Massachusetts Daily Collegian: Jan. 23, 2014

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Thursday, January 23, 2013

Sen. Warren visits UMass on statewide ‘Future’ tour

News@DailyCollegian.com

Autism research changes thinking UMass club adjusts to shifting paradigm

By DaviD Barnstone Collegian Staff

MARIA UMINSKI/COLLEGIAN

Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke on a panel with UMass Chancellor Kumblr Subbaswamy yesterday about the affordability of education.

Fighting for lower student loan rates By aviva luttrell Collegian Staff

Sen. Elizabeth Warren met with students, faculty and administrators at the University of Massachusetts on Wednesday afternoon to tour the University’s recently constructed Life Science Laboratories and discuss student loan debt and the affordability of higher education.

The visit was part of Warren’s “Priorities for the Future” tour in Massachusetts, which focuses on her plans to make higher education more affordable, to refinance student loan debt, and to double funding for the National Institutes

of Health and the National Science Foundation.

During a brief tour of the new research laboratories, Warren met with several professors to discuss current research efforts, including life science and medical research funded by NIH and NSF. “Our laboratory has actually been funded quite a bit

by NIH … for actually looking at ways to evaluate physical activity with wearable sensors,” said Professor of Kinesiology Patty Freedson.

Among Warren’s concerns was the fact that NIH cuts have affected this type of research on campus, and she stressed the importance of continued financial support.

“We’re going to fight for this together,” she said.

Following the tour, Warren met with 11 student leaders in the Integrated Sciences Building for a roundtable discussion on student debt led by UMass Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy.

“State-supported schools are the opening for everyone,” Warren said. “The principle point is that public universities are there (to be) an affordable alternative for anyone who wants to work hard and get an education.”

Warren said that figuring out how to get adequate financial support for these universities has become one of her main priorities, and pointed to the shift in funding over the past 20 years.

“Just a couple of decades ago, across the country, states paid three out of every

four dollars it took to educate the students,” Warren said.

“That has now shifted. The state is now paying about 25 percent,” she continued.

“That means that the school has to find other ways to make that up, and most of that falls on the student. I worry deeply about that.”

Subbaswamy pointed out that it is now fairly normal for students to take up to six years to complete their degrees. Both he and Warren agreed that, in order to cut costs for students, it must become a priority for universities to ensure that students are able to graduate in a timely manner.

“We really want to turn the clock back in terms of see

WARREN on page

Serving the UMass community since 1890

Marina Simons is completing her senior honors thesis in autism research.

A senior communication disorders major at the University of Massachusetts, Simons is working to develop a tool to decode differences in the way children with high functioning autism tell stories compared to typically developing children.

Over the next few months, she will use that tool to analyze recordings and transcriptions of children telling stories collected by her lab mates.

On the surface, there appears to be few differences between storytelling in children with and without autism.

Previous studies have found that both groups of children, when matched on variables like age, gender and language ability, share stories similar in length and complexity. However, differences begin to emerge with more sophisticated narrative assessments.

A 2006 study conducted by scientists at the University of Rochester, for example, measured one aspect of storytelling that Simons is analyzing in her research project: coherence, or how well the story fits together as a whole. While an experimenter left the room, children listened to a recording of a story while following along in a wordless picture book. Then the children were asked to retell the story to the experimenter without looking at the book.

The Rochester researchers found that the retellings by the children with autism resembled more of a list of events than a narrative, compared to the children without autism. Simon plans to evaluate how children use

transitional words to link together different parts of the story.

“Our goal is to figure out what is different so that hopefully in future therapies,” Simons said. “These are things that speech language pathologists can target and change so that [the children’s] voices and the way they talk and tell stories sound more like their peers.”

Through these speech therapies, Simons hopes to improve the quality of life for children with autism and their families. She says her brother, who has Down syndrome, is a “great communicator” because of the therapists who worked with him when he was a little boy.

“Therapies have come so far and I think that they can still be going so much further. And that’s what really needs to be done, in my opinion,” Simons said.

When people with autism were asked what types of studies they would like to see funded by research dollars, science writer Emily Willingham learned that they were interested in more educational opportunities and alternative communication tools being developed for the autistic community.

“What you won’t see on this list are desires for cure or prevention or identifying a cause, areas where most autism research focuses,” Willingham writes on her Forbes.com blog.

Autism Speaks, one of the largest and most visible advocacy and research organizations, funds “global biomedical research into the causes, prevention, treatments, and a possible cure for autism,” according to its mission statement. The organization’s research initiatives include Early Access to Care, Environmental Factors in Autism and Genetics and Genomics.

The New York-based nonsee

AUTISM on page 3

UMass immunologists Obama’s NSA response many new questions receive research grant leaves Strong on principle, Enzymes linked to “If we can figure out a way to specifically tarcancer to be analyzed get some substrates and not others, to control the activity of the enzyme in time and space

By Katrina BorofsKi Collegian Staff to maintain beneficial immune system T wo immunoloactivity which is attacking diseased cells, it gists at the University of Massachusetts are part would be a great advance.” of a multi-institutional research team that was recently awarded a fiveyear, $4.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute.

Barbara Osbor ne and Lisa Minter, among researchers from other institutions, will use the grant to investigate diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s through the role of a specific enzyme.

“We are all interested in an enzyme called gamma secretase (GS)” Osborne said in an article published in The Recorder. Osborne, Minter and others hope to

Lisa Minter, UMass immunologist manipulate GS, which activates over 100 protein substrates in the body.

“When it acts by cleaving or cutting proteins, many different substrates are activated, including a very important one called NOTCH1,” Osborne explained in the article.

“Both Lisa and I have shown, first in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis, that NOTCH1 deregulation leads to many autoimmune diseases.”

Researchers in Florida

and Mississippi have also researched both NOTCH1 and GS and their effects on tumor development in cancer and amyloid plaque formation.

GS plays an important role in a variety of diseases and functions of the body.

The grant was provided

by NCI in order to further explore the purpose of the complicated enzyme.

The immunologists are seeking a way to control the see

IMMUNOLOGY on page 2

weaker on action

By anita Kumar mcclatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s response to the international uproar over the nation’s surveillance programs is leaving Americans with more questions than answers.

Where will millions of phone records be stored?

What protections will foreigners have? Which secret documents will be declassified?

In what was designed to be his defining speech on the issue last Friday, Obama announced few specifics.

“For every answer he gave, there are several new questions about how he plans to implement these changes,” said Elizabeth Goitein, a co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty

and National Security Program. “Ultimately, the full effect of these reforms remains to be seen.”

Obama directed Attorney General Eric Holder and James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, to decide how to proceed on at least a half-dozen sticky issues. He’ll solicit the advice of a divided Congress, where support for changes in the National Security Agency doesn’t fall strictly along party lines. And he ordered up additional studies.

“The president was stronger on principle than prescription,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “The president’s reform blueprint, while bold and courageous, is a first step, leaving a lot of work to be done.”

Obama did announce some changes: Reining in the contentious phone-collection program by requiring court approval each time the data

is examined and barring the government from storing the information, halting spying on dozens of foreign leaders and appointing a team of advocates to sometimes appear before the nation’s secret surveillance court, which now hears arguments only from the government.

But he stopped short of the sweeping restrictions that civil liberty advocates had been lobbying for and the ringing endorsement that intelligence officials had hoped for to validate their work.

In some instances, Obama clearly tried to strike a balance between protecting Americans from terrorism and addressing the concerns about privacy. But in other instances, he just didn’t decide.

