Issue 22

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

THE AMHERST

STUDENT

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VOLUME CXLVIII, ISSUE 22 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2019

@amherststudent AMHERSTSTUDENT.COM

Low-Income Students’ Experiences Marked by Alienation Natalie De Rosa ’21 Managing News Editor

Photo courtesy of Matai Curzon ‘22

Above, students lounge in the Women’s and Gender Center, currently housed in Keefe Campus Center. The college hosted meetings on April 17 to consider the possibility of repurposing Merrill/McGuire into a new student center.

College Explores Possible Student Center Emma Swislow ’20 Editor-in-Chief The college announced on April 17 its intentions to explore building a student center on the land currently occupied by Merrill Science Center and McGuire Life Sciences. Separate meetings with students and faculty convened shortly after.

The decision to look into constructing a student center on the Merrill/McGuire site comes after the college identified a new student facility as a high-priority need on campus, according to Chief Student Affairs Officer Karu Kozuma. Both Kozuma and Chief of Campus Operations Jim Brassord acknowledged, however, that it is only one of many facility-related needs which also include updated performance spaces and more faculty offices.

Around 30 students attend-

ed the meeting last Wednesday evening in the Center for Humanistic Inquiry to discuss their thoughts on and ideas for a new campus center. Kozuma, Brassord and Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design Mohsen Mostafavi, who was involved in planning the Greenway project, led the conversation.

The meeting began with Kozuma and Brassord discussing possibilities for the Merrill/McGuire site. Brassord emphasized in his remarks that the structures of the two buildings would not allow for effective and efficient repurposing for other uses.

Throughout the meeting, students expressed a wide array of ideas and opinions on ways the space could be used, from more rooms for affinity groups to a climbing wall or dining options that would cater to a variety of student needs.

Alexis Scalese ’22 attended the meeting and spoke about how the Indigenous and Native Citizens Association (INCA), which Scalese is a member of, hopes to have a space in the new building.

“Native students don’t currently have a space on campus …

We want this space to be a place for us to practice our culture, so that means being able to practice ceremony and also a space to meet and hang out as native students,” Scalese said in an interview with The Student. “We also want it to bring in guest speakers to help teach other people, which takes the emotional burden off of us for teaching other students.”

Other students at the meeting expressed similar desires for room in the new center that would allow each affinity group to have its own space, along-

side communal spaces. Scalese touched on this idea of the larger community as well.

“We’d like to have a space where all the affinity groups can all meet together. We would have our own individual spaces, but there’s some place central where we can all come together and have joint meetings and things like that,” Scalese said.

Kozuma said in an interview after the event that he was impressed by the students’ ability to relay their own wants and needs to the community as a whole.

“I think there was a real acknowledgment that people really do come from different perspectives and experiences,” Kozuma said. “I really didn’t hear much in the meetings about ‘I need this specifically for that.’ Even

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When Elinton Lee ’20 was first applying to college, he didn’t know about Amherst College. Hailing from rural Missouri, he remained oblivious to the liberal arts institution up until just before the regular decision application, and only heard about the college through QuestBridge, a non-profit organization that connects high-achieving low-income students to elite colleges.

“Amherst does take a more ‘I don’t come to you, you come to me’ approach. Me in Missouri only hearing about Amherst through QuestBridge, that’s a problem,” Lee said about his college application process. “[The admissions office] have deans who go around and travel, but it’s not enough.”

Once enrolled at the college, navigating the ins and outs of an elite institution posed new difficulties unmet in his high school career.

The transition into his science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) classes proved particularly challenging in his first year.

“I think especially in classrooms, maybe especially in STEM, there’s just a lack of understanding of like … what is intro level? And what does it mean to come from a public high school that did not have a strong STEM department? What does it feel like to come from there

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News

Namita Khajanchi Thoughts on Theses

April 17, 2019 – April 21, 2019

>>April 17, 2019 12:22 p.m., Railroad An officer notified an individual on train tracks of the safety issues with being on the tracks, and informed them that they were not permitted to be there. >>April 18, 2019 11:55 a.m., Science Center An officer responded to a report of an unattended dog and did not find it. >>April 19, 2019 12:08 a.m., Jenkins Dormitory Officers responded to a complaint of loud music and glass bottles being broken.

7:07 a.m., The Evergreens An officer responded to a report of an unlawful entry and found nothing stolen.

7:57 p.m., The Octagon Officers advised individuals to leave a restricted area. >>April 20, 2019 12:04 a.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory An officer observed drug paraphernalia and marijuana.

12:05 a.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory An officer observed several individuals under the age of 21 in possession of alcohol.

12:55 a.m., Moore Dormitory An officer observed alcohol remaining after an unregistered party occurred.

1:06 a.m., Greenway Building B Officers observed signs of smoking marijuana and confiscated related items.

3:44 a.m., Wieland Dormitory Officers responded to an alarm sounding in a room on the first floor and found no cause for the alarm.

7:02 p.m., Greenway Building B Officers responded to an alarm in a room on the third floor and found it was set off accidentally by cooking smoke. >>April 21, 2019 12:34 a.m., Plimpton House An officer confiscated alcohol left unattended in a common area.

2:05 a.m., College Street A student was approached by an unknown vehicle offering a ride. The student did not accept the ride and left the area without incident.

2:55 a.m., Appleton Dormitory Officers responded to an alarm on the first floor and found no fire.

Department of Chemistry

Namita Khajanchi is a chemistry major. Her thesis examines the function of the protein mitoNEET. Her thesis advisor is Associate Professor of Chemistry Sheila Jaswal.

Q: What is your thesis about?

A: My thesis is about a protein called mitoNEET. The protein has implications in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as possibly type two diabetes. The reason we think its type two diabetes is because there is a human-made drug that attached to mitoNEET, and that’s how it was first discovered in 2004. In terms of proteins, that’s pretty newly discovered.

My thesis project was looking at the confirmation of the protein.

This is how it may unfold or fold, because proteins inherently open and close all of the time since they’re insolvent and just moving about. We use this technique called hydrogen exchange mass spectronomy. The first step was to see this protein on the mass spect.

The mass spect uses ions that may be in the sample — aka the protein — and then it sprays and we can look at its molecular weight.

The protein is actually a metallic protein, and we were looking at the iron sulfur cluster. Prior research has shown that the release of the cluster is induced at acidic pHs, and so I used a couple of denaturants and hoped that I could see the protein on the mass spec.

That was the first step. It was really hard to see the protein on the mass spect, and the reason that I figured out three-fourths of my thesis through, was because of the buffer of the protein that was sent to us, which was potassium phosphate buffer. I then had to do buffer exchange, and after buffer exchange I finally saw the protein.

Not particularly new discoveries, but it’s the first time we’re testing

this protein.

Q: Why did you want to write your thesis?

A: I wanted to write a thesis because I really like to do research in a lab. It’s really hands-on in terms of classes. You might learn something new in your classes, but the labs are really the handson work. So I thought, “I could either work for a professor for no credit, or do it for credit.” Plus later on, I knew I wanted to do graduate school. Writing a thesis is good in preparing me for graduate school. Professors look and say, “Oh, she wrote a thesis, so she has the motivation to continue,” since you also write a thesis in graduate school.

Q: What has been the most rewarding part of writing your thesis?

A: The best part about seeing this protein, which is a dimer and has two similar parts. You have the dimer with the metal in it, and then that dimer goes through a mechanism that makes the solution more acidic. Eventually, with the pH drop, it’ll lose its luster. mitoNEET is a very dynamic and flexible protein, so in terms of functionality we can’t say that we saw it doing this. Just seeing it on the mass spec was really big. I also think that when I finally thought I was almost done with my thesis, I thought “Yeah!’”I printed out two copies and I was ready to turn it in. The rewarding part was when one of my lab partners told me, “You’re not done yet!”, which you’d think would be a “Wait,

what?” kind of deal because it sounds like more of a challenge.

They told me, “You should add more to your abstract.” I think that really helped me realize that I need to look at it step by step and have other people look at it.

Having people look at it in full was really rewarding.

Q: What challenges did you have while writing your thesis?

A: The hardest part about writing my thesis is that I came up with two disabilities this year and things that slowed me down. First was carpal tunnel. With the machine we used, we usually have to move our hands in a manner that would hurt my wrist. I also have a back problem. Going through those two things, I always had to lean on my lab manager to help me. There were times where I was like “I just want to get done with my experiment.” Afterwards, I thought, “I’m kind of tired.”

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

A: Start writing down what you’re reading about earlier. Just a little blurb of summary about papers and other things you read would be enough. Also, with Zotero, format as you go instead of waiting until the end. I had someone to help me format, but I think a lot of students at the end are like, “Oh no, I need to add my Zotero references.” If you had started in the middle or even in the beginning it would be much better. So start Zotero early.

— Natalie De Rosa ’21

News 3

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Student Body Votes Against Unity Ticket in Referendum Zach Jonas ’22 Managing News Editor On Monday, April 22 the student body voted in a referendum to decide whether the Unity Ticket would be given a chance to run for the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) executive board (E-board) positions. The students who comprised the Unity Ticket included: Gabriel Echarte ’22 running for president, Isiaha Price ’21 for vice-president, Dorjohn Boakye ’21 for Judiciary Council (JC) chair and Angelina Han ’22 for secretary. The results were announced on Tuesday, April 23, with 71 percent of students voting against overturning the JC’s decision to bar the Unity Ticket from elections.

Two weeks ago, the JC voted to expel the Unity Ticket from E-board elections after a student filed a campaign finance complaint against the group. The Unity Ticket, according to the JC, violated the Elections Committee section H. subsection ii. clause of the AAS Constitution, which states that “no more than $30 total from any source or combination of sources can be spent on the promotion of any candidate, and any campaign item promoting a candidate counts toward this sum.” As a result, the first election results were voided, and a second election cycle was announced.

Gabriel Echarte ’22, the presidential nominee of the disqualified Unity Ticket, said that the clause in question “is objectively ambiguous.

It felt like a biased letter. Multiple people misinterpreted the passage.”

In an email to the student body explaining its decision, the JC wrote that “active senators, such as the ticket’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates, should have been well aware of the proper channel for their inquiry. This was a failure to complete due diligence on their part.”

Echarte said that the entire process of running in the campaign, being disqualified and then filing a referendum was extremely taxing. “It was a pretty painful process. There are some things that I want to change about the process. Like member parties are only informed about complaints against them when they get to trial in a public setting. They don’t know what they’re charged with un-

til the day of the trial,” he said.

He also added that he believed the JC mishandled the situation. “I felt like the JC email took things a step too far. It felt like a personal attack,” Echarte said.

Avery Farmer ’20, the newly-appointed AAS president, empathizes with the constituents of the Unity Ticket and plans to make the constitution clearer in the future so a similar election debacle will not occur again.

“I am sorry that the Unity Ticket felt that the decision against them was too harsh, and I would remind students that the original issue came from an honest misunderstanding rather than from any willful subversion of the rules,” Farmer said.

