Issue 1

THE AMHERST

THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

STUDENT VOLUME CXLV, ISSUE 1 l FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015

College Welcomes 477 New First-Years

Field Hockey Preps for Deep Postseason Run See Sports, Page 9

AMHERSTSTUDENT.AMHERST.EDU

Students Push for Recent Graduate Trustees Dan Ahn ’17 Managing News Editor

Photo courtesy of Adrian Castillo ‘17

Orientation leaders welcomed members of the class of 2019 to campus this week outside Williston Dormitory.

New students began the college’s seven-day orientation program on Tuesday.

Jingwen Zhang ’18 Managing News Editor A calligrapher, a musician who plays nine instruments and the founder of an organic farm were among the 477 new first-years who descended on campus Tuesday, marking the start of Amherst’s orientation week.

Members of the class of 2019 weathered a highly competitive admissions process: The college received a record 8,568 applications this year. Amherst admitted 1,210 of those applicants, making for a 14.1 percent acceptance

rate.

“The class of 2019 is another amazing group of talented, caring, engaged, bright individuals who will make a difference in our lives at Amherst and beyond,” said Dean of Admission Cate Zolkos.

Twenty new transfer students also participated in Amherst’s orientation this week.

Students arrived at Amherst from 28 countries and 41 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

Forty-four percent of first-years are American students of color, including a record-

setting 10 Native American students. In 2014, the Office of Admission stepped up its efforts to recruit Native American applicants, adding a special program for Native students as part of its Diversity Open House programming.

A little more than 12 percent of first-years are first-generation college students, and 56 percent of the class are receiving financial aid.

After arriving on campus, the class of 2019 moved into their dorms and kicked off a seven-day orientation program that includes

Continued on Page 3

This semester members of the Association of Amherst Students are planning a major push to reserve two positions on the college’s board of trustees for alumni who have graduated within the last five years.

The initiative was initially Tomi Williams ‘16’s project in AAS, and it became one of his main focuses when he was appointed president in spring 2014. That summer, Williams, along with Douglass Jamison ’16, researched more than 25 other institutions in order to find models of similar initiatives, which have been approved at colleges including George Washington University, Duke, Princeton and Wellesley.

During fall 2014, Williams, Jamison and Elson Browne-Low ’15 discussed the models that had been researched and decided that instead of pushing for seats for student representatives on the board of trustees, as several institutions had done, they would propose reserving two seats for recently graduated alumni.

This past January, the group of students met with Cullen Murphy ’74, chair of the board of trustees, and Andrew Nussbaum ’85, chair of the committee on student life.

According to the faculty handbook, the primary means by which the student body can influence the membership of the board is through the advisory committee to the committee on trusteeship. The advisory committee consists of two faculty members and two students, and in 1972, the board established its intent to “elect as term trustees only those who have been considered by an advisory committee.”

But proponents of the new initiative have argued that greater student participation is needed.

“While the board works in concert with the administration and some avenues of current student input exist, a fresh student perspective is

Continued on Page 3

David Little Appointed Director of Mead Art Museum Eli Mansbach ’18 Assistant News Editor David Little became the new director of the Mead Art Museum on Monday, replacing former director Elizabeth Barker.

Little previously worked as the head of the department of photography and new media at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Before that, he taught courses at Maryland Institute College of Arts and Duke University. He also served as the director of adult and academic programs at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

A search committee, comprising faculty members from several departments, staff from the Robert Frost Library and two students, began working in fall 2014 to replace Barker, who had held the position since 2007. Barker is now director of the Boston Athenæum, which is an independent library.

Rosemary Frehe ’17, one of the two students on the search committee, said that the committee met once a week during the fall semester and narrowed down its list to three possible candidates, who then traveled to Am-

herst during the spring semester to be interviewed by the committee and to hold open meet and greet events with faculty and students.

Frehe said that the committee was searching for candidates who were committed to research but also able to engage with students and other members of the community.

The new director also needed to have experience teaching in a college setting and have published works that showed good research skills.

Dean of the Faculty Catherine Epstein wrote in a campus-wide email in May that Little “has extensive experience using art collections for educational and curricular goals, and has proven himself an adept administrator and fundraiser.”

Frehe said that another reason for choosing Little was to increase the museum’s involvement in contemporary art, including photography, in order to attract more students to the Mead. She said that Little had extensive connections to photographers and institutions with a focus on contemporary art, and could use them to bring new programs and events to

the museum.

Little’s career in the arts began during his undergraduate years at Bowdoin College, where he arrived planning to become a lawyer, but changed paths when he was inspired by a course in 19th-century art.

“Art brings together all the different disciplines,” Little said. “You have science, music and literature, and they sort of all come together within the visual arts.”

After taking a few courses in photography, Little eventually decided that painting was his preferred mode of expression, and painted throughout college.

He ended up getting a bachelor’s degree in art history from Bowdoin, a master’s degree from Williams College, and a doctorate degree from Duke University. Little said that despite his earlier creative efforts, he no longer produces his own work.

“I don’t want to be one of those curators or artists who are thinking about their own work when they are analyzing someone else’s,” Little said. “To be a serious painter, you really have to dedicate yourself full time, and that was very clear to me early on and I needed to make

a choice whether to be a scholar or curator or if I was going to be an artist.”

Little is currently working on what he describes as a “small essay” about a collection of portraits depicting the backs of the heads of famous people, including John F. Kennedy, Mike Tyson and Elvis Presley. The essay will examine the implications of subverting standard methods of portraiture.

Little said he hopes to give the arts a more lively presence in the Amherst community, as well as take advantage of the academic opportunities offered by a college museum. He plans to spend his first few months as director getting to know the faculty, students and staff at the college, before working on implementing the ideas that he is bringing to the museum.

“I think the whole idea of what a museum is and how it can behave has changed a great deal.” Little said. “The close study of art will be central, but I am also hoping there is some way the Mead can work with other faculties and departments and bring ideas about art actually onto the campus itself and into the classroom so there is an opening up of art on the Amherst campus.”

News

Mary Hicks Fresh Faculty

June 1, 2015 - Sept. 1, 2015

>>June 1, 2015 10:31 a.m., Moore Dormitory An employee reported the theft of a television from the second floor lounge.

>>June 12, 2015 7:45 a.m., Campus Grounds A caller reported a deer near Webster Hall. The deer could not be located. . >>June 17, 2015 9:13 a.m., College Hall An employee reported receiving a voicemail from an anonymous person that was bothersome in nature.

1 p.m., Frost Library Two workers at Frost Library reported receiving anonymous phone calls that were bothersome in nature.

>>June 23, 2015 3:51 p.m., Tuttle Farm Four men were issued written trespass notices after being found in the Tuttle Farm area with no legitimate business.

3:55 p.m., Tuttle Farm During a motor vehicle stop, a container with a small amount of marijuana was found and confiscated.

>>June 27, 2015 3:17 p.m., Hitchcock House An officer responded to an animal complaint. Assistance provided. >>June 29, 2015 7:50 a.m., Northampton Rd. Officers assisted at the scene of a motorcycle accident on Northampton Road. >>July 1, 2015 9:56 a.m., Tuttle Farm Two people who have no association with the college were issued no trespass notices after they were found sleeping in the area of the Book and Plow farm.

3:01 p.m., Orr Lot An officer investigated damage to a vehicle caused by an employee operating a lawn mower. >>July 3, 2015 1:26 a.m., Pond Dormitory A caller reported hearing possible gun shots. Officers investigated and it is believed the noise was from fireworks.

>>July 10, 2015 4:09 p.m., Lipton House Three members of a summer group reported the theft of approximately $130 cash and makeup from a second-floor room.

>>July 15, 2015 1:18 a.m., Newport House A student reported harassing communications from another person.

5:17 p.m., Campus Grounds An employee reported the theft of a rented golf cart valued at $5,000. >>July 16, 2015 10 a.m., Campus Grounds A golf cart reported stolen on July 15 from the Athletic Department was located near Morrow. >>July 17, 2015 11 a.m., Belchertown Court

A man who was involved in an incident on campus was issued a written notrespass order. >>July 18, 2015 8:29 a.m., South Pleasant St. A caller reported a domestic altercation between two people near 205 So. Pleasant St. No one was found when the area was checked.

>>July 19, 2015 10 a.m., College St. An officer assisted at the scene of a motor vehicle accident.

>>July 21, 2015 12:46 p.m., Churchill House An officer investigated a case of harassment by phone.

6:05 p.m., Valentine Dining Hall An employee reported the theft of an iPad valued at $300.

>>July 30, 3015.

11:14 p.m., Converse Lot A male, who had no legitimate business with the college, was issued a written no-trespass order after being found intoxicated on campus.

>>Aug 4. 2015 10:40 p.m., 79 South Pleasant St. A man reported the theft of an Android Maxx cell phone and charger that was left outside the building.

>>Aug. 6, 2015 2:56 p.m., Valentine Loading Dock An officer conducted an investigation into the theft of an iPad reported earlier.

One male is being summoned to court for receiving stolen property.

Departments of Black Studies and History

Assistant Professor of Black Studies and History Mary Hicks received a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Iowa in 2006 and a master’s degree from the University of Virginia in 2010. She completed her doctorate this past year at the University of Virginia. This semester she is teaching two courses that examine the black experience in the south Atlantic.

Q: What research are you currently working on?

A: My current book manuscript is about African and Creole mariners, and their influence on maritime commerce in the 18th and early 19th century.

I focus on the south Atlantic, so I look at the relationship between the northeast of Brazil and the Bight of Benin in West Africa.

It’s kind of an expansive project. About half of my project takes place in Brazil, and the other half in West Africa, so the courses I’m responsible for teaching here are Black Atlantic courses. I teach the history of the entire Atlantic basin. The south half of the Atlantic is what my research pertains to.

dents develop a historical consciousness, if they come to understand our contemporary world as being the result of a lot of processes and events that happened a long time before we got here, then they can understand with greater depth what’s going on right now. So that’s something I really try to instill in my students.

And teaching about places like the Caribbean, West Africa, Latin America — these are places people might not necessarily have any personal experience with. So I really want people to expand their horizons and see that because we live in a global world, a lot of the things that we take for granted as just being American, like democracy or capitalism, really have all these connections to this huge, Q: What courses are you teaching this se- expansive region. mester?