The president was still grappling with one of the

see

SURVEILLANCE on page 3

2

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Thursday, January 23, 2013

THE RUNDOWN

WARREN

continued from page 1

IMMUNOLOGY enzyme for its detrimental effects on cancers and diseases while also keeping its beneficial actions in the immune system.

“If we can figure out a way to specifically target some substrates and not others, to control the activity of the enzyme in

ON THIS DAY...

In 1997, Madeleine Albright became the first female United States Secretary of State. She was in office until George W. Bush was inaugurated in 2001.

AROUND THE WORLD

Israel JERUSALEM — Israeli intelligence officials said Wednesday that they had arrested three Palestinians with links to al-Qaida who were planning a campaign of terrorist attacks across Israel, including a plot to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

The cell also planned attacks on the International Convention Center in Jerusalem and a bus line that connects that city with a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, officials said.

In a statement released in Hebrew, the intelligence agency Shin Bet announced that it arrested two members of the cell, both residents of East Jerusalem, on Dec. 25. A third suspect, from the West Bank city of Jenin, was arrested Jan. 6.

Los Angeles Times JERUSALEM — An Israeli airstrike killed two people in the Gaza Strip early Wednesday, including a man identified by Israeli security forces as a militant who fired rockets across the border last week during former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s funeral.

In a statement, the Israeli military said the strike targeted a “terrorist operative” named Ahmed Zaanin believed to be behind the rocket attacks, which caused no injuries. According to Israeli and Palestinian officials, Zaanin was a member of the armed group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

On its website, Hamas, the faction that controls Gaza, said three rockets were fired at Israel early Wednesday in response to the Israeli attack. It was unclear whether they caused any injuries or damage.

Los Angeles Times

Ukraine KIEV, Ukraine Violent protests in central Kiev escalated early Wednesday, leaving at least two demonstrators dead, authorities said.

Opposition and some media reports said at least four people were killed.

With international concern rising, three opposition leaders met for about three hours with President Viktor Yanukovich at his Kiev residence, but they reported only limited progress toward resolving the demands of the demonstrators.

Los Angeles Times Distributed by MCT Information Services

MARIA UMINSKI/COLLEGIAN

Warren toured the Life Sciences Laboritories as part of her visit. four-year graduations,” Subbaswamy said.

“Federal investment in our schools needs to be aimed toward rewarding the UMass Amherst models and similar models, and not towards supporting schools that are throwing in a lot of money but not producing diplomas that are valuable to their students,” said Warren.

During the discussion, Warren also talked about her efforts to introduce a bill to refinance the nation’s $1.2 trillion in student loan debt, which she said is putting a strain on the economy and preventing young adults from buying homes and starting families.

“If we refinance that debt, these are people who

AUTISM

will put that money back into the economy,” she said.

“I will be out here fighting for this this spring,” she continued, and added that student support is crucial to make change happen.

According to Warren, the United States government is currently on target to make $185 billion in profits over the next ten years from the student loan program.

“That’s just fundamentally wrong. College students should not be subsidizing big industry, and that’s what’s happening right now,” she said. “For me, it’s both an economic issue and a moral issue.”

Aviva Luttrell can be reached at aluttrel@umass.edu

continued from page 1

profit recently held its first policy summit, Autism Speaks to Washington, in November at George Washington University.

The night before, Autism Speaks co-founder Suzanne Wright published a post on the organization’s website that has attracted negative attention from the disability rights world.

“We haven’t seen the urgency and the accountability that the government needs to do to face this crisis,” Wright said in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “Two percent of our boys are falling into autism. Can you imagine, Andrea, if two percent of our boys were being kidnapped in this country? It’s a national public health crisis.”

Peter Berns, CEO of a national intellectual and developmental disabilities organization, The Arc, criticized Wright’s remarks for undermining many people with autism “who, rather than seeking to be cured, are striving for their human rights to be accepted and respected.”

In a Jan. 6 public letter, 26 disability rights organizations, led by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), called on donors “to end your support of Autism Speaks and re-allocate your donations to a recipient who can better represent the needs and desires of autistic people and our families.” ASAN denounced Autism Speaks for funding a biased research agenda and excluding people with autism among the organization’s advisory board and senior leadership.

Until recently, Autism Speaks did have one person with an autism spectrum disorder on their Science and Treatment Boards.

John Elder Robison, a bestselling author who writes and speaks about his experiences with Asperger’s Syndrome, announced his resignation from these positions in a letter to Autism Speaks president Liz Feld, which he published on his blog on Nov. 13.

“We have delivered very little value to autistic people, for the many millions raised,” Robison writes in

the letter. “I cannot continue to stand up for the public actions of an organization that makes the same mistakes over and over again by failing to connect to the community it purports to represent.”

UMass students Daniel Harpaz and Stephanie Tufano jointly run the UMass Autism Speaks U chapter. Robison, originally from Amherst, came to UMass in April for a talk and book signing hosted by Harpaz and Tufano. Harpaz and Tufano said they understand Robison’s decision to leave the organization and they are “sorry that he’s chosen to part ways with us.” Nevertheless, they will continue with their fundraising and advocacy efforts. They said that much of Autism Speaks’ work focuses on those on the low functioning end of the spectrum.

“Individuals whose autism requires intensive treatment and intervention, people who cannot hold jobs, people who cannot even speak or take care of themselves – for those individuals, Autism Speaks is a lifeline,” Harpaz and Tufano said in a statement.

Simons said the huge amount of variation that exists along the spectrum puts Autism Speaks in a difficult place. The organization “is supposed to be speaking for both ends of the spectrum and everything in-between,” she said.

“So they’re not in the easiest position.”

Autism Speaks continues its widespread work in Amherst and beyond.

Its Walk Now for Autism Speaks events are popular across the country and collectively raised roughly $30 million in 2012. College students are involved in more than 60 Autism Speaks U groups. The UMass chapter will be holding its annual Autism Speaks 5K Run/3K Walk in April. The event brought in more than $15,000 in 2011, according to a Daily Collegian report last year.

David Barnstone can be reached at dbarnsto@umass.edu.

DailyCollegian.com

courtesy of

Lisa minter

time and space to maintain beneficial immune system activity which is attacking diseased cells, it would be a great advance,” Minter said.

In order to solve this problem, the UMass immunologists plan to work with other scientists in the chemistry and polymer science fields in developing a biosensor-controlled nanogel that could control the release of the enzyme in order to fight cancer and other types of cells.

Minter and Osborne

continued from page 1

have designed experiments that would take up to five years in order to further investigate GS. In addition to this research, Osborne and Minter have both completed work in various fields of science. Beginning as an assistant professor, Osborne has been working in the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (VASCI) at UMass since 1985. Minter is also working within VASCI. She became affiliated with the University initially while completing her graduate work in Amherst. “[Lisa] worked on her post-graduate work in my laboratory,” Osborne said.

“Then, about four years ago we had a position open in my department looking for exactly what Lisa does.

She was in my laboratory for post-doc and now she’s my colleague. We’ve been collaborating since about 2003.”

Minter is also working within VASCI. While both UMass researchers are working in the field of immunology for this research project, they have both completed projects in other fields.

“Back around 1982 my job was to clone genes in cell death in the immune system,” Osborne said.

“And so we’ve been very

courtesy of

BarBara osBorne

interested in this process of cell-death. And that can of course relate to cancer.”

In addition to research, Minter and Osborne are both professors at the University. Together the two teach an introductory level immunology course.

“It’s an introduction, but it’s a 500 level class,” Osborne said.

The first half of the course is taught by Osborne, who goes over the cells and organs of the immune system and how they work together to protect from pathogens. The second half of the course is taught by Minter, who takes the basic immunology taught by Osborne and attempts to use real life examples to apply the students’ basic knowledge.