“I plan to encourage [AAS] Sen-

ate to take this opportunity to make the rules clearer surrounding elections, JC proceedings and referenda, with a focus on preventing prolonged disputes like we had in this election,” he added.

Isiaha Price ’21, the Unity Ticket’s vice-presidential nominee also expressed his disappointment with the results of the race. We “the ticket [are] sad that the referendum did not go through, but we knew this was an uphill battle. We’re thankful for the student body’s patience,” he said.

Nevertheless, several members of the Unity Ticket will have their chance to work in the AAS. Both Echarte and Han are running for senate seats in the AAS. Senate elections will take place on Thursday, April 24.

entangling celebrities like Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. In the last installment of the series, we look at inclusion, both in the admissions office and for students on campus.

experience feelings of exclusion beyond the admissions process.

At the University of Michigan in 2018, an alumna circulated a guide to “Being Not-Rich,” which gained traction across elite colleges nationwide. The guide, which included advice on subjects like housing and

something wrong with you.”

Amherst is among a cohort of elite colleges which host more students from the top 1 percent than the bottom 60 percent, though the college regularly highlights the progress it has made.

According to data released by the admissions office, the class of 2023 boasts record-breaking statistics. Aside from the college’s increasing selectivity — the acceptance rate this year fell to just short of 11 percent — the class of 2023 also consists of 129 QuestBridge scholars, with 56 percent of admitted students identifying as students of color. Yet, even as the admissions office’s efforts to diversify the student body appear impressive statistically, students still struggle to feel welcome in campus life.

Once enrolled at the college, students are encouraged to take advantage of opportunities for inclusion on campus, ranging from affinity groups to resource centers.

Diversity Intern Maya Hossain ’21 celebrated the progress made in the past couple of years of expanding the resources available to students: intensive advising for first-generation and low-income first-year students; expanded financial aid; and partnerships between the Counseling Center, the Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) and the Center for Diversity and Student

Leadership (CDSL).

Putting these initiatives into action, however, is a different story. Limited resources often prevent substantive impact. Though valuable, the resource centers — the MRC, CDSL, Queer Resource Center (QRC) and Women’s and Gender Center (WGC) — are “bandaids,” Lee said.

“You’ll have the resource centers, for example, that are technically for the students, but they’re understaffed, underfunded, and those spaces don’t always feel inclusive.

That’s not to say that they’re not trying necessarily,” he said.

Hossain added that the number of people actually investing in the work of access and equity for low-income students is low.

“If you look at who’s propelling all of these things, you could identify them on one hand. It’s [Dean of New Students Rick] Lopez, [Director of the CDSL] Tenzin Kunor, a couple faculty members who feel specifically engaged with this stuff.

You can find the source of any positive thing for a first-gen low-income student on this campus because of them,” Hossain said. “It’s really disappointing because they have to do so much. Every bit of progress we have, I have to hold myself back from fully embracing it because of

Admissions Scandal Calls to Question Access and Equity on Campus Continued from page 1 and then try to generalize the entire intro education?” Lee said. “So it’s really hard to always have to keep up, but it’s triple the amount of work for everyone who are people of color and low-income, first-generation students.”

The barriers to entry in the classroom, Lee added, contribute to feelings of exclusion on campus.

“It’s hard to always struggle, and I feel like that just emphasizes the imposter syndrome of ‘I’m not supposed to be here, how can everyone else keep up and I can’t.’ It’s weird, because it’s not even ‘work harder.’

Working harder doesn’t make a difference,” he said.

Lee’s experiences are not uncommon for low-income students on college campuses. Traditional narratives concerning students’ college experiences insist that entering college presents a plethora of new and exciting opportunities ranging from a blossoming social life to a rigorous yet enriching academic schedule. Though this narrative is often lauded as the universal college experience, a deeper investigation disputes such an assumption.

Over the past three weeks, The Student has investigated the college’s admissions practices in light of Operation Varsity Blues, the national college admissions scandal

Challenges of Inclusion Work Elite colleges make up a small percentage of the institutions attended by low-income students across the country. According to a 2017 report in The New York Times tracking wealth distribution across American colleges, nearly 40 percent of students in the top 0.1 percent of the income bracket attend Ivy plus colleges, a consortium including all eight Ivy League universities along with Stanford, Duke, MIT and the University of Chicago. That same number — 40 percent — represents the number of students in the bottom 20 percent of the income bracket who attend any two- or four- year university at all. Of those low-income students who do attend college, most attend non-selective universities, community colleges and for-profit schools.

While most low-income students are not enrolled in college, those who are fall into the minority of students at an institution, especially if the school is considered elite. The same New York Times report indicates that only 4 percent of students from the bottom 20 percent attend elite colleges. Many

“ “You’ll have the resource centers, for example, that are technically for the students, but they’re understaffed, underfunded, and those spaces don’t always feel inclusive.”

— Elinton Lee ’20

”

office hours, highlighted the ways in which low-income students “realize that your socioeconomic status (SES) puts you at a significant disadvantage. You struggle to compete with the children of lawyers, doctors, executives and politicians.

You start to feel deficient, like there’s

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News

AAS Candidate Statements for the 2019-2020 Senators The Association of Amherst Students (AAS) will hold elections on April 24 for next year’s senators. Amherst students will receive an email on April 24 with the link to cast votes. The following candidates will be on the ballot for the position of senator for the classes of 2022, 2021 and 2020. There are eight senators elected per class. Speech Night will be held on Wednesday, April 23 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Lipton Lecture Hall in the Science Center.

Class of 2020

John Ballard: In the past year, I have served as both an AAS senator and the AAS treasurer. I firmly believe that I’m a good candidate for the position because I have regularly dedicated my time to improve the experiences of students here at Amherst. For AAS to suitably serve, its members must be selfless with their time and approachable to their peers. If elected to serve you as senator, I promise to continue to commit that time and effort needed to make AAS work. Thanks!

Hannah Fox: I have been a senator for the past two years. I have met faculty from many academic departments due to the open curriculum and being a double major and athletic staff because I am a two-sport athlete.

My goal has been and will continue to be to strengthen relationships amongst students, faculty and staff.

This year I will facilitate the formation of a tight-knit class and community in general. I will continue to ensure that everyone has a voice. I am approachable and hardworking, which are essential qualities for this role. If I am elected I will do my best to unite everyone, work to change policies and represent our class.

Meg Parker: I served as senator for the first time this semester, and feel that I have learned how to best represent my class through this busy time.

If elected I promise to approach every Senate meeting and project with transparency, efficiency and fairness

in mind. I believe that by utilizing these qualities in my actions and decisions, I can serve the Amherst community well. Thanks for your civic engagement!

Class of 2021

Ben Gilsdorf: Hello Class of 2021!

I’m running for re-election as one of your AAS senators. For my Senate projects this year, I helped organize for the ACVotes project in the fall, and in the spring I got Information Technology to put the printer in Valentine Dining Hall. I’m proud of the work we have done in AAS over the last year, and I hope to work with next year’s executive board and Senate to keep pushing Amherst College to be better. Feel free to reach out with any questions you may have, and make sure to vote!

Rafael Gonzalez: Over the past two years as a senator, I’ve worked to improve the student experience by organizing shuttles to nearby cities and airports, serving on the budgetary committee, working to provide boxes for end of school move-out, administering the class of 2022 Facebook page and more. If elected, I will continue to work for a better student experience.

If you have ideas for what Senate can do to better this campus, feel free to reach out to me on Facebook, over email or in person. Go Mammoths!

Julia Ralph: I have served as a senator for the past two years, and during my time with AAS, I have been a mem-

ber of the First Year Life Committee, Appointments Committee and the Committee on Educational Policy. I also have helped to implement projects around campus that ignite unification of our community, such as creating a mentoring program for incoming first years and current Amherst students and funding merchandise for the Together We Are Amherst campaign. As a member of many different groups on campus, I believe that I can well represent the interests of the class of 2021 in the upcoming school year!

Class of 2022

Basma Azzamok: My first year here at Amherst has taught me quite a few things, foremost among them that, despite students belonging to different class years, we are all Amherst. I believe that being a senator goes beyond being a representative for your class. It means being a voice for the greater Amherst community, recognizing what needs improvement, understanding what needs implementation and looking towards the future. Different classes don’t mean different concerns or needs; we are all one community. As a senator, my goal is to help craft an Amherst experience inspired by suggestions and ideas from all classes.

Gabriel Echarte: Round two! I am running to serve as your class senator. Judiciary Council sure put me through the wringer this past month, but I am back for more! There are

issues I care about that regardless of whether I am an executive board member or senator I wish to continue pursuing. Thank you, and vote Gabriel Echarte.

Ilyssa Forman: I’m a QuestBridge Scholar and Meiklejohn Fellow from Long Island, New York. On campus, I’m a Student Health Educator and am involved with the Amherst LGBTQ+ and Jewish communities.

As a senator, I will: 1) advocate for marginalized communities on campus, 2) seek to foster more robust intra-campus dialogue and 3) help to ensure the visibility of AAS initiatives and resources for students. Vote for me this Thursday!

Lexy Garcia: I’m a political science major from Miami, Florida. My platform centers on accessibility: AAS vehicle rentals, enhancing shuttle services during academic vacations, a regularly-scheduled AAS town hall and representing affinity groups amid talks of a new campus center. Naturally, I also plan to improve campus party policy and food scarcity concerns in efforts of improving campus life.

Feel free to reach out with any questions, and I hope to earn your vote!

Cole Graber-Mitchell: The Association of Amherst Students is supposed to be a student government that represents all of our interests, but it isn’t right now. Funding is available only with insider knowledge, and the “Getting Involved” page of the website has

fewer words than this statement. This is a shame, because AAS can do so much more. It’s time to have AAS office hours. It’s time to know our senators and how to contact them. I’m Cole Graber-Mitchell, and as a senator for the class of 2022, I intend to make our student government more involved with the student experience.

Jae Yun Ham: When I first ran last fall, I promised to implement free printing and cheaper laundry. As a senator, I have KEPT those promises by creating a printing credit program and working with Student Services to implement a single-pay, free-use laundry program. Next year, I will work on increasing the printing credit to $10 (200 FREE pages) and implement reforms that will increase the transparency of the AAS to the student body. Thank you for your support, and I humbly ask for your vote this upcoming election.

Angelina Han: When I ran last year, my platform focused on community and sustainability. I kept those promises. I am a founding member of the Sustainability and Climate Task Force lobbying for the Climate Action Plan.

My Senate projects are reviving the peer-mentoring program and a project with Valentine Dining Hall to address food waste. Next year, I want to also look at improving party culture and the AAS Constitution. I promise to bring my drive and experience to best advocate for your needs. Vote Angelina Han for AAS Senate!

Varsity Blues Highlights Admissions Processes for FGLI Students Continued from page 4 how much labor is capitalized off of seven people who are doing this.”

