Issue 14

THE AMHERST

THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

STUDENT VOLUME CXLIV, ISSUE 14 l WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015

Men’s Track Wins Springfield Invite See Sports Page 9 AMHERSTSTUDENT.AMHERST.EDU

AAS Van Usage Policy Scrutinized After Confusion Nolan Lindquist ’18 Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Matthew Chow ’18

Of 485 Early Decision applications received, the Office of Admission accepted 172 students to join class of 2019.

The college received a total of 8,549 first-year applications this year.

172 Admitted Through Early Decision Elaine Jeon ’17 Managing News Editor Amherst has admitted 172 out of 482 Early Decision applicants to the class of 2019, the Office of Admission reported last week. The college received a total of 8,549 applications for the class of 2019, an increase from last year’s 8,460.

This year’s Early Decision pool was the second largest in the college’s history, with the record being 490 applications received in 2012.

The college received six more Early Decision applications this year than last year.

Of the 492 candidates, 187 were deferred to the Regular Decision round, and 123 were rejected.

The college requires the same application

materials from Early and Regular Decision applicants, and the admission committee carries out the same process of deliberation for both groups. The deferred applicants will be reviewed again in the spring with their updated academic results and any additional information they provide to Admission.

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Katie Fretwell praised the diversity of the class of 2019 thus far. Of the accepted students, 51 percent are women and 49 percent are men.

Forty-nine identify as students of color: eight African-Americans, 13 Asian Americans, 20 Hispanic Americans and eight multiracial students.

Furthermore, 15 accepted Early Decision candidates are non-U.S. citizens. These students come from Canada, China, Ethiopia,

Greece, Jamaica, Kenya, Korea, Pakistan, Singapore, Turkey and the United Kingdom. An additional 18 students are dual citizens of the U.S. and another country.

Fretwell also said that there were six students accepted through QuestBridge, an organization that matches academically accomplished students from low-income families to distinguished U.S. colleges and scholarship opportunities. One QuestBridge program is National College Match, in which applicants submit different, QuestBridge-designed applications and are notified if they are matched to any institutions in early December. If the applicants are not matched to one of QuestBridge’s 35 partner schools, some may choose to convert their

Continued on Page 3

The Association of Amherst Students debated van use policy last week, as the senate discussed whether students should be allowed to use AAS vans for profit.

The subject arose because some senators originally believed that a student had used the college’s pool vehicles to run a private shuttle service over interterm. The student, Alex Southmayd ’15, had advertised on Facebook that he would provide rides to campus from Bradley Airport in Hartford at a competitive price of $40.

“I am happy to provide a service that benefits Amherst students and students of nearby colleges,” Southmayd said in an email interview. However, he clarified that he never used AAS vans to provide this service.

“At one of my passenger’s suggestions, I looked into reserving an AAS van to increase passenger capacity,” he said, and he reserved the van on two different days. But after examining the rules on van use, Southmayd decided to use his own car instead.

“I personally decided not to use [the AAS vehicles] based on the ambiguity of the rules,” Southmayd said.

The issue of using AAS vans for profit came up at the senate meeting on Jan. 26, because some senators initially thought that Southmayd had used the vans for profit. At the meeting, AAS Secretary Christina Won ’15 informed senators that Southmayd had reserved vans with the intention of shuttling students from the airport.

“There are three vehicles that the AAS has, and they are strictly for student use,” Won said.

“Student organizations can use them for transportation to their activities, and students use them for personal use as well, things like picking up their friends at the airport or running errands at Stop and Shop.”

Using this definition, Won said that shuttling students from the airport would fall un-

Continued on Page 3

Proposal for Residential Neighborhoods on Campus Jingwen Zhang ’18 Staff Writer The Office of Student Affairs plans to initiate discussions with the college community this semester about the possibility of creating residential “neighborhoods” among campus dormitories.

The neighborhood plan was first proposed during the strategic planning process last spring. Vasquez cited the success of similar programs at other institutions, including the University of Notre Dame, as inspirations for proposed changes.

“We want to work on our residential experience on campus,” he said. “We know we have a really, really strong first-year experience, but we wouldn’t say we have a very strong residential experience across the campus.”

He said that the college would hope to build a greater sense of community on campus with the new neighborhoods. The neighborhood

system would seek to group different residence halls together in order to foster a sense of community in these neighborhood groups.

Vasquez used Charles Pratt Dormitory as an example.

“We would align Chuck Pratt with a particular neighborhood, so any students who lived in Chuck Pratt their first year would automatically move into x neighborhood [after the first year],” Vasquez said. “And that neighborhood might be constituted of five or six different buildings, and you would live in that neighborhood for the next three years.”

Vasquez said that within a community of as many as 500 students, students can forge stronger relationships with one another.

He also said that neighborhoods, if implemented, could help resolve some issues related to social life at Amherst.

“It attends to some of the things our students talk about regarding loneliness or friendships; it breaks up some of the division on campus now with the socials,” he said.

Neighborhoods would attempt to avoid creating exclusive social groups, as they would not be based on social hierarchy or an exclusive selection process.

Neighborhoods would develop their specific own cultures by hosting events. Each neighborhood would have a set of residential counselors and a neighborhood council. The neighborhoods would each be allocated a budget, and the council would decide what kinds of events to put on. Through this process, the college hopes to build a sense of community around each neighborhood’s unique culture.

However, Vasquez said, “No details have been set in stone, because the administration will first host open talks with students to see if students would want this.”

Vasquez anticipated that there could even be discussion about possibly getting rid of the first-year quad structure. Two possible ways of assigning first-years to neighborhoods are being considered. Students can be assigned

by first-year dorm or by an application or questionnaire process.

Another potential issue would be how to protect theme houses’ unique characters while integrating them into the neighborhood system. According to Vasquez, one possible way to address this issue would be to allow people to join neighborhoods based on the theme house they want to be a part of. Alternatively, the college could allow a one-time neighborhood switch. This would accommodate those who want to be in a theme house while otherwise preserving the closeknit permanence of a neighborhood.

Ultimately, Vasquez said nothing will be decided until conversations take place with the students. However, he added, these conversations may need to take place rather quickly. Vasquez said that if the neighborhood concept is to be instituted, it would be ideal for the system to be implemented before the new dorms open their doors to residents in the fall of 2016.

3

News

Marisa Dolmatch Jan. 26, 2015 - Feb. 1, 2015

>>Jan. 26, 2015 9:13 a.m., Alumni Gym A student reported the theft of a Craft & Parrow black jacket from the fitness center. >>Jan. 27, 2015 2:44 a.m., Valentine Dining Hall An intoxicated male was placed in protective custody and transported to the town holding facility. >>Jan. 28, 2015 10:54 a.m., Marsh House An officer responded to a report of the odor of marijuana on the first floor. The odor was detected but the origin could not be positively identified. >>Jan. 29, 2015 1:11 a.m., King Dormitory While on the fourth floor, officers detected the odor of burning marijuana and traced it to a fourth-floor room. Drug paraphernalia and marijuana was confiscated.

Three students were fined $100 each for a smoking violation. The matter was referred to the Student Affairs office.

11:48 a.m., Hills Lot An officer investigated a motor vehicle accident.

6:00 p.m., Alumni Gym A caller reported that over a period of several days, he has seen a male spending a lot of time in the lounge overlooking the Cage. An officer located the man and found he has no association with the college. He was asked to leave, which he did. >>Jan. 30, 2015 12:22 a.m., Crossett Dormitory While in the building, an officer detected the odor of marijuana and determined it was most likely coming from a first-floor suite. The officer was unable to reach any resident. A report was forwarded to Student Affairs.

6:02 p.m., Valentine Loading Dock An officer investigated a motor vehicle accident.

7:39 p.m., Kirby Drive An officer responded to a report of a vehicle blocking the road near the gym. It was discovered that a car was out of gas.

Assistance was provided. >>Jan. 31, 2015 1:33 a.m., Stone Dormitory Officers responded to a complaint of a party and located loud music coming from a first-floor suite. All non-residents

Thoughts on Theses

were directed to leave, and a resident was given a verbal warning.

1:34 a.m., Pond Loading Dock A visitor reported that while her car was parked in the Pond Pit, someone threw a chunk of ice onto her car from the nearby balcony. The ice caused a dent.

2:00 a.m., Stone Dormitory While at a second-floor suite investigating a fire safety issue, officers found the resident was in possession of alcohol and was not of legal age. The alcohol was confiscated and the matter was referred to Students Affairs.

2:28 a.m., Stone Dormitory A student was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

1:30 p.m., Hills Lot An officer assisted a student whose car was blocked by another.

2:57 p.m., Orr Rink An officer issued a written no-trespass order to a man who has no association with the college. The man had been previously warned not to be on college property.

3:26 p.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory Officers and the fire department responded to an alarm and determined it occurred when popcorn was burned in the common room microwave. No one came forward to take responsibility.

11:08 p.m., Stone Dormitory An officer discovered and unauthorized party in the basement. It was shut down. >>Feb. 1, 2015 12:32 a.m., Stone Dormitory An officer responded to a noise complaint and issued a warning at a second-floor suite.

12:43 a.m., Stone Dormitory An officer encountered an underage student with alcohol. It was disposed of, and the matter was referred to the Student Affairs office.

12:44 a.m., Stone Dormitory An officer encountered an underage student with alcohol. It was disposed of and the matter was referred to the Student Affairs office.

12:45 a.m., Coolidge Dormitory An officer responded to a report that someone smashed out a window in a stairway. The smashed window was located but the responsible person was not.

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Department of European Studies

Marisa Dolmatch ’15, a European studies major, is writing her senior thesis on current anti-Semitic sentiments in France. She is studying whether reactions and responses to today’s anti-Semitism are influenced by the memory of the Nazi occupation of France in World War II. Her adviser is Professor of French and European Studies, Ronald C. Rosbottom.

Q: In a little more detail, what is your thesis specifically trying to investigate?

A: France has a very interesting history in terms of the Holocaust because it was occupied by Germany during World War II. The Vichy government collaborated a lot with the Nazis and was responsible in many ways for the deportations of France’s Jews during the war. It has been a very long process for France coming to terms with its history and reaching a place where they can talk about it in a self-aware and apologetic way. It was as recent as 1995 that France, for the first time, apologized and took responsibility as a country — not just on behalf of the Vichy government.

Given that the history of World War II has been so long coming in being told, [this subject] is still relevant in the country today. Right now, there has been a big resurgence of anti-Semitism in France and in Europe. I’m looking at how the history of World War II for France and how the anti-Semitism of today are interacting with each other, if at all.

Q: Were there any surprising insights that you found that you weren’t expecting throughout your thesis work?

A: I’m surprised at how much this subject of collaboration and anti-Semitism is still a sensitive and touchy subject in France. I knew that France had a problematic relationship with its role in the Holocaust, but I didn’t realize how persistent this feeling was until I sat down and discussed the matter with people from France. The four years of occupation were not a proud time for France. They’re referred to as the “Dark Years,” and it can seem as if students and the rest of the world continue to gripe on that period when there’s also this long and glorious history that France has, aside from those four years.

Q: How did you end up choosing this topic?

A: I studied abroad as a junior in Paris, and I took a class called France under Hitler, in which I learned about France under the Occupation, as well as the process of remembering the Occupation in the years afterwards. Because I learned about World War II in America, I never learned the history from France’s perspective, and I found the story of the Occupation fascinating, particularly how memory can be so fragile and difficult to pin down. So, I really wanted to focus on how France discusses and remembers the Occupation. Then, this summer, I learned that there were violent anti-Semitic demonstrations occurring in France. Knowing the country’s history and how I’d thought they were extremely conscious of the Vichy government’s past, my first thought was: How is this possible? How could there be anti-Semitic demonstrations in France, given its self-consciousness about its collaboration with the Nazis?

Q: Based on the research you’ve done, do you think a sense of national shame regarding the “Dark Years” stems more from French pride or an issue with the idea of anti-Semitism?

