issue 21

Ebert Leaves Lasting Impact On Film World See A&L, Page 7

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AMHERST WINS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

See Full Story in Sports, Page 9

Photos Courtesy of Rob Mattson

Campus Construction Complicates Room Draw Plans Sound Wall Shields Socials From Construction Clamor

Rainer Lempert ’15 Staff Writer Room draw is upon the Amherst student body, and the factors that go into finding a good living situation for a coming semester have increased. In addition to attempting to find a centrally located single, perhaps in a suite with a common room, students now must also take into consideration the campus construction on the new science center that starts in earnest at the end of this school year. “I’m a little nervous that the noise of the construction will affect my life negatively next year,�

Ryland Webb ’15 said. “I like sleeping in on the weekends and I hope I won’t have to give that up.�

The construction site will occur primarily on the hill west of the social dormitories, between Keefe Campus Center and Merrill Science Center.

The large amount of noise will be caused by the traffic of construction vehicles, according to Director of Design and Construction Tom Davies. “Next year, there will be a lot of excavation, taking away the hill in large trucks,� Davies said. “Afterwards we will be bringing in the concrete.�

The construction vehicle traffic will go along down East Drive, located to the direct east of the social dormitories, and into Merrill Science Road.

Coolidge Dormitory and Crossett Dormitory will experience the most amount of noise due to the traffic. “We are talking about big trucks — you hear them,� Davies said.

The other dormitory that will bear the brunt of the noise is Pond Dormitory. Pond is the dormitory located closest to the actual construction site. “The south and west sides of Pond will likely

experience the most noise,� Davies said. “Construction vehicles and loud, and students will hear them beeping as they back up.�

There will not, however, be any pounding jackhammer noises. “The hillside will just be dug out and hauled away,� Davies said.

The construction will start at 7:00 a.m. and go until around 4:00 p.m., although it could be later than that on some days, according to Davies. This will occur six days a week, with the only break of construction occurring on Sunday.

In order to mitigate this noise a sound-bafflewall will be installed that will run across the sidewalk from Keefe to the Socials. This wall is expected to reduce the decibel levels by 10. “Noise will still be heard, and it may still be objectionable, but that is the best we can do,� Davies said.

Davies expects the dormitories in the area, namely King Dormitory and Wieland Dormitory, to be affected far less than Pond, Coolidge and Crossett. While there won’t be any actual construction going on in front of King and Wieland, there will be a fenced off area that will contain temporary offices of the contractors. While it will not be as noisy, the fenced off area presents an obstacle that students will have to navigate around.

The new science center construction is currently in what Davies called “the enabling phase.�

Underground utilities structures, such as water pipes and electrical wiring, that are in the footprint of the future building need to be reworked and rerouted.

Photo Courtesy of Tom Davies There are currently around 15-25 workers on a The bulk of construction will occur on the Socials Quad, but a fenced-off Continued on Page 2 office area will be located in front of King and Wieland.

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News Entries from April 4 to April 7, 2013 >>April 4, 2013 10:10 p.m., Beneski Earth Science & Natural History Museum A monitor reported an item missing from the museum collection. Case open. >>April 5, 2013 2:15 p.m., Moore Dormitory A resident reported the theft of a red Bianchi Virata bicycle from the first floor. It was not locked. Case open.

4:20 p.m., Frost Library Officers responded to a report of a man outside the building who was acting in an unusual manner. Officers located the man, who is not a student, and after speaking with him found that no further action was necessary. >>April 6, 2013 12:28 a.m., Humphries House Officers encountered a large unauthorized party. It was shut down.

1:06 a.m., King Dormitory While in the building, an officer discovered over 30 cans of beer unattended on the second floor. They were confiscated.

1:15 a.m., Stone Dormitory Officers responded to a complaint of loud music and shut down a large party in a firstfloor suite. Loud music was also found at a third-floor suite, and the volume was lowered.

1:35 a.m., Stone While responding to a noise complaint, an officer discovered a smashed window in the northwest entryway. Case open.

4:42 a.m., King While in the building, an officer discovered 14 cans of beer unattended in the third-floor common room. They were confiscated.

5:18 p.m., Alumni Gym At the request of an employee, four unauthorized persons were removed from the complex.

7:55 p.m., Campus Grounds An office encountered an underage student with alcohol. It was confiscated. The matter was referred to the Dean’s Office.

10:40 p.m., Seelye House An officer encountered approximately 20 students engaged in a drinking game with alcohol. The event was ended, and the alcohol was confiscated. The matter was referred to the

Dean’s Office.

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New Science Center Will Be Complete by March 2018

10:46 p.m. Churchill House Five College Officers investigated an intrusion alarm but could find no activation for the alarm. The system was reset.

11:28 p.m., Valentine Quad Between 11:38 p.m. and 12:45 a.m. Campus Police and the Amherst Police received nearly a dozen complaints about loud music and noise from the Whiteout TAP. After several unsuccessful attempts to quiet the event, it was shut down.

11:53 p.m., Valentine Loading Dock An officer encountered two men, who are from a neighboring college, urinating near the building. They were warned about their actions and sent on their way. >>April 7, 2013 12:34 a.m., Valentine Quad A student at a local college, was arrested by Campus Police at the Whiteout TAP and charged with disorderly conduct and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

12:38 a.m., Valentine Quad Student Security requested assistance in having four unauthorized people removed from the stage area at the Whiteout TAP. An officer responded and removed the people.

1:05 a.m., Amherst College Police A found wallet belonging to a student was turned in to campus police. A fraudulent driver’s license was found in the wallet. A report will be filed with the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

2:08 a.m., Appleton A custodian was called in to clean up vomit in Appleton and Hitchcock.

12:11 p.m., Valentine Quad A student reported the theft of an iPhone from her coat pocket while it was left unattended during the Whiteout TAP. Case open.

8:18 p.m., Frost Library A student reported the theft of a MacBook Pro laptop that was left unattended on level “B� at Frost Library. It is valued at $1,500.

Case open.

8:48 p.m., Off Campus Locations A written no-trespass order was issued to a student from a neighboring college.

451 Russell St. (Route 9), Hadley, MA

CAMPING – HIKING – SKIING – CANOEING – CLIMBING ALL SALES FINAL! Quantities are limited to the stock on hand. All Items subject to prior sale. Sorry, no returns, refunds, exchanges, coupons, rainchecks, layaways or trade ins. Discounts are taken off the lowest ticketed price. Open regular store hours. We accept Visa, MasterCard, & Discover. No Checks.

Photo Courtesy of Tom Davies

Traffic for the construction will run along East Drive and Merrill Court. .FSSJMM 4DJFODF $FOUFS XJMM SFNBJO GVMMZ PDDVQJFE VOUJM %FDFNCFS Continued from Page 1 typical day. This number will jump to 200-250 workers starting around June 3, when the digging phase starts. These workers will park off campus and be shuttled in past the Book and Plow Farm, arriving near the tennis courts.

After the digging phase ends, work will start on constructing the first part of the new science center. This is expected to be done December 2015, in time for use of the second semester of that school year. During this semester Merrill Science

Center will be torn down and science classes will be held in the new science center. By March 2018 the second part of the building will be complete.

The new science center will house all sciences classes — except for geology, which will continue to operate in Beneski. The McGuire Life Sciences building will be repurposed. In addition, roughly 20 percent of all non-science classes will also be held in the new science center. “The idea is to have non-science students in the science building as well, hopefully unifying the campus a bit more,� Davies said.

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News

Thoughts on Theses: Lorena Rodriguez Thesis Advisor: Jerome Himmelstein Major: Political Science and Sociology Q: What is your thesis about?

A: My thesis is about undocumented college students and the undocumented student movement, which advocates for the passage of the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform. I interviewed undocumented college students to try to understand what motivates people to join the movement and what prevents others from doing so. I have friends on both extremes — some are really passionate and go as far as getting arrested for their activism and others live in the shadows and are deadly afraid to reveal their status. I’ve always been fascinated by social movements so this was a great opportunity to mesh that with my interest in immigrants in the United States.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for your topic?

A: I always knew that I wanted to write a thesis, but I also wanted to make sure that I picked a topic that I wouldn’t lose interest in, or get bored writing or researching about during the first semester. Sometime last year I thought I was going to write a thesis about the representation of Latina

women in the media. Then I had an epiphany, like an actual epiphany, and thought I should write about the undocumented movement. With all the discussion around immigration reform, it seemed like the right topic at the right time and one in which I was certainly interested. I got more serious about it during the summer when President Obama announced the Deferred Action Program.

I knew then I had picked the right topic and that it would fit nicely with current national events.

Q: How are you finding the process of thesis writing?

A: I think that the process of writing a thesis isn’t linear. You’re not going to hate it all the way or love it all the way. It definitely has its ups and downs.

But when you love your topic, the downs aren’t as bad. I consider myself very organized, and I think this is important when writing a thesis. I did have a panic attack earlier this semester because I wasn’t caught up with my work, but everyone who writes a thesis has a freak out moment at some point throughout the year. And surprisingly, I have never felt rushed in the writing process. It helps when you plan these things.

Q: How difficult was the process of interviewing people?

A: It was really difficult, and it was certainly harder than I thought it was going to be. I had connections with undocumented students so I thought it would be easy to get interviewees. That was not

the case. Not every undocumented student wants to talk about his or her experience. It was kind of hard to get students to participate. I managed to interview eight students. It was very stressful because I had to work around different schedules and travel to meet with these students. Most of my Thanksgiving break was actually spent interviewing people, but it was all part of the sacrifice to get my thesis done. The relief is that, once you have the interviews down, you actually have data to analyze and talk about and everything else becomes doable.

and a thesis workload?

A: It’s all about planning every aspect of your senior year. I was really smart about the courses I picked. I certainly didn’t want three seminars in the middle of my writing process. I’ve also been able to keep my life in balance by picking courses I am genuinely interested in. It also helps that I don’t have class on Fridays, so basically I have a threeday weekend to do all my homework and work on my thesis.

Q: What have been some of the low points so far?

A: Falling behind during winter break because I went on vacation. That was the lowest point, but I had to get my act together and really put in a lot of work at the beginning of this semester.

Q: Do you have any advice for people thinking about writing a thesis?

A: I would suggest trying to solidify your topic and argument by the end of your junior year. It may not be possible but do your best so that you don’t have to deal with that when you come back in the fall. One thing that really helped me was to research literature during the summer. I didn’t do all the reading, but I definitely had all my reading material. You can’t start from scratch in the fall.

You need to do that during the summer so that when you come back, you can start writing within the first few weeks. You should also keep in touch with your advisor during the summer. Reach out to them and tell them about your progress. Be organized. Also, try to be smart about the other courses you’re picking. Take mid-level to low-level courses. And finally, don’t leave something for tomorrow when you can get it done today.

Q: How difficult has it been to balance classes

-Christian Aviles ’14

Q: What have been some of the high points so far?

A: Interviewing students was the best part. Even though I didn’t interview a lot of people, those that I did gave me a lot of information. When I finished the interviews I realized I had so much data and it was just so interesting. Another up was finishing the first chapter of my thesis. I think that when you finally get to see your ideas on paper, you realize that this can be done.

