Student voices on campus issues
McConaughey gives perrformance of a Lifetime in ‘Dallas Buyers Club’
PAGE 5
PAGE 4
THE MASSACHUSETTS
A free and responsible press
DAILY COLLEGIAN DailyCollegian.com
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Serving the UMass community since 1890
News@DailyCollegian.com
CMASS holds Kwanzaa celebration UN chief: Syrian leader implicated as war criminal Assad linked to crimes in civil war By Raja aBdulRahim Los Angeles Times
CONOR SNELL/COLLEGIAN
Students and community members light the seven candles in the traditional kinara as part of CMASS’s Kwanzaa celebration on Monday.
Welcomes students to celebrate African culture By ConoR Snell Collegian Staff
Food, music and entertainment all highlighted the holiday celebration in the Student Union Ballroom, where tables spread with black, red and green welcomed guests to sit, eat and celebrate Kwanzaa on Monday night. The University of Massachusetts Center for Multicultural Advancement and Student Success, working with the Malcolm X Center, invited students, faculty and community members to reflect on values and traditions of the international West African community celebrated by this holiday. Serving traditional food like fried catfish, collard greens and sweet potato pie, the two organizations welcomed guests of all ethnic backgrounds to come and join in the recognition of the holiday. Kwanzaa, which means “first
fruits” in the Swahili language – the most widely spoken African language – is celebrated from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, but because students are on winter break during that time the celebration is usually held at UMass in early December. The ceremony began with a speech from Amherst Regional High School Dean of Students Mary Custard, who explained the history behind Kwanzaa, from its founding in 1966 by Maulana Karenga as the first holiday meant for the African diaspora. Custard introduced the seven important values emphasized by Kwanzaa: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith). Each is represented by a colored candle on the traditional candle holder, called a kinara. “Kwanzaa focuses on our own history, our values, our community, and our culture,” Custard said. “It was created to strengthen the bonds
“Kwanzaa focuses on our own history, our values, our community, and our culture... it celebrates what it means to be African and to be human in the fullest sense.” Mary Custard, Dean of Students, Amherst Regional High School between people … and it celebrates what it means to be African and to be human in the fullest sense.” Dr. Amilcar Shabazz, a UMass Afro-American Studies professor and Faculty Advisor to the Chancellor on Diversity and Excellence, then took the stage for a more in-depth discussion of Kwanzaa, as well as a close look at the traditional African-American song “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Shabazz see
KWANZAA on page 2
Syrian President Bashar Assad is implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country’s ongoing civil war, the United Nations’ human rights chief said Monday. A U.N. panel of experts, which has been investigating abuses in Syria, has gathered a “massive” amount of evidence indicating such crimes were committed, said Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights. “The evidence indicates responsibility at the highest level of government, including the head of state,” Pillay said at a news conference in Geneva. The charge came as a Syrian opposition human rights group said that nearly 126,000 people had been killed since the beginning of the uprising against Assad’s government in 2011. The dead include more than 44,000 civilians, according to the Britishbased Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks daily casualty tolls in the country. The U.N. said in July that the death toll had probably surpassed 100,000. The U.N. commission of inquiry gives Pillay lists of suspected criminals that will remain under seal until they are requested by international or national authorities for a “credible investigation” and possible prosecution, she said, according to the Associated Press. Although Pillay referred to Assad, it wasn’t clear whether his name was on
any of the lists. She said the lists must be kept secret “to preserve the presumption of innocence” until proper investigations are launched. The U.N. panel has not been allowed to conduct investigations inside Syria and instead relies on interviews with refugees and phone or Skype conversations with people in the country. The panel has documented the growing brutality of the conflict, including massacres said to have been perpetrated by Assad’s government as well as opposition forces. On Monday, Pillay said the scale and viciousness of the crimes committed in the war almost defy belief, the AP reported. The Syrian conflict has spilled over into neighboring countries with similarly volatile mixes of religious sects and political affiliations. Sectarian tensions exacerbated by the Syrian crisis flared over the weekend in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, where 12 people were killed and dozens were wounded, according to state media accounts. It was the latest in a series of clashes pitting supporters of Assad, who is a member of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, against Sunni Muslims, who dominate the Syrian opposition. In response, the Lebanese government instructed the army to take “the necessary precautions to preserve security in Tripoli for six months,” the country’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, told reporters. The decision places all security forces in the city under the army’s control.
Sandy Hook to Officials: NY train that derailed was release 911 calls going 82 mph into a 30 mph curve Calls made during shooting divulged By dave alTimaRi The Hartford Courant
HARTFORD, Conn. — Newtown officials on Wednesday will release the 911 calls from the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting made to their police department. The decision to release the tapes appears to indicate that State’s Attorney Stephen Sedensky has decided not to appeal a Superior Court judge’s ruling from last week that the calls should be made public. A spokesman for the Office of the Chief’s State’s Attorney said a statement would be issued later Monday. Sedensky had gone to court in an attempt to delay implementation of a Freedom of Information Commission ruling that the tapes be made public. Judge Eliot Prescott denied Sedensky’s request, dismissing
his argument that the shooting in which 20 first-graders and six adults were killed was a case of child abuse and that the calls were the equivalent of signed witness statements. The tapes will be released Wednesday afternoon by the town’s law firm, Cohen & Wolf of Danbury, Conn. There were seven 911 calls made to the local police department after Adam Lanza shot his way into the school. The longest call to Newtown police was from custodian Rick Thorne, who was on the phone with a dispatcher for more than 10 minutes. His call was cut off when Newtown police officers temporarily detained him.
There also were numerous 911 calls made to Connecticut State Police Troop L in Litchfield, which received the cellphone calls. Those calls are the custody of the state police and are not among the ones that will be released by Newtown officials.
Four passengers
killed, over 60 injured By Tina SuSman Los Angeles Times
NEW YORK — A speeding passenger train barreled into a sharp curve at about 82 mph when it should have been traveling 30 mph, and there was no attempt to slow down until “very late in the game,” investigators said Monday. Four passengers were killed in Sunday’s New York City derailment, the worst in the 30-year history of the Metro-North Railroad, and more than 60 were injured. All were expected to survive. About two dozen remained hospitalized Monday as the first details of the National Transportation Safety Board’s probe brought calls for stricter safety standards. It was the first Metro-North crash to involve passenger
fatalities, but the third serious incident involving the railroad since May. At a news briefing, Earl Weener of the NTSB said two “event recorders” retrieved from the wreckage had provided investigators with details on the speed, brakes and throttle control on the seven-car train, which went off the tracks at 7:20 a.m. about 10 miles north of its destination, Grand Central Terminal. “The preliminary information ... from the event recorders shows that the train was traveling at approximately 82 miles per hour as it went into a 30 mile per hour curve,” Weener said. “That speed, again, was 82 miles per hour.” That exceeds the 70 mph speed limit on the straight portion of track. The brakes weren’t fully applied until just five seconds before the engine stopped, Weener said. By then, the
MCT
A New York commuter train derailed on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013, in the Bronx. train, including the engine, was careening off the rails, and it was far too late to stop the catastrophic derailment that sent train cars rolling onto their sides and sliding down a hill toward the Harlem River. Three of the four people who died were thrown from
the train. Rescue workers had to cut through a tangle of metal, glass and broken seats to reach victims inside the cars. Residents of nearby buildings described the screetch of metal-on-metal and loud bangs. see
DERAILED on page 3
2
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
THE RU N D OW N ON THIS DAY... In 2012, at least 475 people were killed in the Philipphines after Typhoon Bopha made landfall. It was a the strongest tropical cyclone to ever hit the island of Mindanao.
