Issue 25

THE AMHERST

THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

STUDENT VOLUME CXLVI, ISSUE 25 l WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017

Men’s Tennis Goes 4-0 in Perfect Week See Sports, Page 11 AMHERSTSTUDENT.AMHERST.EDU

Political Science Professor Speaks on Protest Politics Ariana Lee ’20 Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Faith Wen ‘20

Lebanese journalist and senior lecturer Zahera Harb spoke on the flaws in British and American media coverage of Arabs and Muslims on Monday, April 17.

Journalist Analyzes Islam in Media Shawna Chen ’20 Managing News Editor Zahera Harb, a senior lecturer of international journalism at City, University of London, gave a talk titled “Reporting Muslims and Arabs in Anglo-American Media” on Monday, April 17.

Harb worked for Lebanese and international media organizations and was a producer and news anchor of a number of Lebanese broadcast programs before becoming a review editor for the Journal of Media Practice. She has also worked on several political and social documentaries and reported for BBC Arabic and CNN World Report.

Harb began by discussing the ways in which media representations of Islam and Muslims have been reductive. “Muslims are homogenized as backward, irrational, unchanging, fundamentalists, threatening and manipulative in the use of their faith for political reasons,” she said.

For many British and American journalists, Harb said that “Arab” equates to “Muslim,” and to use either word in a story presents readers with a set of preconceived, mostly negative stereotypes.

After the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001, “Islam was used to demonize enemies,” she said.

After the 2015 terror attacks in Paris, the BBC incorrectly called Egyptian Waleed Abed El Razeq one of the perpetrators after French magazine Le Point reported that his passport was found near the site of a bombing. Twitter went viral with

hoaxes as he was lying critically injured in the hospital, Harb said, until the Egyptian ambassador said the French police had filed no charges against Razeq.

“BBC … admitted that they took Le Point’s statement as fact, face value, without verifying with police before broadcasting,” Harb said. “Just because an Egyptian passport was found at the scene, it was automatically assumed and taken for granted by BBC reporters, who usually in their everyday work have to verify their information with three different sources before broadcast.”

Harb also discussed an instance in November of 2015 when The Sun, a UK newspaper, published on its front page the headline “1 in 5 Brits Muslims’ sympathy for jihadis.” Harb said that The Sun, which contracted a separate company to conduct the survey, had interpreted the survey results for its own gain.

“Even the people who conducted the survey said, ‘We did not ask about sympathy with ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria]. We did not ask about sympathy with jihadis. We asked about sympathy with those fighting against the Assad regime in Syria,’” Harb said.

A lack of context, either on purpose or out of ignorance, is a common feature of Anglo-American reporting on Muslims, said Harb.

She concluded by emphasizing that journalistic texts are products of a variety of cultural, social and political factors. Many Anglo-American jour-

nalists, however, often apply their own personal perceptions of Muslims and the Arab world in their coverage.

“The urge to rush to publish or broadcast makes them omit context,” she said. “Lack of specialized knowledge makes it easier for many to actually retreat in their coverage to preconceived concepts and understanding of the ‘other’ — and, in this case, Arab Muslims.”

A Q&A session followed, during which students asked about the role of law in holding journalists accountable and Hollywood’s negative portrayals of Arabs.

The talk was sponsored by the Middle Eastern Students and Studies Association (MESSA), the Five College Lecture Fund and the Department of Religion.

MESSA Co-President Mohamed Ramy ’18, who attended the talk and helped organize the event, appreciated Harb’s analysis of the way media often overgeneralize Arabs and Muslims.

“In the Arab world, we have 28 different states that are insanely different, that want different things from different countries, that have different stances on Israel — one of the falsehoods is that all Arabs are against Israel,” Ramy said. “I think journalism ... is consistently and tragically missing all the nuances that pertain to the Arab people as individuals ... [Harb] really highlighted it well when she was discussing how you can devise a statistic basically to sell your own version of truth.”

Manuel Barcia Discusses ‘White Cannibalism’

Isabel Tessier ’19 Managing News Editor

Atlantic and Slavery Studies Professor Manuel Barcia gave a talk at the college titled “White Cannibalism in the Slave Trade” on Monday, April 17 in Pruyne Lecture Hall.

Barcia is a Latin American history professor at the University of Leeds in England and current visiting fellow at Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition. Barcia has also written for publications such as Al Jazeera English, The

Independent and The Huffington Post. His academic focus is on slave resistance and rebellion in Brazil and Cuba.

In his talk, Barcia examined the story of the Portuguese slave-trading ship “Arrogante,” which was captured by British forces off the coast of Cuba with more than 330 African slaves aboard in 1837 after the slave trade and slavery had been abolished by Portugal. After being freed, many former slaves reported that while at sea, the Portuguese sailors had killed an enslaved man, cooked him and served the meat to them.

They also accused the sailors of eating the man’s

heart and liver. Local British authorities investigated, but the sailors were never found guilty. “[Cannibalism] has consistently been considered as a marker for so-called ‘uncivilized people,’” Barcia said. “By focusing on the events of a slave ship, it is possible to offer ... a reversal of roles, one in which the Europeans appear as flesh-eating savages and the Africans as the civilized party.”

After discussing accounts of violent and inhumane treatments by the Portuguese sailors

Continued on Page 2

Nikita Dhawan, a professor of political science at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, spoke on the importance of social movements for transnational justice and the role of protest politics in a talk titled “Death of Leviathan: Protest Politics and State Phobia” on Wednesday, April 12.

Manuela Picq introduced Dhawan as a friend and talked about the conversations she and Dhawan frequently have about the state, which is, according to Picq, “something that is growing in the United States in the Trump era.”

Dhawan began her talk by noting how the world has become more interconnected and international due to globalization. Because of this, issues from “business to agriculture, from human rights to the relief of famine, call our imagination to venture beyond narrow group loyalties and to consider the reality of distant lives,” Dhawan said.

She referred to theorists of cosmopolitanism — the theory that human beings belong to a single community with shared morality — who “argue that suffering elsewhere affects us.

It is also our responsibility and our duty to, in a certain way, be accountable to the pain of others,” Dhawan said.

“Cosmopolitanism is an antidote to apathy and indifference by realizing that we are not immune to the pain of others,” she said.

Dhawan also discussed the power of street protests in the last few decades. These types of protests, she noted, “seem to have transformed the way power, agency and resistance are being perceived and performed.”

“There is this idea that street politics in a certain way embody counterpublic spheres, where groups and collectivities who did not have access to public spheres now have access to political legitimacy,” she continued, mentioning groups such as queer people and women.

“Here I draw on Foucault who says [that] where there is power, there is resistance,” Dhawan said. “I would add to Foucault and say where there is resistance, there is power.”

Following her talk about protest and the state, Dhawan showed a short clip about a case that involved the rape and fatal assault of a woman on a bus in New Delhi, India in 2012.

“The Delhi gang rape case incited spontaneous nationwide protest against sexual violence and the abysmal failure of the state to ensure the safety of its female citizens,” Dhawan said.

She continued, “When I first saw images of these protests, I was extremely excited and empowered about the role of the civil society in addressing … the silence on sexual violence in India. [However], a few weeks later … I found out that parallel to the Delhi gang rape, 19 [Untouchable] women were raped in the neighboring state … and this was not even reported in the national media.” “Untouchables” are people in the lowest caste of India’s caste system. They still face discrimination despite such treatment being illegal.

“This demonstrates the point I was trying to make earlier — how subordinate groups are marginalized by both the state as well as civil

Continued on Page 3

News

Mary Margaret Stoll ’17 Thoughts on Theses

April 10, 2017 - April 16, 2017

>>April 10, 2017 9:54 p.m., Campus Grounds A caller complained about people between Mayo Smith and Seelye and loud music coming from Seelye. Officers responded and found a group of students eating at a table.

The loud music was turned off. >>April 11, 2017 4:09 p.m., Tennis Courts Per request, an officer asked non-college people using the tennis courts to leave as a scheduled practice was in progress. >>April 12, 2017 12:29 p.m., Seeley Mudd Building Graffiti was found painted in a stairwell.

8:18 p.m., Valentine Dining Hall A student reported the theft of a book from the coat room.

After an investigation, an officer was able to determine who took the book. The book was recovered and the matter was referred to Student Affairs.

10:35 p.m., Tyler Parking Lot Officers responded to a complaint of people being loud outside the building. A small group of students was found and advised about the complaint. >>April 13, 2017 8:19 a.m., Alumni Lot An officer checked on a male sleeping in a car. He had no affiliation with the college and was asked to leave campus.

2:57 p.m., Northampton Road An officer assisted at the scene of a motor vehicle accident where there was personal injury. >>April 14, 2017 5:31 p.m., Quadrangle A caller reported a group of people on the main quad, including one person who was spraying alcohol from a bottle.

An officer located the group and found the person with the bottle was of legal age and had sprayed the alcohol as a celebratory act.

10:15 p.m., Book and Plow Farm A town resident complained of loud music coming from an event. The volume of music was lowered.

10:35 p.m., Book and Plow Farm The Amherst Police reported receiving complaints of loud music coming from an event.

The party sponsor was notified and the volume was lowered.

10:50 p.m., Valentine Dining Hall An officer assisted an employee in checking the food service area after finding a few things amiss.

Department of Chemistry and Environmental Studies

Mary Margaret Stoll ’17 is a double major in chemistry and environmental studies. Her advisor is Professor Anna Martini. Her thesis examines the properties of ice core specimens from Antarctica.

11:09 p.m., Book and Plow Farm The Amherst Police reported receiving complaints of loud music coming from an event.

The party sponsor was notified and the volume was lowered.

Q: What is your thesis? What are you studying?

A: I’m doing an environmental studies thesis, and I’ve been looking at six sea ice cores from Antarctica. I’ve been studying the structure and chemistry and oxygen isotopes and how all those properties vary with depth.

11:17 p.m., Book and Plow Farm A town resident complained about loud music coming from an event. The event sponsor was notified and the volume of music was lowered.

Q: How did you get this idea to study sea ice?

A: Well, I was studying away from Amherst last spring semester, and I took a class called “Environmental Issues in the Earth’s Polar Regions,” and that got me interested in the Arctic and the Antarctic, and I found a professor at the school that I was at to do summer research with.

11:40 p.m., Book and Plow Farm Another town resident complained about loud music coming from an event. The event sponsor was notified.

Q: How did you actually study the ice? How did that whole process work?

A: For the structural part of it, I actually didn’t do the research part of that. But there were students at the school that I was at, who cut the sea ice cores into 10-centimeter sections and took what’s called vertical thin section images, so you can see the inside of the sea ice, and how the ice grains are angled, and all of that. And then, for the chemistry, we melted 10-centimeter sections of the sea ice core, and we ran cation and anion analysis to find the concentrations of sodium and chloride. And then, for the isotopes, we were specifically looking at oxygen, so we looked at the ratio of 16 O to 18O [oxygen isotopes], and that helped us determine the origin of the water, whether it was from freshwater precipitation or sea water.

