus and doable for a day trip — feature art galleries and museums of interest to creative-minded college students. Valleyartsnewsletter.com and Artspioneervalley.com are great resources for keeping up-to-date about arts offerings in the Western Massachusetts region. Those who seek out entertainment opportunities and cultural events outside the Amherst campus won’t be disappointed; the arts scene in the area is vibrant, thriving and most of all, affordable.

8 Arts & Living

The Amherst Student • March 26, 2014

The Quarters: Hadley’s Secret Spot

Photos courtesy of Isa Goldberg ’17

The menu features delicious finger-foods, from Chicken & Waffles to Sweet Potato Fries.

Jake Walters ’14 and Daniel Diner ’14 Staff Writers A common criticism of Amherst social life is the similitude and frequent mediocrity of larger, public options.

The Socials and larger campus parties lose their appeal about a week into Orientation. The blinding elatedness of newfound freedoms diminishes, and uneasiness with the gross, sweaty spaces and with the shallow, ritualistic performance of ‘fun’ kicks in. Looking outside the campus, all that is really commonly accessible are the several bars lining North Pleasant Street. But of course, the prohibition against anyone under 21 makes them accessible to only a fraction of students, and something about the crowded cesspools of vulgarity, over-applied cologne and harassed girls in miniskirts begs the question of why that fraction would be interested in going in the first place. To be fair, we are both very fond of High Horse, with its relaxed and comfortable atmosphere and fantastic beer selection, but it is obviously far from adequate for serving the entire student population.

The Quarters, located on Route 9 at Railroad Street, is a new venue that seeks to help fill this very void.

No single term is sufficient to describe what The Quarters is. In fact, the own-

ers don’t even attempt to provide one in any of their official self-descriptions, referring to themselves instead as “a new restaurant, bar and vintage arcade,” and a “destination for those seeking a place to enjoy some creative food, excellent drinks and 20+ vintage arcade games.”

The Quarters is the most accessible social venue we know about available to the Valley’s college-aged population. Remembering how alienated and uneasy we felt when we first started visiting the town’s bars last year, we were delighted at how pleased and comfortable a first-year friend of ours felt when we took her to visit The Quarters for the first time.

The Quarters is a relaxed, innovative blend of old-school culture (historic arcade games, gorgeous pinball machines, shelves dedicated to 80s toys) and hip, contemporary conveniences (a change machine that accepts credit cards, large hanging flatscreens advertising the food and drink menus adjacent to hot dog GIFs and bartenders sporting enormous hipster glasses). Its authenticity is confirmed by a consistent traffic of people in their 40s, old enough to have enjoyed many of these games during their original release window. True to its name, it only charges a quarter per play on nearly every machine.

Above all, The Quarters a multi-

faceted space that is harmonious because none of its features are independently imposing. One could go there to drink and socialize just as easily as one could go to game. Their kitchen is not to be understated either; a carefully crafted menu featuring delicious chic finger-foods like Chicken & Waffles and Sweet Potato Fries makes The Quarters a strong contender with High Horse and Amherst Brewing Company for the casual dining experience.

Perhaps most unique is their selection of “Pups” — unique “local mini dogs” (vegan optional) generously carpeted with a diverse array of toppings from pickled carrots to Kimchi to good-old Mac & Cheese. Their focused craft beer and mixed drink selection won’t match the variety found in the selection at many of Amherst’s premier inebriation venues, but it’s no slouch either. And for those dissatisfied with Amherst’s lack of late night venues, you can live out every high schooler’s dream by drunk-playing video games late into any weeknight.

The owners of The Quarters are also admirably enterprising — they take advantage of the building’s position overlooking the Norwottock Rail Trail to sell ice cream directly through a window to the trail’s patrons.

We particularly appreciate the game selection for how complete the vintage collection is, making it substantially different from any arcade we have been to. One of our favorites is the criminally underrated Crystal Castles, released in 1983 as the next logical evolution of Pac-Man. They DO have Ms. Pac-Man, herself superior to her more famous husband, letting us all live out, if only for a fleeting moment, our hopes and dreams of being a yellow circular construction worker moving pellet-shaped debris off the road with our stomachs by day and then murdering ghosts by night. But the alternately turgid and lightning quick pace of Crystal Castles brings a much needed jolt of agency, and anxiety over timing every move perfectly, to the perpetual controlled reckless abandon of the earlier Pac-Man. It’s less immediately enjoyable for newcomers, perhaps, but its mechanics reveal more depth and nuance as well, especially in the risk-reward of being able to kill enemies by touching them only if they are actively eating the pellets that your brave, regal protagonist Bentley Bear so craves. If you wait a half second

too long and you connect with them after they’ve finished their meal, you’ll be out a life. And if the drinks at the bar don’t satisfy you, there’s always any arcade’s premier cocktail: one part ultra-violence, on part consumerism, and one part corny humor, courtesy of Smash TV: the greatest dual joystick shooter of all time. That’s right — not one, but two whole joysticks for your pleasure time (for a little history lesson, pop on over to the granddaddy of the genre a couple machines away — Robotron). How many other games have a grenade machine gun? 1990 was a simpler time indeed.

Other fine offerings include Burger Time, in which you run on top of hamburgers to make them fall while avoiding walking sunny-sideup eggs; Joust, where you … joust, albeit on space ostriches which can glide around for short distances and of course the old standby Tetris, where you save the Russian Kremlin from falling blocks by making sure they fall in just the right spatial order. Or perhaps you’re trying to knock down a wall of some kind in the midst of seemingly insurmountable odds as the blocks just keep piling up. Not that Russia has any history with walls, or falling blocks. Either way, you gotta love the primal joy that comes from the esoteric simplicity of those early 80s game concept ideas.

You really don’t see the kind of

mind-boggling combination of inspired venues matched to simple yet addictive gameplay anymore. Be warned, those of you reared on modern movie theater arcade fare, with barely functioning light gun science fiction and hunting shooters, all manner of racing games and the air hockey you came for in the first place but didn’t feel comfortable hogging for the whole hour before the movie — you’ll find no such tomfoolery here. This is a classic arcade, and they stick to their aesthetic admirably. Their Addams Family pinball machine has a gorgeous aesthetic and wonderfully pure gameplay experience, but it will take some getting used to for those raised on the bells and whistles of 3D Pinball Space Cadet. But come in soon and often, for their game selection rotates surprisingly frequently. A number of classics are out and ready, but most of the other ones we inquired about were upand-coming. Donkey Kong, Arkanoid, Double Dragon, X-Men, you name it — it’ll probably be up sometime soon.

For anyone looking to reconnect with gaming’s roots, absent any of the hustle and bustle of modern gameplay visuals, narrative, and complexity, The Quarters is worth every, well, quarter.

Restaraunt/Bar/Arcade 8 Railroad St, Hadley Open 5PM-1AM Mon, 12PM - 1AM Tue-Fri, 11AM-1AM Sat-Sun

The Quarters is one of the most accessible social venues available to the Valley’s college-aged population.