Students also carry the heavy-lifting. But students, Lee said, “aren’t here to fix [administrative] problems. I’m here to get my degree.”

“The workload of Amherst, on top of extracurriculars … In this environment, it’s very much like ‘do your best, fill your resume’ — you

gotta think about your jobs, your internships,” he added. “We’re at 100 percent all the time, but if I’m at 100 percent all the time, then what space is left for me to fix administrative problems?”

Former Financial Aid Peer Ambassador Lesley Martinez ’21E described similar pressures. Though she worked hard in high school to get accepted into a school like Amherst, observing the burden of work and advocacy remains frustrating.

“It doesn’t get any easier. You just get angrier,” she said.

Improving Inclusion Practices on Campus In light of Operation Varsity Blues, which for many illuminated the growing wealth disparities in the college admissions process, conversations around improving the admissions process, particularly for first-generation and low-income students, have heightened. For Hos-

sain, Amherst’s admissions office needs to begin by thinking of applicants beyond what is written on their application.

“Admissions has this conceptual idea that we need to do a better job at admitting more first-generation, low-income students … I don’t think they know what that means in practice, like who those students really are,” she said. “I do think the culture of the actual office needs some work in terms of treating stu-

dents better. We’re really complex people. They do a good job of reading the applications, but you still feel like the master status of some students is that they’re first-gen, low-income.”

Training admissions deans on how to better engage with diversity could improve the application process for prospective students, Hossain said.

Continued on page 5

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Students Hope to Spark Dialogue Amid Admission Scandal Continued from page 4 “The supervisors of the admissions department need to be more transparent with some of the lower-tiered deans. Especially because some deans aren’t necessarily expected to engage with work on diversity or social justice, and it’s not a barrier to entry if you don’t know how to engage with that. Anyone can learn it. But the fact is that it needs to be learned,” Hossain added.

The financial aid office could also benefit from training, said Martinez. Diversifying the office could

benefit students seeking advice from professionals with their same backgrounds.

“I think financial aid should do empathy training. For students who are going to come in there with very difficult situations, all I’ve heard is that they’re super condescending,” Martinez said. “A lot of those people in there don’t seem like they come from [low-income] backgrounds.” People of color are also underrepresented., she said.

Hossain noted that increased “communication between students” could help bridge differences.

Though she said that discussions

with other students were enlightening for her, the college should more actively facilitate these conversations.

“I think those conversations, if we expect them to happen organically, it’s never going to happen.

There’s a balance between institutional top-down and this grassroots idea of privilege. There has to be more dialogue-based events, or even classrooms,” Hossain said.

Classrooms in particular can provide students a baseline for discussion. Lee found that his academic experience at Amherst offered him a platform to better understand

concepts like privilege.

“I never heard the term ‘person of color’ ever until I came to college.

It’s not that I was stupid — that just wasn’t the vocabulary I was exposed to [at home]. To come here and to understand everything I was feeling, or to define specific concepts where I was like ‘it seems like something, but I don’t know what it is,’” he said.

“To have that, it was really great to have that experience, and it only started because in my first semester I took my first SWAGS [sexuality, women’s and gender studies] class.”

Leah Gordon, visiting professor of education, added that such

classes can be a starting point for thinking about privilege within an Amherst context.

“I think that the kinds of classes that a lot of the students I know are taking with people like [Professors of Sociology] Leah Schmalzbauer and Ron Lembo … really allow them to see how different an Amherst College educational experience can be from the kind of … higher educational experience students are getting at many other places. So that Amherst students have a sense of the privilege they have by virtue of just being here,” she said.

College Adopts Reproductive Health Certificate Ryan Yu ’22 Managing News Editor On April 19, the college announced that it would offer a Five College certificate program in Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice (RHRJ), available immediately for interested students.

The certificate, which was established in 2014 by faculty at the other four colleges of the consortium, offers an integrative study of the impact of reproductive policies on communities in the U.S. and transnationally. The curriculum combines six courses framed with historical, scientific and sociological perspectives, along with a special project in which students engage directly with community-based learning.

According to Chair of Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies Amrita Basu, who is one of the steering committee members for the Five College RHRJ program, Amherst had intended on approving the certificate earlier, but bureaucratic requirements delayed its authorization.

“Amherst approved it this year partly because we’ve been delayed in addressing other issues,” said Basu.

“For any certificate to be approved here, it has to go through a number of hoops. It has to go through the CEP [Committee for Educational Policy] and the Committee of Six, and then it has to come before the faculty. It’s taken a while, but I was really pleased that the faculty unanimously supported it.”

As with all Five College certifi-

cate programs, interested students will be assigned a faculty advisor to discuss specific pathways they can take in accomplishing the certificate and exploring reproductive issues outside of the classroom. Students are also encouraged to cross-register for courses on other campuses to receive a diversity of perspectives and expertise on the subject.

Basu emphasized the value of the program when speaking of its design. “I think it’s important because of the extent of student interest,” she said. “There were something like 70 students who signed a petition in 2017, and since then, there are many more students who have written to me expressing interest.”

“I also think that the way the certificate is framed is really valu-

able. It focuses not just on reproductive rights, but also on reproductive health and justice, which is a much more expansive understanding of reproductive matters than some people adopt,” she added. “Understanding all three is a really important area of knowledge scholarship, but also, for some students, it’s a link to professional work they might want to do in public health or advocacy, for example.”

Basu also pointed to the interdisciplinary nature of the certificate program as one of its key advantages. “A number of STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] majors expressed a great interest in the certificate. I think, for those students, they see this as a link between their science courses and some of the social issues they’d

like to explore,” she said. “Conversely, for humanities students, this gives them a foray into issues of science and public health.”

Professor of History Jen Manion agreed. “This is a really exciting opportunity for Amherst College students to pursue an interdisciplinary program of study around a subject that is both timely and important,” Manion said. Manion will serve as one of Amherst’s four faculty advisers for the RHRJ certificate, along with Basu, Professor of Chemistry Sheila Jaswal and Chair of Anthropology and Sociology Leah Schmalzbauer.

Students who are interested in the certificate can attend an information session on Thursday, April 25 at 5:15 p.m. in Room 14 of Grosvenor House.

Students Offer Opinions Concerning New Student Center Continued from page 1 when someone brought that forward, they really highlighted the larger community. That was really refreshing. They connected it to more than just their own needs.”

Brassord said that the project, if the college decides to continue on with it, will take several years to conceptualize and plan.

“We see this proceeding with the very broad, exploratory work, which — depending on

what it yields — will then translate into more tangible planning and — ultimately, that phases into design work,” Brassord said.

“Under the optimistic scenarios … we imagine that working through exploration, planning, conceptual design and design would be a matter of two to three years to get to the point where the community has really come together and embraced the solution and knows that it is what we want to move forward with,” Brassord added.

Prior to the student meeting on Wednesday, the college held a meeting with faculty to hear their feedback on the campus center project.

Both Brassord and Kozuma said that faculty members emphasized the need for a facility that is focused on Amherst, not a cookie-cutter building that could be found at colleges around the country.

“The faculty didn’t see this as a separate endeavor or that it’s a standalone component of the

college,” Kozuma said. “They really saw this as an extension and enhancement of what Amherst College is, whether it’s the experience inside or outside of the classroom. It doesn’t seem like it’s a student or campus center that could be found on any other campus. It has to reflect what Amherst is like.”

Going forward, Kozuma hopes to continue involving student, faculty and staff voices in the project as it moves through the exploratory phase.

“We see them [community voices] as the foundation of how we move forward. We don’t want a small group sitting around a table, conceptualizing how a space or building could be the physical expression of our diverse community,” Kozuma said.

“Some folks might be okay with saying, ‘This is my two cents and this is what I want to say and now I’ll walk away from it.’

Some may really want to be involved and learn what the process might be like.”

Opinion

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On Power and Privilege Recent events at Amherst have brought power and privilege to the forefront of our conversations, from the athletic fields to Valentine Dining Hall.

It might seem that we as students expound on the difficulties of power and privilege on a daily basis in the classroom. Controversies on campus, however, have brought these abstract concepts into focus in a context more visceral than stories that are provided and discussed in a purely academic setting.

First, our editor-in-chief brought to light the realities of Amherst’s faculty members of color in a series titled “A Flawed System.” The stories detailed burdens of service, hurdles to tenure, ineffective bureaucratic systems and regular encounters with racism. The series provoked our campus to consider the systematic barriers which harm our mentors, teachers and leaders. Shortly after, controversies surrounding college admissions in the nationwide “Varsity Blues” scandal led us to reflect on the role of athletics, legacy, wealth and privilege in admissions at our own campus — a process that claims to be meritocratic.

Then, in a single week, a series of events engaged the student body’s relation with power in their collective actions. The swastika incident involving members of men’s lacrosse team caused widespread hurt and anger as students considered their own relationship to hate speech. We, in our disdain, considered the protections afforded to the perpetrators and how their privilege was exposed in the administration’s response. We read the response from Amherst Hillel: “We want human beings to act like human beings and to treat others with respect,” and thought to ourselves — how does privilege prevent this simple truth.

We were forced to revisit Hillel’s words again, as events surrounding the Common Language Document spurred attacks on personal identities.

In the midst of conversations surrounding language and inclusivity on campus, members of the Amherst College Republicans used transophic language to deride their perceived ideological opponents — transgender, gender non-conforming and queer members of our community — in their GroupMe. Their actions behind seemingly closed doors — their private GroupMe was also a violation of the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) Constitution — revealed a disregard for harm and willingness to dehumanize among the individuals emboldened by privilege. In fact, ACR’s response has displayed

impunity, as the right-wing media, alumni donations and political connections have insulated them from engaging with the larger community.

This incident fractured into a tidal wave of AAS elections controversy and whisperings and also questioned the ability of the student body to police itself. More importantly, it has forced the relationship between individuals’ identities and this institution to the forefront.

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ visit serves as a culmination of these conversations.

This is not so say these conversations are new, but merely dusted-off, centuries-old issues of power that have prevailed in this institution. As former attorney general, Jeff Sessions is a political agent who has perpetuated xenophobia, emboldened perpetrators of sexual violence, impeded equal employment, supported mass incarceration and opposed the rights of LGBT+ persons dutifully.

Now, we must grapple with the power and privilege he represents. We must consider how to best utilize these events to motivate the growth of our campus culture towards a tighter-knit, more respectful community. This community must also be conscious of the complexities of the privileges afforded to it, and what advantages and entitlements are afforded to whom. We as the editorial board do not preach unto the masses a message of uniform activism. We cannot and do not want to make you do anything. “There is no requirement to debate those who actively deny the humanity of our friends, colleagues and mentors,” wrote Cole Graber-Mitchell ’22 and Ella Peterson ’22 last week in an op-ed. If you find protesting, walking out or merely asking a question to be the wrong course of action, then don’t. A few weeks ago, Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought Martha Umphrey challenged us to interact “in ways that can generate interaction that is more genuine and meaningful, and directed toward what might be called the public good.” We would encourage such a course of interactions, but we first and foremost insist that you take a moment to think. Take a moment to consider how power and privilege exist in our lives at Amherst.

