Issue 1

THE AMHERST

THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

STUDENT VOLUME CXLVI, ISSUE 1 l FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2016

Men’s Soccer Looks to Defend National Championship See Sports, Page 11 AMHERSTSTUDENT.AMHERST.EDU

Resource Centers Announce Plans for Collaboration Lauren Tuiskula ’17 Editor-in-Chief

Photo courtesy of Takudzwa Tapfuma ‘17

472 students moved onto campus early to plan and participate in an orientation experience geared toward the class of 2020 to help them familiarize with a campus that they now call home.

The Class of 2020 Arrives on Campus Caleigh Plaut ’19 Staff Writer On Aug. 30, the 472 students in Amherst’s class of 2020 moved into their new homes in the dorms on the first-year quad and commenced a week of orientation activities.

Students in the incoming class withstood a competitive application cycle last year, as Amherst admitted 1,161 out of 8,406 applicants, making for an acceptance rate of 13.8 percent. Approximately 41 percent of the accepted students accepted their offer from Amherst.

Sixteen transfer students will also join the college. Out of the 403 transfer applicants, only 25 were accepted, making for a six percent transfer acceptance rate.

“I am excited to welcome this new cohort of accomplished, interesting and engaged students to the Amherst family,” said Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Katie Fretwell

’81.

According to Fretwell, a record 47 percent of the incoming class have self-identified as American students of color. First-generation students comprise 14 percent of the class.

Fifty-two percent of first-year students will receive financial aid, down from 56 percent last year, and 22 percent are Pell Grant recipients.

Fretwell also said that 26 different countries are represented in the class of 2020 and that eight percent of students are non-U.S. citizens. “They speak more than 35 five different languages [and] have lived in more than 50 different countries,” she said. Within the U.S., the incoming students come from 40 states, with New York, California and Massachusetts boasting the most students.

Students in this class hail from 379 different secondary schools, 59 percent of which are public, 35 percent independent and seven percent parochial.

They had exceptional academic backgrounds with a record SAT composite of 2177 and an ACT composite of 32. Eightyfour percent finished in the top decile of their class in schools that calculated rank.

After moving, the class of 2020 began their first-year orientation, a week filled with activities designed to introduce them to the college and the community.

Amherst’s orientation program has seen major changes over the course of the last two years. According to Dean of New Students Rick López, these changes were made to meet new goals such as allowing for more “intimate conversations,” bridging “potential divides between athletes and non-athletes,” facilitating better “student-to-student” connection and incorporating “robust sexual respect training.”

This year’s orientation program resembles

Continued on Page 3

Chief Diversity Officer Norm Jones announced the hiring of Bulaong Ramiz as the new director of the Multicultural Resource Center in an email to the college community on August 16. Jones also announced the creation of the Resource Center Team, which will include directors and student staff from the Multicultural Resource Center, Queer Resource Center and Women’s and Gender Center.

“There really isn’t a change connected to the work of the centers. [It is] more so an additional name given to the team formed by the centers,” Jones said in an email interview. “We will begin to do more work in the collective and it’s important that the community begin to understand both the discrete and collective value of justice work being advanced by all three sites.”

One of the main goals for the Resource Center Team will be to use an intersectional lens to look at community issues and plan for event programming.

“One of the most unfortunate occurrences in diversity work is to watch people swap or make involuntary trade offs of their multiple identities because various cultures privilege certain identities over others,” Jones said. “Intersectionality asks us to be more sophisticated in our engagement of one another — to seek to understand the ways in which reductionism strips away at the richness of our interchange and does more to perpetuate our divisions than to create inclusive communities.”

Angie Tissi-Gassoway, the director of the Queer Resource Center, stressed the importance for the centers to retain individual autonomy while working collaboratively.

[We’re] thinking now about starting to reestablish all of the centers, now that we are all in the same place,” she said. The Queer Resource Center changed locations over the summer, moving from the basement of Morrow Dormitory to the second floor of Keefe Campus Center. “[We’re thinking about] what will be different about the way our collaboration will look and what it means to collaborate now …

I’m thinking about how I hold saliency in the

Continued on Page 3

Amherst Welcomes Chief Diversity Officer Norm Jones Jingwen Zhang ’18 Managing News Editor President Biddy Martin announced the selection of Dr. Norm Jones as the College’s chief diversity officer to the Amherst community in an email on June 16. Jones officially joined the college staff on July 15.

Jones was selected after a nearly year-long search following the resignation of the former interim chief diversity officer and director of the Multicultural Resource Center, Mariana Cruz, last October. The search was led by a committee comprised of students, faculty and staff that held open campus-wide discussions and meetings with candidates throughout the year.

In an email interview, Jones said that he was drawn to Amherst College’s leadership in diversity and inclusion in higher education, the opportunity to gauge students’ needs directly through closer personal relationships and the sustained racial diversity within the student body.

“The question now becomes how such a diverse student body can become the source of sustainable inclusive practices that all students experience,” Jones said. “I see it as my role to ask the questions, collect the information and frame our conversations in ways that allow us to gauge inclusiveness and act on what we learn.”

Prior to joining the college, Jones was the associate chief diversity officer, deputy direc-

tor and creator of the office of diversity and inclusion at Harvard University. Before that, he had been the associate vice president and dean of institutional diversity at Dickinson College.

Amherst’s search committee hired consultants from the search firm Isaacson, Miller last year, who identified Jones along with several other candidates for the position.

“Dr. Jones is judicious, thoughtful and very insightful about the challenges and opportunities that the college faces with regard to diversity and inclusion,” search committee co-chair and Dean of the Faculty Catherine Epstein said in an email interview. “He is very datadriven in his approach, and this bodes well for the systemic change that we all hope that he’ll bring to the college.”

“I am truly upset that my time at Amherst does not overlap with Norm Jones’,” Miu Suzuki ’16, a member of last year’s search committee, said. “Regardless of the context, he is authentic and personable.”

Epstein also said that she and Jones have already begun meeting with faculty search committees to plan diversifying the faculty, which Jones listed as one of his goals in an email he sent to the college community on July 22.

Jones has also met with staff from various administrative departments to improve systems for addressing workplace bias and better career and promotion tracks to create “an inclusive work experience” for college employees.

“Recruitment and retention of women and minority staff and faculty is a concern [Jones]

News

Jin Jin Xu July 31, 2016 - Aug. 27, 2016

>>July 31, 2016 11:17 a.m., Cohan Dormitory Officers investigated a first-floor smoke detector sounding and found it was activated by use of a hair care product.

An officer investigated two people acting in an unusual manner in a car parked in the Hills Lot. After speaking with them, drugs and a pipe used to smoke marijuana was confiscated.

>>Aug. 3, 2016 1:53 p.m., Field House An officer investigate vandalism to a television.

10:08 p.m., Keefe Campus Center Officers and the Fire Department investigated an alarm that was caused by a second floor detector for an unknown reason.

>>Aug. 5, 2016 7:23 a.m., Marsh House An officer investigated a report of a missing television set. >>Aug. 7, 2016 7:21 p.m., Newport House An officer investigated a smoke detector sounding in the basement and found it was caused by cooking.

10:43 p.m., Newport House An officer investigated a smoke detector sounding in the basement and found it was caused by cooking. >>Aug. 10, 2016 8:22 p.m., Tuttle Farm An officer on patrol observed a small fire near the Book and Plow farm. The fire was found to be a campfire, which was extinguished. >>Aug. 11, 2016 3:58 a.m., McGuire Life Sciences Building Officers and the fire department responded to an alarm and found it was caused by excessive humidity in an entry way. >>Aug. 12, 2016 1:16 a.m., Newport House Officers responded to a complaint of a group of loud people in the parking lot. They were dispersed.

2:04 a.m., The Octagon An officer observed four women on the roof of the Octagon.

They were identified as UMass graduates who were watching the meteor shower and were directed off the roof.

8:07 a.m., Webster Circle An officer issued a verbal no trespass order to a man found outside of Morris Pratt Dormitory. The man was escorted from campus. >>Aug. 13, 2016 10:48 a.m., Wieland Dormitory Officers investigated a smoke detector sounding in a basement room and determined it was caused by cooking. >>Aug. 14, 2016 12:02 a.m., Tuttle Farm An officer checked on two men found near the Book and Plow farm who left after being identified. >>Aug. 16, 2016 9:50 p.m., Hills Lot

>>Aug. 18, 2016 10:20 p.m., Newport House Officers investigated a smoke detector sounding in the basement and determined it was activated by cooking. >>Aug. 19, 2016 11:04 p.m., Lipton Dormitory An officer discovered an unauthorized gathering with alcohol.

It was shut down and the alcohol was disposed of. >>Aug. 21, 2016 8:35 a.m., College St. Officers assisted the town police and fire department on College Street near Valentine Hall with a propane tank that had fallen off a camper and become wedged under the vehicle.

4:25 p.m., College St. An officer assisted the town police in searching for a male along College Street who was acting in an unusual manner.

The man was later located on the town common 5:48 p.m., Newport House An officer located a student at the request of a concerned caller. The student was given a message. >>Aug. 22, 2016 4:48 a.m., East Drive An officer checked on a person sitting in a parked car near the faculty apartments on East Drive. He was identified as a construction worker >>Aug. 23, 2016 3:40 p.m., Keefe Health Center An officer investigated property damage to a vehicle after a tree limb fell on it.

9:48 p.m., Morrow Dormitory An officer investigated an apparent online fraudulent check scheme involving a student. >>Aug. 25, 2016 1:07 p.m., Northampton Road An officer checked in on a man sitting alongside the road. After verifying his identification, he was transported to his residence in town. >>Aug. 27, 2016 12:41 p.m., Wilson Admissions Office Officers investigated an intrusion alarm. It was accidentally set off by an employee.

Thoughts on Theses Department of English

Jin Jin Xu grew up speaking, reading and writing two very diverse languages. The Shanghai, China native is now exploring the world of translation as she focuses on writing an English thesis that is inspired and influenced by her background with the Chinese language. She focuses on discomfort in reading and in writing as she challenges the status quo and the concept of identity.

Q: What is your thesis about?

A: I started out writing a collection of short stories, but after staying on campus to work on it this summer, I discovered I am most drawn to the nonfiction form. It is more instinctive, and I am now writing short nonfiction vignettes that take shape around a series of childhood memories. In them, I am confronting moments of loss, language, womanhood and mother-child relationships.

