Issue 16

THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF AMHERST COLLEGE SINCE 1868

THE AMHERST

STUDENT

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VOLUME CXLVIII, ISSUE 16 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2019

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ResLife Announces Change in Suite Selection Process Cole Graber-Mitchell ’22 Contributing Writer

Photo courtesy of Jiayi Liu

Novelist Jennifer Egan spoke at the college about her most recent book “Manhattan Beach” on March 1 in Johnson Chapel. The event was held as a part of LitFest, the college’s festival dedicated to celebrating literature.

Jennifer Egan Shines Light on Historical Fiction Natalie De Rosa ’21 Managing News Editor Award-winning novelist Jennifer Egan spoke at the college on Friday, March 1 as part of the fourth annual LitFest. Hosted by the literary magazine The Common, the Center for Humanistic Inquiry and the Emily Dickinson Museum, LitFest invites authors to campus every year to illuminate the college’s literary history.

Egan’s most recent novel, “Manhattan Beach,” was awarded the 2018 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and her 2010 book “A Visit From the Goon Squad” won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize. Egan’s stories have also been printed

in The New Yorker and Harper’s Magazine; her non-fiction work is regularly published in The New York Times Magazine.

Martha Umphrey, Bertrand H. Snell 1894 professor in American government in the department of law, jurisprudence and social thought and director of the Center for Humanistic Inquiry, introduced Egan, noting Egan’s skill in “showing her readers possibility.”

“Depth, and the movement through the world and into the beyond seem to preoccupy [Egan] as a writer,” Umphrey said.

Egan began her talk by reading an excerpt from the beginning of her historical fiction novel “Manhattan Beach” that detailed an ex-

change between Anna, the protagonist who later in the novel aspires to be a diver, and her father. As the father-daughter pair drives to the house of a Brooklyn gangster at the height of the Great Depression, Egan describes the nervousness in the father’s eyes and Anna’s observations on the journey.

After the brief reading, Egan joined Jennifer Acker ’00, editor-in-chief of The Common, to discuss “Manhattan Beach,” among Egan’s other writing endeavors.

Acker began by comparing “Manhattan Beach” to “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” citing that both novels featured criminals among the characters. Egan

responded that family members in law enforcement may have sparked an interest in criminals; her grandfather was a cop who served as former President Harry Truman’s bodyguard during his visits to Chicago.

Nonetheless, because of her choice to set “Manhattan Beach” during World War II, Egan found in her research that gangsters were difficult to avoid.

“What was really surprising was how many people knew gangsters. The word kept coming up again and again, and that is something that is not really true nowadays,” Egan said.

Continued on Page 3

The Office of Residential Life announced on Feb. 20 that it has implemented a separate selection process for all suites on campus, removing these rooms from the general selection process, as well as changes to the way accommodations factor into room selection. Previously, the suite process was used only for 10-person suites in Jenkins Dormitory.

According to an information session led by David Watts, assistant director of student life for housing assignment and operations, groups of students vying to live in suites for the 2019-2020 school year will participate in an in-person lottery specifically for suites two weeks before the general housing process on March 20. The new process is designed to make suite selection easier for students and the Office of Residential Life, said Watts.

In previous years, most suites on campus were part of the general housing selection process.

While the 10-person Jenkins suites were already removed from general selection, this is the first year the other suites, including groups as small as three singles or two doubles, will also join the separate housing selection process.

Continued on Page 4

News Feb. 25, 2019 - March 3, 2019

>>Feb. 25, 2019 8:06 a.m., Hitchcock Hall An illegally parked vehicle on the tow list was towed.

5:19 p.m., 79 South Pleasant Lot A tree limb fell due to high winds on a vehicle and caused damage. >>Feb. 26, 2019 9:41 p.m., Williston Hall Officers responded to an alarm sounding on the first floor and found it was caused by burnt food. >>Feb. 27, 2019 11:26 p.m., Campus Grounds Officers assisted an individual having difficulty with the snow. >>Feb. 28, 2019 8:40 a.m., Morrow Dormitory An item used for medical purposes was left unattended and brought to the Health Center for proper handling. >>March 1, 2019 6:44 p.m., Appleton Hall An officer removed a bat from a building.

10:36 p.m., Hitchcock Hall Officers responded to the report of an unauthorized party and confiscated a large source of alcohol. >>March 2, 2019 12:27 a.m., Cohan Dormitory An officer observed party policy violations including alcohol at the conclusion of a registered party.

Pawan Dhingra Fresh Faculty

8:23 a.m., Wilson Admission Center An officer responded to the alarm and found it was set off accidentally by an employee.

3:30 p.m., South Pleasant Street Amherst Police Department and officers responded to a report of a possible fight and found no one in the area.

4:58 p.m., Campus Grounds Officers encountered an individual urinating in public outside a building to which they had access.

8:24 p.m., Newport House A student observed a group of unknown individuals dump furniture onto the lawn. None were found in the area once the officers arrived. >>March 3, 2019 6:51 a.m., Beneski Earth Science and Natural History Museum Officers assisted an individual that was lost and intoxicated from alcohol in the lobby.

7:08 p.m., Stearns Dormitory An officer responded to a report of water flooding the bathroom after sinks were clogged and soap dispensers ripped off of the wall.

3:56 p.m., Hitchcock Hall Items were stolen from a student’s room that was left unlocked.

Department of American Studies

Pawan Dhingra is a professor of American studies. He received his doctorate in sociology from Cornell University and his bachelor’s in psychology from Carleton College.

Q: How did you first start studying the subject that you went on to pursue, and what made you decide to go into academia?

A: I first started studying the subject in college. I wanted to go into academia because I found using research to try to understand social trends and problems enjoyable. A psychology of prejudice class, where I learned how prejudice works cognitively and socially, [was a particular influence].

Q: What is your favorite part of American studies?

A: What I enjoy most about American studies is that it allows for a broad perspective on how we think about and study problems within American society.

Q: What type of research are you doing right now, and how did you first become interested?

A: Right now I am researching a recent trend, where families with elementary school-aged children arrange for their kids to get supplementary education outside of school when there is no real clear remedial purpose. This extra education is primarily for enrichment

and not for any identified deficiencies. I am interested in this area because of what it means for educational inequality, and how this trend might be taking attention away from the public school system. My research process consisted of interviewing families engaged in enrichment education, visiting the sites of enrichment education (e.g. math centers, spelling bees), talking with those who run enrichment education sites and the like.

Q: What kind of classes are you teaching this semester?

A: I am teaching the Asian American Experience, and also the Social Construction of American Society. The Asian American Experience studies how Asian Americans can be understood from multiple analytical perspectives and can help shed light on topics of race, immigration and intersectionality. The Social Construction of American Society course analyzes how core inequalities and institutions of our society are socially constructed and how to analyze those social constructions.

Got a tip?

Email nderosa21@amherst.edu or RYU22@AMHERST.EDU or to pitch story ideas or submit a tip.

Q: What made you decide to come to Amherst?

A: I have been a fan of the college and its accomplishments for many years. I like liberal arts colleges.

Amherst’s American studies department has a lot of exciting faculty and I am excited about being part of the group. I also thought I would enjoy living in this area.

Q: What do you enjoy doing outside the classroom in your spare time?

A: I spend a lot of time with my family, my kids, who are in middle and elementary school. I enjoy reading and a little bit of exercise, but not enough exercise. I tend to mostly read non-fiction books that dovetail with my scholarly interests.

Q: What do you hope to contribute to Amherst College while you are here?

A: I hope to further Asian-American studies and generally contribute to the overall growth of the Amherst College.

—Doug Appenzeller ’22

News 3

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Jennifer Egan Explores the Craft of Writing at LitFest Continued from Page 1 Acker then asked how Egan manages to allow readers to connect and sympathize with her books’ characters even though some possessed criminal backgrounds. Egan described how a writer should dive deeper than a character’s superficial traits, adding that a criminal is still a person with unique attributes.

“A fiction writer’s job is to get inside the consciousness of the people they are writing about and make the reader understand their choices,” Egan said. “When people say, ‘I didn’t like that character,’ what they really mean is that they felt alienated from that character.

That is a failure on the part of the writer.”

Acker shifted focus from the characters in “Manhattan Beach” towards its setting, asking Egan if

she drew novel inspiration from places she visited before. Though Egan said that places offer her a sense of inspiration regardless of whether she has visited or not, “Manhattan Beach” allowed her to transcend location and delve into a “longing for a very different moment in American history.”

After the location was set, Egan said, the characters fell into place.

“Once I started, it felt like the people arrived pretty spontaneously. [The people] I don’t give a lot of thought to,” she said. “I think the best analogy would be improv.”

Egan’s spontaneity in designing her characters prompted Acker to question whether that could lead Egan to create the wrong characters. Egan noted that her first drafts, where she writes more extemporaneously, is where her “wrong characters” appear; she usually cuts them from final

drafts. The first draft of “Manhattan Beach,” Egan said, was 1,400 pages long. The final version had just over 400 pages.

“In fiction, I’m actually trying to create the world that I’m writing about. That only works in this forward, kind of tumbling forward, way,” Egan said.

The initial drafts of “Manhattan Beach” also needed fine tuning in their chronology, according to Egan. While “A Visit From the Goon Squad” was successful in its jump cuts between different moments in time, Egan’s writing group, which she turned to for advice, found that “Manhattan Beach” felt most alive in chronological order.

Acker afterwards asked about Egan’s tendency to write about a lot of male characters, to which Egan responded that it enabled her to envision experiences that

were different from her own. In “Manhattan Beach” specifically, however, Egan found that writing about gendered issues outside of the present gave her more content to discuss inequality. The rise of the #MeToo movement, on the other hand, showed Egan that her assumption was not true. “[Manhattan Beach] came out a month before #MeToo happened. When I was working on it, I thought, ‘Wow, I’m really lucky that I’m setting this in the 40s,’ because I wanted to write about gender and female strength, but it would be so hard to do that in contemporary times because these kinds of issues are behind us,” Egan said. “We now know that we haven’t quite solved these problems.”

To close the discussion, Egan talked about the importance of examining the World War II era.