AROUND THE WORLD
Ukraine protest blocks access to building KIEV, Ukraine — Protesters blocked access to the government’s headquarters in central Kiev on Monday and declared a general strike as Ukraine’s most serious political crisis since the Orange Revolution of 2005 reached the country’s far-flung regions and towns. Ukraine’s government has been shaken in recent days with a massive outpouring of opposition to a decision by President Viktor Yanukovich to forgo signing an agreement that would have given Ukraine closer economic ties with the EU. Russia, Ukraine’s eastern neighbor and largest energy supplier, opposed the accord and had threatened retaliation if Yanukovich signed it. Monday’s demonstrations were peaceful, in sharp contrast to the day before, when protests outside the presidential headquarters building ended in several hours of pitched battles between protesters and police. Los Angeles Times
Arrest warrant issued for leader of Thai protests BANGKOK — A Thai court on Monday issued an arrest warrant for the leader of massive anti-government demonstrations in Bangkok, as riot police used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets to repel protesters who renewed their assault on key government installations. The Criminal Court said Suthep Thaugsuban should face charges of insurrection. In his latest speech, Suthep urged his followers to fight to the finish, despite Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s repeated rejection of calls to return power to the people. Thousands of protesters tried to overcome barricades to enter Government House, the Cabinet headquarters, and the Metropolitan Police Bureau, in western Bangkok, but were beaten back, witnesses said. dpa
Netanyahu and Pope Francis exchange gifts JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a 25-minute audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Monday, the first meeting between the two leaders. Netanyahu presented the pontiff with a Spanish translation of “The Origins of the Inquisition,” a book written by the Israeli leader’s late father, Ben-Zion Netanyahu, an acclaimed historian known widely for his research on the topic. Francis thanked Netanyahu and gave him a bronze plaque of St. Paul. Los Angeles Times Distributed by MCT Information Services
THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
DailyCollegian.com
Holiday weekend slow for Amherst Police Amherst PD Weekend Log, Nov. 29 to Dec. 1
mentative with another guest and 9:47 p.m. Police returned to Craig’s
7:16 p.m. Two laptops, a camera and the staff monitored their interactions. Place to check in. The homeless shel-
some jewelry were stolen as the result The argument did not escalate. of a break-in at 146 Mill Lane. The break-in occurred sometime between Saturday, Nov. 30 By Mary reines Nov. 22 and 29 and no signs of forced Collegian Staff entry were found. 5:39 a.m. Three cars were struck in Police reported a relatively quiet 9:35 p.m. Craig’s Place, the homeless the parking lot in front of The Brook Thanksgiving weekend. As students shelter at 434 North Pleasant St., was Apt. 66 at 170 East Hadley Rd. Police sped home for the holiday, guests filled with guests. Police were present suspect that it was the result of a flooded into Craig’s Place, a homeless at the scene, speaking with guests hit and run that occurred the night shelter, to find refuge from the cold. and meeting with staff members. before. The incident is still under During this time, one guest was argu- investigation. Friday, Nov. 29
KWANZAA then gave libation to the ancestors through the pouring of water, described by CMASS’s Assisstant Director of Cultural Advancement Joyce Vincent as “the purest form of life.” The night also featured performances by the Cape Verde Student Dance Troupe and the People of Color United from Amherst Regional High School, an address from the supervisor of the Malcolm X Center Supervisor Leslie Saulsberry, music from UMass student Mtalika Banda and graduate student Jonathan Hill, a speech from an African-American community member, and a poetry reading from Cheryl Grandison-Clark, the leader of the studentrun spoken word and talent organization Emancipated Voices. Shelley Perdomo and Willie Pope, CMASS’s Director and Director of Student Advancement, respectively, both gave closing addresses to finish out the celebration. Art Steele, local musician and founder of sound company Audio Promedia, also volunteered to help with the entertainment, freely donating audio equipment to the celebration and assisting in audio-
continued from page 1
“It’s important that we support students regardless of their race or ethnic background.” Joyce Vincent, CMASS Assistant Director of Cultural Advancement visual tech. CMASS has been holding a Kwanzaa celebration every year since its founding in 2010, although monetary restrictions have put pressure on CMASS, which had to cut student staff this year in order to afford the catering, according to Vincent. She hopes that elders within the local African-American community will come together soon with the Malcolm X Center, which typically organizes the event, to begin planning for next year’s celebration. “It’s important that we support students regardless of their race or ethnic background,” Vincent said, “and it’s important that we support our [ethnic and international] communities as well.” Conor Snell can be reached at csnell@umass.edu.
ter was full again. Officers spoke with guests and staff. No issues were reported. Liquor law violation arrests: 0 Liquor law violation summons: 0 Noise complaints: 2 Motor vehicle stops: 10 Motor vehicle crashes: 1 Mary Reines can be reached at mreines@ umass.edu.
Same-sex weddings start in Hawaii after 23-year battle DOMA repeals in June paved the way By Michael Muskal Los Angeles Times
Same-sex marriages began on Monday in Hawaii as the place where the initial battles for gay marriage recognition started decades ago became the latest state to authorize the ceremony. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage, though Illinois won’t begin gay weddings until June. “We started this battle 23 years ago, and we get to finish it tonight,” Honolulu Pride Chairman Michael Golojuch Jr. told reporters early Monday morning. Six couples at a Waikiki resort exchanged their marriage vows early Monday as several hundred guests looked on, according to the Associated Press. Across town, an openly gay Unitarian minister wed his partner of 15 years. Hawaii’s marriage laws allow couples to register for
a license and be married the same day. Couples can sign up for a license online and then be verified by any license agent. Couples began filling out their license applications moments after midnight as license agents, located throughout the state, monitored laptop computers. Keola Akana and Ethan Wung were among the first group. Akana said he and Wung were getting married after entering into a civil union last year so they could receive federal benefits. “Got dinged on taxes last year because we’re not legally married federally, and we will be married for taxes this year,” Akana told reporters. “Now we’re equal to everybody in Hawaii that’s married, everybody in the nation and the world that’s legally married, so that’s an honor.” A same-sex couple sought a marriage license on Hawaii more than two decades ago and much to everyone’s surprise the state’s Supreme Court agreed in 1993 that they were entitled to one. In
essence, the court held that not allowing gays and lesbians to marry was discriminatory. It was the first time a U.S. court had ruled on same-sex marriage and the decision sparked a revolution - along with a backlash. Hawaii’s voters reversed the court’s ruling. The U.S. Congress eventually passed the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which denied samesex marriages and dozens of states passed their own laws and constitutional amendments defining marriage as being between a man and a woman. But in June, the U.S. Supreme court threw out portions of DOMA, sparking the latest round of court battles and fights in state legislatures over same-sex marriage. Hawaii is already a marriage and honeymoon destination, and the new law could be lucrative. A study by a researcher at the University of Hawaii found that same-sex marriage could add $217 million in added tourism from the weddings.
Fleeing Syrian rebels blamed for violence in Lebanon Influx of fighters linked to bloodshed By Mitchell Prothero McClatchy Foreign Staff
BEIRUT — A longfeared influx of rebels fleeing Syrian battlefields for Lebanon was being blamed Monday for weekend violence that saw fighting spread throughout much of Syria’s tiny neighbor. The ongoing battle between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and anti-Assad rebels for the rural mountainous region of Qalamoun, along the Syria-Lebanon border, has pushed scores, if not hundreds, of fighters from a variety of Syrian rebel groups into Lebanon, where security officials say their presence is destabilizing an already-volatile situation. “Some rebels seem to have decided that operat-
ing directly in Lebanon is safer than Syria,” one exasperated Lebanese security official said, speaking only on the condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to reporters. “Some of these are normal rebels tired of war who have entered Lebanon with their families as refugees, but we’re seeing evidence some are with al-Qaida or the Nusra Front,” an al-Qaidaaffiliated rebel group. At least 10 people died and dozens were wounded over the weekend in Tripoli, the predominately Sunni Muslim city that’s Lebanon’s second largest. The city has seen violence before between poor Sunni neighborhoods that are sympathetic to the rebels and a small enclave of Alawites who support Assad, but the weekend’s fighting was especially bloody and left the city shuttered Monday. “The guys (on both sides)
have gone insane,” a resident said by phone, asking that her name not be used in order to protect her family. “It’s not just (the usual) sniping, it’s rockets, mortars and grenades. Nobody in Tripoli slept Saturday or Sunday night.” The fighting began Saturday after apparent Sunni gunmen wounded a municipal worker for being Alawite, the same Shiiterelated brand of Islam that Assad follows. That attack was reportedly in revenge for this summer’s double bombing of Sunni mosques in Tripoli associated with the rebels, which killed scores of people and wounded hundreds and which many Sunnis and parts of the Lebanese government have blamed on the main Alawite Lebanese political party, the Arab Democratic Party. An Alawite militia leader, Ali Eid, promised more fighting. “If the fighting does not stop by (Tuesday) we will see something new that will destroy Tripoli,” he said. “We are capable of closing this city and burning it.” The weekend fighting in Tripoli spread to nearby Akkar province as snipers and rocket-propelled grenade attacks on traffic closed the highway that connects the area to Syria. The Lebanese army announced that it would take steps to
block access to Lebanon through the mountains along the border, to keep Islamist rebels out. Meanwhile, a new militant group that claims to be formed of local volunteers declared that it would attack pro-Assad targets in northern Lebanon. The Akkar Falcons described in the local media as veterans of the fighting in Syria - said it had enlisted 600 Sunni fighters in Lebanon’s north to confront the Syrian regime’s Lebanese allies, led by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. The group released no further information in its first announcement. “I don’t know about them but I do know that we’re seeing more and more fighters entering here from Syria, and not just refugees,” the security official said. “These new fighters are starting to operate in Tripoli, Bekaa” - where thousands of Syrian refugees already are ensconced - “and in the Palestinian camps.” Weekend fighting also broke out in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, Ain el-Hilweh, where Islamists with suspected al-Qaida ties battled Palestinian factions responsible for the camp’s security. At least one man was killed and several wounded. “There are new faces and Syrian voices in the camp,” Abu Mahmoud, a security
official for the Fatah movement in the camp, said by phone. He asked to be identified only by his nom de guerre. Ain el-Hilweh was once home to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the late leader of alQaida in Iraq - now renamed the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria - and it’s thought to be the base for the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which took credit for a double suicide bombing against the Iranian Embassy last month in Beirut. Abu Mahmoud said the growing Islamist presence in the camp recalled the situation at the Nahr Bared camp in northern Lebanon, which exploded in 2007 into a three-month siege that took hundreds of lives and destroyed the camp after jihadists who’d fled the fighting in Iraq took control of the camp’s military facilities and attacked the Lebanese army. “We are terrified of another Nahr Bared,” Abu Mahmoud said. “We are very concerned about Ain Hilweh,” said a Hezbollah security official, who also spoke only on the condition that he not be identified. “If it turns very violent, that would cut the main highway to the south, and Hezbollah cannot allow that.”
THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
DailyCollegian.com
In wake of meningitis scare, some drug companies can avoid crackdown Avoid inital scrutiny
under new law By Todd Spangler Detroit Free Press
WASHINGTON — Federal authorities acknowledged Monday that some larger-scale custom drug providers may initially escape detection under a new law intended as a response to a meningitis outbreak that sickened hundreds across the U.S. and led to 19 deaths in Michigan. Officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration generally praised the new law Monday, saying it gives them more tools with which to regulate larger operators that sign up as outsourcers while leaving smaller, more traditional pharmacies that custommix drugs mostly to the states. But Jane Axelrad, associate policy director for the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, noted it is up to larger-scale compounding pharmacies to register voluntarily as outsourcers, for which they will qualify for certain FDA exemptions and in turn submit to federal oversight and inspection. “It will be difficult for us to identify compounding pharmacies that choose not to register as outsourc-
ers and try to hide out in the category as traditional compounders,” she said. In those cases, she added, the government would continue to work with states to find problem operators and take action, but would be limited in making any “proactive inspections.” The law, passed with bipartisan support in Congress and signed last week by President Barack Obama, has been largely welcomed as a step forward in updating pharmacy rules. But it has still left some victims of the outbreak complaining that little has been done to rein in an industry they consider too unregulated. “All they did was put something up there that is window dressing. They didn’t do anything,” said 58-year-old Mark Klaserner of Milford, Mich., who got fungal meningitis after a spinal injection in September 2012 and still suffers from chronic back pain that makes it difficult to walk, work or sleep more than two hours at a stretch. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the agency plans to keep up its efforts to inspect and, where necessary, take action against compounding pharmacies that have become de facto drug manufacturers. Those efforts have become more aggressive since last year’s outbreak. Traditionally, com-
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the agency plans to keep up its efforts to inspect and, where necessary, take action against compounding pharmacies that have become de facto drug manufacturers. Those efforts have become more aggressive since last year’s outbreak. pounding pharmacies custom make pharmaceuticals based on individual needs and prescriptions. But in recent years, larger-scale operations - which would fall into the category of outsourcers - have provided bulk orders of custommade pharmaceuticals to hospitals and other health care providers. Last year’s meningitis outbreak was linked to tainted steroid injections distributed across the country by the New England Compounding Center in Massachusetts. More than 750 cases - including 64 deaths - were reported in 20 states. Michigan, with 264 cases and 19 deaths, was the hardest hit. Reports indicated problems at the NECC had been detected before the outbreak, and congressional investigators questioned why the FDA didn’t intervene earlier. But the law about who had authority the state or the FDA - was considered murky. The new legislation, sponsored by
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., helps clear that up. Meanwhile, by creating the new class of outsourcers that submit to inspections and come under federal authority, it’s hoped that hospitals and other large health care providers will more readily turn to those firms, with the outbreak stoking worries. That, in turn, will put market pressure on pharmacies to register voluntarily. But it still leaves traditional compounding pharmacies largely under the authority of state pharmacy boards. Hamburg said while the new law didn’t give her agency all the authority she had hoped for, it was “definitely progress.” And given the concerns about the outbreak last year, hospitals and health care providers will be eager to purchase from FDA-approved outsourcers, she said. “This will be a great relief to many health care providers and their patients,” she said.
After Nietos’ first year, Mexico still a mess President has yet to fulfill promises By richard FauSSeT Los Angeles Times
MEXICO CITY — To President Enrique Pena Nieto’s supporters, his first year in office has been a time of bold promises kept as he pursues an ambitious agenda of reforms designed, in the long term, to bring peace and economic growth to Mexico. But in the short term, by many measures, his country remains a mess. Though he promised to focus on Mexico’s economic potential, Pena Nieto has presided over an economy that has hardly grown at all. Though he vowed to reduce the kind of violence that affects innocent citizens, his record has been mixed, with kidnappings and extortion rising nationwide even as the number of homicides drops. And the drug war rages on. In recent months, the key agricultural state of Michoacan has devolved into something close to a failed state, as armed peasants have formed ad hoc militias to protect themselves from the surging cartel menace. On Wednesday, the president’s finance minister, Luis Videgaray, declared that the ongoing chaos there was a threat to Mexico. As Pena Nieto marks his first year in office, he has successfully pushed major banking, education, tax and telecommunication reform bills through Congress, and is pursuing changes in the crucial oil industry. Yet the young, confident and telegenic president, who as a candidate promised a “government that delivers,” is facing doubts about his ability to do just that. A poll from El Universal newspaper last month put Pena Nieto’s approval at 50 percent and his disapproval at 37 percent - his worst numbers so far as president. In the newspaper Excelsior, columnist Leo Zuckermann last
week noted that the president had failed to transform the positive story he tells about Mexico into actual good news. “It was one thing to ‘sell’ great expectations, which the Pena government did very well,” Zuckermann wrote, “and another very different thing to deliver good results.” On Sunday, thousands of the president’s critics marched in the historic center of Mexico City to protest his first year in office, and the idea of opening the state oil monopoly to foreign investment. Some protesters threw rocks at a storefront and at the headquarters of Televisa, the giant TV network that many consider to be biased in Pena Nieto’s favor. Seven protesters were reportedly arrested. The government expects the Mexican economy to grow by an anemic 1.3 percent this year, which many analysts blame largely on a troubled world economy. The president, meanwhile, is asking his fellow Mexicans to give his big-picture agenda time to generate results. “I am sure that the foundations that we are achieving will be very firm and solid, and will allow Mexico to have more economic growth and more social development,” Pena Nieto said at an October business summit in Guadalajara. “I’m convinced of it.” While the president’s initiatives have included some ideas that could be considered liberal, including tax hikes and an anti-hunger program, others have sought to address the market distortions that linger from the last century, when his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, ruled Mexico with a dollop of socialism and a heap of corruption. It may be a challenge, however, to convince Mexicans that a radical transformation is truly underway. This is a country with a history of passing beautifully constructed laws that often end
up doing little to change the real-life status quo. Some critics argue that Pena Nieto and his allies have allowed key elements of their reform package to be watered down and made less effective as they compromised, trying to mollify often raucous special interest groups and opposition political parties who had agreed to a general reform framework in a so-called Pact for Mexico, signed just after Pena Nieto’s inauguration. The education law, for example, has been criticized for not being tough enough on chronically underperforming educators: Teachers can be reassigned, but not fired, for repeatedly failing new evaluation tests. The law was passed over the fierce objections of a radical union whose protests choked Mexico City for weeks. The tax proposal, meanwhile, sought to boost revenue in a country that has the lowest tax collection rates in the developed world. Though the law that eventually passed included some tax increases, a proposed sales tax on food and medicine was left out in an effort to placate the left. Pena Nieto has yet to push through the most controversial change of all: a plan to open the bloated and inefficient state oil monopoly, Pemex, to foreign investment. The company supplies a third of the federal government’s income, but production is dwindling precipitously, and analysts say Pemex requires injections of foreign expertise and technology to turn itself around. But the constitution mandates that oil is the property of the Mexican people, and the issue touches deep chords of national pride. Pena Nieto’s team has backed a proposal to share profits with foreign oil concerns, but not the cut of the petroleum itself that those companies would prefer. The legislature could vote on the proposal by year’s end. Jorge Castaneda, a wellknown intellectual, is among those who believe that the
president and his team should get behind a production-sharing plan, or something like it, in hopes of delivering Mexico a dramatic economic boost. “They know they have to do something more, that just profit-sharing is not going to do the job,” Castaneda said. “But they may or may not have the political capital left at this stage to do more. If they had done energy reform at the beginning, maybe it would have been easier.” Meanwhile the left-wing Democratic Revolution Party, which opposes such measures, pulled out of the muchballyhooed Pact for Mexico in protest. On the crime front, federal figures show that homicides for the first 10 months of 2013 were down 16 percent compared with the same period in 2012, but extortion was up 10 percent and kidnappings up 33 percent. Such numbers come with multiple caveats: Prominent critics have charged that the government is manipulating the homicide statistics, while the extortion and kidnapping figures could reflect an increase in the reporting of crimes to authorities. Pena Nieto has struggled in his efforts to resolve the conflict with the drug cartels that has left thousands of people dead and come to define the country in the eyes of the world. The president had hoped to lower his reliance on the military, which was sent into the streets by his predecessor to push back against the cartels. Yet when trouble escalated in Michoacan, Pena Nieto appeared to have little choice but to send in the troops. As a candidate, Pena Nieto promised to create a paramilitary police force known as the “gendarmerie” to do some of the work the military is doing now. But its rollout has been delayed, and officials have changed their statements about its mission and makeup. “The gendarmerie,” says Mexican security expert Alejandro Hope, “is a joke.”