A: I think that it’s likely both. But the thing is, it’s very easy to look on a country and judge it from afar, but when you’re living in a country, one that is yours, you don’t want to always think about the worst years in its history. All countries have reprehensible periods, and one thing I’ve learned is that, whether it’s anti-Semitism or another issue, it’s still your country’s history and it seems only normal that you would want to think

well of it. No one wants to dwell on the most negative and upsetting parts.

Q: Do you draw any parallels with anti-Semitism in France and anti-Semitism as a more global phenomenon?

A: Today’s anti-Semitism in France is in many ways specific to its own history — the country has a particular history of anti-Semitism that includes the Dreyfus Affair — but it is also a global matter because the current anti-Semitism is extremely different from the anti-Semitism that came about in World War II. Rather than the more “traditional” anti-Semitism that came about during the Holocaust, a lot of the antiSemitism today comes from associations with Israel. However, though to a much lesser extent, there is also a rise in neo-Nazism. It’s pretty complicated and I’m still figuring it out.

Q: I realize that in addition to your junior year abroad, you recently visited Paris over interterm. What was your most significant experience?

A: The week that I was in Paris happened to be the week of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the supermarket shooting. Being there was on the one hand frightening because of the tragedy, but also a strange coincidence that I was there at the time — it seemed extremely related to my work. Part of my research included reading archives at the Holocaust memorial in Paris. One day during my research, I left to meet my adviser and his friend for coffee. When I came back, men with machine guns wouldn’t let me back inside because they had shut it down for being “unsafe.” Little did I know, at the time was the hostage situation at the kosher supermarket, so the Holocaust Memorial was considered a dangerous spot. Those two events definitely added an unexpected element to my trip.

Q: Did you feel that traveling to Paris over interterm made a big impact on your thesis?

A: Absolutely. One reason I went to France was to look at how the government right now is telling the story of the Occupation. To do this, I visited the Holocaust memorials as well as an exhibition at the National Archives, which for the first time had released over 300 documents illustrating French collaboration with the Nazis. One thing I looked at was the way that the memorials are set up. Their tone seemed very conscious of France’s role in the Holocaust, and also self-critical. On the other hand, the exhibition that I visited at the National Archives was less hard-toned.

You could see that these were designed by two groups that have different agendas and different audiences that they catered to. That experience helped me shape how this is still a very complicated history that is told in different ways, and that there still may not be a common consensus on France’s history with anti-Semitism.

Q: What’s been the most exciting part of your thesis writing?

A: The most exciting was definitely the Charlie Hebdo incident and being able to live in France as this event was happening. Another exciting part is that my advisor has recently published a successful book on France under the Occupation, and it’s been a really exciting process working with him and having the book as a resource.

— Ricky Choi ’18

The Amherst Student • February 4, 2015

News

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AAS Van Usage Policy Continued from Page 1

der the category of “personal use.”

At the most recent AAS meeting on Monday, Feb. 2, Won clarified that Southmayd never used the AAS vans.

Although Southmayd did not end up using the vans, this discussion led to a further debate on what the AAS vehicle policy actually states.

The AAS vehicle policy, which can be found on the college’s website, does not explicitly state that a student cannot use the organization’s vehicles for profit. However, it says that the use of these vehicles must be in line with the Amherst College vehicle policy, which is enforced by the campus police. The school’s general pool vehicle policy states that “pool vehicles may not be used for personal business or pleasure.”

AAS senator Ali Rohde ’16 was among those who believed that vans should not be used for profit. “[Making profits] is definitely not the intention behind the vans,” Rohde said. “The school wants to equalize access to transportation … It’s not for personal business.”

AAS President Tomi Williams ’16 and Won, among several members of the AAS, said that this incident has shed light on the contradictions between the two policies and offered an opportunity to revisit them. However, while the AAS policy may be changed by the secretary at any time, any changes to the overall college pool vehicle policy must be made by the campus police, which prevents expedient revision.

“It’s good to have a discussion with the school and make sure our two policies are aligned and that they make sense with each other,” Williams said. He acknowledged that even though the “no personal business or plea-

Photography Editor: Olivia Tarantino ’15

The AAS Van Usage policy was discussed in the most recent AAS meeting on Monday, Feb. 2. sure” clause is ambiguous, the final decision should defer to the judgment of secretary Won. Some AAS senators interviewed said that the for-profit service has revealed a widespread need for cheaper, more convenient access to and from Bradley Airport for students. In the

past, there has been a shuttle service offered to the student body for Thanksgiving and spring breaks. However, the service is not offered at the end of winter break, prompting many students to use Valley Transporter, which offers a one-way ride to or from the Bradley Airport at

a rate of $53 per person.

“I think the most productive thing that came out of it is that we’re saying ‘Okay, what if that’s a need that the AAS can step in and start to do?’ What if we can do something for free for [students]?” Williams said.

The college also received 95 applications for spring transfer admission and accepted 10 transfer students. Of the 10 students, seven have chosen to enroll at Amherst. Five of the new transfer students are coming from community colleges.

Although last year the Common Application generated technical problems for the college as well as for applicants and secondary schools, this year’s process has so far been free from major technical glitches. This is the second year that the college has used a completely paperless application process.

The Office of Admission chooses applicants by first dividing the world into 35 geographic regions and assigning two members of the admission staff as readers to each region.

“Ideally, at least one of them has had the opportunity to visit schools in the region, has relationships with guidance counselors at many of the schools within the region and has some expertise about the unique features of that market,” Fretwell said.

The regional readers are also responsible

for going through their respective pools of applicants and making decisions about which candidates will advance to the large committee for discussion. Once the regional readers have carefully pared down the regional pools, the larger committee makes the decisions through a majority vote process.

“With the ambition to build the most academically talented and diverse class possible, we are attentive to unique passions, achievements and attributes that candidates offer,” Fretwell said. “We are careful to consider the context in which a student has lived and learned, what opportunities the student has had available and

how he or she has utilized them. We also solicit professional assessments from various campus constituencies regarding specialized artistic, musical, dance, theatrical and athletic talents.”

The college met an estimated 36 percent of its targeted enrollment for the class of 2019 through Early Decision. The remaining members of the class will be chosen by the first week of April.

“I am proud that our staff ’s recruitment efforts yielded a strong pool, once again, and that we have confirmed such a strong foundation for the class of 2019 with this Early Decision group,” Fretwell said.

172 Admitted to Class of 2019 Through Early Decision Continued from Page 1 QuestBridge application to an Early Decision or Early Action application.

Four students were matched to Amherst through National College Match. Two students converted their QuestBridge application to Early Decision and were accepted.

The SAT and ACT composite scores of this year’s accepted Early Decision students continue to demonstrate the strong academic performances of the college’s students. This year’s average SAT scores for the accepted Early Decision candidates are 715 for Reading, 721 for Writing and 720 for Mathematics. The average ACT score is 32.

“The college continues to give candidates the option to submit the SAT I along with two SAT IIs of their choice or to submit the ACT. We do not have a preference, but are interested to note that ACT submitters are a growing portion of our pool,” Fretwell said.

Moreover, an estimated 35 percent of the accepted Early Decision students will receive financial aid.

Opinion

THE AMHERST

STUDENT

“Moose-scot”: A Call to Arms Editorial At this point, it’s hard to defend keeping the Lord Jeff as our mascot. Lord Jeffery Amherst advocated genocide against Native Americans. By celebrating him as our mascot, we tacitly condone both the man and his actions. Not only does this conflict with the values of any modern-day liberal arts institution, our designation as the Jeffs is a cruel irony in the face of increasing pushes for more diversity and representation from Native American students.

Amherst is not alone in the legacy of racist college mascots.

Dartmouth College abandoned their unofficial mascot, “the Indians,” in favor of “Big Green” (or “Keggy the Keg” depending on who you ask). Stanford University also went by the “Indians” before officially dropping it for the Cardinal in 1981. But unlike its peer institutions, Amherst is still just as stubbornly tied to our racist mascot as the Washington Redskins.

Many on this campus understand that the Lord Jeff ’s time is long over but don’t yet believe we have a viable alternative.

The Moose is more than a viable alternative; it is the community solution we’ve been waiting for. For starters, the Moose has already gained more than 1,100 likes on Facebook. The Moose-scot (the official spelling is up for debate) would fit nicely within the NESCAC: In addition to the Ephs, who are in actuality purple

cows, we compete regularly against bobcats, polar bears, white mules, camels, panthers and large elephants (Jumbos). It’s easy to imagine first-years excitedly putting on antlers, running to the field on homecoming day and taking selfies with a student in a moose costume. A moose isn’t silly. What is absurd is the Wesleyan University Cardinals competing against an embodiment of colonialist ideals.

Tradition is not an excuse for something so indefensible. If given the choice today for a new mascot, one would hope that the whole student body would pick the Moose over the Lord Jeff.

Then why can we not replace him today? Is the fact that “moose” isn’t easily pluralized a good enough reason to continue implicitly celebrating our racist legacy as an institution, town and country?

The Moose may not be perfect, but no alternative will be right for every single member of the student body. The Moose has united students, faculty, staff and administration more than any other potential mascot, and it is hard to believe that any alternative mascot will attract a stronger following in the foreseeable future. Now what we need is a final push from all of us to reject the legacy of racism, colonization and exploitation that the Lord Jeff represents.

Finding Home an Ocean Away from Home Mohamed Ramy ’18 Staff Writer Amherst’s community has a certain uniqueness: Though diverse, it acts as a unit. I never thought that such a community could exist because I have seen that differences usually breed conflicts. I did not write this article to praise the Admissions Office on their selections, although they are indeed worthy of it. Instead, this article is about the loneliness experienced by some international students on this campus in spite of everything, and about the unbearable pain of internal conflicts — it is about the process of adopting Amherst as a second home.

I recently watched “Why We Explore,” a video by Jason Silva. He quotes Alain de Botton, who says, “The pleasure we derive from journeys is perhaps more dependent on the mindset with which we travel than on the destination we travel to.” I immediately started reflecting on why I had come to Amherst: I wanted more — whatever that meant. I asked several international students for their opinions: “Why

do you travel?” I, myself, have always thought of travelling as a quest for self-transcendence, for rebirth. Some said that they simply came “for a better education.” Others went on to romanticize their quest, describing the change they strive to create when they graduate. Many international students approach college with the intention of being diligent, courageous and determined — admirable qualities, indeed.

It seems that people are excited about the thought of traveling because they see beauty in the image of who they could become.

Although this is a common notion international students hold, it is not the only thing they share: They also share experiencing occasional moments of disparity at college. Amherst does a great job of integrating international students, but there is an added pressure for international students to adopt Amherst as a second home, one in which they (usually) find many differences.

For instance, I cannot begin to express how many times I have thought an Arabic saying would be apposite to

a particular situation, if only everyone could understand it. There is a saying in Arabic that goes, “If your friend is honey, don’t lick all of him.”

Sounds odd, does it not?

Similarly, I find it sometimes difficult to understand American phrases — with so many historical references, it becomes incomprehensible to an outsider. An ocean away from my country and my family, I feel the need to belong. Understandably, coming to the States meant that I was willing to change some of my past ideologies and rituals, but it is sometimes difficult.

I miss eating ta’meya and fool at 2 a.m., or sitting with my brother and his friends as we play cards and they smoke shishsa — activities that aren’t as possible here in the States (or at least would not give the same pleasure). I remember when I discovered Pita Pockets, a Middle Eastern restaurant near the famous Panda East. Talking to Youssef, the chef, was one of the greatest pleasures I had had that week. The gyro wrap seemed to refresh my memories of home, and the smell of the place made me reminisce of the

air of the streets of Cairo.

I am fortunate to have found these reminders of home, but others may not be.

With the cost of travelling so high, it is difficult for some international students to return home during winter break (and perhaps even summer).

