Issue 23

THE AMHERST

THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

STUDENT VOLUME CXLIV, ISSUE 23l WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2015

Men’s Golf Takes Fifth Out of 17 at Tournament See Sports Page 9

AMHERSTSTUDENT.AMHERST.EDU

Senator Creates Emergency Cards Eli Mansbach ’18 Staff Writer

Photo Courtesy of Raymond Meijer ‘17

Incumbent Tomi Williams ‘16 was re-elected as president of the Association of Amherst Students, earning 83.11 percent of the vote and surpassing opponent Taylor Wilson ‘16 by 311 votes.

Tomi Williams ’16 Re-Elected President Nolan Lindquist ’18 Staff Writer

Incumbent president Tomi Williams has been re-elected, the Elections Committee announced April 11. Online voting was open for 24 hours on Thursday, April 9. Five AAS executive board positions — president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and judiciary council chair — were on the ballot.

Williams won the presidency by a margin of 311 votes against his opponent Taylor Wilson ’16, garnering 83.11 percent of all votes cast.

AAS senator Will Jackson ’18 won the vice presidency by a close margin of 47 votes

against Peter Woolverton ’17, garnering 53.37 percent of the vote. Paul Gramieri ’17 was elected treasurer, David Dickinson ’16 was elected secretary, and Hao Liu ’16 was elected judiciary council chair. All three ran unopposed.

There was a relatively low voter turnout for this year’s election, with only 447 votes cast for the presidential candidates, a 39 percent decrease from the first round of voting in last year’s presidential race. AAS Elections Committee Chair Olivia Pinney ’17 speculated that the prolonged controversy surrounding last year’s presidential election scandal may have caused increased political apathy among students this year.

In her role as Elections Committee chair, Pinney helped to design and execute several measures intended to combat the weakened student interest in the executive board elections. Pinney and her colleagues tabled at key spots on campus during election day, encouraging students to cast votes on iPads in Keefe Campus Center and at Valentine Dining Hall.

Pinney said that the use of iPads at polling locations for the executive board election might foreshadow future applications of technology to gather input on student government. “We’ve actually been thinking a lot about how to increase voter turnout in

Continued on Page 3

Association of Amherst Students Senator Tasha Kim ‘18 presented a proposal last week for creating emergency cards that would provide important local police and transportation information to Amherst students. These neon yellow cards contain the numbers of campus police for each of the Five Colleges and also give students the last times for Pioneer Valley Transit Authority buses back to Amherst. The numbers for Safe Ride and taxi services are also provided.

The cards are the latest of various senate projects that have been implemented this year.

Others include the First-Year Formal and the reorganization of the trash bins in Valentine Dining Hall. Creating a senate project is mandatory for all senators, and funding is drawn from a separate AAS budget. Kim said that the 1,800 cards she printed from the Office of Administrative and Services and Mailing Center cost only $22.65.

“The idea is just to raise awareness about safety,” Kim said. “I have friends who have been at different colleges and gotten stranded because they didn’t realize what time the last PVTA left or got on the wrong bus and didn’t know who to call, and it was a big deal to get them back to campus.”

Blaine Werner ‘15, another senator, agreed.

“I’ve had several times when I’ve been at Smith, forgotten to check when the last bus is leaving, and my phone had died at that point, and it became a struggle to charge my cell phone soon enough to see when the last bus was leaving,” Werner said. “This card doesn’t need a battery, so in that situation it sure beats a dead cellphone.”

Werner said that he got the original idea of creating emergency cards from Smith College, which distributes similar cards to its students, but he did not have the time to actually create the cards because of his senior thesis deadline.

He said that he told Kim about the proposal and she decided to make the cards herself.

Kim said that she collaborated with a few Residential Counselors to receive input on what information should be on the cards.

Werner and Kim both said that so far, this initiative has received positive feedback.

“It’s been pretty much rave reviews from fellow senators who were at the meeting when Tasha requested funding for the cards and explained what they were,” Werner said.

Continued on Page 3

David Hamilton Appointed Chief Information Officer Dan Ahn ’17 Staff Writer President Biddy Martin announced April 7 that David Hamilton has been appointed Amherst’s new chief information officer. Hamilton served as Amherst’s director of web services beginning in 2006, as interim co-director of information technology after 2010 and as interim chief information officer since the fall of 2014.

Before Amherst, Hamilton worked in trade publishing as well as with a family-owned media company, helping those businesses transition into digitally creating and organizing their content. He has also worked at other colleges, including Bowdoin and Skidmore. As the new

chief information officer, he will oversee approximately 50 information technology staff members.

“Having David assume the leadership of IT will allow us to move forward on a range of initiatives that require strong leadership and cross-college collaboration,” Martin wrote in her email.

Hamilton’s work at Amherst has included the introduction of a content management system to the college website, allowing web content across various media to be created and edited from a central interface and workspace.

In an email interview, Hamilton said his priority will be “an emphasis on improving customer service in all the ways we can, particu-

larly for those parts of IT that have significant public interactions with people on campus, but also more generally an effort to establish customer service as a core tenet of IT across all its operations.”

Hamilton added that he is planning on “improving our communications, documentation and policies so that members of the community are better aware of the tools and services we offer and how to get support for them.”

In order to better focus on customer service, Hamilton is also encouraging more “data-driven decision making,” which he defines as “using data to make good, informed choices about what services we offer, how we offer them, and how we support them.”

He cited Moodle as an example of a communications platform that could benefit from this data-driven decision making. Hamilton said that IT could examine the peak log-on hours for students and adjust support service times accordingly for frequently used sites like Moodle.

In addition, Hamilton also plans to expand cloud computing within the Amherst administration, in keeping with trends in the business world.

“Increasingly, businesses are moving from hosting and managing core services like email in their server room to licensing service and support from cloud vendors like Google or Microsoft,” he said.

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News

Gabriel Gonzalez Apr. 7, 2015 - Apr. 15, 2015

>>April 7, 2015

11:39 a.m., College Hall Parking Lot An officer investigated a motor vehicle accident.

>>April 8, 2015

8:15 a.m., Wieland Dormitory An officer investigated a basement smoke detector sounding and found it was activated by steam from a shower.

>>April 9, 2015

11:12 p.m., Stone Dormitory Officers responded to a complaint of loud music, people screaming, and located a party at a first-floor suite. Several students were observed dancing on a window sill.

The gathering was shut down.

>>April 10, 2015

4:06 p.m., Charles Pratt Dormitory An officer responded to a complaint of the odor of marijuana on the second floor. The responsible person was identified and will be fined $100. The matter was also referred to Student Affairs.

5:28 p.m., Cohan Dormitory A student reported the theft of a bicycle from outside of Cohan.

9:27 p.m., Charles Pratt Dormitory While at a second-floor room, an officer discovered several bottles of hard alcohol. The alcohol was confiscated and the matter was referred to Student Affairs.

9:46 p.m., Charles Pratt Dormitory While at a second-floor room, an officer discovered drug paraphernalia and several marijuana butts.

The items were confiscated and the matter was referred to Student Affairs.

>>April 12, 2015

12:22 a.m., Pond Dormitory An officer on patrol found a basement storage room that appeared to have been forcibly entered.

12:51 a.m., Tennis Court Parking Lot An officer on patrol found a vehicle stuck in the mud near the Tennis Court parking lot.

11:37 p.m., Keefe Campus Center An officer observed a male urinating outside of the Campus Center.

He was identified as a visitor and warned about his actions.

1:38 a.m., Valentine Quad A caller complained about loud music coming from the Whiteout TAP on the Fayer weather quad. An officer had the volume lowered.

>>April 11, 2015

1:47 a.m., Social Quad An officer encountered a student urinating outside of Pond. He was identified and will be fined $100 for the offensive behavior.

12:08 a.m., College Street An officer responded to a report of verbal altercation between two people on the south side of Garman. Assistance was provided.

12:38 a.m., Charles Pratt Dormitory A resident reported information on two males seen tearing poster off of a board on the first floor. The matter was referred to Student Affairs.

2:12 a.m., Hitchcock House A student reported he was assaulted by another student while attending a party earlier at Pond.

The student was not injured and did not want to press charges. A report was taken and for warded to the Student Affairs office.

1:31 a.m., Mayo Smith House While in the building, an officer found several unattended bottles of hard alcohol that apparently were available during a registered party. The alcohol was disposed of and the matter was referred to Student Affairs as hard alcohol is prohibited.

2:36 a.m., Hitchcock House While checking Hitchcock House after a registered party, an officer found evidence that an excessive amount of alcohol, including hard alcohol, had been available in violation of the party policy. The matter was referred to Student Affairs.

1:50 a.m., Humphries House Officers responded to a complaint of loud music and issued a warning at a third-floor room.

5:13 a.m., Seelye House While checking Seelye House after a registered party, an officer found evidence that an excessive amount of alcohol, including hard alcohol, had been available in violation of the party policy. The matter was referred to Student Affairs.

8:20 a.m., Campus Grounds A student reported receiving unwanted contact from a man who is not associated with the college.

The matter is under investigation.

5:28 p.m., Seeley Mudd Building An officer met with a student who reported the theft of a skateboard.

The skateboard was found later in the building in the possession of two other students. The matter was referred to Student Affairs, at the request of the owner of the skateboard.

7:32 a.m., Social Quad A written no-trespass order was issued to a man who had no association with the college.

7:23 p.m., Porter House An officer investigated a smoke detector sounding on the first floor and discovered it activated when popcorn was burned in a microwave oven.

Thoughts on Theses Independent Scholar

Gabriel Gonzalez ’15 is an Independent Scholar who is writing his senior thesis about the question of value and purpose in contemporary American higher education.

His advisers are Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture Ilan Stavans and James E. Ostendarp Professor of English Barry O’Connell.

Q: What is your thesis about?

A: I am writing a bit more of a creative piece that explores the question of value and purpose in contemporary, American higher education. I am exploring the ways that education intersects with community or citizenship participation.

preparing to graduate has allowed me to reflect quite a bit — a lot more than I thought I would — on what my education means to me. It has been pretty neat to have that experience – it makes the thesis work and my time here a bit more meaningful.

Q: How did you become interested in this topic?

A: I started asking myself and my advisers questions related to this during my sophomore year at Amherst, and they encouraged me to continue searching, looking to philosophers, contemporary critics, sociological studies and pedagogical structures that also intend to tackle this and similar questions.

Q: What has been the most difficult part so far?

A: I think the workload. Being an Independent Scholar has allowed me to take on my own project with only the guidance of my advisers, so the work that I take on is self-selective. I guess I was a bit too ambitious at the beginning, so the work has been a bit much, but I still love it. It is a struggle trying to balance everything here though. It’s hard to want to do it all — stay social, be involved in clubs, do well in other classes, exercise, relax — and so having such a big project on top of trying to soak in my last year at Amherst has created a bit of an additional obstacle.

Q: How is being an Independent Scholar different from majoring in a traditional subject?

