Issue 18

THE AMHERST

THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

STUDENT VOLUME CXLV, ISSUE 18 l WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2016

Men’s Lax Beats Bowdoin 10-7 in Opener See Sports, Page 10 AMHERSTSTUDENT.AMHERST.EDU

Congress Seeks Information on College Endowment Dan Ahn ’17 Managing News Editor

Photo courtesy of Jamie Gracie ‘17

Fiction editor of the New Yorker, Deborah Treisman, moderates a conversation between authors Angela Flournoy and Lauren Groff ’01 on March 3 in Johnson Chapel.

Amherst Holds First Annual LitFest Kiana Herold ’17 Managing News Editor Amherst College hosted the inaugural LitFest this past weekend, bringing an array of notable authors and editors to campus. LitFest was composed of a series of events highlighting the college’s tradition of literary excellence.

The festival was organized by The Common literary magazine, the Center for Humanistic Inquiry, the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Office of Communications and the English department. It debuts The Common’s partnership with the National Book Foundation and the college’s partnership with The MacDowell Colony, a prestigious artist colony. The festival will take place annually and is sponsored by the Croxton Lecture Fund, which was established in 1988.

“The festival arose out of the shared desire of everyone involved to celebrate literature and great writing at a college where the teaching and study of great writing is valued so highly, and where faculty and alumni have made such

important contributions to the life of literature across the college’s history, right through the present,” chief communications officer Pete Mackey said in an email interview. Each event of LitFest concluded with an audience question and answer session.

The festival began on the evening of March 3 in Johnson Chapel with a conversation with Angela Flournoy and Lauren Groff ’01. The conversation was hosted by Deborah Treisman, the fiction editor of The New Yorker. Flournoy’s first novel, “The Turner House” was a finalist for the National Book Award and a New York Times notable book of the year. Groff has penned short stories and three novels. Her most recent book, “Fates and Furies,” was a New York Times Notable Book of 2015 and a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award.

“The conversation between Lauren Groff and Angela Flournoy was lively and vibrant, marked by their passion for creating meaningful literary works, their love for the written word and their enthusiasm for engaging with the audience and

each other,” Sasha Burshteyn ’16, an intern at The Common, said. “Perhaps my favorite part of the conversation was their refreshing lack of forced humility: These were two remarkable women writers felt no qualms about accepting compliments or acknowledging their own prowess.”

President Martin opened the event with her remarks, and Jennifer Acker ’00, founder and editor-in-chief of The Common, introduced the speakers. Privilege and the lack thereof emerged as a central theme of the talk, as both authors’ books dealt with the issue in different ways.

Flournoy and Groff also spoke about how they approach the writing process and about getting pigeonholed as writers of “domestic literature.”

Jamie Gracie ’17, who attended the event, said she enjoyed “hearing [Flournoy and Groff] share an anecdote or an observation they had made in their life and then talk about how it influenced their book either thematically or in terms of plot.”

The first event on March 4 was a talk titled

Continued on Page 3

Congress sent Amherst a letter on Feb. 8 regarding the management and spending of the college’s endowment. Amherst is one of 56 colleges and universities that have been requested to provide supplementary information on their endowments. Congress sent the letter to institutions with endowments valued at over $1 billion by the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

The college’s endowment is $2.2 billion, according to the most recent financial report.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) were in charge of writing the letter. Each of those committees deals with federal tax policy.

“It’s probably no coincidence that we’ve received, in 2016, the same sort of letter we received back in 2008,” said Kevin Weinman, the college’s chief financial officer. “Endowments have grown, and colleges enjoy tax-exempt status. We’re a mission-based, not-for-profit organization, so our endowment money is not taxed once we’ve received them or spend them.

It’s understandable that legislators would ask questions when endowments grow to a certain level.”

The college makes two sets of financial information publicly available: the IRS form 990, which is the tax return for organizations exempt from income tax, and the college’s annual financial report, which details revenues, expenditures and investments. The congressional letter requests information beyond the scope of those documents, including whether institutions grant naming rights to donors based on donation levels, and what policies they have in place to prevent conflicts of interest among people who work with the endowment.

This supplementary information will partially be used to examine tuition hikes in recent years. “Despite these large and growing endowments, many colleges and universities have raised tuition far in excess of inflation,”

Continued on Page 3

Christena Cleveland Urges Using Privilege for Good Jacob Pagano ’18 Staff Writer Christena Cleveland, social psychologist and associate professor of the practice of reconciliation at Duke University’s Divinity School, delivered a series of lectures at Amherst College on March 3 and 4.

Cleveland’s first lecture, “Paying Privilege Forward: How We Can Use Our Influence to Create a More Equitable Society,” took place in Paino lecture hall on March 3. On March 4, she gave a talk in the Multicultural Resource Center titled “Faith, Justice & Reconciliation.” Later that evening, she gave a third talk about the importance of diversity in American churches.

Paul Sorrentino, Director of Religious and Spiritual Life, helped organize the lectures.

Cleveland’s talks were primarily sponsored by the Schwemm Fund and also by the black studies, anthropology and sociology departments.

Sorrentino said that Cleveland offers insight on establishing meaningful connections across cultural and racial barriers. “I brought Dr. Cleveland’s work to the diversity and inclusion committee last year,” Sorrentino said.

“We were interested in bringing her because of her ground-breaking work on factors that cause people to feel marginalized and ways we can address those such that people feel included in meaningful ways.”

Sorrentino said that Cleveland’s talks were

of particular interest to the college because she offers tangible strategies for how to break down barriers within communities.

“The college’s commitment to diversity and inclusion has been ongoing for several years,” he said. “While our demographics have reflected that commitment, developing a genuine sense of mutual commitment and community across our differences has been elusive.

Cleveland stresses the need to intentionally identify with others, give sincere attention to what matters to them … and develop a nonhierarchical, mutual dependence.”

“We are members of the larger Amherst College community and want to echo the message that Christena Cleveland relayed to her audience: We are all so fortunate to be stu-

dents at Amherst and it is so important to pay privilege forward because we all have the ability to do so,” Ryan Cassidy ’16, who attended the event, said.

“When it comes to racial division, tension, strife and pain, there is no single response.

There is, instead, a commitment to do better, to learn, and to live together in more respectful and just ways,” chair of the black studies department John Drabinski said. “That work continues with any campus speaker on racial justice and healing. Cleveland struck us as worthy of support because she brings important, fresh thoughts to these topics.”

Cleveland began her first lecture by dis-

Continued on Page 3

News

Rose Miller Feb. 29 , 2016 - March 6, 2016

>>Feb. 29, 2016 4:24 p.m., Field House An employee reported the theft of Lacrosse equipment valued at $3,000. As a result of an investigation, a 15-year-old youth from Hadley will be summoned to court. >>March 1, 2016 1:58 a.m., McGuire Life Sciences Building Officers and the Fire Department responded to an alarm. No cause for the activation was identified.

7:35 p.m., College Street A student reported hearing loud music, which contained offensive lyrics, coming from a car that passed him while he walked along College Street. >>March 2, 2016 8:34 p.m., Frost Library Officers investigated a report of a man acting in a suspicious manner. The man, who has no association with the college, was subsequently issued a written no-trespass order.

9:45 p.m., Converse Lot An officer on patrol found an unconscious male on the ground near at the bus stop. The man, who was intoxicated, was taken by ambulance. >>March 3, 2016 5:24 p.m., Coolidge Dormitory Officers responded to a report of a disturbance involving destructive behavior at a second-floor suite. The incident was investigated and referred to Student Affairs.

6:13 p.m., Coolidge Dormitory Officers responded to a report of vandalism and found a window smashed out in a second-floor suite. The responsible person was identified and the matter was referred to Student Affairs.

6:55 p.m., Field House Officers responded to assist the Athletic Department staff with an issue involving a visitor.

9:57 p.m., King Dormitory An officer responded to a noise complaint and issued a warning to a resident. >>March 4, 2016 12:05 p.m., 40 Dickinson Street An officer investigated a fire alarm and found it was set off accidentally. >>March 5, 2016 12:11 a.m., King Dormitory Officers responded to a complaint of loud music and found an unauthorized party on the first floor. It was shut down.

12:25 a.m., King Dormitory An officer confiscated several bottles of hard alcohol found unattended on the first floor.

1:17 a.m., Stone Dormitory Officers responded to a complaint of loud music at a firstfloor suite and found a party ending.

2:26 a.m., Moore Dormitory An officer responded to a complaint about the odor of marijuana and traced it to a first-floor room. The resident and two other students admitted to having smoked inside the room.

They were fined $100 each for the smoking violation. The matter was referred to Student Affairs.

3:02 p.m., East Drive Amherst Police reported that they were chasing a male toward campus. The man was apprehended near East Drive and Barrett Hill Road.

8:11 p.m., College Street Officers responded to a report of an intoxicated male stumbling along College Street. He was located and the matter was handled by the town police because he was in their jurisdiction.

10:09 p.m., Valentine Dormitory An officer responded to a complaint about the odor of marijuana smoke on the second floor.

Nothing was found.

11:27 p.m., Morrow Dormitory Officers responded to a report of an unknown male loitering on the north side of the building. He was not located.

11:40 p.m., Stone Dormitory Officers and the Fire Department responded to an alarm and found a damaged pull station on the third floor, which had caused the alarm. >>March 6, 2016 12:28 a.m., Stone Dormitory An officer discovered evidence that a significant amount of alcohol had been present at a registered party in violation of the option one regulations. The matter was referred to Student Affairs.

1:03 a.m., Crossett Loading Dock An officer evaluated an intoxicated female who had called Safe Ride.

1:17 a.m., Crossett Dormitory Officers were called to assist an intoxicated male.

2:16 a.m., Crossett Dormitory An officer checked on a female who was not feeling well. She was transported back to her residence.

2:50 p.m., Charles Drew House An officer encountered a male who was posting flyers outside residence halls and academic buildings. He was advised that he needed prior authorization and was directed off campus.

Thoughts on Theses Department of Pscyhology

Rose Miller ’16 is a senior psychology major. Her thesis explores aspects of of friendship, such as how friendships develop, whether or not they last and what people seek most in friendships. Her thesis adviser is Professor Catherine Sanderson in the psychology department.

Q: How would you describe your thesis?

A: My thesis is an examination of the psychological correlates of relationship satisfaction and loneliness among first-year students at Amherst.

Specifically, I’m looking at same-sex friendships and how different strategies of initiating or maintaining relationships lead to different outcomes over time. Mine is a two-part study, meaning that I surveyed first-years in the middle of the fall semester, just as people are starting to get settled into college. Then, I surveyed them early this semester, right when classes were starting and after people had had more of a chance to solidify or change their friendships.

Q: How did you decide on this subject?