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
DERAILED Weener’s announcement confirmed what some passengers on Metro-North’s #8808 out of Poughkeepsie had said: that the train seemed to be going too fast as it entered the notorious curve in the Spuyten Duyvil section of Bronx. But he said the reason for the excessive speed - mechanical failure, operator error or some other factor - had yet to be determined. “It tells us what happened. It doesn’t tell us why it happened,” he said of the information on the event recorders. Investigators have begun interviewing the train’s operator, William Rockefeller, who has been an engineer for Metro-North for more than 10 years. They also took his cellphone to determine if he was distracted at the time of the derailment. Weener said no details of the interview would be released until after three other members of the train’s crew had been interviewed and until investigators were finished speaking to Rockefeller. Results of toxicology tests were not yet available, he said. Rockefeller, 46, who lives in the upstate New York town of Germantown, about 110 miles from New York City, was among the injured. James Reardon, the mayor of Rhinebeck, N.Y., where Rockefeller attended school, described him as “a conscientious and dedicated guy,” the Poughkeepsie Journal reported. “I have to believe this was some type of mechanical problem,” Reardon said. Whatever the cause, some lawmakers said the crash underscored the need for a full safety review in light of other incidents, including a May collision between two trains that injured more than 70 people. Eleven days after that crash, a MetroNorth track foreman died when a train hit him on a section of track that was not supposed to be in service. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who joined Weener and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., at the news briefing, said when he learned of the train’s speed, “I gulped.” “For a train to be going around that curve is just frightening,” Schumer said, noting that at 82 mph, the train was also exceeding the 70 mph limit on the straight
3
continued from page 1
section of track before the curve. “The fact it was going 82 miles per hour even in the 70 mile per hour zone ... raises so many questions, and it’s scary,” he said. Schumer noted that the train made nine stops before the crash without problems. “So clearly the brakes were working a short time before the train came to this curve,” he said. On a street near the crash site, mourners gathered Monday evening for a vigil to remember the victims: Jim Lovell, 58, a family man headed into the city to help light the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree; Donna L. Smith, 54, traveling to Manhattan for an outing with her sister; James M. Ferrari, 59, a building superintendent described by his wife as a “wonderful husband, a wonderful daddy”; and Kisook Ahn, 35, a pediatric nurse going home after the night shift. “It’s just so sad that he’s gone,” Lovell’s son Finn, 17, said outside the family’s home in Cold Spring, north of New York City. Lovell was a technician who had worked on “Today” and other NBC shows and who each year helped prepare the huge Christmas tree at Rockfeller Center for its lighting, which takes place this week. Ferrari’s wife, Francine, wept as she spoke to reporters at her home in Montrose, N.Y., about her husband, a regular rider on the earlymorning train. “He’s the best,” she said. “I miss him so much.” Smith, a paralegal, lived in Newburgh, N.Y., and often went to Manhattan with her sister, Linda, to shop or see shows. Friends and neighbors said she volunteered with the Girl Scouts and several charities. “She was kind, neighborly, friendly,” her neighbor, Kathy Cerone, said. “She was very goodhearted. Just a great neighbor.” Colleagues described Ahn, whose family is in Korea and who had come to the United States in 2009, as a hardworking and popular nurse at the Sunshine Children’s Home and Rehabilitation Center in Ossining, N.Y. “She never left her shift without saying goodbye to everybody. She was a very warm, loving person,” said the facility’s administrator, Linda Mosiello.
THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
Opinion Editorial
Collegian Conversations “I am today who I am largely because of UMass.” - Bill Cosby
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
CHCRC insults nonhonors students
In theory, the concept of the Commonwealth Honors College
Elise Martorano
Activism, solidarity boost student power
that I would not have had the choice to explore my options had I been tied down by the requirements of the honors college. Therefore I have the time to take five classes per semester and earn a high GPA. I also have paid jobs on campus at the Daily Collegian and the Writing Center. Students do not have to be in the honors college to be committed to their learning and excel in their studies and chase their passions, and in my many conversations with past and present honors students, I have heard several express regrets about joining the honors college because they have not been given the same freedom to explore and engage as I have. According to the honors college website, honors students are “capable of capable of informed, ethical decision making,” “excellent candidates on the job market and highly competitive for graduate study” and “effective communicators.” Not only is this just plain insulting, but it also points to a major flaw in the entire university if all students are not provided these skills. It seems as though the university is telling us that the only UMass graduates that are capable and willing to do something with their lives are the ones that graduate from the honors program. Since honors students do not think that they are benefiting from the honors college and non-honors students feel as though they are being treated like second class citizens, then it is clear that UMass is simply using it as an instrument to transcend negative academic stereotypes about the school.
is a good one—an opportunity for students to engage more with their academics and surround themselves with students that share their goals and faculty that have time for them. However, at UMass, this concept has been corrupted to form an exclusionary and condescending hierarchy. My first week back at school, I was invited by a friend to visit the honors dorms. With all the hype surrounding the new complex, I figured that there must be something that sets it apart. What I found was more appalling than I could have imagined. When I entered the foyer of the residential building, I stumbled into a rally of sorts, a pump up session for honors students. An adult was gesticulating wildly, displaying her excitement for these fresh-faced honors students. What I overheard was something along the lines of, “You are the best students at UMass, and every other student at this university looks up to you.” I was repulsed. I have nothing against the concept of an honors college, but I do have something against the fact that students in the honors college are being brainwashed to believe that other students are jealous of them. The honors college demands several requirements not expected of non-honors students, such as an enormous thesis project. This is all well and good, but requirements such as this may prevent honors students from exploring and cultivating their learning outside of the college. I forwent applying for the Elise Martorano is a Collegian columnist and honors college because I thought can be reached at emartora@umass.edu.
Undergraduate students are the ing for the right to vote on what lifeblood of UMass Amherst. We happens at UMass since 1991 when UMass Lowell and Dartmouth Zac Bears joined the system and the three student trustee votes turned into provide the funding and person- two votes rotating between the five nel that make the University run campuses each year. Student represmoothly and constantly improve sentation on the UMass BoT is less its standing as a top-tier pub- than 11 percent; 17 of the 19 trustlic research university. However, ees are not students. undergraduates do not have full The Board of Trustees has representation on the UMass Board explained the disparity away by of Trustees (BoT) and little rep- saying that the opinions of the three resentation in the UMass Faculty non-voting members are taken Senate. As the foundation of the into account when officials vote. University, and under the auspices A bill stuck in committee in the that UMass exists for the students, State House would provide voting undergraduates deserve a strong rights to all five student trustees. voice in the administration of the The University’s position is that Amherst campus. “all five student trustees have hisThe Wellman Document, origi- torically had a major impact on… nally passed in 1973 to organize decisions.” governance of the UMass System, Administrators have dominated outlines the specific governance policy regarding student conduct at responsibilities for students. In UMass since my matriculation. The terms of student affairs, first, stu- latest examples are the “tobaccodents have primary responsibility free” UMass policy and the cancelfor services and activities designed lation of electronic dance music to primarily serve students, or (EDM) events at the Mullins Center. which are “financed primarily by Neither a student referendum students.” Second, student govern- nor the SGA Senate authorized the ment manages student political prohibition of tobacco on-campus. affairs and organizational matters. The policy recommendation came Third, student government sets from the Faculty Senate, which repstandards for student behavior. resents the 1,170 faculty members However, UMass defines ‘responsi- and not the 22,000 undergraduates. bility’ as, “the capacity to initiate The University justifies the decision recommendations, after appropri- by stating that, “as a public instituate consultation.” tion of higher learning, UMass has The trustees wrote the Wellman an obligation to promote a healthDocument at a time when student ful environment.” cost was much lower and the state The SGA passed a modification picked up far more of the total creating designated smoking areas cost. In 2013, 57 percent of the aca- on-campus in fall 2011 which would demic funding for UMass came have created segregated gazebos from students and families, while for smokers. The administration only 43 percent came from the state. rejected the modification and the Students paid 43 percent in 2008 and ban went into effect in summer 2013 without any significant stufar less in 1973. UMass students have been fight- dent input.