>>April 15, 2017 10:09 p.m., Appleton Dormitory Officers investigated a smoke detector sounding in a second-floor room and discovered it was activated when a hair dryer was used too close to it.

10:57 p.m., Hitchcock House Officers responded to two complaints of a registered party that was “getting out of control.” Very loud music and hard alcohol were found.

Vomit was found in the firstfloor hall. After speaking with the party sponsor, the event was shut down. >>April 16, 2017 12:02 a.m., Jenkins Dormitory Officers investigated a smoke detector sounding in a thirdfloor room and found that five students had been smoking from an electronic cigarette.

12:09 a.m., Tyler House Officers investigated a smoke detector sounding in a basement kitchen and discovered someone left an empty pot on a stove burner that was turned on.

12:42 a.m., Jenkins Dormitory Officers and the Fire Department responded to an alarm that was activated when someone pulled a secondfloor alarm station for no apparent reason. A large party was in progress at the time.

1:10 a.m., Jenkins Dormitory While investigating a fire alarm, ACPD discovered that some students had failed to evacuate. They were fined $100 each.

Q: What are some of the challenges you’ve faced so far?

A: There’s a lot of leeway in how you structure

the thesis and time management, so it’s really up to you to complete the research in a timely manner and to stay on top of it. It’s such a big project — it’s been a challenge dealing with that. It’s a lot of writing too — for a science major, it’s a lot of writing.

Q: At which stage are you in the project right now?

A: I turned it in, so I finished the writing part of it! I have my defense tomorrow [April 18] and presentation on Wednesday [April 19], so two days away from being totally done.

Q: Do you have any advice for younger students who are thinking about writing a thesis? Things that you might have changed?

A: I think staying in communication with your advisor is really important. At least for me, my plan changed a lot throughout the process, so making sure that there’s an open lane for communication between you and your advisor, I’d say, is really important. They’ve been thesis advisors before, so they can provide a lot of advice and guidance in the research and the writing part of the thesis.

Q: Why is your thesis important? Why is it an important subject to research?

A: As climate change continues and environments start to change in the way of temperature and other properties like that, I think it’s really important to understand the very foundation of a lot of these environments. So understanding the … core structure and chemistry and isotopes of sea ice will help us predict what future environments will look like and can help with policymaking in these regions to protect marine organisms.

— Kathleen Maeder ’20

History Professor Examines Case of Cannibalism on 1837 Slave Ship Continued from Page 1 from Africans on the ship, Barcia talked about the failure of the British judicial system in Jamaica to recognize the violence inflicted by the sailors and hold them accountable under the law.

“Did the authorities really fail to believe the Africans?” Barcia asked. “Or did they instead choose not to believe them in hopes of avoiding a long, potentially embarrassing judicial process in which the superiority of their own culture and civilization could be brought into question?”

The case of the Arrogante is the only officially documented case of “white cannibalism,” where white Europeans killed and consumed other people, Barcia said. But, while European judicial systems during the time period would use the term “cannibal” when these acts were committed by African and other non-Western people, they did not use it when describing the acts committed by the Portuguese sailors, instead using euphemisms and innuendos.

This suggests that there may have been other cases of white cannibalism on slave ships between the 16th and 19th centuries that have gone unrecorded in history, Barcia said.

“The slave ship in the Middle Passage may then have become the perfect stage for the perfect crime, one that could not be proven and from which its perpetrators were likely to suffer

no persecutions of any kind,” Barcia said.

Ultimately, however, Barcia said that this was a significant historical event, even if it was a singular one.

The implications of white cannibalism aboard the Arrogante, he said, “represented nothing short of an alarming turnaround of the traditional roles ascribed to Europeans and Africans … This was a case that straightforwardly defied the superiority of the white man, the western civilization and the Christian values and beliefs.”

SabriAnan Micha ’19, who attended the talk for a class, said she enjoyed how Barcia’s analysis of the judicial system related to contemporary issues of race and law enforcement, especially how different language is used to describe crimes committed by white people and black people.

“I think it was alarming how much he said that I could see today,” she said. “When we talk about police brutality, for example, it’s not called ‘police brutality.’ It’s called ‘disciplining’ or whatever — it’s not called straight-up murder. But then when you talk about black-on-black crime, they’re like, ‘Oh, everyone’s getting murdered!’”

Barcia’s talk was followed by a Q&A session, in which he answered questions on the role of the Arrogante in the British abolitionist movement and connections between this case and contemporary issues.

The Amherst Student • April 19, 2017

News

3

AAS Senate and JC Candidate Statements 2017 On Thursday, April 20, the AAS will hold elections for Senate (classes of 2018, 2019 and 2020) and Judiciary Council (any class). Below are statements from candidates for these seats. All students who wish to be on the ballot must attend Speech Night on Wednesday, April 19, or send a proxy, for their name to appear on the ballot.

Class of 2018 Olivia Mastrangelo: Over my past two years as your class senator, I have seen firsthand both the progress that the AAS has made and the work that remains to be done. I have been an active member of Senate throughout my tenure, holding seats on the Transportation, Arts and Budgetary Committees and working to distribute cardboard boxes to the student body at the end of the school year. I am more dedicated than ever to ensuring that the AAS listens to its constituents and commits itself to positive change, and I would love the opportunity to represent our class one more time.

Alejandro Niño Quintero: As a Senator this year, my greatest accomplishment has been co-leading the mascot selection process. Looking forward, I hope to make the conversations and policy relevance of the faculty committees that AAS Senators sit on more accessible and transparent to the student body. The AAS can serve as a central source of power, but students have/can drive the change on campus. Finally, I plan to develop a more seamless way for students to request Safe Rides and/or accessibility transportation.

Class of 2019 Louis Briones: I am running for the privilege of going to long meetings every Monday as your Senator.

Hopefully, I’ll have enough power to accomplish one of my main objectives: A drinking fountain on the Hill. That topic aside, I can’t possibly touch upon every problem concerning our school, but what I can do is listen to what the student body considers to be of primary concern. Vote for me Thursday, and I promise I’ll do my best to make life a bit easier here at Amherst.

Cornell Brooks: Having served on the Dining Services Committee and the Faculty Committee on Admission and Financial Aid, I have gained insight into the inner workings of this school and contributed to change on campus. By listening to feedback from the student body and working with Charlie Thompson, head of Dining Services, I was able to help get rid of the unpopular noodle bar dinner option. I’m excited to work with the new head of dining services next year to provide catering for Friday trivia nights at 8 p.m.

Madeline Bustos: In high school, I was extremely involved in student government. As an Amherst student I have continued this tradition by working closely with members of the AAS to create a more inclusive environment for all students. Some of my top priorities as senator would be to advocate for more direct communication between AAS and the student body and to continue working closely with Dining Services to keep Amherst cafés delicious and affordable.

Yannis Kalogiannis: Having represented the Class of 2019 this past year, I am convinced that the senate can effect meaningful change by focusing on specific short-term goals and eliminating wasteful spending. If elected, I intend to reform the chaotic storage system — a project I initiated this year — and seek election to the budgetary committee to encourage clubs to focus on the quality, not the quantity, of their events. As an international stu-

dent, a member of the political union and a club athlete, I am confident I can represent all Amherst students.

Maeve McNamara: During my time as Senator, I served on the Committee for Educational Policy, where I advocated for the institution of minors and the diversification of the faculty. I also served on the Committee for Education and Athletics, where I contributed to thinking critically about the role of athletics at Amherst. Furthermore, I organized the second annual “Everybody Has a Story,” which brought together faculty, staff and students to share lunch and engage in below-the-surface conversations. I am a hardworking advocate who, if reelected, hopes to continue to build community and create policy changes. Vote for Maeve, she’s all the rave, again!

to food so that large clubs and affinity groups are not penalized simply for having a large amount of members. I also plan on addressing issues related to the campus community especially regarding the student-athlete divide. If re-elected, I would strive to make Amherst College a more unified place.

Hannah Fox: I have met faculty from many academic departments due to the open curriculum and athletic staff because I am a two-sport athlete.

My goal is to strengthen relationships amongst students, faculty, and staff. It would be beneficial to host events within the grade, to facilitate the formation of a tight-knit class. I will help ensure that everyone has a voice. I am approachable and hardworking, which are essential qualities for this role.

If I am elected, I will do my best to unite everyone, work to change policies, and represent our class.

Joe Schneider: I believe that Amherst has many resources that can be better taken advantage of and I want to make sure that everyone is able to benefit from them. As your senator, I will focus my attention on uniting the student body and improving communication between all members of our community. All of this with the hopes of assisting in the successes of each and every member of our community to make your Amherst experience as enjoyable and rewarding as possible.

Gregory Franklin: The reason why I want to be a part of student council for another year is because I enjoy being in the part of the school that helps build a strong community. Through being a part of student council, I have learned what the role that student council plays in our school and I enjoy trying to improve that. Through being a senator, I will try to bring what I think is the opinion that the student body would want most. I will do this by listening to students and seeing what works and what doesn’t.

Kristian Sogaard: There are a number of issues on campus that I will work diligently to fix if elected.

First and foremost, I will look to ease tensions between athletes and non-athletes to foster a more inclusive campus. I will also move to make the work in the senate more transparent and open to student input. Additionally, as a student athlete of color, I believe that I bring a unique perspective that is key in campus discussions. Thank you!

Sade Green: When I ran for Senate, I promised to make sure that your voices would be heard. I can gladly say that I have kept my promise. In March, I held Amherst College’s very first State of the College Address, an event that aims to enhance communication and transparency. I visited dorms and asked for your opinions regarding the admissions process because I am on the Faculty Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid. I also attended some of your tea times to hear about your concerns.

If you re-elect me as your Senator, I will continue to fight alongside you.

William Zaubler: For the past two years, I have been a very dedicated Senator: I serve on numerous committees and organized the AAS Town Hall on Campus Social Life. Next year, I plan on continuing to work with the administration to find solutions to the issues regarding campus social life. Additionally, I would like to propose changes to the structure of the AAS so that Senate can better address the issues and concerns of all members of the class of 2019.

Class of 2020 Maya Bhandari: I have loved being your senator for the past few months, and I believe my experience has provided me with the skills necessary to better serve as your representative next year. I am currently in the process of bringing games into first-year common rooms in order to foster a more dynamic living experience for first-years. If reelected, I would continue to work towards improving the lives of our class by listening to and advocating for your ideas.

Michael Du: Over the course of the past year, I’ve joined many activities and met people from all types of backgrounds. Each and every one of the individuals is an intellectual, and talented in his or her own interests and passions. As a senator, I hope to bridge the gap between the student body and AAS by listening to the opinions of students to which the student government should be representing. If you elect me as your Senator for the class of 2020, I will support you as well as the general Amherst community. Thank you for your consideration.