So I want people A: I’m teaching Intro to to understand how the Black Atlantic, from I really want people to expand they’re connected African encounters to their horizons and see that to this broader the Age of Revolutions. because we live in a global world through this It looks at the history history. world, a lot of the things that of the African diaspora, beginning in the middle we take for granted as just Q: In what ways of the 15th century, when being American, like democ- do you hope to Europeans first encoun- racy or capitalism, really have expand Caribbean ter West African peoples all these connections to this studies at Amin West Africa. It covers herst? huge, expansive region. So I A: I’m teaching two the duration of the slave trade, the formation of want people to understand courses now where complex slave societies how they’re connected to one of the centerin the New World, a lot this broader world through pieces is the Haiof which were based on this history. tian revolution. It’s plantation agriculture. sort of a forgotten >>Aug. 12, 2015 And it ends with the forevent right now, 11:32 p.m., Tennis Court Parking Lot mation of an active black political class, who but it was an interesting moment in time beOfficers checked on two people acting are agitating for the end of the slave trade, for cause at the moment it happened, Haiti was in a suspicious manner in the parking the end of slavery.

So it traces that long arc one of the most important centers of capitallot. They were there to watch the meof history, looking at the U.S., the Caribbean, ism in that global economic system.

So we teor shower.

Latin America and West Africa. don’t tend to think of places like Jamaica or Haiti or Cuba as being these central places of >>Aug. 14, 2015 Q: So this is a new course? a modern capitalist network, but they were.

2:21 a.m., Marsh House A: Yes, this is a totally new course.

The other Haiti was also one of the places where I perOfficers investigated vandalism to the class that I’m teaching is about the second sonally believe that modern ideas about debuilding. After an investigation, a stuhalf of the story.

It’s about the emancipation mocracy and how it should function, who dent was identified as being responsiof slavery — what led up to it, and what the should be included as citizens, were being ble. The matter was referred to Student ramifications were of the end of slavery.

In a formulated for the first time.

Affairs. lot of places like Jamaica, Haiti and the U.S., it So it’s an interesting place. It was on the ended in almost total social revolution. vanguard 200 years ago and now we think of >>Aug. 22, 2015 it as a place that’s totally backward and in2:34 a.m., South Amherst College Dr. Q: How did you become interested in studyconsequential.

One of the things I try to tell A person was arrested on a warrant. ing the black Atlantic? my students is that Toussaint L’Ouverture, A: When I was younger, my father collected one of the founders of the Haitian nation — >>Aug. 28, 2015 historic memorabilia, specifically African his ideas about democracy actually probably 8:20 p.m., Morgan Hall Observatory American historic memorabilia. I never re- have more in common with our contempoOfficers responded to a report of a ally read a lot of history growing up, or even rary ones than Thomas Jefferson’s did. physical altercation between two men through high school, but I guess through oson the sidewalk near Morgan Hall. After mosis, I must have become interested in it. Q: What are your first impressions of Aminvestigation, no further action was necessary. When I was an undergraduate, I took all sorts herst? of courses — I took anthropology, I took lit- A: I really like the intellectual atmosphere erature, I took political science — but I just here. It seems like it’s a mix of both intel>>Aug. 29, 2015 found myself being the most attracted to his- lectual rigor — there’s a lot of emphasis on 5:39 p.m., Powerhouse students developing critical thought — with a A student reported the theft of a bicycle tory.

So I took lots of different kinds of history sort of autonomy that is encouraged. left outside the Powerhouse. After an courses, and in the last year of my degree, I We want students to blaze their own ininvestigation, the bicycle was located started taking courses on Latin America and tellectual paths. So it combines being a very off campus. A local youth will be sumBrazil, and it was just fascinating because it nurturing environment where there are a lot moned to court. was an entirely new world that I wasn’t famil- of resources, where there are a lot of people iar with. I had no immediate connection to it. interested in helping people, with encourag>>Sept. 1, 2015 ing people to strike their own path, toward 2:24 p.m., Tuttle Farm Q: What would you describe as your acawhat they find fascinating.

An employee reported the theft of a demic mission at Amherst? tractor hitch from the Book and Plow A: A lot of historians believe that if stufarm. It is valued at $300.

— Dan Ahn ’17

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The Amherst Student • September 4, 2015

News

3

Class of 2019 Arrives on Campus, Begins Orientation Continued from Page 1 squad meetings, registering for classes and learning about aspects of campus culture such as sexual respect and student health.

Dean of New Students Rick López said that this year’s orientation incorporates significant changes from previous programs, many of which were a result of student feedback.

“We want new students to feel that their job is not to acculturate to some pre-existing Amherst student culture, but to see themselves as real agents in the creation of that culture,” López said. “To that end, we are putting student-to-student engagement, mutual respect and student-faculty relations at the center.”

The revamped program features blocks of free time built into the schedule in order for students to socialize, performers to audition for groups and athletes to practice with their teams. The aim of this free time is to offer students “the freedom to engage their new home and community on their own terms,” López said.

The mandatory “Learn, Explore, Activate, Participate,” or LEAP, orientation programs, which were introduced last year, were kept in the schedule. This year’s LEAP offerings include the usual outdoor and community ser-

meet the class of 2019

vice trips as well as creative writing programs, a program at the Mead Art Museum and a program at Book and Plow Farm.

This year’s orientation is also two days shorter than last year’s. Presentations from previous years were condensed into short online videos. And some events, such as the annual DeMott lecture, were moved out of orientation and into the semester.

López also said that because students have said in the past that they would have liked more engagement with faculty during orientation, first-years have now been given more time to meet with advisers and department representatives.

According to López the perceived divide in the community between athletes and nonathletes was another focus in the changes to orientation.

“This year the Office of Student Affairs and the Athletics Department are doing a lot to narrow this divide,” López said. “Coaches and team captains are emphasizing to new team members the importance of fully immersing themselves into orientation, reassuring them that they will have time later to bond with their teams.”

Classes will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

14.1%

14.1% of applicants to the class of 2019 were accepted to the college.

39.4% of these decided to attend.

44%

44% of the class of 2019 identify as students of color, with a record 10 students identifying as Native American.

Students in the class of 2019 hail from 41 states, including Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

Students in the class of 2019 come from 28 different countries.

Graphic by Gabby Bishop ’18

Senators Campaign for Drake Appointed AAS Communications Director Young Alumni Trustees Dan Ahn ’17 Managing News Editor Bonnie Drake ‘17 has been appointed the Association of Amherst Students’ first-ever communications director, the AAS announced this summer.

Beginning in June 2014, a group of students led by AAS President Tomi Williams ’16 held discussions on improving the AAS’ ability to communicate with the student body. They eventually drafted and approved an amendment to the constitution in order to appoint a communications director.

“A major issue for the AAS has always been a lack of effective, efficient and consistent communication,” Williams said. “We hope that the communications director will improve our ability to reach out to students to solicit feedback, opinions, and questions.”

The communications director operates under the direct authority of the executive branch, and is a paid position.

According to the new bylaws, the communications director will attend all AAS senate meetings and major events, and publish some form of weekly update on ongoing projects.

“In the past pretty much all the information about senate was on our website. It’s a great and informative website, but students never go on it,’’ Drake said. “That website will still exist so we have all of our information in one place, but I’m really looking forward to being able to update people on Facebook when important news and events are going on.”

Drake said she plans to become the primary resource to which students can direct their questions, both in person and on social media.

“With my position, others get to focus on getting the work done, and I get to take care of making sure students know what’s going on,” Drake said.

In the coming weeks, Drake said she plans to visit dorms and student groups to inform them about the AAS’ new methods of communication.

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Continued from Page 1 only selectively heard,” said Pierre-Alexander Low ’17, a senator working on the proposal.

In March 2015, Williams introduced the proposal to the board’s committee on trusteeship.

Murphy said in an email interview that at this meeting, the board “agreed with the animating spirit of what the AAS was suggesting; the board can only benefit from having broader and more regular conversations with students.” But, he said, “there are significant misgivings, for a variety of reasons, about setting aside seats on the board for any type of person, whether the category is recent graduates or some other.”

Murphy said he expects to discuss the proposal with Williams and other members of the AAS before the full board meets in October.

Williams said the AAS plans to implement a major publicity campaign for the initiative, involving articles, fliers, an organized student petition and time reserved at senate meetings for extended discussion of the proposal.

YOU

Positions open for the school year

The initiative so far has been student-led, with no participation from the administration.

The current most recent graduate on the board of trustees is a member of the class of 1996.

“What must be understood is that Amherst College is extremely dynamic,” Williams said.

“So much has changed in my three years here, let alone over the past two decades … We need folks who have a comprehensive understanding of the current campus culture, climate, and the many latent needs and issues that are not readily visible or easy to articulate.”

Capital investments, faculty diversification, the open curriculum and financial aid are among the current issues that trustees discuss.

“The understanding of these recent graduate trustees matched with the extensive experience, wisdom and expertise of our current board members can only serve to better the lives of Amherst students and improve the future of our college for all its community members,” Williams said.

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Opinion

THE AMHERST

STUDENT

Ten Tips for the Class of 2019

E X E C U T I V E B OA R D Editor-in-Chief Sophie Murguia Assistant Editor-in-Chief Elaine Jeon Managing News Dan Ahn, Jingwen Zhang Managing Opinion Johnathan Appel, Sunna Juhn Managing Arts and Living Marquez Cummings, Liz Mardeusz Managing Sports Lauren Tuiskula, Jason Darell, Drew Kiley

Editorial

Welcome to Amherst! We know it can be a difficult task to navigate a new set of surroundings, so we have compiled a brief list of tips for you that will hopefully make your transition smoother.

You don’t have to choose a major tailored to your anticipated career path. The point of the open curriculum is to try new things.

Don’t feel pressured to pick a major because you think it’ll land you a post-grad job more easily. For the most part, no one after college cares about what you studied. Picking a major is ultimately far less important than learning how to think, solve problems and express your ideas.

There’s no such thing as the Amherst Awkward. The Amherst Awkward is like that one person who says “OMG this is so awkward” during a lull in the conversation — the silence wasn’t awkward until they said it was, and now things are uncomfortable. Don’t be that person. Say hi to other people when you walk by them!

Go to office hours. This may be the most repeated piece of advice you hear during orientation week, but seriously, just do it. Attending office hours is a win-win situation: your professor gets to know you and sees that you’re genuinely interested in the course, and you get to know your professor and see that she’s a human and not some scary passing-grade-hoarding boogeyman.

Don’t be afraid to ask RCs for advice. Your RCs are an invaluable resource precisely since they themselves have gone through what you are starting to go through now. No two Amherst experiences are exactly the same, but they also had to choose classes, balance extracurriculars, navigate Amherst’s social scene — so all RCs can provide some guidance for your own journey.

Explore. We live in a bubble. Weeks can fly by before you realize that you haven’t seen the real world in an unhealthy amount of time. Venture out beyond campus and go exploring! You’ll find a lot of cool places: in Amherst, Northampton, the Holyoke Range state park or wherever else you choose to investigate.

Structure your time. It can be absurdly easy to waste time in college. Being able to go on Netflix marathons whenever you want might seem great, but when you suddenly realize it’s 4 a.m. and you have a solid understanding of Don Draper’s character development from seasons three through five, but zero words on the Word document for that paper due in a few hours, it doesn’t seem so nice.