A: In order to become an Independent Scholar, I had to submit a proposal to a faculty committee on special majors. When they granted my request, I became free from any departmental regulations of the college. I don’t have a major so I don’t have to worry about required courses. In essence, I am working on my thesis material during the week and I meet with my advisers to discuss progress, ideas, go over writing, etc. Even though I don’t have to take classes, I still wanted to take some, so I am taking a class, auditing a class and being a TA in a class. It’s really nice because I don’t have to worry about too much extra stress from other classes, but my thesis demands a lot of time because it essentially counts for eight classes worth of grades.

Q: What was your research process like?

A: I have been reading anything and everything related to democratic engagement, higher education, questions of value or purpose, standardized testing, elite schools, the economics of education, neoliberal theory, neuroscience and behavior psychology. Not all of this has a place in my work, but they have informed my thinking and expanded my understanding for such a large topic of inquiry.

Q: What is the most valuable lesson you are taking away from this experience, and is the topic of your thesis something you want to continue pursuing after graduation?

A: I think a real appreciation of my education.

Many times I take my education for granted here, especially with the incredible professors, but the more that I have studied other pedagogies, schools and administrations, I have come to really appreciate what Amherst has provided me. I do think there are many things that I don’t particularly like about the school, but you will get that anywhere.

Even in a time where the question of utility of a liberal education comes under tight scrutiny, my thesis has made me incredibly appreciative of it regardless of whether or not I will get the best job after graduating. I think we look for our education too much to define our professional goals, which are important of course, but I think our primary profession is to live, and an education that can enhance the way that you live will go a long way. And yes, I am very interested in education and its role in democratic participation, so I am hoping to go to graduate school and study education.

Q: Besides the guidance of your advisers, did most of your research come from just reading, or specific classes at Amherst?

A: Though my advisers and the reading have helped me, I think a lot of what I have learned has come from talking to other students about their educational experiences and visiting other schools. There is something to be said about reading and research — incredibly useful of course — but hearing from other students and learning from their stories add much depth to what I am studying. Aside from speaking to students from the Five Colleges, I traveled to Wesleyan to interview students and the president of the college. I also traveled to Greenfield Community College to talk to students and staff. Of course many classes have encouraged my thinking as well, especially the ones that I didn’t think would have anything to do with my work.

Q: Do you think Amherst has prepared you well for you to write a thesis? Do you have any advice for future thesis writers?

A: Yes. I think that my advisers do a lot of work to help me. Also, the classes that I took before starting this project taught me how to conduct research, synthesize arguments and data and communicate my thoughts to a larger audience.

I would recommend that students write a thesis if they get along with their advisers and if they are truly passionate in the topic of study. Writing a senior thesis is a lot of work, and it is not something that you are going to want to do unless you really care about it. I suppose that of course you could still do it if you don’t love the project, but then that begs the question of why are you doing it in the first place. I would say that you should write a thesis because you genuinely want to and because you think it will enrich your time here.

Q: What has been your favorite part of writing a senior thesis?

A: I love working on something that I am very passionate about and speaking to others to hear about their interests in the education they receive or provide. Everyone has something fascinating to say because everyone here is involved in higher education in some capacity. I would also say that studying values and purpose of education while

Q: What is the last step that remains for your senior thesis?

A: I will be giving my presentation either at the end of this month or early next month. I will be conducting something like a symposium, rather than simply a thesis defense, because I want students to also be involved in the discussion of my work as it relates to their time here as well.

— Elaine Jeon ’17

The Amherst Student • April 15, 2015

News

Tomi Williams Re-Elected Emergency Cards Created Continued from Page 1

an age where everyone has technology at their fingertips,” Pinney said. “Since you’re walking around campus with your iPhone, if someone from the committee says, ‘oh, you can just vote right now,’ then you can change things, but of course this election was different.”

“We had members of the Elections Committee [point out] that the iPads were available to students,” Pinney added. “We actually imposed some rules on the people who were tabling — you weren’t allowed to talk about candidates, you weren’t really allowed to say anything about the election other than, ‘you could vote for this person.’”

As a candidate, Williams pinpointed several new and continuing initiatives for his second term. He proposed filling two seats on the college’s board of trustees with alumni who have graduated in the past five years, noting that on the current board, there is only one sitting trustee that has graduated from Amherst within the past 20 years. Williams also drew attention to his ongoing cooperation with the administration to improve the disciplinary process for students. He pointed out that he and his

cabinet have also brought faculty members and students representing numerous and wide-ranging perspectives together to reflect on the development of student activism at the college over the second half of the last century through today.

In a document called “What We’ve Accomplished So Far” that he released prior to the election, Williams emphasized his previous experience working in the AAS. Themes in the document included transparency and improvements to student life. He also highlighted his role in the expanded intramural sports program, the development of a Student Affairs Advisory Committee and progress on the Social Project Work Group (formerly the Social Club Work Group).

“Because I was only able to get started this past October, we laid the foundations to get a lot of great things done, and it’s exciting to have another year to go full circle and to do all the things we promised to do,” Williams said.

“We’ve built great relationships with students and student organizations, and I know we can continue building on that.”

Dan Ahn ’17 contributed reporting.

Continued from Page 1

Kim said that she sent the card to the printer this past Friday, but is still deciding whether to pass out the cards before the end of the year, since students may lose them over the summer.

She said that they will be distributed to the incoming first-year students next academic year and plans to place cards in student mailboxes for pick up.

“It’s been pretty much rave reviews from

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fellow senators who were at the meeting when Tasha requested funding for the cards and explained what they were,” Werner said.

Kim said that she sent the card to the printer this past Friday, but is still deciding whether to pass out the cards before the end of the year, since students may lose them over the summer.

She said that they will be distributed to the incoming first-year students next academic year and plans to place cards in student mailboxes for pick up.

Each student will be provided with an emergency card with information about local police and transportation in the Five Colleges.

Got a late start?

Join the news staff next year!

Email us at djeon17@ amherst. edu to get started!

Opinion

THE AMHERST

STUDENT

Why Voting Matters Editorial

There’s an old saying in politics: Laws are like sausages — no one wants to see how they’re made. Most American citizens want their roads plowed, mail delivered and bridges kept structurally sound.

Yet, less than half actually show up to vote during the presidential elections every four years. That number drops dramatically for the state and local elections in which most legislation is actually passed.

The candidates in many elections for crucial senate seats run unopposed as both they and their district have lost any of their original inspiration for change. The fact is that people don’t care about the government that creates and sustains the institutions we need in our daily lives. Any political science student worth their salt knows this — so why is The Amherst Student talking about it?

Voter apathy might seem like a remote phenomenon only affecting the politically ignorant, but it’s alive and well even on this campus. If you actually check the all-campus emails from the AAS (which many of us admittedly do not), you’ll know the executive board elections for the 2015-2016 academic year happened last Thursday. Firstly, despite the massive boost in diversity in the past three years, the supposedly representative AAS e-board fell backwards this year with a mostly white and entirely male slate of candidates. The election for treasurer, better known as the person who manages and doles out one million dollars of student money a year, was uncontested this year. The secretary (who, among other duties, organizes all the AAS vans) and judiciary chair races also saw only one candidate each.

The closest election, the vice presidential race, was won by more

than 13 percentage points. Just under 7 percent of votes for that race went to write-in candidates, presumably because voting students didn’t take the time to find out about either candidate on the actual ballot. Finally, the one incumbent candidate, Tomi Williams, won the presidential election by a huge margin. Yet, though the AAS president is a representative for every single Amherst student, fewer than 400 voted for him, with fewer than 450 students voting in that election overall. Last year, the first round of elections for the four presidential candidates easily broke 700 votes (although that’s still not incredible turnout for a voting pool of around 1,300). From looking at the numbers, it’s clear that not many of us really cared that there was an election last week.

Walking around campus, it was practically impossible to tell there was an election going on, save a few scattered posters. Hardly anyone was looking at candidates’ platforms or talking to them about their points of view. Last year’s election captured the campus’ attention.

This time around, many students didn’t meet even the people running. Confused by who the candidates were and what they stood for, they just didn’t bother to vote. To put it in perspective, there were no Muckrake articles written about the e-board election this year.

The election that will define our leaders for the next year slipped by while hardly anyone noticed and fewer cared. At the end of the day, the AAS only has power to create change or perform its basic administrative functions because of a student mandate.

The Moment My Amherst Bubble Popped Joyce Wamala ’18E Contributing Writer The scariest experience in life is knowing that something is wrong with you, when no one else can see or diagnose the fact that there is indeed something wrong with you. I was recently hospitalized for the first time in my life.

It was two weeks of insanity, two weeks that could have changed the course of my very existence in this continent. It sounds highly dramatic, and that is because it was just that — dramatic.

I woke up one Wednesday morning like any other member of our college community. It was an average day, and the spring we had been promised for so long was still being hidden by the winter breeze. I walked around my room trying to get everything into my bag so I wouldn’t need to walk back to Cohan until after volleyball practice that evening. I ended up taking a detour through Val to pick up one of those muffins that are usually above the fresh fruit. The kind old man who wipes down the drinks counters helped me out with one of those disposable coffee cups. Because I am still paranoid about the effects of caffeine, I opted for my usual mint tea with lemon and honey.

At this point, I was already off to a delayed start. Being two minutes late for French class was

literally the worst thing possible, or was it? I side-shuffled my way though the growing mass of people that wanted to bust their trays and ran to Merrill to get into the one class of mine that should have given me a break from the site of Merrill on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We were discussing “Persepolis,” an autobiography about a small girl in Iran struggling with her perception of the world. Said girl was wondering why there was so much ambiguity in what adults said and what they did. She questioned her faith and how politics and social correctness came together with politeness. All of these questions ended up chasing her away from God. For the first time, I finally understood the concept of “triggers.” I understood why people with post traumatic stress disorder were not “joking around with their lives.” I sympathized with people who needed the Amherst Christian Fellowship, Queer Resource Center, Multicultural Resource Center or Women’s and Gender Center to give them support. I felt compassion for anyone who had experienced difficulty due to something they could not control about themselves, be it ethnicity, spiritual belief or socioeconomic background. For the first time in a long time, I felt so crippled by my own mind, so much so that I could not take being at Amherst.

I think many of us reach this point at one time or another in the semester. It is that moment when school would not be too much to handle if it stood in isolation, and yet so many of us are aware that our existence at Amherst is not confined by a classroom space.

No, our existence at Amherst isn’t even confined by the geographical location of this campus. I had reached that breaking point when my “Amherst bubble,” my slice of Cohan pie, my social niche, my physical existence — when all of these things were in perfect chaos. For those who were close enough to me to hear me speak that weekend after Wednesday’s class, I believed that I had gone mad.

A kind young man on the football team tried to comfort me that Sunday evening, when I had my “big bang” moment. He said, “We’re all a bit crazy sometimes.

It’s OK.” Funny enough, all I could hear were my own thoughts. I could see people, but they all just seemed to be carrying on with their lives as if I didn’t matter.