William Jang (Billy): Senate touches on all aspects of student life, meaning I’ve learned about various committees and clubs. This past year in senate, I’ve been generally learning and helping out. I’m running because I’m trying to shift more conversation towards vocational opportunities in STEM. Our STEM departments are extremely busy, and could use a lot of support from us. I want to incentivize and publicize the job fairs and workshops that Amherst brings in, as well as the competitions and networking that can be done within the Five Colleges.

Natalia Khoudian: I’ve served on both the Mascot and Budgetary Committees, seeing the importance of transparency and clear communication with the student body, and believe I can continue to foster this through Senate moving forward. I am currently working on my Senate Project to bring large-scale games to first-year common rooms to foster bonding and inclusivity for future first-years. Next year, I hope to join the Committee on Educational Policy to increase diversity in our academics, starting with the professors hired. I want to continue serving the dynamic Amherst student body if reelected!

ences keeping my classmates’ perspectives in mind.

Cole Vissicchio: If you want to improve the food, I’m your guy. #REVAMPVAL2017 Ranko Vranic: What’s up, Class of 2020? The platform that I am running on is outreach and collaboration. The AAS and the Amherst administration have a responsibility to promote good governance by listening to the student body and being transparent about decisions made. Furthermore, people in positions of power at Amherst must be able to communicate with the student body on daily basis.

I want to be a senator who listens to his electorate, who supports the initiatives of the student body, and who governs fairly.

Judiciary Council Patrick Friend ’20: I believe that, as a member of the Judiciary Council, I will be able to accurately judge the nature and severity of apparent breaches of the honor code. While this has been the central focus of the Judiciary Council in recent times, the group has an additional duty to maintain both the Student Government Constitution and the Student Code of Conduct. If elected, I will lead the charge to have the Judiciary Council take a more active role in modernizing and streamlining those two documents to create a more efficient Student Government.

Nicole Frontero ’20: I am running due to my desire to uphold the integrity of the AAS constitution.

As a member of a team, I value the importance of responsibility and fairness, and will bring this understanding to the Council as we discuss difficult topics regarding equality on campus. I will work to ensure election fairness and voting accessibility, and will have an open mind as to additional roles that the JC may serve in order to increase its presence.

Logan Seymour ’19E: At Amherst, I have persistently sought to bring attention to disability on campus, working closely with administration and students to pursue policies which would better accommodate students who identify as disabled. Additionally, I have sat on the Student Advisory Board for the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, where I have engaged with students to stimulate productive conversations and create a more inclusive campus. As a member of the JC, I will advocate for the student body and will tirelessly support the principles of equality and justice.

Henry Walker ’20: During the chaotic AAS presidential election, candidates were reported for violating an AAS campaign rule preventing the hanging of posters within reasonable view of a public computer. In times when voting was done on public computers, this rule was logical, but at this point, it is outdated and unnecessary. Although the complaints were invalid, the publicity greatly affected opinions of the candidates. If elected to the Judiciary Council, I will work to remove archaic rules like this from the AAS constitution and make sure that our elected officials are elected on merit and not drama-fueled backlash.

Jordan Edwards: As an AAS senator, I serve on the Budgetary Committee and I plan on working with our treasurer in the upcoming year to create more equitable funding guidelines, especially related

Lauren Knight: I have worked with the College Council and Powerhouse Committees to create new student programming, update the Honor Code, and make sure my classmates’ voices are heard. For my Senate Project, I have dedicated months to planning First-Year Summer Bash, an event to bring the first-year class together in celebration and to raffle off a dinner at Biddy’s house and experience at Lewis-Sebring Commons. Next year, I hope to create more unique student experi-

David Wilson ’20: I am a member of the Amherst Symphony Orchestra and the sailing team. I find it very heartening that an institution of our caliber has a judicial structure to match. After witnessing the controversy surrounding the AAS presidential election, I was emboldened to run. I was astonished at how fairly and competently the complaint was handled by our current Judiciary Council. If elected I would make a great addition and will approach every issue brought forth even-handedly and with a clear head.

Cologne and other German cities. The majority of the suspects were asylum seekers or undocumented immigrants from the Middle East and Africa.

“In the aftermath of the sexual assaults during the 2015 New Year’s Eve celebration, there has been a systematic demonization of all migrants and refugees of particularly men (black men, Arab men and Muslim men) as sexist and misogynist — they’re all potential rapists, which has in a certain way weakened the

consensus in favor of Germany accepting large numbers of refugees,” Dhawan said.

“This serves as an excellent example of the fickleness of proclamations of universal hospitality and global solidarity,” she said. “The moment [an immigrant] abuses the offer for hospitality, they must all be immediately deported.”

Julia Finnerty ’20, who attended the talk, said she is currently taking “Sexualities in International Relations” with Picq and thought

the lecture was an interesting supplement to the subject.

“Dhawan was really clear in explaining complicated ideas, particularly as she criticized the state, civil society and the market,” Julia Finnerty ’20, who attended the talk, said in an online interview.

Finnerty added that she is currently taking “Sexualities in International Relations” with Picq and thought the lecture was an interesting supplement to the subject.

Professor Nikita Dhawan Criticizes the Modern State Continued from Page 1 society,” Dhawan said.

The final example Dhawan brought up was the treatment of Middle Eastern and North African immigrants by European countries. Dhawan showed photos of protests in Germany advocating for the deportation of immigrants after mass sexual assaults on New Year’s Eve in 2015. According to police reports, hundreds of women were assaulted by groups of men in

Opinion

THE AMHERST

STUDENT

Senior Year, Can’t Say No

E X E C U T I V E B OA R D

Editorial With the grad fair taking place in Keefe, theses being completed and senior photos flooding Facebook timelines, the fact that graduation is just around the corner has become increasingly clear. Many seniors, overwhelmed by emails and impending deadlines, are already feeling the swirl of emotions that graduation brings. Amidst all of these feelings, there likely exists a small feeling of regret: regret about that class they didn’t enroll in or that risk they didn’t take. Some seniors jokingly live their final year of Amherst under the mantra of “senior year, can’t say no.” The mantra might be problematic, but the spirit of it is worth thinking about. What would it look like to embrace this mentality, with a better sense of balance, the second we stepped foot on campus? Might we have fewer regrets?

Of course, the ability to live by “senior year, can’t say no” across all four years depends on maintaining some sort of balance. In order to survive through and graduate from Amherst, we must have some moments of hard work and make tough choices between what might be the “fun” thing and the “responsible” thing to do at different times. There might even be moments where those two things align. But incorporating more of the possibilities of the senior year mentality into lived experiences across all class years could result in deeper satisfaction for all students.

Senior year has also become a time to reflect on the bonds formed throughout the past four years and the effect they had.

But this reflection shouldn’t be limited to the past and solely be done in retrospect. We must acknowledge our friendships

as they happen and take better stock of what happens inside of ourselves. Friendships shouldn’t only be valued when a person is about to leave, but constantly acknowledged, even as they are just forming.

While first years can claim that senior year is far away, the distance of time is merely an illusion. Saying “no” and waiting until you “can’t say no” risks losing out on all the “yes”s that you could’ve said along the way. Too many underclassmen wait for an arbitrary time frame to take the reins on their academic exploration, but confusion doesn’t simply dissipate with time.

Choosing to engage and attend to daily life will result in a transformed Amherst experience that would otherwise be impossible.

Of course, senior year comes with significant stress. Seniors think about what’s going to come next, living in constant awareness of the transition they are about to undergo. But along with that constant awareness of what’s to come next, there also exist satisfying feelings of nostalgia. Periodically reflecting on our memories gives us a better understanding of where we’ve been and might help create a clearer understanding of where we want to go. The Editorial Board does not urge underclassmen to take constant stock of their past experiences and live solely in the past, but rather to take more moments to appreciate the beauty of Amherst and everything that seems to come crashing in the final few weeks of our Amherst careers.

Perhaps then we can avoid the panic that comes with the last few weeks for seniors and reach a more satisfied feeling as our final Amherst days come to a close.

If I May: Even More White Guys on TV Jake May ’19 Columnist Recently, Comedy Central, the network that airs “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” announced two new late-night projects. One called “The President’s Show” stars Anthony Atamanuik, a white male actor and improviser.

Atamanuik is an expert Donald Trump impersonator and the show will essentially take the form of a standard late night program, except the host is “Donald Trump.” The other is a yetto-be-named project that will star Jordan Klepper, another white male who has made a name for himself as a correspondent on “The Daily Show.”

Earlier this year, I wrote about Jimmy Kimmel’s potential retirement from late night, and how I was hopeful to see ABC replace him with a new type of face on late-night television: the face of someone who was not a white male. Of course, they haven’t yet made any sort of decision, as Kimmel’s contract stipulates that he will still be on the air until at least 2020. However, these new Comedy Central shows — both with white male stars — bring back feelings similar to those I had when I heard of Kimmel’s possible

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retirement. The Donald Trump-themed show is one thing — it is at least a response to current events, and the premise of the show practically requires a white male lead. On the other hand, Klepper’s show is essentially a replacement for “The Nightly Show,” hosted by Larry Wilmore, a black comedian (the show was cancelled last summer after a year and a half on the air). So when a person of color failed to “resonate with audiences,” according to Comedy Central president Kent Alterman, the network decided to return to the tried-and-true method of putting a handsome-but-not-too-handsome, snarky white guy at the helm. This is just a disappointing trend in late-night television that I hope will change in the near future.

However, these two particular cases are a little more complex for me. While I am dismayed by television networks’ continued preference toward white performers, I am also very happy to see both Jordan Klepper and Anthony Atamanuik receive the validation they deserve for long careers of great comedic work.

Both Klepper and Atamanuik improvised with house teams at the UCB Theater in New York City, which is one of the most prestigious improv theaters in the country. Atamanuik has

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recently gotten a lot of deserved attention for his masterful impersonation — both in accuracy and in commentary — of Donald Trump.

Klepper has been doing excellent work as a “Daily Show” correspondent since his arrival in 2014, particularly in his coverage of Trump rallies. Both of these men, in my opinion, deserve to have their own television shows, and I am very excited to see what they will do with their programs.

I have a hard time reconciling these two opinions. On the one hand, I am excited that Comedy Central chose to give shows to two comedians who have worked hard and put out great content. On the other hand, it is pitiful that television networks almost always continue to place their trust in white men. I hope that one day, I can be thoroughly happy that a talented white man has gotten a new late-night television show because I know that there is diversity elsewhere on late-night. Of course, today is not that day. In order for that day to come, one of these networks will have to make a decision to break the status quo of white male-ness. So, ABC, if you are for some reason reading The Amherst Student, please do not replace Jimmy Kimmel with a white man when he retires.

Editors-in-Chief Drew Kiley Jingwen Zhang Executive Advisers Lauren Tuiskula Sophie Murguia Managing News Shawna Chen, Isabel Tessier Managing Opinion Kelly Chian, Spencer Quong Managing Arts and Living Julia Pretsfelder, Paola Garcia-Prieto Managing Sports Nathaniel Quigley, Julia Turner Managing Design Justin Barry S TA F F Head Publishers Tia Robinson, Emily Ratte Head Marketer Sophie Currin Design Editors Zehra Madhavan, Isabel Park, Chloe Tausk, Sivian Yu

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The Amherst Student • April 19, 2017

Opinion

5

Pride, “Am I Doing This Right?”

