Issue 26

Tennis Teams Sweep NESCAC Championships See Sports, Page 12

THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

VOLUME CXLIII, ISSUE 26 • MAY 7, 2014

OFF-CAMPUS FRATS BANNED Trustees announce decision to amend Honor Code and prohibit membership of off-campus fraternities

Sophie Murguia ’17 Managing News Editor Amherst will enforce a ban on off-campus fraternities starting July 1, the Board of Trustees announced yesterday.

Cullen Murphy ’74, the chair of the Board of Trustees, sent an email to the campus community that included a copy of the board’s resolution and a statement explaining the board’s reasoning for the decision.

“In 1984, the board prohibited the use of any college facilities or resources, including staff time, by fraternities or sororities and revoked any college affiliation with, or recognition of, these organizations,” Murphy wrote in his email.

“The board has voted to reaffirm the 1984 Trustees’ Resolution on Fraternities, and, effective July 1, 2014, to prohibit student participation in fraternities and sororities and fraternity-like and sorority-like organizations, either on or off campus.”

The board’s statement acknowledged that since 1984, several off-campus underground fraternities have continued to exist at the college under a “condition of ambiguity” in which the college has not expressed a clear stance about fraternities’ existence.

The three underground fraternities currently active at Amherst are Chi Psi, Delta Kappa Epsilon and the fraternity known as OT. In an email interview, Murphy said that he is not aware of any currently active organizations other than these three fraternities that would fit the board’s definition of a “fraternity-like organization” or “sorority-like organization.”

The board portrayed the decision as a response to the Sexual Misconduct Oversight Committee’s 2013 report, which asked the board to clarify the ambiguous position of fraternities at Amherst. The board’s statement cited the Sexual Misconduct Oversight Committee’s concern that because it seems as though fraternities

“simultaneously exist but do not exist,” they prevent Amherst “from enforcing appropriate expectations for student behavior with respect to them, including accountability under the Honor Code.”

“For the college, the condition of seeming to have some measure of responsibility without possessing any measure of authority is inherently problematic,” the board’s statement said.

President Biddy Martin said in an email that she participated in the board’s discussions and voted on the resolution.

“The ambiguous status of fraternities was at the top of my list of concerns,” Martin said.

“The college has responsibility for the students who belong to them and who take part in their activities, but has no way of providing oversight and no authority. This is not tenable.”

The college’s Honor Code will be revised to reflect the board’s decision on fraternities.

“The ban on membership in fraternities will be enforced through the ordinary procedures of the Honor Code system,” Murphy said. “If alleged violations come to the college’s attention, they will be considered through that normal process.”

Martin also said that the college will revise its requirements for students living off campus to include a stipulation that explicitly prohibits students from belonging to fraternities or sororities.

At Tuesday night’s faculty meeting, President Biddy Martin said that the decision had nothing to do with sexual assault.

At the meeting, some faculty members, such as Professor Ronald Rosbottom, applauded the board’s decision to ban fraternities.

Others, such as Frank Couvares, criticized the decision. Couvares said the board has “no right to police the free association of our students off campus.”

On Tuesday evening, many members of the three fraternities responded to the decision by

condemning the board’s announcement and the lack of student input in the decision process.

“We see this not as a fraternity issue but as a student body issue,” said Michael Jacobson ’14, the former president of Delta Kappa Epsilon, in a statement on behalf of his fraternity. “The concern here is not for the existence of fraternities but rather that current Amherst students have their voices heard regarding matters that will affect their college experience. This current issue is just the latest in a string of decisions affecting student life in which student voices were silenced and student input was not solicited.”

Will Kamin ’15, the current president of Chi Psi, said that he was disappointed by what he saw as misconceptions about the nature of fraternities.

“I think there’s an idea that fraternities perpetuate very counterproductive ideas of what it means to be a man,” Kamin said. “I really can’t speak for the other fraternities, but I would like to think that ours is one that allows guys to go beyond that, and the values we try to instill in guys are values of gentlemanliness and self-sacrifice and charity.”

“I think that if the trustees had really talked to fraternity members about what the day-today goings on of fraternities are like, they’d see it’s a very different picture than what you might expect,” Kamin added.

He also responded to critics who have denounced fraternities as being bastions of white male privilege, saying that the members of his fraternity come from a variety of diverse backgrounds. According to Kamin, 14 of the 43 active members of Chi Psi are white, and the rest identify as people of color.

“The lessons we’ve all learned from being exposed to those diverse perspectives and being exposed to people from such diverse backgrounds have really played a huge role in my Amherst education, and I think a lot of the other fraternity members would say the same,” Kamin

SENATE/JC CONTROVERSY CRASH COURSE

AAS Presidential Election

No violation found — all candidates found in compliance with the JC’s definition of campaign expendatures

Campaign budget complaint filed with JC

Senate votes on JC ruling — fails 3/4 vote

Election results posted — Amani Ahmed ’15 elected president

said.

Leaders of the fraternity known as OT declined to comment for this article.

At a meeting this evening at 8 p.m., members of the Association of Amherst Students senate will solicit student input about the board’s decision and discuss ways to present this input to the trustees.

“Senate is working based on the concerns of the students,” said AAS President Amani Ahmed ‘15. “Students have varying opinions on fraternities. I think where I’m hearing the anxieties and concerns among students is about the way in which the decision happened.

Many students feel that their input should have been solicited, and they should have asked about whether this decision should have been made.”

On Monday at 6:30 p.m., Murphy and Trustee Andrew Nussbaum ’85 will hold an open meeting in the Cole Assembly Room of Converse Hall to answer questions about the board’s decision.

Kamin said that he does not expect Chi Psi will decide what to do next after speaking with the trustees at Monday’s meeting.

“It is not our intention to do anything that would violate the college’s policies, so we’ll go to the meeting this Monday to talk with the trustees who are coming, and if what they say to us is that we need to surrender our charter for national organization, I am prepared to go to our national convention and do that this July in order to stay in line with the college’s ruling,” Kamin said. “I hope that on an informal and non-institutional basis we’ll be allowed to keep associating with each other and be friends and keep providing this support system to each other.”

Leaders of Delta Kappa Epsilon and OT have not yet said how they expect their fraternities to move forward following the board’s decision.

Emmett Knowlton ’15 contributed reporting.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU? The AAS is currently discussing whether to take any action based on the results of the referendum, including whether there should be another election.

Complaint against constitutionality of referendum filed

Constitutional referendum proposed

Senate decision overturned and constitution amended

Grounds for complaint found valid, but not significant enough to invalidate results.

CONNECT TO US: AMHERSTSTUDENT.AMHERST.EDU • @AMHERSTSTUDENT • LIKE THE AMHERST STUDENT ON FACEBOOK

News

“The building’s first event has already been booked: it will host a WAMH concert the first weekend of September.”

Powerhouse... Page 3

April 28, 2014 - May 5, 2014

>>Apr. 28, 2014 1:12 a.m., Stone Dormitory Officers were dispatched to a noise complaint. Upon arrival they found loud music and bass. The music was shut down and the group dispersed. >>Apr. 29, 2014 10:26 p.m., Converse Hall An officer investigated a report from a Five College student that her cell phone was stolen. Case open. >>May 1, 2014 7:25 a.m., College Hall Parking Lot Officers responded to a report that a male had been sleeping outside the building. The male was identified and directed off campus.

10:10 a.m., Amherst College Police Station While checking a bag for identification, an officer found several loose pills. The owner was identified and the matter was referred to the Dean’s Office.

2:58 p.m., Mead Art Museum An officer investigated a report that two people were smoking marijuana outside the building. Two people were identified and a small amount of marijuana was confiscated. The matter was referred to the Dean’s Office.

11:10 p.m., Garman House Officers responded to a report of people yelling and possibly arguing.

Upon arrival, nothing was found.

11:42 p.m., Campus Grounds An officer responded to a noise complaint outside the buildings.

The officer spoke to the DJ and the volume was lowered. >>May 2, 2014 1:13 a.m., Waldorf-Astoria Dormitory An officer checking the building found an exterior door lock that had been tampered with. The lock was jammed, preventing it from locking shut.

4:20 p.m., Valentine Dining Hall An officer investigated a report of a theft. The responsible person was identified and the matter was referred to the Dean’s Office.

10:01 p.m., Fayerweather Hall Officers responded to a report of a male who had been staying in a room in which he was not supposed to be. The male was identified and sent on his way.

11:28 p.m., Crossett Dormitory An officer investigated a report of an assault. Two people were identified and the matter was referred to the Dean’s Office. >>May 3, 2014 12:19 a.m., Porter House Officers responded to a report of an argument between two people.

Upon arrival, the two were identified. A male who was involved in the argument was trespassed from campus.

9:15 p.m., Frost Library An officer investigated a report of a theft of a bicycle. The officer later located the bicycle which was returned to the owner.

9:19 p.m., Morrow Dormitory An officer investigated a report of a smell of marijuana in the building.

The source could not be located.

9:27 p.m., 79 South Pleasant An officer checked on a person’s well being at the request of a concerned caller. When they arrived, the person was not found.

2:14 a.m., Tyler House Officers were dispatched to a report of a suspicious male sleeping near the building’s entrance. They found the person to be a student who had fallen asleep.

2:32 a.m., Moore Dormitory Officers responded to a report of a noise complaint. When they arrived, they spoke to a small group of people who were talking loudly and advised them to lower their voices.

4:04 a.m., Hitchcock House Officers were dispatched to a report of a man who was trespassed from campus harassing a student.

When they arrived, the man fled.

He was stopped, identified and later arrested by Amherst Police for Operating Under the Influence of Liquor. A criminal complaint was filed for trespassing.

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

A report of a past sexual assault and dating violence that occurred on 1/17/14 was reported on 4/18/14 to the Title IX team and is being investigated by Amherst College Police.

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

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

Yi Lu

Thoughts on Theses Department of History

Yi Lu is a senior double majoring in French and history. His senior thesis focuses on the labor history of the Kunming-Haiphong Railway. His thesis advisor is Professor Jerry Dennerline of the History and Asian Languages and Civilizations Departments.

Q: What is your thesis about?

A: My thesis, titled “Constructing the Republican Line,” examines the labor history of the Kunming-Haiphong Railway, a French colonial line running between Southwestern China and then Indochina. First conceded to the Third Republic in 1898 and completed a decade later in 1910, just a year before the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the railway traverses a tumultuous terrain and time period. Using archival materials in French, English and Chinese languages, my thesis focuses on the ordinary lives implicated in this imperial and national drama: namely, the more than 60,000 Chinese and European workers who collectively constructed the railway.

Q: Why did you choose this topic?

A: While railways typically evoke motion and mobility, I came across my thesis topic in a most sedentary fashion: I was watching a travel show on ARTE, a Franco-German TV channel, last October and the Kunming-Haiphong Railway happened to be the feature story. I was immediately intrigued. Though born and raised in China, I had never heard about the railway, let alone know its critical role in the French imperial design in Southeast Asia and the later contribution to the Chinese Republican Revolution of 1911. After some preliminary research, which yielded no scholarly works in English, I knew I had my topic: not only does the topic cohere perfectly with my language skills, it also allows me to combine my scholarly interest in imperial history with a topic that was closer to home. It was truly a eureka moment.

Q: What have been some of the best parts of writing a thesis?

A: As any historian working could testify, there’s something about archives — be it the heft of volumes, the smell of papers, or the touch of binding — that evokes a sense of awe and wonder. The past is, literally, in your hands to behold. For my thesis, I traveled to five archives in three countries — two in France, two in China and one in England — over the span of six months, trying to uncover the workers’ experiences.

Q: What have been some of the most challenging parts?

A: From a personal point of view, the most challenging moments of my thesis — as were its best — involved solitude. As much as my friends and family and professors and librarians kept me company, the bulk of the work — reading, thinking, writing — must be done alone. As Kafka said, “Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself,” and for historians who work long hours in the archives, such dictum could take a particular emotional toll.

But apart from this inherent challenge of pursuing an independent project, I also confronted, during the initial stage of my research, a logistical problem: how can I read, organize and process hundreds of archival files and scholarly materials? In the end, I invested in a

database software — it’s better to throw money than time at a problem, I later decided — and found a digital workflow that worked for me.

The end process varies, of course, for different writers, but it will invariably take some time to figure out.

In terms of actual research, I am challenged by a basic question that confronts all subaltern historians: namely, how do we restore the agency of those who left few written traces of their life? Most of the writings on the railway workers were produced by people who held power over them — colonial consuls, company bureaucrats and Qing officials — and a key issue with my sources is how to treat their inherent biases and prejudices with care. Wherever possible, I try to bring in Chinese voices and read them along and against the grain of imperial registers, paying close attention to how different sources tell the same event differently.