The brain is a beautiful thing. It is so beautiful, in fact, that when something goes wrong in the synaptic connections of our brains, it sometimes sends contradictory messages to the rest of our body and mind. For me, love meant hate, compassion meant nonchalance and communication meant speaking without a filter. I need-

ed help and I felt like I was on an island. The island turned out to be Keefe Campus Center, a place that few of us have really gotten to know well. I sat in the McCaffrey Room and rambled on until inspiration struck me to ask for medical assistance. The Office of Student Affairs brought in a case manager, the on-call religious adviser came by, one of my best friends sat with me and someone I look up to sat with her. We were all there in McCaffrey for different reasons, but they aligned in my favor.

I was taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital and I stayed there for two weeks, two blissful weeks that were simultaneously filled with chaos and compassion. I could eat whatever I wanted, sing whatever I wanted and paint whatever I wanted. For the first time in a long time, I could write my own story. I suppose that in writing I am trying to write my own story once more. When I had decided that I would willingly come back to school, the school worked with me. The Counseling Center, in conjunction with the Office of Student Affairs, made sure that I had an outpatient care team. Our religious adviser drove me back to campus and ensured that I had everything I needed, including my medication. In essence, all the support that I want-

Continued on next page

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

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The Amherst Student • April 15, 2015

Opinion

Hot Takes on Biddy’s Reply-All Jeremy Rubel ’15 Contributing Writer Few phenomena of modern life are more inane than an accidental inter-office reply-all.

And yet, the Amherst campus reacted passionately to Biddy’s school-wide email: “This is the wrong version. What happened, Pete?”

On Facebook and via text message, to neighbors in class and among chatting friends in Valentine, we all — the whole campus in unity — pounced on Biddy’s email, recognizing it for its comedic gold. Unsatisfied with the competition for friends’ laughs and Facebook likes, students organized a protest in support of Pete. Mimicking all the trappings of a real campus protest, these mock-activists marched on Biddy’s house and plastered Val with posters. The next day, Biddy announced Spring Concert on YouTube, cheerfully teasing herself about the mistaken reply-all, even claiming she was banned from using email.

This bizarre series of events demands explication. A population inspired to spontaneous action is a culture in need of interpretation, especially when that population is as splintered as Amherst’s and the source of inspiration as trivial as an email. Disoriented by last week’s seemingly inexplicable events, my friends and I argued in search of meaning.

Among my friends, the best arguments are usually the loudest. Like news pundits, we see evidence and thorough argumentation as impediments to quick analysis. On Twitter, this interpretative style assumes its ultimate form: the hot take. After a news event, revolutionary or inconsequential, pundits compete for the cleverest and most contrarian view. In search of meaning, my friends and I competed for the hottest take.

Hot Take #1: Biddy’s email unmasked her grandmotherly image, revealing her to be a bureaucrat no different than Suzanne Coffey.

What could be more bureaucratic than an inter-office email? After four years in office, presiding over numerous scandals, Biddy remains more popular than her subordinates. If the administration discloses housing shortages or changes to Title IX policy, then

the deans sign the bottom of the school-wide email. However, you can be sure that Biddy will announce every Fall Festival and Winter Carnival. Biddy desires to be the approachable public face of the school. She’s the president who hilariously takes selfies and always has time for you in office hours. Even the decision to go by the nickname Biddy shapes her brand. To her dismay, the reply-all provided unfiltered proof of her true character.

Biddy’s tenure as grandmother-in-chief was over. The revelation of this unsettling political death set off a campus in need of leadership. The funereal protesters mourned their fallen leader and each Facebook joke transparently hid the dull pain. Just as quickly, the Spring Concert announcement marked the rebirth of Biddy’s grandmotherly image.

In on the joke and reminding us of her poor email skills — just like Grandma! — she restored her image as our adorable president who dances to T-Pain.

Hot Take #2: An only mildly amusing email enthralled our fractured campus because we so desperately crave unity. Last year, a wandering moose inspired a campaign for a new college mascot. Our Amherst bubble is so enveloping and stale that the student body rabidly consumes any and all fresh news.

In our social order, every possible action is subjected to over-analysis. A student’s choice of sport, major and dining hall seat is scrutinized as a political decision. Biddy’s reply-all shocked the system. It was something new, an event independent of our oppressive politics.

We all saw the opportunity to make a joke — the same joke — and come together for just a moment without our peers’ judgment.

Hot Take #3: The reply-all email, the subsequent protests and the administration’s response were a perfect case study in how campus activism gets co-opted. At the 2012 Day of Dialogue on sexual assault, campus administrators sat perched on stage, overlooking staff and students below. Sitting in the front row, protesters aimed to express their dissatisfaction with the administration and the event. Instead, Biddy sanitized and co-opted the protest. She invited the students to march through the aisles of folding

chairs, but just for a minute before they had to quietly take their seats. Biddy’s response to the #StandUpforPete protest was just another play from the same playbook. The administration always positions itself as with the protesters, always ready to be in on the joke. Likely, Biddy asked Pete to attend the protests to prevent any dissent deemed improperly unruly or any more negative press mentions in the New York Times. To understand the reply-all, you only have to ask yourself if Biddy or the administration has lost any power since the scandal. In just 24 hours, the school veered from scandal to protest to the administration’s masterfully subversive response. Remember, the administration will never give up power without a fight.

Hot Take #4: What if Biddy sent the reply-all on purpose? This contrarian take is almost certainly not true — but what if it is?

Everyone assumed that the reply-all was accidental, but maybe that’s the best argument for its strategic brilliance. Consider: Is your opinion of Biddy more or less favorable than before you received her email? The so-called email fiasco masterfully distracted the student body from this college’s real scandals.

As further evidence, the Spring Concert announcement that joked about Biddy’s reply-all was released just the day after the so-called accidental email. Was there really enough time to write and release this video without prior knowledge of the reply-all?

Hot Take #5: The over-analysis of Biddy’s reply-all and the subsequent events demonstrates that Amherst students are merely snarky observers, too willing to bullshit unthoughtful interpretations. Amherst students are taught to write persuasive arguments, but remain apathetic and distant from substantive participation. For four years, I have argued every possible point of view about my classmates, my professors and our campus culture. But I have never attended a protest — not for sexual assault, nor black lives, nor climate change. In just a few short weeks, I will graduate, and I am scared that in the real world I will be judged less on my snarky hot takes and more on my ability to contribute meaningful change.

5

Finding Support at Amherst Continued from previous page ed and needed at the hospital followed me back to campus.

Now, many of you will wonder why I felt the need to over-share or to release so much information to such a large audience. Many of you might feel the urge to show me compassion and will empathize or maybe even just sympathize with this article. My aim is for none of the above. I want more people on this campus who face similar issues to know that help is available. I need more people with struggles to know that the struggle is real. It is so real that no one expects you to go the mile alone. There are systems and supports in place that are here to help you. There are people in offices staring at computer screens all day long and waiting on that phone call or email that will let them know that you want and appreciate their help.

Never suffer in silence. Peace and understanding, hope and love, faith and science — all these things can coexist for you. You simply have to call out for them. The campus emergency line is 413-542-2111. The after-hours counseling number is 413-542-2354. Whatever you think is an emergency can be emergency enough for you to call this line.

Buddha once said, “The mind is everything. What we think, we shall become.”

If you think you are too stressed, you may be too stressed; if you think you are a bit crazy, you may be. All such emotions and reactions are appropriate and normal. You are not alone.

Non-Commitment: Or, Why the Board of Trustees Is Like a Bad Boyfriend Noah Lerner ’16 & Ned Kleiner ’16 Contributing Writers In March, members of the Green Amherst Project met with members of the investment committee on the board of trustees to discuss their recent statement on sustainability. In their statement, the board articulated lofty goals that included plans to push Amherst towards “carbon neutrality,” the proposal of a green “revolving fund” and a commitment to “environmental best practices” in their investing policy.

Paired with these three goals was a dismissal, though not a direct rejection, of the Green Amherst Project’s call for coal divestment.

Following the board’s statement, many of us in the Green Amherst Project were hopeful that the board’s commitment to sustainable investing might accomplish some of the same goals as those that we have been pushing for in our campaign for coal divestment.

Might staying “on the forefront of environmental best practices” not include an eventual departure from fossil fuel investment? The vagueness and complete lack of a time frame in the board’s

statement made many among us suspicious, but we hoped that by working together with the board we might be able to move them towards sustainable investing faster than we could by rejecting their statement out of hand.

So it was with some degree of optimism that we went into our meeting with the board of trustees in late March. We didn’t imagine that we would get them to agree to divestment — or even a good approximation of it — but we did believe they were committed to sustainability and that they would be willing to make some of the hard choices necessary to achieve it. After all, the board stated that they wish to make Amherst “an example of what sustainable policies can achieve.”

It seems almost self-evident that this will require some sacrifices — if it didn’t, why wouldn’t we have done so already?

Our most recent meeting with the board was very educational. Members of the investment committee walked us through the subtleties and complexities of our endowment that we had not fully grasped until now. We are grateful that they took the time to do that. But the meeting was also very sobering.

The board — specifically, its president, Cullen Murphy, and one of its financial experts, Simon Krinsky — made it extremely clear that full divestment of our entire endowment is, in their minds, entirely off the table. This was disheartening to hear, but our campaign has understood from the beginning that even without full divestment, there is still progress to be made.

What came next was far more alarming. When asked about weighing the trade-offs between investment returns and sustainability, the board members seemed confused. The idea of investing in anything that would offer suboptimal returns was completely foreign to them. They kept coming back to the notion that the board would love to make those sustainable investments that they believe will pay off in the long run. While we applaud the board’s commitment to finding investments that are both profitable and sustainable, the harsh reality is that many fossil fuel companies remain incredibly profitable, and they will remain so as long as our political and cultural institutions fail to hold them accountable. Until we have a fair price on carbon emissions, it will be difficult

for schools to avoid investing in fossil fuel companies unless they are willing to accept that we don’t always need to find the maximum return on investment.

Of course, there exist investments that are both sustainable and profitable. But we would expect that Amherst, which considers itself a leader in the fields of both investment and education, would have already found these win-win investments. If they haven’t done so already, it’s difficult to take seriously their language of “responsibility” and “conviction.” The board’s recent statement on sustainability would seem to signal a willingness to go beyond the bare minimum. So why was the board so unwilling to pledge to take any action more substantial than the easy things they’ve already achieved? Why is the board like a bad boyfriend?

Because they are afraid of commitment. The board’s statement on sustainability is nothing more than a loose pledge that allows them to make only the changes they wish to make, on their own schedule, while still appearing to take seriously the student body’s call for action on climate issues.

Despite stating that “it is essential that effectiveness can be evaluated, [and] that our policies are transparent,” they offered no real way for us to hold them accountable — at our meeting all they offered was that the we could “send an email once a year,” adding that “the onus is on you to hold us accountable.”