CHCRC has ups and downs The new Commonwealth apartments are already friends Honors College Residential and do not reach out to their Community (CHCRC) at UMass neighbors as freshmen might. Another difficulty in living Steven Gillard in the CHCRC is the distance to a dining hall. The Roots Café has received mixed reactions,. As makes for a close and quick way a student living in the dorms, to get food, but it does not take I have heard many students meal swipes and many students walking through the area com- have to regularly make the trek plain about the new community: to Berkshire or Hampshire dinUnfair, elitist and “one-percent ing commons. While many studorms” are just a few of the dents may view the Roots Café descriptions used to illustrate the as another example of favoritism residential area. toward the honors students, its The CHCRC is an impres- effectiveness as a place to have a sive sight to behold for the pass- meal is limited. The Roots Café ing student, but its quality with can only be used regularly if a respect to other residential areas student has the YCMP meal plan, is vastly overestimated. In fact, and the prices of sandwiches and like every residential area, the grinders are far too high to be CHCRC has both its pros and bought frequently with regular cons. cash. The suite style and apartment Various other issues include style housing in the upperclass- the temperature in the dorm men dorms is one of the nicest rooms, which is difficult to conaspects. While this design allows trol, and many students have for more living space and privacy, complained about extremely it can also be stifling to student high temperatures. In other socialization. In other tradition- dorms, cell phone reception has al dorms on campus, students been so poor that payphones on the same floor have to share were installed in the hallways. bathrooms and are often in the Despite its problems, the honhallways. I lived in a traditional ors complex does have many double last year, and although positive aspects. Its proximsharing a bathroom with other ity to the library, Mullins Center students on my floor could be and recreation center make it inconvenient, it was also an effec- an ideal location to live on the tive way of meeting the people huge UMass campus. Moreover, who lived near me. In the upper- the idea of community around classmen CHCRC dorms, stu- which the complex is centralized dents have little incentive to leave is an added bonus to living in their dorms. In addition, many such an area; many students livstudents living in suites and ing in the complex take the same
Editorial@DailyCollegiancom
Zac Bears is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at ibears@umass.edu.
A home for the humanities
classes, live near each other and see each other often walking to and from class. The “small school” vibe those living in the CHCRC experience even while attending a large state school is perhaps one of the best aspects of the new residential area. Despite its benefits, assertions that the honors complex is inherently “elitist” are both presumptuous and unfounded. One may be inclined to think so while walking through the complex, but can the quality of the dorms be attributed to their status as an honors complex? Any residential complex built in 2013 will look better and employ more modern building designs and technology than those built decades before, whether it has the status of a dorm for honors students or not. As a student who has lived in a typical double and a student currently living in the honors complex, I can say that its perceived quality is offset by its various quirks and inefficiencies. Students living in other traditional residential areas such as Southwest enjoy many privileges that those in the honors complex do not — namely, more interaction and integration amongst students living in the same dorms. The CHCRC has both its advantages and disadvantages as all the dorms at UMass do. Steven Gillard is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at sgillard@umass. edu.
In addition, the University made the decision in September 2013 to cancel several EDM events at Mullins Center over concerns about recent overdoses on the party drug MDMA (a.k.a. ‘Molly’) and the drug-use-advocating lyrics of many EDM artists. SGA President Broughton disagreed with the decision and had to respond to an e-mail sent by the administration which included his name even though the administration rejected the choice of students. Undergraduates at UMass will always be the strongest advocates of other undergrads. Drawing up foolish distinctions between students through excessive pride and competition between academic departments, the false equivalence of the honors program with elitism, and the stigmatization of the student social culture only serves to reduce student power. Regardless of department, honors status, or achievement, we, the students, are UMass. Solidarity between students will enhance the ability to advocate for common goals like low tuition, high-quality non-academic programs and true student representation. The SGA and Center for Educational Policy Advocacy (CEPA) are two primary organizations on campus that execute student governance and advocate for more student power, respectively. If you are interested in the advocacy and execution of great undergraduate governance at UMass, participate in these groups. Only through deep involvement and intense activism will undergrads be able to effect significant change on the University in four short years oncampus.
Bartlett Hall, home of thick with the musk of the English, Journalism, a bygone era. The floor Art History and Women, plan is questionably arranged even to the Johnny McCabe most adept architectural navigator, and the buildGender, and Sexuality ing seems to sag under Studies departments, is its own weight. Broken slated for demolition and and boarded-up windows replacement by as early evoke Dickensian comas 2016. parison as the temperaAs UMass continues ture drops at night and its ongoing courtship in the winter; during the with construction (the hotter months, the walls ramifications of such perceptibly drip with public affection being eas- sweat (as do all those ily observable all around unfortunate enough to campus) the central bas- study within them, as tion of humanities stud- anyone who has survived ies, built in 1959 as a the experience can attest) champion of Modernist and the interior temperasensibilities, is next in ture has been known to line for the chopping approach that of the sun. block. It will be replaced Indeed, it is undeniby the New Academic able that poor Bartlett Classroom Building is in dire straits, but all (NACB) that is currently British punk rock piounder construction next neers aside, the fate of to Hasbrouck Laboratory the English department and an as-of-yet unnamed and its cohabitants is facility near South decidedly ambiguous. College. The journalism Critics of Bartlett department is moving would not (and will not) into the NACB, but the hesitate to point out the Women, Gender, and innumerable deficiencies Sexuality Studies departof the building, which, ment, one of the smallest as anyone can admit, on campus, has not been is beginning to show awarded a temporary its age. Bartlett is com- home and seems destined monly bemoaned as a at this point for a rather labyrinthine jumble of nomadic transition. As for its much larger stairways, doorways, hallways and classrooms, older sibling, the English
department, the prospect of transition is even more worrisome: many times larger than its smaller brethren, uprooting the ancient behemoth from its territorial stomping grounds will be no easy task. Setting the dizzying intricacies of construction and architectural development aside, there is, I think, something to be said about the sense of community that the ramshackle building has come to embody at this point. Sure, it’s a dilapidated, outmoded eyesore with a climate control problem and the strangest lavatory features in the history of bathrooms (seriously though, those urinals are an affront to mankind). It may be old, dirty and falling apart, but it’s home to some of the most incredible and talented people this university has ever seen, students and alumni both. At the risk of sounding old fashioned, it has character; and character is something that can’t be constructed in a mere four years. Johnny McCabe is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at rjmccabe@umass.edu.
t h e m a s s a c h u s e t t s D a i ly C o l l e g i a n BUSINESS
Business Manager - Omer Sander Distribution Manager - Henry Liu Advertising Manager - Andrew Carr
NEWS
OPINION & EDITORIAL Op/Ed Editor - Hannah Sparks
Arts Editor - Gabe Scarbrough
Sports Editor - Nick Canelas
NEWS ASSISTANTS
O p /E d ASSISTANTS
ARTS ASSISTANTS
SPORTS ASSISTANTS
Jaclyn Bryson Aviva Luttrell Mary Reines Conor Snell
Thomas Barnes Jillian Correira Maral Margossian Brandon Sides
Emily Brightman Søren Hough Jake Reed Tommy Verdone
Mark Chiarelli Cameron McDonough Patrick Strohecker
News Editor - Patrick Hoff
GRAPHICS
Production Manager - Gabe Scarbrough Special Issues Manager - James Desjardin Advertising Production - Molly Couto Comics Editor - Tracy Krug
EDITOR IN CHIEF - Stephen Hewitt MANAGING EDITOR - Malea Ritz MANAGING EDITOR/DAILYCOLLEGIAN.COM - Maria Uminski
ARTS & LIVING
SPORTS
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photo Editor - Evan Sahagian Photo Editor - Justin Surgent
PHOTO ASSISTANTS Cade Belisle Shaina Mishkin
MULTIMEDIA & WEB
News Producer - Chelsie Field Sports Producer - Jesse Mayfield Arts Producer - Shaina Mishkin Op/Ed Producer - Zac Bears
The Massachusetts Daily Collegian is published Monday through Thursday during the University of Massachusetts calendar semester. The Collegian is independently funded, operating on advertising revenue. Founded in 1890, the paper began as Aggie Life, became the College Signal in 1901, the Weekly Collegian in 1914 and the Tri–Weekly Collegian in 1956. Published daily from 1967 to 2013, The Collegian has been broadsheet since January 1994. For advertising rates and information, call 413-545-3500.
