Issue 5

Field Hockey Team Defeats FourthRanked Tufts See Sports, Page 9 THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

VOLUME CXLIV, ISSUE 5 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014

Presidential Election Moves Into Runoff Ryan Cenek ’18 Staff Writer

On Sunday, Sept. 28, the Double Edge Theater company performed a piece inspired by “The Odyssey,” “Don Quixote” and “Shahrazad, A Tale of Love and Magic” for the Amherst community. On the stage of the Main Quadragle, the unique performance captivated an audience of all ages.

Photography Editor: Olivia Tarantino ‘15

Five College Digital Humanities Celebrates Kickoff Event Sitina Xu ’16 Managing News Editor Five College Digital Humanities celebrated its kickoff event last Friday afternoon in Frost Library by showcasing a host of current projects.

Five College Digital Humanities is a five-year program created by the Five College Consortium to fund, support and inspire research in the digital humanities.

Digital humanities, according to director of the program and associate professor of English at Amherst College Marisa Parham, “is simply a term of thinking about an approach to doing scholarship. It’s not looking at a specific way people have to do things or looking at specific kinds of scholarship. Rather, it’s introducing a new set of modalities into the work of scholarly inquiry.”

Parham described the digital humanities as a very collaborative enterprise. She said that this is a departure from her traditional training as a humanist, someone who studies human issues.

“Many of us trained as humanists were trained to work alone,” Parham said. “Not only were you trained to work alone, but you’ve very often been trained to work in environment where you’re the only person in the environment representing the thing you do.”

However, the Five College Digital Humanities intends to transform individual pursuit into a communal and collaborative activity, allowing large organizations, such as the Five College Consortium, to work in the field.

“Digital humanities runs on collaboration,” said Library Information Technology and Services (LITS) Liaison Caro Pinto of Mount Holyoke College. “It depends on an egalitarianism that challenges long time higher education organization structures.”

As organizer of the faculty fellowship program, Caro said that faculty, students and staff will have to adapt to new roles when conducting digital humanities. She described to faculty “becoming more than a teacher or researcher” to

embrace the role of “mediator,” students guiding digital scholarship as “process experts” and librarians doubling as “project managers,” a role of taking leadership and action.”

For instance, the faculty fellowship project, “Timeline of LGBT Political Landmarks in the Americas,” involves the collaborative effort of Amherst Professor of Political Science Javier Corrales and UMass-Amherst Professor of History Julio Capó, with Amherst librarians Gretchen Gano and Kelcy Shepherd.

Sometimes, collaboration between disciplines can venture into completely new fields of study, as shown by the Aerial Innovation and Robotics Lab (AIRLab).

AIRLab is the collective effort of Smith College’s Spatial Analysis Lab specialist Jon Caris, UMass-Amherst Classics professor Eric Poehler and Amherst College Senior Post-Bac Jeffrey Moro. All three work together with Smith and

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After none of the candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round of presidential elections, the Association of Amherst Students Elections Committee announced that a runoff election will be held on Thursday, Oct. 2.

According to the results released by the Elections Committee, Peter Crane ’15 received 269 votes (36 percent of votes cast), Tomi Williams ’16 received 260 votes (35 percent), Caroline Katba ’15 received 170 votes (23 percent), and write-in candidate Amani Ahmed ’15 received 36 votes (5 percent).

Ahmed did not campaign for the presidency in the lead-up to Tuesday’s election.

The AAS constitution mandates that a candidate receive more than 50 percent of votes in order to be elected president.

Members of the class of 2018 are not eligible to vote in the presidential election, which was held to fill the vacancy left after Ahmed’s removal from office in May. Ahmed ran for president in last spring’s presidential elections and defeated Crane by two votes, but was removed from office in a controversial Judiciary Council decision on the basis of campaign overspending. After Ahmed was removed from office, the Elections Committee decided to postpone the new elections until the fall semester.

Regarding the narrow margin of Tuesday’s presidential election, Williams said, “Simply put, we had three really strong candidates who worked hard to get their message out to the students.”

In interviews this week, both candidates discussed what they saw as their particular strengths.

Crane described his long track record in student government, and Williams, a junior, emphasized that he would be on campus next year to continue work begun this year.

“This week, for me, is going to be telling students how I have been an agent of change in the different roles I’ve been in,” Crane said.

“I will be trying to tell people about my record: founding the First-Year Life and Orientation Committee, expanding AAS shuttle program to New York, improving the spring

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Plans for New Humanities Center Underway Dan Ahn ’17 and Ricky Choi ’18 Managing News Editor and Staff Writer Over the summer, the college relocated all of the books and documents on the second floor of Frost Library. This is the first on-the-ground step in the college’s Humanities Center project, which was approved by faculty in the spring of 2014. Concrete work and planning during the past few months involved collaboration among faculty, library administrators, and outside firms.

“Any time you move a large number of books within the library you have to move the whole collection. So we hired a firm that has done work

with us many times over the years. They’re called National Library Relocations, and it’s a company exclusively devoted to moving print materials in libraries,” said Bryn Geffert, the librian of the college. “All of the items on level two are still in Frost Library.”

Shifting the focus of the second floor from book depository to community-oriented space, the Humanities Center will include various facilities for independent study, group work and faculty research.

Geffert stressed the Humanities Center’s accessibility to the student body.

“I don’t see any reason why we won’t keep it open until the library closes. As you well know,

student study space is really at a premium and we want to make sure that students have the space they need to study,” Geffert said.

A large, open area in the center, called the Think Tank, is intended to address this issue.

“The Think Tank space is specifically designed to function well for student study space in the evenings,” said Tom Davies, director of design and construction for the project. The Think Tank will consist of a large roundtable, which will be used for both large groups and individual work.

Another feature of the center will be a seminar room fronting the main atrium.

“A fun feature for this room is that the writ-

ing surface will be frosted glass panels in the wall facing the atrium, so from the atrium people will not only see the activity in the space but will actually see the writing on the glass board,” Davies said. “The center also includes a more private faculty commons for researchers’ use and collaboration that is a shared commons off of offices, all of which have glass walls to the commons again in order to foster collaboration between those housed at the center.”

The project has received extensive faculty input, and attempts to address issues that have been raised by the campus community.

The Humanities Center is expected to open in September 2015.

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News

Joely DeSimone

Thoughts on Theses

Sept. 22, 2014 to Sept. 29, 2014 >>Sept. 23, 2014 10:40 p.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory An officer investigated the odor of marijuana coming from a second-floor room and found evidence of marijuana use. Drug paraphernalia was confiscated and two residents were fined $100 each for a smoking violation and $50 each for covering a smoke detector. The matter was also referred to the Student Affairs Office.

10:50 p.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory While in a second-floor room, an officer discovered alcohol. It was confiscated as the residents were underage. The matter was referred to the Student Affairs Office. >>Sept. 24, 2014 1:47 a.m., Crossett Dormitory An officer encountered an intoxicated visitor attempting to gain access to Crossett. He was transported to the Lord Jeffery Inn where he was staying.

1:59 p.m., Hills Lot An officer responded to a report of a person acting in a suspicious manner in the Hills parking lot. He was located and it was determined he had legitimate reason for his actions.

10:04 p.m., Marsh House A town resident complained about loud music. Upon the officer’s arrival a small band was ending its practice. >>Sept. 25, 2014 1:36 a.m., James Dormitory As a result of a medical incident involving a student at North, officers went to a room in James and confiscated an amount of marijuana. The matter was referred to the Student Affairs Office.

1:44 a.m., Tyler House An officer responded to a complaint of loud music and issued a warning to a first floor resident. While at the room the officer discovered a smoke detector covered with a plastic bag. The resident was fined $100 for tampering with fire equipment. >>Sept. 26, 2014 11:40 p.m., Pond Dormitory An officer discovered unattended alcohol outside the building. It was confiscated.

12:27 a.m., Stone Dormitory Officers responded to a report of a disturbance where glass in a door was smashed when a bottle was thrown through it. Five non-Amherst College students were issued written no-trespass orders. One of the men is being summoned to court for malicious destruction of property.

>>Sept. 27, 2014 2:09 a.m., Off Campus Locations Amherst Police reported information to Amherst College Police about two unidentified men they are looking for who were involved in an incident in the center of town.

6:44 a.m., Mead Art Museum Officers responded to a report of two males behind the Mead Museum. They were identified as two students who were waiting for the sunrise.

11:09 a.m., Seligman House An officer and Fire Department investigated an alarm and found it occurred when food was being cooked in a second floor room. The resident was fined $100 for the alarm and $25 for the prohibited device. >>Sept. 28, 2014 12:10 a.m., Social Quad While two officers were walking through the social dorm quad, one student yelled out: “F––– the police ... I hate cops”. The person was identified as a student and the matter was referred to the Student Affairs Office.

12:32 a.m., Morrow Dormitory Officers responded to a report of several people in the second-floor common room having an argument. Officers spoke to the people involved and no further action was necessary.

12:43 a.m., Morrow Dormitory While on the second-floor, officers encountered several students with marijuana present in the common area.

One student accepted responsibility for the marijuana, which was confiscated.

The matter was referred to the Student Affairs Office.

1:15 a.m., Powerhouse A resident complained about loud music coming from the Powerhouse. An officer asked to have the volume lowered.

2:47 a.m., Merrill House Apartments An officer observed an Athletic Department golf cart being operating erratically on East Drive. When the people on it saw the officer they abandoned the cart and fled.

2:56 a.m., Campus Grounds Two students from the five-college area contacted Amherst College Police about not being able to locate another student they came to Amherst with. After some time, it was determined the woman was back at her home campus.

Reported Incidences of Sexual Assault At the beginning of every month, The Amherst Student will print incidences of sexual assault as reported in the Clery Report during the previous month. Except for the month in which the assault occurred, all details of the incidences will be omitted to protect the identities of the victims.

Amherst College Police received a report of a sexual assault. The matter is under investigation.

Anyone that may have witnessed the incident or may have information is asked to contact the Amherst College Police at 413-542-2291.

Resources and information regarding Sexual Misconduct are available on the College’s Sexual Respect and Title IX webpage here: https://www.amherst.edu/aboutamherst/sexual_respect

Department of Biology

Biology major Joely DeSimone ’15 is writing a senior thesis on the causes and effects of parasites on nestling birds and predisposed characteristics of nests that make them prone to parasites. Her adviser is Professor Ethan Clotfelter.

Q: What is your thesis about?

A: I am studying the causes and effects of parasites, specifically blowfly larvae, on nestling birds. My three major objectives are to see the nest characteristics that predispose nests to parasites, the effects blowflies have on growth and development of birds, and whether blowflies stimulate an immune response from birds.

I spent a couple months this summer in the College’s bird sanctuary with my adviser, professor Clotfelter, and two SURF (Science Undergraduate Research Fellows) students, Tiffany Lee ’16 and Lindsey Bechen ’16.

so I measured the nestlings’ hemoglobin levels to quantify this piece of their fitness.

Q: How did you become interested in this topic?

A: I became interested in doing fieldwork as a thesis when I went to Costa Rica for Professor Clotfelter’s Seminar in Tropical Biology class. I was excited about working with my advisor and being outside to conduct field work rather than lab work. Professor Clotfelter had worked with tree swallows before, so the SURF students and I were picking up where he had left off. Since I had never worked with birds before, he helped and taught me about the procedure and how I should approach this thesis topic.

Q: What has been your favorite part so far?

A: The fieldwork has been my favorite piece so far. It is really fun to be out in the field, and working with the birds so closely made me become very invested in them. Also, reading papers about them has been great because it continues to confirm the close connection I feel to birds.

Q: When you were not collecting data in the bird sanctuary, what other work were you doing?

A: I was reading research papers when I wasn’t at the bird sanctuary, but it was tricky because we had to design our experiment as we were out in the field since we had to start soon after Commencement. There was a little bit of lab work for the birds’ blood that we collected, but it was mostly field work.

Q: Is this an area of interest that you would like to pursue after graduation?

A: I think that I will be going into public health, but this is still vaguely related in that the study of effects of parasites can be extended to diseases.

Q: How did you conduct your fieldwork over Q: What is the most difficult thing you came the summer in the bird sanctuary? across during your senior thesis?