A: I decided to look at friendships among firstyear students because, as everyone knows, the first year of college can be a difficult transition and friendships play a large role in making that transition either easier or more difficult. In social psychology, there’s a lot more research looking at romantic relationships and how those affect us than research looking at friendships, so I was interested in exploring a topic that is relatively understudied, despite how important close friendships are to our day-to-day lives, especially at college.

Q: Did your first-year experience impact your decision to write this thesis, and if so, how?

A: My first-year experience absolutely contributed to my thesis topic. My first year was really tough for me, and I felt like my friendships were a big cause of my stress that year. Being a senior, I have such a different perspective and I feel so much happier about Amherst and my time here, so I definitely was motivated to study first-year friendships as a way not only to reconcile what was a really hard year for me, but also just to shed light on the fact that friendships at college can be a mixed bag sometimes. I thought studying friendships via the psychological lens would be a perfect way for me to wrap up my college experience by using the research skills I’ve learned over these four years to construct a more cohesive narrative of what it means to be a first-year at Amherst navigating a brand new social environment.

Q: How has your thesis changed throughout the year?

A: I started this research with some hypotheses about how certain types of relationships or strategies in relationships might lead to better or worse outcomes, and I’m finding that the results are more nuanced than I originally anticipated. I was interested in how certain types of goals that people have for their relationships might affect the outcomes or satisfaction levels in those relationships. Specifically, I’m looking at the construct of “intimacy goals,” which is basically a way of saying, “How much do you desire closeness and self-disclosure with your friends?”

I’m finding that one of the major important facets of these goals is desires for trust and honesty in relationships, more so than I originally anticipated. My research is showing that desiring truthfulness and is really important in terms of determining how people feel about their friendships down the line.

Q: What are the methods by which you discovered that people desire more intimacy?

A: It’s not that people desire more intimacy — it’s that certain individuals have different goals for their relationships. The degree of intimacy that individuals desire varies, and this variable affects how satisfied people are in their friendships. I used a survey method, and one of the measures on it was an Intimacy Goals scale, which was originally developed by Professor Sanderson for use in a study examining how much people desire intimacy in romantic relationships. We adapted the scale to pertain to friendship relationships.

Q: What is the most challenging part of your thesis?

A: I think the most challenging part of this thesis project is really trying to be unbiased and careful in interpreting the data. My results are pretty complicated, so I am really having to make an extra effort to make sure that I don’t over-interpret what I’m finding, and that I take all my statistical results with a little bit of a grain of salt, as one usually should do with most psychology research. Nothing is black and white, and I think that by working on this project intensely for so long, I can get a little narrow-minded. But I’ve found that it is really important to take a step back every once in a while and to consider all sides of the equation, and in this case that means understanding that friendships and relationships are nuanced and complex, and that my research is only measuring one very specific aspect of an intricate system.

Q: Where do you hope to see your thesis go?

A: In general, I’m really hoping that this research leads to somewhat of a better understanding of what it takes to make and maintain fulfilling friendships in college. As I’ve said, friendships are so integral to who we are, especially at this stage of our lives, and I’m hoping that the work I’m doing can contribute to our general sense of what is required to be a good friend, and to have impactful relationships.

Q: What is the best part of writing a thesis?

A: The best part is definitely getting to feel like you have complete ownership over something you are working on. I think sometimes in college, it can be easy to get lost in classes and to feel like you are doing readings or writing papers that are not exactly your own, or are not exactly what you would choose to be doing or thinking about if you had more freedom.

Q: What is the worst part?

A: The worst part is the flip side of that. You have complete responsibility for an academic project that is really important to you, so it can feel overwhelming at times.

Q: What advice would you give to future thesis writers?

A: My advice to future thesis writers would be to take your thesis seriously. It is what you make of it, but don’t take it so seriously that you make yourself crazy and think that it is the be-all and end-all of your college career. It’s not. It’s important and exciting and sometimes a little scary, but it’s also just a really great opportunity to learn something new about a field you’re excited about.

— Alida Mitau ’18

The Amherst Student • March 9, 2016

News

3

Cleveland Encourages Awareness of Privilege Continued from Page 1

cussing her teenage years and the privileges that her education afforded her.

“I grew up with much support, and went to Exeter and then Dartmouth,” she said. “They keep telling you at Exeter that you’re the best and the brightest … I wanted to believe that, until it occurred to me that I essentially won a genetic lottery and am part of the 28 percent of people who grow up in this country with parents who went to college, which makes you three and half times more likely to have the tangible support that you need to go to college.”

She argued that a blind faith in individualism, meritocracy and equality ignores the effects of institutional racism. “Individualism is a false belief. We’d love to believe that as long as I work hard, that’s all I have to do — but in reality every step [some people] take, they face something that serves as an impediment against them. It’s not just about how hard you

work — there are a whole of social things going on,” Cleveland said.

The talk resonated with issues discussed during Amherst Uprising. “Amherst Uprising … was painful and exhilarating and full of despair and hopeful, all at the same time,” Drabinski said. “In the wake of all of those feelings and thoughts, we need ... deep impact and productive conversations, [and] Cleveland is part of that. We need all approaches and all voices that are committed to anti-racist struggle in this moment.”

Cleveland concluded by urging students to resist the temptation to deny their privileges, and instead “lean in,” interacting and listening to those within one’s community.

“We can leave our turf right here in our communities, which means getting outside of my circle of friends and going to other people groups in my community, listening on their terms, hearing what their struggles are and believing them,” she said.

Photo courtesy of Sophia Salazar ‘18

Christena Cleveland, social psychologist and associate professor at Duke Divinity School, talked about recognizing privilege on Thursday, March 3.

Congress Seeks Details of Amherst Endowment Policies Continued from Page 1 the letter states, and although IRS form 990 was revised in 2007 to request more information about oversight and management of nonprofit organizations, it does not deal specifically with college endowment policies.

“There is a misperception about the relationship between comprehensive fee, or sticker price, with the amounts that we actually collect,” Weinman said. “Without a doubt, Amherst and other schools have increased

tuition above inflation for some time. Yet the piece of the story that’s missed is that we increase financial aid even faster, so that the amount that we collect on a net basis is much more in line with inflation than is generally understood.”

The letter also addresses the issue of restrictions in its questions about endowment management. Restricted funds must be spent according to the directions of their donor. According to Weinman, Amherst is similar to other institutions in that much of its endow-

ment is restricted loosely to general areas such as financial aid or “instruction.” If Congress passes laws requiring specific expenditures of endowments as a result of the ongoing inquiry, it is possible that those laws could come into conflict with existing donor restrictions.

Endowment management and spending are particularly relevant to the college because of its high reliance on its endowment. 51 percent of the budget is funded from the endowment, which puts Amherst in second place nationwide behind Princeton.

“We have a riskier financial profile than a lot of schools because we’re endowmentdependent, and we can’t control investment returns as much as we’d like,” Weinman said.

“Given our endowment reliance, the care and prudence and with which we invest it, [and] with which we use it, is a uniquely important question to Amherst.”

The letter requests that colleges respond by April 1. Weinman said that his office plans to make the college’s response fully public after it is sent to Congress.

College Celebrates Writers During Inaugural LitFest

Photo courtesy of Sydney Tate ‘18

Professor Umphrey, an organizer of LitFest, introduced Michael Chabon, chairman of the board of the MacDowell Colony and renowned author, on March 4. Chabon read from a failed novel, giving insight into the writing process.

Continued from Page 1 “10,000 Years of the Book Business in 45 Minutes” by Harold Augenbraum, executive director of The National Book Foundation. The talk covered topics such as methods of written communication throughout history and the future impact of technological innovations on books and reading.

A conversation between Acker and Treisman, titled “America’s Fiction Unedited,” took place that afternoon in the Center for Humanistic Inquiry. Acker posed questions to Treisman, who talked about her career path and experiences as the fiction editor of The New Yorker, editing renowned authors’ works, holding each author to their own standard and hosting the award-winning New Yorker Fiction podcast.

Michael Chabon, chairman of the board of the MacDowell Colony and author of novels such as the Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Amaz-

ing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” gave a talk in the evening President Martin, director of the Center for Humanistic Inquiry Martha Umphrey and executive director of the MacDowell Colony Cheryl Young opened the talk. Chabon read from “Fountain City,” ­­­­­a novel that he had worked on for five years that will not be published. He read his annotations aloud, giving insight into his writing process.

“The autobiographical nature of his writing revealed not only his prowess as a writer, but also the role that the personal development of the artist plays,” Sarah Whelan ’17, an intern for The Common who attended the event, said. “Essentially, his talk underlined the point that the success of a piece of writing is determined partially by the author’s own self at the time of writing, rather than only the merit of the project itself.”

Friday night ended with a poetry slam in the Powerhouse, hosted by Daniel Gallant, the executive director of Nuyorican Poets Café, a famous

poetry slam venue. Nine poets competed for the first-place prize, a pre-paid trip to New York City.

Each poet performed two original poems and a panel of student and staff judges scored their performances. A short “Haiku Deathmatch” followed intermission, with themes the judges chose, such as “The Socials” and “Curiosity.” Latrelle Broughton ’19 earned first place, followed

by Irisdelia Garcia ’18 and David Ruth ’17.

“The surprise Haiku Deathmatch particularly was a lot of fun,” Broughton said. “ I’m also happy that I was able to share the space with so many of Amherst’s talented poets, I felt as if I learned a lot from them.”

“A Conversation with Mark Bowden and Stacy Schiff ” took place on Saturday in LewisSebring and was hosted by Cullen Murphy, the editor-at-large of Vanity Fair and chair of the board of trustees.

“With two radically different approaches to the art of nonfiction, Stacy Schiff and Mark

Bowden both seemed driven by a mix of curiosity, inventiveness and compassion” Burshteyn said. “Both write such tightly-woven, closelyresearched narratives that seem generated by an almost inhuman knack for research and understanding: Their conversation was a wonderful peek behind the curtain of their mastery.”

Schiff is the author of “Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov),” which won the Pulitzer Prize.

Bowden is a national correspondent for The Atlantic, contributor to Vanity Fair and best-selling author of numerous books including “Black Hawk Down,” which was a finalist for the National Book Award and adapted into an Academy Award-winning film.

“While the main focus of this inaugural LitFest is non-fiction, other genres such as poetry sit comfortably beside non-fiction because they are all focused on the writer’s act of creation,” executive director of the Emily Dickinson Museum Jane Wald said.

Two tours of the Emily Dickinson Museum, which includes the Emily Dickinson Home, a U.S. national historic landmark, took place Saturday afternoon.

“In this special Saturday program, we want to position Emily Dickinson not as a cloistered recluse, but rather as a powerful and well-connected writer,” Wald said. “Not exactly the Emily of popular imagination, but a different take on her vocation, her class, and her opportunities.”

LitFest concluded with a mini-colloquium in Alumni House honoring French professor Jay Caplan, who has taught at the college since 1985.