We certainly hope you lean into the conversations raised by the events of the semester, and use these complicated moments to improve our collective ability to engage with the world around us.

Unsigned editorials represent the Editorial Board (assenting: 13; dissenting: 0; abstaining: 0)

THE AMHERST

STUDENT E X E C U T I V E B OA R D Editors-in-Chief Shawna Chen Emma Swislow Managing News Natalie De Rosa Ryan Yu Zach Jonas Managing Opinion Jae Yun Ham Camilo Toruno Managing Arts and Living Olivia Gieger Seoyeon Kim Managing Sports Connor Haugh Henry Newton Managing Design Julia Shea S TA F F Publishers Joseph Centeno, Emmy Sohn, Mark Nathin Digital Director Dylan Momplaisir

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Opinion 7

5IF "NIFSTU 4UVEFOU t "QSJM

If I May: The Final Farewell Jake May ’19 Columnist Dear reader, This will be my final column for The Amherst Student. Since sophomore year, I have written an article nearly every week and I could not be more thankful to the editors for giving me the opportunity to write for this paper.

It has been a privilege to be published in this fantastic newspaper.

Furthermore, my column has given me an opportunity to grow as a writer, an opportunity that I have, of course squandered, instead choosing to write listicles whenever I can.

In that vein, for my final column, I had planned on writing a “series” (you could call it a list) of corrections for bad takes I have had in the past, including that the Science Center was going to be “awful” (it is not) and that “Saturday Night Live” was “very funny” (it is not).

However, in light of recent events at Amherst, I decided I wanted to take one last opportunity to comment on these issues, before they all become irrelevant to me (aka I won’t be allowed to write anymore because, according to the editors, I will have “graduated” and it would be “inappropriate to keep the column.”)

So, without further ado, my final thoughts on:

The AAS E-board Election Let me try and get this straight.

There was a standard Association of Amherst Students (AAS) election, which was then voided because of a complaint about the Unity ticket’s spending, which led to an AAS meeting, which led to a Judiciary Council (JC) meeting, which led to a decision by the JC that disqualified and barred the Unity ticket from running. Then, after that decision, a new set of elections was announced, so now new people could run. Then, the entire sophomore class (it seemed) announced their intention to run for various executive board positions. Or, wait, did they announce that anyone could run even before the JC decision? Whatever.

Anyway, so then everyone was in the race, and we had new elections.

Hooray! Wait, hold on. There was a run-off for president. Let’s just do this run-off and then we’ll know who the presiden — sorry? A referendum?

Who? Right, the Unity ticket. So now we have to vote to overturn the JC decision about the Unity ticket. My question is: if it is overturned, will we have yet another set of new elections?

That would be truly unbelievable. Oh, also there is a run-off for vice-president and JC chair as well.

This entire saga is truly one of the silliest things I have witnessed at Amherst. I say this, of course, with rev-

erence to AAS. I honestly think that students should care more about who they choose as AAS representatives.

But simply, the amount of back and forth that has occurred is downright comical. Frankly, I am happy the referendum did not pass, mostly because this whole thing needed to end. I hope that candidates will be more careful about campaigning (and spending), so that we won’t find ourselves in a situation like this again.

Here is what I don’t know: I don’t know how to react when all that despicable policy is embodied in an individual human being, and what to do when that individual comes to my doorstep.

It seems that the decision has already been made for many. In the wake of a tense month on campus, the Sessions visit has taken on its own meaning. One’s physical presence has become a political act.

Attending means support; absence means dissent.

It has become as simple as that.

My instinct was to not attend because that’s what most other liberal-minded people on campus were planning on doing. That seemed like the answer of how to dissent, and

there is something viscerally pleasing to the image of such a slimy man speaking to an empty room.

However, I then realized that the room wouldn’t be empty. It would be full (at least partially) with all the people on campus who invited him here — the people who sent the hateful messages in the Amherst College Republican GroupMe. These are people that we don’t always notice on such a liberal campus, but people who are very much here and working to unravel many of the beliefs valued by the college and its students.

I thought of how that would look, and how those individuals would react. I find it absurd that free speech has been the lightning rod channel-

The Jeff Sessions Visit This event is truly one of the more disappointing things that has happened while I’ve been at Amherst.

Jeff Sessions may be the former (disgraced) attorney general of the United States. However, Jeff Sessions has also built his entire career on racism, homophobia and general bigotry. When I spoke on the phone with my father, I bemoaned the fact that the college was allowing him to visit. My dad pushed back on this, suggesting that since Sessions was invited by a student group, it would be difficult for Amherst to justify not allowing him to speak. This is a fair point. I do not want to see the college suppressing free speech.

That being said, what good is done by having Sessions speak here? This is the same man who rescinded Title IX guidances that protected transgender students, defended Trump’s “Muslim ban” in court, instructed prosecutors

to seek the toughest charges and sentences for nonviolent drug crimes, encouraged Ohio voter suppression — I could literally go on for pages detailing all of the incredibly heinous things that Sessions has done, all of which are directly at odds with what I thought this college stood for. Given all of this, why on Earth would I want to listen to this man speak? Considering the fact that he worked tirelessly to deny many of my friends, peers and professors their civil rights, what possible wisdom, knowledge or worthwhile sentence could he possibly utter?

If a student group wishes to invite a speaker, fine. In theory, I’m all for a civil exchange of ideas on a college campus. I wish, though, that those who invited someone like Jeff Sessions would consider exactly what good would come of a visit like this. Is Jeff Sessions actually worth Amherst’s time? In my opinion, absolutely not.

I’m embarrassed that he is going to be on the same campus as so many brilliant students, professors and staff, all of whom deserve better than Jeff Sessions.

A Final Note This is an incredibly odd time of my life, as I’m sure is the case for most seniors. So much of what seemed so permanent—our routine, who we see on a daily basis, where we live— is now becoming temporary, soon to

vanish forever. One of these things, for me, was writing this column. While it was stressful to produce an article every week, it was quite therapeutic.

Writing about my thoughts on the politics or television or campus issues required me to reckon with these issues, and the writing process helped me grow. I am nervous to move on, but I know I’m better prepared for whatever comes next because of my time writing for The Student.

I want to take this opportunity to again thank each and every one of my editors over the years, and I also want to take this opportunity to apologize for all the times I sent in this column at the very last moment possible. I’d also like to recognize Diane Lee ’19, my first editor, who offered me the column in the first place (and also came up with the name). Thank you, Diane, for encouraging my writing and for putting up with my nonsense.

And finally, thank you to my readers over the years. Considering I’m relatively dumb and not very smart, the fact that you’d take the time to read my work means a great deal (seriously). Okay, now it’s time to think of the final sentence ever for If I May. I should end with an important sentiment, some final wisdom to impart on my readers. Alright, here goes nothing: Phish is the greatest band of all time.

ing so many of the recent campus controversies recently, especially as the conservative party has worked to stifle so many voices that do not reflect its own agenda. Here is an opportunity in which conservatives have decided who gets the stage and whose voice is heard. As liberals, we owe it to ourselves to show that, unlike many Republicans, we listen to the other side and remain staunch in our beliefs. Like many moments in which opposing views are placed on our doorsteps, this is an opportunity to deeply interrogate our own beliefs to understand what we stand for and why, rather than sculpting our views off of whatever the party dictates.

In this moment of conflict, we owe it to ourselves to prevent politics

from being swallowed by distinct partisan lines. We owe it to ourselves to deeply interrogate what our role is and how we let facts dictate the right course of action. So protest, if that is where you are most comfortable; simply don’t attend, if that is where your message is strongest; or go and ask hard questions — both of the speaker and of yourself. But do not allow political parties to siphon us off into separate worlds, when the world we live in connects all of us.

So, as I urge you to ask questions and be critical, I leave with a question. What do we, and what do you, do when an individual who represents the antithesis of compassion and open-mindedness comes to our doorstep?

A Reflection on Jeff Session’s Visit Olivia Gieger ’21 Managing Arts & Living Editor I often write not because I have the answers, but rather because I have questions that require a certain need for vocalizing. Writing helps me think through and knead out questions that don’t have obvious answers. The Jeff Sessions visit is a situation where I come to an issue with more questions than answers.

There are some things I know for sure: I know that Sessions is the antithesis of the values I hold dearest. I know that he has enacted some of the most wicked policies this generation has seen and that he is responsible for the inhumane and heartbreaking separation of families at the border.

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Opinion 8

America’s Death Penalty and Moving Forward Yannis Kalogiannis ’19 Contributing Writer On the first day of April, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the execution of a Missouri death row inmate would not be unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment’s bar on cruel and unusual punishment, despite a rare medical condition that could cause him severe pain. Two weeks earlier, the Governor of California had announced the imposition of an executive moratorium on the state’s death penalty.

Both developments are significant because of their potential ramifications on the future of the American system of capital punishment.

In considering them, I will readily admit that I am not impartial. I believe the death penalty is both cruel and unusual, not in the constitutional sense but in the moral one. It is cruel because it is applied unjustly against people based on their race and class, because it kills innocent people and because it irreversibly strips criminals of all rights — and deliberate killing cannot be justified by the crimes it seeks to punish. It is unusual because, of all liberal democratic nations, only the United States retains it. For those who share my stance, the recent developments reveal a simple truth: progress in the effort towards abolition will come from the electoral process, not the courts.

The case I am referring to is Bucklew v. Precythe. The five-tofour decision was arguably wrong on constitutional grounds and it was certainly detrimental to the abolitionist cause. A heinous criminal, Russell Bucklew was convicted of murder, kidnapping and rape. After being sentenced to death, Bucklew filed an action claiming Missouri’s lethal injection regime, as applied to him, would be cruel and unusual in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Suffering from a rare disease that causes blood-filled tumors to cover his entire body, Bucklew argued that the injection would likely rupture them and cause a slow and agonizing death, potentially choking him in his own blood. The majority ruled against him, arguing that “the Eighth Amendment … does not guarantee

a prisoner a painless death.” Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch shifts away from decades of precedent, according to which the Eighth Amendment must draw its meaning from “the evolving standards of decency of a maturing society.” Even though Gorsuch claims that he does not rely on Justice Clarence Thomas’ and Justice Antonin Scalia’s view that the Eighth Amendment only bars punishments that are deliberately designed to “superadd terror, pain, or disgrace” — a view that would render

“

For those who share my stance, recent developments reveal a simple truth: progress in the effort towards abolition will come from the electoral process, not the courts.

” the amendment utterly powerless, reducing its application to 18th century torture and open sadism — he eventually internalizes their logic. He does so in two ways. First, by stating that an execution is cruel and unusual when it “superadd[s] pain well beyond what’s needed to effectuate a death sentence.” Second, by citing hanging as a constitutional punishment because, despite the immense pain it can potentially cause, it was not “intended to be painful,” unlike burning and disemboweling. By embracing a static interpretation of the Eighth Amendment, Gorsuch is guilty of what he accuses the dissent: a “headlong attack” on precedent. In the process, he gives a green light to barbarity, as long as it is not intentional.