Katrina Borofski can be reached at kborofski@umass.edu

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

SURVEILLANCE

MCT

biggest issues – who should store the phone records – late Thursday night before his speech Friday morning at the Justice Department, according to a senior administration official who’s familiar with Obama’s thinking but isn’t authorized to speak publicly.

Instead of making a decision, the president asked Holder to devise a possible plan before the secret court is due to reauthorize the program March 28.

James Pfiffner, a public policy professor at George Mason University who studies the presidency, said Obama hadn’t shied from stating his opinion on some issues – illegal immigration, gun control and climate change, for example –but that the president was conflicted on NSA programs because he thought both sides had merit and almost anything he did would anger one side or the other.

Pfiffner said Obama’s decision to seek additional studies and congressional input took the focus off him and delayed touchy issues, perhaps beneficial to a president who’s seen his approval ratings plunge after a slew of political calam-

ities, including a chaotic start to his health care law and a questionable response to the conflict in Syria.

“Obama is in a difficult situation,” he said. “He’s been very careful. He’s not willing to do very much. Putting the issue off is politically understandable.”

James Lewis, a former State Department employee who now heads the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said changing complicated surveillance programs always takes time.

The president never planned on conducting a full review of the U.S.’s spying programs. He was forced to after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden began releasing classified documents last June that showed the agency has been collecting the telephone and email records of Americans and foreigners, eavesdropping on allies such as Germany and Brazil and spying on a host of global institutions, including the World Bank.

Lawmakers and foreign leaders, civil liberty advocates and intelligence officials

3

Syria, rebels hold peace talks

continued from page 1

Citizens protested the NSA surveillance program outside the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. last Friday.

Thursday, January 23, 2013

began clamoring for a presidential response immediately. Lewis said administration officials spent the first couple of months hoping that the issue would go away. When it didn’t, they launched a study of the surveillance programs internally.

“Some of these things are really hard and they couldn’t agree on them,” Lewis said.

“It’s understandable he had to kick some down the road.”

Lewis joked that Obama instead had turned to a timehonored Washington solution: “When in doubt, set up another commission.”

The president has asked Holder, and in some cases Clapper, to determine which future opinions of the secret surveillance court could be declassified, to devise a way to restrict the ability to retain and search communications between Americans and foreigners, to find a mechanism that will allow access to phone records only after court approval, to amend the use of national security letters - a form of administrative subpoena – so they may be publicly released eventually and to develop privacy safeguards for foreigners.

He directed his counselor, John Podesta, to lead a review of data collections and privacy in which government officials will consult with civil liberty advocates, technology experts and business leaders to examine public and private solutions and international norms.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Obama’s approach should prompt her colleagues to act.

“Merely doubling down with more surveillance protocols and bureaucracy is not enough,” she said. “It is up to Congress to make the necessary reforms.”

The Massachusetts Daily Collegian is seeking a qualiied

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Bitter exchanges between all sides

By Patrick J. McDonnell Los Angeles Times

MONTREUX, Switzerland — The government of Syrian President Bashar Assad and its opponents traded verbal barbs Wednesday as a longawaited Syrian peace conference opened in this Swiss lakeside city under the auspices of the United Nations.

Representatives of more than 30 nations gathered at the glitzy resort town along Lake Geneva in the most ambitious international effort yet to end an almost 3-year-old conflict that has cost tens of thousands of lives, forced millions from their homes and sown instability throughout the Middle East.

As a brilliant morning sun glistened on snow-capped Alpine peaks, delegates embarked on a lengthy round of speeches that served to highlight the deep divisions inherent in the Syrian crisis – and the many barriers to crafting a cease-fire and political solution. Bitter exchanges soon emerged from the antagonistic camps, a direct reflection of the fierce hostilities fueling the Syrian war.

The opposing sides in the conflict openly assailed the motivations of their adversaries. The Syrian government representative depicted its enemies as traitors and foreign-backed provocateurs, while the Syrian opposition delegate labeled Assad - who was not present here - a war criminal who must cede power.

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry reiterated the Obama administration’s position that Assad is obliged

to step down as part of any transitional Syrian administration that emerges from the nascent peace process.

“There is no way, no way possible, that a man who has led a brutal response to his own people can regain legitimacy to govern,” Kerry said.

But the Syrian foreign minister, Walid Moallem, declared that no one had the right to “withdraw the legitimacy” of the government in Damascus except the people of Syria.

He accused some nations present at the conference of fomenting terrorism inside Syria and having “Syrian blood on their hands,” a clear reference to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United States and other nations that have supported the armed opposition.

Moallem also derided exiled opposition leaders “living in five-star hotels” while “our people were being slaughtered.”

Syria’s top diplomat also had a testy exchange with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who sought to cut off Moallem after the Syrian official exceeded a 10-minute limit on speakers.

“You live in New York, I live in Syria,” Moallem chided Ban. “I have the right to give the Syrian version here in this forum.”

The Syrian opposition representative, Ahmad Jabra, accused the government of spreading terrorism in the country. Jabra represents the U.S.-backed Syrian National Coalition, which has limited support on the ground inside Syria.

The opposition leader invoked comparisons to Nazi atrocities during World War II while referring to recently published photos of detainees allegedly tortured and murdered in Syrian custody. The

Syrian government has disputed the authenticity of the images.

Syrian government and opposition leaders are scheduled to meet face to face when the conference resumes Friday in Geneva.

Wednesday’s session was designed largely as a ceremonial forum for speeches.

However, the often-polemical tone of the day’s oratory underscored the difficult path to any form of reconciliation.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov conceded that the talks “will not be simple, will not be quick,” but labeled the occasion “a historic responsibility.” He called on foreign powers not to “meddle” in Syria’s internal affairs – though the conflict in Syria is widely viewed as a proxy war involving external powers, with Russia and Iran backing Assad and the United States and its allies supporting the opposition.

Washington and Moscow were key players in putting together the Syrian peace conference. Before the conference convened, the U.N. withdrew an invitation to Iran amid intense U.S. pressure.

In his address, Ban chided the Syrian government, suggesting that the conflict could have been avoided if citizens’ early demands for change had been heeded.

“If the government leaders had listened more attentively and humbly to the concerns expressed by the people, this conference might not have been necessary,” the U.N. chief said. “The disaster is now all encompassing.”

Still, Ban called the conference, some eight months in the making, a moment “of fragile but real hope.”

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries” - Monty Python

Wednesday, January 22, 2013

Twelve years later, America still fighting the war in Afghanistan In the autumn of 2001, the United States entered a war with Afghanistan.

Twelve, almost 13 years

mantle the main al Qaeda safe harbor and find and capture Osama bin Laden.

But shortly after, the war in Iraq became the No. 1 priority for Washington and the American public.

Resources and manpower were diverted from the war in Afghanistan to Iraq, and America transfixed on the new conflict. Once the war in Iraq ended in 2010, so did America’s interest in the Afghan war.

The apathy continues, as does the violence overseas.

According to The New York Times, the Department

Jillian Correira later, it’s still not over. A recent CNN poll shows that the Afghanistan war, the country’s longest military conflict, is arguably the most unpopular in U.S. history, with support for the war now below 20 percent.

The Afghanistan war has a deadline of December 2014, when U.S. troops are expected to withdraw and leave security in the hands of Afghan soldiers. The CNN poll also shows that a majority of Americans want to see U.S. soldiers pull out of Afghanistan before the deadline.

