Issue 5

THE AMHERST

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

STUDENT VOLUME CXLVII, ISSUE 5 l WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2017

Women’s Golf Wins Second Tournament of Season See Sports, Page 9 AMHERSTSTUDENT.AMHERST.EDU

AC Republicans Host Event on U.S. Military Action Emma Swislow ’20 Assistant News Editor

Photo courtesy of Takudzwa Tapfuma ’17

People donated to the Multicultural Resource Center’s fundraiser from Sept. 21 to Sept. 28 for communities in the U.S. and Mexico affected by recent disasters including three hurricanes and an earthquake.

MRC Collects Donations for Disaster Relief Ariana Lee ’20 Staff Writer The Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) organized a fundraiser from Sept. 21 to Sept.

28 in Keefe Campus Center to collect donations for communities affected by the recent environmental disasters in Puerto Rico, Texas and Mexico.

Campus police dispatcher Lourdes Marie Torres, who identifies as Puerto Rican, first came up with the idea for the fundraiser. The original plan was to put together donation boxes and have them sent to those impacted

by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

Bulaong Ramiz-Hall, director of the MRC, said in an email interview that she “worked to expand this [idea] to have visible tabling to not only collect physical donations but also monetary donations to people impacted

by Hurricane Maria, Irma, Harvey and the earthquake in Mexico.”

Over the last few weeks, the three hurricanes hit the Caribbean and southern United States, affecting Puerto Rico, Florida and Texas most severely.

According to government officials, at least 70 people died as a result of Hurricane Harvey, 25 from Hurricane Irma and 16 from Hurricane Maria.

Hurricane Maria left nearly all 3.4 million people in Puerto Rico without power and most without water, according to fact-checking site Snopes. Roads have been completely washed away or blocked by debris, and a dam located near the Guajataca River is on the verge of collapsing.

Texas has been similarly affected by heavy flooding, and thousands have been forced to evacuate their homes.

The earthquake in Mexico killed at least 216 people, leaving people without power and their homes in debris. All public and private schools have been shut down in Mexico City.

“We decided to table on a Thursday and had our first event that Friday,” Ramiz-Hall said.

The MRC’s student staff and Ramiz-Hall had previously purchased pins and and other items for Latinx Heritage Month. “We used those to encourage minimum donations and quickly started advertising via social media and our listserv,” Ramiz-Hall added.

The fundraising event had an immediate impact among the student community. “In our first day of fundraising we had a student hand us a $100 bill and thank us for doing this,” Ramiz-Hall said. The student had family

Continued on Page 3

Conservative talk radio host Michael Graham, U.S. Army Reserve Major Robert Roughsedge and Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander for the State of Massachusetts Eric Segundo spoke at Amherst on Sept. 27 about America’s intervention in the Middle East after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001. The event, titled “Why U.S. Military Action After 9/11 Was Justified and Saved Lives,” was hosted by the Amherst College Republicans.

Graham currently hosts a podcast called “Michael in the Morning” and also writes columns for the Boston Herald. Graham was fired in 2005 from WMAL, a talk radio station in Washington D.C., after he said “Islam is a terrorist organization” 23 times, according to an article in The Washington Post.

The event, held in Stirn Auditorium with an audience of around forty members, created controversy among students and campus organizations. Four members of the Amherst College Police Department were present at the event, an unusual sight at an event this size.

Graham’s talk was focused mostly on the banner that was hung above Valentine Dining Hall on Sept. 11 that read, “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people. In honor of those killed and displaced

by America’s so-called ‘War on Terror.’” Graham strongly objected to the banner during his talk, saying that because war inevitably involves the death of innocent people and since the person who hung the sign believes the war on terror to be illegitimate, every war that kills innocent people is illegitimate.

“I’m the bad guy because I acknowledge that as bad as war sucks, sometimes war is the only tool to stop other things,” Graham said. “Your side is, ‘I’d rather have slavery, a monarch and concentration camps,’ and you’re insulting other

Continued on Page 3

Optional TA Training Aims to Enhance Classroom Inclusivity Kathleen Maeder ’20 Staff Writer Student teaching assistants from various academic departments gathered on Sunday, Sept. 24 for a training session that covered issues such as effective teaching practices and inclusivity in classrooms. The training session was part of the college’s goal to reexamine the ways in which faculty and other educators interact with students on campus.

According to Robert Siudzinksi, program director for careers in education professions, the idea for the event stemmed from a collaboration between Professor of Economics Adam Honig, who had developed teaching assistant training programs in the past, Professor of Mathematics David Cox, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and other members of the college faculty and administration. The training session was funded and supported by the Dean of the Faculty.

The training session included practical advice, such as emphasizing the correct pro-

nunciation of students’ names, to help new teaching assistants connect with their peers.

Teaching assistants were also counseled on more general issues within the learning environment. Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Riley Caldwell-O’Keefe noted the importance of reminding teaching assistants to consider their personal identity and the identity of their students as well as the “ways you can think about identity in a way that helps you invite students into the learning process.”

In a leadership role on campus, she said, the teaching assistant position comes with a responsibility to recognize and consider the individuals TAs interact with.

Caldwell-O’Keefe joined the college in 2016 but had heard stories of how teaching assistant training had been administered in previous semesters. In the past, teaching assistants had attended a monthly meeting presented by alternating departments that would describe the duties and responsibilities specific to their department and lead a discussion

on the concerns and challenges their teaching assistants face. This system was retooled this year.

“It was more passive kinds of training that was about receiving information, but not necessarily about changing institutional culture, which is really the impetus for this training,” said Caldwell-O’Keefe.

“When I got here last year, I was trying to understand Amherst culture and asking a lot of questions and talking to a lot of people,” she said. “In STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields], … faculty member after faculty member said that working with TAs was really inconsistent.” She also noted that the training provided to previous teaching assistants differed greatly among departments and professors.

Siudzinski emphasized the need for welltrained teaching assistants in the classroom learning process.

“Some faculty, they don’t even remember when they learned [the material], and with their expertise, it’s so layered [with] the years

of practice and readings and professional development … You can know your subject area, but teaching is not one size fits all,” Siudzinski said. Teaching assistants, on the other hand, have learned the material more recently and are therefore more likely to identify areas where students may have difficulty.

“We are just trying to share with the incoming TAs that there are little things you can modify — little baby steps — to make a more inclusive environment,” said Siudzinski.

Though the college administration has turned its attention to increasing preparation for teaching assistants, some said they were provided with an adequate amount of support even prior to this training. Yariana Diaz ’18, who has worked as a teaching assistant for five semesters and spoke on a Q&A panel at the training session, said she felt “well-supported” by her department in previous years in an online interview.

“I’ve worked with a number of different

Continued on Page 3

News

Alex Frenett Sept. 26, 2017 - Oct. 1, 2017

>>Sept. 26, 2017 3:36 p.m., Morris Pratt Dormitory A caller reported what sounded like someone in distress. The building was checked and nothing unusual was found.

10:33 p.m., Charles Pratt Dormitory An officer responded to a complaint about the odor of marijuana on the first floor. The odor was not present when an officer investigated. >>Sept. 27, 2017 5:39 p.m., Campus Grounds An officer responded to a report of a person having a sizeable campfire in the wooded area east of the faculty apartments. A student was located and the fire was extinguished.

8:41 p.m., Campus Grounds An officer responded to an animal complaint. >>Sept. 28, 2017 8:06 p.m., Valentine Dining Hall A student reported the theft of water valued at $30 from the lobby. It was being prepared for an athletic team.

11:13 p.m., Seelye House Officers responded to a noise complaint and shut down an unauthorized party. >>Sept. 29, 2017 8:36 p.m., Mayo-Smith House An officer confiscated a 30-pack of beer from the first-floor common room.

10:24 p.m., Taplin House An officer responded to a complaint of loud music and banging on the walls. A resident was advised to lower the music and stop making noise. >>Sept. 30, 2017 12:12 a.m., Hitchcock House Officers responded to a noise complaint and found that a registered party was ending.

12:41 a.m., Hitchcock House While an officer was shutting down a party, a resident pointed out a person who frequently attends events at Hitchcock and identified him as a non-student.

The officer identified the person and another resident supported his presence.

1:11 a.m, Boltwood Avenue An officer assisted the town police in responding to a physical altercation between two people on the town sidewalk near the Converse bus stop.

10:34 p.m., Hitchcock House An officer on patrol found an unauthorized party and shut it down.

11:32 p.m., Seelye House An officer on patrol found an unauthorized party and shut it down.

11:50 p.m., Mayo-Smith House

A town resident complained about loud music and a loud party. Officers responded and found nearly 200 people attending a registered party. The number of participants was in violation of the party regulations and the event was shut down. >>Oct. 1, 2017 12:14 a.m., Mayo-Smith House An officer encountered a student urinating outside the building. The person was identified and the Student Affairs office was notified.

1:32 a.m., Charles Drew House An officer working an event at Charles Drew House encountered a person with a small amount of marijuana. It was confiscated.

1:46 a.m., Newport House Officers investigated a smoke detector sounding in a third-floor room and found it was activated when the resident used a candle, which is in violation of housing regulations. The Student Affairs office was notified.

2:41 a.m., Plimpton House While checking the building after a registered party, an officer discovered evidence that an excessive amount of alcohol, including hard alcohol, had been available in violation of party regulations. The Student Affairs office was notified.

2:47 a.m., Lipton House An officer checked on a person found asleep on a couch in the common room. He was identified as an off-campus student who went to a friend’s room for the night.

4:05 p.m., Hitchcock Field Officers responded to a disturbance at a soccer game. Assistance was provided.

Correction: The “Friendship and Divestment” opinion piece in last week’s issue contained several inaccuracies. Amherst is not directly invested in private prisons, though it does invest in companies with holdings in private prisons. Additionally, the article stated that 14 percent of the college’s endowment is invested in fossil fuels. This was based on a misreading of the 2016 Sustainability Report.

Amherst invests about 7 percent of its endowment in natural resources, which includes significant investments besides nonrenewable energy. Both these mistakes have been corrected. The author regrets these inaccuracies. The online version of this article has been updated to include the correction.

Update: Last week’s article titled “Students Host Disability and Inclusion Form” stated that students with housing accommodations cannot enter room draw with their friends. Accessibility Services Manager Jodi Foley has clarified that students who choose to use their housing accommodations cannot enter room draw but can opt out of accommodations if they want to enter room draw.