Spencer Quong ’18 Managing Opinion Editor When I was in high school, I resented gay pride and queer activism. To the younger version of myself, pride felt overbearing. I remember sitting in my counselor’s office and telling her I didn’t need to go to the Gay-Straight Alliance meeting. I imagined that going might mean I was defining my identity wholly by my sexuality.

Apart from worrying about how I would be perceived by others, I was even more worried about what attending those meetings would mean for my own sense of self. In retrospect, I can say that my discomfort and paranoia likely came from deep personal insecurity — jealousy, even — of others’ ability to wear their identities better than I felt I ever could.

Now, a few years later, I am in college, and feel quite different from how I felt back then. I help lead a club called Athletes and Allies, which acts as a safe space for queer athletes to discuss the intersection of these identities. I have written about my sexuality in public articles and study queer fiction in my coursework. In other words, I suppose I feel more confident about it. Beyond no longer inhibiting my actions, my identity actively guides my interests.

Yet, I also find my pride slip out from under me in certain moments. When I talk about the boy I am interested in, I find myself using “them” instead of “him,” as if I do not want to remind myself of his gender. Even regarding clothing, which should be entirely benign, I sometimes feel nervous pulling on a shirt that points to my identity. Once, I left my dorm having unconsciously chosen to wear my “I support love” shirt and a “Make America Gay Again” baseball cap. When I realized this, I immediately felt a surge of self-consciousness, a desire to go back and remove at least one of them. I halflaughed at myself because I knew it shouldn’t matter. But my chest felt tight, and I stuffed the cap in my bag, because I realized I was still not ready. I was scared that my clothing might be “too much” and that it might read as overcompensation for insecurity.

For most of my life, I knew very few gay adults — no family friends or relatives, at least as

far as I was aware. When I began to meet more queer adults, I realized I felt a certain anxiety about how I acted around them and particularly about how I spoke about my sexuality. Though we might have grown up in different generations, I knew we had some level of shared experience and wanted to prove to them that I was strong, that I was more than comfortable with myself. I wanted to prove that I was beyond even talking about sexuality, thinking excessive pride was just a sign of immaturity. I thought that if I tried to talk about my insecurities and nervousness, they might not take me seriously and that they would only see a child hopelessly lost in himself, not someone worthy of engagement.

I watched these adults for guidance on how to live. What was a gay life supposed to look like?

I even found myself doing this with fictional characters, people who could not even talk back to me. Although I have since found many queer mentors, I often think about the others who felt silent. I think about Dumbledore, someone who should be the ultimate gay mentor, and wonder why he never talked about his sexuality. Did he do so beyond the pages of the books? And if he didn’t, was my version of pride supposed to be silent as well? Did being a queer and wise adult mean being quiet about sexuality?

I think the heart of the problem was that I even imagined pride should look a certain way.

And, more disturbingly, I believed that there was a way to overdo it. That pride had an “end,” or that there was an age or maturity at which it should cease and lose all its exuberance. Certainly, each person has their own way of expressing pride in their identities and within their own personal limits, but we should hold no general rules and set no expiration date. When I wondered what would and wouldn’t be “too much,” I think I was really finding excuses to avoid reckoning with my own feelings. I avoided looking at myself by looking at others, seeking out reassurance that I might be allowed to be both gay and “normal.” And I think this really reflected that deep down, I still did not want to be gay at all. I was actively trying to find out how to live without recognizing myself as queer. While I thought I was being so mature, the exact opposite was true: I lived in a plane of performance,

obsessed with self-curation and self-control.

Beyond my individual expectations, I also find myself trying to conform to the expectations of others around me. I have had a number of conversations with friends and family who purport to love and support queer bodies, but don’t like it when pride becomes “over the top” or “too in-your-face.” I wondered, what exactly were they worried about? Even if one’s beliefs are not so overtly prejudiced, there is a way in which most people continue to privilege gay people who only present in ways that can still be perceived as straight. We participate in a system that only supports a certain kind of “respectable” gay body, which, in translation, often means we’re okay with coming out to support white male gay bodies to the exclusion of all others. I can be gay as long as I dress like a man.

Why does seeking inclusion need to be this strategic and calculating?

In this kind of environment, I often feel like I have to carve out my own space, which can make me feel like an inconvenience. In my own experience, straight leaders often fail or hesitate to adopt inclusive practices even after direct conversations. I cannot know for certain, but I imagine part of this hesitation to speak about queerness comes from an insecurity of performing any other sexuality than straightness.

Or perhaps queer inclusivity is not everyone’s top priority. Whatever the reason, many organizations forget that they have queer members they may not know about — and even if it happens that a group’s membership is entirely heterosexual, wouldn’t it be worthwhile to expand the potential for queer people to enter that group’s space and already feel represented?

Why can’t male a capella groups sing love songs about men? Why are same-sex mixers still uncommon? If campus organizations could embrace pride more proactively, queer members would not bear the burden of asking for what is already a given for straight students: the chance to participate in a team or group culture with a structure and language that accounts for their existence.

Queer people have always had to live with and think about straight sexuality. The opposite is not necessarily true. The hesitation to

embrace and represent queerness within group settings breeds a narrowness of identity that benefits no one. I am not suggesting straight allies should co-opt gay identity or be inauthentic to their own sexualities. I only hope that more straight allies could be invested in pride and actively celebrate queerness in their daily lives. I wish more straight people would recognize the possibility of queerness in themselves, as I and other queer people have constantly been asked to consider the potential for straightness in ourselves. We should all be able to imagine, think and value the existence of other identities besides our own.

We should not have to hesitate to love ourselves, nor should we hesitate to support other LGBT people. Queer people should not need to remind others that we exist in order to be respected. We should not be spoken of as exceptions or questions. To do this work, allies need to show up. They need to remember to account for and put in time for queerness long before it arrives. What tangible work have you done to support your LGBT peers? I think back to when I was in high school, a time when I could not account for myself. I am most grateful for those who were proud of me before I could be.

As I continue to think about my own expression of gay pride, all I hope is to come to a place where I no longer have to question how I perform my sexuality. I will always think about my sexuality, as I believe every person does, whether they realize it or not. I only hope my thoughts will no longer be regulated by internalized and external shame.

I do not mind living with an unstable sense of sexuality — I am proud of how I am able to hold that instability. I only worry that straightness continues to be an impinging force on my life and on the lives of others, regardless of sexual orientation. I do not crave a world in which queerness becomes what straightness is today.

Instead, I wish that our conception of straightness might be changed, destabilized and, frankly, made more gay. To subvert heteronormativity would allow us all to be more than what we are expected to be. In this way, we might all be better prepared to risk loving people that we were not supposed to.

Arts&Living

Photo courtesy of Beselot Birhanu ’17

This semester’s theme was a tribute to Jordan Peele’s new movie “Get Out,” a satirical horror film about race relations that is especially poignant today.

DASAC Gets Out: Dance Ensemble Celebrates 15-Year Anniversary Brandon Medina ’19 Staff Writer This past weekend, Dance and Stepping at Amherst College (DASAC) performed their spring show in Keefe Campus Center’s Friedmann Room titled “DASAC Gets Out.” DASAC, Amherst’s student-run dance group focused on hip-hop, Caribbean and other dance styles originating from the black diaspora, celebrated its 15th anniversary with this show.

The group was founded by black and brown students disappointed at the lack of representation of black dance. Each semester, the show is given a culturally relevant theme (last semester, the show was an homage to Beyonce’s newest album “Lemonade”). This year, the theme drew from “Get Out,” Jordan Peele’s satirical horror film, which cast a critical eye on American race relations and made for a hilarious marketing campaign. The trailer featured the dancers of DASAC doing the viral #GetOutChallenge, and the promotional posters depicted parodies of the movie’s iconic poster. It is fitting that DASAC chose this film on which to base its theme, since it so brilliantly makes explicit the racial tensions and injustice in America that black people have felt from the beginning. Through their shows, DASAC unapologetically and explicitly shows off dance styles historically suppressed and boxed in by white America. With this show, DASAC made it clear they were get-

ting out of that box.

DASAC directors Anise Diaz ’18 and Matthew Holliday ’19 put on an electric show that truly created a vital space for black dancers and the beautiful variations of black movement. The simple red and white lighting system in Friedman, while outdated, was utilized in a way that interacted directly with the show. The lights went red during sensual and sexual moves and flashed during pointed hip sways. The crowd loved it. Indeed, this truly felt like a black space through its audience participation, which, dating back to West Africa, has always been a huge part of black performance techniques. The active and loud crowd triggered not only excitement but also a warm feeling within the room as the closeness between students and love for each others’ work was palpable.

The choreographers showcased various styles, including sexy hip-hop dance, Caribbean, breakdancing, stomping and slow partner dancing. They included DASAC veterans such as Janna Joassainte ’17, Christine Croasdaile ’17 and SJ Doi ’18, along with first-time choreographers DJ Williams ’20, Sarah Young ’20 and Olivia Zheng ’20. Each of the pieces contained a number of dancers ranging from as few as four to as many as 15 and encompassed a broad spectrum of styles, both within hip-hop and across other areas of the African diaspora.

Highlights from the show included Croasdaile’s “Caribbean Vybz,” a nine-person,

dancehall-inspired piece with fast rhythms; Doi’s “Act Like a Girl,” an all-woman piece that encapsulated more R&B styles; and senior Vanessa Henscheid’s “Revenge of the B-Boy,” a breakdance fighting piece built around Star Wars costumes and remixed music from the movies. DASAC’s traditional stomp-and-chant step number was particularly entertaining this year, centered on a “DASAC Factory” and choreographed by DJ Williams ’20. This was one of the standout moments of the night, and one in which the audience was most involved. Williams played a strict, military commander-like factory owner who terrorized and ruled over her workers. The workers’ chant “Get in line, stay in line; all work, no love, no play! Get in line, stay in line; it’s what we do all day!” led into a well-synchronized stomping and clapping pattern with the dancers in straight lines.

Eventually, the workers rebelled against this tyranny while the owner’s back was turned and did more freestyle R&B dancing, before the owner returned an puts them back in line. Williams was a delight to watch in this role: charismatic, intimidating and engaging in punchy improvisation with rebellious audience members.

In addition to the fast-tempo, hip-hop style, the show also contained its share of slower pieces. For example, “You Used To,” choreographed by Thais Calderon ’17 and David Wang ’17, heavily utilized partner dancing in

addition to hip-hop. In what was perhaps the most intimate moment of the night, two dancers came out in the middle of the piece and danced to Kehlani and Charlie Puth’s cover of “Hotline Bling,” using smooth body waves and pushing and pulling each other.