In November 2013, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the “United States and Afghanistan had finalized the wording of a bilateral security agreement that would allow for a lasting troop presence through 2024,” according to The New York Times. However, President Hamid Karzai is unlikely to sign this agreement before presidential elections in Afghanistan are held in April, leading to a rapid withdrawal of U.S. troops.

If and when American soldiers leave Afghanistan in late 2014, it will mark the end of U.S. intervention, though it does not mark the end of the ongoing conflict between Afghan forces and the Taliban.

The war in Afghanistan began on Oct. 7, 2001. The initial mission was to dis-

“Since it’s highly unlikely that American troops will remain in Afghanistan forever, there needs to be a more sustainable solution if we truly want to help Afghan forces build a better country.” of Defense has confirmed 2,285 American service members “have died as a part of the Afghan war and related operations” as of Dec. 26, 2013. The number of Afghan civilians killed or wounded as a result of the war rose 23 percent in the first six months of 2013, with women and children being killed by roadside bombs almost daily, according to The New York Times.

More than 19,000 soldiers have been wounded in the Afghan war since 2001, not including those suffering from various psychological traumas (estimates of troops with PTSD who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are as high as 336,000).

It’s obvious to anyone

China’s passive aggressive tactics

ble when the war started in 2001. Twelve years later, it’s far from the ideal situation. U.S. presence hasn’t intimidated the Taliban, and when American troops leave, whether it’s 2014 or 2024, Afghan forces will inherit a huge task in trying to stabilize the country and keep the Taliban from gaining ground.

It’s clear what’s happened up until this point hasn’t been working for any parties. It’s important to recognize that if continued U.S. military presence hasn’t worked so far, it might not work in the future. And since it’s highly unlikely that American troops will remain in Afghanistan forever, there needs to be a more sustainable solution if we truly want to help Afghan forces build a better country.

It’s also important to recognize that we’re still at war. In the 12 years it’s taken the United States to get to this point, media and public attention has waned.

But people are still dying in Afghanistan. The fighting is not over and it won’t be over once U.S. troops leave.

Afghan forces will still be up against the Taliban, but they would be in a much more advantageous position if the U.S. worked to set up institutions through which the country is able to sustain itself, not just in the immediate aftermath of troop withdrawal, but well into the future.

that the effects of war are devastating. Troops are sent overseas to fight and protect, thousands are killed or physically and mentally wounded and not properly cared for when they come home. Thousands of innocent Afghan civilians and allies suffer similar fates.

The United States’ goals in the war in Afghanistan as a result of the 9/11 attacks mainly focused on eliminating al Qaeda presence and releasing Afghanistan of Taliban control. While the former has been realized, in Afghanistan at least,

the Taliban insists that its movement is strong and are “determined to expel foreign forces,” according to the Washington Post.

So how does the United States fully succeed in what was labeled operation Enduring Freedom 12 years ago? It is clear the U.S. administration doesn’t think Afghan forces can hold off the Taliban on its own, thus the push for Karzai to sign the bilateral security agreement that would extend the U.S. troops’ stay. But when they do leave, whenever that might be, what happens if the Taliban regains control? Does that mean we haven’t succeeded in what Jillian Correira is a Collegian columwe set out to try to do? nist and can be reached at jcorreir@ Afghanistan was in trou- umass.edu.

Letters tothe edItor

Editorial@DailyCollegian.com

To the editor,

unacceptable.

Today marks exactly 41

My

simply

years since Roe v. Wade

won’t stand for it. Six in 10

Massachusetts I work with

immigration reform, queer

made legal abortion the

young Americans believe

VOX: UMass Students for

law of the land. Yet politi-

abortion should be avail-

Reproductive Justice to

rights and racial justice

cians across the country

able in all or most cases,

educate our community

continue to chip away at

and 68 percent of those

and advocate for sexual

access to abortion. In the

who live in metropolitan

and reproductive health

past three years alone,

areas believe it should be

and rights. Now, more than

more abortion restrictions

available in their own com-

ever, it is critical that our

have been put into law

munity.

voices are heard.

That’s why I’m a member

On this 41st anniversary of

of

generation

across issues to achieve

In that fight, we dedicate

reproductive

freedom.

ourselves to addressing

Here at the University of

diverse issues like poverty,

that are all deeply connected to the fight for reproductive justice.

The only way we can make

Over the past few months, the esteemed world of diplomacy in East Asia has become the global equivalent

Julian Del Prado of leaving passive-aggressive sticky notes, showing an escalation in competition between Japan and China.

Beginning with an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) placed by China in the East China Sea, the United States and Japan have sought to end China’s expansionist policies without causing any actual confrontation. The ADIZ, which encompasses territory claimed by both Japan and South Korea, was the first in a series of power plays that would eventually encompass several countries in South Asia and even some as far as Africa. Meanwhile,

an official Chinese fishing zone, which includes waters claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and Taiwan, placing the United States in a very uncomfortable position. The Hainan province has called the zone a mere “technical revision” to existing laws, which has infuriated the affected countries.

For its part, the United States has only been able to call the act “provocative and potentially dangerous,” highlighting U.S. ambitions to both have good relations with Southeast Asia and stay away from direct confrontation with China.

This game of chicken might be humorous if the powers involved were not so formidable. Luckily, there is some humor to be found in Japan and China’s handling of African relations.

In a rather fortunate

“This game of chicken might be humorous if the powers involved were not so formidable.” the United States finds itself mediating an increasingly expansionist China, Japan’s aggressive rebuttals and the various developing countries which have found themselves in the crossfire.

At first, China’s ADIZ was merely a speed bump for the United States, which unabashedly flew aircraft through the zone with Japan as per military and civilian schedules. However, China responded to this move with outrage, and Japan took it to heart. In response, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the highly controversial Yasukuni war shrine, which honors deceased members of the Japanese military including war criminals from World War II. Invoking the rage of both China and South Korea, whose dislike of each other is no match for their dislike of 1930s-era Japan, Abe’s move proved to be confrontational.

In addition to the ADIZ, China has made its neighbors uncomfortable in other ways through the recent expansion of its power in both Southeast Asia and in Africa. Most recently, China’s southern Hainan province has instituted

turn of events for the continent of Africa, Japan and China have engaged in a competition to see which country can bolster the strongest economies in the most selfless way. Accusing the Chinese of “buying off African leaders with lavish gifts” in response to heavy Chinese investment in infrastructure there, Japan itself has been accused of aiding Ethiopia, the Ivory Coast and Mozambique for a spot on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

As the BBC reports, Japan has offered $14 billion “in aid and trade deals” to the aforementioned countries in addition to sending industrial professionals to train workers. As a result, various ministerial, industrial and transportation related infrastructure is on the way and the recipients are not complaining.

We can only hope that these two rivals continue bolstering the economies of these developing countries in the most passive-aggressive manner possible without harming their neighbors.

Julian del Prado is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at jdelprado@umass.edu.

progress is if we stand together.

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Planned

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politicians, whose goal is

Generation Action is a

Justice reaffirms our com-

Co-President

to eliminate all access to

diverse movement of young

mitment to the fight for

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safe and legal abortion, is

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Arts Living THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Thursday, January 23, 2013

“I’m past mad, it’s this weird other emotion. I feel like my heart just fell out.” - Jennifer Lawrence

Arts@DailyCollegian.com

FOOD & DRINK

Staving off the winter blues, with beer Seasonal brews to help warm you up

By Emily A. BrightmAn Collegian Staff

I’m not one to get on the bandwagon of a trend, especially when it comes to beer.

And recently, the madness of the holiday season that subsequently flooded liquor stores with an abundance of themed beers only served to exacerbate my frustrations.

