Issue 6

THE AMHERST

THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

STUDENT VOLUME CXLVI, ISSUE 6 l WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016

Men’s Tennis Makes Impressive Showing at MIT Invite See Sports, Page 10 AMHERSTSTUDENT.AMHERST.EDU

Journalists Discuss 2016 Presidential Campaign Jingwen Zhang ’18 Managing News Editor

Photo courtesy of Takudzwa Tapfuma‘17

Students Adil Chhabra ’19 (left) and Obi Ezeogu ’19 (right) play cornhole at Fall Festival on Sunday, Oct. 16.

The popular event, featuring food, music and entertainment, is open to the public and held annually.

Students Hold “Divest Week of Action” Shawna Chen ’20 Managing News Editor Divest Amherst, a student-run advocacy group, organized “Divest Week of Action” from Oct. 11 to Oct. 15 to promote campus-wide support for divestment from fossil fuels.

The group, which has repeatedly called for the college’s board of trustees to divest all of its holdings from fossil fuels, organized several events to engage the student body and put public pressure on the board, which invests $110 million of the college’s $2.2 billion endowment in fossil fuel companies. Students in Divest Amherst met with the board’s chief financial officer and the head of its investment committee on Thursday, Oct. 13, according to Divest Amherst member Kelly Missett ’19.

The group publicized the week’s events by tabling, writing chalk statements around campus and putting up Post-It notes in the entrance to Valentine Hall. A collaborative art installation

was set up on Thursday in Valentine quad to which students passing by could contribute. A screening of “How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change,” a climate change documentary, took place in Keefe Campus Center on Thursday night.

Divest Amherst ended the week with a rally to promote divestment on Friday evening, during which speakers spoke about the effects of the drought in Massachusetts, the moral necessity to address climate change and the significance of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline in relation to the college’s investments.

“The Amherst campus, especially, is kind of sheltered from what’s happening in the rest of the world,” Brian Beaty ’17, another member of Divest Amherst, said. “We have the drought, but obviously our lives didn’t really stop with the drought — and there are also so many students here whose families back home are being affected by climate change.”

Divestment is also a human rights issue be-

cause the effects of climate change will not be equally distributed across the world, said Missett.

“Patterns of irregular and extreme weather such as drought will impact the global South, especially Africa, and those are the countries that are often the least wealthy and the least able to cope with climate change,” she said, adding that they are also the countries that have contributed the least to climate change.

Students in Divest Amherst believe that funding fossil fuel extraction and fossil fuel companies amounts to profiting from activities that “directly impact people in an unjust way,” Missett said.

The board of trustees, however, has repeatedly denied the group’s requests to divest.

“The Board and the Divest Amherst movement are in agreement on the threat posed by climate change,” said Cullen Murphy ’74, the

Continued on Page 3

Five political journalists covering this year’s presidential campaigns participated in a panel discussion titled “Tales from the Trail” on Oct. 6. The discussion, which was open to the public and held in Johnson Chapel, featured Julia Ioffe from Politico, Abby Phillip from The Washington Post, Jessica Taylor from NPR and Byron Tau from The Wall Street Journal and was moderated by Tim Murphy from Mother Jones.

President Biddy Martin opened the night by introducing Murphy, who introduced each of the four other participants.

Electoral politics were the first topic of discussion, as Murphy began the talk by asking the other journalists if this year was the “craziest election in our time” and why this election seems so different from previous years’.

Phillip and Taylor addressed the longterm changes in the American electorate following widespread demographic change, the recession and a political shift from President Obama’s eight-year presidency.

“Here in this country, there is an inexorable movement toward diversity and change that’s leaving a lot of people in this country in the lurch,” Phillip said, adding that it was “a long time coming.”

Tau said that the contentious Republican campaign revealed “rising tides of populism” and deep divisions within the party, and that the party’s elite have “almost no control” over who their nominee will be. Ioffe compared the rise of Donald Trump, the contentious Republican nominee, with worldwide events such as the election of controversial Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte, “Brexit” and the growth of the far right in Germany.

Taylor added that Trump differed from most other politicians in that his campaign largely lacked internal structure and that he frequently abandoned script during major appearances or rallies.

“It’s essentially a toss-up,” Murphy said, referring to both major candidates’ odds of winning the election. “Why is it so close?

Continued on Page 3

Fitzgerald ’82 Addresses Myths Surrounding Terrorism Isabel Tessier ’19 Managing News Editor Former U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald ’82 gave a talk titled “Ten Myths about Terrorists and How We Fight Them” on Thursday, Oct. 13 in Merrill Science Lecture Hall 2.

The event was free and open to the public, and brought in an audience of around 175 students, faculty, alumni and community members. The college’s economics department and the studentrun Amherst Political Union co-sponsored the talk.

After earning a degree in economics and mathematics at Amherst, Fitzgerald served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1988 to 2001. During this time, he assisted in the prosecution of notable terror-

ism cases, including U.S. v. Rahman for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

From 2001 to 2012 he served as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, becoming the longest-serving U.S. attorney in Chicago ever. During this time, he convicted Illinois governors George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich of corruption and led the investigation of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s name leak.

He received an honorary doctorate from the college in 2007 and became a trustee in 2013.

Fitzgerald began by telling the audience that this would not be a scholarly analysis of terrorism, but instead based on his experiences working in the field.

“My exposure to terrorism was not as an academic,” he said. “It was very anecdotal.”

The first half of the event laid out what Fitzger-

ald considers the top 10 myths that exist around terrorists and methods of combating them. He urged the audience to consider their own presumptions about terrorism and the way in which it’s handled in the U.S. One myth, he said, is that terrorism is solely a foreign threat. Fitzgerald said that domestic terrorists “were actually far more scary … The number of people who were domestic terrorists just scared the daylights out of us.”

Many public assumptions about terrorism are oversimplified, Fitzgerald said. One of these assumptions is that terrorism is just a border issue which can be easily solved with stricter security.

“There’s a nice simplicity to it,” he said. “There’s a problem, it’s over there [and] it’s coming here — just keep it out. I think people don’t quite get how hard it is to keep people out who are terrorists.”

A question and answer session followed the first half of the talk. Members of the audience asked Fitzgerald about topics like the CIA’s treatment of civil liberties, Syrian refugee immigration and the use of drone strikes.

Professor of Economics Geoffrey Woglom, who taught Fitzgerald during his time as an undergraduate, said that he enjoyed the speech and found it “captivating.”

“He just was involved in all of these fascinating, highly charged cases,” Woglom said.

“I think he articulated his points really well,” said Emilía Kaaber ’18, a co-president of the Amherst Political Union. “I like that he made it very clear that he was not approaching this from an academic standpoint. This is his in-the-field experience — ‘This is how I’ve experienced it [and] these are the things I’ve done.’”

News

Jen Manion Fresh Faculty

Oct. 3, 2016 - Oct. 17, 2016

>>Oct. 03, 2016 8:43 a.m., Garman House Officers investigated a smoke detector sounding on the first floor and determined that steam from a shower activated it. >>Oct. 04, 2016 9:44 p.m., Tyler House

While investigating a smoke detector sounding in a third floor room, officers confiscated marijuana and a bong used for smoking. The matter was referred to Student Affairs.

12:10 a.m., Jenkins Dormitory Officers investigated a smoke detector set off in a suite and detected the odor of marijuana, although no other evidence of marijuana use was found.

12:23 p.m., Jenkins Dormitory While in Jenkins, an officer discovered an unlicensed keg. One student was fined $100.

10:02 p.m., Mayo-Smith House Officers investigated a smoke detector sounding in a second floor room and found it was activated by the use of candles. Officers also confiscated a microwave oven, toaster oven and space heater, which are prohibited under housing regulations. The resident was fined $125.

>>Oct. 07, 2016 1:36 a.m., Hitchcock House An officer observed a student smoking in a first floor room. The person was fined $100 for the smoking violation.

9:52 p.m., Cohan Dormitory An officer responded to a complaint of cigarette smoke on the second floor room. The odor was traced to a specific room and the officer spoke to the resident. >>Oct. 08, 2016 11:20 p.m., Plimpton House An officer discovered beer and hard alcohol unattended in the first floor common room. It was disposed of.

11:32 p.m., Hitchcock House While on patrol an officer discovered a large unauthorized party with loud music and alcohol. No crowd manager could be found, which violated fire safety laws. The event was shut down. >>Oct. 09, 2016 1:13 a.m., Lipton House Officers responded to a noise complaint between Lipton House and Drew House. A group of approximately 30 people was found and they were asked to move along. >>Oct. 10, 2016 1:24 a.m., Tuttle Farm An officer checked on two men who were in the area of the Book & Plow Farm. The men had no association with the college and were directed to leave.

11:37 a.m., Newport House Officers investigated a smoke

detector sounding in the basement and found it was caused by cooking. >>Oct. 11, 2016 12:18 a.m., Greenway Building D An officer responded to a noise complaint and found nine underage people in a first floor room of Greenway B with beer and hard alcohol. The alcohol was disposed of and the matter was referred to Student Affairs. >>Oct. 14, 2016 11:04 p.m., Plimpton House A town resident complained about loud music from a registered party.

The party sponsor was notified and advised to lower the volume. >>Oct. 15, 2016 12:22 a.m., Mayo-Smith House While in Mayo-Smith, an officer detected the odor of marijuana and traced it to a second floor room.

After speaking to the resident, a report was submitted to Student Affairs.

1:05 a.m., Tuttle Farm An officer checked on a vehicle parked at the Book & Plow Farm with four people in it. The people had no association with the college and were directed to leave.

9:18 p.m., Seligman House Two people called to complain about a loud gathering at Seligman.

Officers responded and found a group of residents in the common room. They were advised of the complaints.

11:30 p.m., Hitchcock House An officer on patrol encountered a student urinating outside of Hitchcock House. He was fined $100 for offensive behavior. >>Oct. 16, 2016 12:45 a.m., Mead Drive A student was arrested and charged with assault and battery, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after being involved in an altercation in front of Jenkins.

12:53 a.m., Hitchcock House An officer found evidence of party policy violations after a registered party. Student Affairs was notified.

7:46 p.m., King Dormitory An officer responded to a complaint of people yelling outside the building and located a group of students singing at the barbecue pit. They were advised to lower their voices. >>Oct. 17, 2016 12:30 a.m., College Street An officer responded to a report of five people standing on College Street yelling. Upon arrival, several students were found on the sidewalk and they apologized for their actions.

3:15 p.m., Hitchcock House While in Hitchcock, an officer discovered a large hole in a wall on the first floor.

Department of History

Associate Professor of History Jen Manion received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her doctorate from Rutgers University. Her focus is on women’s and gender studies and early America.

Q: What was your childhood like?

A: I’m from a very, very small town with two stoplights in rural Pennsylvania called St. Clair ...

I was very excited to get out of my small town to a big city, to a huge school. I was pretty much looking for an experience that was the opposite of my childhood. I ended up attending and graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, which was actually only two hours away from my town but a world apart.

Q: How did you go from being a math and science nerd to getting interested in history?