Though Egan conducted interviews with those alive during World War II for her novel research, she noted that a majority of her interviewees had passed away in recent years. “We all feel the preciousness of this period because it’s about to disappear from living memory,” she said.

The talk was followed by a Q&A session, in which Egan talked more about her writing group and compared fiction writing to journalistic writing.

Olivia Luntz ’21, who attended the event, found Egan’s integration of historical events into her fiction compelling.

“As a history major, I was really impressed by all of her historical research” she said. “What was interesting to me was how Egan was able to use sources I had only seen as evidence in historical writing and craft a piece of literature.”

National Book Award Finalists Discuss #MeToo Isabella Weiner ’20 Contributing Writer The college hosted a conversation with 2018 National Book Award for Fiction finalists Jamel Brinkley and Brandon Hobson on Thursday, Feb. 28. The conversation, part of the fourth annual LitFest, was moderated by Rebecca Carroll, a critic for the Los Angeles Times. LitFest is a three-day event in service of “illuminating great writing & Amherst College’s literary life.”

The event began with the authors reading from their recently published works — Brinkley from his collection of short stories entitled “A Lucky Man” and Hobson from his book “Where the Dead Sit Talking.”

Brinkley said during the conversation that his short stories veered towards the lengthier, almost novelistic side, and tended to center their focus on male characters. In these stories, women are peripheral characters, oftentimes sexualized or characterized as archetypal manic-pixie dream girls, as in the first story, “Nothing More Than A Bub-

ble.” In other instances, they acted as a bridge between male characters, performing emotional labor to help men resolve their differences. Such characteristics prompted questions including: “How should one tell stories about masculinity in the wake of the #MeToo movement?” and “Is it possible to critique and describe toxic masculinity and not be entrapped in that space?”

During the conversation, the audience was asked to submit questions, which the moderator posed to the two authors. In a question about the gendered nature of his characters, Brinkley acknowledged that his protagonists were male in all of his stories but one. To escape that space, he asserted he had to “widen the lens,” and “make the story smarter than the character.” Having this wider view — rather than being stuck in the character’s head — allows the reader to view the stories as critiques of behavior, rather than as replications of structures of oppression.

Carroll then turned the conversation to discuss the implications of #MeToo. Brinkley noted how he did not “set out” to make his collection

“timely,” but that it had been labeled as such and swept up into the movement. One question particularly stuck out to Hobson, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation Tribe of Oklahoma. Carroll asked him about Sherman Alexie, author of the seminal “The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian,” who has come under sexual misconduct allegations in the wave of #MeToo. Hobson responded that there are

many Native American authors besides Alexie.

The conversation also covered a range of other topics, including the texture of sound in writing and social justice. Hobson recounted that, as a young writer, he often submitted works for publication “too soon” and encouraged prospective authors to have patience. Brinkley also discussed his aversion to the word “empathy.” He described

the term as a form of “emotional tourism”— soaking up someone else’s experiences as one’s own. He instead advocated using the word “curiosity;” curiosity conveys the fundamental differences in our experiences. And while many might find his stories difficult to read due to their often painful subjects, Brinkley ended the talk by speaking about the importance of love in his stories.

Photo courtesy of Jiayi Liu

National Book Award finalists Jamel Brinkley (left), Brandon Hobson (center) and moderator (right) Rebecca Carroll answered questions, discussed #MeToo and talked about their writing.

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News 4

Suite Selection Process Intended to Ease Room Draw

Photo courtesy of Matai Curzon ’22

Photo courtesy of Matai Curzon ’22

The Office of Residential Life announced on Feb. 20 that the suite selection process would occur earlier than general housing selection in hopes of better filling bed spaces.

Continued from Page 1 Coveted by seniors and juniors, suites have caused issues in the past when included in the general selection process. When a suite is left with one bedspace unfilled, Watts said, it can be difficult to place someone into that space. He also noted that in the past, groups unable to obtain a suite have been forced to quickly reevaluate and break up in order to find other rooms during the

general selection process.

According to the Office of Residential Life, suite selection will be two weeks before general selection to give students who do not receive suites time to make alternate arrangements in the general selection process.

Chief Student Affairs Officer Hikaru Kozuma highlighted this change in an email interview: “We thought about how students may need to regroup because their number-one desire did not

pan out, and we wanted to create some time for students to reconsider next steps without feeling rushed.”

Cat Sarosi ’22 said she was “optimistic that this is a positive change” because it will allow her and her friends to plan for an alternative scenario in case they don’t get a suite. According to Watts, suites have been historically difficult for sophomores to obtain.

Besides timing, Watts said

that suite selection groups will be verified by email before the process, ensuring that no suite is left with a room unfilled. If a suite is left with an extra bed, the process allows the remaining students in the suite discretion to choose a suitemate before the semester begins.

Many of the characteristics of the new process are designed to mimic the general housing selection, such as seniority by class.

According to the description online, groups of all rising seniors will choose first, followed by rising juniors while rising sophomores choose last. In between each stage, groups of mixed class years will select housing, similar to how the general process uses the Living Unit Value (LUV) based on class year to determine time slots. LUVs are calculated depending on a student’s class year; room groups are placed in the time-slot order based on the average LUV. At the same time, much has changed from the online selection process. Groups wishing to live in suites must register online before March 15 for specific suite sizes with specific group members.

Additionally, while one student can be part of groups for a number of different suite sizes, each student can only be part of one group for every suite of the same size.

This process has yet to be

tested with so many bed spaces, but Watts expressed hope that it would work better than placing suites in general selection.

Students with accommodations will also select rooms online, and they will receive a LUV that is one value higher than their standard LUV, giving them greater precedence in time-slot ordering. For example, rising sophomores with qualifying housing accommodations will be given a LUV of two instead of one, which means they will select after rising juniors but before rising sophomores without accommodations.

According to the Office of Residential Life, these students will be expected to select rooms that meet their accommodations, and if they do not, are subject to relocation. In case no available room can fit their requirements, students are instructed to contact the office, which has reserved rooms to ensure all with qualifying accommodations are able to live in rooms that meet their needs.

In order to answer questions about the changes, ResLife will hold two information sessions, according to the email announcing the new process. The one on March 19 will be “geared toward suite selection,” while all other aspects of housing selection will be covered at the end. The second will occur on April 3 after suite selection and cover the general selection process.

Science Center Experiences Electricity Outage Ryan Yu ’22 Managing News Editor On Feb. 27 at 7:15 p.m., the main transformer in the Science Center suffered a short circuit, causing a building-wide power disruption that lasted for just under one day. The transformer, which reduces high-voltage utility power to a usable low-voltage power, was replaced with a temporary transformer on Feb. 28 at 5:00 p.m., ending the disruption and returning systems to normal.

Because the Science Center switched to electricity from a backup generator in the period of the outage, many of the less essential electrical loads were unpowered, causing difficulties in daily operations. However, Jess Martin, the administrative director of the Science Center, noted that they were largely effective in their response and mitigated most major impacts where possible.

“For the most part, I think there wasn’t too much of a negative impact on classes. People

got creative in teaching labs with extension cords to standby power outlets,” she said. “I felt like people were in a very productive, constructive mood. Overall, people took it in stride.”

Though the outage did have some negative impact on research, Martin said it was fairly manageable. “There was a fridge in the biochem lab that was plugged into a regular outlet, so it defrosted. That impacts the samples that were in the fridge, but they were optimistic that they were able to recover them,”

she said. “It’ll take a few weeks to fully assess if there have been any damages, but so far, that was the worst.”

As of March 6, the source of the short circuit remains unknown. According to Chief of Campus Operations Jim Brassord, the college hired an electrical testing agency to uncover the exact cause, an ongoing task that began in the days following the disruption.

Although the investigation has yet to yield any results, Brassord was confident that the fault

lies with the transformer itself, as opposed to any external infrastructure surrounding it.

“Transformers typically last for decades. They’re designed to last for a long time,” he said. “This one has operated for about 10 months. This would be an early-life failure of a transformer, which is potentially indicative of a manufacturing issue.”

Brassord acknowledged the possibility of a similar failure, but noted that it is very unlike-

Continued on Page 5

News 5

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Transformer Malfunction Disrupts Power in Science Center Continued from Page 4

Continued from Page 4

Photo courtesy of Natalie De Rosa ’21 Photo courtesy of Matai Curzon ’22

On Feb. 27, the Science Center experienced a day-long power outage as a result of a transformer short circuit. It is believed that the outage was caused by a manufacturing defect.

ly. “Transformers are very reliable devices. The failure rate for transformers is exceedingly low.

So, while we don’t expect similar failures to occur, there’s always a very remote probability,” said Brassord. “To put things in perspective, in my over 20 years at the college, we have not had a similar failure.”

Aly Fleisher ’22, who was at the Science Center when the transformer short-circuited, did not think too much of the disruption.

“My friend was taking a physics test [when the transformer failed], and I heard people screaming from the testing room when the power went out

in the Science Center,” she said.

“But it was brief. The lights blinked out for two or three seconds, and then the emergency lights came on.”

For Martin and Brassord, the disruption provides an opportunity to create an even more resilient system in the case of future outages.

“We’re capitalizing on this moment. People know where the pain points are now, so we might as well do what we can to do any course corrections,” said Martin.

“From every issue that comes up, whether it’s the Wi-Fi outage or this, we should see what we can learn from it immediately after, and see what we can correct. And everybody’s ready to learn.”

Free Menstrual Products to Be Distributed in Frost

Ryan Yu ’22 Managing News Editor

Starting next week, the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) will begin piloting an initiative that provides free menstrual products to women’s and gender-neutral restrooms in Frost Library, in partnership with the Reproductive Justice Alliance (RJA) and the Student Health Educators (SHEs). A basket of miscellaneous menstrual products — including tampons and pads, among other things — will be placed in each of the restrooms and refilled twice a week by the SHEs. This program, which comes as part of an effort to make sanitary products more readily accessible across campus, was initially devised by the RJA last semester. According to Silvia Sotolongo ’19, president of the AAS and member of the RJA, the proposal was brought forward for funding by the AAS in late November of last year. It was approved for implementation this semester.