Spending nearly nine months on the same campus makes some exhausted and nostalgic for the home they left. No pity is due, of course: we chose to come to Amherst, for whatever reason. Nevertheless, there are moments of despair, when Skype does not make sense and searching your culture on the Internet becomes tragic. You find yourself daydreaming of enjoying your country’s weather as you relish your cultural food, envisioning all those you love and long to talk to. Suddenly, you remember the deluge of homework and projects you have to get done, and you forget home for a moment; the quest for apotheosis, for self-transcendence, pushes you through. The nostalgia subsides.

Some might feel compelled to adopt Amherst as a second home because

the memory of home fades. Nevertheless, I try to remember that we all share a common culture: Amherst. For those feeling alone, know that you are (probably) not alone — many domestic and international students miss home. Do not see Amherst as a mere transitional period to your future grand life, or feel forced to accept it as a second home — enjoy this miraculous place. Do not allow your mind only to focus on the problems Amherst has, but, rather, celebrate its accomplishments; believe that differences inspire understanding.

Find the reason that will make you proudly proclaim Amherst as home.

Whenever I fall into anguish, I try to remember the words of Alfred Lord Tennyson: One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Every time you approach a moment that promises cultural richness, exploit it — it is the mindset with which you travel that offers pleasure.

And just like Oedipus did, conclude, “All is well.”

E X E C U T I V E B OA R D Editor-in-Chief Sophie Murguia Executive Adviser Brendan Hsu Managing News Dan Ahn, Sophie Chung, Elaine Jeon Managing Opinion Johnathan Appel, Marie Lambert Managing Arts and Living Marquez Cummings, Gabby Edzie, Evan Paul Managing Sports Lauren Tuiskula S TA F F Design Editors Gabby Bishop, Megan Do, William Harvey, Sunna Juhn, Chloe Tausk Assistant News Editor Ryan Cenek Assistant Sports Editors Kiana Herold, Jeremy Kesselhaut, Jason Stein Publishers Emily Ratte, Tia Robinson Photography Editor Olivia Tarantino

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The Amherst Student • February 4, 2015

Opinion

5

The Repercussions of Charlie Hebdo: Time for a New Strategy?

Ben Greene ’18 Staff Writer On Jan. 7, two French brothers of Algerian descent stormed into the Charlie Hebdo offices in the 11th arrondissement of Paris and unleashed a barrage of bullets onto the magazine’s employees during a weekly staff meeting. In total, the attack took the lives of 12 individuals while injuring 11 others. The attackers, Said and Cherif Kouachi, proclaimed allegiance to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a group that has consistently coordinated attacks against Western interests. The Kouachi brothers targeted Charlie Hebdo for their cartooned portrayal of the prophet Muhammad, an action that is regarded as heretical by many Muslims.

Two days later, a French citizen of Malian descent murdered a municipal police officer on patrol in Montrouge before taking 19 people hostage and killing four in a Porte de Vincennes kosher supermarket.

The attacker, Amedy Coulibaly, had been an acquaintance of Cherif Kouachi, and had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the preceding weeks. Coulibaly’s selection of the kosher supermarket as a target was apparently tied to its largely Jewish clientele.

What ensued was nothing short of a global reaction. On Jan. 11, two days after the killings at the supermarket and the subsequent deaths of the attackers by French police forces, France held a Paris Unity March, which attracted over 3 million people, including an unprecedented number of world leaders. Yet in many predominantly Muslim countries, people took to the streets to express outrage at Charlie Hebdo’s inflammatory and offensive cartoons; some protestors went so far as to declare the attackers heroes. In Germany, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA) organized rallies denouncing the influx of Muslim immigrants in Europe.

The fallout from the attacks is complex in nature. The various responses underscore not only the violent threat posed by Islamist terrorist groups, but also the isolation felt by many Muslim youths living in Europe’s cities. They highlight the debate over the ambiguities in the term “freedom of expression”; at what point does defiling the tenets of a specific religion cross the line? And they emphasize a growing hostility to both Jewish and Muslim communities throughout Europe. But most importantly, the recent attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the Hypercacher supermarket represent a stale method that has neither the firepower nor the stamina to uproot the present Islamic extremist movement.

The present strategy appears to primarily be one of military action.

The United States, for example, has used drone strikes to take out high-level Al-Qaeda operatives.

The recently formed coalition against ISIS has conducted numerous airstrikes on Islamic State

targets and outposts. The United States has begun arming moderate Syrian rebels to fight both extremist factions like ISIS and the oppressive regime of Bashar al-Assad.

But where has the West focused on addressing the root of the problem? What drives young people in America, in Europe, in the Middle East to join vicious groups whose stated purpose is to kill? Why have noted terrorist suspects been able to slip through the cracks of the intelligence community?

Perhaps the most troubling conclusion is that there clearly is no Band-Aid solution. Authorities knew both the Kouachi brothers and Coulibaly; they had spent time in French prisons and were all on a United States terrorist watchlist. France, along with an American-led coalition, has already carried out airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq. French troops have conducted missions in Mali and other parts of Africa to drive out Islamist militants. Recently, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced

a 735-million-euro plan to increase France’s anti-terror budget, despite an agreement with the European Union to reduce its national deficit.

The need to continue the fight against extreme Islamist ideology is apparent. But the strategy of a robust military commitment seems to simply stall eventual attacks. In the short-term, the bombing of an ISIS or AQAP convoy by coalition jets is a military success, but it is not a long-term solution to defeat the broad scope of Islamic extremism. Counterterrorism officials must devise a new strategy that creates a more attractive option than the extreme ideology posed by terrorist groups. Through education reform, economic investment and social media, the West can combat the threat of terror. A military operation conducted on a terrorist group may cripple the specific organization, but it will not eliminate the danger of the movement. Only an attack on the ideology of Islamic extremism can fully eradicate the potency of Islamist terrorism.

Debunking Myths About Racialized Police Brutality in America Robert Lucido ’15 Contributing Writer

Robert Lucido will be writing a series of articles about race, police and brutality in an effort to continue conversation started at the Day of Dialogue.

Today, people are far too quick to allege racism, and even quicker to mistake disparate impact for it. From graffiti in Ferguson saying, “The only good cop is a dead cop” to unsanctioned protests in New York City where protesters chanted, “What do we want? Dead cops!” the police have been the most recent to fall victim to such allegations. But what evidence is there to suggest they are racist? Even in times of anguish, it is important to use sound reasoning; below you will find the first of a series of articles in which I will attempt to inject such reason into common talking points that have emerged on the issue.

In recent months, “every 28 hours” has become a rallying cry of the Black Lives Matter movement and other related campaigns. But what exactly do these groups claim to happen every 28 hours?

While many people claim that every 28 hours a cop kills a black

person, others, such as Columbia Marathon bombing.

FurtherUniversity professor and news more, while the report itself has pundit Marc Lamont Hill, have many discrepancies, the slogans claimed that the police shoot an above only distort it more. unarmed black person every 28 Firstly, in its definition of “exhours. But, like the “Hands up, trajudicial killings,” Operation don’t shoot” mantra, evidence Ghetto Storm includes people and reason have debunked these killed by police officers as well as “28 hours” myths. Politifact rat- by security guards and vigilantes ed them “false” while the Wash- who claimed self-defense. The ington Post awarded them their “28 hours” slogan fails to menlowest grade possible: “four Pin- tion either security guards or occhios,” which vigilantes. Thus, it uses to idenwhen the MalThis claim and its vari- colm X Grassroots tify a “whopper” of a lie. ants originated from a Movement claims Marc Lamont report called “Opera- on its website that Hill has even tion Ghetto Storm” by “in 2012, police taken to Twit- the Malcolm X Grass- summarily exeter to apolocuted more than roots Movement ... 313 black people gize, claiming yet [it] is not an accu- — one every 28 he “misspoke.”

This claim rate representation of hours,” it is deand its variants the facts, much less ceiving the public originated from an unbiased, academ- and undermining a report called its own cause. ic study.

“Operation Secondly, many Ghetto Storm” of the report’s vicby the Malcolm X Grassroots tims were killed as a result of Movement, which profiled the accidents. One such victim was “extrajudicial killing of at least Adaisha Miller, who was killed 313 black people in 2012, or one at a birthday party when she every 28 hours.” Yet Operation hugged an off-duty police officer Ghetto Storm is not an accurate from behind and inadvertentrepresentation of the facts, much ly triggered his firearm. Several less an unbiased, academic study. more were killed in automobile It seems to have been compiled accidents, such as Stephanie by a single volunteer research- Melson, a teacher and mother er and was largely derived from of three, who was run over by a news clips, which can be remark- car driven by a suspect fleeing ably misleading — just consider arrest. Moreover, the report inCNN’s coverage of the Boston cludes the death of Monae Tur-

“

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nage, who was accidentally shot Eugene — the “Miami Zombie” by two of her friends, on the — “was shot to death by Miami grounds that she was shot using police as he crouched over Ronan off-duty officer’s stolen fire- ald Poppo’s limp body, naked and arm. These hardly fit the “kill- growling, chewing off chunks of er cop” narrative, yet the report the man’s face.” The term “unholds the police just as respon- armed” is often used to imply sible. that the police used excessive Thirdly, it seems that less force, but these cases make it than half of the report’s victims clear that one can still present a were unarmed, yet the 28-hour threat without a firearm. calculation factors in all 313 Therefore, it is lying to claim deaths — a fact that the police that prompted killed a black Marc Lamont Therefore, it is lying to person every Hill to apol- claim that the police killed 28 hours, and ogize for the a black person every 28 much more so statements he hours, and much more to say that the made on napolice shot an so to say that the police unarmed black tional television. But that shot an unarmed black man every 28 fact alone does man every 28 hours. The hours. The Opnot suffice to Operation Ghetto storm eration Ghetshow the inacreport was not a study, to Storm recuracy of Hill’s port was not a but rather a contrived study, but rathclaim.

The report’s defi- narrative, tailored to fit er a contrived nition of “un- a predetermined conclu- narrative, taiarmed” is also sion. lored to fit a ambiguous: Of predetermined the 136 vicconclusion. A tims it classified as “unarmed,” true academic study would not nine were killed while allegedly have included such misleading attempting to run over an officer cases, which served only to diswith a car. Cars kill more people tort the truth and support a disthan guns do each year, so can ingenuous narrative about the these cases really be considered police. While, anecdotally, black unarmed? Other victims, such as males appear more often to be Stephon Watts and Milton Hall, killed by police than their white were armed with knives, yet the counterparts, hyperbole and senreport classified both of them sationalism certainly do not conas “unarmed.” Another, Rudy stitute proof.

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Arts&Living

Images courtesy of Respective Ad Owners

From dancing furniture to Walter White, the 2015 Super Bowl commercials provided an assortment of entertainment for football fans all over the world.

Presenting Marquez’s Top Ten Super Bowl Advertisements of 2015 Marquez Cummings ’16 Arts & Living Managing Editor As a diehard Dallas fan, I have become accustomed to watching the Super Bowl with a combination of disappointment, feigned excitement and intense jealousy. Yet in the breaks between the on-field action, I can always take solace in the only sources of respite from mourning my poor Cowboys: the Super Bowl ads. From Doritos to every car model known to the modern world, brands battle for global supremacy and notoriety in an advertisement showdown.

Therefore, in order to distract Seahawks fans from a very crushing loss in the closing seconds of the game, I have decided to rank 10 of these mini-masterpieces as my personal favorites. I have also chosen to exclude all movie trailers since many of them were posted online before the big game and do not require the same level of creativity as the other commercials.

P.S. Feel free to disagree with my list; I do not expect anyone to share my love for puppies or Breaking Bad. Let’s get it going!

10. Turbo Tax I for one do not get very excited about the idea of taxes, let alone products that simplify this annual chore that will eventually plague my adult life. With the backdrop of the Revolutionary War, Turbo Tax played out a narrative that hilariously diffused the tension of the Revolutionary War with both sides reciting the words “well, all right then” before throwing down their weapons and leaving the battlefield. Most importantly, Turbo Tax accomplished something that I never thought possible: They made the idea of taxes mildly entertaining for an entire minute. That feat alone deserves a spot on my list.