College Sees Drop in Applicant Numbers for Class of 2017 Rose Miller ’16 Contributing Writer Last week, the Amherst College Admissions Office sent out acceptance letters to 1,077 Amherst hopefuls out of a pool of 7,918 applicants. Overall, these numbers are strikingly different from last year’s admissions figures, with a 7.54 percent drop in the total number of applicants, resulting in a higher acceptance rate than in recent years.

It is unclear whether the decrease in the number of applicants is a consequence of the recent publicity the college received in connection with incidents of sexual misconduct.

“Had what happened in the fall not happened, I would have said it was normal volatility,” said Dean of Admissions Tom Parker. “We were very cognizant in the fall of how much publicity this thing garnered.”

One way to measure how much the recent scandals have affected potential applicants’ view of the College comes in the form of the Accepted Students Questionnaire, a survey that is filled out every year by all students to whom the College has offered spots.

Parker acknowledges that if the responses to the questionnaire contain consistent mention of the sexual assault scandals, then it can be assumed that they had a negative effect.

There does not seem to be any pattern in terms of the demographics of students who failed to apply this year, even though one might have speculated that there would be a decline in the number of female applicants. Parker confirms that applicants were “down all across the board,” except for non-U.S. citizens, which could be because of the College’s need-blind policy for international applicants.

Regardless of the disparity between this year’s and last year’s number of applicants, “I don’t think there is any kind of earth-

shaking news that will come out in May. It is a class of students that will seem pretty good in comparison to other years,” Parker said.

In fact, the Admissions Office sees this as another successful year in terms of the strength and diversity of the incoming class.

The admitted students of the Class of 2017 include 600 students of color, including 163 Asian Americans, 158 Latinos, 150 multi-race students, 160 African American students and 4 Native Americans.

The College boasts an increase in the number of non-U.S. citizens who applied, with a total of 116 who were finally offered admission. The group of accepted students is academically strong, with an average ACT score of 32, an average SAT critical reading score of 729, and average math and writing scores of 728.

Many prospective students will arrive this weekend for Admitted Students weekend, where they will catch a glimpse of life at the College as they consider their options for the next four years.

We are so proud of you and all your accomplishments. Congratulations from all of us Commencement still and on sale, butyou at home. love, mom,ads dad,are greg, sara. space limited. have worked so hardisthese past four years, and we could not be happier for you. inyour some Commemorate (and maybe embarrass) ways yourgrad journey with young with has theironly ownbegun. space in the all our Commencement love, grandpa and bless you issuegrandpa. of The Student. on this wonderful day. knew you could do it.

For more information, email remember: never stop learning. take on the astudent@amherst.edu world. love, mom, dad, bo and the rest of the

IT’S NOT TOO LATE!

Opinion

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Letters to the Editor

Editorial

Let’s Hold Our President Accountable

As the votes are tallied and candidates campaign across campus to win over hearts and minds, we find it easy to get caught up in the skirmish itself and lose sight of the bigger picture surrounding the AAS presidency.

Understanding that one way or another a student leader of the class of the 2014 will be elected AAS president, students ought to now look forward to the challenges ahead and their hopes for the new president.

While presidential candidates articulated their policy platforms during their campaigns, their views on most issues remain unformed. In addition, the conviction that candidates have toward their expressed goals may not be as strong as we would like to think, especially post-election.

Therefore, it remains the job of students to remind their student leaders of their expectations and hopes. Only if the student body properly orients the president’s efforts can we ensure that the president advocates for students, and spends the time necessary to do so. Only can unwavering student input make an effective presidency.

Without our constant efforts, we leave the President without guidance and easily vulnerable to being trampled over by the administration, faculty, trustees or other senators with all sorts of other goals.

The Student feels that the next AAS president ought to strongly advocate for students on several of the upcoming debates which draw a clear line between the student body and administration, the first being on the question of on-campus storage. The AAS President, despite whatever

Cheryl Rogers, executive director of the New England Learning Center for Women In Transition, writes in to share her gratitude to the Women of Amherst.

relationships they may have with the administration, ought to fight hard to preserve student storage in the face of plans by the administration to eliminate storage for all but the lowest income students. Similarly, the AAS President ought to challenge the administration’s hard-handed suppression of on-campus parties and demand clarity that would allow social life to flourish on campus. In these debates, students ought to demand from their president that he use his time, influence and positions on administrative committees to defend the student interest.

In addition, the AAS president ought to advocate for students on the following areas which representative bodies seem to have ignored. One obvious example is student parking, which has come under extreme pressure with a large reduction in parking spaces this semester. The natural consequence is a high inconvenience to students, as well as a reduction in student participation in off-campus life. The second is the increased financial burden imposed on students by the College, driven by an increase in the College’s operation costs. The administration operates largely without any student-led audit of its budget, and in the absence of student pressure to improve the efficiency of our education dollars, the AAS President ought to take the lead in that cause.

Finally, students have always had a longstanding interest in their room and board. A long-term role we would hope our President to fulfill would be to safeguard and continually advance the quality of campus dining and housing, especially given cost pressures that the College is and will face in the coming years.

Debunking Professor Arkes’s Radical Anti-Gay Argument

*EBMJB 'SJFETPO Contributing Writer

At the end of March, Professor Hadley Arkes wrote an article for The Catholic Thing titled “The Supreme Court Hears the Cases on Marriage,” discussing his views on gay marriage. This is by no means his only article professing his views on same-sex marriage, but it is the most recent and also the one I will respond to. Professor Arkes is a tenured Amherst professor in the Political Science department. His opinions continue to be valued in politics amidst the growing debate about same-sex marriage. He testified before Congress in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Whether we like it or not, though Arkes is writing only on behalf of himself, Amherst College is associated in some manner with the articles he writes.

While I strongly disagree with Professor Arkes’s ideas, I do not think that they should be labeled as hate speech. The way to change the tides of public opinion is not to silence the opposing side but to listen and to respond to an argument, as everyone is entitled to his or her own opin-

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ion. The ironic part of this article, coming from a scholar, are these words: “that the matter [gay marriage] should even be arguable, or treated as plausible, is already the measure of a culture that has lost its moral coordinates, or even its clarity of mind.” I find it antithetical to the very mindset of scholarly thinkers, who understand the necessity to debate “long-established institutions,” for Arkes to suggest that this topic is not worthy of debate. If human beings had never critically evaluated their pre-existing moral codes, we would still have slavery and other abhorrent social institutions. Surely, as a political science professor, he is aware of the dangers of claiming that some ideas are out of the realm of critical debate. That being said, I wish to respond to the main points of his article.

First, the title implies/suggests that Arkes is going to engage in a debate about marriage. However, he does not discuss marriage at all. Rather, he talks about sex and procreation, stating, “as long as there are human beings there will be men and women. That is the meaning of sex. And one doesn’t have to read the Bible to come up with that one.” Yes, this is the meaning of sex. But sex is not Continued on Page 5

I am writing to The Amherst Student to share my deepest gratitude for the hard work and generosity of the Women of Amherst in selecting NELCWIT to be the beneficiary of the event proceeds.

I had the privilege of being part of the audience for the Sunday performance of Women of Amherst 2013: On Stage(s). The stories were performed with such respect and emotion — expressions of heartache, vulnerabilities, outrage, resilience, compassion and the joy that is part of a loving relationship. The performance gave voice to so many women who have been silenced by shame, fear, oppression, judgment and institutional power. It reminded me of Maya Ange-

Judging the Judge #POHBOJ /EMPWV Contributing Writer We respect our professors because we are enticed by their compassion, their broad-mindedness, their willingness to share, their bibliometric success and their love for learning. They impose themselves in our lives as moral authorities insofar as they embody many if not all of the principles that are of value in meritocratic society. However, every so often, they disappoint us. The latest to do so, in my very personal opinion, is Professor Hadley Arkes. While I have not lost respect for him, I do resent his blindness to the nature of love and pity his worldview that is inflicted by what Justice Blackmun calls “sterile formalism.” I take my cue from Mr. Arkes’s recent article in The Catholic Thing (which compounds the frustration I was already feeling towards anodyne statements such as “No Homo” that litter my Facebook newsfeed).

In this pithy article, Professor Arkes blasts the purported injustice of Proposition 8 and DOMA go beyond a simple interest in conserving the “traditional” meaning of marriage. He evidently finds the whole idea of a romantic partnering between people of the same sex incomprehensible.

His indignation, if not revulsion, is elaborated in the assertion, “That the matter [of a coupling of two men or two women] should even be arguable, or treated as plausible, is already the measure of a culture that has lost its moral coordinates, or even its clarity of mind.”

Many of my fellow students who have seen this article are thoroughly devastated. Yet, why should he not judge? One does not even have to invoke the diffuse Judeo-Christian adage “Do not judge” in order to demonstrate that judgment is a human condition. It is an obvious and necessary byproduct of society’s prized attributes: inter alia, education and moral rectitude. Albeit indirect, the very notion that we find offensive and contemptible, i.e., his lumping together homosexuality with proclivities that are more severely and universally vilified such as necrophilia, betrays the passing of judgment. The degree to which this comparison appears absurd should indicate our universal prejudice. In that measure, therefore, I’m not repelled by Professor Arkes’s

decision to put sexual orientation on trial or by disapproval of more inclusive marriage reforms.

I don’t find it hurtful. It bores me at best and annoys me at worst.

We live in a morally relativistic world, or rather I should say that I’m one of many a moral relativist in this world. Yet in my thinking, there are some things that are unimaginable and undesirable, taking eugenics for instance as an uncontroversial example. Professor Arkes renounces relativism as a sufficient moral philosophy, suggesting that it creates a breeding ground for an altogether corrupt moral consciousness. In my limited understanding, however, relativism does not mean the acceptance or embracement of everything; it does not even mean one has to have a well-baked opinion on all social issues. However, it does demand compassion and at least an attempt at understanding the other.

Professor Arkes poses the question, “Or is ‘sex’ in the strictest sense marked by its telos or purpose: the act of begetting,” the rhetorical and normative tenor of which the author does not even disguise with question. It is unclear whether this is a semantic critique of the term “homosexual” or a critique of the practical acts of sex that occur between people of the same sex. Whatever the case, what does the terminology matter? If we submitted to the term mutual masturbation, would he be less disinclined to denigrate marriage between people of the same sex? I doubt it.

He would then doubtless argue that a marriage could only unite individuals who can have procreative sex. Perhaps the ability to limit a sexy tally, via the standard of procreation, offers the advantage of allaying the onanistic pleasure guilt complex. Of course, by this standard, the world can be overflown with virgins.

Those who recognize, valorize and partake in relationships of our kind understand that, contrary to Arkes’s contention, homosexuality cannot be reduced to a sexual arrangement. For him to tell us that all to which our relationships amount is mutual masturbation is symptomatic of a perverse mind that overemphasizes sexual contact and is blind to the range of human affection.