I am, however, hesitant to contain myself in the nonfiction form because I am certainly expanding upon these memories, exploring and blurring the boundaries between fiction and nonfiction. Since I grew up in Shanghai, China, a sense of place and language is obvious in these stories. By writing in the English language, there is a necessary process of translation. Major questions I face include: What does it mean to write against the dominant voice in society? To what extent should I keep the audience in mind? Who is the audience, anyway?

Is there an obligation owed to the culture I am writing in, and the culture I am writing from, to translate between the two and to be understood by both?

Q: What does translation mean to you?

A: I am interested in how I situate the reader within my writing. Translation requires a fluidity between two languages and, I think, [between] two selves. There is necessarily a feeling of foreignness or otherness, no matter how fluent I am in however many languages, because translation requires an intimate yet violent removal.

I want to create this feeling of otherness for my readers, to make them feel not perfectly at home, or comfortable, in my writing. China and Chinese are foreign to English, while at the same time, Shanghai has a history of western colonization.

To do so, I am playing with the words that I choose to leave in the original Chinese character, without English pronunciations. I am also playing with narrative structure and grammar to decolonize the structure I have been taught to write in.

Q: What makes discomfort meaningful to you?

A: I started my thesis after feeling disappointed with the creative writing workshops I have taken at Amherst. I realized that the space of promised discussion and critique would never be a space for me because I was forced to re-translate my own writing in class in order for my peers to understand its “context.” My stories were not judged or understood in the same way as those of my white peers. And when writing is, by nature, so personal for me, the othering was difficult to swallow. I wasn’t sure if I should water down my writing for my peers, who I would see week after week.

But these experiences proved to be important to me, as I now have a good idea of what would make people uncomfortable. I realized that this was exactly what I will aim for in my own writing, this “othering” of the reader — that is, of course, natural when encountering an “othered” writer.

Q: In what ways will your use of Chinese characters construct this experience of “othering?”

A: Without phonetic pinyin to help ease the transition into Chinese characters, it is so easy to leap over and ignore their existence in the text. It also presents the reader with a problem: How do you even look up its definition? Unless you have a basic understanding of the strokes that make up a character, the task is impossible. This forces the reader

to submit to and delve deeper into the language — to essentially become its student, in a way that many of us are to the English language.

Q: The “self” that directly experienced the moments that you’ll write about must also be unfamiliar to your current self in some way. Do you think a process of translation will take place between those two selves as well?

A: Yes! This is exactly what I was thinking about when I referred to the two selves earlier. I am very intrigued by the way memory works, and how reiterating it onto paper — especially now, so many years after — separates it from me. This is why I am trying to follow my instincts more and write by following a particular emotion or strand of sensory detail instead of logic. By instinctiveness, I mean that I don’t want this translation process to be contrived or coerced. A book I keep coming back to this summer is Sandra Cisneros’ “House on Mango Street.” I first read it in middle school and had resisted reading it ever since because I thought of it as a middle school level book. But I keep coming back to it again and again because [Cisneros’] voice is so effortless and immediate. I realized that this is the kind of writing that is important to me — and I don’t have to read “serious” books in order to be taken seriously as a reader.

Q: What does taking a reader seriously mean to you, whether that reader is you or someone else?

A: I think there are two different questions: taking a reader seriously and reading seriously. I love writing creatively while also being an English major because I am constantly going between both.

For me, encountering writers like Cisneros in the college classroom revealed to me what it is like to read writers who are so radically different from the white canon I have been taught to value. Those great books in the canon are the “serious” literature, heavy with great big emotions and history and weight, while I wasn’t sure how to even begin analyzing Mango Street — how do I even use the same vocabulary and language to talk about this book?

But of course, the slim volume of Mango Street demanded just as much of me, and I invested just as much of myself in it. Reading it “seriously” was perhaps more difficult because I didn’t have the same literary devices to fall back upon, and by all counts, it is an easy and not very time-consuming read — instead, when I had to start anew and reflect on my reading experience, I realized that everything on Cisneros’ part was purposeful. What I had seen as “ease” in the flow of her narrative, her childlike, fragmented voice, were especially purposeful on her part — and consequently had an everlasting effect on me, the reader.

Cisneros was writing as a working class Mexican American but was neither hiding that in her voice nor making any compromises to seem more “literary.” So maybe there actually aren’t two questions like I first proposed, but it is through understanding the radically different ways one can read seriously that I am learning to write more seriously. It largely comes down to trust, too. Trusting that what seems instinctive to me is not any less important or serious — and trusting that the reader will not dismiss it, either. “Why does her voice seem so immediate?” I wondered. I realized she reads “easily” perhaps because her voice is immediate and real, a sort of othering so like my own.

— Dan Ahn ’17

The Amherst Student • September 2, 2016

News

Greenway Dormitories Open For First Year

3

Dan Ahn ’17 Managing News Editor Students will begin moving into the new Greenway dorms, the newest addition to housing on campus, on Sept. 3. The dorms, which were largely built through last year, were officially completed this summer.

Planning for the dorms, which replace the student housing provided by the social dorms, took place through the summer and fall of 2013. The social dorms were torn down this summer to make way for a new science center.

“Two and a half years from conception to completion for a project of this significance is quite quick,” director of design and construction Tom Davies said of the Greenway dorms.

“Yet the quality did not suffer a bit.”

In an effort to grant access to the dorms in their first year in operation to a wider range of students, the Office of Residential life modified room draw last semester specifically for the Greenway dorms, capping available space in the dorms by class year. Currently, 87 seniors, 99 juniors and 105 sophomores will reside in the dorms this semester.

According to associate director of residential life Corry Colonna, the number of upperclass students in the Greenway dorms have decreased slightly since room draw last spring due to some students going abroad and others choosing not to return for the upcoming semester.

Lauren Carter ’17, a residential counselor in the new dorms, said that the four connected dorms, designated Greenway A, B, C and D, will help build a tight-knit community.

“As an RC, I think the new dorms provide so many opportunities for programming both in each dorm and amongst the entire Greenway unit,” she said. “We have large spaces where everyone can gather, which will help facilitate programming events.”

Along with the features originally announced earlier in the planning phase, the new dorms have an outdoor amphitheatre between the buildings with electrical power for band performances, study carrels in the top floors of Greenway B and D, a rooftop

Photo courtesy of Sophia Salazar ‘18

The new Greenway residencies provide not only high quality living spaces for students, but also fun and modern common areas for everyone to enjoy, including basketball courts, beach volleyball, common kitchens and games. deck, tiered seating areas with televisions and a jukebox in the bridge between Greenway B and C. There is also a larger indoor event space that can accommodate up to 200 people.

Davies described the event space as “akin to the Powerhouse, but not as large.” There are full kitchens in the bridge areas, and kitchenettes “typically every other floor in a two-story lounge with a spiral stair connecting the two levels,” Davies said.

Carter said that some of the new features might represent a disparity of housing quality within the college.

“I can only hope that the creation of these new dorms will serve as an impetus for renovating other dorms on campus to provide more

equal housing across the board,” she said.

According to Davies, unforeseen weather conditions impacted the construction process in multiple ways. Although the relative lack of heavy snow this past winter ensured that there were no construction days lost to snow, planting for the Greenway has been delayed due to an ongoing drought in the area.

According to an Aug. 18 email from the president’s office to the college community, the state of Massachusetts has issued a drought watch, and the Town of Amherst imposed mandatory water conservation measures on campuses in the area.

The sustainable technology added to the new dorms include water conservation mea-

sures, such as harvesting rainwater from the rooftops to feed the indoor plumbing and store filtered water in a storage tank. Other notable sustainability features, not all of which are visible, include shaping the dorms to emphasize stair use and minimize elevator use, building materials that insulate more efficiently and a shower water energy reclaim system that uses runoff heat from showers to heat more water for use.

The Greenway is part of a larger development project involving the new dorms as well as the upcoming science center. It will mainly consist of a walkway stretching across east campus, hugging the hillside to the south of Keefe Campus Center.

New Hirings Prompt Announcement of Resource Center Team Continued from Page 1 work that we’re doing but also know that I cannot do this work without being intersectional.

I don’t want to do this work without being intersectional.”

Ramiz also recognized the challenges inherent in maintaining this balance. “[We are] thinking about how to establish when programming is open for everyone,” she said. “But when is the QRC uniquely for trans students of color? Or when is the MRC uniquely for people of color on campus, and when is the WGC doing a program that is specifically geared to-

ward women on campus? Knowing that those spaces are still open to all other people on campus — that messaging is important, [and] it’s challenging to navigate how you share all of that information.”

Another goal for the Resource Center Team is to bring the work they do within their centers outside to the greater Amherst community.

“If I can create, in this space, a sense of belonging for students, and not a place where they are always comfortable but a space where they can feel changed, a space where we can hold each other accountable, where we can

472 Members of Class of 2020 Arrive on Campus Continued from Page 1 that of last year, and as with previous years, the highlight continues to be the multi-day “Learn, Explore, Activate, Participate,” or LEAP, programs.

However, the program has also undergone additional improvements and refinement.

“We have given student Orientation Leaders and Resident Counselors an even more prominent role,” said López. “We are also launching a new diversity program in collaboration with our new chief diversity officer.”

López also said that orientation does not

simply function to help new students adjust more easily to the Amherst community, but also aims to “empower them to help redefine that community.”

“Given the intense diversity of our small student body, it is always a challenge for students to be open and vulnerable enough, as well as understanding and forgiving enough,” López said, but added that he feels “confident stating that we have [moved] from aspiration to reality in terms of making orientation consistent with our aspirations.”

Students will return from their LEAP programs on Saturday, Sept. 3, and classes will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

build community in an intentional way, [then] my hope is that it will trickle out to the rest of the campus,” Ramiz said.

Tissi-Gassoway echoed this desire to make the resource centers’ spaces accessible to students and other members of the Amherst community who may have previously felt unwelcome. “If we [put] ourselves out there more and show students that we are doing work [and show] a more nuanced way of looking at the work [rather than] very narrow, ‘this is it’ way, then I think those students might become more comfortable,” she said.

With newcomers to the Amherst commu-

nity in leadership positions on the Resource Center Team, much of the team’s work remains in the early planning stages. In an effort to discuss concrete planning efforts, the team’s members will be going on a resource center retreat to further strategize and discuss their goals. Initial ideas for collaborative programming include discussions surrounding the importance of voting and voter registration and how different identities have the potential to be affected by political outcomes. Additional next steps for the team include a search for an administrative assistant that will work for the Resource Center Team.

Jones Announced as CDO Continued from Page 1

should prioritize,” Suzuki said. “From the clasroom to our departments and offices, they are the institutional framework that can be anchors of change. These daily points of contact should reflect the diversity of the student body, and the promotion of a diverse staff and faculty cannot stop at hiring.”