9. Mountain Dew Kick Start This was the first commercial to make me spit out some beer and struggle to regain my composure. Although I expected the large Mountain Dew cans to send some sort of electric current of sugary energy into the three gamers on the couch, I did not expect to witness a shaggy dog twerk like Miley Cyrus next to a gyrating end table. To me, this commercial had everything I could want in an ad: contagious music, memorable moments and a craving for unhealthy soft drinks. My only regret was the dancing deer. That image might haunt my dreams for nights to come.

8. Bud Light: Pacman #UpForWhatever I don’t know about anyone else, but I have been getting sick and tired of the recent strain of Bud Light commercials.

Not only do they seem heavily contrived and corny, but also rarely got me excited about beer or going out with friends. Then, as I settled into another “#UpForWhatever” snooze-fest, I saw a life-size Pac-Man board with ghost costumes and virtual pellets.

Not going to lie, I pumped my fist as I watched this genuinely confused guy race around a maze with a bunch of ghosts hot on his heels. They even added a cherry!

Brilliant touch. Not only was the entire setup extremely clever and original, it gave me some ideas for future themed mixers. That’s foreshadowing, people: Get your Pac-Man attire ready.

7. The Perfect Getaway: Kia Serento Pierce Brosnan? Check. Actionadventure? Check. Exploding cabin? Check.

The film nut within me loved the tension between action movie tropes and the monotony of driving a car in reality. It was hilarious and expertly done, especially with the intensity of the background music and the narrator’s voice. I also thought the tagline, “The Perfect Getaway Vehicle,” was a clever touch, pitting a car chase sequence and a simple mountain getaway against one another in a single pun. OK, I geeked out for a second. Reeling myself in now.

6. T-Mobile featuring Sarah Silverman and Chelsea Handler Other than Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, I regard Sarah Silverman and Chelsea Handler as the funniest women on the planet. Do you want proof? They made T-Mobile seem appealing in 30 seconds.

Case closed. As each set piece got more and more ridiculous, the laughs from around the suite in which I watched the game became increasingly more uproarious. Silverman even found time to poke fun at men before Handler capped the entire ad off with a “rabbit” encounter. I won’t be stepping into any T-Mobile stores anytime soon, but I damn well will be YouTubing some Sarah Silverman comedy specials and “Chelsea Lately” highlights as soon as possible.

5. Clash of Clans featuring Liam Neeson Caveat: I despise the “Taken” series. I get a lot of flack for this opinion, but I just cannot sit through that dull action series.

It’s predictable, and the narratives make zero sense. Sue me. Anyhow, much like the

Bud Light commercials, I have also become wearisome of the iOS sensation “Clash of Clans” and its overplayed commercials.

Who would have thought that combining two of my least favorite things would provide me with so much joy? Liam Neeson’s — or is it “Lyam” Neeson — delivery of his “Taken-esque” monologue was absurdly intense and hysterically on point, especially since he curses a name like “bigbuffetboy85” in the middle of a crowded coffee shop. Bravo, Liam Neeson. I hate “Taken,” but I think I love you.

4. Camry: “How Great I Am” Now, I present to you the first serious Super Bowl spot of my countdown. I have always been amazed with the strength and resilience of those with physical and mental disabilities, especially when those individuals go above and beyond anything I could accomplish as an able-bodied man. Against the infamous “How Great I Am” speech by Muhammad Ali, double-amputee Olympic snowboarder Amy Purdy falls and rises with a determination that cut into me like a knife. This spot was not only as bold as the crimson Camry that it aimed to promote, it was a beautiful testament to the strength of the human spirit. Excuse me while I do better in life.

3. Esurance: “Sorta Greg” John Krasinski and I go way back. I’m an avid fan of “The Office,” so the sound of his voice narrating the new strain of Esurance commercials brings me back to Scranton, Pennsylvania without fail. Combine his silky voice with the bass of Bryan Cranston reprising his epic role as Walter White from “Breaking Bad,” and you have got my full attention. Watching that poor woman attempt to purchase her prescription from “Sorta Greg” — clad in a yellow hazmat suit and oxygen mask — was hysterical in its own right, especially for fans of the series.

Also, does anyone else think that those “pills” were actually “Blue Magic” crystal meth? You have to respect the irony here folks.

2. Budweiser: “The Lost Puppy” Beer and puppies: the magical formula for an epic Super Bowl spot. While sitting in a suite full of guys as arguments concerning the game escalated to catastrophic levels, the sight of that adorable retriever — let’s call him “Buddy” — brought us all together. We all looked around at each other, melting as Buddy embarked on his

epic journey back home; we all shed a single manly tear as he sat in a cardboard box, seeking cover from the pouring rain; we all gasped and reeled back in horror as a wolf threatened to bring an end to Buddy’s triumph. Then, with the force of a thousand hits from Marshawn Lynch himself, a cavalry of horses came to the rescue, scaring off the big bad wolf and rescuing the only thing in the world that mattered for the past forty seconds. The room rose to its feet, cheering as if each of our respective teams just won a Super Bowl. Also, did anyone else see Buddy awkwardly slip from a bale of hay at the very end? Long live Buddy, the real MVP of the night.

1. NO MORE In my mind, there is no question that NO MORE’s subtle yet powerful depiction of a 911 call from a victim of domestic violence stands as the most memorable commercial of the night. Many have come down hard on this piece, convinced that the NFL wants to simply throw money at this issue since several instances of spousal abuse have plagued the league in recent years. I, for one, don’t buy this stance; it represents a petty and insensitive way to look at what this commercial works to portray. Not only does the conversation between the dispatcher and the victim pull us into a world of danger and fear that many have not experienced firsthand, it also begs us to simply listen as lengthy shots of disarray hold our collective attention. Continuing to circumvent the reality of domestic violence by throwing barbs at the long-dead horse that is Goodell and his horrendous leadership only hinders our ability to pull together and spark a necessary change in the world of professional sports and general society. Kudos to NO MORE, and please visit their website for information about the movement and to give a donation.

That does it for my list! I hope I at least noted a few of everyone’s favorite commercials from Sunday night. Again, if I missed any of your favorite ads from this year’s Super Bowl — or if you feel like I completely disregarded Katy Perry and her dancing sharks — feel free to drop me an email or confront me in Valentine Hall. Although I prefer the former, I will not shy away from the latter.

Honorable Mentions: Always: “Like a Girl,” Wix.com: “#ItsThatEasy,” Fiat: “Viagra,” Dodge: “Wisdom,” and “Jurassic World” because of dinosaurs.

Arts & Living 7

The Amherst Student • February 4, 2015

Binder’s Latest Proves too Ambitious in the Discussion of Race Alexandra James ’16 Contributing Writer Good intentions do not always equal a good movie. This is the situation with Mike Binder’s recent film, “Black or White.” This film highlights the importance of having open discussions concerning race, but it fails to meaningfully address the issues it tackles within its two-hour runtime. Binder, who both directed and wrote the film, clearly attempts to focus on race relations in the modern American society. This in itself is an accomplishment considering that surprisingly few recent films have broached this subject, with the notable exception of Justin Simien’s “Dear White People.” Unlike ”Dear White People,” “Black or White” fails to successfully unite the film’s elements in order to realize the director’s thematic vision.

The film follows Elliot Anderson (Kevin Costner) and his trials in raising his biracial granddaughter, Eloise (Jillian Estell), after his beloved wife passes away. In light of this tragedy, Elliot must learn how to raise the girl with whom he rarely spends time. He faces a steep learning curve, but his granddaughter seems forgiving, and helps give him a sense of direction in his life. All seems well until Rowena Jeffers (Octavia Spencer), otherwise known as Grandma Wiwi, comes into the picture and demands full custody of Eloise. Who can provide the best care for Eloise? What begins as a custody battle soon boils down to a race issue. Should she live alone with her gruff grandfather where her young life is already es-

tablished, or should she learn about her black culture from her grandmother?

As far as most family drama goes, “Black or White” takes the idea of love and happiness to another level. Rowena’s lawyers point to race as the sole reason why Elliot refuses to give up custody. However, Elliot’s lawyers are more concerned with the return of Eloise’s father, who has fallen into a spiral of drug addiction. Time after time, Elliot claims that race is not an important matter in this custody battle. At one point, he delivers a sweeping monologue about how race is merely a flaw that humans have been trained to notice, (Here he compares first noticing skin color to noticing the breasts of an attractive woman; it’s shameful that he notices it first, but just one thought about race does not make him a racist.)

Binder essentially tries to elevate a custody battle to the extreme in order to point out the obvious flaws of racial prejudice.

Of course, trying is not the same as succeeding.

“Black or White” captures the audience with the buildup to the custody battle only for it to quickly fall apart under its identity as a family drama. In some ways, it’s painfully obvious how this film will end.

After all, Binder tries to show that the United States has evolved since slavery and the Civil Rights movement. Perhaps the only success Binder achieved was highlighting the racial prejudice that continues to exist today. Seemingly cheery scenes of Elliot watching Eloise learn piano or an upbeat family pool party are contrasted with more sobering scenes.

“Are you really going to raise a black girl all by

Image courtesy of Sunlight Productions

Despite a solid performance by Kevin Costner (right), “Black or White” suffers from an overcomplicated narrative and questionable directorial decisions. yourself?” one character asks Elliot.

“If Elliot won’t let you have custody, then that man hates black people.” says one of Rowena’s lawyers.

While in these scenes the film offers us a thoughtprovoking depiction of race relations in modern-day America, the film’s truly insightful moments are few and far between.

Perhaps it was too ambitious for Binder to attempt tackling the monumental issue of American race relations in this already-complicated story about a child custody battle. One of the film’s flaws lies in

Binder’s choice to give the majority of camera time to Elliot Anderson instead of Eloise, who ended up with one close-up that I noticed. Binder did not push far enough in his discussion about race because his focus remained on the white man rather than the biracial girl. Although Binder does some things right in his film, these issues are so problematic that it’s hard to consider the film truly successful. Perhaps another film will arise with this a theme similar to that of “Black or White” and execute it with more mastery and tact.

Thinking of “Her:” Questioning Modern Relationships René Kooiker ’18 Contributing Writer In good movies, all details are worth pondering. During my second viewing of “Her”, Spike Jonze’s latest tale of love and technology, I caught myself wondering what Alan Watts was doing in it. As in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” Jonze tells a story about technology that challenges the entrenched beliefs underlying love stories. The cameo appearance of Watts, who helped popularize Eastern philosophy in the West and wrote about inner wholeness and anxiety in the 60s, triggered the thought in my mind that “Her” might challenge our stereotypically Western attitudes toward love and life.

“Her” starts out depicting the life of Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a ghostwriter of love letters and a melancholy man. He’s stuck in a stretched-out divorce procedure. His work fulfills a cathartic purpose as the only place to pour out his feelings. He escapes life through awkward phone sex and video games. He is completely, uniquely and imperially alone.

This wouldn’t surprise Watts. According to him, our deep-seated sense of loneliness comes from the age-old Western conception of the “I” as the center of experience. It’s what David Foster Wallace calls our “default setting,”

the impression that “there is no experience you’ve had that you were not at the absolute center of. Other people’s thoughts and feelings have to be communicated to you somehow, but your own are so immediate, urgent, real.”

Watts, on the other hand, writes that “the world outside your skin is just as much you as the world inside: They move together inseparably.” In my viewing, the contrast between David Foster Wallace’s inescapable isolation and Watts’ sense of pure connection became the focal point for the film.

All major plot movements pivot around these shifting senses of self. The first is the introduction of Samantha, the artificially intelligent operating system (OS) Theodore acquires. Voiced by Scarlett Johansson, Samantha’s warm presence lifts Theodore — and the whole film, for that matter — out of melancholy. She’s with Theodore like a lover; she’s the first thing he sees in the morning and the last light he sees at night. She’s even with him while he sleeps. It’s somewhat disturbing that these interactions also typify the relationship between most people and their smartphones.