According to the best models we have, there is about five times more carbon in the ground than we can burn without irrevocably altering the earth’s climate. By continuing to support companies that profit off of fossil fuel extraction and consumption, we are encouraging behavior that will quickly doom us. It is therefore imperative that we commit ourselves to substantial and immediate action. The board’s statement deliberately avoids doing so, and from our meeting it is clear that annual conversations will not be sufficient to change their minds. The Green Amherst Project will not accept inaction, nor will we tolerate the board’s attempts to disguise the status quo as real change. We therefore call on the board to do better — if Amherst truly values sustainability, we must not only speak about our principles, but act upon them.

Arts&Living

Photo courtesy of Office of Communications

On Wednesday, April 15 the Spring Arts Festival will feature an exhibit of Keats’ work and an opportunity to converse with the artist about his conceptual art.

Spring Arts Festival Welcomes Inventive Alumnus Jonathon Keats Sophie Currin ’17

Staff Writer

The 2015 Spring Arts Festival, Amherst College’s biggest arts festival yet, is currently holding a mix of musical and visual performances; art exhibits and workshops and conversations with artists. Spanning over 10 days with an event or two every day, the festival has so far hosted a few music showcases and celebrations, a film screening and an artist workshop with Jonathon Keats ’94. Still to come: an arts party at the Powerhouse, a glee club concert, an arts faculty performance and a reveal of the Jonathon Keats exhibit at The Mead, paired with a lecture by Keats himself.

Among the variety of special events being held on campus over this week and a half, a focus for those interested in photography, but more importantly conceptual art, would be the events with Jonathon Keats. Once a philosophy major at Amherst, Keats is now most widely known as a philosopher and conceptual artist, residing in San Francisco and Italy.

Keats’ wildly entertaining past projects tend to play on the fringes of social norms and often engage an unsuspecting public. Much of his work could be described as outward public per-

formances of philosophical ideas. In 2003 he copyrighted his mind as his own creation in order to obtain a type of immortality, as the reflection of his mind as intellectual property would be protected past his death to physically act out the idea “I think, therefore I am.” He’s done a variety of not-so-borderline-shocking projects, like selling his thoughts produced in an intensive 24-hour window in the presence of a model posing nude and trying to genetically engineer God in a lab.

Wednesday, April 15, at Amherst, membersof the community have the opportunity to share a moment commencing Jonathon Keats’ newest project, a 1,000-year exposure taken from the top spires of Stearns Steeple overlooking the Holyoke Range. The exposure is to be paired with an exhibit in The Mead of Keats’s relevant work, and the opportunity to engage in conversation with the artist himself.

A style dubbed “Photographing Deep Time,” Keats’s goal is to document how a frame has changed over a long period of time in a single exposure as opposed to capturing one fleeting moment. He has several ongoing projects — 100 100year cameras capturing change continuously — in Berlin, Germany and Tempe, Arizona.

On Tuesday, Keats prefaced his Wednesday reveal of the 1,000-year camera by holding an artist workshop, showing the audience how to make 100year cameras. After a brief introduction and quick run through the method of creating a 100-year pinhole camera, he unleashed us. He instructed each of us to dismantle an old film camera, and add the necessary features: some black construction paper, two sheets of metal and a very strong, long-lasting glue. Simple, yet holding the powerful potential of capturing 100 years worth of change — the project was easy and fun, giving participants the chance to do something creative.

But, the final product of these 100 and even 1,000-year cameras is not what drives the project — for Keats, the prospect of success in having an exposure turn out and be comprehensible “needs to be possible … but is not essential.”

Though he researched the best materials in art conservation extensively, he said that, since so many factors could destroy the project — a natural disaster, architectural crumble of the steeple, lack of information and technology of deep time photography — failure is possible, yet not fatal. The goal is to, in the process of creating an image of society, an “image of culture” as Keats calls it,

involve the members of the community, you, in the “ability to see deep time.”

The 1,000-year camera placed overlooking the Holyoke Range gives those with the knowledge of the project the opportunity to see a future, to foresee the interplay between humans and nature, maybe leading to a more conscientious handling of our environment.

Keats said he hopes that one day, these long-term cameras may be implemented into society normally, as a positive surveillance method to increase awareness of our impact on the environment, and to further involve and consciously intertwine current members of the planet with those of the future.

Charming and bursting with questions and ideas, Jonathon Keats remembers his days at Amherst fondly, describing Professor George’s Philosophy of Science course as very influential — it was where he said he first discovered the invigorating combination of “rigor and naivetë” that drives many of his thought experiments today.

The experimental philosopher will be speaking today, April 15, in the Mead from 2 to 3 p.m., revealing his exhibit contextualizing the 100-year and 1,000year camera deep time project. The 1,000-year camera will be placed on the Stearns Steeple on June 1 of this year.

Latest Nicholas Sparks Adaptation Fails to Revolutionize the Genre Alexandra James ’16 Staff Writer Maybe I’m just a bitter person who hates any kind of romantic film, or maybe I’m just tired of the fact that the romantic movie genre has basically turned into perpetual adaptations of Nicholas Sparks novels. “The Longest Ride” is the newest in the plethora of Sparks films. What makes this film different from the others? Practically nothing. In all honesty, it really is just a different cast and a slightly tweaked familiar plotline.

Meet Sophia Danko (played by Britt Robertson): an attractive 20-something from the Northeast who has somehow managed to find herself living in a sorority house in a North Carolina university. Sophia is supposed to be smart and passionate about art, since her room is decorated from ceiling to floor in posters of paintings. However, beyond gushing every once in a while about the

importance of art to her romantic interest, Luke (played by Scott Eastwood), Sophia’s character remains largely onedimensional for the film’s two-hour runtime. Luke is even duller: with a onetrack mind for bull riding, Luke is willing to make it to the top of the professional bull-riding world, even if it kills him (a threat that looms over him in the whole film, but for some reason the sense of danger never seems truly credible).

The two lovers meet and supposedly have an instant connection — although the actors’ depiction of their chemistry is far from convincing. Sophia hesitates to begin a relationship with Luke because she will be graduating from college soon and will eventually move to New York for an important internship. Of course, these young lovers cannot keep their eyes away from each other after a victim from a car crash, Ira (played by Alan Alda), draws them together. Ira is a snarky old man — perhaps the only character with

any personality — who is unable to read a collection of precious letters written to his deceased wife, Ruth (played by Oona Chaplin).

Although letters are an overused plot device for Nicholas Sparks’ narratives, these letters successfully convey the relationship between Ira and Ruth while also inviting the audience to make connections to the budding romance between Sophia and Luke. But the RuthIra romance ends up being far from secondary. As we learn about them through the letters, Ruth and Ira develop into richer and more likeable characters than Sophia and Luke: We see their perseverance through World War II, their infertility and other hardships. The very fact that Ira and Ruth were able to suffer and succeed through these trials makes them many times more compelling than the film’s main characters. As a result, Sophia and Luke become quite annoying by the end of the film; their relationship seems

shallow at best, and the thought that Sophia would even consider rejecting her internship to stay with Luke seems entirely unbelievable.

The film’s flaws are just part of an endless supply of perfectly predictable moments that range from the introduction of the relationship, to the first sexual encounter, to the inevitable first fight. It seems that the director, George Tillman Jr., wished to simply embrace every single cliche of the romance genre, eliminating any semblance of creativity from his dirrecting. Perhaps this is a symptom of how poorly this novel was written, leaving no room for creative influence over the narrative.

Even when it comes to the other adaptations of Sparks novels, “The Longest Ride” does not even come close to being one of the better works (which is already a low bar to begin with). This film does

Continued on next page

Arts & Living 7

The Amherst Student • April 15, 2015

Questionable Acting and Weak Writing Sinks “The Longest Ride” Continued from previous page little in guiding the emotional response of the viewer, seemingly hoping that we will like the two main characters without any effort from the actors or the director.

Even the ending feels contrived: It seems as though it was born out of a realization that the film had gone on long enough, rather than a desire to let the story end in an organic way.

The saddest thing about all of this is that no matter what this review states, the key demographic of hopeless romantics and Sparks enthusiast will still arrive in hordes to see this film. In fact, my theater alone contained an abundance of people waiting with popcorn to cry and sniffle trhough the film. Perhaps this review can prevent those who were willing to kill an

afternoon watching “The Longest Ride” to switch to watching something else — really, anything else would be better. This film will only leave you with the feeling that you yourself suffered the longest ride; after all, this is the longest Nicholas Sparks movie to date.

My only hope is that one day, Nicholas Sparks will realize that instead of pushing out novels and films every other year to make more money, his writing and influence is better spent producing higher quality work. After all, the romance genre does not need to be cliche in order to make money. Until that day occurs, I will spend my time wondering why people even bother spending money to continue watching the same film over and over again.

Photo courtesy of foxmovies.com

Britt Robertson and Scott Eastwood portray the film’s unlikely relationship.

Amherst Cinema Screens the Witty “What We Do in the Shadows” Claire Jia ’15 Staff Writer One-half of the Flight of the Conchords duo who brought you “Business Time” and “Foux de Fa Fa,” and the genius behind award-winning “Boy,” are back with “What We Do in the Shadows”— a feature-length film that in my opinion trumps any of the Flight of the Conchords’ most famous videos. It’s not just a documentary, not just a vampire movie — it’s a vampire mockumentary. Jermaine Clement (of Flight of the Conchords) and Taika Waititi (“Boy”) have created something funny and subversive, and they take themselves just seriously enough to do the trick.

The parody horror movie gimmick is done often, but Waititi and Clement trump all their predecessors. The film mocks vampires. It mocks vampire movies. It mocks documentaries, reality TV and just about every film and literary trope (the bad boy, the virgin, the sentimental happy ending). But it does so pointedly, with an incredible awareness of the tropes it mocks.

The film begins with a typical documentary disclaimer: “In 2013 camera crews gained access to a highly secretive society. They were granted protection by the subjects of the film.” We’re first introduced to Viago, age 379, who wakes up by alarm at 6 p.m. and then introduces the audience to his roommates: Deacon, Vladislav and Petyr, who, being 8,000 years old, doesn’t have to attend the flat meeting. The vampires, as we expect, are afraid of sunlight, only drink blood, vomit blood when they ingest food and have creepily pale skin.

We follow Viago, Deacon and Vladislav as they argue over chores, navigate the Wellington bar scene and interact with humans, werewolves and other monsters.

Deacon (Jonathan Brugh), being just 183 years old, is the irresponsible rebel of the group, amateur erotic dancer and former “vampire Nazi.” Viago (Taika Waititi) is a neat freak who organizes the flatmates’ cleaning schedule (“Deacon, you haven’t washed the dishes in five years!”) and lays newspapers down on the couch before he kills his victims. Vladislav (Jermaine Clement) has an affinity for furs and calls his style “deadly but delicious.”

When a virgin-eating ritual goes wrong, should’ve-been-dinner Nick (Cori Gonzalez Macuer) becomes a new flatmate.

Nick’s entrance into their world shakes things up: He brags about being a vampire in public (“Do you want to draw attention to this house, Nick?” “You have a whole documentary crew following you around”); he introduces his flatmates to his human friend, Stu (Stu Rutherford), and he teaches them how to use social media.