The online version of the article has been updated to include the clarification.

Thoughts on Theses Department of Physics & Astronomy

Alex Frenett is a math and physics double major who is writing a thesis on the photoionization of oxygen.

His advisor is Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy David Hanneke.

Q: What’s your research process been like?

A: Over the summer, I was reading and understanding the theory behind photoionization, especially angular momentum and energy. There are normal rules for how molecules are excited or de-excited. Like, you’ve heard of energy levels. There are normal rules for how those can change with photons. But when you’re actually taking off the electron, it’s much more difficult. A lot of the summer was reading and understanding the theory, coming up with … a prediction of what frequency we want the laser at to get the least states of ions. So, to get only two or three kinds of ions rather than like 15. So that was a lot of the summer, … kind of reading up on that, and then end of the summer until now, I’ve kind of changed focus to the more experimental stuff.

Because I am building this piece of apparatus … I’ve been looking at how I want to set this up — how to set up something that’ll do what you want it to do, not make it too overly expensive, understand really the physics behind this machine that you’re building.

Because, like I’ve said, this is not a new process, but my professor has never built one of these. The post-doc that I’m working with has worked with one of them, but they were doing that for their main experiment. This is like a side project, and so there are a lot of changes, and so I’m kind of understanding how to set up an experimental setup right now. Hopefully soon, I’ll transition into having my professor buy the parts and actually start setting it up.

like equations … But the experimental stuff, literally taking into account real world, … like, this is a piece of metal that you’re opening and closing really fast … It’s not like a computer where you just assume, “Oh, now you have gas in there.” So I think understanding the experimental aspects, the stuff that’s not taught in school, has been the hardest part — especially because my product is an old technique and so it’s not really written about a lot.

Q: Do you think your thesis will fill in the gaps?

A: Hopefully! … One of the most useful resources has been previous theses, not just here, but Ph.D. theses, because in a thesis you write down your whole process. And in a lot of scientific papers, you just kind of write your results.

Hopefully, that’ll help whoever works next, and you know, maybe I can find something that helps my professor understand it better, because he hasn’t worked with one of these, as far as I know.

So I think getting the knowledge base and kind of writing it down will help people in the future, too.

“It’s not like a computer

where you just assume, ‘Oh now you have gas in there.’ So I think understanding the experimental aspects, the stuff that’s not taught in school, has been the hardest part. Especially because my product is an old technique and so it’s not really written about a lot.

Q: What’s been the most difficult part of writing this thesis so far?

A: I think because of the nature of my project, which is something that a lot of people have done, especially building this setup, a lot of people have done it, so much so that there’s not a lot of literature on it. Because everyone kind of just assumes that you learn how to do it in a class in graduate school, or your professor will tell you how to do it. Trying to actually look back and find why these things work … for example, we want to pulse the gas into the system to make a beam. Just that by itself turns out [to be] pretty complicated … This is going to be in a vacuum chamber, so how fast we’re pumping out [and] all of these things are not like the physics that we think of in school,

Q: What has been the most rewarding part of writing a thesis so far?

A: I took a little hiatus from the theory and [from] my own project to help with the major lab project, also in the summer.

We were aligning this really powerful laser … called a dye laser, basically because you shine a different color laser into, literally, dye. It’s pink and it runs through and it changes it to an orange light, which my professor and the postdoc set up pretty easily. But then the orange light goes through what we call a doubler, and so it doubles the frequency and turns it into UV light. And … the postdoc and I worked on that — it took us one afternoon to set that up, which is about normal, but it could have taken a lot longer, and so it felt good to get that set and working in a pretty short amount of time. It kind of showed that previous work in the lab paid off and that I kind of knew what I was doing.

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The Amherst Student • October 4, 2017

News

3

Single-User Restrooms Become Gender Inclusive Shawna Chen ’20 Managing News Editor The Office of Diversity and Inclusion announced in a community-wide email on Tuesday, Sept. 26 that the college converted all existing single-user facilities into genderinclusive restrooms over the summer. Part of an initiative to install and increase access to gender-inclusive restrooms on campus, the project is anticipated to be completed by the end of fall semester.

According to the email, the new changes came out of plans to “build a safer and more inclusive campus environment for our transgender, nonbinary and gender non-conforming community members.”

The gender-inclusive restrooms include facilities in residential, academic and administrative buildings. Some restrooms will bear temporary signs until permanent code-compliant signs can be installed.

“We believe that this change impacts and benefits our community as a whole, and we know that it is necessary to affirm our commitment to building a safer and more equitable campus environment,” the email read.

Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Norm Jones, Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion Angie Tissi-Gassoway and Assistant Director of Residential Life Chris Campbell were contacted for the story but had not responded at press time.

The Queer Resource Center’s website contains more information about gender-inclusive bathrooms as well as their specific locations on campus. The email directed community members with questions to contact Tissi-Gassoway.

Photo courtesy of Faith Wen ’20

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion converted all single-user facilities into gender-inclusive restrooms over the summer. The project will officially be completed by the end of the semester.

MRC Fundraises for Communities Affected by Recent Disasters Continued from Page 1 in Puerto Rico who had been directly affected

by Hurricane Maria, she said.

Through the fundraiser, “I have been [able] to connect with so many other Puerto Ricans on campus that I did not know were here, and together we have been finding ways to support each other, to reassure one anoth-

er, and to maintain hope,” Ramiz-Hall added.

Ramiz-Hall said she hopes that the fundraiser will remind Amherst community that it is part of a larger global community.

Events that occur around the world may seem distant, she said, but they can actually impact many members of the college community.

“We have the wonderful opportunity to ac-

cess resources and I hope we continue to find ways to share those with people outside of Amherst who need it most,” Ramiz-Hall said.

“If that’s not lighting the world, I don’t know what is,” she added.

In an online interview, Ann Guo ’20, who donated to the fundraiser, said the effort “resonated with me, that people here had personal ties with Puerto Rico, and because of that, it

brought me a new perspective away from the mass-media perpetuation of U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico as the ‘other’ and as an unrelated entity to our lived realities.” “[The fundraiser] allowed students to realize the salience of the disaster in the lives of actual humans who existed and were in need in the world, in this moment, right now,” she said.

TA Training Designed to Improve Learning Experience Continued from Page 1 courses and professors in the math department, and for the most part, I’ve felt that I’ve had everything that I needed to make my work as easy as possible,” said Diaz.

The recent interest in updating and revising the teaching assistant position is part of a

larger trend within the college to update the ways in which educators and departments on campus collaborate with students, said Caldwell-O’Keefe.

“I think [Amherst] Uprising and the workload conversation have had such a huge impact on the ways that administrators and many faculty think about their interactions

with students,” said Caldwell-O’Keefe, though she said the focus on the teaching assistant position was an indirect result of the Amherst Uprising rather than a direct consequence.

Amherst Uprising was a sit-in held on campus in Nov. 2015 in which students demonstrated against exclusivity, race-based misconduct and inadequate support for students

from diverse backgrounds.

“Many faculty, before the Uprising, were using inclusive pedagogical practices in their class … but what the Uprising did was make it visible in a way that it wasn’t before — the need and desire that students had to be central to the conversation about the shape of learning,” said Caldwell-O’Keefe.

Students Host Forum on Post-9/11 Military Intervention Continued from Page 1

people. Don’t do that. If that’s really your position, just keep it to yourself, because you’re a despicable person. But that is the argument of this sign. There is no other argument because everything else is stupid. Every other claim is stupid.”

After Graham spoke about the banner, Roughsedge talked about his time serving overseas and soldiers’ lack of choice in deciding whether they go to war or not.

“Yeah, war is awful,” Roughsedge said. “No war is good. What you’re struggling with is the decision to go to war. I’ve never been asked whether I want to go to war or not, other than when I raised my right hand.”

Following Roughsedge’s speech was a question and answer session with Roughsedge and Graham.

Brantley Mayers ’19, secretary of the Amherst College Republicans, felt that the Q&A was productive in creating conversation. “I thought each question posed was an important one,” Mayers said. “Some claims made by a few speakers

were not universally accepted, and I believe asking questions pertaining to those claims created good opportunities to learn from one another.”

Alexander Deatrick ’20, president of the Amherst College Democrats, found that the questions asked were particularly potent given their personal nature.

“They were powerful,” Deatrick said about the questions from the audience. “I thought that a lot of people brought their own personal stories into their questions, their own experiences, their own backgrounds. The fact that Amherst has people from all over the world and such an incredible tapestry of experiences and that we showed up to the event, that made the case against Graham all the more convincing.”

One student asked Graham about the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar by Buddhists extremists and connected it to his claims that Islam is the only major world religion with terrorism committed in its name.

“The people doing it aren’t Buddhist actors, they’re actors who happened to be Buddhist,” Graham answered. “If you don’t see the distinc-

tion, then it’s really hard to have the conversation about real problems.”

Several minutes later, around a dozen members of the crowd walked out before the last speaker took to the stage.

Sarah Melanson ’20, a member of the Amherst College Republicans, said she thought their exit was inappropriate since Segundo had yet to take the mic and share more about his time in the military.

“I thought it was extremely disrespectful that so many people got up and left, knowing that this man put his life in danger to protect our freedom,” Melanson said. “I know people might not see it this way, but we can go here safely and know that we’ll be okay because people are risking their lives every day.”

Segundo spoke about his time in Iraq and the people he served with, although he made it clear that he did not agree with Graham on certain points.

“The day we got called up to Iraq and the day we left — in my opinion, nothing changed,” Segundo said. “The only thing that had changed

was that we had lost friends. I don’t want to say that it was Muslim people because it’s not. I served side by side for 13 months with a Muslim and we didn’t see him as a Muslim — we saw him as a friend, as a brother in arms. We don’t distinguish between religions. We all raised our right hand and served our country proudly.”

During the following week, the Amherst College Democrats hosted an event on Oct. 2 to discuss whether seemingly controversial speakers should come and speak on campus.

In an interview, Deatrick differentiated between two types of controversial speakers — those who want to have a dialogue and those who do not.

“His attitude going in wasn’t to have a dialogue,” Deatrick said. “It was to offend some people … [and] make people feel disrespected.

If they want to bring in people who hold controversial views but are willing to engage in a dialogue with students, I would say that I’d be interested to see who they’re bringing. It comes down to whether these speakers are holding views that make some students feel unsafe on campus.”