KenKen

The numbers you use in a KenKen puzzle depend on the size of the grid you choose. A 3 x 3 grid (3 squares across, 3 squares down) means you use the numbers 1, 2, and 3. In a 4 x 4 grid, use numbers 1 to 4. A 5x5 grid requires you use the numbers 1 to 5, and so on.

The numbers in each heavily outlined set of squares, called cages, must combine (in any order) to produce the target number in the top corner using the mathematic operation indicated (+, -, ×, ÷).

Here's how you play: •

Use each number only once per row, once per column.

•

Cages with just one square should be filled in with the target number in the top corner.

•

A number can be repeated within a cage as long as it is not in the same row or column.

KenKen® is a registered trademark of Nextoy, LLC. Puzzle content ©2014 KenKen Puzzle LLC. All rights reserved. For more KenKen puzzles, visit www.kenken.com

The Amherst Student • March 26, 2014

Sports 9

Men’s Basketball Falls Short of Repeat Title

Reaches Second Straight Final Four, Can’t Top Ephs in Final

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Toomey ’14, the Div. III Player of the Year, led to the senior class to a 108-13 record.

Jason Stein ’16 Sports Section Editor Amherst men’s basketball’s hopes of repeating as national champions came to end on Friday night in Salem, Va. at the hands of archival Williams in the Jeffs’ second straight trip to the Final Four and sixth appearance in the national semifinals since 2004. In the week leading up to Salem, Amherst earned two convincing victories over Plattsburgh State in the Sweet 16 and against Morrisville State in the Elite Eight to set up a match with Williams for the fourth time of the 2013-2014 season.

The Jeffs finished the season with a 27-4 overall record, averaging 84.0 points per game and allowing 71.7 points per contest. Amherst went 16-0 at home, 9-1 in NESCAC play and earned their third straight NESCAC Championship with a win over Williams on Sunday, March 2.

On Friday, March 14, Amherst squared off against the Plattsburgh State Cardinals for the second consecutive year in the NCAA Tournament at LeFrak Gymnasium. From start to finish, the Jeffs appeared to be in control against the Cardinals as they posted an 87-63 win in the contest.

Less than two minutes into the game, Amherst pulled ahead with a 7-0 lead. Plattsburgh responded and narrowed the deficit to one point at 13-12 with 15:02 remaining, but Amherst continued to grow its lead from then on. The Jeffs took their first double-digit lead at 27-16 with 10:43 left to go, and led 49-29 at the halftime break. All five of

Amherst’s starters notched at least seven first-half points, with first-year forward David George (12 points) and sophomore guard/forward Connor Green, who scored 11 points fresh off an injury, both reaching double-figures.

The Jeffs cruised after the break as Amherst never led by less than 14 points in the second half and finished with an 87-63 triumph.

In the game, all five of Amherst’s starters scored in double figures and three players posted double-doubles. Senior guard/forward Tom Killian led the scoring with 22 points, while Green and senior guard Aaron Toomey (who was recently recognized as the NABC Northeast Player of the Year, an NABC First Team All-American, and the D3hoops.com National Player of the Year) each netted 15. George and guard David Kalema ’14 added 13 points and 12 points, respectively.

Toomey notched a double-double after dishing out 12 dimes, while George (11 rebounds) and Killian (10 rebounds) attained their double-doubles by aggressively crashing the boards. George narrowly missed a triple-double, as he swatted a career-high nine blocks against the Cardinals. George’s line of 13 points, 11 boards and nine rejections came in just 29 minutes.

On the night, Amherst shot 55.4 percent on field goals and 44.8 percent on three-pointers. The Jeffs also held a sizable 45-27 rebounding advantage and limited Plattsburgh St. to 63 points on 34.8 percent shooting from the floor.

“Plattsburgh had some advantages, but we went right at them from the get-go,” said Coach David Hixon ’75, who was just named the NABC Northeast Coach of the Year. “We handled them relatively well, we knew them [from last year’s matchup] and our guys weren’t intimidated.”

With Amherst’s victory over Plattsburgh, they awaited the Morrisville State Mustangs in an Elite Eight matchup the following day. The Mustangs entered play following an 88-81 win over Richard Stockton in NCAA Third Round action. In the first 16 minutes of the first half, the game between the Jeffs and the Mustangs remained close, as both teams held the lead multiple times and traded baskets. After holding a 29-28 edge with 3:52 remaining before the break, Amherst then went on a 13-4 run to close the half out with a 42-32 lead.

The Jeffs jumped out of the gates, doubling their lead to a 20-point margin, at 60-40, with 12 minutes left. Although the Jeffs would not relinquish their edge, the Mustangs fought their way back into the game and outscored Amherst 34-24 over the final stretch in the 84-74 loss to the Jeffs.

Just as he has done numerous times before, Toomey emerged as the star against Morrisville.

The senior guard scored a game-high 31 points, shooting 7-15 from the field, an astounding 6-9 from beyond the arc and converted 11-11 free throw attempts. Toomey also grabbed eight boards and dished out four assists in the victory.

Kalema also made significant contributions as he scored 20 points on 8-14 shooting, while George and Killian each scored 13 points.

Toomey surpassed the 2,000-point milestone during the game, becoming the first player to do so after previously breaking the all-time Amherst scoring record (previously set by Steve Zieja ’03 with 1,708 points) earlier this season. Toomey will go into the Amherst record books with individual records posted for total points (2,033), free throws converted (606), and three-pointers made (291).

With Amherst’s victory over Morrisville, the Jeffs sent the Mustangs home for the season, while Amherst earned a trip to Salem, VA and a matchup with Williams in the Final Four.

In the highly-anticipated Final Four Matchup between NESCAC rivals Amherst and Williams, the Ephs jumped out of the gates early by building a 6-0 edge against the Jeffs, but four points from George and a bucket from Killian enabled Amherst to pull even at 6-6 around three minutes into the game. The Ephs’ first-year phenom Duncan Robinson (recognized as a Second Team All-NESCAC honoree, the NESCAC Rookie of the Year, and the D3hoops.com National Rookie of the Year) and Kalema then traded three-pointers to make it 9-9.

Williams then took a 15-11 lead, but Killian responded with a three-pointer to keep it close.

Despite beating the Ephs all three times prior to the National Semifinal, the Jeffs trailed the Ephs 45-32 at the end of the first half. They key to Williams’ success in the first half was the stifling zone defense that the Ephs employed in addition to their impressive shooting.

Robinson, who scored 17 points in the first half on 7-9 shooting carried the Ephs. Green (12 points) and Killian (11 points) shouldered the offensive load and combined for 23 of the Jeffs’ 32 first-half points.

Foul trouble also played a part in Amherst’s challenges. George sat with two fouls early on in the first half, making it more difficult to defend Williams’ senior center Michael Mayer on the interior, who finished with 11 points in the first half.

Toomey struggled to piece together anything offensively in the first half and picked up his third foul with 2:07 left in the first half.

