Issue 11

THE AMHERST

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

STUDENT VOLUME CXLVII, ISSUE 11 l WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017

Men’s Squash Goes 2-0 to Open Season See Sports, Page 10 AMHERSTSTUDENT.AMHERST.EDU

Amherst to Host Puerto Rican and USVI Students Sylvia Frank ’20 Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Shawna Chen ’20

Soledad Slowing-Romero ’20 turns in the major declaration form for Latinx and Latin American Studies (LLAS). The program, which was approved in the spring of 2017, offered over 10 courses this fall.

New LLAS Major Surpasses Expectations Natalie De Rosa ’21 Staff Writer After years of advocacy from students and faculty, the Latinx and Latin American Studies (LLAS) major has debuted this semester.

The major was approved after a unanimous vote from the faculty in the spring of 2017.

Despite its recent creation, the major has seen growth beyond expectations, said professor Rick Lopez, chair of the program.

“We didn’t know that we would have this many courses,” Lopez said. Over 10 courses related to the major were offered this fall.

The courses spanned a wide variety of disciplines, including American studies, history and black studies. From these courses, the major is organized into three subtopics on which declared majors can concentrate: U.S. Latinx, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The LLAS major is a program rather than a department, so the curriculum is comprised of courses from various other departments across campus, and its faculty are professors in other established departments.

This benefits the major, Lopez said.

“There’s a strength that we don’t have to

deal with the bureaucracy around that, and instead we can focus on what a program can look like and what kind of alliances we can make with other programs, with students, with the Five Colleges,” he said.

Leah Schmalzbauer, a professor of sociology and American studies who teaches in the major, held a similar view.

“We take the best of [other departments] and put it into this very efficient program that really connects other departments,” she said. “Through this program, these depart-

Continued on Page 3

Dean of the Faculty Catherine Epstein announced the college’s plan to host students from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands affected by Hurricane Maria on Wednesday, Nov. 14 in a community-wide email.

In this upcoming spring semester, she said, a limited number of students whose studies were disrupted by the hurricane will come to the college for one semester of study.

“Earlier this fall, President [Biddy] Martin’s senior staff discussed how Amherst might support students and colleges and universities in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands impacted by Hurricane Maria,” Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Katie Fretwell said in an email interview.

“Anticipating that we would have a high number of vacant beds on campus for the spring semester due to an unusually high count of current students opting to study abroad enabled us to envision a special visiting student program,” she added.

According to Fretwell, the number of students accepted will depend on the quality of applications and amount of available housing.

To participate in the program, the students must be U.S. citizens attending a post-secondary educational institution in Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, students must have completed at least 32 credit hours of coursework.

Students accepted into the program will complete the spring semester at Amherst before returning to their home institutions, but they will not have the option to transfer to Amherst full-time.

Epstein asked the Amherst community to share information about the program and encourage students from Puerto Rico and the

Continued on Page 3

GAP and Dining Services Partner for Meatless Mondays Sehee Park ’20 Staff Writer Valentine Dining Hall and the Green Amherst Project (GAP) are currently collaborating to raise student awareness about the environmental effects of eating meat by promoting “Meatless Mondays.” Their goal, according to GAP members, is to encourage students to decrease their meat consumption on these days.

GAP E-board members Dominique Iaccarino ’19 and Annabelle Gary ’20 met with Director of Dining Services Joseph Flueckiger and Executive Chef Jeremy Roush on Nov. 9 to discuss how the dining hall could support the “Meatless Mondays” initiative.

The current plan is to incorporate more vegan and vegetarian options into the traditional side of the meal on Monday nights, while having a limited meat option on the “Lighter Side.”

Both Dining Services and GAP hope that adding vegetarian or vegan options to the traditional menu, which currently usually consists of heavier entrees featuring meat-

based foods, will make it easier for students to go meatless for a day.

“We’ve found that just even from watching people walk into Val, the first thing they’ll do is get in the traditional line,” Gary said.

“If the main dish is vegetarian, then you’re not even going to think about it; you’re just going to get it,” Iaccarino said. “And then afterwards, you might realize there’s no meat and … look for [it], but hopefully not.”

Gary and Iaccarino stressed that they do not plan on completely removing meat during Monday night dinners.

Gary said they want to meet the dietary needs of every student at the college, but they aim to provide “full protein meals” while “making it easy for people to see that they can have a … delicious meal without eating meat.”

Flueckiger also discussed a possible incentive-based event around Meatless Mondays that would start next semester.

“What we’ll do is we can have stickers we give away, or people can sign up for a raffle,” Flueckiger said.

The goal is to “try to create some engage-

ment around understanding how meat impacts the environment, just over the carbon footprint of meat, and how that one choice can actually make a real difference,” according to Flueckiger.

For “Meatless Mondays” to succeed, however, participation by both students and the dining hall is essential, according to Flueckiger.

“Ultimately, the program is for students,” he said.

“There has got to be a strong collaborative effort that’s made, and that’s my approach anyway, that we have to do this as a group,” Flueckiger added. “I think programmatically, [Meatless Mondays] can fit in really well with where we’re trying to go.”

The movement to go meatless for a day is not just an Amherst initiative, Gary said, but “a worldwide or a nationwide campaign that shows up in a bunch of different forms.”

According to Iaccarino, members of the class of 2018 held a “really big Meatless Monday” during their first year at the college.

“They would take over the entire front room,” Iaccarino said.

“When I was a freshman at Amherst, [GAP] tried to pick that back up again, but it just didn’t happen,” Iaccarino added.

“There’s never enough people to sustain the movement.”

This time, they hope that the addition of appealing vegetable-based alternatives on the “Traditional” side of the dining hall, along with collaboration between the dining hall and GAP to raise awareness of the issue, will lead students to be more conscious about their meal choices.

“Our larger goal is to get it into people’s consciousness,” Gary said.

“It doesn’t have to be Monday where they go meatless,” she added. “I’m not a vegetarian, personally, but I understand my impact on the environment when I do eat meat, and so I’m definitely trying to reduce it as much as I can. We’re just trying to get people to think about it.”

GAP will continue to table in the Valentine atrium every Monday, and the Meatless Monday changes to the dining hall menu are expected to come at the beginning of the spring semester.

News >>Nov. 13, 2017 11:14 a.m., Charles Pratt Dormitory The Student Affairs office reported receiving information that the soap dispensers and towel dispensers were vandalized in a restroom.

11:55 a.m., Hitchcock House The Student Affairs office reported receiving information that the soap dispensers and towel dispensers were vandalized in a restroom. The responsible person is known, and the Student Affairs office is following up.

12:07 p.m., Hitchcock House The Student Affairs office reported receiving information that ceiling tiles were vandalized in a restroom. The responsible person is known, and the Student Affairs office is following up.

1:14 p.m., Greenway Building C An officer and the Fire Department responded to an alarm and found it was accidentally caused by a contractor. >>Nov. 14, 2017 6:50 a.m., Mayo-Smith House Officer responded to a noise complaint and issued a warning to a second-floor resident.

8:45 a.m., King Dormitory The Student Affairs office received information about shampoo and other items missing from a restroom.

9:03 a.m, Greenway Building B The Student Affairs office received information about shampoo missing from a restroom.

11:55 a.m., Humphries House An officer and the Fire Department responded to an alarm and found it was activated by cooking smoke.

7:29 p.m., Keefe Health Center An officer investigated an intrusion alarm but no cause could be found. >>Nov. 17, 2017 12:18 a.m., Greenway Building B Officers and the Fire Department responded to an alarm and found a stairway smoke detector was activated by marijuana smoke. No one was found in the area.

12:14 p.m., Charles Pratt Dormitory An officer investigated an incident

Kristen Gardner Nov. 13, 2017 - Nov. 26, 2017

Fresh Faculty

involving offensive writing found on a white board in the basement.

Department of Computer Science

4:15 p.m., The Evergreens Officers investigated an intrusion alarm and found it was accidentally set off by a worker. >>Nov. 18, 2017 11:43 a.m., Frost Library A visitor reported that his laptop, which is valued at $800, was stolen from Frost Library about a week ago when he briefly left it unattended.

9:13 p.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory While investigating a maintenance signal from a smoke detector, an officer discovered several cooking devices that are prohibited under the housing regulations. The items were confiscated and the Student Affairs office was notified.

11:57 p.m., Stearns Dormitory While investigating a smoke detector sounding in a fourth-floor room, an officer confiscated a grinder used to grind marijuana and a pipe used to smoke marijuana. The matter was referred to Student Affairs. >>Nov. 19, 2017 11:39 a.m., College Hall Officers investigated an intrusion alarm. No cause could be identified.

7:51 p.m., Greenway Building C Officers and the Fire Department responded to an alarm and found it was activated when food was burned in the common room microwave. >>Nov. 20, 2017 7:27 a.m., Fayerweather Hall An officer investigated a report of unusual writing on a basement restroom wall. >>Nov. 23, 2017 12:30 a.m., Tennis Court Parking Lot An officer checked on a man in the parking lot who was acting in an unusual manner. He was not associated with the college but explained that he was there to do photography. >>Nov. 26, 2017 12:29 a.m., Marsh House Officers and the Fire Department responded to an alarm and found it was activated when a resident used a plastic pot to boil water.

Interested in having your voice heard on this campus?

J o i n th e ! n o i t c e news s If you want to write for us, email schen20@amherst.edu

Kristen Gardner is an assistant professor of computer science. She completed her undergraduate study in computer science at Amherst College and holds a master’s and doctoral degrees from Carnegie Mellon.

Q: How did you begin studying your subject and what made you decide to pursue it?

A: My first computer science experience was at Amherst where I wrote my first lines of code in Computer Science 111, and from that point on I was hooked. I have always been interested in math and really enjoy logic and a systematic way of thinking. Computer science is an applied way of thinking that allows me to combine these different ways of thinking.

Q: For those of us who don’t know what exactly computer science is, how would you describe it?

A: Computer science is all about problem solving. More specifically, it is about finding systematic ways to solve problems. Everything we do is about taking problems we encounter — breaking them into smaller problems we can solve and then putting it all back together.

Q: What is your favorite part of computer science?

A: My favorite part is the balance between math and applied problems. I like doing math, but I also like to see where the problems are coming from. I am a theoretician, which means I do a lot of math in my work, so I like how computer science is the intersection between theoretical and practical and allows me to do the math I love while also solving real problems.

Q: Why do you think it is important for students today to learn computer science?

A: I think it is important because I think you would be hard-pressed to find any career path that doesn’t involve computing in some way. Developing some degree of computer literacy is becoming increasingly important, and every possible industry you can imagine has computer science people working in it.

Q: What made you decide to come to Amherst?

A: When I was doing my undergraduate study here at Amherst, I decided around my sophomore or junior year that I wanted to come back someday. I feel really comfortable here and think it is a great place to be a student, so it made a lot of sense for me to come back as a professor.

Q: How is Amherst different from other places you have been?