A plethora of breweries looking to turn a quick profit join in the endless parade of “Christmas ales” and other such tawdry holiday trappings come late November, and those of us who couldn’t care less for the superficial glamor of holiday beer are left rolling our eyes and desperately hunting down any bottle without a holly wreath on the label. Through much trial and tribulation (and by that I mean a few trips to a few separate liquor stores), I secured a healthy stash of winter beers that have little or nothing to do with the dreaded holidays to warm my gullet through the dark days of the winter. Based on extensive research, I highly recommend the following brews to any fellow beer geek in search of libations for the cold nights that still lie ahead.

Rogue Yellow Snow IPA If you have the same sick sense of humor that I do, you still get that Frank Zappa song “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” stuck in your head every time you happen to pass by a mysterious patch of yellowed snow. Even if you don’t share my depraved sentiments, or even if you’ve never heard of Frank Zappa (shame on you), Rogue Brewing Company’s Yellow Snow IPA is nonetheless a delicious means of swilling away a snow day. Poured from the classic Rogue 22 oz. bottle, this gold-orange beer has an effervescent head that dissipates quickly and

leaves minimal lacing. The senses are all but bombarded with the smell of citrus and pine atop a distinctly floral element, an aroma somewhat reminiscent of overripe fruit. These powerful scents translate to powerful tastes, rounded out by a hoppy bitterness melded with the tartness of grapefruit. Most notable about this brew is the intensity of its aroma, which is worthy of some praise of its own.

I myself can never say no to a good IPA, and for those of you with similar palettes, Yellow Snow is sure to please without the added burden of having to watch out for dogs doing their business.

Ninkasi Sleigh’r Dark Double Alt Ale Though I did initially buy the bottle for its label’s homage to the trademark font of seminal metal band Slayer, the beer itself honorably lived up to its namesake. The foamy head atop this dark caramel colored brew leaves a full layer of tan lacing, enhancing the pungent aromas of molasses and dark chocolate. An almost overwhelmingly sweet malt taste is offset by the robustness of bitter coffee, but light carbonation allows the flavors to meld pleasantly in an aftertaste reminiscent of a rich dessert. While the finish is somewhat dry, the creaminess of this ale gives it an almost stout-like quality that warms the gullet with thick maltiness. Sleigh’r is billed as an “alt” ale, derived from the German “Altbier” style of brown ales characterized by distinctly smooth taste and flavor composition.

One of Ninkasi Brewing Company’s most popular seasonal beers, Sleigh’r is only available until the end of the season but worth the splurge for a 22 oz. bottle for a long winter night.

21st Amendment Fireside Chat Winter Spiced Ale

Named for the Depression-era radio broadcasts from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 21st Amendment’s Fireside Chat displays the nostalgic visage of Roosevelt looking jovial beside a roaring fire in true testament to its name. This seasonal treat is only available from October to December, so I bought a 6-pack in late November and somehow managed to stave off the desire to drink it until the holidays. Pouring one of these brews from can to pint glass releases an aromatic wave of spices that immediately evokes visions of gingerbread and orange zest.

Beneath the robust scents of ginger and roasted caramel lies a pungent hint of clove that makes itself known in the first sip, rounding out a blend of spices that would make a jug of mulled cider blush. Fireside Chat is a bit on the watery side, but the boldness of its spice and malt composition makes up for any shortcomings in consistency. Sadly this beer won’t be making the rounds again until next October, but the wait is worthwhile if you’re craving a beer that will cradle you in the nostalgic warmth of a hearty fire – metaphorically of course.

Widmer Brother’s Ginger Barrel-Aged Brrrbon This delectable little nectar was given to me as a present by a fellow beer geek, who deserves unlimited credit for introducing me to my newest addiction: beer aged in bourbon barrels. As a big fan of bourbon on its own I was delighted to be able to sample it in conjunction with my love of beer, and to that end I was not disappointed. This particular brew is a special 2013 modification of the Brrr Seasonal Ale from Widmer Brothers Brewery, infused with ginger and aged for several months in bourbon barrels as part of a special reserve series. At 10.7 percent alco-

hol, Brrrbon certainly does justice to its liquor infusion.

Unlike most winter ales that tend to fall on the darker side, Brrrbon pours out a crisp scarlet color with a creamy but quickly dissipating head. Ginger is the most prominent aroma of this beer, coupled with subtle hints of citrus and toasted malt. As expected, the taste of bourbon is prominent in this beer, but not to the extent that it becomes unpleasant.

In fact, the zest of ginger and the underlying flavor of oak are an impressive complement to the bitterness of the bourbon. Certainly this is an excellent choice for any whiskey connoisseur, but fans of IPAs and stronger ales (like me) can also be tantalized by Brrrbon’s hoppy bitterness that makes its presence known in the after taste. While this beer does fall on the pricey side, the flavorful complexity of this limited release is well worth the inflated price.

Samuel Smith Winter Welcome Ale Those of us relegated to the frozen tundra of the northeast abhor the idea of “welcoming” winter, but the brewers at Samuel Smith greet the season with open arms with their Winter Welcome Ale. A seasonal specialty, Winter Welcome is characterized by the heady aroma of dark fruit mingled with toasted caramel and toffee elements. The thin head on this hazy golden beer leaves filmy traces of lacing but feels thick on the tongue with emerging notes of sour apple and hoppy bitterness that become apparent midsip. A crisp finish with a distinct earthy aftertaste makes for a smooth drinking experience that is not so bitter as to overwhelm the sweeter elements of this hearty ale.

Winter Welcome Ale may not alleviate the disastrous cold fronts that surely await us, but at least the alcohol content can make the season a bit more tolerable.

Saint Arnold Winter Stout

I find myself indulging in stouts and porters more consistently in the winter months. Whether this is a direct result of the creeping darkness of the season creeping also into my taste palate or just a mere seasonal coincidence I am not entirely sure, but in either case a good chunk of my beer fund is spent on darker beers from late November to early March. My newest favorite in the stout family is the Winter Stout from Saint Arnold Brewing Company, the oldest craft brewery in Texas, according to the company’s website. Poured into a pint glass, this beer is a few shades off from the color of molasses and has an aroma just as strong, with equal elements of toffee and chocolate layered over malty sweetness. Flavors of dark fruit become more apparent in the taste and round out subtle hints of smokiness on the tongue, but the first mouthful overall is entirely dedicated to the thick creaminess of a hearty stout. More sweet than malty, Winter Stout serves as an excellent solo dessert or a beverage compliment to any confection involving chocolate.

While Winter Stout is only available for the brief season, Saint Arnold Brewing Company offers a small selection of other unique brews available year-round.

Berkshire Brewing Company Cabin Fever Ale

pours out a hazy copper with a thick off-white head that leaves considerable lacing, even when poured from a bottle that spent the better part of a week in my basement freezer. A burst of hops and citrus composes the nose of this beer with hints of toasted grains and simple spices, but the taste is entirely dedicated to the bittersweet marriage of hops and malt that permeates the palate. In this way Cabin Fever is very much the archetypal ale, but what sets this brew apart from others in its flavor family is the smoothness of its taste—many ales of this ilk toe the line between being bitter enough and too bitter, but Cabin Fever falls in that happy medium of mild carbonation that makes for a smooth drinking experience and a crisp finish. I recommend Cabin Fever any time of the year, but it is one of my essential winter beers to keep in stock to alleviate the dreariness of those long winter nights. If you’ve never sampled any of BBC’s repertoire, I highly recommend just about anything they brew, but Cabin Fever is, in my opinion, their shining star. The obvious joke here is that this brew may well help you stave off cabin fever, but the truth of the matter is that this beer is delicious enough to make being consistently stuck indoors that much more tolerable.