The film ceaselessly mocks every single vampire convention. We have your uninteresting, sad human woman — Deacon’s “servant,” Jackie (Jackie Van Beek) — who desperately wants to join the undead, for some reason (we’re looking at you, Bella Swan). We have the classic vampirewerewolf rivalry, with a couple new jabs and comebacks (“We don’t smell our own crotches; we smell each other’s crotches!” the werewolves protest, emphatically).

The flatmates also request that virgins be brought to them as their meal, but explain that “we like to eat virgins just because it sounds cool.” The film pushes farther, rid-

Image courtesy of nzfilm.co.nz

“What We Do in the Shadows” is the hilarious collaboration of Flight of the Conchords’ Jermaine Clement and “Boy” director, Taiki Waititi.

iculing modern technology, male aggression, Christianity and adult living situations. We forget that the camera crew is human until Vladislav points it out during an undead-only party, saying, “You will not eat the camera guy,” then, “Maybe one camera guy.” The film is Conchords humor at its best, and then some.

The kitschy documentary subtitles, Quentin Tarantino-esque amount of blood and the characters’ own deadpan earnestness make for a wildly entertaining hour and a half. The cinematography follows horror movie conventions, down eerie hallways and dimly lit staircases, for mere moments before the scene reveals and we see that, for instance, what appeared like a

hanging corpse is actually Vladislav flying on a vacuum cleaner.

Watch this movie. If you don’t watch any other movie this year, watch this. It’s side-splittingly funny. It’s satirical. It’s also just a really sweet movie; the characters are cool people. One of my favorite moments comes at the movie’s end, when Nick and Deacon share a rare moment of camaraderie. Deacon’s way of comforting Nick is by saying, “Sometimes you make the honest mistake of making a mask out of crackers and a duck eats your face,” followed by, “I hope that made you feel better.”

It really did.

“What We Do In The Shadows” is now playing at Amherst Cinema.

Arts & Living 8

The Amherst Student • April 15, 2015

Jenny Hubbard’s Young Adult Novel “And We Stay” Misses Mark Evan Paul ’18 Managing Arts & Living Editor In Jenny Hubbard’s 2014 novel “And We Stay,” the author attempts to explore a teenager’s mind after a tragic loss: the untimely death of her high school boyfriend. After suffering from severe depression and unsure what else she can do, Emily Beam, the protagonist of the novel, ships off to an all girl’s boarding school in Amherst, Massachusetts. Once she’s there, Emily becomes enamored with another Emily — Emily Dickinson.

Inspired by the poet, Emily Beam spends her first year at boarding school writing secret poems and harboring an even bigger secret. Unfortunately for Emily Beam, both secrets become far too much to handle.

While browsing the young adult section of our local Jones Library, I came across a book with a beautiful cover of a girl standing in the snow. Since I have a strong tendency to choose books based on their covers, I was immediately drawn in. After a quick scan of the back cover, the words “Amherst, Massachusetts” popped out at me, and I was hooked. Unfortunately while this book could have been beautiful, and sometimes it was, overall I found it both dry and pretentious.

I had numerous issues with the book.

When I first began reading “And We Stay,” I was immediately uncomfortable

with the third-person present narration style. Hubbard’s narration is stilted, and it was difficult to connect, like or even care about any of the characters. Her writing is simply too awkward to read.

For some reason the book also makes a big deal out of being set in 1995, which is fine and dandy, but honestly there is no reason why it couldn’t be set in present day. I don’t quite understand why Hubbard feels the need to mark the date of every single poem Emily Beam writes because ultimately, it’s not pertinent to the story. Nothing in the way the girls speak or dress immediately screams “90s.” By making note of the year, Hubbard takes away the timelessness that the novel could have had.

I’ve read Jenny Hubbard’s other novel, “Paper Covers Rock,” which also features Hubbard’s heavily poetic prose style, so you could say I’m used to it. However, with this book I found a real problem with her style. Whereas I could wrap my head around the overly dramatic poetic prowess of the troubled protagonist in “Paper Covers Rock,” Emily Beam’s poetry comes off as annoying. “Paper Covers Rock” is told in the first person, so I know that all of the rosy language is the character’s. In “And We Stay,” all of the flowery language, except for the poems that Emily writes, is the narrator’s. While this kind of purple prose may work for a first-person narrator, it feels clichéd and pretentious in the third

person. For example, take this sentence: “She leaves them in the earth, her eyes hot with tears, a new poem burning itself all the way down her feet.” The writing might seem poetic at first, but when the entire novel is bogged down with selfconscious attempts at poetry, the result isn’t great. I honestly just wanted “And We Stay” to get to the point.

I also had an issue with the way in which the characters spoke to each other, particularly the conversations between Emily and K.T. , Emily’s best friend at the school. Perhaps this is meant to be where the whole 90s time period shows itself, but I found the way the characters spoke off-putting in the sense that there seemed to be a joke that I was missing out on every time.

The main plot, which concerns Emily’s relationship with her late boyfriend Paul, is also left hanging. The supposed twist that happens isn’t surprising at all and there isn’t enough focus on the problem itself. Of course, this would be OK if Emily actually grew as a person and, in doing so, left the past behind her, but I’m not sure she grows at all.

My final issue with the book was the Emily Dickinson plot line. I see the connections between both of the Emilys, but Hubbard never fully justifies the connection. What bothered me the most about the whole plot was that there seemed to be some type of half-heart-

Image courtesy of goodreads.com

“And We Stay” is one of few novels set in Amherst, Massachusetts. ed attempt at a supernatural plotline.

Unfortunately this part of the plot is never really fleshed out, leaving me with many questions that went unanswered.

This book, to put it bluntly, was boring. The plot twist to Emily and Paul’s story is not shocking, I’m still cloudy on why and how he killed himself, and the writing is far too dense and stilted to digest comfortably, making the less than 250-page work seem like it takes a lifetime to read. The bottom line is that if you want to read beautiful prose coupled with a well executed plot, then look elsewhere.

Getting Creative in Val: Uniting the Stir-Fry Station and the Pasta Bar Olivia Tarantino ’15 Staff Writer My favorite pieces of equipment at Val (besides the smoothie blenders) are found at the stir-fry station. This station opens up a whole window of opportunity, freedom and independence when it comes to your dinner choice. Learning how to control the temperature on the induction burners is crucial when it comes to cooking a non-burnt meal, so be weary of those little

blinking lights. Here are a couple of my favorite pasta dishes that will hold you over until it’s vodka sauce night.

Cold Sesame Noodles Suggested pasta: spaghetti 5 cucumbers, sliced into strips 1 piece of chicken, sliced Sesame seeds 1 packet of peanut butter (make sure to knead well and add at your table)

¼-inch high of a Val cup of soy sauce A healthy squirt of Sriracha (or more depending on how spicy you like it) 2 shakes of ground ginger 3 shakes garlic powder 2 spoonfuls of stir-fry Teriyaki sauce 1 spoonful of brown sugar Juice from 2 lemon slices Enough water to thin it out Instructions: Add spaghetti, sesame seeds and sliced cucumber into a white salad bowl. Whisk the rest of the ingredients together in a separate yellow bowl, adding water as needed until it forms a thicker, but still liquid, texture. Pour the peanut sauce over the noodles and mix all ingredients together.

Veggie Pesto Pasta Suggested pasta: penne 3 spoonfuls of pesto sauce ½ cup Parmesan cheese Lemon juice from 2 slices of lemon 1 spoonful of Dijon mustard 1 bowlful of spinach ¼ cup cherry tomatoes ¼ cup mushrooms

Image courtesy of Office of Communications

The stir-fry station allows students to create innovative pasta dishes, like Cold Sesame Noodles, Veggie Pesto Pasta and Four-Cheese Mac and Cheese.

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Instructions: Heat water in a pan over medium heat and add mushrooms. Allow mushrooms to cook for a minute, then add in spinach and tomatoes. Season with garlic, salt and pepper and cook until the spinach is wilted. Add penne and pesto sauce, Dijon

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mustard, lemon juice and stir together.

Reduce heat and continue to cook for a couple minutes over low heat. Finally, stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted.

Four-Cheese Mac and Cheese Suggested Pasta: bowtie pasta 1 cup low fat milk 1 cup half-and-half 1 tablespoon butter 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 cup of cheese blend of cheddar, swiss, mozzarella and Parmesan 1 cream cheese packet Optional toppings: bacon bits, crou- tons 1 teaspoon Salt 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper Freshly ground black pepper to taste Instructions: Heat the milk and half-andhalf and cayenne in a large saucepan over medium heat until it just comes to a simmer. Continue simmering until the liquid is reduced, about five minutes. Add the cream cheese and stir until melted. Whisk in the cheese blend until all the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth.

Add the macaroni to the saucepan and stir to combine. Stir in some water to thin the sauce if needed. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Bacon bits can be added in the final cooking stages, and crushed croutons can be sprinkled on top to give it a little crunch.

The Amherst Student • April 15, 2015

Sports 9

Men’s Tennis Undefeated in NESCAC Women’s Golf Takes Sixth at Vassar Invite Jeremy Kesselhaut ’16 Assistant Sports Editor

The fourth-ranked Amherst men’s tennis team continues to roll. The Jeffs picked up three more victories to extend their winning streak to six games, improving to 4-0 in the NESCAC and 15-4 overall. Their victories this past week against MIT, No. 23 Trinity and No. 8 Bowdoin were earned in convincing fashion.

All six matches in the current winning streak have come by at least a 7-2 edge. The Jeffs are undoubtedly hitting their stride at the right time as they approach the home stretch with just four matches left in the regular season before they attempt to defend their 2014 NESCAC and national championships.

On Thursday, April 9, the Jeffs traveled to Cambridge for a matchup against MIT, who sported a 9-2 record coming into the match.

It didn’t take long for the Jeffs to assert their dominance, as all three doubles teams for the Jeffs won. Juniors Aaron Revzin and Michael Solimano continued their masterful play in the No. 1 spot with an 8-5 victory.

Andrew Yaraghi ’16 and Anton Zykov ’17 also won in the No. 2 spot by the same score.

Another pair of juniors, Russell Einbinder and Benjamin Fife, won 9-7 in a close match in the No. 3 spot. In singles action, Yaraghi, Zykov, Revzin, Arnaboldi and senior co-captain Andrew Scheiner won in straight sets, while Solimano had a rare setback in the No. 2 spot losing 1-6, 6-2, 3-6.

On Saturday, April 11 and Sunday, April 12, the Jeffs played their first two on-campus home matches against NESCAC foes Trinity and Bowdoin. The Jeffs won by respective scores of 7-2 and 8-1.

Against Trinity, the Jeffs once again got off to an early lead. They swept the Bantams with an 8-4 victory by Solimano and Revzin, an 8-0 victory for Yaraghi and Zykov and an 8-1 tri-

umph from Scheiner and Eimbinder. The Jeffs took four out of six in singles with Yaraghi, Solimano and Zykov winning on the first three courts, and Arnaboldi winning at No. 6. All matches were once again won in straight sets.

Trinity dropped to 6-3 overall (2-2 in the NESCAC).