Structuring your time is crucial to doing well and being happy here.

Don’t limit your circle. Maybe you came into Amherst as a member of a sports team or you got into an a cappella group. That’s great, and you will undoubtedly meet lots of cool new faces there. But don’t only hang out with the people who do the same activity as you.

There are so many interesting people from diverse backgrounds at Amherst, and it’s worth making the effort to get to know them.

It’s OK to quit some activities. While it is important to get involved on campus, it’s equally important to know when you’re getting overwhelmed. Quitting doesn’t make you a loser or a wimp; it just means you know what you can handle.

Things will not go according to plan. No doubt all of you are looking forward to making this year a great one, to starting off on the right foot and avoiding all the mistakes you made in high school.

But some things are inevitably going to fall apart. And when that happens, know you’re not alone. It may look like all your peers are sailing smoothly through their first year of college, but we promise you: They’re not. No matter how well prepared you are, parts of college will be hard, and that’s totally normal.

It may take a while for you to find your place here. Perhaps you won’t become besties with your roommate. Maybe your next-door neighbor won’t turn out to be your soulmate. More likely than not, your college experience won’t be exactly like what you saw in “How I Met Your Mother.” That’s OK. Just remember that one year does not an experience make. If by the end of your first year you still feel like you have not settled in, know that you have three more years ahead of you to grow and change and find your place.

The Importance of Being Disoriented Sam Rosenblum ’16 Contributing Writer

Sam Rosenblum is the editor of the Amherst College Disorientation Guide 2015-2016.

Last semester, inspired by disorientation guides assembled by activists at colleges and universities across the country, several students at Amherst began work on our own. The premise of our disorientation guide was that orientation directs students toward particular questions (with particular answers), and away from other questions (and other answers).

This direction takes on the form of a mandatory leap over a boundary which it itself constructs, between our pre-Amherst and college lives. In so doing, orientation demands that students uncritically assimilate to Amherst’s legal, political and social norms, without sufficiently working through the disorienting struggles and confusing emotions which students entering, living at and graduating

from the college face.

Concerned about the very (best) practice of orientation, perhaps articulated by its claim to finality, toward cutting off discussion of sensitive and personal questions prior to the beginning of “disinterested” and “rational” study, many other students and I realized that we needed a mechanism to rupture orientation, to refuse to be oriented, in a word, to be disoriented.

As Jeffrey Feldman ’15 writes, orientation is “an assimilative process … that attempts to foreclose questions by limiting the time during which it’s acceptable to raise them and the way such questions are dealt with.” If orientation is unified in closing in upon its objectives and goals, disorientation is unified by its lack of purpose, its varied perspectives and its occasionally divergent views. Precisely because the essays are a diverse amalgam of styles and tones and (occasionally) take on contradictory politics, the guide collectively opens and

frees its reader from the rules and regulations which orientation prescribes. Even our list of faculty and staff warns the reader that the criteria students used to add names may have contradicted other criteria. However, the list offers a collective voice from the organizers, a group of students who have chosen to be part of this project seeking to stand with each others’ choices for which faculty to recommend not in spite of, but because of, their differences, perhaps an attempt at political solidarity.

Of course, the contradictions and differences in the guide present a critical point: the guide is limited, in what it claims to do.

Consider what remains unsaid in the guide: topics such as heteronormativity, ableism and Zionism; perspectives from blue-collar and white-collar staff. The former are modes of oppression hegemonic to academia and Amherst.

The latter are points of view from community members whose work is invaluable but unrecognized,

necessary for the functioning, perhaps existence, of the physical group of facilities, processes and resources known as Amherst and deserving of more respect than many will grant them. (You might say that these staff separate Amherst College from a MOOC.) To be clear, I did not deliberately exclude all of those aforementioned themes and perspectives. On the contrary, I solicited numerous essays from many students and staff which never materialized. For many, overworked and burdened with classes, internships and jobs, the most radical and intimate form of activism which they could take for themselves and the rest of us was selfcare, saying no, deciding against working on this project. For others, reflecting publicly on certain topics could have had profound repercussions on their own academic and professional lives. I do not write this to blame those who chose not to write. Nor do I artic-

Continued on next page

S TA F F Design Editors Gabby Bishop, Megan Do William Harvey Assistant News Editor Ryan Cenek Assistant Arts and Living Editor Evan Paul Assistant Sports Editors Jeremy Kesselhaut, Jason Stein Publishers Emily Ratte, Tia Robinson

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The Amherst Student • September 4, 2015

Opinion

5

On Disorientation Continued from previous page ulate this to lament what has been left unsaid.

Rather, I note this to explain how, because of contemporary labor and political conditions, certain topics have been silenced, to remind us of the temporal and emotional labor and personal risk involved in writing, and to empathetically show my gratitude.

This critique names a symptom and an invitation present in much activist work: the impossibility of achieving full inclusivity. In other words, we fail to speak on every struggle at every occasion, even during those instances when conditions are ripe and resources plentiful. In the inability to achieve what it desires,

the disorientation guide invites other students to make their own claims on questions, practices, ideas, and ways of living important to them. Thus, I write this pragmatically to my fellow students as an invitation to work and act collectively.

Why “collectively”? At the risk of self-congratulation, I also ask us to consider the sometimes menial, technical and time-intensive labor it takes to create 800 copies of a 9.02-inch by 6.2-inch, stapled, printed, material pamphlet, plus a website on Wordpress. (Although I by no means did this alone, I would claim that I was the decisive laborer, alongside numerous necessary laborers, to whom I am grateful.) Engaging in activism which disrupts and

re-acts requires forms of work which, in the fantastical world of small, liberal arts colleges, many think are below us, less than us (and our great, brilliant minds!). Writing (on a screen) and editing (at the click of a Google Docs invitation) — in other words, producing beautiful text — are acts we should value, but not by forgetting to acknowledge the other labors involved in assembling a pamphlet: designing a cover, laying out the articles, navigating AAS budgetary procedures, sending invitations and requests to writers, spending time in meetings and Skype conversations, exploring Wordpress design themes, etc. These take time and energy from our own intellectual pursuits, from what Professor Thomas Dumm names the “riot in

your mind,” of that “peculiar and rare freedom that is afforded to ... students.”

But again, let us not see the dull workload required to achieve material results — whether they be pamphlets, zines, constitutional amendments, protests, social clubs — as cause for cynicism or despair, as a justification to reject critique, criticism and activism, to be scared of labor. No, perhaps to belabor the point is precisely what we must do, so as to realize the full potential of collective action and solidarity, as a mechanism to organically spread that “lesser” labor vertically beyond the ceiling of the working-class and into the “elite” bourgeoisie of Amherst activists and horizontally throughout the community.

Letter from the AAS Tomi Williams ’16 Contributing Writer

Get Paid to Deliver Papers!

• Must be available Wednesday mornings • Must have access to a car Contact astudent@amherst.edu if interested

Asking Questions Without Answers Obinna Ukogu ’18 Staff Writer It is common knowledge that almost every student, staff member and faculty member at Amherst College has, at one time or another, wondered why our campus center is yellow. Most people, through a process of reason, usually conclude that Keefe is yellow because it is meant to stand out, to be distinct from every other building on campus. Others, however, tend to attribute Keefe’s unseemly color to some as-yet unproven architectural blunder.

No matter the theory, the real answer to this question continues to elude everyone who asks it. This might be because finding it would require a deep exploration of the college’s historical archives, a task that is simply too cumbersome for any interested party to undertake. Alternatively, it may be because the answer is simply lost to us forever. Whatever the case may be, allow me to say that it is not significant. At this point, the reader should know that I myself have not at any time rigorously pursued the answer. The basic understanding that our campus center looks out of place on campus follows from the process of personal inquisition; I believe this process is much more valuable to us than any answer that we can find. If ever we chose to change the color and/or appearance of Keefe, I seriously doubt that we would give very much thought to how it came to be this way in the first place.

And so, in this case, it seems that the answer to the question turns out to be much less important than the actual process of

asking the question itself, which doubly acts as a spur into action and a gateway to unexpected knowledge.

I think the same thing can be said many of the scenarios that first-year students and the rest of us will undoubtedly face this coming year. The road ahead is filled with many unknowns that will inspire unanswerable questions. We will ask ourselves impossible ones — like “Why am I here?” “Who am I?” “What should I major in?” — that will no doubt haunt us for much of the year. However, let them not deter us, but rather motivate us all the more to ask them, whether they be questions about ourselves or questions about others. And even though their answers will almost certainly elude us in the end, they are worth contemplating, because sometimes simply asking a question can lead to a process of self-discovery and personal awareness that is completely unrelated to the original question asked. Unfortunately, such a process is often inherently painful and unpleasant, so it might seem that such an undertaking is just not worth it.

Nevertheless, as the Nigerian poet Tai Solarin once wrote, “I am not cursing you; I am wishing you what I wish myself every year. I therefore [say], may you have a hard time this year, may there be plenty of troubles for you this year! If you are not so sure what you should say back, why not just say, ‘Same to you’? I ask for no more.” On this note, I wish the class of 2019 and the rest of us many difficult questions this year, and I hope we will be able to find the strength to rise up to them even without hope of ever getting answers.

Tomi Williams is the president of the Association of Amherst Students.

Welcome to (or back to) Amherst, folks! On behalf of the Association of Amherst Students, otherwise known as the AAS, I would like to express our excitement about kicking off the 2015-2016 academic year. My name is Tomi Williams, and I have the pleasure of serving as the president of the student body.

For those of you just beginning your time here at Amherst, you have made an excellent decision.

Beyond its obvious advantages, Amherst is a community dedicated to serving its members. Each year we work tirelessly to bolster our strengths and genuinely address our shortcomings, all for the betterment of our students, staff, faculty and alumni.

To those returning, I am so looking forward to seeing you all. I know you are each bracing yourself to have the same “How was your summer?” conversation 1,800 times. When you begin to get a bit tired of the inevitable redundancy of welcome back exchanges, remember how fortunate you are to be a part of community that cares enough to ask and to actually listen.

Allow me a brief introduction of the Association of Amherst Students. In brief, the AAS is the college’s student government. We function primarily as a liaison between the administration and the wider student body. This often takes the form of advocacy on behalf of students and student groups and the issues about which they care most.

We also serve as a funding source for students and student groups who plan and execute activities and events on campus. In the beginning of the semester you will receive an email from our treasurer, Paul Gramieri, who will provide you with more details about our funding policies, process and guidelines.

Over the summer, we worked on a number of exciting initiatives and projects that we hope to see come to fruition this year. First and

foremost, we hired a communications director for the AAS: Bonnie Drake. Effectively implementing this position has been one of our priorities since instituting the role last winter. As representatives of the student body, we recognize that it is our responsibility not only to work on your behalf, but also keep you regularly and thoroughly informed. As I am sure many of you have noticed via Facebook, Bonnie is already off to great start.