We have all heard rebuttals to the arguments Continued on Page 5

Letters Policy

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lou’s poem, “Still I Rise.” The profound life stories demonstrate the resilience of women and survivors — from the depth of shame, leaving behind nights of terror and fear, bringing forward family, culture, strength, hope and courage to still rise and overcome.

On behalf the entire staff and board of directors of the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition, and the women we serve, we thank the Women of Amherst and the Peer Advocates for supporting our work and being the change we all want to see in this world.

Their energy, commitment and leadership are a gift to the Amherst community. We thank them for bringing light to the crime of sexual violence on campus and in our communities and for encouraging those of us who work with survivors to recognize our accountability to survivors and the importance of maintaining a survivor-centered approach in our work.

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0QJOJPO

Why Should He Not Judge? Why Being Gay Doesn’t Mean Continued from “Judging” that Arkes makes, rendered in one form or another with varying success. I could defend democratic liberty by evoking the right to equal protection under the law and to privacy in sexual relations.

I could maintain that his religion can be no basis for a rejection of the homosexual “lifestyle” through an easy demonstration that his religion is a delusional system of domination and organized hypocrisy. I could even cite, to my sparing credit, the ever-increasing number of studies that attempt to demonstrate that homosexuality is a trait co-determined by the biology of genetic material and prenatal conditions and by the sociology of human conditioning. These are all arguments that I could make, but won’t because I am (as will be the many other people who will feel the ever so slight sting of his cannon) through with attempts at accounting for my position on the sexual spectrum.

Society, in large part, condemns relations such as zoophilia and incest on the grounds of biology. The only biological downfall of homosexual pairings is that, as Arkes points out, they waste the seed. If that is really true, the Professor should then see that the world might be better off for all its homosexuals. We give the world a chance to phase humanity out and start afresh.

To close, with all jest put aside, Professor

Arkes pontificates that society is embroiled in a process of “self-deception” through abstractions.

The only argument or “airy” contribution I wish to make via this terribly long response is more of a testimonial than anything else. I have come to realize that in life — and I believe I speak for more than myself — it is only through recognizing and accepting whom one is that one can have what one wants and thus be happy. This may seem like a sentimental appeal to Professor Arkes. It is not. It is rather a statement of fact. The love that so many homosexual couples feel towards each other is no abstraction. It is a series of actions taken, emotions felt, experiences shared, opinions expressed, hands held, bread broken and aspirations built together. Life is an incoherent pile of bricks and love is the shelter that we construct together from this pile. This love is as natural as the love that can develop between a family and its adopted child. People of Professor Arkes’s persuasion — wiseacres with a low capacity for humanity — choose to trivialize this. They choose to call diversity deviance. We refuse to deny ourselves a shot at happiness. Thanks be to the God(s) in which some of us trust. The odds are still stacked, but our burden grows lighter by the day, whatever the outcome at the Supreme Court will be. By the summer, France will have a more egalitarian understanding of marriage.

You Will Become a Pedophile

Continued from “Debunking” the meaning of marriage. If marriage were solely for reproduction, why are men and women who cannot procreate allowed to get married? Why is it legal to use birth control? Why do we have sex for recreation? In fact, if the whole point of civilization is just to produce as many offspring as possible, why even get married?

Marriage isn’t just about sex. It is about love, respect, intimacy and the ability to spend a lifetime with the person that you love, free from unjust discrimination. Proponents of same sex marriage are not arguing that everyone is entitled to have sex with whomever without bound, reason or consent. They are making the argument that a consenting relationship between two loving adults should be recognized equally as a legitimate marriage.

In addition, the most outlandish, nonsensical and radical standpoint Arkes makes is regarding the connection between sexual orientation and bestiality, pedophilia, incest and necrophilia. His article reads: “Many people shift back and forth across a spectrum that may now include the bisexual, fetishistic, transvestic, zoophiliac (sex with animals). The term has become so elastic that, as one commentator remarked, ‘there is real doubt whether sexual orientation is a valid concept at all.’” Arkes continues to write that “sexual orientation…is broad enough to encompass sex with animals, pedophilia, even necrophilia.”

“Sexual orientation” as a phrase can have many connotations if applied broadly, but samesex marriage clearly encompasses a certain, much narrower spectrum. The fact that bisexuality and necrophilia can even be mentioned in the same sentence is both ridiculous and dangerous to the way some people think about gay rights. According to Arkes, a person may be straight one day,

gay the next day and having sex with animals the day after that. That is a sickening argument. Tracing a correlation specifically between the perverse actions he lists with people on the LGBT spectrum makes no sense. There are straight people who engage in such behaviors; these are not acts specific to certain sexual orientations.

Arkes completely ignores the topic of consent; there is never consent in pedophilia or in zoophilia. This is a huge distinguishing factor about sex between two people, regardless of gender, in comparison to his other examples. In my opinion, these connections Arkes makes are the most dangerous ideas that he is putting forward. They are illogical, radical and can lead to extreme and hateful sentiments towards people in support of gay rights.

Though not everyone at Amherst is in favor of gay rights or supports same-sex marriage, I believe that our college as a whole is a very accepting atmosphere for LGBT students. Just look at all the students on any given day wearing the “I Support Love” T-shirts. It is a testament to our community that thoughtful conversations (on both sides) can, and should, occur. We are at a crucial moment in our nation’s history; it is now the time for us as students to stand up for what we believe in, whatever we believe in. Change happens by examining old ideas and replacing them with new and better ones. I sincerely hope with all of my heart that the ideas Arkes puts forward will one day be mere remnants of an extreme and archaic point of view, replaced by a more rational and tolerant one. Until that day comes though, there is still a fight to be won, a fight that shouldn’t be ignored.

To read Arkes article, go to www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2013/the-supremecourt-hears-the-cases-on-marriage.html

Arts&Living

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Roger Ebert’s Lasting “Leave of Presence�

+BLF 8BMUFST Staff Writer I learned of Roger Ebert’s death not two days after he reported that he would be stepping down from reviewing 200+ films a year in favor of reviewing one or two a week.

What he called a “leave of presence� now means more to me than simply an affirmation of his witty and clever phrasing. Roger Ebert will never write a review again, but his comment reminds us that the legacy of the man who dedicated 46 years to professionally writing about film will never go away. Just as his writing allowed his voice to live on after he lost it due to jawbone cancer in 2006, so too will it allow him to live on now.

His “leave of presence� will be longer than anticipated, but the descriptor is apt nonetheless.

Stating that Ebert is the most important film critic ever may very well be hyperbole, but I’m confident that he will always be the most important film critic to me. Many people justifiably claim that there are more important film critics — those who developed their field in its early stages. While I’ve read and appreciated many of them, they were writers and critics first and foremost; Roger Ebert was a personality. This may seem unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but for those young filmgoers

developing a taste in film, it’s integral.

It made Roger more than someone I read and turned him into someone I grew up with. And while I may have taken part internally in larger intellectual debates with other film scholars, no one else ever made me love film in the same way. While I respected many critics for their intellectual depth and the nuance in their art, just as I did many filmmakers, I never adored any like I did Roger Ebert. I got to read him while he was writing, and to see him develop and change, at least for the last decade or so of his career. I can argue with other film critics, but Roger Ebert was the only one I could have a conversation with.

Roger Ebert is unique to me among film critics I respect in that I often completely disagreed with his opinions and, at least late in his life, I didn’t always consider him a great reviewer or someone whose analysis of film I would recommend to friends.

That’s not a condemnation though, because the man was unique in always maintaining my interest even when I thought he missed the point, and I always wanted to know what he had to say. He wasn’t just a reviewer, he was an idol and a figure I looked up to. He was downright hilarious and always seemed genuine, never afraid to share opinions that contradicted the majority. He was eloquent but always maintained a conversa-

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tional tone. Roger Ebert, more than anything, loved film, and he helped a generation or two love them almost as much as he did. He was almost grandfatherly in his demeanor, and in fact he received his longtime job writing reviews for the Chicago Suntimes not by applying but because his love of film permeated from his very being. As a general reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times who simply happened to love film at the same time, he was offered the job of film critic after the previous critic left the job. He didn’t even know the job was available beforehand.

Ebert brought film to the hearts and minds of millions on his syndicated TV show “At the Movies‌â€? for years, along with his co-host Gene Siskel. After Siskel died due to complications from surgery on a brain tumor in 1999, Ebert continued the show with various co-hosts, before Richard Roeper was officially selected as his co-host. Eventually, Ebert left the program due to his inability to speak caused by his cancer and complications from surgery in 2006. Always gamely, he continued writing Image courtesy of media.theweek.com over 200 reviews a year, and in fact (PPE IVNPSFE BOE JOEVTUSJPVT FWFO BGUFS MPTJOH IJT KBX achieving a career peak with 300+ &CFSU XSPUF PWFS SFWJFXT B ZFBS VOUJM IJT EFBUI reviews just last year. He continued

to make press appearances despite the physical complications he faced due to cancer, and he always maintained the same cheerful and personable demeanor throughout. Most notable during this period was when he regained the ability to speak in his own voice, albeit through artificial means, when a company was able to use the hundreds of hours of DVD commentaries he had recorded to reproduce an artificial version of his voice to speak for him when he typed into a computer. It replaced a British voice Ebert had affectionately dubbed “Lawrence.� When I wrote earlier that Ebert’s writing allowed his voice to continue after he lost it, I meant it in more ways than one.

My memories of Ebert are numerous, and I cherish them all. Experiences such as trying to go see a movie, discovering it was sold out and then walking to a nearby bookstore to read Ebert’s “The Great Movies� in the middle of the aisle for hours made me feel like I knew more about the man than simply his taste in film and writing sensibilities.

He, more than any other critic, managed to introduce his own voice into a piece without sacrificing the intelligence of the work, and that above all

made reading him feel like my own personal conversation with the man.

The strongest memory I have is bonding with my freshman roommate the last night of finals period reading his funniest reviews. Both of us, unable to sleep and having a German final at 9 a.m., stayed up all night and ended up reading Ebert for several hours.

His review of “Deuce Bigelow European Gigolo� in particular sticks in my mind as his finest moment. Responding to “actor� (and I use that term loosely) Rob Schneider’s own critique of another film critic, noting that he had not won a Pulitzer Prize and thus was not qualified to criticize his film, Ebert retorted “As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks.�

When I read of Ebert’s “extended leave of presence,� my immediate reaction was “You’ve earned it, Roger — for all your hard work, your dedication, your enthusiasm and love, your down-to-earth earnestness and your passion.� And although that leave will be longer than I expected, the statement still stands: You have earned it, Roger.

Comic by Eirene Wang ’13

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Making the Most of Your Dollars and Sense "NSP &M "EMF Senior Editor Lemonville sounds like a shady place to learn the ropes of investing, doesn’t it? As an economics major, I was taught to run the other way for fear of learning anything about lemons.

On the other hand, if your crash course in investing came via headlines during the financial crisis, then perhaps you’ve been in Lemonville for longer than you’d care to admit. Or worse, if you still don’t know much about investing, then you might be stuck up Lemonville creek without a paddle.