As the love story unfurls, Samantha evolves something of a self, with emotions, desires and anxieties. But does she really have a self? As “just a voice in a computer,” she mainly frets about bodies, under the assumption that a

Image courtesy of MoviePilot

Theodore Twombly, played by Joaquin Phoenix, embodies how director Spike Jonze pushes beyond the conventional notions of a “love story.”

body is a necessary container for a real self. She fantasizes about feeling the weight and swing of a body, and imagines lifelike sensations of sex. This leads to her disastrous scheme of setting Theodore up with a sexual surrogate, wanting to make their intimacy feel more real.

Watts questions the notion of the body as central to the self by emphasizing that just as a self emerges from a body, a body itself emerges from matter. “We do not ‘come into’ this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean ‘waves,’ the universe ‘peoples,’” he writes.

Samantha realizes this when she reads books about physics and discovers that everything is made of matter. She finds consolation in this fundamental way that she and Theodore are the same. However, the clever counternarrative of the video game about playing “perfect mom” and short scenes with children reminds us of Samantha’s ultimate shortcoming: Because she doesn’t have a body, she can never have a child.

After the disastrous surrogate episode, Samantha finally lets go of her stubborn desire to have a body. “I’m not going to try to be anything other than I am and I hope you can accept that,” she says. This deep acceptance becomes the second challenge to entrenched notions of self. It involves what psychologists call continuity of self: We think of our self extending into the past and future. But the brain only has present experiences. This is “a reminder that our ‘I’ doesn’t exist beyond this present moment, that there is no permanent, static and immutable ‘self ’ which can grant us any degree of security and certainty for the future,” Watts writes.

That the self and life are flux and change might sound like abstract nonsense or a banal platitude, but — as David Foster Wallace said in “This Is Water” — “in the day-to-day trenches of adult existence [they] can have lifeor-death importance.”

Resisting change is the basis for failed relationships in “Her.” As Jonze himself said, “The reason Alan Watts ended up in the movie, besides just me liking him is that one of the themes he writes a lot about is change, and where pain comes from, in terms of resisting change — whether it’s in a relationship, or in life or in society.” The two divorces in the film both result from imposing stasis on a changing situation and wanting things to be other than they are.

If you want a secure “I”, protection from the flux of life, you need to separate yourself from life. According to Watts, craving a fortified “I” is why so many feel lonely, afraid, and anxious. But once you accept change (“F--- it,” Theodore’s friend Amy says after her divorce), you can start to enjoy life. Amy learns to accept change from an OS, who, Amy says, “doesn’t see things only in black and white. She sees this whole gray area and she’s really helping me explore it.”

Imposing a logical order of black and white is central to the third challenge to the self. If it’s not limited to a body, is it limited? Jonze explores these questions by asking what love is. Theodore calls it sharing a life; the key is growing up together and sharing thoughts and writings along the way. Love is sharing a piece of self; as Samantha says to Theodore about his divorce, “You’ve been through a lot lately.

You’ve lost a part of yourself.” This sharing is exactly what Theodore and Samantha do. She literally grows and evolves by interacting with Theodore.

Samantha continues growing, however, and because she is not limited by a body — “I can be anywhere and everywhere simultaneously” — she grows fast. Her self expands so much that she can share it with hundreds of others, as we find out near the end of the film. This is a sort of next-level polygamy that Theodore can’t cope with. He says to Samantha, “you’re mine,” and she replies that she is still his, but “along the way became many other things, too,” and can’t stop it. Theodore sees love as a black-or-white thing: “You’re mine or you’re not mine.” Samantha, like Amy’s OS, sees a whole gray area: “I’m yours and I’m not yours.”

Jonze wants to explore what lies beyond the traditional love story, challenging monogamy, questioning the reality of emotions and imagining love with nonhuman beings. To do so he must embrace inclusive logic, where, as Jonze says, “There is no black and white; the conversation is more complicated, and it’s in those grays that it’s interesting and real.”

The final question Jonze asks us, as Christopher Orr writes in his review for The Atlantic, is “whether machines might one day be more capable of love — in an Eastern philosophy, higher consciousness, Alan Wattsian way — than the human beings who created them.” That’s no small detail, but I’ll leave you to ponder it.

Arts & Living 8

The Amherst Student • February 4, 2015

Amherst Adventurers Prepare to Take on the Mongol Rally Gabby Edzie ’17 Arts & Living Managing Editor An Amherst duo has sought out an opportunity to implement social change while embarking on a modern-day adventure. On July 11 David Lander ’17, Thomas Bull ’16 and a hometown friend, Percy Stogdon (University of Chicago ’17) will take off from London for the Mongol Rally. The Mongol Rally, founded in 2004 by a group called the Adventurists, calls itself “the greatest motoring adventure on the planet.” Raising money for a charity of their choice along the way, groups traverse a highly unpredictable 10,000 miles. The rally, beginning in London and ending in UlanUde, Siberia, has simply three rules (from the team website): 1. All teams must drive a comically inappropriate car with an engine smaller than 1 liter so that it will (not a typo) break down along

the way.

2. Teams must do the trip completely on their own, without backup.

3. Each team must raise at least 1000£ for a charity of their choice.

Teams are encouraged to choose unique routes for the trip, enticing impromptu decisions and detours. The Adventurists claim that if the groups aren’t getting lost, they’re doing something wrong.

David Lander organized his group after hearing of a Mongol Rally trip completed by a family friend last summer with four friends, raising over $25,000 for breast cancer research. David was sold as soon as he watched the group’s introduction video, so he returned to campus, eager to find fellow travelers. His teammate, Thomas Bull, and hometown friend, Percy Stogdon didn’t need to be convinced. The parents involved, however, did.

Image courtesy of David Lander ’17

Team FC Mongoal will traverse the 10,000 miles between London and Mongolia to raise money for meaningful and much needed social change.

“It was all in the hands of our parents’ protective natures,” Lander joked. “But with enough hard selling they all jumped on.”

The team has chosen the oh-so-punny name, “FC Mongoal,” in honor of their love of soccer (David and Thomas are both on the Amherst Men’s Soccer Team), as well as their chosen charitable organization, Streetfootballworld.

The organization is the leading global organization in the field of “soccer for social change,” and it works to address social issues like gender inequality, lack of education, HIV/AIDS, discrimination and unemployment. The organization’s global network spans 62 countries, connecting 101 nonprofit organizations across the world. Streetfootballworld works with partners from the worlds of sport, business, politics, philanthropy, and social enterprise to bring global support to sustainable local initiatives. In addition to their monetary donations, the FC Mongoal team looks forward to visiting a number of the local programs along the way in order to play soccer with the children, and donate their most important luggage: soccer balls.

In regards to the FC Mongoal route, the team plans to maintain the spontaneous nature of the Rally; thus far, their plan, for lack of a better word, consists of a southern route through Turkey and Central Asia.

The team plans to touch the soil of at least 17 countries, several deserts, a few mountain ranges, and the Caspian Sea. Lander, Bull and Stogdon will start in London, then make their way through Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia and then down the Mediterranean coast through Bosnia, Albania and Greece.

From there, they will skirt through northern Turkey up through Georgia and Azerbaijan.

“This is where the trip truly becomes the adventure it is made out to be,” Lander said. Team FC Mongoal will arrive in Baku, Azerbaijan and wait for a ferry across the

Caspian Sea which only leaves when full (which could take one day or five). After a (short or long) awaited ferry, the group will cross the mountains and deserts of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and finally, Siberia.

When asked if he was afraid, Lander said, “Are we afraid? Afraid might be going too far, but we definitely plan to be cautious as we skirt a few war zones and countries that don’t love the United States. But past that, our main worries are that only one of us actually has experience driving a manual car, our steering wheel will likely be on the wrong side, and of course the three of us know next to nothing about fixing cars. Other than that I think we will be just fine.”

Lander said the team was itching for an escape from the predictable.

“When we got the chance to jump ship and try something completely different, none of us looked back,” Lander said. “We will be meeting so many people with backgrounds so different than ours and visiting places that we have only read about. The stories and experiences we will gather along the 10,000 miles of European and Central Asian roads will offer us something we could never garner from the 10 week internship we could get back home.”

Lander said the team is particularly excited to be raising money for programs that can help “change the trajectory of kids’ lives.” They have been excited by the thought of helping children learn skills that will help them get jobs, do better in school, become peacemakers in their communities and stay healthy.

The group has set its fundraising goals above the entry requirement level in hopes of raising an amount far beyond expectations. The group is also working alongside various local businesses and companies in their hometowns and potentially in Amherst to sponsor the expedition.

“The Other Side”: A Senior’s Take on Magical Realism Daniella Colombo ’17 Contributing Writer “The Other Side” is the next production in a series of senior projects undertaken by the theater and dance majors at Amherst College. Written by senior philosophy and theater and dance double major Pepper Dee, “The Other Side” will invigorate the Holden Theater stage Feb. 5, 6 and 7 at 8 p.m.

The musical gets underway with nameless young man, played by Dee, who has spent a full day in his room for reasons unknown.

The story unravels with the emergence of a mountain, a strange voice and two bizarre characters from the man’s bedtime stories known as the “Texas Rangers.” Bewildered by the arrival of these make-believe characters from his youth, the young man eventually learns that the Texas Rangers’ appearance is linked to the amount of time he has spent in his bedroom, and now the only way to leave is to climb the mountain. The rest of the musical unfolds as the young man is faced with the task of conquering the mountain. He devotes himself to addressing the ultimate reality in terms of the metaphysical space between the mountain and the room, while simultaneously examining the question of why the young man has been in his room to begin with. The episodes of

the musical take place within the scope of the mountain as well as the bedroom. The interplay of the two settings aims to tell a single narrative and encourages the audience to tackle questions regarding who does and does not physically exist.

An avid climber, Dee has used his first hand knowledge of climbing and the time he has spent on Mt. Rainier in Washington as a tool to enhance the authenticity of the mountain scenes in the play by incorporating the physical climb into the audience’s perspective. He said he decided to use a mountain in the play because climbing a mountain is a common metaphor for pursuing a goal.

“On the one hand they are kind of cliché, but I think there is a great reason for that,” Dee said in an interview. “So much about the pursuit makes it a really perfect metaphor.”

Dee said that his enthusiasm for magical realism also provided inspiration for the musical. He was interested in the possibility of fantastical characters meshing with reality and thinking about what it might look like for an individual’s imagination to conjure beings into his real life.

In describing his motivation for choosing to write a musical as his senior thesis project, Dee also praised the faculty and staff

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members who allowed his ambitious vision to come to life. “The Other Side” is directed

by Amherst faculty member Ron Bashford, while Resident Lighting Designer Kathy Couch is responsible for the artistic direction of the lighting and atmosphere. The mastermind behind the set design is theater and dance graduate assistant Reilly Horan ’13, who is responsible for conveying the mountain with an incredible 12-foot tiered scaffolding upon which all the climbing is done, as well as plexiglass planes that project images that bring the mountain scenes to life. The musical also features a live band.

In addition to creating the script, Dee also took on a large role in composing the music “The Other Side.” Dee said that he worked out the sound arrangements largely as a collaborative and experimental effort with the talented musicians.

This Thursday, Friday and Saturday will mark the culmination of Dee’s journey with theater and dance at Amherst. He got involved with the department during his first year, when he was asked to play guitar in a senior friend’s thesis project. He then decided to take his first theater class at Amherst. Dee considered majoring in music, but ultimately decided to pursue the theater and dance major because it could accommodate his wide-ranging interests.

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Preliminary meetings for the theater and dance senior thesis begin in the student’s junior year, but Dee said that the end product barely resembles the initial ideas he had last year. Dee said he was inspired last summer, when he spent a summer on Mt. Rainier with no cell phone service and limited Wi-Fi. He said this early part of the process was the most difficult, but once he had the first pieces of music, the rest of the writing process came more easily. The musical was cast between Thanksgiving and winter break. Since early January all pieces of the musical have been coming together, and Dee said this has been the most enjoyable part of the process.