One of our most important projects for the year is a proposal

“

This is not a competition, and your experience at Amherst is worth significantly more than a three-digit number on your transcript. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain knowledge, create fruitful relationships, engage in heated and enlightening discussions and discover your passions.

” we plan to put before the college’s board of trustees for a vote. This proposal would designate two seats on the board of trustees as reserved for recent Amherst alumni — alumni who have graduated no longer than five years prior to their appointments. You will be hearing a lot more about this in the upcoming weeks and months. It is our position that because 25 percent of current alumni graduated in the last decade, it is imperative that our board composition be more generationally representative. As it stands, there is only one board member who graduated within the past two decades, and he is from the class of 1996.

As the year progresses, we plan to take on a number of important conversations ranging from the administration’s recent residential life proposals, the mascot, the rap-

id growth of club sports on campus and race and community relations on campus. It is our intention to engage the student body in a productive and continuous dialogue about these and more issues confronting our school.

Beginning next Monday our senate will meet once a week at 8:30 p.m. in the Red Room in Converse Hall. These meetings are led by our vice president, Will Jackson, and are a forum for our 32 AAS senators discuss what they are working on, conduct official AAS business and appoint students to faculty and administration committees. Senate meetings are open to anyone who wishes to attend.

Now, as an increasingly nostalgic senior, allow me to offer a few pieces of customarily cliché advice.

1. Treat those around you with warmth, particularly staff. Our campus is home to some of the most intriguing and sincere people you will have the pleasure of meeting. Whether it be the folks at Val, the custodial staff in your dorm or even your fellow classmates, take the time to get to know them. Also, remember your pleases and thank yous: they go a long way, are not too difficult and are just the right thing to do.

2. Learn for the sake of learning. You are intelligent and you are here. This is not a competition, and your experience at Amherst is worth significantly more than a three-digit number on your transcript. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain knowledge (both useful and useless), create fruitful relationships, engage in heated and enlightening discussions and discover your passions.

Do not waste it looking over your shoulder and perpetually measuring yourself against others.

3. Make mistakes and learn from them. It is less useful to project a persona of perfection than it is to be yourself, screw up sometimes and improve. Look at me — I have made plenty of mistakes and my mother tells me I turned out great (I’m just kidding, she’s never said that).

In short, make the most of your remaining time here at Amherst, whether it be one semester or four years. I am looking forward to a fantastic year with you. Let’s get it started!

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Arts & Living

The Amherst Student • September 4, 2015

Good Eats Amherst in

Illustrations by Clarice Carmichael ’16

Kellogg Ave. Downtown Amherst has no shortage of cafés and restaurants. We reviewed some popular off-campus spots for $1 pizza slices, Sunday brunch, sushi and more. Are you hungry yet?

1

Judie’s

15

N. Pleasant St.

10

4

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7

The Taste

19 2 8

Arigato

14

Amity St.

Boltwood Walk

9

Amherst Coffee

18

16

11

Bueno y Sano

Main St. Paradise of India

5

Boltwood Ave.

13

S. Pleasant St.

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Amherst College

The Amherst Student • September 4, 2015

Arts & Living

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Off-Campus Eats: The Student’s Guide to Downtown Dining Liz Mardeusz ’16 Managing Arts & Living Editor 1. Rao’s Coffee 17 Kellogg Ave. (413) 253-9441 If you’re sick of Frost and need a change of study space, consider Rao’s. Seating is usually hard to come by, especially on Sundays, but the coffee shop is a favorite of local students. Beverages can also be a little pricey, but there are lots of choices and both the food and coffee are locally sourced.

Definitely worth the walk.

2. Johnny’s Tavern 30 Boltwood Walk (413) 230-3818 All-American comfort food abounds at Johnny’s.

The restaurant offers unique pasta dishes, burgers and big salads. If you go, order the truffle fries — they’re addicting. Johnny’s is one of Amherst’s more expensive restaurants, but the food is consistently good, and the service is better than High Horse.

3. The Black Sheep Bakery Café 79 Main St. (413) 253-3442 A great spot for sandwiches and studying. The casual café also offers an impressive array of baked goods and coffee. If Rao’s is packed, you might have better luck finding seating here, though Black Sheep is also known to get crowded. It’s popular with students and locals alike.

4. Pita Pockets 103 N. Pleasant St. (413) 256-3600 This place is fairly new on the Amherst culinary scene but has a dedicated following already. Mediterranean-style fare is doled out in generously sized portions, and prices are affordable. When you’re ordering, trust the father-son duo that owns the restaurant — they’ll make suggestions and prepare samples for you to taste before you choose.

5. The Lone Wolf 63 Main St. (413) 256-4643

This is the place to go for Sunday brunch, but wait times can be long. It’s also important to note that the restaurant’s policy won’t allow you to split your check, so plan ahead if you’re dining with a group. Come on an empty stomach — besides the amazing challah French toast and made-to-order omelets, there’s an abundance of vegan options.

6. Bart’s Homemade Ice Cream 103 N. Pleasant St. (413) 253-2278 If frozen yogurt doesn’t do it for you, head down N. Pleasant Street and hit up Bart’s. It’s a classic ice cream parlor that also serves sandwiches and drinks. It’s also the closest place to campus to get a cone. The list of flavors is long (you can’t go wrong, but definitely try malt vanilla) but they also offer a self-serve frozen yogurt bar if you’d prefer a healthier option.

7. Antonio’s 31 N. Pleasant St. (413) 253-0808 The be-all and end-all of pizza in downtown Amherst, this is the place to go after a night out when you need a carb fix. Anyone with good sense will tell you that chicken-bacon-ranch is Anton’s best flavor, but you can’t go wrong with any of this tiny pizzeria’s offerings. Head here after midnight on Fridays for $1 slice of “hot cheese up front.”

8. Glazed 19 N. Pleasant St. (413) 230-6811 This doughnut shop moved into a location closer to campus last year, making it easier than ever to indulge in its sugary treats. There are bunches of gourmet flavors to choose from — including gluten-free options — but if you’re not a doughnut person, ice cream, coffee and other baked goods are available. I dare you to walk by without stopping inside.

9. Pasta E Basta 26 Main St. (413) 256-3550 Generous portions are the name of the game here.

It’s also super easy to customize your pasta order.

Pasta E might not be the best Italian food you’ve ever had, but prices are reasonable here, and it’s a fun place to eat with large groups. The focaccia

bread the restaurant serves while you wait for your entrée is binge-worthy.

10. High Horse 24 N. Pleasant St. (413) 230-3034 Burgers and beer are mainstays on the High Horse menu — the restaurant sells its own craft brews. Show up with an appetite for American cuisine with a twist (definitely try the hand-cut fries), but be prepared to wait for it once you’re seated. Service is slow. A gluten-free menu is also available, and they serve weekend brunch.

11. Oriental Flavor 25 S. Pleasant St. (413) 253-7673 If you’re looking for great Chinese dim sum, check out Oriental Flavor. This newer restaurant serves the best Chinese food in Amherst, and though it’s small and can get crowded, the wait is worth it. The dumplings and scallion pancakes are must-tries.

12. GoBerry 28 Amity St. (413) 256-6003 The perfect post-exam pick-me-up. GoBerry’s frozen yogurt is made from fresh, local ingredients, and the flavors rotate every week. Be sure to stop by when they’re serving Nutella! And definitely choose Rao’s cookies as one of your toppings.

13. Fresh Side 39 S. Pleasant St. (413) 256-0296 Fresh Side’s menu features innovative Asian fusion offerings. The restaurant’s tea rolls are a must-try — they’re like very small burritos and are filled with combinations of rice, meat, vegetables and tofu. The spicy chicken and pad thai tea rolls are especially tasty. The restaurant also serves a good seaweed salad. But beware: Service can be slow, and splitting checks is sometimes a hassle.

14. Arigato 11 N. Pleasant St. (413) 253-1070 The place to go if you’re craving sushi. Service is generally slow here even when it’s not crowded,

but the food is surprisingly good. It tends to be a bit pricier than other area restaurants, but it’s the only place to get sushi unless you’re willing to travel to Northampton.

15. Judie’s 51 N. Pleasant St. (413) 253-3491 Take your parents here for all-American fare. The servers are attentive and local artists’ work adorns the walls of the restaurant. Judie’s is famous for its popovers — flaky, bready pastries best enjoyed with apple butter. Prices here are a little high, but the menu is expansive, and the food is very good.

16. Bueno y Sano 1 Boltwood Walk (413) 253-4000 Tired of Chipotle? Bueno y Sano serves up football-sized burritos and other standard Mexican fare. Affordable and close to campus.

17. Paradise of India 87 Main St. (413) 256-1067 A place to check out if you’re looking to try something different. Paradise of India is less popular than other Amherst Center restaurants, but the food is tasty.

18. Amherst Coffee 28 Amity St. (413) 256-8987 Another place to caffeinate if you have a long night of paper writing ahead of you. You’ll pay more here and get a smaller cup than Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, but the café offers strong coffee and espresso drinks, artisanal teas, and fresh pastries. Seating is limited, so it’s a less popular study spot.

19. The Taste 25 N. Pleasant St. (413) 256-5421 This restaurant is one of Amherst Center’s newer eateries. It serves delicious Thai food at a reasonable price. The menu is large, and the service is quick. It offers a variety of curries that range from mild to super spicy. Be sure to order to the pad thai. Of the Amherst area’s Asian restaurants, The Taste serves the best version of this dish.

Nina Shallman ’18 Wows With Powerful Vocals in Debut Album Darya Bor ’18 Staff Writer

After a couple singles and a few sold-out shows at Los Angeles club The Mint, Nina Shallman ’18 released her eponymous first album on Aug. 11.

I saw her perform live last semester at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton and was amazed enough by her strong vocals and smooth music to write a glowing review. Much of my praise applies to her new album too. The album is a great show of her musical talent, a delightful treat and a pleasant listen; it’s a reminder that music was meant to decorate silence.

Shallman’s album includes some of her more memorable singles: “Daisies,” “Marionette” and “Never Years Old.” Echoes of Ella Fitzgerald and the Beatles can be heard between chords, and Shallman’s voice reminds me of Nora Jones.

This album uses more instrumental background than her live show, but none of the instruments overpowers or drowns out Shallman’s voice. There is an emphasis on simplicity: Some songs use only a couple of piano chords punctuated with a drum kit that keeps time in the background. This allows Shallman’s voice to shine. It’s as if her vocals draw lyrics in cursive.

The album starts off strongly with the upbeat single “Daisies,” one of Shallman’s more memorable songs. Apart from the chorus, in which she croons, “And you say our time is ticking, ticking, ticking / And you say that your heart is kicking, kicking, kicking,” not many of the lyrics are discernable. Fortunately, the song is so beautiful that the lyrics seem almost irrelevant. “Nina Shallman has such a lovely voice, it almost doesn’t matter what she’s singing,” LA Weekly’s Falling James wrote, and that remains true.