Opinion

THE AMHERST

Work, Health and Recreation Editorial Amherst College is the type of campus that President Biddy Martin has described as having a “yeasty” culture, which she defined in her 2016 convocation speech as “characterized by unrest or agitation, in a state of turbulence, typically a creative or productive one.” The sight of open laptops during breakfast at Val is a testament to the ostensibly highvoltage energy of its students, who are constantly working on problem sets, readings, essays or extracurricular activities.

The pressure to feel that one must use one’s time to be as productive and efficient as possible is something that often drives students towards gathering a list of honors to prove our worth or supposed productivity. While we shouldn’t adopt a completely myopic lifestyle, we tire ourselves so we can be on the executive board on a club we’re lukewarm about because it looks good on a resume.

Increasingly, we equate any form of busyness with success. We love to complain about the work we face even when we have little inclination of acting on it.

This pressure also tends to foster an academic culture that clashes, at times, with the pedagogical philosophy of the liberal arts. The most obvious of these clashes is the double — and occasionally triple — major. This is such a prevalent issue that the for example, the college’s neuroscience program cautions against double majoring in their “About”

section on the school’s website. Of course, this is not to suggest that doubling up is always a mistake, but it is something that students should consider with a great deal of caution. Students ought not to jump onto this path for the sake of double majoring, and they should consider what they are giving up: the ability to use the open curriculum as a vehicle for academic exploration and intellectual fulfillment.

As fall break arrives, many students will use their days off to relax, go home and visit family. Most likely, they will also try to get ahead of their school work. Part of this is simply what comes with being in an academically rigorous institution, but part of it is also a product of a culture that measures our worth with empty merit badges. It leads to an odd type of preoccupation, one where people tend to worry more about being idle than overworked.

It is difficult to change the culture when the material organization driving that culture remains.

Even if we unwind with a walk on the trails around campus or relax while throwing a frisbee on the quad, at the end of the day we will still be judged on how “well” we do in our classes by our grades. It’s true that what might be best for our mental and physical well being does not always overlap with what might be best for our GPAs. However, through a collective reckoning, our campus culture might inch closer to a healthier balance between the two.

If I May: Late Night, Revitalized Today Jake May ’19 Columnist I discuss late-night television in this column often, and each time, I think to myself: “Is this really worth writing?” When I first became aware of late-night TV, it seemed as if the medium as a whole was on the decline. The titans of the late-night timeslots were starting to retire: first Leno, then Letterman. The man once tapped as the future of late-night, Conan O’Brien, was on a lesser network (TBS), and hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel were getting notoriety for their gimmicky bits that made for eye-catching YouTube content. The monologue, once the staple of late-night television, seemed to become the least important part of the show.

However, since the beginning of the 2016 primaries and especially during the presidential election and the months since President Donald Trump’s victory, the significance and importance of late-night TV has grown im-

mensely, at least to me. While much of the viewing of late-night content is still happening online, the type of content that is popular is changing. Now, instead silly guessing games involving celebrities, the top videos in a YouTube playlist titled “Catch Up on Late Night” includes hosts tackling more serious issues. For example, this past Tuesday, the playlist included multiple videos of Seth Meyers’ “A Closer Look” segment, in which he examines a particular aspect of a usually political issue in depth to give the viewer a greater understanding of it. Another video is from John Oliver’s latest episode of “Last Week Tonight,” where Oliver routinely takes fifteen to twenty minutes to present a comprehensive view of an issue, most recently forensic science.

Perhaps the most significant video on the playlist, though, is the one at the very top. It’s a clip from Monday night’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” In it, host Jimmy Kimmel uses his monologue as an opportunity to speak for nearly 10 minutes about the horrific mass

shooting in Las Vegas. Kimmel, originally from Las Vegas, repeatedly gets emotional during the clip as he discusses the United States’ undeniable gun problem. At one point, he even mentions by name senators who receive a great deal of money from the NRA. Kimmel was able to use his platform to send a major message that will be seen by millions of Americans; the moment was both powerful and impressive.

These examples are just from the past couple of days. For months now, late-night hosts have been using their platforms to criticize and comment on today’s politics. While the traditional monologue has lost its significance, hosts today are adjusting their monologues to call out the president’s hypocrisy, urge Congress to take necessary action and draw the population’s attention to important issues. While just a few years ago it seemed that late-night TV was dying, ever since Trump came on the scene, late-night has been vaulted into a new degree of importance in American culture.

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STUDENT E X E C U T I V E B OA R D Editors-in-Chief Drew Kiley Jingwen Zhang Managing News Shawna Chen Assistant News Editor Emma Swislow Managing Opinion Kelly Chian, Daniel Delgado Managing Arts and Living Paola Garcia-Prieto, Olivia Gieger Managing Sports Nate Quigley Managing Design Justin Barry Head Publishers Emily Ratte Mark Nathin Design Editors Katie Boback, Zehra Madhavan, Zavi Sheldon

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The Amherst Student • October 4, 2017

Opinion

5

Disagree or Disrespect: Today’s Political Debate Nisan Sele ’21 Contributing Writer These are times when political views have become identities. When someone mentions their ideology, we assume we know all about them. They must fit a certain mold, live a certain lifestyle and be a certain type of person.

If they believe in the same things that we do, perfect. This must mean they are good, kind and educated. But if they don’t — then, they must be ignorant, bad or even stupid.

There is no middle ground anymore, no place for someone to be a “person.” It’s either they are right or they are evil. This is decided by something so simple as a muttered sentence regarding a political topic.

I have done this before. I’ve found myself moving away from people because of their political views or judging them because of their tendency to disagree with me. I have fallen into this trap like many others and believed that people with my beliefs should not be around people with opposite beliefs.

There seems to be a misconception about political identities. The word “liberal” has become synonymous with socialist, atheist, and

most importantly, hating conservatives. By the same token, the word “conservative” has become equivalent to hating liberals and being a greedy capitalist who follows a childish man without questioning. How much truth is there to any of this?

I am a liberal. I believe that the government should be looking out for the little guy, the shop owners, the mine workers, the waitresses and those who find themselves unable to fight the pressure of the big corporations. I believe that every human has a right to quality healthcare and that women have a right to decide what to do with their own bodies.

These are my views. Some might disagree with me. In fact, most might disagree with me. I think that’s all right — normal, even. If everyone agreed with all my political opinions, I might be doing something wrong.

The reason why sharing different opinions is vital is because we can benefit from one another, see things in different lights and perhaps shape each other’s view of the world accordingly. That’s why debating any topic is so important. However, quality debate has been missing from the political landscape for a while. The biggest reason for the absence of

debate is the divide that leaves no room for common ground and therefore no room for respect.

How many times have we disrespected each other under the assumption that we were only expressing our opinion? Liberals have made fun of the people who voted for Donald Trump, thinking they were in the right for doing so. Conservatives have attacked the people who work hard to improve the country, calling them terrorists and then justifying it as free speech. That might be the case; however, do these excuses change the fact that both sides are behaving unkindly towards millions of people?

To disagree and to disrespect are not the same thing, yet this point eludes most people.

Everyone is willing to debate, but no one is willing to respect. Unfortunately, that won’t do.

An open and respectful discussion about topics we care about is what will drive us forward. We need these discussions on topics such as the benefits of lowering government control on the economy, free speech, fighting terrorist groups who are spreading violence and death all over the world — about the im-

portance of globalization, the responsibility the wealthy have towards society and the inequality that is a huge obstacle for women and queer people.

Perhaps, by the end of it, no one will change their minds. But a debate isn’t about changing minds. It is about seeing both sides of the argument. It is about shaping the future with what we have learned from the past.

But right now, we are not listening. We are not respecting people’s beliefs, their experiences, their views of the world or their identities. Mocking and insulting them seems to be the easiet solution in a hostile world. It is the focus on our differences, the notion that we can tell everything about a person from their political alliance and the inclination to think there is nothing else to them that makes us willing participants in a dangerous cycle that deepens the divide and might even cause further damage.

We must learn to see the bridge between us, the person behind the ideologies, rather than the cliff that divides us. We need to learn to disagree without disrespect so that we may learn from each other and change the world around us.

An Open Letter Regarding Michael Graham’s Speech Muslim Students Association and South Asian Students Association Contributing Writers Boston Herald columnist Michael Graham, along with two other speakers, was invited campus last Wednesday, Sept. 27 to speak about “Why Military Action After 9/11 Was Justified and Saved American Lives.”

This was despite the many Islamophobic comments Graham has made in the past, such as “Islam is a terrorist organization,” “Moderate Muslims are those who only want to kill Jews” and “The problem is not extremism.

The problem is Islam.” His presence on campus was extremely unsettling and disturbing for students who identify as Muslim, as well as other minorities on campus, and we question the decision of certain members of the Amherst community to invite someone who is so overtly Islamophobic and hateful onto our campus.

On Wednesday, Graham himself admitted to the fact that he has never read the Qur’an, claiming that he doesn’t “ever pretend to understand Muslim theology.” This did not stop him from claiming that Islam is an inherently violent religion, repeatedly saying, “Every rational person should acknowledge that Islam is the only major world religion with terror committed in its name.” When audience members brought up the KKK or the Rohingya Muslim massacre being perpetrated by the Buddhists in Myanmar, he insisted that the KKK was just a “minority group” within Christianity and that the perpetrators of the Rohingya massacre “are not Buddhist actors, they’re actors who happened to also be Buddhist,” a line of reasoning he refused to use when it came to the terrors committed in the name of Islam. His bias against Islam was very obvious. He repeatedly claimed that “there is

a civil war going on in Islam right now,” implying that Islam is limited to a war-torn geographical region, going as far as to support claims that “all Afghans are wired differently from the rest of the world,” and that Tunisia is the same as Libya just because “it is right next to it.”

In light of the remarks made by Graham and other speakers on our campus, we are calling for increased awareness and respect for students with vulnerable identities, especially students who identify as Muslim. While we are aware that we cannot control the hatred that exists in this world, we do know that we can control whether this hatred is propagated on our campus. No student should ever have to feel afraid for their safety or have to wake up in the morning knowing that there are other students on this campus who hate them for an integral part of their identity and are willing and able to voice these hurtful ideas on a public platform. We refuse to sweep these aggressions under the rug; we refuse to accept quietly the blatantly inaccurate statements made by Graham. Rather, we would like to call for certain measures to ensure that a climate of respect and understanding for people of all identities is maintained.