While the Jeffs looked primed to bounce back early in the second half, the Ephs exploded and built a sizable lead that they did not relinquish.

Robinson picked up where he left off at the end

of the first half by launching a three-pointer to increase the Ephs’ lead. The Ephs then jumped out to an 11-0 run and took the lead by 24 points.

George narrowed the lead to 20, at 64-44 with 13:17, but the Jeffs were unable to stop Robinson and the Williams offense the rest of the way. After a fairly competitive first half between Amherst and Williams, the strong shooting and lockdown zone of the Ephs proved to be too much for the Jeffs.

Ultimately, the lone bright spots for the Jeffs in their 98-69 loss to Williams were the strong play of both Green and Killian, as they fought to keep the Jeffs in the game, yet ultimately to no avail. Green finished with 26 points and seven rebounds, while Killian posted 20 points.

Robinson posted a game-high 30 points, Mayer turned in a double-double and senior forward Taylor Epley scored 18.

With their win over the Jeffs, the Ephs snapped their eight-game losing streak against Amherst and earned a spot in the National Championship against University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. In an incredibly exciting game, UW-Whitewater sealed a 75-73 victory in the final second of the game to win the 2014 Div. III National Championship.

With the departure of this year’s senior class, a group which graduates with a 108-13 overall record, Amherst’s returning core will have big shoes to fill. 50.1 points per game out of Amherst’s 84.0 season average (59.6 percent of overall scoring), 15.8 rebounds per game, and 349 of the team’s 471 total assists (74.1 percent of total team assists) will all be coming off the books with the graduation of Gach, Kalema, Killian and Toomey. The valuable leadership, experience and basketball knowledge of this group of seniors will be greatly missed, as this year’s squad really benefitted from the leadership and contributions of the senior class.

“Aaron, David [Kalema], and Tom really took the team on their back, and [senior guard] Connor Gach had some good games and had some clutch threes,” Hixon said.

“Their achievements were amazing. 64-1 at home, 38-1 in NESCAC play over the last three years. What a great senior group.”

Green, George and sophomore forward Ben Pollack (who was unavailable to play in the NCAA Tournament due to injury) will certainly see major minutes next season, but several other key roles remain up for grabs heading into next season.

“Next year is going to be a huge change,” coach Hixon said. “I am cautiously optimistic, but we have a lot of work to do to be competitive. We have some changes to make and we need to get better. It is going to be one of the most interesting offseasons we have had in quite some time.”

Women’s Basketball Falls in Sweet 16 Women’s Tennis Goes 4-1 in Cali Dori Atkins ’16 Sports Section Editor The Amherst women’s basketball team’s quest for a 2014 NCAA Championship ended on Friday, March 14 in an overtime loss to Ithaca.

Although the Jeffs beat Itacha in the regular season, Amherst fell just three points short in a hard fought battle.

Amherst controlled the game early, finding themselves up 25-13 in the middle of the first half. However, Ithaca battled back going on a 12-6 spurt and reduced the deficit to 31-25 with six minutes left in the first.

Starting off the second half with an 8-0 run, the Bombers gained their first lead of the game, 45-44, with 14:28 remaining in regulation. Ithaca continued pressuring the Jeffs, but Amherst was resilient until the end of regulation.

With just four minutes left in the game, Ali Doswell ’17 hit two consecutive three-pointers to give the Jeffs the lead. But an Ithaca jumper with 36 seconds left forced overtime.

The overtime period was very competitive, as Ithaca and Amherst exchanged the lead. A missed opportunity to take the lead forced the Jeffs to foul and lead to an Ithaca victory.

Although they did not pull out the win, many Jeffs still had impressive numbers in the game.

Sophomore Marley Giddins was just one point

shy of tying a personal record of 22 points, and matched a career-high 12 rebounds. Meredith Doswell ’17 contributed 14 points, while twin sister Ali added 13 points and a career-best of nine assists. Jaimie Renner ’17 was the only remaining Jeff to score in double-digits with 10 points.

As a team, the Jeffs shot 38.9 percent from the field, while the Bombers shot 44.1 percent. Ithaca held the Jeffs to a 51-37 rebounding edge, and outscored them 24-13 in second chance points.

While this is the first time since 2007-08 Amherst has not advanced past the Round of 16, the future remains bright for the young Jeffs.

They do not lose any players to graduation, allowing them to bring back the same chemistry next winter.

The Jeffs will look forward to the return of junior captain, and two-time All-NESCAC honoree, Megan Robertson, who missed the last 15 games of the season due injury.

“Losing in the Sweet 16 was disappointing,” said captain Cheyenne Pritchard ’16. “Losing is hard enough, but losing in overtime is a dagger.

Ithaca played really well and made big shots when we didn’t, and you have to give them credit. But when we look back at how much adversity our team faced, and how much we accomplished, it was a pretty amazing season. The best part about it is we are all back next year with the same goal in mind: to win a national championship.”

Chris Rigas ’16 Staff Writer Amherst women’s tennis won four of five on their California road trip, only dropping a 5-4 decision to Div. I Cal State Fullerton. The Jeffs entered the week ranked fourth in Div. III and picked up 6-3 wins over No. 5 Claremont Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer, and swept both Concordia and Whitman, 9-0. Seniors Gabby Devlin and Jordan Brewer won all five of their matches at the top of the doubles lineup.

On Monday, March 17, the pair dominated Pomona Pitzer’s top doubles team, but that was the only doubles victory the Jeffs managed. However, Amherst won five of the six singles matches, including wins from Devlin and Brewer. Sue Ghosh ’16, Amy Pangalos ’14 and Sarah Monteagudo ’16 also won as the Jeffs picked up their second dual match win of the year, 6-3.

The next day, Amherst visited Cal State Fullerton and lost 5-4. Brewer and Devlin were the only doubles team to win, but they did not have as much success in singles, as they both fell in straight sets.

The teams split the singles matches, with Jen Newman ’14, Ghosh and Pangalos triumphing for Amherst, but Fullerton’s edge in the doubles carried the Titans to a 5-4 victory.

The Jeffs bounced back on Wednesday with a comfortable 9-0 defeat of Concordia. The visitors

did not drop a single set on their way to the sweep.

This time, Brewer and Devlin won 8-0 from the top doubles court. Newman and Pangalos picked up an 8-1 win, and Monteagudo combined with junior Safi Aly to win 8-3 from the No. 3 court. The Jeffs’ sweep of the singles matches was highlighted

by Devlin and Newman, who both won 6-0, 6-0.

After a day off, Amherst visited fifth-ranked Claremont Mudd-Scripps. The Jeffs won 6-3, in a contest that featured several close matches. Devlin and Brewer won again 9-7. In the other doubles matches, Newman and Pangalos fell 8-6, and Monteagudo and Aly also lost 8-6. Despite Brewer’s three set defeat at the top of the singles order, the Jeffs won four of the six singles matches. Devlin picked up a three set win and Newman, Ghosh and Monteagudo all won in straight sets.