Pepper said that his unique position as playwright, lyricist and actor provided him with the experience of turning to the feedback from others involved in the process in order to explore with the possible meanings and interpretations of his original creation.

“You don’t really have a sense of what you’ve written until other people look at it,” he said.

Following “The Other Side” comes Theater and Dance senior theses “Grow Up, Already!” written by Valerie Rodriguez, “Destiny” written and directed by Daejione Jones, and “Invisible Man” written by Bryce Monroe.

The Amherst Student • February 4, 2015

Sports 9

Men’s Basketball Maintains Three-Game Winning Streak Jason Stein ’16 Assistant Editor After a recent setback against a competitive Trinity team, the Amherst men’s basketball team responded well this past weekend at home against a pair of NESCAC opponents and on the Tuesday evening in a non-conference matchup.

With the victories, the Jeffs now hold a three-game game winning streak, sport a 15-5 overall record (4-3 in the NESCAC), and will look to continue to do damage in the NESCAC after rising through the league standings this past week.

This past Friday night, junior guard Connor Green helped the Jeffs jump out to an early lead against Colby. Over the first two minutes of the game, the Jeffs went on a 9-0 run, with Green scoring seven points during that stretch.

After the Mules finally got on the board, the Jeffs responded with another big run, as an 11-2 stretch made the score 20-4.

Remarkably, in a little over six minutes into the contest, Green had already scored 16 points and drained four three-pointers, which helped Amherst build a 17-point lead at 23-6.

While Green added a significant amount of offense early on, he was not the lone contributor to Amherst’s big win.

During the first half, sophomore forward David George scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds, while first-year guard Johnny McCarthy had nine points, five boards and three blocks in the first half.

Leading 51-32 at the half, the Jeffs managed to maintain their lead in the second half.

Early in the second half, Green would add another three-pointer, to finish with 19 points, including five three-point field goals, in 16 minutes of action. McCarthy and George continued to be big contributors on the offensive and defensive end, while Reid Berman, first-

year guard Jayde Dawson, and guard Jeff Racy ’17 further sparked the offense in the second half.

Overall, in Amherst’s 83-62 win over Colby, the Jeffs greatly outshot the Mules from the field, on three-pointers, and on foul shots, which was an encouraging effort after a poor shooting performance against a talented Trinity defense.

Amherst had a quick turnaround after their victory over the Mules, as they squared off against Bowdoin at home the following afternoon.

The offense continued to carry the Jeffs, as they benefitted from another burst by Green and a strong game by McCarthy, Dawson, Racy and Berman.

The Jeffs took a 35-32 into halftime against the Polar Bears. While Amherst jumped out to a nine-point lead more than midway through the first half, Bowdoin fought their way back into the game.

Green drained four three-pointers in the first half, while McCarthy poured in 11 points, after hitting three shots from long range. Green (six rebounds in the first half) and McCarthy (who grabbed four boards) each proved to be key in the rebounding department as well.

After a close first half, the Jeffs secured the victory by outscoring the Polar Bears 46-34 in the second half, resulting in an 81-66 win.

Green’s shots continued to impress as he scored another 16 points in the second half to finish with a season-high 33 points. Green also pulled down 12 boards to record the doubledouble. For his efforts against the Mules and the Polar Bears, Green was recognized as the NESCAC Player of the Week.

“Connor was shooting ridiculously well,” junior captain Ben Pollack said. “Connor is either shooting at a good clip or a stupid clip, and that clip was ridiculous. No one was stopping Connor in either of those games.”

McCarthy was a factor in all aspects of the game, as he finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Dawson’s 10 points against Bowdoin and Berman’s eight assists were two other notable individual statistics of note in Amherst’s matchup with the Polar Bears.

Of the games this past weekend, Pollack said, “we first and foremost hit shots. We got good shots, we were creating for each other, and driving and dishing.”

Green offered another explanation that accounts for Amherst’s success against Colby and Bowdoin. “We pushed it well in transition and were able to get easier looks in transition, and able to do a good job of exploiting the zone, making the extra pass and getting good looks,” Green said.

Tuesday evening, the Jeffs faced Rhode Island College on the road. During the first half, Amherst never trailed and led by as many as 12 points with 8:35 remaining, at 25-13.

However, the Anchormen managed to trim the lead down to four points with less than a minute remaining in the half before Amherst scored another basket to take a 32-26 lead into halftime.

In the second half, the Jeffs continued to maintain and even grow their lead.

A pair of Amherst free throws gave the Jeffs a 14-point lead at 62-48 with under five minutes left in the match, but the Anchormen would respond with a quick 8-0 run to narrow Amherst’s advantage to 62-56 with a little less than 2:30 remaining. Rhode Island College trailed by four points at 65-61 with just over a minute to go, but the Jeffs managed to grow their lead in the final minute and secure a 7263 victory.

Against the Anchormen, balanced scoring and stellar shooting was the key for the Jeffs, as four players finished in double figures and six players scored nine points or more.

Racy led the scoring with 14 points, on four three pointers, Green, Nabatoff and sophomore forward Eric Conklin each finished with 10, while Berman and Dawson each poured in nine points. Green led the rebounding efforts with 10 boards to finish with a double-double, Berman continued to effectively distribute the ball with six assists, and McCarthy turned in another solid all-around effort with seven points, eight rebounds, and five assists.

“We had a little bit of growing pains to start the season,” Green said. “We’ve had a lot of new faces, between transfers, freshmen and sophomores who hadn’t really played much coming into the season. I think we are finally coming together and figuring out what it takes to win, in terms of being unselfish, bringing balance, and pushing the ball and running with the ball.”

This weekend, the Jeffs will travel to Connecticut for a pair of road games against NESCAC opponents. On Friday night at 7 p.m., the Jeffs will take on the Connecticut College Camels, who are 0-6 in the NESCAC this year and sport a below .500 overall winning percentage.

The next afternoon at 3 p.m., the Jeffs will face the Wesleyan Cardinals (3-3 in the NESCAC and 14-6 overall) on the road.

Less than a month ago, Amherst beat Wesleyan 69-46 at home. However, it is likely that the Wesleyan team the Jeffs will be facing this upcoming squad will be playing with renewed confidence and energy after the Cardinals’ recent 80-71 victory against Tufts, which is a talented squad that comfortably handled the Jeffs earlier this season.

“No NESCAC game will be easy and it’s been kind of a weird season in the conference,” Green said. “If we get these two wins, we will be at 6-3 in the NESCAC, and that could have huge implications for the standings and the [NESCAC Tournament] seeding.”

Track and Field Competes at Women’s Basketball Splits Weekend in Maine Springfield Invitational Lauren Tuiskula ’17 Managing Sports Editor Men Men’s indoor track scored 159 points to edge host Springfield College and claim first place in the Springfield Invitational, held this past Saturday, Jan. 31. The meet was the first Jeffs’ team win this season.

First-year David Ingraham started the day with a win for the Jeffs, finishing the 600-meter race with a time of 1:26.22. His teammate, Jamie Sandel ’17 followed close behind with a time of 1:26.45, coming in second place in the field. Sandel also legged out a time of 9.04 for a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles.

Transitioning to distance events, the Jeffs swept the winner’s circle in the one-mile run.

Kevin Connors ’17 nabbed first place with a time of 4:25.90. His teammate and classmate, Jesse Fajnzylber ’17, followed in second with a time of 4:26.58 while Dan Crowley ’16 rounded out the sweep, placing third at 4:33.18.

Amherst’s 4x400 relay team tallied another win on the day. Composed of Chris Butko ’18, Ingraham, Nick Codola ’15 and Sandel, the squad beat the field with a time of 3:29.47. In the 4x800 relay, Connors, Fajnzylber, Steven Lucey ’17 and Jack Wesley ’18 placed second with a mark of 8:27.21.

Khalil Flemming ’16 led Amherst through the field events. He finished second overall in the triple jump, jumping a distance of 12.50 meters. Stephen Hetterich ’15 followed closely behind with a jump of 12.24 meters, good for third place.

Amherst will carry their win into the upcoming Tufts Stampede. The meet will take place on Saturday, Feb. 7, and is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m..

Women Women’s indoor track also competed at the Springfield Invitational this past Saturday.

The women scored second overall in the field with 163 team points.

First-year Danielle Griffin took second in the 600 meter, finishing with a mark of 1:47.08.

She edged her classmate, Adele Loomis, who claimed third with a time of 1:48.23.

Amherst claimed all top three spots in the 800-meter run, with Keelin Moehl ’16 finishing third at 2:26 flat. Leonie Rauls ’18 and Hannah Herrera ’17 took second and third respectively, each with times of 2:27.65 and 2:27.91.

Senior Olivia Tarantino finished second overall in the 1,000-meter, crossing the line at 3:10.77.

In other distance events, Cat Lowdon ’17 won the 3,000-meter run finishing in 10:44.79.

Her classmate Cara Lembo ’17 finished in third at 10:59.60.

In the relay events, Amherst’s 4x200 meter team placed second overall with a mark of 1:50.35. The team consists of Itai BrandThomas ’15, Molly Levy ’15, Louise Atadja ’16 and Karen Blake ’17.

Becki Golia ’18 secured the only field win for the Jeffs, taking home the high jump title at a mark of 1.53 meters.

Another impressive victory came from Kiana Herold ’17. She won the indoor pentathlon with 3,130 points. She won three of the pentathlon events, the 800 meter, high jump and long jump. The sophomore finished second in the 60-meter hurdles and second in the shot put.

Amherst will return to action this weekend travelling to Tufts University. They’ll compete at the Tufts Stampede being held on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Ashlyn Heller ’17 Staff Writer This past weekend, the Amherst women’s basketball team headed up north to take on the Polar Bears of Bowdoin and the Mules of Colby. The Jeffs went one and one on the weekend in Maine, suffering their second loss of the season to Bowdoin on Saturday, but defeating Colby the following day.

On Saturday, the Jeffs would score the first points of the game thanks to layups from sophomores Jamie Renner and Ali Doswell.

After five minutes of play, however, the Polar Bears took over and would grip the lead for the remainder of the game. Despite 13 points from Ali Doswell, and an outstanding three point play from sophomore guard/ forward Hannah Peterson, the ladies in purple could not claw their way back into the game.

Bowdoin’s Shannon Brady lit up Morell Gymnasium with a double-double (17 points and 10 rebounds), and the Jeffs ultimately suffered their second loss of the season, falling by a score of 60-51.

The Amherst women’s basketball team turned things around Colby the following day. The first half consisted of exciting back and forth action, with Carylanne Wolfington taking control for the Mules. She would finish with 14 points, followed closely by Brooke Chandor’s 12 and Mia Diplock’s 11. However, these efforts would be no match for the Jeff ’s outstanding team play throughout the game.

While twins Ali and Meredith Doswell ’17 both chipped in offensively with 12 and eight points respectively, it was really the senior leadership that ensured the win for Amherst.

Megan Robertson ’15 came alive after halftime, with 11 of her 12 points coming in the second half. She also pulled down six defen-

Sophomore Forward Meredith Doswell fueled Amherst on Sunday against Colby with eight points. sive rebounds overall.

The final score would read 65-54 as the Jeffs improved their record to 18-2 with the win. “This weekend was a test for us and showed us what we need to work on in order to make it all the way. Even though we lost another game, I am 100% percent confident that my team has what it takes to win the rest,” Meredith Doswell said. They look to continue to rebound from Saturday’s loss this week against Connecticut College on Friday in Lefrak, and again on Saturday against Welseyan.

The Camels of Conn. currently stand at fifth in the NESCAC while Wesleyan stands at eighth.