A: The biggest difference is that it is much smaller. One of the main things that separates Amherst is the level of interaction professors have with students. As a professor, I get to know my students individually, and the students get to know one another as well. Carnegie Mellon was a great place for me to go to graduate school because it offered me a lot of resources and opportunities, but I think being at a smaller school like Amherst for undergraduate study is great.

Q: Can you tell me about the classes you are teaching this semester and other classes you teach at Amherst?

A: This semester I am teaching two classes:

Intro [to Computer Science] and Algorithms.

With Intro, there is no prior knowledge required, and it is a lot of fun for me to get to introduce the students to computer science and see how they develop throughout the semester. My other class this semester, Algorithms, is an upper-level theory course for computer science majors. This class talks about when we can and can’t commute problems efficiently. In the spring I will be teaching Intro again, and I will also be teaching a course called Data Structures, which serves as a bridge between Intro and the rest of the courses in the major. This class starts introducing students to the way we represent data in computers.

Q: What do you hope students will take away from your courses?

A: It depends on the class, but for Intro I hope that students get a sense for what the discipline is about and the type of thinking that computer science requires. I also hope students gain an appreciation for programming. For my upper-level classes, I hope students continue to appreciate the discipline and the thinking it requires, and I also hope that they further their understanding about what is and is not commutable, and then develop tools to be able to solve those problems that are commutable.

Q: What kind of research do you do and how did you become interested?

A: My research is about performance modeling and queuing theory, and I first got started with it when I was working on my Ph.D. In simple terms, my research is about people waiting in lines. I am interested in how quickly we can get jobs in the computer system to finish running. Once a job arrives to the system, it has to wait in line just like a person in a supermarket. I am trying to figure out how to schedule jobs in a computer in the most efficient way in order to make things go faster. In other words, it is all about how people, or in my case computer systems, decide what line to stand in at the supermarket or the computer.

Q: How do you hope to contribute to the Amherst community?

A: First off, the student demand for computer science classes is high, so I want to make sure we meet that demand. I am also personally interested in expanding participation in computer science, and I would like to work to try and bring traditionally underrepresented groups into our department.

Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?

A: I like to knit, bake and do crossword puzzles.

Q: Lastly, how is it coming back to Amherst as a professor after having recently been a student?

A: I think the biggest thing is that the campus looks different than when I was here as a student. I am jealous of the new Greenway dorms!

—Emily Young ’20

The Amherst Student • November 29, 2017

News

3

College Offers Exchange Semester for Puerto Rico and USVI Students Continued from Page 1 U.S. Virgin Islands to apply. “We look forward to welcoming these new friends to Amherst next term,” Epstein wrote.

The application asks for a transcript of academic history, an essay that outlines intended plans for studying at the college and, if possible, a letter of recommendation from a faculty member of the student’s home institution and standardized testing results.

“We will want to make certain that participating students have academic interests that Amherst can support and that the students are well-suited to the rigor and learning environment at Amherst,” Fretwell said.

She added that the admissions office understands that due to the disturbances caused by the hurricane, many students will not have complete access to some of these documents, so the request for documents will remain “flexible.”

Although other colleges, such as Brown, are implementing similar programs around the country, Fretwell said that the program at Amherst differs from peer institutions’.

Due to “an interest in providing support to our higher education peers and the economic recovery in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” Fretwell said, the college is not only covering Amherst tuition, books, housing and health insurance for the students, but is also paying their tuition at their home institutions.

“I’m super excited about the program,” Director of the Multicultural Resource Center Bulaong Ramiz-Hall said. “It’s a common thing that’s happening in other colleges around the area, so I’m just excited that Amherst is a part of it.”

According to Fretwell, funding for the program comes from the college’s operating budget contingency.

Photo courtesy of Olivia Tarantino ‘15

The Office of Admission has opened applications for a new program that would allow students from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to enroll in the spring 2018 semester at the college.

The Office of Admission started accepting applications on Nov. 6, and the deadline for applications is Dec. 1. The office is responsible for the program’s development and has promoted the opportunity through comunication channels such as the college website, social media, print media, alumni contacts and direct communication with the Univer-

Successes and Challenges Mark LLAS Major in First Semester Continued from Page 1 ments have been in a closer relationship.”

The program also saw more declared majors than anticipated, Lopez added. Currently, four students have declared the major, and several more are in the process of declaring.

“Even getting one major this semester exceeded our expectations,” Lopez said.

Despite the successes of the new major during its pilot semester, challenges have also emerged.

One difficulty encountered was budgeting. Because the major was only approved at the end of last spring, planning for the major’s finances began in the middle of the budget cycle, leaving little time to request a budget.

Another challenge is connecting the major with various aspects of student life.

“We’re not going to replace what student organizers do, but we’re trying to find ways where we could imagine supporting student activities,” Lopez said.

According to Schmalzbauer, LLAS is already forming connections with organizations on campus like La Causa, which is comprised of students interested in Latino issues and cultural awareness, and La Casa, which is the Latino theme house for promotion and expression of Latino cultures.

The major also aims to expand its reach through programming, such as bringing guest speakers to campus.

Incorporating community involvement and activism within the major is also a goal — LLAS is a result of student activism, Schmalzbauer noted, and the program should grow while remaining grounded in its roots. “[The major] was so long in coming, and really this came about because of student

organizing and activism over the past 20 years,” Schmalzbauer said.

Soledad Slowing-Romero ’20, a declared LLAS major, said activism has been integrated often in class curricula.

“A lot of the classes I’m taking make me think a little bit more about going outside the school, especially since there’s a really big Latino population in the Pioneer Valley,” she said.

In the future, the major looks to serve the Latino community on campus. One hope is to hire a more diverse faculty, including more professors who identify as Latino.

“As a person of color, as a Latina, it’s really good to have those faculty members who are Latinos and darker skin,” Slowing-Romero said.

“It’s also a means of studying our own history and our own experiences,” she added.

To Schmalzbauer, the major is a space for Latinx students to engage with their own identities.

“This major is so timely and so important because of what’s happening in the world … and what’s happening with the Latino community in the U.S.,” she said.

Many Latinos across the country have faced increased challenges after President Donald Trump’s election, including the announcement of the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and calls to “build a wall” between the U.S. and Mexico and to deport Latinos — all of which had been elements of Trump’s presidential campaign.

Lopez hopes not only for diversity of background, but also diversity of intellect.

“I want to look at the ways we can ally with different departments to imagine how they can get their needs met as a department,” he said.

sity of Puerto Rico, the largest university in Puerto Rico, as well as the National Association for College Admission Counseling, said Fretwell.

Applicants will be notified of the status of their admission in late December, and accepted students will arrive on campus by Jan. 17 for new student orientation.

“We are proud to make this opportunity possible for students impacted by Hurricane Maria who are eager to continue their higher education without further interruption,” Fretwell said. “I am certain that Amherst students, too, will benefit from an additional presence of students from Puerto Rico in our community.”

Opinion Inclusivity During the Holidays As the semester begins to end, students are preparing for final exams, papers, projects and other assignments to make sure they get all their work done before holiday break. At such a culturally and economically diverse institution such as Amherst, the way each student spends their leisure time during the break can vary tremendously.

It is easy to overlook the depth and ubiquitous nature of diversity when the holiday season rolls around due to the bombardment of Christmas-themed commercials on TV, items at stores, and basically everything else you can think of. Every year, it seems that the days after Halloween are a slow steady countdown to Christmas, with a quick Thanksgiving in between. It is important to acknowledge other holidays, or even the absence of certain holidays, and think about what that might mean to the plurality of perspectives and individuals that form our community.

Practicing inclusion is more than simply altering one’s go-to expression from “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays,” so don’t stop there. Using non-specific terminology is perfect when in doubt, but inclusion also means making a concerted effort to know more about other cultures, building awareness and developing understanding. This should be an opportunity to learn about others and their own experiences and traditions during the holiday season. Holidays such as Hanukkah, Ramadan and Diwali are also common celebrations that many outside of those who practice them know little about.

This year, Hanukkah is between Dec. 12 and 20, which means some students will be celebrating during the stress and rush that accompany exam period. These traditions should be acknowledged in order to foster inclusion and diversity as well as to offer support to students who are torn between two important events in their year.

This practice of acknowledging and understanding other traditions and holidays expands beyond just this holiday season. While the emphasis on Thanksgiving and Christmas may make it seem like the end of the year is when the biggest holidays occur, many religious and cultural groups’ “holiday season” fall at different times throughout the year. For example, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are the two biggest Jewish holidays, and both are in September. Being aware of these things is something we should practice throughout the year. Last year, contributing opinion writer Sara Schulwolf ’17 penned a piece for The Student discussing the conflict between the college’s spring concert and Passover. She concluded by stating that it is not “too much to ask that you make an effort to remain cognizant of the dates of significant religious and cultural holidays.” This is indeed not much to ask for and it is something we can all be better at. Thinking and bringing into our consciousness the plurality of traditions, cultures and customs that make up our campus and world can help make us more empathetic and accepting.

Cuts and Chats: Barbering to Doctoring Eric Kim ’19 Contributing Writer From John Koenig’s “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows,” “sonder” is defined as “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own … an epic story that continues invisibly around you … in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.”

It is this idea that made the famous Facebook page Humans of New York (HONY) so fascinating to me, to the point of actually creating my own offshoots of it — first at my home church, and then for the Amherst Christian Fellowship. It is also the reason I learned to cut hair.

When I was a freshman, I had an upperclassman friend who was a self-taught barber and would generously spend a few hours a week cutting other students’ hair for free. During one of the many times I sat in his chair, I asked why he did it. Much of his motivation came from his personal experiences with Jesus Christ; if God had sacrificed so much to save his soul out of love, then he felt it was only right to reflect that same love and grace to those around him (as much as he could).

He also saw it as a great way to catch up with old friends or make new friends, not simply because he can chat throughout the 40 minutes, but also given virtue of the intimacy of the barber’s chair.

The moment you sit in the chair, the fate of your hair is in your barber’s hands. Hair can be a surprisingly important part of our self-image — as those with hair loss or even a bad haircut might attest — so to allow someone to cut your hair im-

mediately establishes a significant relationship of trust. At one point, as one of his clients was telling him something during a haircut, a friend walked in and exclaimed, “Wait a minute — you never told me that. I’m your roommate!” To which the client responded, “Yeah, but … he’s my barber.”

As a professing Christian, I resonate deeply with his desire to love those around him, even in whatever small way he can. At the same time, barbering seemed to be a fascinatingly unique — and frankly, cool — way to serve. Of course, it has an intrinsic artistic nature, but I find much more appeal in getting to know those around me in and through my act of service. I am excited by it for the same reasons I had created those HONY offshoots, except instead of just 10 minutes of focused interview questions, I now have over half an hour with each person. “Sonder” has fostered in me empathy and a love for others’ stories, to be shown the breadth and depth of experiences that even people my age have collected. Hearing those stories, I am reminded of just how limited my own life experiences can be, and so my “sonder” grows.