Jones said that he noticed a desire from students from various identity and affinity groups to have more dialogue both between and within those groups.

He plans to launch a series of focus groups this year to address this concern. Jones added that he hopes that discussion on issues traditionally ascribed to specific identity groups will not remain confined to those groups but rather be discussed more broadly at the col-

lege.

“Institutions of higher learning have explicit responsibilities to teach students academically first and foremost, but also [teach students] how to live in community with one another, how to negotiate difficult dialogues and inquire in responsible and civil ways,” he said. “For the most part, the larger culture doesn’t teach this nor encourage it.”

Regarding what he hopes to accomplish this academic year, Jones said that he has many ideas, but will first use existing plans, such as the college’s strategic plan, as a starting point.

“The funny thing about plans is that they hinge upon little to no disruption,” Jones said. “The climate in the country is emotionally charged and polarized. This is a reality we must acknowledge in our world and on our campus.”

Opinion

THE AMHERST

From Those Who Have Been There Orientation week brings a sense of excitement and anticipation to the Amherst campus. First-years descend upon the quad and face a flurry of programming designed to prepare them for the next four years. In the spirit of orientation week, the Editorial board hopes to supplement a week dedicated to advice by offering the candid advice we wish we had received as first-years. Here are seven tips from people who have been in your shoes and only want to see you succeed as you begin to navigate life at Amherst.

1. You don’t need to know right now what your ultimate path will be.

There’s a reason you chose to attend a liberal arts school, and you should take full advantage of it. You don’t need to settle on a major right now and your major certainly does not dictate your career path. Study a variety of subjects that you find interesting, and take classes that challenge you and force you outside of your comfort zone. It could help you discover a passion you never even knew existed.

2. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

A stigma surrounding asking for help persists at Amherst.

There’s the perception that asking for help means you are weak or incapable. This could not be further from the truth.

If you are struggling in a class, ask a peer or the professor for help. If you feel overwhelmed, reach out to one of our many support services for assistance. If you don’t know where your classroom is or get locked out of your dorm, ask a passerby.

There are so many resources at Amherst, and many of them are your fellow students. We’ve all been the one who didn’t know the answer before and are more than willing to provide guidance.

3. Support your peers.

There are so many talented people at Amherst that work tirelessly outside of the classroom at their given passions.

Whether it be cheering at a soccer game or swaying with the beat at an a cappella concert, make sure you get out to different events and support your fellow students. It’s incredible to see the diversity of talents our student body has to offer, and chances are your friends will return the favor when your own

event comes up.

4. Give people a chance to surprise you.

It’s easy to settle into a small friend group, but don’t disregard someone until you truly make an effort to get to know them.

You can choose to judge others based on appearances or other trivial qualities, but this choice limits your circle, cutting you off from potential connections. Take the time to provide everyone with the opportunity to surprise you, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with many of your interactions.

5. Your best knowledge will come from outside of the classroom.

The best conversations you have at Amherst likely won’t happen in Chapin 101. The moments spent talking with peers over dinner, between classes or up at 2 a.m. will be where some of your most important learning happens. Everyone at Amherst has a story to share and each one is worth listening to. Take the time to talk to your peers and push beyond the standard discussions about classes or extracurriculars. These will be the moments you truly remember.

6. Make time for yourself.

Life at Amherst is taxing. It’s crucial to take time to practice self care, however you are best comforted. Whether it be going to the gym, watching a few episodes on Netflix or drawing, recognizing when you need a break and actually taking it will only prove beneficial. Further, make sleep a priority. You might be able to survive on three hours of sleep for a couple nights, but it will inevitably catch up with you. Listening to your body and treating it well will make your time here all the more enjoyable.

7. Remember that you deserve to be here.

The next four years will inevitably bring feelings of fear, anxiety and doubt, but remember that you are on this campus for a reason and have earned every opportunity that comes your way. You bring a unique perspective and identity to this community and help to make it the special place that is.

Bring your whole self to all that you do and remain confident in your abilities and what you have to offer.

The Golden Ticket: A Reality Check “I quit.”

Those were the last two words I heard from Natasha. It was the start of another muggy August evening in rural New Hampshire, and the grind and uncertainty of waiting tables in the restaurant industry had claimed its latest victim.

I met Natasha two months prior when I began work at the local restaurant. On one night of my mandatory week training — shadowing “certified” servers; watching their every move and interaction with guests; taking notes so as to prepare for the written exam required of those aspiring to work in front-of-house operations — she had actually been my trainer.

It was then that I learned of her situation: a single mother of two young girls — ages two and three — who moved from her hometown in rural Maine the previous summer to a town across the border in north-central New Hampshire to be closer to the father. Their relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend deteriorated after high school — neither went to college, though Natasha had become a Licensed Practical Nurse and was waiting for her certification to transfer to New Hampshire — and they separated permanently after the birth of the second child.

Wa i t ing tables three nights a week while cleaning houses during the day Monday through Friday brought in enough money to scrape by. That is, assuming her nights at the restaurant ensured reasonable take-home — $100 or more was considered “decent” for a 4:30 to 10:30 shift — from gratuities. With the state’s hourly “tipped wage” of $3.27, anything less than a few hun-

E X E C U T I V E B OA R D Editor-in-Chief Lauren Tuiskula

Editorial

Galen Muskat ’18E Contributing Writer

STUDENT

dred dollars would not suffice. Gas, groceries, clothing for herself and her children, electricity and other bills — it added up quickly.

From my limited perspective, I could but surmise one thing when Natasha left: the wages did not justify the work. She needed more.

On the one hand, I understood Natasha’s complaint: I experienced plenty of nights this summer where I walked home counting just thirty or so dollars in tips, or roughly five dollars an hour for a full shift. On the other hand, something separated me from Natasha: choice.

For her, waiting tables served to make ends meet — a necessity. Yet I took the job as a proverbial “break” from working paid internships in Boston the previous two summers.

Initially, I had prepared to work a third summer in an internship, this one unpaid, at the United Nations Association of Greater Boston. But when the landlord decided to put the building of my soon-to-be apartment on the market just days before I anticipated arriving, my plans changed. Unable to find an affordable place elsewhere in or near the Boston area, I returned home, three hours north, and applied for a job at the restaurant around the corner. (In our town, it is the only year-round business, in fact.)

Considering that I had the financial support from my parents to take an unpaid internship in Boston, landing a position as a server — while no long having to pay room and board in the city — represented a favorable second choice.

It is not until now, just several days before the fall semester arrives, that I realize how lucky I am to attend a four-year college; to have the option of taking unpaid summer internships; have a roof over my head and food

before me each night; to be the one advocating from a position of relative financial security for a nationwide increase in the minimum wage — not the one hoping for an extra twenty dollars in tips, or an hourly rate in the double-digits, just so I can provide the basics for myself and my children.

Once, my father told me that Amherst was a “golden ticket.” His label has loomed large over my head and, at times, burdened me with feelings of wastefulness or immaturity if, say, I earned a B instead of an A; didn’t attend every guest speaker’s lecture; didn’t make time to go to every session of a professor’s office hours. If I don’t wring every last ounce of opportunity offered me by Amherst, am I putting a crease in my “golden ticket” or, worse, tearing it up?

But I think now, after working a full-time job alongside servers like Natasha, whose “golden ticket” is simply a good night’s earnings in tips (never guaranteed, mind you), I understand perhaps a little better the immense value of my remaining three semesters at Amherst. To a literalist, it represents a sum in the mid-five figures. To me, it means a luxury of learning and thinking which has become a rarity — and, in that, the truest privilege, from my perspective — in our world.

On any night this year when I grumble to myself for even a second about so-and-so reading or an upcoming essay, I’ll remind myself that at that very moment, there are hundreds of thousands of Natashas running furiously around a restaurant wondering if their next party of guests will leave a tip large enough to buy gas for the drive home. That, I hope, will bring me to remember — and embrace — just how fortunate I am to be a student at Amherst College.

Managing News Dan Ahn, Kiana Herold, Jingwen Zhang Managing Opinion Diane Lee, Spencer Quong Managing Arts and Living Gabby Edzie, Paola Garcia-Prieto, Alida Mitau Managing Sports Jason Darell, Nathaniel Quigley, Julia Turner Managing Design Gabby Bishop S TA F F Head Publisher Emily Ratte Design Editors Justin Barry, Megan Do, Zavi Sheldon, Chloe Tausk, Yrenly Yuan Photography Editor Kyra Gardner

Letters Policy The opinion pages of The Amherst Student are intended as an open forum for the Amherst community.

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The editors reserve the right to edit any letters exceeding the 450-word limit or to withhold any letter because of considerations of space or content.

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The Amherst Student • September 2, 2016

Learning the Lingo: Amherst in Translation

Lumi Youm ’18 Contributing Writer Hi there! First off, a warm welcome to all the first-years from all of us more-weathered members of the Amherst community. Excited? Oh, definitely. If you’re anything like I was, you’ve spent the last couple of months looking up every factoid ever written about Amherst College on the Internet and questioning everyone who’s had some kind of experience here. You’ve probably been able to form a much better picture of life at Amherst.

Still, without actually having spent time here, that picture is bound to be somewhat hazy and idealized. There are some aspects to life at Amherst that are too recent or tied to personal experience to have been documented by anybody on the Internet. Here, I’ve compiled a short list of some of the most important terms and factoids to keep in mind for an easier transition into being a member of the Amherst community. Remember that upperclassmen, your professors and faculty members are always happy to answer your questions, listen to your impressions of things or just chat.

We’re all a part of the Amherst whole.

“Floating Duck Syndrome”: Have you ever wondered how ducks manage to glide so effortlessly on water? Well — they don’t. Under the mirrorlike surface of that water, their feet are working extra hard to keep them from sinking. It’s only from the outside that they look so perfect. A student who suffers from “floating duck syndrome” is just like that duck — they may seem perfect and happy on the

outside, but under the surface they are suffering from stress, anxiety, low self-esteem and the exhaustion of keeping up a seamless façade. If this rings a bell, know that there are many, many students at this college and colleges all across the country who feel the same way. And that talking about it is nowhere near shameful or embarrassing. In fact, you would be spreading bravery as well as helping cultivate a culture of openness and sharing.

Chances are, your roommate or the girl who sits next to in your first-year seminar feels the exact same way.