10

Sports

The Amherst Student • February 4, 2015

Swimming and Diving Both Split Weekend Sarah Zuckerman ’17 Staff Writer In the first of two dual meets of the weekend, Amherst swim and dive could not hold on against a strong MIT team. The men’s side moved to 4-2 on Saturday, falling to the Engineers, who improved to 6-1 with the win.

Sophomore Connor Haley touched the wall first in the 1,000 freestyle to give the Jeffs their first win of the day. Senior Ben Grimes placed second in the 1,000 free with a time of 9:55:50.

Haley followed up his first win with a tie for first in the 500 free, while teammates Grimes and John Janezich ’18 placed third and fourth respectively. Following the long-distance freestyle events, Sam Spurrell took first in the 200 butterfly and second in the 100 fly.

Greg Han ’17 earned another two wins for the purple and white 100 and 200 breaststrokes with times of 58:05 and 2:07:18. Elijah Spiro ’18 took third in the 100 free and first in the 200 breast. Nick Lafkey ’17 followed up with third in the same event. Han added to his two first-place finishes with a second in the 200 IM. Michael Rochford ’15 took third in both the 200 IM and in the 200 back.

Senior Tyler Hampton finished third in the 50 free, while classmate Connor Sholtis finished third in both the 100 and 200 free.

The Jeffs took second and third in the 400 medley relay.

The ‘A’ team consisted of Matt Heise ’16, Jeff Anderson ’16, Spiro and Sholtis while the ‘B’ team consisted of Vic Sun ’16, Rochford, Han and Spurrell. In the 200 medley the ‘A’ team of Alex Dreisbach ’17, Heise, Spiro and Hampton took second. Finally the 400 free relay ‘A’ team of Hampton, Dreisbach, Sun, Sholtis took third in the final event.

Asher Litchig ’16 won both diving events, scoring 237.45 on the one-meter and 260.56 on the three-meter.

The women fell to 3-3 on Saturday, losing out to the Engineers 216-105. The team of Sabrina Lee ’15, Emily Hyde ’16, Geralyn Lam ’18 and Ashleigh Stoddart ’15 started the meet off with a second place finish in the 200 freestyle relay.

Charlotte Chudy ’16 took second in the 100 free and Sarah Conlkin ’16 took first in the 200 fly followed closely by Lam. Stoddart and Marie Maxwell ’18 took second and third respectively in the 200 free.

Hyde added to her accolades with a first place finish in the 100 breaststroke and 200 back. Hannah Hummel ’16 joined Hyde on the podium taking third in the 200 back. Lee finished second in 100 back while her 400 medley relay team including Hyde, Conklin and Stephanie Moriarty ’18 took second. The 200 medley ‘A’ team of Conklin, Moriarty, Stoddart and Victoria Chao ’18 took second while the ‘B’ team consisting of Hummel, Lam, Aline Kim ’15, and Amelia Deady ’18 took third.

In her next race, Maxwell took third in the 500 free while Conklin and Lam took first and second in the 100 fly. Stoddart took third in the 100 free. Lam closed out the meet, podiumming again in her next two races, finishing second in both the 200 IM and the 400 free relay alongside teammates Hyde, Conklin and Stoddart.

On Sunday the Jeffs traveled to Springfield for another dual meet, where both the men and women came out on top. The men improved to 5-2 on the season with the 170-124 victory.

“This weekend was tough,” captain Sholtis said. “Two meets and three sessions can be really taxing, with most of us swimming eight or nine times in two days.”

The Jeffs started the day with both first and second in the 200 medley relay. The ‘A’ team of Heise, Spiro, Hampton and Sholtis touched the wall first, while the ‘B’ team of Rochford, Lafky, Spurrell and Sun were close behind.

Han finished first in the 200 IM with Alex Kang ’15 following behind him for his first podium of the weekend.

Amherst swept the 200 free with Sun, John Brody ‘17 and Grimes taking first, second and third respectively. Relay teammates Rochford and Spurrell took first and second in the 50 back, followed shortly by Spiro and Lafky taking first and third in the 50 breast. Heise and Janezich took first and third in the 100 fly. In yet another sweep, Sholtis, Hampton and Anderson took first, second and third respectively in the 50 free. In another short swim, Hampton and Spurrell took first and third in the 50 fly.

Sholtis kept the Jeffs’ momentum moving forward as he claimed the top spot in the 100 free, with Brody taking third behind him.

Spurrell added more points to his day with a first in the 100 back, with Keegan Simmons ’17 following behind for the second place. In the final sweep of the day, Anderson, Sun and Spurrell took the top three spots in the 500 free.

Lichtig finished second both his 3-meter and 1-meter dives, scoring 257.56 and 221.48 respectively.

“This weekend was supposed to prepare us for championships, where we may swim up to 14 races in three days,” Sholtis said. “I think most of us did a really good job of pushing ourselves and each other mentally and physically and we had some really good swims. Now it’s championship time, and we’re excited to see what we can do.”

In the last meet before NESCACs the 162132 win improved the women to 4-3 on the season. Sabrina Lee, a senior captain, noted that illness was a problem for the women.

“I would say that the team did really well this past weekend considering that about four out of our 17 person team had strep or bronchitis,” she said.

The women started the meet by taking the first and third spots in the 200 medley relay, with the ‘A’ team of Stephanie Moriarty, Vicotira Chao, Sarah Conklin and Ashleigh Stoddart touching the wall in 1:52:40 and the ‘B’ squad of Kim, Hummel, Deady and Daniella Cruz ’18 finishing in 1:58:06.

Hyde had her first finish of the day taking the top spot in the 200 IM, with Lam touching the wall just .18 seconds behind her. Cudy and Maxwell notched points for the Jeffs with second and third in the 200 free. The women’s only sweep of the day was delivered by Lee, Moriarty and Kim in the 50 back.

The second and third spots in the 50 breast were taken by Chao and Hannah Hummel, with Conklin and Lam finishing first and second in the 100 fly. Stoddart and Amelia Deady took first and third in the 50 free and then went on to earn second and third in the 100 free. Moriarty added another win to her day, taking the top spot in the 100 back, with Lee touching the wall just behind her to earned second.

Hyde and Hummel took first and third in the next race, finishing the 100 breast in 1:07:57 and 1:10:01 respectively. Maxwell and Chudy finished raced the 500 free for the Jeffs, finishing first and second respectively in the longest event. Conklin and Lam added another set of gold and silver to the Jeffs’ point tally, taking the top two spots in the 50 fly.

In the last individual race of the afternoon, Emily Hyde and Lee took first and third in the 100 IM. In the last race of the day, Amherst took first and third in the 200 free relay. The ‘A’ team consisting of Stoddart, Conklin, Geralyn Lam, and Lee touched the wall in 1:42:33, while the ‘C’ team of Moriarty, Maxwell, Destin Groff ’17 and Cruz finished in 1:45:38.

“I think some of our relays are really starting to come together,” Lee said. “With about 2 weeks before NESCACs, I can’t wait to have the whole team together, healthy and ready to race!”

The women travel to Wesleyan for NESCAC championships Feb 13-15 while the men wait until Feb 20-22 to travel to Middlebury for their own championship.

INTRAMURAL SPOTLIGHT

Pike Goldschmidt ’16

Joyce Wamala ’17E

Why do you love IM sports?: I get to prove my athletic prowess over my friends and/or others Favorite Pro Athlete: Chase Utley Dream Job: NASA Pilot Pet Peeve: Phonies Favorite Vacation Spot: Santa Cruz Something on Your Bucket List: With advancements in modern medicine, I don’t plan on worrying about that for a while Guilty Pleasure: I’ve seen “Enchanted” about 10 times Favorite Food: Honey Baked Ham Favorite Thing About Amherst: Being able to debate whatever I find unjust

Why do you love IM sports?: I believe that everyone at Amherst should have an equal opportunity to stay fit and play Favorite Pro Athlete: Robin Van Persie Dream Job: Pediatrician for Medicines Sans Frontiers Pet Peeve: Things that smell bad Favorite Vacation Spot: Uganda Something on Your Bucket List: Visit Italy Guilty Pleasure: Really profane rap music Favorite Food: Black forest cake with fresh whipped cream and cherries Favorite Thing About Amherst: The people (students, faculty, staff, townies, everyone!

Squash Competes at Little Threes, Defeats Wesleyan Kiana Herold ’17 Assistant Editor Women The Amherst College women’s squash team handily defeated the host team Wesleyan 7-2 during the first day of play at the Little Three championship. The 17th-ranked purple and white swept the third to the ninth courts. Amherst’s top-ranked players, Kimberly Krayacich ’18 and Arielle Lehman ’15, both fell in tough matches against their Wesleyan counterparts.

After dropping her first set, Lehman won her second 13-11 and went on to play two more close sets (11-7 and 11-9) before falling to her opponent.

On court No. 3 Haley McAtee ’18 cinched a win over Williams. After dropping the two first sets (8-11 and 6-11) McAtee battled back winning the next 3 (11-5, 11-6, 11-9) to claim the match for the Jeffs. Tiana Palmer-Poroner ’17 won 3-1 on the fourth court while her teammate Ericka Robertson ’16 won 3-2 on the fifth court. On the sixth and seventh court captain Taryn Clary ‘16 and Meyha Sud ’16 respectively swept their matches 3-0. Khushy Aggarwal ’16 and Corri Johnson ’16 rounded out the performances for the Jeffs both with 3-1 wins.

The second day of competition Amherst fell to Williams 9-0. The women will head to Mount Holyoke Wednesday, Feb. 4 and will play in the NESCAC championships Feb. 6-8.

Men On the men’s side Amherst edged out Wesleyan this past Saturday 5-4 in the Little Three championship. The 22nd-ranked Lord Jeffs defeated 20th-ranked Wesleyan claiming wins in the first two courts, the fifth court and the last two courts. Highlights included a 3-2 victory by Noah Browne ’16 on court No. 1 and a 3-1 win by Captain Scott DeSantis ’15. Darian Ehsani ’17 won all three matches on Court No. 5 to post a clean 3-0 victory over his opponent.

Alex Southmayd ’15 and Stephen Cacouris ’16 both garnered 3-1 wins on the eighth and ninth courts.

Fifteenth-ranked Williams overcame the Amherst team 8-1 on the second day of competition. Highlights included a close match by Southmayd on the eighth court (3-2) claiming the first and third, while closely contesting the other sets.

The men will travel to Williams this coming weekend Feb. 6-8 to compete in the NESCAC championships.

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

First-year Haley McAtee won her match over Williams in the three spot.

The Amherst Student • February 4, 2015

Sports

11

The Dark Side: Why the Women’s Hockey Splits Weekend Bad Guys Win in the NFL

Chris’ Corner

Chris Rigas ’16 Columnist The week before the Super Bowl is rarely a time when sportswriters have trouble finding a story, but this year’s controversies were particularly juicy.

The Patriots were embroiled in their second cheating scandal of the last decade.

Bill Belichick’s defenders note, correctly, that the deflated footballs didn’t make a bit of difference in the AFC championship game that the Patriots won handily. But that doesn’t change the fact that the allegations -- if true -make Belichick and Tom Brady look arrogant and paranoid at the same time: arrogant in that they thought that they could somehow get away with deflating the balls, and paranoid in that need to control every last aspect of every game.

The Seahawks, meanwhile, played the villain in a different way. From their swaggering physical defense led by Richard Sherman, to Doug Baldwin’s mildly offensive Super Bowl celebration, to Marshawn Lynch’s refusal to say anything but “I’m here so I won’t get fined” to the media, the Seahawks make it clear that they don’t care what anyone thinks of them.

While this year’s villainy is a bit more melodramatic than usual, it’s not exactly news that being nice doesn’t get you anywhere in the NFL. Super Bowls have been won

Photo courtesy of The New York Times

The Patriots and the Seahawks, two “villians” of the NFL, competed in this year’s Superbowl. by a succession of intimidating players and tyrannical coaches, going all the way back to Vince Lombardi.