French professors Thomas Kavanagh from Yale and Ann Smock from UC Berkeley spoke at the event.

The primary organizing team consisted of Wald, Acker, Mackey and Umphrey. In an email interview, Mackey said the team closely consulted with the English department and with Paul Gallegos, interim associate director for student activities.

“It seems fitting that the LitFest reflect the college’s rich literary tradition from its very founding into the present day and even beyond, to writers yet to be inspired by the power of language they’ll discover at Amherst College,” Wald said.

Opinion Patience and Change Editorial Last weekend, posters mysteriously appeared around campus.

Although not officially affiliated with the movement, the writer of the poster printed the Amherst Uprising logo at the top and began the message with the accusatory question,“Where have you gone Amherst Uprising???” followed by a sarcastic “Congratulations!!!”

At first glance, the poster seems to suggest that students bring back the Amherst Uprising movement more publicly, but the poster’s actual language instead diminishes the work participants of Amherst Uprising have put into the movement. Sure, the movement to address institutional racism at the college has been far from perfect, but it is still an ongoing process. By downplaying the work that has been done thus far without any constructive criticism, the author of the posters seems to be making a provocative statement purely for the sake of getting a reaction, without doing anything productive.

Students should not be patting themselves on the back and calling the movement a success prematurely, but there still needs to be a consideration of the progress that has been made so far. Amherst Uprising served as a catalyst for a more active involvement by students in reshaping the college. For example, the Asian Student Association has been actively creating a stronger contingency and identity among Asian students and their allies following the movement. While the group was created a little before the sit-in, the movement inspired students to take the initiative in seeking a space to comfortably explore their racial identity. This sentiment

rings true for many students across campus; there persists a desire to reconnect with and further express their backgrounds.

It’s also important to recognize that the full breadth of results from the sit-in aren’t always displayed publicly. Lord Jeff is gone, President Biddy Martin established a new Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion, and there is increased student involvement with the Curriculum Committee. But there are lesser known initiatives occurring around campus, too. Many athletic teams are having difficult conversations regarding topics such as sexuality, socioeconomics and race. Friends still discuss issues that were addressed during Uprising and feeling comfortable doing so. This should not be a moment exclusively of self praise, however, as these conversations did indeed dwindle down, but it’s unfair to say that the movement is gone. Recognizing the importance of these small conversations will allow larger and perhaps more widely effective action to take place.

You can’t plant a few individual seeds and expect an orchard to grow over a short period of time. Similarly, it will take time to bring down the institutionally embedded problems that have persisted at the college for years. This sarcastic message of the posters is just a momentary attempt to pull attention away from the important matters at hand. The movement is not dead — it’s still growing, but Amherst students need to do our part to make sure that the conversations inspired by the sit-in stay alive and spark change.

Why Kanye Can Win Eddie Rego ’19 Contributing Writer Donald Trump’s rise to the top is considered thrilling or revolting, depending on whom you ask. Nonetheless, it’s clear that Trump is, without question, a master pitchman and a political genius. But, what experts say are his secret weapons are less political than they are psychological. As it turns out, what Trump has in common with Hitler may be less important in this election than what he has has in common with Kanye West.

First off, it’s important to recognize who Trump’s supporters really are — and they’re not who you think they might be. Matthew MacWilliams, a Ph.D. student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, identified and classified Trump supporters in his dissertation. His research found something remarkable. The single best variable to identify a Trump supporter isn’t political affiliation, race, religion, gender or hundreds of other variables — it’s authoritarianism.

Authoritarianism predicts support for Trump better than virtually any other indicator. What does authoritarianism mean? In short, it means wanting to preserve the status quo particularly when threats are perceived. It’s thus no surprise why Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan is so popular with his base. His supporters feel like America is under threat by outsiders.

Barbara Isanski wrote for the Association for Psychological Science: “It’s known that people are more fearful of ‘out-groups’ — that is, people who are different from them.” There is currently a perceived threat from all types of minorities.

This means terrorist attacks and ISIS, an influx of immigration, the legalization of same-sex marriage, the inevitability of a minority majority, heightened racial tensions (#BlackLivesMatter) and the incumbency of an African-American president for eight years have likely played a role in provoking authoritarian sentiments across all religious, racial and political cohorts.

Elizabeth Suhay, a professor at American University, found in 2011 that when non-authoritarians feel sufficiently scared, they also start to behave, politically, like authoritarians.

Moderates and Democrats vote for Trump too, she said. Mark McKinnon, a political strategist for both Republicans and Democrats, said in a

New York Times interview: “Elections are about two things: fear or hope … to win an election you need to appeal to one of the two … but fear usually works better.” This brings us to another trick up Trump’s sleeve: pessimism. Our psychology is tailored to listen to pessimism more than optimism. John Stuart Mill noticed this over 150 years ago when he wrote: “I have observed that not the man who hopes when others despair, but the man who despairs when others hope, is admired by a large class of persons as a sage.” Pessimism is intellectually captivating. That’s why the media reports on airplane-crashes and the rising cost of oil rather than about how great our economy is doing. It’s also why Donald Trump gets more media-time than any other candidate.

In a study published by Harvard professor Teresa Amiable in the Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology, individuals writing negative book reviews were seen as smarter and more competent than those who wrote positive book reviews even when “the content of the positive review was independently judged as being of higher quality.” The point is: Pessimism sounds smart and we pay attention to it. Not coincidentally, Trump has no shortage of pessimism.

Psychologically speaking, Trump also has plenty of ammo. For instance, he speaks in simple responses — ridiculously simple responses.

Cognitively, we dislike confusion. We like short, simple answers, even to complicated problems.

When asked about the complexities of the economy, he’ll say, “I’m a businessman. I make deals.

Our country is losing to China.” When asked about abortion: “One word. Pro-life. That’s all I’m going to say.” When asked about immigration: “We’re going to build a wall and Mexico’s going to pay for it.” When asked about our military: “We’re going to build the biggest military ever. No one’s going to mess with us.” When asked about what a Trump presidency would look like: “We don’t win anymore. Under Trump, we’re going to win.”

Trump gets criticized by those on both the left and right for not speaking specifically and having plans of no substance. But why risk confusing people if a simple line or two will do?

There’s also the advantage of repetition. Think how many times Trump has said “we don’t win anymore,” “we’re going to Make America Great

Again,” “we’re going to build a wall” or just think how often you see his logo. Research has consistently found that the more we are exposed to something, the fonder we grow of it. This is what psychologists call the “mere exposure effect.”For example, simply listening to a song over and over again will cause you to like it more. Similarly, it’s long been realized that a repeated statement is judged more likely to be true. That’s why companies repeat their slogans so frequently. That’s also why Trump sells himself like a product. The more times you hear “We’re going to win with Trump,” the more likely you are to believe it.

On another note, Joe Posner of Vox interviewed supporters at a Trump rally out of pure curiosity. One supporter said: “We want our country back.” Another supporter said: “He’s trying to make the country more secure.” Nothing new there. But then another said: “It’d be great to finally have someone with balls.” This last statement reveals Trump’s greatest asset: overconfidence.

According to research, overconfidence increases one’s status even when it’s been exposed as overconfidence. In his book, “The Folly of Fools,” Robert Trivers argues that overconfidence evolved in order to better fool others. The benefits of overconfidence are clear. Cameron Anderson at UC Berkeley found that subjects who overestimated their abilities at group tasks were more respected and influential in the group, regardless of actual ability in 2012. We seem to make a mental shortcut that overconfidence equals competence.

Greater confidence leads to more leadershipbehavior, reduces anxiety and allows for more fluid interaction — all which help make a person appear more socially skilled. Trump has repeatedly said, “If you’re running for president, you should not be allowed to use a teleprompter.”

Trump is unscripted. He just speaks out of sheer confidence, and he’s been reaping the benefits.

The surprising thing is that all of these characteristics can easily be replicated by others.

Amanda Taub of Vox writes: “Donald Trump could be just the first of many Trumps in American politics.” If that’s true, we’ll be waiting on Kanye to announce his candidacy in 2020. He might actually have a chance.

THE AMHERST

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The Amherst Student • March 9, 2016

Opinion

5

Ask a Student Health Educator!

Victoria Zhang ’18 Contributing Writer

People have often asked me, “What is the weirdest question you’ve gotten at a sexuality workshop?” and, honestly there’s one clear answer.

Put yourself in my shoes, at the young age of 18, walking into the raging bin of hormones and the melted cheese smell of a first-year dormitory that will remain anonymous, getting ready to do my first sexuality workshop.

There are different ways to approach this work: Pretend you know everything or be bad at pretending you know everything. I was definitely the latter. I sat down in front of a bunch of first-years and got handed a stack of shredded pieces of paper with questions scribbled on them. We were doing the Low Down on Going Down workshop, in which students ask any question they want but generally center the questions on oral sex. I was (thank god)

Questioning Exhaustion: Part 2 Andrew Lindsay ’16 Contributing Writer

This is the second of a two-part series that attempts to answer the question, “What does it mean to be exhausted at Amherst College?” The first part of the series attributed the more insidious aspects of exhaustion to the campus’ excessive disciplinary culture.

This second part asks, “Can exhaustion be redeemed?”

Exhaustion is a phenomenon unlike any other. At its worst, it homogenizes individual experiences, emptying them of content.

It is a feeling that prevents the afflicted from imagining anything else. It can be likened to drowning in an endless sea or sinking into bottomless quicksand. In these moments, we ask ourselves: “Am I even awake right now?”

“I’m so tired, when can I go to sleep?” “Will the work ever end?”

Under extreme conditions, exhaustion forces reality to take the form of a sleepless dream in which grogginess is the norm — it is a drawing out that often replaces life and living with something else. But I wonder: can exhaustion actually keep things instead of abandoning them? Instead of subtracting, can it add?

I ask because in the first part of “Questioning Exhaustion,” which was published in the Student on Feb. 24, I explored exhaustion in relation to sleep. I think about the countless conversations that I’ve had about the imperative to achieve, to internalize and ultimately to do the most. The solutions that students pose to this problem often have to do with rest or sleep. “If we had less work, we’d have more time to sleep each night,” or so the claim goes. I just wonder why so many of us think that the solution to exhaustion is passivity instead of activity, sleep instead of awakening.

Last semester, Amherst Uprising emerged from the profound alienation, passivity and exhaustion that afflict us all on this campus.

The very neurological disorders, burnout syndrome, depression, suicidal thoughts, PTSD, etc., that color the existence of many on campus became the foundational vocabulary for this movement that framed itself on inclusion and action, as opposed to division and inaction.

Amherst Uprising began with students sharing stories of exhaustion and evolved into a full-on occupation of the main site of knowledge production and discipline on campus. Until this occupation in Frost Li-

with two upperclassmen who are much more calm and natural than I, and they handed me the easier questions. We go around answering things from “How do you get someone to go down on you” to “Does anyone use a condom for a blowjob?” Finally, we got to Liz Mutter ’15 and she read, “what does vagina taste like?”