The show’s costumes also made the show engaging and made each piece stand out. The Caribbean-themed costumes made Croasdile’s piece one of celebrating pride in Caribbean culture. Pieces about one-upping people in terms of style and attitude, such as senior Kali Robinson’s piece “How to Switch Up on a Scrub,” used T-shirts, shorts and sideways caps. Pieces about innocent facades belying aggressive attitudes used elementary school clothing, and pieces with a specific theme used more elaborate costumes. The costumes brought a playful, quirky and sometimes serious element to the dance, and in some cases facilitated a narrative within the pieces.

The show ended with the entire DASAC company coming out to dance to “Walk it Out”

by Unk, and this sort of cathartic freestyle summarized the mission of DASAC. DASAC provides a safe space for black bodies (and other people of color) to fully represent themselves and to move as a community. That whole room felt like one community by the end of the show, and everyone unfortunate enough to become trapped in the “Sunken Place” had fully emerged to the tune of good black vibes.

Photo courtesy of DASAC Facebook

The Amherst Student • April 19, 2017

Arts & Living 7

Kendrick Lamar Releases New Album “DAMN” on Easter Weekend

Photo courtesy of vanndigital.com

Kendrick Lamar’s new album is stylistically different from his past work, choosing harder beats and faster lyrics than his previous jazz vibe.

Kevin Feeley ’19 Staff Writer On Good Friday, living rap legend Kendrick Lamar released his fourth studio album entitled “DAMN.” The album has already received rave reviews, despite being a significant departure from the heavy 70’s jazz

vibe of his last project, “To Pimp a Butterfly.”

His first song, “BLOOD,” is a narrative over a calm yet chilling beat. He tells the story of an interaction with a blind woman, who tells him he has lost his life, before a gunshot is heard. A Fox News audio clip disparaging lyrics from Kendrick’s other songs follows up the narrative. The lone Fox News clip perfectly

juxtaposes the next song, “DNA,” which is loud, aggressive and fast. Kendrick begins the song with “I got I got I got I got loyalty got royalty inside my DNA.” This is one of the first analogies Kendrick makes between himself and Jesus. Kendrick stunningly follows “DNA” with “YAH,” a slow, mellow jam with a simple drumbeat behind bass and keys.

His voice takes a more melodic approach, as he glides his way through the verses, almost singing more than rapping, before he’s joined by a multitude of his own voice for the chorus. Additionally, Kendrick continues that religious undertone, as he calls himself an “Israelite,” no longer black.

“YAH,” is followed up by the more comical “ELEMENT,” a classic sounding K-Dot track reminiscent of his “good kid, m.A.A.d city” days. The chorus is the repetition of the line “If I gotta slap a p*ssy ass n*gga, Ima make it look sexy,” which coming from someone as serious as Kendrick is a truly hysterical line.

The beat isn’t as aggressive as “DNA,” but it certainly kicks things up from “YAH,” and things get especially critical in the last minute. Kendrick goes through a series of lines talking about people who are trying to get ahead of him, and the line that sticks out in particular is “N*ggas wanna flex on me and be in L.A. for free, huh? / Next time they hit the 10 freeway, we need a receipt, huh?” For those who followed his feud with Drake, this line alludes to Drake’s appearance on The Game’s song “100,” and in the subsequent music video Drake is seen crossing the 10 freeway into Kendrick’s part of town. To do so is to challenge Kendrick, and Kendrick’s lines here simply say, “Try that again; I dare you.” Shortly afterwards, he drops the line, “Just say his name and I promise that you’ll see Candyman.” His reference to the horror

movie “Candyman,” in which saying Candyman’s name causes him to appear and murder you, is an incredible analogy for Kendrick’s own dealings with other rappers. Many of his peers have resorted to poking him through subliminal disses, which prompts Kendrick to warn them that if his name is dropped, blood will spill.

And these are only the first four tracks.

“HUMBLE,” of course, returns as the breakout single of the album. Additionally, “FEAR,” has already been deeply analyzed despite only being released to the public for 48 hours. Despite Kendrick’s status as a top tier rapper, his features list is surprisingly small.

He is joined by three artists: Rihanna, Zacari and the elderly rock band U2 for a surprisingly classic sounding rap song, complete with disc scratching and excessive high hat drums.

The main problem with Kendrick’s “DAMN,” if you can call it a problem, is the sheer density the work represents. Every line matters, as Kendrick does not waste bars, which doesn’t let the listener get a full picture of what he is saying without spending significant amounts of time analyzing each verse. However, his music still sounds good, which makes it more accessible to listeners who do not want to do an in-depth analysis of rap lyrics.

All in all, “DAMN” is yet another triumph for Kendrick. It’s certainly not as groundbreaking as “To Pimp a Butterfly,” nor is it as much of a narrative as “good kid, m.A.A.d city.” It seems more of a reflection of Kendrick’s own internal monologue. He’s narrowed his scope down from his last album, but his lyrics seem to be his views on the issues that matter to him instead of a collection of stories. Whatever he has to say, you can count on it being said better than most living rappers could.

“Being a Human in STEM” Examines the Individuals Within herst Uprising. I also spent my junior year at Wellesley College, which was a refreshing change of pace and a school where I felt that I was in a great learning environment. While I was there, I felt like I really belonged to a community within my STEM classes, which was especially impressive because I wasn’t even a student there. My professors really went out of their way to make me feel welcome. When I came back, I was wondering what the difference was between these two similar schools and I wanted to know what about both schools influenced how students learned. What would make the ideal learning environment?

Photo courtesy of Ashley Bohan ‘16

Castro ‘17, Bohan ‘16 and Ryan ‘17 speak at a diversity conference at Yale to discuss Professor of Chemistry Sheila Jaswal’s course on diversity in STEM. Mark Simonitis ’19 Staff Writer “Being a Human in STEM” is a projectbased course designed by students and chemistry professor Sheila Jaswal. The course, offered as a Chemistry special topics class, aims to foster a more inclusive, supportive STEM community and develop a framework for students and faculty to both understand and navigate diverse identities in the classroom and beyond.

Since its inception in the Spring 2016 semester, the course has thrived, with students presenting their results at numerous conferences. During one such conference at Yale University, the presentation was so effective that it prompted Yale to create their own ver-

sion of the course.

I sat down with Ashley Bohan ’16 and Emma Ryan ’17 to learn more about the course and to hear about their own experiences with the project.

Q: How did you get involved with “Being a Human in STEM”?

Emma Ryan: I got involved with the project after Amherst Uprising last fall. I wanted to do more than just be there and be empathetic towards all these stories people were telling. I heard about this class that a few of my friends were creating with Dr. Jaswal, and I thought it would be a great way to get involved and to basically walk the talk.

Ashley Bohan: I felt similarly after Am-

Q: Could you tell us what sort of projects you’ve participated in during your time with the course?

ER: Last year, we both worked extensively on a survey project. We talked with over 40 students, staff and faculty, and interviewed them about their STEM experiences at Amherst.

We spoke to both current STEM majors and people who had dropped STEM majors to try to capture different perspectives. We asked questions about any challenges they faced concerning their identities, how they overcame those challenges, and so on. We synthesized these results and tried to identify certain themes in the results, which were very clear to the both of us.

drome, or at least the effects of it. Many of our interviewees felt that they were alone or in the minority with their problems, when in reality, it seemed that almost everyone felt like they were an imposter.

AB: Yeah, that was validating for me to hear.

It was good to know that the struggles I faced were shared by my peers.

ER: As a person with very scant high school science preparation who initially struggled in my early science classes here at Amherst, it was kind of comforting to hear that my experience wasn’t unique. I’ve noticed that it’s common for students to project that kind of mindset when it’s really not the case. Not everyone comes from a prep school and knows how to do everything! There’s a huge disparity in terms of preparation coming in, so that’s something we look forward to figuring out.

Q: What projects will the course be taking on in the future?

AB: We actually just released our project for this semester, a survey of only STEM students. If our interviews were about people’s individual struggles at Amherst, the survey we just sent out was about how to overcome these struggles. We’re trying to collect tips by STEM students for STEM students as they navigate their time here at Amherst.

Q: What kind of results did you see?

AB: I was a little bit shocked at the stuff that would continuously come up in our interviews. For example, several people would say that a certain professor was a major influence on their STEM experiences and they didn’t think they would have stuck with their major if it hadn’t been for that professor. I was especially surprised and interested in the act that there was so much continuity in these experiences.

Q: Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share about the course?

AB: One of the things I appreciate the most about “Being a Human in STEM” is how the course works as a collaborative effort between students, faculty and staff. If anyone wants to work as a team on projects designed to support student learning and to make space for the conversations about identity in STEM at Amherst, this course is the perfect place for you.

ER: I remember that a major theme we say was people suffering from imposter syn-

More information about this project can be found at beinghumaninstem.com

Arts & Living 8

The Amherst Student • April 19, 2017

The Green Room Organizes Interdepartmental One-Act Showcase

Photo courtesy of Green Room

Professors from the English department volunteered as judges and picked the six winning plays to be performed out of the 23 student submissions.

Alina Burke ’17 Staff Writer The faculty in the English department took steps last year towards a connection with the theater and dance department by allowing playwriting classes to be counted for English course credit. This semester, their relationship has grown even further. The Green Room, a student-directed theater group that is not part of the theater department, brought these two departments closer together by hosting a playwriting competition.

Sponsored by the English department, the idea was that six one-act plays would be chosen from a multitude of student submissions, and the group would perform the winning plays. The competition was judged by English professor Christopher Grobe and playwright-in-residence Connie Congdon. The two departments started the project by providing monetary resources as well as a performance space, but once the plays were chosen almost everything else was entirely student-driven.

The project was impressively large for such a new student group to take on. The Green Room’s production team had to find directors, actors and stage managers for all six plays and ended up with students from a wide variety of backgrounds in terms of theatrical experience. There were many layers of involvement from different types of students. Many English majors submitted plays to the contest, while people already involved in theater auditioned to be in the plays, but some

outside people who were friends with the playwrights auditioned, which made for a refreshingly different cast.

The showcase was called “ADRifT” because the one uniting theme in a diverse group of plays was a sense of being lost. Although each play expressed it differently, it is not surprising that college students would choose to write about finding their place in a stressful world.

If I’m being honest, I can’t claim to have liked all of these plays. I can’t claim to even have understood all of these plays. But I do think that I gained something out of watching this showcase.

In particular, the shows “A Hateful Heart,” written and directed by Frank Tavares ’18, and “Tin Can Desert,” written and directed by Michael Barnett ’18, provided interesting food for thought. “A Hateful Heart” presents a disturbing sci-fi scenario in which a woman finds herself trapped in a laboratory where each of her body parts are replaced daily with manufactured replicas. Tavares raises questions concerning what it means to have a body be yours — is a body your body because of the experiences it has gone through, or is there another deeper level connecting human consciousness with physical form? “A Hateful Heart” was an impressive combination of philosophical thinking, beautiful writing and just a little bit of terror.