We may be only halfway through the darkest season of the year, but there are plenty of craft beers available to make those long, cold nights more tolerable.

If nothing else, the constant threat of impending snowfall is a ready excuse to curl up around the heater with a bottle of good beer and be sedentary as much as possible. Here’s to winter beers and the imminent drinking that always accompanies the season.

This is the one beer that I ritualistically must have at least once over the winter, more than once if possible.

I stocked up on a couple bottles of BBC before heading home for the holidays, and naturally those didn’t last long, but thankfully my hometown liquor store regularly stocks brews from BBC, so I was afforded the opportunity to continue my Emily A. Brightman can be reached at indulgences. Cabin Fever ebrightman@umass.edu.

Repurposing your fruitcake: the ultimate upcycle Innovative ways to use a favorite holiday confection

cakes have the physical consistency of a cinder block, which makes them excellent candidates for replacement anchors. Small boats can easily make use of fruitcake as a spare anchor in an emergency, and the brick-like

By Emily A. BrightmAn quality of the cake surely makes it an effective Collegian Staff weight against churning tides. Hot air balloon The illustrious fruitcake is an essential sta- riders can also make use of the fruitcake as ple of any holiday diet and has been making an anchor to avoid the dangers of rising too the rounds at family gatherings and shindigs quickly or losing balance, or even as a means since time immemorial. While its value as a of evenly distributing weight within the ridconfection has been fully validated, the fruit- ing basket. Users of any free-floating travel cake is also an object of widespread practicali- apparatus would be wise to keep a fruitcake ty and has a plethora of uses in daily life. From on hand in case such a need for weight should a makeshift doorstop to a visually appealing strike. paperweight, the fruitcake easily makes itself Deterring speed bump valuable as an everyday household item. Have a surplus of fruitcake after the recent holiday Tired of that newly-licensed teenager season? Put that hackneyed dessert to work always driving at break-neck speed down your for you with these practical uses: residential street? A well-placed fruitcake can make all the difference. Simply place the cake DIY car jack at a location in the street where tires are sure Blew a tire on the interstate, but don’t have to make contact and watch with satisfaction a jack to prop your car up on to change it? If as your lead-footed neighbors are forced to you have a fruitcake on hand, your problem is slow their vehicle down to reasonable speeds solved. Use that fruity dessert to steady your to avoid a crash. If it should come to pass that vehicle long enough to switch out the bad tire, someone does, in fact, crash, you can always and you’re on your way. Fruitcake can also claim innocence and blame it on the fruitcake. be kept in the bed of pickup trucks for added Home security system traction and used as an emergency stopping block for cars with bad parking breaks. Keep Want to feel safe in your home, but don’t one in the trunk of your vehicle beside your feel like shelling out the cash for a security jumper cables and spare tire, just in case. system? A fruitcake can ease all of your safety

SPOTZILLA/FLICKR

More than just a delicious holiday dessert, fruitcakes are useful in a variety of ways as substitutes for everyday items.

a jerk” stronger than a hearty fruitcake, so if you need to let that special someone know just how seething with rage you really are at them, a fruitcake is the most poignant means of conveying your message. Just beware of any fruitcakes you yourself receive as gifts, because now you know exactly what kind of emotional tag is attached to it.

If you find yourself with a distressing surplus of fruitcake, the Internet is rife with Gift it to someone you don’t like clever and innovative ways to make use of that dastardly dessert. Just because the holidays There are few gifts as passive-aggressive are over doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy a as a fruitcake. If you are forced to get a gift good fruitcake, but now you have some tips to for someone you aren’t terribly fond of, like enjoy it in ways that don’t require the unfortuworries. When thrown with enough force a your mother-in-law or a fair-weather friend, nate sacrifice of your lower intestine.

Boat/hot air balloon anchor fruitcake is an excellent deterrent for would- giving them a fruitcake is the ultimate way Sheer weight gives the fruitcake a hefty be burglars, and it can also be used as a to get your message across without having to Emily A. Brightman can be reached at ebrightman@umass. advantage in terms of usefulness. Most fruit- helpful projectile in case of a home invasion. confront them. Nothing says, “You’re kind of edu.

But if violence isn’t necessarily your cup of tea, that same fruitcake can also be used as a stop behind any door, making entry into the house extremely difficult. Still not feeling totally secure? Simply leave the fruitcake in an uncovered dish outside your front door; anyone who would dare enter your house after seeing that is likely more stupid than they appear.

6

Thursday, January 23, 2013

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Comics I

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HOROSCOPES Jan. 20 - Feb. 18

Salad is arguably much messier to eat on a date than a burrito is.

pisces

Feb. 19 - Mar. 20

leo

Jul. 23 - aug. 22

Somehow, the promise of a hot cup of coffee and a boiling shower doesn’t match the nourishing warmth of a comforter.

virgo

aug. 23 - Sept. 22

Want to exercise, but hate going to the gym?

Good news! Trying on skinny jeans for an hour has the exact same effect!

Make good on your resolution to “be your true self” this year by molting in the middle of your next class.

aries

Mar. 21 - apr. 19

libra

Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

scorpio

Oct. 23 - nOv. 21

It might be time to stop living your life ruing the fact that no snack will ever be more portable than Go–Gurt.

Opening up the pit is always the easiest way to fire up much needed energy in a boring class.

taurus

apr. 20 - May. 20

Buffalo chicken nuggets are a great way to transition from childhood into adulthood.

It’s never too early to reserve a seat in the library in preparation of finals week.

gemini

May. 21 - Jun. 21

sagittarius

nOv. 22 - Dec. 21

Ain’t nothing like a random waterfall out of the ceiling to liven up your day.

This week will be the first time in your life you’ll regret choosing fashion over sweatpants.

cancer

capricorn

Jun. 22 - Jul. 22

Wearing a Hawaiian shirt and drinking piña colodas is the secret to staying immune to subzero temperatures.

Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

Now is probably not the best time to remind you that the sun is out and you should be reapplying sunscreen every three hours.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

Thursday, January 23, 2013

7

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Minutewomen lose in game of runs against Dayton Tarnachowicz injured in game

By Andrew Cyr Collegian Staff

Basketball is a game of runs.

Often times the team that strings together more runs comes out with the win. Tonight that formula lived up to expectation as the Massachusetts women’s basketball team lost its 10th straight game, falling to Dayton 81-67.

Every time the Minutewomen strung together a few good offensive possessions in a row, the Flyers answered right back with a bigger and stronger counter punch.

“I thought our defense was pretty solid,” UMass coach Sharon Dawley said.

“My only issues on defense was with our transition defense. A couple times we got lost in the transition game. We were in the right spots, but we just got lost.”

Dayton guard Andrea Hoover, a member 2013-14 Naismith Trophy player-towatch list, drilled a threepointer with 4:56 remain-

OFFENSE

ing in the first half sparking a 13-0 Flyer run.

Despite averaging 16.8 points per game, the threepointer was Hoover’s only basket as she went 1-for3 from the field, all from behind the arc.

“In the half court we did a really good job, especially on the perimeter,” Dawley said of her team’s defense on Hoover. “Our perimeter defense was pretty solid, but in the post we needed to do a better job coming out and not letting them get the block.”

Dayton outscored UMass 44-24 in the post as Ally Malott and Jodie Cornelie each had their way with the Minutewomen frontcourt.

After getting off to another slow start, UMass trimmed the Flyers lead to just four, but Nola Henry missed a wide-open layup that led to a transition three-pointer from Amber Deane giving Dayton the 17-10 lead. From that point forward, everything started going the Flyers’ way.