These same sentiments comprise an important part of my convictions in becoming a doctor. As someone with so much privilege, I almost feel an obligation to make the most of my opportunities to serve the underserved and less fortunate, and problems of health are both ubiquitous and potentially devastating. But more than just contributing to the health care industry, I want to get to know the people I help personally, so that they would be individuals more than numbers and that I might offer a human face to the treatment they receive. In this, the physician occupies a unique and essential place in health care, living with a commitment to

serve and to treat people rather than just diseases.

Surprisingly, I have found these ideals of medicine manifest in my barbering. Surgeons often write about how, for all the mechanical precision and operational exactitude required of them, there is an art to their work. Similarly, beyond the working fundamentals and basic principles of barbering, each head is a canvas that demands artistic flexibility and vision. At the same time, I have been blessed with the chance to hear so many people’s personal stories — from their joyous months spent in distant countries to their darker and more private struggles. I’ve exchanged hopes, dreams and transformative life experiences with my clients.

I’ve bantered about our immigrant fathers’ incredible hardships, mulled over philosophical quandaries and shared moments of vulnerability and pain for deceased loved ones with them.

My “sonder” had motivated my HONY offshoots and my passion to become a physician; my “sonder” convicted me no less here. So I started “Cuts and Chats,” a Facebook page similar to my HONY offshoots where I post snippets of my conversations with my clients (with their permission, of course). My hope is that Amherst College students might learn about parts of their peers — from interesting life experiences to current struggles and joys — that they might not know otherwise.

My time barbering on campus has been incredibly rewarding, both in the service I provide and the people I have come to know. And “Cuts and Chats,” though young, has already touched people in surprisingly meaningful ways. Whether I’m using clippers or a scalpel, I hope my “sonder” will only grow.

Meaning in Small Talk Mohamed Ramy ’18 Contributing Writer I remember the first time I saw fall leaves fall. I saw the orange color and immediately thought about the sun. I thought about home; I missed it. Soon, I would be cold, running in the winter of a country so strange to me.

I remember the first time I saw fall leaves fall. It reminded me of how fickle emotions can be. It reminded me of my first rejection. I think I took it well, but now I just hate the word

“sure” because it is not an enthusiastic “yes” nor a resounding “no”.

I remember the first time I saw fall leaves fall. It reminded me of challenging my religion, something I once felt so attached to. It was part of who I am. It was part of my daily routine.

Now, I am in the dust. Now, I am lost. At least that’s what my parents told me.

I love how small talk means talking about the weather. I love talking about the weather and seasons because then, I can reminisce about running in the rain, getting my hands

frozen by an ice ball, dancing in the sun and walking slowly in the fall. Weather talk is not small talk to me.

Your favorite season means something to me. Sometimes, I wish there were weather gods. What made them make it rain? What made them make the weather gloomy, sunny or cold? I wait for seasons because I am reminded of memories I would forget otherwise. They makes me fall in love differently, talk differently and even smile differently. I wait for the seasons because I change skin just like the sky.

THE AMHERST

STUDENT E X E C U T I V E B OA R D Editors-in-Chief Nate Quigley Jingwen Zhang Managing News Shawna Chen, Emma Swislow Managing Opinion Kelly Chian, Daniel Delgado Managing Arts and Living Paola Garcia-Prieto, Olivia Gieger Managing Sports Connor Haugh, Kasia Krosniak, Henry Newton Managing Design Justin Barry Design Editors Katie Boback, Zehra Madhavan Head Publishers Emily Ratte Mark Nathin

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The Amherst Student • November 29, 2017

Opinion

5

If I May: 10 Things I Like and/or Don’t Like Jake May ’19 Columnist This week, I’ve decided to try something new. Normally, my column focuses on one issue (and perhaps a small discussion of its broader context). However, as the title suggests, this week I will instead briefly share my opinions (whether positive or negative) on ten things (of varying degrees of importance and relevance).

This structure is inspired (read: pretty much stolen) from the brilliant ESPN basketball writer Zach Lowe. I chose it for a few reasons. One; it is a cool, potentially eye-catching style choice.

Two; for me, it is much easier to write a little bit about a lot of things that a lot about one thing.

Three; going along with two, my editor told me that my column had to be “a little longer” because “you are so, so talented that we want the whole newspaper to be written by you.” [Editor’s Note: We did not say that.]

1. The Reading Load at Amherst Simply put, I believe that we are assigned too much reading at this college. Classes can have hundreds of pages of reading assigned per week, and professors often expect that students will closely read every page, knowing full well that we all carry a difficult course load and often a busy extracurricular schedule. Granted, I am a history major, and almost all the classes I take are humanities classes, so one could argue that I am doing this to myself. However, Amherst has an open curriculum, so in my mind that should mean that any combination of four classes should be a reasonable amount of work for any given semester. Of course, some classes will be harder and have a heavier workload than others, but to me, even if a student takes four difficult classes, the workload should be manageable. In my experience, when I’m assigned too much reading I skim all of it to make sure I can prove to my professors that I’ve done my work, rather than actually engaging with the material. I think that if the reading load was decreased, students would be able to more

actively and meaningfully engage with the material that they would have time to read and wrestle with.

2. My Professors While I may think that some assign too much reading, I am so thankful for my professors this semester. I know that many students here have had unpleasant experiences with many professors. There is no denying that there are some incredibly problematic members of the faculty here at Amherst. Perhaps that can be the subject of a later column. In this case, though, I have lucked into having five wonderful professors for this semester (one of my classes is co-taught). Each of them are of course brilliant thinkers, both about the material itself, but also (and more crucially) about how to effectively relay knowledge and insight onto their students. Furthermore, they all care deeply about their students, both in terms of academic success and general well-being. I write this to point out that perhaps not all the instructors here are wonderful, but there are certainly many who truly embody the type of professor that I imagined before I arrived on campus.

(Hit me up for recommendations if you want!)

3. The Fact that the New York Knicks Aren’t That Bad, But Also Aren’t Good My editor told me I wasn’t allowed to write about sports. My editor also told me that I needed to write a longer column this week.

So, I’m going to BRIEFLY (okay!?) write about sports. My favorite basketball team (and overall favorite sports team) is the New York Knicks. I was born in 1996, and I’ve been a fan basically since birth (my father is an absolute die-hard Knicks fan). I have been alive for 21 years. The Knicks have pretty much sucked that entire time. This year, before the season, we traded away Carmelo Anthony, our best player since 2011. This set the stage for a year of rebuilding, where we would not be very good but hopefully get a good draft pick. In a twist of fate, our draft pick from two years ago, Kristaps Porzingis,

has turned out to be one of the most promising young talents in the league. This is extremely exciting. However, the problem is that we are now too good to tank. It is very frustrating because we are probably going to win the exact amount of games that will both keep us from a good pick in the draft and keep us out of the playoffs. God, the Knicks can’t even tank correctly. Okay, I’ll stop talking about sports now.

4. The Library Staff We are very lucky to have such a wonderful library staff at this college. Everyone who works in Frost seems to have the utmost desire to make students’ lives as easy as possible. If you have not taken advantage of the Reference Desk or the Archives yet, I strongly urge you to do so. Even if you don’t need help, introduce yourself and tell them about what you’re interested in studying. They will undoubtedly have worthwhile insight and advice for you, whether it is about how to effectively use the libraries resources or what materials you should look to for more insight.

5. Those Curved Stairs By Keefe Why can’t they go straight up the hill like they used to? Why do they have to curve? It makes no sense. Every time I see it, I get a little angry.

6. Twitter People have been knocking Twitter a lot lately, and I can totally understand why. It is often a cesspool of so-called “hot takes” or just an echo chamber where you only hear what you want to hear. However, I still love Twitter. It is always fun to see what celebrities, athletes and political commentators are writing themselves, without the façade of a publicist, post-game interview or television program. Furthermore, for me and many others, it is a great place to express oneself creatively. Any person, no matter how well-known, can craft a funny tweet that can go viral. (I’m still waiting for one of mine to get more than two retweets. It’ll happen.)

7. “The Good Place” (Which is a TV Show, If You Didn’t Know) If you are not watching “The Good Place” on NBC, you should be. It stars Kristen Bell and Ted Danson, and was created by Michael Schur, the same person behind Parks and Recreation. The show centers around Kristen Bell’s character ascending to ‘The Good Place” after she passes away. I don’t want to say much more, because I want to avoid spoilers, but “The Good Place” is truly a wonderful show. It is of course hilarious, but it also does not dwell on plot points like many sitcoms. Rather, it moves quickly through plots and premises, keeping each episode fresh.

8. “The Newsroom” (Was an HBO Show, Thank God It’s No Longer On) “The Newsroom” was an HBO show written

by Aaron Sorkin. This show was horrible. Do not watch this show. It is incredibly preachy, with Sorkin taking it as an opportunity to espouse his political and social beliefs. Sure, some of them I agree with, but even those manage to be presented in such a pompous and pretentious way that they are equally indigestible. Furthermore, while the show claims to be progressive, the female characters are all presented in a way that makes their identities seem completely attached to the men they work with. It is simply an awful show. I have also seen every episode.

9. The TV Thing in Val I mean, it’s cool, I guess? The photos look great, that’s for sure. The whole thing just looks very expensive. Why did the college spend money on it? We all know what Amherst looks like already; we didn’t need a montage of photos to realize that our campus looks beautiful when it is sunny outside. Whatever. It’s cool, I guess.

10. Checking My Mailbox It is exciting to get mail no matter what it is. Everyone should start sending handwritten letters again. Someone please send me a letter.

I love mail.

Intersectionality and Assault Five Years After Epifano’s Testimony Amber Boykins ’18 and Julia Pretsfelder ’18 Contributing Writers Warning: This article contains references to racial and sexual violence that some readers may find upsetting.

We encourage you to read Part I of this twopart series before reading this article, as the basis for many of our critiques can be found in those collected testimonies. This follow-up piece on Angie Epifano’s “An Account of Sexual Assault at Amherst College” will address the desperate need for a more intersectional approach to sexual respect policies, support services and adjudication processes. We would first like to note that the Title IX Office, Office of Student Life and Health Education Department reached out to us shortly after the publication of our first article in order to gather further information regarding student concerns.

We are satisfied with the college’s attention to these important campus community discussions and look forward to their response in the form of policy alterations. We were surprised to find poor communication between different branches of campus, as these offices had not heard many of the student-voiced concerns previously.

After the response to our last piece, we want to clarify that we do not — and did not intend to — attack or blame the Amherst administration for sexual misconduct cases in a world that consistently undermines and dissects survivor’s testimony.

Rather, we want to advocate for continued dialogue surrounding how to better support survivors and reimagine the fight against sexual violence and its intersections with ableism, racism and gender discrimination.

Sexual violence finally reached the public eye after journalists and women in the film industry exposed Hollywood rapists for their assaults, and the #MeToo campaign echoed across many so-

cial media feeds. Yet, much like in the currently viral movement, our campus’ understanding of sexual violence lacks intersectionality, leading to ignorance regarding how sexual harassment is racialized. While the college often boasts of its high ranking in terms of racial diversity, social power on our campus is still overwhelmingly white, wealthy and male.