“Tin Can Desert” hinges on a situation — the idea of a gay man and a straight woman being the last two people on earth and the awkward

humor that ensues surrounding the question of repopulating the human race. However, it takes awhile to realize what exactly the situation is, because a lot of time is spent creating the characters’ world. The actors did a wonderful job setting up a destroyed, trash-covered, lonely earth by starting the play with an uncomfortably long silence where they busied themselves organizing the garbage around them. Barnett asks his audience how a person can exist if they are the only thing that exists in the world, and the even more existentially daunting question of how a person in such a position could possibly matter at all. What is most impressive is that he does all this with a sense of humor throughout it all, and does not leave his audience as emotionally deserted as one might think.

Those were by far the two most out-there concepts for plays. Most of the plays seemed to draw from real experiences of college-aged people. “Blue and Yellow,” written by Julia Pike ’19 and directed by Paola Garcia-Prieto ’18, was a great snapshot of everyday life for two female college students and tackled the very relatable topics of not-quite-romances and gaslighting by manipulative men. Other plays also dealt with similar themes of love and loss, but they did not have quite the same relatable quality as “Blue and Yellow.” It is not that the other plays were badly done; they were all just incredibly male-centric.

They focused on depicting a “bro” culture that I personally believe the world has seen enough of.

I concede that the playwrights were most likely trying to point out the flaws in this culture of toxic masculinity. However, I think they could have done so in a way that focused more on the feminine side of this culture and did not just use female characters as paper cut-outs with whom the men on stage flirted. This happens quite literally with the personality-less character “Sandy” in “Wikihow to Whisper in a Girl’s Ear,” written and directed by David Green ’18 and co-written

by Alli Bennett ’18, and in a more nuanced way in “Sanctus,” written and assistant directed by Mary Grace Cronin ’18 and directed by Sophina Flores ’18, because the women there were so insignificant I don’t even recall any of their names. The remaining play, “Final Thoughts,” written and directed by Forest Sisk ’17 and co-directed by Brett Sokol ’19, did not really have much to do with women at all. Again, I do not mean to disparage those who worked hard on these shows. They were well-done by the actors and directors, and the quality of the writing was high (especially for a college production). I was simply disappointed that half of these shows excluded women from the bigger picture.

The Green Room hopes to continue this collaboration with the English department and the theater and dance department to make the student-written, one-act showcase an annual event, providing more opportunities for people not regularly involved in the theater community to participate.

The Amherst Student • April 19, 2017

Sports 9

Individual Efforts Pace Men’s Track and Field at Pair of Weekend Meets

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Kristian Sogaard ‘19 had strong showings in both meets this weekend, placing second in both the 800-meter run on Friday and the 400-meter on Saturday.

Veronica Rocco ’19 Staff Writer The Amherst men’s track and field team had a busy and successful weekend, as several mid-distance and distance runners competed at the Silfen Invitational hosted by Connecticut College on Friday, April 14. The next day, Saturday, April 15, the majority of the team competed across town at the UMass Minuteman Invitational.

Sophomores Kristian Sogaard and Vernon Espinoza kicked off the action this weekend for the Mammoths by placing second and third in the 800-meter run. The duo finished the two-lap race in 1:54, demonstrating their speed as the NESCAC Championships approach.

First-year Ralph Skinner continued his strong track campaign, placing eighth overall with a time of 1:56.

In the competetive 1,500-meter race, senior Kevin Connors broke four minutes for the first time since his sophomore year with a time of 3:57. First-year Spencer FergusonDryden ran a time of 3:58 to finish closely behind Connors.

The Mammoths had four entrants in the 5,000-meter run, and Clark Ricciardelli ’20E led the squad by breaking 15 minutes for the first time to complete the 12.5-lap race in 14:59. Cosmo Brossy ’19 crossed the finish line right after Ricciardelli, finishing in a time of 15:03.

Tucker Meijer ’19 led older brother Raymond Meijer ’17 to round out the Amherst

squad, as the sophomore ran 15:12 and the senior 15:26.

On Saturday at UMass, action kicked off with the 1,500- and 800-meter races. Estevan Velez ’20 won his heat of the 1,500 with a time of 4:06. Later in the day, Jacob Silverman ’19 ran 4:09 to finish 10th in his heat, while Ben Fiedler ’17 finished sixth in his heat in a time of 4:13.

The Amherst underclassmen shined in the middle-distance races, as Ermias Kebede ’19 won his heat of the 800 meters with a near personal best time of 1:59 to lead Alexander Mangiafico ’20, who completed the race in a time of 2:02.

Ferguson-Dryden and Connors also hit the track to compete in the 800-meter event.

The first-year set a new personal best with a time of 1:56 to finish second in his competetive heat, while Connors placed fourth in a time of 1:57.

Jack Dufton ’20 placed fifth in the high jump with a leap of 1.84 meters, and classmate Jordan Edwards placed sixth with a jump of 1.79 meters.

Edwards had a successful day in the horizontal jumps as well, placing third in the long jump with a leap of 6.35 meters and fourth in the triple jump with a Division III New England Championships qualifying leap of 13.18 meters.

Leading the throwers, Sam Amaka ’19 placed sixth in the shot put with a throw of 12.54 meters and third in the hammer throw with a throw of 41.48 meters. Widsom Yevudza ’19 placed seventh and 10th in the events, respectively.

Cornell Brooks ’19 was the lone Amherst entrant in the discus throw, placing eighth in a competitive field with a throw of 28.52 meters.

In the 400-meter dash, Kristian Sogaard ’19 also returned to the track and led the Amherst contingent by placing second overall

with a time of 50.28 seconds.

The sophomore showcased his range, having also competed at the cross-country national tournament in the fall at the 8,000-meter distance, to set a new personal best in the one lap event. Right behind him was Ralph Skinner ’20, who ran a time of 50.43 seconds to place fourth overall.

In the 100-meter dash, first-year Mayowa Tinubu led the Mammoths with a time of 11.40 seconds to lead teammate Aziz Khan ’18, who ran 11.45 seconds in the shortest sprint of the outdoor events.

Hurdlers Maxim Doiron ’19 and Yonas Shiferaw ’20 placed fifth and seventh, finishing in 16.19 and 16.35 seconds, respectively.

Shiferaw returned to hurdle action in the 400-meter hurdles to lead teammate Jeff Ewing ’18 as the pair ran times of 57.57 seconds and 1:02, respectively.

In the 200-meter dash, Khan led the team once again with a time of 22.78 seconds, qualifying him for Division III New England Championships.

Classmate David Ingraham ’18 finished shortly behind Khan, running a time of 23.06 seconds.

The weekend’s action concluded for the Mammoths with the 5,000-meter run, where first-year Chris Stone set a significant personal best with a time of 15:50. Jack Wesley ’18 finished behind Stone with a time of 15:51.

“I thought people were especially motivated for the meets this weekend and that translated really well into their races,” FergusonDryden said. “Definitely some good personal and season bests across the board as well so I’m excited to see what we can do in the next couple weeks.”

Next weekend, the Mammoths will travel to Trinity to compete at the Trinity Invite.

This will be the team’s final tune-up before the NESCAC Championships on April 29, which Bowdoin will host.

No. 12 Women’s Tennis Fall to NESCAC Archrival Williams 8-1

Women’s Lacrosse Splits Pair Against Conn. College and Tufts, Falls to 5-7

Scout Boynton ’20 Staff Writer

Katie Bergamesca ’18 Staff Writer

The Amherst women’s tennis team traveled to Williamstown, Mass. on Saturday, April 15 to face off against the Ephs of Williams College.

In a tough match against their archrival, the 12th-ranked Mammoths fell to No. 4 Williams, 8-1.

Amherst’s sole victory came from Camille Smukler ’20/Kelsey Chen ’19 on the first doubles court.

The No. 1 doubles pair for the Mammoths is an impressive 6-3 on the season and has won their last five matches. The duo downed Hannah Atkinson/Chloe Henderson, 8-5.

Recovering from the early loss, the Ephs beat Anya Ivenitsky ’20/Avery Wagman ’18 on court No. 2 and Megan Adamo ’17/Claire Carpenter ’17 on court No. 3.

For Adamo and Carpenter, this was their first loss of the season, having won their first five matches of the spring on the third court,

facing Williams undefeated.

In singles action, Williams continued their dominance and swept the Mammoths. Smukler fell to Juli Raventos, 6-3, 6-2, and Chen lost to Leah Bush, 6-1, 6-4.

On the third court, Ivenitsky was edged in a three-set 6-1, 5-7, 10-3 matchup. Camilla Trapness ’19 was defeated by Atkinson, 6-1, 6-0.

Mia Gancayco notched a 6-2, 6-1, win against Adamo on the fifth court, and Julia Cancio came out on top against Wagman, 6-3, 6-2.

Amherst falls to an even 5-5 on the season and 3-1 in the NESCAC after suffering their first conference loss this weekend.

The Mammoths will next return to the courts when they travel to Medford, Mass. to take on NESCAC foe Tufts on Wednesday, April 19 at 4 p.m.

Amherst then returns home to take on Little III rival Wesleyan on Saturday, April 22 and Hamilton on Sunday, April 23. Both weekend matches begin at 1 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Sophomore Camilla Trapness and the rest of the Amherst singles players fought valiantly but to no avail, as the Ephs came out ahead on all six courts.

The Amherst women’s lacrosse team snapped a three-game slide with a mid-week win over Connecticut College before dropping a tightly contested match against 20th-ranked Tufts.

On Tuesday, April 11, the Mammoths traveled to New London, Conn. to face a Camels team desperate for its first NESCAC win. However, Conn. College was unable to secure the victory it was looking for as Amherst cruised to a 13-2 win.

First-year Katherine Malone paced the offense with a career-high three goals, while Mary Grace Cronin ’18, Kelly Karczewski ’18 and Hannah Fox ’20 all scored twice for the Mammoths.

Malone, Karczewski and Cronin all also had an assist each. Sophomore Kate Burns collected a team-high three ground balls. Rowena Schenck ’18 helped maintain the Mammoths offensive momentum, winning six of the team’s 10 draw controls, and Fox stepped up to win the other four.

Amherst played on the road again for its weekend matchup against the Jumbos in Medford, MA. The Mammoths got off to a slow start, tallying only two goals in the first half, with both coming from Fox. Going into intermission, Amherst faced a five-goal deficit, down 7-2.

In the second half, the Mammoths were the first to find the nylon as Kate Wyeth ‘17 notched her first goal of the game off a dish from Kaitlyn Haase ’19. The Jumbos responded quickly, going on a three-goal run and increasing their advantage to 10-3.

Amherst was not discouraged as the Mammoths responded with four straight goals of their own. Wyeth scored her second of the game, while Karczewski, Malone and Claire Cagnassola ’17 contributed a goal apiece. With

less than four minutes left in the game, the Tufts’ lead had shrunk from seven goals to just three.

Despite the Mammoths’ impressive offensive push, they were unable to upset the Jumbos. A late goal from Tufts sealed Amherst’s fate as the Jumbos won by an 11-7 scoreline.