A: It was definitely by accident. A housemate at the time asked me to come to a history class with them at the start of the semester, so I did, and I just fell in love with it. I was just so curious about the world. I felt I had a pretty limited experience to date, and I quickly picked up from the people around me that history and literature were great ways to learn about other cultures and other people and to learn about the bigger picture and the present and my place in it.

Q: What did you do before coming to Amherst?

A: I finished graduate school a while ago and I spent the last ten years teaching history and running the LGBTQ center at Connecticut College.

Q: What brought you to Amherst?

A: Amherst has an outstanding reputation in general, and the work that the school has been doing over the past few years to intentionally diversify the student body, the faculty and the curriculum is really exciting, and it’s exciting to be at a place where that’s happening. The job itself is exactly what my two specialties and interests are, which are women and gender history and early America.

The history department here is phenomenal.

Q: What is your main academic interest?

A: Most of my research and teaching questions are in the spirit of what we call “from the bottom up,” which is centering on the experiences of common, ordinary people — people who are marginalized, outsiders and oppressed — and centering those narratives. I specialize in women and gender history, African American history and LGBT history. Those are all groups that are not at the center of the history books that we were taught from in high school.

Q: How did you first become interested in these types of history?

A: A very important thing for people to understand is that history in college is taught very differently than the way most high schools teach history. College-level history is more dynamic, more diverse, more about questions than facts. It’s more about using the facts to wrestle with great, big dilemmas that humans have struggled with.

My teachers at Penn were also really committed to, and a part of, the movement to teach African American history, to teach about race and racism, to teach about women and gender history. It was the approach to history that I was introduced to and it was really powerful. I felt like I was learning about the past in a way that really came to light for me and also that helped me to understand things about myself.

Q: How do you teach history?

A: I definitely make explicit some of the connections to the present to help students see that we can look for patterns and disruptions from the past to help assess the present. I’m not afraid of

encouraging students to go back and forth between the present and the past in their thinking.

I’m really interested in historical interpretation.

There are various arguments about any given subject, so [I’m] giving students both sides or different kinds of evidence and teaching them about arguments and not just facts. The third thing is working with primary documents. Having students read the texts and the laws and the newspaper articles from the past themselves, so they can analyze it and come up with their own argument.

Q: What classes are you teaching this year?

A: I’m teaching a 200-level course called “U.S. Carceral Culture,” which is all about the history of punishment in America. I’m also teaching an upper-level seminar called Sex and Law in Colonial America.

In the spring I’m teaching an introductory survey called “The History of Sexuality,” which is great. I love teaching it. Then I’m teaching a more upper-level class called “The People’s History of Revolutionary America” — so you can see the themes. It’s the revolutionary period, but from the bottom-up, so women, sailors, artisans, enslaved people [and] workers.

Q: What kind of research are you working on?

A: I’m going to Philadelphia tomorrow (Monday, Oct. 17) to give a lecture on my current research.

The lecture itself is called “The T in LGBT.” The project is a history of transgender as an idea, category and experience in the 19th century. In some ways the term and the way we understand transgender is very modern. You can’t just throw it back 200 years and [have it mean] the same thing. It didn’t. I used it as an analytical category to try and understand how people back then understood people who pushed against the expectations for gender expression.

Q: How do you see the work you’re doing with history fitting in with the world today?

A: I’m a firm believer in the long view, and I feel like one of the most profound experiences I had in college was being introduced to and really studying African American history, which was not really something that I had been exposed to before.

That really gave me a different understanding, a different lens to look through, as I was trying to make sense of race relations and racial conflict in my life. I think the same thing is true for the LGBT community. We’re very visible in the media, and some issues — about our right to marry, our right to be protected from discriminations and our right to adopt — have been on a ballot somewhere, and often many places at once, over the last 20 or 30 years . . . We ourselves need more information about our past. It can be empowering. It can help us feel less isolated. Then we can also look to examples from the past. How did people articulate their identities? How did they come together to educate and convince people?

To convince them to treat them with respect?

To not abuse them? And then we can learn from other people’s mistakes.

Q: What are your interests outside of academia?

A: I love to bike. I just got a new bike at the Hampshire Bicycle Exchange up the street. I also play the guitar, not very well, although I’m hoping to improve. If anyone wants to offer me lessons, that would be very fun. I also just started grilling because now I have a backyard. And I do watch TV — probably too much of it.

— Emma Swislow ’20

The Amherst Student • October 19, 2016

News

3

Political Journalists Talk Campaign Coverage Continued from Page 1

What are we missing?”

Despite running a campaign with minimal structure, Trump seemed to win the primaries and gain more support from the electorate because of his rejection of traditional political norms, according to Ioffe.

“In some ways, TV and Twitter are his campaign apparatus,” she said, likening his campaign strategy to “Dada performance art” that made unwitting participants of the electorate, drawing laughs from the audience.

Ioffe also added that while she was “baffled” about the closeness of the race, she was not surprised that someone was taking advantage of the country’s fears and divisions in this election.

Taylor, Ioffe and Phillip also commented on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s performance this election season. Taylor noted the puzzling dip in Clinton’s favorability ratings from their height, shortly after she left her position as secretary of state, to how low they are now. According to Ioffe, sexism plays a large part in the inexplicable “visceral hatred” of Clinton and the widespread view of her as untrustworthy, despite Trump’s own record of dishonest statements.

“It could also be that campaigning is an inauthentic exercise,” Phillip said. “To be a good politician, you have to be good at faking authenticity, and [Clinton] is not good at that.”

Murphy then turned the focus of the discussion to the media and the role it has played during this election season. “Is the media responsible for Trump?” he asked.

Trump has “hacked the political media,” said Tau. The Republican nominee was “genuinely vibrant and entertaining, for better or worse” and accessible to the press and made many “provocative and outrageous” newsworthy statements. Only nine percent of the electorate voted in the primary elections, so

Photo courtesy of Sarah Wishloff‘19

From left to right: Byron Tau (Wall Street Journal), Jessica Taylor (National Public Radio), Tim Murphy (Mother Jones), Abby Phillip (Washington Post) and Julia Ioffe (Politico) shared insights from the campaign trail on Thursday, Oct. 6. it was “relatively easy for [Trump] to hijack a small portion of the voting public,” Tau said.

“I think the media has gotten more aggressive, at least in terms of telling its readers, ‘no, this is what happened, and these are the set of facts,’” Tau added.

Ioffe said that Trump understands the media and knows how to use it to his advantage, and that campaign journalists experience “existential angst” over how to cover Trump’s campaign. “It’s a cheap and easy answer to blame us,” said Ioffe, pointing to other changes in the Republican Party and the U.S. that led to Trump’s rise.

Ioffe and Taylor also addressed the disparity in viewpoints between different media outlets and said that many people are consuming exclusively liberal- or conservativeleaning news, which affects their perceptions of the media as a whole.

The discussion later turned to the role that social media plays in controlling the news to which people are exposed.

The panelists also addressed questions from audience members, which covered topics such as flaws in the electoral process, the media’s role in the Democratic primaries’ outcomes and presidential debate modera-

tors’ role in holding candidates accountable for major inaccuracies.

“I was expecting the discussion to be more anecdotal,” Liam Fine ’17, who helped organize the event, said in an email interview.

“However, I found the confluence of political analysis, stories from the campaigns and personal opinions to be particularly captivating and effective.”

Some students had also been selected to attend two classes held by the panelists earlier that afternoon. In the classes, the journalists talked more about their campaign trail experiences and journalism as a profession.

Trans Activist Dean Spade Speaks about Visibility Kelly Chian ’20 Staff Writer Professor, lawyer and activist Dean Spade gave a talk titled “Can We Survive Mainstreaming? On the New Visibilities and Invisibilities of Trans Politics” in the Powerhouse on Thursday, Oct. 13. The talk was open to the public and the Powerhouse was near capacity..

During the hour-long talk, Spade evaluated different reform movements for increasing justice in a time of changing attitudes about queer and trans people and answered questions from the audience.

Spade opened by acknowledging “that we are on stolen land.”

“From my research, [the land] we are on is the Pocomtuc, Wampanoag, Nipmuc land,” Spade said. “The U.S. is a settler and colonial country that put the indigenous people away to make a new world only for European Americans. I think it is really helpful to think about trans people in those institutions.”

When Spade was an associate professor

of law at Seattle University School of Law, he founded the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, which provides free legal services to low-income people who identify as transgender, intersex or gender non-conforming. Spade also wrote the book “Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the Limits of Law” and directed the documentary “Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back” about a queer community controversy.

Pinkwashing, according to Spade, is “wrapping the police force in a rainbow flag to say it is progressive but hide what it really does.” He discussed a sticker campaign in Seattle that indicates a certain business will call the police if someone is attacked as an example of pinkwashing.

“The sticker campaign is really about ‘the police department is good,’” Spade said. “It doesn’t change what will always happen when you call the cops. All the same dangers that persistently exist about the violent police are still there, but now they have a sticker with a rainbow flag on it.”

Spade also spoke about how mainstream

trans people have lead to greater trans visibility but only conditional acceptance.

“Many people have the mindset that only if you look like Caitlyn Jenner, you can be a trans person and be tolerated,” Spade said. “For example, the homeless and people of color are not included in this mode of thinking. Harm and violence might worsen for the vulnerable.

Sometimes recuperative reform proposals only offer crumbs to the elite.”

Some of the pitfalls of reform, Spade said, are useless discrimination laws which provide little to deter violence, relief only to the least marginalized, failure to resolve root causes of discrimination and division of groups into the deserving and undeserving.

“Institutions say, ‘Don’t worry, we got this,’ and then provide us with inadequate systems,” he said. “People say we are equal and then think we become equal. They think they’re less homophobic and racist than before, but they don’t change the conditions.”

Climate matters, Spade said, calling the audience to address the issues discussed to create a safe environment that is rooted in solidarity

where no one is disposable.

“If we create a social environment, we can address the problem and dismantle some existing systems,” Spade said.

Marvin Bell ’19, a program coordinator for the Queer Resource Center, attended the talk and said that he believes it is important to raise awareness about trans issues and politics, especially at Amherst.

“We’re a really diverse campus with a lot of personal identities and some need to be seen more because they haven’t had that privilege,” Bell said. “Trans people aren’t as visible. I don’t see that many people moving towards that community like other marginalized groups.”

Romona Celis ’19, also a program coordinator at the Queer Resource Center, introduced Spade and help coordinate the event.

“Everyone around me, myself included, was very energized and charged up coming out of the talk,” Celis said. “It’s always nice to hear people talking about these huge systems of oppression and how they specifically relate to trans people. As a trans person, it’s always good to be reminded people are putting up a good fight.”

Divest Amherst Calls for Fossil Fuel Divestment Continued from Page 1 board’s chair, in an email interview. “We differ on how we apply this shared perspective to managing the endowment.”

In the last years, the board has committed to maintaining a framework of considering longterm risks in analyses of “companies, cash flows, world events and other factors,” said Murphy.

“We believe this approach of inquiry and analysis is more effective and more consistent with Amherst’s values than divestment,” he said.

To fund on-campus sustainability efforts, the college needs the profits gained from investment in the fossil fuel industry, Murphy said. He

added that these financial gains can help fund the college’s efforts in becoming carbon-neutral as well as student and faculty research, internships and environmental studies curricula.