Last month, we wrote about Nick, a varsity captain and serial harasser on our campus, who told Claudia, “You may think you’re from the West, but you’re really from the East.” While Nick targeted both women of color and white women, he reserved explicitly racist verbal abuse toward women of color. At least four people filed reports against him with the Title IX Office over the course of his time at Amherst, but administrators still failed to address the racism implicit in his predatory behaviors. Other survivors noted the college’s alarming failure to recognize the role of race in the reporting process, leaving them feeling invisible by doing so.

If you don’t quite believe that “this is a race thing,” the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics says that “African American girls and women 12 years old and older experienced higher rates of rape and sexual assault than white, Asian and Latina girls and women from 20052010.” Native American women are even more at risk, as “[they] are at least two times more likely to experience rape or sexual assault crimes compared to all other races of women,” according to the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center. This reality becomes even more harrowing: the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) reported that “57% of sexual assault perpetrators are white.”

Women of color are far less likely to be believed and receive justice after reporting their cases and far more likely to be sexualized because of racist stereotypes. Take actress Lupita Nyongo’s testimony after producer Harvey Weinstein intimidated and sexually harassed her. Hers was the only case

that Weinstein outright denied, continuing the trend of doubting black women’s testimonies. Because Amherst doesn’t exist in a vacuum, these larger societal disparities are palpable on our campus.

Recognition of non-cisgender identities is another glaring category that current college misconduct policies and campus culture fail to adequately address. There is so much silence surrounding the violence queer, trans and QTPOC experience that compounds the exhaustion of reporting. In 2015, RAINN reported that 64 percent of trans people will experience assault in their lifetime, and 21 percent of trans or gender nonconforming students will be sexually assaulted in college. The Human Rights Campaign reported that 48 percent of bisexual women will be raped. Our own college has been complicit in the erasure of trans, non-binary and queer folks from discussions regarding sexual misconduct.

In the less-widely-known case of Trey Malone, an Amherst student who committed suicide in 2012, his suicide note pointed to his sexual assault and the administration’s mishandling of it as a source of profound anguish. This further affirms that we center these discussions on heterosexual rape towards straight, white women. The accounts finally reaching the mainstream press today will hopefully make space for deeper collective reflection, even if such spaces already existed without structural support between women, women of color and within the LGBTQI community. Yet, we as a broader society undoubtedly lack or co-opt a vocabulary for encountering sexual violence within marginalized communities.

Additionally, in 2009, the Bureau of Justice reported that people with disabilities are twice as likely to be a victim of sexual assault than their peers without disabilities. As Title IX Coordinator Laurie Frankl wrote in her letter to the editor, published in The Student this month, “Survivors of sexual violence have intensely personal responses

to their experiences and distinctly different needs moving forward.” The college must adequately recognize students’ nuanced and multifaceted identities along with how they intersect with unequal power dynamics.

The stories shared with us are a compassionate warning in hopes that another woman won’t have to tell a similar story about the same predator. How can we appreciate survivors for doing the emotional labor of retelling their stories in a way that is not triggering? As one of our respondents noted, “Nothing will ever undo what has happened to you. Nothing is ever going to be enough.”

We’ve heard countless survivor accounts from close friends, roommates and even strangers.

We’ve listened to our sisters and teammates try to piece together their night, searching for an explanation to their waking up in a random bed, maybe feeling a mixture of guilt, confusion and disgust.

We’ve watched men we love roll their eyes at accusations towards their friend accused of rape and shrug when we question why someone would report an assault for no reason.

Five years after this silence-shattering testimony, the Office of Residential Life still does not have a system in place to ensure that survivors with no contact orders aren’t placed in the same resident halls as their attackers, which has happened to at least three women we know. Today, there are male students on campus who have been accused of sexual misconduct at their previous institutions.

Women of color must listen as administrators tell them that their campus experiences with racial violence are not “severe” enough for the college to take disciplinary action against their aggressors.

The Title IX Office and the Department of Health Education still do not have any women of color or trans women working as coordinators.

How much longer will our harassers and rapists walk comfortably into Valentine or Frost while we devote immeasurable time and energy to protecting ourselves?

Arts&Living

Solid Character Work Barely Captures “Justice League” Audience

Photos courtesy of Vimeo

The choppy storytelling in the newest addition to the DC franchize has disappointed fans and failed to meet the high bar that “Wonder Woman” set this summer.

Mark Simonitis ’19 Staff Writer If there’s one good thing I can say about “Justice League”, it’s that the league itself is in topnotch shape. DC’s greatest heroes have excellent chemistry with one another while remaining interesting on their own merits. It truly is a shame, then that they inhabit what is otherwise, at best, a thoroughly mediocre movie. Any strong character work fades away in the face of an incredibly choppy story, tonal issues, a boring villain and poor visual effects. What should be a major pop culture event winds up feeling like yet another poorly-made blockbuster.

The movie takes place sometime after the end of “Batman v Superman,” (BvS) with Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) setting out to build a team of metahumans to protect a world that has been left without Superman. Alongside Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Mamoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher), Batman and Superman must stand against Steppenwolf (voiced by Ciarán Hinds, performed via motion capture) and his army of Parademons as they attempt to destroy the world.

If this description seems vague it’s only because there is one crucial spoiler that I am avoiding, even though that spoiler is an open secret considering the end of “(BvS)” and how much the marketing has played it up. The sad reality is that the plot of “Justice League” really is that generic: unite the team, spar with the bad guy, do the spoiler, fight the final battle. If that was the only problem, I could forgive it. However, the film winds up being incredibly choppy and disjointed despite such simplicity, especially the first act. The movie jumps

across the globe from scene to disconnected scene, all the while exposition is thrown in the audience’s face and a dozen new characters are introduced, half of whom won’t even be relevant until future movies. It’s a whirlwind of events and not in a good way.

As previously mentioned, the characters are what keep the audience invested in the movie. Affleck and Gadot maintain the chemistry they had in “BvS,” and their dynamic provides a real human anchor in the midst of all the action movie insanity.

Miller’s take on Flash as an awkward neurotic who isn’t comfortable going into battle is certainly a nice change of pace, although he does verge a little too close to the “randomness equals humor” mindset for my taste. Momoa thankfully does not play up the dude-bro surfer persona for the entire movie, landing some surprisingly deep moments as well as one of the movie’s funniest scenes. Cyborg is more of a mixed bag, as Fisher’s subdued performance winds up getting overshadowed by his more attention-grabbing teammates. But, this could have been fixed by giving Cyborg more time to reflect on how the line between man and machine starts to blur in his mind — and possibly his soul. Additionally, the character’s design is bulky and awkward, with poor CGI effects not doing it any favors, though this is somewhat addressed by the movie’s end.

Now, I am going to talk about that one opensecret spoiler I mentioned earlier. If you’ve somehow managed to stay out of the loop and want to be left completely unspoiled, skip this next paragraph.

Henry Cavill is back as Superman and it is his best performance yet. He is finally allowed to use the natural charisma and charm that he has demonstrated in previous roles, and it is a real joy to have him back. His first post-resurrection encoun-

ter with the rest of the Justice League is the best scene of the movie and really highlights why Superman is essential to the DC Universe. However, the digital removal of Henry Cavill’s mustache is one of many visual effects-related annoyances, especially when the most egregious moment is within the first ten seconds of the movie.

Then, there’s Steppenwolf. I really want to know whose idea it was for Steppenwolf to be the big bad of “Justice League”. He is, bar none, the worst villain in the history of modern comic book movies, a title I do not give lightly. He was never a heavy hitter in the source material, but the movie removes even the interesting aspects of his comic book incarnation. His fight scenes with the League are excessively boring to watch due to a powerset consisting entirely of “jump” and “hit with axe.” Visually, he’s entirely forgettable and the CGI on him, his minions and his lair is often reminiscent of something out of the early 2000s. Finally, Steppenwolf’s motivations for conquering the planet boil down to “because I’m evil,” making him a literal warm up boss and errand boy for the next big Justice League villain. This is not the kind of threat you want all your heroes debuting against.

It was announced a few months ago that Joss Whedon would be taking over production and direction of re-shoots after director Zack Snyder left “Justice League” due to a personal tragedy. Many fans, including myself, were wondering if and how Whedon’s lighter style would come across in the midst of the grim tone of the Snyder-helmed DCEU. From a visual standpoint, the movie is all Snyder. The gothic cityscapes of Gotham, the murky Icelandic coast and the hellscape of Steppenwolf’s lair all scream out his style. However, the majority of the dialogue, along with the general feel

of the movie, has Whedon’s name written all over it. I found it distracting, but I can see others not having this issue, considering how the tones are internally consistent. The real issue is how blatant some of these reshoots are. In one especially awkward scene, we see Aquaman standing in kneedeep water before the movie cus to him doing an awkward back-flop into a suddenly deep ocean.

It seems like every other review I write on a DCEU movie discusses how the film deals with criticism of previous entries in the universe. “Justice League” is no different. Overall, it does so with mixed success. For example, it was obvious that this movie would have to deal the oppressively somber atmosphere of “Batman v Superman.” On the positive side, Batman does not murder criminals anymore, and our superheroes get to act like real heroes. On the negative side, Batman has gone from being a terrifying and brutal storm of nature to a smart-aleck wisecracker, a change that is too sudden to be believable. I feel like “Justice League” overshot the mark regarding this complaint and others like it. A subtler change, hopefully one resulting in a universe that could feel operatic while still being fun to watch would have been for the best.

I honestly don’t think I could recommend seeing “Justice League” in theaters to anyone who’s not already a fan of the characters. While the interpretations of those characters may be mostly delightful to watch, there are so many more negative factors weighing this movie down. It’s not insultingly terrible, but “Justice League” feels like a mediocre B-movie when it should have been one of the movie events of the year. These characters and these actors deserve better, and I hope they get it in their solo films.

email pgarciaprieto18@amherst.edu or ogieger21@amherst.edu if interested

The Amherst Student • November 29, 2017

Arts & Living 7

“Lady Bird” Breaks the Cliché Standards for Teen Drama Genre

Photos courtesy of Vimeo

True to the trope of teen movies, “Lady Bird“ follows the conflict and quarrels between a teenage protaganist and her mother, but strays from the norm — and stays true to reality — through the moments of maternal love and bonding.

Olivia Luntz ’21 Staff Writer What’s in a name? This question drives director Greta Gerwig in her new film, “Lady Bird.”

The film centers on the tumultuous final year of Catholic high school for Christine McPherson, who chooses to rename herself “Lady Bird” in an attempt to alter her identity.

Although the film is set in the years 2002 and 2003, the anxiety and excitement that Lady Bird feels — and actress Saoirse Ronan expertly portrays — are timeless, and they will evoke similar memories in any viewer.

“Lady Bird” is also such a powerful film because it is painfully real, and unlike in many oth-

er teen movies, nothing is sugarcoated. Gerwig gives her viewers a truthful tour of her hometown of Sacramento, Calif. Her depiction of Sacramento is done with such care to color, composition and light that we are forced to see beauty in a place many of us have not necessarily ever been. Similarly, Lady Bird’s bright pink hair and arm cast force her to stand out from the identically navy-and-white-uniformed students at her school. Just as a nun at Lady Bird’s school teaches her that to love is to “pay attention,” Gerwig forces us to love both Sacramento and the flawed, stubborn and idealistic Lady Bird through focusing the viewer’s attention upon them.