It might also help if I told you that the lessons in Lemonville are doled out by a man who’s earned Street Cred running his own New York investment advisory firm, after earning a J.D. from Harvard Law School. But James Berman is probably unhappy with my name-dropping, since his “Lessons from the Lemonade Stand: A Common Sense Primer on Investingâ€? is a book that quickly does away with the aura of investing as â€œâ€Śsome mystical numerology, unknown to any but the anointed few.â€?

This isn’t a book about how to get rich from your couch. Berman, who’s a faculty member at New York University’s Finance Department (full disclosure: my dad works nearby, and he and James are friends), published the e-book himself as a guide for the students in his Introduction to Corporate Finance class. It’s since replaced the textbook they used. And for less than $6 on Amazon, it’s a smart, well, you know.

Once upon a time, the residents of Lemonville lived in a quaint town, with a Main Street unblemished by a roiling stock exchange. Along came an enterprising Lucinda, who started her own lemonade business, and before long needed the tools to grow the grove. Once the concepts of stocks, bonds and risks are sorted out by the end of the first chapter, the lemon tree in town becomes a gathering place where “anyone inter-

ested in buying and selling shares in lemonade stands could while away a summer afternoon.�

At each step along the way, Berman is keen to whittle away at the technical language, smoothly shifting gears between defining a concept and weaving it into his beginner’s framework.

On the dangers of shorting a stock, Berman is all too happy to lay bare the basics: “When you short a stock, you really stick your neck out because there’s no limit to how high the stock price can go. Remember, also, that when you short a stock, you are betting that things will go wrong. But owners of companies have an amazing incentive to see that things go right, and when you short a stock, you are betting against that resolve. Many people have lost their shirts betting against human progress.� That truth seems deceptively self-evident; there are plenty of face-palm moments in “Lessons,� but they’re there by meticulous design.

In fact, the last line of that passage is where Berman leaves his mark. In between the mentions of “Lemonghinis� and investors losing their shirts, Berman’s experience with investors who’ve gone boom, and especially with those who’ve gone bust, shines through. In outlining a framework for the investing world, Berman derides anything but simplicity and clarity. The unavoidable aftertaste in “Lessons� is to wonder how so many people — amateurs and professionals alike — manage to grow estranged from the basic tenets of their craft. Far from preaching in holier-than-thou commandments, however, Berman brings the point to bear with alacrity.

True to his word, Berman cements all of his insights into an actual list of lessons from the lemonade stand. Some seem intuitive, but the concepts steadily ramp up; the book covers everything from investing basics to tax laws and real world valuation. Lemonville quickly grows into a complex town, and even though you can make quick work of the reading, there’s

Image courtesy of 3.bp.blogspot.com

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Lemonville’s residents run the gamut of investing prowess and temperament: the enterprising (Lucinda, our entrepreneurial stand owner); the heady (look out for his Mark Twain quotes); and of course the overeager (for whom your pity is in short supply by the end of the book).

As reader, ruminating on how all the dots line up pays handsome dividends.

Always engaging, Berman is as incisive as he is deeply skeptical of the labyrinthine complexity towering over modern-day investing.

He’s determined to show you how much of a folly investing can be absent the proper mindset, and he does it by crashing through all the jargon that would otherwise obfuscate that reality.

For instance, we’re told a margin call is politesse for a bet gone terribly wrong. And it spurs my favorite Lemon Law, a quote from (who else?)

Warren Buffett: “If you’re smart, you don’t need leverage; if you’re dumb, it’ll ruin you.�

To read Berman’s investing primer is to take a step back from the rough and tumble

cycle of stock markets; it’s to understand why, fundamentally, investing should be less of a roller coaster ride than a road trip. There will be bumps in the road either way. But under the former view, you’re going down no matter what; under the latter, foresight keeps you from losing your lunch.

Naturally Berman is at his best in giving us a final word on the difference between traders and investors. “By definition, only half of all traders will be successful (in practice, far fewer, due to the house’s take in the form of commissions, transaction fees and bid-ask spreads), whereas the majority of investors can be successful if they invest in a well-diversified portfolio of quality companies for the long term.�

It’s worth noting that Berman avoids the most troubling fate that could befall a primer of this sort: unlike yours truly, he resisted the temptation to put in lemon puns that go sour.

Counterintuitive as it may seem, lemonade logic might spell sweet success for understanding what makes the investment world turn.

At the Table with Ellie: Esselon CafĂŠ &MMJF "OEFSTFO Staff Writer Saturday morning found me awakening far too late and starving for something novel. I enjoy eating at Val, seeing everyone, recounting a night out and sharing stories over badly needed coffee, but sometimes I like to get away, to leave campus and to find a change of scene. And so, prompted by this desire, I found myself heading down a busy Route 9 at around noon and stepping into Esselon CafĂŠ, which happens to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as beer and wine. (We also saw two women drinking mimosas.) Luckily they serve brunch too.

In passing through the door and a heavy set of draft-preventing curtains, I arrived at the back of a hefty line leading up to the front counter. I cringed at the thought of waiting while the sight of food stoked my burgeoning appetite. However, the results of my waiting satisfied my yearnings and explained Esselon CafÊ’s popularity.

As I loitered in line, I examined the board of specials, placed conveniently by the door to make sure I felt ravenous upon reaching the register.

Written artfully in colorful chalk were options like the special omelet with three eggs, arugula, Parmesan and sun dried tomatoes and the special pancakes that lost me with the mention of trail mix. I quickly snagged a brunch menu and a separate tea menu to review all of the options.

I experienced several minutes of anxiety. Having found three choices — blueberry pancakes, challah French toast and an egg special that involved eggs scrambled with scallions and served with toast and caramelized onions — I felt torn. How could I decide between the sweet and the savory when the savory included some sweet but the sweet sounded so good? And then, how to choose between pancakes and French toast (both of which include fresh fruit)? I asked my breakfast companion, who has learned both that I cannot make decisions easily and furthermore that his suggestions would probably not factor into my final choice. He said he wouldn’t even try to help me with my deliberations.

So, I asked the woman at the register about the French toast and then the egg special, and she steered me to one of the best breakfasts I have had in a while.

As we turned from the counter, I carefully surveyed the room for the first time, having previously directed my attention to the menu until the last possible minute — except for those few minutes I spent eyeing the treats through the glass of the bakery style refrigerator. I certainly considered getting a cupcake or a lemon square or a cookie, but forcefully reminded myself that I was already set to eat a large meal.

We chose a table for two in the large interior room, seeking a bit of added warmth over sitting outside

with the nippy breezes of a sunny but brisk spring day. I sat comfortably in a wicker-backed chair, noting the wooden floors and the beautiful, oldfashioned and gold-painted tin ceiling that complemented the deep red of the curtains and the brick walls. As I nursed my cup of coffee, my friend pointed behind my left shoulder, noticing what appeared to be an old fashioned coffee roaster. Upon later investigation, I found that Esselon roasts their own coffee two times a week, which they then serve, sell and ship.

drinks not included in their special tea menu. Shortly after, a waitress brought a tray with the well-steeped jasmine green tea that my friend had ordered.

I felt a bit ridiculous as I realized that I had four drinks for myself: water, Esselon coffee, chai tea and freshsqueezed orange juice. In my defense, I drank and enjoyed all of them, and I find fresh orange juice irresistible.

When the waitress arrived with our dishes, I scrambled to make room and then marveled at my breakfast. I had three fluffy slabs of challah French

Image courtesy of Ellie Andersen ’15

&TTFMPO $BGĂ? T TNPLFE TBMNPO CFOFEJDU FYFNQMmFT UIF SFTUBVSBOU T FUIPT GSFTI BOE DSFBUJWF ZFU DMBTTJD Moments later, the barista announced that my chai tea latte was ready, which I had ordered from the beverage menu that is located above the register and lists the cold and hot

toast, each of medium thickness, all spread with strawberry compote and then spattered with fresh blueberries and strawberries. As I dug in, I realized that I didn’t need a knife because

the French toast was soft enough to cut with my fork. That is not to say that it was overly soft because the texture was perfect.

As I savored my first bite, I enjoyed the mixture of the slight tang of the compote and the strawberries with the blueberries’ countering sweetness.

I also appreciated that the butter was served on the side, rather than on top where it would have added an extra richness to my meal that I would have felt unneccessary. I did, however, enjoy drizzling my French toast with the real maple syrup provided at each table.

Suddenly I remembered that I wasn’t eating alone, and I inquired about my friend’s smoked salmon benedict, which consisted of two poached eggs served atop smoked salmon and sautÊed spinach on a ciabatta roll (or gluten free bread in the case of my friend) and covered in a hollandaise sauce. He could not have been more content with the creamy saltiness of the hollandaise and the pervading smokiness of the salmon.

As we enjoyed the final, lingering bites of our meal and enjoyed sipping our various beverages, we realized that this was the best breakfast/brunch we had eaten in a while. Although the drive to Esselon had been longer than expected, the meal had made up for the wait. I actually appreciate the added distance because it ensures that each meal at Esselon will retain a greater significance.

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The Future of Gaming is Impulse-Driven .JLF #VDLMFS Staff Writer Call me a cheapskate if you want, but I haven’t paid full price for a PC video game in at least a year. At the same time, I have well over a hundred games in my Steam library, and at least a dozen more from other digital download services. What’s strange, however, is that at least a quarter of them I’ve never played; of those, I bet at least half of them I never will. Yet I scope out new game deals nearly every day, and fight the temptation to add the increasingly backlogged catalog of games. Do I have a problem? Probably.

I’m working on it.

It’s a good time to be a PC gamer.

Game prices are getting slashed every day. Even before a game goes on sale, vendors will offer pre-order or releaseday discounts. This trend really struck me as I watched the days tick down to Bioshock Infinite’s recent release, as sites such as Amazon, Steam, and Gamefly vied to entice customers with the best pre-order deals. These deals included bonuses such as free copies of Bioshock 1 & 2 or other games, cash-back, credit towards future purchases and extra in-game content. It was entirely possible to spend $60, the industry standard, for a pre-order of one game, and get $30 in cash-back

and vendor credit, along with free games to sweeten the pot. At the same time, you can bet that in only a few months you’ll find the same game for half-price, and by the holiday shopping season it’ll be even cheaper. If you don’t believe me, I offer The Darkness II as an example: a critically praised game, it went down from $60 at its release last February to a mere $4.99 this past February. Such is the lifespan of a

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4UFBN PGGFST NBTTJWF EJTDPVOUT BOE IBT TQBSLFE NBOZ JNJUBUPST PC game these days — from full price to impulse buy in a year — and boy is it sweet. But why? Why shoot yourself in the foot with such low prices? Why is this only the case with PC games? How did it come to this?