A: We went out to the bird sanctuary everyday A: I think the tricky part was figuring out what for several hours. At the beginning, we were to study while simultaneously conducting the checking to see when the birds laid their eggs. fieldwork. For example, at one point, the two Two weeks after that, we would return to the SURF students and I were not sure about how nests every three days to check the nestlings and to do the immune test on the birds. Also, we detheir growth. We took their blood on certain cided to carry out an experimental manipulation days to measure their hemoglobin. Later on, we where we sprayed bug sprays on a selection of also conducted immune tests. nests to set aside some nests that would not have In the field, we had parasites. However, we to do extensive work had no idea how many to account for control It is really fun to be out in the blowflies were in the variables. One example if nests would field, and working with the area, is that parasites might even have them or if be the main factor in birds so closely made me be- they would be comabnormally small nests, come very invested in them. pletely infested with but we didn’t know if hundreds of them. they were also small because they weren’t being fed enough, so we had Q: What is the most valuable lesson you have to conduct a feeding observation of the parents learned so far? to see how often they fed their babies. Also, there A: I’ve learned to take this project one step at a was a bird sucker contraception that helped us time. I tend to get overwhelmed by large projects get an idea of how many insects were available with distant deadlines, but I’ve learned — and in the area. my advisor has helped in this regard — ­ to break There are 60 bird boxes out in the sanctuary it down into week-by-week pieces, which makes with tree swallows in them, and each nest had it all manageable. five babies, so we were checking on a large number of birds during the fieldwork. I definitely Q: Where do you stand in terms of the timeneeded my adviser and two SURF students’ help line? with data collection.

A: I wrote most of my methods section over the summer while it was fresh in my mind and I Q: What were some characteristics of the para- just started writing my introduction section. My site (blowfly larvae) that you observed? What schedule is to be done with the introduction by other observations have you made? the end of the semester.

A: The blowfly larvae live within the nesting material, so we only sometimes saw them if they Q: Do you think you were well prepared to were clinging to a nesting while we worked with write the thesis? the nestlings. After the birds fledged the nest, I A: I think the science classes I’ve taken at Amshipped the nests to a parasitologist at the Uni- herst have prepared me to write with a scientific versity of Utah and she identified and quantified tone and precision. I’ve also read a lot of scienthe blowflies for me. tific papers for classes, which helps with both the I’ve collected most of my data, but have not research and writing aspects of a thesis. I think yet started sorting through it and analyzing enthusiasm for the topic is equally important. A it. I predict that warmer nests will have more thesis is much easier to work on if you are inblowflies — other researchers have found that vested in your research topic. blowflies tend to like warmer nests. Both the structure of the nest and the direction that the Q: Do you have any advice for future thesis nest box entrance faces contribute to nest tem- writers? perature, so I’m going to look and see if there A: Generally for all majors, you need to be really are any relationships among these factors. Some invested in the topic you are researching because authors have found that blowflies increase nest- you spend so much time on it. If you are not inling mortality and lower nestling body mass and terested in the topic, it’s really difficult to conwing length, but others have found no effect of tinue writing and spending a large part of your blowflies on nestlings’ growth and development, senior year writing the thesis. so I’m excited to see what our results show. Parasitized nestlings are usually significantly anemic, — Elaine Jeon ’17

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The Amherst Student • October 1, 2014

News

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AAS Senate Candidate Statements Areej Hasan ’18

I would absolutely adore representing the class of 2018 in the senate. Not only will I listen to your concerns, but I will also do everything in my power to implement corresponding changes. Teamwork is key to accomplishing anything. So, if you elect me as your senator, I will work with the other senators, the staff, and the administration to actually put your ideas to work, rather than vaguely talk about accomplishing them. Even though we are all still figuring out Amherst, I think we can work together to improve student life. Vote Areej for senate!

Joe Hussen ’18 Hi, my name is Joe Hussen, and I would like to be a class of 2018 senator! I believe the senate is a vital tool for student input, and communication between the student body, administration, faculty, and staff. With previous experience in leadership roles, I will make sure your ideas are heard and given the attention they deserve. I have heard several amazing ideas from the class of 2018 that I would like to implement as soon as I am elected including printers in each dorm, a trip for each class, and Brita water bottle filter systems.

Fawzi Itani ’18 Hi everyone! My name is Fawzi Itani, and I’m super excited to be running for class senator alongside so many talented individuals.

Empowerment projects, sustainability, and open dialogues are what I love, but my primary goal with the senate, and as a mediator, will be to voice your concerns — your opinion is what I value! I love meeting people and having conversations, so if you ever need anything or just want to talk, I’m available anytime. We’ve only been together for one fun month and I’m looking to make the rest of our first-year experience the best possible!

Will Jackson ’18

Hi! I’m Will Jackson and I am a first-year from Chicago, Illinois. Here at Amherst I am a member of the club soccer team, and I play French horn in the Amherst Symphony Orchestra. As a prospective senator, my goal is to work as an effective liaison between first-year students and the rest of the Amherst community — faculty, administration, and the rest of the student body. I want to ensure that voices from all corners of campus are heard and see to it that we can collectively continue to shape Amherst into the best possible community it can be.

Zoe Kayton ’18 Hello! I’m Zoe and I’m from Florida. I’m currently running a paperless campaign, and I’m interested in working to make our school more environmentally sustainable by decreasing our paper and energy consumption. I’d like to work with IT to educate students on how to use word processing systems to complete more assignments online. I’d also like to organize events to bring us closer as a class. As a senate member, I’d be in a position to better understand our school and to effectively address issues like these.

Natasha Kim ’18 Hi, I’m Tasha and I want to represent you on the student senate. I’m running because I care about our class and our community. I want to find ways to bring our class closer together and to use your input and opinions to improve our experience at Amherst. As a senator I would like to work to start a bikeshare program and find ways to connect students of different classes together.

Most of all, I want to hear your ideas and work to help make our Amherst experience the best it can be.

Sophie Lichter ’18

My name is Sophie, and I would love to be one of your senators this year.

As I have led several bodies within my German and Canadian student government as well as actively worked in party politics for the last two years, I know the responsibility and enormous potential that comes with leadership. The senate is our platform to mold Amherst into what we students want it to be!

Hence, I have been keeping track of your concerns and ideas for improvement, and I would love to work for a better community as your voice on campus!

Savannah Sutherlin ’18 Hi! I’m Savannah, and I just moved here from Arizona.

I love it here at Amherst, and I think it’s really important to foster a strong sense of community. I want people to be able to approach me on any issue or idea that comes up throughout the school year. For that reason, I don’t have a “platform.”

I’d rather be receptive to the individual needs of students than run my own agenda. It’s a personal goal of mine to meet every first-year at Amherst, so feel free to introduce yourself.

Frank Tavares ’18 I’m Frank Tavares, a candidate for AAS senate.

Amherst is a place in flux.

It’s a different entity than it was four years ago, and will change again before we leave. It’s up to us to make sure that place is one we are proud to call home. The senators’ most important job is to make sure each student has a hand in crafting that new Amherst.

Any representative should be a conduit for their population before an individual. I believe I’m capable of being that conduit, and if you agree, be sure to vote Frank Tavares for AAS senate.

Obinna Adrian Ukogu ’18

My name is Obinna Ukogu, and I want to be your voice.

I am fascinated by the democratic process and appalled by how easily our elected representatives become our autonomous rulers. I am a Nigerian and a huge Coldplay fan. I bring with me a considerate mind, an empathetic heart and most importantly a love of bright colors. I am passionate about representing you and would love to be given the opportunity to serve you. Give me a chance to be your mouthpiece, and I will make sure you are heard.

Phillip Yan ’18 Hi, y’all! My name is Phillip Yan, and I am from Dallas, Texas. I dream of becoming a writer and poet one day. For that reason I am looking to major in English (I’m taking three English courses right now!), though nothing is set in stone yet! What is really important to me is communication. I write, because I believe by communicating, no problem is too immense, too daunting, or too burdensome.

I’m running for senator for the same reason, because I want to help create a greater connection, a stronger bond, so that together, we may accomplish anything!

Reynaldo Pena ’17 Going into sophomore year has allowed me to see a very different side of Amherst. No more first-year 15, no more attempts from the administration to help us in our “transition” into college, no more unity amidst our dorms as we left behind the highly regarded main quadrangle. As a representative of the class of 2017, I hope to foster a sense of community amidst dorms usually occupied by sophomores by creating dorm events that bring them together as one dorm. The creation of new acquaintances and friendships should not be overlooked as we proceed in our Amherst career.

Presidential Election Digital Humanities Continues Into Runoff Celebrates Kickoff Continued from Page 1 concert program.”

“I will be held accountable for all the decisions that I would make as president, especially if I decided to seek another term at the end of this year, and would be around next year — whether as President or not — to help see through some of the initiatives that I would begin this year,” Williams said.

Both Crane and Williams said they see a need for a revitalized AAS. “I want the AAS to stop being a bureaucracy,” Crane said. “This is going to mean compartmentalizing our budgetary procedures and reforming our Constitution, an ongoing project. But this also means setting our sights on making proactive changes students actually want. Rethinking Orientation. Relaunching Mountain Day. Demanding the release of sexual misconduct data.”

Williams discussed potential solutions to the AAS’ image problem.

“Unfortunately, the notion that AAS is a waste of time and does not really help students get stuff done seems to dominate public opinion,” he said. “So in addition to cultural and more foundational changes that we need to begin embarking upon this year, the AAS needs to work on the little, tangible things such as 100 pages of free printing, increased student parking, and 20 free loads of laundry.”

Crane intends to continue working with the administration on transparency and on improving first-year orientation.

“The College needs to release annual re-

ports of Honor Code violations, as they have up until 2011,” Crane said. “Orientation — which I’ve been working on for the past three years — needs to be changed as well; if students are falling asleep in lecture-style presentations then they aren’t being informed of their rights as students or abilities as bystanders.”

Williams said that his diverse experience on the Judiciary Council, Executive Committee and senate would play a role in his office, if elected.

“I have learned a lot of about processes and the importance of ensuring that these processes are made in a way to make life easier for people. Students should never be marginalized because the processes of the AAS are too bureaucratic and convoluted,” he said.

The Tuesday election was further complicated by an IT glitch that excluded students on academic leave, including students studying abroad, from the email announcing that polls were open.

The AAS elections committee explained in an email sent Thursday night that “the Constitution requires all students eligible to vote to be emailed.”

As a result, the election committee reopened polls for another 24 hours on Friday, September 26th to allow students who did not receive the original email to vote. Release of election results was delayed until Saturday night.

Polls will be open for 24 hours on Thursday, October 2.

Continued from Page 1 Five College students to design, build and experiment with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones in order to “engage the debate on how [drones] are influencing our society,” Caris said.

During the presentation, Caris discussed the uses of drones: he said that drones can be used for commercial uses, government surveillance or even art.

“Drones aren’t scary if you dress them up as fairies,” Caris said, referring to the use of a tiny drone in a 2009 Texas A&M production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Another goal of the program is to expand efforts to digitize information. The project “Zine Scenes: An Interactive Digital-Subcultural Platform” is part of one such effort.

According to its webpage on the program’s site, Zine Scenes “creates a participatory mode for re/engaging both physical and digital zines as a contextual medium,” allowing the user to engage in the full culture and experience of reading and making a zine.

Other digital humanities projects include documenting and consolidating information on specific cultures, such as the history and legacy of women in the Pioneer Valley. The Valley Women’s History project, according to UMass Professor of History Laura Lovett, “is to forge a central digital repository of feminist history in the Pioneer Valley.”

So far, they have documented over 350 women’s groups and are actively recording the oral history of women’s domestic violence shelters.

According to the program’s website, the ulti-

mate goal of projects, such as Zine Scene, LGBT Political Landmarks Timeline, AIRLab and Valley Women’s History, is to build “a common vocabulary and toolkit for engaging contemporary culture and research.”

Interested in getting the scoop on the latest developments on campus?

Join the news staff!

If you want to write for us, email us at sixu16@amherst.edu, dahn17@amherst.edu or schung17@amherst.edu

Opinion Editorial

Res Life Needs to Build Up Trust Room draw has always been a nightmare. Every year hearts are broken, years-long friendships are ended in a flood of tears and you walk out disappointed and full of CVS candy. The general disappointment and frustration with Residential Life is nothing new for the student body. Two years ago, in order to combat the perceived housing shortage, Dean Torin Moore announced his supposedly exciting initiative to move students to Alpine Commons, an apartment complex a mile away from campus. Only two students moved in the following year. Two years before that, the “trailers” (Plaza and Waldorf) were used as first-year housing despite their isolation from the rest of campus and generally abysmal living conditions.