Q: Do you have any advice for students who are considering writing a thesis?

A: Start early — earlier than you think you should. Even though I began my research in the spring semester of my junior year, my progress was slowed down by a multitude factors — workload from three other classes, graduate school applications and not least the very difficulty of writing itself. In fact, the graded copy I submitted to my committee was also my first complete draft — it was not the best product I could have produced. In retrospect, I wish I had committed to reading and writing daily for my thesis; cliché as it sounds, slow and steady does win the race.

My second piece of advice involves advisor relationships: as much as a thesis remains an independent project, your advisor plays a critical role throughout the process. Whether it’s the overall direction of research or issues with particular arguments and sources, he or she will guide you through the process and help you avoid significant pitfalls. Treat them with courtesy like a colleague — and always communicate when you have to miss a meeting or deadline.

Third, and it might be the hardest to do: enjoy your thesis work! Instead of going to bed feeling overwhelmed by the work you have yet to do, take time to recognize what you’ve accomplished and tell it to your friends and family. It will keep them involved, and help you through difficult periods that will invariably at some points during your work.

Q: When you have finished your thesis, what will you do with it?

A: While my thesis is now officially out of my hands — the final copy was handed in to the Registrar on Monday — it will be in my mind for quite some time to come: I will be attending a doctoral program in history in the fall and hope to pivot my study from the railway to the borderland region between Southwestern China, French Indochina and British Burma.

I look forward to my next intellectual journey.

—Terry Lee ’17

LAST CHANCE FOR COMMENCEMENT ISSUE RECOGNITION! astudent@amherst.edu

The Amherst Student • May 7, 2014

News 3

College to Establish Office of Environmental Sustainability Sophie Murguia ’17 Managing News Editor Next fall, the college will open a new Office of Environmental Sustainability. In an email to the campus community last week, President Biddy Martin announced that Amherst will soon begin a nationwide search for the office’s director.

The office, which was proposed by Chief of Campus Operations Jim Brassord, will focus on coordinating campus sustainability initiatives and on further incorporating sustainability issues into research and teaching. Martin said the college plans to begin searching for a director this month and will open the office in the fall.

“In launching the OES, we are recognizing the critical importance of establishing a highly placed and visible organization to guide and coordinate institutional sustainability efforts,” Martin wrote in her email.

Brassord said he got the idea for the OES when he realized that many sustainability initiatives were going unnoticed by the college community.

“My departments have a long history of operational initiatives in the sustainability realm — whether it’s energy conservation, locally sourcing food or minimizing environmental impact through our actions,” Brassord said. “However, I began to realize that all of the college’s good efforts on these

fronts were not as impactful to the institution as they could be.”

Professor Jan Dizard, co-chair of environmental studies, said that he and Brassord had been talking about developing the OES for several years before the project became a reality.

“Over the past couple of years, there’s been a concerted effort on the part of the folks in development to seek out alumni with an interest in sustainability who might begin to bankroll this undertaking,” Dizard said. “That finally bore fruit, and so there is now money to start this sustainability initiative.”

Now that the college has raised enough money to establish the office, Amherst has put out a job posting for a director of sustainability. In her email, Martin said that the director will report to Jim Brassord and is expected to work closely with Campus Operations.

The OES will be housed with Campus Operations in the Facilities Buildings for the next four years. After that, the office will move to the new science center, which is scheduled to be completed some time in 2018.

Among the job responsibilities listed for the new director are launching new sustainability programs, partnering with environmental studies faculty and overseeing the Book and Plow Farm.

One of these sustainability initiatives will be the creation of a new Revolving Green Energy Fund.

“The concept of the Revolving Green Energy Fund is such that there is an account that can be applied towards capital projects that have an inherent environmental and economic benefit to the college,” Brassord explained.

“The implementation of those projects will result in an ongoing continuing savings. The savings is then redirected back into this account, so it becomes a self-perpetuating account.”

Brassord said he hoped that students, faculty and staff would propose projects to the OES that could then be paid for by the Revolving Green Energy Fund. He said that the Facilities Department has already been working on sustainability projects such as lighting retrofits, upgrading building controls and enhancing insulation.

“I’m sure there are a number of other projects that the campus community can imagine that can have similar benefit,” Brassord said. “There are things that the Facilities Department may not be aware of that the community might be able to bring forth.”

Other new sustainability projects will be related to making students more aware of sustainability issues.

“The idea is that if we get to young people here at Amherst, they’ll take it with them when they graduate,” Dizard said. “And when they get into positions of influence, whatever their profession, they will be more alert and more mindful of the need to more carefully use re-

Powerhouse Prepares for Grand Opening

sources and dispose of them.”

Brassord said that the office might consider initiatives such as energy conservation competitions between dorms as a way to promote sustainability on campus. Such competitions may have some similarities to the recent Green Games, a sustainability competition between first-year dorms.

“I talked to a couple of students who were involved in that,” Brassord said. “I think that’s a great example of where there is a desire by students to participate more actively in the greening of the campus.”

In addition to speaking with students, Brassord has also been speaking with faculty as he and others look to integrate the OES’s projects into the environmental studies curriculum.

“I worked closely with some of the environmental studies faculty to craft the proposal and the structure for the Office of Environmental Sustainability, and there was strong and enthusiastic support for the office,” Brassord said.

He said he can imagine the OES working with the department to organize lectures, panels and other events related to sustainability issues.

Dizard also said he looks forward to helping his department work in partnership with the OES. “We would envision working with whomever gets this position to seek advice and suggestions about how sustainability can be woven into courses

Final Faculty Meeting Emmett Knowlton ’15 Editor-in-Chief

Photography Editor Olivia Tarantino ’15

Sitina Xu ’16 News Section Editor Last Friday, the Association of Amherst Students invited students into the Powerhouse to learn about its current state of construction and to provide input, feedback and ideas for the event space.

Currently, the Powerhouse is half-complete and set to open to the upcoming fall semester. Much of the building’s original industrial feel and aesthetics will be kept, but new flooring and brand new floor-toceiling glass windows and doors will be built in to counter the high steelbeams with lots of natural light. A storage area for chairs, tables and even supplies has also been built in to for easy access to different pieces of furniture depending on event.

“One of the unique things about this space in terms of design, is that a lot of the set up needs, say you want seats or you don’t want seats, it’s very easy for students to set those things up so it doesn’t require you to go through facilities department,” said AAS Senator RJ Kermes ’16.

Additionally, the floor-to-ceiling glass panels lead out to a fenced-in garden terrace for outdoor seating.

According to Chief Student Affairs Officer Suzanne Coffey, in the warmer months, the roll-out grill

can be used for barbecues in the terrace. Around the terrace will be a wrought-iron fence to keep the area private.

The Powerhouse will include features such as a concession food stand and a green room for when the building is used as a performance space. The building will have a second level above the concession stand and green room, as well as mezzanine level next to the entryway. The Powerhouse can accommodate 200 people for a sit-down speaker event and 400 people for a dance event.

The Senate Powerhouse Committee has been discussing ideas for ways to use the building. Some of the ideas include serving free coffee in the Powerhouse, opening the space for studying after Frost Library closes at 1 a.m. and hosting pizza post-game parties on Saturday nights.

In addition, the Powerhouse will serve as a general event space for speakers, concerts and dance parties. The building’s first event has already been booked: it will host a WAMH concert the first weekend of September.

The Powerhouse will be run by a Student Powerhouse Committee consisting of one AAS senator, two student members, one member of Campus Activities Board and the

Campus Community Coordinator.

AAS Senator Virginia Hassel ’16 has been elected as the senate member on the community and the senate is currently in the process of looking for two students to participate in the committee. Ellie Anderson ’15 will serve as the Campus Community Coordinator on the committee.

The committee will be in charge of the budget, booking of events and general upkeep and maintenance of the Powerhouse. The Powerhouse will be student-run, with the new Dean of Students providing some general oversight of Powerhouse operations.

The budget for the powerhouse is jointly funded by the Office of Student Affairs and the AAS. Each body providing $5,000 per semester for a combined total of a $10,000 budget each semester.

The original impetus for the Powerhouse was to create a designated large event space ideal not only for hosting large events, but also for relaxing and catching up with friends.

“I think the whole thing with the Powerhouse is to have an event space that’s bigger than what we normally have, is open, and is also the place that students can say ‘that’s where I hang out,’” said AAS President Amani Ahmed ’15.

that seem appropriate,” Dizard said.

Several Amherst professors already incorporate sustainability into courses they teach. Dizard cited Kate Sims’ course on natural resource economics and Ethan Temeles’ course on sustainable agriculture as examples.

The new office will also work to support environmental studies faculty as it oversees the college’s Book and Plow Farm, where some professors already conduct research and teaching.

Geology professor Anna Martini, the other co-chair of environmental studies, said that she worked with a student intern this summer to conduct geochemical investigation at the farm.

“We’ve also taken students from both the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar and Hydrogeology out to the farm site,” Martini said. “For the first, we spoke of sustainable agricultural practices with our farmers, Pete and Tobin, and for the other course we ran a laboratory at the site to search for groundwater supplies. I expect to do the same next spring.”

Brassord said that in overseeing the Book and Plow Farm, the OES will also work to increase engagement with the farm by the broader community, not just those in environmental studies courses. With the Book and Plow Farm, as with other OES initiatives, Brassord said that the college hopes to make sustainability a more central component of campus culture.

Despite the symphony of Converse construction echoing throughout the Red Room, the faculty met last night for their monthly faculty meeting in what proved to be the shortest meeting of the semester. Finals, it seems, affects both those submitting and those grading.

After Dean of Faculty Gregory Call offered the abbreviated minutes from Monday night’s Committee of Six meeting, President Martin began her remarks by stating bluntly, “I have no remarks.” She then jumped immediately to questions regarding the Board’s recent decision to ban all fraternity activity. Although certain professors questioned her decision on the basis of freedom of assembly, most faculty seemed to agree with Professor Rosbottom who commended President Martin on the decision.

Next, Dean Call lightened the mood by exclaiming that exactly 13 weeks after Commencement, new students will move into their dorms for the start of Orientation. Despite the faculty’s resounding groans — presumably for the shortness of summer and not the upcoming class of 2018 — Dean Call reminded faculty that those who sign up to be orientation advisors will receive a free lunch during Orientation.

“Just think,” Call said. “All summer you’ll be craving turkey wraps from Val!” After more laughter, Dean Call con-

gratulated Professor of Political Science Andrew Poe on receiving the AAS Distinguished Teaching Award, and then gave the floor to Professors Jan Dizard and Anna Martini to discuss the creation of the new Department of Environmental Studies.

Dizard offered a brief history of the major, explaining that the current 45 majors and the increasing popularity in introductory courses made the decision to move to a full-fledged department crucial. Martini then offered certain foreseeable problems and ideas for the future of the department. After unanimous faculty approval, Biddy asked her colleagues to join her in applauding both Dizard and Martini’s work.

Next, the faculty voted on two issues of faculty governance regarding Provost Peter Uvin’s position on both the Committee on Priorities and Resources and the Committee of Six. Despite some uncertainties, after paper votes were passed in, both motions to place Uvin on these committees passed handedly.

Before leaving, Professor Nicola Courtright updated the faculty on the current search for a new Dean of Students, saying the search has moved into a “really high gear.” Next week, the committee will bring three candidates to campus, though the committee has already been “doing a lot of good interviewing.” Meetings with the candidates will be held Tuesday and Wednesday from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Thursday from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

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Opinion

“To resist oppression not be complicit in it.”

Editorial

Underground Frats: 1984-2014. RIP? The Trustee’s Office emailed students yesterday informing them of a decision by the Board of Trustees to prohibit participation in fraternities, sororities and “fraternity-like and sorority-like organizations,” including off campus. The decision arrives exactly twenty years after the Trustees in 1984 banned all on-campus fraternities.

The timing of the decision, however, probably has far less to with recognizing the twentieth anniversary of the 1984 ban than with with the present federal investigation of Amherst College for possible Title IX violations. While the Trustee’s letter made explicit no mention of the Title IX investigation, it underlies their rationale. As the Trustee’s letter explains, the Board was essentially faced with a trichotomy. First, they could have recognized fraternities and regulated them as legitimate campus organizations. While some may believe that fraternities would be better behaved if they were visible rather than underground, given the history of fraternities on campus and the current pressure to comply with Title IX, this would have been unacceptable.

Second, they could have maintained the status quo and left the situation ambiguous. In 2013, the Sexual Misconduct Oversight Committee specifically urged the Trustees to clarify the college’s stance on the issue, and accepting the status quo would have

represented an indefensible deferral of responsibility by the Trustees at a time when the college is under unprecedented scrutiny to actively reform.