The issue is not only what Graham expressed, but how he was able to express fictitious, hateful views here. This is an issue of accountability, both on the parts of student organizations, who host speakers, and the administration, which carries a responsibility to safeguard the interests of its students. When deciding to bring speakers to campus, student organizations should conduct research beforehand to ensure that the speaker shares the views of the organization and will not subject individuals to hateful rhetoric. They should question or challenge the speaker if their views begin to deviate from the organization’s

to allow for a productive discourse. Finally, they should acknowledge after the fact if these viewpoints do not align with those of the organization and have caused harm to members of the Amherst College community.

In addition, the administration especially has a responsibility to consider the vulnerability of Muslim, international, Middle Eastern and South Asian individuals on campus.

The Student Code of Conduct lists discriminatory acts against an individual’s religious, national and ethnic identities as a violation, as well as when these discriminatory acts “cause an interference with the affected person or group’s educational or employment opportunities.” Moving forward, there needs to be conversation regarding the role of the administration in protecting its students from bigotry and prejudice.

In short, there is a difference between a respectful discussion between two opposing viewpoints and discriminatory, unfounded non-arguments. We need to critically think about why we are bringing speakers to campus, what they can or cannot contribute and how they can positively or negatively impact members of the Amherst College community. We cannot simply ignore the fact that we belong to a collection of perspectives and identities and that we are accountable to all members of this community.

Since a significant number of students as well as faculty and staff clearly felt hurt and disrespected as a direct result of this event, we feel that the Amherst College Republicans (ACR) should have written a public response to the student body and the affected groups promptly after the event. In addition, we feel that a dialogue prior to the event with the relevant student groups — especially the Muslim Students Association (MSA), but also other groups such as South Asian Students

Association (SASA), Middle East Studies and Student Association (MESSA) and International Students Association (ISA) — would have been conducive to finding a productive and appropriate speaker qualified to speak on this topic while still keeping the perspective that ACR wanted to share through this event.

Whether ACR felt that Graham’s perspective aligned with their own or not, an apology is warranted; the group invited a a speaker to present to the Amherst College community, with knowledge of his previous Islamophobic views and his past record of spreading hate speech towards Muslims and other minority groups present on our campus. To our disappointment, ACR has neither addressed the hate speech that occurred nor retracted their endorsement of the event.

As the affected communities move past this event, we hope for healing and the spread of kindness, acceptance and empathy. We believe the Amherst student body as a whole does not fall victim to the belief that Islamophobia should be acceptable on our campus.

Rather, we as a community embrace diversity and inclusion, despite occasional fumbles such as the Graham event. We can look to the Qur’an for guidance in the presence of those who spread hate of religious and ethnic groups: “Hold fast to forgiveness and enjoin goodness and turn away from the ignorant” (7:199).

Contributors Sarah Duggan ’20, Jenna Peng ’18, Aqiil Gopee ’20, Sabir Meah ’21, Oumou Toure ’18, Alizeh Sethi ’20, Swati Narayan ’19, Victoria Zhang ’18 and Maya Hossain ’21

Join the News Staff!

Interested in covering campus events and changes?

If you want to write for us, email schen20@amherst.edu

Arts&Living

Photo courtesy of Marsh Facebook

The Marsh Coffee Haus II invited student artists from all genres to express their art, whether it was a poetry reading or original music performance.

Marsh Coffee Haus II Spotlights Diverse Artistic Expression Annika Lunstad ’21 Contributing Writer This Friday night, Marsh Coffee Haus II took place in Marsh House from 8 to 10 p.m.. Throughout the night, various artists performed acts of different genres, including poetry, prose, acoustic covers of songs, selfwritten songs, jazz, comedy and interpretive dance. The night was a relaxing event that provided the various talented artists on campus a platform to share their work with the community.

The room where the event took place spacious with hardwood floors. There were small, twinkling lights twisted around the two main pillars in the room, the drum set and more draped over the fireplace behind the performers. A soft spotlight shone on the performers and sectioned off that space of the room with another string of lights. The audience sat on the floor or tall chairs, and a number of people stood around tall tables or towards the back of the room.

My friends and I walked in during a cover of “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse. One person sang, and the other played guitar, sometimes echoing back parts of the song. Some in the crowd would join him.

After “Valerie,” there was a small break and of the organizers told little jokes and stories to pass the time while the next performer got ready. They asked the audience for suggestions of fall things to ruin and laughed as we found new ways to complain about lovely aspects of the season.

Some people read poems written by others, and some read poems they wrote themselves. A performer played acoustic versions of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cindy Lauper and “Feeling Whitney” by Post Malone.

One of my favorite parts of the evening was hearing from people I know from my floor, classes or around campus and seeing how talented they are. We were also lucky enough to hear someone sing a self-written song on the piano.

One of the organizers characterized the Marsh Coffee Haus as showcasing “arts across different genres and traditions and encouraging collaboration between artists.” One such interdisciplinary performance was a combination of interpretive dance with string accompaniment on a violin and cello. Despite knowing little about interpretive dance and stringed instruments, I was able to connect to the performance and learn more about those art forms in a relaxed, fun way.

Often, in classes and elsewhere, one kind of art usually gets most of the attention with little focus on interdisciplinary collaboration.

However, at the Marsh Haus, while some art forms such as singing fit better with the evening and venue, there was still a wide range of genres.

One new kind of art I discovered was improvisational drumming. An organizer and facilitator of the event asked the audience for three volunteers, then asked each volunteer for a word to inspire his drumming. The three words were “pain,” “feast,” and “sadness.” He then performed a drum solo which incorporated ideas and feelings from those words. I was impressed by the sheer power of the sound from the drums and loved learning about a new kind of improvisation. The same drummer also performed in a band including a guitarist, singer, bassist and a saxophonist.

Artists read more self-written prose and poetry. Some read prose which reflected on various life experiences. The poems and prose expressed a range from the abstract and metaphorical to a more straightforward description of some aspect of their life. Another person performed a stand-up comedy routine which poked fun at various aspects of Amherst life.

One of my personal favorite poems was “The Physics of Poetry.” It cleverly critiqued the overemphasis of STEM majors and careers at our school and in our culture. Some of the other writing was personal, and everyone in the audience supported those performing with hearty clapping when the performance

finished as well as cheers of support whenever someone admitted to having nerves about performing.

The last performance that I saw was a jazz band called “Jazz Panic.” By this point, people were relaxed after a night of listening to various artists. Before they played, the musicians said that people often dance during this sort of performance. Some audience members started to dance, while others simply listened to the music. This summed up the night and

the event perfectly: low pressure and fun.

Whether you are an artist yourself, enjoy the arts, or really know nothing about them, I would recommend attending the next Marsh Coffee Haus event. In a college where traditional academics and athletics are greatly emphasized, spaces like Marsh Coffee Haus are essential to give the arts a platform and to support our talented fellow classmates who deserve to be heard and have their hard work enjoyed by the community.

Photo courtesy of Annika Lunstad ’21

Josue Sanchez ’21 performed at Friday’s Marsh Coffee Haus II, an event which provided space to showcase musical performances as well as other art forms.

The Amherst Student • October 4, 2017

Arts & Living 7

“1984” Musical Proves Bitingly Relevant to Today’s America Maya Hossain ’21 Contributing Writer Blaring neon lights wash a simple set consisting of seamless white walls and a single chair in the middle. The entire audience recoils, eyes slowly adjusting, peering at a limp body strapped into the chair. The man releases a chilling scream and begs the audience to set him free, accusing us of being complacent in his torture. “1984” unapologetically shatters Broadway’s expectations and forces the audience into a realm of moral ambiguity. The show, which opened on Broadway June 22, is in its final week on the Broadway stage and closes Oct. 8.

George Orwell’s seminal novel has been gripping readers since its release, with sales skyrocketing after last year’s election. The novel tells the tale of Winston, a citizen of a dystopian world whose primary job is writing fabricated news stories to control public history and communal consciousness. His strictly forbidden romance with his coworker, Julia, helps direct his rebellion against the “thought police” as the novel progresses. Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan adapted the novel for the stage, and it came to Broadway shortly after the 2016 presidential election.The show quickly made news, with multiple reports of audience members getting out of their seats, yelling at the actors, vomiting and crying.

The classic Broadway audience is used to being “challenged” in the least challenging ways.

As an audience, we adore plays with moral messages, original art direction and heartwarming interpersonal relationships. “1984” is one of the

first Broadway plays to depict graphic torture on stage, but that isn’t what makes it a mustsee. The nuance in the message, the timing of its release and the astonishing effort from the actors gives the piece its value.

In this new era of “alternative facts” and fake news, “1984” almost seems like a heavyhanded commentary. This wildly fantastical and unrealistic world shares so many jarring qualities with our present day that seeing it all dramatized is more than shocking. Living in Trump’s America is desensitizing, and we all begin to forget just how unacceptable political deceit and manipulation of the news are.

The artistic direction of the show is striking: The set uses many television screens to show propaganda. At some points, they expand the set by projecting offstage characters and torture, which is made real through carefully timed light and sound cues. Also notable is the directors’ decision to add a time-jump element that the book cannot represent. The play switches time periods erratically and at one point puts a singular scene on loop, changing small elements every time the loop restarts.

This helps further disorient the audience and personally sent me on a spiral into the purposefully illogical realm of “1984.” Sensory aspects of the play are what separate it from the novel — ambiguity is no longer a concept but a physical sensation.

“1984” is bold, completely immersive, but most importantly, it leaves us with a slew of unanswered questions. We, as an audience, are being asked to think deeply about questions of truth, morality and political control in a time where we need the answers more than ever.

Photo courtesy of Wikispace.com

In its last week on Broadway, “1984“brings new a dimension to Orwell’s novel.

“BoJack Horseman” Season Four Shows New Sides of Characters

Photo courtesy of laughingsquid.com

While it did not surpass last season’s popularity, the end of season four presents one of the series stronger finales.

Brandon Medina ’19 Staff Writer Netflix’s favorite alcoholic horse returned last month with its highly anticipated fourth season. Through its previous three seasons, “Bojack Horseman” has left me heartbroken almost as many times as Amherst has, which is saying quite a lot. When I first started watching, I never expected a vulgar, adult-oriented cartoon to be so relatable on topics such as anxiety, depression, abortion, sexism and generational trauma.