Recently, lack of communication from Residential Life has continued to frustrate students.

Over this past summer, people who stayed on campus to work or do research were subjected to a series of last-minute moves. For some students, this happened not once but several times: from the Triangle to the Hill and back again. While Res Life explained that these moves were due to recently scheduled painting or construction work, students that complained to facilities found that the work had been scheduled in April or May, with plenty of available time to inform students. The massive inconvenience and disturbance caused to these students was simply due to the disorganization of the office over the summer. Regardless of the fact that positions, including Dean Moore’s, were changing, this lack of communication is inexcusable.

Another more recent example of Res Life frustration has been the lack of information surrounding construction and general maintenance of the dorms during the year. When choosing a dorm for our next year, we want to analyze our potential square footage, our view and where the water fountains are, among other factors. Over the past few weeks, residents of King and Wieland, two of the most desirable dorms for seniors, have been subjected to loud construction and a 10-foot fence around what used to be the Sabrina quad. Many residents have expressed frustration at being woken up in the mornings and distracted in the afternoons, as well as being unable to use their quad.

Much like Val, our Res Life department has been the subject of ridicule and ire across the divisions of the student body. There are massive changes on the horizon: the socials are coming down, and new dorms that could become the center of our social scene will go up in the next two years. With the lack of communication and frustration we’ve experienced as a student body, it’s hard to express full confidence in our Office of Student Affairs in general, much less Residential Life.

However, with our new associate director, Corry Colona, and other new hires and the changes being made in the Office of Student Affairs, there may be a light at the end of the socials.

Colona has promised to take on issues of reimbursement and dorm damage, for starters. The new positions ultimately prove that Res Life and the Office of Student Affairs are committed to a new vision for how we live on campus. In the end, all we can hope for is more involvement from the office and more communication with us.

“There’s always room in the Powerhouse.”

The Efficacy of Bystander Intervention Training: Can We Move Beyond the “Party Foul?”

Jake Pagano ’18 Staff Writer The decision to institute bystander training as part of first-year orientation is, I think, a good one. Amherst has, after all, acknowledged that the problem of sexual respect does indeed exist, and it has found a method of ameliorating the issue: inform students that they have the power to act as individuals to help their friends and to ensure that they respect others. The message the trainers offered was not that each of us ought to act as neurotic vigilantes, but rather that we simply should know that we all have a duty to look out for our friends. The aim was to get the idea of “bystander” circulating in our psyches.

Of course, the initiative has a significant shortcoming, in that trying to teach someone how to pick up cues and provide help to a friend is extremely difficult, and is, for me, analogous to training police officers how to respond in tense gunpoint situations — I don’t think it can really be done. Cues are subtle, and each relationship and social interaction is full of such infinite nuance that it is extremely difficult to concoct “scenarios” or create sheets of “things to look out for”

that are actually convertible to what you might experience at 3 a.m. on any given night.

Yet I think there is merit in bystander training — or at least in the idea behind it. I think it helps create a culture in which individuals act not out of fear of punishment or anxiety that they might suffer consequences by not intervening, but rather out of the simple notion that all of us have a certain vested interest in each other’s wellbeing.

However, bystander training was only a part of the training surrounding sexual respect. We were also provided with information on the various legal paths that could be taken in cases of sexual assault, and we were reminded that the laws surrounding sexual assault reach into Amherst’s campus. The school may feel like a bubble at times, but the laws of sexual respect still apply as they do in the larger world. This makes sense, for students ought to be endowed with the same rights they have as citizens. The creation of legal paths for victims is also vital, facilitating an easy bridge between students and the justice to which they are entitled. Indeed, such paths give tangible power to victims.

I think an unintended downside of this reminder of punishment and legal action breeds

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a culture where people often act out of fear and anxiety of possible consequences. Of course, this has its merits — the potential consequences of any given action could act as a deterrent. But I think that if Amherst truly intends to create a safe community, then the impetus for helping and respecting your friends — and anyone on the campus — ought to grow out of a sense that there exists between all of us a sort of natural law that ensures we do what’s right when no one is watching.

Here’s what I mean: sources of authority aren’t present when you party. You and your friends make the de facto rules for the evening.

You become the legislators, deciding what’s OK and what’s not. The obnoxious “party foul” call that someone always seems to yell out is revealing, for it suggests that we have certain rules by which we “play.” There’s a silent code that we create and then enforce. And just as we make rules for partying, so we make rules for what’s “OK” amongst one another every second of the evening, and when we see someone violate one of those “rules” — or sense that they might — then we ought to do something about it, not out of fear but because we made that rule and because

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we are the only ones who could possibly enforce it.

Thus, I think that a campus where each individual sees him or herself as a certain legislator of what’s OK and what’s not, a campus where we all keep our moral values with us and are confident that we can act on those values in any situation, is one that will ultimately feel safer and more comfortable than one where we act because the law of the authorities tells us to. So, then, maybe we see sexual respect at Amherst as a harkening back to Hobbes’ sense of natural law, where each citizen must actively heed the natural laws, that says we ought to “seek peace” and that we ought not infringe on anyone else’s right. To revert back to a “state of war” — that is, not to respect someone else, to infringe upon his right — is, for lack of a better term, a “party foul.” It’s not cool, and, as Hobbes asserts, the other members of the community will readily ostracize you for it. Indeed, never mind whether or not the school can “protect” each student or whether the law can intervene — the more powerful and pragmatic force is the willingness on the part of the student body to uphold those universal natural laws, to become the legislators and implementers of respect.

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The Amherst Student • October 1, 2014

Opinion

5

Grilled Cheese and the Big Apple: An International Student’s First Visit to New York City Mohamed Ramy ’18 Staff Writer

After finishing the first round of the tournament, my friend and I wanted to eat. Childish excitement Before visiting New York for filled me as I wondered where my the first time, my memory was first meal in New York would be. We filled with a deluge of images from eventually ran into Tom’s Restau“Friends” and “How I Met Your rant, this perfect little diner (the site Mother,” both sitcoms that are set in of Monk’s Diner from the hit sitNew York. I had the impression that com “Seinfeld”). I had never eaten when one is in New York, there are a grilled cheese sandwich before, so no ordinary moments — at any one I opted for that with a cheeseburger as an additional point in time, s o m e t h i n g , ...[W]hen one is in New dish. When the grilled cheese big or small, is happening. York, there is no ordinary sandwich arrived, As a romantic, moment — at any one I was satisfied: in every face point in time, something, the cheese was perfectly meltI saw, I envibig or small, is happening. ed between two sioned a lively slices of wonperson.

New York, I believed, was the capital of drously crispy bronze bread. As I had my first bite, I knew I was in the modernism.

I went to New York for the first U.S.A, for there could be no better time last week for a debate tourna- grilled cheese sandwich. The burger ment at Columbia University. The was juicy, unhealthy and delectauniversity seemed to reflect the city ble, and the cheese seemed to have — beautiful and energetic. In front been melted with such care. In other of the library were people from var- words, the burger was picture-perious cultures, all united in dance to fect.

After finishing that satiating a song that was playing. A photographer would have wanted to capture meal and the other two rounds, I that moment, to preserve the image headed to Manhattan on the subway. In Egypt, where I am from, in a still frame.

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public transport is inadequate Rarely would one ride the subway; a large portion of the population opts for taxis instead. I was excited to have the chance to ride the subway, but ran into a problem attaining a MetroCard. It was 11:30 p.m., and I was stunned when a man, whom I can genuinely say I was afraid of, approached me offering me a MetroCard for $5, equal to the amount the card was charged with. People had inculcated a false stereotype of New Yorkers in me: busy, hostile and aloof. Of course, I paid him money for the card he gave me, but it was the spirit of the act that mattered.

After reaching the platform, I pictured the arrival of the subway, remembering the poem “The Express,” by Stephen Spender: Ah, like a comet through flame, she moves entranced, Wrapt in her music no bird song, no, nor bough Breaking with honey buds, shall ever equal.

I looked around and there was a man playing the guitar, singing “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley. His smooth voice abated my worries.

After reaching Manhattan, I walked to my destination, 93rd Street. The

streets had shifted in their appear- immediately an aura of intellect, ance: everything looked archaic; creativity and modernism. My emothe weather became more placid; tions were accentuated; I had fallen and the people were more relaxed. I in love with the city. After finishing reminisced about El Korba, a place the debate tournament, I met with in Egypt that seemed to reverberate my friend. I had remarked earlier with the streets’ atmosphere. I felt at that I had seen a Five Guys restauhome. rant, so we decided to eat there.

The next day, after finishing my Marshall’s description from “How I fourth round, I wanted to walk Met Your Mother” had been appoaround New site: “This [was] York. I decided God, speaking to have a burg- New York seemed to em- to us through er from a street anate immediately an aura food.” vendor. He had of intellect, creativity and The next a “Rab3a” pin modernism ... I had fallen day, we went to on his hat — he Times Square. in love with the city. was an Egyptian The enorwho supported mous screens the Muslim Brotherhood. Let me screamed of ambition and initiative, take this chance to negate the idea echoing the screams advocating the that all those who are affiliated with end of climate change. There was the Brotherhood are “bad” people, no ordinary moment. As I ate a hot for that’s not true. However, like any dog from a street vendor, I noticed other Egyptian with any political a sign saying “The New Egypt,” and view, he spent a while talking about it made me wonder. Will Egyptians politics as he prepared my burger. ever be able to present the latent Walking as I devoured the burg- beauty of Egypt, as New Yorkers er, I looked at the architecture of the have been able to do with New York? buildings and decided that I’d listen I hope so. T.E. Lawrence once said, to “Sweet Disposition,” the song “Happiness is absorption,” and I had from the movie “500 Days of Sum- been fully absorbed by the city that mer.” New York seemed to emanate is New York.

“

”

International Student Orientation CAPs Off With A Disappointing Program “Dis”orientation Ukogu Adrian Obinna ’18 Staff Writer The first time I saw a condom, it was on a banana during a Sexual Health Educators skit. My home country is very conservative, so things like that really aren’t the norm. I was horrified by the public display of sexuality.

From the moment I stepped onto the plane, I knew things would be different.

It was my first time on an international flight and everything seemed so big. The clothes that just moments ago seemed so warm offered me no resistance against the biting cold in the plane. I thought to myself, “Why am I leaving home?” My answer involves the bananas that now frequent my dreams, because after my initial surprise, I realized that I was actually learning stuff.

Those SHE skits had managed to teach me in the space of an hour what six years of stilted sexuality talks back home had failed to teach me: sexuality is not a bad thing. And so even though I have nightmares about condom-wearing bananas, it’s all right because the bananas always have their condoms on right.

International student orientation (ISO) began on Thursday, August 21 with a barrage of icebreakers that did little to dispel the awkwardness that comes with meeting new people. By this time, I had just learned my first word of Russian: Привет (priviat).

It means “hi,” which is essentially all we were saying to ourselves in any language for the first day or two. I remember realizing how similar all the people and places were to those from home, and thinking, “Well, maybe we aren’t so different.”

However, I had to reconsider when I realized the food was inedible. For my first few days, I subsisted entirely on fruits and vegetables. I couldn’t figure out what all the fuss over cheese was about. Even the pseudo-cooked meat that everyone called medium rare looked like it had blood in it.

I was in for an even bigger surprise when I met my first atheist. I am a very religious person coming from a very religious country, so atheism seems very strange to me. I was shell-shocked when I met people who said that they had never prayed before.

My confusion must have been apparent to them as my world suddenly turned up-

side down.

Those three days of orientation are arguably the most substantive days that we international students have had so far. We learned about everything from the drinking culture at Amherst to crossing Route 9. The only things left out were bystander intervention training and sexual respect talks that we got during the new student orientation. The last event of ISO was a catered dinner at a Chinese restaurant, and even though it was my first time eating sweet and sour chicken, I thought the food was amazing. Maybe this was why we were all so comfortable that evening, but for the first time we talked to each other freely. We filled the restaurant with rapturous laughter as we fumbled with our chopsticks and talked about our countries.