The tone moves from the upbeat “Daisies” to the contemplative “The Moon Can Stay,” a favorite of mine. “The Moon Can Stay” was made for those emotional, lonely nights when you desperately want comfort and company.

“Never Years Old” features a pleasant duet between Shallman and Jacob Snider, another newcomer to the music world. Their

voices intertwine and then separate like two intersecting rivers.

“Arms” would have a perfect place on the “Chicago” musical soundtrack: It’s romantic, intimate and luscious. The background brass and slow beat accentuate Shallman’s sly crooning.

A jazzy piano adds some flair that renders “Arms” a uniquely showy addition to an otherwise subdued album.

Shallman glides effortlessly through a cover the Beatles’ “Dear Prudence.” This song is particularly improved in the album. The extra instrumental and embellishments decorate the simplicity of the song. “Dear Prudence” also allows the artist some more room to showcase the versatility of her impressive vocals.

The shortest song on the album also ends up being the sweetest. “Nice to Hear” plays with the idea of whispered sweet nothings: “You say you need me, and hold me close / Whisper, ‘never let me go’ in my ear / But I don’t buy it / Still, can’t deny that it’s nice to hear.” The end result is one of the most delightful songs on the album, reminiscent of Michael Bublé in its romantic cleverness and dancing instrumentals. The combination of strings, brass and ukulele makes for a memorable song.

Ambling along after is “The Lonely Piano,” a shuffling, pleasant tune. Again, Shallman’s vocals amaze in their effortless ascensions and falls.

“Ask,” a Smiths cover, features a ukulele and gives a fresh take on the plodding original. Shallman’s voice is stronger and less smoky here, accompanied by a supportive harmonica.

“Float This Way” is a delightful romp filled with mostly quaint lyric-less harmonies. While it is one of the more forgettable tunes on the album, it’s not a bad song.

Another of the album’s singles showcases Shallman’s writing.

“Marionette” explores the relationship between a puppeteer and a marionette. I particularly liked it at Iron Horse concert, and it does not disappoint in subsequent listens. If there is one Nina Shallman song you need to listen to, it’s this one.

“The End” is the album’s closing song. It’s a meaningful goodbye to listeners. Subtle, gracious and reverent, “The End” serves as a proper finish to a fantastic debut.

Photo courtesy of zwhitford.com

Shallman’s debut album is about 40 minutes long and consists of 12 songs.

Arts&Living Photo courtesy of suzereviewstheblues.com

Darlingside, a local act from Hadley, is slated to perform at Iron Horse in Northampton on Oct. 3. The musicians met while students at Williams.

Pioneer Valley Offers Variety of Venues, Performers for Music Lovers René Kooiker ’18 Staff Writer Many of my most memorable nights at Amherst have involved going out to see live music. Amherst itself has some concert venues (for example, the biweekly Coffee Haus in Marsh), but, in my opinion, Northampton is where it’s at. It’s where things can get a little more intense. This guide is mainly intended for first-years who want to have a great music experience, but don’t really know where to go yet. (I definitely didn’t during my first semester at Amherst.)

The Iron Horse Music Hall is one of the many concert venues in Northampton. It hosts a wide variety of musicians, including local groups, classic rock bands in decay (like The Yardbirds), DJs and one-man bands.

Here are some highlights I found on the show schedule.

Philly-based Vacationer, performing on Sept. 16, serves up a sunny fusion of electro-pop and samples with influences as diverse as indie giants Beach House and Animal Collective alongside J. Dilla and The Beach

Boys. (Notice the theme of beaches there.) The group has two albums out now, their latest one from 2014, so expect to hear some new songs. Joining them under the name of Great Good Fine OK are singer-songwriter Jon Sandler and multi-instrumentalist and producer Luke Moellman.

“You’re the One for Me,” the single that resulted in their breakthrough, is an incredibly groovy and danceable song accompanied by a music video th at seems to be an ode to sandwiches but gets really weird really quickly.

It’s best to just see it to know what I mean. In any case, this night will be great for fans of Bombay Bicycle Club, The Naked And Famous and Tennis.

Tall Heights is another highlight for fans of indie music. They started out in Boston as a typical folk group, but their newest song “Spirit Cold,” which reached Spotify on Aug. 21, adds a more contemporary feel to classic strings and vocal harmonies.

The group’s bigger ambitions are evident in the sounds of deep drums and crashing cymbals. They’re playing at Iron Horse Oct. 2 together with Oregon folk duo ShookTwins.

ShookTwins’ sound is more tra-

ditional, but they too add some contemporary elements to their banjos, mandolins and strings, spicing things up with interesting electronic effects and vocal modulation. Fans of Sufjan Stevens, Father John Misty and The Tallest Man On Earth will enjoy their music.

Last but not least in my selection from the Iron Horse is Darlingside, a string rock quintet from Hadley. The group actually met at Williams, our beloved rival institution in the middle of nowhere. Apart from the Clark Museum, they’re pretty much all that Williamstown has to offer, because their music really is great.

If you have no idea what string rock means, they described their music on the Williams website as “Strings smothered with sings: Mandolin rocks, cello shocks, Face-melting drums —- POW!” (That’s actually a haiku — nice poetic touch there.)

Their newest song, “Go Back,” came out Aug. 28, and they’re playing on Oct. 3. If you like Tall Heights, you’ll probably like this band, too. Accompanying them that night is Matt Lorenz as The Suitcase Junket, a oneman garage band with gritty vocals

and chunky guitars running through big guitar amps, accompanied by clanging pots and pans as drums.

Pearl Street Nightclub, also in Northampton, is less intimate than Iron Horse Music Hall; the space is more conducive to big crowds moving and swaying. This is where you can be ecstatic — outside of yourself — and thus you can be with everyone and float in a sea of potential interactions. For me, there are two highlights at Pearl Street this semester: Wild Child and Born Ruffians.

Born Ruffians is an indie rock band from Toronto. On August 20 the group released “When Things Get Pointless I Roll Away,” with a great performance by frontman Luke LaLonde, who shouts, speeds up his delivery and sings in falsetto to get the point across. With the floating, icy synths in the bridge, this song is definitely a departure from their earlier work, which was more conventional in terms of instrumentation. The early stuff reminds me of The Fratellis and The Kooks, whereas their later work is more clearly influenced by Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend.

Their singles are all great pieces of

pop rock; you will not resist the urge to move to “Needles” (from 2013) and “We Made It” (2015). Born Ruffians are playing on Oct. 30.

Finally, there’s Wild Child, a pop band from Austin, where local music fans widely praised their debut effort “Pillow Talk.” Since then, they’ve achieved nationwide recognition, and NPR called their “Living Tree” one of the Top 10 Songs of 2013 At the show they will be presenting their new album “Fools,” which will be released Oct. 2.

They’ve released two singles so far this year. “Bullets” is somewhat conventional but catchy, with the horn parts adding a nice touch. “Fools” is more interesting musically. Singer Kelsey Wilson really shines on this track, with a mix of fuzzy, piercing bass lines, soft strings and smooth horns in the background.

They do well with conventions, though: As reviewer Raymond Lee wrote on Pop Matters, they display “a seemingly effortless combination of emotional purity in lyrics and vocal delivery combined with a pleasing, repetitive musical accompaniment.”

Wild Child is performing Nov. 8.

Season 2 of “Rick and Morty” Strikes Television Gold, Again Marquez Cummings ’16 Managing Arts & Living Editor Warning: This mid-season review will contain some major and minor spoilers for the first six episodes of “Rick and Morty” Season 2.

After just six episodes of the second season of Adult Swim’s latest animated venture, would I be completely out of line to call “Rick and Morty” a certified masterpiece? Actually, that question was completely rhetorical.

When I reviewed the first few episodes of Rick and Morty a little more than two years ago, I felt like a god among amateur journalists everywhere as I picked out the dramatic undertone lurking just beneath the surface of an animated show filled with belches, slurred speech and ridiculous sci-fi concepts. Seriously, I felt like I had figured out the intent of this show, labeling the titular characters as damaged goods who have found comfort in one another in face of the chaotic place that is the universe. As I sit here, burning the midnight oil after another installment of an enthralling second season, I chuckle at just how surface-level my initial interpretation really was.

Right off the bat, creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland display their unparalleled talents for science

fiction and comedy. The series follows Rick Sanchez, a super-genius with a penchant for drugs and acohol, and his grandson Morty Smith, a high school freshman who aids Rick on his endless quests throughout the universe.

Each episode works tirelessly to balance humor and drama. As with the first season, this careful attention to what I can only describe as “tonal gymnastics” is largely rooted in the relationship between the titular characters. This inter-dimensional duo continue to build on the heartfelt — if not utterly sadistic — relationship from the first season.

Rick and Morty continue to represent the focal point of the show’s power and appeal. But the writers have also made great strides with the rest of the Smith family, especially Morty’s sister, Summer.

In the premier episode of the season, Summer steps forward as a much stronger character. She even goes as far to openly challenge Morty as their grandfather’s favorite sidekick. Even though Rick quickly settles this dispute by assuring his grandchildren that they are identical pains in his ass, Summer continues to find herself along for the ride as Rick and Morty travel the multiverse.

Whereas Summer continues to

become a more rounded character, the same cannot be said for Morty’s parents, Beth and Jerry. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love how the dysfunctional marriage has been hilariously pushed to a new low, but the Beth and Jerry storyline has not seen too much growth. The structure of a given episode presents a main plot for Rick and Morty (and sometimes Summer) and a secondary plot for Beth and Jerry (also, sometimes Summer). While the Rick and Morty plot never fails to bring the laughs, the Beth and Jerry plot seems like more of the same: Beth and Jerry argue for a while, they discover a conflict, and they realize that they are closer than ever to a divorce. I get the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to this formula, but I hope Harmon and Roiland discover a way to reinvigorate the Beth and Jerry subplots.

As individual characters, Beth and Jerry have seen far different treatment in the writing room. Jerry has had some great moments going back to season one (“Life is effort and I’ll stop when I die!”), and that trend continues this season. I particularly enjoyed the “Jerry Day Care” in the second episode of the season, which reveals what the dozens of inter-dimensional Ricks and Morty’s do with their bothersome Jerry’s who stow away on ad-

ventures. I really, really hope that we get to enjoy more Jerry-centric plot points in the remaining episodes of the season and beyond, they are way too funny to ignore.

Beth, however, continues to be a flat afterthought. Since the pilot, we have gotten to know Beth as a career-driven woman whose medical aspirations were cut short by a teenage pregnancy. Since learning about this crucial aspect to Beth’s character, which explains why she resents her husband so much, the writers haven’t given us much more to make us care about Beth.