“This was a noted need. The RJA was discussing it,” the SHEs were discussing it. And considering that it was at a time that the Budgetary Committee was thinking about expanding services, it was the perfect opportunity to think about a pilot program,” said Paul Gallegos, director of student

activities. “It feels like a conversation that’s been months in the making.”

As a pilot project, the organizers are looking at ways to test its effectiveness and expand its scope as time goes on. In an online interview, Sotolongo expressed hope that students would readily use these products and that they could “expand [this initiative] to other academic and administrative buildings like the Science Center, Keefe Campus Center and Valentine Dining Hall.”

“One idea that has been floated around is to expand the program to dorms, much like the condom distribution that [resident counselors] do for each floor,” Sotolongo added. “We haven’t discussed the feasibility or cost associated with that explicitly, as that would likely supplement a majority of people’s needs for menstrual products rather than serve as an emergency stash or supplement.”

Amanda Vann, director of health education, views this move as an important step for health and accessibility on campus. “We’re recognizing that students who menstruate have an additional cost associated with that, that students who don’t menstruate don’t have,” said Vann. “I was so excited that AAS recognized that discrepancy

and wanted to do something to support our students who might be struggling to pay for something that they need.”

Gallegos agreed with this sentiment. “I think, if anything, this goes to show what good collaboration and understanding what needs there are in the student body can do, and how the student government can help facilitate that,”

he said. “This is a good example of working with different student groups on campus to voice opportunities to expand services on campus.”

The program only represents one of several initiatives to expand accessibility of health products currently in the works. “We’re also looking at stocking a healthcare vending machine that will provide

some of these free things, like the menstrual products that we’re already going to be providing in Frost, as well as things like condoms, dental dams, lube, cold-care kits, as well as some other related items to students who need them,” said Vann. “Some of them will be at a reduced cost, and some of them will be free, for students to be able to access those resources as well.”

Photo courtesy of Olivia Tarantino ’15

The Association of Amherst Students, Reproductive Justice Alliance and Student Health Educators will pilot a program giving free menstrual products in Frost Library bathrooms.

Opinion Combating AAS Apathy

THE AMHERST

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

The Amherst Student recieves funding from the Association of Amherst Students for its operations.

With a flurry of new posters, candidate speeches and social media posts, the months of April and September are traditionally election seasons here at Amherst. In high school, running for class president was little more than a popularity contest, and the winners were little more than figureheads for the duration of the year. The AAS, however, is more than just a superficial organization. Unlike high school student government, its job is to allocate hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for the student body, to improve the lives of students on campus and to represent the diverse interests of more than 1,800 students at Amherst.

Unfortunately, this rosy vision of the AAS is nowhere close to reality. For an organization that has such monumental power in terms of funding, it is clear that this funding is only being taken advantage of by clubs and a few individuals who know about the committee’s complicated funding policies. Furthermore, the vast majority of people who can take advantage of funding do not show up to public meetings. The discretionary fund, which every student contributes to, is only going to a select few. Meanwhile, the Budgetary Committee and the AAS makes no considerable effort to remedy this problem. While the AAS does have more power than high school student government, the two organizations shared one thing in common: a considerable sense of apathy.

A mere observation of Budgetary Committee meetings shows that only a select subset of students know how to reach out and take advantage of the funding process. The AAS is allocated more than $1.2 million dollars a year, paid for by the more than 1,800 students who attend Amherst, and yet the only students who benefit from this funding are the ones who can take advantage of its rules.

For those who understand how the funding rules work, the discretionary fund is essentially a freefor-all, but for those who don’t, it is an inaccessible pot of gold just out of reach.

At one point, a student requested $1,500 for a concert honorarium, which the committee naturally funded. The committee was told that the concert would be well attended and that the concert would benefit the student body at large. However, the Budgetary Committee later discovered that,

due to unethical behavior on the student’s part, the only attendees at the concert included the student himself and a few friends, making it an entirely private affair. Although the funding was meant for everyone, the AAS had essentially bankrolled this student’s private concert. As an elected body, the Budgetary Committee’s job is to make sure that our discretionary funding is distributed equitably and responsibly. As seen in this example, the committee has ultimately failed to do its job.

The problem of accessibility can be blamed on both Budgetary Committee, Senate at large and the members of the student body. In the last few years, neither Senate nor the BC has made efforts to further publicize its rules or to make sure that students on campus understand how funding works. As representatives of the whole student body, the AAS and the Budgetary Committee need to work harder to make sure that students understand the fundamentals of funding on campus. Even a meeting at the beginning of the year to demystify the funding process and to explain the convoluted budgetary rules for students would go a long way to increase awareness and decrease apathy. It’s time for the AAS to realize that a mere website with a laundry list of funding rules isn’t enough to increase awareness. More must be done to remedy this issue, or we will continue the harmful cycle of apathy that currently plagues the student body.

The AAS budget, however, is designed for all students, not just for those who understand the rules. The student body here at Amherst only has a responsibility to learn how to use the discretionary funding for their events. Students at Amherst are taught to take advantage of every resource available to them, and the AAS discretionary funding is no exception to this rule. Everyone ultimately benefits from events on campus.

We encourage every student to reach out to their senators and ask them about funding rules. Every student should attend at least one Budgetary Committee meeting to demystify the funding process. Every student should hold their senators accountable for the funding decisions made by the AAS. Every senator has a duty to make sure that their constituents understand how funding works. After all, each of us contributes money to the discretionary fund. So then, why not benefit us all?

Editors-in-Chief Shawna Chen Emma Swislow Managing News Natalie De Rosa Ryan Yu Assistant News Zach Jonas Managing Opinion Jae Yun Ham Camilo Toruno Managing Arts and Living Olivia Gieger Seoyeon Kim Managing Sports Connor Haugh Henry Newton Managing Design Julia Shea S TA F F Publishers Joseph Centeno, Emmy Sohn, Mark Nathin Digital Director Dylan Momplaisir

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Opinion 7

Providing Free Menstrual Products on Campus Lisa Zheutlin ’21 and Silvia Sotolongo ’19 Contributing Writers The Reproductive Justice Alliance (RJA), Student Health Educators (SHEs) and the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) have collaborated to introduce a menstrual product pilot program in Frost Library’s gender-neutral and women’s restrooms.

Menstrual products are generally overpriced, and the quantity of these products needed during one’s period can be a social, academic and economic

barrier. Worrying about where to find your next pad or tampon can be stressful, and many times, unexpected. The goal of this program is to ease the burdens of menstruation for Amherst students. It is not meant to serve as a student’s only supply, but rather as an alternative or casual resource — possibly in times of emergency. When a friend is not around to covertly slip you a pad or tampon, we hope that this program will serve as a helpful alternative.

Throughout the last semester, the members of the RJA com-

mittee devoted their time to expanding the availability of menstrual products and worked to make this program a reality for Amherst students. Though menstrual products are always available in the Women’s and Gender Center in Keefe Campus Center, the RJA was, and still is, interested in expanding these services throughout campus. The AAS was extremely helpful in garnering funding for the program, along with Director of Health Education Amanda Vann from the SHEs and Director of Student Activities Paul Gallegos. Togeth-

er, we worked to flesh out a pilot program as a first step in providing this service more broadly. We picked Frost as the first location because it is a communal space on campus that serves both an academic and social function. In the restrooms, wall baskets will be installed, with resources restocked two to three times a week if necessary. We’ll keep count of the products being used in order to gauge interest and preference.

We want to stress that this is a small step towards reproductive freedom at Amherst, which is why it is being advertised as

a pilot program. We hope to expand once we gather information on the interest and use of different products. Essentially, the more interest we get, the more grounds we have for funding the program. We would love to extend this program to multiple communal buildings and restrooms on campus such as Keefe Campus Center, the Science Center and Valentine Dining Hall to help ease the burdens of menstruation. If you have any comments or questions about the pilot program, please let us know at amherstrja@amherst.edu.

From there, the show takes us on a supposedly important but altogether uninteresting journey of Holmes’ navigation of the New York City comedy scene. The show makes copious use of the celebrity cameo, seeming to believe that if it shoves enough famous people in our faces, we will forget about the complete lack of emotional stakes. Somehow, “Crashing” has managed to make a show centered around comedians ridiculously unfunny. Often,

its poor dramatic chemistry — stem from the fact that nearly every character on the show is very unlikable. Besides comedian Jamie Lee and Amherst-alum Zach Cherry ’10 (who play Holme’s ex-girlfriend and manager, respectively), the rest of the characters on the show, including Holmes himself, have few redeeming qualities.

From this long list of complaints about “Crashing,” you can tell that I think that it is a bad show. But, bad shows get produced all the time, and they are all over television. Although I don’t have a problem with bad shows, “Crashing” is different.

It’s not just that the show is bad; it’s that the show is completely pointless. The entire storyline thus far is essentially that a white, well-off man wants to be a comedian and… mostly gets to do that. While the show’s episodes do center on embarrassing moments or setbacks for Pete, they are baked into a world where he has met all the right people, been in the right places at the right times, is generally able to get lots of stage time and ultimately makes some money. In other words, Pete’s character is already quite successful as a comedian.

Of course, this story is supposed to be based on Holmes’ actual journey through the comedy scene, so presumably a good

portion of the narrative is, at least, partially true. That being said, just because a story is based in truth does not mean it should be on television. Why do we need a show about a white comedian doing well for himself? In today’s world, especially within the sphere of entertainment, the

story of a white guy’s success is the last story with which we should engage. This is to say that even if “Crashing” were well-done, I would likely still believe that it should be cancelled. However, since it is exceptionally not well-done, I definitely believe it should be cancelled.

If I May: “Crashing” Should be Cancelled Jake May ’19 Columnist “Crashing” — an HBO sitcom created by and starring comedian Pete Holmes — is, in my opinion, a horrible television show. It is boring, self-indulgent and altogether not funny — at least most of the time. I have also seen every single episode of the show. You might ask, “Why would you do that to yourself?”

A great question indeed. Initially, it was because I love watching a good train wreck. The show was not good during its first season, so I thought I would stick it out to see how bad it got before it was cancelled. To my dismay, it was renewed for a second season (and is currently in its third). I continued to watch the second season because I wanted to see if the show could outdo itself and become even worse, and it did.