Amherst wrapped up its California trip with a sweep of Whitman College, bringing its dual match record to 5-2. Just as they did against Concordia, the Jeffs avoided losing a set in their 9-0 victory. Brewer and Devlin completed their perfect week at the top of the doubles order with an 8-1 victory. Pangalos and Newman won 8-4 from the No. 2 court, and Aly and Monteagudo coasted to an 8-2 victory in the last doubles match. Brewer, Devlin, Ghosh and Monteagudo picked up straight set singles victories.

The Jeffs return to action with the Wellesley Invitational on Friday, Apr. 4.

10 Sports

Schedule WEDNESDAY Softball @ WPI (DH), 3 p.m.

Baseball @ Keene State, 3:30 p.m.

Women’s Lacrosse @ Wheaton 6 p.m.

FRIDAY Baseball vs. Hamilton (DH @ Yaphank, NY), 3 p.m.

Softball vs. Wesleyan, 5 p.m.

SATURDAY Baseball vs. Hamilton (@ Yaphank, NY), 7:30 p.m.

Softball vs. Wesleyan, 5 p.m.

Men’s Tennis @ Tufts, 10 a.m.

Women’s Lacrosse vs. Middlebury, 12 p.m.

Men’s Lacrosse @ Middlebury, 2 p.m.

Men’s Outdoor Track &

The Amherst Student • March 26, 2014 Field All Day Women’s Outdoor Track & Field All Day

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

TUESDAY Softball @ Westfield (DH), 3:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY 4/2 Baseball vs. Springfield, 3:30 p.m.

Men’s Lacrosse @ Wesleyan, 6 p.m.

Women’s Lacrosse vs. Wesleyan 6 p.m.

FRIDAY 4/4 Baseball @ Williams, 4 p.m.

Softball vs. Middlebury, 5 p.m.

Women’s Tennis @ Wellesley Invite, TBD

Fred Shepard ‘14

Rachel Passarelli ’16

Favorite Team Memory: Throwing a complete game shutout in the NESCAC championship last season Favorite Pro Athlete: Barry Zito Dream Job: Professional baseball player Pet Peeve: Crossfit Favorite Vacation Spot: Cape Cod Something on Your Bucket List: Skydiving Guilty Pleasure: Sleeping through class Favorite Food: Anything curry Favorite Thing About Amherst: Valentine dining common

Favorite Team Memory: Monster trucking on our spring break trip Favorite Pro Athlete: Allyson Felix Dream Job: Superhero Pet Peeve: Bikers on the road Favorite Vacation Spot: Antigua Something on Your Bucket List: Winning a national championship Guilty Pleasure: Grey’s Anatomy Favorite Food: Ice cream Favorite Thing About Amherst: The women’s lacrosse team

At 18-2, Red-Hot Men’s Tennis Catches Fire in California Nicole Yang ’16 Managing Sports Editor The fourth-ranked Amherst men’s tennis team began their spring season this past week in sunny California where the team played 17 dual matches over the course of six days. With enough players to fill three squads, the Jeffs went 15-2 — losing only against Concordia and Claremont-Mudd Scripps.

“Our spring break trip was exhausting but rewarding. Since we only lost twice, I think it shows that we can compete with any team in the country.

Personally, I played pretty well, but I’m just glad Coach gave me a chance to play,” Phillip Qu ’16 remarked.

On day one, Qu and Eli Mlaver ’14 got Amherst off to a quick start against Hope International, defeating their opponents in the top doubles spot 8-2. Their win was the first of nine, as the Jeffs swept the Royals 9-0. In their second contest of day, the Jeffs faced Concordia Univ. Irvine, whom they defeated 8-1 last spring.

“Concordia is always a very competitive match. We have had some success there over the last couple of years, but they got the best of us this time around,” Head Coach Chris Garner said.

Amherst went into the singles matches down 1-2, as only the duo of Justin Hendrix ’14 and Sean Rodriguez ’15 was able to defeat their Eagle opponents. This deficit from the doubles matches proved to be the difference maker since the two teams split the singles matches 3-3, giving Concordia the 5-4 overall edge.

Against Vanguard later that day, the Jeffs found themselves down 1-2 again after doubles play, as Chris Dale ’14 and Andrew Scheiner ’15 were the only victorious duo. The two also won their singles matches, as did Justin Reindel ’14 and Anton Zykov ’17, to propel Amherst to a 5-4 victory.

The Jeffs began day two with a 6-3 win over 16th-ranked Pomona-Pitzer, where senior cocaptain Joey Fritz won his match handily in the top singles spot 6-1, 6-1. In the afternoon, Amherst had another 6-3 win over Westmont. Hendrix and Rodriguez defeated their Warrior opponents 8-4 to continue their success as a pair. The two were also victorious in their singles matches to help notch the win and improve the team’s overall record to 7-1.

Amherst dominated Chapman on day three with an 8-1 win. Michael Solimano ’16 stepped up in the No. 1 singles spot and won his match 6-1, 6-3. The sophomore also played in the No. 1 doubles slot with Aaron Revzin ’16, earning an 8-4 victory. Against 21st-ranked Whitter later in the afternoon, both Fritz, Dale and Zykov won the top three singles matches in the team’s 9-0 sweep.

On day four, the Jeffs beat Glendale Com-

munity College 8-1. Of note, Ben Fife ’16 won his match in the No. 2 singles spot 6-1, 6-0 in just his second post-surgery match.

When asked what his expectations were for Fife for the remainder of the season, Garner said, “I sure hope he can get a 4.0 in all of his classes.”

Later that day against Azusa Pacific, Amherst fell into another 1-2 hole after doubles. Solimano and Revzin got the Jeffs on the board early with an 8-4 win; however, Fritz and Reindel lost their hotly contested 9-7 match in the top spot, and the duo of Zykov and Mlaver fell 8-6 in the third spot.

In the singles matches, Amherst quickly evened up the score at two matches apiece, as Jan Meyer retired in the top spot to hand Fritz the win.

Revzin gave his team a 3-2 lead with a 6-3, 6-1 win in the No. 4 singles spot, but the Cougars answered with a win in the second spot, as Solimano fell 6-0, 6-3. The teams traded wins again as Reindel won his match in three sets in the No. 5 spot, but Mlaver lost 6-0, 6-4 in the sixth spot. With the match tied at 4-4, Zykov came through in the No. 3 spot with a 7-6, 6-3 win to clinch the 5-4 overall victory.

“Zykov had a lot to do with the team’s success this past week,” Garner noted.

The Jeffs defeated Point Loma Nazarene 7-2 to finish off day four. In doubles, Hendrix and Rodriguez won 9-8 for their fourth straight victory. In singles, three of the six matches needed a third set tiebreaker to settle the result with Yaraghi and Hendrix prevailing but Russell Einbinder ’16 failing.

Day five featured the biggest match of the break for the Jeffs, as they were up against thirdranked Claremont-Mudd Scripps.