This season, BoJack and the rest of the Hollywoo residents go through harrowing ordeals in which they somehow manage to reach both their highest and lowest points in the series so far, making it the show’s most uneven season since the first.

The season is at its strongest point toward the end, however, and those highs are the highest the show has had so far.

Ultimately, this season feels like the beginning of the second chapter of “BoJack.” The status quo was broken at the end of last season as we see the main characters split up in several different directions. BoJack left Hollywoo and Princess Carolyn got a caring boyfriend and became a manager again. Diane started work at a Buzzfeed-esque

blog and Mr. Peanutbutter started a campaign as governor of California. The first half of the season sees the characters navigating their new lives and dealing with the negative consequences of their relationships. Their separation creates a very noticeable absence of the main cast’s brilliant chemistry at the beginning of the season, and the banter is sorely missed. I considered the relationships between the main cast to be one of the best parts of the explorations of their character, and to have them separated for most of this season felt a little disappointing.

For most of this season, the characters stay firmly entrenched in their own intrapersonal and marriage issues. The lampoons toward celebrity culture are surprisingly toned down this season in favor of political satire. The season was written during Trump’s presidential campaign and it definitely shows. The jabs toward an incompetent leader turned popular through appealing to the people’s fears are apparent throughout Mr. Peanutbutter’s gubernatorial campaign as he competes with his truly qualified but slightly spineless opponent. These jokes were honestly hit-or-miss: most jabs are predictable, and only one episode (the fifth one of the season, which takes place entirely in Mr. Peanutbutter’s house)

really lets these jokes find their stride. Diane and Mr. Peanutbutter, as usual, have ideological disagreements about the campaign and are forced to question the stability of their marriage. I have never been a fan of Mr. Peanutbutter and Diane as a couple, and it was satisfyingly frustrating to see them fail to confront their problems directly.

The animal puns and background humor remain this season, especially with Princess Carolyn relaying her wild movie pitches to her clients.

It is sometimes easy to forget that “BoJack Horseman” is a comedy, what with the bleak themes, but “BoJack” has always been great when it embraces the cornier side of its world set-up.

Speaking of Princess Carolyn, she gets the rare chance to build a new life for herself this season. Her boyfriend Ralph Stilton has moved in with her and they are eagerly anticipating conceiving their first child, hypothetically named “Philbert.” Princess Carolyn has always been the second most compelling character after BoJack; I have always wanted her to be as happy in life as she is successful at her job, a theme that’s commonly explored in today’s media. However, this season sees her coming to terms, yet again, with the practicality of her grand plans for happiness.

Episode nine, in particular, focuses on a day in

the life of Princess Carolyn narrated by a distant descendant, and is the closest thing this season gets to an “experimental” episode akin to “Fish Out of Water” from last season.

BoJack, as a character, is at his most vulnerable this season. After running away, he still has to deal with all the old problems of his depression, alcoholism and cynicism, but this season the stakes are lower — or, depending on how you look at it, higher — because he is dealing with family. A teenage girl arrives at BoJack’s door alleging to be his daughter. This character is a warm, somewhat awkward presence: you can see traces of BoJack in her, particularly in her self-loathing tendencies, but you can also see a fundamental intelligence, goodness and impressionability about her. It’s only natural that BoJack thinks he needs to save her from himself, yet also cannot resist trying to be her father. Also, BoJack’s abusive mother, now suffering from dementia, ends up under his care.

The season is truly at its emotional strongest when it focuses on the Sugarman/Horseman family. It is relatable, human and traumatizing.

We get to see BoJack handle non-Hollywoo related problems, where he cannot use his ego to cause destruction for himself publicly. We get more to the root of his self-loathing than we’ve ever been this series, and we see his family history, which ultimately explains even more about his character. The last two episodes of this season affected me emotionally to a point where I was nearly uncomfortable. I almost did not want to finish the season, because I was afraid of how much I would relate to the sadness happening on screen. Although I appreciate the show’s existential themes, there is no denying that you have to be in the right mood for it.

This is not the best season of “BoJack Horseman” — that would probably still be season 3 — but it is the best exploration of the title character. With a few character worthy exceptions, the Hollywoo stories are not as strong, the chemistry between the cast is worse and the political satire pervades a bit too much of the humor. However, this season’s ending was the series’ absolute best.

BoJack’s story manages to be both utterly depressing and utterly uplifting in the most visceral ways this season. The end of this season broke me, so I won’t say anything about it here. I got the sense that he was trying, for the first time, to show that he isn’t broken and that he can build a better life for himself. One of the geniuses of this show is that its characters have good intentions, but, like for all of us here in the real world, nothing ever goes according to plan.

Arts & Living 8

The Amherst Student • October 4, 2017

A Look at Kid Cudi’s Artistic Career and Future Music Trajectory

Graphic by Justin Barry ’18

After a few years out of the spotlight, Kid Cudi may be making a comeback with Kanye West, whose associates have hinted at a joint album titled “Everybody Wins.”

Hugh Ford ’20 Staff Writer I want to talk about a topic that’s been on my mind for a while: the career trajectory of Kid Cudi. Most people probably know Kid Cudi as a stoner rapper from the late 2000s who fell off after two decent albums. Back in 2009, Kid Cudi was riding high. With the release of the first “Man on the Moon,” Kid Cudi was right up there with the likes of Drake — granted, Drake was on the come-up as well, but he’s still Drake. Under the mentorship of Kanye West, Kid Cudi grew a devoted fan base that latched on the emotional, loner appeal of his music. That era in Kid Cudi’s career was so big, you still here songs like “Day ‘n’ Night” and Steve Aoki’s remix of “Pursuit of Happiness” to this day. However, at the time, the album was more much more than a few singles.

Drawing on material from his breakout mixtape “A Kid Named Cudi,” Kid Cudi came up with a complete hour-long concept album. The original “Man on the Moon” followed a consistent theme of being an outcast determined to make it. The quality stayed consistently high throughout, culminating in a classic album.

Cudi quickly followed “Man on the Moon – The End of the Day” with a sequel. 2010’s “Man on the Moon, Vol. 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager” took a darker approach to similar themes as the first. While the quality of songs may have been more variable, the album still attracted attention with gloomy hits like “Mr. Rager,” stoner songs like “Marijuana” and in-betweens like “Mojo So Dope.” The album took a new approach, blending rock with hip-hop. Opinions were divided on some of the more rock-based songs like “Erase Me,” which featured Kanye West. Nevertheless, the album still did well commercially, and it seemed Kid Cudi had carved out a niche for himself in the rap world.

However, things would change with his third

solo album. After taking a break on the more experimental “WZRD” album, a collaboration with producer Dot da Genius, most people expected Cudi to complete the “Man on the Moon” trilogy. But Cudder decided to follow his own way.

Just before the release of 2013’s “Indicud,” Kid Cudi split with Kanye West’s GOOD Music Label. Instead, Cudi also chose to produce the album entirely by himself, a decision many people questioned. The album did well in terms of sales due to Cudi’s dedicated following. Critics, however, gave “Indicud” mixed reviews. The album retained much of the sound and spirit of “Man on the Moon” but its more upbeat themes didn’t appeal to all fans. The album also saw an even greater range of inconsistency, with its highlights being some of Cudi’s best work with its duds some of his worst. Many people see “Indicud” as the start of Cudi’s descent as an artist. The real culprit, however, is “Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon.”

“Satellite Flight” should not have been released, and it certainly shouldn’t have been released as a studio album. The album was meant to be a prequel to “Man on the Moon III,” but the songs just sound like weaker versions of “Man on the Moon” tracks. Critics actually liked the album more than “Indicud,” and it certainly has its saving graces, but the best songs should have been saved for later and the worst songs scrapped.

The album was released without marketing, which hurt its commercial performance. While it piqued the interested of his core fan base, “Satellite Flight” didn’t have the broader appeal of his previous albums. Because it lacks a strong single, “Satellite Flight” has also had little of the staying power of his previous works. By the album’s release in 2014, it was apparent that Cudi’s popularity was falling behind some of his contemporaries, like Drake, Wiz Khalifa and Wale, but nothing prepared anyone for what was to come.

What came the following year can be de-

scribed as nothing less than a disaster. “Speeding Bullet 2 Heaven” was an experimental indie-rock album that included almost no listenable songs.

The album, which lasted a whopping one and a half hours, went on for far too long, and I pity anyone who has listened to it all the way through.

It sold the worst out of any Kid Cudi record, and critics bashed it. “Speeding Bullet 2 Heaven” was a common sight on many 2015 Worst Album Lists. It seemed like Cudi had went off the deep end, calling the album “100 percent the purest form of my artistic self.” Many were ready to write Cudi off at this point, and he lost even more presence in pop culture.

Thankfully, this phase in Cudi’s career was just that, a phase. Even though we still didn’t get a “Man on the Moon III” for Cudi’s sixth album, we got the next best thing, relief from crude rock music. In 2016’s “Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’” Cudi came off with fresh new energy. His “oldself ” shined through in many of the songs, and Cudi tried out new, invigorating styles, including a new trademark hum. I’ll concede the project was far from perfect. It went on for too long, accumulating “filler” tracks. However, the album was complete and professional. Unfortunately, it appeared to be too late for many fans who had already abandoned hope. It didn’t attract the hype of some of his earlier projects. The song “Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’” seems to be a step in the right direction. Not enough to put Cudi back on the level of his “Man on the Moon” days, but certainly on an upward trajectory.

The pressing question now is, where does Kid Cudi go from here? This question is vital to his continued career. With a false step, Cudi could lose the traction of “Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’” and slowly descend into obscurity.

On the brighter side, if Cudi’s next project is a winner, he could easily climb right back into the mainstream. Currently, Kid Cudi is touring for “Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin.” The tour hasn’t

email pgarciaprieto18@amherst.edu

broken records or even sold out most shows, but any promotion is good. As an optimistic fan, I see two possibilities that could reinvigorate Kid Cudi’s career. The first is “Man on the Moon III.” Solely based on the name, this album would receive a lot of attention from fans that have slept on Cudi in recent years. The album would basically promote itself. All Cudi would have to do is make another classic album. Simple, right?