The third option, and the one that the Trustees ultimately chose, was the only viable decision. That is not to say that it was the best, or even a good, choice — simply that it was the least bad. The language of the letter is extremely vague. What exactly constitutes a “fraternity-like” organization?

How exactly will a prohibition of off-campus organizations be implemented and to what extent will the college be willing and able to enforce such a prohibition?

In invoking the Honor Code, the Trustees indicate that they will punish individuals for participating in off-campus fraternities. This is both practically and morally problematic. By what means and by right does the college propose to monitor with whom students associate with off campus? The issue of fraternities cannot but ignored, but the college should target fraternities as an institution rather than the individuals who constitute them.

By that we mean, the problem is not who students choose to associate themselves with, but rather when they choose to associate themselves with an institution that has no place at Amherst in the twenty-first century. The college should commu-

nicate to students the dark history that fraternities have had a Amherst, what compelled the college to resolutely ban them in 1984, and the problems that have persisted since they went underground. If the college is serious about disassociating itself from that past once and for all, then instead focusing on punishing current members, it should focus on preventing fraternities from perpetuating themselves. That would entail educating incoming first-years about the negative historic legacy of fraternities during orientation and cracking down on recruiting and pledging activities, which inevitably occur on campus.

Given the context of the situation, one cannot help but feel that the timing of the Trustee’s letter was at least to an extent politically motivated by the recent disclosure of the names of the college’s under federal investigation for non-compliance with Title IX. If fraternities do engage in certain high risk behaviours, they are not unique in this regard. If this college is earnest about demonstrating full compliance with Title IX, fraternities are not the only student organizations that ought to be scrutinized. Extracurricular groups and athletic teams may not identify with Greek letters but that does not mean that they cannot engage in hazing or excessive drinking.

In this sense, it does feel as if the college is throwing frats under the bus.

Purpose... Page 5

Letter to the Editor Noah Gordon ’14 writes in response to the 4/25 JC ruling and the current state of the AAS. The Judiciary Council ruling of 4/25 and the current conversation about holding a new election are incredibly problematic. While some of the motivations behind the original elections complaint were completely valid, the conflict now boils down to a mean-spirited, procedural witch hunt with worrying implications.

My information about last night’s meeting comes second-hand and may not be entirely reliable, but that’s beside the point. The conversation currently taking place on the Senate floor is about impeaching a president because she printed off posters slightly past an arbitrary limit, and then didn’t use them. The original drive to overturn the JC’s ruling in this case raised concerns with the precedent set by its definition of “campaign expenditure.”

The summit of irony is that, in a quest to mobilize the student body to effect change by popular vote, far more dangerous precedents have been set.

The precedents set by the most recent ruling are as follows: (1) because the student body was able to overturn a JC ruling, the student body can now make any decision by majority vote; and (2) because the decision was rationalized by saying that it’s okay to violate the constitution if the JC Chair signs off on it, that one person alone may at any time bend the constitution to their will. The danger here is made clearly apparent by the fact that immediately after the ruling the senate, in a

vague appeal to popular justice, is attempting to wield the student body like some sort of blunt instrument against the student body president.

The constitution exists for a reason. The separation of powers exists for a reason. I don’t mean to tout the constitution like some holy scripture, but I do consider it the glue that keeps our student government functional.

I think it’s pretty safe to say that the vast majority of the student body has lost its faith in student government over the past few weeks. Only one-fourth of students even voted in the last referendum, and they become increasingly jaded with each new complication. Many of us have worked very, very hard for the past four years to turn the turgid, homogenous institution that was the senate of past years into the representative body it is today.

But now I worry that, for no clear reason, the AAS is coming apart at the seam.

With that all said: the election is passed, and the ruling is made. This all happened in the past. My time is up, and this is your AAS now – not just the senators, but you, the students reading.

I encourage you to wade through your biases and think about the far-reaching implications of the current discussion.

Continue to attend senate meetings and make your voice heard. And if you remain dissatisfied, remember that power has decidedly moved to your hands. All it would take is 10 percent of each class to get a “dissolve the AAS” motion onto a referendum, and judging by the current atmosphere it would most assuredly pass.

“Gotta Get Rid of Something!”

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 Sophie Murguia Managing Opinion James Liu, David Chang Managing Arts and Living Meghan McCullough, Elizabeth Paul Managing Sports Andrew Knox, Nicole Yang

S TA F F Design Editor Brian Beaty News Section Editors Andrew Kim, Judd Liebman Opinion Section Editors Darya Barshak, Ashley Montgomery Sports Section Editors Sam Javit, Jason Stein, Jeremy Kesselhaut Publishers Nazir Khan, Diana Lopez, Syeda Malliha, Tia Robinson, Valerie Salcido Photography Editor Olivia Tarantino

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

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The Amherst Student is published weekly except during College vacations. The subscription rate is $75 per year or $40 per semester. Subscription requests and address changes should be sent to: Subscriptions, The Amherst Student; Box 1912, Amherst College: Amherst, MA 01002-5000. The offices of The Student are located on the second floor of the Keefe Campus Center, Amherst College. Phone: (413) 542-2304. All contents copyright © 2011 by The Amherst Student, Inc. All rights reserved. The Amherst Student logo is a trademark of The Amherst Student, Inc. Additionally, The Amherst Student does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or age.

The views expressed in this publication do not reflect the views of The Amherst Student.

The Amherst Student • May 7, 2014

Opinion 5

Defining Amherst Photo Project: What is Your Purpose?

Defining Amherst

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

What is the purpose of your Amherst education? We asked fellow students to share their thought for the Defining Amherst Photo Project.

Their thought-provoking answers are not meant to be final answers, but rather open to change and further insight. To see more photos, visit www.definingamherst.wordpress.com. If you are interested in participating in this project, please email vmac16@amherst.edu.

Meghna Sridhar ‘14

Nancy Yun Tang ‘14

Paty Cardenas ‘14

Servet Bayimli ‘16

Xiao Xiao ‘16

Shruthi Badri ‘16

The American Sugar Cartel

Robert Lucido ’15 Contributing Writer

America has a sweet tooth. Today, the average American consumes 3,550 pounds of sugar — the equivalent of 1,767,900 Skittles — over his or her lifetime. From assorted chocolates on Valentine’s Day to trick-or-treating on Halloween, nearly all American holidays are celebrated with some sugary sweets.

A few weeks ago, millions of American children sprung out of bed to find what the Easter Bunny had brought them. Nothing seems to make a child happier than a basket full of candy. Typically a happy child equals a happy parent, but these parents wouldn’t be so happy if they knew how much the “Easter Bunny” overpaid for those treats.

Since 1982, American consumers and businesses have been forced to pay, on average, more than twice the world price of sugar. Last year, the price of sugar per pound was 41 percent or 26.5 cents higher in the United States than in the rest of the world. This disparity is a direct result of special interest and protectionist policies that have been in effect since the Great Depression. Not only have these policies outlived their intended lifespan by 76 years, the 2008 Farm Bill added further market-shorting schemes that economist Tom Earley describes as, “Soviet bloc-style: control everything.”

The foundation of these sugar programs is

an elaborate system of quotas and tariffs that limits the sugar imported from each of the world’s forty sugar-exporting countries. Each of those nations is designated a specific quantity of sugar that they may sell in the States at a low tariff rate. Once that limit is reached, however, the rate skyrockets to 62 percent, making further international trade virtually impossible. In fact, these quota and tariff combinations are devised and enforced so that a minimum of 85 percent of sugar consumed in the Unites States is produced domestically.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) then regulates how much of that 85 percent each domestic firm is permitted to sell in the domestic marketplace. If a company exceeds its allotted quantity of sales, it is fined three times the value of its “illegal” sales. If that’s the stick, here’s the carrot.

The USDA also loans taxpayer dollars to domestic producers in order to guarantee them a minimum price and virtually zero risk on the sugar they produce. These loans allow domestic sugar producers to sell their product if market conditions deem it profitable or, under adverse conditions, to tender their sugar as collateral to the government. The government absorbs all the losses. In August, sugar processors forfeited 85,375 tons of sugar; September’s forfeiture nearly quadrupled that totaling 296,500 tons of sugar.

In 2013 alone, the sugar industry ceded

$278.6 million worth of sugar to the United States government. That is enough to fill about 11,400 full size industrial dumpsters, and the government must pay to store it until a buyer is arranged. The 296,500 tons forfeited in September alone cost $575,000 per month for storage; thus, the government often sells the sugar at a loss to limit such carrying costs. In the past, the government has given it to nursing homes and prisons. Now, the government is actually required by the Feedstock Flexibility Program to sell the sugar to ethanol producers at a loss. In August and September, the USDA lost $56 million in such sales to ethanol producers.

Nevertheless, the American Sugar Alliance contests that without current federal policy, “at least 90 percent of the 142,457 sugar-producing jobs would be in danger.” No one wants an American to lose his or her job, but we must ask ourselves “what is the cost of saving those jobs?”

A 2006 study done by the U.S. Department of Commerce concluded “for each one sugar growing and harvesting job saved through high U.S. sugar prices, nearly three confectionery manufacturing jobs are lost.” While these programs may protect the sugar producing industry, they force all other sugar-using industries to operate on narrower margins or to move manufacturing abroad. As a result, between 1997 and 2011, sugar-using indus-

tries experienced a 17 percent (127,000 jobs) decline in employment while the non sugar-dependent food and beverage sectors grew by more than 3 percent. Bobs Candies Inc., the largest producer of candy canes, moved more than half of its production from Albany, Georgia to Reynosa, Mexico in 2002. Since then, it has merged with another company, and moved all production abroad. Jelly Belly Candy Co. moved it’s manufacturing to Thailand in 2007, and has since expanded its overseas operations twice. In 2010, Atkinson Candy Co. moved 80 percent of its peppermint-candy production from Texas to Guatemala, which allowed them to sell their treats for 20 percent less. Eric Atkinson, the president of the company, said, “It wasn’t like we did it for profit reasons. We did it for survival reasons.”

If those costs are not steep enough, consider this. The Congressional Budget Office reported that the U.S. sugar programs will cost American taxpayers $629 million over the next 10 years — $374 million from Feedstock Flexibility Program alone — and force consumers to pay an additional $3.5 billion each year. Put another way, U.S. taxpayers will have to pay $374 million to safeguard a system that already costs them $255 million so that they will be charged an extra $35 billion.

If you’re still not convinced, maybe the idea of having Coca-Cola made with actual sugarcane will do the trick.

Arts&Living

“Imagine competing in the Iron Chef for Amherst College. ” Amherst Chef Takes Silver: Page 7

Four Years in Reviews: Final Thoughts Jake Walters ‘14 Staff Writer So here it is, huh? Almost four long years ago I donned my writer’s cap for The Student for the first time.

Now that I’m graduating, I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic lately. I decided to look back on some of my first reviews for The Student. I was prepared to be embarrassed by the poor quality of the writing, the less verbose vocabulary and the messily structured sentences. But, essentially, I kind of assumed they’d read like worse versions of my reviews today.

I was quite wrong. I was prepared for my view of particular films and particular types of films to change, but what I see looking back is that how I evaluate films is dissimilar now from four years ago. What a film is to me has changed to me. And it hasn’t done so by happenstance, but as a result of academic experiences I initially assumed had nothing to do with film.

Some of my earliest reviews of 2010 films are markedly different from the reviews I would write of the same films today. When I wrote on “Blue Valentine,” for instance, I emphasized the quality of the storytelling for its ability to starkly detail an unglamorous view of a struggling relationship and above all for not stacking the deck in favor of either of the central characters. At the time, I felt, any movie which did not do so was simply the product of a filmmaker who lacked skill.

Markedly absent from this review was gender. Most films, especially romances, and to some extent even “Blue Valentine,” give the female figure the short shaft, essaying her as a conniving, shrewd stereotype rather than a full-fledged human being.

This isn’t only a mark of bad storytelling, but the result of unconscious and conscious norms which construct social definitions of women as manipulative and overly-emotional.

Moving away from this, as “Blue Valentine” is somewhat successful at, is a mark of subversion of social norms. With “True Grit,” another of

my earliest, I was initially interested in how unaffected and traditional the film was in comparison to some of the Coen Brothers’ quirkier attempts at genre subversion. Now, the deconstructionist in me can’t help but see how Jeff Bridges’ bumbling lawman doesn’t merely complicate a character, but challenges a depiction central to not only the Western genre but to America’s classicist conceptions of the strong white male lawperson who upholds justice in a fashion nothing short of capable.

Meanwhile, the film’s central child character, bruised and battered, reveals much about the falsity of the collective U.S. memory of the American West as a gentler, more compassionate time.