“Amherst Awkward”: This is a bit harder to define. As a first-year, I definitely struggled with my fellow first-year friends to figure out what exactly this thing was, something that supposedly ruled every interaction that took place here. “Amherst awkward” is an action, an unwanted third party to conversations, a general mood or a specific spoken line. It’s nebulous and hard to pin down, yet it’s there and people seem unable to stop talking about it. Eventually, my friends and I came to the conclusion that “Amherst awkward” lay in the way that two people passing by each other on the sidewalk avoided eye contact, or the way that a friendly “hello” and “How are you?” are actually pretty rare. In a way, “Amherst awkward” is created when we try to avoid awkwardness by pretending other people aren’t there. It’s a very counter-productive act, after all, trying to avoid awkward interactions. I’m a big proponent of saying, “Hello” and “How are you?” or even just making eye contact and smiling at the people we pass by. After all, it’s

Picture this:

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only awkward if we think it is.

Until recently, the Lord Jeff was our unofficial mascot (unofficial, because it was never declared or made official by any authority). Currently there are two large factions on campus (the challengers for the moose, the traditionalists for the Lord Jeff) along with a smattering of smaller ones (the Frost, the Purple Squirrels, etc). There’s too much to the mascot debate to tell it all in a short article like this—ask an upperclassman, and chances are they’ll be happy to tell you about it!

Val: a perennial subject of debates, discussions, and sigh-fests. First-years used to home-cooked food despise the disappointment that positively emanates from it. Upperclassmen who have come back to campus after a summer of trying to live on their own love it in September, only to remember their hatred of it in the ensuing months. A lot of people say that Val is actually pretty good, and imply that anyone who says otherwise is spoiled. It’s true that Val is repetitive — breakfasts are on a biweekly rotation, while lunches and dinners are on a monthly rotation. Foods on the Lighter Side are almost always underseasoned and overcooked. There isn’t much diversity in the cuisines represented. Still, Val tries. There are a lot of options if you look beyond the traditional menu items. If something feels lacking, try adding salt and pepper, or any one of the amazing variety of spices/spice mixtures available. Adjusting a food to your tastes can make all the difference. Take advantage of the salad bar, and the pizza! Don’t miss world cuisine days, or the iron chef competi-

5

tion in the spring. And check out the student cookbook on the Val section of the Amherst website! There are some golden ideas in that recipe book, including the triple bonus grilled cheese,the bulgogi stir fry, and the bananas foster waffle.

Biddy: the President of our College! She has an incredibly cute dog named Bo, who may or may not be even cuter than the Obamas’ dog, wears a pair of Harry Potter-esque glasses, and looks amazing in deep royal purple. Her popularity levels are likely higher than 99.9 percent of individuals around the world who hold the powerful title of “president.” Everyone, and I mean everyone, loves Biddy. And if they don’t (whether it be because divestment remains at a standstill or that they’ve been fighting to get off of the meal plan for months), they’re still at least willing to admit that she’s pretty chill.

By now, you’ve probably noticed that Amherst has a lot of student publications for such a small college. We’ve just got a lot of different kinds of people with different interests, and thankfully it’s pretty easy to get a club or organization going here. Read the Student if you’re looking for straight updates on what’s going on around campus, with a smattering of opinion pieces and sports news. If you’d like a more all-around subjective view of things on campus, check out AC Voice or the Indicator, both excellent places to find pieces on all sorts of Amherst-related subjects. Amherst Soul is a similar publication, but with a focus on themes of diversity, inclusion, and artistic expression.

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AAS Senate to Class of 2020: “Welcome Home!”

Karen Blake ’17 and Renai Foster ’19 Contributing Writers Hi everyone! On behalf of the Association of Amherst Students (AAS), commonly refered to as the student government, I would like to welcome the class of 2020 and incoming transfer students.

I would like to formally introduce you all to the AAS. Our student government is made up of eight senators from each class that serve to represent your interests and voices to the administration, finance campus clubs and activities as well as put on campus-wide events and programming.

In addition to the class-elected senators, we have a school-wide elected Executive Board.

The Executive Board and the class Senators hold a weekly Monday night meeting where they work to address student concerns. The

meetings typically take place in Cole Assembly Room (the Red Room) in Converse hall beginning at 8:30 p.m.

Do not think of the AAS as a distant body, but instead think of us as an organization that is rooted in working alongside you to make real changes at Amherst. Do not be afraid to reach out to your class senators or attend our weekly meeting to ensure that your voice — the voice of the students, is heard.

With the help of AAS, we hope to continue to improve Amherst for all of the students, staff and faculty. We encourage you to ask questions, make suggestions and run for senate this fall.

The class senator election for the Class of 2020 will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 28 with a short speech night to be held the night before.

Please know that we are here to help and you should feel free to reach out to anyone of us! Being on campus will take some getting used to, so here’s a list of things we’ve learned

and think that all first-years should know that might help make your life here at Amherst a little easier.

1. The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) is the local bus system. It’s free for students so check out their website for bus times and locations. This bus will take you to the shopping center (Hampshire Mall) so make sure you hop on every once in a while.

2. Download the Amherst app! It allows you to access laundry services (when machines are available), includes Val &Grab-n-Go Menus, updates on Campus events, accesses your AC Dollars account (money that you or your family can put on your account for laundry and snacks), and links to Moodle!

3. Look for resources on campus! Amherst is your home now, so it’s only right that you feel safe and comfortable. Talk to your advisors, RCs and upperclassmen to find out about social resources on campus. We have a Multicultural

Resource Center (MRC), a Queer Resource Center (QRC), and a Women and Gender Center (WGC), which are open to any and all students, and act as sites of learning, where you can find a vast array of resources.

4. If you’re having any issues with a class or assignment, do not hesitate to contact your professors. They want the best for you, but you have to reach out and ask for their help. So that means do not miss office hours 5. Do not be afraid to be yourself. Amherst is made up of people from various backgrounds with different ideas and beliefs. Stay true to yourself but be open minded and leave room for personal growth and development. You will be surprised by how much you will learn inside and outside of the classroom in your first year at Amherst.

Again, welcome to Amherst, good luck and here’s to a great first semester for the class of 2020’s first semester!

Arts & Living

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The Amherst Student • September 2, 2016

Study spots in Amherst Kellogg Ave

6

The Works

N Pleasant St

8

Share Coffee

7

Starbucks

Downtown Amherst has no shortage of cozy study spots for when you need to escape Frost. We reviewed popular off-campus locations where you can get a bite, work on a group project or find some peace.

5

Glazed

Amity St 3

Limered

4

Amherst Coffee

Boltwood Ave

S Pleasant St

Main St 2

Black Sheep

Spring St 1

The Lord Jeff

Arts & Living 7

The Amherst Student • September 2, 2016

Study Spots in Amherst: The Best and the Worst of Coffee and More Paola Garcia-Prieto ’18 Managing Arts & Living Editor 1. The Lord Jeff Inn For days where your life feels like it’s falling apart, the Lord Jeff is a great place to study and feel like a sophisticated adult.

The library that shares a space with the lobby provides the perfect study space, made cozy and welcoming by a wood fire that burns when the weather turns chilly.

Anyone can order from their wonderful menu and enjoy the pleasant music in this classic New England hotel. You may have to splurge a little but sometimes you have to treat yourself!

Best Item: Hot Chocolate Wi-Fi: Strong (Password Required) 2. Black Sheep Black Sheep is my favorite study spot, the sandwiches are delicious and affordable.

The space is bright and friendly, with colored walls and countless nooks and crannies to sit in. The staff is really nice and you can stay there for hours because they have

plugs at almost every table. Check out the day-old pastries — they are still fresh but sold at discounted prices so you can enjoy them without hurting your wallet!

Best item: Iced Dirty Chai Wi-Fi: Strong 3. Limered Limered is known more as a hang out spot than a study spot but you could spend hours reading and trying out different mixes of their drinks. Along with the everpopular bubble tea, there’s also a great selection of hot teas and it’s a great spot if you don’t mind a little background noise and commotion.

Best item: Mango Bubble Tea Wi-Fi: Fair 4. Amherst Coffee During a cold winter day you’ll find comfort in the warm, dim, cozy environment of Amherst Coffee. As a writer, this is the most inspiring place for me. The modern hipster-ish look, the wooden tables and strong coffee aroma is equivalent to a New

York café. Tip: the locals call it AmCo for short!

Best item: Cappuccino Wi-Fi: Strong 5. Glazed I’m usually only there at night when the donuts are half-off but if treats help fuel your studying then this is the place for you.

There are plenty of tables and the staff is always welcoming, so go grab a half-a dozen box of donuts, a cup of coffee and crack open some books.

Best item: Maple Bar Donuts (bonus with bacon if that doesn’t gross you out) Wi-Fi: Strong 6. The Works The Works is a bit more pricey but definitely a very welcoming place to study. They have breakfast bagels and wraps served all day as well as salads and sandwiches for lunch. Standard coffee drinks are available plus yummy smoothies if you’re looking for a healthier option or are trying to combat your developing caffeine addiction.

Best item: Lox Bagel Wi-Fi: Fair, can disconnect at times 7. Starbucks Starbucks, the universal college-student study spot. It’s a cozy location but it can get pretty crowded, I’ve never been able to focus there for more than an hour. Unless it’s empty I usually get my drink from there and head to The Works.

Best item: All are great but I’m a sucker for Caramel Frappuccinos.

Wi-Fi: Fair, can get overwhelmed and slow when crowded 8. Share Coffee Formerly known as Rao’s coffee, this is a beloved place for Amherst students. It hasn’t changed owners but recently changed the name, reduced menu items and bumped up the prices. Although some feel like the rebranding has changed the experience, the comfy café continues to draw students looking for a quiet place to work.

Best item: Latte Wi-Fi: Strong

Was it Worth the Wait? Frank Ocean’s Newest Album, “Blonde”

Frank Ocean, an artist known for his perfectionism and last minute changes to his work, changed the release date several times for his latest album, “Blonde”. On Aug. 20, when the first song off the of album finally debuted, the album hit number one on the billboard charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Evan Paul ’18 Contributing Writer Any artist that makes his fans wait four years in between albums, with multiple false release dates and still has fans must be talented. Or at the very least, must be such an enigma that people will listen either way. Frank Ocean qualifies for both categories.

When he stepped on the scene in 2011 as a solo artist, many people already knew Ocean.

He had been a member of the collective group Odd Future for a year already. Although I have never listened to his first mixtape, “Nostalgia, Ultra,” the album was met with a considerable amount of praise. The mixtape even caught the attention of Kanye West. Fans of Ocean’s mixtape only had to wait one year between “Nostalgia, Ultra” and Ocean’s debut studio album “Channel Orange.” In fact, Ocean and his record label decided to release. “Channel Orange” a week earlier than scheduled. We obviously did not know how lucky we were at the time.