Since then, I’ve become too invested in hating the show to stop watching it. I’ve developed a sort of love/hate relationship with “Crashing,” in that I love hating it. I suppose it’s time to explain why.

“Crashing” is a semi-autobiographical show centered around Holmes’ early years as a comedian. The first season begins with him discovering that his wife is having an affair, an event that actually happened to Holmes.

“In today’s world,

especially within the sphere of entertainment, the story of a white guy’s success is the last story with which we should engage.

”

the only thing I laugh at in an episode is a so-called “dramatic” moment between Pete and another character, because these moments are often comically (and unintentionally) terrible.

These criticisms — the show’s lack of stakes, its unfunniness,

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The show “Crashing,” which stars Pete Holmes as its lead, should be cancelled, says Jake May ‘19.

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Opinion 8

Juliana v. United States: Changing the Legal System

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Youth climate change activists are leading the charge in the case Juliana v. United States, which could have monumental legal implications, says Camilo Toruno ‘21.

Camilo Toruno ’21 Managing Opinion Editor A “60 Minutes” segment this past Sunday brought my attention to the Supreme Court case Juliana v. United States.In this lawsuit, 21 young people — whose ages range from 11-22 years old — sued the federal government for refusing to acknowledge climate change during their parents’ lifetimes and unconstitutionally breaking the equal protection clause. In other words, the plaintiffs claim that the federal government’s subsidies of fossil fuels, which enable climate change, are infringing upon children’s constitutional rights of life, liberty and property. While many activists have joined this lawsuit in support of the youth, these plaintiffs were specifically chosen as they were all able to prove that climate change had given them “concrete injury.”

The lawsuit was filed in 2015 and four years later it is still going strong and has overcome the federal government’s many attempts to dismiss it. In fact, the plaintiffs in this case won a key legal battle when U.S. District

Court Judge Ann Aiken ruled that having access to a clean environment is a fundamental right.

Although we now have a conservative Supreme Court, making the success of this lawsuit unlikely, the court case is symbolic of two things: the power that young people have in sparking radical societal change and the ability of law to shape and impose itself upon the government.

Kelsey Juliana, a 22-yearold student at the University of Oregon, is the lead plaintiff in this case. Juliana, who had been involved in climate change activism through environmental marches and previous lawsuits against the government of Oregon, recruited other youth and the non-profit organization Our Children’s Trust to enact change on the federal level. In an interview with “60 Minutes,” Juliana says, “This case is everything.

This is the climate case. We have everything to lose, if we don’t act on climate change right now. My generation and all generations to come.” I believe this young woman is representative of the power and potential our generation has at our disposal. It might sound corny, but we have the tools to

make the future: education, science and most importantly, the law.

While there is great opportunity for our generation to find solutions to the many problems humanity faces, our generation also vests great responsibility when it comes to caring for the world that we live in. It will fall upon us to solve the environmental problems created by previous generations who lived decades and centuries ago. We will have to imagine a future that moves beyond progress and modernity. Put differently, we do not need “more” and “faster.” Instead, we need to move beyond the strict political structures that limit the radical change. Although it might be painful for some to hear this, the United States Constitution is just one of these restrictive features in our current society.

Juliana v. United States cleverly tries to manipulate the U.S. Constitution in its favor by accusing the federal government of unconstitutionally violating the equal protections clause ensrhined within the 14th Amendment. While I certainly think they have a point, I am not sure

this argument can be substantiated in the Supreme Court. You may ask, why? Think about it.

Did the Founding Fathers know anything about our natural world when they wrote, debated and signed the Constitution? Did they know why the wind blew?

Did they know why the sky was blue? Did they understand how pollution affected the natural world? Of course not! This lack of knowledge on the part of the founding fathers is a clear indication that the Constitution is one of the many impediments to enacting necesssary environmental law.

Nature has always been seen as radically “other;” as deficient, mindless and soulless. Western, industrialist societies have risen to global dominance because of an antagonistic relationship with nature. Environmental law was created in the 1960s within this fractured model. Thus, environmental law is now more part of the problem than the solution.

While Juliana v. United States certainly tries to tackle the problem of climate change from a dif-

ferent angle than the norm, it is still working within a legislative and legal system that is antithetical to sustainability.

Law is a powerful tool that can be used to solve the climate change problem and enforce sustainability. But in order to do so we need holistic environmental law that is pervasive throughout the entire legal system. At the moment, environmental law is a subset within the overarching subject of law; it is marginal and insufficient. One way to change this is by creating a green constitution in which the natural world has the same rights as people. Ecuador is the first country to acknowledge the rights of nature in its constitution and we should use it as a model for our own country. The Juliana v. United States case is an impressive and inspired campaign against the federal government.

I wish it the best and am hopeful some radical change enforcing sustainability will come of it.

Nevertheless, our legal system is part of the problem and we must act accordingly.

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The case Juliana v. United States is currently on hold and will be heard in June by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Portland, Oregon, pictured above.

Arts&Living

Students Perform in Fourth Annual Spoken Word Slam

Photo courtesy of Matai Curzon ‘22

Eliza Brewer ‘22, DJ Boakye ‘21, Aniah Washington ‘22 and Kalidas Shanti ‘22 (left to right) won the top three places in the slam poetry contest last Wednesday night.

Paige Reddington ’21 Contributing Writer LitFest kicked off with an invigorating start on Wednesday, Feb. 27 with its fourth annual Slam Poetry Competition.

Hosted in the Powerhouse, the event offered hors d’oeuvres, champagne and sparkling apple cider to students as they watched their talented peers amaze the crowd with their words.

The competition began with an introduction from Daniel Gallant, the executive director of Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City. Seven students from Amherst College competed in pursuit of the various prizes offered.

Gallant announced the awards: the third-place winner would have the opportunity to write or study in Emily Dickinson’s home, the second-place winner would receive an iPad and the first-place winner would

perform at Nuyorican.

Gallant went on to explain the rules of the competition, while still emphasizing that “poetry slams are all about free speech and free expression.”

The night began with each judge performing a poem given to them, not knowing any information about the background of the poem.

After each one was read, they received a score from other judges on a scale from one to 10 based on the quality of the reading. Each judge was asked to guess what their poem was about and where it was from.

Greg Wardlaw, one of the judges and manager of dining services and catering, read his poem only to find out it was made from “bookmashing,” which Gallant explained is “the act of creating poems from the titles of stacked books.”

Another judge, Chief Communications Officer Sandy

Genelius ,found out her poem was the result of Google Poetics, a website that creates poems based on Google searches, while Hikaru Kozuma, chief student affairs officer, read a poem that described an “ideal pug” from the American Kennel Society website.

The slam finally began following the judges’ poems. The contestants’ poems covered a wide variety of topics, all fuelled by the power of spoken word to get their message across to the audience.

Caleb Williams ’20 kicked off the night with a spoken word poem appreciating the berry bushes outside of Valentine Dining Hall.

Following Williams, Kalidas Shanti ’22 played with his voice and tone in order to powerfully connect with the audience, while Cas Meade ’22 evoked vivid and striking imagery to express the pain of a toxic relationship.

Tanya Calvin ’20 employed repetition in order to convey her deeply personal experiences in an interracial relationship and Aniah Washington ’22 used metaphor to contrast her humble roots with the privilege she has experienced at Amherst.

Eliza Brewer ’22 impressively memorized her poem about her family relationships, while DJ Boakye ’21 — returning as last year’s winner — spoke about her experience as a black woman in a society that mistreats the black body.

During the intermission, a haiku challenge was offered up to the contestants, with an Amazon gift card as a prize for the lucky winner.

Gallant explained that this challenge would typically be used for a tie break in a slam but would instead be used as a quick challenge for the contestants to brainstorm during intermission.

Switching up the pace from the previous spoken word poems, the contestants had limited time to create a haiku, in which the topics ranged from climate

change to social media. Meade won this challenge, skillfully crafting a poem about climate change.

After a competitive first round, the second round of the slam offered up an even more exciting array of poems from the contestants.

As each contestant amazed the judges and brought up even higher scores than those in the first round, the audience grew increasingly unsure of who the final winner would be.

However, in the end, four of the contestants prevailed. In third place was Shanti. In an unusual circumstance, second place was a tie between Washington and Boakye. Finally, in first place was Brewer, who would travel to New York City to perform at the Nuyorican.

All of these prizes will allow students to further their poetry skills and careers. Gallant said, “the poetry slam is not just about the creativity that comes into the room, but also taking that creativity and using it for further pursuits.”

Photo courtesy of Matai Curzon ‘22

Contestants performed poems about various topics in the Powerhouse in front of three judges and an audience.

Arts & Living 10

The Amherst Student • March 6, 2019

Master Classes Let Students Delve into Creative Writing

Photos courtesy of Jiayi Liu

Authors Jamel Brinkley, Brandon Hobson and Jennifer Egan (left to right) taught master classes to small groups of students in addition to their school-wide talks.

Sophia Heisman-Gibbons ’21 Staff Writer Amherst’s fourth annual LitFest featured a variety of master classes — an intimate teaching experience with the festival’s featured writers. The workshops are organized around different themes to introduce students to creative writing techniques in a hands-on setting.

These workshops serve as a strong example of how the Amherst community and LitFest sponsors have worked to strengthen the tie between student experiences and creative writing.

The authors themselves drive the curriculum of the workshops, so each takes on a unique form.

“Sometimes there might be some generative writing exercises, or sometimes it’s much more informal, and it’s really just a question-and-answer session with the author, where the students really have free range,” said Jennifer Acker, editor-in-chief of the literary magazine, The Common, and one of LitFest’s organizers.

In an intimate setting, the organizers give 15 to 20 students the opportunity to learn about techniques acclaimed writers use in their own books. This year, author Brandon Hobson

taught his class “Urgency in Literature,” Jennifer Egan used her class to present on her strategies for researching historical fiction and Jamel Brinkley taught on the role of narrators and ego in fiction.

In 2018, Min Jin Lee, one of three authors leading a class, ran with this open structure and hosted a master class featuring the art and craft of interviewing — an essential part of her own process for writing her award-winning novel “Pachinko.”