Another way the film is faithful to the high school experience is in its depiction of Lady

Bird’s strained relationships with her parents and friends that result from her search for identity. Although the film contains many tropes of the coming of age genre — drifting friendships, boyfriend drama and parents who “don’t understand” — it also has essential differences.

For example, Ronan’s wit and attitude bring life back into the somewhat clichéd and tired genre.

Ronan truly shines in the scenes with her character’s mother, Marion, played by Laurie Metcalf.

The actresses’ ability to have their characters insult each other mercilessly but still demonstrate their love for one another captures the obligatory struggle between headstrong parents and teens in a hilariously realistic light. For example, when Lady Bird and Marion are shopping, they

alternate between passive-aggressive bickering and delighting over their finds. Still, between the fights and silent treatments, the love that mother and daughter have for one another is not lost.

For example, Marion’s innate knowledge that something is wrong after Lady Bird fights with her boyfriend demonstrates that, although Lady Bird may think she is grown up, she still needs her mother.

Further, Marion’s and Lady Bird’s plan to cheer Lady Bird up by touring open houses and imagining their lives in them both is heartwarming and alludes to the central message of the film — we are ultimately not in complete control of our destiny. However, “Lady Bird” confronts this realization with sympathy and shows us that although our lives may not turn out exactly as we intend, they will still turn out okay.

Unlike a stereotypical teen movie, in which everything seems to magically work itself out, Lady Bird’s attempts to control her own future ultimately fail, but that does not mean her life is a failure. My favorite scene in the film that demonstrates this is when Lady Bird abandons her popular boyfriend and friends on prom night after they decide that they would rather go to a party than prom. Lady Bird instead goes to her old best friend, Julie, and coaxes her out of her pajamas and into a dress so they can go to the dance together. Through the scenes of the two seniors dancing at prom, Gerwig reminds the audience that although prom did not go as Lady Bird intended, she still managed to enjoy herself and that is the important thing. Although Lady Bird’s romantic pursuits fail and she does not get accepted into her dream college, the movie ends on an optimistic note. Finally able to accept herself as Christine, no longer Lady Bird, she is able to enter a new phase of her life with confidence in her lack of control.

“The Florida Project” Creates Cinematic Art in Color and Sound

Photos courtesy of filmaffinity.com

Bria Vinaite (right) plays Halley the young, inadept mother of five year old Moonee (left) in her film debut, yet Vinaite’s inexpereince goes unnoticed.

Youngkwang Shin ’19 Staff Writer “The Florida Project,” one of the year’s critical darlings, immediately places a question in viewers’ minds that remains unanswered by the rest of the film. What exactly is the “Florida Project”?

It is clearly a play on words that, like all puns, begins from an assumed definition. This premise is a Florida housing “project” — in fact a motel, ironically named the Magic Castle — looked after by the kindly caretaker Bobby (Willem Defoe), occupied by unemployed Halley (Bria Vinaite) and constantly besieged by her carefree daughter

Moonee (Brooklyn Prince) and her fellow unschooled toddlers. The children’s world is one of poverty, survived barely by the daily interruptions of childlike wonder that fixate on the trivial and trivializes the unfixable. All the while, Halley retreats to her own irreverent, irresponsible reveries quite becoming to her tragically young age. The horror of her impoverished condition gnaws at her and undermines her daughter’s chance at distraction from their reality.

Between Moonee’s infantile illusion and her mother’s elusive infantility, the audience is perhaps meant to infer a broader, American superproject — some continental sorrow — for which this preschool-purple extended-stay motel in Florida glistens as a particularly sad synecdoche.

As the movie puts away its childish things, one is meant to feel the full weight of this country’s failure to provide for its most vulnerable and violated — by the end, one does certainly feel a moral punch to the gut.

But, as in most great films, the message is nowhere near as interesting as the medium, and the latter is where the true ‘project’ of “ The Florida Project” happens. That project is one of sound; if anything, what we see in “The Florida Project” is deception. Although it is the visual centerpiece of the film, the Magic Castle is never too decrepit, never too unlivable. The rooms are a bit crowded, but we never quite see deprivation. Instead, we hear it. The visible peace deceives, playing to our dominant sense and obscuring the ongoing war of noise. This interest in the world of sound is clear from the very beginning of the film, which opens with an instance of call-and-response. Visually, it is an unprovocative shot, simply centered on three children peering to the left of the screen. From here, the rest of the sequence intercuts between these three children and a fourth child, running towards them and, more importantly, calling them. He calls, and they respond. The pieces of their dialogue are cute, coarse and crass, the way the talk of children usually is. The film derives tremendous fun from such talk. Moonee and her associates are a rude bunch, and they constantly hassle ice cream parlors, neighbors and most of all the motel’s manager Bobby, often with an adorable

dosage of clumsy profanity.

This vocal texture, crude and commonplace, is salvation for the adults who are mired in their own voices, so much more articulate and that much more agonized. Adults indeed do sometimes talk about fun things like late-night parties, but those conversations are cut short by the paragraphs they sputter about bills, child-rearing, work, sex work and evictions. The standout performances in this dark soundscape are surely Defoe and Vinaite. Defoe whispers his gentle lines like any overworked manager at a motel. His is the gruff voice of reason, seasoned by a lifetime of keeping it together. His opposite, Halley, reliably supplies moments of stark contradiction. Vinaite is the major discovery of the movie, which serves her film debut. It is often difficult to believe that prior to “The Florida Project”, she was not a professional actor but a professional Instagrammer, who sold her cannabis-themed clothing lines on social media. Halley sounds airheaded, but there is so much going on in her head and life that by the latter half of the movie, it appears that her scratchy whining is an attempt to straddle the boundary between two worlds — a parent who wishes to be a child.

Halley walks this tightrope between child and mom until the explosive finale of the film. All children grow up, and all of the children’s noises are drowned out by the stern sentences of adults.

The emotional climax is driven by an explicit admission of the film’s sonic war. Halley does not want Moonee to hear what has to happen to her as child protective services take her away, and Moonee, in her usual impolite way, questions why scary strangers are tearing apart the family. Then comes the absolute end of the film, which will most likely conflict the audience.

The close of “The Florida Project” brings out the musicality hidden in the aural back-and-forth that constitutes the bulk of the film. It celebrates in its small, sad way the child that lost the war, and in a way only film — the best kind of film — can, it tips its hat to the illusion that is infinitely preferable to an impoverished reality. And with that tipping of the hat, the curtains of the project close, and what remains is one of the year’s most accomplished productions.

The Amherst Student • November 29, 2017

Arts & Living 8

Photos by Beselot Birhanu

Each spring, Women of Amherst puts on its self-scripted play. The group is currently collecting scripts from students about women’s experiences.

Q&A With Sydney Tate on Women of Amherst’s Spring Play Olivia Gieger ’21 Managing Arts & Living Editor

Every spring, Women of Amherst puts on a play, inspired by and expanding upon Eve Ensler’s feminist play “The Vagina Monologues.” The play is a series of separate skits all centered on issues women face, and all the skits are student-written submissions. Currently, Women of Amherst is collecting submissions from students to include in the play. I sat down with director Sydney Tate ’18 to learn more about the play itself and how students can submit.

Olivia: How would you describe the project that you’re working on?

Sydney: Women of Amherst is something that I got into when I was a sophomore, and I’m a senior now. It’s basically a show that is put on by Amherst students of material written by every student that is supposed to be a response to “The Vagina Monologues.” It is also kind of critiquing what it means to be a woman, especially in times like these, as we consider non-binary and trans women and what all that means to be a girl. So we put it on every year in the spring where we tell stories from people who like submit things about hardships and triumphs or anything— from somebody cat calling them to winning their first trophy or having troubles with parents. It’s any type of story we accept.

O: What have been some of your favorite stories you’ve performed?

S: Every year, we do one story about abortion, which I think is a very powerful story; there are a couple pieces that are in it every single year, and that is one of the most powerful ones. We also do one called Body Positivity which at the end of it —I don’t know if I should give it away — whoever is in it always strips down to their underwear. I did it once and it was honestly the most exhilarating but also terrifying things I’ve ever done. I love doing pieces that are very vulnerable because I think

that’s very real, and I think that’s something people don’t talk about a lot of the time. Last year, someone wrote about eating disorders, which was very real, raw, and it hit home for me.

O: Have you ever submitted pieces for the play?

If so, how was the experience of playwriting and how was it different from directing?

S: I wrote a good chunk of the show last year. That was my first time submitting any of my work to be performed. I’m writing a creative writing thesis this year, and it kind of was a response to that; I thought, “Maybe I should submit this.” It was honestly very exciting and moving for me to hear my stuff performed. I performed one of my own pieces, but a lot of people performed pieces that I wrote but wasn’t in. It was great to hear the words I had to say being spoken by somebody and to see how they interpreted it and then seeing how the audience took it in, so that was great also.

O: What inspired you to get involved with this play, rather than any other production?

S: When I first got involved, I was actually in a class with Lee — who was one of the directors. We were in a class called Black Feminist Literary Traditions together, and through having conversations with her after class, she stopped me one day and was like, “hey, have you heard of this?” and I hadn’t, so she explained it to me and asked if I wanted to come to one of the meetings, and I ended up in this show. I think just the experience of it reminded me that it’s really important that people are sharing their stories and I just saw that it was very powerful thing to do, so that’s why I wanted to continue on doing it. Then I was lucky enough to be chosen as the co-director last year by the head director. I really loved what I did last year and what the show does for people, so that’s why I decided to stay involved, and I love writing and getting submissions, organizing scripts, and everything like that.

O: Now that you’re you’re at the helm, what are

Photos by Beselot Birhanu

some things that you want to continue from past years and what are what are some new things that you want to incorporate? What is your vision?

S: Last year it was a great show, and I really loved it, but it was also much more heteronormative than I would have hoped for it to be, so this year we’re trying to add a lot of news stories that are going to be from different people and from all different perspectives of womanhood, not just the heteronormative and what you would expect. So that’s one thing. We’re going to be doing a lot of write-ins this year, which I’m really excited about. I’m excited for people to come in and just write in the space with facilitators so that’s going to be really cool.

I think for me, I also want the cast to bond more. It’s not that we didn’t bond last year, but I feel like this is such a powerful experience and we are sharing our stories, and I feel that we should be like sharing these things with each other and be bonding more. I’m definitely excited to do more activities, not just acting activities but bonding materials and things like that.

O: What stage of production are you currently in?

S: We get our cast after we get our submissions.

So right now we are in the very beginning stages.

We are getting submissions right now. We’re working with Jesse and the WGC; they always partner up with Women of Amherst to put on the show.

When we get back from winter break is when we start tabling for cast members.

O: When is the show?

S: The show is usually around April. This year it is going to be on April 20 and 21.

O: What are the key themes that you include in every year’s show?

S: We always have one on abortion,we have one on body positivity, we typically have one cat calling; we have one at the end on masturbation, which is very

fun one to do, and that always ends out the show.