Gorsuch only departs from Thomas’ view when he introduces a comparative interpretation of the amendment. He draws from the Baze v. Rees decision, made controlling in Glossip v. Gross, according to which a punishment is unconstitutional if there exists an alternative that

would “substantially reduce a substantial risk of severe pain” (Notice the absence of “superadded” or “intentional”). Even then, though, the Court reaffirms in Bucklew that the burden is on the petitioner to identify “a feasible, readily implemented alternative.” This decision has a dubious basis in the constitution and it leads to absurdity, with the majority accusing Bucklew, who suggested nitrogen asphyxiation as an alternative, of not specifying “how nitrogen gas should be administered; in what concentration; how quickly; or how the state might ensure the safety of the execution team.” In the words of journalist Liliana Segura, the Court is asking Bucklew to build his own gas chamber.

Even the periphery of the majority opinion is discouraging to abolitionism. Gorsuch categorically asserts the constitutionality of capital punishment, expresses distrust toward Eighth Amendment litigators and activists and laments the delays caused by constitutional challenges.

Can responding to such delays ever justify the restriction of constitutional rights? From all perspectives, Bucklew casts a shadow of doubt on the potential for Supreme Court litigation to make meaningful progress on the question of capital punishment.

On the contrary, Governor Newsom’s decision to grant reprieve to the 737 people on California’s death row, effectively imposing a moratorium on the death penalty, is encouraging.

In justifying his decision, Newsom cited the punishment’s tendency to kill the innocent, its prohibitive cost, and its uneven imposition on people of color, disabled people and the poor. But he also plainly stated that “[he] cannot sign off on executing hundreds and hundreds of human beings.” This brand of bold leadership on the issue is likely to create a nationwide ripple effect. Death penalty experts — and siblings — Carol and Jordan Steiker argue that the order could be “a harbinger of further decline” of the death penalty as such moratoria are often followed by abolition when the community and the nation realize they do not need to kill their worst criminals — particularly now that efforts to amend the death

penalty have proved insufficient. As expected, Newsom’s decision elicited controversy, with the editors of National Review condemning it as a “brazen act of executive overreach.”

Yet both the Governor’s right to grant reprieves and his wide discretion in exercising it are explicitly laid out in the state’s constitution; the same constitution that lays out the electoral and judicial processes which they claim Newsom undermines. The argument ought to be substantive, not procedural. And Newsom made his position clear.

If we are to draw any lessons from the contrast between the two events, it is that abolitionists ought to focus their attention on the electoral process. Not only is the tactic of diminishing public confidence in the death penalty and striving to elect anti-death-penalty representatives more likely to be successful, it is also certain to render potential strides more acceptable in the eyes of the nation. Popular decisions reap the benefits of legitimacy and longevity in a way that top-down judicial decrees do not.

Now, one could argue that my conclusion is not consistent with the recent historical record. The Supreme Court has shown in the past that it can be a force for progress on the death penalty. After ruling that its application is unconstitutional in 1972 (Furman v. Georgia) and conditionally reinstating it four years later (Gregg v. Georgia), the Court has significantly curtailed the classes of people that can be subjected to it (Roper v. Simmons) and the crimes for which it can be imposed (Kennedy v. Louisiana). In fact, Justice Stephen Breyer openly writes about the likelihood that capital punishment is

inherently unconstitutional (Glossip v. Gross). However, this assessment fails when taking into account the firmly established conservative majority on the Supreme Court following the departure of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was the deciding vote in many of the cases mentioned above, and the confirmation of Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. The recent discouraging decisions and the ease with which the court has ignored the critical “evolving standards” precedent confirm that abolitionists will not be able to rely on the Court for at least a generation.

Moreover, one could argue that the majority of American states retain the death penalty and that the majority of American citizens support it.

While true, this does not account for a highly encouraging trajectory. 20 states have abolished the death penalty while four more have a gubernatorial moratorium on its imposition.

New Hampshire is currently in the process of abolishing it following a vote in the legislature and 37 states have had no executions in five years.

According to a Gallup poll from 2018, support for the punishment is at historic lows and most Americans believe it is applied unfairly. Favoring abolition is now the norm amongst 2020 democratic contenders. As Professor Sarat affirms, “you can now be against the death penalty by embracing … mainstream American values.”

Higher awareness and public advocacy have gone a long way.

While the electoral path to abolition is an arduous one, it is increasingly clear that it is the path to take.

Paraphrasing Justice Warren’s words, it is up to a maturing American society to show that its standards of decency have evolved.

Photo courtesy of Flickr

Policies against the death penalty will come from elected officials, says Yannis Kalogiannis ‘19.

Arts&Living

The BTS Effect: Why We All Should Be Part of the ARMY

Photo courtesy of Hit Channel

On April 12, BTS released “Map of the Soul: Persona,” an album which explores Jungian concepts of identity and expresses the group’s love for their fans.

Seoyeon Kim ’21 Managing Arts and Living Editor The first time I really started to pay attention to the K-pop boy band BTS was when they performed “DNA” at the 2017 American Music Awards (AMAs). I’d always had a cynical view of K-pop: picture-perfect idols, usually teenagers, who’d spent their entire lives ruthlessly preparing for a debut, singing catchy but ultimately empty tunes about love.

Without actually listening to any of their music, I assumed BTS would have similar songs and messages to most K-pop and didn’t understand why the group suddenly skyrocketed to international fame.

My opinion was transformed when I heard the bright whistle-tune that starts “DNA” and saw the incredible creativity of the group’s choreography at the AMAs. The members weren’t just idols; they were artists. This tension between the two roles is one that the septet has explored in the past, most notably with their single “IDOL” featuring rapper Nicki Minaj. The group’s leader and main rapper RM powerfully begins the song with “You can call me artist / You can call me idol / Whatever you call me I don’t care / I’m proud of it” (translated from Korean; most of their lyrics are in Korean, with a few English words interspersed in some songs).

BTS, which stands for Bangtan Sonyeondan in Korean and Beyond the Scene in English, debuted in 2013. Formed by Bang Si-Hyuk, founder of the Korean entertainment company Big Hit Entertainment, the group was originally an underdog because the biggest K-pop groups were under the three major entertainment labels — JYP, SM or YG (Big Bang, anyone?). The group’s first win at a Korean music awards show was for the 2015 single “I NEED U.” BTS has come a long way since then, gathering an unbelievably supportive and vocal fanbase, which has named itself the ARMY, and breaking international records left and right.

The band released its newest album “Map of the Soul: Persona” on April 12. The music video for the lead single “Boy With Luv” now has the most-viewed 24-hour debut in YouTube history (beating out BLACKPINK’s “Kill This Love” which broke Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” record). The group was also recently confirmed to be the first Asian artist to exceed five billion streams on Spotify.

“Map of the Soul: Persona” draws its title from ideas of the psyche, ego and collective unconscious theorized by a founding father of analytic psychology, Carl Jung. Fittingly, the album features tracks that delve into Jungian concepts and focus on exploring the idea of “persona,”

which Jung described in “The Relations Between the Ego and the Unconscious” as “a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and on the other to conceal the true nature of the individual.” “Intro: Persona,” which begins the album, sees BTS leader RM explore the disconnect between his onstage persona and his true self. “So I’m askin’ once again yeah / Who the hell am I?” he raps. The track is built around a recycled beat from the opening of BTS’ 2014 track “Intro: Skool Luv Affair” and comments on the difficulty of knowing who you are in the midst of superstardom and conflicting advice. “I smile more than I used to / The Superhero I wanted to be / Now I think I actually am one/ But wherever I go there’s a lot of talk / Some tell me to run some tell me to stop,” RM claims. The song tackles the artist’s struggle with the imposter syndrome that follows incredible success.

The next track on the album is the lead single “Boy With Luv,” which is a direct reference to BTS’ 2014 single “Boy in Luv.” The song features summery, echoing beats and a couple verses from singer Halsey, whose bright, raspy voice fits perfectly with the vibe.

Some of the other standout tracks from “Map of the Soul: Persona” include “HOME,” the Ed Sheeran-produced “Make it Right”

and “Dionysus,” which closes the album. In “HOME,” Suga passionately raps about the strangeness of fame, saying, “The world thinks we have the world / Things I dreamed of, big house, big cars, big rings/ Even if I can have everything I want / There’s something empty and strange about having it all.” The song ends on a hopeful note, however, with BTS dedicating the song to their fans — singing and rapping about how the ARMY makes them at home no matter where they are.

“It’s been a while my home / With you I just feel rich / I’m back now my home / You kept the light on for me,” they sing.

My personal favorite track, “Make it Right,” features a looped horn line that works incredibly well underneath the crooning melody of the song. V opens the song with his deep, R&B-esque voice, and we see the vocals of the group truly shine as Jimin, Jungkook and Jin soothe with their breathy high notes, which suit the lyrics of the song so well: “I couldn’t see through the endless night / You gifted me with morning / Can I hold that hand now / I can make it right.”

The rock-influenced “Dionysus,” which references the Greek god of wine and pleasure, is tension-filled and features pointed, rhythmic vocals from the rappers that intersect with low, droning singing. Suga’s rap verse stands out in its power:

“Wherever we are in the world it’s a stadium party / We were born as K-pop idols, reincarnated as artists / Reincarnated as artists, reincarnated as artists / Whatever I am it’s not important.”

“Map of the Soul: Persona” is a continuation of BTS’ message that it is okay to not be perfect, and it is okay to question yourself. Furthermore, the group’s explosive popularity pushes us to imagine a world that is not English-centric. In an interview with Time magazine, DJ Steve Aoki (who collaborated with BTS on the iconic “MIC Drop”) noted that BTS’ success is proof that music “doesn’t have to be English to be a global phenomenon.”

And they are using their power for good — in 2018, BTS spoke at an event for youth empowerment at the United Nations General Assembly, with RM delivering a heartfelt speech about self-acceptance: “No matter who you are or where you’re from, your skin color, your gender identity, speak yourself.”

Even if you don’t understand Korean, even if you don’t enjoy their music, there’s no denying that BTS exudes an infectious positive energy that is difficult to ignore. With their exploratory lyrics and heartfelt messages, this group of seven boys successfully shatters the superficiality which tends to dominate popular music and the entertainment industry as a whole.

Arts & Living 10

The Amherst Student • April 24, 2019

Brexit at Home: How the Politics of Britain Affect Students

Photo courtesy of Janet Franz

While Brexit seems a distant distraction from the circus of American politics, it has profound effects on British international students at Amherst.