PRODUCTION CREW on staff for this issue NIGHT EDITOR - Nick Canelas COPY EDITOR - Patrick Hoff WEB PRODUCTION MANAGER - Jesse Mayfield NEWS DESK EDITOR - Conor Snell O p /E d DESK EDITOR - Op/Ed Staff ARTS DESK EDITOR - Soren Hough SPORTS DESK EDITOR - Mark Chiarelli COMICS DESK EDITOR - Tracy Krug
GRAPHICS DESK EDITOR - Idriss Jebir
Arts Living THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
“Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.” - JRR Tolkien
FILM REVIEW
Arts@DailyCollegian.com
FILM/TELEVISION FEATURE
‘Dallas Buyers Club’ an excellent drama DC vs. Marvel for
rights to universe
McConaughey shines in lead role
Television and film properties clash
By Alex FrAil Collegian Correspondent When I first saw the trailer for “Dallas Buyers Club,” I was delighted to see Matthew McConaughey in a dramatic follow up to his mesmerizing performance in last year’s “Mud.” Add Jared Leto in his first movie role since 2006 and I was hooked. By the end of the first scene – a disorienting, drug-addled look at McConaughey – I knew that the film had capitalized on the promo’s excellent promise. “Dallas Buyers Club” is based on the life of Ron Woodroof (McConaughey), a racist, homophobic rodeo cowboy who snorts cocaine when he’s not hustling other rodeo stars. After a freak accident sends him to the hospital, Ron wakes up to a positive HIV test. The doctors, played by Denis O’Hare and Jennifer Garner in her best role since “Alias,” give him 30 days to live. Woodroof, desperate for a cure, turns to unauthorized, cheaper drugs in Mexico and Japan to slow the effects of his disease and to help other AIDS victims. His actions quickly entangle him in the snares of the FDA. McConaughey takes Ron through a humanizing transformation in the movie’s two-hour run. At first, Ron seems nothing like a hero; he’s prejudiced, crass and reckless. But out of necessity, he enlists Rayon (Leto), a transgender woman with AIDS, to help his operation. Interacting with the target of his prejudice forces Ron to understand the wrongness of his ways. At times, I found Ron and Rayon’s relationship difficult to believe. Ron refuses to believe his diagnosis despite barely being able to stand because of his homophobia. Then, he takes to Rayon in the span of a few scenes. Director JeanMarc Vallée rushes Ron’s
By Cory Willey Collegian Staff
FOCUS FEATURES
Matthew McConaughey stars as Ron Woodroof in ‘Dallas Buyers Club.’ transition from outspoken bigot to champion of the disenfranchised. Though it suffers from a clunky execution and an obvious exposition of character development, Ron and Rayon’s relationship is nonetheless affecting and memorable. Even more emotional are Ron’s moments of despair. When he’s researching the ill-understood virus, he slams the table in fury once he realizes at last that his drug use and sexual activities have doomed him. Ron proves himself to be a good person underneath his rough exterior, like when he braves the bigoted trailer park where he lives just to get a painting his mother made for him. In moments like that, it’s impossible not to empathize with Ron. This is the performance of McConaughey’s career. I expected Leto to steal the show based upon his stunning portrayal of a drug addict in “Requiem for a Dream,” and while his acting is indelible, McConaughey nevertheless overshadows him. Leto’s scenes offer both light-hearted laughs and devastating hopelessness; in one scene, Rayon must beg his estranged father for money. His performance is Oscar-bait for sure. But it’s
McConaughey’s tortured portrayal of Ron that stuck with me long after driving home from the theater. Director of the acclaimed “The Young Victoria,” Vallée adds another excellent entry to his resume. He uses a mind-numbing ringing in scenes where Ron falls ill. The outcome is both jarring and emotional. Vallée also never forces “Dallas Buyers Club” to take a stance on Ron as a charitable donor to the sick and ostracized AIDS victims, nor as a hustling outlaw who views the buyers club as an economic goldmine. Instead, Ron emerges as both men. Vallée avoids sentimentality for his doomed protagonist; he boldly presents Ron as a flawed man who, even as he tries to reform his flaws, trips up on old habits. This realistic, humble depiction is made more impressive since it lies in the wake of Walter White’s odyssey in “Breaking Bad.” A similar “Heisenberg” caricature would have been an easy, appealing sell to audiences. Despite the similarities between Ron and Walter, Vallée never tries to make Ron more than he is: a man trying to make ends meet before he dies. Through Vallée’s convincing portrait, we empathize
with Ron far more than we would with an outlandish retelling of his adventure. The film effectively establishes the mindset of the 1980s. The country’s homophobic attitudes underlying the AIDS scare emerge suddenly when the characters express disgust over actor Rock Hudson’s diagnosis. That disgust projects onto Ron once his friends discover that he has the virus. When he returns to their bar, his friend are repelled by him like opposing magnets. For them, Woodroof is a walking contamination. If for nothing else, the movie serves as the official announcement of McConaughey as a certified A-list name. Following a decade of subpar rom-coms and cheesy action flicks, he has cemented an improbable 180. But the movie also features several other career-best performances, namely Leto’s and Garner’s. It’s a crash course in the history of a horrible disease. It’s an elegy for the real Woodruff. But the most captivating part of “Dallas Buyers Club” will always be its doomed protagonist, a man who refuses to go gentle into that good night. Alex Frail can be reached at afrail@ umass.edu.
confirmed that the “Man of Steel” sequel will feature a new iteration of Batman, and recent rumors suggest that a few other major characters such as Wonder Woman, The Flash and Nightwing may appear. These stories seem to indicate DC is looking ahead to a Justice League movie to compete with Marvel’s Avengers films. Until DC confirms or de nies the rumors circulating around their upcoming projects, it is difficult to say how much they have actually planned, though their recent announcement of several upcoming television series have only added to the confusion. This past September, the company reached a deal with Fox to produce “Gotham,” a series following Detective Jim Gordon’s early career in the Gotham police department as he defends Gotham before Batman shows up. But whether “Gotham” will connect with Affleck’s Batman has not been announced. These potential canonical conflicts have only intensified after the announcement of a new series based on The Flash. This show will be a spin-off of the CW’s “Arrow,” which is itself based on the Green Arrow character from the comics. But there is no indication that Stephen Amell’s version of Oliver Queen nor Grant Gustins’ take on The Flash will join Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill in “Batman vs. Superman.” Comparing Marvel and DC’s very different approaches to creating an on-screen universe, it seems as though Marvel is on track to create a sprawling, multi-medium canon. DC is harder to figure out, as it appears they have no plan at all. They are racing toward their own team-up film and in the process missing the boat on creating their own epic cross-platform world. It will be awhile before we see the two play out, so final judgments must be reserved. All that said, one thing is clear: the era of the superhero is certainly upon us.
It would be an understatement to say superheroes have been successful in their recent jump from page to screen. The past seven years have seen these modern myths rise to the top of the box office time and time again. Marvel and DC are now looking to capitalize on the popularity of their characters by producing a multitude of TV shows. As with their recent cinematic ventures, Marvel seems to have a clearly connected plan for their small screen expansion. DC, on the other hand, appears to be creating more of a confused mess rather than one cohesive universe. Recently, Marvel has made headlines with their unprecedented deal with Netflix that will result in the creation of four new live action series focusing on Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. These four series will eventually culminate in a team-up called “The Defenders” which will act as a small-screen version of the Avengers, bringing the four characters together. It’s safe to assume these series will exist in the Cinematic Universe in some capacity. Indeed, Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” on ABC has set the precedent by being directly involved with MCU films and their events; an episode of “AoS” has already dealt with the aftermath of the recently-released “Thor: The Dark World.” However, due to their focus on the short term, DC is unable to create such an interesting multi-medium spanning universe. Currently, DC is playing catch-up with Marvel at the movies. Their wildly popular “Dark Knight Trilogy” has ended and is not connected with their only other established film property, “Man of Steel,” which will purportedly be used as a foundation to introduce the rest of Cory Willey can be reached at cjwiltheir stable. It’s already been ley@umass.edu.
FILM FEATURE
Dare to dream of a better Christopher Nolan Director should remember his roots By Søren HougH Collegian Staff
This is a multilayered dreamscape, and you are at its core. You are finished dreaming and would like to regain your consciousness. And in order to ascend, you must get a “kick” to wake up in the next level of the dream world. Under normal circumstances, one can achieve this kick by “dying” – by being killed, or by killing yourself. But this is a multilayered dream, and it is therefore different. Killing yourself here will only drop you further into your own subconscious. It gets worse. If you’re not careful, your descent may eventually land you in the dreaded realm of Limbo. According to rumor, Limbo is an inescapable maze of thoughts and emotion. It must be avoided at all costs. But wait, that’s not true.
Limbo is actually very escapable. It is nothing more than another simple layer of the dream world. It is so ordinary, in fact, that killing yourself in Limbo will wake you right back up in the real world. Does this make any sense to you, Mr. Nolan? Because I’m lost. I’m lost because the plot makes no sense, not because it is over-complicated. I’m lost because I have no idea how you actually spent 10 years writing the mess that became “Inception.” And I’m lost because I have no idea what happened to the promising filmmaker we all eagerly watched blossom in the late nineties. The image of Christopher Nolan was that of a burgeoning auteur. Opening his career with “Following,” Nolan wet his beak in the deep pools of film noir. In the early days of the genre, noirs were B-movies, made with low budgets that meant shoddy sets and equipment that had to be hidden in the shadows. This is what gave noir its now-iconic
aesthetic. Made for just $6,000, even the budget of “Following” hearkened back to the origins of the form. And importantly, every part of “Following” was the product of Nolan’s sweat and passion for the medium; Nolan personally wrote, produced, shot, directed and edited the film. There is perhaps something to be said for having such a personal investment in a movie. Although he has retained some creative control, Nolan hasn’t had an opportunity like since moving to major studio filmmaking. After his debut feature, Nolan really turned heads with “Memento.” A complex puzzle of a film with an intriguing premise and a smart central mystery, it was an instant hit. More than just a great movie, “Memento” showed that Christopher Nolan was here to stay: his style recognizable, his talent apparent. Then everything changed. A few very clever film executives saw Nolan’s proficiency with mystery and suspense,
and asked that he work on a full-on reboot of Batman. On paper, this made sense – but “Batman Begins,” despite being a critical success, was not the Batman film people were expecting. While it certainly had technical merit, it lacked any meaningful detective work, and certainly did not paint the Dark Knight as a bastion of human intelligence. Why didn’t Nolan simply build on the intellectually satisfying foundation he established in both “Following” and “Memento”? In many ways, those movies are better Batman films than any of the entries in The Dark Knight Trilogy. As any comic book fan will tell you, Batman is the Dark Knight, yes - but he is also the World’s Greatest Detective. While some of his arch enemies are physical matches for him, most seek to challenge his problem-solving skills and moral fortitude. This is a key trait that is mystifyingly absent from Nolan’s take on the character, especially given the director’s previous efforts.