“An Amherst that is strong financially is the best way we can work together as a community to combat climate change,” he said.

Despite the outcome of Thursday’s meeting, Missett is positive about the direction of the board’s relationship with Divest Amherst. The group plans to identify concerns with investing in specific companies and present those concerns to the board of trustees.

“We’ll have stronger evidence for why we should divest and a better system for how the

board can take small steps over time to divest,” Missett said.

Beaty and Missett commended the board for its commitment to on-campus sustainability efforts as well as its continued interest in remaining transparent with the student group. Still, Divest Amherst continues to campaign for complete divestment. Beaty said that last Thursday’s meeting with the board’s investment committee confirmed that the board is not open to divestment on any level.

If the college removes its endowment from fossil companies, it won’t take down the industry, Missett said, but added that it may begin a social movement that supports widespread di-

vestment. Once institutions begin to divest in large numbers, she said, “it’s sort of a way of saying, ‘We don’t agree with you, we don’t want to be a part of you.’”

Though a common sentiment is that the effects of climate change are distant and far removed, Missett said that they are already apparent.

“It’s affecting people now, it’s affecting people in the United States, in Alaska, in low-lying areas such as the Louisiana Bayou and Miami,” she said. “These areas are experiencing rising sea levels, a loss of permafrost, extreme heat and extreme flooding — it’s affecting our generation right now.”

Opinion How to Combat Journalism’s Demise Editorial At the recent journalism panel Amherst hosted discussing the 2016 presidential campaign trail, one of the speakers mentioned the ways in which our consumption of media is predetermined by algorithms programmed to show us content that aligns with our own opinions. For instance, a left-leaning person’s Facebook feed would mostly include articles that align with the political left.

The knowledge that this type of invisible system exists, a system that extends far beyond the methods of Facebook algorithms alone, implores us to think critically about how we consume our media.

This political season, it is certainly true that subsets of the media have given unequal coverage to candidates.

However, the situation is not so simple that it can be reduced to blaming journalists and publications. What does the public demand to read? How do we support the work of journalists? Do we read often enough, moving beyond Buzzfeed listicles of bad photos of Donald Trump? The public’s consumption habits have changed. Looking at Amherst as a case study: It is rare to spot a student reading a newspaper anywhere on campus. Perhaps we read articles here and there online, or pick up a copy of a paper on the way into Val, but how many people read the newspaper fully and regularly? As college students, perhaps time and convenience are determining factors for why the print newspaper is inconvenient and left by the wayside. But accepting this argument doesn’t change the consequence at the end of the road: If we refuse to consume print news and full-length articles and do not seek out the same quality of content through other means, we cannot expect for the news industry to be sustained and certainly cannot expect to have the same awareness of current affairs. Perhaps journalists do need to shoulder some of the blame, but who reads the paper regularly enough to absolve themselves of responsibility for how journalism (in the broadest sense of the industry) has become commercialized and driven by profit? How can anyone expect journalists to produce good content when the majority of the public no longer demands it?

The Amherst Student can be analyzed as a microcosm of global journalism. Granted, it is a privileged publication in that its continuation is essentially considered to be “inevitable”; the college may not support this publication by monetary means, but the existence of a school newspaper

is considered necessary by most academic institutions so it seems unlikely that The Student would ever go out of print. Despite the certainty that this publication will persist, it is unfortunately not widely-read by students. And yet, critical articles are written every week by passionate student writers — their stories often only get exposure if shared enough by themselves on Facebook or other online platforms. Students are forced to shoulder the weight of advocating for themselves and their voices. It is hard to express the importance of our campus newspaper without coming off as driven only by self-interest — the desire to be read and recognized. But this desire for recognition is not selfish. It is rooted in a desire to uplift true stories about individuals, and by extension, true stories about the community that we occupy. Articles are usually written by individuals and they might concern an individual’s specific experience, but they often represent broader narratives that apply to many people at our college in some shape or form. Small publications like campus newspapers can give space to critical voices of dissent and activism, whereas larger publications often come in as outsiders and time and time again fail to understand the true feelings of the story they seek to unfold. Furthermore, other small, local newspapers are also the source material for information for papers up the food chain. The decline of public support for small newspapers, and the subsequent decline of content and information, is a critical loss that has cascading effects.

Clearly, there rests a lingering need for campus voices and space for activism. From something as subtle as Amherst Awkward to serious topics such as the culture of sexual assault, many of this campus’s issues arise from the lack of communication among its students. We complain about loneliness and division at Amherst but do not care to understand the perspectives of those around us. It’s evident that how we follow campus news is not so different from the way we follow national issues like the presidential race — passingly — despite the fact that both these environments are nuanced, constantly evolving in complex ways and involving various political and social phenomena. We consistently respond as reactionaries, and even then, often fail to truly listen. The Editorial Board urges improved literacy, exploration and understanding of the community in which we all exist.

Sexual Violence and the Porn Industry Madeline Ruoff ’18 Contributing Writer Trigger warning: This content deals with accounts of misogyny, harrassment and sexual violence, and may be triggering to some readers.

For all the energy devoted to fighting sexual assault on this campus, from the bystander training during Orientation to the numerous SHE workshops discussing safe sex to the posters explaining Title IX that adorn the walls of our dorms, I am troubled that porn — sexual violence filmed and repackaged for male pleasure — is so seldom discussed. Just this Monday the Peer Advocates asked the Amherst community to sign the “It’s On Us” pledge, a recognition of our personal responsibility to end sexual violence. They didn’t ask that signatories do anything but fill out a postcard before getting their free t-shirt. However, we can’t change cultural norms without changing our behavior, which is why I’m asking all Amherst students who claim to be committed to ending sexual violence to stop watching porn.

Porn may be consumed in secret, with the door locked and the lights off, but its influence taints our daily lives. No cultural phenomenon

shapes our sexual expectations as dominantly as porn. A study conducted by author Michael Leahy of 29,000 North American university students found that the majority of men first viewed pornography at the age of 12 or younger, right as they were beginning to discover their sexualities. Nearly two-thirds of male college students admitted to using porn at least weekly, meaning that they will be continually re-exposed to porn’s depiction of sex. Every time porn is used to achieve orgasm, the association between what is shown in the video and what is sexually pleasurable is reinforced.

PornHub’s categories provide a disturbing glimpse into how porn users are conditioned.

Women are scrutinized for their features, divided into categories based on their hair color, their body type, the size of their breasts.

Nonwhite races are fetishized, placed into convenient categories such as “Arab,” Ebony” and “Latina.” If Latina porn is not politically relevant enough, fear not. Pornhub.com has a category called “Crossing the Border,” where women attempting to immigrate from Mexico are raped by American men — because what isn’t sexy about a human rights crisis?

But maybe some porn users are above such blatant displays of racism. What they really

care about is violence. It’s really important to them that the woman you are masturbating to is brutalized in a very specific way. Well, they’re in luck, because Pornhub.com features categories such as “double penetration,” “gangbang,” “bukkake” and “pissing.” That’s not to disregard the nearly eight thousand videos labeled “bondage,” where women are restrained, tied up, gagged and beat while they are penetrated.

I don’t mean to stereotype porn users. Some of them prefer purer sex. In fact, they like their sex to be so pure, they exclusively seek out actresses who are powerless and innocent.

That’s why there are categories like “teen” and “school” and “old/young.” But what if the girls in these videos still too mature? Unfortunately, those seeking the purest of sex objects will probably have to leave PornHub, but a couple minutes on Google will open their eyes to the multibillion dollar child porn industry.

No matter what video is picked, chances are it will show a male body dominate a female body. Chances are it will depict verbal or physical violence. Chances are the scene will be filmed entirely from the male gaze.

Men who watch porn will learn to expect

Continued on next page

THE AMHERST

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The Amherst Student • October 19, 2016

Opinion

5

Our Community Responsibility to Address Porn Culture Continued from previous page complete control of a woman’s body and demand that she comply with their every fantasy. They will link violence against women with sexual pleasure. Depending on their kink, they may link violence against children, minorities or trans people with sexual pleasure. To everyone who took the “It’s On Us” pledge, would you agree these sound like features of a rape culture?

The trend of women removing their pubic hair did not occur out of nowhere — men demanded hairless, childlike vulvas after seeing them in porn. If porn culture is pervasive enough to convince an entire generation of women to hate their pubic hair, is it possible that these women should try to emulate porn actresses in other ways? Women who watch porn will learn that they are a collection of body parts available for male taking. They will learn that it’s okay for sex to be uncomfortable and violent for them. They will learn that their primary worth is to please a man.

I find it very disturbing that in our culture, violence is regularly dismissed as long as it is associated with sexual pleasure. Would you be concerned that a friend of yours was regularly choked, beat and spat on by her boyfriend?

Would you suddenly dismiss his actions if she

claimed to get immense sexual pleasure from it? After all, she did consent, and she said she enjoyed it! If the same friend was self-harming — starving herself, slashing her wrists, burning her skin — would it be okay because she wanted to do it? Would it be okay if her boyfriend was the one burning her skin (only at her request, of course)? Or would it be an indicator of mental illness and a toxic, abusive relationship?

But what if you know real sex isn’t like what you see in porn, and you would never hurt anyone in real life. Social conditioning does not apply to you. Congratulations! Unfortunately, the violence you witness in porn is completely real. You are watching real violence inflicted against real women. The women you see tied up, gagged, anally penetrated and drenched in semen are as alive as the women you see on your walk to class every day. By supporting the porn industry, you are supporting rape.

The guiding rule of porn is that if trauma can be sexualized and sold, it will be. It’s not uncommon for porn actresses who have been repeatedly anally penetrated to experience rectal prolapse, where the walls of the rectum collapse and slip out the anus. As a result, even rectal prolapse has been sexualized. There is a genre of porn called “rosebud,” named for the flowerlike appearance of the red tissue sticking

out a woman’s butt. Porn users become desensitized to one form of degradation and crave increasingly brutal content. Defenders of porn say it’s a natural way for people to explore their sexuality — would they agree it’s a natural part of human sexuality to masturbate to exposed GI tract?

The porn industry has not been rigorously studied; however, prostitution, broadly defined as selling sex, has. Pornography is prostitution that has been filmed, and numerous studies of prostitutes reveal the ugly reality of life for women working in the sex industry. Researcher Melissa Farley, founder of the organization Prostitution Research and Education, reports that 89 percent of prostitutes wish to leave the industry but are unable. If these women are selling their bodies out of economic or social necessity, they are not having consensual sex.

68 percent of sex workers meet the criteria for PTSD, meaning they are on average twice as likely to develop PTSD than a Vietnam veteran. What does that say about the level of violence that exists in the sex industry? What does that say about our societal disregard for sex workers?

It’s true that existing in a capitalist society means supporting exploitative industries — the phone I use almost constantly was made in a sweatshop. The difference is that I derive no

pleasure from the suffering of the workers who made it. If I could buy a phone at similar quality and price made with ethical labor, I would.

With porn, there is no separating the suffering from the product. The purpose of porn, as it exists today, is to show women being degraded by men. Prolific pornographer Bill Margold put it neatly when he said, “I’d like to really show what I believe the men want to see: violence against women.”