By this time I was already realizing that culture shock wasn’t restricted to a finite period or domain. It could be anything, from the absurdity of the reversed date formats to the constant supply of electricity. It could be the use of non-metric units or strangeness of making out with drunk strangers at parties. For some, it could be something as significant as a shift in the attitude towards sexual orientation or the symbolism behind the presence of condoms in bathrooms. It could even be speech patterns and prayer patterns or the complete lack of them. It could be a cultural obsession with cheese or the differences in our definitions of cooked meat. The list goes on indefinitely and includes identity issues like individualism as opposed to collectivism. Every day we are faced with another subtle nuance of a new culture.

Provost Peter Uvin was on to something when he said, during the international student orientation, that he knew he had become American when he started dreaming in English. Will the culture shock have ended when international students start saying “Yaas!” or writing our dates in reverse? Will we have become American when we like our steak medium rare? I don’t really know, but one thing I am certain of is that it never really ends.

My conclusion is that culture shock is essentially what we make of it and so as my people say, hapu ihe e dere na moto banye moto — leave what is written on the car and enter the car.

William Harvey ’18 Staff Writer A batch of new orientation programs, part of the “Learn/Explore/Activate/Participate” (LEAP) initiative, sprang up this year in hopes of filling the free time of first-years at orientation, but as with most fresh starts, not everything about the programs was perfect. The Creative Arts and Performances (CAP) program offered more creative first-years the opportunity to explore their talents through workshops and professor-led performances. However, it may not have been as smooth of an experience as it hoped for.

I was sectioned off into the yellow team, which focused on the performances. Yellow group members experimented with body movement and the basics of blocking within theatre.

While engaging, there were a few uncomfortable moments when we had to feel our assigned partner’s body parts with our eyes closed. It may be a way to quickly get to know someone rather intimately, but for some of us it was less-appreciated than a simple icebreaker. The main assignment was to write a short rant and animate it with the gestures we’d learned. In groups, the goal was to synchronize movement and speech to form a cohesive drama.

Members of the blue group were responsible for producing a film representing the “Portrait of Amherst.” Unfortunately, not all groups were created equal. One could sense a general feeling of resentment from members of the blue group, who spent the majority of their first day in Fayerweather Hall learning how to use the editing software Final Cut Pro — not the typical interpretation of exciting. The following day, they were dispatched with GoPro cameras to capture Amherst on digital film. Every scrap of content had to be produced by hand, which for some first-years ate up valuable free time after hours, splicing together audio files of piano tracks or beatboxing.

The red group’s responsibilities involved capturing the spirit of the town of Amherst in a multimedia presentation. After a day, which some would say took too much time, of producing interview questions for locals. After a trip into town, Reds could pursue any physical form of their choice for their presentation. Cameras, displays and raw materials were available.

For the perfectionist artists who wanted a whole finished product, CAP felt stressful.

During the day, we danced, discussed fine art and

actually learned each other’s names. But during the night, we were isolated, furiously rehearsing lines or clipping together video files before we lost steam. It was difficult to see members of other first-year orientation programs exploring Amherst of their own free will, when we only had the chance to go as part of a project. While many of us could fit the stereotypes of eccentric artists, we weren’t quite looking forward to slaving our early college nights away on homework, worst of all the kind that didn’t even count for a grade.

It wasn’t an inherent problem with the program or what we had to create, but the time allotted by the programming. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither were our videos or performances.

Any qualms we did have with the program were lessened during the final night of the program. Following a quick tour of the creative arts facilities, CAP students were invited to a firstyears-only Coffee Haus, hosted in Marsh House.

With a few guest appearances from upperclassmen, the event was an opportunity for first-years to showcase the talents that separated them from the rest of the identical faces. Any first-year was free to jump up and take the mic, and the group was incredibly supportive of all talents. Even towards the end of the evening, when performances stretched thin, yellow group members were willing to do group performances and on-the-fly poetry readings. It was the atmosphere we enrolled at Amherst for.

The first-years-only Coffee Haus is what most of us had hoped for when we originally signed up for the CAP program — an open free space where we could both demonstrate and improve our performance skills. We learned more about each other in those two hours than we had during the rest of the program. In this way, the CAP program was a slight disappointment from what we expected. If the Coffee Haus experience could have been extended another day, possibly spent working on the skills we demonstrated with help from our advisors, it would make the perfect end to the CAP program.

Is CAP a suitable alternative for the creative junkie over more popular options like FOOT and CEOT? Sure. Is it the essential Amherst arts experience? Not yet. With a redistribution of time, a greater choice in which groups first-years are placed and more emphasis on the individual talents that CAP students possess, the Creative Arts and Performances program could rival its longstanding competitors. Until then, it remains worth enrolling in if just for the artistic community it fosters.

Arts&Living Image courtesy of amherst.edu

Showing up solo to a meal at Val doesn’t have to be stressful. Student Health Educator Katie Warshaw ’16 reminds Amherst students to utilize social cups.

Changing Val Culture: SHEs Talk Social Cups Katie Warshaw ’16 Contributing Writer Valentine Dining Hall can be a really scary place. When entering the war zone that is Val at noon on a weekday, you have to navigate your way through lines that are sometimes 50 people deep, figure out where the end of the salad line is without getting in the way of someone trying to make a sandwich, and you have to grab silverware and cups without bumping into someone or spilling your tray.

The servery isn’t always the scariest part of Val, though. For whatever reason, who you choose to sit with at Val seems hugely important, and showing up solo can sometimes feel like there’s a spotlight shining down telling the world that you’re a loser with no friends.

It happens to me every once in a while, and I think others have experienced it too: class got out at a weird time, or the day has been super busy and whatever usual Val schedule I keep has been disrupted. During these times, I often text friends and teammates, desperate to find someone who’s also in Val. Sometimes I consider Grab-n-Go, but anything sounds better than a plastic-wrapped turkey sandwich (sorry, Grab-n-Go lovers). If all else fails, I end up sitting alone at a table in Val with my tray and my laptop, catching up on work (or pretending to) when I’d

really prefer to relax and enjoy a meal with friends.

This problem may seem pretty trivial, but in some instances, particularly among first-years in the beginning of fall semester, students will skip a meal due to the fear of eating alone at Val. Not only is this unhealthy, but it’s a big statement about our dining hall’s social culture; we only have one dining hall and many consider it a place to “see and be seen,” but it should also be a comfortable place to relax and eat.

Class of 2018, you’ve been here briefly but you definitely have the power to change dining hall culture; those of us who have been here for a while also have that power. There are lots of things that need to be fixed in Val, but let’s start with two.

One: Let’s make Val a place where showing up alone isn’t stressful. It may feel awkward to be sitting alone when there are groups of people at surrounding tables, especially at those long tables in the back of Val, but it’s not as awkward as you might think. Chances are that no one is giving it a second thought if you’re sitting alone or not. And first-years, if you haven’t discovered it yet, upstairs Val is the perfect sunny place to enjoy a cup of coffee and breakfast while reading the newspaper or working; lots of students frequent upstairs Val on a daily basis.

Two: Looking for a Val buddy in a time of need shouldn’t be an ordeal. We often forget that meals are meant to be shared when we schedule our crazy-busy days. First-years, in case you

are unfamiliar, the blue cups and blue-rimmed mugs in Val are social cups, and they signal to everyone around you that you’re open to sitting with strangers and acquaintances. Although the social cup initiative started last year and has been relatively slow to catch on, maybe the class of 2018 can be the brave souls who will change the dining hall culture by utilizing the social cups.

That being said, you don’t need a social cup to step out of your Val comfort zone; simply changing up who we sit with on a dayto-day basis could prove that the social divisions might not be as rigid as we think. If everyone buys in to being friendly and open to sitting with new people, Val wouldn’t be as scary.

With a new layout in store for the dining hall, including lounge-type seating, high-top café style tables and booths, things might be looking up in terms of improving Val’s atmosphere. The fate of the long tables in the back of Val is unknown, but our dining hall will hopefully be a more inviting place for eating alone or with friends.

Still, we have a full semester before we see these changes.

How do we want to change dining hall culture before then? A sizeable chunk of our days is spent in Val, and, given how stressful Amherst can be, it’d be nice to consider Val a safe haven. So, to first-years and everyone else: let’s be fearless and friendly in the dining hall so it can be a place we look forward to swiping into every day.

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Arts & Living 7

The Amherst Student • October 1, 2014

Study Abroad Profile: Lindsay Solotar ’16 Katie Paolano ’16 Staff Writer Q: What program/what city are you participating in, and what are you studying?

A: I’m at King’s College in London. While I’m here, I’m taking a math class, ethics, Greek philosophy and a European history course.

Q: Why did you choose this location/program?

A: London itself has a ton of history, so it’s a city with endless places to explore. Also, one of my goals for this semester is to travel a lot, so London is an ideal place to study because it’s so easy to travel from. I was pretty nervous about living in an unfamiliar country, so being in [an English-speaking city] is a plus!

Q: What is your favorite thing to do in the city in your spare time? Do you have a favorite street/square?

A: I’ve been here for less than two weeks, so I’ve spent my time wandering around, learning the different neighborhoods and doing touristy things, like visiting Big Ben. My favorite

place to visit is a market right by my flat called Borough Market. It’s pretty much a combination of a farmers’ market and [Brooklyn, New York food and flea market] Smorgasburg, but so much bigger and open almost every day.

Q: What is you favorite native meal?

A: Fish and chips!

Q: What is the craziest thing you’ve done so far?

A: T-Pain touched my arm while I was at his concert! I went to see him the night before classes began — not very representative of what I’ve been doing here, but definitely the coolest moment.

Q: Do you have any travel plans for the semester?

A: I do! I’m going to Munich for Oktoberfest next weekend, and I’m going to Madrid, Prague and Paris next month. I’m hoping to make it to Italy by the end of the semester as well.

Q: Why would you recommend the King’s College London program to an interested

Amherst student?

A: The transition to living in London is easy because everyone speaks English, and more importantly [there is a huge] number of students around who want to get to know you.

The academics here are great, as are the campuses. Also, the universities have bars and pubs on campus — at around 5 every day, all pubs in London have huge crowds of people outside catching up and hanging out, so they’re great places to meet people!

Q: What do you miss most about Amherst?

A: I definitely miss my friends the most, and I miss going to cheer on the sports teams on weekends. I also have more of an appreciation for our meal plan since I have to cook every meal myself here.

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Image courtesy of Lindsay Solotar ’16

Lindsay Solotar ’16, at right, enjoys London with a classmate during her fall semester abroad. She is studying at King’s College.

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Arts & Living 8

The Amherst Student • October 1, 2014

First-Year Musicians Shine in Amherst Symphony Orchestra Darya Bor ’18 Contributing Writer The Amherst Symphony Orchestra opened its season on Saturday, Sept. 27 with a fresh and inspiring performance.

The season preview concert, dedicated to the Amherst class of 2018, was titled “Vienna: City of Music, City of Dreams” and directed by Mark Swanson.

What set this concert apart from previous performances was the overwhelming amount of first-year musicians involved. The audience entered Buckley Recital Hall to see only about half the orchestra members sitting in their seats, practicing their parts. The remaining chairs onstage were empty, to be filled with new students. Only when they entered did the orchestra gain its full power and confidence. The 70some member orchestra prepared five pieces over the course of three and a half weeks. They treated the audience to one and a half hours of music, a selection that “every musician has dreamed of playing,” said concertmaster Matthew Chow ’18.

The performance began with Back’s “Toccata & Fugue in D Minor” delivered in a way far different than what the piece is usually known for. Arranged by Leopold Stokowski in the 20th century, this composition has a specific modern feel.

The famous organ piece was adapted for a symphonic setting instead of the grating keyboard instrument, making it seem less archaic and much more accessible.

Johann Strauss, Jr.’s “By the Beautiful Blue Danube,” a piece that was the unofficial Austrian anthem, followed the opening of the show. During this composition, the gestures of the conductor gracefully led the orchestra from quiet melodies to tense preparations for a final breath of relief and joy.

Afterwards was an excerpt from the suite to Richard Strauss’s opera “The Knight of the Rose.” The contrast between the soft, lolling romantic portions and the almostdiscordant thunderstorm at the conclusion of the piece produced a powerful dynamic. Just when it seemed that the music couldn’t get louder, it did. As the powerful notes hypnotized the audience, conductor Mark Swanson dropped into a squat and the symphony quieted accordingly, jolting the audience from its trance.

The penultimate excerpt from Movement II of Gustav Mahler’s “Tempo di menuetto” was a joy to listen to. Judging from the musicians’ faces, it was also a joy to play. As the final notes fell into a profound silence, the orchestra members jointly smiled — either from a job well done or from their instruments’ power.