Leading the way for the Minutewomen was Rashida Timbilla and Kim PierreLouis. Timbilla finished with 10 points and nine

think she’s incredible. I think she’s the most versatile player in the league.”

Pierre-Louis got off to a hot start making six of her first eight field goals, all of which came from attacking the rim.

“I’m a bit shorter (than most centers),” PierreLouis said. “I think that the fact that I’m stronger than a lot of the other girls helps me. I’m able to take the contact and finish.”

Tarnachowicz leaves game injured Late in the second half, UMass center Paula Tarnachowicz landed awkwardly on her right ankle forcing her to come out of the game. Her screams echoed the dead silent Mullins Center as she was eventually carried off the CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN FILE PHOTO court by the training staff.

Rashida Timbilla scored 10 points and had nine rebounds against Dayton on Wednesday night.

Following the game, Dawley didn’t have much to “Whatever the team say about the injury – only rebounds, while Pierre- from the point, to the three, needs, I’ll do,” Timbilla that Tarnachowicz was getLouis tallied a double-dou- and finally to the four.”

That wasn’t the first said. “Coach Dawley does ting looked at by the trainble, scoring 20 points while time Timbilla has moved an excellent job of letting ers and would have a better grabbing 12 rebounds.

“I thought both around. She started off the me move around in prac- idea of the severity over the (Timbilla) and (Pierre- season playing power for- tice so that definitely helps next couple of days.

Louis) played really well, ward, but was eventually me.”

“Dawley said. “More impor- moved to point guard after “Rashida is incredible,” Andrew Cyr can be reached at arcyr@ tantly, I thought (Timbilla) Henry struggled early in Dawley said. “Rashida is umass.edu, and can be followed on did an excellent job moving the year. the only one who doesn’t Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.

LAYOFF

continued from page 8

Pigozzi has been out for the past two games against the U.S. Under-18 squad and AIC, so his spot on the new second line was filled by Adam Phillips in the loss against the Yellow Jackets.

Since the move, the Minutemen have averaged 3.33 goals per game, a better mark offensively, but the results haven’t been there in non-exhibition games.

And as for the Warriors (6-12-3, 1-6-2 HEA), they were aided by the return of sophomore forward Brian Christie, who has played in the last 10 games after missing the majority of the first month and a half. Despite all of the time that he missed, Christie

is second on the team with 11 points. His best game came against Quinnipiac on Jan. 18 when he scored two goals and added on an assist in his team’s biggest win of the season, a 6-3 win over the then-No. 5 Bobcats.

Micheletto believes that his return was a big boost for Merrimack and has helped its offense improve as of late.

“If you look at their last string of 10-12 games, I think they’re scoring more now than they were in the first half,” he said. “Their power play is clicking along at 22 or 23 percent in that span.

Even though their overall numbers are low, I could

continued from page 8

say Brian Christie coming back and healthy has helped them out and helped Mike Collins be more productive now that they’re together on 5-on-5 situations, as well on the power play.”

This weekend is a crucial slate of games for both teams, as they are both trying to steer clear of the Hockey East cellar. The Warriors have the lowest point total at the moment with four, but that total is only two points behind UMass. So with the middle and the bottom of the conference separated by only a few points, each game down the stretch has a valuable two points up for grabs.

“We’ve got to be ready to go right from the puck drop,” Power said. “We got to come in here with the mindset that we need to take points no matter what. We know where we stand in the standings. Time’s running out, but we got plenty of time here to make a run.”

Friday’s game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at Mullins Center. Saturday’s contest is also scheduled to start at 7 p.m. in North Andover and can be watched on Fox College Sports.

Cameron McDonough can be reached at cameronm@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Cam_McDonough.

M E N ’ S L AC RO S S E

UMass picked to finish fourth in CAA UM finished fourth in CAA last year

By Peter CAPPiello Collegian Staff

The University of Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team was picked to finish fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association’s preseason coaches’ poll on Wednesday.

In 2013, the club was picked for the top spot in the same poll, but finished fourth with an overall record of 7-8.

The conference finals will be played from April 30-May 3. The two highest seeds will have home field advantage in the tournament semifinals, breaking with the old format, which saw the highest seed host the entire tournament. The title game will be played at the home of the highest remaining seed.

Penn State, this year’s No. 1 ranked team with three first-place votes, bounced UMass, 10-7, in last year’s CAA semifinals.

HOOPS

ROAD LOSS after the defeat. It’s been nearly two decades since the Minutemen have been a team worthy of a courtstorming and is something that Kellogg hopes his team can mentally get over.

“Our guys got to realize, the toughest thing now is the fans rush the floor,” he said. “The team in the (other) locker room sounded like they won the National Championship Game …. This is their biggest game on their schedule and you saw with the

have no playoff wins in two appearances during the first three years of their career.

UMass enjoyed its working break, but now the team is refocused and preparing for its last chance to turn its season around, especially for a senior class desperate for success.

“That’s what we’ve said from the beginning,” senior forward Michael Pereira said. “You don’t really try to talk about it as much – you just let your play speak for itself in practice with your teammates.”

Nick Canelas can be reached at ncanelas@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @NickCanelas.

continued from page 8

way the fans rushed the floor after the game.”

This was a rough way for UMass to wrap up its threegame road trip, but it can now look ahead to Sunday’s game at home against a last-place Fordham squad.

It will be the first time in 18 days that the Minutemen will play at Mullins Center, where they are 7-0 on the season.

Patrick Strohecker can be reached at pstrohec@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @P_Strohecker.

UMass Amherst Alumni Association

$2,000

TAYLOR C. SNOW/COLLEGIAN FILE PHOTO

Kyle Smith is one of the players that the UMass men’s lacrosse team will miss this season.

Since then, the Minutemen lost top scorer Kyle Smith (48 points) and Will Manny (34 points) to graduation.

The upcoming season will be UMass coach Greg Cannella’s 20th at the helm

of the program.

Towson, (two first place votes) and Drexel (one) are at the two and three spots respectively, while Hofstra rounds out the top five.

The Minutemen kick off

their season against Army in West Point N.Y., on Feb. 9. Their first homestand is against Harvard on Feb. 22.

Peter Cappiello can be reached at pcappiel@umass.edu. Follow him on Twitter @petecapps.

(on transition defense). That cost us about eight points,” Dawley said. “But in the backcourt, I think we did a really good job especially in the perimeter (and) the post.”

On the injury front, backup forward Paula

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continued from page 8

pretty good,” Dawley said. “I would have loved to keep it in the 70s, but I thought, overall, I saw solid defense tonight.”

However, Dawley added that the team’s transition defense was subpar.

“We gave up a few buckets

Dame for the eighth seed in Hockey East, which would give them a home game in the first round of the playoffs.

With its next three games coming against the two teams below it in the standings (Merrimack and Boston University), UMass’ chance to improve its positioning is greater than ever.

“It’s very important,” senior defenseman Colin Shea said. “We’re trying to gain as many points in the Hockey East standings so we can have a good playoff run here at the end of our career.”

That sentiment could be echoed by all of the Minutemen’s seniors, who

Tarnachowicz injured her ankle and had to be helped off the court with two minutes left in the second half. She finished with seven points in 12 minutes before leaving.

“Paula was really going well before going down with

an ankle injury,” Dawley said. “She’s being examined now. We’ll know more tomorrow.”

Anthony Chiusano can be reached at achiusano@umass.edu and can be followed on Twitter @a_chiusano24.

Two $2,000 scholarships given to sophomores or juniors to help defray the cost of a summer internship.