In her class, she spoke about the process of interviewing people to learn about their experiences and how you incorporate those experiences into fiction.

In his class, Hobson, author of “Where the Dead Sit Talking,” had students practice exercises that emphasized the role of urgency in fiction writing. After discussing successful examples of urgency in a number of texts, Hobson gave the students a passage from the book “Libra” by Don Delillo and asked them to underline important words to compile a word bank.

From there, students were tasked with writing their own version of the passage with the same words. The point of this exercise was to help students focus on using only important words within a limited space and

develop techniques for bringing this strategy into the student’s own writing.

Brinkley, who wrote “A Lucky Man,” used his masterclass to teach on his ideas of the role of ego in first-person narration and the importance of still making room for other characters in a story.

“Your responsibility is to tell the whole story. You can’t let the story take on the limitations of your narrator,” he said, according to Julia Pike ’19 who was in attendance.

Egan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “A Visit from the Goon Squad” and “Manhattan Beach”, took her class in a different direction and presented on her own journey of research in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Brooklyn Historical Society archives which led her to write “Manhattan Beach.”

She also discussed her daily routine of loose writing, during which she enters what she describes as a “meditative state” that allows her to tap into the thoughts of her unconscious.

“What I got out of that was the need for routine in an artistic practice. I think she called it self-indoctrination, even comparing [the daily commitment] to a relationship with exercise. I think this semester I’m trying to do that with my painting class,

making it a routine to go into the studio,” said Lisa Zheutlin ’21 who participated in the class.

“I was also really interested in her comment of fiction being the only time we know exactly how someone perceives reality, as we create that reality for them,” Zheutlin added.

The program is part of an effort by LitFest to give students another outlet for creative writing: “The real goal is to put students in contact with these writers, and it gives them a window into the creative process of these writers who are really talented and quite invested in their craft,” said Acker.

“Just that contact and getting students in the same room with a writer so that they can talk about writing, have an opportunity to learn something about how these authors write their own books and how they approach their work [is the goal],” she said.

These LitFest master classes are just another addition to the rich pool of creative writing resources the Amherst community has to offer students. The Amherst Creative Writing Center collaborates with the English department to offer a variety of courses from Fiction Writing and Protest in Poetry to Writing the Novella.

The Amherst campus is home

to Circus, a student-run literature and arts magazine that “curates the rich artistic and literary creations of the students of Amherst College,” as their student group page describes.

The college also has a uniquely close connection with The Common, which dedicates an extended effort into educating interns and mentoring young writers.

The Common itself has been an outlet for students’ creative writing and literary pursuit since it was founded in 2011.

“From the beginning, Amherst students have been doing real, integral work on the magazine, everything from reading and evaluating submissions to developing and executing events,” said Acker.

“Involving students in the editorial and literary world has been something that I have been interested in and have been actively developing at The Common for the past 10 years,” she said.

Amherst’s historic emphasis on literary excellence has continued into the present day, with 10 percent of the student body majoring in English. LitFest is another example of the school’s continued effort to expand opportunities for creative outlets and to carry the school’s literary tradition into the third century.

Arts & Living 11

The Amherst Student • March 6, 2019

Four Ways to Cope with a Winter That Never Seems to End Olivia Luntz ’21 Staff Writer March is here, and with it brings the promise of warmer and sunnier days. However, one look at the weather predictions brings forecasts of half a foot of snow and highs in the 20s. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) can cause depression symptoms during the winter months, and according to the Cleveland Clinic, it is estimated that as many as 9 percent of Americans experience SAD, while many more have mild symptoms of the disorder when the days are colder and darker.

Additionally, the National Institute of Mental Health states young adults ages 18 to 30 are significantly more likely to experience winter sadness than older adults. However, there are many ways on campus to help boost your spirits until spring finally comes.

Let the Light In!

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the main theory behind

what leads to both SAD and mild winter blues is a decrease in exposure to natural light. This can lead to decreases in serotonin — a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, and impact melatonin — a hormone associated with mood and sleep. However, light coming in from a window or regular indoor lighting will not be able to compensate alone for this decrease in light exposure. The best course of action is to try to spend more time outside; a walk around noon will provide you with the brightest light possible.

In addition, the standard course of treatment for SAD is using an artificial light box. The light these boxes provide is significantly brighter than normal indoor light and mimics the rays of the sun.

The Cleveland Clinic recommends that the most effective time to use a light therapy box first thing in the morning for 30 minutes, which helps suppress the release of melatonin. Light boxes are available for use in the Weiler Wing of Valentine Dining Hall and can be

checked out from Frost Library and the Counseling Center. The National Institute of Mental Health has also associated winter depression with low levels of vitamin D, which is why vitamin D supplements are a common recommendation.

two days a week, try to wake up and go to sleep around the same time every day. The Mayo Clinic specifically recommends regular exercise, a consistent sleep schedule, and healthy eating in their plan for coping with SAD.

Exercise and Stay Healthy

Reach Out

Exercise has been proven repeatedly to help with various forms of depression and anxiety, as it increases serotonin and endorphins, which can both positively affect mood. If you do not like going to the gym, check out the exercise classes offered by the athletic department — such as yoga, Zumba, and barre.

Put an exercise class into your planner or calendar like you would for an academic class or important meeting to keep yourself accountable.

Additionally, eating healthy foods and having a consistent sleep schedule can help with mitigating symptoms of depression. Even if you only have early morning classes

There are so many people on this campus who want to help you and see you succeed. Talking to people is a great stress reliever, and positive people have been shown to increase happiness in their companions.

Make plans with a friend to do something you’ve never done before, such as visiting the Montague Bookmill or trying a new restaurant for dinner and give both of you something to look forward to.

If you feel that the weather, or any other circumstance, is taking a toll, reach out to your friends, resident counselor, professors, class dean or the Counseling Center which is active 24/7 at (413)-5422354. A counselor can help you make a plan and recommend treatment for any symptoms or feelings you may experience.

Go Easy on Yourself

Remember that no one is happy all the time, and that no one expects you to be either. Make sure to reward yourself with breaks and time to destress. Even if you have to grind out a midterm paper, taking a break to color in a coloring book on the first floor of Frost or admiring the artwork at the Mead Art Museum will help you relieve stress and refocus.

Also, research has pointed to humor as a pain reliever, so take the remaining weeks of winter to revisit your favorite comedy show or movie (some of my favorites are “Parks and Recreation,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Arrested Development”). Finally, starting a new (non-academic) project, such as a painting or a short story, can help encourage you to practice activities you enjoy, provide you with a distraction on tougher days and give you a greater sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when you make progress. ment and satisfaction when you make progress.

2 Chainz’s New Album is a Bumpy but Worthwhile Ride Jack Klein ’20 Staff Writer According to ESPN, Tauheed Epps, known professionally as 2 Chainz, was an accomplished high school basketball player who was recruited at the D1 level and eventually played a full season for Alabama State University. But because he lacked the athletic ability to have a legitimate shot at the league and instead held an unapologetic talent for wordplay, he made the decision to rap. (He is not the only rapper who was a star basketball player — J. Cole also had a fantastic high school career). The title of his newest album “Rap or Go to the League,” released this past Friday, refers more to the intersection of hip hop culture and professional athletics. Rap music today is replete with references to sports, most famously exemplified

by Jay-Z’s boast in the song “Empire State of Mind:” “If Jeezy’s paying Lebron, I’m paying Dwyane Wade.”

Musicians and athletes feed off each other in pop culture; they party to-

gether, and athletes play their music during games and practices. As former NBA MVP Kevin Durant once said in an interview, getting namedropped in a song “makes you feel like you made it.” 2 Chainz takes this relationship to the next level on “Rap or Go to the League,” bringing in LeBron James to do help pick the songs that made it onto the album as well as the featured artists.

In an interview with the radio show “The Breakfast Club,” 2 Chainz said, “I wanted to show people that they can do more than just have a wicked crossover or be able to hold certain notes … On this album I tried to teach a bit more, tried to have a little more substance, more concepts, cause I love concepts.

‘Rap Or Go To The League’ was almost like ‘clickbait.’” This is one of the first times in recent memory that I’ve read a substantive quote from an artist about his album. 2 Chainz’s work is more conceptual, and he plays around with multiple styles. On some songs on the album, it works well, but other times his

experimental style fails miserably.

The best way to deconstruct this album is to look at it song by song and mention some of the highlights and lowlights. Let’s start with the ones to avoid first.

“2 Dollar Bill” is the most disappointing song in the whole project.

When listeners see Lil Wayne and E-40 featuring on a 2 Chainz song, they rightfully expect this group, three of the punniest and most creative rappers of this generation, to leave them marveling at the musicians’ wordplay. Instead, we are left insipid verses and forced to hear E-40 struggle to rap “Rare like wagyu steak, rare like 88 Polaroid pictures,” as well as an uninspired chorus of 2 Chainz repeating “I’m rare, I’m rare.”

Sorry, LeBron. Just like in basketball, you can’t expect to throw a few big names on a roster and have the song work with no effort.

“Statute of Limitations” also falls short. The bass-heavy beat with mixed-in piano is jumbled and unpleasant to listen to. The first few verses feature some catchy rhymes,

but listeners are then forced to hear lines like “Ex-drug dealer, ex-athlete / Used to take people’s girls with me.”

“I Said Me” features decent verses but functions as a case study in sampling gone wrong. The main beat of the song is solid on its own and seems like a remixed version of JayZ’s “Dead Presidents II.” However, at the beginning of the song, and interspersed throughout it, producer 30 Roc includes a sample from the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein song “My Favorite Things,” as sung

by Julie Andrews in the 1965 musical “The Sound of Music.” This cannot be overlooked; it kills the song.

Instead of a haunting and heavy insight into the life of a former drug dealer (“12th grade I got locked up for possession / I tried to call God but he wouldn’t answer), “I Said Me” is a sonically confused mess.

Despite the presence of some of the disappointing songs on the album, many highlights remain.