Frank Ocean has never shied away from singing about love. In fact, “Channel Orange” is named after the color Ocean felt most connected to during the first summer he fell in

love. Everyone knows by now that the individual Ocean’s “orange summer” references happens to be another man. Initially, Ocean addressed this in an open letter on his website, to many fans’ shock. Fortunately, his revelation was well received by his industry peers.

So what about “Blonde”? How does it stack up in comparison to “Channel Orange”? Well, I would say it’s much of the same. There are still the electro-pop influences as well as the switches between singing and rapping. However, “Blonde” takes on a trend that has recently had a resurgence in hip hop albums over the past couple of years, and that is the use of between song “skits.” Examples of this might come from albums such as Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” and the critically acclaimed “intro” to Notorious B.I.G.’s 1994 album “Ready to Die.” Arguably the best song on Frank Ocean’s “Blonde” isn’t even a song. It’s the skit in which his mother encourages him (his listeners) to “Be Yourself.”

She plainly states, “be yourself and know that that’s good enough.” Talk about encouragement! However, not all of the skits are interesting or engaging. I personally find the “Facebook Story” skit a nuisance that pops up

mid-way through an otherwise great album.

Overall, the album is great. There are songs you can dance to, songs you can cry to and songs that make you think. In other words, the album passes all the tests. However, if I’m being honest, the album wasn’t quite worth the four year wait. It’s great, don’t get me wrong, but four years? Come on Frank. You can do better.

Best Tracks: “White Ferrari”: “Watch the clouds float, white ferrari,” sings Ocean on this absolutely beautiful track. Much like his previous work, “White Ferrari” tells a love story. Ocean goes heavy on the synth and repetition on this song, which has a weird, almost dissociationlike feel to it. In the end, listeners may realize that the song actually isn’t meant for them, but rather is just meant for Frank to work through his feelings. With a song this beautiful it’s okay.

“Godspeed”: I’ll be honest, the first time I listened to this song, I cried. With its Gospel inspired delivery and Ocean’s organ playing, it’s hard not to feel some sort of connection to the music, at least on my end. Additionally, Ocean’s heartbreaking first phrase “I will

always love you,” does enough to break your heart from the first verse. He essentially sets us up to remember that love that got away.

I’m not sure whose beautiful voice rounds out the end of the song, but their declaration that they will “always love you, ‘till the day we die,” gets me every time.

“Nikes”: You may be put off by the weird voice effect that Ocean uses during this opening track, however in the end, you will have to admit that it’s impossible not to sing along.

It’s also impossible to understand exactly what Ocean is getting at with the lyrics of this song. I have studied them, and I’ve yet to quite get them completely. At the very least, you’ll wade through the weird voice effects and lyrics to the end of the song. At this point, Ocean takes away the voice effect and actually begins rapping in a way that seems like pseudo-mentoring for his listeners. He goes on and on about how your friends may come with you, but they aren’t really with you, how “we” are going to see the future first, and finally how he’ll “look after” us. Again, I’m not exactly sure how the beginning relates to the end, but I’ll take it if it means that Ocean has my back during those rough moments we all go through.

Arts & Living 8

The Amherst Student • September 2, 2016

Exploring Karl Knausgaard: Simple, Honest and Powerful Narration Alida Mitau ’18 Managing Arts & Living Editor This summer I had the pleasure of discovering the author Karl Ove Knausgaard, a 48-year-old Norwegian who made enormous waves in the literary world for his inimitable six-volume, 3,600-page autobiographical novel titled “My Struggle.” The novel documents Knausgaard’s entire life, from the smallest details of making coffee in the morning, to the overwhelming difficulties of dealing with his father’s death. For fans of Knausgaard who are probably finishing up the series by now, this is old news. The first book of the series was published in 2009 in Norwegian and was translated into English and published in the U.S. in 2012. It was a huge success almost immediately, and I recently read a statistic that one of Knausgaard’s books has sold for every nine adults in Norway. The fifth volume of the

series just came to the U.S. this past April, the sixth has not yet arrived. Surprisingly, after reading so much about his life already in the first volume, I am eager for more.

Book one of “My Struggle” focuses on Knausgaard’s youth. However, Knausgaard’s narration consistently shifts through time and we, as readers, are often brought back to the “present” — Knausgaard’s current life as he writes the novel. I especially enjoyed reading and connecting to his deeply honest, thorough tales about trying too hard to be alternative in high school, hiding alcohol from his parents, falling in love for the first time and getting his expectations crushed one New Year’s Eve. He dependably, and pleasantly, surprised me with his blunt stories about the emotional embarrassments that come with growing up. The rest of the volume focuses on his later life as a young professional immediately after his father’s death. This portion of

the novel is structured around Knausgaard’s mental efforts to come to terms with the problematic relationship he had with his alcoholic, unsympathetic father and the many emotions that emerged in the wake of his father’s death.

When I first heard about the series, I assumed Knausgaard had to be unusually selfabsorbed to think that people would want to read 3,600 pages detailing his life. The concept of the novel seemed ridiculous, and I assumed that after one volume, I would be sick of him. However, this was not the case. While an argument can surely be made for Knausgaard’s obsession with himself, he is so astonishingly honest, upfront and sincere throughout the novel that his self-absorption becomes basically irrelevant when reading.

Knausgaard is never trying to impress anyone with the details of his life — rather, he seems to use writing as a way to better reflect on his experiences and figure out what’s go-

Knausgaard’s book “My Struggle” caused controversy when released, as it shares a title with Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”.

ing on around and inside of him. As a reader relating to Knausgaard’s mental anguish and sensitivity as he feels bad for not feeling bad enough about his dad’s death, or cries for some indescribable reason after seeing a painting of a beautiful landscape, I am forced into my own self-reflection. He writes about the struggle to understand and grapple with mysterious emotions and he does so skillfully and intelligently. Thus, the minute details of his life become quite engaging, and I am not bored when he spends five pages on his observations of the street outside his window. I am actually riveted because he expertly endows immense, seemingly justifiable, weight to the conventionally trivial aspects of our lives. I feel like I am right there with him as he fails to start a band as a teenager and as he regrets not saying something nicer to his wife. He embraces all of his experiences, even the most shameful, embarrassing and seemingly insignificant moments. While reading, I start to think that something important is happening as he makes his coffee, and maybe something is.

I have come to believe that bestowing supposedly trivial moments with meaning and significance comes naturally. Because our own experiences are all we have to go off as we navigate the complexities of life, remembering and reflecting on all of them feels quite important. I have often felt the strange need to remember the random moments in which I felt particularly happy or enlightened, or the picturesque view outside my window. Knausgaard’s close attention to his thoughts and experiences underlines the notion that life must matter and, perhaps, should be documented.

Reading Knausgaard inspires me to live for the moment — even if it is not conventionally exciting — and to think deeply, knowing that any instant can have significance.

The fact that it took him six long volumes to write about his life speaks for itself: There is so much content in our lives, and it is indescribably hard to truly know ourselves and other people. After one volume, I feel like there is so much more I want to know about Knausgaard. Even though reading 3,600 autobiographical pages feels daunting, I remain enthusiastically up to the task.

Summer Favorites: Netflix Original Series “BoJack Horseman” Gabby Edzie ’17 Managing Arts & Living Editor The Netflix original series “BoJack Horseman” is an animated show created by Raphael BobWaksberg. The show, one of my favorites at the moment released its third season on Netflix earlier this summer and has been making waves ever since. The series follows an animated horse (voiced

by Will Arnett) as he navigates the Birdman-esque woes of a washed up sitcom star. Alongside Arnett, the show features Aaron Paul, Alison Brie, Amy Sedaris and Paul F. Tompkins.

BoJack’s glory days were on the set of a family friendly television show, “Horsing Around,” but BoJack has since failed to produce anything of note as an artist. His fans have aged, and a beer belly has grown beneath his signature sweater. BoJack searches for happiness and meaning — attempting to find these things in relationships, homages to the past and new acting gigs. The plot follows BoJack alongside his “friends” — both human and animal — melding clever humor with a certain sadness that is refreshingly complex. For many different reasons (some self-inflicted) BoJack is not a happy horse, yet he constantly sabotages his best chances for happiness and redemption. The show’s genius lies in the fact that an animated horse traversing an absurd, pun-filled world can communicate the angles and complexities of sadness and the search for meaning many of us grapple with in our everyday lives. Alongside BoJack, you’re left to ask yourself if this is inescapable hopelessness or fetishized melancholy — and then if these two notions are mutually exclusive.

As depressing as the show sounds, it extends

far beyond dark humor trading upon the sadness that is BoJack’s life. The humor is delivered airily, but once it lands, the impact is intense. The puns are detailed and well thought out and the punchlines are often meaningful critiques of popular culture. An example: In the third season the character Mr. Peanutbutter (think Labrador retriever Ashton Kutcher) is forced to come up with Oscar nominees. On his whiteboard we see a crossed-out “black people?” The humor is also aptly delivered through the sheer breadth of characters.

The show places comically subdued characters alongside caricatures of every character-type you can imagine in Hollywood (referred to as “Hollywoo” after someone steals the D from the sign).

Journalist human Diane provides subtle quips regarding hipster/writer life while the very existence of the idiot-celebrity-Labrador, Mr. Peanut Butter is enough to make me laugh. The added factor of some characters being animals offers a parallel to a society of diverse backgrounds. In an episode where BoJack travels underwater we see him navigate a language barrier amongst the sea creatures, similar to Bill Murray’s exploits in “Lost In Translation.” The animals also provide the opportunity for some perfectly ripe, low-hanging-fruit puns: Princess Carolyn, a cat that is BoJack’s agent and best frenemy, drinks “catbernet” wine from the bottle and goes on dates with a mouse. More subtly, if you pay attention to the background jokes you’ll see a camel drinking water at a bar, or crickets in the audience of a comedy club.

The genius of BoJack’s writing team is backed by an incredible soundtrack. My favorite episode of the season — “Fish Out of Water” has a perfectly paired soundtrack. BoJack ventures underwater

for a film festival, and confined to an oxygen helmet, he’s unable to speak. The episode is kind of a narrative suspension (it floats — sorry, couldn’t resist a pun). Visually, we’re in the dreamy, alien, underwater world for the majority of the episode, and the music, which replaces the dialogue, matches the aquatic trance state.