“CMS is a great team. They are always wellcoached and have on of the strongest programs in the country,” Garner said.

The Stags earned the first win of the day with an 8-5 victory over Revzin and Solimano in the second doubles spot. They increased their advantage to 2-0, as Yaraghi and Zykov led 3-0 before dropping eight straight games to lose 8-3. However, Fritz and Reindel avoided the doubles sweep and gave the Jeffs an 8-6 win in the No. 1 spot.

“Doubles against CMS was really fun. Everyone there brought a ton of energy, which really helped us pull through,” Fritz said.

When asked to describe Fritz and Reindel’s performance as a doubles team over break, Garner only needed one word: “stellar.”

Reindel gave his team another tally in the win column, defeating his previously undefeated opponent 6-2, 6-1, to tie the overall score up at two. CMS answered with a win by the same score on the No. 4 court, as Yaraghi lost his match to Skyler Butts, who is ranked second in the nation of all Div. III players as of the fall season.

Warren Wood defeated Fritz 6-3, 6-4 in the top spot to give CMS a 4-2 overall lead. The Stags only needed one more win to clinch the victory, and it came in the third singles spot, where Zykov lost 6-1, 6-4 in a match that featured many close deuce games. Second singles finished shortly after, where Dale won his match 6-4, 6-3. Revzin lost his match 6-4, 7-6 in the No. 5 singles spot to leave the final match score at 6-3.

“Even though it was a loss, it was an overall positive experience because it showed that if we play to our potential, we do have a chance to compete against the top teams,” Revzin said.

Later in the afternoon, the Jeffs earned a 6-3 win against Cerritos College. They then dominated Riverside City College, outscoring their opponents 96-21 in games. Hendrix and Rodriguez stayed perfect as a doubles pair, and both players improved to 4-0 in singles as well. Sam Silver ’17 too continued his unbeaten play, earning a win in sixth singles and in third doubles with fellow first-year Myles Tang. In the team’s fourth match of the day, Amherst swept Cal Tech 9-0 in spite of the fact that many Jeffs had competed earlier that day.

On the sixth and final day of break, Amherst closed its trip with three 9-0 wins over Santa Cruz, San Diego Mesa College and 15th-ranked Redlands. Against Santa Cruz, Yaraghi improved his

record to 6-1 in singles, winning his match 7-6, 6-1 in the No. 3 spot. Yaraghi and his main doubles partner Zykov were the most active Jeffs on the week, playing in a team-high of 13 matches.

“Yaraghi has had to battle back from injuries during the off season. We were not sure if he was going to be able to play on the trip, so it was very encouraging to see him playing well in matches. I am hopeful he will continue to improve as the season progresses,” Garner commented.

Against SDMC, Qu and Silver cruised to easy victories, closing their undefeated breaks. Rodriguez and Hendrix both also went unbeaten, and Rodriguez’s consistent excellent play earned him NESCAC Player of the Week honors.

“Our team is playing well, working really hard and excited to move forward and see what we can do in the next few weeks,” Fritz said.

“The way spring break works is that we play so many matches in a day that everyone gets to play,” Solimano added. “It was very cool to see our whole team come together competing because often it’s only seven to nine guys when there’s only one match in a weekend, so it was nice to see all 21 guys get a chance to compete at a very high level.”

Up next for Amherst is their first NESCAC match of the season, as they travel to Medford, Mass. to face Tufts Saturday at 10 a.m.

Hyde ’16 Wins National Title Patrick Yang ’16 Staff Writer

Men The Amherst men’s swimming and diving team finished 11th at the 2014 NCAA Div. III Championships, which took place March 19-24 at IUPUI, wrapping up another solid season.

Senior captain Parker Moody kicked things off with a 14th place finish in the 500-yard freestyle. In the 200-yard medley relay, Matt Heise ’16, Greg Han ’17, Tyler Bulakul ’14 and Connor Sholtis ’15 earned 13th.

On day two, Bulakul’s earned fifth in the 100-yard butterfly, while Sholtis tapped in for seventh in the 200-yard freestyle. Bulakul started things off on day three with a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly. Sophomore Jeff Anderson finished right behind him for eighth place.

Anderson then teamed up with Moody, Sholtis and senior captain Nick Egan for eighth in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Divers Colin White ’14 and Mark Idleman ’15 also did well in the 1-meter dive with fifth and ninth place finishes, respectively.

Women On the women’s side, the Jeffs finished sixth at the 2014 NCAA Div. III Championships. In the first event, Charlotte Chudy ’16 finished 16th in the 500-yard freestyle, recording a time of 5:04.33. Sophomore sensation Emily Hyde won the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:01.53, earning Amherst’s first national title in this event.

“It felt incredible to see an entire season of hard work pay off,” Hyde said. “Every member of the women’s team worked hard and contributed. Overall, it was a really fun meet and we’re all happy with our finish at NCAA’s.”

On day two, Hyde combined with Sarah Conklin ’16, Sabrina Lee ’15 and Lulu Belak ’14 in the 200-yard medley relay for an eighth-place finish. Diver Lizzy Linsmayer ’14 scored 443.50 points to place third in the 1-meter dive. Hyde was also in action on day three, finishing 10th in the 100-yard backstroke. Ashleigh Stoddart ’15, Allison Merz ’14, Belak and Hyde also finished eighth in the 800-yard medley relay. On the final day, Linsmayer placed second in the 3-meter dive to cap off the team’s action.

The Amherst Student • March 26, 2014

Lacrosse Teams Go Undefeated in Florida

Greg Williams ’16 and Holly Burwick ’16 Staff Writers Men Over spring break, the men’s lacrosse team racked up three consecutive wins, including an important NESCAC victory over Hamilton.

Before leaving for Fla., the Jeffs traveled to Beverly, Mass. on March 14 to face undefeated Endicott. The Gulls scored the first two goals before Devin Acton ’14 notched two in a row to tie it up.

Endicott struck back with three straight goals, but Acton scored his third goal of the game to disrupt the Gulls’ momentum. Quinn Moroney ’16 was next to find the twine with Amherst’s fourth goal of the contest. He also had five assists on the day.

Down 7-4 at the half, the Jeffs went on a sevengoal run in the the second with Aaron Mathias ’14 scoring twice and the other five goals coming from Chris Albanese ’17, Matt Killian ’17, Kane Haffey ’16, Q. Moroney and Acton yet again. The Gulls threatened Amherst’s lead at the end of the game, scoring three goals in the fourth quarter, but the Amherst defense held strong for the 11-10 victory.

The following Tuesday the Jeffs faced Western New England College in Fla. After giving up an early goal, the Jeffs rattled off four in a row to end the first quarter, with two goals from Acton and one each from Patrick Moroney ’14 and Mathias.

WNEC tied it up in the second, but Amherst continued their strong offensive showing by pouring in four more goals to give the Jeffs an 8-5 lead at halftime. Sophomores Dylan Park, Saw Lawlor and Charlie Gill all found the back of the net, and P. Moroney added one more of his own.