How does one respond to a question like that? How do we go about responding to any question? Generally, we pull out the medical knowledge that we’ve learned; the perineum and coronal ridge are both often very sensitive, biting the balls off of someone is probably going to be painful. After that, and perhaps more entertainingly, we pull on the experience of others and ourselves.

Personally, I froze. I blinked a few times, I assume, opened and closed my mouth like a goldfish, and then laughed when some wise soul broke the tension. What does vagina taste like? Well let me tell you. First, that’s a philosophical question. Can you describe a taste?

There are some companies that make vaginal refreshers, but these products change the pH of the vagina, which is actually really unhealthy and can lead to yeast infections. My philosophy is that bodies taste like bodies, and it’s best not to change or mess with them. If you’re concerned about tastes or smells, taking a shower before sex is a good idea.

After this traumatic experience, I got to thinking, I bet the students of Amherst have really interesting questions that other people are interested in as well. So I asked my colleagues and friends what types of questions they had about sex, mental health, body image, drugs, and alcohol. We’re qualified to talk about any of these things, as we’re STUDENT health educators, not sexual health educators.

What sorts of questions aside from what does vagina taste like you ask? We brainstormed: - Why does is it burn so much when I pee?

-My friend got really mad at me because I said I would never hook up with a guy if he’s

not circumcised. Isn’t it it healthier to be circumsised, anyway?

- Are there ways to be sober at a party and still have a good time?

- Why can’t I ever come the first time I have sex with someone?

- Can I drink, while safely on my birth control?

- I hooked up with a few girls and didn’t use a condom. But I made sure they all were on birth control so it’s fine, right?

- Is it going to kill me to take NyQuil every night?

- If my boyfriend takes my birth control pills it deactivated his sperm, right?

- What’s the difference between spermicide and sperm?

So please, don’t be shy (it’s anonymous anyway). If you have a question you want us to answer, ask! We’re always available on email and social media, and your workshop instructor might be just as caught off guard as I was!

The Case for Plungers Bryan Doniger ’18 Contributing Writer Lately, toilet plungers have been on my mind. I’ve been thinking a lot about how infrequently I see toilet plungers on campus and about what that dearth of plungers says about our community.

Before coming to Amherst, I lived in a fairly ordinary lower-middle class suburban house. Each of our bathrooms were equipped with one plunger, typically placed to the left of the toilet. In our family, whoever plugged a toilet was responsible for unclogging it, which seemed reasonably fair to everyone.

When we were young, my brothers and I would try to get out of plunging-duty by pretending we didn’t remember the right technique, at which point our parents gave us two options. We could observe as they plunged and then do a practice round on our own or go back to the toilet and see if our memory had suddenly been jolted. As I got older, the whole memory-lapse charade started to seem slightly lazy, and occasionally I would plunge without any feigned-ignorance shenanigans.

Eventually, plunging became another one of those little things you do without thinking, simply to save someone else the bother.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about the cost of toilet plungers and specifically about the cost of supplying plungers to the student body of a small college. Lowes sells the seven-inch Cobra Rubber Plunger with a twelve-inch

brary, I had never felt more alive and awake despite my grogginess. Students seldom slept as they should have. I, for one, was exhausted in a way that took the form of drunkenness. I felt possessed, not by my extracurricular and curricular commitments, but by the collective stories that were shared.

Drunkenness allows a quality that we do not not have access to normally — the ability to take authority of objects and images redeeming them. In the case of Amherst Uprising, the disciplinary space of the library that can often be spatially demarcated and divided by social group — first-floor Frost and Marsh House by Ultimate Frisbee players, second-floor Frost by varsity athletes, etc. — became truly inclusive, free from discipline and separation even just for a moment.

On the first day, spectators and the au-

handle for $5.98. Amherst College typically houses around 1,800 students. If the school wanted to supply one plunger for every 10 students and then distribute them evenly among the dormitory bathrooms, 180 would need to be purchased and the college would have to pay a grand total of $1076.40, or 60 cents per student.

Given how inexpensive it would be to supply plungers and to ask students to use them, it’s curious that the custodial staff unclogs our toilets. Curious because unclogging a toilet is the exact sort of thing I think a liberal arts education should ask you to engage with. To me, the liberal arts are about teaching a generation of citizens how to be excellent members of the wide range of communities they will need to work within over a lifetime. These communities might be large or small, corporate or personal, intellectual or un-academic, as public as a governing body or as private as a family. Their members could be leaders, critical thinkers, hard workers, effective time managers or a whole slew of other things you can learn to be in an Amherst classroom.

A crucial part of being engaged in a community is to learn how to work on caring for that community. Of course, no class here at Amherst can teach you how to do necessary menial work selflessly and without gripe. Classes are about learning how to tackle intellectual work, which is all well and good, except that when you spend your time

doing big work for yourself, you lose sense of communal responsibility. Lessons about attending to the commons are taught at Amherst in doses. They are taught waiting in compost lines at Val, locking up the dorm room because your roommate has expensive golf clubs that he wants protected and taking out the trash. These daily moments accumulate until they teach a valuable lesson about how much our community’s wellbeing depends on the ways we care for it.

For me, one of the scariest and most crucial things about life on this small campus is that the way I use my body and my words has a salient effect on the people with whom I share space. I used to think of menial tasks as small work, but this is not the case. It’s strange that for all the time I spend worrying about the impact my actions have on this community, I almost never have to think about or to partake in the daily menial labor that’s necessary for us to have a community in the first place.

Living at a college where my meals are prepared for me and my living space is cleaned by a custodian, I want to find more ways of reminding myself how much of my well-being here depends on labor that I rarely engage with or think about. Taking the time to plunge our own toilets is one small way of starting to find meaning in forms of work and types of workers whose place at Amherst College is neglected far too often.

For 60 cents a student and two to three pumps a clog, it’s well worth the price.

dience merged. The oppressors and the oppressed merged. Inclusivity was redeemed in a way that revealed the total oppression that all students faced through excessive forms of disciplinary culture permeating academics, sports or the social scene. A humanity in common was created, fueled by the stories of marginalized students who shed their tears while inviting others to join them.

When I reflect on the illuminating potential of exhaustion, I am also reminded of the words of Martin Luther King Jr. in his speech to The New School in Feb. 1964. King noted: “But the climate, the social climate in American life, erupted into lightning flashes, trembled with thunder and vibrated to the relentless, growing rain of protest come to life through the land … In 1963, the Negro, who had realized for many years that he was

not truly free, awoke from a stupor of inaction with the cold dash of realization that 1963 meant one hundred years after Lincoln gave his autograph to the cause of freedom.”

As King asserted in 1963, exhaustion can be a flashing up that awakes the subjugated from a deep slumber. It is a phenomenon that reverberates like a thunderclap willing all it touches awake during the middle of a storm. Here, exhaustion becomes its inverse — enthusiasm.

However, exhaustion can be something to fear when it compels us to be sleeping instead of waking up. So when confronted with trouble, sleepless nights and a future that take the form of a giant question mark, never fret. When tired, don’t ask to sleep but ask to wake up, because shouldn’t we be sick and tired of being sick and tired?

Arts&Living

Photo courtesy of watermarkonline.com

The fourth season of “House of Cards” begins with the highly anticipated drama between the show’s protagonist couple: Frank and Claire Underwood.

“House of Cards” Returns to Netflix with a Tumultuous Fourth Season Sophia Salazar ‘18 Staff Writer The long-awaited return of America’s favorite fictional political animals has left “House of Cards” fans to their own devices as they take part in the annual binge-watching all 13 episodes of the new season on Netflix. The highly anticipated fourth season premiered on March 4, picking up after a nail-biting cliffhanger at the end of season three. As fans may recall, the season three finale ends after a very threatening argument in which Claire (Robin Wright) tells Frank (Kevin Spacey) that she is leaving him.

The first episode of the fourth season begins with the Underwoods, the show’s protagonist couple, in the midst of Frank’s 2016 presidential campaign. The show strongly suggests that the potential split of the first couple would single-handedly implode the Underwood 2016 campaign, and we know that Claire’s popularity with the American public is a major pull for Frank’s candidacy.

In season four, we continue to track the fallout of the Underwood marriage on the campaign trail, as many onlookers begin to question Claire’s noticeable absence from Frank’s side. Meanwhile, Claire’s own plan of action for political power comes to fruition, and she sets her sights on an elected office.

The intentional sync of the “House of Cards” presidential race with the current presidential election makes for a particularly interesting season. However, after watching season four, I am sad to admit that villainous protagonist Frank Underwood seems less ruthless than in seasons past.

His newfound tameness, in my mind, might be an effect of comparing him to the real-life political circus in the presidential primaries. As the absurdity of the current presidential race increases, Frank Underwood’s character seems to enter into a new, more subdued form. This frightening correlation between politics and TV is underlined by Donald Trump’s previous status as a reality TV star. I am certain that the writers of “House of Cards” did not anticipate the theatrics of the 2016 presidential race to be so extreme that they somehow make Frank

Underwood look like a decent human being in comparison to some of the actual 2016 candidates.

For me, Spacey’s character often served as the president of my nightmares — a politician with the worst morals among other morally-compromised politicians (read: he is a power-hungry sociopath). Clouded by my understanding of the current presidential race, Frank Underwood is no longer the wildly fictional villain I loved to watch. With the exception of being a murderer (I hope), he seems to be just as shady as some of the characters running for presidential office in real life.

It is, however, somewhat fun to compare the real presidential primaries with the primaries taking place in the shadowy world of “House of Cards.” There are some striking similarities in the storyline (i.e. a KKK controversy, ISIS/ICO) that play out quite differently on the show than in real life. A slew of

tumultuous events take place in each episode and make the show almost unbelievable and incredibly entertaining.

One notable quality of the show that continues to make “House of Cards” unique to real life, even in this wild political time, is the genuine mercilessness that the entire cast of characters continues to exude. In the universe of “House of Cards,” we are exposed to the emotional and physical brutality that each character inflicts on one another behind closed doors. Season four has no shortage of this brutality, which makes it the same guilty pleasure for many of its fans.

Many staples of the show’s subordinate cast return to enhance the new season’s story line. Remy Danton (Mahershala Ali), Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly), Jackie Sharp (Molly Parker), Seth Grayson (Derek Cecil), Heather Dunbar (Elizabeth Marvel), Viktor Petrov (Lars Mikkelsen) and Raymond Tusk (Gerald McRaney) all make significant appearances.

A few new faces are also introduced this season, like Claire’s ailing mother, Elizabeth Hale (Ellen Burstyn), Texas Congresswoman Doris Jones (Cicely Tyson), Republican candidate Will Conway (Joel Kinnaman) and savvy political consultant LeAnn Harvey (Neve Campbell).