Those are the only keynote skits we have every year, but we do have a bunch of similar themes like we always talk about, family dynamics. People always talk about eating, about fitting in; people talk about relationships. Depending on how the themes all tie together, we come up with the title for the show, so last year the title was “Diary of a Nasty Woman” because we had a lot of diary-esque entries. We always come up with, “What is this year’s theme?” for all submissions.

O:What do you think is important for the audience to take away from the show?

S: I think it’s really important for people to see these kids and to see people’s words to know that they’re not the only ones going through what they are going through. A lot of the things in the show are very stigmatized and are things a lot of people don’t talk about, so a lot of time people think they’re the only people going through this. It’s also saying things like it’s okay to talk about abortion; it’s okay to mastrbate. Basically, I want people to know that there are other people out there for them and that this is a very normal thing.

O: How do you think this play is particularly relevant at this moment in history, especially considering where we as a society are politically and socially?

S: Well, I mean, it’s very significant because everything that’s going on with policy changing around abortion, and policy changing about the rights of trans women in our country. So I think that’s really important, to be touching on how this political climate is affecting all these different people, and it’s very important to think about. I feel like depression and anxiety have really gone up in our times right now, especially for women of color and especially for trans women of color, so I think it’s very important that we touch on those issues and that we let people express themselves through this play and through their words.

Photos by Beselot Birhanu

Left: Sydney Tate ’18, the director of this year’s play, performed in “Diary of a Nasty Woman“ last spring. Right: Olivia Mastrangelo ‘18 acts in last year’s production.

The Amherst Student • November 29, 2017

Sports 9

Men’s Soccer Exits NCAA Tournament Women’s Squash Tallies Two Wins in Dominant Opening Home Matches with Loss to Rochester in Sweet 16 Delancey King ’18 Staff Writer After a hard fought battle in the third round of the NCAA tournament, the Amherst men’s soccer team concluded its season with a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to the University of Rochester on Saturday, Nov. 18. With the loss, the Mammoths finished their 2017 campaign with a 12-4-3 record.

“Looking back on the season, I am very proud of our team’s performance,” senior captain Sam Malnik said. “We entered the season with a completely new starting lineup, and we still finished second in the NESCAC with a Sweet Sixteen appearance. There’s a lot to celebrate.”

During the game, Amherst struck first in the 20th minute, when Kyle Kelly ’21 notched his third goal of the season off of a corner kick from Cutler Coleman ’20. Getting a head on the well-driven ball, Kelly powered a shot on frame and into the bottom right corner of the Yellow Jackets’ net.

Although the Mammoths were able to maintain their 1-0 lead well into the second half, Rochester continued to create quality opportunities throughout the game. The Yellow Jackets finally found an equalizer with just 19 minutes left to play in the game. Alex Di Perna drove a low, bouncing

shot on goal, and though Amherst goalie Michael Stone ’21 was able to make the initial save, the slick surface of the turf prevented him from holding onto the ball. Immediately hunting down the rebound, Geoffrey Rouin had an easy tap-in.

Only three minutes later, Rouin came through with another clutch play to provide the Yellow Jackets with the game-winning goal. Bryce Ikeda received the pass off of a short corner kick and sent a dangerous ball into the Amherst box.

Amidst the chaos, Rouin managed to find the ball in the air and sneak a header past Stone.

With under two minutes to go, the Mammoths nearly forced overtime. Taking advantage of a free kick near the Rochester net, Amherst fired a shot on frame. However, Rochester’s goalie, Redd Brown, managed to make a fingertip save to secure the win for the Yellow Jackets.

The Mammoths are disappointed that their season came to an end, but they certainly have a great deal to be proud of as they preserved the program’s legacy of resilience and success.

“I’ll miss playing for Amherst,” Malnik said.

“I consider myself very lucky for having been a member of the Amherst soccer family. A great group of guys will be leading the team next year.

They have a bright future ahead of them.”

Women’s Hockey Wins Two Straight Matches After 0-2 Start to Season

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Senior forward Alex Toupal leads the team in points in her first four games of the season for the Mammoths. Toupal currently has eight points.

Mary Grace Cronin ’18 Staff Writer The Amherst women’s ice hockey team has put together an up-and-down start to its season as the Mammoths closed their first week of action with a record of 2-2-0 overall and 0-2-0 in the NESCAC. In Amherst first contest of the season, Conn. College took an early lead on a powerplay goal after only three minutes and 12 seconds had expired in the first period. The rest of the first period and the entirety of the second frame elapsed without any scores, meaning the Camels entered the final stanza with a 1-0 lead.

However, junior Miriam Eikhoff gave the Mammoths some momentum in the third period with a tally that tied the game at one goal apiece, as she notched Amherst’s first goal of the season off of a pass from senior stud Alex Toupal.

Maintaining their newfound offensive pressure, the Mammoths managed to take their first lead of the game just minutes later with a goal from junior Katelyn Pantera. Conn. College swiftly struck back with an equalizer, and the teams remained deadlocked until a last-second offensive rush gave the Camels the game-winning goal, leaving Amherst to walk away with a 3-2 defeat.

Unfortunately, Conn. College continued where it had left off the next day, posting a 2-0 win over the Mammoths. In spite of a dominating edge in shots that saw the Mammoths ending 34-19 overall, the Camels still managed to walk away with a series sweep.

Just a few days later, Amherst managed to overcome thess early setbacks with a decisive 4-0 victory over Manhattanville College. In the contest, right wing Emma Griese ’18 opened up

the scoring thanks to an assist from Eickhoff halfway through the first period. For the rest of the stanza, the Mammoths managed to kill several Valiants powerplays, holding a strong defensive line.

In the beginning of the second period, Jocelyn Hunyadi ’19 notched the second goal of the game off of a pass from Pantera on a power play opportunity following a cross-checking call on Manhattanville. Less than a minute later, firstyear Mia DelRosso recorded the first point of her collegiate career with an impressive unassisted tally.

Fellow first-year Emma Flynn closed out the game’s scoring near the end of the second period off of another assist from Toupal. Amherst outshot the Valiants 41-34 and thoroughly dominated Manhattanville in all facets of the game.

The Mammoths returned to the ice at the end of Thanksgiving break to beat New England College in their first home game of the season. Griese provided an early edge for the hosts, with a goal assisted by Pantera. Second to strike for the Mammoths was Eickhoff off of an assist from sophomore Sarah Melanson. Jamie McNamara ’19 posted an unassisted goal to put the hosts up 3-0 before the break.

Toupal then scored the next two Amherst goals to open the second period, before earning an assist on Flynn’s goal, which put the Mammoths up 6-0. Although the Pilgrims managed to pull one goal back, Toupal completed her one-period hat trick with just over two minutes remaining in the second period. Before the day was out, sophomore Eliza Laycock netted the final goal to give Amherst an 8-1 win.

The Mammoths will next take to the ice at Trinity on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Zoe Akoto ’21 Staff Writer The Amherst women’s squash team began its campaign on a high-note two weekends ago, resoundingly besting Tufts on Nov.17 by a final score of 7-2. The Mammoths then swept Boston University the very next day, 9-0.

Taking place at Amherst’s Davenport Courts, the Tufts match proved to be an exhilarating opening contest that featured three five-set thrillers up and down the lineup. At the top was Riddhi Sampat ’21, who battled back from a first-set loss and another setback in the fourth to seal a hard-fought win (5-11, 11-7, 11-4, 7-11, 11-8). Haley McAtee ’18 and Pierson Klein ’20 both put forth similarly strong fights, with each woman coming up just short in five-set matches.

The rest of the Mammoths lineup had easier paths to victory, as each competitor won in straight sets, with some extra work from Rachel Ang ’19 on court two (15-13, 11-4, 16-14) and Jenna Finkelstein ’20 in the number eight spot (11-9, 13-11, 11-5).

The momentum from the opening win continued into the BU match the next day.

Sampat routed her opponent in the top spot (11-0, 11-4, 11-0) and both Finkelstein and Katy Sabina Correia ’20 closed out the action, by shutting out the Terriers with 11-0, 11-0, 11-0 wins in the eighth and ninth positions, respectively.

Returning players such as Finkelstein, one of the top seventh-court players in the country, and Correia and Mae Cromwell ’18 continued their strong close to last season, while incomer Margaret Werner ’21 made her mark with two strong wins to open the season.

“Having only played in individual tournaments throughout middle and high school, I’m feeling excited to a be a part of a team and help represent Amherst this season,” Werner

said.

“We played Tufts and BU back to back … both were important matches in setting the competitive tone for the season ahead.

Everyone performed well in the matches and the hard work we’ve been putting in was pretty apparent in our wins.”

With such a strong start, the Mammoths are already well on their way to matching last season’s successes. Amherst next plays Conn.

College and Northeastern University in a round robin tournament on Saturday, Dec. 2, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Junior Rachael Ang won the match against her Boston University opponent in straight sets.

Men’s Swim Makes Waves in Dominant 2-0 Start to Season Jordan Rhodeman ’21 Staff Writer On Saturday, Nov. 18, the Amherst men’s swim and dive team dominated its season opener against Colby to capture the team’s first win of the season, 164-114.

In the meet, the Mammoths’ strength and power was undeniable, taking each of the top three spots in six of the 16 events.

In the meet-opening 200-yard medley, the team of Kou Li ’21, Elijah Spiro ’18, John Janezich ’18 and Jack Koravos ’20 claimed first with a time of 1:35:25. The second place team of Craig Smith ’20, Josh Chen ’19, Sam Spurrell ’18, and Tristian So ’21 finished with a time of 1:36:75. In third, still ahead of any Colby team, Jack Fergus ’20, Justin Lee ’19, Brandon Wang ’20 and Matt Sanders ’21 clocked in at 1:39.36.

The dominance in the medley was only the beginning of an incredibly successful day for the Mammoths.

Charlie Seltzer ’19, Sean Mebust ’20 and Bobby Meyer ’21 snagged the top three spots in the 200-yard freestyle with marks of 1:47.39, 1:48.05 and 1:48.55 respectively.

Amherst did not slow down there, as So (21.65), Koravos (21.69), Sanders (22.63) and Janezich (22.67) swept the top four places in the 50-yard freestyle.

The Mammoths similarly dominated the diving events, with Bennett Fagan ’20 leading the team with a second place finish in the three-meter competition and a first place mark in the one-meter event. Bobby Shogren ’19 and Jake Meyer ’18, took third and fourth in both events, respectively.

Two days later, Amherst built on its earlier success to pummel Little Three rival Wesleyan. The Mammoths claimed wins in nine

events, leading to a final score of 161-126.

After his teammates had taken the top three spots in the 200-yard medley relay, Eric Wong ’20 entered the pool for the 400-yard individual medley and managed to place first overall in 4:11.30.

Smith likewise captured first in the 50yard backstroke with a 24.49 mark.

Li and Seltzer continued their strong start to the season in the 200-yard freestyle with first and second place times of 1:42.43 and 1:45.47. In the 100-yard freestyle, Li (47.65) placed first overall and Wong (48.15) took second.