“Threat 2 Society” might be the best song in the album, although this is likely an unpopular opinion. It’s a

decidedly un-2 Chainz-like song, employing a soulful vocal sample from The Truthettes’ 1980 song “So Good To Be Alive.” “Money in the Way” is an upbeat song, and the listener can tell they are in for a fun ride when in the first verses, 2 Chainz raps, “Psychedelic flow, I’m the dope and the antidote / Fade down the street from the pocket store, what you know?”

“Girl’s Best Friend” is a classic 2 Chainz and Ty Dolla $ign collaboration — a speaker-rattling, easy-playing bedroom anthem.“Rule the World” follows the “7 Rings” remix as another successful shared work between 2 Chainz and Ariana Grande. 2 Chainz’s dry humor and deep, slow drawl complements Grande’s melodical voice. Overall, “Rap or Go to the League” is a successful project. Despite some of its flaws, the majority of its songs redeems the album with a range of different styles and (mostly) quality features. Despite being on the wrong side of 40, 2 Chainz is still making well-crafted music.

Arts & Living 12

The Amherst Student • March 6, 2019

Solange’s “When I Get Home” Interrogates the Individual

Photo courtesy of Camilo Toruno ‘21

Solange’s latest album is intended as a visual experience, not just as an audible one.

Julian Raiford ’21 Staff Writer At first glance, the album cover for R&B singer Solange’s recently-released “When I Get Home” appears to be a partner piece to her 2016 album, “A Seat at the Table.” Both covers feature a stripped-down headshot of Solange, and even though little has changed in the technical making of the photograph, there is a clear shift marked on the singer’s visage.

On the previous album’s cover, the styling clips lingering in her hair soften and compose Solange’s image, indicating some sense of intimacy to the viewer as she prepares herself for the day. She now dons a pair of peculiar, futuristic eyeglasses, which make the former cover look juvenile, and even passive, compared to the hardened visage that now defines her profile.

This cover was a brilliant choice of design because even at first listen, Solange’s 2016 sound persists in “When I Get Home.” However, by the end of the first track, “Things I Imagined,” the familiar smoothness dissipates into an ethereal jazz that is completely new to her body of work.

It is unmistakable that this album is much more than just a sequel to its predecessor. Like the covers, a first

pass at this work can seem familiar, but it is only through a deeper listen that we can comprehend the significant shift.

Although the album only lasts for 39 minutes, “When I Get Home” is incredibly dense, which is in part thanks to the fact that Solange wrote, performed and produced the album.

Through utilizing her own production, Solange is able to play off her musical history to point at the nuances of “When I Get Home” in a way that not only avoids being trite but is impressively efficient and impactful. She is not completely reliant on herself though, as she sources a range of collaborators such as Pharrell Williams, The Internet’s Steve Lacy, Panda Bear, Dev Hynes and Metro Boomin.

However, the impact of these collaborative efforts is not felt until the latter half of the album. This is in part a downfall of the album but is also deeply linked to Solange’s newfound philosophy of approaching her musical work. After her performance piece “Scales,” Solange revealed in a 2017 interview, “I realize how much wider, figuratively and literally, my work could be if I took myself away as subject.”

Solange is most successful when she follows these instincts to make her music less personal, which she

announces on her track “Can I Hold the Mic (Interlude)” as she states, “I can’t be a singular expression of myself — there’s so many parts, too many lines, too many curves, too many journeys.”

While Solange’s goal for the album was to remove herself as the lead, she mixes ethereal melodies with the Houston-born, hip-hop sound of the 90s chopped and screwed (a turntable technique of slowing down or skipping beats while scratching and warping the original sound), which can hardly be a coincidence as Solange herself is originally from Houston. This homage to Houston creates an underlying tie to Solange’s experience of belonging, which subtly places the singer back as a lead of sorts.

She is attempting to tell the stories of others, but she often tells these tales from her own point of view. By assuming this first-person position semi-objectively, she poignantly implies that we cannot remove ourselves from a shared experience. This sensation is felt less lyrically than it is felt in the tensions and releases of the music and certainly markedly so in the instrumental transitions between songs.

One of these strong transitions occurs between “Almeda” and “Time (is).” Within “Almeda,” elements of

Southern black culture, especially in regards to Houston, are highlighted with the help of collaborators Playboi Carti and The-Dream, which feels comparable to her earlier collaborative efforts with Lil Wayne.

The pensive and modern hip-hop sound slowly rolls into Solange’s velvety voice running over minimalistic piano in “Time (is),” which is the fruit of the second collaboration between Sampha and Solange. Despite initially possessing ballad elements, the song fills the listener with a growing sense of anxiety as a synth beat begins to pulse more urgently under the smooth vocals. Echoes of Sampha whispering introduce his voice to the track before both artists join together in an almost feverish mélange of sensual and nervous energy. Before the song can settle, the beat is stifled and we are already into the next track, “My Skin My Logo.”

This transition embodies the spirit of the album incredibly well because it is both disorienting and completely intentional. The shifts roll fluidly yet starkly, leaving the listener watching the last track roll by in the rear-view window as the next track is already well under way. This pacing introduces the true intent of the album and is the real success in tying together the many musical narratives.

Following this untraditional pacing, Solange begins winding down the album with “Jerrod” as she longingly, even pleadingly, sings “I know it, I know it, I know it ... Call you in your name, and you know you gon’ get it.” But this sentiment of confusion and longing is gone seamlessly by the introduction of the following track, “Binz,” in which Solange renders herself an anti-stereotype while using the vernacular of her oppressors. With the track giving a production credit to Panda Bear, who is better known as Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox, it is perhaps the most deftly produced track and the most strangely sourced partnership off of the album. It is a percussion-heavy piece with ribbons of experimental vocalization leading us into the sunshine pop of Solange singing, “I just wanna wake up to the suns and Saint Laurent.” There is a clear influence from Erykah Badu in the seamless and clever nature of the song.

This is an album of contrasts, and “Beltway,” which is likely about the TX-8 Beltway that runs around Houston, moves circularly through chants of “love me, love me, love me” and “lone, lone, lone.” The lull of this song produces the same sensation as driving down the highway with sleepy eyes and a wandering mind.

The introduction to Solange’s internal monologue is warmly received by the listener as a signal of intimacy at this near-ending point of the album but is quite lonely and romantically desolate in its empty honesty.

The album closes with the minimalistic 70s-inspired tune, “I’m a Witness,” which is jazzy with nods to an underlying funk. This is the moment where the album comes together, and all the hints unify into a confession: “You can work through me, you can say what you need in my mind, I’ll be your vessel, I’ll do it every time.” Solange’s lyricism could be perceived as calling out to her lover, but in juxtaposition with the rest of the album, it is much more apparent that she is speaking directly to the listener. She has narrated many tales that were not her own as though they were for the sake of making them into the shared narrative of many.

“When I Get Home” is a complex work that takes time to digest, but the payoff is immensely worth it. It is remarkable how the sound is hardly about the lyrics painting the visual, but more about how the total production manifests in an incredible visual quality, which is no surprise as it is intended to be consumed alongside the film also titled “When I Get Home.”

This transition of her work seemed at first glance to be a continuation of where “A Seat at the Table” left off, but it is not so easy to write it off as a sequel. She shifts from character to narrator and builds a story of shared life, shared unity through a tangle of emotions that are unknowable yet entirely felt. Where words fail, Solange’s direction in her music and visuals prevail. “When I Get Home” is challenging in a way that is not designed for passivity but for an audience who is looking to restructure and disentangle the pacing of daily life and the struggles and joys that make us a collective whole.

Sports

Men’s Basketball Triumphs in First Round of NCAA Tournament Matt Sparrow ’21 Staff Writer It was an excellent basketball weekend for Amherst as the Mammoths won both of their matchups to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016. Amherst had to travel more than five hours to get to the Palestra at the University of Rochester, the host for the first two rounds of the tournament. While the Mammoths’ rank would usually be high enough to earn them home-court advantage, the women’s team was granted hosting duties, so the men had to hit the road. Amherst made quick work of Rosemont College in the first round before Rochester, backed by rowdy fans, put them on upset watch in the second round.

Some clutch free-throw shooting, however, helped the Mammoths secure the win.

Sophomore guard and first-team

All-NESCAC selection Grant Robinson talked with The Student about not letting the road games impact their mentality.

“It was unfortunate because it’s always a special opportunity to play in front of our fans,” Robinson said.

“At the same time, we knew we had been successful on the road so far this season, so we were confident.”

Robinson continued on to talk about the game plan going into their first-round game against Rosemont.

“Against Rosemont, we knew they had a couple of talented guys who could score the ball really well, so we wanted to go in with the mindset of playing aggressively and physically defensively in order to shut those guys down.”

Robinson’s analysis was correct as Amherst played stifling defense from the tip-off, holding Rosemont to 27 percent from the field and limiting them to 53 points in total. Up by only eight at the half, the Mam-

moths outscored the Ravens 51-28 in a dominant second half. The leading scorer for Amherst was Fru Che ’21 with 18 points; he also added six rebounds. Robinson had a well-rounded stat line with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Eric Sellew ’20 recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards in just 18 minutes of playing time and Joseph Schneider ’19 contributed eight points, nine rebounds and a gamehigh three blocks. The 84-53 victory booked Amherst a date with the host, Rochester, the following day.

The stage was set for a high-profile second-round contest between the number seven Mammoths and the 23rd-ranked Yellowjackets. Robinson knew that the crowd would be a factor, but noted that the raucous atmosphere helped Amherst stay focused. “Rochester brought a great crowd, and even though we were on the road and their fans weren’t cheering for us, I think we fed off of

the energy within the gym. We also had some fans make the trip so their support helped a lot as well,” he said.

Amherst parlayed a great allaround first half into an eight-point halftime lead. However, Rochester came out of the second half hot and eventually cut their deficit to just one with 10:32 remaining on the clock. Robinson explained that the Mammoths’ previous experiences with these situations was the key to holding on for the win.“I think as a team we stayed composed. We had been in positions like that before, so we wanted to continue to play our game. We know that basketball is a game of runs, so we were confident that if we maintained our focus, we would make our run also.”

Amherst’s free-throw shooting down the stretch helped put away the Yellowjackets once and for all.