The mix of characters are involved in various important subplots this season, making a mark on how the Underwoods continue their marriage and campaign.

Ultimately, season four of “House of Cards” is a season you don’t want to miss if you’re a returning fan invested in finding out what happens after season three.

However, if you’re a new fan, you might want to dedicate spring break to catching up on the last three seasons before you take the plunge into season four. Regardless, the new season of “House of Cards” makes this election cycle, on Netflix and in reality, all the more fun to watch.

Photo courtesy of flickr.com

Kevin Spacey, the star of “House of Cards,” plays the maniacal, power-driven politician Frank Underwood, providing an interesting comparison with current presidential candidates.

Arts & Living 7

The Amherst Student • March 9, 2016

The 1975 Release Album “I Like it When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful” Evan Paul ’18 Staff Writer Following the release of their four EPs in 2012 and 2013, British four-piece, The 1975 finally released their eponymous full length album in 2013. The album shot up the charts and even was number one in a couple of countries.

After a sly endorsement in the form of a tweet from One Direction member Harry Styles, and a Taylor Swift sighting at one of their concerts, The 1975 became overnight successes. Fans quickly fell in love with lead singer Matt Healy and his habit of mumbling the song lyrics.

After spending months on tour, performing at Coachella as well as at the famed Sheperd’s Bush Empire in London, the band finally took a hiatus from the road to record their second album. The band fell off of the face of the Earth while they recorded, abstaining from social media for a short while. Once they did return, every move they made seemed more and more mysterious. Following a change from their usual all black and white motif to a light pink logo, lead singer Matty Healy finally revealed the title of their second album.

“I Like it When You Sleep, for You are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It” was released on Feb. 26 of this year. So how does it compare to the band’s earlier work? I would say that it is still great and that the songs on the newest album don’t stray too far from the band’s iconic sound.

The album starts off slow, but strong with slightly different version of the same track that the band used to open their first album, titled “The 1975.” Though the two aren’t that different, the message is clear: This is The 1975 and you better listen up. Next comes the band’s first single off of the album, “Love Me.” This song is strongly reminiscent of the synth-pop sound that so many 80s hits are known for. Lyrically,

this song is absolutely perfect. In an interview with Billboard, Healy stated that the song is about “the rock star buying into his own selfconstructed mythology.” Afterwards there is a string of songs that are in my opinion placeholders for the space in between the album’s next gem, “If I Believe You.” It’s not quite as gritty as “Robbers,” the quintessential ballad on the band’s first album, but it is endearingly sweet.

The gospel choir backing vocals add even more depth to the already thoughtful song.

Although “If I Believe You” and “Love Me” are arguably the best songs on the album, that does not mean the rest of “I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It” isn’t equally powerful. The album is at times pop-ish with funny lyrics (see “She’s American”, which boasts lyrics that state “If she says I’ve got to fix my teeth, then she’s so American”) and at times it’s heavily influenced

by RnB. It’s always engaging which is The 1975’s greatest trick, they always keep their fans guessing with what’s coming next. If you thought some of the tracks on the last album were sonically unique, then you’re in for a treat with this new work.

Although the band’s sound is still very unique to them, they haven’t really shown much evolution sonically between albums. To put it frankly, I think they’re so unique that they aren’t leaving any space for them to grow.

They’re already weird, and even though weird works for them, I think there will come a time when the weirdness will lose fan’s interest. Even so, their lyrics might be enough to keep their fans hooked; they’re just so darn catchy.

Best tracks on the album: “Love Me”: If I had to choose a song to represent The 1975, I would 100 percent choose “Love Me.” It’s danceable, with lyrics that make

Photo courtesy of radioflash.to

The 1975’s newest album resembles the sound of their self-titled debut album, released in 2013. you want to sing along, and the over-produced style is absolutely perfect in this context.

“If I Believe You”: I’ve already mentioned how sweet and sad this song is, but I still feel the need to stress how amazing it is.. This song truly showcases lead singer Matty Healy’s vocal capabilities. In less than six and a half minutes, he is able to take you into the deepest places in your mind, if only you will allow him in.

“The Sound”: This song, reportedly about singer Halsey, features a killer guitar solo/break-

down that works perfectly with the chanted rather than sung lyrics. This definitely is a radio-friendly track, but even so, it’s worth a listen.

Overall, “I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It” is a stellar sophomore album from The 1975. It has all of the trappings of a great album, slow jams, upbeat songs and just a sprinkling of weirdness. If The 1975 wants to thrive in the industry, they’re definitely moving in the right direction.

“The Right Move” Invites Viewers to Reconsider Nature of Empathy

Photo courtesy of Amherst Theater and Dance

Lara Min’s thesis production proved to be both humorous and enlightening.

Divineasia Miller ’19 Staff Writer Every writer with a particular philosophy in mind while writing must maintain an extremely delicate balance between the demands of conveying the aspects of this idea and the demands of the story. “The Right Move,” written by Lara Min ’16, is a great example of one’s position upon this menacing precipice.

At times, “The Right Move” totters perilously, as though on a tightrope before the audience, under the burden of Min’s thematic concerns with compassion, empathy and connection. To accentuate the play’s themes, Min clearly distinguishes the characters, almost to the point of clichés: Kieran (Justin Henriksen ’18); the cocky jerk, Eddie (Thom Mellert, Hampshire ’15); and the dopesmoking outcast, Liv (Noor Qasim ’18). Despite the initial semblance of cliché, the characters’ depths are fully explored in the second half, which gives the feeling of the show being “set up” during the first half for a later set of events. Of course, that’s how plays are — you put the gun on the stage so it can fire later on. However, it was at times obvious that the characters on stage seemed to be anthropomorphic chess pieces, moved into convenient locations wherein their true character could be ex-

posed. The only characters who did more than hint at something deeper in the first half were James (Mark Hawkins ’16) and Emma (Farah Haidari ’16), which made other characters seem empty by comparison until later in the show.

While the character development did not happen until later in the play, there was a lot of focus on the idea of empathy and connections with others, which were explored well through the on-stage dynamic the play conveyed. Empathy is easy to think about in the abstract, but “The Right Move” forces the audience into uncomfortable and troubling positions that showcase the true, practical struggles of really connecting with others.

There is an obvious lack of empathy between the main group of friends and Emma, who is an outsider to the group. The audience can easily sense the distress from Emma and watched the group reject her instead of trying to help. It’s easy to say in this situation that the group is wrong and judgmental and not empathetic, and indeed the audience was necessarily primed to feel that way as impartial observers. But what was even more compelling were the complex situations where the blame was hard to place, emphasizing the intricate nature of empathy that Min was able to portray.

For instance, Charlotte (Julia Rothacker ’16) can’t empathize with James because she doesn’t under-

stand him. Or when all of the empathy and compassion that Liv has still isn’t enough for Kieran. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to decide where to point one’s finger in these kinds of cases.

Even more profoundly troubling is the hero of our story, James. James is the character who is able to reach outside of himself to meet Emma emotionally and truly connect with her. We root James on in his journey within himself, and with Emma, and within the world he’s been forced into by the expectations of others. But James is unabashedly ruthless towards Charlotte, and refuses to be compassionate towards her. James strings Charlotte along, ignores her when he feels like it, and doesn’t even spare a word for her as she begs for him to just talk to her candidly. James has no problem crushing Charlotte, despite the emotional depth and intelligence that we can see in him and Emma’s relationship. In those situations, the audience is tempted to coddle James, because he’s our unlikely hero, and say “He was going through something!

Charlotte should get off his back!” but the intensity of Charlotte’s pain drowns out all attempts at justification.

Perhaps the most profound and eloquent trick that Min plays on the audience to expose their own proclivity to disregard the struggles of others is in

the character Eddie. Eddie is a weird, buffoonish man who only seems to smoke weed and make us laugh. He serves many times as the comic relief of the show, but there really isn’t anything funny about his situation. He is abused by his one and only friend, who was using him for his money. He gets high constantly so that other people will want to be around him and so that he can handle his reality. When Eddie stands before the crowd and admits that he self-medicates to cope with loneliness and bleakness, laughs erupted from the audience and, when I looked around me, I saw that almost everyone was smiling. The other characters’ soliloquys were heart wrenching and sad (except good ol’ Kieran’s), but because the audience identifies Eddie as just comic relief, they don’t recognize his pain as something with which to empathize. The fact that most of the audience left the show without ever realizing this cements the reality of how easy and intuitive it is to be uncompassionate.

“The Right Move” maintains its balance between philosophy and story, and manages to be hilarious and enlightening at the same time. Despite some wavering in the first half that left the show feeling one dimensional, “The Right Move” is a thorough, informative and rich exploration of how fraught connection with other people really is.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Theater and Dance

“The Right Move” featured Mark Hawkins ‘16, Farah Haidari ‘16, Justin Henriksen ‘18, Noor Qasim ‘18, Julia Rothacker ‘16 and Thom Mellert, Hampshire ‘15.

Arts & Living 8

The Amherst Student • March 9, 2016

An Evening with Afternoon Men: An Interview with the Rising Band

Photo courtesy of Afternoon Men Facebook

Afternoon Men is comprised of Amherst alum Daniel Adler ‘14 and Nicholas Fowler ‘15, as well as Harriss Tartell, William Biondi and James Cimina.

Gabby Edzie ’17 Managing Arts & Living Editor Afternoon Men are an up-and-coming rock band based in New York City, whose members include Dan Adler ’14 and Nick Fowler ’15. I had a chance to speak with the longtime comedians and newfound bandmates about the production of lyrical gold and the journey from a suite in Pond Dormitory to the rock clubs of New York City.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about the band members — where are you all from, what instruments do you play and what were your majors?

NF: Harris Tartell, the keyboard player and rhythm guitarist, is from Great Neck, Long Island. He went to the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt. He majored in composing and nearly completed a finance minor.

DA: He did have that almost-finance minor.

NF: William Biondi, the lead guitarist, is from Greenwich, Connecticut, and also went to Vanderbilt. I think he majored in Russian and German Fairy Tales.

DA: In the course of Nick answering that, I realized I have no clue what William majored in. I also don’t know what James Cimina, our drummer, majored in.

NF: James is from Fairfield, Connecticut, and went to the University of Michigan. I too have no idea what he majored in. But he’s very good at the drums, maybe he majored in percussion.

DA: I know what I majored in and what Nick majored in because we were in separate rooms in Frost a lot. I majored in English and math, and Nick majored in economics and did finish the major.

I’m from Brooklyn. Nick is from where William is from.

Q: How did the band come into being?