Ben Gilsdorf ’21 Contributing Writer June 23 will mark the three-year anniversary of the “Brexit” referendum vote, when voters in the United Kingdom chose to leave the European Union after months of tumultuous campaigning. Since the vote, there have been countless debates in Parliament, several failed solutions and one snap general election, but the path forward for the United Kingdom still remains murky. After Parliament rejected all of Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposed deals, the European Union granted the United Kingdom a new deadline to leave: Oct. 31.

While Americans might find Brexit a humorous distraction from the circus of United States politics, for Amherst students from the United Kingdom, the uncertainty of Brexit is a much more serious issue. Almost three years after the election, most current Amherst students were under 18 when the 2016 Brexit referendum happened, preventing them from voting. All of the students interviewed by The Student said that had they been

able to vote; however, they would have voted to remain in the European Union. Most young people in the United Kingdom agreed, with 71 percent of voters under the age of 25 voting to remain in the European Union, per a YouGov poll.

A recent survey from online group StudentRoom showed that if the voting age had been 16 at the time of the referendum, the Remain campaign would have won.

For Alice Jackson ’21, the implications of the Brexit vote were one of the main reasons for her choice to attend college in the United States. Jackson comes from the north of England, near the town of Durham, which voted nearly 58 percent in favor of leaving the European Union. Despite the region’s preference for Brexit, Jackson said that she herself would have voted to remain because of the massive grants supporting youth education and vocational training that Durham and surrounding communities like Hartlepool receive from the European Union. She is worried that the loss of these grants will hurt her community and that Brexit will harm the reputation of British universities. Jackson

learned about Amherst through a program called the Sutton Trust, which helps low-income students in the United Kingdom attend college in the United States. While she’s grateful to have the chance to study outside of the United Kingdom, she worries for the students who didn’t have the same opportunities.

Beyond the choice to study in the United States, Brexit has also influenced students’ decisions about where to live after graduation. For some, Brexit wasn’t enough to sway them: Kieran Brookes ’21 said that despite the uncertainty of Brexit, he still wants to move back to the United Kingdom after he graduates, while Phoenix Shaw ’22 said that he had always planned on staying in the United States, even before the referendum. Matthew McShane ’21 said that although he had assumed he would stay in Scotland after graduation, he would consider moving permanently to the United States if Brexit makes the job market in the United Kingdom worse. Sonakshi Dua ’21 is already leaning towards staying in the United States, saying “Brexit will potentially make going to

graduate school or working in Europe harder [so] staying in the U.S. after graduation does look more attractive as a result.”

Hanna Bliss, the director of the Center for International Student Engagement (CISE), says that while Brexit is still a long way off, she expects that there will be no added visa trouble for students from the United Kingdom who want to study in the United States.

She wants students from the United Kingdom to know that if they have any questions about getting visas or travelling to and from the United Kingdom, they are always welcome to talk to CISE staff. Additionally, she says that if Brexit causes unexpected or extreme economic instability, like many economists predict, that the CISE has both institutional resources to offer to students and information about larger federal programs which could help them out. Bliss also added that she is concerned about how Brexit will impact education in the United Kingdom. “With Brexit looming,” she wrote in an email, “studies show that international students are already expressing hesitancy to enroll in programs in the UK. A lot

of coverage will focus on the possible economic implications of it, but it is also worthwhile to consider the cultural and social impacts.”

In addition to the students coming to Amherst from the United Kingdom, Amherst also sends dozens of students to the United Kingdom every year on study abroad programs. According to Janna Behrens in the Global Education Office, the United Kingdom is always one of the top five most popular destinations for Amherst students studying abroad. Despite Brexit, however, Behrens said that she would be “genuinely surprised” if there was any reduction in student interest in the United Kingdom.

“While students might have to plan more before they go,” she said, “the Global Education Office is ready to help them with that preparation.”

Behrens thinks that Brexit might attract Amherst students interested in studying British or European politics to the United Kingdom and actually increase the number of students who study there. She also added that while the Global Education Office hasn’t issued any official

Continued on page 11

Arts & Living 11

The Amherst Student • April 24, 2019

Exploring the Role of Pop Culture Figures in Social Justice Work

Photo courtesy of rtl.it

Kim Kardashian’s recent efforts to become a lawyer raise questions about the role of privilege and the spotlight in criminal justice work and the law.

Isabella Weiner ’20 Staff Writer In Vogue’s May 2019 issue, cover star Kim Kardashian announced she was pursuing her dream to become

a lawyer and would be taking the California bar exam in 2022. Though the reality star did not finish college, individuals do not need a law degree or a college degree to take the exam, according to California’s state laws.

California is only one of four states that allows individuals to take the bar exam without attending law school.

Kardashian has been participating in the California Law Office or Judge’s Chamber program since July.

In this program, individuals become “law readers” by apprenticing with a practicing lawyer for a certain number of hours each week. After one year of this apprenticeship, individuals take what’s known as the “baby bar.” After passing that test, they can continue to study law for the next three years.

Kardashian has been apprenticing with mentor lawyers Jessica Jackson and Erin Haney of #cut50, a prison reform organization. CNN’s Van Jones, who co-founded #cut50 with Jackson, had glowing words for the reality star, in an interview with People: “[Kim] is so prepared, she is so passionate, she reads the letters that she gets, and is always trying to figure out how to be helpful … She is like a sponge. We are having to work to keep ahead of her. Kim Kardashian is outgrowing everybody right now.”

Jones also noted that she is the daughter of “a very accomplished lawyer.” Kardashian’s father, the late Robert Kardashian Sr., was one of O.J. Simpson’s closest friends. Kardashian Sr. was recruited to his defense team — known as the “Dream Team”— in the seminal trial of the 20th century. Made up of Kardashian, Johnnie Cochran, Robert Shapiro, F. Lee Bailey and Alan Dershowitz, the defense secured a “not guilty” verdict for former NFL star Simpson, who later lost a wrongful death suit in a civil case.

But Kardashian states that her interest in pursuing law occurred much more recently: in June 2018, she played a critical role in seeking

clemency for Alice Marie Johnson, who was sentenced to life in prison for a non-violent drug charge. In a highly publicized (and often derided) photo, Kardashian poses with President Donald Trump, whom she met with in the Oval Office to discuss Johnson’s case. By obtaining a legal degree, Kardashian hopes to have a thorough knowledge of the mass incarceration system in order to contribute toward meaningful prison reform.

Inevitably, Kardashian received much blowback to her announcement, with many people labeling her “privileged” and many comments telling her to “stay in her lane.” In an Instagram post responding to this criticism, Kardashian argued, “I want people to understand that there is nothing that should limit your pursuit of your dreams, and the accomplishment of new goals. You can create your own lanes, just as I am.”

Though the first part might ring a little hollow, as Kim and her family’s immense wealth make it much easier for her to pursue her dreams, there is something to be said about creating one’s own lane and about the criticism Kardashian has received.

Inherent in the criticism is the belief that Kardashian — who rose to fame through a sex tape — should not be allowed to practice an avocation of high esteem. She is the ultimate (albeit famous, rich) example of being branded with the scarlet letter. With such a huge platform, why shouldn’t Kim Kardashian be allowed to wield her enormous privilege to do good?

How Brexit Influences Student Life on and Beyond Campus Continued from page 10 advice or updates on Brexit, all of the programs that they work with in the United Kingdom have done a great job of keeping their students informed about Brexit and its various developments.

David Wilson ’20 is studying in the United Kingdom right now at Queen Mary University of London. He said that Brexit wasn’t a factor in his decision to study in London, but he’s enjoyed talking with Londoners about Brexit and the European Union. According to

Wilson, “The UK is unique in that the expectation of personal political involvement is higher. Everyone has an opinion [of Brexit] and they’re more than happy to share it with you.”

Kaelan McCone ’19 is from Greensboro, North Carolina, but is a citizen of both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. He said that he wants Americans to understand that Brexit could have serious implications for people living near the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Because the

United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland were both in the European Union, the border between the two nations was a “soft border,” meaning that there were no physical barriers or intimidating checkpoints. This soft border was fundamental to the Good Friday Agreement, which helped to alleviate the religious conflicts in Ireland during the 1980s and 1990s.

The United Kingdom’s leaving the European Union could result in the imposition of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which could

bring back violence and would make life harder for people who cross that border regularly, like McCone’s aunt, who lives in Dublin but works in Northern Ireland.

Shaw wishes that Americans better understood how Brexit happened, and recommended that people watch the documentary “Brexit: The Uncivil War.” He thinks the documentary gives a good insight into the Vote Leave campaign, and helps explain how the referendum unfolded.

As for Dua, she said simply that “I wish Americans know that most

young people didn’t want it [Brexit] and still don’t want it.”

Jackson says that she wants Americans to know that while Brexit might seem humorous, for working-class people and immigrant communities, Brexit will have long-lasting and serious impacts on their daily lives. “Austerity and xenophobia have already done so much harm to those communities,” she said, “and it’s scary to think how things might get worse after we [the United Kingdom] lose E.U. worker protections, grants and immigration laws.”

Arts & Living 12

The Amherst Student • April 24, 2019

“Ash Is Purest White” Explores the Vulnerability of Love

Photo courtesy of Olivia Gieger ’21

“Ash Is Purest White,” a film about violence, loss and love, is currently showing at the Amherst Cinema.

Youngkwang Shin ’19 Staff Writer Renowned director Jia Zhangke’s newest outing, “Ash Is Purest White,” plays with and extends his oldest instinct: winding around the lives of a few individuals who have experienced China’s last century of transformation and upheaval. This time around, the movie anchors around a gangster couple.

The mob boss Bin (Liao Fan) is a rising star of the Datong underworld, a mining city whose seedy elements thrive despite the precipitous drop in the price of coal.

Bin’s girlfriend Qiao (Zhao Tao) keeps an affectionate orbit, and the two are unconsciously convinced that their love will last forever.

But after an abrupt attack on Bin by a handful of resentful bikers, Bin is hospitalized and Qiao, who brandished Bin’s weapons to drive the delinquents away, is imprisoned for a sentence of five years.

Her true punishment begins afterwards, when she is released into a new world where her old flame, without explanation, avoids her attempts to reconnect, all until the 2018 New Year.

Throughout this ambitious story are elaborate scams for cab fare, simpler thieves, a nobody convenience store owner who brags about opening a tourist agency for unsubstantiated UFO sightings across the southern border of China and a UFO sighting across the southern border of China.

But all the humor inherent in these interjections are deflated by the unrelenting despair that underlies “Ash Is Purest White,” a film that takes its name from Qiao and Bin’s conversation about an inactive volcano in the horizon prior to the biker attack.

It is a scene that decorates much of the film’s promotional material, where Bin offhandedly muses about an eruption that could overtake their city, then, supposedly unrelatedly, describes how the ash of such erup-

tions gleam the purest white. Bin so casually provides a wonderful title and a fallible metaphor for the entire film, one that somewhat predicts the string of happenings to come, but also remains wrong on two rich points.

Firstly, the disaster that burns it all down is less an eruption of the common imagination than the kind far more common to volcanoes: leakage of heat, fire and emotion left heretofore suppressed.