The concert concluded with Brahms’ “Movement IV: Allegro con spirit” from “Symphony #2 in D Major.” This piece felt as though the instruments were engaged in a tense discussion that created melodies both familiar and revitalized through young talent and new hands.

It was those young talents that made the concert so memorable. Between pieces, Swanson noted that the total amount of years of lessons taken by the orchestra all together amounts to 670 years. Even the performers themselves seem to be constantly surprised by each other’s abilities.

“This is a really challenging repertoire and we sound really good, even [when] sight reading! I was totally impressed, and I am still totally impressed,” said flutist Krista Goebel ’18, one of the first-year representatives of the orchestra.

Many first-years came from disjointed, cutthroat and impersonal high school orchestras. They were not expecting the Amherst Symphony Orchestra’s fun, relaxed, nonjudgmental attitude.

Part of this positive vibe comes from the director and conductor. Mark Swanson is unanimously described as passionate, demanding and respectful. He respects other commitments and other hobbies. Although his passion and energy is intense and awe-inspiring from the audience’s point of view, it “was difficult to take seriously the first few rehearsals,” said bassoonist Eunnie Lee ’18. “He tries to disguise himself as a college student. It’s been such a positive experience. He goes ‘conductor-snarky’ when people screw up, but he can quickly build up positivity after.” He has many methods of transforming the efforts of a huge group of people into a united sound. He offers sectional master classes outside rehearsals so woodwinds, brass or violins can play together w form a cohesive unit.

“It’s the sectionals that really put together our piece,” said violinist Grant Park ’18. Additionally, during rehears-

Image courtesy of amherst.edu

Saturday’s showcase provided an intriguing first look at Amherst Symphony Orchestra’s young talent in an impressive preview of the 2014-2015 season. als, Swanson stands in places other than the central position, which forces each section to listen to the other ones, uniting the orchestra as a whole.

But this coherency was not created overnight. Five pieces over three and a half weeks makes for a hectic, breakneck rehearsal pace. One of the pieces was introduced a week before the concert and could be polished to be audience-ready.

The audience appreciated this show of passion, force and unity in music with a standing ovation lasting several minutes. “That was cool, really cool,” said Tim Adams UMass ’17 after the final bow. Other audience members agreed.

“Orchestral music [opens] your heart,” said Iris Zhang ’18.

Luckily, this concert was only a preview. The Amherst Symphony Orchestra’s 2014-2015 season has officially begun.

The group plays next on Friday, Oct. 24 at 8:30 p.m. It will perform a program entitled “Signature Series #1: The Three B’s: Back, Beethoven, and Brahms” in Buckley Recital Hall.

Pioneer Valley Band Brings Fresh Material to Marsh Coffee Haus Gabby Edzie ’17 Contributing Writer It’s impossible to regret my first trek to Marsh after experiencing the magic that is The New Rockwells. The Amherst collaboration debuted with infectious energy at this year’s first Coffee Haus, and has since gained a notable fan base. Their musical prowess is evident in both their first original song, “Where are You Tonight?” and their magnetic stage presence, which had the Marsh Coffee Haus audience clapping until their hands were numb. The group consists of recent Amherst College grads Ben Muller and Ian Stahl and UMass Amherst senior Marty Boyle.

I had the chance to sit down with the hilarious crew that is The New Rockwells this past Sunday to delve into the band’s past, present and future.

Q: Will you tell me a little about yourselves to start off with?

Ben: I’m from Chevy Chase, Md. and I majored in music composition [at Amherst]. Right now I’m working as the orchestra TA; I teach ear-training sections for classes and I’m assistant director for the orchestra. I’ve been exploring the idea of going into film scoring — Ian and I work on that together, so we have a couple of projects lined up, so we’ll see how those go. That would be a dream come true, creating music for films. Even if that doesn’t work out, I’ll probably work in some aspect of the film, TV, music side of things.

Ian: I was also a music composition major [at Amherst], although my thesis was vastly different from Ben’s. I’m primarily a rock musician: alt rock, rock, whatever. I think the biggest bands that inspired me growing up were not the biggest bands that inspired [Ben and Marty] growing up. I listened to bands like Incubus, Foo Fighters, and Radiohead — bands that are on the cutting edge in different ways, incorporating more electronics and very surreal soundscapes, rather than just acoustic instrument stuff.

Marty: I’m from Springfield, Mass; I’m the local punk and I’m a senior at UMass.

Ben: Where?

Marty: University of Massachusetts.

Ben: Oh, I’ve heard of that.

Marty: I’m an accounting major … so very different. I guess I’m a singer- songwriter, folk musician. Bands that inspired me: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Paul Simon, Cat Stevens — the whole 70s singer-songwriter era. Basically, I’m continuing a decades-old tradition of being an okay songwriter, and bringing in really good musicians to fill in the gaps.

Ben: That’s my favorite part about this. I played on Ian’s thesis,

and we both played on Marty’s album. I feel like frequently when you talk about a band, you say ‘oh it’s a band, and there’s this one project.’ But, we’re all doing solo stuff, and it all bleeds over and into each other. We’ll be playing as this group, but then there’s also going to be other stuff happening. Ian and I have a gig tonight and it’s just the two of us and we’re trying a totally new thing. Different group, different name.

Q: So, how did you all find each other, and make the decision to start The New Rockwells?

Ben: Coffee Haus. We played all over Amherst for four years … all over Amherst, and all over the [Pioneer] Valley in different contexts and at Coffee Haus frequently.

Ian: These two were in this group first, but Ben and I have been playing since freshman year in jazz combo, and I just couldn’t shake him.

Ben: I think Marty and I were showing Ian the song we played at Coffee Haus, and we were like, “it would be nice to have drums,” and then it just made sense to be a trio.

Q: How would you describe your genre? It’s definitely some sort of hybrid thing, which is great.

Ian: Definitely. I think it works really well if you look at what each of us brings. My genre is probably folk singer-songwriter.

Ian is alt rock and all that that encompasses, which is pretty broad. Ben is typically jazz. I think we’re a fusion of all those elements … and then some.

Ben: The song we performed at Coffee Haus, “Where are you tonight?” is kind of rock, but you get some folk elements too.

Ian: I’d say it’s pretty folk. Marty’s voice and the way he writes songs are very folk infused, but the reason I like being in this group is that it’s not like folk is this box that says “this is it.” You can add in these other elements that make it bigger than folk; it’s infused with other stuff.

Q: Have you guys been inspired by any bands in particular?

Marty: Well, whenever I’m doing band stuff, The Beatles always come to mind. Particularly, with this band, the Rolling Stones have been big for me. Jim Croce — we’ve been talking a lot about making Jim Croce-sounding songs.

Ben: I’ve been listening to a lot of Ben Howard lately, and Alexi Murdoch. I don’t think in the one song we’ve played so far you can hear them, but in the songs I’m working on … those are more oriented in that direction. There’s this relatively new era of bluegrass that’s called newgrass. So, the Punch Brothers, the Oh Hellos. It’s like folk music with that bluegrass element, with a

banjo and that kind of stuff. It’s like folk music with more interesting chord changes. I think the Head and the Heart, too. They have a nice acoustic sound that’s very rich. So, that’s what we’ve been doing so far. We’ve got the piano, and we’ve got guitars, and we’re hopefully going to include more harmony. There are a lot of these new bands that actually have an older sound, so that’s what I like.

Marty: I also think we can bring in the brass element.

Ben: There are so many talented musicians on campus that it’s an awesome place to be for music.

Marty: That’s the idea of the band. It’s a core group of us that are writing songs, and then we can bring in other people to fill in the gaps.

Ben: All the horn and string players on campus should watch out, because we’re coming for you.

Q: Are you working on any songs right now?

All: Yeah, always.

Ben: We have another one that’s kind of in the same vain as “Where Are You Tonight?”

Ian: What’s this one called?

Ben: I guess it’s called “Where’d You Go?” Marty: I write snippets of songs every week. Maybe one out of five actually gets finished.

Ben: The other week Marty came to me with a song he was writing and said, “I don’t think it’s quite done yet.” We came up with a chord progression, and then he went home and sent me words, and a melody, and now that song is pretty much done.

Q: When do we get to hear it?

Ben: We’ll play it at our gig next weekend, probably, and we’re going to be playing at every Coffee Haus.

Marty: This song will be more folk than what we did before.

Ben: I’m personally really excited, and my hope is that we can get some gigs playing on campus. I was really excited when you wrote me, because I guess that means that people like the music; that makes me really happy.

If you missed the New Rockwell’s debut, be sure to attend the next Marsh Coffee Haus. They will also be performing this Saturday, Oct 4, at the Fall Fest 5k/ Race. The event, hosted by the Isenberg Women in Business, will be at the UMass Fine Arts Center, and benefits the Boston Children’s Hospital. Ben, Ian, and Marty’s music can be found on Spotify and iTunes, and more information on the New Rockwells can be found on their Facebook.

The Amherst Student • October 1, 2014

Sports

Men’s Soccer Retains Top Spot in NESCAC

9

Chris Martin ’17 Scores Lone Goal in Bates Win

Jason Stein ’16 Sports Section Editor With two games this past weekend, Amherst men’s soccer remained unbeaten on the season and extended their NESCAC unbeaten streak to 26 games. The weekend consisted of a 1-1 draw at Tufts on Saturday and a 1-0 victory over Bates on Sunday. Seven games into the season, the Jeffs stand at 5-0-2 overall and 4-0-2 in the NESCAC. The Jumbos struck first against the Jeffs on Saturday, marking the first time in three weeks that the Jeffs trailed against an opponent.

Photo courtesy of Office of Public Affairs

Senior captain Gabriel Wirz has one goal on the season.

On a pass directed from Tufts midfielder Nate Majumder near the 18-yard box, Jumbo midfielder Jason Kayne found the top right corner of the net. While Majumder was credited with the assist on the play, Maxime Hoppenot found Majumder by the top of the 18yard box on a nice set-up that helped put Tufts up 1-0.

The Jeffs could not be deterred for long, however, as a Tufts handball upon an Amherst offensive attack set the Jeffs up with a penalty kick. Midfielder Milton Rico ’15 stepped up to drilled the ball into the net to even the game.

Prior to the halftime break, Amherst looked to continue adding to the score but narrowly missed on two legitimate opportunities. The score remained level at one apiece after 90 minutes of regulation play.

In the overtime, Amherst staved off several attacks from Tufts, as the Jumbos had five shots on goal in the two overtime periods, while the Jeffs only managed a single shot.

Overall, the Jeffs earned a tie in what very could well be a preview for a potential NESCAC postseason matchup.

“Tufts is a very strong team, and we did not have our best day. We went down early and had to battle our way back into the game. It’s always difficult playing away, especially since it was their homecoming weekend,” said junior striker Greg Singer. “A tie was not the result we were looking for, but we have to learn from our mistakes and move forward.”

The following day, the Jeffs came out firing against Bates. Amherst had an 11-3 shot advantage in the first half but were unable to push a goal during the first period. The Jeffs also had a sizable 5-2 edge on corners over the first 45 minutes of action — one of which almost led to a goal. A header from Singer that originated off a corner kick hit off the crossbar during the first half, amounting to a key op-

portunity in the first half.

Just about a minute into the second half, the Jeffs finally put a goal on the board. Junior forward Nico Pascual-Leone stole the ball off a Bates throw-in, dribbled down the pitch and found sophomore forward Chris Martin on a great cross. Martin finished the cross and sent the ball into the back of the net to give the Jeffs a 1-0 lead. His goal was his second on the season and 10th of his career in 28 games.

Pascual-Leone notched his second assist of the season giving him the team lead in points (six) for the Jeffs in 2014.

Amherst dominated in shots attempts with a 26-8 edge on the Bobcats. The Jeffs would not put another goal on the board after Martin’s goal, only having one score to show in their 1-0 victory. Amherst put a whopping 10 shots on goal, nine of which Bobcats goalie Sam Polito ended up saving.

On the Jeffs’ defensive side, goalie Thomas Bull ’16 and the Amherst defense combined to give the Jeffs their third shutout in seven games this season, all of which have come in 1-0 NESCAC victories.

“The Bates win was a real team effort,” said midfielder Tommy Haskel ’16. “Playingback to-back games is not easy for anybody.

With that being said, the grind is something we pride ourselves on. A lot of different guys stepped up on Sunday to earn the win. We are improving as a team everyday we step onto the field and we will take the positives from Sunday and build on them.”