In a lot of ways, Beth seems to be a less endearing version of Rick: an alcoholic whose emotional pain comes off as far more selfish than understandable. This isn’t to say that Beth is completely devoid of likability; her struggle to pour herself a glass of wine after shooting a beloved member of the family stands as a remarkably powerful moment this season, one that sat with me long after the credits rolled. I think the only way to bring Beth to the level of the other characters is to delve into her past with her parents, which will also reveal the fate of Rick’s wife and the reason behind his decade-long disappearance from Beth’s life.

At the end of season one, Rick’s

catch phrase “wubba-lubba-dub-dub” is revealed to mean “I am in great pain, please help me.” This revelation was nothing short of a gut punch, especially in the context of the colorful antics of Rick and Morty. With each sip from his trusty flask, it becomes more and more clear that Rick experienced a great deal of trauma before he barged his way into his family’s life.

In season two, Rick’s emotional pain comes to a head when he attempts to kill himself, narrowly missing a fatal blast from one of his inventions as he drunkenly passes out in the family garage. Scored by the somber “Show Me What You Got” by Chaos Chaos, this scene pushed the envelope farther than this show has ever gone before, boldly driving the series to the brink of tragedy before jerking the wheel and avoiding the wall. Then, as the camera draws back, we see Jerry happily weed-whacking his yard, cutting the tension with a brief moment of welcomed silliness. It’s layered moments like these that continue to establish “Rick and Morty” as the frontrunner in the current television landscape and, if the first half of the second season is any indication, this isn’t going to change any time soon.

“Rick and Morty” airs every Sunday at 11:30 p.m. on Adult Swim.

The Amherst Student • September 4, 2015

Sports 9

Men’s Soccer Seeking 10th Consecutive Appearance in the NCAA Tourney Jason Stein ’16 Assistant Sports Editor This year the men’s soccer team looks to continue its impressive streak of five straight Sweet 16 appearances and nine consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament.

After defeating Fitchburg State and St. Lawrence in the first two rounds of the 2014 NCAA tournament, the Jeffs fell to a talented Brandeis team in the Sweet 16 on penalty kicks, following a 0-0 draw through two overtime periods, and finished the 2014 season with a 14-1-6 overall record and a 7-1-2 record in the NESCAC. Amherst’s Sweet 16 loss to Brandeis marked the second time in the last three years and the third time over the past five seasons that the men’s soccer team saw its season come to an end in the NCAA tournament on penalty kicks.

Last year’s seniors concluded their Amherst careers with a 65-4-13 overall record, three NESCAC championships, four trips to the NCAA third round and two trips to the NCAA Elite Eight.

But even after losing those talented players, the Jeffs are ranked 10th in the nation entering the 2015 season and will return a considerable amount of talent and experience this year to a team that certainly appears capable of making another deep run into late November. Returning players for Amherst’s 2015 squad accounted for 86 percent of Amherst’s total goals last season, 79 percent of Amherst’s overall assists and 84 percent of Amherst’s season point total.

The Jeffs return five of the team’s top goal scorers from last season. Senior forward Nico Pascual-Leone led the Jeffs with seven goals and eight assists in his junior campaign, earning First Team All-NESCAC honors and NSCAA All-New England Region Second Team recognition in the process. Striker Greg Singer ’16 was second on the team in points in 2014, with five goals and four assists.

A trio of juniors also provided major offensive contributions during their sophomore seasons. Forward Chris Martin scored five goals in 2014, good for 13 goals in his two-year career. Defenseman Cameron Bean ’17 notched four goals, and junior midfielder Andrew Orozco added three goals.

Senior midfielder Milton Rico and junior, midfielders Bryce Ciambella and Forest Sisk among others, should also help provide stability and offensive firepower to the midfield and the offensive attack.

Senior goalkeeper Thomas Bull will look to continue his dominance in the net. Bull is a twotime All-NESCAC selection and a 2013 NSCAA Second Team All-American goalkeeper. He has logged 33 shutouts in 62 career starts, including nine shutouts in 2014. He has also maintained a .46 goals against average over the course of his career and a .825 career save percentage.

Juniors Justin Aoyama, Rohan Sood and Bean will help anchor the defense, hoping to fill the void left by graduated defender Gabriel Wirz ’15.

In addition, the Jeffs have a capable group of seniors who can provide strong leadership during the 2015 season. The seniors are 49-2-11 over their careers thus far, with two trips to the NCAA Elite Eight and two NESCAC championships in their three-year collegiate careers.

“This is a senior class that has had quite a bit of success,” coach Justin Serpone said. “They’ve only lost twice in the 62 games they have played. I think all seven of them have the chance to help us win games this season, and I look forward to seeing who makes the most of their opportunities.”

The Jeffs will be relying upon the growth and development of its returning core in 2015, but the program also has much to be excited about in its incoming first-year class.

“We’re very much looking forward to welcoming the class of 2019 into the Amherst soccer family,” Serpone said. “They are special young

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Milton Rico ’16 contributed six points for the Jeffs in his junior year. men.”

Up first this season, the Jeffs will face New England College on the road at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 8, following the first day of classes.

“New England College is a very good team who won 11 games last season and took us to overtime,” Serpone said. “They are a terrific first test.”

At this point in the year, Serpone has his team focused solely on its first opponent of the season, despite some exciting games ahead over the course of the 2015 season.

“We’re taking this season just like any other,” Serpone said. “Every team is 0-0 right now, and our only goal is to be 1-0 when we go to bed on Sept. 8.”

In Amherst’s home opener on Saturday, Sept.

12, the Jeffs will welcome Bowdoin and have the chance to avenge their overtime loss to the Polar Bears in the 2014 NESCAC championship.

The Jeffs will take on Williams on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 2:30 p.m. The Ephs are a longtime NESCAC rival who defeated the Jeffs in the Elite Eight in two of the last three seasons.

The following weekend, on Saturday, Oct. 3, Amherst will host defending national champions Tufts, the top-ranked team in the nation heading into 2015. Kick-off for that contest is set for 2:30 p.m.

While the Jeffs finished 7-1-2 in the NESCAC in 2014, the conference has seen increased parity in recent seasons, a trend that appears likely to grow further in the future, as a large contingent of the NESCAC continues to field consistently competitive teams.

“The NESCAC has 11 good men’s soccer teams in it,” Serpone said. “Every game is a battle that could go either way, and most will be decided by one goal. We’re lucky to compete in such a fantastic conference.”

Volleyball Stacked With Veteran Talent, Cross Country Returns Stars, Set for Return to NESCAC Tournament Will Again Push for Postseason

Photo courtesy of Janna Joassainte ’17

Senior captain Katie Warshaw led the NESCAC in digs last season.

Jason Darell ’18 Managing Sports Editor Amherst volleyball graduated just one senior from the 2014 team and again set their sights on the NESCAC tournament and post season play.

This past season the Jeffs finished with a 21-7 overall record, including an 8-2 record in NESCAC games. The team also earned a berth to the NESCAC championship and beat Connecticut College in the quarterfinals 3-1. They fell in the semifinals to the eventual champions, Williams, by a score of 3-1.

Amherst looks to depend upon its four seniors, Katie Warshaw, Nicole Carter, Lizzie Ahern and Samantha Newby, to lead the team on the court.

“Our four seniors will bring great leadership

and years of experience to the program,” sophomore Asha Walker said. “They all bring something different to the table, so it’s nice to see all of their different personalities come through in their leadership styles.”

Warshaw in particular will try to sustain the tremendous level of play she has shown during her Amherst career. In 2013 season she was the NESCAC conference leader in digs, and last year was selected for the 2014 NESCAC volleyball player of the week on Oct. 6. The league also named her to the second team All-NESCAC at the end of the 2014 season.

In addition to its senior leadership, Amherst expects big contributions from junior Maggie Danner and sophomore Marialexa Natsis. Last season, Danner was selected to the First Team All-NESCAC for the second year in a row, and Natsis received the award for NESCAC CoRookie of the Year.

The team will open up play on Friday, Sept.

11 at the Wildcat Invitational hosted by Johnson & Wales University. They’ll face Bridgewater State University for game one of their doubleheader starting at 5 p.m. before taking on Roger Williams in the nightcap.

Conference play begins the following Friday, Sept. 18 when the Jeffs take on Conn. College for their home opener starting at 8 p.m. Fellow NESCAC foe Tufts comes to town the following day, Saturday, Sept. 19 as Amherst hosts the Jumbos for a 2 p.m. start.

“We’re really excited for this season to start,” Walker said. “We’ve been working hard in preseason, and I’m excited to see all of that effort come together on the court.

Under head coach Sue Everden, in her 30th year as head coach, this combination of youth and experience will hope to bring the Jeffs their first NESCAC title since 2006.

Lauren Tuiskula ’17 Managing Sports Editor Men After placing ninth in the nation to conclude their 2014 season, the men’s cross country team looks to return to the NCAA Division III championships in 2015 and make some noise at the regional level along the way.

Key graduates include Greg Turissini ’15, Romy Sklar ’15 and KC Fussell ’15, but Amherst will also return talented runners who can build off their year or two of experience.

Mohamed Hussein ’18 took the conference by storm in his first-year campaign, placing 12th overall at the NESCAC meet and also placing 23rd overall at the NCAA championships.

“This season we’ll return the bulk of the guys who partook and contributed to our huge success last year. Hence, we are hoping for continuity this season,” Hussein said. “Personally, unlike last year, I have a great summer of training under my belt. My priority is to stay hungry, especially after the year I had last year.”

Senior Dan Crowley will also return and look to build off a strong junior campaign. He placed 11th overall at the NCAA regionals to help the Jeffs on the way to earning a secondplace finish at the meet.

Both Hussein and Crowley were named to the All-NESCAC second team for their efforts in 2014.

Erik Nedeau will return as the head coach of the program, entering his 19th season at the helm.

The team kicks off the season on Saturday, Sept. 12 at the UMass Invitational before running in the Purple Valley Invitational two weeks later.

Women The women’s cross country team enjoyed a successful season last year, placing third at the NESCAC championships and finishing 11th overall at the NCAA championships. The team graduated six seniors, but the Jeffs will look to their large junior and sophomore classes as well as their incoming first-year class to fill the gaps.

Savanna Gornisiewicz ’17 returns for her junior campaign, coming off an impressive sophomore year. Gornisiewicz raced to a fifth-place finish at the NESCAC championships in 2014 and placed 23rd in the nation at the national meet. She was also named to the All-NESCAC first team.

The Jeffs also return senior Lexi Sinclair.

Sinclair performed consistently well last fall, placing 11th at the NESCAC championship meet and helping Amherst on the way to earning a fourth-place at the NCAA regional meet by finishing 24th in the field of 387. She was named an All-NESCAC second team honoree in 2014.