I’ll put praise aside for a moment to mention that this show is for the cynic in all of us, so if you’re not one to embrace your own, this show might not be for you. The show is undeniably dark, and the self-loathing, pessimism-drenched jokes often teeter on bad taste. In “That’s Too Much, Man!” the penultimate episode of season three, BoJack attends and boozes at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, a scene that unabashedly displays BoJack’s self-loathing and self-destruction.

That being said, this show accomplishes a meaningful feat in 25-minute intervals. By the time the credits are rolling, you’ve seen bigtime commentary on the California drought, feminist analyses of teenage female pop singers and the condition of stardom. Simultaneously, you’ve felt connected to the smaller-time daily woes. I never knew daily nostalgia could be so effectively communicated by an animated penguin that works in publishing. Additionally, BoJack fandom isn’t limited by Netflix release dates. BoJack’s presence is fleshed out in his real-life social media personalities (the team of writers have produced my favorite comedic twitter account). It’s all in an effort to transition BoJack Horseman from a run-of-themill ‘Hollywood wash-up type’ to a living, feeling and ultimately relatable character.

The series’ protagonist, “BoJack Horseman”, is voiced by Will Arnett.

The Amherst Student • September 2, 2016

Sports 9

Football Pursues Record-Breaking Third Consecutive Perfect Season Nathaniel Quigley ’19 Managing Sports Editor Amherst has long sported a proud football tradition dating back to the days of legendary head coach, Jim Ostendarp. Yet not even the famed “Darp” could match the feat achieved by last year’s purple and white, which became the first in the program’s history to put together back to back perfect seasons. As such, the purple and white enter this season riding high expectations and seeking an unheard-of third consecutive 8-0 season.

However, perfection is never easily achieved and head coach E.J. Mills’ squad faces a daunting series of obstacles in its search of the trifecta. Six members of last year’s senior class garnered all-NESCAC accolades, including Jimmy Fairfield-Sonn, who won the conference’s defensive player of the year award.

The team must also replace the production of senior leaders Jackson McGonagle and Kenny Adrinka who keyed the purple and white’s offense to a conference best 27.6 points per game.

Even with these losses, Amherst still returns seven all-conference performers. These top players include Reece Foy ’18, who passed for 1,542 yards and 10 touchdowns and was expected to power Amherst’s dominant offense until an ACL tear cut his junior season short before it even began. Foy will now take on the role of working with the other quarterbacks, who will be fighting for the starting position.

Amherst’s starting quarterback will surely be working closely alongside wide receiver Devin Boehm ’17, who led the team with 41 receptions for 555 yards last year. The promising offense is expected to be complimented by a dominant offensive line anchored by Elijah Zabludoff ’18 and a power running game built on the backs of Jack Hickey ’19 and Nick Kelly

’17 who combined to rush for nearly 900 yards in 2015.

Meanwhile, the defense also has enormous shoes to fill as the team must find a way to replace the spine of last year’s defense that surrendered a conference low of 9.9 points per game. Yet even more so than the offense, the purple and white return a deep pool of talent in all three levels of the defense. Headlined by Paul Johnson ’17 and Niyi Odewade ’17 on the defensive line, inside linebacker Evan Boynton ’17 and a group of talented defensive backs, Amherst boasts the potential to improve upon last year’s dominance.

Replacing key personnel isn’t the only challenge the team faces, as Amherst once again must navigate a treacherous schedule full of potential pitfalls. While Amherst easily handled most of their opponents last year en route to perfection, the 2015 season did suffer its fair share of nail-biting contests. Most notably the purple and white eked out victories in their last two matches against Trinity at home on Family Weekend and at Williams to clinch their eighth win, prevailing by only nine and 10 points respectively.

This year figures to only be more of a challenge, with an even bigger target painted on Amherst’s back and even stronger opponents.

While the season’s opening fixtures present a series of seemingly easy wins for the team, the team faces what will likely be its first true challenge on Saturday, Oct. 22 against Little Three rival Wesleyan in Milton, Connecticut. Even though Amherst prevailed over the Cardinals in last year’s homecoming match in a comfortable 27-18 victory, no match-up against a Little Three opponent is ever a given. Nor will this year’s Family Weekend matchup against Tufts, who will likely be seeking revenge for last year’s 32-7 embarrassment at the hands of the purple and white.

Amherst’s hopes for an unprecedented

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Amherst’s offensive line was one of the most impressive in the NESCAC last year, helping protect the dominant purple and white running game. third consecutive perfect season will likely once again come down to the last two games of the season. On Nov. 5, Amherst travels to Hartford, Connecticut to face Trinity in a bout of two NESCAC titans who finished first and second in the conference last year. And on Homecoming, Saturday, Nov. 12, Amherst plays host to archrival Williams in a game that has the potential to be a legendary affair.

This season promises to be one of the most intriguing and exciting in recent history for Amherst football with its fair share of both challenges and opportunities. How the team responds will ultimately determine whether or not this team achieves perfection and solidifies themselves in the history of Amherst athletics.

This journey begins at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24 against Hamilton on Pratt Field.

Field Hockey Looks to Continue Men’s Golf Adds Seven Newcomers, Their Success On and Off the Field Hopes to Grow Champion Program Katie Bergamesca ’18 Staff Writer The Amherst field hockey team enters the 2016 season with 17 returning players after graduating five seniors, including second team All-American midfielder Annie Turnbull ’16.

The purple and white finished the 2015 season 12-5 overall and 6-4 in the perennially competitive NESCAC. Under the leadership of tri-captains Katie Paolano ’16, Annika Nygren ’16 and Turnbull, the Amherst women advanced to the semifinal of the NESCAC tournament where they fell to ultimate NESCAC champion Bowdoin. Bowdoin went on to remain undefeated in postseason play until losing to NESCAC rival Middlebury in the national championship match.

Despite graduating a decorated senior class, the purple and white enter the 2016 season with a core group of strong returning players.

Captains Emily Horowitz ’17 and Sydney Watts ’17 are both talented, veteran teammates. A dynamic and agile goalie, Horowitz is a two-time All-NESCAC honoree, garnering first-team laurels during the 2015 season. Horowitz was also named a Second Team ECAC All-New England All-Star for her accomplishments last season.

Standout junior center back, Caroline Fiore was also recognized by the NESCAC with her selection to the second-team in 2015. The returning all conference players are joined by New England West All-Region second-team honorees Sarah Culhane ’17E and Elizabeth Turnbull ’18. Fiore was also named to the AllRegion Second-Team, while Horowitz nabbed first-team honors. These lauded athletes compose a skilled group of returning players. Beyond their veterans, the purple and white wel-

come five first-years to an already strong group.

Not only did the women of the Amherst field hockey team impress on the field last season, they also excelled in the classroom. By maintaining a cumulative team GPA of at least 3.0 through the first semester, the purple and white qualified as a ZAG/NFHCA National Academic Team. Additionally, 12 members of the field hockey team were given individual recognition for achieving a GPA of 3.30 or higher for the first semester. Sloane Bessey ’18 and Debbie Newmark ’19 were also named ZAG/NFHCA Scholars of Distinction for their impressive accomplishment of earning a GPA of 3.9 or higher through the first semester. The Amherst women continued to demonstrate their strength as student-athletes with the inclusion of 12 players on the fall NESCAC All-Academic team for the 2015 season.

Co-captain Watts is confident and optimistic about the future of the team. “This group of girls has so much potential,” she said. “We can win some of those tough games that have been a bit of a greater challenge for us in the past, especially if we can build confidence and execute solid hockey early in the season.”

Head coach Carol Knerr will lead the Amherst field hockey team in her 16th season.

Coach Knerr is accompanied by assistant coaches Jonel Boileau and Meghan Peterson.

Boileau and Peterson both return for their second season at Amherst. With the guidance of this knowledgeable and devoted coaching staff, the women of the Amherst field hockey team are poised for a very successful run. The team will jump right into its season with its home opener against a competetive Mount Holyoke squad on Thursday Sept. 8 on Gooding Field and look to set the tone for a championship season.

Julia Turner ’19 Managing Sports Editor After its third place finish at the 2016 NESCAC championships, the Amherst men’s golf team returns to the course for the fall 2016 season with fresh talent looking to jumpstart a record-breaking year. In a pivotal move by the program, the men’s golf team will be doubling in size for its 2016-2017 season. Losing two members of the class of 2016, Patrick Arena and James Line, brought the squad down to six returning players, but they will be adding seven new first-years to round out the team at an impressive 13.

The new and returning players will all be in good hands under the watchful eyes of veteran head coach Jack Arena, who enters his 23rd season coaching Amherst men’s golf. Assistant coach E.J. Mills and captain Liam Fine ’17 also return in leadership positions for the purple and white.

Standouts from last year include Jack Burlison ’19 and Dan Langa ’18. Burlison was named first team all-NESCAC after his outstanding play at the NESCAC qualifier, hosted

by Williams. The incoming sophomore registered a day two round of 72 and finished with a total of 152 to put him in third-place overall for the tournament. Langa also garnered allNESCAC honors for his play in the qualifying tournament after finishing just two shots behind Burlison for a second-team selection.

Amherst men’s golf has won eight NESCAC titles but is looking for its first conference crown since 1997. Burlison conveyed that the squad is eager for the season to start, having taken “some steps in the right direction last year” but indicated that the plethora of fresh talent will help the program “make

even bigger strides this year.”

The team’s fall program will consist of three invitational tournaments in September, hosted by NESCAC competition, Trinity, Middlebury and Williams. The men will then compete in the NESCAC qualifying tournament during the first weekend in October in order to qualify the team and individual golfers for the NESCAC tournament in the spring. Rounding out the fall season will be the ECAC Division III Championship Tournament, where the team will have the opportunity to make a big splash competing against some of the most prodigious programs on the East Coast.

Look out for men’s golf ’s season opener, the Bill Detrick Invitational on Sept. 10-11 at Trinity in Hartford, Connecticut.

Returning captain Liam Fine ’17 will take the reigns leading this young team for the 2016-2017 season.

10

Sports

The Amherst Student • September 2, 2016

Women’s Soccer Poised for Women’s Volleyball Looks to Replace Dominant 2016 Class a Championship Season Meredith Manley ’18 Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Sophomore forward Maeve McNamara contributed three goals and five assists to the purple and white offensive effort during their 2015 season.

Hayes Honea ’19 Staff Writer It was tied 1-1 when double overtime ended, and while regular season games can end in a tie, this one could not. It was the second round of NCAA’s, and there had to be a winner.

The game would be decided by penalty kicks, one of the tensest situations in soccer. And in the painfully close shoot-out, the Amherst women’s soccer team lost, ending their 2015 season.