In comparison, my more recent reviews were consciously written with an eye for the film’s context and how this speaks not only to a literary construction of strong characterization, but to a morality and the reproduction or challenging of social norms. “12 Years a Slave” is a masterpiece of filmmaking, carefully measured yet searing with passion and by turns quietly and thunderously anguished. But it is all the greater for the context in which it arrives, being the fullest and most telling film to deal with American slavery yet made in a time still marked by its own newer forms of racism, but forms with significant linkages to the time “12 Years a Slave” depicts.

Likewise, I wanted to write a review of the haunting “Zero Dark Thirty” not because I felt it was well made (which it certainly is), but because I felt everyone was misconstruing the film’s morality. Because the film implied U.S.-sanctioned torture of hostages could have led to information about Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts, the immediate reaction was to assume the film endorsed terrorism. However, in doing so, the public failed to question whether the film endorsed the hunt for Bin Laden in the first place. The depiction of the main character, someone who is rarely shown outside of her office or in the field, sees her as someone who

devotes the better part of a decade to the hunting and killing of another person, no matter how horrible he may be. She has no outside life, no friends, no home; she’s all alone, and when the film’s finale occurs, it’s quiet, reserved, almost a non-event.

Upon witnessing a decade’s work lying in front of her in a black bag, she can only cry. That doesn’t sound like unrestrained support for the war on terror, or the hunt for Bin Laden, to me. By acknowledging that torture may have played a role, the film is able to tackle the more difficult question, not of whether torture can lead to useful evidence, but whether torture is worth the useful evidence which may come from it.

Both these films were powerful and left an impression on me, but not purely because of their mastery of technique. Their importance to the society which birthed them added to their effect. When I entered Amherst, I was firmly against the view that anything outside of the film’s technique could or should matter in a judgment of its quality.

Filmmaking was a skill, plain and simple, and could be objectively judged. Now, thanks in large part to my sociology career here, I have come to see films, as with all art, for what they are: not as objective markers of quality but as reflections of the societies which breed them, societies which judge quality and worth subjectively and which dictate the morality of all films, even subtlety and even for films with no ostensible political axe to grind. In this light, films are subjective, and can and should be judged subjectively.

Because films are meant to speak to audiences and are made by individuals (and corporations) which are themselves products of that society, they inhabit the frameworks of knowledge which govern the societies. They are products of subjective societies, and pretending that this isn’t the case and that the things we take to be objective markers of quality aren’t subjectively defined based on the values of our society is not only wrong, it’s deeply problematic.

Denying this reality doesn’t diminish its truth, it merely hides it.

“

Thanks in large part to my sociology career here, I have come to see films ,as with all art, for what they are.

” The stigma around acknowledging the subjectivity of the supposedly objective qualities we value in film is perhaps most apparent with a film I avoided viewing because I was unable to resolve the moral tensions within. A cartoonish revenge fantasy depicting a black ex-slaves freedom and subsequent murdering of many a white person in the Old South, “Django Unchained” presents a fantasy version of slavery. Yet, within, it subverts a key stereotype that it initially seems to subscribe to: that a white man must rescue and train the slave for his eventual independence. Through subtle but key dialogue choices, however, the film questions the sympatheticliberal-white-male-savior-dentistturned-bounty-hunter stereotype (ok maybe Tarantino added that last part), ultimately having no choice but to relegate him to the same fate as the whites Django kills: a swift death. Ultimately he uses Django as his slave for his own purposes, a stinging commentary on the white savior myth. He is complicit in his own “flesh for cash business”, as he refers to it, and the marketinequality which has human worth conveyed in purely monetary, dehumanizing terms. And in Tarantino’s world, he cannot continue living for the same reason the film’s villainous slave master Calvin Candie can’t.

On one hand, it allows, perhaps for the first time in mainstream film history, a black male to seek revenge on whites, something which historically was the privy of male freedom fighters and their much arguedover killing utensils. On the other,

it maintains masculine and hegemonic notions of equating justice with active violence. In other words, “Django” is a mass of contradictions, endlessly fascinating and perhaps irreconcilable. 18 months ago, I avoided it because of this; I saw it’s inconsistency as a flaw. Now I see it for what it is: a product of an inconsistent society which has progressive forward-thinking and conservative inequality often sitting side-by-side (or even inhabiting the same body).

It’s a film worth endlessly debating and something which refuses to be easily defined. “Django’s” morality may not be easily resolved, but it all but begs to be addressed. It’s an innately political film because it exists in a society where race is a political issue, and rather than foregoing these issues for a paint-by-numbers analysis of the film’s technical merits, we should consider its characters, narrative, and morality in all their contradictions and complications. Works of art shouldn’t be “beyond” political or social judgment, at least insofar as discussion goes — the two are fundamentally intertwined and should be treated as such.

Initially, I saw writing about film as a fun aside, something I could write about and not be pressured with the tensions of academic deadlines, and above all, the weight of the subject matter. In doing so, however, I was presupposing a certain belief about the worth of various forms of writing, various subjects. Sociology and social inequality, unlike film, were valid subjects of “weight”, despite the fact that films were products of societies and exhibited in multi-faceted ways the same tension I would and do write about academically. It took me a while to develop the courage to utilize film commentary as an outlet for writing about social justice and social relations, but I’m glad I did. By learning about film we learn about people. And I’ve enjoyed using The Student these four years as an outlet to learn about people, even if it took me a while to realize it.

The Amherst Student • May 7, 2014

Arts & Living 7

A Year of Queer: Recapping 2013-14 Queeriosity Angie Tissi-Gassoway Director, Queer Resource Center 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!

As the year comes to an end and we start to finally slow down, it is bittersweet to be writing our last Queeriosity article for the year. This year has been one to remember for the Queer Resource Center and Pride Alliance. For those of you who might not know — the Queer Resource Center (QRC) is a brave and intentional space for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, gender queer, pansexual, everyone in between and ally student at Amherst College. We seek to empower the lives of LGBTQ students by uniting and celebrating the diverse individuals in our community, creating exciting and innovative programming and events and collaborating across campus with student and departmental organizations.

Pride Alliance, Amherst College’s LGBTQ student organization, meets weekly to discuss relevant topics and issues related to sexuality and gender identity, provides campus wide educational, social and advocacy programming and actively engages with the Five Colleges to build a strong support network for queer students and their allies. The Pride Alliance meets in the Queer Resource Center, located in the basement of Morrow. Now that you know WHAT the QRC and Pride Alliance are, as well as WHERE we are located — we hope you stop by and say hi!

Queeriosity is officially finishing its fourth semester in the Student. You have read articles about the super long acronym that embraces the spectrum of identities within the queer community, coming out, asexuality, trans*identity, dating, manhood and masculinity, bisexuality, family and marriage, pronouns and queer history. Today, we reflect on this past year and highlight some of the work that the QRC and Pride Alliance has put out into the universe.

Some of you may remember that just last year the QRC was named the Rainbow Room.

Well, this is where most of our story begins. At the end of last spring, students decided they wanted to change the name of the center. They conducted a campus wide survey, met with LGBTQ alumni, and spoke with President Martin about a proposed name change — after much deliberation, the Queer Resource Center was

born. When students arrived back on campus in the Fall of 2013 they were welcomed with even greater news. The part-time Coordinator had become a full-time Director, the QRC’s name change had been implemented everywhere within the college’s system, the QRC had an operating budget, the Center was to be updated, a QRC logo created and last but not least, the QRC was going to be hiring student staff. The name change sparked the conversation and was just the beginning steps to transforming the Center from a club space to a professionalized and institutionally supported resource on campus. This was a great way to start off the year — students jumped right in!

Our queer and ally students work endlessly to engage and transform the experiences of the Amherst College queer community. We have seen a year of collaboration and co-sponsorship like no other. We have worked with the Multicultural Resource Center, Center for Community & Engagement, Study Abroad, Native American Student Organization, African & Caribbean Students Union, Counseling Center, Women’s & Gender Center, Black Student Union, SWAGS Department, EDU, UMass Pride Alliance, Public Health Collaborative, UMass Stonewall Center, Student Health Educators, Association of Amherst Students, Hampshire College’s Center for Feminisms & Queer Community Alliance Center, Peer Advocates of Sexual Respect, Residential Life, Mental Health & Wellness, Religious Life, International Student Life Office, La Causa, Amherst LEADS, Food for Thought and, honestly, the list goes on. We are proud of our campus and Five College collaboration efforts; without the hard work and resources of these organizations and departments we would not have been able to do the work that needs to be done. We cannot thank you all enough for your energy, passion, and time to make Amherst College a home for ALL students.

We wanted to highlight some of the amazing work that has been created this year due to these collaborative efforts … We celebrated Queer History Month and National Coming Out Day in October, Transgender Awareness Month and Trans* Day of Remembrance in November by

bringing the rockin’ Janet Mock and Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore to the Valley; hosted our Annual World AIDS Day Dinner, watched the amazing artist Staceyann Chin perform her powerful works of art; hosted our weekly LGBTea Times; Queer Talks, Gay Amherst Parties (GAP); took 11 Amherst College students to the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force: Creating Change Conference in Houston, Texas; brought blogger Mia McKenzie from Black Girl Dangerous for Queer Black History Month in February; attended and presented at the Five College Queer, Gender & Sexuality Conference hosted

by Hampshire College, where we brought Tristan Taormino and Jiz Lee; brought spoken word artists, Sister Outsider Poetry; hosted a Storytelling event about the intersectionality of identities; brought the fabulous and fierce Wilson Cruz; facilitated DIY Sex Toy Workshops and the Low Down on Going Down panels; brought Hudson Taylor from Athlete Ally, hosted a Queer Identities Abroad panel; hosted a workshop on how to Address & Interrupt Microaggressions; hosted an event about being LGBTQ and an International Student, sponsored an exhibit by SD Holman — BUTCH: Not Like Other Girls at Food for Thought, held our Annual Pride & Allies Week — handing out over 800 I Support Love t-shirts; hosted our first ever Drag Show with Drag Queens — Shangela & Gia Gunn from Rupaul’s Drag Race; hosted our famous Gender Your Cookie event, Queer Prom, Self-Care workshop for student leaders, ice cream socials; facilitated joint Pride Alliance and Queer People of Color (QPOC) meetings with UMass, Smith & Hampshire College; and

the list goes on and on.

Again, most importantly we want to say THANK YOU to everyone at Amherst College and within the Five College Consortium that works collaboratively and endlessly with the QRC and Pride Alliance to create opportunities that foster a community of inclusion and respect. It is stated in our mission that we honor and celebrate those identities within the LGBTQ spectrum and we have shown that this is what we do! Of course, this is not without acknowledging the work that still needs to be done on our campus, within our community, and the world. We are taking things one step at a time, but know that the QRC and Pride Alliance have been working to create an LGBTQ themed housing floor proposal, an LGBTQ Speakers Bureau, Brave Space Trainings for the campus, Trans* inclusive health care options, gender inclusive restrooms and most importantly, a proposal to move the QRC to a central — more accessible location on campus.

As the semester comes to end, we have one more event that you do not want to miss. We ask that you please join us this Thursday, May 8th at 7p.m. in the Freidmann for our Second Annual Lavender Graduation, with keynote speaker Kim Crosby. Lavender Graduation is a commencement celebration recognizing the achievements and lives of our LGBTQQIAA Amherst College seniors as they commence their life journeys. Each graduating student invites a special individual to share that student’s hopes, dreams and memories of Amherst College with the audience. We hope to see you all there!

Image courtesy of Angi Tissi-Gassoway

The Queer Resource Center looks back on an extremely successful school year.

Amherst Chef Takes Silver in Competition Ellie Andersen ‘15 Staff Writer

We all represent Amherst in our own way. Some of us compete in debates or crew regattas, and others in NESCAC matches or writing competitions. As we apply to graduate schools, fellowships and jobs, we do so proudly bearing the Amherst name. These achievements not only reflect our personal abilities but also those of our community. They reveal the Amherst community’s dedication to constant improvement through competition and seem to appear everywhere, even within the food world.

Imagine competing in the Iron Chef for Amherst College. You’re pitted against chefs from different academic institutions across the Northeast region, going headto- head with UMass and Yale. The competition is fierce, and the challenge is a bit more involved than simply using a key ingredient in a fully equipped kitchen and worrying only about presentation, tex-

ture and flavor. This is not a contest amongst restaurant chefs who may cook behind closed doors but rather one amongst institutional chefs used to preparing food on display and in front of hundreds, if not thousands, of students and faculty.

In late March, Executive Chef Jeremy Roush and Director of Dining Services Charlie Thompson trekked down to Rutgers University to watch Amherst’s own chef, Chi Huynh, compete in the Culinary Challenge at the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Regional Conference for the National Association of College and University Food services. After months of preparation and passing through the rigorous selection process, Chi was finally preparing four separate servings of what would be the Silver Medal dish of the competition: lobster and succotash.