Amherst advanced to the 14th Sweet 16 in program history. The Mammoths had a balanced scoring attack

as they have all season, led by Robinson’s 17 points and six boards. Che and Devonn Allen ’22 each scored 12 points and shot 11-13 from the freethrow line together. The 75-67 victory propelled Amherst to the second week of the tournament where they will face 14th-ranked Nichols College and a potential Elite 8 clash with sixth-ranked Swarthmore looming.

When asked about whether this Mammoth team has what it takes to win it all, Robinson took a game-bygame approach.

“We just want to control what we can control,” Robinson said. “We believe that when we play with a chip on our shoulder and come out with an edge, we can beat anybody.

It’s just a matter of playing with that mindset for every minute of every game.”

If there’s one thing to be sure of, it’s that reigning NESCAC Coach of the Year David Hixon ’75 will have Amherst prepared for any opponent.

Women’s Lacrosse Falls In Season Opener To Colby in Snowy Game, 5-6 Nat De Jonge ’21 Staff Writer Entering the 2019 season, the women’s lacrosse team was ranked highly — number six in the country. After a successful 2018 season in which they posted a nearly flawless 17-3 record, the Mammoths made a run to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. There,

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Sabrina Solow ’19 anchors the defense for the Mammoths.

they lost by only three goals to Gettysburg College, the eventual 2018 DIII National Champions.

The loss of five seniors from last year will take its toll, but with an influx of young talent in a nine-member first-year class and the leadership of this year’s captains – Sabrina Solow ’19, Kaitlyn Haase ’19 and Kat Krieg ’20 – the squad was primed for yet another successful season.

After such success, complacency is often a troublesome foe. In an email interview with The Amherst Student about the launch of the 2019 season Coach Christine Paradis, said, “The team has worked incredibly hard in the off-season under the leadership of our captains and seniors and is excited to finally start our official season,” she said. “With talent and experience in many areas of the field, in combination with a great incoming class, the squad is optimistic.”

Ranking in the top teams in the country, though an honor, puts

pressure, wanted or unwanted, on the team. The Mammoths, under the diligent and experienced Paradis, claim to remain unaffected.

“The key is not to let rankings and expectations get in the way of being fully present, taking each day is it comes and focusing on those little things that matter,” Paradis said. “Last year’s run fueled us to work even harder and we don’t want to rest on our ranking or record. It doesn’t mean anything. We need to go out and play every game like it is our last.” This one-game-at-a-time mentality will be key for the Mammoths as they dropped their season-opener on Saturday to the 19th-ranked Colby College Mustangs. Game time on Saturday saw flurries and temperatures that hovered around freezing for the balance of the afternoon. Neither team appeared shaken since they’ve acclimated to such weather during the first two weeks of outdoor practices.

Unlike many last season, the

game turned out to be a low-scoring, primarily defensive battle due to some early-season rust on both sides and a stellar 18-save performance by Mustang goalkeeper Izzy Scribano.

The first half saw the bulk of the action. The Mustangs jumped to a two-point lead within the first 10 minutes of the game as they took advantage of two early manup opportunities. Sophomore Hannah Gustafson notched the first Mammoth goal of the season off of a well-placed free position shot, and for the remainder of the game, the two teams traded goals.

Not once, however, did Amherst see a lead. Annie Cohen ’19 and Claire Dunbar ’21 both found the back of the net later in the first half, but the Mammoths remained two goals down with a score of 3-5 entering halftime.

In the second half, sophomore Rebecca Wistriech scored the Mammoths only two goals of the half. The first came with 21 min-

utes left in the half. With five minutes to go, Wistriech brought the Mammoths back within a goal of Colby. With two seconds left, final Mammoth attempt on goal was saved by Scribano and the horn sounded, the final score 6-5 in favor of the visiting Mustangs.

This loss will certainly test the character of the Mammoth team, but Paradis is confident in the team’s ability to lead. “My emphasis is always that each player has to be a leader in their own way,” Paradis said. “They have to be able to lead themselves regardless of class, role, etc. [but] of course, we have also relied on our captains heavily to lead both by example and vocally.” With a full schedule ahead and a mental toughness fostered by Paradis, the Mammoths rebounded this Tuesday, March 5 with a 13-3 win against Springfield College on Pratt Field. They will next travel to face the Polar Bears of Bowdoin on Saturday, March 9.

Sports 14

The Amherst Student • March 6, 2019

Women’s Hockey Comes Up Short Against Williams Cale Clinton ’19 Staff Writer The women’s hockey team’s season unfortunately came to an end on Saturday, March 2, when the team fell to top-seed Williams in the semifinals of the NESCAC playoffs.

On top of their number seven national ranking and home ice advantage, the Ephs also swept Amherst in their regular season meetings. That wouldn’t stop Amherst from stepping up to the challenge on Saturday afternoon.

The Mammoths came out firing, outshooting Williams 13-7 in the first period. This season, the Ephs have been a formidable force on offense, averaging 2.85 goals per game.

Amherst was more than prepared to answer this call, as their defense began the first period by

blocking four shots in the first seven minutes.

The Mammoths’ defense was finally penetrated, however, as Williams’ Brynn Puppe onetimed her feed from Annie Rush with six minutes left.

The second period was marred with penalties. Williams saw the penalty box twice in the first three minutes, but the first power play goal came at the expense of Amherst when a Mammoth tripping call turned into a 2-0 deficit.

Amherst responded soon after and finally made it on the board after a third Williams penalty opened up an opportunity for the Mammoths. Jamie McNamara ’19 and Sarah Wagner ’19 put out two beautiful passes that set up Angelina Wiater ’22 to score and cut the deficit to just one.

The third period began with

the game hanging in the balance but Williams only extended their lead with a goal from Ephs’ Michaela O’Conner.

A fourth powerplay opportunity and two minutes with a pulled goalie proved fruitless for Amherst, and the Mammoths went on to lose 3-1.

This was the last time the class of 2019 would lace up their skates and wear purple and white.

The defeat marks the end of team captain McNamara, Katie Savage, Wagner, Laura Schmidlein, Katelyn Pantera, Miriam Eickhoff, Jocelyn Hunyadi and team manager Diandra Adu-Kyei’s college careers. Each contributed four years of dedication and effort to the Amherst women’s hockey program, but fresh faces will step up to the challenge next season and look to build on the team’s legacy.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Elizabeth Holubiak ’22 gave up a costly tripping penalty at the start of the second period.

Men’s Lacrosse Dominates Colby in Season Opener with 24-6 Landslide

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Attackman Colin Minicus ’20 led the scoring for the Mammoths against Colby, scoring five goals and starting the journey to match his 100-point 2018 season.

Jake Grossman ’21 Staff Writer The men’s lacrosse team kicked off their season by thrashing Colby College with a score of 24-6. The Mammoths put up nine goals in the first quarter, including an 8-0 run

to start the game. By halftime, Amherst was leading 17-3.

From there, the team coasted in the second half to pull off a thoroughly dominating performance.

Leading the Mammoths in scoring was Colin Minicus ’20 with five goals in six shots.

Ethan Kazmierski ’21 and Carter Tate ’22 got on the board as well with three goals each.

They were not the only players to leave their impact on the game, however, as Evan Wolf ’19 started the barrage of scoring at the beginning of the first quarter and ended up tallying

nine points on the day, including seven assists.

Jon Coffey ’20 put up four points, including a hat trick, and Chad Simons ’20 made eight saves in goal and earned the win for his performance.

When asked about his team’s strong performance in the opener, Minicus explained the Mammoths’ philosophy for the upcoming season.

“I think in terms of preparation, this team is very different in the sense that we aren’t trying to be outcome-oriented. We try to focus on the now and inthe-moment opportunities as much as we can in every sense of the game,” Minicus said.

“This has allowed us to focus on our fundamentals and be present in what needs to be done for the current possession, ground ball, or quarter we have in front of us,” he added.

“That ultimately translates to us being able to have fun when we play, and although we obviously have long-term goals, it’s these short-term, present moment opportunities we are

looking to take advantage of.”

It must be a side effect of this mentality that the Mammoths ran up the score. Lacrosse, forged both in its ritualistic roots and prep-school settings, comes with an unwritten set of codes that discourage skewed score lines.

Coaches often quietly tell players to shoot with their off hand, or put on substitutes.

Goal differential, which can matter in league standings, may also have contributed to the destruction of the Mules, but an application of the team’s outlook must be thorough and unrelenting in order to be effective. The Mammoths demonstrated this attitude in full.

It certainly seems like a winning attitude; the fourthranked Mammoths will look to continue their winning ways for the rest of the season.

Their next game was against out-of-conference foe Western New England University, a 1611 win on Tuesday, March 5 before their first home game on Saturday against Bowdoin.

The Amherst Student • March 6, 2019

Men’s Hockey Defeated After Epic Semifinal Win Connor Haugh ’21 Managing Sports Editor After an impressive 10-3-3 record in the NESCAC this season, the men’s hockey team entered the NESCAC Championships as dark horses to claim the league title.

Cruising past Colby 5-0 in the first round of the tournament, Amherst traveled to Hartford, Connecticut to face off against Wesleyan in the semifinals.

The strength of the Wesleyan squad came from its netminder, Tim Sestak. Entering the game, the junior had been a standout on the Cardinals’ squad. He averaged 1.58 goals against throughout the season, and compiled 640 saves over 21 games. Amherst was certainly a worthwhile opponent with a plethora of scoring threats. From the opening drop of the puck, the Mammoths never eased off the pressure on Sestak. In the third minute, first year Mitchell Shults blasted the puck from point-blank range, but Sestak managed to trap the puck between his pads. After this, the Mammoths dominated possession for most of the game, and easily manipulated the Wesleyan defense into creating scoring opportunities. Sestak, however, held firm. Making 65 saves, Sestak kept the Cardinals’ hopes alive. Wesleyan was also unable to score, and the game scraped into overtime.

Leading the Mammoths in the contest was Nick Bondra ’21.

The forward had five shots during the Mammoth onslaught. With no team able to break the deadlock, 30 minutes of playoff, overtime hockey came and went. However, after 30 minutes, linemate P.J. Conlon ’20, fed Bondra after battling for the puck near the blue line, fed Bondra.