Bowdoin arrived in Amherst, feeling confident with a No. 8 ranking after winning seven of its last eight matches including a 6-3 win over Trinity, which Amherst beat on Saturday.

They left feeling dejected as the Jeffs downed the Polar Bears with a convincing 8-1 victory. For the third consecutive match, the Jeffs swept doubles with the same three pairs of doubles partners winning in relatively close matches. In singles, the Jeffs were equally impressive, with Yaraghi winning 7-5, 6-1 at No. 1, Solimano winning 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 at No. 2, Zykov winning 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3, Revzin winning 6-3, 7-6 at No. 4 and senior co-captain Sean Rodriguez winning 7-5, 6-2 at No. 5.

After winning matches decisively against the third-ranked Washington University in St. Louis at Hampshire College on Sunday, April 5 by a score of 7-2, and beating eighth-ranked Bowdoin at home on Sunday, the Jeffs are playing with significant momentum.

“We played well again this weekend,” Zykov said. “We knew Bowdoin was a strong team and one of the best in the country, and we came out competing very well and earned the result we wanted.”

The Jeffs look to build on their success with crucial Little Three matchups against Williams at home on Saturday, April 18 and at Wesleyan on Sunday, April 19.

“Next weekend against our rival [Williams], we will be prepared for them to bring fire against us, and it’s usually a close match, but we’re looking to continue what we’ve started the last couple weeks and beat them again as we have done recently,” Zykov said.

Kiana Herold ’17 Managing Sports Editor

Amherst came in sixth out of a field of 12 teams this past weekend at the Vassar College Invitational, hosted by the Casperkill Golf Club in Poughkeepsie, New York. The women travelled to upstate New York for their first outdoor tournament of the spring season as courses finally began to open with the slowly melting snow.

Amherst’s leading scorer was Jamie Gracie ’17, who shot a combined score of 164 to tie for 15th overall (81-83). The next finisher for the Jeffs was first year Zoe Wong, who shot a consistent 84 both Saturday and Sunday to come to a two-day score of 168, earning her a tie for 21st.

“Even though we didn’t score all that well as a team, there were a lot of positives that we can take away from the tournament,” Gracie said.

“Short game was hard because we didn’t have a chance to practice ahead of time, but the stuff

we were able to work on was solid.”

Devyn Gardner ’16 and Patricia Huang ’17 were Amherst’s two remaining scorers this weekend. Gardner shot a 90 the first day, to come back Sunday improving to a 82 for a total of 172. Huang shot 89 Saturday, improving to an 85 Sunday for a score of 174. The two placed 28th and 34th respectively.

Jenny Xu ’16 followed closely behind Huang earning a 35th-place finish with a cumulative score of 175.

CJ Bernstein competed individually, tallying a 46th-place finish for the purple and white (96, 86, 182).

“It was just nice to get in 36 holes outside in nice weather and now we can look forward to our home tournament this weekend,” Gracie said.

Next weekend the Amherst women will compete at their home tournament, the Jack Leaman Invitational, hosted by the Hickory Ridge Golf Club.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Jamie Gracie ’17 led Amherst this past weekend, shooting a combined score of 164 (81-83) to tie for 15th overall in the tournament.

Volleyball, Softball and Women’s Soccer Women’s Lax Splits on the Week, Community Engagement: ATEL Update Beats Colby in Thrilling OT Match

Lauren Tuiskula’ 17 Managing Sports Editor

The Amherst Student will regularly provide updates on initiatives carried about by the Amherst Athletic Team Engagement Leader program (ATEL). Individual team ATELs remained busy in the past few months, engaging with the local community in various ways.

Back on Feb. 22, members of the women’s volleyball team volunteered with Not Bread Alone, a group that provides homemade, hot meals to those in need of them.

Nicole Gould ’17, the team’s ATEL noted how working with Not Bread Alone is the perfect way for her and her teammate to engage with the community. “This particular community engagement is a good fit for my team because we all enjoyed preparing the meals together,” she said. “We all had our own assigned task for the meal so it was great to see my team working together in a different way than we do on the court.”

Following food prep, the team served meals.

Some of the guests were younger children, and the team took the opportunity to teach them how to play volleyball.

In other community engagement news, last month, on March 9 members of the women’s softball team planned and hosted a pizza party and bingo night at the Amherst Senior Center.

All team members played different roles in the event, with some shopping for prizes for the bingo winners and others assisting in event set up.

The players served pizza and led the game, but also had the opportunity to bond with the seniors as they played side by side.

Local restaurants Antonio’s and Lone Wolf also donated gift certificates for the event.

Alena Marovitz ’17, the team’s ATEL, was instrumental in the event’s success, communicating with the senior to plan the day. “Our team realized the positive impact we can have on others in

the Amherst area,” she said.

Finally, on March 11 members of the women’s soccer team volunteered with the Amherst Survival Center. The Survival Center has been operating since 1976 and helps members of the community to meet their needs when they are struggling.

During the offseason, the team has been visiting the survival center to share a meal with members of the local community who are visiting on that particular day.

In addition to their visits to the survival center, the team recently started a diaper drive initiative to help the center meet their demand for diapers.

“Our goal was to be able to find something we could be passionate about, something that we would genuinely enjoy,” women’s soccer ATEL Sarah Frohman ’17 said. “It’s not about how much money you can raise ... it’s about being able to look back and cherish memories and know that we made an impact.”

Photo courtesy of Nicole Gould ‘17

Members of the women’s volleyball team prepare meals.

Sarah Zuckerman ’17 Staff Writer After a tough mid-week loss to Connecticut College on Tuesday, April 7, the Amherst women’s lacrosse team rallied for a heartstopping senior day win against Colby. The team now stands at 8-4 overall on the season and 4-4 in the NESCAC conference. Just three games remain in the regular season, including two key conference match-ups against Tufts and Trinity.

Junior Rachel Passarelli netted the gamewinner with one second remaining in the second overtime period to bring the game to its final score of 9-8.

“I think Saturday’s game was a turning point for us. After a tough loss last Tuesday we came together as a team Wednesday and worked hard to figure out what we needed to do to turn our season around,” senior captain Priscilla Tyler said. Tyler had two goals and an assist on the day after only recently returning from meniscus surgery.

“Saturday we saw how good we actually are, and it felt amazing to finally be able to play together and to our potential. I think the Colby game was the start of an upcoming run for our team,” she added.

The game started off fast for the Jeffs, with the first three goals coming in quick succession at the 26.35, 25:05 and 22.46 marks. The first goal started with a pass from Tyler to tricaptain Megan Mills ’15. Mia Haughton ’16 followed up with the assists on the Cagnassola and Tyler goals.

At 19:26 the Mules put themselves on the board to cut the lead to two, but their efforts were short-lived. Tyler gave the Jeffs back their three-goal lead at the 14:16 mark off a pass from Coco Kusiak ’17 after an interception in

the defensive end by tri-captain Heath Cokrell ‘15. Kusiak then broke the deadlock of almost 10 scoreless minutes with a goal off a Mills pass to bring the score to 5-1.

Colby responded three minutes later with a string of three uninterrupted goals over a twominute period to send the teams into halftime with Amherst up 5-4. The second half started scoreless, with both teams trading attacks.

With just under 15 minutes remaining, Colby put away a free position shot to tie the game.

Amherst responded within the minute off a Haughton goal assisted by Julia Crerend ’18.

Two minutes later, Mills took advantage of a free position shot to bring the score to 7-5.

Colby brought the score within one again at the 11:48 mark before Passarelli scored off another Haughton assist. Colby then put two away within 30 seconds of each other to tie the game 8-8, where it would remain for the last four and a half minutes of regular time.

The first three-minute period of overtime saw no goals, with Colby holding possession of the ball for a good portion of the time. The second overtime period saw both teams going full tilt, but the Jeffs’ hard work set them apart in the end when Passarelli scored off a pass from Sarah Spector ’15 with the clock at 0:01.

“It was awesome to see everyone come together when it really mattered towards the end of the game to play for our seniors,” Passarelli said. The junior finished the game with two goals, as did Mills, while Haughton added one goal and three assists.

Christy Forrest ’16 had eight saves, while Cagnassola lead the team with four ground balls. The result moved both teams to 4-4 in conference play.

Amherst returns to the field to host Mount Holyoke on Wednesday, April 15 at 6 p.m. for a non-conference matchup.

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Sports

The Amherst Student • April 15, 2015

Baseball Sweeps Williams, Remains Undefeated in NESCAC Drew Kiley ’18 Staff Writer The Amherst College baseball team extended its undefeated (6-0) start to the NESCAC season with a sweep over Little Three rivals Williams last weekend. The team recorded a 3-1 record for the week, falling to Eastern Connecticut State, a strong non-conference opponent,on Monday after claiming the sweep to finish with a 13-7 record overall.

Originally slated to start their week last Wednesday with a home game against nonconference opponents Framingham State, the Jeffs were forced to postpone the game to this Thursday, April 16 due to the weather. With their first game against Williams on Friday at Amherst also postponed to Sunday at Williams, Amherst started the week’s action with a doubleheader against the Ephs in Williamstown on Sunday.

Although Amherst’s bats have been the storyline for most of this season, the Jeffs’ pitchers stepped up with big performances in the Williams series.

“Great hitting has been a big theme so far this season,” said sophomore catcher Sergio Rodriguez. “I think our top guy had 29 RBIs last year while multiple guys already have 30 this year. But we have a great pitching staff that’s stepped it up this year as well.”

In the first game of the doubleheader, Amherst, led by a brilliant performance on the mound by John Cook ’15, claimed an 11-4 victory. Starting the game, Cook tossed six innings, allowing two runs (neither earned) on three hits with 12 strikeouts.

Amherst’s bats continued their hot start to the NESCAC season, with multi-hit performances from shortstop Harry Roberson ’18, outfielders Mike Odenwaelder ’16 and Tyler Jacobs ’15, and designed hitter Ariel Kenney ’18.

For Williams, Phil McGovern led the way with three RBIs in a 1 for 3 effort while Beau Horan went 2 for 3 with the runs. Three pitchers took the mound for the Ephs. Starter Luke Rodino took the loss, surrendering eight runs (one earned) through five innings with three strikeouts.

The game started as a pitchers’ battle with neither team getting on the scoreboard until the fourth inning. In the top of the fourth, Jacobs drove in Conner Gunn ’16 with an RBI single before stealing home to open the scoring 2-0.

The Jeffs then broke the game open in the fifth when three costly Williams errors, one with the bases loaded and two outs, allowed Amherst to score six runs and claim an 8-0 lead. From there, Williams never really threatened again. allowing the Jeffs to take an easy win.

In game two, Amherst went 22 for 46 from the plate as the Jeffs cruised to a 17-3 victory over the Ephs. Odenwaelder went 3 for 6 with a two-run homer in the third inning to highlight effort, while Gunn and Eric West ’15 added four hits each. Keenan Szulik ’16 started an-

other strong game for Amherst, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits in seven innings.