Sabrina Solow ’19 anchored the Mammoths’ defense with three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Fox won an impressive eight draw controls in the losing effort.

After last week’s action, the Mammoths move to 5-7 overall on the season and 2-6 in the NESCAC. Amherst will continue conference play with the team’s penultimate game of the season against Little III rival Williams on Saturday, April 22 at noon on Pratt Field. Since it is the Mammoths’ last Saturday home game of the regular season, the team’s five seniors, Coco Kusiak, Cagnassola, Wyeth, Andrea Rijo and Hanna Krueger, will be honored for their accomplishments over their four years at Amherst.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Captain Hanna Krueger ‘17 and the Amherst defense held Conn. College and Tufts to 13 goals total.

10

Sports

The Amherst Student • April 19, 2017

Softball Sweeps Aside Wesleyan and Smith, Win Streak Hits 13 Games Jenny Mazzella ’20 Staff Writer This past week, the Amherst softball team continued its perfect month of April, posting a 5-0 record with sweeps of both Smith and Wesleyan.

Last Wednesday, the Mammoths faced off against local rival Smith in a doubleheader. Game One proved to be the closest game that Amherst played in almost a month, with the Mammoths prevailing by the slightest of margins, 2-1. With neither team able to muster a run in the first five innings, the contest quickly turned into a pitchers’ duel between Smith’s Natalie Burchat and Amherst’s duo of Jackie Buechler ’17 and Lorena Ukanwa ’19.

Although Amherst had several chances to plate a run in the first five innings, the Mammoths finally broke through in the sixth. A combination of timely hitting, good baserunning and poor Smith fielding resulted in Lauren Tuiskula ’17 and Andrea Sanders ’20 crossing home plate, giving Amherst the 2-0 lead.

Although Smith managed to pull a run back in the top of the seventh, Ukanwa fanned the next batter and got a groundout to close-out the game.

The second game proved to be a much simpler matter for the Mammoths, who shut out Smith 8-0 in only five innings. Having taken the lead in the bottom of the first on an unearned run scored by Tuiskula, Smith kept the margin at 1-0 until the bottom of the fourth, when Amherst exploded for six runs. Although Amherst only managed a triple and two singles in the frame, good base-running keyed the rally, which pushed the Mammoths’ lead to an unassailable seven runs. After Gina Pagan ’18

tacked on one final run in the bottom of the fifth, the game was called and Amherst emerged 8-0.

Following the two wins, Amherst swept Wesleyan in a three-game series, with a final score of 6-1 in the first game, 1-0 in the second and 10-1 in the third. With the three wins, Amherst remained undefeated in NESCAC play.

The game first game began slowly, with each team remaining scoreless until Amherst took a 3-0 lead in the third inning, after Julia Turner ’19 ripped a bases-loaded triple. Amherst extended its lead to 6-0 in the fifth inning thanks to hits from Sammy Salustri ’19 and Kyra Naftel ’19. Pagan earned the win, pitching five complete innings and allowing only three hits. Pagan now leads all NESCAC pitchers in strikeouts, with a total of 101 so far.

In game two, Salustri hit an RBI double to score the only run of the game, securing the win for Amherst. Buechler had another solid showing, allowing just one hit, striking out five batters and garnering NESCAC Pitcher of the Week honors for her strong showings.

In game three, Amherst took an early lead, when Tuiskula advanced to second off a bunt and a fielding error. Teammate Salustri got a hit, bringing Tuiskula home. Wesleyan responded with a homerun in the second inning, evening the score at 1-1. In the bottom of the second inning, Amherst regained the lead, scoring three runs on fours hits and a Wesleyan error. In the bottom of the fourth, Amherst scored six more runs, to extend its lead even further.

Amherst returns to action on Wednesday, April 19, with a double header against Keene State College, which will take place at home.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Nick Nardone ’19 Favorite Team Memory: Sweeping Williams and then doing karaoke on the bus ride home Favorite Pro Athlete: Mariano Rivera Dream Job: Not sure yet, but something that involves traveling to new places Pet Peeve: During games, if I score, when people hit my helmet after Favorite Vacation Spot: Italy Something on Your Bucket List: Safari in South Africa Guilty Pleasure: Val ice cream Favorite Food: Sushi Favorite Thing About Amherst: Bruno’s How He Earned It: Nardone has been an offensive powerhouse for the Mammoths so far this season, but he hit his stride this past weekend, helping Amherst to four wins over archrival Williams, and Eastern Connecticut State University. The sophomore went 7-for14 at the plate, adding two homeruns to rack up 10 RBIs and cross the plate for five runs scored. Nardone also drew two walks to post a .527 on base percentage and a phenomenal .927 slugging percentage in the four game span. On the season, Nardone is batting .386 with a .420 on base percentage.

Jackie Buechler ’17 Favorite Team Memory: Beating Williams!

Favorite Pro Athlete: Cat Osterman Dream Job: Anything that’s exciting and keeps me on my toes Pet Peeve: Pants that are too short Favorite Vacation Spot: Thailand Something on Your Bucket List: Skydiving Guilty Pleasure: Watching Keeping up with the Kardashians Favorite Food: Anything cheesy Favorite Thing About Amherst: How beautiful it is in the fall How She Earned It: Buechler was a key cog in the Mammoths dominant five-game run last week, mowing down opposing batters in her two appearances. Against Smith, she threw four scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and one walk while striking out five batters. Against Wesleyan, Buechler managed to outdo her performance earlier in the week, throwing a complete game shutout with another five strikeouts. For her dominant body of work, Buechler garnered NESCAC Player of the Week honors, the second Amherst pitcher to win the award this season, following teammate Gina Pagan ‘18.

Individual Performances Highlight Amherst Showing at UMass Invitational

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Sophomore Annie Murphy had one RBI and one run in the Wesleyan series.

Women’s Golf Hosts Jack Leaman Invite, Places Third Overall Out of 11 Schools Julia Turner ’19 Managing Sports Editor The Amherst women’s golf team made a strong showing this weekend, April 15 to 16, on their home course at Hickory Ridge Golf Club. The team finished with a combined score of 628 to place third at the Jack Leaman Invitational.

On day one of competition, the Mammoths were led by Morgan Yurosek ’20 and Jamie Gracie ’17, who each shot a 79 on Saturday, while Emily Young ’20, Jessica Jeong ’20 and Kate Weiss ’19 each carded rounds of 83.

Competing as individuals, Katie Roseberg ’19 and Maggie Schoeller ’19 shot an 85 and an 87, respectively.

New York University sat in first place in the 11-team field after day one, shooting a score of 310, while Williams (316) and Amherst (324) followed in second and third respectively. Ithaca College (336) and Mount Holyoke (340) rounded out the top five scoring teams.

Hanging onto their day one success, NYU registered a round of 300 on Sunday to secure first place honors with an overall score of 610.

Williams (316-300-616) finished in second, while Amherst placed third overall (324-304628).

Yurosek led the Amherst women, shooting

a combined 152 with a phenomenal one-under-par 73 on Sunday, placing fourth overall.

Gracie (79-77-156) and Young (83-76-159) finished 10th and tied for 11th respectively, while Jeong and Weiss each carded two-day scores of 161 with identical first and second rounds of 83 and 78 to tie for 17th overall in the field of 69 golfers.

The Mammoths return to action this weekend, April 22 to 23, at the Williams Spring Invitational.

Photo Photo courtesy courtesy of of Clarus Clarus Studios Studios

Maggie Schoeller ‘19, competing as an individual, shot a 168 (87-81).

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Julia Asin ’19 is one of Amherst’s top competitors in the 400-meter event.

Julia Turner ’19 Managing Sports Editor The Mammoths had an impressive showing this weekend, at the local University of Massachusetts Amherst Invitational.

Coming off of their strong individual performances at the Amherst Spring Fling Invitational tournament last Saturday, April 8, the Amherst squad looked to continue their success and qualify individually for the New England Championships and NCAA Outdoor Championship tournaments.

Kiana Herold ’17 posted the highest Amherst finish of the day, logging a second place finish in the 13-woman event with a height of 1.66 meters.

Following in the footsteps of her nationally ranked teammate, first-year Kaitlyn Siegel clinched a fifth-place finish in the high jump with a jump of 1.56 meters.

Rounding out the field events was sophomore Emily Flaherty. The triple jumper posted

a distance of 10.50 meters to place fifth in the contest.

In the track events, first-year Anna Buford led Amherst in the 100-meter dash, placing 18th overall with a mark of 13.16. In the 200-meter race, sophomore Rubii Tamen clinched a 19thplace finish with a time of 26.62. The two-sport soccer forward also took 10th in the 400-meter run, notching a time of 1:00.84.

In the mid-distance events, Leonie Rauls ’18 finished ninth overall in the 800-meter event (2:19.46), while Christina Scartelli ’19 took 20th with a time of 2:26.64.

Finishing off with the long-distance events, sophomore Lela Walter and senior Cat Lowdon finished back-to-back in the 1,500-meter run.

The women secured 14th and 15th places in the competition, with times of 4:59.28 and 5:00.36, respectively.

The Mammoths will return to action on Saturday, April 22, when they travel to Hartford, CT to compete in the Trinity Invitational hosted by the Bantams.

The Amherst Student • April 19, 2017

Sports

Men’s Tennis Sweeps Quartet of Both NESCAC and Non-conference Foes

Baseball Sweeps Williams in Three-Game Series, Boasts 4-2 Record in NESCAC Play Delancey King ’18 Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Sophomore Jesse Levitin was a perfect 2-0 in doubles action this past week, posting wins over MIT and Swarthmore on the fifth court.

Nate Quigley ’19 Managing Sports Editor The Amherst men’s tennis team continued its season-long dominance, posting a perfect record against four opponents to stretch the team’s win streak to five games.

Coming off a win over Division I foe Bryant, the Mammoths’ strong play carried over to both matches of last Friday’s doubleheader.

Given that both matches were away, Coach Todd Doebler elected to send his stronger team to Cambridge, Mass., to take on the 22nd-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while Amherst’s second squad faced off against NESCAC foe Connecticut College later in the evening.

The matchup between the Engineers and the Mammoths proved to be the more riveting of the two, with Amherst emerging victorious with a hard-fought 6-3 win.

In doubles action, the Mammoths’ pairings faced stern challenges, taking only two of the three points available. On court one, the duo of Zach Bessette ’19 and Jayson Fung ’20 was pushed to a tiebreaker, winning by the slimmest of margins, 9-7.

On the second court, the all-first-year team of Josh Marchalik and Oscar Burney eked out a slightly more comfortable 8-5 victory, while the third court saw MIT rout the Mammoths’ pair of Jesse Levitin ’19 and Nathan Kaplan ’20 8-2.

The singles courts proved just as challenging for Amherst. Although the Mammoths took four of the six points, not a single match was a blowout. Indeed, the shortest match of the afternoon was a 6-1, 6-4 victory for MIT’s Victor Cheng over Fung on court three, which tied the overall score at 2-2.

The Mammoths responded well, however, with Levitin and Kaplan posting two-set wins on courts five and six, respectively.