The violence that occurs at Amherst is not isolated from the violence depicted in porn.

With the way that internet porn glorifies male sexual aggression, it is no wonder that the epidemic of college sexual assaults coincided with its rise. If you are disgusted that women who go to parties can expect to be groped and grabbed, that women are routinely pressured into uncomfortable sex acts, that a handful of your classmates are sexual predators who will never suffer any punishment, then you must give up porn. Is supporting a massive industry fueled by rape and abuse necessary so that you can more easily orgasm? Remember that no matter what pornographic video you pick, the chances it was made with true consent are extremely slim. It is hypocritical for students to say that they are committed to ending sexual violence on campus only to return to their dorm rooms to watch porn.

Letter from Alumni: It’s Time to Create an Inclusive Christian Student Group To the Amherst Christian Fellowship: We are a group of alumni that spent our college years deeply involved in the Amherst Christian Fellowship (ACF). Many of us went through the formative experience of First-Year Bible Study. All of us authors served as leaders with the ACF Executive Team or various Bible studies and in Disciple Links, Terras Irradient, Gospel Choir and other activities affiliated with ACF. We write to you to share our feelings about InterVarsity and its recent decision to begin firing staff who do not condemn same-sex relationships. Our disagreement with InterVarsity lies in their broader legacy of discrimination toward LGBTQIA students and staff, including exclusion from staff and campus leadership. ACF has been affiliated with InterVarsity since 1981. InterVarsity hires and oversees ACF’s campus staff, and it sponsors its several annual retreats and a triennial pilgrimage to Urbana, a national student-ministry conference.

InterVarsity tends to err on the conservative side of theology and American politics, but it has traditionally fostered spiritual curiosity and openness. This welcoming spirit is inconsistent with InterVarsity’s now-public policy on sexuality and gender identity. Recently, its stances on sexuality and gender identity were brought to light by TIME Magazine: InterVarsity staff are now to come forward and claim their convictions, and those who profess to be allies (“affirming” in Christian lexicon) would be “involuntarily terminated.” (Affirming Christians believe that LGBTQIA individuals are not inherently sinful because of their identity; they believe in full inclusion, the right to marriage and access to church membership, leadership and other aspects of Christian life.) InterVarsity’s policy targets allies, and of course, it prohibits the involvement of LGBTQIA staff, who would face the same decision: “believe and behave” or come forward and face severance. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, it makes InterVarsity hostile and unwelcoming to LGBTQIA Christian students. Now, InterVarsity’s decision warrants a response from ACF. We are saddened, hurt and angered by

InterVarsity’s decision. We also don’t know how you, current students, feel about this.

In recent years, ACF has not had a systematic relationship with its alumni. We write to you during this trying time to implore ACF to choose inclusion, and we choose to ask you in such a public forum because past efforts at internal resolution were unsuccessful. Three years ago, when we called for ACF’s disaffiliation from InterVarsity, ACF and InterVarsity staff advisors encouraged us to be discreet and to remain with InterVarsity. We listened to them, but if given the chance again, we would not make the same choice. We hope that you will be more empowered to make a decision, now that a decision must be made.

This is an issue that has been on our hearts and is of great importance to us on a deeply personal level. Some of us are queer, and while we have a variety of theological beliefs, we also share a love for the fellowship and for God’s people. We’ve experienced first-hand how involvement in ACF can be incredibly life-giving at times, but also how painful it can be at others. In particular, we’ve experienced how identity and beliefs relating to sexuality and gender can cloud one’s relationship with ACF. With its ultimatum to affirming staff members, InterVarsity draws a clear line in the sand, and ACF must respond. Will you, as Christians and members of this diverse group designed to serve a diverse campus, choose to remain affiliated with InterVarsity and thereby sanction discrimination? Or will you choose to disaffiliate with InterVarsity, champion the spirit of ACF’s best, and adhere to Amherst’s mission?

We beseech you to disaffiliate from InterVarsity and to commit to inclusion.

InterVarsity’s decision is unacceptable in light of the spirit of the College, Amherst students, and — we hope — many of you.

InterVarsity’s policy to oust staff who are allies to the LGBTQIA community is a step backward for an organization that reaches over 40,000 students on almost 700 college campuses. Its policy is jarring against the backdrop of its assertion at a recent conference, when few other evangelical organizations would agree, that Black Lives Matter, that First Nations peoples suffered great harm at the hands of Christians and that

questioning is critical to spiritual growth.

It reverses InterVarsity’s reputation as the “thinking person’s campus ministry” and InterVarsity’s history of preserving unity in all things essential and liberty in all things non-essential. And this policy is a free-fall from what Amherst Christian Fellowship is at its best: a unifying presence to Christians that may hail from across the globe — a tent wide enough to welcome those who have been steeped in Christian life, those who have been hurt, and those who have had no relation to its tenets. At its best, some would say, ACF looks a little like the kingdom of God. If ACF continues its affiliation with InterVarsity, then it refuses to protect its members from discrimination, and it ensures an indefinite future led by staff required to believe that LGBTQIA people are worth less. If ACF chooses to both disaffiliate from InterVarsity and commit to non-discrimination, it instead creates an environment where all students and all Christian beliefs are welcome.

For better and for worse, this is not a new issue to ACF. We would like to share some recent historical context that we hope may illuminate your path. In the 2013-2014 school year, ACF student leaders formed a constitution-writing committee, on which several of us served. We planned to write the fellowship’s first ratified constitution, which would establish ACF as an organization that is inclusive and celebratory of Amherst students just as we believe God has made them: LGBTQIA, and of many racial and ethnic backgrounds, abilities, and more. We wanted to draw a circle wide enough to invite all Christians, with their wealth of differences, to build communal and personal faith.

We also wrote the constitution to protect ACF from the fate of InterVarsity Christian fellowships at peer institutions like Tufts and Bowdoin. Because of their affiliation with InterVarsity and because of InterVarsity’s discrimination, those fellowships were de-recognized and excluded from campus resources. We modeled our constitution after that of the Williams Christian Fellowship. (After all, Amherst takes its best from Williams. Thanks, Zephaniah.)

The constitution writing process challenged our intentionally diverse committee, and we spent months crafting what we believe is a strong, meaningful document.

The committee voted (8-2) to send the constitution to the ACF student members.

Three years of ACF student leadership then refused or neglected to ratify the constitution, leaving LGBTQIA students and staff unprotected from discrimination by InterVarsity.

Due to timing, the constitution was written without input from the class of 2017 and subsequent classes, so we understand that it may feel foreign to you. However, we have wholehearted faith in this document’s ability to set high, Christ-like standards for ACF, and we hope to spare you of the year-long process we underwent. If you would like to ratify and uphold this document, we would be glad to help you however we can.

We acknowledge that disaffiliation from InterVarsity would be messy, especially because InterVarsity pays and oversees your advisor and offers other resources. We are here to support you, and we hope that this letter encourages you to be a source of love and light on this campus. If you would like to continue this conversation, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

With love, Alexandra Coston ’15 Hayli Hu Kinney ’14 Ophelia Hu Kinney ’12 Colby Jantzen ’14 Cecilia Pessoa ’14 Co-signed by: Cathy Amaya ’14 Kari-Elle Brown ’15 Esther Clark ’10 Timothy Gaura ’15 Daniel Hsu ’14 Taïna Jean-Louis ’13 Esther Lam ’13 Aida Orozco ’14 Lindsey Plummer ’16 Sabrina Stavanor ’11 Lawrence Wei ’13 Christina Won ’14 Katherine Wu ’10

Arts&Living

Photo courtesy of Andrea Sanchez

Directed by Lorelai Deitz ‘20, “Romeo and Juliet” premiered this past weekend and took place in various campus spaces, including the Greenway courtyard.

The Green Room Opens With a Cross-Campus Romeo and Juliet Mark Simonitis ’19 Staff Writer This past weekend, the Amherst College Green Room performed Shakespeare’s classic “Romeo and Juliet,” with a twist. The cast traveled with the audience across campus to perform several scenes in different locations.

The audience was treated to a massive Capulet vs. Montague brawl on the stairs of Frost Library, attended the Capulet ball and watched the iconic balcony scene in the Greenway courtyard, witnessed Mercutio and Tybalt’s deaths on the first-year quad and bore witness to the tragic final scene in front of the Mead. I spoke with Dakota Meredith ’17, the producer of The Green Room, Sophina Flores ‘20, the technical director of The Green Room and stage manager of “Romeo and Juliet,” Lorelei Deitz ’20 director of “Romeo and Juliet”, Michael Barnett ’18, the artistic director and founder of The Green Room, and “Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet” about the production and what’s next for the Green Room.

Q: What made you pick “Romeo and Juliet”?

Meredith: The Green Room Production Team (Michael Sophina and I) first came up with the idea to perform around campus when we began discussing how we could best utilize locations on campus for a production of a Shakespeare play. Last semester, The Green Room performed an abridged version of “Macbeth” on the first-year quad and we wanted to ex-

pand upon this idea of putting on a show that transformed the amazing spaces Amherst has to offer, which we as students often take for granted. From there, we discussed what play would be best suited for this vision of our production. The decision to use “Romeo and Juliet” stemmed from our desire to use a play whose plot is very well-known, so that members of the campus community who stumbled across our show would be able to join without missing key plot elements.

thought would be more entertaining. That is also why we included the fight scene between Mercutio and Tybalt, then Tybalt and Romeo.

The party scene was picked to foster that sense of tension between Capulets and Montagues so that the piece seemed more cohesive. And of course, the balcony scene was picked because it’s not Romeo and Juliet without it. Locations were picked based on their aesthetic, if they matched the look of the scene we were going for.

Q: How did you come up with the idea to perform around campus?

Barnett: Well, practically speaking, there’s no need to reserve spaces outside, so that made our job a little easier. Beyond that, we were looking for a way to raise the profile of the Green Room to attract more members and also to bring theater to people who might not otherwise see it. Personally, I also like the idea of doing Shakespeare outside as it was originally performed. It lends a kind of authenticity and intimacy to the piece which I think gets lost sometimes in a traditional proscenium arch theater.

Q: How was this show different from any other show you’ve done/participated in?

Flores: It was most different in the flexibility we had, both in performance space and rehearsal timing. The times for these rehearsals changed on a weekly and daily basis which gave us a freedom that I have never had with any other show before. The performance space gave us so many options for the myriad of ways we could utilize Amherst’s wonderful campus, and playing with the different ways we could stage the scenes was also extremely liberating.

Q: How did you pick which scenes to perform and what locations to do them in?

Deitz: Sophina and I looked at recognition, intensity and humor. Both the opening and ending were used so that the entire experience could be wrapped up nicely. The opening also had a lot of visual elements and movement we

Q: How did you manage to get this show on the road in just a few weeks?

Deitz: Stress. Lack of sleep. Many practices, as the actors can testify to. Also a miracle (and by a miracle I mean Sophina, she’s the best stage manager).

Q: What was the most challenging part of the production?