Steam, among the first and argu-

ably the most successful of digital distribution services, was not warmly received in its infancy. At that time, Steam was merely an anti-piracy and update client, and many found it an intrusive and cumbersome addition to their gaming experience. It would be years before Valve, the game development company behind Steam, would begin selling games other than their own, and longer still before Steam even turned a profit. At some point the pieces started to fall into place, however, and Steam began to feature the big name third-party titles (in addition to their own popular games) and rake in profit. While the convenience of digitally distributed games wasn’t new, the key was its integration with the software that had become familiar to so many players. As the catalog of games sold through Steam grew, Valve experimented with new business models, toying with the idea of frequent, massive discounts on certain games. It was a huge success, and people began buying the discounted games in droves. The sheer number of people buying the discounted games made up for the cut price. Games that had only moderate or waning financial success suddenly saw a huge spike in profits. Vital to this business strategy was to keep customers on their toes — deals were announced suddenly,

for only a limited time and one never knew what game might be discounted next. You may not want this game, but it’s so cheap, and it may never be this cheap again, so you might as well buy it and save it for a rainy day. Couple that with periodic seasonal sales, with even steeper discounts just in time for the holidays, and you have a business model that could revolutionize the industry. Or destroy it? Could there be danger in adjusting consumer’s expectations of video game prices so radically?

Around the time that Steam began offering these massive discounts, skeptics feared the worst for the industry as a whole. Critics denounced Steam’s promotional sales as “cannibalizing� the profits from normal game sales, discouraging people from buying games unless they’re massively discounted. Now it seems that the critics may have been right, but it may actually be the best thing for the industry. Valve has grown tremendously as a company in the past several years and has only attracted the attention of an increasing number of developers. Yet what I think signifies the success of this model aren’t Steam’s supporters, but rather its imitators.

Digital content distribution wasn’t a novel concept, but Steam showed how profitable it could really be. Competi-

tors have arisen over the past several years, the largest among them being Amazon, which often price-matches and even undercuts Steam with every discount. Last year, I wrote an article about pay-what-you-want business models implemented by independent game developers. The concept behind that model isn’t too different from Steam’s: offer games at low, impulsedriven prices and let the sheer number of purchases drive profits.

So far, it seems to be working across the board, and it makes consumers happy to boot. Yet it is only possible because the product and distribution are digital. In terms of material costs, there is little difference in selling ten or ten-thousand copies. This advantage has allowed the PC game market to evolve in a very different direction than console games, whose prices tend to remain stable. The benefits and success of digital distribution systems are very clear to console manufacturers, however. Sony and Microsoft alike have focused primarily on integrating digital distribution services into the next generation of home consoles to both offer convenience and minimize cost. No matter where you look — PC game deals, upcoming consoles and even the pocket-change prices of the iOS and Android apps — all signs say that the future is impulse-driven.

Black Alumni Weekend 2013: A Review $POTUBODF )PMEFO Contributing Writer Black Alumni Weekend, a bi-annual event spearheaded by the Black Student Union and Office of Alumni Affairs, took place from Friday, April 5 until Sunday, April 7. More than 30 alumni returned to their alma mater eager to forge connections with current students and indulge in their college memories. Deeming the weekend as a powerful experience would be an understatement, as the weekend united students and alumni — ranging from the classes of 1972 to 2012 — into a single space to commemorate the past and look forward to the future. Alumni included Ongel Duncan ’80, a virology clinical consultant; Robert Bellinger ’77, an educator; and Marissa Horne ’00, the senior manager for American Airlines and one of this year’s Wade Fellows. The gathering of alumni and students was a cathartic experience that reminded black students of their place in a long legacy of success, beginning with Edward Jones in 1822 and propelled by their own future achievements on and beyond the Amherst campus. More than that, the presence of alumni demonstrated their accessibility as available, willing resources positioned to assist current students through any means possible. After a fall semester filled with events that challenged the place of black students and role of black student activism on campus, the return of alumni who endured similar trials while at Amherst served as a testament to survival and solidarity.

The weekend’s festivities began with “Brother Talk/Sister Speak,� a storytelling event in the sankofa tradition. Sankofa is an Akan term that means “go back and get it.� Students and alumni honored this year’s theme of “examining the past to redefine our future� by sharing stories about their Amherst experiences. Each imparted memory, whether positive or negative, highlighted the similarities of Amherst experiences and struggles. While some alumni like Beryl Dudley ’04 dared students to be excellent in the midst of trying circumstances, students like Emeka Ojukwu ’14 shared how he

came to form “blood bonds� with a diverse cast of Amherst undergraduates and encouraged students to establish similar familial connections with both students and alumni.

After many students and alumni shared their Amherst stories, former Associate Dean of Students, Onawumi Jean Moss, commanded the stage and challenged the assembly to celebrate the intradiversity within their own community. As she named various world regions, students stood upon hearing their birthplace.

The united Amherst family of the past and present stood together to represent the sameness within their differences. Moss, an acclaimed storyteller, surmised the theme of unity with a tale about the “village of the undefeated� which inspired alumni and students alike to press on and stand, especially when there’s nothing left to do.

Saturday’s events included Pick-Up Basketball, a discussion about the Multicultural Resource Center, Career Panels and networking events. Briana Hanny ’13, Abigail Bereola ’15, Larissa Davis ’13, Ellis Moss ’79 and Interim Dean of Students Charri Boykin-East moderated the Multicultural Resource Center discussion. The conversation brought to light the difficulties students have faced in their fight to relocate the Center and prioritize issues of race and gender among the student body and administration. Although they affirmed their support for students during this present struggle, the alumni advised that these very issues demand continuous mediation within and beyond Amherst College.

While the Education and Law panel addressed different topics, the theme of solidarity permeated this event as well. The panel was moderated by the Director of Careers in Education Professions Ben Guest ’97, and included educators Robert Bellinger ’77 and Michael Horne ’02 and lawyers William Parker ’77 and Paul Murphy ’73. Parker, like Dudley, urged students to be the best despite the unfair society in which we live. The others provided useful tips on applying to graduate school and all emphasized the importance of relationships with

Jessica Mestre ’10 Public Affairs Office

4UPSZUFMMFS .PTT TFFO IFSF JO EFMJHIUT UIF DSPXE Amherst alumni. These bonds should be more than just phone calls or emails asking for a job — they should also be friendly check-ins just to say hello. Such connections, Bellinger mentioned, establish personal relationships that are much more significant than needy professional communications.

The keynote dinner was the premier event of Black Alumni Weekend. Dr. Harold Massey ’80, an organizational developmental consultant, spoke on “Pondering Post-Racialism: Paradoxes of Pluralism and Power in PostApartheid America.� Using a variety of personal experiences, Massey underscored the continued centrality of race despite current post-racial arguments. Furthermore, Katherine Ponds ’15, the Junior Co-Chair of the Black Student Union, awarded Paul Murphy with the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Murphy is Amherst’s Administrative and Legal Counsel, and most recently organized, on behalf of 37 colleges and universities, the filing of the amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in the case of Fisher vs. University of Texas.

Andrew Nwachuku ’15 and Kenneth Adinkra ’16 closed the evening with an original musical

selection.

The tragic 1973 death of Amherst freshman Gerald Penny ’77 forever changed the College.

Thus, it was both right and necessary to hold a memorial service in his honor. His drowning in Pratt Pool not only led to the elimination of Amherst’s swimming requirement, but the transformation of the Octagon into a Black Cultural Center named in his honor, converting the space into a center for black activism and afro-centric events. On Sunday morning, Everett ‘Skip’ Jenkins ’75 led an emotional memorial service that not only commemorated the life of Gerald Penny, but of all deceased black alumni.

Classmates of Penny’s like Antonio Jackson ’78, shared experiences with Gerald prior to his premature death. Angela Bronner Helm ’94 poured a libation for all of those whom have passed on and those yet to come. Alumni and students read aloud the names of the departed from the 19th century to recent years. Despite the sadness evoked by the service, Jenkins emphasized that goodness follows every tragedy.

Reflecting upon Gerald Penny and the late alumni provoked a soul-stirring motivation to continue on this Amherst journey.

The final event, The Hermenia T. Gardner Bi-Semester Worship Service, closed the weekend on an uplifting note. The service’s speaker was Gardner herself, Amherst College’s former Affirmative Action Officer and the founding advisor of Bi-Semester, a worship experience that incorporates various African-American Christian traditions. During the soul food reception, Vanessa Olivier ’01, Terri Peeples ’01, Tene Howard ’01, Shanina Robinson ’02, Timothy Jones ’04 and Beryl Dudley surprised guests with an impromptu renditions of “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel.� The Senior Chair of the Black Student Union, Roshard Bryant ’14E, then invited the remaining guests to partake in the “Heartbeat� closing. By crossing arms, starting a buzz and squeezing hands, alumni and students affirmed the solidarity strengthened by the weekend’s events. The weekend had come full circle: students and alumni stood united as the village of the undefeated.

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NATIONAL CHAMPS! 7BSVO *ZFOHBS Staff Writer Behind a double-double from Willy Workman ’13 and a team-high 18 points from Allen Williamson ’13, the Amherst Men’s Basketball team earned the Division III NCAA title with an 87-70 victory over Mary Hardin-Baylor on Sunday.

Playing at Phillips Area in downtown Atlanta, Ga., the Jeffs led wire-to-wire and coasted to their 24th consecutive victory, setting a new school record for the longest single-season winning streak.

Finishing the year 30-2, the team also equaled the program’s best single-season record set by the 2006-2007 squad. That team also won the national title, marking Sunday’s victory as the second NCAA championship in the history of the program.

Amherst’s opponent in the finals, UMHB, was the Cinderella story of the tournament.

Unranked coming into the tourney, the Crusaders pulled off incredible upsets of both No. 6 Whitworth and top-ranked St. Thomas en route to the finals. In a season filled with adversity, including the loss of two big men early on, UMHB far exceeded all expectations and turned a lot of heads in getting as far as they did. Unfortunately

for them, Amherst was simply too good on this day.

Playing in front of over 6,000 fans, neither team had ever experienced so big a stage. However, any Amherst concerns about the limelight were quickly forgotten, as the Jeffs got out of the gates quickly.

Sparked by an Aaron Toomey ’14 three, Amherst began the game on a 10-0 run to take an early lead. Clamping down on the defensive end, the Jeffs forced the Crusaders into missing their first six shots from the field, before Kitrick Bell ’14 finally put back his own miss to get UMHB on the board.

Staked to the early double-digit advantage, Amherst kept the Crusaders at bay through the rest of the half. UMHB got within five points, but were never able to creep any closer. The senior duo of Williamson and Workman made sure of that, coming up with big baskets whenever the momentum seemed to be moving back in the Crusaders favor. In fact, Williamson’s biggest shot of the half was a putback of a Workman miss, breaking a four-minute Amherst scoring drought and putting an end to a 7-0 Crusaders run.

Closing the half with a three from Tom Killian ’14, the Jeffs maintained a 38-30 advantage heading into the intermission. However, having come back from a

14-point deficit in their previous game, the Crusaders were certainly not going to go down without a fight.

UMHB began the second half on a small run, immediately cutting the Jeffs’ lead to four points. Workman responded by connecting on two consecutive jumpers, but that cushion would not last. The Crusaders came right back with two buckets of their own, bringing the score to 43-39.

Amherst, though, was able to remain calm even in the face of mounting pressure. This time, it was Toomey who had the answer, connecting on a deep three to cap a fast-break. The possession was made all the more dramatic, as a number of stadium lights went off during play, causing confusion and an ensuing media timeout. The break, though, did not faze the Jeffs, who were just catching fire.

