Massachusetts Daily Collegian: Nov. 18, 2013

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LADY GAGA

END OF THE ROAD UMass falls to Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament

UNLEASHES ‘ARTPOP’

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THE MASSACHUSETTS

DAILY COLLEGIAN

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Monday, November 18, 2013

Dance until you Drop

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Drum majors lead band to Macy’s Parade For some students, band is like family This article is part five in a series as the UMass Minutemen Marching Band prepares for the Macy’s ThanksgivingDay Parade. By ElEanor HartE

R BRYN ROTHSCHILD-SHEA/COLLEGIAN

A member of UMass Greek life walks down the red carpet with kids from the Children’s Miracle Network at the recent UDance.

UMass hires four marketing agencies Officials seek help to redefine image By MariE MaccunE

Collegian Correspondent

The University of Massachusetts has hired four marketing agencies in order to boost its reputation in the commonwealth and across the country. “We have embarked on a broad campaign to promote the university,” said Executive Director of News and Media Relations Ed Blaguszewski. “We need to articulate the value, importance and contributions of UMass Amherst as a flagship campus,” he added. “We are a research institution promoting the commonwealth in the innovation sector. We need to remind people of that.” Blaguszewski said that one of the goals on the campaign was to “inform the state legislature and the gen-

eral public about our commitment to public service.” The University has done community outreach throughout the state, not just in the valley, and Blaguszewski hopes that by highlighting this in the campaign, UMass will gain greater recognition and importance. The University is also seeking to attract more attention from the state legislature and executives with the new campaign. In partnership with the State House, UMass has committed itself to a 50/50 plan, which means that the state will provide 50 percent of the academic expenditures of the University and students and their families will contribute the other half. In order for this goal to be reached, there needs to be enhanced funding from the State House. The University is hopeful that the new marketing strategies will heighten its reputation amongst key play-

ers in Massachusetts politics and reaffirm the state’s commitment to higher public education. Blaguszewski also said that the campaign aims to create a stronger alumni network with UMass Rising, the $300 million fundraising campaign aimed at alumni. UMass Rising is the biggest fundraising campaign organized in university history. “As students graduate, the value of their degree will increase as UMass’s standing in the commonwealth and the world rises,” said Blaguszewski, explaining why promoting the University is not just in the interest of current students here on campus but to anyone in connection to UMass. Rasky Baerlein Strategic Communications Inc., Element Productions, Petta Ryan and Co. and Gravity Switch have all been hired as part of the project. Rasky Baerlein is a

Boston-based public relations agency focused on strategic communications. It is working in tandem with Element Productions, who, according to Blaguszewski, has done “impressive video work.” According to a press release put out by Rasky Baerlein, the two contracts with the University are worth $500,000 and run until May of 2014. Rasky Baerlein, Element Productions and Petta Ryan and Co. will be working on media strategies and public relations to promote the University as a whole for $450,000. Gravity Switch, whose contract is worth $50,000, is focusing specifically on the Stockbridge School of Agriculture. Their newest television ads are available on the University’s website and are being shown in the Boston area. see

MARKETING on page 3

Collegian Staff

achel Rivard had 100 friends on campus before she even walked into a classroom. The week before her freshman year, she attended band camp for the University of Massachusetts Marching Band and found a second family. Initially a tuba player, she is now a drum major – and has the important job of leading the band.

majors are tasked with leading the group. This includes practicing parade marching, something the UMass Marching Band doesn’t do during a normal season. “We can practice for Macy’s all we want,” said Rivard, “but we won’t know what it’s really like until we’re there.” Becoming a drum major was not an easy process, according to Grady. There was an extensive application process, involving a

“I came to UMass for the band. Every other school I looked at had a tiny band, but UMass didn’t. It boggled my mind at first that there were 400 people in it” Colleen Grady, drum major In addition to the band’s daily practices, Rivard, a junior music education major, and the three other drum majors set up for rehearsals, organize sheet music and serve as the links between the director and the 400-member band. “Now I’m just all in. There’s no stopping it, because it’s who I am, really,” said Rivard. Rivard’s fellow drum majors are Gabrielle Istvan, a senior public health major, Jacob Balcanoff, a senior geology major, and Colleen Grady, a senior music education major. The UMass Marching Band is preparing for its trip to New York City to march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade next week, and the drum

paper interview, a conducting interview, a marching rehearsal and more. “The responsibility does not come lightly,” she said. “You have to be the prime example of a leader,” said Istvan, explaining that the entire band looks to the drum majors for direction. There is an incredible amount of behind the scenes work that goes into the role of drum major. If someone drops the ball on something, the responsibility of taking care of it falls to the drum majors. They meet with UMass Marching Band Director Timothy Todd Anderson each week to assess the progress of rehearsals and the state of see

DRUMS on page 2

Two new art galleries showcased at UMass Photos embody American culture By ElEanor HartE Collegian Staff

Two exhibits defining what it means to be an American in the 20th and 21st centuries have opened in the Herter Art Gallery at the University of Massachusetts. “American Pie” is an exhibition of works by British documentary photographer Martin Parr presenting an unconventional way of looking at American culture. “It’s an American Thing” is a collection of works by 14 photographers focusing on

American popular culture in the last century. Herter Art Gallery director Trevor Richardson brought the exhibits to UMass, where they opened in October. He had dreamed of bringing a Martin Parr exhibit to UMass for many years in order to showcase it to a new group of people, but the timing was never right for all the photos to be together. Eventually, a gallery in New York reached out to him about arranging an exhibition. Parr’s photographs are known for their sarcastic view of looking at American culture. A photo of the Mall of America, located in Minnesota, shows the mall as

“a cathedral to consumption,” said Richardson. A photo of a breakfast plate in Las Vegas is another example of Parr’s critical eye. The plate is filled with food: a bagel, waffle, eggs, sausage, yogurt – more food than one could ever expect to eat in one sitting. As the exhibit description says, “the images pointedly bring us to the edge of pleasure and discomfort.” Another photo is of empty hangers against a blank wall. “He has a real eye for pattern and color, for finding beauty in things you wouldn’t expect,” said Richardson. “That’s somesee

ART on page 2

RACHEL MAYNARD/COLLEGIAN

Stars and Stripes (2001) by Martin Parr is being showcased at the Herter Art Gallery.


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