NF: I guess it started back on the first day of kindergarten when I met William and noticed he knew a lot about Pokémon. We’ve been friends nearly every day since then. And on one of those days, I think in seventh grade, he called me up and said, “Hey, we’re starting a rock and roll band.” That band never got off the ground but that’s when I started writing my own songs. William and I played in a couple bands in high school that were all pretty abysmal, and then, after 13 years of going to the same school together, he went off to Vanderbilt, and I went to Amherst, where I met Dan, who invited me to a “pre-game” in Appleton, which turned out to be the most humiliating attempt at throwing a social gathering I have ever witnessed. At that moment, I knew that if I ever started a rock-and-roll band, I’d have to get that kid to play bass in it. Fast forward to the end of junior year of college, when I

met James through a mutual friend, and decided to spend the summer playing in a bar cover band with him and some other kids.

Eventually, I graduated from Amherst and managed to convince William to move back up north from Nashville to take another stab at playing in a rock-and-roll band with James and me, and he managed to convince Harris, who was his best friend at Vanderbilt, to play keys and I managed to convince Dan to play bass. And finally the current iteration of Afternoon Men was realized in October of last year.

Q: How does the songwriting process go? Are you working on anything new you’d like to talk about?

DA: Nick writes the songs. Best I can tell, his process involves sitting locked in a room until a song is done. He’s dedicated. That’s probably where Amherst comes in. If you took the work ethic and structure that’s typical of an Amherst economics major and applied it to songwriting, you’d have Nick.

NF: And then when a song is done I show it to the band and we learn it and play around with it and try to make it an Afternoon Men song. As for what happens in the locked room, I do a lot of sitting in a chair. I’ve also been really into the recording and production side of things since eighth grade. So I can waste an extraordinary amount of time fiddling with compressors and equalizers and guitar tones and drum sounds. The way I write songs changed a fair amount after I took Professor Robinson’s class Electroacoustic Improvisation, and he turned me onto some different software and started working with me in a whole bunch of special topics classes throughout my time at Amherst. He was unbelievably nice and helpful to me. We would also do this exercise in some of our special topics classes where he and I would just sit and listen to a song we like and ask ourselves, “Why is that good?” Or “Why do I like that?” which were both useful and a funny way to spend an hour.

DA: And as far as “Afternoon Men song,” it’s important to point out that James, Harris and William are all accomplished musicians from different kinds of musical backgrounds. When Nick first brings a song to practice, there are a bunch of ideas and revisions flying around. Harris is a composer by trade, for instance and just moonlights as a rock musician.

Q: I’ve seen some critic excerpts on the band’s Facebook page that offer interesting descriptions, but I am wondering how you would describe your sound.

DA: I think this is hard for Nick to answer because he’s the one writing the songs. He’s a real student of rock and pop music. There’s some Springsteen,

some Sinatra, some Billy Joel, some Dylan, some Van Morrison, some Replacements ... but then there are also some Hold Steady and Titus Andronicus and more modern influences. And the cool thing about his songs, or one of the cool things, is that they tend to be about rock music. So if a character in one of the songs leads a life that is significantly affected by Springsteen, that’ll be reflected in both the sound and the lyrics. The songs’ characters reappear in other songs, too. The storytelling aspect is what I first noticed when Nick started sending me demos, and I’ve found that to be the case for most people who listen to us. I think the best way to think of the arc of the songs is as a connected series of rock-musical stories in which rock itself is a plot point.

Q: Are there any musical influences that may have helped in that sound creation?

DA: Everything I mentioned before. It might also be a good time to add that Nick and I became friends during our first year at Amherst when we and some other people would gather in the laundry room of South every Monday evening. I don’t know if we started talking about The Strokes on one of those Mondays or when we were in the same room group for one of the next three years of college, but that did happen at some point. And then we finally saw The Strokes together a few weeks after I graduated.

NF: We threw a Kanye West and Strokes party once in senior year, where we played Kanye West songs interspersed with Strokes songs.

DA: Yeah, that was back in Pond 107. If I recall correctly, that dorm won’t exist next year? Rest in peace.

Q: What sort of gigs have you been doing, and what has the experience of being the up and coming band in New York been like? How are you finding places to play, and how are you generating interest?

NF: We managed to book a show at a Lower East Side rock club called Pianos without having any sort of reputation or following, but the talent buyer seemed to like the two songs we had released and gave us a shot on a Tuesday night, and a whole bunch of people came, and all the tickets got sold.

And then after that a bunch of talent buyers at other venues around the city actually started contacting us, which was cool.

DA: The idea is mainly to play at rock clubs in the city that we, and people we know, like being at. And there seems to be some sort of ladder that means once you book one show, it’s easier to book the next.

So we’ve been able to do a few around Manhattan and Brooklyn over the last few months. That’s been a lot of fun.

Q: How much time are you devoting to the life of the band? I assume it’s been tough balancing the process of gaining traction, and well, the rest of your life?

NF: I devote a fair amount of my time to the life of the band. I do some other stuff, too. I text William.

I write some non-Afternoon Men songs. I needle point. I text James. I collaborate with some other songwriters and producers. I text Harris. I dated some people, but they all started dating some other people instead. I do some private tutoring. I text Dan. DA: The good thing is that there are five of us and we communicate constantly. So even if we can only get together, say, twice in a given week, we can get a good deal of both the musical and logistical work done in separate places. We’ve got a text thread for general business, a text thread for social media, a text thread for general banter, a text thread for trading BuzzFeed articles and a text thread for dating advice.

Q: Where do you see the band going, and what Afternoon Men-shaded dreams do you have for both the near and distant future?

NF: There are some festivals that’ll pay a whole bunch of money to have you play rock-and-roll music for an hour or so. I’d like to figure out how to do some of those. I think we’re also going to start trying to play in some other cities. I’ve also got four different albums planned out in excruciating detail, but can’t seem to find the energy or money to record them in a way that would make it worthwhile.

Right now we just record all the songs in my basement. We also have this dream of making shirts with a picture of the hats we already made on them, like a T-shirt, with a picture of the hat on that Tshirt.

DA: Remember when Macaulay Culkin and Ryan Gosling had that T-shirt war? Where they kept making T-shirts with a picture of the other person wearing the T-shirt from the previous stage of the battle? That’s one way to think of the eventual progression of the T-shirt/hat deal.

Q: What’s your next gig?

NF: We’re playing at Pianos again this Saturday, March 12. I have it on good authority that that’s the first day of Amherst spring break, so if you’re reading this and will be in New York, I hope you’ll come by.

Q: Any interest in playing at Amherst in the future?

DA: I have it on less good authority, but still pretty good authority, that we’re playing some sort of show at Amherst before the semester’s out.

The Amherst Student • March 9, 2016

Sports 9

Men’s Hockey Advances to NESCAC Championship, Falls to Trinity

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Chris Roll ’17 won two faceoffs leading to goals to help lift the purple and white to a NESCAC semifinal victory over Middlebury on Saturday afternoon.

Ally Kido ’18 Staff Writer The Amherst men’s ice hockey team took on two NESCAC rivals in the semifinal and final round of the NESCAC tournament this weekend. After a win over Middlebury in the semifinals of the NESCAC tournament the purple and white fell to Trinity in the finals, concluding their 2015-16 season.

At the 8:46 mark in the still scoreless first period, John Festa ’19 scored his first collegiate goal to give Amherst the lead. The Panthers had their first power play of the game but were unable to answer as the period ended 1-0.

Middlebury received another chance for a goal with a power play to start off the period, but again were unable to respond against a

solid purple and white defensive effort. Amherst took advantage of two power plays to overhwhelm Middlebury, when Thomas Lindstom ’18 found the net after a pass from Topher Flanagan ’16.

After a fairly quiet first and second period, things began to heat up in the third. Four minutes into the period, Patrick Arena ’16 scored his fourth goal of the season by batting senior Brendan Burke’s shot down out of the air and past the Middlebury goalie.

The Panthers came back with a goal seven minutes later, but the failed to hold their momentum, as Festa scored his second goal of the game and his career at the 3:15 mark.

Intercepting a breakout pass at mid-ice, Festa took the puck down the ice, unassisted to put Amherst up by three. Attempting to make a comeback, Middlebury gained a goal in the

last minute of the game after an individual effort by the Panthers, but could not make up for lost time and Amherst claimed the 4-2 victory.

Connor Girard ’18 recorded 26 saves for Amherst to help them rise to victory over Middlebury. Overall the men went one for two on power plays and put a total of 24 shots on goal to send them to the NESCAC championship match the next day against Trinity.

Sunday saw the faceoff between the sixthseeded purple and white and the second seeded Trinity Bantams. Amherst had split their regular season matchup with Trinity, winning 4-2 early in the season and then falling 4-1 to the Bantams at Trinity in late January.

In last Saturday’s matchup, Trinity prevailed, 5-1, over the purple and white on a strong performance from Bantams forward Michael Hawkrigg, who scored two goals to go along with an assist.

The Bantams started off strong with 21 shots on goal in the first period while Amherst struggled to against a tough Trinity defense, shooting only three shots on goal in the first stanza of play. After a sustained period of pressure, Hawkrigg put the hosts ahead 7:32 into the initial stanza. The Bantams then doubled their lead three minutes later

when Elie Vered put a shot over Girard’s right shoulder and into the net.

With five minutes left in the first period, Amherst was on the power play with a chance to cut into Trinity’s lead, but the Bantams turned the tables with a shorthanded goal to enter the first intermission leading 3-0.

In an otherwise quiet second period, the purple and white nearly got on the board through a Chris Roll ’17 one-on-one with Bantam goalie Alex Morin, but the Trinity netminder stopped Roll’s attempt.

The third period was a testy affair that featured 33 minutes of penalty minutes between the two teams. Trinity used two of their three opportunities with a man up to take a commanding 5-0 lead.

Amherst’s Phil Johansson ’19 netted in the last minute of the game, but it was merely a consolation while the Bantams claimed a 5-1 win. Burke and Johansson led Amherst with 4 shots apiece, and Girard collected 22 saves in their effort against Trinity.

After a strong postseason run, the team has reached the end of its season with an overall record of 11-12-4 and a 7-8-3 record in NESCAC competition. The purple and white is now 17-14 all-time in NESCAC postseason action, with this as their third runner-up fin-

Women’s Track & Field Sets Three Women’s Lacrosse Wins Home Personal Records at ECAC Meet Opener, Cronin Adds Five Goals Julia Turner ’19 Managing Sports Editor The Amherst women’s track and field team impressed in the ECAC championship meet this weekend at the Ocean Breeze Atlantic Complex in Staten Island, New York. The purple and white, despite posting an overall 31st -place finish out of 50 teams, set several personal records after numerous strong individual performances.

Most notably, Victoria Hensley ’16 bettered the school record she set just last week in the 400-meter run with a time of 58.21, two-tenths of a second better than her previous record.

This time placed the senior captain solidly in seventh overall at the ECAC meet, while firstyear runner Julia Asin finished right behind her at 12th overall with a time of 59.24.