The Jeffs are slated to play three games in the next six days. Up first, the Jeffs travel to Ludlow, Mass. on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. matchup against the Western New England Golden Bears at Lusitano Stadium. On the season, Western New England is 7-4-1, with its most recent victory coming in 1-0 fashion against Springfield College. Last season, the

Jeffs defeated the Golden Bears in late October on Hitchcock Field, after Pascual-Leone scored to put the Jeffs ahead and secure the victory with less than two minutes remaining in the contest.

On Saturday, Oct. 4, the Jeffs will take on Hamilton (4-2-1 overall and 1-2-1 in NESCAC play) in a 2:30 p.m. matchup on Hitchcock Field. Last year, the Jeffs played the Continentals twice. During the regular season, Amherst tied Hamilton 1-1 on the road before exacting revenge on the Continentals in a 4-1 victory in the NESCAC Quarterfinals in early November. In Amherst’s last meeting against Hamilton, Martin had two goals, while Singer and midfielder Andrew Orozco ’17 also added scores.

Next Tuesday, Amherst will face off against Elms College in another 7 p.m. matchup on the road.

While the Jeffs have a packed schedule over the next week, the team is only focused on putting forth their best effort against Western New England.

“We can only really afford to think about [Western New England] right now,” said midfielder Forest Sisk ’17. “Midweek games are tough because they can be easily overlooked.

Although we’re undefeated, we still have another gear to shift into before we get to where we want to be. Western New England will be a great test for us.”

Currently, the Jeffs stand atop the NESCAC conference, just ahead of Tufts and Wesleyan. With half the regular season already in the record books, Amherst looks to end on a high note. The team will play four more NESCAC contests as well as four out-of-conference games. Should the Jeffs keep up their high level of play, they will be in position to defend their NESCAC Championship and become four-time conference champions.

“We did a good job of keeping up the momentum going into the Bates game, which was crucial for the win,” Horwitz said.

Amherst got on the board in the 25th minute thanks to a hustle play by Katie Paolano ’16 that earned the Jeffs a penalty corner. Nygren made the corner pass, finding first-year Elizabeth Turnbull at the top of the circle. Turnbull dangled to make her way around the Bates defender and sent a hard shot past the keeper, ringing off the back of the cage to give Amherst a 1-0 lead.

An insurance goal was tallied just over 10 minutes later, started by a strong effort from Paolano once again. She carried the ball far along the sideline before sending it ahead to Mary Grace Cronin ’18. The first-year put a shot on net that rebounded off the Bates keeper, but fellow first-year Caroline Feeley was there to finish the play, scoring the first goal of her collegiate career.

The third goal of the game was hard earned, as Amherst had four consecutive penalty corners before finally converting. After chaos in front of the net following the inlet pass, Tank finally knocked it home to extend the Jeffs’ lead to three.

The 3-0 score would stand through the final 35 minutes of play. Amherst held an impressive 7-0 advantage in penalty corners throughout the second half, and Horwitz had another strong outing in net to earn the shutout with six saves.

Nygren earned NESCAC Field Hockey player of the week for her seven-point week that consisted of two goals and three assists.

Amherst heads into a well-deserved week off from competition before hosting Hamilton on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 11 a.m. on Gooding Field. The Jeffs handed the Continentals an 8-0 loss in the 2013 regular season.

Holly Burwick ’16 Senior Staff Writer

past Saturday hosted at Williams.

The Jeffs were led by Savanna Gornisiewicz ’17, whose time of 22:56.7 placed her eighth overall in the 267-person field. Next across the tape for Amherst was Nicky Roberts ’18 (23:15.0), who was 15th overall. Senior captains Lizzy Briskin (23:42.5) and Jessie Kaliski (23:54.4) were the third and fourth-place finishers for the Jeffs and 32nd and 41st overall, respectively.

“I thought our top four raced exceptionally well. I was happy to see the way we matched up runner by runner with some of the other teams in the meet that will be our big competition at the end of the year. It’s still early, and we still have a lot of work to do, but I’m happy with where our scoring five are at,” said head coach Cassie FunkeHarris.

The Jeffs’ next chance to compete will be next Saturday, Oct. 4 when they travel to Lehigh University for the Paul Short Invitational.

Field Hockey Hands No. 4 Hussein, Gornisiewicz Lead XC Teams at Purple Valley Classic Tufts First Loss of Season Lauren Tuiskula ’17 Senior Staff Writer The Amherst field hockey team continued its impressive run, defeating two NESCAC foes this past weekend.

The Jeffs earned their first win on Saturday, Sept. 27 on the road against Tufts. It was the fourth-ranked Jumbos’ first loss of the year as well as the first time they had surrendered a goal all season.

Tufts scored first as Dominique Zarella rattled a shot off the back of the cage unassisted less than three minutes into play. Amherst would answer before the half ended, however, as Annie Turnbull ’16 found Madeline Tank ’15 to bring the score to one apiece.

The two teams went into the break with the score still even. Despite an even split in penalty corners (three), Tufts held a decisive 8-4 edge in shots.

Each team had their opportunities to take the lead in the second half of play, as Tufts added seven shots on goal while Amherst had four. Annika Nygren ’16 scored the eventual game-winner with only seven minutes left to play thanks to an assist from Turnbull.

Emily Horwitz ’17 continued to dominate in net, only allowing one goal while turning away nine shots.

“Beating Tufts was awesome,” said the sophomore keeper. “Everyone worked really hard to make the win happen. It was such a great feeling since Tufts was undefeated and hadn’t been scored upon.”

Despite the quick turn around, Amherst looked well rested for another NESCAC matchup the following day against Bates on Sunday, Sept. 28. The Jeffs continued their winning streak with a 3-0 victory on their home turf.

Men This past Saturday, the Amherst men’s cross country team traveled to Williams to compete in the Purple Valley Classic. Thanks to Mohamed Hussein ’18 and his fifth place overall finish, the Jeffs took fourth place in the 21-team event.

Hussein recorded a time of 26:25.9, and just behind him was Dan Crowley ’16 with a time of 26:33.1, which was good enough for ninth in the 236-person field. Rounding out the top five for Amherst were senior captains KC Fussell (27:05.6) and Greg Turissini (27:08.2) along with Raymond Meijer ’17 (27:08.7), who finished 24th, 27th and 28th overall, respectively.

“This race was a great early season test for us, as the number one, two, three, four (us), five, seven and 10 ranked teams in the New England region all raced,” said Turissini. “Mo and Ray really stepped-up for us and helped us secure a fourthplace finish. We beat Tufts and Middlebury for the first time since 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Overall, I think it was an excellent starting point for the season.”

“We have some work to do in the coming weeks, and we will make some adjustments to things, but overall, I thought the team did a great job of competing and working together,” said head coach Eric Nedeau. “They have been doing a fantastic job of getting in quality workouts so far this season, and I’m looking forward to that continuing.”

The Jeffs next meet is the NEICAAA Championships on Saturday, Oct. 11 at Franklin Park in Boston.

Women The women’s cross country took fifth place with 153 points at the Purple Valley Classic this

Photo courtesy of Office of Public Affairs

Mohamed Hussein ’18 finished fourth overall on Saturday.

10

Sports

Schedule

WEDNESDAY Men’s Soccer vs. Western New England, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY Volleyball vs. Middlebury, 8 p.m.

SATURDAY Field Hockey vs. Hamilton, 11 a.m.

Women’s Soccer vs. Hamilton, 12 p.m.

Football @ Middlebury, 1:30 p.m.

Volleyball vs. Hamilton, 2 p.m.

The Amherst Student • October 1, 2014

Men’s Soccer vs. Hamilton, 2:30 p.m.

Women’s Cross Country @ Paul Short Invitational, TBA Men’s Cross Country @ Keene State Invitational, TBA Women’s Golf @ Williams Fall Classic, TBA SUNDAY Women’s Golf @ Williams Fall Classic, TBA Women’s Tennis @ Conn. College Tournament TUESDAY Men’s Soccer @ Elms, 7 p.m.

Women’s Soccer Improves to 7-1 On Season Virgina Hassell ’16 Staff Writer The Amherst women’s soccer team upped its win streak to five as it captured two more victories over the weekend. After jumping to the No. 18 spot in the NCAA Coach’s Poll following last week’s undefeated weekend, the Jeffs rolled into the weekend ready to continue their success. In the first of the doubleheader, Amherst (7-1-0, 4-1-0) defeated Tufts (6-1-0, 3-1-0) who had entered Saturday’s contest as the top-ranked team in the NESCAC. “We knew we had to win that game to make a statement to the rest of the conference,” said senior co-captain Mel Stier. “It was a tough environment to play in because it was their homecoming, but we really took control of the game in the second half.”

Though Tufts held an 8-5 shot edge over Amherst in the first period, both teams remained scoreless. The Jeffs came out strong in the second half, increasing defensive pressure and not allowing a single shot attempt from Tufts.

In the 62nd minute, Amherst finally broke through, as junior Megan Kim netted her third goal of the 2014 season off an assist from fellow junior Rachael Abernethy. First-year scoring machine Hannah Guzzi connected on one of her four shot attempts to propel the Jeffs to a 2-0 lead with seven minutes remaining. Jessy Hale ’16 recorded the assist.

“In the second half against Tufts, we came out with a lot more energy than we had in the first half,” Guzzi said. “Our defense played really well and didn’t allow Tufts to get a single shot in the second half. We started connecting and playing to feet, and we controlled possession for the rest of the game.”

The Jumbos topped the Jeffs in first-half corner kicks, but Amherst responded in the second half, edging Tufts in corner kicks 8-0. Junior goalkeeper Holly Burwick made one save in

the 2-0 victory, as Amherst recorded their sixth straight shutout on the season.

In Sunday’s home match, Amherst defeated Bates (6-3-0, 3-3-0) by a score of 2-1. Guzzi delivered another phenomenal performance, netting her team-high sixth goal of the season.

She was able to convert with the help of Quinn Phillips ’17, who assisted the goal on a cross in the 22nd minute. Abernethy followed suit 20 minutes later to propel the Jeffs to a 2-0 lead going into halftime. Those two goals would be just enough to lift the Jeffs over the Bobcats.

“Bates had been on a winning streak, and they always play us well,” Stier said. “I don’t think the score accurately reflected the game, and we should have put a few more chances away in the first half.”

Amherst posted a decisive advantage on shots, 29-5, and corner kicks, 7-1, but the Bobcats would not go down easily.

In the 69th minute, Bates’ Dakota Donovan placed a ball between the Amherst posts to slice the score in half. Burwick registered three saves in the matchup, and the Jeffs were able to hold off Bates to clench their seventh win of the season.

“These were two big NESCAC games for us, so we’re happy to come away from the weekend with two wins,” Abernethy said. “We did a lot of things well, including coming out strong and maintaining our level of play for most of the game. Now we need to put together a full 90 minutes and make sure we finish the opportunities on goal that we are working hard to create.

Both wins were a total team effort so it feels really good to be a part of that.”

The Purple and White return to action on Hitchcock field this Saturday, Oct. 4 for a conference-game against Hamilton. Currently, the Jeffs sit in second place in the NESCAC, only behind Bowdoin. The Polar Bears handed Amherst its lone loss on the season on Sept. 13, and the Jeffs hope to ride its five-game winning streak into their second half of the season.

Photo courtesy of Rob Mattson

Junior defender Jessy Hale recorded her first assist on the year this past weekend against Tufts in Amherst’s 2-0 win.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Michael Solimano ’16

Emily Tank ’15

Favorite Team Memory: Winning the National Championship in 2014 Favorite Pro Athlete: Rickie Fowler Dream Job: Professional golfer Something on your bucket list: Hike the Appalachian Trail Pet Peeve: People who steal food and vitamins from my room (Carlos) Guilty Pleasure: Pizza Favorite Food: Gnocchi with vodka sauce Favorite Thing About Amherst: Free wings at tea time

Favorite Team Memory: Our win over Tufts this past weekend Favorite Pro Athlete: Jonathan Toews Dream Job: Assistant to Molf Something on Your Bucket List: Live without a cell phone for a year Pet Peeve: Barrett McBride Guilty Pleasure: Jesse McCartney Favorite Food: Peas Favorite Thing About Amherst: I LOVE PURPLE.