Nolan’s decent continued with “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” the sequels to “Batman Begins.” Forget about making a good Batman film – these movies lacked personal touches that made “Memento,” “Following,” and even “Batman Begins” such daring creations. Then, after a refreshing but brief return to his roots with the quiet “The Prestige” in 2006, Nolan finally announced his big non-Batman project: a sci-fi film called “Inception.” It promised to be incredible. Some suggested that it would be the worthy sequel to “The Matrix” that we never got. Its cast and crew seemed like a dream team of filmmaking talent. But then “Inception” hit theaters, and it simply wasn’t what it set out to be. Its story was muddled and inconsistent, spending time on worldbuilding only to negate its own exposition moments later. Its visuals were disappointingly unimaginative. And troublingly, its premise seemed to be lifted wholesale from Satoshi
Kon’s seminal animated masterpiece, “Paprika.” Christopher Nolan has a new sci-fi film coming out in 2014. It’s called “Interstellar.” It’s got a huge budget and features a killer cast – Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine and more are all set to star. And I really wish I could get excited for it, because Nolan should be able to handle the complex storytelling required of science fiction films. But all recent evidence seems to be to the contrary. Mr. Nolan, I am asking you as an old fan. Remember where you came from. Remember what it was like to make a movie for just a few thousand bucks. Remember what it was like to craft a beautiful story with nothing but your mind, sans the backing of a Hollywood studio. Because I remember when that was your mission, Mr. Nolan, and I miss it. Søren Hough can be reached at shhough@umass.edu.
6
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
Comics
DailyCollegian.com
WE WANT YOUR COMICS! Put your comics in front of thousands of readers. Questions? Comments? Email us: comics@dailycollegian.com
Leedle leedle leedle leedle
D inosaur C omiCs
B y r yan n orth
Treats!
P oorly D rawn l ines
B y r eza F arazmanD
aquarius
HOROSCOPES Jan. 20 - Feb. 18
If you thought drinking raw eggs was extremely manly and tough, you clearly have not put Turkey in your protein shake.
pisces
Feb. 19 - Mar. 20
leo
Jul. 23 - aug. 22
Candy canes are the prime example of the state of the Santa’s Workshop–Elf healthcare system.
virgo
aug. 23 - Sept. 22
A 10–person round table discussion is the most welcoming and comfortable space to catch up on your lack of sleep.
If you find “Holiday” candy corn, don’t buy it. It’s the lesser quality, out of harvest, “hot house” crop.
aries
Mar. 21 - apr. 19
libra
Sept. 23 - Oct. 22
taurus
apr. 20 - May. 20
scorpio
Oct. 23 - nOv. 21
“Snacks” are for children. “Treats” are for winners. You did good, kid.
Try taking a seat in the front of your classroom today facing toward everyone. A new perspective might help refresh the course.
gemini
May. 21 - Jun. 21
sagittarius
It’s a good thing there’s a number on the Think about this: You stuff the turkey with back of the cereal box for comments, because stuffing and then stuff yourself with stuffing. that bowl of Chex is giving you the bad feels. Are you and the turkey one in the same?
nOv. 22 - Dec. 21
One in seven people look good in yoga pants. Your coding and HTML learnin’ is going great. You’re smart enough to know that you are Now, time to take that hard work out of among the six who don’t. Word...
cancer
Jun. 22 - Jul. 22
You lost an umbrella once. It was broken when used by the person who found it.
capricorn
Dec. 22 - Jan. 19
How would anyone know what season it is if you aren’t wearing your scarves inside?
THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
DailyCollegian.com
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
7
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
URI earns first victory, Sarkisian named USC coach resigns Georgia crushes GWU Orgeron immediately A-10 schools ease into tournaments By RoBeRt AceR Collegian Correspondent The Rhode Island women’s basketball team won its first game of the season Friday, defeating the Detroit 70-59 in the first game of the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament. Detroit (2-6) battled with the Rams (1-6) in a first half marked by 11 lead changes, but ultimately fell short of Rhode Island’s attack. The Rams controlled the game by dominating the boards, outrebounding Detroit 54-36, including 16 offensive rebounds. Titans senior Senee Shearer finished with 21 points, including five 3-pointers while junior Ellisha Crosby scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Rams senior Kerry Wallack finished with a season-high 13 points and 12 rebounds, making for her second career doubledouble. Sophomore Brianna Thomas added 10 points of the bench. Rhode Island’s win halted a five-game losing streak.
George Washington faces The Rams will take the road again to compete with Georgetown on Tuesday at 8 p.m.. Brown Wednesday at 7 p.m.
GW stomped by Bulldogs George Washington fell to Georgia 80-60 in the first game of the Georgia State Invitational on Friday. The Colonials (4-2) competed early on, but the Bulldogs could not be contained as they used an 18-2 run to secure a 33-15 lead with five minutes, 47 seconds remaining, which carried to a 40-23 halftime advantage. GW looked strong in the second half, shooting nearly 45 percent, but Georgia (7-0) continued to be efficient on offense, shooting 49.2 percent the entire game. Freshman Hannah Schaible played a solid all-around game for the Colonials with nine points, six rebounds and three assists. Lady Bulldog Tiaria Griffin scored a game-high 19 points, including 4-of-8 shots from 3-point range. Khaalidah Miller, Halle Washington, Shacobia Barbee and Erika Ford finished in double figures with 14, 12, 11 and 10 points respectively.
COLONIALS heading into the game’s final minute, but Wichita State (6-0) went on a 6-1 run to clinch a victory behind consecutive layups from Ron Baker and Cleanthony Early followed by two free throws by Fred VanVleet. Baker finished with a game-high 22 points while
LAYOFF
VCU stars earn honors Virginia Commonwealth defeated Wagner 87-61 on Sunday afternoon, sweeping the Atlantic 10 women’s basketball awards in the process. Senior Robyn Parks was named the league’s Co-Player of the week while freshman Isis Thorpe was awarded Rookie of the Week honors. The duo played a key role in the Rams (5-1) victory over the Seahawks. Parks finished the night with a double-double, leading all scorers with 24 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Teammates Iris Thorpe and Monna Finney-Smith added 13 points each. VCU took charge of the game with a 24-3 run to open the second half, giving it a 67-42 lead with just over 10 minutes to play. Taylor Butigian was the highscorer for the Seahawks (1-5) with 14 points. Wagner shot 50 percent (12-of-24) from the floor and tallied a seasonhigh 13 assists. Robert Acer can be reached at racer@umass.edu.
continued from page 8
Early added 12, despite shooting 4-of-12 from the field. Dwayne Evans scored a team-high 18 points for Saint Louis (6-2), including 16 in the second half, and Jordair Jett and Mike McCall Jr. each contributed 12 points and three steals in the loss.
Both losses suffered by the Billikens this year have come to ranked teams. In addition to Sunday’s loss, Saint Louis also fell to then No. 10 Wisconsin on Nov. 26. Anthony Chiusano can be reached at achiusano@umass.edu and can be followed on Twitter @a_chiusano24.
continued from page 8
needs to do what it does best — play with energy. When the Minutemen play with energy, they’ve proven to be one of the toughest teams in the country to play against. In its upset victory over thenNo. 19 New Mexico, UMass used a 16-0 run to pull away late, getting out and running on offense, while pressuring the Lobos into taking ill-advised 3-pointers. Energy will once again be the key for the Minutemen Tuesday night. Eastern Michigan only averages 76.5 points per game, while only shooting about 46 percent
“We’re an energy team and if we play with energy, good things happen.” UMass coach Derek Kellogg from the floor, meaning that a fast-paced game from UMass will pressure the Eagles into taking tough shots and making them uncomfortable. “We’re an energy team and if we play with energy, good things happen,” Kellogg said. “We may not always make the right pass, the right shot or the right play, but if we bring energy and play with some toughness, we have a chance.”
Tuesday will also be the first of four games that the Minutemen will play this season against Mid-American Conference opponents. This is part of the agreement the school made with the NCAA when the football team moved to the MAC as members of the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2012. Patrick Strohecker can be reached at pstrohec@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @P_Strohecker.