When Qiao leaves prison and Bin his hospital, their “brothers” and “juniors” in the “family” have all but moved on to greater and lesser occupations, united only in the fact that they are momentarily occupied and regretfully cannot come to her help, but please do leave a message at the beep for future queries.

Bin, betrayed himself, is the greatest traitor, overcome by his newfound lowliness and loneliness. He refuses to be pitied by the one person he had successfully pinned down as his girlfriend, future wife and lesser.

So he rebuffs all her attempts at reconnection, adamantly pursuing the course of solitude on his own terms, even as his body deteriorates at the pace of modernization.

Secondly, the disaster does not, in fact, result in the gleam of the “purest white.” There is no compensation to suffering in the film, and its absence stands as a fascinating counterpoint to the logic of capitalism, now more than ever looming over China in the new millennium.

As people scurry to their desired ends by any means necessary, Qiao chases her man and their times even as the incentive slowly disappears.

There is an innocence to the parts of “Ash Is Purest White” following the biker attack, an innocence that invariably contains within it a willful ignorance of the brute facts of change and transition.

What awaits that ignorance is in turn the multiple sad eventualities that reside in the final parts of the film, but as said pre-

viously, the film is uninterested in eruptions.

The melancholy disconnects from the characters, the depressing realizations that Qiao and Bin are by choice or fate estranged from happiness — these occur without much fanfare.

Like time itself, Qiao just keeps going, and like memory, the feelings are ours to place.

One may rightfully desire some sort of eruption though, as the film seems to go on and on, repeating the same points about these lovers dislocated in spacetime. Director Jia’s filmography is not one so accessible to flourishes of emotion, and here, that trait persists.

It is not so much that there is secret emotion stuffed under and aside; it is just that the characters involved are too busy, too desperate to let any of it wash over them: the usual volcanic tension of the world persists, if the metaphor is to be stretched.

One could flat out find no understanding to be had with Qiao for instance. She is tired and she is aging, and she runs after some ingrate: without work from the audience, it is a baffling characterization that could even feel regressive and some may feel more

comfortable or just more entertained with the film taking an active stance, at least a vocal one.

For others, it may be a refreshing turn to be forced in this manner to participate in the fabric of the film, to not be told, by devouring corporations and hungry independents, of the significations and significance of their art, or even more obnoxiously, their art in such times.

One could read condescension in the trend, and here with Chinese gangsters, one could find respite and equity. The art and the times maintain a tantalizing, adversarial distance in “Ash Is the Purest White,” as we pay active attention to the things on the constant run in the world caught shedding, to catch the number of construction sites, the length of train tracks, the slow, steady withering of its passengers.

That is the experience afforded after the difficult dive, a journey with lonely people, finding an investigative intimacy across the aisle and past the screen that, once imagined to be taken and gone, convinces us completely that Qiao, weary and aging, should maybe run a little faster, try a little harder.

Photo courtesy of Yellowmenace

Renowned director Jia Zhangke, known for his movies like “A Touch of Sin,” released “Ash is Purest White” on March 5.

Sports

Men’s Track & Field Competes at Tufts Sunshine Classic Veronica Rocco ’19 Staff Writer With the NESCAC Championships just one week away on April 27, a portion of the Mammoths competed at the Tufts Sunshine Classic on Saturday, April 20 to tune up for the upcoming championship meet.

Competition for the day began with the 100-meter dash, where the first-year duo of Arinze Uddoh and Ben Wadsworth qualified for the final.

They finished first and second, respectively.

Next up was the 1,500-meter race where Chris Stone ’20 placed fifth in a tight field.

The highlight of the day came in the 400-meter dash where Ryan Prenosil ’21 won

the event in a stellar personal best time of 48.94 seconds. It marked the sophomore’s first time running under 49 seconds in the one-lap event, and bested his previous best time by nearly half a second.

“I just looked at it as an opportunity to get another 400 under my belt and tune up for NESCACs,” Prenosil said. “I felt really good during the race and made up the stagger pretty quickly. I actually thought I ran relatively slowly when I crossed the finish line, considering how smooth I felt during the last 100 meters. So when I heard I broke 49 seconds, I was surprised to say the least.”

Behind him, Stanley Dunwell ’20 placed third with a time of 49.99 seconds, his first

time breaking 50 seconds in the event since high school. With their times from the weekend, Prenosil ranks second in the NESCAC and Dunwell eighth.

These finishes put them both in the fast heat at the NESCAC Championship, which provides them with the opportunity to compete against the best in the conference.

“I was very happy with how Stanley and Ryan ran this past weekend,” coach Lilah Drafts-Johnson said. “For the first time this season, both of them hit the final stretch and still had the gas in the tank and the willpower to keep up their pace until the finish line.”

Benefiting from strong winds, Henry Buren ’22 ran an incredible time of 21.77 seconds

to win the 200-meter dash. With his run, he enters the NESCAC Championship with the fastest qualifying time in the event.

Behind him, Mayowa Tinubu ’20 came back from injuries to run a time of 23.47 seconds.

Shortly after, Trevor Hall ’22 crossed the finish line in a time of 23.54 seconds.

In the field, Sam Amaka ’19 qualified for the finals of all of the events he competed in: the shot put, discus and hammer throw. He placed sixth, eighth and sixth in the three events, respectively. Senior Elorm Yevudza placed third in the hammer throw, and Stadtler Thompson ’19 placed sixth in the javelin.

This weekend, the Mammoths will travel to Middlebury College for the NESCAC Cham-

pionship. Last year, the team placed sixth at the meet, earning 60 points. With improved fitness and strength from returners, along with a strong first-year class, the Mammoths look to improve upon their team finish from 2018.

After the NESCAC Championships, team members who have achieved qualifying times will compete at the Division III New England Championships and Open New England Championships and potentially the MIT Last Chance Invitational to secure a Nationals-qualifying time.

Athletes who qualify for Nationals will travel to Geneva, Ohio for the Division III Track and Field National Championships from May 23-25.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Sam Amaka ’19 qualified for finals in every throwing event he competed in.

The Amherst Student • April 24, 2019

Sports 14

Women’s Golf Finishes Fifth in First Tournament of Spring Henry Newton ’21 Managing Sports Editor The Amherst women’s golf team began the spring season with a fifth-place finish at the Vassar Invitational held at the Casperkill Golf Course in Poughkeepsie, New York, in an event hosted by Vassar College. The course is one of the more difficult courses that the team will play on this spring season, with a par of 72 and a total distance of 5,180 yards.

The Mammoths opened the first day of the tournament seemingly unable to overcome the rust from the long winter layoff.

Senior Maggie Schoeller was one of only two Mammoths to

shoot better on the first day than the second, beginning with a superb score of 77, seeing her firmly within the top 10 of the individual tournament.

However, Schoeller was unable to maintain this form on the second day of the tournament, finishing with a second-day score of 82 which saw her tied for 17th in the tournament.

Despite this five-stroke drop off, Schoeller still managed to finish as the top-scoring Mammoth in the tournament.

Following behind her in second place for the Mammoths was Isabelle Ouyang ’21, who was one of three Mammoths to register immense improvements from

Saturday to Sunday. Ouyang, usually a strong performer, finished the first day with a disappointing 84.

Bouncing back on Sunday, Ouyang carded a strong 78 to finish the tournament in 22nd place, second overall for the Mammoths.

Mina Lee ’22 finished one stroke behind Ouyang in 23rd place. Lee was the only Mammoth to stay consistent in her finishes throughout the weekend, finishing the first day with an 81 and the second with an 82.

In fourth place for the Mammoths was Lily Worden ’21, another Mammoth who registered stark improvement from the first round to the second. Worden’s

first round was a disappointing 85, but managed to improve six strokes on the second round to finish tied for 27th with a score of 79.

Finally, senior Katie Rosenberg registered the greatest improvement for the Mammoths between the first and second rounds. Rosenberg dropped nine strokes off of her first round 92 to card an 83.

These improvements allowed the Mammoths to improve upon a disappointing first day by six strokes as a team, finishing the second day with a score of 321 after a day one score of 327.

This was good enough to place the Mammoths fifth in the field of

12 teams.

Williams dominated the tournament from the onset, finishing in first place, six strokes ahead of the nearest team from New York University.

Far beyond these two dominant squads was the second pack that Amherst found itself a part of for most of the weekend. Wellesley finished in third, with NESCAC foe Middlebury finishing in fourth, a mere two strokes in front of the Mammoths.

The women’s golf team returns to action next weekend with the team’s sole home tournament of the entire year with the Jack Leaman Invitational, held at the Ledges Country Club in Hadley.

assists for the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He was named MVP and top defenseman for his efforts and was eventually selected fourth overall in the 2017 draft by the Colorado Avalanche.

This left young Makar with a difficult decision to make for someone of any age, let alone an 18 year old. He could sign his entry-level contract and immediately turn professional with the Avalanche. He was also getting scholarship offers from all of the best teams in collegiate hockey. In the end, he chose to honor his original commitment to UMass, despite finishing with one of the worst records in Division I hockey at 5-29-2. Just two years later, Makar would oversee one of the greatest turnarounds in sports history.

Makar’s first season with the Minutemen was solid in 2018, if not unspectacular. He played in 34 games and recorded five goals and 16 assists, ending up named to the Hockey East conference All-Rookie and Third All-Star teams. As a team, UMass saw a vast improvement by winning 17 games, their most since 2010, but once again missed out on the tournament. That all changed in Makar’s second year.

After spurning the Avalanche again, Makar decided to return for his sophomore year. He exhibited the talent that convinced Colorado

to make him the second defenseman drafted in 2017 by registering 16 goals and tallying 33 assists, good enough for third in all of Division 1 in regular-season points. He was honored with Hockey East Player of the Year and First All-Star team. The Minutemen also saw plenty of team success, finishing with the most wins in program history at 31 and advancing all of the way to their first NCAA Final.

April 11, 2019 marked the beginning of a whirlwind week for Makar.

That night, UMass topped the University of Denver in overtime of the national semifinal by a score of 4-3 to clinch their spot in the championship game. The next day, Makar was given the Hobey Baker Award for being the best player in NCAA men’s hockey.

He is the first from UMass to earn the distinction. On Saturday, the Minutemen faced their final challenge of the season against the University of Minnesota-Duluth with a national championship on the line. While UMD would end UMass’ season in a shutout to win their second consecutive title, Makar’s career was just getting started. Just two days after the loss, Makar finally inked his entry-level contract with the Avalanche and made his NHL debut in Game 3 of their first-round series against the top-seeded Cal-

gary Flames. In his first shot against his hometown team, Makar scored a goal, becoming the first defenseman in NHL history to score a playoff goal in his debut. Makar added his first career assist in Game 5, and the Avalanche upset the heavily-favored Flames in five games.