Volleyball Nearly Upsets Williams in Five-Set Thriller Drew Kiley ’18 Staff Writer After six straight wins and 18 straight set victories, the Amherst volleyball team entered their home opener against archrival Williams on Friday night with high expectations. The Firedogs felt confident entering the match, but the Ephs, last year’s conference champions, would be one of the toughest contests of the year.

Williams emerged victorious on the night in a thrilling five-set match (25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 24-26, 15-13) that included 49 ties and 26 lead changes.

Lizzie Ahern ’16 led Amherst on the night with a team-high 13 kills in addition to 17 digs.

Maggie Danner ’17 floored 11 kills, while Nicole Gould ’17 added nine. Setter Nicole Carter ’16 dished out 41 assists, while defensive specialists Katie Warshaw ’16 and Kelci Keeno ’17 added a combined 44 digs. Middle blocker Marialexa Natsis ’18 added seven kills, and Asha Walker ’18 floored five kills on a .714 hitting percentage.

The two teams traded points throughout the first set, with neither side holding more than a one-point advantage through the first half of the set. The two eventually found themselves tied at 15 when Williams finished strongly, riding a 10-6 run to close out the match and take a 1-0 lead.

In the second set, the Ephs rode their momentum to a early 6-2 lead. A Williams attack error, however, opened the door for the Firedogs, as they responded with an 8-3 run to take the lead at 11-10. Back and forth action followed, with the score notched at 15 once again, but this time Amherst claimed six straight points on the back of two kills from Danner to take a 21-15 lead. The Ephs closed it to three with an attack error by the Firedogs, but Amherst called a timeout and responded to win the set 25-20.

The third set featured five lead changes and nine ties in thrilling action between the two teams. After an even start to the set, three straight Amherst errors gave Williams a 16-11 lead. The Firedogs regrouped to launch a 7-2 run and tie the score at 18. An Ahern kill gave the Firedogs a 20-19 edge, but the Ephs’ Tori Jasuta claimed two kills in the late stages to guide Williams to a 25-21 set win.

In the fourth set, Williams looked on top with an 18-16 lead before Amherst responded with four straight kills to force an Ephs timeout.

Out of the break, the Ephs claimed a 22-21 lead

before kills by Ahern and Gould put Amherst up 23-22. With the score tied at 24-24, a bad set

by Williams and a Natsis kill forced a decisive fifth set.

Williams jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the fifth set before a 9-3 run by Amherst helped the Firedogs take the lead, 12-9. However, the Ephs responded with a 5-0 run to go ahead 14-12. A Gould kill cut the deficit to one, but ultimately it wasn’t enough as Williams claimed the set and the match 15-13.

“Going into the match against Williams, we were as mentally and physically prepared as we could have been,” Carter said. “I’m really proud of how hard everyone worked in preparation as well as during the match. We played with an incredible amount of heart and intensity, and I’m excited to see that energy transfer into our matches this weekend.”

The Firedogs had to quickly regroup after an emotional loss, with a non-league doubleheader against Babson and Clark at Clark University on Saturday.

Their day got off to a rough start, with Babson dominating from start to finish to defeat the Firedogs in straight sets (25-19, 25-19, 25-18).

Amherst struggled to deal with the Beavers’ front line and never settled into a rhythm offensively. Babson recorded eight total team blocks to Amherst’s one and floored 51 kills to the Firedogs 30.

Warshaw highlighted Amherst’s losing effort with 23 digs, while Carter recorded 15 assists. Ahern floored a team-high seven kills while Danner and Gould each added five.

The Firedogs responded against Clark with an impressive straight set victory (25-13, 2513, 25-14). Kate Bres ’17 dished out 12 of Amherst’s 21 assists, while Carter added 7 helpers.

Sammy Newby ’16 led Amherst with 2.5 total blocks. The Firedogs used a balanced attack to overwhelm Clark, as Danner floored six kills, Natsis and Gould each added five, and Newby contributed four.

“The Williams match was a very emotional one, a match that we really wanted to win. I think we weren’t quite there against Babson, but the team responded well to end our week with a victory,” Natsis said.

The Firedogs record now stands at 9-4 overall (2-1 NESCAC). The team returns to conference action this Friday, Oct. 3 with a match against Middlebury in LeFrak Gymnasium at 8 p.m. Amherst, then faces conference foe Hamilton, also in LeFrak, at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

The Amherst Student • October 1, 2014

Football Routs Bowdoin 30-7

Nell Patterson ’15 Staff Writer

The Amherst football team continued its march toward an undefeated season with a decisive 30-7 win over Bowdoin on Saturday. The Jeffs posted 390 total yards on offense, 227 in the air and 163 on the ground. Jackson McGonagle ’16 boasted an impressive 124 receiving yards along with two touchdowns in the game.

“We knew after our win against Bates that we had a lot of work to do. All week we kept our focus and really tried to perfect the execution of our plays,” the junior wide receiver said.

Quarterback Alex Berluti ’17 emerged as a leader, throwing for 187 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

“We didn’t have that different of an approach this week going into the Bowdoin game other than just really trying to focus on ourselves,” the sophomore said. “That starts with taking care of the football and limiting turnovers, making the right reads and getting first downs. We focused on trying to move the ball better and generate more points so our defense can play more loosely and get after Bowdoin’s offense.”

While the Amherst offense showed vast improvement from last week, the Amherst defense continued to impress, keeping the Polar Bears scoreless through the first three quarters of play.

They forced two interceptions, a fumble and three sacks, limiting Bowdoin’s offense to 316 yards and only seven points.

Captain Ned Deane ’15 said turnovers and sacks “definitely resulted from our ability to stop the run and get after the quarterback.”

“The coaches had a great game plan for us that was much simpler than the one we implemented for Bates,” Jake Shuman ’15 added. “Bates runs the triple options so we had inserted a lot of unique coverages and techniques to defend that. It was nice to run more of our base defense against Bowdoin.”

After failing to score on their first possession, Berluti and the Jeffs strung together an impressive second drive. Nick Kelly ’17 broke through the Polar Bears’ defense to bring Amherst into Bowdoin territory on the opening play. After a holding penalty moved the Jeffs back 10 yards, Berluti found McGonagle and then Gene Garay ’15 to earn the Jeffs a first down at the Bowdoin 23-yard line.

After a few unsuccessful plays, it looked as if the Amherst drive would end there, but the Jeffs were given a lucky break, as a personal foul on the Bowdoin defense moved them up to the 14-yard line, giving them a fresh set of downs. Setting up in the red zone, the Amherst offensive line created a big hole for McGonagle to sneak through on a sweep play to the right side of the field. McGonagle blew through the hole right into the end zone to

put Amherst on the board first.

“As a team we did a great job blocking, on the inside and outside, which gave our quarterbacks time to throw and gave our running backs space to run,” McGonagle said.

With four minutes left in the first quarter, Mills decided to give Berluti a rest and put in first-year quarterback Reece Foy. Foy found success through the air, making a big throw to Robert Thoma ’17 for 22 yards. Bowdoin was able to stop the drive, however, forcing the Jeffs to settle for a field goal. They carried a nine-point lead into the second quarter, as Phillip Nwosu ’15 missed the point-after-touchdown.

The second quarter proceeded without much excitement, as Bowdoin and Amherst exchanged punts back and forth. Bowdoin threatened to put points on the board, but Amherst’s Thomas Kleyn ’16 forced Tim Drakeley to fumble on the 1-yard line. Deane described this as a turning point in the game. “Offense and defense came out in the second half firing on all cylinders and I attribute that to the momentum changing play by TK,” Deane said.

Amherst used that momentum, as the third quarter was all Jeff offense. Deep in their own territory, Berluti aired it out to McGonagle way down field. The junior receiver caught the ball near midfield and ran for over 50 yards to add six points to the Jeffs’ tally. The 97-yard touchdown play broke the previous Jeffs’ record for the longest reception.

With a Nwosu extra point, the Jeffs extended their lead to 16.

The defense played a big role in Amherst’s next touchdown, as Jaymie Spears ’16 picked off Bowdoin’s Caputi at the 33-yard line and returned it to the Bowdoin 18. Taking over again, Berluti handed off the ball to Garay who ran for the final 18 yards and another Amherst touchdown, making the score 23-0 Amherst.

After two more stops by the Amherst defense, Berluti and the offense marched down to the Bowdoin 26-yard line with a little more than a minute left in the third quarter. Berluti found Kelly through the air, who ran in for another touchdown, making the score an impressive 30-0.

The fourth quarter saw little scoring action on either side, as the Jeffs defense were able to keep the Polar Bears out of the red zone until there were three minutes remaining. Driving steadily down to the field to the Amherst one-yard line, the Polar Bears scored off a quarterback sneak by Caputi.

With just 39 seconds remaining in play, the Jeffs took a knee to leave the score at 30-7.

The Jeffs will travel again this Saturday to face Middlebury.

“The last time we played at Midd., we got crushed, so we are going to use that as added motivation to stay focused and pay attention to detail throughout this week,” McGonagle said.

Ghosh, Ip Lead Women’s Tennis at ITA Regionals Katie Paolano ’16 Sports Section Editor The women’s tennis team kicked off its fall season at the 2014 USTA/ITA New England Regional Championships this weekend at Williams. Sue Ghosh ’16 and first-year Vickie Ip led the Lady Jeffs, seeded eighth and ninth, respectively.

Ghosh started off the weekend with marginal wins over Wellesley’s Sojung Lee (6-2, 6-4) and Bowdoin’s Pilar Giffenig (6-2, 6-3).

In the third round, after losing the first set, 1-6, to Mia Gancayco of Williams, Ghosh came back to defeat her opponent by securing the last two sets, 6-4, 6-0. She finished off the tournament falling short to Williams’ Maria Pylypiv (6-1, 6-1).

“It was a really intense and tough weekend. We played a lot of matches in a few days, but we put a lot of heart into each and every one., said the junior.

Ip made her collegiate career debut by winning three singles matches. She topped Wesleyan’s Helen Klass-Warch (6-3, 6-2), advancing to the second round, where she de-

feated Bowdoin’s Tess Trinka (6-2, 6-4). In the third round, Ip dropped the first set but came back to beat her opponent 2-6, 6-0, 7-5.

The first-year reached the quarterfinals where she eventually lost to Tufts’ Aandrita Deb in a hard fought three-set battle, 7-6 (9-7), 6-7 (7-9), 6-2.

Ghosh and Ip came together for doubles action as well. As the No. 5 seed, the new doubles partners struck again, reaching the semifinals. In the first round, they played against fellow Lady Jeffs Sarah Monteagudo ’16 and Simone Aisiks ’17, winning 8-4. The duo continued their stellar weekend, defeating a Bates’ pair, 8-4, followed by a win over a Williams’ duo, 8-5. They finished off the day falling to Bowdoin’s Chow and Trinka, 8-3.

Aisiks ’17 also won two singles matches on the weekend, while Jackie Calla ‘17E won another for Amherst.

“We had some really long and intense matches, and the attitude we brought to the court was an absolute great start to the season.

It only goes up from here.” Ghosh added.

Amherst heads to Conn. College this Sunday, Oct. 5 to continue their fall season.

Sports

11

Labyrinth of Buckeyes

Post to Post with Papa Cunny

Dave Cunningham ’16 Columnist I often find it comical, and occasionally somewhat childish how I obtain inspiration for these articles. Why did I write about Red Sox nation last year? While in Val one day someone jokingly said, “our hockey season is not a marathon, but sprint.”

Harmless comment for most, something a normal person chuckles at then continues on with their normal daily regiment. However, my brain did its normal Tokyo Drift style autopilot, going 95 miles per hour over speed bumps down backroads and alleys that aren’t detectible on your typical GPS system. Buckle up ladies and gents. You’re coming along for the ride.

My engine turned on at “marathon but sprint,” took a left into Boston marathon, reversed to the marathon bombings, into the breakdown lane at David Ortiz, blew through a stop sign at the intersection of my grandmother and Fenway Park hotdogs, followed by an abrupt right hand turn through a do not enter at my loyalty to the Red Sox and finally finished with 360 flip into the fluctuating loyalty of all Sox fans.

And no, I did not hear a single word my teammates were saying to me at the Val table; the radio was nothing but fuzz. So to protect you from any further danger within the depths of my mind, I’ll just say this. Thank you, hopefully, Alex Hero’s laptop stickers for the initial inspiration for this segment of Post to Post with PapaCunny: why do people root for the Cleveland Browns, or any professional Ohio-based teams for that matter?