Adam Dulsky led Williams hitters, going 2 for 4 from the plate with an RBI. Starter Thomas Murphy took the loss, giving up eight runs on 14 hits through five innings.

With the score tied 1-1 in the third inning, Odenwaelder’s home run highlighted a fourrun third inning for the Jeffs. Amherst then tacked on runs in each of the next four innings, with four in the sixth, to claim a big lead.

Williams did not score a run later than the fourth inning, with Riley Streit ’16 pitching a scoreless eighth and Chris Baldi ’17 a scoreless, hitless ninth.

On Sunday, the Jeffs endured a closer game, securing a nervy 6-4 win on the back of a brilliant performance in relief by Streit, who did not allow a run in six innings with only one hit. West led Amherst hitters with a 2 for 3 performance from the plate that included one run and one RBI. Dulsky logged a 2 for 3 effort with a run to lead Williams hitters. Daniel Smith started the game for the Ephs, giving up three runs in 3.1 innings, while Tyler Duff took the loss, giving up two runs over three innings despite allowing only one hit.

Amherst led by a score of 3-0 entering the fourth inning but lost the lead after a strong inning from the Ephs. Streit entered the game with the bases loaded, zero outs and the score tied at 3-3. The Amherst junior balked against his first batter, allowing Williams to take the lead, but proceeded to end the inning with three straight outs.

Streit kept Amherst close, recording 14 straight outs from the fourth to the eighth inning. After scoring a run in the sixth, Amherst loaded the bases in the seventh, and an Eric West walk allowed the Jeffs to take the lead.

Amherst added an insurance run in the eighth.

Streit then retired three straight Williams batters in the ninth to end the game.

On Monday, the Jeffs’ seven-game winning streak ended as they lost, 6-2, to Eastern Connecticut St. With the score knotted at 2-2 entering the seventh inning, ECSU buried the Jeffs with a four-run inning. Amherst could barely touch Warriors pitcher Ron Buchetto, who pitched a complete game, giving up only two runs on five hits through all nine innings.

Jackson Volle ’17 matched Buchetto through six innings, giving up just two runs on six hits with four strikeouts. Baldi took the loss, surrendering four runs through two innings on three hits. Andrew Vandini ’16 went 3-for-4 from the plate, but four Jeffs did not get on base as the team went 5 for 29 from the plate.

Amherst returns to action with a make-up game on Thursday at 4 p.m. against Framingham St. They then travel to NESCAC rivals Hamilton for a game on Friday at 4 p.m. and a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m. The Jeffs finish their week with a nonconference game on Monday at 4 p.m. against Castleton.

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Tyler Jacobs ’15 has 16 hit five doubles for the Jeffs this season.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Daniel Crowley ’16 Favorite Team Memory: Our second place finish at cross country regionals Favorite Pro Athlete: Tom Brady Dream Job: Sky diving instructor Pet Peeve: Mismatched socks Favorite Vacation Spot: Lake Winnipesaukee Something on Your Bucket List: Go sky diving Guilty Pleasure: Buying running shoes Favorite Food: Lobster Favorite Thing About Amherst: The New England weather How He Earned It: The junior distance runner is currently undefeated in the two meets Amherst has competed in this season thus far. Crowley earned a first place finish at Amherst’s home meet by almost a full 30 seconds in the 5K, with a time of 15:15.69. His time currently stands at 13th in the nation in the event. This past weekend at the UMass Invitational he won the 10k in a field of Division 1 runners with a time of 32:17.60. This time ranks 41st nationally.

Donna Leet ’15 Favorite Team Memory: Beating Williams at their home field in a come from behind win this past weekend Favorite Pro Athlete: Russell Wilson Dream Job: Food Critic Pet Peeve: Slow walkers Favorite Vacation Spot: Whistler Something on Your Bucket List: Cat island in Japan Ed Bassmaster Guilty Pleasure: Ed Bassmaster Favorite Food: Everything Favorite Thing About Amherst: Judiciary Council formal complaint email announcements How She Earned It: Senior captain Leet earned NESCAC player of the week honors for her performance against Williams this past weekend. She helped lift the Jeffs to a 2-1 series over their ranked rivals. Leet went 6 for 11 at the plate over the course of the weekend, good for a .545 batting average. She also posted a .545 batting average to accompany a 1.091 slugging percentage as her performance consisted of a double, a triple, a home run and four RBI.

Men’s Golf Places Fifth Out of 17 Teams at Hampton College Invitational

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Dan Langa ’18 placed fourth overall this weekend, finishing with a 171.

Lauren Tuiskula ’17 Managing Sports Editor The Amherst College men’s golf team placed fifth out of 17 teams competing in the Hampton Inn Collegiate Invitational held at the Allendale Country Club located in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts on April 10 and 11.

Rhode Island College came in first place with a score of 641 while Endicott College and Salem State University finished tied for second with scores of 650. Babson College came in fourth with a two-day combined score of 659, while Amherst finished with a score of 662 to round out the top five finishers.

The Jeffs shot a team 328 on day one and then a 334 on day two. Senior Jarvis Sill led Amherst, shooting a 79 on the first day of play and then improving to a 77 on day two. Sill earned fifth place overall in the tournament with his combined score of 156.

James Line ’16 followed for Amherst shooting

a combined 166 (79-87), while Liam Fine ’17 followed a mere three strokes behind at 169 (85-84).

First-year Dan Langa was Amherst’s fourth finisher, shooting a 171 with an 85 on day one and an 86 on day two.

Finally, senior Josh Moser rounded out the top five for the Jeffs with a score of 175, starting with a 88 on day one and improving to 87 on day two.

“Unfortunately, the weather the first day made the conditions quite difficult,” Liam Fine ’17 said.

“While the weather improved on day two, our team struggled to combine our ball striking and short games to produce a quality round.”

Amherst will return to play this coming weekend, competing at the Trinity College Invitational to be held at the Indian Hill Country Club. Saturday’s tee-off is set for 1 p.m., while Sunday’s action will begin at 11 a.m.

“In any event, we are excited now that our season has begun and are optimistic about what our season has in store,” Fine added.

The Amherst Student • April 15, 2015

Sports

Men’s Lax Defeats Colby, Moves to 7-1 in NESCAC Competition

Women’s Track Places Sixth Overall at UMass Invitational

Kiana Herold ’17 Managing Sports Editor

Raymond Meijer ’17 Staff Writer

The Amherst men’s lacrosse team travelled to Waterville, Maine and defeated Colby 13-9 this past Saturday. The Jeffs now boast a 12-1 record overall and stand 7-1 in NESCAC. Standout performances included Kane Haffey ’16 and Albanese ’17 scoring three goals apiece to contribute to the win, while Quinn Moroney ’16 tacked on two goals and two assists.

The game opened with an Amherst goal by Albanese off an assist from Dylan Park ’16. Within 10 seconds Colby retaliated to tie the score. A few minutes later Park assisted Haffey bringing the score to 2-1. Colby then went on a scoring streak, tallying five more points before Amherst earned the final goal of the first quarter. With just 28 seconds left, Park found the back of the net with an assist from Connor Crump ’16 moving the score to 6-3.

Colby took control early in the second quarter, scoring the first goal. However the purple and white were quick to reply with as Michael Litner ’16 found the back of the net off of dish from Mo-

roney. Colby would be unable to tally any more goals for the remainder of the quarter. Amherst turned the tide of the game, going on to score five more goals in the quarter. With 7:28 left in the second, Albanese scored with pass from Crump.

A little more than two minutes later, Moroney scored another. Soon after, Haffey lit up, scoring two goals in a row, the first assisted by Albanese and the second by Moroney. Moroney went on to score another for Amherst in the last second bringing the score to 9-7 going into halftime.

The third quarter experienced a relative scoring drought with the only goal coming unassisted from Albanese making the score 10-7 with 15 minutes left until the close of the game.

After a two-goal run by Colby in the opening stages of the fourth quarter bringing the score to 10-9, Amherst put its foot down, closely out the game with a decisive finish. Matt Killian ’17 found the back of the net with a little over two minutes remaining off of an assist from Eric Grein ’15. Albanese passed to Park who scored with a little over a minute left, while Park scored the final goal of the game in the last 20 seconds to reach the final score of 13-9.

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Brett Inglesby ’18 has played in seven games so far in his first-year campaign.

The Amherst women’s track team had a busy weekend, splitting their time between a trip down to Connecticut College on Friday and up the road to UMass on Saturday. The team came away with some successful results that qualify them for championship races later this season.

The team started its racing weekend on Friday at the Silfen Invitational, hosted by Connecticut College. The Jeffs brought some of their distance squad leaders to test out their legs in the 10K, with Lexi Sinclair ’16, Lizzy Briskin ’15, Savanna Gornisiewicz ’17 and Jessie Kaliski ’15 competing in the evening race. The four went into the race with a plan to treat the beginning stages as a paced tempo rather than an all-out effort, and then progress into a racing pace. But this didn’t prevent them from racing to some incredible early-season times while sweeping the top four places in the race.

To say the race was a success would be an understatement — all four qualified to run in the championship races throughout the remainder of the season and put up nationally competitive times. Sinclair, Briskin, Gornisiewicz and Kaliski ran the seventh, ninth, 10th and 27th-fastest times, respectively, in the country so far this year.

This early season success bodes very well for the remainder of the season.

“I’m excited and confident in what we can do in the future,” Gornisiewicz said. “It was also a really great end to an exciting day given that two of the girls running the 10K that day, Lizzy and Jessie, had just finished handing in their theses.”

On Saturday, the rest of the team was close by, competing at UMass against some good Div. isionI competition, placing sixth overall as a team.

In the field events, Kiana Herold ’17 led the way with strong efforts in four events. The sophomore, who has competed in the pentathlon in her two collegiate indoor seasons, showed her all-around athleticism by winning the high jump with a 1.61-meter jump, running a PR in the 100 hurdles (though it was wind-aided), and competing in the

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800-meter and shot put. Becki Golia ’18, who with Herold has formed a formidable high-jumping duo this season, placed fourth in the event with a 1.56-meter jump. Juniors Taylor Summers and Louise Atadja added top-10 finishes in the long jump to the team’s field results.

Karen Blake ‘17 again led the 100-meter and 200-meter crew, with her 200-meter win in 25.53 and 100-meter runner-up finish in 12.29 pacing the Jeffs. Her 100-meter time puts her at the 21st-fastest time in the country. Gabby Bishop ’18 followed Blake with a 13.51, in turn qualifying for the NESCAC championship meet in two weekends.

The long sprinters also contributed to the Jeffs’ sixth-place finish. Victoria Hensley ’16 and Sarah Whelan ’17 ran two NESCAC qualifiers apiece, running 27.81 and 27.82, respectively, in separate 200-meter heats to battle strong winds after earlier qualifying in the 400.

The team’s middle-distance and distance squad managed to run to some good times despite the weather conditions. Sarah Foster ’17E paced the team in the 1,500 meters with her 4:53.25, an effort that set her PR in the event and came close to her mile equivalent PR. In the 800, Kelli Ellingson ’15 moved from the back of the pack in her heat to the front with a commanding move with 250m to go, winning her heat in a 2:22.46 to qualify her for NESCACs and Division III New Englands.