Other top performers that are looking to build on their successes from last year include senior Betsy Black as well as sophomores Tess Frenzel and Cat Lowdon.

“We lost some key players on the team, but we’ve got some returners and incoming freshmen that will definitely step up,” Lowdon said.

“We’re looking forward to training hard and reaping the benefits of all of that hard work in our upcoming races.”

The women’s season also begins with the UMass Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 12. Like the men, they’ll follow up their seasoner with the Purple Valley Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 26 before playing host for the Little Three championships on Saturday, Oct. 17.

10

Sports

The Amherst Student • September 4, 2015

Women’s Tennis Welcomes Women’s Soccer Sets Sights on Postseason Run New Faces to Successful Program Raymond Meijer ’17 Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Forward Rachel Abernethy ’16 scored seven goals for the Jeffs last season in addition to posting two assists.

Virginia Hassell ’16 Staff Writer After finishing the 2014 season with a 125-1 overall record and a 7-3 mark in conference play, the Amherst women’s soccer team will kick off its 2015 season effort with a non-conference matchup against Mount Holyoke on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

Last season in its fourth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, the team fell in a second round matchup against Nazareth that was decided by penalty kicks. This year the Jeffs look to continue finding success despite graduating much of their defensive lineup, including first team all-NESCAC selection Maya Jackson-Gibson ’15 and second all-NESCAC selection Mel Stier ’15.

“I think one of the most important things is our chemistry both on and off the field because a lot of seniors graduated,” senior captain Jessy Hale said. “It’s important for people to be on the same page and invested in the team, so that we can be successful. That starts with the senior class and goes all the way down to first-years.”

Although this year’s senior class is small in numbers, the four seniors will be integral to the Amherst offenses and defense. Returning three-year starter and senior keeper Holly Burwick will anchor the Amherst defense along with senior captain and three-year starting center back Hale. Burwick concluded a dominant junior campaign by posting the third highest save percentage in the NESCAC and ranking on three additional leader boards. Junior outside back Emily Masten will accompany the two seniors to create a tenacious defensive presence for Amherst.

“The past few years we’ve found that a lot of our success has come from a strong back line,”

Hale said. “If we are able to communicate defensively then we have more chances offensively to score.”

Senior forwards Rachael Abernethy and Megan Kim will lead the attack on the offensive end. Abernethy and Kim have proved to be impact players for the Amherst offense throughout their careers at Amherst. Last season, Abernethy was the team’s second leading scorer, while Kim led the team in assists.

Hannah Guzzi, a sophomore forward and Amherst’s leading scorer last year, also returns to fuel Amherst’s offense and build upon her standout first-year campaign. Having graduated no forwards and with strong returners in the center midfield position, the Amherst offense looks promising.

Additionally, the Jeffs add nine first-years to the roster this season.

The new talent will be led by a veteran coach. Jen Hughes will serve as head coach again, this time in her 12th season in the position. She’ll hope to improve upon her already impressive 127-39-5 career record.

The Jeffs will complete just less than a week of preseason practices before launching into the 2015 season on the road. Amherst will then return to Hitchcock Field to host NESCAC foe Bowdoin in their home opener on Saturday, Sept. 12.

Other games to circle on the schedule include another conference match-up, this one on Saturday, Sept. 19. Amherst will host Middlebury for a noon kick-off in a rematch of last year’s NESCAC quarterfinals. The Jeffs fell to the Panthers by a narrow 1-0 score. Amherst won the regular season meeting by the same score.

“The returners are really excited about this season and looking forward to our on and off the field success,” Hale said.

After securing a third-place finish at the spring national championships, the Amherst women’s tennis team returns this fall as a forced to reckoned with.

With a depth of strong players in every class contributing last year in the Jeffs’ top spots, the team seems to be in a good position to continue their momentum and perhaps even take down their archrival Williams, last year’s national champion.

The strength for the Jeffs starts at the very top, with coach Jackie Bagwell returning for her 25th season as head coach of the squad. She comes into the season just three victories shy of the 400-win milestone, a mark that could fall as early as the end of this month. Bagwell has guided the team to at least the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament in twenty of the last 21 seasons and at least a share of the NESCAC title in nine of the last 12 seasons.

A new assistant, Morven McCullough, will join Bagwell on the coaching staff this year.

McCullough, a 2015 graduate of the University of Iowa, boasts an impressive resume from her tennis career.

The three-time Academic All-Big Ten nominee achieved a national doubles ranking of 28, played No. 1 doubles all four years and was the No. 1 singles player during her senior year. She even comes with some international experience, having competed for Great Britain at the European Youth Olympics in 2009 and for Scotland in various international competitions. McCullough begins this coaching position after serving as a volunteer assistant pro and working with high performance athletes at a tennis club in Iowa City.

The Jeffs lost Safi Aly ’15 to graduation last year, and will certainly miss her leadership as captain and her consistent performances in the No. 3 doubles spot partnered with Sarah Monteagudo ’16. But Monteagudo and Sue Ghosh ’16 return as captains this year, joined

by Maddy Sung ’16 and Megan Adamo ’17, forming an experienced crew of captains to lead the Jeffs.

“I can barely contain my excitement for the upcoming season,” Adamo said. “With seven incoming first-years, we will be a very large team again.”

Last fall, the team cruised at the Connecticut College tournament, a tournament of single elimination draws with no finals play.

The team piled up 24 wins to just one loss across singles and doubles play, some important early season results against NESCAC competition. After a winter of training in the cage, the Jeffs began their spring season in Southern California. The warm temperatures may have helped the team get off to a fiery start, because

after going 4-0 in California they didn’t lose a single match until their semifinals matchup with Williams in the NCAA tournament.

But it wasn’t an easy ride the whole season.

In their dual-match opener in the fall, the Jeffs fell to Williams in a close 5-4 match, and they wouldn’t be able to break the Ephs throughout the spring season. In the NCAA tournament at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, the team lasted through tough battles with Johns Hopkins in the regional final and MIT in the quarterfinals.

Though Amherst reached the semifinals for the seventh consecutive time at the national tournament, they met their match against Williams, the team that went on to win the national championship. But the Jeffs rallied in the third-place game and return to winning ways.

Ranked seventh nationally and facing a solid third-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Amherst upset their opponents to grab third place and earn a No. 3 ranking in the final June 9 Division III Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.

“Our third-place finish at NCAA’s is an amazing motivation for this year,” Adamo said.

“We finished much higher than we would have guessed at the beginning of the season.”

Adamo said the team hopes to continue its success next season. “You know what they say: If you’re not green and growing, you’re ripe and rotting,” she said.

The Jeffs will surely face stiff NESCAC and national competition. The perennially strong Williams squad will be one of the Jeffs’ biggest tests this year, but “due to the high number of times that we played them last season, we are very familiar with every member of their team,” Adamo said. “The fact that their lineup this year will most likely be very similar is very helpful for our preparation.”

But just as the Williams team remains very similar, so too does Amherst’s. The Jeffs return both members of their No. 1 doubles pair, Vickie Ip ’18 and Sue Gosh ’16. Both were named ITA All-Americans in both singles and doubles action last spring, in addition to earning First Team All-NESCAC honors in doubles. Ip, playing in the No. 1 singles spot for most of the season despite just being a firstyear, was also named to the First Team All-NESCAC in singles as well. The team also returns their No. 2 doubles pair Sung and Jackie Calla ’17, who went 3-1 in national championship tournament play with their lone loss coming in a narrow 8-6 defeat against Johns Hopkins in the regional final.

In singles action, the Jeffs return Calla, Monteagudo, Adamo and Claire Carpenter ’17 in the No. 3 through 6 spots, respectively.

Look for the Jeffs to build off of their successful third-place finish last spring and put together a strong fall campaign.

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Wednesday, September 9 @ 8:30 P.M. on the second floor of Keefe Campus Center

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Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Captain Sue Ghosh ’16 received All-NESCAC accolades for both her singles and doubles play last spring.

The Amherst Student • September 4, 2015

Sports

11

Field Hockey Set to Avenge Men’s Basketball Takes Early Exit from 2014 Postseason Summer Trip to Italy Lauren Tuiskula ’17 Managing Sports Editor

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

After tallying 11 goals and 10 assists last year, forward/midfielder Annika Nygren will serve as captain in her senior season.

Elijah Zabludoff ’18 Staff Writer The field hockey team enters the year with a preseason ranking of 11th in the nation, and looks to overcome an early exit from the postseason in 2014. The team finished with a solid 12-3 record in 2014 but fell short of expectations, finishing in fourth place in the NESCAC. Coming away with wins in several close games, the Jeffs went into postseason play with their confidence peaking. However, the team that was so accustomed to winning close games lost a 1-0 nail-biter to Tufts in the early rounds of the NESCAC tournament, taking an unexpected exit from postseason play.

With the 2015 field hockey season fast approaching, the team looks more promising than last year. In each line, there are several returning starters and experienced players, which will give the team the extra push it needs to advance further into the NESCAC and NCAA postseason tournaments.

Offensively, the Jeffs will be led by senior captains Annika Nygren and Katie Paolano, who accounted for 14 goals and 13 assists in 15 games last year.

On the defensive side of the field, senior captain Annie Turnbull will lead the team.

Along with standout Turnbull, junior goalkeeper Emily Horowitz looks to improve on her .888 save percentage from the 2014 season. She allowed only nine goals in 15 games played last season. With a year of experience as a starter, Horowitz is poised to become one of the top goalies and performers in the NESCAC. The team will also rely heavily on leadership on and off the field by captains Nygren, Paolano and Turnbull.

“Without a doubt I think that our senior class will be a key component for our team,” said sophomore midfielder and fullback Caroline Fiore.

Field hockey graduated six seniors last year, which means that there will no doubt be some major adjustments among the lines of the team. But the abundance of skilled and experienced players returning could prepare the Jeffs for a deeper push into the postseason.

Their season will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 8 when they travel to Mount Holyoke for a nonconference match-up. Their home opener will be the following Saturday, where they’ll face their first round of NESCAC competition in Bowdoin, the top-ranked team in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association preseason poll.

Men’s Tennis Poised for Another Run at National Title Ashlyn Heller ’17 Staff Writer The Amherst men’s tennis team enters the fall season looking for another run at a national championship. After winning the title in the spring of 2014, the team fell short in 2015, falling in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals.

The team finished at 8-0 in NESCAC play and posted a 21-6 record overall.

Senior leadership will fuel the team this year with a veteran class comprised of Benjamin Fife, Michael Solimano, Aaron Revzin, Andrew Yaraghi, Russell Einbinder, Carlos de Bracamonte and Birk Mitau, all of whom were named captains for the 2015-2016 season.

This talented class sent three players (Yaraghi, Revzin and Solimano) to the NCAA Division III individual championships in the spring.