“I think we didn’t reach our full potential,” 2016 co-captain Emily Hester ’17 said. “Unfortunately we suffered a heartbreaking loss in NCAA’s that didn’t reflect just how good we were last year. I can’t wait for us to start our season and to show the rest of the NESCAC how much talent we have across the board.”

In fact, the team’s 2016 campaign will be shaped around what they learned from last season’s disappointing end. “Sometimes in the heat of competition, we can lose sight of the fact that soccer is a choice, and we make the choice because we love the game and we love to play together,” co-captain Sarah Frohman ’17 said. “If we can focus on maintaining intensity, charge forward with a team mentality, and cherish how lucky we are that we get to have fun every single day, then the results will follow without us even realizing.”

Eight new first year players hope to supplement this team effort. The purple and white are excited to welcome Erin McClave (N.Y.), Hayley Roy (Va.), Laura Greer (Colo.) and Madison Kahn (N.J.) to the offensive unit. Bella Palma (Mass.), Sasha Savitsky (Calif.) and Sloan Askins (Calif.) will join the defensive group while goalie Erica Sanders (Md.) rounds out the class of 2020.

The team also welcomes Jeannette Boudway to the coaching staff. After graduating from DePaul in 2001, Boudway earned a master’s degree in Sports Management and Business Administration from Barry University.

Since then, she has worked with soccer programs at several different universities, includ-

ing the University of Alabama. Most recently, Boudway served as an assistant coach for the Notre Dame women’s team and helped them to two Final Four appearances and a National Championship in 2010.

Boudway reported that both head coach Jen Hughes and the high quality of athletes that Amherst attracts were both big influences.

“I feel so very fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet Jen and immediately felt comfortable and compelled to work with her. She is a driven coach who wants to do everything she can to help the student-athletes have a wonderful soccer experience and win at Amherst,” Boudway said.

Though Amherst has many new faces joining the 2016 campaign, they have also lost a few significant players, giving younger athletes the chance to step up this year. With the graduation of standout Holly Burwick ’16, the goalkeeper position has opened up. Chelsea Cutler ’19 and newcomer Askins will compete to fill her shoes.

“The biggest thing I want to bring is just a sense of consistency in the back line in terms of communication,” Cutler said. “Our defensive line is incredibly solid and we generally shift together really well with the ball, so basically I just want to maintain communication while bringing an even more concrete sense of composure to our play.”

Communication and cohesion will certainly be important for the team this season. “This year, more than in the past, we hope to take every practice and game day by day and cherish the opportunity we all have to do what we love together,” Hester said.

“This season, we really want every practice, game, team meal, activity, etc. to serve as a reminder of why we love soccer so much,” Frohman added. “We want everyone to focus on taking the season practice by practice and game by game so that we can appreciate every time we are together.”

Don’t miss the purple and white’s home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 6, at Gooding Field against Mount Holyoke College.

Interested in working for Amherst’s only independent student newspaper?

Come to our introductory meeting!

Thursday, Sept. 8 at 8:30 p.m., in Morrow basement Positions include writers, photographers, illustrators, website managers and graphic designers.We hope to see you there!

The Amherst volleyball team will step back on the court for the first time this 2016 season on Friday, Sept. 9 against Johnson and Wales at the Johnson and Wales Invitational Tournament in Providence, Rhode Island.

The last time the purple and white faced the Wildcats was on Nov. 13 of their 2015 season.

In this match up, Amherst walked away with a 3-0 victory, so this first meeting should serve as a good initial test of the team’s ability. After the Firedog’s first game of the tournment they will go on to face Bridgewater State and Gordon College on Saturday at Johnson and Wales to continue competition the Invitational.

The team’s first home game of the season will be on Wednesday, Sept. 14 against Western New England at 7:00 PM in LeFrak.

Looking ahead to conference play, the team’s first NESCAC match of the season will be away against Bowdoin, a perenially strong conference opponent, on Friday, Sept. 16 at 8:00 p.m.

The purple and white finished off their 2015 season 8-2 in NESCAC play, with their 23-5 overall record and lights-out postseason play sending them to the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Firedogs lost a heartbreaking match to MIT on MIT’s home court that knocked them out of the tournament and ended their postseason run. But with that fire under them and the thrill and competition of the postseason fresh in their minds, the purple and white are ready to take the NESCAC by storm.

“I’m very excited for the upcoming season,” Asha Walker ’18 said. “We have five first-years coming in and they are going to contribute greatly to the team. I feel that we

have a good chance of going far this season.”

The incoming first-years hail from the West Coast, as the five new Firedogs come to Amherst from California and Hawaii.

The team graduated four of their senior teammates from the 2015 team, Katie Warshaw, Nicole Carter, Lizzie Ahern and Samantha Newby. With that major loss of talent and leadership, the purple and white face their first obstacle of the 2016 season. However, the Firedogs have a talented core group of returners equipped and ready to take on the challenge.

Coach Sue Everden enters her 31st season with the volleyball team and will be assisted

by Roxann Link and Brandon Lockwood.

The captains for the 2016 season are Nicole Gould ’17, Maggie Danner ’17 and Kelci Kenno ’17. Danner and Gould helped to lead the team’s offensive charge in their 2015 season, each proving themselves to be valuable hitters with unquestionable power that so often overwhelmed their opponents. This, combined with Keeno’s 77 career aces — the second highest on the team behind Walker — forms a leadership trifecta that truly leads by example on and off the court.

The team’s playing ability is unquestionably impressive, but these women apply that same motivation and determination from the court in the classroom as well. Last year the Firedogs earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for maintaining a team average GPA of 3.30 out of 4.0 for the academic school year.

Come watch the Firedogs take on the NESCAC — one of the most competitive conferences at the Division III level — this year as they look to return to the NCAA championship tournament and make a deep run for the title.

Women’s Cross Country Chases Another Succesful Season Julia Turner ’19 Managing Sports Editor After sending two runners to the NCAA Division III National Championship race last season, the Amherst women’s cross country team is looking to build on that success and grow stronger as a program for its 2016 season. The young squad graduated three members of the class of 2016 and welcomed seven first-years to the class of 2020.

Not only is the program adding new athletes, but Bethany Dumas and Victoria Jusme were recently hired as assistant coaches for the women’s cross country and track and field programs. Dumas brings a wealth of experience to her position at Amherst having most recently served as the assistant track and field coach at Smith since 2014.

Jusme is a 2012 graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, MA with a bachelor’s degree in African, African-American, Diaspora Studies (AAADS). An NCAA Division III All-American, and Academic All-American selection in 2009 and 2010, Jusme joins the Amherst coaching staff after serving as the assistant track & field jumps coach at La Salle High School in Providence, Rhode, Island since 2013.

The team enjoyed a successful season, placing seventh out of 56 teams at the NCAA Northeast Regional tournament and sending two runners, Lizzie Lacy ’19 and Savanna Gornisiewicz ’17, to top-75 finishes at the NCAA Championship meet in Winneconne, Wisconsin. Lacy and Gornisiewicz were two of the only four women’s cross country runners representing the NESCAC at the National Championship race, and they hope to lead their team to another winning season.

This group of women proved successful on and off the course, as they also garnered prestigious academic honors individually and as a team. Six members of the 2015 squad garnered U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) team and individual academic honors. Amherst led the way for the eight NESCAC schools honored with the distinction, reporting a combined GPA of 3.58 to rank tied for first in the NESCAC. In addition, Amherst was one of just 15 schools to place six or more students-athletes on the All-Academic squad.

The purple and white will start their season off on Saturday, Sept. 10 right down the road at the UMass Invitational tournament.

Photo courtesy of Melissa Martin ‘15

Women’s cross country will return 17 runners and is joined by seven first-years.

The Amherst Student • September 2, 2016

Sports

Men’s Soccer Aims to Defend Division III National Title

11

Coach’s Corner Forest Sisk ’17 Columnist Forest Sisk sat down with new assistant women’s soccer coach Jeanette Boudway and discuss her transition to Amherst College Athletics from her diverse Division I background and her thoughts on the 2016 season.

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Class of 2019 standout Luke Nyugen returns for another season with the purple and white, where he will help to lead the offense.

Delancey King ’18 Staff Writer As reigning Division III National Champions, the Amherst men’s soccer team has a lot to live up to this season. Fortunately, the 2016 squad seems to have both the talent and the depth to match the success of last year’s team.

There will be a lot of familiar faces in the starting lineup this fall, including an experienced back line comprised of seniors Rohan Sood, Justin Aoyama, Cameron Bean and Jackson Lehnhart. Allowing only five goals last season, this strong defensive unit inspires a great deal of confidence within the team. The purple and white will miss Thomas Bull ’16, the AllAmerican keeper who played an integral role in last year’s success, but that loss is tempered by the talent of junior keeper Lee Owen. Owen will take command of the net this year, working with the back line to ensure another exceptional defensive performance from the purple and white this season.

Senior captain Chris Martin will lead Amherst’s offense this fall, coming off an impressive 10-goal season last year. He is supported by stellar veteran midfielders Bryce Ciambella ’17, Andrew Orozco ’17 and sophomore Luke Nguyen.

While Amherst does return this notably

impressive core group of players, the greatest strength of this year’s team is widely acknowledged to be its depth. The competition for minutes is greater than ever before, and that widespread talent is exactly what the purple and white will need if they hope to reclaim their title.

“I think one of the things that makes this year’s team special is our depth. Being 16, 17 players deep is awesome for us because our style of play relies on constant pressure and being able to cycle in fresh legs that will make that pressure hard to deal with”, Lenhart said.

As Coach Justin Serpone enters into his 10th season at Amherst, the team hopes to continue the legacy of excellence that he has cultivated during his time with the program. With a decisive 4-1 win in a preseason scrimmage against Bridgewater State University this past Wednesday, Aug. 31, the purple and white are well on their way to doing just that.

Next up for the squad is an alumni match on Saturday, Sept. 3. This highly anticipated event is a chance for players to test themselves against talented alums who have given so much to the program and paved the way for its enormous success.

The purple and white begin NESCAC play on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Bowdoin where the chase for another national title will begin.

The women’s soccer team recently hired Jeannette Boudway to assist Jen Hughes this upcoming 2016 season. Boudway comes to the Pioneer Valley from iconic South Bend, Indiana where she assisted Notre Dame’s Division I women’s soccer program through five prestigious years. She helped lead the Fighting Irish to a 78-14-6 record consisting of two Final Four appearances and one big National Championship in 2010. Boudway was a jack-of-all-trades in Indiana, also serving as the coordinator of soccer operations.