Keelin Moehl ’16 (2:23.97) and Leonie Rauls ’18 (2:24.38) followed close behind to complete an Amherst sweep of their heat. With the winds still going strong, typically middle-distance-focused sophomores Tess Frenzel and Cara Lembo punctuated the meet with big PR’s in the 5K, with Frenzel running 19:04.25 and Lembo 19:10.40 to place fifth and sixth in the race, respectively.

“Individually I know I wouldn’t have had the same race if it wasn’t for the amazing group of teammates I had cheering me on each lap of the 5K,” Frenzel said. “Every woman on our team is a pretty spectacular athlete and there were a lot of performances at this meet that showed that.”

The team will continue its season this weekend at the Wesleyan Invitational.

Men’s Track Places Fifth Against Div. Women’s Tennis Victorious Against I Competition at UMass Invitational Previously Undefeated Bowdoin Kiana Herold ’17 Managing Sports Editor The Amherst men’s track and field team took a jaunt to nearby UMass Amherst to face off as the only Div.ision III team against a field of tough Division I competition. After travelling in a yellow school bus due to the meet’s proximity, the team fittingly schooled their competition as soon as they stepped onto the track, placing fifth overall.

The day opened with Amherst’s own Dan Crowley ’16 continuing his impressive winning streak with a quick 32:17.60 time in the 10K to earn the crown in the event. Meanwhile firstyear Justin Barry placed fourth with a time of 32:59.48.

The speedy combination of Brent Harrison ’16 and Romey Sklar ’15 in the 800 meters humiliated their Division I adversaries with times of 1:55.65 and 1:56.30 to finish first and second.

Amherst’s sole steeplechase runner this meet, Jeff Seelaus ’16, raced his first steeple race this outdoor season coming in third with a time of 10:05.63.

Out of a notably deep 50-person field in the 1,500 meters, Kevin Connors ’17 placed fourth with a time of 4:01.3. Fellow sophomore Steven Lucey earned a 15th-place finish in the event.

Jamie Sandel ’17, the workhorse of the meet, ran the 110 hurdles and the 400 hurdles, as well as a leg of the 4x400-meter relay. He placed sixth in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.23 and tenth in the 400 hurdles with a time of 58. 81. Fellow Amherst hurdler Nathan Showalter joined him in the 110 hurdles coming in 10th.

In the men’s triple jump, Khalil Flemming

’16 earned eighth place with a mark of 41’ 1.75”, while Stephen Hetterich ’15 came in 12th with a leap of 39’ 6.5”. The duo also took to the long jump, where Flemming and Hetterich placed 14th and 19th respectively.

In the 400-meter race, David Ingraham ’18 and Nick Codola ’15 both cracked the top 10, placing sixth and ninth.

“Coach Miller has definitely done a great job training the sprinters during the transition between the indoor and outdoor seasons, and I’m sure our performances will continue to reflect that as we enter the post-season,” Ingraham said.

“Our 4x400-meter relay also had a nice race, finishing very close behind some strong teams including Northeastern and UMass.”

The Amherst 4x400-meter relay consisting of Sandel, Codola, Brent Harrison ’16 and Ingraham sped into fifth place with a time of 3:26.96.

The team’s 4x100-meter relay made up of Josh Young ’17, Codola, Flemming and Matthew Thomas ’16 placed seventh with a time of 44.77.

Ingraham additionally competed in the 200-meter dash where he placed 10th with a time of 23.15. Young also sported a 12th place finish in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.50.

In the 5K, Craig Nelson ’18 placed third while KC Fussell came in 10th. The first-year duo of Scott Nelson and Peter Horton placed 12th and 13th respectively in the event.

“Overall, it was awesome to see a lot of our guys put up great performances while competing against some tough Division I competition,” Ingraham said.

Amherst will compete at the Wesleyan Invitational on Saturday, April 18.

Ashlyn Heller ’17 Staff Writer After cruising past Trinity on Tuesday 8-1, the Amherst women’s tennis team encountered their first real challenge of the season this past Saturday. The Jeffs faced No. 10-ranked Bowdoin in a nail-biting backand-forth battle. Ultimately, the women in purple and white prevailed, defeating Bowdoin 5-4.

In singles action, first-year Vickie Ip handily defeated the Polar Bear’s Joulia Likhanskaia 6-4, 6-2 on court one. Jackie Calla ‘17 also picked up a win for Amherst, defeating Tess Trinka on court three. However, Bow-

doin took the remaining singles courts, leaving Amherst fans on the edge of their seats.

It was the doubles courts that brought home the win for the Jeffs. Sue Gosh ’16 and Ip on court one marked the first doubles win for Amherst with a score of 8-4. With the same score, senior Safi Aly and junior Sarah Monteagudo were also victorious on court three, sending the Polar Bears back to Maine with their first NESCAC loss of the season.

With the win, Amherst is now 9-1 on the year and boasts a 3-0 record in the NESCAC. Currently, Amherst and Williams are the only undefeated teams in the conference. The teams will face off next Saturday, April 18 in Williamstown at 1 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Jacqueline Calla ’17 combined with Safi Aly ’17 for a doubles win over Tufts.

Sports

Photo courtesy of Kurt Ayers

Donna Leet ’15 earned NESCAC player of the week honors for her performance against Williams. She boasts a .426 batting average this season.

Softball Goes 2-1 on the Weekend to Claim the Season Series over Archrival No. 25-Ranked Williams, Moves to 11-7 on the Season Raymond Meijer ’17 Staff Writer With the warmth looking like it will finally stay, the Amherst women’s softball team took advantage of the sunny conditions to play a weekend series against Williams. They came away with two wins and one loss, clinching the season series against their rivals and improving to 11-7 overall and 2-3 in NESCAC action.

The Jeffs first hit the road, traveling to Williams on Saturday for a doubleheader. They ultimately split the two games, losing a close game in the first leg and then grabbing a victory in the second in thrilling, extra-innings fashion.

In the first game, the Jeffs fell behind early, a deficit that would make the difference in the end. The Ephs notched two runs in the bottom of the first off of a Kacey Cramber two-run shot to left, grabbing a 2-0 lead that would eventually make up the final score. Amherst mustered little offense against the strong pitching from Brooke Bovier, with Nicolette Miranda ’16 and Alyssa Sherwill ’15 contributing one hit apiece to prevent the team from being no-hit. While the Jeffs had some strong pitching of their own, with Jackie Buechler ’17 allowing just five hits and striking out four, it wasn’t enough to overcome the lack of run support.

The team was not about to give in to their archrivals, however, even after Williams jumped

G A M E S C H E D U L E

to another early lead in the second game. The Ephs scored four runs in the first three innings, but the Jeffs responded immediately afterwards to start what would become a nail-biter of a contest. In the top of the fourth, Brianna Cook ’16 drove in Kelsey Ayers ’15 with a pop-up to center to start chipping away at the Ephs’ lead.

Cook’s hit set the team up to take off in the top of the sixth even after the Ephs tacked on a run in the bottom of the fourth. First- year Ally Kido ’18 smacked an RBI double before Cook belted a two-run triple to left. Alena Marovitz ’17 continued the scoring barrage with an RBI sacrifice bunt, bringing the game to a 5-5 tie.

The game wouldn’t stay tied for long, though. Williams stormed back with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to take an 8-5 lead, with Lexi Curt hitting a two-run single and then scoring on a Melissa Cendejas groundout.

But in line with the back-and-forth nature of the whole game, the Jeffs clawed their way back with some power hitting in their last chance in the top of the seventh. Captain Donna Leet ’15 hit a two-run shot to close the gap to 8-7, before Kido contributed again, belting a solo homer to even the score at 8-8. With that, the game was going into extra innings.

“Ally came in clutch with the solo home run to tie it up at 8-8 in the seventh, which is an amazing feat for a freshman, especially with the added pressure of two outs,” Leet said.

The power hitting remained the difference

in the game. In the top of the eighth, Marovitz added a solo shot that proved to be the gamewinning run as Gina Pagan ’18 closed out the game for the Jeffs in the bottom of the eighth to earn the win and complete a 9-8 thriller.

“The extra-inning game against Williams was absolutely incredible. I honestly can’t picture a more movie-like, come-from-behind win,” Leet said. “Alena’s bomb in the eighth just further demoralized Williams, and we ended up winning because of it. Not to mention Gina, who did a great job in the circle throughout the game.”

The team would take that momentum into Sunday when they closed out the Williams series with their season opener. The Jeffs never faced a deficit thanks to a dominant pitching gem from Buechler. She tossed her first shutout victory of the season, striking out five and allowing only two hits over the course of the whole game.

The Jeffs were the ones to jump out to an early lead this time, with Cook continuing her strong weekend play with an RBI double in the bottom of the first. In the bottom of the third, Kido walked and then advanced to third on another double from Cook, later beating the throw of Williams’ pitcher Brooke Bovier when Sherwill reached on a fielder’s choice to increase the lead to 2-0.

“Coming off [the Saturday] win, we were so excited to play Sunday, and ready to crush

WED THURS FRI Softball vs. Smith, 3:30 p.m. (DH) Baseball vs. Framingham St, 4 p.m.

Women’s Lacrosse (@UMass) vs. Mount Holyoke, 6 p.m.

Baseball @ Hamilton, 4 p.m.

the Williams pitcher we faced in game one of the series,” Leet said. “That’s just what we did, and with the amazing shutout performance by Jackie, Williams had no chance.”

The Jeffs endured a brief scare in the top of the fourth when the Ephs loaded the bases off a pair of errors from the team’s defense, but Buechler forced a groundout to end the threat.

Buoyed by this close escape, Amherst scored three runs in the bottom of the inning, behind an RBI from Ayers and a Leet two-run triple.

And the Jeffs wouldn’t end there, tacking on one more run in the bottom of the sixth thanks to Cook adding another RBI to her weekend total with a sacrifice fly to center to score Ayers and extend the lead to the final score of 6-0.

Leet earned NESCAC player of the week honors for her performance over the course of the weekend, going 6 for 11 at the plate, good for a .545 series batting average. She posted a .545 on-base percentage as well along with a 1.091 slugging percentage as her performance consisted of a double, a triple, a home run and four RBI on the weekend. To supplement her offense, Leet also made many impressive catches in right field.

Following this successful weekend series, the Jeffs will look to continue their momentum when they host Smith College for a doubleheader on April 15. They will then travel to Middlebury for a three-game set this coming weekend.

SAT Women’s Golf @ Jack Leaman Invitational, TBD

Women’s Track and Field @ Wesleyan Invitational, TBD

Softball Men’s Track and Men’s Golf @ Middlebury, 5 p.m. @ Trinity College Invita- Field @ Weslyan Invitational, tional, 1 p.m.

TBD

Baseball @ Hamilton, noon (DH) Softball @ Middlebury, noon (DH) Women’s Lacrosse @ Tufts, 1 p.m.