The second half was close until the end, but the Jeffs managed to pull out the 16-15 win thanks to three more goals from Park, two from both Acton and Mathias and one more from Gill. Q. Moroney continued his passing spree, finishing with a gamehigh four assists.

The following Friday the Jeffs defeated Hamilton College in an important NESCAC matchup.

Winning 9-8, Jeffs’ had their third one-goal win in as many games. Q. Moroney finished with four goals. Haffey added two more, and Acton, Mathias and Park accounted for the other three.

The next day the Jeffs continued their success by beating MIT. The Jeffs were up 11-2 by halftime, and they continued to roll in the second. The MIT defense couldn’t contain the Jeffs high-octane offense, allowing 21 goals. Seven Jeffs scored their first collegiate goals in the contest.

“Our spring break trip was great for the team both on and off the field. We ended up with some big wins, and I feel like we grew closer as teammates being on the road together,” Haffey said. “We’re definitely beginning to click as an offense, and it seems like in any given game it could be a number of guys have a big day. We have strong depth and trust each other, which is going to be huge in the back half of our season. The rest of the season is loaded with some of the top NESCAC teams, and I’m excited to see how we stack up.”

The Jeffs hope to continue their strong play at Wesleyan on Saturday, March 29.

Women The Amherst women’s lacrosse team spent their spring break at the National Training Center in Clermont, Fla., where the team was relieved of the cold New England weather. The Jeffs picked up two wins to add to their undefeated record. They are now 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the NESCAC. “Our success in Florida was largely dependent on our versatility as a team,” Goaltender Christy Forrest ’16 said. “We were not used to playing in that kind of heat or playing on grass fields, but we came together in such a way that when we were presented with these challenges, we adapted as a unit. I don’t think that anyone on the team is feeling complacent with what we have accomplished thus far. The feeling is more so an eagerness to grow as a team and to keep collecting hard earned wins.”

The Jeffs beat William Smith in their first game by a decisive 9-2 margin. Although the Jeffs were up 3-2 going into halftime, they took control of the game in the second half by scoring six unanswered.

Rachel Passarelli ’16 had back-to-back goals that opened up the scoring for Amherst. Alex Philie ’14 extended the Jeffs’ lead to 3-0 with 12:45 remaining in the half. However, William Smith was able to break through twice before the intermission.

After the break, Philie and Passarelli tacked on two more goals apiece, while Mia Haughton ’16 and Krista Zsitvay ’14 each added tallies. Meghan Mills ’15 had three ground balls and Priscilla Tyler ’15 had five draw control wins to contribute to the Jeffs’ offense.

“It was really exciting to play a NESCAC opponent in Florida, though it definitely was a challenge to find the same intensity that comes naturally when we play in the Northeast on the fields that we are familiar with. But, I think that throughout the week we were able to cultivate the intensity and translate that into focus and hustle on the field, which is what ultimately lead us to the success that we saw,” Forrest said in regards to the team’s second match-up, where they faced Hamilton.

This game began with two goals by Passarelli again. Haughton and Mills extended the lead to 4-0, but the Continentals retaliated with three goals. Thanks to two more tallies from Mills and Zsitvay, the Jeffs cushioned their lead to 6-3.

Midway through the second half, Zsitvay added another goal for the Jeffs. The Continentals followed with two goals, but it was not enough to get them back in the game. Mills and Elizabeth Ludlow ’14 added a goal apiece to bring the Jeffs’ total to nine. Hamilton managed to score one more goal, but they were largely denied thanks to Forrest’s fourteen saves.

Coach Chris Paradis commented that she is happy with her team’s success, especially because the Jeffs are winning decisively, but they still have room for improvement. The NESCAC is very competitive as always, and Paradis and the team are looking forward to the challenging games that lie ahead.

Amherst will travel to Wheaton for an out-ofconference game Wednesday but will return to the home turf to host Midd. on Saturday at noon.

Men’s Golf Tops Trinity 4-1 Katie Paolano ’16 Staff Writer The Amherst men’s golf team traveled to North Carolina’s Pinehurst Golf Resort for spring break to train for the upcoming spring season. Although the players were excited to leave the frigid northeast, the team still braved 30-degree chills and rain while taking on the Trinity College men’s golf team.

Although Trinity placed ahead of the Lord Jeffs in the NESCAC tournament this fall, the Jeffs defeated the Bantams by a score of 4-1.

“It was fun to get back on the course competing. The conditions weren’t great, but we played really well as a team. I think the win gives us a positive start to the spring season,” James Line ’16 said.

Harrison Marick ’17 describes the Pinehurst Resort as “golf heaven”, as the resort features eight

golf courses and a state of the art practice facility.

“I think we all had some rust to knock off from the winter, but everyone made significant progress by the end of the week,” said Marick.

Coming off a successful spring break and a big win, the men’s golf team is focused on both Little Three’s at Williams and the NESCAC Championship at Midd. Amherst suffered a close loss to Williams last year in a tiebreaker and looks to reclaim the Little Three title they won in 2012.

“I think our team played really well this week, and our games are showing a lot of promise,” said senior captain Nicholas Koh. “I think I speak for everyone on the team when I say we are excited for the snow to melt and eager to get back on the course. We definitely need some fine-tuning, but overall, I think our spring season looks promising,” Liam Fine ’17 added.

Sports 11

A Tradition Unlike Any Other Questions? Patrick Can Field Them

Patrick Canfield ’16 With spring on the horizon, Canfield gets ready for his favorite sporting event of the year: The Masters. The green jackets, Amen Corner, the historical rounds ­and collapses — it really is a tradition unlike any other. Sunday at Augusta is, to Canfield, the single best day in sports, better than the superbowl, any Game 7 or even the World Cup Final. In 2012, Canfield and friends even got to witness Bubba’s physics-defying shot first-hand.

Each year as spring rolls around, sports fans are treated to the greatest month in sports. As the frozen tundra we call home becomes habitable, students across campus emerge from hibernation to play in or attend sporting events.

With the nadir of winter quickly disappearing, sports nationally begin to heat up as well. April marks the end of the NBA and NHL regular seasons and the beginning of the leagues’ playoffs. The chaos of March Madness concludes with the Final Four (go Wildcats!).

College hockey’s Frozen Four takes place the following weekend (unfortunately didn’t get my bracket in on time). The MLB season also finally gets under way (one of these years has to be the Braves’ year, right?).

April brings with it what is, in my opinion, the greatest day in sports, Sunday at Augusta National. Beyond the objective truth that golf is the most enjoyable sport to watch while recuperating from a rough night at the Socials, the Masters provides a pure, traditional, and now rare, experience that displays the real values of sport.

Upon passing through the gates of Augusta National, ubiquitous golf shirts and sundresses mass along the path past worldfamous golfers tweaking their game on the driving range, past the crowded club store by the elegant clubhouse and its meticulous flower arrangements. A glimpse of the imposing leaderboard soon unveils a vast green expanse of rolling hills, towering trees and glassy water.