Couch, Detmer, Wynn, Penderson, Holcomb, McCown, Garcia, Dilfer, Frye, Dorsey, Gradkowski, Anderson, Quinn, Delhomme, Wallace, McCoy, Lewis, Hoyer, Weeden, Campbell, Weeden, Hoyer. Buhler? No class, this isn’t roll call. These are the names of all the different starting quarterbacks the Cleveland Browns have flicked onto the field each season since 1999. It’s okay to laugh, trust me, my roommate is from Cleveland. To clarify for those of you who don’t waste an entire Sunday inhaling buffalo wings and getting hand cramps from violently switching to another NFL game because your team fumbled on two consecutive drives, it is not normal to have 20 different quarterbacks over the course of 15 seasons. For example, since 1999 the New England Patriots have used three different quarterbacks, and the changes all resulted from injury. Bledsoe got hurt, so sixth round draft pick Tom Brady casually came out, grabbed three rings and became the poster boy for New England sports. Then, Brady suffered an injury in 2008, and Matt Cassel played until Brady recovered the following season.

So why, after decades of misery and uncertainty, were the Cleveland Browns ranked eleventh out of 32 teams in fan attendance, six spots ahead of the New England Patriots? Every Sunday for two years I have asked myself this seemingly rhetorical question, and I am initially reminded of the absurd loyalty of pre-2004 Red Sox fans. While on the surface the question appears perfectly applicable to both teams, I find fault with such a comparison at the core. Yes, both teams lost year after year. However, the Red Sox came so very close to a championship numerous times, pushing fans to say “next season has to be our year.” For me, Browns fans are on a different end of the spectrum in that regard. Cleveland has never been remotely close to a ring, and not even small glimmers of hope have occurred.

Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1966, the Browns have made the playoffs 14 times, which at first glance doesn’t seem terrible. And yet, they have not made the playoffs since 2002, have never been to a Super Bowl, and have only advanced to the conference title game five times. Again, five times seems OK, but it ranks 10th out of 16 teams in the AFC, and three of the six lower ranked teams were founded after the Browns (Texans 2002, Jaguars 1995, Seahawks 1976), meaning they have had less time to surpass Cleveland in championship appearances. Furthermore, when the Browns advanced to the AFC championship game, they lost by an average of 19.5 points. Thus, Browns fans have never had the constant “so close” feeling of the Red Sox nation. No ball between Buckner’s legs, Bucky Dent or Aaron Boone homers. So why is the Cleveland Stadium packed with fans every Sunday?

Could it be the players that charge out onto the turf donning the orange and brown that fill seats year after year? Nope. Sorry, do not pass go and do not collect your $200. My reasoning reverts back to

the number of quarterbacks the Browns have had since 1999 (20). In football, the position of quarterback inherently demands focus, and outside or winning, is why fans follow a team. It’s unavoidable.

When you go to a game you’re inescapably going for the quarterback. The quarterback ultimately determines who the best players on the field will be; Randy Moss wouldn’t be a Pro-Bowler if Brady never threw him the pigskin. So maybe Browns fans think they’re going to a game because they want to watch “electric” Miles Austin catch a few passes, but they’re actually going to see Brian Hoyer flounder around in the pocket. If a team does not have a good QB it’s nearly impossible to have a successful team, and we’ve already ruled out winning as the culprit for why Browns fans are Browns fans.

So unless they’re going to watch bad QBs be bad for fun, then the players can’t be what is driving fans into the seats. So why do fans pour in to watch the Browns?

It has to be a genuine love for the sport in Cleveland, considering football was invented in Ohio, right? This answer would probably get you half credit on a Browns exam administered by Professor Cunningham. At first I was inclined to believe such a notion; football is naturally bred into every citizen of Ohio. But if that were the case, wouldn’t it seem logical for fans to fulfill their football needs by attending games for Ohio State, a perennial collegiate power house and a winning team, instead of for the pathetic Browns? Basically, these are the two options for football fans from Ohio: pay a minimum of $90 to watch a team lose every year and ultimately disrespect your commitment as a fan, or pay a slightly lesser fee to witness the potential for greatness every Saturday, as you find yourself enveloped by a tradition of winning and an aroma sheer, constant, excitement. Money in my pocket and winning for me, please.

However, it did occur to me, for a moment, I was rash in my harsh conclusion that it’s more than obvious to attend an Ohio State game over a Browns game. If you love something, like football, you would want to experience the very best side of this love. For example, if you love poetry you will undoubtedly find more pleasure indulging in the works of Robert Frost than reading a poem by Dave Cunningham, an amateur, even though I will probably charge you less to read mine than Amherst Books will for a Frost collection ($35). Thus, it is warranted for the fencer from Columbus, who needs a healthy portion of football every Sunday to get through life, to cut back on groceries for the week because he wants to spend an extra $20 to watch the Browns instead of OSU. Unfortunately for my psyche, and a thesis to this article, the fencer in Columbus theory eventually became questionable after analyzing other situations in various states. I guess I won’t be able to get to bed early for that lift tomorrow.

The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rank 28th and 29th, respectively, in average attendance, yet the University of Florida is ranked 10th in all of college football and Florida State is 18th. Football-loving citizens of Florida have no problem with sacrificing the opportunity to watch the best players for a chance to watch winning amateurs. Even in Pittsburg the fans had no problem with abandoning their storied franchise during a .500 season in 2013; the Steeler’s attendance ranked 29th in the NFL while Penn State was 5th in all of college football (there are 120 D-1 teams). Ohio football fans are an anomaly in this sense. Why don’t the Browns fans follow suit and ditch the team that spits in their face every day, when other opportunities exist?

I just don’t know. The Cleveland portion of my brain seems to be a neverending tennis match, because, in my opinion, I appear to have a rebuttal for every Browns fan loyalty hypothesis. Even if a Browns fan tells me why he or she is loyal, at this point in my Browns journey I will have to tell them they are wrong. I simply cannot be fully swayed.

I apologize to every teacher I have ever had, but I need to break the keynote rule for all papers, speech or raised hand in class. I simply do not have an answer. I just do not know.

Sports

“Quarterback Alex Berluti ’17 emerged as a leader, throwing for 187 yards with two touchdowns...”

Football Routs Bowdoin 30-7... Page 11

Photo courtesy of NCAA

Junior Michael Solimano won six consecutive matches on Saturday to power through the singles draw of the 2014 USTA/ITA Regional Championships hosted at Middlebury this past weekend. He also advanced to the finals of the doubles portion along with partner Aaron Revzin ’16.

Solimano ’16 Brings Home ITA Singles Crown Finishes Weekend Without Dropping a Single Set

Nicole Yang ’16 Managing Sports Editor Several members of the Amherst men’s tennis team traveled to Middlebury this past weekend to compete in the 2014 USTA/ITA Regional Championships. The Jeffs have experienced widespread success at this tournament, dating back to 2010 when Moritz Koenig ’11 and Wes Waterman ’12 defeated Mark Kahan ’13 and Luis Rattenhuber ’13 for the doubles title.

Since then, Amherst has brought home either a singles or doubles crown in each proceeding year, including an all-Amherst singles final in 2012 when Andrew Yaraghi ’16 topped Ben Fife ’16 for the title. Fife clinched ITA All-American honors, however, his next time around by capturing the doubles championship with Fritz in 2013. With four straight years of ITA accolades under their belt, the Jeffs went into the weekend hoping to repeat this success.

“We obviously have big expectations for ourselves this year. This tournament didn’t count for our team record, but it’s still very important to us to represent Amherst to the fullest and let everyone know that we’re coming to play this season,” said Aaron Revzin ’16.

“I think the expectation was to come out and set the tone for what we hope to be a successful season,” added co-captain Andrew Scheiner.

Collectively, Amherst went 9-3 in singles on day one. Andrew Arnaboldi ’17 and Andrew Scheiner ’15 were both unable to make it past the first round of play, as Arnaboldi lost a threeset contest 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 to Brian Astrachan of Williams, and Scheiner fell 7-6, 6-3 to Jake Roberts of Wesleyan.

Junior Russell Einbinder was able to move past the opening round with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over Edward Martinez of UMass Boston but was then ousted in the second round by Tufts’ Zain

Ali 6-4, 6-2.

Anton Zykov ’17, seeded fourth, was considered to be a championship contender headed into the weekend. After winning his first two matches, the sophomore injured himself in the Round of 16, causing him to retire with a oneset lead over Steven Chen. His injury also led him and Yaraghi to default in quarterfinals of the doubles draw.

Juniors Michael Solimano, Yaraghi and Revzin all also advanced to the Round of 16 after notching two victories apiece on day one.

Following a 6-3, 7-5 win over Jose Raventos of Williams, Yaraghi needed three sets to trump Brandeis’ Michael Arguello 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in the second round. Revzin played a three-set match as well, where he topped Chris Frost of Middlebury 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 in the first round.

He had a more comfortable match in the next round against Babson’s Isaac Thylen, whom he defeated 6-2, 6-2.

However, both Yaraghi and Revzin saw their ITA championship hopes come to a close at the start of day two, as Yaraghi fell to Jackson Frons of Middlebury 7-5, 6-4, and Revzin lost a hotly contested match to Wesleyan’s Michael Liu. After rolling in the first set 6-1, he couldn’t secure the second-set tiebreak or the third set, losing both 7-6 (3), 6-3.

“I had a couple good wins. I thought I played well. Though I missed some opportunities, it was definitely a motivating experience,” Revzin said of his individual performance.

Solimano, seeded second, breezed through the first rounds of play, dropping only a total of five games over the course of two matches. His closest match came in the Round of 16 against Rohan Shastri of Williams, but he managed to not relinquish a set, triumphing 7-5, 7-6 (5).

The junior continued to cruise, as he defeated Wesleyan’s Chase Savage 6-3, 6-4 in the quar-

terfinals. In the semifinals, Solimano avenged Revzin’s loss to Liu by defeating the Cardinal sophomore 6-3, 6-3. He would face another Cardinal in the finals, first-year Chen, who would prove to be no match for Solimano. The junior won handily, 6-2, 6-0 to claim his first ever ITA championship as well as All-American honors. His victory marks the fifth-straight year that Amherst has returned with either an ITA singles or doubles title.

“Mike has been working very hard in practice, so it has to be very gratifying for him to see it pay off,” Scheiner said of his teammate’s performance.

In the doubles portion of the tournament, Amherst had four teams competing. Arnaboldi and Scheiner received an early exit once again, falling to the Eph tandem of Jordan Sadowsky and Conrad Harron 8-4. Einbinder and Carlos de Bracamonte ’16 also were unable to move on following an 8-5 loss to Michael Arguello and Jeff Cherkin of Brandeis.

Solimano continued his superb level of play, pairing up with Revzin as the second seed in the doubles bracket. The two charged through the first two rounds of play, notching an 8-1 victory over Tyler Adams and Scott Gagne of Southern Maine in addition to an 8-3 victory over Raventos and Shastri.

In the quarterfinals, the duo was tested by Carl Reid and Vlad Murad of Colby. Though unseeded in doubles, Reid was named the top seed of the singles draw, while Murad upset fifth-seeded Harron in his first-round match of singles play. The match went the distance to 9-7, but Revzin and Solimano prevailed to advance to the semifinals, where they would face Arguello and Cherkin. After a solid 8-4 win, the championship match was set up to be a dual between the top two seeds, as top-seeded Pierre Plance and Chris Ellis reached the finals as well.

In the end, the Bates duo would edge the Amherst pair, 6-2, 7-6 (5), for a bittersweet end to the Jeffs’ weekend.

“It’s obviously not disappointing when you make the finals, and I’ll certainly be thinking about missing a few of those shots on set point for the next couple of weeks, but I’ll bounce back,” Revzin said.

This weekend also marked team’s first official set of matches under the reign of new head coach Todd Doebler.

“It seems like he’s doing a great job thus far of motivating us and keeping the intensity high in practice. Obviously for some of the guys, this translated to success this weekend,” Scheiner noted.

“He’s certainly hit the ground running.

Whenever you switch coaches, there’s going to be a transition, but I think it’s been a smooth one, and we’re all exciting about this coming season,” Revzin added.

Up next for the Jeffs is a series of two dual matches over fall break against Johns Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon.

Photo courtesy of NCAA

Andrew Yaraghi ’16 advanced to the Round of 16 this past weekend.