Chi began his journey in January as he submitted his recipe and all of its nutritional information to the Culinary Challenge committee, accompanied by a photograph

of the dish. Not only did he have to reveal the exact ingredients and proportions used within the dish, but Chi also had to inform the judges from the American Culinary Institution of the nutritional facts that you might expect to see on a food label for a bag of chips — things like the number of calories per serving and the total amount of sodium, all of which he had to calculate himself. Luckily, his hard work and attention to each tedious detail paid off as the judges, including Noble Masi, a famous instructor from the Culinary Institute of America, chose Chi to compete in the ten-person, Northeast regional challenge.

On the day of competition, Chi and the other nine chefs assembled according to a random list created the night before. Each had an hour to create his or her dish using a limited amount of space and cooking capacity, thus mimicking typical food preparation resources one might find in a university or college food service. The chefs only had two eight-foot tables with an

induction burner, a chafing dish, and a cutting board — barely enough space or tools to cook the meals. As they worked, each had to be innovative and maximize upon limited resources. All the while, judges observed and graded them on organization and sanitation as they watched for proper food handling techniques, such as not touching the food with bare hands and preventing cross-contamination that can occur when raw meat comes into contact with vegetables.

Later, the judges considered each final dish and ranked the chefs upon the usual Iron Chef factors — presentation, texture and taste.

This all-encompassing challenge tested the chefs from start to finish on those skills necessary in the institutional food services sector, from maintaining professionalism in a stressful atmosphere to producing high quality food.

As if these added pressures were not enough, Chi also entered as the first chef to ever represent Amherst, compete against cooks from larger institutions such

UMass, Rhode Island School of Design and Yale. In this tense challenge, Chi quickly made the succotash that would accompany his lobster, shelling the fresh fava beans and preparing the corn. He rolled his pasta by hand and cooked the two lobsters before extracting their meat. In order to utilize the lobsters in entirety, Chi poached the empty shells in butter to create a sauce. Thus, his final product became four separate servings of lobster and succotash atop a bed of fresh, hand-rolled pasta, drizzled with a rich, lobster-infused sauce.

In the space of an hour, Chi not only competed as the first ever representative from the Amherst culinary services, but also created a dish that won him, and Amherst, a silver medal on his first try. He fell only three and a half points shy of gold, which would have sent him on to the national competition. Still, I would say that his ability to bring home a proud silver bodes well for his standings in future challenges, and Chi has made our entire community at Amherst proud.

8 Arts & Living

The Amherst Student • May 7, 2014

“Spider-Man 2”: Somewhat Tangled

Marquez Cummings ‘16 Staff Writer As the internet will tell you, “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” has been subject to some pretty polarized reviews. Many critics have praised the film for a great cast, amazing effects and exciting fight scenes, but others have pointed out some detrimental flaws. From a convoluted ensemble of villains to questionable narrative choices, it seems that the general consensus of this year’s take on everyone’s favorite web-slinger is that it’s below average at best. Yet, despite these disappointing reviews, I, along with my equally superhero-obsessed older brother, found myself seated in the middle section of our favorite movie theatre on May 2 for the premiere of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” Afterwards, as we made our way through the dense crowd exiting the theater, we both had the same question: what the hell is all the fuss with this movie?

Before I get into my review, let me be clear: I completely understand the points made by the numerous disparaging reviews of the film. In fact, I agree with a lot of them to a certain extent. However, as you will see, there are plenty of reasons why this year’s Spider-Man film, although rocky in many respects, is most certainly not a lost cause.

Mo’ Villains, Mo’ Problems (sort of) One thing I keep reading and hearing from other critics/viewers of

“The Amazing Spiderman 2” is their frustration with the film’s handling of the villains. As the trailers have shown, there are a number of them, including Electro (Jaime Foxx), the Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan), and The Rhino (Paul Giamatti). As we can all see, this is a large amount of characters for a single film to work with. Similar to the critically annihilated “Spider-Man 3” back in 2007, it seems that director Marc Webb has bitten off more than he can chew with this large cast of antagonists. As the film attempts to squeeze each character into the plot, some bad guys do not get enough screen time compared to others (without spoiling any plot points, The Rhino makes an absurdly brief appearance in the film). Yet, unlike many other viewers, I do not find this large cast to be a total disaster. Of course I wish I could have seen more of Jaime Foxx’s excellent take on Electro and yes it would have been awesome to see Rhino tear up midtown NYC in a mechanized military suit (this costume was poorly done in my opinion … too bulky), but the thing I kept thinking to myself was simple: the finale of this movie series will be worth the wait. Unlike Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 3,” Webb’s cast of bad guys is extremely conducive to the universe he is attempting to create, especially with the villain-centric “Sinister Six” (basically the Avengers, but evil) set to release in a few years. This becomes clear during the point of the film that I alluded to earlier, which

Image courtesy of www.aceshowbiz.com

The chemistry Garfield and Stone is a key component of the series.

Image courtesy of www.moviepilots.com

Though “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” has faced a lot of criticism, it is most certainly not a lost cause. gives us an enticing look at SpiderMan’s next challenge: defeating all of these guys at the same time. Some may see this as a further complication of the story, but I am confident that Webb, given enough time, can fit all of these story arcs together into a single, cohesive film.

Andrew Garfield is Peter Parker.

End of Discussion.

I feel very strongly about this point. As a massive fan of the SpiderMan universe, I came to love the Webhead for more than his amazing powers and his cool costume.

Unlike the original trilogy’s take on Peter Parker, this year’s film built on the accurate depiction of the titular character that strongly resembles the hero from the comic books, especially in the comedy department. Due to Tobey McGuire’s insanely awkward demeanor, Peter Parker is widely seen as the nerd next door who is desperate for female attention from a certain redhead next door. Now, with Garfield at the helm, Peter Parker has been completely transformed.

Throughout the movie, we come to really care about the character that Garfield has brought to life. We get to see wonderful moments where Peter toys with villains (especially when he refers to Electro as “Sparkles”) and hilarious encounters with his aunt as he scrambles to conceal the fact that he is the spandexed vigilante protecting NYC from certain doom. Yet, as often as Garfield makes us laugh throughout the film, we also come to understand Peter Parker’s inter-

KenKen

nal battle. Not only does this young kid need to protect a population that largely despises his vigilantism, Peter must also come to grips with the fate of his dead parents (without spoiling the truth, we come to learn that Richard and Mary Parker were part of something much bigger than many of us could have guessed). At the same time, Peter finds himself in a difficult love situation. With Captain George Stacy’s (played by Denis Leary) dying request for his daughter’s safety lingering in his mind, Peter finds himself at a crossroads: should he leave Gwen Stacy (played by Emma Stone) in order to keep her safe or should he ignore her father’s dying in order to be with the woman he loves? This dynamic is heart wrenching as we see Peter oscillate between these two paths, which provides “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” with surprising depth.

The Action is Satisfying It wouldn’t be a Spider-Man flick without some adrenaline rushing fight scenes. “The Amazing SpiderMan 2” immediately delivers on the action when Spider-Man attempts to stop an armored truck robbery that is tearing up the streets of New York on the day of his high school graduation. Later on in the film, the movie’s action sequences really take off. Spider-Man’s “spider-sense” stands out as a highlight of many of the action sequences. As time slows to a near stop, we get a real sense of how powerful and insanely fast Spider-Man really is when things become chaotic.

Similarly, Electro’s powers become a

dazzling spectacle as he fires powerful electric bolts at both the citizens of New York and Spider-Man himself.

The work done on the CG effects for this movie’s fight scenes is among the best ever implemented in film and I applaud the effects team for bringing this story to life in such a spectacular way. Along with the action sequences, Garfield shines as the trash-talking Peter Parker from the comic series.

I mentioned earlier that Spider-Man tends to quip at his foes before and during fights. Although some of the jokes land flat at some points, as to be expected from a smartass teenager, the energy that Garfield projects during every fight sequence explodes off of the screen and truly entertains the audience throughout the course of the movie. The only real complaint I have with some of the action in the film is the limited amount. There is a certain point in the film where the story seems to become stagnant and we spend a lot of time with Peter Parker instead of Spider-Man. Although these moments provided key plot points, I felt as though Webb could have benefited from providing a few more action-packed sequences to balance out the story slow-down.

Score: 7.5 out of 10 In no way is “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” a perfect film. Issues arise with the inclusion of too many villains, chief of which being a slight lack of character development, but I believe this film to be a great step in the right direction for the future of the series.

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 • May 7, 2014

Sports 9

Baseball Closes Season on Six-Game Win Streak Looking to Defend NESCAC Title This Weekend

Devin O’Connor ’16 and Karl Greenblatt ’15 Staff Writers Amherst baseball finished the week undefeated, going 5-0. The Jeffs head into the NESCAC playoffs coming off one of the team’s strongest weeks of the season. In the process, the Jeffs improved to 28-7 overall, setting a program record for most wins in a single season.

On Thursday, May 1, the Jeffs beat nonconference opponent Wheaton College, who entered play with a 27-13-1 record, by a score of 4-1. First-year outfielder Anthony Spina put the Jeffs on the board in bottom of the third with a two-run homer into left field after second baseman Andrew Vandini ’16 walked. Wheaton retaliated in the top of the fourth with its only run of the game.

In the bottom of the fifth, shortstop Taiki Kasuga ’14 doubled into left field to bring home Spina, making the Amherst lead 3-1.

The Jeffs put their final run on the board in the seventh, when center fielder Alex Hero ’14 bunted to again bring in Spina for the tally — his third run of the contest.

John Cook ’15 threw seven stellar innings, picking up nine strikeouts and allowing only six hits. He was relieved by Robert Cahill ’14 and Keenan Szulik ’16, who picked up the save, as the pair totaled two scoreless innings to secure the victory for the Jeffs.

Amherst swept the Colby Mules in a doubleheader on Saturday. In the first game — Amherst’s senior day — Colby took the lead with the opening run of the game. The Jeffs responded in the third with four runs and put two more on the board over the fourth and fifth. Colby was able to bring two runners home in the top of the sixth but could not close the deficit, and Amherst finished with

a 6-3 win.

Dylan Driscoll ’14 pitched six innings and allowed just five hits, picking up his seventh victory of the season, tying him for the NESCAC lead with Tufts’ star pitcher Kyle Slinger, while Eric Kotin ’14 earned the save.

The offense was led by outfielder Yanni Thanopoulos ’17, going 2-for-2 at the plate, while Kasuga, Hero, Mike Odenwaelder ’16 and Tyler Jacobs ’15 also contributed to the offense.

The afternoon match up was a closer duel, but Amherst came out on top again with a 4-3 victory. The Mules once again scored the first run, but Hero made the score even at one with his second homer of the season.

Colby put another on the board in the third to gain the lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Vandini drove Jacobs in to tie the game.

Colby scored their third and final run in the top of the seventh on a infield grounder with the bases loaded. The Jeffs didn’t give up, and Conner Gunn ’16 singled up the middle to bring in Odenwaelder and Thanopoulos for the walkoff win in the bottom of the ninth, earning the sweep over the Mules.

Amherst notched its 28th win on Sunday with a doubleheader victory over UMass Boston. The Jeffs scored early and often, putting six on the board in the first two innings.

UMass Boston scored three runs over the third and fourth innings, making the score 6-3. Amherst brought in the seventh run in the bottom of the eighth. Quinn SaundersKolberg ’14 earned the win, striking out four Beacons and giving up just five hits. Cahill earned the save and tossed three perfect innings.

In game two, the Jeffs once again put numbers up quickly, scoring six runs in the first two innings. Odenwaelder hit a homer in the first to start things off, his sixth of the

season, putting him one home run behind the NESCAC lead. Strong hitting by the Jeffs led to another five runs in the second, including a bases-clearing double from Spina, who drove in three runs with the bases loaded.

The Beacons scored their first run in the top of the fourth on a home run, but Amherst easily put another six runs on the board in the bottom of the inning, largely thanks to a grand slam from first baseman Dave Cunningham ’16 on a towering shot to right field.

UMass Boston could not overcome the setback, scoring four more runs before the close of the game, while the Jeffs tallied another run in the seventh, and the game ended with a decisive 13-5 win for Amherst.

Szulik earned his sixth win of the year after tossing seven innings. He was relieved by senior pitchers Fred Shepard and Cam Windham. Jacobs, Odenwaelder and Thanopoulos led the offensive effort for the Jeffs, recording three hits each. For his impressive offensive showing this week, Odenwaelder was named the NESCAC Player of the Week in the final week of the regular season. In the second game of the doubleheader alone, Odenwaelder finished 3-4 with 3 RBIs and was a triple shy of the cycle.