The Jeffs look to use this individual success to propel the team forward in the fall.

The team graduated just three seniors and will welcome in four new first-year players.

“Like the New York Knicks, we are going to have a lot of new faces around the locker room,” Fife said. “We are excited to see how it plays out.”

A new assistant coach will also join the new first-year class. Rich Bonfiglio comes to

Amherst with a wealth of prior experience in the NESCAC. He spent two years of his playing career at Middlebury before transferring to Trinity. Bonifiglio served as team captain in his senior season with the Bantams and went on to be named to the All-NESCAC team.

After his playing days he continued with the Trinity program, serving as an assistant coach for three seasons. He comes to Amherst after a year assistant coaching for the Ithaca College men and women’s teams.

Bonfiglio will assist Todd Doebler, who enters his second season as the head coach of the men’s program.

The season will officially kick off on Friday, Sept. 25 at the ITA regional championships. Solimano won the singles tournament as the second seed last year, defeating opponents from NESCAC rival schools Bowdoin, Williams, Trinity and Wesleyan. Additionally, Solimano reached the finals of the doubles tournament with Revzin by his side before eventually falling to a doubles pairing from Bates.

With new energy from the first-years and veteran leadership from the seniors, the Jeffs hope to be dominant again throughout the fall season in preparation for their spring schedule.

While the Amherst men’s basketball season typically picks up in early November, the team had an unusual opportunity to play together a little earlier this year. In mid-August, the team took a 10-day trip to Italy, a visit that consisted of team bonding and sightseeing as well as some basketball mixed in along the way.

Coach David Hixon ’75 said that the 10-day trip was actually 10 years in the making. The team raised the necessary funds a decade ago, but a college-wide moratorium on team travel postponed the trip. The moratorium was lifted in 2013, but the team’s national championship run that year made things more hectic for the team, again pushing the off the trip. At that point, it was just a matter of waiting for the right group of guys to take.

“We only lost one senior last year, so I thought this would be the perfect year to go,” Hixon said. “I thought it could improve our chemistry, and I think it really worked out. It was really a great group to do it with.”

The team set out three main goals for the trip before hitting the road. “Bonding and team unity was one, the cultural and intellectual pieces were two and basketball, believe it or not, was three,” Hixon said. “Basketball of course become number one we stepped on the court, but the other pieces were so important and I really think we got A’s on all of them.”

In order to fulfill those first two goals, the team’s schedule was packed to the brim, giving

them the chance to see various different attractions while also bonding off the court. Highlights included visits to San Marino, Florence, Rome, Pisa and Milan.

“The amount of stuff that we saw, did, experienced and learned was just absolutely mind boggling,” Hixon said.

As for their time spent on the court, the team was able to work three practice sessions and two games into their busy schedule. Basketball in Europe required some adjusting by the Jeffs.

David George ’17 said that the European referees tended to be stricter, especially in their traveling calls. Players and coaches are also restricted from calling a timeout while the ball is in play.

Despite these differences, the team managed to go 1-1 in their games. They defeated the Team Italy All-Stars in their first matchup, before falling to the Adriatic Sea Tritons in game 2.

“I believe the trip benefited our chemistry both on and off the court and also raised our anticipation for the upcoming season,” George said.

“I also think that splitting our two games against professional Italian teams after not playing with each other in months boosted our confidence and expectations for this year.”

Hixon said the trip helped facilitate some much-needed team bonding .

“Some really magical things happened over there, and the guys are just so much closer now that I think it’s really going to pay dividends,” he said.

The Jeffs will be able to bring their newly improved team chemistry back to the court when preseason training begins on Sunday, Nov. 1.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Under the captainship of Connor Green ’16, the team hopes to use its experiences in Italy to work towards another national championship.

Golf Teams Look to Rebuild Prior to Start of Spring Season Jason Darell ’18 Managing Sports Editor Men This year, the Amherst men’s golf team looks to improve upon their results from their 2014-2015 season. Their fall season last year was highlighted by a 13th-place finish out of a field of 22 at the 2014 ECAC Division III New England Championships. This tournament was their last of the fall, and they didn’t resume action until the spring. In April they earned fifth place out of a 17-team field at the Hampton Inn Collegiate Invitational, showing great improvement over their fall results.

Even though the Jeffs graduated three seniors last year, they still have the potential to post good scores. The sophomore class in particular is poised to improve upon their good results from last year. Under Coach Jack Arena ’83, Amherst looks forward to kicking off the season on Saturday, Sept. 12 at the Williams College Invitational.

Women After learning of the retirement of head coach Michelle Morgan at the end of last season, the Amherst women’s golf team hopes to regain consistency under interim head coach Mike Valentine ’05. The team does, however, expect to sorely miss Jamie Gracie ’17 during her semester abroad this fall.

As captain Sarah Ressler ’16 said, “having Jamie abroad will be tough, but our sophomore, Zoe Wong, is poised for a good season, and she and captain Devyn Gardner will be there to lead the team.”

Last season, the Women’s Golf Coaches Association named Gracie to the All-East Region team. In addition, Gracie finished 25th out of a field of 110 players at the 2015 NCAA Division III Women’s Golf Championship.

The team does expect to compete, however, and Ressler added, “we have three promising freshmen coming in, so I think we’ve become a pretty young team that has a lot of potential.”

Sports

Photo of courtesy of Mark Box Photo courtesy Amherst Athletics

The Amherst football team graduated one of the winningest classes in school history, but the new seniors are poised to make a run of their own.

Football Hopes to Repeat Perfection Following Undefeated 2014 Campaign Devin O’Connor ’16 Staff Writer After an undefeated season last year, the Amherst football team certainly has high expectations for 2015.

In their 2014 campaign, the Jeffs secured the NESCAC championship in a decisive 17-9 victory over Williams on Pratt Field, the first of the “Biggest Little Game in America” series to be played under the lights.

In addition to the victory over Williams, Amherst had a tough mid-season faceoff against Little Three rival Wesleyan. The Jeffs edged past the Cardinals in a 33-30 overtime win, thanks to game-tying and game-winning field goals by Phillip Nwosu ’15. Two weeks later, Amherst beat Trinity in a nail-biting 7-6 win, when quarterback Max Lippe ’15 found wide receiver Jackson McGonagle ’16 for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The team was awarded the Eastern College Athletic Conference Team of Distinction Award for its perfect 8-0 run. Coach E.J. Mills was named the NESCAC Football Coach of the Year and now boasts a 109-35 career record, heading into his 19th year at the helm of the program. He’ll return the majority of his staff.

The Jeffs graduated one of the all-time

GAME SCHE DULE

winningest classes in Amherst program history: The now-graduated seniors finished with a 29-3 record.

But 2015 is a new year.

“It will be a challenge not to rest on our successes. We need to acknowledge the past is the past and stay focused on the season at hand,” senior captain Tom Kleyn said.

The Jeffs enter the season with a large senior class, totaling 16 players, eager to capture another championship. The team will be led by senior captains Jim Daniels, Jackson McGonagle, Christopher Gow and Kleyn.

“We are fortunate to have a lot of returning players with experience on the field. Also, having tasted success, we have a very clear idea of what it takes to win a championship and the team is committed to working toward that goal,” Gow said.

The offense will return big-time contributors McGonagle, Daniels, Samuel Hart ’16, Adam Wallace ’16, Brian Ragone ’16 and star running back Nick Kelly ’17. Kelly carried the ball 121 times for a total of 585 yards, scoring five rushing touchdowns while also adding another score through the air. He was awarded a 2015 USA College Football All-America Preseason Honorable Mention selection.

Returning to the starting defense alongside captains Gow and Kleyn are Jimmy FairfieldSonn ’16, Jaymie Spears ’16, Sam Caldwell ’16,

Jack Drew ’16 and Paul Johnson ’17. Parker Chapman ’17 also returns after making a big contribution to the team’s defensive success last year.

The defense allowed only 71 points last season in additiong to leading the NESCAC in interceptions (17) and ranking second in the league in total sacks (21).

Spears, a defensive back for the Jeffs, was named a 2015 USA College Football Preseason All-America Second Team selection.

He was also awarded All-NESCAC First Team Defense honors following the close of the 2014 season. Spears tallied six interceptions, 39 tackles and one sack last year en route to the honors.

In addition to the talented upperclassmen, the Jeffs will also look for their younger classes of players to make important contributions this season. With a group of 25 incoming firstyears and a strong core of sophomores and juniors returning, the senior leadership will surely be supported by their younger teammates. Faces to watch this year on the offensive side of the ball include Raheem Jackson ’17, a running back who averaged 29.4 yards per game in 2014 as well as junior quarterback Alex Berluti. As for defense, expect juniors Niyi Odewade and Christopher Gow to have breakout years.

Although the purple and white go into

TUES FRI

SAT

Women’s Volleyball Women’s Soccer @ Mount Holyoke, 7 p.m. vs. Bridgewater State, 5 p.m. (@ Johnson & Wales) Field Hockey @ Mount Holyoke, 7:15 Women’s Volleyball p.m. vs. Roger Williams, 7 p.m. (@ Johnson & Men’s Soccer Wales) @ New England College, 8 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball Women’s Cross vs. Salve Regina, 10 a.m. Country (@ Johnson & Wales) @ UMass Invitational, 12 p.m.

Men’s Cross Country Women’s Soccer @ UMass Invitational, vs. Bowdoin, 12 p.m.

12 p.m.

Field Hockey vs. Bowdoin, 12 p.m.

the preseason with an impressive legacy to uphold, they know that each day and each game will be a challenge. The NESCAC has remained competitve in recent years. Amherst has placed consistently atop the NESCAC standings alongside Middlebury, Wesleyan, Williams and Trinity.

“Last year, Trinity and Wesleyan were our closest games, so we are looking forward to the opportunity to compete against them again. And of course, the Williams game is always a special one that we have marked on the calendar,” Kleyn said.

Wesleyan will travel to Pratt Field for the Jeffs’ homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 24.

Trinity travels to Amherst the first weekend of November, which will be Amherst’s family weekend game. Finally, the Jeffs conclude their season once again with the televised and highly anticipated game against the rival Ephs. That game will be on Saturday, Nov. 14 and will be the first game the Jeffs play on the newly renovated Weston Field.

Before facing these perennial powerhouses, Amherst will have to get through a strong Bates team. They’ll open their season by traveling to play the Bobcats on Saturday, Sept. 26 at 1 p.m. Amherst won the matchup last year by a closely contested 14-6 score. Amherst’s home opener is set for Saturday, Oct. 3, when they’ll welcome Bowdoin for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

SUN Men’s Golf @ Williams College Invitational, 1 p.m.

Men’s Golf Women’s Volleyball @ Williams College @ Johnson & Wales, 2 Invitational, 1 p.m. p.m.

Men’s Soccer vs. Bowdoin, 2:30 p.m.