Makar is already one of the hottest names in hockey despite him not having played a regular-season game in the NHL. As he continues his pursuit of a Stanley Cup, it’s certainly a very different way of life

than a month earlier when he was pursuing a degree in sports management right here in Amherst. This was always the path that Makar had in mind and no one should take his success for granted. He single-handedly inherited what was one of the worst programs in college sports and took it all the way to the precipice of a championship. No matter what happens for the rest of his career, Makar will always have fond memories of Amherst, just as the town has for him.

Cale Makar, UMass’ Budding Hockey Superstar Matt Sparrow ’21 Columnist Sunny evenings, rising temperatures and blooming flowers can only mean one thing around Amherst: it’s almost finals season. As students gear up for the home stretch before summer vacation, one former University of Massachusetts Amherst student just a few months older than me is preparing for a different kind of grind. Cale Makar is trying to help lead the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche to their first Stanley Cup in 18 years.

Upon first glance, it would be easy to mistake Makar for any other sophomore at UMass. Standing at six feet, one inch and 192 pounds, Makar’s baby face might raise some questions about what year of high school he’s in. Makar and his youthful grin, however, seem destined to be one of the future faces of the NHL given his illustrious amateur career.

Born October 30, 1998 in Calgary, Makar played in multiple junior hockey leagues in Alberta growing up. After winning MVP of his youth hockey league, Makar announced his commitment to the UMass ice hockey team, a program that had only made the NCAA tournament once in their entire history.

Makar would break out in his next two seasons, especially his final year, scoring 24 goals and dishing out 51

PhotoPhoto courtesy of Clarus Studios courtesy of Wikimedia

Cale Makar helped transform a languishing UMass hockey team into a national powerhouse and title contender.

The Amherst Student • April 24, 2019

Men’s Lacrosse Dominates Bates in Conference Victory Cale Clinton ’20 Staff Writer The men’s lacrosse team took the field in Lewiston, Maine on April 20 and left Bates with what was arguably the team’s best performance of the season. The Mammoths were dominant from start to finish in the 25-12 romp, scoring at least six goals in each of the four quarters.

Amherst’s schedule thus far has been daunting. The team has taken on six nationally-ranked opponents including Bates, four of whom are in-conference rivals. Coming off of a 1-2 record in their last three games, the Mammoths entered this match looking for momentum heading into NESCAC playoffs. All they needed for that push was to look back at the two blemishes in their otherwise incredible season.

Amherst’s losses to Tufts and Williams share one major thing in common: both began with Amherst down early. The early April loss to Williams saw the Ephs go on a 5-1 run following the Mammoths’ opening goal.

Last week’s near comeback over Tufts saw Amherst go scoreless in a quarter for the first time this season. While Amherst’s deep roster allows the team to compete late in games against tough opponents, even the greatest teams can’t dig themselves out of every hole.

Knowing that, it’s no surprise that this weekend’s dominant win began with instant offense from the Mammoths. Evan Wolf ’19 kicked things off by netting an unassisted goal just over two minutes into the contest. A mere 16 seconds later, Logan Lair ’21 connected with Jon Coffey ’20 for a second score. It would be less than a minute before Chase Yager ’22 scored to make it 3-0 in about three minutes. Bates’ first goal of the quarter was quickly followed up with goals by Coffey and Colin Minicus ’20 within a minute of the initial score. Even

the morsel of momentum Bates could have carried into the second quarter following a late goal was stymied when Jimmy McAfee ’20 netted the sixth goal of the quarter with under a minute left.

Amherst truly separated themselves from their opponent in the second quarter as they followed up their first-quarter performance with a 7-2 run.

Two man-up opportunities early in the quarter led to two goals for the Mammoths, courtesy of Minicus and Trenton Shore ’19.

Another goal by Minicus and Coffey, two goals by Ethan Kasmierski ’21 and another score by Luke Mallette ’20 would lead to a halftime score of 13-4. On the day, 14 different Amherst players found the back of the net.

A high-scoring affair always signals offensive dominance, but it cannot be understated how crucial the defense was to this game. The team generated 14 turnovers in the first half and added a suffocating pressure throughout the game. Goalie Cam Mitchell ’21 faced 48 shots on the day but was only forced to make nine saves. Those attempts missing the cage are all a result of the defense playing relentlessly tough despite their hot offense.

The Mammoths also proved their dominance throughout the game in the ground. Amherst out-ground balled Bates to the tune of 47-29.

With the victory, Amherst moves to 12-2 on the season, 7-2 in the NESCAC. After a final game at Trinity College on Wednesday, the Mammoths will go on to the NESCAC playoffs. Amherst currently sits in a three-way tie for the No. 2 seed with Little Three rivals Williams and Wesleyan.

The Mammoths will need a win and a Williams loss to Middlebury in order to earn that seed.

The Mammoths will conclude their regular season tomorrow in an away contest at Trinity.

Sports 15

Haugh-t Takes Connor Haugh ’21 Managing Sports Editor Although rugby news rarely permeates American sporting consciousness, Connor Haugh ’21 discusses why the recent scandal surrounding Australian rugby star Israel Folau deserves close study.

In sporting news that many at Amherst definitely missed, Rugby Australia recently revoked the contract of star player Israel Folau.

His firing from the national team for purely conduct-related reasons sparks questions about the intersections of sports and politics, and provokes questions as to how we view the role of sports and athletes in popular culture. Before his firing can be examined, though, Folau himself must be understood, if only to get a greater understanding as to why this firing should make the news half a world away. Standing at six foot, four inches and 230 pounds, Folau is a dominant athlete in a sport of dominant athletes.

His speed, dexterity and particular ability to leap to seemingly impossible heights makes him the indisputably the best player in the world in his position and perhaps the best player in rugby today.

Folau didn’t even grow up playing rugby, instead coming to the sport in 2015 from Aussie Rules Football, a further testament to his raw athleticism. Think of him as analogous to James Harden on the basketball court or Kevin De Bruyne on the soccer field. A household name in his homeland and in most other rugby-playing

nations, Folau was also among the highest-paid players in rugby, earning millions each year, a sum that most players are unaccustomed to pulling in.

Folau, however, has been dropped from the Australian National Team’s roster at the height of his career. The firing came after Folau posted an image on Instagram of multicolored comic sans font that read: “Warning: Drunks, Homosexuals, Adulterers, Liars, Fornicators, Thieves, Atheists, Idolaters, HELL AWAITS YOU! REPENT.” The post has more comments than likes, a testament to the storm of controversy it brewed. Folau has been upfront with his Pentecostal religious beliefs in the past, and, consequently, his contract with the National Team stipulated that he remain quiet on controversial subjects on social media. The National Rugby Federation attempted to reach out to him after the post to discuss it, but these entreaties were met with silence from Folau.

Consequently, they saw no other option but to annul the contract between the player and the team.

I stand firmly against Folau’s sentiments. I myself, according to him, might be hell-bound for a few

things on that list; but his language passed the point of proselytizing and into hate speech. It makes sense, therefore, that the national team fired him after attempting to force a retraction from him.

Although an ocean away, Folau’s story touches on a complex set of issues surrounding sports and politics. We might read this story in context with one of America’s own professional sports: football.

The NFL has attempted to silence athletes like Colin Kaepernick in order to avoid even the semblance of controversy or the breaking of ranks–attempts seemingly aimed at keeping the majority of its fanbase appeased.

It might be easy for us to applaud the Australian Rugby governing body for making a politically right and brave action in spite of the damage it might cause their bottom line and public image by firing the player every young Australian rugby fan has a poster of in their room.

Professional sports, at the end of the day, rely on their fans to not only buy tickets, but also buy into the ethos and culture of their league, and perhaps Rugby Australia judged Folau was doing more harm off the pitch than good on it.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Australian Rugby Superstar Isreal Folau was fired after anti-gay comments on Instagram.

Sports 16

The Amherst Student • April 24, 2019

Softball Battles Williams in Crucial Conference Series Jake Grossman ’21 Staff Writer In between downpours, the softball team battled rival Williams in a weekend series. The matchup saw three games, one on Friday at home and a double header on Sunday in Williamstown.

The first game was a pitcher’s duel, as Lorena Ukanwa ’19 battled Williams ace Mackenzie Murphy.

Hitting for contact was obviously the game plan offensively for both teams, as they struggled to work around excellent pitching. Only Kyra Naftel ’19 hit for extra bases for either team, as she drove the ball deep into right field in the top of the first, only to be forced out on a run to third two batters later.

Williams, however, scored two in the bottom of the first. Two innings later, second basewoman Sammy Salustri ’19 cracked the ball down the right field line, driving home the first run for Amherst. Hits were few and far between for the Mammoths, but the Ephs started to figure out Ukanwa’s pitching, and she was replaced by Talia Bloxham ’22. Two more runs for the Ephs in the sixth, however, sent the scoreline seemingly just out of reach for the Mammoths entering the bottom of the seventh. Amherst, however, did not go quietly into the the misty spring night. A rally, sparked by a Salustri single which scored Julia Turner ’19 would not be enough, however,

GAME SCHE DULE

as they only scored two runs before grounding out to third to end the final inning. After a soggy Saturday, Amherst traveled to Williamstown for another day of matchups with their rivals.

The first game proved to be another duel of defenses, as Bloxham took the mound again for Amherst. The game was an excellent defensive performance, as Bloxham’s pitching prevented Williams from getting a hold of the ball. Williams’ offense was continually stymied by the kinds of poor contact which signifies good pitching– dribbling grounders and weak pop-ups.

Amherst, however, had an even worse time at the plate. The Mammoths only had a single hit all game, as Salustri again generated the majority of the offense for Amherst. Two runs in the fourth would be the only blemish on the Mammoth defense throughout the game, but offensive woes kept them from snatching victory.

The third game was a total rout, as Amherst’s pitching began to struggle and the offense fared even worse.

Again, Amherst’s hitters only combined for three hits, while Williams put together seven hits for five runs, demonstrating not only subpar pitching but also subpar fielding. The fourth inning saw a Williams batter score off of a costly error, demonstrating necessary improvement. Amherst, with a lot to learn from the weekend, reenters conference play on Friday away against Middlebury.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Andrea Sanders ’20 has been a consistent performer for the Mammoths on offense this season, producing a batting average of .302.

THUR

SAT

Baseball vs. Springfield College, 3:30 p.m.

Men’s Track and Field @ NESCAC Championships, 9 a.m.

Softball @ Middlebury, 2 p.m.

Men’s Lacrosse @ Trinity, 6 p.m.

FRI

Women’s Track and Field @ NESCAC Championships, 9 a.m.

Women’s Golf Jack Leaman Invitational

Women’s Lacrosse vs. Trinity, 6 p.m.

Baseball @ Bowdoin, 4 p.m.

Baseball @ Bowdoin, noon, 2:30 p.m.

Women’s Tennis @ Middlebury, 1 p.m.

WED Women’s Tennis vs. Tufts, 3:30 p.m.

Softball @ Middlebury, 5 p.m.

Men’s Tennis vs. Middlebury, noon.