Flores: The most challenging part of the production was the scheduling, both in the sense that we had a lot of people who have the Amherst habit of doing literally everything in existence, but also in the sense that we needed an adequate amount of rehearsal to pull off a huge endeavor like this in only three weeks, while still trying to hold true to the Green Room philosophy of low-commitment, accessible theater. So, attempting to find the balance between quality and accessibility in a short amount of time with a million conflicts was the biggest challenge.

Q: What was the most rewarding part of the production?

Barnett: I really enjoyed getting to know some of our new members! Part of what Green Room is trying to achieve is to create a community for people interested in theater on this campus, and I really had fun having the opportunity to begin to build that community through this project.

Q: What’s next for the Green Room?

Meredith: During the process of creating “Romeo and Juliet,” several members of The Green Room (including myself) have been working on a second project: writing an original parody of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”

This Friday, we’ll be holding auditions at 7 p.m. in Webster Studio 2 for the production, which will be performed at the end of the semester.

Photo courtesy of Andrea serialcrush.com Photos Sanchez

Arts & Living 7

The Amherst Student • October 19, 2016

“Westworld”: HBO’s Newest Hit Seeps Science Fiction into the Wild West

Photo courtesy of Serialcrush.com

“Westworld,” set in a futuristic, wild west themed park that features “humanoid” subjects, provokes complicated questions about morality and deviance.

Simon Stracher ’18 Staff Writer “Westworld” — HBO’s ambitious new effort to update their drama slate — is a flawed, but exciting new hit series that grapples with questions about human nature, consciousness and scientific progress.

Originally a 1973 film written and directed

by Michael Crichton, “Westworld” is the story of a futuristic, wild west themed park where guests pay exorbitant amounts of money to live in the park and do whatever they want — whether it’s going on bounty adventures, or sleeping with, shooting at or killing humanoid “hosts.” These seemingly human “hosts” are actually non-sentient robots created by the Westworld staff. They are programmed to be incredibly lifelike, but also to forget the carnage that the park’s guests inflict on them everyday.

Much of the carnage is carried out by the mysterious Man in Black (Ed Harris). He rapes, pillages and murders entire towns in the park, and he has apparently been doing so for 30 years. However, he appears to be getting bored and desires to discover deeper level of the park. What this deeper level consists of remains unclear.

The show’s core conflict is that several of the hosts are becoming increasingly human. They

remember fragments of past traumas, hold grudges and some are even able to circumvent their programming and improvise their actions.

This all seems to be leading up to a confrontation between the traumatized hosts and the park’s guests and employees. It is clear that, at some point, the hosts will gain full consciousness. With consciousness comes self-determination, and undoubtedly the hosts will determine that their creators and the guests deserve some payback.

Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are responsible for the direction of “Westworld,” loosely adapting it from Crichton’s movie and not necessarily following the plot, but staying true to the film’s premise.

Many of the themes seen in “Westworld” are similar to those of another famous Michael Crichton work — “Jurassic Park.” Technology, Crichton says, has limits to its usefulness. He tells us that once we start playing god, creating dinosaurs, engineering humans, and doing things we were probably never supposed to do, we will invariably fail.

“Westworld’s” themes run deeper than “Jurassic Park’s”. There is no way to tell who is real and who is a host in the theme park — besides taking out your gun and shooting, which af76985 fects the hosts, but not the guests. However,

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the humanoids often seem much more “human” than the actual humans. They express love, mourning, rage, happiness and above all, anguish. The real humans in the park, with the exception of William (Jimmi Simpson), a mildmannered and reluctant guest, are all prone to violence, degradation and deviance. It is even hinted at that William — who is so pure that he chooses to adorn a white hat as his outfit — will eventually fall into degeneracy. Clearly, Nolan and Joy are making a statement about the inevitable failing morals of humankind.

“Westworld” is not without its faults. With lines like “You can’t play God without being acquainted with the devil,” the dialogue can be clunky and corny at times. Additionally, the brutal victimization of female androids like Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) can feel unnecessarily excessive. Nevertheless, “Westworld” is still worth a watch. It remains to be seen how the show will manage to carry on once the humanoid hosts raise hell, but for the time being, “Westworld,” is a show equally provocative as it is intriguing.

Photo courtesy of wired.it

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Arts & Living 8

The Amherst Student • October 19, 2016

Life Stories: Nathan Needham ’18E Speaks About Taking Risks

Photo courtesy of Amherst College Mental Health and Wellness

Nathan Needham ‘18E spoke about his experience serving in the Air Force.

Beau Santero ’18 Staff Writer Offered by the counseling center’s campus mental health and wellness campaign, “Life Stories” is a series of talks that aim to “[provide] a fo-

rum for the Amherst community to come together to listen to a student, faculty or staff member talk about their lives.” The talks are held in the McCaffrey Room in the Keefe Campus Center, and this week’s speaker was Nathan Needham ’18E, on his time spent in the Air Force, and the topic of “Tak-

ing Risks.”

The talk was scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m., and before a few latecomers strolled into the room, Needham was carrying casual conversations with some people who’d already arrived. He spoke with confidence in a room that, otherwise, had a quietly awkward disposition. If he had any butterflies before his speech, he showed no signs of it, and kept a calm, yet energetic way about him throughout his talk.

Jessica Gifford, Mental Health Educator, stood and introduced the series as a way to bring the campus together and create a dialogue that promotes mental health wellness and initiates campus involvement. Needham then took the hot seat, and began telling his stories of the days he’d spent in the Air Force.

As a member of the Air Force’s Special Operations team, Needham spent six years as a language specialist in Spanish and Portuguese, and had been deployed to locations all around South America to support Green Beret units, who were stationed to develop national militaries against possible insurgencies. Needham then went into depth about a particular deployment, his first, and the obstacles he’d faced in landing an aircraft in Honduras.

Within the narrative, Needham focused on teamwork, mental preparation and facing risks head-on in order to fulfill his duties with the Air Force. He spoke about the dependency that others weighed on him to complete his obligations, and the faith he had to bestow in others when there were obstacles presented to the team that were out of his own duties.

In Needham’s stories, an overarching theme he’d intended to land on us was that when faced with any obstacles, fixed within is an opportunity.

Decisions can succeed or fail dependent on the ways that they’re approached. Needham’s palpable confidence when talking to the audience drove this point home as much as his stories did; it was evident that he’d followed his own advice and lived with this poise.

He shared three steps he follows when making a decision; the example he offered was when he was considering the continuation of his training with a group that was set on competing in the famous “Tough Mudder” competitions, or if he

would follow his duty of deployment. First, Needham said to recognize a situation, and what was unique about it. Both of the situations, he said, were unique and captivating for him; he wanted to see his training through and compete with his team, but he also saw the opportunity of deployment as a life-altering chance to serve and protect.

Then, his next step was to find what he could gain from either decision. For one, he would fulfill all of the hard work in a culminating test of strength and endurance, and in the other, he would fulfill a dream of serving his country with active employment. His final step to making the decision was to act swiftly and confidently. An obstacle won’t be overcome when the leader is apprehensive in what they’re doing; there must be a sense of urgency and self-assurance. Needham decided, through this process, that his best option was to forgo the competition and serve his country.

At no point, spoke Needham, was there any regret in the decision that he made. He approached the opportunity with head-blinders; there was no looking back or side-to-side, this is what he had put his mind to and that was going to be that. With conviction, he told us that any risk can turn into reward if there is energy and confidence put into what you do.

With only 20 minutes of speaking time, Needham’s stories were inflicted with a few ambiguities, but the confidence that pervaded his words led to fascinating narratives and a heart-felt, central focus.

These talks are a great opportunity for students who want to engage with the Amherst community and gain wisdom from personal, honest speakers.

On a campus where anyone can fall victim to feeling overwhelmed and misunderstood, the “Life Stories” series is a chance for the normalization of human struggle, and for speakers to share, “how [they] have navigated challenges, difficult decisions and pivotal moments in [their] lives…”

The next talk will be held in the McCaffrey Room on Friday, Oct. 28, with a talk from Manuela Picq, Karl Loewenstein Fellow and Visiting Associate Professor of Political Science. I strongly encourage anyone to stop by, if only for 15-20 minutes, and listen to people of the Amherst community share their stories.

WGC Hosts Event to Discuss the Implications of the Portrayals of Witches

Photo courtesy of thetvdb.com

Popular culture has given rise to a variety of witch identities.

Lorlei Deitz ’20 Contributing Writer Witches, though fictitious, evolve like any other creature. In the modern day, witches can be imagined in multifarious depictions, from maiden to mother to crone, from evil to good neutral. Many of the modern portrayals are a far cry from the one-dimensional, nefarious witches of the 16th and 17th centuries, which were conjured from fearridden imaginations and projected upon innocent people. In the Women’s and Gender Center’s second installment of the “Talk Back Series” titled “Witches in Halloween,” attendees were asked to contemplate the characterization and identity of witches within four different pop culture staples: “Twitches,” “Hocus Pocus,” “The Wizard of Oz” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.”

Through these sources came a dialogue about society’s attitudes towards the aging woman, how feminine strength is defined and viewed over time,

sexuality and finally, the cross section between witches and racial identity. The development of complexity in the personalities and backstories was noted in works such as in the 2014 film “Maleficent” and the beloved musical “Wicked,” which lends a sympathetic and humanistic quality to witches, which they were deprived of during the early witch crazes. The discussion involved correlation between the benevolence and power of a witch and their looks and age, with the “younger, sexy” witches of works such as the television series “Charmed,” as well as cultural differences in the attitudes to witches with material such as Hayao Miyazaki’s films “Spirited Away” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service.”

Despite the evident empowering of and fondness for witches that started in the late 90’s and is still evolving today, the idea of an empowered, good witch is still dominated by the figure of a white witch. When asked to discuss the intersectionality between the character of the witch and racial identity, it was clear to discussants that representation of people of color is severely lacking in this recent movement of lovable and powerful witches. Even now, media associates black women with ideas of Voodoo, which in and of itself is consistently cast in a negative and misconstrued light. The racism that makes this connection and obscures religious tradition of voodoo into horror often excludes black women from this movement, if they are even represented at all.

The witch is a figure laden with heavy topics, as it is a figure reflective of a society’s attitudes in regards to women in particular. The Women’s and Gender Center facilitated a comfortable and safe location for this dialogue to take place where all voices were welcomed and respected. In this space, we watched the image of the witch transfigure. And what is more true to Halloween fashion than transformation?

The Amherst Student • October 19, 2016

Sports 9

Women’s Cross Country Impresses at Little Threes

Men’s Soccer Vanquishes Four Opponents In Past Two Weeks

Mary Grace Cronin ’18 Staff Writer

Delancey King ’18 Staff Writer

The Amherst women’s cross country team sent four runners to the James Early Invitational over fall break to compete against a strong field of division three competitors.

Amherst placed one runner, Monica Nimmagadda ’18 in the, top-100, as Nimmagadda’s time of 24:33.73 was good for an 88th place overall finish. First-year Kristin Ratliff finished 30 seconds behind Nimmagadda with a time of 25:03.23 that positioned her at 122nd out of the field of 459.