In all seriousness, this option doesn’t seem very likely. Cudi’s music has evolved passed the “Man on the Moon” style, and he might not be enthusiastic to go back even if that’s what fans want. Another possibility, though, is a collaborative album with Kanye West. Despite no longer being label mates, the two have continued to collaborate over the years, most recently on Kanye’s 2016 “The Life of Pablo.” But what really started rumors of collaboration is a joint trip to Asia this summer. The two went to China and Japan, where they visited Takashi Murakami, who designed the cover art for Kanye’s “Graduation.” The meeting was instagrammed by various associates of Kanye with captions hinting that a project called “Everybody Wins” would be released on New Year’s Eve. Cudi and Kanye have also been recently spotted leaving studio sessions in Los Angeles with longtime producer Plain Pat. While the rumors surrounding “Everybody Wins” are still shaky, the project would almost certainly reignite Cudi’s career. The star power of Kanye would secure sales numbers, and his collaboration almost guarantees a classic album. With that in consideration, Cudi’s next move could be career defining. Most people still know Cudi as the “Man on the Moon.” The monumentality of his first album has cast a shadow on his entire career that he still can’t seem to shake. While he may currently enjoy an upward trajectory, his next move might permanently define him as a hasbeen or reestablish his place in the music world.

Either way, I am eagerly anticipating Dec. 31.

The Amherst Student • October 4, 2017

Sports 9

Field Hockey Splits Pair of NESCAC Football Runs Bowdoin Off the Field Matches, Moves to 7-2 on Campaign in Dominnant Offensive Showing Jenny Mazzella ’20 Staff Writer This past week, the Amherst field hockey team added both a win and a loss to its season record. On Saturday, Sept. 30, Amherst suffered a loss to fellow No. 6-ranked NESCAC rival Tufts, in a conference game.

The game ended as a shutout, with the final score being 2-0. Goalie Emilie Flamme ’20 saved seven shots again but it was not enough to secure the win. The Jumbos took the lead in the first five minutes of the game, and the Mammoths were never able to regain it.

With twenty minutes left of game play, Emery Sorvino ’19 redirected fellow junior Kendall Codey’s drive to the top of the circle, but it was not enough to get the purple and white on the scoreboard.

Tufts outshot Amherst with ten shots to the Mammoths’ three and nine shots on goal to Amherst’s two. The teams earned an even number of penalty corners, with six each.

Amherst bounced back from the loss with a rousing 2-1 defeat of Conn. College on Tues-

day night. The Camels entered the matchup with only one NESCAC win on the season and demonstrated their poor form, allowing two Mammoths’ goals in the first half.

Amherst’s first tally came courtesy of junior Shannon Tierney, her third goal on the year, which is tied for fourth best on the team.

The goal was assisted by Elizabeth Turnbull ’18, which brought her point tally to 16 on the year, sixth best in the conference.

Codey widened Amherst’s lead with an unassisted mark in the 35th minute, just seconds before the whistle blew to close the half. After a penalty corner by the Mammoths resulted in the usual scrum, the ball found its way to Codey’s stick. Codey proceeded to calmly slot the ball into the goal.

Although the Camels managed to pull one goal back, they were unable to find an equalizer.

With the win and loss from this weekend, Amherst now has an overall season record of 7-2 (3-2 NESCAC). The Mammoths will return to the field on Saturday, Oct. 7, when they take on Hamilton at 11 a.m.

Talia Land ’20 Staff Writer The Amherst football team totaled a season-high 464 yards of offense on Saturday, propelling the squad to a 31-14 win against the Bowdoin Polar Bears.

On the Mammoths’ first drive of the game, Ollie Eberth ’20 found Jack Hickey ’19 for an 11-yard gain, an auspicious start for the potent Amherst offense. On the very next play, Hickey took Eberth’s hand off and showcased his ability by cutting up the middle and going 52 yards to the end zone, giving Amherst the 7-0 lead.

After the Mammoths missed a field goal on their next drive, the Polar Bears found some momentum to tie the game at 7-7. Two long passes keyed the Bowdoin drive, including the 36-yard touchdown pass by Griff Stalcup to Nick Vailas with two minutes left in the first quarter.

However, Amherst retook the lead in their following drive, going 83 yards in just over four minutes.

Eberth connected with Harry Boeschenstein ’20 for 22 yards, and James O’Regan ’20 snagged an impressive 41-yard catch before Hasani Figueroa ’18 capped off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.

Although the Mammoths next two drives sputtered out, Eberth managed to put together a perfect two-minute drill at the end of the first half, driving 70 yards in just 1:53 to set up a 27-yard John Rak ’19 field goal. With the kick, Amherst entered the half boasting a 17-7 lead.

After the Amherst defense continued their strong play, forcing a Bowdoin three-and-

out on the first drive of the second half, Nate Tyrell ’19 gave the Mammoths excellent field position after a 54-yard punt return.

On the very next play, Eberth capitalized on the great field position, hitting O’Regan in stride for a 38-yard touchdown pass to give Amherst a commanding 24-7 lead. The Amherst defense stood strong again on the next Bowdoin possession, with Drew Bryant ’18 intercepting a third-and-9 throw by Stalcup, and returning it for 9 yards to the Bowdoin 43.

Eberth worked fast, finding Justin Berry ’20 for a 20-yard gain and following it up with the quarterback’s first rushing TD of the season, a 23-yard scramble that proved to be the last Amherst points on the day.

Several more possessions ensued for both teams but neither got on the scoreboard until the 4:29 mark in the fourth quarter, when the Polar Bears logged the final points of the day on a touchdown pass.

Biafra Okoronkwo ’20 closed out the game for Amherst, rushing for 41 yards and two first downs on five consecutive hand-offs as the Mammoths ran out the clock to clinch the 3114 victory.

Hickey led the rushing game for Amherst, recording 118 yards on 13 attempts. O’Regan dominated as well, hauling in six catches for 136 yards and a touchdown. Andrew Sommer ’19 notched a game-high nine tackles, and Andrew Yamin ’19 had three tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks.

The Mammoths host Middlebury next weekend at home, when they will look to avenge last year’s loss to the Panthers, which brought Amherst’s record 23-game win streak to a crashing halt. The game will be played on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 2 p.m.

Women’s Tennis Sends Seven to ITAs, Doubles Pairing Reaches Semifinals Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Shannon Tierney ‘19 scored the first goal in Amherst’s win over Conn. College.

Women’s Soccer Drops Game to Tufts, Rallies to Beat New England College Katie Bergamesca ’18 Staff Writer Amherst women’s soccer split this past weekend’s games, dropping Saturday’s match against Tufts 2-1 in overtime before bouncing back on Sunday to dominate New England College.

Against the Jumbos, Amherst was first to get on the board with Hannah Guzzi ’18 tallying her eighth goal of the season in the 79th minute of action.

Unfortunately, the Mammoths were unable to maintain the lead and the Jumbos answered with a goal of their own less than five minutes later.

Neither team managed to find the back of the net again before the buzzer sounded for the end of regulation.

Once overtime began, though, Tufts did not take long to put the game away. The Jumbos’ Sophie Lloyd launched the ball past Amherst keeper Chelsea Cutler ’19 to secure the victory for the Jumbos just two minutes into the overtime period.

Sophomore Sasha Savitsky had the lone assist for the Mammoths, while Rubii Tamen ’19 got off four shots in the game.

Amherst and Tufts had an even number of shots with 14 apiece.

Despite losing, the Mammoths did own a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.

The following day, the Amherst women traveled to Henniker, N.H. to face off against

the New England College Pilgrims. Lexy Cook ’21 opened up the scoring for the Mammoths, notching the first goal of her collegiate career just 3:50 into the game. Tamen doubled the team’s lead a little less than 20 minutes later.

The score remained 2-0 in favor of Amherst as the game headed to halftime.

For the Mammoths, the second half was a comprehensive display of the team’s offensive prowess.

To open the half, Tamen scored three goals in a six-minute span, increasing the Mammoths lead to 5-0.

Two more goals, one each from Cassie Chin ’21 and Laura Greer ’20, finished off the scoring for Amherst, leaving the visitors with a decisive 7-0 victory.

Erin McClave ’20 and Cook contributed two assists each, while Tamen again paced the offense, with six shots and four goals.

Amherst completely dominated New England College, maintaining a 29-12 advantage in shots and an 8-3 edge in corner kicks.

“We are a good team, but we are still figuring out how to play with each other,” captain Meredith Manley ’18 noted after the win. “Today I feel like we found each other, and I know we can continue to play that way in the future.”

Following this past weekend’s games, the Mammoths move to 4-5 on the season and 1-4 in the NESCAC. Amherst will get the week to recover from a grueling weekend before returning to action against Hamilton on Saturday, Oct. 7.

Jordan Rhodeman ’21 Staff Writer This past weekend, the Amherst women’s tennis team returned to Williams College to compete in the 2017 ITA Regional Championships. After a three-day long battle, the Mammoths finished with strong performances in both the singles and doubles matches. The team ended the tournament with an 8-6 record in singles play and 5-3 in doubles. Amherst traveled to the Regional Championship with seven of its varsity athletes Friday afternoon.

Starting the tournament strong in singles, Camille Smukler ’20 continued her successful start of a season by advancing to the singles finals before falling to No. 1 seed Eudice Chong (Wesleyan).

Maddie Dewire ’20 claimed a thrilling first-round victory over Julia Keller of Tufts, 7-6(3), 6-2, before falling to Chong in the second round. Avery Wagman ’18 beat her first-round opponent before losing against Williams’ Juli Raventos, 6-2, 6-1, while Jen Chen ’20 also fell in the second round.

In doubles, dynamite duo Anya Ivenitsky ’20

and Wagman built upon their successes so far this season with a run to the semifinals. First, they beat Trinity’s Babunsky and Brogan 8-4, then they advanced to the quarterfinals after besting the third-seeded doubles team from Middlebury.

Ivenitsky and Wagman continued their winning streak, with an 8-2 victory against Brandeis’ Dehtrevish and Ross-Neergaard, which allowed them to advance to the semifinals. After a hardfought match, the Amherst pairing fell against Wesleyan’s Chong and Yu, 8-3.

Amherst’s top doubles pairing of Vickie Ip ’18 and Kelsey Chen ’19 was the No. 5 seed in the tournament. They advanced past the first two rounds, besting Middlebury’s Boehm and Pradies 9-7 and MIT’s Das and Zhang 8-3. However, they unexpectedly lost 4-8 to Williams’ Raventos and Cancio, the second-seeded duo.