61 magnolia trees line the 330-yard long road to the clubhouse. Beside the clubhouse is an oak tree approximately 150 years old.

With several species of pines growing along the course, every hole at Augusta National is named after a plant or shrub, in what seems to be an homage to the natural beatuy.

The scene taking place before you is a relic harkening back to another era altogether. In a time when companies seamlessly integrate advertisements into all entertainment, ads on the golf course are noticeably — and refreshingly — absent. As the NBA moves towards sponsored jerseys like those worn in soccer and the WNBA, the Masters goes as far as the clubs, balls, and clothes equipped by the players.

Cigar smoke slowly wafts its way into the clouds. Cellphones are forbidden within the club’s gates. Tickets, rather than being sold, are handed down from generation to generation. Masters’ merchandise is exclusively sold at Augusta National in Georgia. Bustling stalls around the course sell the best pimento cheese sandwich on Earth accompanied with sweet tea of course. Fold-up chairs brought and setup by fans designate seating assignments on any given hole. The inherent Southern charm — or maybe the cigar smoke — is intoxicating. The tournament truly is a tradition like no other.

The Masters stands out in that the monetary prize is quickly forgotten. Without delving too deeply in clichés, winning the Masters, the iconic green jacket, the inscription in the trophy and the lifetime invitation means more than winning the pot. However, defeat can be staggering; a second place finish once held so much promise (counterfactual thinking… thanks, Sanderson).

The tournament drips with history, both euphoric and painful. Looking out over the course, you can see it all play out. In 1986, Jack Nicklaus striding up 18 en route to becoming the oldest six-time champion at the age of 46.

Tiger breaking the long-standing scoring record in 1997 with a 12-stroke win at age 21 to

become the youngest player to win a Masters.

Anthony Kim’s record 11 birdies in the Friday round from 2009. A Nike logo (I didn’t say there was no advertising) stares at you for an eternity before dropping into the cup.

But every ying has a yang. Rory McIlroy, leading by four strokes on Sunday in 2011, delivered the worst round in history by any golfer leading the field after Saturday. In 1996, Arnold Palmer only needed a bogey on 18 for the win. It’s hard to expect anything less. The fortitude to overcome the history in each hole is far beyond me.

Suddenly, the crowd parts, and Miguel Angel Jiminez’s hair brushes your shoulder; he puffs on his cigar. Rory, some young gun you read about waiting in line, passes by with Kim. He turns, waves, asks how it’s going when you call out. The tee box clears as fans follow Tiger towards his second shot.

The tournament provides an imperfect manifestation of the idealized amateur competition, along with tradition and this intimate atmosphere. Bobby Jones founded the Masters as an amateur golfer. In a nod to amateur golf, winners of the most prestigious amateur tournaments are invited to compete and stay in the Crow’s Nest atop the clubhouse. On Thursday and Friday, the U.S. Amateur champion is given the opportunity to play alongside the defending Masters champion.

However, modernization did not reach Augusta National quickly, and some offensive traditions held on for too long. Prior to 1982, golfers were required to use the club’s caddies, who were always African American. The club now accepts both black and female members.

Though not without its dark spots, the gentleman’s game is capable of delivering unbelievable moments. In 2012, I drove across I-20 from Atlanta to Augusta with four friends. As we sat at Amen Corner on Sunday afternoon and the day looked like it could end with a playoff, we decided (not my idea) to set up our chairs on 10 once the final pairing played through. The sudden death playoff goes back and forth between the 18th and the 10th until a winner emerges. We waited for the crowds to move on before we placed our chairs in the front row and began to pray.

Louis Oosthuizen and Bubba Watson both finished the day ten under par. Sitting at the 10th hole with no phones, we spat out our own analysis of distant crowd noises. Eventually, once a mob of people formed around us, it became clear they had tied the first hole.

American Watson, dressed in all white, was the definitive crowd favorite, while he South African Oosthuizen was an outsider.

After what seems like forever, a murmur arises from the crowd. Bubba appears, headed into the woods, and Oosthuizen is in the fairway.

Again, forever. The tin of the shot grabs the crowd’s attention. Shortly after, the ball falls softly on the green. Bubba managed to hook his shot 90 degrees (again, objectively true — it literally bent midair). The crowd went wild, and I went crazy (Hi Mom, I’m on TV). After tapping in his par putt, Bubba wept.

Once you pass back through those gates, you re-enter the 21st century. After we left, I had about 50 texts from people that had been watching. I was on 60 Minutes (kinda), right behind Bubba.

It’s refreshing to leave the world of constant information to take on a single moment at a time. Put down your phone because someone else will capture the moment for you. Beginning April 10, you can find me in my bed or on the couch rooting for not only McIlroy but also for something entirely more important.

Sports

“Rachel Passarelli ’16 had back to back goals that opened up the scoring for Amherst...”

Lacrosse Teams Go Undefeated... Page 11

Photo courtesy of Mark Idleman ’15

Senior Fred Shepard threw only the third no-hitter in Amherst history against Fontbonne University en route to guiding the Jeffs to one of their nine wins.

Baseball and Softball Combine to Go 18-5 in Florida

Devin O’Connor ’16 & Karl Greenblatt ’15 and Virginia Hassell ’16 Staff Writers Baseball The Amherst Baseball team had a successful run in Fla. last week going 9-3.

The team opened its season with a 3-0 win over Vassar, handing the Brewers their first lost of the 2014 season. Senior captain Dylan Driscoll ’14 pitched eight scoreless innings before being relieved by Eric Kotin ’14 in the ninth. Taiki Kasuga ’14, Tyler Jacobs ’15 and Andrew Vandini ’16 all recorded two hits each, while Brendon Hardin ’15 and Conner Gunn ’16 added one more apiece.

The Jeffs had more success on day two, sweeping Rutgers-Camden in a double header, 9-5 and 7-6. In the first game, Kasuga and Jacobs led the Amherst offense against the Scarlet Raptors, going a combined 6-for-8; Mike Odenwalder ’16 homered and Eric West ’15 added two hits of his own.

Later that afternoon, the Jeffs found themselves tied up at 4-4 and headed into extra innings. In the top of the tenth, Jacobs came through with a threerun homer that proved to be the game-winner.

Amherst was handed its first loss on day three

by Oswego State, 4-0. The Jeffs mustered eight hits as a team, but only one of those came in the final three innings, and they failed to get on the board.

Although he took the loss, John Cook ’15 pitched an impressive seven innings, striking out 13 Lakers and surrendering just two earned runs.

On day four, the Jeffs split their doubleheader against the Griffins of Fontbonne Univ. In game one, Fontbonne took a 4-0 lead before the Jeffs finally managed a run in the bottom of the seventh, when Jon Ramirez ’16 singled to drive in West. Odenwaelder opened for the Jeffs, allowing four runs on five hits, while Streit pitched the final two and a third for Amherst without surrendering a hit or walk. The Jeffs could not close the gap, however, and they suffered a 4-1 loss.