Continuing his success from the first meet, Fagan placed second in both the threemeter and one-meter diving event with 231.97 and 240.07 points.

With two dual-meet wins underway, the Mammoths will ride a wave of momentum into their next meet at home on Saturday, Dec. 2 against Middlebury at 1 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Amherst returns several veterans from last year’s successful squad.

10

Sports

The Amherst Student • November 29, 2017

Women’s Swiming & Diving Make a Splash in Season Opening Wins Matthew Sparrow ’21 Staff Writer Looking to improve upon their 15th overall finish at NCAA Championships last season, the Amherst women’s swimming and diving team started off its season on the right foot with consecutive victories over NESCAC foes Colby and Wesleyan.

Ranked 12th in the nation, the Mammoths faced off against Colby on the Mules’ home turf on Saturday, Nov. 18 and took control of the meet right off the bat. In the first event, the 200-yard medley relay, Amherst swept the top three spots with the team of Stephanie Moriarty ’18, Nina Fitzgerald ’21, Geralyn Lam ’18 and Natalie Rumpelt ’20 taking first overall.

The 1000-yard freestyle had the same result, with the Mammoths’ only three swimmers in the race taking all the available points.

Julia Ruggiero ’21 started off her collegiate career in style by finishing first with a time of 10:50.32. Following Ruggiero were Marie Maxwell ’18 at 11:17.65 and Jayne Vogelzang ’19at 11:23.51.

With only five swimmers in the 200yard freestyle, Amherst made sure to keep the foot on the gas by claiming the top four times.

Rumpelt won the event with a time 1:56.70, just barely holding off Livia Domenig ’19 who finished in 1:57.98. Juniors Sarah Wishloff and Hope Kim rounded out the top-four with times of 2:06.56 and 2:07.07, respectively.

The Mammoths went on to take first in almost every event, with notable performances

by Sarah McDonald ’20 in the 100-yard freestyle, Lindsey Ruderman ’21 in the one-meter diving event and Bridgitte Kwong ’19 in the 200-yard backstroke, all of whom helped Amherst to secure the 157-108 win.

Just two days later, the Mammoths traveled to Middletown, Connecticut where they posted another dominant win over Little Three rival Wesleyan. The team of Moriarty, Fitzgerald, Lam and Rumpelt posted its second straight first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with an impressive time of 1:48.69.

Some of the Mammoths best events against the Cardinals included the 50-yard breaststroke, where Katie Smith ’19 claimed first place by finishing at 30.84, followed

by Fitzgerald at 31.05 and Ingrid Shu ’20 at 31.66. In the three-meter diving, Nina Kiley ’21 took the top spot by scoring 200.92 points, with Jasmine Horan ’19 placing right behind her boasting a score of 180.90. The top three spots in the 500-yard freestyle were occupied

by Mammoths as well, with Ruggiero winning the event in a time of 5:14.38, holding off Domening at 5:15.30 and Maxwell at 5:25.26. The overwhelming successes in almost every event led to a 170-115 victory for Amherst.

The Mammoths will look to build on their early-season momentum when they host their NESCAC heavyweight Middlebury this Saturday, Dec. 2 at 1 p.m.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Michael Riopel ’18

Alex Toupal ‘18

Favorite Team Memory: Handing out buckets Favorite Pro Athlete: Dan Langa ’18 Dream Job: Ping pong champion Pet Peeve: Dabbing Favorite Vacation Spot: Assateague Something on Your Bucket List: Graduating Guilty Pleasure: “Gilmore Girls” Favorite Food: Bison stew Favorite Thing About Amherst: The party scene How He Earned It: Riopel was an important contributor last year for Amherst, and looks to have locked down a starting guard spot in his fourth and final year on the team. In the Mammoths’ first three games, Riopel recorded one double-double and averaged 10.3 points and 9.7 points over that span. In the purple and white’s victory over Westfield St., Riopel had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Riopel has also been clutch from outside the paint, registering a three point percentage of 60 percent on the season.

Favorite Team Memory: The “No parents home” celebration Favorite Pro Athlete: Zach Parise Dream Job: Something that involves being outdoors Pet Peeve: The opened Snapchat arrow and Mia DelRosso ’21 Favorite Vacation Spot: Myrtle Beach Something on Your Bucket List: Scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef Guilty Pleasure: Friendly’s Fribbles Favorite Food: All brunch food Favorite Thing About Amherst: The diverse classes offered How She Earned It: Returning after a junior campaign that saw her pick up First Team All-NESCAC and Second Team East AHCA/CCM All-American honors, Toupal has started her senior season incredibly hot for the Amherst women’s ice hockey team. She has tallied eight points in the team’s first four games on three goals and five assists, good enough to lead the team in points. Toupal is also just five points away from 100 career points in her collegiate career.

Men’s Squash Sweeps Tufts and Boston University to Begin Season

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Sophomore Ingrid Shu swam the 200-meter breaststroke in their first meet.

Women’s Cross Country’s Nicky Roberts Places Fifth Overall at Nationals Olivia Gieger ’21 Staff Writer Nov. 18 marked the end of the women’s cross country season and of captain Nicky Roberts’ collegiate cross country career as she crossed the finish line in fifth place at the NCAA DIII National Championships.

The harriers were met with harsh, windy weather and a tough uphill course, but runners across the division rose to the challenge.

Johns Hopkins placed first overall with its fifth title in six years and a University of Chicago runner claimed the best individual time.

For Amherst, Roberts raced into fifth place out of 279 runners, clocking in at 20:49.50.

This impressive time earned Roberts AllAmerican Honors. Roberts’ victory was Amherst’s best individual time at nationals since the 2012 season.

This caps off a stellar senior season, in which she won Most Outstanding Performer at the NESCAC Championships, earned USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week, won the Paul Short Classic and Little Three Championships, and finished second at the regional championship.

Across the NESCAC, Tufts placed seventh and Williams placed eighth, while Middlebury finished in 11th place.

Amherst will look to build upon this strong individual result as the cross-country runners begin to compete in the winter track & field season.

Photo courtesy of Chris Butko ’18

Nicky Roberts ’18 finished fifth overall with at time of 20:49.50

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

David Merkel ‘19 defeated his opponent in straight sets in both of the team’s matches.

Jamie Mazzola ’21 Staff Writer Over the first weekend of Thanksgiving break the Amherst men’s squash team returned to the court, opening the season with two wins.

On Friday, Nov. 17, Amherst bested NESCAC rival Tufts, before overwhelming Boston University the following day. Both matches took place at home at the Davenport Courts.

In their first match of the season, the Mammoths defeated the Jumbos in a 9-0 sweep.

Terence Wang ’21 won on the first court 115, 11-5, 6-11, 11-5 in his first ever collegiate match. Meanwhile, David Merkel ’19 won the in second spot, Rob Parker ’21 won in the third slot, Cameron Bahadari ’18 won on court four and Pavan Nagaraj ’21 easily won in the fifth spot.

Reginald Brewster ’21, playing in the sixth spot, came out ahead in the closest match of the night, defeating his Tufts opponent in four sets, 11-7, 3-11, 11-9, 11-3. Mateen Mills ’20, Chris Zimmerman ’20 and Arnav Parikh ’21, making up spots seven through nine, all won in straight sets to close out the victory.

Amherst followed its rout against Tufts by similarly wiping the floor with Boston University in another 9-0 sweep.

The next day, once again, Wang led the way for Amherst by winning on the first court, 11-

3, 11-3, 11-5. The Mammoths maintained the same positions in this match as they did in the previous match, and each Amherst player won his match in straight sets. A highlight of the match was Zimmerman, on court eight, who did not let his Terrier opponent score a single point in any game.

The Mammoths will look to continue their perfect start to the season as they return to action this weekend on Saturday, Dec. 2 when they will host a round robin tournament against Conn. College and Northeastern University at the Davenport Courts. After that, Amherst will be off for the rest of December before resuming play over interterm.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

The men’s squash team has swept both matches this season.

The Amherst Student • November 29, 2017

Sports

11

Men’s Basketball, Impressive from the Amherst Men’s Hockey Begins Season Floor, Earns Wins In First Three Games with Tie, Follow with Two Wins Kathryn Bergamesca ’18 Staff Writer Despite graduating more than half its starting lineup last year, the Amherst men’s basketball team has come out strong in their first few games of the 2017-18 season. Per tradition, the Mammoths began their season by hosting the Ken Wright Invitational Tournament, which featured three teams in addition to Amherst — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), Sarah Lawrence College and Western New England University.

Amherst opened tournament play with a game against Sarah Lawrence on Friday, Nov. 17. The Mammoths dominated the visiting Gryphons from tip-off, holding Sarah Lawrence to a measly 23 points in the first half. On the offensive end, the Mammoths scored 42 points before the halftime buzzer sounded.

The second half was much the same, with the Gryphons unable to break down the Amherst defense. In a decisive win, Amherst topped Sarah Lawrence 83-51. First-year Fru Che paced the Mammoths’ offense scoring 13 points off the bench, while Grant Robinson ’21, Tommy Mobley ’20 and Vic Sinopoli ’19 each dished out four assists. Joe Schneider ’19 grabbed 10 rebounds, leading Amherst in a contest in which it out-rebounded Sarah Lawrence 64-36.

This victory proved a testament to the depth of the young Amherst team, with 70 of the 84 points the Mammoths scored coming from non-starters.

The following day, Amherst took on the Golden Bears of Western New England in the final game of the tournament, after Western New England had beaten MCLA to secure a spot in the championship. Amherst had a rocky first half, finding itself trailing the Golden Bears at various points. As the first 20 minutes of the game began to wind down, however, the Mam-

moths found their groove and went into the locker room with a slight 38-36 edge over the visitors.

In the second half, Amherst continued to build on this newfound momentum, outscoring WNE 35-25 in the frame to cruise to a 7361 victory and capture the title in the 17th Ken Wright Invitational Tournament.

Sophomore Eric Sellew led the team with 17 points, which also garnered him tournament MVP accolades. Mobley joined his classmate on the All-Tournament Team after scoring 13 points for the Mammoths and going 4-5 from behind the three-point line.

Robinson and senior co-captain Michael Riopel also had impressive performances in the victory. Riopel had 14 points, nine rebounds and two steals, while Robinson posted a double-double with 11 boards, 11 points and four assists.

After a short break, the Mammoths were back in action on Monday, Nov. 20 as they traveled south to face the Owls of Westfield State University. It became evident quickly that the Owls stood no chance against the Mammoths’ staunch defense and keyed-in offense.

Senior co-captain and two-time all-NESCAC honoree Johnny McCarthy was an offensive force for Amherst in their landslide victory, leading the team with 18 points.

Riopel put up noteworthy numbers as well, finishing with a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds. J. McCarthy’s younger brother, Tim McCarthy ’21 had 10 points off the bench after going 3-4 behind the arc. At the final buzzer, the scoreboard read 84-48 in favor of the Mammoths.