Kathryn McHenry ’17 followed right on Ratliff ’s heels finishing her 5k in 25:20.63 and placing 148th, still in the top half of the overall field. The last Amherst runner in the field to cross the finish line was Amy Pass ’20, who finished in 277th place with a time of 27:00.35.

The purple and white returned to action the following weekend and earned second place at the annual Little Three Championship, hosted

by Wesleyan. This championship pitted the purple and white against traditional NESCAC rivals, Williams and Wesleyan.

The purple and white have received second place in this tournament every year since winning their last Little Three title in 2007. In spite

of Amherst’s best efforts, Williams, currently ranked third in the nation, has been all but invincible among NESCAC competition.

Amherst placed four runners in the top-20, including Katherine Treanor ’20, Nicky Roberts ’18, Cara Lembo ’17 and Savanna Gorniciewicz ’17. These four have all enjoyed stand out seasons and been consistent point scorers this fall.

Treanor led the pack and managed an exciting second place finish, with a time of 18:33.40.

Spectators had to have their cameras ready, with her finish coming only 0.5 seconds ahead of Williams runner, Carmen Bango. Treanor would be the lone Amherst runner among a sea of Ephs, as only she and Roberts placed in the top-10.

Roberts’ time of 19:06.40 was good for 10th place, ahead of the first Wesleyan runner. Next, Lembo and Gorniciewicz ended the race only 0.5 seconds apart to finish 14th and 15th respectively.

Veronica Rocco ’19 was the last scoring runner to cross the finish line in 21st place, claiming a time of 19:33.6.

The purple and white travel to Colby on Saturday, Oct. 29, to compete in the NESCAC championship, the start of their official postseason competition.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

With four wins over the past two weeks, the Amherst men’s soccer team has improved to an overall record of 11-1-1. The winning streak began with a non-conference matchup against New England College on Wednesday, Oct. 5.

Senior captain Chris Martin started things off with a goal in the third minute of regulation. Only 15 minutes later, Martin found cocaptain Cameron Bean ’17, who notched his first goal of the 2016 season.

Martin came up big once again before the end of the half, capitalizing on a breakaway and pushed the purple and white’s lead to three. Making eight saves over the course of the game, Lee Owen ’18 preserved the shutout and helped Amherst walk away with a decisive 3-0 win.

The purple and white returned to conference play on Saturday, Oct. 8, when they took on Hamilton at home. Once again, a strong first half helped Amherst to come away with the win. Cameron Hardington ’18 scored the game winner in the third minute, as he headed the ball into the back of the net off of an assist from Bean.

Jackson Lehnhart ’17 increased Amherst’s lead to two a mere five minutes later. Getting on the end of a well-placed corner from Dane Lind ’20, Lehnhart headed the ball past the Hamilton keeper. The game remained competitive and physical, with a total of 41 fouls called throughout the run of play, but the score remained at 2-0.

On Tuesday, Oct. 11, the purple and white traveled to New London, Connecticut to face off against NESCAC rival Connecticut College. Led by a two-goal performance from

Bryce Ciambella ’17, Amherst came away with a 3-1 win. Ciambella struck twice in the first half, first in the 21st minute and then again in the 29th minute.

Fikayo Ajayi ’19 increased Amherst’s lead to three in the second half, receiving a pass from Martin and notching his second goal of the season.

The Camels’ best opportunity of the game came with only four minutes remaining, when the purple and white gave up a foul inside the box. Conn. College’s Pat Devlin stepped up to take the penalty kick and fired the ball past Owen to prevent Amherst from attaining their fourth consecutive shutout.

Another strong showing from Ciambella helped Amherst to edge out Colby 1-0 at home on Oct. 15. In the concluding minutes of the first half, Ciambella found the ball and beat two Colby defenders to create a quality opportunity for himself inside the Mules’ 18yard box. Ciambella fired a shot that streaked across the keeper and into the bottom right corner of the net.

Although the purple and white failed to score again, the team still peppered the Hamilton goal with shots. Martin again proved his offensive capability, leading the team with five shots over the 90 minutes. On the defensive side, Owen made some impressive saves in the final minutes of the game to preserve the shutout and secure the win.

“Coach always says ‘it’s tough to win game’,” Will Cohen ‘19 said. “Getting another NESCAC win feels good, but as we move to the end of regular season and especially playoffs, we need to continue to improve if we want to be back to where we were last year.”

Amherst returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 22, when the team will travel to Wesleyan for a crucial Little Three matchup.

Men’s Golf Sends Five to New York, Finishes Fourth Overall

Katherine Treanor ‘20 led Amherst runners, finishing second this weekend.

Spotlight on Club Sports: A Follow-Up on Sailing Jenny Mazzella ’20 Staff Writer Since its big return this year, the Amherst club sailing team has been very busy. On Oct. 1, the team competed in its first ever regatta — the Harvard Invitational — on the Charles river.

The regatta took place on a rainy Saturday, and, Amherst came in last place. However, even in defeat, the team had a lot of fun and learned much from its first competitive experience. The purple and white left the regatta excited for its next opportunity, which came only two weeks later.

On Saturday, Oct. 15, the team went back to the Charles river for its second regatta, which was hosted by the Massachussetts Institute of Technology. Returning with more experience, more practice and, importantly, better weather, the team felt much more prepared than it had before the Harvard regatta.

Led by Coach John Wenz and junior captains Luke Haggerty and Amanda Temares, the team that traveled to the second regatta consisted of six other sailors: juniors Tasha Kim, Sam Alpert and Zoe Kayton, sophomore Jessye McVane, and first-years Chirag Malkani and Chris Rabasa.

There are two sailors per boat in each race.

In the regatta, Amherst competed in a total of 14 races. There are two divisions of races, A and B, each of which occur simultaneously.

Amherst sailed in seven A races and seven B

races. In the majority of the races, the purple and white finished somewhere between 12th and 15th place out of the total of 18 teams competing.

The highlight of the regatta occurred when Haggerty was finishing off one race, and he turned to see another Amherst boat made up of Kim and Temares finishing fourth. With this fourth place finish, Kim and Temares beat some of the top varsity teams, including Tufts, Harvard and MIT. Overall, the team placed 15th, a big improvement from the last place finish of the first regatta. In just two weeks, the team made huge strides in competitive events, and it hopes to continue to improve over the course of the year.

“I’m very proud of how far the team has come in such little time,” Haggerty said. Last year, there wasn’t even a sailing team. Two months ago, the vast majority of the sailing team’s members had never once been in a sailboat in their lives, but now, the Amherst club sailing team is racing within the competitive New England Collegiate Sailing Association (NESIA).

This was the purple and white’s last regatta of the fall semester. The team hopes to get in a few more practices, and then move the boats out of the lake in preparation for the winter season. The team will begin competing again during the spring semester and aim to improve even further upon the fall season’s building blocks.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Sam Procter ‘18 finished in 22nd place with a 23-over-par score of 165.

Nate Quigley ’19 Managing Sports Editor The Amherst men’s golf team closed out the fall portion of their schedule with a strong showing at the Manhattanville/NYU Fall Invitational over the Friday and Saturday of fall break. Building off of the momentum from a third-place finish at the NESCAC championships the weekend prior, the purple and white finished in fourth place at the tournament.

Amherst sent a completely different squad from the one that had impressed in Middlebury, with three first years and two juniors making the trek to the Hampshire Country Club in Mamaroneck, New York.

Nicholas Kumamoto ’20 led the purple and white on both days of action, shooting a 79 on Friday and 77 on Saturday for a two-day total of 156, which was good for a total score of 14 over par and a tie for sixth place with two other golfers.

Fellow first-year Jack Klein also had an impressive showing, as he shot 82-79-161 over

the weekend, a score that earned him a 13th place finish.

The purple and white placed two more scorers in the top 25, with Mateo Wiesner ’18 (86, 78, 164) and Sam Proctor ’18 (82, 83, 165) finishing in 20th and 22nd place respectively.

Nicholas Sullivan ’20 completed the scoring for the purple and white with a weekend total of 178 (85-93).

Amherst’s score of 645 (328, 317) wasn’t enough to beat out Skidmore, who won the tournament with two-day score of 618 (310308). However, on Saturday, the purple and white did manage to significantly outperform their Friday performance, further demonstrating the team’s resilience after the strong second-day display at NESCAC championship qualifiers.

This tournament marked the end of the fall season for the purple and white. However, the team returns to action in the spring, during which they hope to build off of this strong fall season and turn in a strong showing at the NESCAC championships.

10

Sports

The Amherst Student • October 19, 2016

Women’s Soccer Outscores Opponents 10-1, Extends Win Streak to Seven Hayes Honea ’19 Staff Writer The Amherst women’s soccer team extended its winning streak to seven, as they took down Hamilton 3-0, Keene State 3-0, Colby 2-0 and Connecticut College 2-1 over the last two weeks.

Last week, the purple and white dominated Hamilton offensively for the majority of the match, significantly outshooting the Continentals 20-6.

As has become the standard, Amherst came out with a quick start. Putting the pressure on from the very beginning, Rubii Tamen ’19 tore down the field and knocked one past Hamilton’s goalkeeper just two minutes into the game.

“We know our team performs better when we score early, so we make it a mission to do so,” Emily Hester ’17 said.

Keeping with this mindset, not five minutes after Tamen scored, Megan Root ’19 took a free kick and perfectly arched the ball to teammate Ashlyn Heller ’17, who connected with the ball to put it into the net. In the remainder of the first half, Heller took two more shots on goal. Hamilton’s goalie was able to stop these, but the constant offensive pressure from Amherst was hard to fight.

The Continentals eventually managed three shots on target, but Amherst’s Chelsea Cutler ’19 saved each of them, earning her third career shutout.

“I have a lot of confidence in my teammates,” Cutler said. “It’s easier to shut the other team out when you have such good players on the field with you.”

Amherst solidified the score at 3-0 when Hester took control of a loose ball and took an impressive, successful shot on goal from a significant distance out.

“A couple of games ago we really found our confidence,” Sarah Frohman ’17 said. “We have been saying since day one that we need to believe

in ourselves, and I think that against Tufts, we showed each other that belief is now more than a word: we have exemplified pride.”

Amherst continued its winning ways with a victory over Keene State last Tuesday. Yet again the purple and white took an early lead with a goal from Maeve McNamara ’19 at the 9:13 mark.

Minutes later, Hannah Guzzi ’18, who leads Amherst in shots on goal, struck a beautiful ball that seemed to be heading just under the crossbar, but Keene State’s goalie was able to make the save.

Four minutes into the second half, Tamen made the score 2-0 off an assist from Guzzi. 20 minutes later, in the 68th minute, Askins looped a ball into the air that McNamara headed into the back of the net, solidifying the score at 3-0.

Against Colby, a game that doubled as the team’s senior day, the team rolled over their league opponent. Though the first goal wasn’t fired home until the 21:36 mark, Amherst was still the first to score. Off several rebounds from a shot by Tamen, Guzzi was finally able to find the back of the net to give the purple and white a 1-0 advantage. Then, in the second half, Guzzi scored again, her 10th goal of the season, off a cross from McNamara.

The following day, Amherst furthered their impressive winning streak with an important win over NESCAC opponent, Conn. College.