Other notable acknowledgments this week include seniors Kasuga and Driscoll, who were named to the Captial One Academic All-District First Team for their outstanding academic and athletic accomplishments over their Amherst careers.

Looking to defend its 2013 NESCAC Championship, Amherst will be competing in the NESCAC Tournament beginning on Friday, May 9 at Tufts as the No. 2 seed in the NESCAC West. The Jeffs are up against the Jumbos, the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC East, at 3 p.m. on Friday.

Should the Jeffs win, they will face the winner of the other match-up on the first day of the playoffs, Wesleyan, the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC West versus Bates, the No. 2 seed in the NESCAC East. Should the Jeffs lose, they will play the loser of this game on Saturday. The NESCAC Tournament is a double-elimination tournament that will leave one team standing at the end with an automatic ticket to the NCAA Tournament beginning on Wednesday, May 14.

Photo courtesy of Office of Public Affairs

Alex Hero ’14 had a double in Amherst’s 7-3 win on Sunday.

Bates Wins Long Jump Title Trinity Tops Women’s Lax with New Program Record Once Again in NESCAC Finals Andrew Knox ’16 Managing Sports Editor Men The Amherst men’s track and field team raced at the Div. III New England Championships this past weekend, finishing 12th out of 32 teams at the event. Led by senior captain Matt Melton, the Jeffs recorded 28 points.

Melton turned in the Jeffs’ best performance on the day, finishing runner-up in the 400 meters with a time of 48.86. He complemented this showing by placing fifth in the 200-meter dash.

Amherst’s distance runners were headlined by sophomore Dan Crowley’s third place finish in the 5000-meter. Romey Sklar ’15 and Kevin Connors ’17 finished the 1500-meter ninth and twelfth, respectively. Sklar joined Nick Codola ’15, Steven Lucey ’17 and Brent Harrison ’16 for a second place finish in the 4 x 800 relay with a time of 7:44.70.

In the field events, Khalil Flemming ’16 led the way in the triple jump by leaping 13.20 meters for seventh place.

The men will look to extend their postseason at the All-New Englands at Westfield State this weekend.

Women The Amherst women’s track and field team finished eleventh place at the Div. III New England Championships.

Senior captain Naomi Bates ’14 was the Jeffs’ top performer, leaping to a new program record 5.99 meters in the long jump — the best performance this season in Div. III. She also finished sixth place in the triple jump, jumping 11.13 meters.

Karen Blake ’17 continued her excellent outdoor season by placing third in the

200-meter dash with a time of 24.88 seconds.

Bates and Blake joined Taylor Summers ’16 and Kiana Herold ’17 for the Jeffs’ 4 x 100 meter relay team — winning the event in the fifth fastest time in the country at 47.72 seconds.

“We’re all so excited about setting and resetting the school record and are looking forward to potentially making it to Div. III Nationals,” Summers commented. “We have been working hard this season and last weeked it really paid off.”

The women will look to continue their season at Westfield State at the All-New England Championships.

Photo courtesy of Megan Robertson ’15

Naomi Bates ’14 currently holds the topfour long jump distances in team history.

Holly Burwick ’16 Staff Writer The Amherst women’s lacrosse team traveled to Hartford, Conn. this weekend for the NESCAC championship. The Jeffs beat archrival Williams 9-4 on Saturday in the semifinals to advance to their first conference championship since 2005, where they fell to top seeded Trinity College 10-7. The team’s only two losses this season have come from the Bantams.

On Saturday, the Jeffs decisively downed the Ephs for the second time this season. Rachel Passarelli ’16 had five goals on the day, giving her 35 on the season. The sophomore gave the Jeffs a two-goal lead to open the half after capitalizing on failed Williams clear attempts.

With five minutes remaining in the first half, The Ephs got on the board, but Christy Forrest ’16 came up with a big save to preserve the lead. Alex Philie ’14 added a goal before the intermission to put the Jeffs back up by two.

In the second half, Williams got two goals back, but three more Passarelli goals, an additional Philie tally and a goal from both Meghan Mills ’15 and Claire Cagnassola ’17 gave the Jeffs a convincing 9-3 victory — largely due to Forrest’s seven saves on the day and a team effort that led to a 23-18 edge in shots.

“We played well against Williams at both ends of the field. On defense, we came up big once again and shut their key players down and pressured them to make poor feeding and shooting decisions. On offense, we found good looks at the cage and capitalized on our opportunities. Williams is always a battle, and in the end, we stayed composed and played our game to beat them for the second time,” head coach Chris Paradis said.

On Sunday against Trinity, Amherst had a tough start to the game, falling behind 4-0.

Priscilla Tyler ’15 managed to get the Jeffs on the board with less than 10 minutes to go in the first. To close out the half, Passarelli and Mills each converted free throw positions while the Bantams exchanged these scores with two of their own, leaving Amherst behind 6-3 at halftime.

Trinity continued its momentum into the second half, increasing their lead to 8-3 in the opening minutes. Krista Zsitvay ’14 and Caroline Holliday ’14 each added tallies, but they both were countered with Bantam goals. Zsitvay and Passarelli each scored again to close the deficit, but the Jeffs fell short 10-7.

While Amherst dominated draw controls as they have consistently done this season, the team had 21 turnovers, which allowed for the Bantams’ 21-17 shot advantage and 17-10 lead in ground balls.

“We just didn’t come out sharp enough on Sunday, and this hurts against a top team like Trinity,” Paradis remarked. “After their first few goals in the opening minutes, we matched goals and had more possession time but couldn’t find the back of the net. In post-season, unforced errors are costly, and we made too many of them.”

“We did play them better than the last time and overall, the NESCAC tourney was a great preparation for the NCAA’s. We got tougher, better and more confident in key areas, and we will continue to work on decision making under pressure in practice situation to prepare us for the journey ahead,” Paradis continued.

Although the Amherst won an NCAA championship in 2003, the team has yet to win a NESCAC title. However, the 2014 squad received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they will host Bridgewater State in the second round after receiving a first round bye.

10 Sports

Schedule

WEDNESDAY Men’s Lacrosse vs. Colorado College (NCAA First Round), 4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY Baseball @ Tufts (NESCAC Championships), 3 p.m.

Men’s & Women’s Outdoor @ All-New England Championships, All Day Men’s Tennis vs. Stevens/Southern Methodist (NCAA Second Round), TBD Women’s Tennis vs. Farmingdale St./Endicott (NCAA Second Round), TBD

The Amherst Student • May 7, 2014 SATURDAY Baseball @ NESCAC Championships, TBD Men’s & Women’s Outdoor @ All-New England Championships, All Day Women’s Lacrosse vs. Bridgewater St., TBD Men’s Tennis vs. NCAA Third Round, TBD Women’s Tennis vs. NCAA Third Round, TBD SUNDAY Men’s & Women’s Outdoor @ All-New England Championships, All Day

Jer Bear’s Honey: There’s No “I” in Team

Jeremy Kesselhaut ’16 Columnist Just a couple weeks ago I wrote about the “New Look Yankees”, who feature a roster without the likes of Robinson Cano, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte.

Just this week, Rivera released an autobiography, entitled The Closer, chronicling both his personal life and baseball career. In his book, Rivera supposedly makes some critical remarks about some of his former teammates, including Robinson Cano — questioning his work ethic and passion for baseball.

“This guy has so much talent I don’t know where to start ... There is no doubt that he is a Hall-of-Fame caliber [player]. It’s just a question of whether he finds the drive you need to get there. I don’t think Robby burns to be the best ... You don’t see that red-hot passion in him that you see in most elite players,” he says of his former teammate Cano.

These remarks aren’t the first time a player has written an autobiography that includes strongly opinionated statements and denunciations, but Rivera’s statements come as a bit of surprise. The closer developed the reputation as a likeable, uncontroversial, “just business” baseball player and person. While an opinion is just that — an opinion — I would’ve thought him to be the least likely to disparage his former teammate.

Perhaps worse, Rivera took a stab at his longtime teammate and said he would rather have Cano’s former division rival 2008 American League MVP Dustin Pedroia, the longtime second baseman and key leader of the Boston Red Sox. It’s not unusual for Cano and Pedroia to be in the same conversation as they have been competing for the title of the best second baseman in the league ever since they both started posting big numbers.

On the surface, Rivera’s remarks seem insignificant, but they have broader implications. In comparing the supremely talented and relatively unmotivated Cano to the hardworking and teamoriented Pedroia, Rivera makes a bold statement.

He highlights what sometimes gets overlooked in the world that favors flashy numbers and prototypical athletic specimens. Sometimes, a guy with average major league talent, such as Pedroia, can be propelled by his own motivation and ambition to reach the top and may be more valuable than someone who lacks these characteristics.

Cano, like Dwight Howard in basketball, has been criticized before for his demeanor and body language on the baseball diamond, but his numbers have really done the talking, overshadowing these concerns. In his first season with the New York Yankees, the Dominican quickly rose to stardom, garnering Rookie of the Year honors in 2005. He progressively has gotten better and better, setting new career highs with every season.

For the past five seasons, he has been in the MVP conversation every year, hitting at least 20 home runs with over a .300 batting average — a rare and impressive feat.

Like many players, his success on the field translated to a large contract offer. He signed a

10-year, $240 million contract with the Seattle Mariners after the 2013 season, tied with Albert Pujols for the fourth largest all-time in terms of total value.

Coming off a very strong “contract year”, it was no surprise that Cano got such a big contract.

But should he have? At the age of 31, he was already a few years behind the generally accepted prime of player’s career. Although he showed signs of consistency, that may be mostly attributed to the talent he was surrounded by in New York.

Now, with the severely less talented Seattle Mariners, he isn’t exactly playing jaw-dropping baseball, and his numbers are hurting. Through 31 games, he has a .291 average with just one home run and 18 RBI. While it is unfair to criticize him this early for under-performance, as the bulk of the season remains and there is a lot of time to improve, his lack of success provokes questions about his incentives and about large contracts for players in the later half of their career. Cano’s preference of the large amount of money in Seattle over staying in New York where he created a name for himself and competed for World Series’ seems to suggest that he cares less about winning and more about getting paid well. He cares far more about himself than the team dynamic, exhibiting a “me-first” attitude throughout his career and lackluster work ethic. Evidently, he is more extrinsically than intrinsically motivated, as he has shown a clear preference for money over enjoyment and passion for the game.

Rivera, on the other hand, showed that he is a team player throughout his career, who cares just as much about those around him as himself. He cared about creating a winning culture with his teammates on his way to five World Series Championships and working towards building a New Yankee Dynasty in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.

Given the contrast between the motivations and work ethic of Rivera and Cano, it now (all of a sudden) makes more sense why he would be so critical of his longtime second baseman and why he would be so complimentary of Pedroia — a player who similarly wears the team on his sleeve and inspires those around him to be better everyday. While Pedroia still signed a large contract, he took a significant hometown discount in order to stay in Boston for the years to come, a true sign of a team player who prioritizes intrinsic motivation.

Rivera’s career could well have been done after a serious knee-injury that kept him out for the 2012 season, but only the utmost competitor and gamer would still be trotting in from the bullpen at Yankee Stadium to “Enter Sandman” at the start of the top ninth inning after the potentially career-ending injury. Indeed, in true Rivera fashion, the best closer in MLB history went on to have a very strong bounce back season to close out his career in 2013.

Just as Rivera received standing ovations everywhere he played during his “farewell tour”, that could be Pedroia in 10 years as his career comes to an end — a man respected for his passion, grit and love for the game of baseball. But Cano? Well, that’s a different story.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Justin Reindel ’14

Jordan Brewer ’14

Favorite Team Memory: Beating Williams last year

Favorite Team Memory: Dinner on the beach during our 2013 spring break trip to South Florida Favorite Pro Athlete: Maria Sharapova Dream Job: Private practice clinical psychotherapist Pet Peeve: Negative “can’t do” attitude and expecting great results without effort Favorite Vacation Spot: Lahaina, Maui Something on Your Bucket List: Learn to sail Guilty Pleasure: Chocolate covered strawberries Favorite Food: Ahi tuna sashimi Favorite Thing About Amherst: Challenging curriculum, excellent professors and the opportunity to compete in athletics at a high level

Favorite Pro Athlete: Willy Workman Dream Job: GM of the Knicks Pet Peeve: Slow drivers Favorite Vacation Spot: Aruba Something on Your Bucket List: Make a Foxwoods trip Guilty Pleasure: Anything from Cumby’s Favorite Food: 007 with extra hot sauce Favorite Thing About Amherst: The Hut

Men’s Lax Falls Short of First Ever NESCAC Title

Greg Williams ’16 Staff Writer

This past weekend, the now 12th-ranked Amherst men’s lacrosse team made program history, earning both their first NESCAC semifinals and finals appearances. In the conference semifinals on Saturday, the third-seeded Jeffs upset secondseeded Wesleyan 12-8 to advance to the championship finals the next day, where they would face top-seeded Tufts. Amherst ultimately lost to the Jumbos, but the team’s accomplishments this season earned them an at-large bid for the Div. III NCAA Tournament.