The team takes this weekend off before returning on Oct. 13 for the New England Women’s Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament (NEWITT). The tournament will be hosted by Smith and Mount Holyoke, and it will be the Mammoths final competition of the fall.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Sophomore Jen Chen made it to the second round of the singles bracket.

10

Sports

The Amherst Student • October 4, 2017

Volleyball Goes 2-1 Last Weekend Ahead of Difficult Stretch of Games Nate Quigley ’19 Managing Sports Editor Last week, the Amherst volleyball team split a pair of road conference matches against Conn. College and Wesleyan before besting Stevens Institute of Technology in an out-ofconference affair. They have a current record of 11-4.

The Mammoths entered last Friday’s tilt with the Camels boasting a six-game win streak, but the hosts quickly halted any momentum Amherst carried into the match, winning the first set 25-20.

Amherst quickly bounced back, prevailing in a tightly-contested second set largely thanks to a dominant performance by Emily Kolsky ’20, who notched eight kills in the set.

The remainder of the match proved much easier for the Mammoths, as the team’s margin of victory in each set kept increasing. By the fourth and final set, Conn. College could only muster eight points and Amherst closed the set with a 6-0 run on sophomore Hayes Honea’s service game, giving the Firedogs a 3-1 victory.

The team’s elation from the victory was short-lived as the Mammoths were defeated the following day by Little III rival Wesleyan in straight sets. For the second straight day, Amherst lost the opening set, this time by a score of 25-15.

The Cardinals proved to be much more con-

sistent than the Camels and Amherst couldn’t find any traction in the match. The Firedogs were unable to muster more than 16 points in any of the three sets, and the hosts were never at any real risk of losing.

The lone bright spot for the Mammoths was the continued strong play of Kolsky, who tallied six kills and only three errors, good for a kill percentage of .150.

Amherst had little time to dwell on the defeat, though, as the team had to face Stevens.

The first set was closer than any of the three that Amherst played in the Wesleyan match, as it featured five lead changes and saw Amherst come out on top 25-21.

The second set proved to be a let-down for the Ducks, as Amherst used a 13-point run on senior Asha Walker’s service game to close out the game 25-10. However, Stevens roared back in the third set, even managing to take a 23-21 lead.

With the game poised to head to a fourth stanza, Amherst refused to back down and used a four-point run to close out the set and the match.

The Firedogs will finally return home this weekend when they face Tufts and Bowdoin, who currently sit in first and fourth place, respectively, in the NESCAC standings.

Amherst will play the Jumbos on Friday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. and the Polar Bears on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m. in Lefrak Gymnasium.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Andrew Yamin ‘19 Favorite Team memory: The talent show during pre-season Favorite Pro Athlete: Russell Westbrook Dream Job: Venture capitalist Pet Peeve: When people show up late or make me late waiting for them Favorite Vacation Spot: West Palm Beach, Florida Something on Your Bucket List: Red Hot Chili Peppers concert Guilty Pleasure: I like watching rom-coms Favorite Food: Penne a la vodka Favorite thing about Amherst: The view from the top of Memorial Hill.

How He Earned It: Yamin dominated defensively on Saturday in football’s 31-14 victory over Bowdoin. He had a total of three tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks for a total of 25 yards lost. Yamin is averaging 5.7 tackles a game this season, including four sacks for a total loss of 31 yards. The four sacks comfortably lead the team and account for almost half of Amherst’s total of 10. He has been essential for the Mammoth defense, which has averaged a stingy 12.3 point allowed per game.

Nicky Roberts ‘18 Nicole ’18 Favorite Team memory: Going to Nationals as a team in 2014 Favorite Pro Athlete: Emma Coburn — she’s a world champion steeple-chaser Dream Job: Conservationist for National Geographic Pet Peeve: Slow walkers Favorite Vacation Spot: Costa Rica Something on Your Bucket List: To live in another country for at least a year post-college.

Guilty Pleasure: Ice cream Favorite Food: Also, ice cream Favorite thing about Amherst: The dedication that people have to their passions How She Earned It: Roberts paced the Paul Short Classic brown division race this weekend, placing first out of 167 runners. A speedy 5:36 average mile time led Roberts to victory, clocking a total time of just 20:54 in the 6k race. With only one other Amherst runner managing to place in the top 25, Roberts was essential to the Mammoths’ fourth-place finish out of 20 teams, just behind Assumption College and Edinboro University.

Men’s Golf Clinches Last Spot for Spring NESCAC Championship Mary Grace Cronin ’18 Staff Writer Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Sophomore Emily Kolsky is second on the team with 149 kills on the season.

Women’s Cross Country Finishes Fourth at Paul Short Invitational Olivia Geiger ’21 Staff Writer Last Friday, Sept. 29, Lehigh hosted the Paul Short Classic brown division 6k race.

Amherst claimed fourth place out of the 20 schools in the Division II/III league. The meet is one of the largest in the nation, with 14 races and over 6,000 athletes coming from both college and high school.

The course was a challenging one for the runners, with grass throughout and a hilly terrain.

Edinboro University took first with 81 points, followed by Assumption College with 89 points in second and The College of New Jersey, whose 109 points put the team in third.

Amherst finished with 162 points and an average team time of 22:29.

Of 167 total runners, Amherst’s Nicky Roberts took first, with a time of 20:55 on the 6k course.

As a team, Amherst runners finished strong, with Kristin Ratliff ’20 (22:29) coming in 25th, Sarah Gayer ’21 (22:57) in 43rd, Olivia Polischeck ’21 (22:59) in 45th, Lizzie Lacy ’19 (23:03) in 48th, Veronica Rocco ’19 (23:10) in 57th and Haley Greene ’21 (23:20) in 63rd.

This success comes only a mere six days after last Saturday’s 11th-place finish at the Purple Valley Classic. Again, the results of this week’s meet show the strength of the current

team and the potential of this underclassmanheavy team.

The team returns to action this Saturday, Oct. 7, when they travel to Westfield State University for the James Earley Invitational. The race starts at noon.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Junior Lizzy Lacy was the fifth and final scoring runner for Amherst at the meet, finishing 48th in 23:03.

The Amherst men’s golf team embraced the stakes this weekend at the NESCAC Fall Qualifier hosted by Trinity College. They managed to clinch the last qualifying spot for the Spring NESCAC Championships, in which only the top four teams compete for the conference championship and the potential for a shot at a national championship later in the year.

After gaining some experience on this same course earlier in the year, Amherst used this familiarity to their advantage and just edged out Hamilton for fourth place out of ten teams, finishing behind the powerhouse trio of Trinity, Williams and Tufts.

Following its pattern of play this year, the purple and white used a stellar second day to move up from their fifth-place position after day one.

Cameron Clark ’20 led the comeback as he trailed the rest of the Amherst roster on the first day with a score of 83 and surged to the top of the pack with an outstanding score of 67 on day two.

Clark’s performance lifted him to eighth overall with a total score of 150.

“We had a rough first day, but slipping into the top 4 was all we needed to do in the qualifier, so we knew we just had to remain focused as a group,” Clark noted. “Personally, it felt great to post 67 and help get us into that fourth spot.”

Behind him, Jack Burlison ’19 added to his already notable season as he grabbed a tie for 14th place. Burlison himself cut six strokes off from day one to day two (81 and 75 respectively).

Jeffery Herr ’20 shot an even 79 on both days for a total of 158 and a 20th-place finish, while fellow Nicholas Kumamoto ’20 followed two shots behind to tie for 24th place.

Kumamoto shot 82 and 78 on the weekend

for a total of 160.

Cole Vissicchio ’18 rounded out the Mammoths with a weekend score of 80-84-164 to claim 32nd place.

“Ultimately, we’ve got a really talented group, and hopefully we can make the most of this going forward into the spring championships,” Clark said. “I’m so glad we could show our mental toughness this weekend, and enter the last part of the fall season on a high note.”

The Mammoths return to action this weekend for their first home tournament this year on Sunday, Oct. 8 at the Elms Invitational.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Sophomore Jack Burlison tied for 14th overall with a score of 156.

The Amherst Student • October 4, 2017

Sports

Women’s Golf Captures First Place Overall at George Phinney Classic Henry Newton ’21 Managing Sports Editor In a successful weekend for the Amherst women’s golf team, the Mammoths registered a come-from-behind victory that saw them take home the crown in the George Phinney Classic at Ralph Myhre Golf Course at Middlebury College. Competing in a field of 12 schools, Amherst finished the tournament three strokes ahead of Middlebury after being down one stroke after the first day to the host team.

This was Amherst’s second victory of this fall season, and it comes during a run of play that sees the purple and white ranked ninth in the Division III women’s golf rankings. Amherst has not registered a result lower than third in any tournament this fall.

In the George Phinney Classic, Amherst started in fine form, with all golfers registering scores below 90 strokes. Amherst and Middlebury were the only two teams to accomplish this feat on the first day. The team scores at the end of the first day were very close, with Middlebury registering a total of 320 strokes on the day and Amherst right behind them at 321. Vassar, in third place after the first day, was 11 strokes back at 332.

Individually, Amherst’s golfers also excelled,

with first-year Isabelle Ouyang ’21 continuing her fine form to start her college career. Ouyang carded the second-best score of the entire field, shooting a 78 on what was a challenging course.

Middlebury’s Blake Yaccino had the low round of the day, carding a 76.

The second day saw the Mammoths hit their stride, with four out of the five scoring members of the Amherst golf team improving or matching their previous rounds. As a team, Amherst scored the best team round of the tournament, recording a team total of 317. Standout performers from day two included Morgan Yurosek ’20 and Zoe Wong ’18, each of whom improved their scores from the previous day, with each carding a 79 in the second round.

Each Amherst golfer finished within the top20 individual golfers, with four out of the five competing in team play finishing within the top 10. Katie Rosenberg ’19, competing as an individual, also finished within the top 10 at seventh overall. Ouyang was the low Mammoth on the weekend, who finished the tournament second overall.

Amherst will conclude their fall slate this upcoming weekend when they travel to the Williams Fall Invitational at the Taconic Golf Club.

The Mammoths will then resume play in the spring.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

All eight of Amherst’s golfers finished tied for 19th or better in a field of 67.