After a quick goal by the Camels, an intense back-and-forth first half ensued, Askins took a powerful shot from 30 yards out and tied the score. This restored Amherst’s confidence, and they ended up outshooting the Camels 7-3. However, the score remained tied throughout much of the second half, with the threat of a possible overtime looming. Nevertheless, in the 82nd minute, Askins scored off a beautiful cross from Tamen, and the purple and white took the victory.

Amherst returns to the field on Saturday, Oct. 22, when they travel to Little Three rival Wesleyan and hope to continue their impressive winning streak.

Football Suffers First Loss Since 2013, Comes Back to Beat Colby at Home Caleb Winfrey ’19 Staff Writer On Oct. 8, the purple and white’s 21-game winning streak was snapped by Middlebury in a competitive 27-26 match on the Middlebury’s home turf. This was the program’s first loss since Oct. 19, 2013.

Offensively, Nick Morales ’19 started his first collegiate game at quarterback. He went 28-for-39 with a touchdown and one interception. Once again, star sophomore running back Jack Hickey led the team in rushing, picking up 53 yards on 16 attempts with two touchdowns.

Devin Boehm ’17 and Nick Widen ’17 each had 11 receptions for 141 yards and 111 yards, respectively. Boehm contributed a sensational 71-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

On special teams, John Rak ’19, usually the team’s starting safety, was 2-for-2 in field goal attempts with a long of 52 yards in addition to his 34-yarder. His field goal is the second longest in Amherst history and the longest in NESCAC history since the league was created in 1971. Andrew Ferrero ’19 had one of his two punts downed inside the 20-yard line, while first-year Henry Atkenson had six punts for 216 yards, highlighted by a 66-yard boot late in the game.

Defensively, Parker Chapman ’17 led all players with 12 tackles — five solo and seven assists — including a sack for a loss of seven yards. Andrew Yamin ’19 and Evan Boynton ’17 both also notched sacks on the Panther’s quarterback, while Boynton also broke up three passes for the purple and white’s defense.

Following this tough loss for the program, on Oct. 15, the Amherst football team returned to its usual NESCAC dominance with a 41-0

rout of Colby. With the win, Amherst moved to 3-1 on the season. Amherst now leads the all-time series with Colby, 35-4-1, and has won 21 straight matchups against its NESCAC rival. The purple and white have now outscored their Maine counterparts 521-133 during that stretch, which includes five shutouts.

With a commanding 525 yards of total offense, Amherst’s sophomore-dominated offense was unstoppable. Morales had another spectacular game with 323 passing yards and three touchdowns. Sam Amaka ’19 and Hickey led the rushing unit with four rushes for 57 yards and nine rushes for 56 yards, respectively. Both of the sophomore running backs finished with a touchdown.

Bo Berluti ’19 led all receivers with 155 yards on seven receptions and two touchdowns. Boehm and Widen both had 50 receiving yards to further assist the Amherst passing game.

The Amherst defense also had a great day, limiting Colby to only 112 yards of total offense, 87 yards in the air and 25 yards on the ground. Chapman led a stellar defensive effort with a team-best seven tackles, including a sack, and added an interception.

Hunter Voegele ’18 and Isaiah Holloway ’17 added six tackles each, while Holloway notched two sacks for a total loss of 14 yards as the purple and white sacked Colby quarterbacks a total of seven times throughout the contest.

Niyi Odewade ’17 posted a sack for a loss of six yards. Bolaji Ekhator ’18 and Markel Thomas ’18 each brought down the quarterback as well.

Amherst returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 22, when they travel to Little Three rival Wesleyan. The match is the homecoming game for the 3-1 Cardinals.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Mohamed Hussein ’18 Favorite Team Memory: The 5K loop Favorite Pro Athlete: Muhammed Ali Dream Job: Professional footballer for Arsenal football club Pet Peeve: When people don’t keep it 100 Favorite Vacation Spot: Sacadadiin Island Something on Your Bucket List: Watch a live Arsenal game at Emirates stadium Guilty Pleasure: Hershey’s chocolate drops Favorite Food: Hilib Geel Favorite Thing About Amherst: Shaah and Sheeko. Shaah and Sheeko is a Somali tradition wherein people share stories over tea. Last year, I had the chance to experience Shaah and Sheeko with few good friends.

Special shoutout goes to the amazing Darienne Masishi Madlala ’16 who unselfishly provided both the tea and the space for the many participants of Shaah and Sheeko How He Earned It: Hussein continued to shine as one of the foremost cross-crountry runners in the country as he raced to fifthplace overall at the NEICAAA meet, the first Division III runner to finish. He also claimed second place overall at the Little Three Championships.

Jackie Calla ’17E Favorite Team Memory: When the team got lost hiking the Notch Favorite Pro Athlete: Usain Bolt Dream Job: TV host of a travel channel show Pet Peeve: When people say they aren’t good dancers Favorite Vacation Spot: The Amazon Something on Your Bucket List: Go to the summer and winter Olympic Games Guilty Pleasure: Issue’s PB&J sandwiches Favorite Food: Turkey burgers at Val Favorite Thing About Amherst: Lindy Labriola ’17’s music and having class with Claire Carpenter ’17 every day!

How She Earned It: Calla continued her excellent final season as a member of the purple and white, winning the New England Women’s Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament this past weekend. With a 3-1 record in singles play and a perfect 4-0 mark in doubles, Calla swept aside all comers in the Davis Cup-style action. In the finals, Calla clinched the win on the singles court, after handily winning doubles.

Volleyball Recovers From Three Straight Losses to Defeat Hamilton on the Road Katie Bergamesca ’18 Staff Writer The Amherst volleyball team had an action packed past two weeks. After taking a week off from game action, the purple and white traveled to New London, Connecticut to take on Connecticut College.

The Camels halted Amherst’s three-game win streak in NESCAC play, as they edged the purple and white 3-1 (25-21, 13-25, 25-23, 2523). The Amherst women did not go quietly however, with Maggie Danner ’17 and Nicole Gould ’17 smashing the ball for 15 and 13 kills respectively.

Annika Reczek ’18 led the team at the net defensively with three blocks, while Hayes Honea ’19 paced an impressive defensive floor performance with 24 digs. Kelci Keeno ’17 provided two service aces in the losing effort.

Charlotte Duran ’20 and Kate Bres ’17 posted 18 assists apiece. Despite the notable statistical performance, it was just not quite enough for the purple and white to pull off the win on the road.

Amherst remained on the road for its next two matches at Springfield College, competing in the Tom Hay Invitational. In the first match of the day, the Amherst women faced Endicott College. The purple and white bounced back quickly from their loss the day before and managed to defeat Endicott 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21).

Danner once again led the offensive effort with 16 kills. Mia Natsis ’18 came up big at the net with nine blocks. Keeno and Emily Kolsky ’20 supported Natsis’ play contributing seven blocks each.

Starring as a consistent defensive component, Honea was strong on defense with 24 digs. Keeno delivered another three services aces, while Asha Walker ’18 served up two in the purple and white’s triumph.

Despite winning their first set, the Amherst women dropped their match against Spring-

field College, 1-3 (21-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-11).

Gould took offensive control during the match providing 12 kills for the purple and white offense, and Reczek was back at it at the net, putting up seven blocks.

In addition to 19 assists, Bres laid out for eight digs. Honea put on a stellar display with 30 digs and two service aces, however it was not quite enough for the purple and white to top Springfield.

Amherst returned to NESCAC play the following week with an away match against Middlebury. Although the Amherst women managed to force four sets, they ultimately dropped the match to the Panthers 1-3 (25-15, 21-25, 25-19, 25-16).

Danner had a team high of 13 kills, while Bres remained solid on offense with 20 assists.

At net, Claire Dennis ’20 notched three blocks.

Honea finished with 18 digs and Reczek had another strong match posting two service aces.

Despite the loss at Middlebury, the purple and white gained momentum the next day and managed to down Hamilton the next day on the road. Gould and Lauren Reppert ’19 worked in tandem on offense contributing 13 and 11 kills respectively.

Duran also took charge on offense with 20 assists; Bres followed closely behind with 16.

Honea shined once again on the court; the sophomore posted 24 digs and 4 service aces in Amherst’s victory over Hamilton.

At the end of action over the past two weeks, Amherst stands at 11-6 overall and 5-3 in NESCAC play. The purple and white will look to continue improving its record in LefFrak Gymnasium this Thursday against Regis College.

The team will then host the Hall of Fame Invitational, beginning on Friday. The tournament opens with an Amherst match up against Bridgewater St; the purple and white will then take on SUNY-Canton and University of Massachussetts-Boston on Saturday on their home court.

The Amherst Student • October 19, 2016

Sports

Men’s Tennis Impresses with Young Squad at MIT Fall Invite Tournament Julia Turner ’19 Managing Sports Editor The Amherst men’s tennis team wrapped up its fall schedule this weekend Oct. 14-16 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, competing in the three-day Massachussetts Institute of Technology Fall Invitational tournament. The purple and white sent nine players to the tournament, where they saw promising performances in both singles and doubles action from the young squad.

The purple and white claimed victories in seven of their nine first-round singles matches when first years Gabe Owens, Jayson Fung, Josh Marchalik, Nathan Kaplan and Oscar Burney all downed their respective NESCAC opponents.

Sophomores Zach Bessette and Jesse Levitin also picked up victories against Middlebury and Bowdoin opponents, respectively.

The first-years continued to impress in the round of 32, as Owens, Kaplan, Burney and Marchalik all picked up their second victory of the tournament to move on to the round of 16.

Two of the final players left standing were wearing purple and white after Burney defeated his MIT opponent 6-3 and 6-2, while Marchalik picked up a three set win against Holtzman of Wesleyan (6-4, 1-6, 6-3) to move on to the elite eight. Kaplan was edged by Cheng of MIT, while Owens lost a hard-fought battle to Brandeis’s Arguello in three sets.

Unfortunately in the quarterfinals, only one Amherst player could advance, as Burney and Marchalik were slated head-to-head in their elite eight matchup. Burney defeated Marchalik in two sets (6-2, 6-1) to move on to the semi-final round. Ultimately, Burney fell to his Middlebury opponent in two hard-fought sets.

“It was a great showing at such an early tournament,” Levetin said. “We are really excited about all the young talent that we have on the team this year.”

Moving from singles to doubles action, the purple and white sent four doubles pairs who also had standout performances among the talented pool of teams. In the first round, Marchalik and Paradis defeated their opponents from Tufts in an 8-3 win, while Burney and Kaplan took down NESCAC rivals Williams with an 8-5 victory. The sophomore matchup of Heidenberg and Bessette was bested by an MIT pair, while Owens and Fun fell to Brandies opponents 8-6.

In the next round, the purple and white went 1-1 when Marchalik and Paradis continued to roll over the competition, downing Alex Cauneac and Bryan Lilley of MIT 8-3, while Burney and Kapln suffered a hard-fought loss to a Middlebury pair 8-6.

Marchalik and Paradis were finally brought down in the round of 8 when they were bested by their Middlebury counterparts, who went on to lose to the ultimate Wesleyan doubles champions.

Having finished the fall slate, the purple and white will return to action this spring when the team travels to Florida over spring break to play in their preseason tournament beginning on March 10.