“Getting into the NCAA tournament is a special reward for the hard work the team has put in all year,” Kane Haffey ’16 said.

On Saturday, the Jeffs came out strong against the Cardinals, scoring the first four goals of the game off shots from Haffey, Devin Acton ’14 and two from Charlie Gill ’16. Wesleyan got on the board with just over a minute-and-a-half remaining in the first quarter. Amherst continued its strong play in the second period, as Haffey and Acton notched their second scores of the game, giving the Jeffs a 6-2 lead going into halftime.

Both teams came out of halftime with a newfound spark in their offenses. Aaron Mathias ’14 started the scoring but the Cardinals answered right back with a goal of their own. First-year Matt Killian was the next player to find the back of the net, but once again the Cardinals responded with a goal. However, the Jeffs who hit their stride for the remainder of the third, outscoring the Cardinals 4-1 in the last ten minutes of the quarter.

Down 12-5 entering the fourth, the Cardinals scored two early goals, but the Jeff defense stepped up and stopped all their momentum. Wesleyan scored one last goal in the final minute of the game, but it was too little too late as Amherst held on for the 12-8 victory and advanced to their first NESCAC championship in program history.

In the other semifinal match-up, Tufts dominated Williams 17-6 and looked to ride this momentum into the championship game.

The beginning of the conference final was reminiscent of the two team’s regular season game, as the Jumbos opened the game scoring six of the first seven goals. However, Amherst was able to swing the energy their way near the end of the quarter, narrowing the deficit to 7-4 with scoring contributions from Acton, Killian and Quinn Moroney ’16.

The Amherst defense held the Jumbo offense in check in the second quarter, while the team’s offense continued to find their stride as they out-

scored Tufts 4-2 in the frame. Patrick Moroney ’14, Haffey, Acton and Dylan Park ’16 all scored, bringing the Jeffs within one, down 9-8 at halftime.

Haffey tied the game up at nine-all at the start of the third, but the Jeffs would never overcome this tie. Tufts answered with two quick goals, and Haffey responded with one of his own (assist from Q. Moroney). However, the Jumbos rattled off seven of the next eight goals, and despite one more score from Haffey and Gill in the period, the Amherst squad found themselves down 18-12 going into the fourth.

Tufts scored twice more in the final period, and P. Moroney added one more for Amherst, leaving the final score at 20-13 and Tufts’ win — the Jumbo’s fifth straight conference championship title. Amherst maintained a slight advantage in shots and turnovers in the game, while the Jumbos edged the Jeffs in faceoff wins and ground balls.

Senior goalie Greg Majno recorded 10 saves on the afternoon, while Tufts’ Patton Watkins racked up a personal record 24 saves.

The Jeffs were selected for an at-large bid into the Div. III NCAA Tournament, just the second time in the program’s history, continuing the team’s record-breaking year.

“I think we’ve steadily improved over the course of the season and are playing our best lacrosse right now,” Haffey noted.

Amherst will square off against Colorado College Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. at home.

“It’s especially meaningful to be able to extend the season a little longer for our seniors. Our focus is on one game at a time, and with that mentality, we’re not looking past or underestimating Colorado College” Haffey added. “Anyone that makes the NCAA tournament is a solid team, and they’re no exception. We know they’ve got a solid goalie and some serious offensive threats, but we’re excited and ready for the challenge.”

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Senior Aaron Mathias had two goals over the weekend.

The Amherst Student • May 7, 2014

Sports 11

Post to Post with Papa Cunny: Championships Over Compassion?

Questions? Patrick Can Field Them These Fans Ain’t Loyal

Patrick Canfield ’16

Dave Cunningham ’16 Columnist $100,000 for the promotion of a Broadway show in exchange for 86 years of absolute misery and despair. For outsiders, this transaction may mean nothing, but it’s a familiar equation that Boston Red Sox fans know all too well. In 1918, the Red Sox traded away arguably the most prolific hitter in Major League history for $100,000 in cash so the team owner could promote his upcoming show. The Red Sox then proceeded to not win another World Series for 86 years. The curse of the Bambino was real.

Throughout these 86 years, Sox fans were driven to brink of absolute insanity. Every season started off with “this is the year,” but the team always had a special way of crushing fans’ hopes and dreams in a heart-breaking fashion. Bill Buckner lets a weak dribbler between his legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

Enos Slaughter’s “mad dash” in ’46. Bucky Dent slams one over the Monster in 1978 and sends Sox fans home crying. The absurd manner in which the Red Sox would collapse was almost comical. Nonetheless, no matter how poor or underachieving the team proved to be on the field, Sox fans maintained their abusive relationship with the squad. Red Sox Nation stayed loyal throughout.

However, this sense of unity and passion has not transcended into my generation of Red Sox fans — we are overly spoiled. Three World Series crowns since 2004 have pushed Sox fans into a realm of complacency. We no longer have the undying thirst to win as did our preceding generation. The Red Sox are now expected to win every season, and when they do we’re satisfied, but when they don’t, we turn our back to the organization. While our preceding generation of Sox fans had an enduring determination to back the squad through the good and bad (mostly the bad), present day, youthful Sox supporters have sold out.

As a young child, watching Red Sox games was a ritual in my household, to the point where it almost resembled a religious ceremony. The connection my family and I had with the team through the hardships of the pre-championship years, made the 2004 World Series victory all the more sweet, especially for my parents. One can never understand the true beauty of victory if he or she has never been demoralized by defeat.

However, after the team won in 2004, the 2007 and 2013 championships didn’t produce the same excitement. It was more of a “been there, done that” scenario, and my support for the team declined. I was not alone, as most fans followed a similar trajectory. While it’s upsetting to notice, my generation is not completely at fault. Total blame cannot be given to my generation for their lackluster support.

Egos and greed on behalf of the team’s ownership has forced the true fans from Fenway Park. This Mecca of sports has become unaffordable for Bostonians from my generation who want nothing more than to support their team. Red Sox games are now more of a social gathering for elite business men who use the tickets to persuade potential clients, instead of a mad house where die-hard fans chow down on Fenway Franks (which are $7 by the way) and boo the opposing team for nine innings.

The Boston Red Sox organization acts as a member of upper society and has totally alienated the groups they should be attempting to connect with. The sport of baseball has the ability to transcend far outside the field — it’s “America’s pastime” for a reason. A father taking his son to his first ball game is often seen as a major bonding experience that everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy. Every Boston boy or girl remembers his or her first Sox game. Unfortunately, these memories are a dying cultural experience for Bostonians, ultimately playing a role in my generation’s disloyalty.

It’s sad to see such a storied fan base like

Red Sox Nation stray away from the teachings of our elders. Many times I look at Chicago Cubs fans, and ironically, wish I were in their shoes. Those fans have not seen their team win a World Series since 1908. Now, I’m not a Math major, but lets just say that is a lot of years of losing. Living through so many difficult seasons would make the winning so much better and the connection between fan and team far deeper.

It’s interesting to compare the teams who have won a ring to the current and past members of Sox Nation. While the 2004 team had a cast of All-Stars, most of the players actually started off as gritty, highly-committed no-namers who all played an instrumental role in the team’s success, much like the fans. Dave Roberts pinch runs and steals the most important base in the team’s history during Game 4 of the ’04 ALCS. Curtis Leskanic pitches one-and-athird scoreless innings, recording the win, in the same game. Career .230 hitter Mark Bellhorn hits a three-run blast to propel the Sox to victory in Game 6 of the same series. The 2004 team was truly the fan’s team, mirroring the blue-collar, persistent nature of Bostonians.

The 2012 Red Sox team went in a totally dissimilar direction. Ownership went against the grain, emulating the Yankees in many ways, using money to buy wins. The team ended up with a 69-93 record — finishing dead last in the American League East Division.

While the past generation of fans would have stayed strong with their boys, my generation abandoned them. Attendance was the lowest it had been in years, and since the team had won the World Series in 2004 and 2007, losing was utterly unacceptable. It was as if the team on the field must resemble the past generations of Sox fans in the stands in order to win.

Last season was a small glimmer of hope for the state of Red Sox Nation. As was the case in 2004, the team on the field primarily consisted of a group of rag-tag, hard-nosed men who wanted nothing more than to bring a trophy to Boston. For the first time since 2004, the fans resembled this attitude as well.

After the Boston Marathon bombings on April 14, 2013, the community was in a state of hopelessness. The Red Sox became a team of hope and banded together around the community. The fans fed off their energy and commitment, ultimately using the team as a venting method. It was something that everyone could cling to. When David Ortiz grabbed the microphone on the field days after the bombings and said, “This is our f**ing city,” on live television, it really resonated with fans. They remembered that the Red Sox were there for them, and they should have the same attitude. The connection was rebuilt for that season, and the team banded together and won the World Series at Fenway Park for the first time since 1918. It seemed so appropriate.

At the end of the day, true Sox fans are still a dying breed. I’m not saying that I would prefer the Red Sox to finish in last place every season just so I could know what the past generations felt like. I definitely enjoy watching my team win; however, I yearn for the sense of camaraderie past fans shared with the Sox — they were in the trenches together.

It’s as though Red Sox Nation now prefers to critique the team as opposed to support them. While it was nice to see togetherness between fans and them team last season, I feel as though it was an anomaly. Recent Sox teams have begun to pave a winning tradition in Boston, and it’s going to take some getting used to for fans, including myself.

In the end, no matter how good or bad the team proves to be, how power hungry the ownership becomes or how many seats are filled at home games, Sox fans must always remember one thing: At least we’re not from Cleveland.

The past relationship between Sox fans and the team is like the girl who didn’t love you back — it ultimately makes you want her more.

A number of NBA teams have seen an increasingly high rate of turnover in their coaching staffs. If a coach can’t immediately produce both an exceptional winning record along with successful play-off appearances, he’s, what some might call prematurely, let go. Is that fair? How long is too long for a coach to be at the helm of a mediocre team? Teams require different types of coaching at their various stages of growth, so how much of the responsibility falls on the coach to bring a bad team to the top?

For coaches in today’s NBA, simply winning is not enough. Teams are increasingly aggressive and impatient in evaluating coaches. Last season, after being named the NBA’s Coach of the Year, George Karl — a great coach — was unceremoniously let go by the Denver Nuggets due to a lack of postseason success. Vinny Del Negro — a bad coach — improved upon the Los Angeles Clippers’ record in each of his three years in charge before the Clips announced they would not be extending his contract. Lionel Hollins took a sub.500 team and did the same thing with greater playoff success before Memphis declined to renew his contract.

On Tuesday morning, the Golden State Warriors fired Mark Jackson after the Clippers defeated the sixth-seeded Warriors in a seven-game first round series. Prior to the season, Jackson had unsuccessfully pushed the Warriors to pick up an option for the next season and extend his contract. There were reports throughout the season that Jackson had created an environment of dysfunction, and his tenure was not without setbacks.

Off the court, in 2012, Jackson, father of four, revealed that he had been a target of extortion by a stripper with whom he had maintained an extramarital affair. More recently and relevantly, Jackson fired two assistant coaches in the weeks preceding the playoffs. Brian Scalabrine was demoted to the NBA Development League due to a “difference in philosophies.” The other assistant, Darren Erman, was reportedly fired for recording conversations in which Jackson actively undermined his authority.

Regardless of the controversies, Mark Jackson undeniably brought sustained success to the Warriors. Their record improved each season under Jackson, from .348 in his first, lockout-shortened year to .573 to .622 this season. 2013 marked just the Warriors’ second time advancing past the first round of the playoffs since 1991. Prior to this season, Golden State had never made the playoffs in two consecutive years. This year’s record of 51-31 was the Warriors’ best in 22 years.

There are a multitude of factors that make up a coach’s performance. The criteria upon which coaches are judged certainly vary from team to team. Some teams may desire a winning record or continued improvement. Others may search for the right fit in offensive or defensive schemes.

Mostly, front offices want a coach who will work within the franchise’s philosophy. The San Antonio Spurs management and head coach Gregg Popovich are a perfect fit, working in tandem to bring in players that fit Pop’s system. The Atlanta Hawks are in the process of replicating the Spurs Model, hiring offensive whiz and Popovich acolyte Mike Budenholzer, while implementing shrewder methods of player development and scouting.

General managers typically want to hire their own coaches in order to better mold their team.

This leads to a host of lame duck coaches stuck coaching out the final year of their contracts in some sort of demonstration.

However, a coach not only must fit a team’s philosophy, he must also meet their current needs.