Game two belonged to senior starting pitcher Fred Shepard, who mowed down the Griffins’ lineup in a historic seven-inning performance. When he recorded the final out on a flyout to right in the seventh inning, Shepard completed a no-hitter, only the third thrown by a Jeff in the past 50 years.

The southpaw was quick to credit his teammates — especially the defense behind him — for their role in his dominant outing.

“Obviously throwing a no-hitter is a pretty sweet feat but it really wouldn’t be possible with-

out a whole team effort,” Shepard said. “The offense came alive early; pitching with a lead, especially a big one, is a whole different game. The defense as always was phenomenal. Kasuga made on of the best plays I’ve seen at any level in the bottom of the 7th to save the no-hitter with a diving double play up the middle, and [Anthony] Spina [’17 ] came up huge on a fly ball in the right field gap.”

Two days later, the Jeffs brought home another win over Grinnel, defeating the Pioneers 8-3. Odenwaelder recorded three hits, while Driscoll allowed just five hits in seven scoreless innings.

Back in action on Friday, March 21, the Jeffs once again swept a doubleheader, defeating UMass Dartmouth 2-1 and 18-2. In game one, Vandini scored on a wild pitch early in the game, but the Corsairs knotted the game at 1-1 in the second inning. The score remained that way until the seventh, when the Jeffs were able to bring in the game-deciding run on a catcher’s error. Jacobs went 2-for-2 from the plate, while Ramirez, Vandini and Dave Cunningham ’16 each tallied a hit for the Jeffs. Szulik picthed six innings giving up only one run, while Kotin ’14 earned the save with a scoreless seventh inning. The afternoon matchup was decided early, as the Jeffs scored 10 runs in the first inning. Quinn Saunders-Kolberg ’14 allowed only three hits in six scoreless innings.

The Jeffs suffered a disappointing 17-12 loss to Southern Maine. Despite the loss, the Jeffs received a strong offensive effort from several players, including Odenwaelder, Gunn and West.

The Jeffs finished the week with a doubleheader sweep against the Univ. of Chicago, 1-0 and 14-6. Odenwaelder pitched all eight innings in game one, allowing only one hit. In the eighth inning Vandini singled with the bases loaded allowing West to cross the plate for the game’s lone run. In game two, Vandini led the offense with a 4-for-5 performance, while Odenwaelder, Kasuga and Yannie Thanopoulos ’17 each had three hits.

Five other Jeffs contributed to the staggering total of 18 hits and 14 runs.

Having returned to the cold north, the Jeffs begin NESCAC play at home against Hamilton on Friday (3:30 p.m.). They are slated to square off against the Continentals for two more games the following day, and they hope to jumpstart their regular season with three quick wins.

Softball The Amherst softball team returned from their spring break trip in Clermont, Fla. flaunting a 9-2

record.

In the first day of action, the Amherst women wasted no time registering a win, downing Bethany 7-5. Starting pitcher Arielle Doering ’14 gave up four runs, and struck out three. First-year pitcher Jackie Buechler relieved Doering for the final three innings and allowed 2 hits.

On the offensive end, junior Donna Leet finished with two hits and three RBIs, while junior Alyssa Sherwill and first-years Alena Marovitz and Annie Apffel knocked in one run apiece.

Later that day, Amherst edged Fontbonne, 5-2 behind first-year pitcher Jackie Buechler’s first career start. The California native threw a complete game, posting six strikeouts and holding Fontbonne to two runs on four hits.

The next day, Amherst and Southern-Maine battled out a marathon-of-a-game as Amherst clenched a 12-9 victory in 10 innings. Buechler again delivered for the Jeffs tossing seven innings of relief work. She struck out eight, while allowing four hits and one run.

“The game lasted for 3 hours and was very intense, but those are the games we live for. We never gave up and it was truly a team effort. Every single person contributed to get that win and it was something really special to be a part of” said Silkowitz.

Offensively, junior Kelsey Ayers, Silkowitz and Leet came through for Amherst. Ayers went 4-for6 with one RBI, and Silkowitz and Leet contributed three hits apiece. Sophomore Sarah McKay chipped in with two RBI. After coming off an exciting win, Amherst lost its first game of the season against Allegheny College 8-4. Though the loss snapped a three-game win streak, the resilient team captured a win against Fredonia State the same day.

“Softball humbles you and forces you to stay in the moment and not dwell on the past. We kept our energy up and came out firing on all cylindersthat’s all you can do,” said Silkowitz of the two losses Amherst suffered in Florida.

Amherst’s bats came alive again against Fredonia State, driving in four runs in the top of the first inning. Four batters, including Marovitz, Silkowitz, Cook and Miller, recorded two or more hits.

Buechler delivered yet another impressive performace, throwing a complete game.

The team sailed to back-to-back 9-1 victories over Endicott and Worcestor State. Buechler produced from the mound, helping to snap Endicott’s two game winning streak. Throwing all five innings, she struck out seven and surrendered only

six hits. Marovitz continued her impressive showing in Florida going 3-for-3 and logging two RBI. Silkowitz, Ayers, Leet and Miller all contributed multiple hits to the Amherst offense.

After suffering a 2-1 loss to Western Conn.

State, the Jeffs rebounded to drop SUNY Potsdam 11-0. Nicolette Miranda ’16 was tremendous for the Jeffs finishing with a home run and two RBI. The trip ended on a high note, as the team secured a 3-2 win over Wisconsin-Whitewater and 8-2 win over SUNY Plattsburgh. Seven Jeffs tallied multiple-hit games against Plattsburgh and the entire lineup recorded at least one hit. In total, the team recorded 16 hits and 10 RBI. WisconsinWhitewater did not go down as easily. Trailing by two with three outs remaining, sophomore Brianna Cook doubled to center field. The next batter, Miller, singled to right field and reached second on an error. Marovitz walked and first-year Annie Apffel advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt.

Sealander clenched the game in remarkable fashion hitting a walk-off single to center field, driving in two runs. Buechler ended her debut in Florida pitching the complete and final game of the spring break trip.

With a new head coach Shannon Doepking, and new Assistant Coach Taylor Hoagland, the trip was advantageous for a number of reasons.

“Having a set of new coaches, this trip was necessary to learning our coaches’ style and personalities. We experienced adversity and tough situations in our Florida games, which thankfully made us a stronger, closer unit,” said Doering.

Doering is confident that the trip will be valuable moving forward.

“With nine wins under our belts, there is a calm, tenacity among the team. Going into conference play, we trust that we are prepared for success and that our coaches will lead us there,” said Doering.

Silkowitz thinks that the Florida trip will provide momentum for the team moving forward.

“It was so great to get outside for the first time and show everyone how hard we have worked and how badly we want it. We had really great energy the whole week down there and we are all excited to be back and keep it going.”

Softball returns to action with a 5:00 p.m. home game today against conference rival Wesleyan.

“All 16 girls play a big role on our team and if we have the same energy that we had down in Florida we are going to have a very successful year,” said Silkowitz.