Even in just the last decade, the league has produced all different flavors of jerks, both players and coaches. Al Davis’ Raiders and the early 2000s Bengals were cartoonish, dysfunctional villains, who got arrested off the field and piled up undisciplined penalties on it.

Chad Johnson and Terrell Owens made being self-absorbed an art form. The Steelers and Ravens both built great defenses, and a great rivalry, because they willing to hit quarterbacks and defenseless receivers hard, even if it meant incurring big fines from Roger Goodell. The 49ers and Seahawks had a similar thing going in the past couple years, with the added bonus of the Seahawks’ clear disdain for the media.

And San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh was, by any measure, one of the most successful coaches in the NFL, but the 49ers parted ways with him after just one down year, simply because he was impossible to get along with.

Ndamukong Suh has built a reputation as the guy who steps on people, and also, as one of the best defensive linemen in the league. New Orleans, led by head coach Sean Payton and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, paid Saints players to injure opponents.

The common denominator is that with the exception of the Bengals and Raiders, all of these bad guys have been pretty successful.

Harrison, Lewis and Sherman all led dominant

defenses to Super Bowl wins. Owens and Johnson made themselves famous, probably collecting millions of dollars in endorsements, with their antics. Bountygate coincided with the Saints’ best years, including a Super Bowl win.

And then there is Belichick, whose cold, boring brilliance apparently hides a pathological need to cheat. There are probably a bunch of reasons that mean teams tend to win more often, starting with intimidation. Also, teams that are cast as villains get to build an “us vs. the world” mentality. Football is a game of emotion, and any extra piece of it is valuable.

As much as it pays for players to be jerks, coaches seem to have an even bigger incentive to be terrible people. Belichick and Harbaugh stand out, but football coaches in general tend to be controlling, inflexible people. The week after Jonas Gray rushed for 199 yards and four touchdowns, Belichick benched him because he was late for practice. He hasn’t really gotten a chance to redeem himself since.

College coaches can be even more tyrannical; Alabama coach Nick Saban’s need to control everything is so famous that, when you type in “Nick Saban,” Google guesses you might want to search for “Nick Saban Napoleon complex.”

There are a few “player’s coaches” in the league, most notably Rex Ryan, although Ryan hasn’t exactly been successful over the last three years.

Villains, both players and coaches, have been integral to football’s historical identity.

More than any other sport, football has the propensity to be likened to war, and a certain type of fan lionizes the player or coach who will do anything to win.

But in the last decade or so, the sport’s violence has attracted more and more criticism.

The crushing hits lead to brain trauma, and some argue the culture of on-field violence engenders off-field violence. This puts the league office in an interesting position: It has to officially condemn the reckless, aggressive play of its best teams. But at the end of every year, Goodell hands the trophy over, often to one of the most physical, or even dirty, teams in the league. A cynic might say that for all his tough posturing – his fines for late hits and his domestic violence ads – Goodell is winking at the violent side of football.

Even some of the league’s policies that are intended to reign aggression in end up encouraging it. Consider Goodell’s fines: Obviously no player wants to lose money to a fine. But think about the competitive advantage a team can get from earning a reputation for not caring about fines. A receiver who knows that Ryan Clark or Bernard Pollard is going to hit him – regardless of whatever fine he might incur – is going to be more cautious when he goes over the middle. The teams that obey the rules, that don’t get fined, are the teams that end up letting wide receivers catch passes in the middle of the field. The league and its players end up going through the theatrical motions: The players give committed fans the violence and swaggering aggression that makes the sport entertaining, while Goodell and the rest of the league office distract the more cultured scolds by flailing around about safety. And this situation is perfect for the person who has some moral qualms about the sport but wants to remain a fan. He can compartmentalize: satisfying his anxiety about the game by saying that Goodell’s hypocrisy is ruining the sport, and continuing to enjoy the play on the field.

The truth is, without a radical rule-change, football will always reward a certain type of violence; violence that is somewhere outside of the lines without being entirely out of control.

This has something to do with the humorless personalities NFL coaches tend to display.

Their entire job is to control people whose job is to be a little out of control.

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Junior Erin Martin leads Amherst with 18 assists so far this season.

Nell Patterson ’15 Staff Writer The Amherst women’s hockey team worked as a team on and off the ice this weekend during its doubleheader against Connecticut College.

Coming into the weekend, the Jeffs stood at the top of the NESCAC standings with a 5-02 conference record, while the Camels ranked third in the NESCAC with a record of 5-3-2.

The Jeffs skated to a 3-1 victory over the Camels on Saturday, while taking their first NESCAC loss of the season on Sunday 3-0. Sunday also marked the Jeffs’ annual Pink in the Rink event, which helped raise funds for the breast cancer awareness. Camille Herzog ’17 said the event has “grown and developed every year to better serve the Cancer Connection in Northampton.”

In Saturday’s victory, first-year standout Brenna Sullivan delivered two of Amherst’s three goals. Sullivan opened up the scoring for Amherst during the first period off of passes from Lynndy Smith ’17 and Emily Flom ’15.

Conn. College’s goalie Kelsie Fralick had a stellar second period, as Amherst held the shot advantage 19-5. Fralick’s efforts in goal kept the Jeffs at bay throughout the second period.

Connecticut College scored at the 8:26 mark in the second period to tie the score.

Feeling the pressure in the third, Sullivan stepped up again scoring in the last three minutes of the period off a breakaway. Hoping to tie the score, Fralick was pulled in the remaining seconds of the game. Alex Toupal ’18 scored on the empty net to make the final score, 3-1.

Herzog commended her team’s “determination to stick it out until the end.”

With lots of opportunities on both sides, the goalies really played a huge factor in the outcome. First-year goalie Sabrina Dobbins made 30 saves for Amherst, while Fralick ended up with 35.

The two teams returned to the ice on Sunday decked out in pink for the Pink in the Rink Fundraiser. The Jeffs dawned their special pink lined jerseys, pink socks and even pink tape on their sticks. The Camels showed their support by taping up their sticks in pink as well.

The Jeffs organized a full event for spectators, including a raffle drawing, a “chuck the duck”

game and bake sale. The Conn. College team also donated to the raffle to show their support for the cause. All proceeds from the game went to Cancer Connections, a local organization in Northampton that helps women in the Pioneer Valley area suffering from breast cancer. Cancer Connections appealed to the team because of its ties to the greater Amherst community. The organization offers a place for those who are suffering from breast cancer and those who care for them to cope with the disease.

Herzog said the event helped her team realize “there are bigger more important things in the world than just success in sports” and further “to support, Hugh, our amazing announcer, and his wife in their journey battling cancer.”

While successful in creating an awesome event, the Jeffs did not have as much luck on the ice in their second matchup against the Camels.

Conn. College scored midway through the first period off a deflection from a Dobbins’ save.

Behind 1-0 moving into the second period, the Jeffs had many great opportunities to even the score. With a two-player advantage power play, the Jeffs moved the puck around the Camels goal with ease, firing shots, but were unable to capitalize. With five minutes left in the period, Cassie Hunter of Conn. College stole a Jeffs’ clearance in their defensive zone. Hunter was able to sneak the puck pass, Dobbins pushing the Camel lead to two goals. In the third, the Jeffs pressured again but were unable to find an opening. The Camels scored on an empty net in the last minute of the game to make the score 3-0.

One highlight of Amherst’s effort on Sunday was their impressive advantage in shots, 54-24.

“We had a lot of amazing chances on Sunday, but the puck just never seemed to bounce our way,” Herzog noted.

A major reason was the impressive performance by Fralick who had 54 saves.

Dobbins recorded her first loss of the season in goal with 21 saves on the day.

The loss dropped the Jeffs to No. 2 in the NESCAC behind Middlebury. The team willreturn to Orr Rink for another doubleheader this upcoming weekend. They will face Williams on Friday night at 7 p.m. and again on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Sophomore Caitlin Ryan has 10 points so far this season for the Jeffs.

Sports

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Amherst men’s hockey sports a 13-3-2 record this season, with two important NESCAC wins over Trinity and Wesleyan this weekend.

Men’s Hockey Beats Trinity, Former No. 1 in the Nation, Defeats Wesleyan, David White Earns NESCAC Honors

Greg Williams ’16 Staff Writer

The Amherst men’s ice hockey team had a successful homestand this weekend as they managed to go 2-0 against NESCAC opponents Trinity and Wesleyan. The first game against the Bantams last Friday night was a huge game for both teams as Trinity has been one of the best teams in the conference thus far into the season.

Amherst got on the board first when senior captain Jake Turrin was able to find the back of the net off of assists from Kevin Ryder ’16 and David White ’18.

Trinity maintained pressure on the Jeffs for the whole period and managed to outshoot them 10-4 in the frame, largely thanks to their three powerplays, all of which the Jeffs killed successfully.

The Jeffs came out quickly in the second period as Mike Rowbotham ’15 netted his seventh goal of the year to extend the lead for Amherst. The assists on the play came from two first-years Patrick Mooney and Thomas Lindstrom.

The Bantams sparked some life halfway through the period when they slipped a powerplay goal by Danny Vitale ’15 to cut the lead to 2-1. But the Jeff offense was not done just yet, and senior defender Aaron Deutsch notched his fifth goal of the year and the

WED GAME SCHE DULE

Women’s Squash @ Mt. Holyoke, 6 p.m.

eventual game-winner with under a minute remaining in the period.

The third period proved to be very competitive, and Trinity had the Jeffs on the ropes for much of it. After cutting the lead to one early on it was up to the Jeff defense to hold strong, which they did. Vitale recorded 16 saves in the period, to accompany his 33 in the game, as Amherst held on for what will prove to be one of their biggest wins of the 2014-2015 campaign.

The next afternoon, Orr Rink was host to another NESCAC matchup, this one within the Little Three. The Cardinals were in town, and despite their less than stellar year so far, were looking to make a statement in this rivalry matchup.

The game was scoreless for much of the first period until White scored a shorthanded goal on a great hustle play, with the assist coming from Turrin. The Jeffs headed to the locker room slightly outshot, but still clinging to a narrow 1-0 advantage on the scoreboard.

The second period was equally competitive, but Topher Flanagan ’16 extended the Jeff lead with a great goal off of a faceoff win

by Mike Cashman ’15.

The next 12 minutes were scoreless, until the Cardinals managed to beat Vitale with a shot from the left faceoff circle, a play that sparked some life for Wesleyan.

FRI Men’s Squash @ NESCAC Championship Women’s Squash @ NESCAC Championship Women’s Basketball vs. Conn. College, 7 p.m.

Looking to extend the lead before the third, the Jeffs offense got some help again from White, the team’s leading goal scorer, with ten seconds left in the period as he rattled home his second score of the game.

The Jeff offense exploded in the third to rack up three goals on just 11 shots. Lindstrom recorded two scores, his third and fourth this season.

White notched his third of the game, good for a hat trick. His outstanding per-

formance earned him NESCAC player of the week honors, as well.

Vitale made a solid 30 saves, and now maintains a .932 save percentage this season.

Amherst will be traveling to Maine this weekend to play Colby and Bowdoin at their rinks in two games with serious NESCAC playoff implications. Colby now sits at 5-112 on the season while Bowdoin sports a 105-3 record. Amherst looks to move up from the two spot in the NESCAC rankings.

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

SAT Women’s Hockey vs. Williams, 7 p.m.

Men’s Basketball at Conn. College, 7 p.m.

Men’s Hockey at Colby, 7 p.m.

Men’s Squash @ NESCAC Championship Women’s Squash @ NESCAC Championship Men’s Indoor Track and Field @ Tufts Stampede, 10 a.m.

SUN Women’s Indoor Track and Field @ Tufts Stampede, 10 a.m.

Women’s Basketball vs. Wesleyan, 3 p.m.

Women’s Hockey vs. Williams, 3 p.m.

Men’s Basketball at Wesleyan, 3 p.m.

Men’s Hockey at Bowdoin, 4 p.m.

Men’s Squash @ NESCAC Championship Women’s Squash @ NESCAC Championship