The Bucks, a terrible team, hired Larry Drew after Danny Ferry because the Hawks did not extend his contract. In his time with the Hawks, Drew — civil activist — showed (some) improvement and (some) ability to improve a team. Much of that improvement came from unwitting player development. Whether the Bucks got it right or not, they saw a coach who could one day bring them sustained success.

Mike Woodson would probably have been a better fit had he been available. However, Woodson, another Hawks alum and odd (well, it is the Knicks) exception, was hired by the Knicks because of his total willingness to cede control to the front office rather than his season-to-season

improvement with the Hawks. Woodson brought a bad team to mediocrity and a (fairly) good one back.

At different stages in its development, a team needs a different type of coach. A young rebuilding team values player development skills more and the ability to coach up veterans. Teams slightly further along the development curve will more likely be satisfied with a string of winning seasons.

Teams in contention for an NBA title need something else — some combination of game management and tactical skill along with more intangible qualities. Someone like a Popovich or a Phil Jackson. How many rings will it take for Erik Spoelstra’s name to belong in that sentence?

Still, one often wonders how much of this improvement is due to the coach’s performance and how much is down to player growth (pretty unclear). Jackson had the benefit of the one and only Steph Curry, who came into his own as one of the best players in the league. Klay Thompson has also flourished under Jackson — first as a pure shooter and then as more of an all-around offensive player. Steph fully credited Jackson as a major influence on the team’s improvement, saying, “His experience and guidance has helped each of us grow in this league … Can’t thank him enough for all he did for me.”

Indeed, all of the players swear by Jackson.

To his credit, he has demonstrated nothing but respect and humility in leaving the Warriors’ franchise. Taking to Twitter Tuesday afternoon, Jackson tweeted out thanks to the organization, fans and players, wishing them luck in the future.

It says something that Steph, the most influential player in Warriors headquarters, was unable to help Jackson keep his job.

It’s hard not to feel sorry for Jackson and coaches in general. Jackson was given little opportunity to prove that he could, or could not, perform in the postseason. The Warriors’ starting center, Andrew Bogut, was lost just before the playoffs and Golden State still took the Clippers to seven games — the same Clippers that just routed Kevin Durantula and the Thunder in Game 1 of the second round.

At the same time, teams are trying to win NBA championships at all costs, and compassion is one of these costs.

If they don’t believe a certain coach is the right fit to win a ring, there’s little point in teams keeping him around. Maybe Jackson is capable of winning a title; maybe he creates an atmosphere of discord. There is so much insider information we as fans are not privy to that it’s difficult to pass judgment either way until we have more information.

Maybe good records are simply indicative of good players, especially due to the outsized impact of star players on the NBA game, and coaches are the main beneficiaries. It’s also possible that coaches specialize in a set phase of the team development cycle. That is, some coaches may excel in establishing success — turning a bad, young team into a mediocre team unlikely to contend. Other coaches may be able to develop that mediocre team into a perennially strong team in contention. Still other coaches can take this contender and win rings.

Coaches today, without the addition of veteran stars, rarely take teams from the bottom all the way to the top (maybe Drake doesn’t belong in the NBA). Scott Brooks turned the worst team in the league into one of the best while developing an incredible core in Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka. He has yet to show much in the playoffs.

The aforementioned George Karl, one of the best ever, rebuilt the Bucks into a strong team, but never won a title. The Nuggets reached the playoffs in all nine seasons under Karl but only advanced past the first round once.

Sports

“... thanks to a grand slam from first baseman Dave Cunningham ’16 on a towering shot to right...”

Baseball Closes Season... Page 9

Photos courtesy of NESCAC

The Amherst women’s tennis team (left) won the program’s ninth NESCAC championship this past weekend, while the men (right) brought home the team’s sixth overall title — giving both teams an automatic bid for the upcoming Div. III NCAA Tournament.

Tennis Teams Bring Home NESCAC Crowns Men, Women Ready to Make National Title Runs

Nicole Yang ’16 and Chris Rigas ’16 Managing Sports Editor and Staff Writer Men The fourth-ranked Amherst men’s tennis team came home NESCAC champions this past weekend for the sixth time in team history. After receiving a first round bye, the second-seeded Jeffs were set to face third-seeded and Williams in the conference semifinals. Nationally speaking, 11thranked and reigning national champion Williams dropped six spots in the recently announced ITA rankings, while Amherst fell one spot to fourth in the country after losing to Middlebury last weekend.

Against the Ephs, the Jeffs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the doubles matches. Sophomores Andrew Yaraghi and Aaron Revzin led things off with an 8-6 win in the second spot over Rohan Shastri and Jose Raventos. Michael Solimano ’16 and Anton Zykov ’17 followed suit, defeating Alexander Schidlovsk and Brain Astrachan in the third spot by the same score. Senior co-captains Joey Fritz and Justin Reindel capped off the doubles sweep with another 8-6 win in the top slot over Matt Micheli and Conrad Harron.

In the singles matches, Amherst had to shift up their lineup for spots two through six, as the team’s No. 2 singles player, Chris Dale ’14, had injured his ankle.

“Chris was unable to play this past weekend due to an sprained ankle, but the team came together well in his absence,” head coach Chris Garner remarked.

Ben Fife ’16 stepped in to fill the void at the bottom of the ladder for the Jeffs, but the sophomore lost his match to Raventos 6-1, 6-0 in what would be Williams’ lone point of the day.

In the fifth singles spot, Reindel extended the team’s lead to 4-1 with a convincing 6-1, 6-1 victory over Howard Weiss. In need of only one more W to advance to the championship final the next day, Amherst still had four singles matches in play. Zykov clinched the match in the No. 3 spot, beating Shastri 6-4, 6-2. The remaining matches were left unfinished, as Solimano and Yaraghi had both split the first two sets of their matches and Fritz was up 7-5, 5-2.

The 5-1 win was the first Amherst-Williams match to be decided by a score other than 5-4 since April 2011. With the victory, the Jeffs punched their ticket to their fourth straight NESCAC final. In the other semifinal match, topseeded Middlebury downed fourth-seeded and 16th-ranked Bowdoin 5-0 — pitting the Panthers against the Jeffs in a rematch of Amherst’s regular season finale where the team lost 5-4.

“Every season, a new social dynamic is created. The students seem to enjoy being on the team.

Hopefully each season a bond is created where they will be there for one another on-and-off the court,” Garner said.

“Team chemistry has really improved this season due to team bonding, which as you know, I’m a big proponent of,” Revzin added.

On Championship Sunday, the Jeffs repeated their doubles performance from the day before, once again earning the 3-0 advantage. Fritz and Reindel notched the first win of the day, defeating Alex Johnston and Andrew Lebovitz 8-5 in the No.1 spot. Third doubles finished shortly after, where Solimano and Zykov topped Ari Smolyar and Peter Heidrich 8-4, followed by second doubles, where Yaraghi and Revzin won their match over Brantner Jones and Palmer Campbell 8-5.

“Something great about the NESCAC tournament was our doubles play. We had worked a lot on doubles during the week, and it was nice to see the work pay dividends, as we swept all three doubles spots in both matches,” Solimano said.

“I was very proud of Mike’s performance this weekend. I’m glad my talent has rubbed off on him,” Revzin said of Solimano, also his roommate.

With Dale still out with an injury, Russell Einbinder ’16 stepped into the sixth singles spot for the finals. However, Jackson Frons defeated the sophomore 6-4, 6-1 for Midd’s only win on the day. In the top spot, Fritz gave Amherst a 4-1 lead with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Johnston, and Yaraghi sealed the victory with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Smolyar in the fifth spot.

In their second 5-1 victory of the weekend, the Jeffs brought home their third NESCAC Championship in four years, earning an automatic bid for the Div. III NCAA tournament. Amherst’s accomplishments this season warranted a top seed in the national tournament, also giving them a first round bye.

“I think that our team’s chemistry is always high, but becomes even more elevated towards the end of the season,” Solimano said. “We can all see our goals for the season in sight now, and it is imperative that we all come together to accomplish those goals.”

The Jeffs will host regional play this weekend, starting on Friday, where they will face the winner of Stevens and Southern Methodist. Should they win, they will be in action again at home on Saturday. The remainder of the tournament will be hosted May 19-21 at Claremont Mudd-Scripps in California.

For the seniors on the team, they hope to relive the national championship season from their first-year when the team upset Emory in the finals of the 2011 NCAA Tournament.

“I know everyone enjoys summer vacation, but hopefully the guys can hold off on it a bit longer,” Garner said.

Women Amherst women’s tennis returned to the top of the NESCAC after a one-year hiatus with a convincing 5-1 win over defending champion Williams. The championship-clinching win fol-

lowed a 5-3 semifinal victory over Middlebury for the second-ranked Jeffs, extending their winning streak to nine matches. The championship was Amherst’s ninth in program history — a NESCAC record.

Saturday’s semifinal clash, which featured the first-seeded Jeffs against the fourth-seeded Panthers, was a rematch of Amherst’s 9-0 regular season drubbing of Middlebury.

The Jeffs’ No. 2 doubles team, seniors Zoe Pangalos and Jen Newman, claimed the first point of the day by beating Alexandra Fields and Lily Bondy. Seniors Jordan Brewer and Gabby Devlin extended the Amherst lead by knocking off Ria Gerger and Kaysee Orozco 8-4. However, Middlebury sophomores Lauren Amos and Margot Marchese kept the Panthers within striking distance, as they beat Safi Aly ’15 and Sarah Monteagudo ’16, 9-7.

Middlebury tied it up with Bondy’s 6-0, 6-0 sweep of sophomore Sue Ghosh, but Brewer and Devlin both picked up wins to restore the Jeffs’ lead and put them one point away from the final.

“On Saturday, I think I played one of the worst matches of my life. I just had a really, really bad day, and thankfully the team had my back for the rest of the match,” Ghosh said.

Orozco’s 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Newman made it 4-3, and the tension was high as the final two singles matches were both headed to three sets.

Monteagudo managed to secure an Amherst victory by fighting back from a 6-0 hole in the first set. She knocked off Dorrie Paradies 0-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Pangalos held a narrow lead over Marchese (6-3, 4-6, 1-0), and their match was left unfinished.

Williams, who had advanced to Sunday’s final by beating Bowdoin 5-3, was looking to take revenge for a regular season loss to Amherst. The Ephs came out hot, as Kathleen Elkins and Maria Pylpiv beat Newman and Pangalos on the second doubles court 8-2.

The Jeffs bounced back with wins from the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles courts to take a 2-1 advantage into singles play. Brewer and Devlin took care of Kara Shoemaker and Rebecca Curran, 8-4, while Monteagudo and Aly got the better of Linda Shin and Hannah Atkinson 8-5.

“The sun wasn’t shining the day we played our archrival Williams, but it seemed that the stars were all aligned,” Brewer remarked. “Doubles with Gabby was a breeze — we were playing like a well-oiled machine. It felt amazing to have the support of my coach, wildly cheering teammates, parents and friends.”

Amherst wasted little time putting the championship away, as they won three singles matches in straight sets to clinch a 5-1 triumph. Devlin secured a decisive win over Elkins, 6-1, 6-1, while Ghosh cruised past Pylpiv 6-3, 6-1.

“On Sunday, I knew that there was no room for error. My coaches were very supportive, and I

focused on the fact that we were in the finals, rather that I lost the previous day,” Ghosh remarked.

“I just trusted my game and put all my energy into the match, and I guess it paid off.”

Those points put Amherst up 4-1, and put Brewer in position to capture the championship on the top court. The senior did just that, beating Shoemaker 6-2, 7-6.

“Over the last two years, I’ve played this same opponent, Kara Shoemaker, seven times and so there was history,” Brewer said. “The fact that my match would be the deciding match definitely added tension but also an opportunity to rise to the occasion and meet the challenge.”

However, the match was closer than the 5-1 final score suggests, as Williams led all three unfinished matches.

As the NESCAC Champions, the Jeffs own an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which begins this Friday, May 9. Amherst earned a first round bye and will be in action at home on Friday against the winner of Farmingdale St. and Endicott.

“I’m so greatful and honored to have experienced the support of my teammates, coaches and friends of AWT over the past four years. It has been a joy to have the opportunity to represent Amherst in competition,” Brewer continued. “I will always remember friends made, experiences, shared and life lessons learned from both wins and losses.”

Brewer and the Jeffs hope to extend their season deep into the national tournament. As the second-ranked team in the country, Amherst looks to improve upon its fourth place finish from last season. The team has brought home just one NCAA championship in 1999 under the reign of current head coach, Jackie Bagwell.

Photo courtesy of Niahlah Hope ’15

Andrew Yaraghi ’16 clinched the NESCAC title with a 6-0, 7-5 win on Sunday.