By Mike HiseRMAn Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — The University of Southern California made it official Monday afternoon, hours after the news first broke: Steve Sarkisian, 39, is the Trojans’ new head football coach. And interim coach Ed Orgeron, a long-time USC assistant and recruiting coordinator, is out _ and also heading out of town. Orgeron told school officials he was “leaving USC to pursue head coaching opportunities.” Various media reports said Orgeron was “outraged” by Athletic Director Pat Haden’s decision to go with Sarkisian. In a news release sent out by USC, Haden had this to say about Orgeron: “Ed is one of the greatest Trojans ever and we thank him for all he has done for the program. He and I had a very open and frank discussion. He understandably was disappointed when I told him we were going in a different direction. We talked about the possibil-
SUCCESS
ity of him remaining at USC, but Ed wants to be a head coach and I am supportive of that. I told him I will do whatever I can to help him in that pursuit.” In USC’s release, Orgeron did not sound outraged: “I am grateful to the University of Southern California for the great time I had here,” he was quoted as saying. “I’m especially grateful for the players on this year’s team, the coaching staff and the Trojan Family for the way they all fought through adversity and became one. “I’m also thankful for all the Trojan players and family members who have become close personal friends during my 11 years at USC. I am especially proud of this year’s team and coaching staff, who had to start a new season and then bonded, played together as a family and competed like Trojans. I’ll forever be grateful to the University of Southern California. Fight On!” USC had a record of 6-2 with Orgeron as interim head coach. Of Sarkisian, Haden said: “We conducted a very exhaustive and thorough search, pinpointing about 20 candidates and interviewing
five of them. We kept coming back to Sark. He is the only one who was offered the job. I believe in my gut that he is the right coach for USC at this time. “He embodies many of the qualities for which we looked. He is an innovative coach who recruits well and develops players. He is a proven and successful leader. He connects with people. He has energy and passion. He knows how to build a program and create a culture that we value. He is committed to academic success and rules compliance. And he understands the heritage and tradition of USC.” Sarkisian will be introduced officially during a news conference scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at the John McKay Center. Sarkisian said the Washington program, 0-12 before he took over, “is in a better place now than when we arrived, and I am proud and thankful of the players for that. “That said, I am extremely excited to be coming home to USC and for the opportunity that USC presents to win championships. I can’t wait to get started.”
continued from page 8
vidual and team performances, and the coming semester should be one of their strongest in memory. The club is regularly getting over 20 members to show up to practices where attendance is not strictly enforced. These numbers
will serve them well in the coming year as the team continues to garner support after consistent performances. The club is looking forward to a regional tournament in Niagara, Canada, this weekend and the
regional tournament at the end of the semester. They hope to send wrestlers to the 2014 NCWA National Championship in Texas. Jackson Goddard can be reached jgoddard@umass.edu.
THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Sports@DailyCollegian.com
@MDC_SPORTS
MEN’S BASKETBALL
ATLANTIC 10 BASKETBALL
GWU knocks off Creighton, VCU back on track
HITTIN’ THE ROAD
Colonials defeat Creighton 60-53
ly extend the lead to seven points.
By anthony chiuSano
Following a drop out of the national rankings last week, Virginia Commonwealth defeated Belmont 81-68 on Sunday to pick up its second straight win. Trailing by 12 points early in the first half, the Rams (6-2) battled back to take a 38-35 lead heading into halftime. In the second half, VCU once again fell behind, 50-44, before embarking on a 22-2 run to take control with six minutes remaining. Juvonte Reddic led the Rams’ offense with a doubledouble with18 points and 11 rebounds. Melvin Johnson added 16 points and was 4-of7 from 3. Five players reached double figures in points for the Bruins (7-2). Blake Jennings and J.J. Mann led the way with 14 points in the loss. VCU’s victory ended Belmont’s 23-game winning streak at home, which led the nation. In addition, the loss stopped a six-game winning streak for the Bruins, which included a Nov. 17 victory against then-No. 12 North Carolina. Next up for the Rams is a home game against Eastern Kentucky on Thursday night.
Collegian Staff
EVAN SAHAGIAN/COLLEGIAN
Raphiael Putney and the Minutemen will face Eastern Michigan in their first road game of the season. UMass is 6-0 and ranked No. 21 in the AP top 25.
UMass faces EMU after long break By Patrick Strohecker Collegian Staff
It’s been eight days since the Massachusetts men’s basketball team last played a game. And while everything has been smooth sailing for UMass to start the season, it must now prepare for its first true road test of the year when it takes on Eastern Michigan on Tuesday night. On top of that, the Minutemen (6-0) must try to shake off the rust that goes along with an extended layoff. “They all came back (from the break) a little sluggish,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said to reporters. “I’ve been trying to get them back into playing the way we’re supposed to play with the energy we’re supposed to play.”
“It gave me time to rest my body, rest my back and my knee. And it feels pretty good getting back into action now. I couldn’t wait to get back to practice, and I know a lot of guys on the team feel the same way. I can’t wait to play again.” UMass center Cady Lalanne Redshirt sophomore Derrick Gordon was quick to agree with his coach’s observation. “We all noticed it the first day of practice, how sluggish we were,” he said. “Most of us went home and we were off our feet for three to four days. But we’re getting back into it.” The team took the opportunity to go home for the Thanksgiving break, spending time with friends and family. But UMass is looking forward to getting back to action and continu-
ing the impressive start to the season. “It gave me time to rest my body, rest my back and my knee,” Cady Lalanne said. “And it feels pretty good getting back into action now. I couldn’t wait to get back to practice, and I know a lot of guys on the team feel the same way. I can’t wait to play again.” However, UMass won’t ease back into action. It is preparing for its first road game of the season, going up against a tough Eagles (5-1) team. Eastern
Michigan opened the season with five straight wins before losing to Kentucky 81-63 on Nov. 27. The Eagles don’t have the same marquee wins as the Minutemen, but have been impressive in their victories. Three of their five wins have been by at least 12 points and have been composed late in close games. In order for UMass to pick up where it left off at the Charleston Classic, it see
LAYOFF on page 7
After falling to No. 25 Marquette on Friday in the Wooden Legacy, the George Washington men’s basketball team rebounded to defeat No. 20 Creighton 60-53 on Sunday to take home third place in the tournament. It was George Washington’s first win against a nationally-ranked team since 2004 when the Colonials pulled off back-toback upsets against No. 11 Michigan State and No. 12 Maryland on Dec. 4 and 5. Leading the way for the Colonials in the consolation game (6-1) were Kevin Larsen with 14 points and six rebounds, and Isaiah Armwood and Joe McDonald with 12 points apiece. For the Blue Jays (5-2), National Player of the Year candidate Doug McDermott was held to seven points on 2-for-12 shooting, including a 0-for-5 performance from behind the 3-point arc. The senior forward came into the game scoring 27.8 points per game. Despite McDermott’s struggles, Creighton held a 53-50 lead with two minutes,14 seconds left in the game. However, George Washington regained the lead with just over a minute left following a reverse layup by Larsen to make it 54-53. The Blue Jays got one more shot to tie the game with 14 seconds left in the game and trailing by three points, but Creighton guard Devin Brooks was called for an offensive foul on the inbound pass, returning possession to the Colonials, who connected on their free throws to permanent-
VCU rallies past Belmont
SLU falls to Shockers Coming off of a Final Four appearance last season, No. 12 Wichita State remained undefeated with a 70-65 win over Saint Louis on Sunday. The first half was categorized by large runs by both sides, as the Shockers went on a 17-0 run which was then followed by an 11-0 run by the Billikens. The game was tied at 64-64 see
COLONIALS on page 7
WRESTLING
UM wrestling club gaining consistency after strong fall Minutemen look to remain victorious By JackSon Goddard Collegian Staff
Which Massachusetts team had a terrific season this fall? Which one stands out, in terms of both an individual and team effort, as competing at its highest level in years? Which team boasts a national champion? Fans might be hard pressed to think of a successful program at this point in the semester, but you might be surprised to find out that the UMass wrestling team meets this description. The UMass wrestling club won gold in every tournament its participated in so far this semester and furthering a building string of momentum over the past few years. Competing in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association, the Minutemen have sent wrestlers to the National Championships the past three years. “First semester tends
to be just getting into the rhythm of things and then second semester is really our big competition,” senior captain Brian Stapleton said. The wrestling club took first place at the 2013 Connecticut Classic at the University Connecticut. Five wrestlers from UMass advanced to the finals and four of them won, while the Minutemen garnered 70 team points, trumping second place UConn, which scored 66.5 points. Stapleton is one of the wrestlers who won gold at the Connecticut Classic, earning the medal in the 197-pound weight class. Stapleton was an All American his freshman year. Heavyweight Emmitt Takch took first place at the 235-pound weight class, as did sophomore Jake Stallone at 184 pounds. Stallone edged his opponent by just a single point in a close match. And Casey Corey, the team’s only female wrestler, came in first in the women’s division Corey was a national champion at the 157-pound
weight class last year, winning the NCWA national championship. Wrestling is not as simple as the person who pins his opponent wins. There is a complicated point system that determines the victor. A pin will end the match, but if neither wrestler is pinned then the outcome is decided by the number of points each wrestler earned. Points are earned by dropping an opponent to the mat, standing up if you have already been dropped to the mat or putting an opponent’s back to the mat. A wrestler is only pinned if both of his shoulders are touching the ground simultaneously. Wrestling is an individual sport, but each individual player contributes to the point total of his or her team. The outcome of a match determines how many points go to the victor’s team. Pins, technical superiority and wins by decision all earn the team different point totals. The wrestling club has been picking up steam for years now with both indisee
SUCCESS on page 7
JACKSON GODDARD/COLLEGIAN
Members of the UMass wrestling club practice amid successful 2013 season.