Men’s Cross Country Bests Williams at Cross-Divisional Paul Short Run Veronica Rocco ’19 Staff Writer On Friday, the Amherst men’s cross country team sent nine runners to compete at the Paul Short Run, hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn. Competing in the Gold Race, the Mammoths placed 25th with 664 points in a field of mostly Division I and II schools and were the second highest placing Division III team behind Haverford College.

Utah State University bested Georgetown, winning the 40-team race with 119 points to the Hoyas’ 167 points.

The Mammoths’ finish was especially impressive, since at the one-mile mark in the race the team was in last place. However, they had an excellent final four miles of the race, demonstrating their race savvy and fitness.

“The men stuck to the plan of a conservative start,” Coach Danny Feldman said. “We wanted the runners to use the Paul Short Run as a representation of the atmosphere and competition of Nationals. It was important that runners not get caught up in the energy surrounding the field of the nationally ranked teams attending.”

Leading the way for the Mammoths was Mohamed Hussein ’18 with his 89th-place finish in the 359-person field. Hussein covered the fast 8k course in a time of 24:46, the fourthfastest Division III finisher in the race.

Just six seconds behind him was Clark Ricciardelli ’20E, who placed 106th in his third cross-country race.

In his season debut, after dealing with in-

jury and illness for the last two races, Cosmo Brossy ’19 impressed with a new personal best of 25:00 for the 8k.

Shortly behind him was classmate Tucker Meijer ’19, who also set a new personal best of 25:03 and placed 133rd. The junior passed 131 runners from the one-mile mark to the finish of the race. Rounding out the team’s top-five scorers was Spencer Ferguson-Dryden ’20, who placed 209th with a time of 25:31. This was a new personal best for the sophomore by one minute and 21 seconds.

First-year Braxton Schuldt finished sixth for the team, running 25:55. Only twenty seconds behind him was Justin Barry ’18, who finished in a time of 26:15.

Kristian Sogaard ’19 was the team’s eighth runner to finish, covering the course in a time of 26:31. Jack Wesley ’18 was the team’s final scorer, and he completed the race in 27:04 , finishing 350th overall.

“It was really exciting to compete against a deep Division I field for the first time, but even better to score really well,” Brossy said. “I’m really proud of how everyone ran today given the competition, and I believe we can do a lot of big things this season, but for now it’s back to the grindstone.”

The rest of the team will compete this weekend at the James Earley Invitational at Westfield State, the site of last year’s Regionals meet.

After fall break, championship season begins with Little Threes, where the Mammoths will seek to end Williams’ 29-year winning streak in the annual meet.

11

Men’s Tennis Underclassmen Upset National Champion Doubles Pair

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Zach Bessette ‘19 played well at ITAs, making the quarterfinals in doubles.

Matthew Sparrow ’21 Staff Writer Kicking off the fall season at Middlebury College, Amherst men’s tennis started with a strong showing in the ITA New England Regional Championship.

The Mammoths had five singles participants, including Sean Wei ’21, who opened his collegiate career with a run to the round of 16. In addition, three doubles teams also competed, with the duo of Zach Bessette ’19 and Kevin Ma ’21 making it all the way to the quarterfinals.

The singles tournament started on Friday with Bessette as the only seeded Mammoth at No. 9 overall. While he put up a valiant fight against Alex Vanezis of Middlebury, he was eventually defeated in three tightly-contested sets, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

The draw did not work out in Ma’s favor as he faced No. 1 overall seed Lubomir Cuba of Middlebury, the reigning singles and doubles National Champion.

Despite his inexperience, Ma forced a second set tiebreak before losing the tiebreaker 7-4, and thus the match 6-3, 7-6.

For his part, Wei fared well, notching a first-round 6-4, 6-3 victory, before claiming his second round match, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2, in a comeback win over Williams’ Alex Taylor.

Wei’s run ended in the next round against Andrew Finkleman of Wesleyan in three sets, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

“Winning that match was a huge confidence booster because it showed me what I was capable of playing against a kid who was way stronger, more experienced and much older than me,” Wei said.

On the doubles side, all three Mammoth pairs made it to the final 16. Kaplan and Wei won 8-1 in a play-in match to get into the main draw, where they stunned the reigning doubles National Champion duo of Cuba and William de Quant (Middlebury), 8-3, before losing in the next round.

The other two pairs also had an excellent weekend, with Bessette and Ma starting off with an extremely close and competitive 9-7 victory over No. 5 seed Zain Ali and Boris Sorkin of Tufts. They rode their wave of momentum to an 8-5 win over Josh Quijano and Nick Glover from Bates and a spot in the quarterfinals before a tight loss to Luke Tercek and Grant Urken of Bowdoin, 8-6.

Lastly, the duo of Ethan Hillis ’21and Oliver Kendall ’19 found similar success, topping No. 6 seed Alberto De Mendiola and Brandon Rosenbluth of Babson 8-4, but ultimately the Amherst pairing lost to Cam Daniels and ZachFleischman of Wesleyan in the next round, 8-6.

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Sports

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

The Amherst defense has been excellent this season, conceding only three goals in six games, good for an average of 0.5 goals against per game.

Men’s Soccer Notches Pair of Top-10 Victories in the Face of Racial Abuse Delancey King ’18 Staff Writer The Amherst men’s soccer team put in a pair of impressive performance this weekend, as the Mammoths took on two of the top 10 programs in the nation. On Saturday, Amherst upset NESCAC rival Tufts 1-0. Gathering momentum from that victory, the Mammoths eked out another impressive win on Sunday against No. 9 Rutgers University-Newark. Amherst is now 2-1-1 in conference play and 4-1-1 overall.

Saturday’s game was one of the most anticipated NESCAC regular season matchups of the year, as the two programs have combined to win each of the past three national titles. The Jumbos first captured the Division III title in 2014 before the Mammoths won their first ever national title in 2015. Last season, however, Tufts wrested control of the trophy back last year, continuing the run of NESCAC dominance.

On Saturday, the first half was a defensive stalemate with both programs content to sit back and defend, leading to a 0-0 score at the half. The Jumbos nearly took the lead in the 58th minute when a Tufts forward got a corner kick from Gavin Tasker, but the shot rang off the crossbar, leaving the match deadlocked.

However, the Mammoths quickly responded to this scare, scoring the game’s only goal less

than five minutes later. A throw-in from Bryce Johnson ’21 sailed over the Tufts back line and was deflected by the Jumbos’ keeper into the back of the net. A mere two minutes later, senior forward Weller Hlinomaz almost extended Amherst’s lead to two when he headed the ball past the keeper, but a Tufts defender was able to clear the ball off the line.

Desperate to tie the score, the Jumbos poured forward towards the end of the match, with several Jumbos’ attackers firing shots on the Mammoths’ goal, but first-year keeper Kofi HopeGund made the saves and preserved the shutout.

Sunday’s nonconference game proved to be much more emotionally charged than the previous day’s match. After being unsure of whether they would play out the entire game, the Mammoths prevailed 2-1 in overtime.

Amherst got on the board early, as sophomore Fikayo Ajayi scored in the seventh minute.

Aziz Khan ’18 found Ajayi on the end line and, cutting back on his defender, Ajayi got off a closerange shot. Although the Rutgers-Newark keeper, Andres Medina, made the initial save, Ajayi got his own rebound and notched his second goal of the year, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Neither side was able to break through for the remainder of the first half and the team’s entered the locker room with the score still at 1-0.

However, Rutgers-Newark came out firing to

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

GAME SCHE DULE

of the racial slur retaliated against the offender in a physical manner. The referee proceeded to give the Amherst player a yellow card, which resulted in the player’s ejection, as it was his second yellow of the match. The call triggered a bench-clearing brawl as the Mammoths tried to defend their victimized teammate.

With the help of coaches and police officers, the officials finally managed to break up the fight so that the game could continue. Determined to get the win as a tribute to their wronged teammate, the Mammoths came out hard and put the Scarlet Raiders under intense pressure.

It only took seven minutes for Amherst’s offensive pressure to pay off thanks to the stellar play of a pair of underclassmen. Jimmy McMillian ’20 sent a well-placed ball into the box, and standout first-year Sebastian Derby calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net to win the game for the Mammoths.

“I’m proud of the way that our team, coaches, trainer and athletic department handled the situation,” senior captain Sam Malnik said. “We are a family. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. Racism, in any form, is not tolerated by our team.”

Amherst returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 4, when the Mammoths will host New England College for another nonconference matchup.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

WED FRI

SAT

Men’s Soccer vs. New England College, 4 p.m.

Women’s Golf @ Williams Fall Invitational, TBD

Volleyball vs. Tufts, 7 p.m.

start the second half, and star sophomore Fabio De Sousa notched the equalizer for the visitors.

Charging down the flank, De Sousa beat his defender and found himself in sight of the goal. He expertly chipped the ball past Amherst’s keeper, and the Scarlet Raiders found themselves back in the game.

At the end of the regulation, the score was still tied at 1-1, so the match went into overtime.

However, seconds after the whistle blew to open the first overtime period, mayhem ensued.

Shocking all those within hearing range, a Rutgers-Newark player directed a racial slur at an Amherst forward standing in the center circle for the kickoff.

The Amherst player immediately called to the referee and tried to bring attention to the hateful act. However, the referee did not respond right away, and Coach Justin Serpone’s involvement was required to halt the game. Coach Serpone asserted that his team would not play another minute until the incident was addressed.

Ultimately, to the dismay of the team, the Rutgers-Newark player was merely awarded a yellow card. The referee said he could not eject the player because he himself did not hear the slur uttered. Despite this insufficient punishment, the game continued.

Once again, it did not take long for things to get ugly. The Amherst player who was the target

Men’s Cross Country @ James Earley Invitational, 10:30 a.m.

Women’s Cross Country @ James Earley Invitational, noon Women’s Soccer @ Hamilton, 11 a.m.

Field Hockey @ Hamilton , 11 a.m.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Volleyball vs. Bowdoin, 1 p.m.

Men’s Soccer @ Hamilton, 1:30 p.m.

Football vs. Middlebury, 2 p.m.

SUN

MON

Women’s Golf @ Williams Fall Invitational, TBD

Men’s Golf @ Elms Invitational, 11 a.m.

Men’s Golf @ Elms Invitational, 10 a.m.