The two 400-meter runners helped propel the purple and white to a ninth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay with the help of sophomore Danielle Griffin and Leonie Rauls. Their time of 4:01.31 ties the team for fourth in Amherst indoor history and marks their best time in the event since 2009.

In the mid-distance events, Rauls continued to impress, finishing fifth in the 1,000-meter run and missing a personal record by only .01 seconds with a time of 2:59.66.

Senior Betsey Black shattered her previous personal record in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:22.46, earning her ninth overall.

Finally, in the field events, Abbey Asare-Bediako ’18 placed sixth and set a new personal record in the triple jump with a distance of 11.08 meters, .20 meters further than her previous record.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Victoria Hensley ‘16 bettered her own school record by nearly 0.2 seconds.

Drew Kiley ’18 Managing Sports Editor Beginning their season last weekend against Bowdoin, the Amherst women’s lacrosse team claimed an 11-6 win over the Polar Bears to open their overall record and conference record at 1-0.

In a matinee game on Saturday, March 5, it was Bowdoin who opened the scoring a mere 34 seconds into the contest. After Amherst’s Claire Cagnassola ’17 controlled the draw, the Polar Bears forced a turnover before Megan O’Connor shot the ball past Amherst goalie Christy Forrest ’16.

The purple and white, however, were not thrown off by the early setback, scoring seven unanswered goals to end the first half with a 7-1 lead. With 26:44 left in the first half, Amherst knotted the score through an unassisted goal from Mary Grace Cronin ’18. Cronin then scored again less than a minute later to give the purple and white a 2-1 lead.

The sophomore led Amherst’s attack with throughout, scoring five goals on six shots and adding an assist to her tally.

The Cronin assist, where she fed first-year Jacq Fitzgerald, gave Amherst a two-goal cushion.

The purple and white then began to pull away. Forrest made nine of her 14 saves in the first half while the Amherst attack relentlessly pressured the goal of Bowdoin’s Kayli Weiss.

“We had everyone from first-years to seniors step up big in the game against Bowdoin,” Hanna Krueger ’17 said. “I think this is a testament to the depth of our team this year, which makes every practice competitive and interesting.”

Two goals from Kate Wyeth ’17, one from senior captain Rachel Passarelli and Cronin’s third helped Amherst to their six-goal advan-

tage heading into the locker room.

Senior captain Mia Haughton played a key role in this passage of play, claiming two of her three assists for the game on Wyeth’s first and Passarelli’s goal.

Amherst’s marauding offense in the first half forced Bowdoin into a change at goalie, with Erin Morissey replacing Kayli Weiss in net during the second half.

The purple and white still began the second half how they finished the first. After a Bowdoin foul gave Amherst an early opportunity, Cronin buried the free position shot to give the purple and white an 8-1 lead.

Most of the second half was characterized by even, back-and-forth play. Two Bowdoin goals closed the Amherst lead to five, but Passarelli linked up with Haughton once again to score her second of the game with just under 24 minutes remaining.

Another Bowdoin goal followed by two unassisted tallies for Amherst from Cagnassola and Cronin set the score at 11-4 in favor of Amherst with seven minutes remaining.

Two more Bowdoin goals before the final whistle set the score at 11-6, but the purple and white prevailed over their NESCAC rival.

Krueger praised the coaching staff ’s experience and preparation after the game.

“Our two new assistant coaches have a wealth of playing experience and have brought so much knowledge to the team this year,” she said. “The team has been great at adjusting to new offensive and defensive sets. It was great to see it all play out so successfully against a topclass team last Saturday.”

Amherst returns to action this Saturday, March 12, when they travel to Bates for a NESCAC showdown at 2:30 p.m. The purple and white then travel to Clermont, Florida, where they will play McDaniel on Tuesday, March 15 and Dickinson on Thursday, March 17.

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Sports

The Amherst Student • March 9, 2016

Women’s Hockey Advances to NESCAC Championship Game, Falls to Middlebury

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

John Festa ’19

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Captain Erin Martin ’16 led all skaters with five shots on goal last Saturday.

Devin O’Connor ’16 Staff Writer The Amherst women’s ice hockey team fell in an overtime loss to Middlebury on Sunday in the NESCAC championship game. The purple and white defeated Connecticut College, 3-0, last Saturday in the semifinal game before advancing to the final matchup of their NESCAC championship run.

Amherst used a strong second period to advance past the Camels in the semifinal matchup.

Conn. College came out strong to start, directing a series of shots at the Amherst goal, but sophomore goaltender Sabrina Dobbins was able to protect the net. At the 6:40 mark, Lynndy Smith ’17 received a pass from Caitlyn Ryan ’17 at the top of the offensive zone that she shot through the legs of the Camels’ goalie. Just three minutes later, Alex Toupal ’18 collected the puck and sent it into the back of the net. Amherst held the advantage at the end of the second stanza, 2-0.

Amherst held off the Camels for a third period of play. Dobbins collected eight saves to keep the Connecticut team at bay. With only 1:41 to play in regulation, Toupal added a third goal for the purple and white to secure the win.

On Sunday, the purple and white played in its first NESCAC final since the 2011-2012 season.

Before the final, Amherst played the Panthers to two ties in the regular season, and the evenly matched sides seemed poised for an exciting contest.

Middlebury came out firing to start the game, tallying three goals within the first 14 minutes of play. The Panthers scored the first goal after just 38 seconds of regulation and then added another two more before the purple and white got on the board.

Sarah Culhane ’17 notched the first goal for the purple and white with 3:02 to play in the first stanza. Her goal cut the Amherst deficit to two before the end of the period.

It was Amherst that came out hard in the second period. Caroline Bomstein ’16 added a second goal for the visitors just over six minutes into the second period. First-year Katelyn Pantera sent Bomstein a pass at the blue line that the assistant captain collected and fired into the net. Two minutes later, Pantera collected a pass from classmate Katie Savage that she put beyond the Panthers’ netminder. The score was even at 3-3.

With 7:01 remaining in the second period, Amherst took the lead. Culhane added another goal for the purple and white that gave the visitors the 4-3 lead.

Minutes later, Middlebury tied things up again. The score remained tied into the third through the end of regulation. The game went into overtime. Middlebury added its fifth goal just under seven minutes into the extra period, and were crowned 2016 NESCAC champions.

Amherst received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The purple and white will travel to Plattsburgh, New York, to face SUNY Plattsburgh on Saturday, March 12, at 3 p.m.

Favorite Team Memory: Coming back from 3-0 against Bowdoin and ending up winning 8-5 Favorite Pro Athlete: Patrice Bergeron Dream Job: Stay at home dad Pet Peeve: Losing championship games Favorite Vacation Spot: Aruba Something on Your Bucket List: Skydiving Guilty Pleasure: Desserts. I have a huge sweet tooth!

Favorite Food: Gnocchi Favorite Thing About Amherst: By far the people. Everyone from my team to people who I meet through clubs are high quality.

How He Earned It: The first-year forward had a breakout game last Saturday evening against Middlebury in the semifinal matchup of the NESCAC tournament. Festa tallied two scores, his first and second goals of the season to lift the purple and white to a 4-2 victory. The first year’s first collegiate goal came just 12 minutes in to the first period to give Amherst the lead. With 3:15 left to play in regulation, Festa found the net again to put the purple and white up by three goals.

Ali Doswell ’17 Favorite Team Memory: Winning NESCACs Favorite Pro Athlete: Steph Curry Dream Job: Inventing something Pet Peeve: When Meredith says she’s ready to go but doesn’t leave for 10 more minutes Favorite Vacation Spot: The Rivah Something on Your Bucket List: Travel to every continent Guilty Pleasure: Crazy socks Favorite Food: Warm cookies Favorite Thing About Amherst: The people How She Earned It: After surpassing the 1,000-point career milestone two weekends ago, junior Ali Doswell continued to impress in postseason action this Saturday. In their second round game in the NCAA tournament against host team Rowan University, Doswell shot for a career-high 34 points to lead Amherst to a 78-57 victory. The junior shot 16-25 from the field against Rowan and showed off her range, going 6-14 from the 3-point line.

Men’s Lacrosse Wins First Two Regular Season Matches, Seniors Lead the Team

Men’s Track & Field Competes in Tufts Last Chance Invitational Caleb Winfrey ’19 Staff Writer

The Amherst men’s indoor track and field team competed at the Tufts Last Chance Invitational at Tufts this weekend for a final chance to post qualifying times for the upcoming NCAA Championships.

Chris Butko ’18 cruised to a seventh place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.02, while Jesse Fajnzylber ’17 (1:57.78) and Vernon Espinoza ’19 (2:08.44) finished 14th and 23rd, respectively.

Steven Lucey ’17 added a 10th-place finish for the purple and white, clocking a time of 4:31.45 in the one-mile run.

Lastly, Amherst had two runners featured in the 3000-meter run, including Mohamed Hussein ’18, who continued to impress, finishing second overall with a time of 8:19.85 , and Dan Crowley ’16, who placed 11th with a mark of 8:36.85 “While we did not all necessarily run the times we wanted to run, I think those of us moving ahead to NCAAs have strong momentum and are driven to succeed,” Espinoza said.

Amherst will return to the track for post-

season action this weekend, Friday, March 11 when individual qualifiers will compete in NCAA Division III Championships at Grinnell in Iowa.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Mohamed Hussein ’18 placed second overall in the 3000-meter run

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Quinn Moroney ’16 led the team with three goals and three assists on Tuesday.

Kelly Karczewski ’18 Staff Writer The men’s lacrosse team survived a chaotic fourth quarter to clinch a 10-7 victory over Bowdoin last Saturday. The fourth-ranked purple and white faced off in their first game of the season with a veteran lineup that just came off an unprecedented 18-3 season. In 2015, Amherst dismantled Bowdoin 20-4 as they climbed their way to the top of the NESCAC. This year, the win did not come as easily. The purple and white started the day with a full head of steam in the first quarter, notching five straight goals. Senior Kane Haffey ’16 struck first, finishing the day with two goals and an assist. Amherst maintained this lead as they headed into the second half, and used this cushion en route to a well-fought victory.

Bowdoin’s Brandon Lee was the first to cut the lead in a back-and-forth third period. Afterwards, senior midfielder Dylan Park struck twice to put the purple and white back up by a score of 7-2 going into the final period.

In the fourth period, Bowdoin fought for a furious shift in momentum that saw the Polar Bears min-

imize their eventual three-goal deficit after daggers from Haffey and Charlie Gill ’16. A late three-goal run, however, breathed new life into the Bowdoin offense. Goalie Cody Tranbarger ’17 kept the purple and white alive with 12 stops and four ground balls.

The final minutes of the game saw significant action with four goals in three minutes, and it seemed as if nobody could take a breath until the clock finally ran out.