In the anxiety of such a moment, Bondra’s cool demeanor prevailed, and his shot slipped by Sestak.

Sestak set a NESCAC record with 65 saves, but was unable to secure the win for his side. The game also goes in the record books as the longest game in NESCAC history.

Another worthy opponent, however, faced them the next after-

noon. Hosts and No. 1 seed Trinity awaited the Mammoths in the finals. The Sunday afternoon matchup, however, proved just as epic as the previous day’s. The Mammoths were scored upon at the start of the second period, and remained without a goal through the first two frames.

In the third period, senior Jack Fitzgerald scored his 23rd career goal for Amherst after a shot from Pieter von Steinbergs ’21 deflected into Fitzgerald’s path. Thirty seconds later, the Bantams retook the lead, but first year Sean Wrenn snuck the puck by the Trinity goalie seven minutes later to knot the game at two goals apiece.

With the three periods of regular time complete, the Mammoths entered their second overtime contest in as many days, this time with the NESCAC title on the line.

Amherst and Trinity battled back and forth in the period, but Trinity forward Taggart Corriveau scored with just a tenth of a second remaining in overtime.

With the goal, the Bantams claimed their third NESCAC title in four years and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Mammoths were unable to secure an at-large bid, and thus their season ended in heartbreaking fashion.

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Michael Cullen ’21 made 85 saves this weekend.

Sports 15

The Mazzola Minute Jamie Mazzola ’21 Columnist Jamie Mazzola delves into the controversy surrounding NBA Superstar Kevin Durant’s relationship with the media and the narratives that have surrounded him in recent years on and off the court.

On Feb. 8, in response to another bout between NBA superstar Kevin Durant and members of the press, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr referred to the league as a “soap opera,” with coaches and players as actors. The job of professional basketball players includes much more than being an athlete.

Durant’s charged relationship with the media and fans has created a positive feedback loop. Durant reacts strongly to the media’s coverage of him, the media covers that reaction, fans voice their discontent.

Media members and fans insulting NBA superstars is not a new phenomenon strictly associated with Durant. Unlike other superstars, however, Durant seems unable to block out what he views as unfair treatment, frequently responding on social media, in press conferences, or even during actual NBA games.

There’s nothing morally wrong with hypersensitivity to criticism; it’s the manner in which Durant responds that raises eyebrows. It’d be impossible to cover every instance of Durant acting prickly toward the media, so let’s look at one instance of this.

Durant took to social media in early July of 2018 to respond to a teenager’s criticism of his leadership and playmaking abilities. The account @bucketscenter is run by 17 year old Kalyb Champion. In addition to responding to Champion in the comments section, the two got in a heated exchange over direct messages, with Durant calling Champion a “Middle school/ knock off stephen a.” After the teenager suggested Durant use his and others’ doubt as motivation, Durant responded, “Nah buddy you’re like 12, your opinion will not be used as any motivation.”

Durant has not always been this abrasive. In fact, Nike debuted the “KD is not Nice” campaign back

in 2012 to remind the world that, despite being humble and soft-spoken, Durant was still a killer on the court.

Fast forward to 2019. No longer the NBA’s soft-spoken fan-favorite, Durant plays the arch-villain, the man who left the small-market Thunder for the 73-9 Warriors. Durant’s move to the Warriors worked against his public image in another way, too.

Playing in the Golden State’s egalitarian offense, Durant’s isolation-heavy tendencies are accentuated. In Oklahoma City, Westbrook was labeled the selfish one, unwilling to sacrifice for his more talented teammate, even as a point guard.

On the Warriors, Durant has taken the selfish mantle, and for good reason. In Durant’s isolation possessions, Curry and Thompson are effectively stranded at sea out on the perimeter as Durant operates alone on an island. Curry and Thompson are at their best in rhythm, so they require a steady flow of shot attempts.

Worse, Durant essentially refuses to play off-ball, merely standing around on plays that don’t directly involve him. Unless he’s playing the point, Durant either posts up at the elbow, a set engineered to give Durant a favorable matchup in isolation, or he ball-watches from the perimeter.Durant is also not much of an off-ball screen-setter. The beautiful chaos of Golden State’s offense is predicated on role-players and stars, alike, setting off-ball screens to free shooters. Curry fortified the Warriors “Strength in Numbers”-based culture with his willingness to set off-ball screens for mere role-players, doing so at a rate never before seen from a superstar.

First, Durant was slammed for joining the Warriors. Now, he’s bashed for not fully buying into their offensive scheme. If it seems a bit like a no-win situation, that’s

because it is. Sadly for him, even Durant’s play is not immune to critique.

Again, this issue is not unique to Durant. In fact, to this day, his teammate Curry is criticized for over-reliance on his jump shot. You don’t, however, see Curry personally responding to every (or, really, any) of his critics.

The “new” Durant, with his focus on deriding fans, and not buying into the team mindset established by the startup-wizards of the Bay Area may spell trouble for what otherwise have been an incredible legacy. One might look at Michael Jordan’s legacy, of outstanding achievement on the court, and questionable character off it, as a model to understand this change.

In game five of the Western Conference Finals last year, Kerr relayed a speech to Durant told

by Chicago Bulls’ head coach Phil Jackson to Jordan in 1993: “When MJ was with the Bulls, we had a playoff game,” Kerr said. “He kept trying to score, and he was scoring, but we weren’t getting anything going.”

Like Jordan, Durant had been scoring consistently (albeit inefficiently) in that series, but it came at the expense of getting his teammates in rhythm. Jordan ended up winning the finals that year off a game-winner from teammate John Paxson. For Durant, Kerr sought to instill greater trust in his teammates.

Durant did a better job of distributing in later games, and, as a result, the Warriors wound up winning the series. For all his personal flaws, specifically in his relationships with media members and fans, Durant’s on-court achievements are undeniable, and, like Jordan, he would be wise to continue taking advice from his coaching staff to further bolster his resume as an all-time great.

The Amherst Student • March 6, 2019

Sports 16

Women’s Basketball Advances to Sweet Sixteen Tyler Marshall ’21 Staff Writer After another impressive regular season, the women’s basketball team was one of 16 teams selected to host first- and second-round matchups for the NCAA tournament.

Amherst opened the tournament on Friday night with a victory over Husson University.

The Mammoths came out hot in the opening round with second-team All-NESCAC guard Hannah Fox ’20 leading the charge. She scored 14 of her game-high 23 points in the first quarter to give Amherst a 21-10 lead after 10 minutes of play.

Fox has been a spark for this team in a variety of ways this season, from her leadership on the floor to her tenacious defense, but she used her scoring to jumpstart the Mammoths on Friday night. Amherst maintained this cushion for the rest of the game as they cruised to a 21-point victory.

Madeline Eck ’20, who was named a part of the All-NESCAC first team earlier this week, was the only other Mammoth to score in double figures, finishing with 14 points in just 19 minutes.

With Fox and Eck at the helm, Amherst’s attack was balanced, with nine different Mammoths scoring during the game.

Amherst didn’t have their best offensive performance, since they only shot 34.7 percent from the field, but they turned in another stellar defensive effort. Strong defense has become a staple of coach G.P. Gromacki’s teams, and this year’s squad is no different. Amherst held Husson to just 24.5 percent shooting from the field, while also forcing the Eagles to commit 17 turnovers.

Unable to score, the Eagles never posed any real threat to the two-time defending NCAA champions. Amherst cruised to an opening-round victory, and Gromacki was able to keep his starters fresh for Saturday’s second round matchup.

Less than 24 hours later, Amherst was back in action in a Round of 32 matchup against SUNY Geneseo. After defeating Vassar College on Friday night, SUNY Geneseo was ready to take on the Mammoths.

Amherst started the game on a 10-2 run to jump out to an early lead, but Geneseo battled back to tie the game late in the first quarter. It continued to be a backand-forth game between these two very good teams for most of the night. Both teams struggled offensively in the first quarter, but after 10 minutes of play, the Mammoths held a three-point lead over the Knights.

The battle between the two teams continued into the second quarter, but Amherst was able to create a cushion as they headed into halftime.

Fox led the way with eight points in the second quarter, including a deep three from the top of the key with just over 30 seconds to play in the half. The big shot from Fox put the Mammoths up by seven, and they never relinquished the lead.

Amherst slowed down the pace of the game in the second half as they were comfortable running out the remaining clock. This strategy worked well as Geneseo was never able to cut the deficit below five points, and Amherst held on to win 5846. Eck and Fox both scored 18 points and were the only two Mammoths scoring in double figures for the second consecutive night.

Eck and Fox have been the two leaders of this team all season, and they didn’t disappoint in the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament.

Both players were starters and key contributors on last year’s National Championship team, and they showed their experience this weekend. Amherst held Geneseo to just 27.5 percent shooting from the field as they continued to play excellent defense for the second consecutive night.

Gromacki will look for his

Photo courtesy of Clarus Studios

Two-time All-American point guard Hannah Fox ’20 scored 41 points during the team’s two NCAA DIII Tournament wins over SUNY Geneseo and Husson University. team to continue to play high-level defense in the next round.

Even when Amherst doesn’t have a great offensive night, their defense is good enough to keep them in the game, which always gives them a chance to win.

This makes them a dangerous team as the tournament continues, especially given the way their pressure defense wears opponents down. Gromacki and his team, however, will have a week to recover and prepare before they take the floor again.

Amherst will travel to Minnesota to battle St. Thomas University in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday, March 8. A win against St. Thomas would set a matchup against the winner of the Hope University versus University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the Elite Eight for a chance to advance to a fourth-consecutive Final Four.

GAME SCHE DULE

FRI Men’s Track & Field @NCAA Indoor Championships, 9:00 a.m.

Women’s Track & Field @NCAA Indoor Championships, 9:00 a.m.

Men’s Basketball vs. Nichols, 7:30 p.m.

Women’s Basketball @ St. Thomas (Minn), 9 p.m.

SAT Men’s Track & Field @NCAA Indoor Championships, 9 a.m.

Women’s Track & Field @NCAA Indoor Championships, 9 a.m.

Women’s Lacrosse @ Bowdoin, noon.

Men’s Lacrosse v.s. Bowdoin, 1 p.m.