The remaining three courts all required a third set to decide the affair’s overall victor, with Amherst needing only one outcome to go its way.

Although there was initially cause for concern, with both Bessette and Burney losing their first sets on the second and fourth courts, respectively, both players bounced back to win the second set by matching scores of 7-5 before putting away from their Engineers opponents in the third set.

With Marchalik losing on court one in a tight 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 thriller, the Mammoths departed Cambridge with a 6-3 win, another impressive result on the program’s already impressive season.

While this battle with MIT was occurring, the other half of the Amherst lineup had a much easier task ahead of it, taking on a Conn.

College team that boasted a dismal 0-3 mark in conference play heading into the match.

The Mammoths superiority was on full display in doubles actions where the first pairing of Andrew Arnaboldi ’17 and Chris Paridis ’20 put up an 8-2 win, which was then one-upped by an 8-0 rout posted by the second duo of Sam Silver ’17 and Justin Sun ’19.

Although Amherst fell on the third court, the point for the Camels would be the only tally Conn. College notched all evening, with the Mammoths sweeping all six singles courts.

In singles play, Amherst quickly secured the overall win with four players logging comfortable two-set wins. However, both Cameron Raglin ’19 and Oliver Kendall ’19, coincidentally the Amherst pairing that had fallen in doubles action, needed a tiebreaker to seal their wins.

Both sophomores fell in their first set before tying the match in the second set, thus sending the match to the required tiebreaker.

Kendall sent his tiebreaker to extra points, finally prevailing 11-9 to secure Amherst’s 8-1 overall victory.

The Mammoths had little time for rest, though, as the team returned home to take on out-of-conference foe Swarthmore on Saturday.

For the first time all weekend, Amherst pulled off the full sweep of the doubles courts with the pairs of Fung/Bessette, Burney/ Marchalik and Arnaboldi/Kaplan all managing easy wins, while no Swarthmore pairing won more than four games.

Singles play was similarly lopsided in its results, as each of the five Mammoths players who won did so in an easy two sets.

Highlighted by Marchalik’s impressive 6-0, 6-0 win on court number two, Amherst quickly clinched the overall win as Bessette, Fung, Levitin and Kaplan all made quick work of their Phoenix opponents.

The one loss the Mammoths suffered came on court four, which saw an intense battle between Burney and Swarthmore’s Josh Powell.

Although Powell won the first set, Burney fought back in the second to push it to the first-to-10 points tiebreaker, which Powell managed to win 10-4, thus allowing the Phoenix to avoid the ignominy of a 9-0 sweep.

On Tuesday, April 18, the Mammoths faced No. 28 Bates at home. The midweek match was close, but the Amherst men pulled out a 6-3 victory over the Wildcats.

On the number one singles court, Bessette fell to his Bates opponent. Fung, Owens, Levitin, and Kaplan defeated their Wildcat opponents on courts two, three, five and six, respectively. Levitin had the most exciting match on court five, forcing the matchup to four sets and ultimately taking the win. The Mammoth’s only other singles loss came on court four, where Adam Schwartz defeated Burney.

In doubles play, Bessette/Fung and Arnaboldi/Kaplan took victories, while Burney/ Marchalik fell in an 8-6 loss to Ordway/ Schwartz of Bates.

After the last week of action, the Mammoths now stand at 17-3 overall and boast a 3-1 mark in conference play heading into a busy stretch of games. This Saturday, April 22, Amherst will play yet another doubleheader, this time at home, first taking on Wheaton at 9 a.m. and then challenging Little III rival Wesleyan at 1 p.m.

11

After dropping their series against Middlebury two games to one on April 7-8, Amherst baseball rebounded in a big way with a 4-1 week that featured a three-game sweep of archrival Williams.

The team defeated Eastern Connecticut State on Thursday before claiming the series against the Ephs. No. 21 Salve Regina then halted this winning streak with a 4-1 win over the Mammoths.

With these results, the team’s record now stands at 10-10 (4-2 NESCAC).

“It was huge. It shows that we can still be top dogs in the NESCAC,” said catcher Joe Feldman ’18. “The sweep was a total team effort for all three games.”

Setting the tone for their dominant weekend, the Mammoths defeated the Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors 14-7.

Amherst came out strong, taking a 5-0 lead in the first inning and keeping Eastern Conn. scoreless until the third.

Building on their early momentum, the Mammoths increased their lead to 9-1 in the fourth inning and then to 13-1 in the fifth.

Nick Nardone ’19 notched a two-run homer in the fourth to cap off a stellar performance, which included three runs and five RBIs. A comeback seemed possible for the Warriors in the bottom of the seventh, as a triple from Williams Coleman sparked a six-run effort from Eastern Connecticut.

However, the Amherst staff managed to hold them at seven in order to secure the win.

The defensive effort was led by starter Davis Brown ’19, who struck out three and allowed no runs in six innings.

On Friday, Amherst hosted rival Williams on Memorial Field. After the first two innings left both teams scoreless, the Mammoths finally managed to generate some offense in the third. Senior captain Yanni Thanopoulos hit a ground rule double to plate Max Steinhorn ’18 before being sent home himself by a single from Anthony Spina ’17.

After holding onto the 2-0 lead for two innings, Amherst extended its lead to five in the bottom of the fifth. Thanopoulous once again

drove Steinhorn home with a sacrifice line drive, while Harry Roberson ’18 and Nardone each reached home to round off the inning for the Mammoths.

The Ephs began to gain some late momentum in the eighth, with two consecutive RBIs cutting their deficit to three. However, a spectacular sliding catch from Spina in right field allowed Amherst to regroup and hold Williams to two runs.

Sam Schneider ’18 was credited with the victory, giving up only five hits and two earned runs.

The following day, the Mammoths traveled to Bobby Coombs Field for a doubleheader against their NESCAC rivals. The Ephs took an early lead in the first matchup, but a strong offensive effort, led by a home run from Nardone, enabled Amherst to secure the 4-3 come-from-behind win.

Senior Jackson Volle pitched a complete game and allowed only six hits while also striking out five batters.

The second contest of the day saw more of the same competitive play. Between the two sides, eight runs were scored in the first inning alone.

Nardone, Chase Henley ’19, Ariel Kenney ’18 and Ryan Hardin ’18 all notched RBIs in their opening at-bats to put Amherst on top 5-0.

Williams managed to come within one of the Mammoths after a homer from Jack Cloud in the fifth inning, but six strikeouts from Wilson Taylor ’19 held the Ephs at bay. Three more Amherst runs in the ninth, including a home run from Kenney, secured the 8-5 win and the sweep.

The Mammoths are hopeful this recent success will set the tone for the rest of the season both literally and figuratively, according to Feldman.

“We had a little team American idol on the bus home Saturday. If we sweep Hamilton and Wes, Coach Hamm said he’d take the mic,” he said. “We’re hungry for the postseason and very curious to see what rendition Coach will offer.”

The Mammoths return to action on Friday, April 21, when they will travel to Hamilton for a three-game series in Clinton, NY.

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Sports

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Senior captain Matt Killian led the Mammoths to victory against Tufts last Saturday, collecting three goals and four ground balls in the contest.

Men’s Lacrosse Defeats NESCAC Rival Tufts on Senior Day Mary Grace Cronin ’18 Staff Writer The Amherst men’s lacrosse team had a thrilling weekend, besting NESCAC powerhouse Tufts 21-15 on Saturday, April 15 at Pratt Field.

The game, Amherst’s final home tilt of the season, also served as the Mammoths’ senior day.

Along the way, first-year Colin Minicus garnered NESCAC player of the week honors on Monday after piling up 17 points in Amherst’s win over Tufts and their prior victory on Tuesday, April 11 against Connecticut College.

The Connecticut native finished the week with an impressive 72.2 shots-on-goal percentage, and leads the team with a phenom-

GAME SCHE DULE

enal 36 assists.

Following their exciting NESCAC win, the Mammoths handed Tufts their first loss of the season by an exciting score of 21-15. The Saturday afternoon game marked Amherst’s senior night, during which they celebrated eight senior players.

The Mammoths used a powerful run in the fourth quarter to pull ahead and sealed the first Amherst victory in the last four meetings between the two.

Amherst scored first when a shot by Max Keeley ’18 found the back of the net off a pass from Jackson Herrick ’20, followed by a commanding four-goal Tufts run.

Albanese and Inglesby tallied a response, and Amherst finished the first period tied thanks to goals in the last three minutes of the quarter by Herrick and Albanese.

WED FRI

SAT

Softball Baseball vs. Keene State, 3:30 @ Hamilton, 4 p.m. p.m.

Softball Women’s Tennis vs. Williams, 5 p.m. @ Tufts, 4 p.m.

Women’s Track & Field @ Trinity Invitational, 10 a.m.

Softball vs. Keene State, 5:30 p.m.

Men’s Track & Field @ Trinity Invitational, 10 a.m.

Tufts seemed to pull away in the second period, as the Mammoths entered the locker room at halftime trailing with a score of 12-8.

Amherst’s only tallies in the period came from Mahon, Albanese and Schwartz, but the team hung on to stay within two goals as time ran off the clock in the third quarter.

With just six minutes left on the clock in the third quarter, a monstrous six-goal run that went unanswered by the Jumbos would put the Mammoths up 16-14. Albanese, Schwartz and Mahon all contributed to the offensive surge, while first-year Jon Coffey and Wolff would also get on the board in this offensive onslaught.

Entering the final quarter of play up by two goals, another five-goal run in the final 15 minutes of play sealed the victory for Amherst.

Tufts showed a feeble attempt to take mo-

mentum back, as the Jumbos scored the first goal of the fourth quarter, before a McAfee goal got the ball rolling and set the table for Albanese, Wolff, Killian and Solberg to secure the victory for Amherst.

The strong offensive play was complemented by the consistent Mammoths defense.

Sanford caused four opponent turnovers in the victory over Tufts, while Smith and McAfee each added three caused turnovers.

Senior goalkeeper Cody Tranbarger made 14 saves, including seven in the second quarter, to improve to 9-3 between the posts.

The impressive win against the highly ranked Jumbos highlighted how potent the Amherst offense is this season, and the team hopes to continue the pattern as they face off against NESCAC rival Williams on Saturday, April 22 at 1 p.m.

SUN Women’s Golf @ Williams Spring Invitational, TBD Men’s Tennis vs. Wheaton College, 9 a.m.

Women’s Lacrosse vs. Williams, noon

Baseball vs. Hamilton, noon

Men’s Tennis vs. Wesleyan, 1 p.m

Softball @ Williams, noon

Softball @ Williams, 2 p.m.

Women’s Tennis vs. Wesleyan, 1 p.m.

Baseball vs. Hamilton, 2:30 p.m.

Men’s Lacrosse @ Williams, 1 p.m.

Women’s Golf @ Williams Spring Invitational, TBD Men’s Golf @ Williams Spring Opener, TBD Men’s Tennis vs. Hamilton, 10 a.m