The purple and white had a much easier time with non-conference opponent Skidmore on Tuesday evening, powering past the Thoroughbreds 19-8.

Continuing their strong first half play from this weekend, Amherst scored five goals in both periods to give them a 10-2 lead going into the third quarter.

Senior Quinn Moroney and first-year Evan Wolf led the purple and white with three goals apiece, with Moroney contributing three assists in the effort as well.

The team returns to action this Saturday, March 12, with a home game against Bates at 1 p.m. They then face Western New England on Tuesday, March 15, at 6 p.m. in Orlando, Florida, and Cortland State on Friday, March 18, in Tampa, Florida.

The Amherst Student • March 9, 2016

Sports

Women’s Basketball Dominates in First Two Rounds of the NCAA Tournament

11

Chris’ Corner Chris Rigas ’16 Columnist After Baron Davis’ D-League debut last Friday night, Chris Rigas looks back at the underdog “We Believe” Warriors that Davis led in 2007-2008.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios, Inc.

Hannah Hackley ’18 led all players with 18 points, shooting 9-13 from the field against Eastern Connecticut State University on Friday night.

Sara Buck ’19 Staff Writer The No. 4 Amherst women’s basketball team posted big wins over Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU), 65-47, and Rowan University, 78-57, to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III championship tournament.

In the first quarter of their Friday matchup against ECSU, Amherst took an early 18-10 lead, and then exploded in the second quarter with 22 points to go up 40-20.

As a team, Amherst shot 48 percent from the court and snagged 33 rebounds.

Hannah Hackley ’18 led all players with 18 points while shooting 9-for-13 from the floor. Meredith Doswell ’17 provided support on both ends of the court and earned a double-double after scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. The purple and white’s tough defense forced 20 ECSU turnovers and capitalized with 22 points off turnovers.

Strong defense from the purple and white neutralized ECSU’s scoring, rebounding and passing. ECSU’s leading scorer and rebounder, Jill Ritrosky, was held to just 10 points and five rebounds while shooting a mere 2-for-11 from the floor.

Amherst, the national leader in scoring

defense, with 40.6 points allowed per game, limited multiple ECSU starters to well below their season averages.

The team followed up their decisive victory over ECSU with a gritty win against Rowan in the second round of the tournament. Rowan University took an early 4-2 lead, but Amherst took back the lead after a bucket from Meredith Doswell and a pair of free throws from First Team All-NESCAC guard Ali Doswell ’17, never relinquishing it again. With 1:33 left in the first quarter, Rowan got within four, but that was as close as they would get for the rest of the night.

Ali Doswell poured in a game-best 34 points to lead all players. Hackley and Haley Zwecker ’16 each scored 10 points to help Amherst’s dominate offense. Meredith Doswell snagged a game-high 16 rebounds. For Rowan, guard Anyssa Sanchez recorded a team-high 13 points.

The purple and white improved their record to 28-1 and will serve as one of four hosts this weekend for the NCAA Division III Championship sectionals at LeFrak Gymnasium.

On Friday, March 11, Amherst will play Stevens Institute of Technology (23-6) with the winner advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight on March 12.

This NBA season has belonged to Steph Curry. He’s going to win his second straight MVP, and his Warriors are challenging the 1997-1998 NBA record of 72 regular season wins. His individual numbers, are, if possible, even more mind-boggling: he somehow managed to break his own record for 3-pointers made in a season with over 20 games left in the season.

But Friday was a night for a different Warriors point guard, albeit a former one.

Baron Davis, the leader of the Warriors teams from 2005 to 2008, made his D-League debut on Saturday. Playing for Philadelphia’s affiliate, the Delaware 87ers, Davis totaled eight points, four assists and three steals in a loss to the Iowa Energy.

It’s been a long road back for Davis, who tore ligaments in his knee while playing for the Knicks in 2012. You could be forgiven if you thought, like me, that Davis had just retired after that injury. In fact, Davis has been rehabbing his knee ever since, and was finally ready to give basketball another shot this year. His new coach, Kevin Young, pointed out that the D-League schedule is a grind, especially for a 36-year old like Davis. “The fact that Baron’s doing this, you’ve got to love basketball,” Young said. “I don’t know if he knows exactly what he’s getting into.”

Davis was the leader of the “We Believe” Warriors, one of the NBA’s greatest underdogs, and the only eight-seed to ever beat a one-seed in the playoffs. In 2007, Davis and his teammates — who only won 42 regular season games — electrified the NBA by knocking the juggernaut Dallas Mavericks and MVP Dirk Nowitzki out in six games.

The next year, coach Don Nelson and his players perfected “Nellie Ball,” a fast paced style that involved a lot of 3s and not much defense. They went 48-34, but missed the playoffs in a historically competitive Western conference.

Davis’ return is a good reminder that the best precursor to today’s Warriors, in terms of playing style, was in fact the fast-paced Warriors teams from almost 10 years ago.

Davis’ Warriors teams played at a frenetic

pace, and everyone had the green light to shoot at all times. This let them score a historic amount of points; the 2007-2008 mark of 111 points per game is currently the best by any team since 1992, although this year’s Warriors are going to surpass it by about four points a game.

The current version of the Warriors terrorizes the league with its small ball lineup, which features the 6’7” Draymond Green at center, but they are hardly the only team to go small. Just about every team plays some time with only one traditional big man, even if most don’t go as small as 6’7” at center. But in Davis’ prime, the small lineups and fastpaced style of Nellie Ball were revolutionary.

The Nellie Ball teams’ most used lineup was Davis, Monta Ellis, Jason Richardson, Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington, with Harrington being the only one who could be described as a true big man. Even he shot more than four 3-pointers a game.

Davis was at the center of everything, leading the team in scoring and assists in both 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. He was the perfect point guard for Nelson’s system: Never afraid to hoist up a three early in the shot clock, but also able to set up his teammates with creative passes.

Unlike Curry’s Warriors, they were not a model of efficiency. Despite the 2007-2008 team’s record-breaking point totals, they were actually only fourth in the NBA in terms of points scored per possession; the 111 points per game had as much to do with pace as with offensive efficiency. And they were always fighting an uphill battle in a league where it was still difficult to win while playing small ball. But they played and carried themselves with fearlessness that belied their underdog status; it was no accident that the 2006-2007 team picked up the moniker of the “We Believe” Warriors.

It’s almost fitting that Davis is trying to fight his way back into the NBA through the D-League, waking up at 5 a.m. to travel to games played in tiny gyms. The leader of the NBA’s best underdogs is still fighting against stacked odds, for the love of the game.

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The men’s basketball team hosted the first two rounds of NCAA championship tournament play last weekend in LeFrak, coming out of the bracket victorious

Men’s Basketball Enjoys Two Dramatic NCAA Tournament Wins in LeFrak Julia Turner ’19 Managing Sports Editor The Amherst men’s basketball team impressed last weekend in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Division III tournament, pulling out victories in two close games to advance to the Sweet 16 this Friday. The men took on Husson University last Friday night in LeFrak and then a very talented 21-8 SUNY Cortland team on Saturday evening in two nail-biters.

The purple and white came out strong in front of a sizeable home court crowd on Friday night. The two teams fought through three tie scores in the first ten minutes before a Connor Green ’16 layup and a Jeff Racy ’17 three-pointer put the squad up by five points, 21-16.

Husson grabbed the momentum back, however, as they went on their own 13-0 run before the Amherst defense could catch up to the Eagles’ fast-paced, transition offense.

With Husson leading 29-21 with five minutes left in the first half, the Amherst offense went

into overdrive, scoring 10 of the next 14 points to tie up the game at 31. The two teams again struggled to gain and keep the lead, heading into halftime at 40-36 in favor of the Eagles.

The purple and white continued chipping away at the Husson lead in the second half, taking a 56-55 advantage on a pair of Michael Riopel ’18 free throws. Following three more lead changes, a phenomenal blocked 3-point shot by Riopel opened up sophomore guard Johnny McCarthy ’18 for a huge breakaway layup to once again put Amherst up by one at the 6:15 mark.

A 3-point make from the Eagles put them ahead by one with 30 seconds remaining on the clock, but demonstrating the consistency we have seen from him all season, Racy came through at the 15-second mark with a goahead 3 of his own to seal the 74-72 win for the purple and white.

McCarthy was Amherst’s top scorer in their matchup against the Eagles, leading the purple and white with 21 points on 8-12 shooting from the field. Racy, Green and David George ’17 chipped in 11 points each, and

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GAME SCHE DULE

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FRI Women’s Track & Field @ NCAA Championship, TBD Men’s Track & Field @ NCAA Championship, TBD

George led all players with 11 rebounds on the game.

Green shined in Amherst’s Saturday night’s matchup against the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons in the second round of NCAA tournament action.

Green led the purple and white with 20 points on 8 of 16 shooting from the field, including a 3 for 9 tally behind the arc. The senior captain also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to pave the way for Amherst’s impressive 12 second-chance points on offensive rebounds.

The purple and white came out with a strong first-half start, using three pointers from McCarthy and fellow sophomore Jayde Dawson and four points from George to jump out to a 12-3 advantage over the Red Dragons.

Cortland didn’t stay down for long, though.

The Red Dragons used a run of their own, capped by a long three, to trim Amherst’s lead back down to four at 34-30 going into the locker room.

Another back and forth start to the half saw four more lead changes before, trail-

ing 68-64 with 1:18 left in regulation, Green fought his way to a critical offensive rebound and put-back to set up the purple and white for a dramatic finish.

Trailing 68-66 with 42 seconds left on the clock, Dawson hit the second of his two free throws to pull Amherst within one. Seconds later, a defensive rebound by McCarthy on a missed Cortland jumper led to a dramatic contested layup by Dawson. McCarthy grabbed Dawson’s miss and was fouled in the process, sending him to the charity stripe with five seconds left in regulation. Two huge made free throws from McCarthy put the ball in the hands of the Red Dragons for one more chance at victory, but Cortland’s final shot missed the mark.

These two crucial tournament wins from the purple and white improve their record to 39-17 overall in NCAA postseason play under head coach David Hixon and send them to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in the last six years. Next up, Amherst will take on Babson on Friday, March 11 at Tufts in Medford, Massachusetts.

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SAT Women’s Basketball vs. Stevens, 7 p.m.

Men’s Basketball vs. Babson @ Tufts, 5 p.m.

Women’s Track & Field @ NCAA Championship, TBD Men’s Track & Field @ NCAA Championship, TBD

Men’s Lacrosse vs. Bates, 1 p.m.

Women’s Ice Hockey @ Plattsburg State, 3 p.m.

Softball vs. Babson @ Winter Garden, FL, 1 p.m.

Softball vs. New England College @ Winter Garden, FL, 3 p.m.

Women’s Lacrosse @ Bates, 1 p.m.

Baseball vs. North Park @ Fort Myers, FL, 3 p.m.