Williamson spurred the Amherst effort, making his presence felt on both sides of the court. The senior, who earned the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player honor, came up with a big block on a Crusaders’ layup attempt and finished the same possession by converting a layup on the Jeffs’ end. Two plays later, he came up with the highlight of the night, wrestling away an offensive rebound away from a UMHB defender before slamming home a one-hand-

ed tomahawk dunk. The bucket gave Amherst a nine-point advantage and sparked an 8-2 Jeffs’ spurt.

The Crusaders, to their credit, continued to hang around. Thomas Orr ’13, who finished with a game-high 24 points, kept UMHB within striking distance, cutting the deficit to ten points on multiple occasions.

However, the Crusaders simply did not have a defensive answer for either Williamson or Toomey and that proved to be their downfall. The duo combined for 17 points in the final six minutes, keeping the Crusaders at bay and effectively icing the game.

Behind their effort, the Jeffs’ lead ballooned to as many as 19 in the final minutes, allowing Amherst to coast to victory.

With the win, Amherst put the final touches on what has been one of the most impressive seasons in program history. The seniors, Peter Kaasila, Workman and Williamson, will certainly be missed, but were able to end their collegiate careers on the highest of highs. Workman, afterwards, was emotional explaining how much the victory meant.

“When you’re a little kid out in the driveway, you dream of hitting a big shot and you think about the NBA. But this is as close as we’re going to get. This is what it’s turned into.”

The Path to Victory First Round Bye

Third Round Randolph-Macon at Amherst

89-72 Second Round Plattsburgh St. at Amherst

Rob Mattson Public Affairs Office

93-76

Semifinals N. Central at Salem, Va.

101-82 Quarterfinals Cabrini at Salem, Va.

52-44

87-70 Finals M. Hardin-Baylor at Atlanta, Ga.

10 Sports

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Schedule WEDNESDAY

1MBZFST PG UIF 8FFL

Baseball @ Castleton State, 4 p.m.

Men’s Lacrosse vs. Springfield, 7 p.m.

Women’s Lacrosse @ Conn. College, 7:30 p.m.

THURSDAY Women’s Tennis @ Conn. College, 4:30 p.m.

FRIDAY Baseball vs. Williams, 4 p.m.

Men’s Tennis @ Conn. College, 4 p.m. @ MIT, 4 p.m.

Softball vs. Williams, 5 p.m.

Men’s Golf @ UMass Dartmouth, TBD SATURDAY Men’s & Women’s Outdoor Track & Field @ UMass Invitational, All Day Men’s Tennis @ Hamilton, 10 a.m.

Softball @ Williams (DH), 12 p.m.

Baseball @ Williams (DH), 1 p.m.

Men’s Lacrosse vs. Tufts, 1 p.m.

Game of the Week MEN’S TENNIS vs. WILLIAMS When and Where: Sunday, April 14 Home 1 p.m.

The men’s tennis team has been cruising along in 2013 to the tune of a 17-7 record. This weekend, they will face a formidable test in Williams, who are ranked fifth in the nation (the Jeffs are No. 19). That’s not to say the squad won’t be equipped to handle the challenge; the Jeffs have won six of their last seven, including a conference victory over Bates. In that contest, the

In the Jeffs’ dream season, senior guard Allen Williamson had not received as much attention as some of his teammates, but that has changed after his swan-song performance in the national championship game. Leading a resounding 87-70 victory over Mary Hardin-Baylor (in which the Jeffs never trailed), Williamson paced the Jeffs with 18 points. For his efforts, Williamson received Most Outstanding Player honors for the game. In all, he averaged 12 points per game in 2012-2013, but, most importantly, his season ended in a fashion he will never forget.

—Karl Greenblatt ’15

Jeffs edged the top-25 ranked Bobcats by a 5-4 margin behind convincing singles wins from Chris Dale ’14 (6-4, 6-0) and Justin Reindel ’14 (6-1, 6-0).

The Amherst doubles’ teams also impressed, with Mark Kahan ’13 and Michael Solimano ’ 16 scoring a decisive 8-1 victory and the first-year tandem of Andrew Yaraghi and Ben Fife also winning 8-4. In their most recent action, the Jeffs easily handled another top-25 team, Skidmore, by an 8-1 score.

The Jeffs recorded a clean sweep in doubles play, further highlighting this facet of their game. Before matching up against the Ephs, the Jeffs will take on Conn. College, MIT and Hamilton, all on the road.

—Karl Greenblatt ’15

In a weekend split with Hamilton, Reilly Horan ’13 showed why she is one of Amherst’s softball’s unquestioned leaders. The senior went 5-for-6 on the weekend along with six RBI’s and a home run in each game. Her blistering day at the plate was part of an offensive attack that saw the Lady Jeffs saw 18 runs in their two games. So far this season, Horan, who also anchors the infield defense from her second base position, is hitting an even .400; her home runs over the weekend were her third and fourth of the year, which leads the team.

—Karl Greenblatt ’15

Men’s Tennis Tops Bates, Softball Picks Up Six Wins Set to Face Williams ,FWJO )PPHTUSBUFO Staff Writer

/JDPMF :BOH Sports Section Editor Men On Saturday, 19th-ranked Amherst took on 21st-ranked Bates in a battle between two competitive NESCAC teams. The match featured some excellent tennis with Amherst coming out victorious in the end, 5-4.

The Jeffs were able to snag two of the three doubles matches to start the day off strong. In the No. 2 doubles spot, Mark Kahan ’13 and Michael Solimano ’16 defeated Timmy Berg and Pierre Planche of Bates 8-5, while the No. 3 doubles team, Andrew Yaraghi ’16 and Ben Fife ’16, easily overpowered Henry Lee and Ben Bogard by a commanding score of 8-1.

Amherst’s first doubles team, Joey Fritz ’14 and Aaron Revzin ’16, did not experience the same success as they fell 8-5 to Rob Crampton and Matt Bettles.

Still, Amherst entered the singles matches with a 2-1 lead and only needed to notch three wins out of the six potential matches. In the sixth spot, Justin Reindel ’14 had an effortless win over Eric Ruta, routing his Bates’ opponent 6-1 6-0. Chris Dale ’14 also made quick work of his opponent in the fifth spot, beating Henry Lee 6-4, 6-0.

Now with a score of 4-1, Amherst only needed one more “W” to secure the victory. In the end, it would come from senior captain Mark Kahan as he downed Matt Bettles 6-3, 6-2.

Even though the match was already decided, the unfinished singles matches remained extremely competitive. In the first singles spot, Fritz and Crampton were evenly matched as they split the first two sets (4-6, 6-4) and had to settle the match with a tiebreaker where Fritz lost 9-11. In the fourth singles spot, Ben Fife ’16 also lost in a deciding tiebreaker 7-10 after he won the first set 7-6 but couldn’t figure out his opponent, Pierre Planche, in the second set, dropping it 6-0. Andrew Yaraghi ’16 also lost for Amherst in the third singles spot 6-4, 6-3.

This win against Bates helped Amherst improve to 2-0 in the NESCAC and 16-7 overall on the season. The team is looking to improve its low ranking to try and qualify for the national tournament. As Revzin put it, “If we lost this match, it would have been nearly impossible for us to qualify for the playoffs, so that was a good win to have.”

On Sunday, Amherst traveled to play 25th ranked Skidmore where they had a decisive 8-1 win.

Andrew Scheiner ’15 was the only Jeff to fall as he lost a competitive match 4-6, 6-3, 11-9 to Jonah Ep-

stein in the No. 5 singles spot.

The Jeffs next home match in on Sunday, April 14 against Williams who is currently ranked fifth in the nation.

Women The top-ranked Lady Jeffs spent their weekend playing at Wellesley College’s Nor’Easter Bowl where they played fellow NESCAC teams, Bates and Trinity, in addition to Skidmore. Amherst encountered no problems against these teams as it coasted to three dominating 9-0 victories.

The tournament began on Friday with a match against 29th ranked Bates. In both the first and sixth single matches, the Bates’ players were unable to net a single game as Jordan Brewer ’14 and Gabby Devlin ’14 both defeated their opponents 6-0, 6-0.

The combination of Brewer and Devlin proved to be just as forceful as a No. 1 doubles team, winning their match 8-0 over Ashley Brunk and Elena Mandzuhokva. The rest of the team also had little trouble with their opponents as they all cruised to easy straight set wins in singles and three wins in doubles.

On Saturday, Amherst experienced similar success as it took on 24th ranked NESCAC team Trinity. The singles all cruised to straight set victories again, and the doubles’ teams won their matches with ease as well. Notable on the day, No. 1 singles player, Brewer, remained perfect as she defeated Melita Ferjanic 6-0 6-0.

On Sunday, Amherst faced 20th ranked Skidmore in the championship. With an unexpected scratch from Jen Newman ’14 in the second singles spot, the Jeffs had to adjust their lineup but were still victorious, completing their trifecta of 9-0 wins.

This match was slightly more competitive compared to the rest of the weekend as first singles’ player Brewer dropped her first games of the tournament, beating Nataly Mendoz 6-0, 6-2.

Replacing Newman in the second singles spot, first-year Sue Ghosh was able to step up to the plate and finish off her opponent, Lee Ford, in a tiebreak, winning the match 6-4, 3-6, 10-4. In another competitive match, Zoe Pangalos ’14 started off down a set in the fourth singles spot but she came back to win 2-6, 6-1, 6-0. The rest of the Jeffs faced little to no difficulties in handling their Trinity opponents as they defended their tournament title.

The three victories this weekend improved Amherst’s record to 10-1 on the season and 3-0 in the NESCAC. Up next for the women are three NESCAC matches, Conn. College (away on Thursday), Tufts (away on Monday) and Bates (home on Wednesday).

Softball took care of business during a busy end-of-week stretch, going 6-1 over four days to improve their record to 18-6. The Lord Jeffs swept doubleheaders against Westfield State and Smith and before winning two out of three against Hamilton.

Strong individual performances highlighted Wednesday’s doubleheader with Westfield State, as Theresa Kelley ’13 and Arielle Doering ’14 dominated in their respective complete-games and received offensive support from a number of clutch extra-base hits.

Kelley shut down the Owls, striking out 12 and allowing just one run, a seventh-inning solo home run, en route to a 4-1 victory. The pitcher also helped her own cause at the plate, hitting a two-run homer in the sixth for some insurance.

After being held to two hits over the first three innings, the Jeffs came alive when Reilly Horan ’13 ripped a triple and was promptly driven in by a Carolyn Miller ’14 single. Caroline Sealander ’15 added to the tally by leading off the fifth with a homer.

Amherst took an early lead in the second game and built up enough of a cushion to withstand a three-run sixth inning from the Owls in a 5-3 victory.

The Jeffs got on the board when Horan led off the second with a homer, and Horan led off the fourth with a double. Sealander reached on an error, and after she stole second pinch-hitter Brianna Cook ’16 drove both runners in with a double. Roles were reversed in the fifth, as Horan capped off the Amherst scoring with a deep two-RBI double of her own off the fence.