Photo courtesy of Amherst Athletics

Jesse Levitin ’19 picked up a victory in the first round of singles play.

Field Hockey Wins Two Against NESCAC Competition, Drops Game to Hamilton Meredith Manley ’18 Staff Writer

Over the past two weeks the Amherst women’s field hockey team has played a total of three games, winning a match away against Connecticut College and home versus Colby, but falling to Hamilton in a tight game decided in one period of over time.

Coming off of a big win against Bates the week prior, the purple and white geared up to play on the road at Conn. College for a Wednesday night game on Oct. 5.

The first half ended with the same score as it had when time began. Neither team managed to create any dangerous scoring opportunities in their attacking third of the field, thus, entering halftime with the teams knotted at zero.

It wasn’t until time reached 38 minutes that the fans saw their first goal. Off of an ambitious shot on goal from 25 yards out, Laura Schwartsman ’20 powered the ball towards the goal from the center of the field.

Heather Brennan ’20 was able to collect the ball and send it sailing past the Camels’ goaltender for the game-winning goal. 25 minutes later Mary Margaret Stoll ’17, further secured the win off of a corner opportunity in which she gathered a shot that came flying off of one of Brennan’s stick.

With one of their last mid-week games ending in a win, the purple and white were entering the weekend with high spirits and ready to take on Hamilton. Amherst was the first to take the lead, as Stoll capitalized off of an off-target shot fired from the stick of Kendall Codey ’19. This proved to be the only goal produced in the first half, leaving all the excitement for the second frame.

Hamilton came back hard, relentlessly pressing forward to test first-year goalkeeper Emilie Flamme.

Within the first five minutes of the second half the Continentals took the lead for the first time in the match. With a quick response Caroline Fiore ’18, found the back netting after the purple and white were awarded a penalty stroke. As the game clock was winding down, again, Codey connected with Stoll who scored to tie the game just as the final whistle sounded.

Five minutes into the first period of overtime, the Continentals were again the first to find the back of the net. The close 2-1 score truly represented the competitive nature of the game in that it was a well-fought contest between two evenly matched teams.

Quickly standing back up and brushing themselves off after a tough loss against Hamilton, the purple and white matched up with Colby on Gooding Field on Saturday, Oct 15.

Mary Grace Cronin ’18 scored her first goal of three for the match to get Amherst on the scoreboard. Before the end of the first half, Amherst increased their score by two ending the first half with a score of 3-1.

The purple and white continued to tally their score in the second half with two more goals from Cronin to complete her hat trick.

Standout forward Sara Culhane ’18E added one goal to the purple and white tally. After a strong performance on the field, the game finished in favor of Amherst with a score of 6-2.

After these past two weeks, Amherst finds themselves with a record of 5-3 in the NESCAC and 9-3 in overall competition with a national rank of ninth in the country. They are back in action on Oct. 19 on Gooding field at 7:00 p.m. against Smith.

11

Timeout with Talia Talia Land ’20 Columnist Talia Land spotlights the NHL’s newest standout rookie, Auston Matthews, the sensational newcomer for the Maple Leafs who recently became the fifth rookie in history to score a hat trick in his first professional game.

The National Hockey League is back in action. Regular game play for the 2016 season began on Oct. 12 and will go all the way until midApril, when the Stanley Cup playoffs begin. This year is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the NHL. With the all-time great Wayne Gretzky as the “official centennial ambassador”, it’s bound to be a monumental celebration. This year is a time to reflect on the long-time rivalries, famous last-second wins, inspirational coaches and, of course, the new generation of hockey players that aims to be even better than those from years past.

When speaking of the new generation of fast and talented hockey players, there is one name that comes to mind, especially after last week’s games: Auston Matthews. Remember that name.

Matthews, who just turned 19 this September, has been a hockey star within other leagues since a young age. He grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he enjoyed watching Phoenix Coyote’s games mostly because of his interest in the Zamboni. When he was five, Matthews began playing with the Arizona Bobcats minor league team.

That is where he found his true passion.

Matthews went on to play for the U.S. National U17 and then U18 teams. He broke the National Development Team program record by tallying 116 points in his second season. Matthews was named the Most Valuable Player at the World U18 Championships in 2015. At this point, he was getting looks from various international coaches. It was time to start a professional career.

Unfortunately, Matthews missed the birthday cutoff for the 2015 NHL draft by two days.

So instead, his career began in Switzerland’s National League A on the ZSC Lion’s. He finished the 2015-2016 season as the second top scorer on the team and won the NLA rising star award.

Overall, he ended up with five awards from his stint in Switzerland. All of this publicity culminated in the 2016 NHL draft, when the Toronto Maple Leafs took him first overall.

By selecting Matthews as the first overall pick in the draft, the Leafs made him the first American to be drafted first overall since 2007. The team and Matthews had no problems ironing out a three-year contract. What exactly did he agree

to? $925,000 per season to be exact, plus bonuses.

Once that was settled, he was all set to play.

Matthews had a successful preseason, but the real fun began during his regular season NHL debut. On Oct. 12, the Toronto Maple Leafs faced the Ottawa Senators. Just a few minutes into the first period, Matthews scored his first NHL goal for the Leafs, becoming the 12th rookie in history to score in his first game. He celebrated, but kept his head in the game, netting his second goal just a few minutes later by impressively out-maneuvering all five Senators players on the ice. Less than two minutes into the second period, Matthews scored his third goal on his third shot. In doing so, he became the fifth NHL rookie to score a hat trick in his NHL debut, and the only top overall pick ever to do so. Finally, with three seconds left in the second period, Matthews scored his fourth goal of the game, becoming the only NHL rookie to ever score four goals in his debut game. The only bitter part of that sweet day for Matthews was losing 5-4 in overtime. But hey, the kid sure can be proud for scoring all of his team’s goals.

So what’s next? Two games into the season, he already averages around 20 minutes of ice time a game, which is a decent amount for a rookie. His parents are still taking it all in and are absolutely amazed by their teenage son. His dad, Brian Matthews, told The Associated Press, “I hope that nobody’s going to wake me up here anytime soon … this is unbelievable.” Matthews seemed pretty laid back in an interview after his first game, saying that he wished they could pull out the win. “It’s just one game. Take it, move forward and focus on the next one,” he said.

Although his impressive performance took place over the course of one game, Matthews’ story is one that hockey fans are extremely excited to watch play out during the 2016-2017 season.

The Junior hockey league has become more widespread and more competitive, ensuring that future NHL rookies will come into the league with greater experience than rookies of the past. If you’re a hockey fan, I would recommend watching a game during this 100th season celebration.

With the talent growing steadily each year, it’s guaranteed to be a fast paced and exciting event.

Sports

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Steven Lucey ‘17 had an impressive showing for the purple and white at the Little Three Championship, finishing in 10th place with a time of 26:06.3.

Men’s Cross Country Places in Top Five at NEICAA and Little Three Races Veronica Rocco ’19 Staff Writer The men’s cross country team had a busy two weeks, competing in two major meets. Last Saturday, Oct. 8 the team traveled to Franklin Park in Boston to compete at the NEICAAA meet.

With only the top-seven runners allowed to compete in the varsity race comprised of runners from Division I, II and III schools, the team was split between the varsity and junior varsity races.

In the varsity race, the purple and white finished in seventh place with 194 points. This finish is particularly impressive, as Amherst was the second highest placing Division III team, with rival Massachussetts Institute of Technology finishing in third place with 133 points. In the junior varsity race, the Amherst harriers were spectacular, winning with 87 points. Leading the Amherst harriers was once again Mohamed Hussein ’18, finishing in fifth place overall as the first Division III finisher in the 221-person field. The defending NESCAC champion finished 20 seconds ahead of the next

Division III runner.

Following Hussein was Cosmo Brossy ’19, placing in the top-25 with a 24th place finish.

Brossy continues his 2016 cross country success, as he has either placed first or second among Amherst runners this season. Finishing third among the Amherst harriers was Raymond Meijer ’17, finishing in 38th place.

Following Meijer was Craig Nelson ’18, finishing in 47th place, to be the fourth scorer for the team. Finishing out the scoring five was Steven Lucey ’17, finishing in 80th place for the second year in a row, showing his consistency. Following Lucey in the sixth and seventh non-scoring positions were Kristian Sogaard ’19 and Tucker Meijer ’19, in 96th and 191st places, respectively.

“It was a great day for racing, perfect weather and we got out fast,” Brossy said. “We moved up pretty well so I was happy with the results. Our varsity squad has some work to do, but it was really the junior varsity guys who shined through with Scott [Nelson ’18] leading the charge.”

Coming off its strong NEICAAA finish, the

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

WED THU GAME SCHE DULE

Field Hockey vs. Smith, 7 p.m.

Volleyball vs. Regis, 6 p.m.

team competed this past Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Little Three Championships, hosted by Wesleyan.

This meet pits Amherst against NESCAC rivals Williams and Wesleyan. Despite the smaller field, the purple and white raced well and placed second to Williams with 42 points, to the 25 points scored by the Ephs. Wesleyan rounded out the field by placing third with 74 points.

From the gun, Hussein led the 71-person field.

Hussein, along with two Williams and one Wesleyan runner, separated from the rest of the field early on, leaving the team scores to ultimately be decided by the rest of the runners. Eventually, Peter Hale of Williams caught Hussein, and the Amherst junior placed second in the eight kilometer race.

After Hussein was Cosmo Brossy ’19, finishing in fifth place for the purple and white. With the top-four separating early on, Brossy fought for his place, just edging out the sixth place finisher from Williams. Following the sophomore was senior Steven Lucey in 10th place, continuing his breakout cross country season.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

FRI

SAT

Women’s Tennis @ Middlebury Tournament, TBD

Women’s Tennis @ Middlebury Tournament, TBD

Volleyball vs. Bridgewater State, 7:30 p.m.

Following Lucey was a pack of Amherst harriers, led by captain Raymond Meijer ’17. Meijer finished in 12th place, were 12th through 16th places occupied by Amherst singlets, with Craig Nelson ’18, Kristian Sogaard ’19, Justin Barry ’18 and Scott Nelson placing 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th, respectively. Tucker Meijer ’19 and Jacob Silverman ’19 placed 18th and 19th, as the two sophomores both ran competitive races.

Though the Amherst harriers were unable to end Williams’ 28-year streak of Little three Championship victories, the purple and white have high hopes for the rest of the season. They will race rival Williams at the NESCAC championships and New England Regional Championships, the latter in which both teams can automatically qualify for NCAA Nationals by placing first or second as a team.

In two weeks, the Amherst harriers will travel to Waterville, Maine for the NESCAC cross country championships, hosted by Colby. Last year, Amherst placed second to Williams, and this year they hope to prove victorious.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Field Hockey @ Wesleyan, 1 p.m.

Football Volleyball @ Wesleyan, 1 p.m. vs. SUNY Canton, 10 a.m.

Volleyball vs. UMass-Boston, 1 p.m.

Women’s Soccer @ Wesleyan, noon

Men’s Soccer @ Wesleyan, 2:30 p.m.

SUN

Women’s Tennis @ Middlebury Tournament, TBD