She handled the video, travel, equipment, recruiting, all the way to budgeting. After handling all of these tasks in a program as big as Notre Dame’s, Boudway is surely ready to navigate similar terrain here in Amherst.

Let’s rewind back to Boudway’s entrance into the coaching world. She began in 2002 at Grand Valley State University. Either by direct impact or some magic in the air, GVSU had their best season to date and just missed the NCAA tournament. Whether this success came from keen coaching or mystic makings, it is evident that Boudway brings success to valleys.

Although she has extensive experience in the multiverse of college coaching, Boudway is not limited to the grind of the NCAA experience. While at previous coaching jobs, she started two club soccer teams. One while at Notre Dame: the Indiana Invaders. And the other while at Grand Valley State University: the Michiana Echo. Both clubs are still operating and allow youth players in the area to get timely exposure to the game.

Coach Boudway’s diverse range of athletic experiences makes her a unique candidate for the assistant coaching job and an intriguing addition to the athletics department.

The Amherst community is always curious about an unfamiliar face in Alumni Gym, but especially so about one so worldly and multi-faceted. We had the opportunity to sit down with Coach Boudway and talk about her background and her decision to join the Pioneer Valley family. Here’s what we found:

Q: Why did you choose Amherst? Or, in other words, what are you looking forward to?

A: I am really looking forward to working with Jen, Walker, and the players on the team because I know they bring a lot of enthusiasm and talent to the soccer field (and beyond).

Q: What’s your coaching philosophy?

A: My philosophy is to not let our minds get in the way of what our bodies can do. I challenge athletes to learn & bring intense effort, … and smile!

Q: What’s your athletic background?

A: I have obviously played a lot of soccer and checked a few things off of my list — ran a marathon and a triathlon, and now I also work as a personal trainer.

Q: When you’re not coaching, what are you doing?

A: I love to play with my kids and our dog, we play and watch a lot of sports, hang out with my family and my personal getaway is working out/yoga/qigong.

Q: Are you looking forward to any aspects of the Amherst culture? Or activities?

A: I am most looking forward to seeing what Amherst culture is about through my own experience this first semester.

Q: What’s life at home like?

A: My husband, Ryan is an Assistant AD at UMass. Our son, Cal, is probably the smartest one in our family (he’s five years old). His younger brother, Tyce is two. He is our little maniac. I think they are both excited to be big brothers again in December!

Look for Amherst women’s soccer and Jeannette Boudway to have a successful year. They begin the 2016 campaign against Mount Holyoke on Gooding Field on Tuesday, Sept. 6.

New Head Coach Looks to Amherst Athletics Signs FiveLead Women’s Golf to Victory Year Deal with Under-Armour Julia Turner ’19 Managing Sports Editor The Amherst women’s golf team returns for a year of changes beginning with its new head coach, Elizabeth Davis. Davis comes to the Pioneer Valley with ample enthusiasm and prodigious playing experience. A 2015 graduate of the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor (UMHB), she helped lead the team to a 2013 NCAA Division III national team championship. Off the field, Davis finished at UMHB with a Master’s degree in Sports Administration.

Davis’ experience competing at the Division III level will be imperative as she balances her student-athletes throughout their fall and spring seasons.

Women’s golf has impressed on and off the field in recent history — placing four student-athletes on the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholars squad during their 2015-2016 season. A total of 828 women’s collegiate golfers across NCAA Divisions I, II and III were recognized with this honor which requires a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5. The Amherst quartet of Devyn Gardener ’16, Zoe Wong ’18, Maggie Schoeller ’19 and Kate Weiss ’19 led all

NESCAC schools with their four honorees on the list.

The purple and white All-American Scholar contingent helped Amherst win the 2016 Jack Leaman Invitational for one of their most triumphant victories as Weiss carded a combined score of 161 and placed fifth overall, while Wong tied for eighth overall with a two-day total of 164. Weiss’s outstanding performance at the invitational and throughout their fall and spring seasons earned her second-team all-NESCAC honors for the 20152016 season.

Women’s golf will return seven players, while they lose two talented members of the class of 2016 in Sarah Ressler and Devyn Gardner. “Last spring I think we played our best golf in a while so I think we just want to build on that in the fall”, senior captain Jamie Gracie said.

The team is looking to be competetive within the NESCAC and among even the best of the Northeast competition, and they will have their first test to prove it on Sept.

17 at their first team tournament of the year.

The women will travel to Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts to compete against some of the premier competition they will face in their fall and spring seasons.

Julia Turner ’19 Managing Sports Editor At an elite institution like Amherst, we are surrounded by excellence every day. We pride ourselves on excellent students, professors, resources, administrators, coaches and teams. It seems only fitting, then, that Amherst athletics recently signed a five-year contract with Under Armour and BSN Sports, two companies that in the words of Athletic Director Don Faulstick, share Amherst’s “commitment to excellence.”

Over the course of the five years, the Amherst athletics department will move towards outfitting all of their athletes in Under Armour apparel for contests and practices. “Under Armour is a national leader in team apparel at the professional and college level,” Faulstick said. Amherst Athletics will be using the company BSN Sports — the largest distributor of athletic apparel and equipment in the United States — to help in the distribution of Under Armour attire.

Not only will this impact Amherst in outfitting their athletes in quality apparel, but the Under Armour brand will also be available for the public to browse and purchase through BSN sports. This provides alumni, students,

parents and fans the opportunity to represent and support Amherst athletics. Faulstick, who helped to orchestrate the Under Armour deal as his first major move as Athletic Director, says “this partnership will help our department with building a consistent visual brand identity for Amherst Athletics.”

The athletic department has certainly never wanted for top quality uniforms, apparel or equipment in the past, but Faulstick is positive that this shift will provide better cohesion and organization among teams and fans in the support of the athletics department. This is a huge step for the College, as the department has never before partnered with a single company on apparel, uniforms, or equiptment for their athletes. Before this move, each team at Amherst was responsible for outfitting their own players in apparel and with equiptment that coaches saw fit.

The news of the Under Armour deal has been met with excitement from Amherst athletes, coaches, fans, and alumni. As the school year begins and fall sports kick off, the department will continue to collaborate with Under Armour and BSN Sports to serve the community and keep the public informed on the steps to be taken to strengthen the relationships moving forward.

Sports

Photo of courtesy of Mark Box Photo courtesy Amherst Athletics

Men’s cross country will open the 2016 season at the UMass Invitational on Sept. 10 against a strong group of Division I and Division III opponents.

Men’s Cross Country Looks to Standout Returners to Lead the Team Caleb Winfrey ’19 Staff Writer With 20 returning athletes and a promising group of first-years, the Amherst men’s cross country team is looking forward to a very successful year. Under the guidance of head coach Ned Nedeau and assistant coach Luke Maher, the purple and white seek a third straight top10 finish at nationals.

2016 will be Nedeau’s 20th season as the head coach of the program (his 22nd overall as a coach). Nedeau has competed in the Olympic trials, medaled in the World Championships, won the title of National Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year, been inducted to both the Northeastern University Hall of Fame and Maine Running Hall of Fame, among may other accolades. With his knowledge of the sport and experience as a world-class runner, he has molded the program into a national powerhouse. Entering his fourth season as assistant coach, Luke Maher also adds his own unique

expertise to the program. Maher was a successful runner at Tufts, twice being named to the NESCAC All-Sportsmanship Team. Additionally, he has spent extensive time training and working with runners internationally in Iten, Kenya.

Looking back on the team’s 2015 season, we can see the momentum that is carrying over to this upcoming fall season. The 2015 season began with a successful second place finish against Division I competition at the University of Massachusetts Invitational. Mohamed Hussein ’18 finished first overall in the race with a time of 19:28. The team had similar success at its proceeding meet, the Purple Valley Invite, where they defeated Williams and other top teams with a first-place overall team finish and another first-place individual finish by Hussein.

Led by powerhouses Hussein and Steven Lucey ’17, the purple and white finished first in the ECAC Championship and second in the NEICAAA Cross Country Championship, the Little Three Championship, NESCACs and NCAA

Photo courtesy of Megan Robertson ’15

Photo courtesy of Megan Robertson ’15

TUES WED THU GAME SCHE DULE

Women’s Soccer vs. Mount Holyoke, 7 p.m.

Division III Northeast Regionals.

Hussein went undefeated against Division III competition until the National Championship race and earned countless honors such as NESCAC performer of the week and USTFCCA Division III Athlete of the Week. Two current members of the team, Hussein and Raymond Meijer ’17, were recognized as NESCAC All-Conference selections. Tucker Meijer ’19 was named NESCAC Rookie of the Year, and is only the third Amherst runner in history to earn the award.

The team finished 10th at the Division III National Championship, which was a disappointing finish for the fourth ranked purple and white. However, the team also finished as a USTFCCA All-Academic Team and led the NESCAC with a team GPA of 3.58. Five members of the team received individual USTFCCA All-Academic Honors (GPAs of at least 3.3 and a top quarter finish of their respective region), which included Kevin Connors ’17, Raymond Meijer, Craig Nelson ’18, Jeff Seelaus ’16 and

FRI

Tucker Meijer.

The purple and white will only compete in seven meets this year, so there are fewer chances for you to catch this talented and promising team in action. The University of Massachusetts Invitational, hosted on Sept. 10 will be the nearest meet of the year, where the team will be seeking revenge against a talented UMass squad. On Sept. 24, the team hopes to retain their crown at Williams College’s Purple Valley Invitational. Amherst hopes to improve upon its 2015 second-place finishes at the NEICAAA Championship, the Little Three Championship and the NESCAC Championship, that will be hosted at Colby on Oct. 29.

This cross country season will reach its apex in November, which is the month of the NCAA Championship. The purple and white will run in the NCAA New England Regionals on Saturday, Nov. 12 at Westfield State. The season will culminate on Saturday, Nov. 19 with qualifying runners competing in Louisville, Kentucky for the national title.

Photo courtesy of Janna Joassainte ’17

SAT

Men’s Soccer Field Hockey Women’s Volleyball Women’s Cross @ Rhode Island College, vs Mount Holyoke, 8 p.m. @ Johnson & Wales, Country 7 p.m.

5 p.m. @ UMass Invitational Men’s Cross Country @ UMass Invitational

Field Hockey @ Bowdoin, 11 a.m.

Women’s Soccer @ Bowdoin, noon

Women’s Volleyball Women’s Volleyball @ Johnson & Wales, @ Johnson & Wales, vs. vs. Bridgewater State, Gordon College, 1 p.m.

5 p.m.

Men’s Golf Men’s Soccer @ Bill Detrick Invitational @ Bowdoin, noon