After the opening week of the season, Amherst’s record stands at 3-0. The Amherst men will have over a week to recover from these first three games, as they do not return to action until Saturday, Dec. 2 when they will travel to Boston to take on Emerson College.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Johnny McCarthy ‘18 and the rest of the men’s basketball team have averaged 80 points per game thus far this season.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Amherst has killed all 22 of their opponents’ power plays so far this season, while the Mammoths have already scored three power play goals.

Delancey King ’18 Staff Writer The Amherst men’s hockey team has had a solid start to the 2017-18 season. After four games, the Mammoths boast an overall record of 2-1-1 and are feeling confident heading into two big NESCAC matchups this weekend.

“We’ve looked pretty good so far,” senior captain Patrick Mooney said. “We need to work on our consistency a little, but we definitely have the pieces to make some noise this year.”

Amherst started the season with a game against NESCAC rival Hamilton on Nov. 17.

The Continentals are currently ranked eighth nationally, and they provided a good first test for the Mammoths. Hamilton got on the board first, as Jason Brochu tipped in a shot from Bennett Morrison in the sixth minute of the first period. However, Nick Bondra ’21 managed to tie things up before the end of the frame during an Amherst power play. Recording both his first collegiate goal and the Mammoths’ first tally of the season, Bondra redirected a slap shot from Phil Johansson ’19 into the top corner of the net.

Senior captain Thomas Lindstrom gave Amherst its first lead of the game early in the second period. Redirecting a shot from Bondra, Lindstrom tallied what looked to be the game winner, as the scored held at 2-1 for the remainder of the second and most of the third frames. Unfortunately, Cameron Radziwon managed to bury the equalizer for the Continentals with around five minutes left, forcing the game into overtime. After the extra five minutes had concluded, the score remained 2-2, and both teams walked away with one point.

The following week, Amherst took on St. Michael’s College, a 2017 Division III national finalist. The Purple Knights went up early, after Paul McAuliffe tipped in a shot from the point,

and the Mammoths were unable to find an equalizer until the second period. Receiving a pass from senior David White, Patrick Daly ’20 ripped a shot past St. Michael’s Chris Johnson to tie up the score.

The score remained knotted at 1-1 until the final four minutes of the game. With 4:02 left to play, Joey Lupo ’20 slotted home a one-timer off of a pass from Lindstrom to put Amherst up by one. A goal from Johansson and second from Lupo in the final few minutes allowed the Mammoths to walk away with the 4-1 win.

This past weekend, Amherst played in the Binghamton Devils Tournament. The Mammoths faced Nichols College in the first round on Saturday and managed to eke out a 3-2 victory. Goals from AJ Klein ’20, Stanley Brenner ’19 and Daly gave Amherst a healthy three goal advantage midway through the second frame, but a goal from Scott Cuthrell late in the second period put the Bison back in the game. Filip Virgili was able to bring Nichols within one of the Mammoths early in the third period, but Amherst succeeded in holding the Bison at bay to secure a second straight win.

On Sunday, the Mammoths met State University of New York Cortland in the championship game of the weekend tournament. The Red Dragons got off to a quick start, notching two goals in the opening seven minutes of the game. After a scoreless second period, Amherst finally got on the board early in the third. Off an assist from Mark Esposito ’20, Johansson fired a shot past the Red Dragons’ net minder to cut Cortland’s lead in half. Unfortunately, Johansson’s effort was not enough. Two goals from Scott Donahue, including an empty netter, allowed the Red Dragons to leave the ice with a 4-1 win and hand Amherst its first loss of the season.

The Mammoths return to action on Saturday, Dec. 2, when they will face Little Three rival Wesleyan at home at 7 p.m.

Men’s Cross Country Places Fourth At NCAA DIII National Championships Veronica Rocco ’19 Staff Writer At the Division III National Cross Country Championships, the Amherst men’s cross country team placed fourth overall, the highest-ever finish in program history at the season-concluding meet. The Mammoths scored 251 points, just 18 points ahead of fifth-place Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to travelling to Elsah, Ill. for nationals, the Mammoths were ranked eighth in the nation and were not favorites for a podium finish. Furthermore, the team’s highest place finish before was ninth in 2014.

In years past, the national championship meet has been held on flatter courses, a disadvantage for the Mammoths and other teams from New England as harriers from this region are used to true cross country courses with hills and uneven terrain. This year’s course, however, had several hills, giving Amherst an advantage over teams not used to competing on hilly courses.

At the one-mile mark of the 8k race, the Mammoths found themselves in 20th place, as they had chosen to work their way up through race rather than getting out to a fast start and petering out as the race went on. Throughout the course, the Amherst harriers worked their way up into 10th at the two-mile mark and eighth by the three mile mark. A decisive fourth mile by the team’s runners put the Mammoth in fourth place with only one mile left to go in the race.

Amherst maintained the fourth-place position through the finish line, but the results were not made official until 30 minutes after the race, so the Mammoths had to wait for the official word before celebrating their historic finish.

Leading the way for Amherst was Mo Hussein ’18, who earned cross country All-American honors for the third time in his collegiate career by placing 23rd, his highest-ever finish at nationals.

Not far behind Hussein was Clark Ricciardelli ’20E who had a stellar race to place 33rd and also earn All-American honors. The sophomore

was in 146th place at the mile mark but steadily moved up the 280-person field and closed with a 4:38 mile, the fourth-fastest of the race behind the top-three finishers. Cosmo Brossy ’19 closed a stellar junior cross country season to place 82nd as the team’s third runner. Less than 10 seconds behind him were teammates Spencer FergusonDryden ’20 and Tucker Meijer ’19, who placed back to back in 111th and 112th, respectively.

Ferguson-Dryden had a career-best race as the team’s fourth runner.

Behind the scoring five were Kristian Sogaard ’19, who placed 191st and Jack Wesley ’18, who closed his collegiate career with a 226th place finish. Captain Justin Barry ’18 also travelled to the meet to serve as the team’s alternate.

“It was a thrilling finish to a historic season,” senior Jack Wesley said. “We’ve been talking about getting on the podium for four years, and it feels incredible to actually do it. It was a great honor to be a member of this team, and I can’t wait to see what the guys will accomplish next year.”

Coaches Cassie Funke-Harris, who wrote the team’s workouts for the season, and Danny Feldman, who implemented the workouts and ran daily practices were key to the teams success.

In the wake of a last year’s scandal, the installation of a brand new coaching staff and the decision by several runners to not run this fall, the Mammoths emerged with the best season in school history. Amherst won the Little Three Championships to break Williams’ 29-year winning streak at the event, won the NESCAC Championships for the first time in school history and earned a spot on the podium at nationals.

Next year, the Mammoths return five of their top-seven runners and only lose All-American Hussein from their scoring five.

With a strong core returning, Amherst’s runners will look to the indoor and outdoor track seasons to set new personal bests and further cement themselves as contenders for both NESCAC and national honors in the 2018 cross country season and beyond.

Sports

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Junior guard Emma McCarthy has stepped into a leadership role this season as one of only two returning starters. She has registered 9.3 points per game so far.

Women’s Basketball Starts Season Strong With Four Consecutive Routs Kelly Karczwesci ’18 Staff Writer

The past two weeks have seen the Amherst women’s basketball team open what appears to be another incredibly promising season with four dominating wins. After winning last year’s NESCAC and DIII National Championship, going undefeated in the process, the Mammoths continued their winning ways with victories over Lyndon State College, Springfield College, Little Three rival Wesleyan and Emmanuel College.

The Mammoths began the defense of their national championship with an 81-38 victory over Lyndon State in the season home-opening Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 18.

The hosts’ sophomore class displayed its enormous potential, leading the scoring against the Hornets.

Cam Hendricks ’20 put up 20 points, went an impressive 4-4 from behind the arc and dished out three assists for the Mammoths,

GAME SCHE DULE

while fellow sophomore Hannah Fox tallied 16 points and six rebounds. During the game, Fox dribbled coast to coast, blowing past a Lyndon defender and landing herself on ESPN’s Top 10 Plays of the Night.

Amherst controlled the ball all game and had a decisive lead over Lyndon State at the half, dominance which continued in the second half, despite great hustle by the Hornets in the third quarter.

The next day, the Mammoths moved onto the finals of the Tip-Off Tournament against local rival Springfield, which had eked out a narrow victory over Farmingdale State the day before. The Mammoths came out firing, building a strong 19-4 lead after the first 10 minutes.

By halftime, the score was 37-16, a lead that was built on the back of 11 first half points from junior Emma McCarthy. Amherst’s victory in the turnover battle — the hosts committed only seven turnovers in comparison to Springfield’s 16 — was essential, as Springfield’s mistakes turned into 19 punishing

points for the Mammoths.

Amherst, however, struggled from behind the arc, going 2-13, and only out-rebounded the Pride by three boards. Natalie Nardella ’20, Hannah Hackley ’18, Madeline Eck ’20 and Fox each grabbed five of the Mammoths’ 36 rebounds to lead the way.

When the whistle blew to close out the game, Amherst had come out on top, toppling the Pride in a 69-36 victory to clinch the TipOff Tournament championship. Fox was the tournament MVP, and Hendricks joined her on the All-Tournament team.

Amherst’s third game of the season was a battle against the similarly 2-0 Wesleyan Cardinals, a game that mattered only for Little Three play and not conference records. Like the matchup against Springfield, Amherst’s allergy to turnovers and ability to capitalize on the other team’s mistakes proved essential in earning a decisive lead throughout the entire contest. The Mammoths scored 33 points off of 33 Cardinal turnovers and only turned the

THU

FRI

SAT

Women’s Basketball @ Eastern Connecticut State, 7 p.m.

Women’s Ice Hockey @ Trinity, 7:30 p.m.

Men’s Squash vs. Conn. College ,10 a.m.

Women’s Squash vs. Conn. College, 10 a.m.

Women’s Swimming and Diving @ Middlebury, 1 p.m.

Men’s Swimming and Diving @ Middlebury, 1 p.m.

Men’s Squash vs. Northeastern, 2 p.m.

Women’s Squash vs. Northeastern, 2 p.m.

ball over 19 times themselves.

Amherst also received double-digit scoring from four of its starters, led by Hackley, who was 7-11 from the floor and scored 18 points. Junior Meghan Sullivan put up 12 points, while McCarthy tallied 11 points, pulled down seven rebounds, had two blocks and notched a game-high six steals.

Additionally, Eck went 5-9 from the floor, scoring 14 points and dealing out four assists, good enough to share the team lead in helpers with Fox, who put seven points herself. The dominant performance on both ends of the floor against Wesleyan resulted in a 64-40 win for the reigning national champions.

On Tuesday, the Mammoths faced Emmanuel College and registered a 49-38 victory, weathering a fourth quarter that saw the Mammoths outscored 21-7.

Boasting a 4-0 record, the Mammoths now will gear up to take on Eastern Connecticut State in Windham, Conn., on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7:00 p.m.

Men’s Basketball @ Emerson, 2 p.m.

Women’s Basketball @ Farmingdale State, 3 p.m.

Women’s Ice Hockey @ Trinity, 4 p.m.

Men’s Ice Hockey vs. Trinity, 7 p.m.