Westfield State’s comeback bid, aided by two defensive errors, fell short as Doering worked through a jam.

Amherst’s pitching was masterful against Smith, keeping the Lord Jeffs in the game during a 1-0 extra-inning triumph and then continuing to shut down the Pioneer bats in the 8-0 nightcap. Kelley went the distance in the opener, spreading four hits over eight innings while striking out 13 in a pitchers’ duel.

The Jeffs managed eight hits but couldn’t string anything together, stranding seven runners on base.

The winning run came quickly in the extra inning. Kaitlin Silkowitz ’14 led off with a single and stole second before scoring on a Donna Leet ’15 single.

Things came easier for the offense in the

second game, highlighted by a five-run third.

The Jeffs managed just three hits in the frame but were aggressive on the basepaths, scoring one run on a throwing error when Horan successfully stole second and the Smith catcher attempted to throw behind the runner at third.

After manufacturing a run in the fourth with two singles and a two-out rundown between first and second to let Leet score from third, the Jeffs had the mercy rule in sight, and they reached it with two outs in the fifth.

Four straight singles to lead off the frame put the Jeffs up 7-0 with the bases loaded and Leet singled to end the game.

The first two games against Hamilton saw more of the same for Amherst, with the Jeffs two-hitting and then three-hitting the Continentals. In the opener, a 3-0 victory, Kelley worked the first four innings before handing the ball off to Doering to close the game out.

The second game, an 11-2 mercy-rule victory, had Kelley starting again and first-year Nicolette Miranda coming on to throw two innings of scoreless relief.

The Jeffs looked to be in deep trouble to start the first game, as Kelley walked two and misplayed a bunt to load the bases with no outs. She quickly settled down, however, getting an out at home off of a grounder to third and then striking out two in a row.

On the offensive side, Kelsey Ayers ’15 started things off with a first-inning leadoff triple and was promptly driven in by Silkowitz. The Jeffs would strike one more time in the third, when Sealander singled, Kelley reached on an error, and Leet cleared the bases with a double.

The Jeffs effectively ended the second game in the third inning, when they drove in six runs after an explosive second inning that featured three home runs. Horan was responsible for the first long ball, and after two doubles drove in another run Sealander got in on the act with a two-run shot.

The third began with a barrage of singles, driving in one run and loading the bases. Sealander cleared the bases with a double, Sherwill drove her in with a double, and Silkowitz added the last run with a triple.

The series finale was a slugfest for both teams and the Continentals prevailed 13-7.

With the series victory, the Jeffs sit at 3-3 in the NESCAC West division with series against Williams and Wesleyan remaining. The team returns to action Friday at home against Williams before traveling to Williamstown to play two against the Ephs on Saturday.

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Sports 11

Women’s Lacrosse Falls to The Price to Pay 5XFFOFST Undefeated Midd. .BHHJF -BX Staff Writer

The Amherst Women’s Lacrosse team scored 15 goals for the second consecutive game last week, downing Little Three rival Wesleyan, 15-6, on Tuesday. The Jeffs faced a tough loss on Saturday afternoon, however, falling to top-ranked Middlebury, 13-4. No. 10 Amherst is now 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the NESCAC, while No. 3 Middlebury maintains its undefeated streak at 10-0 overall and 7-0 in conference play.

The Jeffs and Panthers shared possessions for the first 15 minutes on Saturday afternoon as the teams combined for 12 turnovers, but Middlebury held the upper hand with two goals from sophomore Katie Ritter. Margaret Souther ’13 added another for the Panthers to make it 3-0 with just over nine minutes left to play, and classmate Michaela Colbert cushioned the lead with two goals in 23 seconds for a five-goal lead at the six minute mark.

Co-captain Marta Randall ’13 opened scoring for the Jeffs two minutes later, dodging defenders and driving hard to the net for her first goal of the game. Her second score came with 52 seconds left in the half on a free position shot, bringing the Jeffs within three heading into halftime.

The Panthers kept up momentum in the second half, however, scoring just 36 seconds into the period. The unassisted goal from first-year Lauren Pascal sparked a five-goal run for Middlebury with five different players scoring. Senior Emma Kramer notched a goal and two assists in the run, scoring on a give-and-go with Ellen Halle ’13 for the team’s ninth marker. Halle added her own a minute later to give Middlebury at 10-2 lead with 16 minutes left to play.

Alex Philie ’14 ended the Panthers’ scoring streak with a free position goal at 10:58, but the home team added another three goals in 59 seconds to make it a ten-goal differential. Elizabeth Ludlow ’14 closed out scoring for the Jeffs with 2:13 remaining, as Middlebury walked away with the 13-4 victory at the buzzer.

Christy Forrest ’16 had another impressive game in goal with 12 saves for the Jeffs, but Middlebury’s 31-12

shot advantage made the difference for the Panthers, who remain at the top of the NESCAC standings.

The Jeffs saw a better result last Tuesday, as Priscilla Tyler ’15 led the way with eight goals in the team’s 15-6 victory over Wesleyan. Co-captain Hilary Densen ’13 added a goal and a personal-best six assists, while Philie followed with two goals and one helper.

Amherst controlled the game from the start, scoring eight unanswered goals in the first 19 minutes of play.

Tyler had a hat trick and Philie notched her pair of goals in the run, while Densen racked up a goal and four assists. Sophomore Meghan Mills and Randall each added one to give the Jeffs an 8-0 lead with 11:37 remaining in the first half.

The Cardinals responded three minutes later with their best offense of the game, netting three goals in just 39 seconds. Tyler ended the scoring outburst with help from Randall to make it 9-3, but Wesleyan had the last word on a free-position goal at 2:59. With four goals from Tyler in the first half, the Jeffs headed into intermission with a 9-4 lead.

Densen and Tyler fired back in the opening minutes of the second half, with Densen assisting Tyler on two goals in the first 10 minutes. Caroline Holliday ’14 added an unassisted score eight minutes later before Tyler notched back-to-back scores to cap off her eight-goal performance. Wesleyan fought back with two goals from senior Kaylin Berger, but first-year Devin O’Connor put the finishing touch on the victory for Amherst with a free-position goal at the one-minute mark.

The Jeffs held a 29-18 shot advantage over the Cardinals, scoring on more than half of their attempted shots.

Katelyn Salerno ’16 made one save in net for Amherst during the first half, while Forrest stopped seven shots in the final 30 minutes to anchor the Jeff defense.

Ranked third in the NESCAC for scoring, Tyler now leads the team with 25 points on 24 goals and one assist, while Densen follows close behind with nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points.

Amherst is back on the road this evening with a match-up against Conn. College at 7:30 p.m. The Jeffs will continue their road trip this weekend, facing off against Tufts on Saturday at noon.

Men’s Lax Drops to 3-6 #SFOUPO "SOBCPMEJ Staff Writer Crippled by a lethargic start, the men’s lacrosse team endured another gut-wrenching NESCAC defeat last weekend, falling to regional powerhouse Middlebury 10-8.

Facing an 8-3 deficit at halftime, the Jeffs (3-6, 2-4 NESCAC) mounted a stirring comeback to knot the score at 8-8 entering the fourth quarter, but Middlebury (8-2, 5-2 NESCAC) netted two late goals to escape with the victory. “I was inspired by the team’s willingness and ability to fight back from five goals down,� head coach Jon Thompson said. “We believe that we can compete with anyone, it just has to happen before we get down five goals. Our heart is inspiring, but our first quarter lulls are absolutely concerning.�

The Jeffs have struggled in tight games this season, as Amherst’s four NESCAC losses have come by a combined five goals. Each one of those NESCAC defeats (Colby, Bates, Wesleyan) has followed the same script: stumble to a large early deficit, stage a furious comeback, but ultimately run out of steam in the crucial last few minutes.

The disastrous first half against Middlebury continued a season-long trend of poor starts. In the four conference losses, the Jeffs have been outscored 16-8 in the first quarter, while holding a positive goal differential (25-22) in the final three quarters.

Against Middlebury, the Jeffs kept the game close until the early stages of the second quarter, down 4-3 nine minutes before halftime.

The Jeffs’ defense unraveled badly down the stretch, however, as Middlebury stunned the hosts with a fourgoal barrage in a 3:35 span to turn a close game into a potential rout. “We are prepared, we care like heck. It’s just a matter of realizing that the other team has great players too,

and our will to win has to be greater than theirs. Our competitive fire has to start from the moment we step on the field, not wait until we have been knocked around,�

Thompson said.

Regrouping at halftime, the Jeffs came out flying in the third quarter, netting four unanswered goals to close the deficit to 8-7. Dylan Park ’16 ignited the rally with a goal 1:58 into the period, before Kane Haffey ’16 and Jeff Izzo ’13 scored with 6:40 and 3:10 remaining in the quarter.

Attacking with revived confidence and vigor, the Jeffs tied the game at 8-8 when prolific scorer Devin Acton ’14 struck twice in a 91-second span. The team’s offensive linchpin and leading scorer (20 goals), Acton sniped his first with 1:24 remaining in the third quarter, then scored the equalizer just seven seconds into the fourth quarter.

Following the five-goal outburst, however, the Jeffs’ offense stagnated, as Middlebury goaltender Nate Gaudio made five saves in the final quarter to anchor the Panthers to the win.

Seeking to reverse momentum after a tumultuous third quarter, Middlebury edged ahead 9-8 just 1:25 after Acton’s second goal — breaking Amherst’s defensive goalless streak of 21:56 — then scored an insurance tally with 4:27 left in regulation.

The tough sledding continues for the Jeffs this week, as Amherst plays Springfield (4-6) tonight before facing Tufts (8-2, 4-2 NESCAC) on Saturday. While Springfield has struggled this year, the Pride defeated Amherst 9-6 in last year’s meeting.

Tufts — the three-time defending NESCAC champion — is ranked No. 1 in New England, and rides a ninegame winning streak into Saturday’s contest at Gooding Field.

In the NESCAC playoff race, the Jeffs currently sit in a three-way tie with Williams and Trinity for the final two spots (No. 7 and No. 8) in the tournament. Amherst’s remaining league opponents are Tufts (4-2), Conn College (5-1), Williams and Trinity (2-4).

"NSP &M "EMF

On the verge of the start of the NBA playoffs, Amro takes a closer look at just how costly a sacrifice professional basketball players have to make to compete for a championship.

If you’re an NBA player, sometimes there’s recognition for the sacrifices you make. To be exact, every year, at least one NBA owner rewards his team’s sacrifices in spectacular fashion — custom gold-encrusted rings laced with jewels. Of course that means most players come up emptyhanded. Worse, it means that simply to have a real chance at recognition, sacrifice is necessary. But just how much is necessary?

The roster of the Miami Heat provides some answers for this thought experiment.

For the past two seasons, the Heat have made their way to the NBA Finals. This year, they again look locked in after securing the top seed in the playoffs amid a 27game winning streak (the second-longest such streak in NBA history). The Heat have relegated the remaining NBA teams to second-tier status; superteam is more apt a description for professional basketball in Miami. The team is of course built around three premier players (the first two being surefire Hall of Famers): LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. If assembling a superstar cast will ever amount to championship-level team excellence, our generation’s Miami Heat are the team to do it.

But it’s not easy to pull off such a coup in the NBA world. In fact the summer of 2010 was a free agent bonanza in the NBA, with a handful of superstars set to leave their teams; LeBron James and Dwyane Wade sat with Bosh at the top of the heap. And the Miami Heat hit on all seven’s, landing all three.

Recruiting Bosh to join the troika was critical. He is not the best player on the roster, but having him is the difference between fielding an excellent team, and fielding a championship contender that can go toe-to-toe with anyone. And for that reason, it would not have been hard to recruit him. He would get to play with arguably the two best players of his generation in their primes. The Heat would be all but guaranteed to perennially compete for the championship. And if he didn’t join the Heat, whatever team he did join would have to beat them anyway.

The catch was that he’d earn less with the Heat than he could have earned elsewhere.

Bosh’s former team, the Raptors, had the right to offer him a loaded six-year contract. With the Heat, he’d have to sign that same contract, but earn $15 million less over its lifetime. Chump change that is not.

On the heels of winning his first NBA championship with the Heat last season, Bosh needn’t look past the weighty championship ring on his finger for vindication.

And for a man who will make hundreds of millions of dollars during his career — and compete for more championships in the foreseeable future — $15 million might be a drop in the bucket.

But even with the problem of playing for a contender solved, Chris Bosh’s sacrifices playing for the Heat extend beyond dollars and cents. In fact, blood, sweat and tears notwithstanding, his sacrifices may very well extend beyond those either of his two all-star teammates have made.

In each of the three seasons he’s played in Miami, Bosh has seen his scoring and rebounding averages decline — just as the 29-year-old should have been peaking, athletically. Bosh has played 204 games in a Heat uniform, averaging 17.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. But in his last 214 games in a Raptors uniform, he averaged about 23 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.

That difference of about five points and 2.2 rebounds per game is massive.

To understand the significance of that drop-off, we have to wonder how much more productive Bosh would have been as a member of the Raptors. He likely would have been the number one option on his team during that time, and maintained the scoring and rebounding averages he showed in his last few years. And even though his scoring and rebounding arcs point to a continued decline in his production with the Heat, let’s suppose he maintains averages in the neighborhood of 18 points and 7.7 rebounds. Based on a relatively healthy past, let’s further suppose Bosh plays 70 games per season in Miami.

If he plays the full length of the contract he signed with the Heat, means he’ll have missed out on 2,100 points and about 925 rebounds in six years.

To put that in perspective, I could tell you that while with the Raptors, Bosh reached scoring and rebounding peaks of 24 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, respectively. That year, he totaled fewer than 1,700 points and about 760 rebounds on the season. So that abdicated production amounts to more than a season’s-worth of play for Bosh — at his peak.

The difference between first and second place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list? A grand total of 1,459 points. Not that Bosh is ever going to threaten breaking that record. But if he continues along his current scoring arc and ends up in the neighborhood of 19,000 points for his career (well within reach even if he retires early), all his forsaken scoring amounts to the difference between 50th and 32nd on the NBA’s alltime scoring list.

Similarly, Bosh was never an exceptional rebounder, but even at his current pace, he’ll likely collect enough to crack the NBA’s all-time top 50. Those 925 rebounds he might have amassed on a team where he was the centerpiece separate the top 50 from the top 35.

Bosh is a premier player in the NBA, but unlike Wade and James, his performance has never been so transcendent as to guarantee him admittance to the Hall of Fame.

Again, the point here is not that Bosh won’t one day be enshrined in the Hall of Fame as a member of the Heat, nor that he would have necessarily been enshrined had he signed with the Raptors in 2010. But every player cares about his legacy; that Bosh was willing to look past it speaks volumes.

We can climb back into the owner’s box to find out just how much that legacy is worth. Remember that the Raptors were willing to offer Bosh a lucrative contract back in 2010, hoping he would replicate the production of his first seven years in the league. That contract offer would have averaged about $21.6 million per year. Up until that point, Bosh’s final season had seen him total fewer than 1,700 points and 760 rebounds. So giving up 2,100 points and 925 rebounds is foregoing production worth a cool $21.6 million.

Bosh, in giving up a more lucrative contract and his centerpiece status to join the Heat, left something in the neighborhood of $37 million on the table. And that’s to say nothing of his possibly diminished chances at the Hall of Fame.

But that’s the thing about sacrifice — the bigger the stakes, the higher your motivation not to lose. More than a necessity for winning, sacrifice is a bulwark against losing.

Sports

5IF "NIFSTU 4UVEFOU t "QSJM

Bob Cook Shines as Jeffs Sweep Midd.

Karl Greenblatt ’15 Managing Sports Editor If this weekend’s success is any indication of events to come, the Jeffs will find themselves right back in the thick of things come NESCAC playoff time.

Facing conference rival Middlebury for a three-game weekend set, the Jeffs made a definitive statement by recording a sweep.

The series was not without its hotly contested moments; Amherst won the middle game of the series by a mere 4-3 margin. Overall, however, the Jeffs had the Panthers’ number: two of their wins came by resounding 11-0 and 11-1 scores.

The Jeffs headed into the weekend 9-5 and still untested in the NESCAC West division. Middlebury, meanwhile, was below .500 (the Panthers entered at 3-7); despite their struggles, however, the Jeffs needed to take care of business in front of the home faithful and establish themselves in league play.

That good start came in the third inning of Game 1 on Friday night, when the Jeffs scored the first two of their 26 runs on the weekend. The first blow came courtesy of Alex Hero ’14, who blasted a two-run home run to right field off Middlebury starter Eric Truss. In the fourth, the Jeffs added four more against Truss to break the game open: the frame featured RBI hits by first-year Mike Odenwaelder and Brendan Hardin ’15 as well as another RBI from Hero on a groundout.

The Jeffs would eventually score five more times, but those runs seemed a mere afterthought considering the dominance of Bob Cook ’13 on the mound. In fact, the senior right-hander took a no-hitter into the ninth inning; only two outs away from a record-book performance, Cook finally proved human, giving up a base hit to pinch-hitter Steven Bodine. After that hit, Eric Kotin ’14 was called upon to get the final two outs. In

8.1 innings, Cook recorded nine strikeouts while walking only one, further proving his status as perhaps the elite pitcher in the division.

After their lackluster performance in Game 1, the Panthers managed to make things significantly more interesting in Game 2 the following day. Again, however, the Jeffs’ pitching staff proved difficult to figure out. Fred Shepard ’14 got the start and was, by all accounts, very solid. The Jeffs’ offense also jumped out to another fast start. Odenwaelder came through with an RBI double in the second inning; the following inning, Taiki Kasuga ’14 scored on a wild pitch. In the fourth, Hero, displaying his versatility, laid down an excellent two-out drag bunt that brought in the third run of the game.

In the top of the fifth, however, with a 3-0 lead, the Jeffs seemed to let down their guard.

Two errors led to three unearned runs and drove up Shepard’s pitch count; the lefty was knocked out of the game after 4.2 innings, having struck out seven and not allowed an earned run.

In the bottom of the frame, however, the Jeffs redeemed themselves; Kasuga scorched a leadoff triple and scored on a single by Conner Gunn ’16. Much as the Jeffs would have liked some insurance, that run was all they would need.

Sophomore John Cook, who got the win, delivered 1.2 stellar innings of relief, and Cam Windham ’14 recorded a two-out save.

Although it wasn’t pretty, the Jeffs were able to grind out the 4-3 win and put themselves in a position to send the Panthers home winless.

The Jeffs did exactly that in Saturday’s nightcap, turning in their second 11-run attack of the series. This time, it was the Jeffs’ first-years who led the scoring effort. Jonathan Ramirez ’16 was 4-for-4 in the game (he went an astounding 9-for-10 on the day

with eight RBI), while Andrew Vandini ’16 recorded a 3-for-5 performance of his own.

Meanwhile, Dylan Driscoll ’14 ensured that the Middlebury bats stayed quiet. The junior righthander, who has flown under the radar with several stellar performances so far this year, relinquished just one run in seven innings while striking out three and walking none. Adam Medoff ’13 and Charles Nutter ’15 finished out the effort, adding to the bullpen’s excellent performance in the series.

Looking to settle into a regular-season groove as they have the past two years, the Jeffs will face their next test when they take on their archrivals, Williams, over the weekend of April 12. Like Middlebury, the Ephs have been struggling somewhat on the year; they are 9-11 overall and just 2-4 in the NESCAC. The Jeffs know, however, that the course of Amherst-Williams matchups — in any sport — can rarely be predicted on paper. The Jeffs will be prepared to fight tooth and nail, but, even so, their chances of winning the series look strong. Of late, the squad has been receiving well-balanced offensive efforts, including those of several first-years who have established themselves as threats.

As most expected, the Jeffs’ pitching has also been consistently excellent, a trend that looks to continue throughout the campaign.

If the Jeffs have had an Achilles heel in 2013, it has, at times, been their defense; this weekend, the squad will need to avoid multipleerror innings if it is to continue cruising.

About the weekend, coach Brian Hamm said, “Middlebury is a much better team than their record indicates and on the whole we played well during the entire series. Our pitchers were efficient and set the tone for our defense and offense. The sweep gave us a good start in NESCAC play, but there is much more to be done especially with tough games against Castleton and Williams this week.”

Megan Robertson ’15 Public Affairs Office

Lambert Leads Track & Field /JDPMF :BOH Sports Section Editor The track & field team started its outdoor season on March 30 at the Tufts University Snowflake Classic. Competing against 24 Division I, II and III teams, the Amherst men finished 12th, right in the middle of the pack, while the women finished seventh.

Notable performances on the day include Keri Lambert ’13 in the 5,000 meters who won her event in dominating fashion as she finished 47 seconds ahead of the second place runner.

In the same event on the men’s side, Charlie Reighard ’14 nearly took home a first place finish as he was a mere five 10ths of a second behind the winner.

In the field events, first-year Taylor Summers had an impressive third-place finish in the long jump, posting 5.10m for the women.

For the men, Josiah Terrell-Perica ’15 had a strong showing in both the discus and the javelin where he came in 10th and fifth, respectively.

This past Saturday, April 6, the Jeffs were back in action at the American International College Invitational in Springfield, Mass. The women finished eighth out of 16, while the men had a better day, finishing fifth out of 18th.

Keri Lambert had another superb day as she ran the 11th-fastest time for the 1,500 meters in all of Division III this season, 4:39.44.

Fellow senior captain, Lauren Almeida also ran an excellent race, finishing third with a time of 4:40.40.

Sophomore Abbeh Anderson earned two topthree finishes for the women as she came in third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.78 and second in the 200-meter with a time of 25.62.

Two Jeffs were able to pick up individual victories for the men. Matt Melton ’14 won the 400 meters with the eighth-fastest time in Division III this far in the season. Andrew Erskine ’13 had the other win as he prevailed in the 10k.

Next up for track & field is the UMass Invitational on Saturday, April 13.