The deadline to apply is February 14, 2014.

For more information on scholarship eligibility and applications visit UMassAlumni.com/students.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Sports@DailyCollegian.com

@MDC_SPORTS

HOCKEY

UMass, Merrimack hope for Minutemen focused on more offense over weekend Warriors after long layoff

By Nick caNelas

By cameroN mcDoNough

Collegian Staff

Collegian Staff

Offense has been hard to come by for the Massachusetts hockey team this season.

The Minutemen are only averaging 2.04 goals per game, which puts them in second-to-last place in Hockey East.

But the good news for UMass (6-15-3, 2-7-2 HEA) is that this weekend they face the only team that is averaging less goals per game than they are: Merrimack. The Warriors, at 1.95, are the only team scoring less than two goals per game this year in Hockey East.

So expect an offensive struggle when these two teams face off in a home and home series this weekend.

“We got to make the ice bigger,” Minutemen coach John Micheletto said when asked what his team needs to do on offense this weekend. “Their game is about shrinking the ice. They’re very effective at it at home,

By the time its 3-2 upset loss to American International on Jan. 14 became a reality, the Massachusetts hockey team was already anticipating its next game.

The problem was that the next game was still 10 days away.

The Minutemen haven’t played since that Tuesday night at Mullins Center.

Since then, they’ve been battered with criticism on social media and forced to watch other teams continue their respective seasons, all while the Minutemen have lived with the burden of one of their worst losses of the season for the past week.

“If you asked anyone in our locker room, we would’ve loved to play (the next night),” cocaptain Troy Power said.

“Unfortunately we’ve had that taste in our mouth for the last week. When a game goes that way, you want to bounce back and get a win

MARIA UMINSKI/COLLEGIAN

Troy Power is one of the players involved in UMass’ latest line changes. and we’re hoping to exploit that Friday night first and foremost, and the bigger sheet and forcing them to defend more ice.

“But that means we’ve got to move pucks through the neutral, and got to pull pucks off the wall in the offensive zone,” he continued.

But there is a bit of good news for both teams on offense.

UMass decided to switch up their line pairings since they were previously stuck at averaging two goals per game, a mark that is hard to win with in hockey.

Micheletto moved Steven Iacobellis up to the first line with Conor Sheary and Branden Gracel, and moved Michael Pereira to the second line alongside Troy Power and Ray Pigozzi. see

OFFENSE on page 7

MEN’S BASKETBALL

as soon as you can.”

While another game may have provided some emotional relief, UMass has reaped the physical benefits of a long layoff between games.

Most game weeks consist of working on both skill workouts and game-specific preparation in practice. But with the extra time off, the Minutemen focused specifically on skills and conditioning last week, while putting an added emphasis on preparation for its upcoming series with Merrimack.

“There wasn’t a lot of systems or anything like that,” Power said. “But I think having that extra time allowed us this week to really focus on game preparation and stuff like that, and not really worry about skill development, because we had that extra time to do that.”

The last week also gave UMass a chance to get rested for the final nine games of the season. But according to Minutemen coach John

By aNthoNy chiusaNo Collegian Staff

MARIA UMINSKI/COLLEGIAN

The UMass basketball team ended its three-game road trip with a loss at Richmond.

UM can’t come back against Spiders In its first three Atlantic 10 games, the No. 13 Massachusetts men’s basketball team needed second half comebacks to avoid getting upset.

On Wednesday night, UMass’ Cinderella performances finally ran out, as it fell on the road to Richmond 58-55, prompting the students at Robins Center to storm the court as time expired.

Despite shooting only 40 percent from the field, the Minutemen (16-2, 3-1 A-10) still had a chance to tie the game on their final possession, but Chaz Williams missed a pull-up 3-pointer with three seconds remaining. The Spiders (13-6, 3-1 A-10) grabbed the rebound and ran out the clock, disrupting UMass’ six-game winning streak and handing the team its second loss

of the season.

“I thought it was a good college basketball game,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said in a radio interview following the game. “I wish we could’ve made that three-pointer at the end, or got one more trap and a turnover. I’ll say it again, on the road in our conference, (Richmond) is a good basketball team.

They’re probably an NCAA Tournament-level team and they beat us tonight.

They won the game.”

The Minutemen came out slow to start the game and had to play catch up for the entire first half.

UMass shot an abysmal 17 percent from the field and scored only 22 points in the half, but only found itself down by five.

“We just didn’t come up with those defensive rebounds, lay-ups, or wideopen 3 makes that we’ve

become accustomed to,” Kellogg said. “For us to be good, or really good, or whatever you want to call it, we have to have a bunch of those a night that gets us some easy, free points.”

While the deficit was nothing insurmountable, it still wasn’t an encouraging sign for the Minutemen, who had slow starts to open the second half in each of their first three conference games. However, this time UMass came out on an 8-2 run to begin the second half, erasing the Richmond lead and gaining its first lead of the game with just over 17 minutes left in the contest.

But just as the Minutemen appeared to have found their groove, they lost it again. The Spiders answered UMass’ run with a 9-2 run of their own to open up a six-point lead.

Richmond opened up its largest lead of the game with just over six minutes remaining at 50-42, but like the Minutemen have done all season, they kept fighting back.

UMass’ Trey Davis hit a jumper with 13 seconds left to cut the Spiders’ lead to 56-55. Cedrick Lindsay responded with two free throws with 10 seconds left, so the Minutemen needed a three-pointer to send the game to overtime.

Williams got a good look, but he couldn’t knock it down to prevent the upset.

Kendall Anthony paced the way for the Richmond with a game-high 21 points, while Sampson Carter kept UMass in the game late with a team-high 15 points.

The hardest part about Wednesday’s loss could very well be the impact of having the court stormed see

LAYOFF on page 7

Minutewomen fall at Mullins Center Flyers dominate slumping UMass

Collegian Staff

see

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MAGIC RUNS OUT

By Patrick strohecker

Micheletto, it may not be as necessary for his team at this time of year as one may think.

UMass is only one month removed from the holiday break. And with their Jan. 10 game versus Cornell cancelled, the Minutemen have only played three times in the new year, one of those games being an exhibition.

UMass also finishes its regular season a week before the rest of Hockey East does, meaning they’ll have another unofficial bye week before the playoffs begin.

“We haven’t worried about rest,” Micheletto said.

“Their energy has been good. We’ve been monitoring their reps throughout the course of the year, so it’s more about getting ready to go for the nine-game stretch that we have looking forward.”

The Minutemen understand the importance of these final nine games. They are one point behind Notre

ROAD LOSS on page 7

Entering Wednesday night’s game at Mullins Center, the Massachusetts women’s basketball team and Dayton were heading in opposite directions within the Atlantic 10.

After an 81-67 Flyers’ victory, the trend continued as the Minutewomen (3-17, 0-6 A-10) picked up their 10th straight defeat, while Dayton (12-4, 5-0 A-10) now boasts a 10-game winning streak.

Despite the loss, UMass coach Sharon Dawley said she saw “more bright spots than low spots” from her team.

Two of those examples were junior Kim PierreLouis and sophomore Rashida Timbilla, who combined for 20 of the Minutewomen’s 28 first half points.

Pierre-Louis finished with a game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Timbilla collected 10 points and nine rebounds.

The majority of PierreLouis’s scoring chances came down in the post area against Dayton centers Cassie Sant and Jodie Cornelie-Sigmundova, who each stand over six feet tall.

“I’m a bit shorter, so I just have to try to make it work,” said Pierre-Louis, who is six feet tall. “I can take the contact and I can finish.”

As for Timbilla, Dawley said she has been impressed with the amount of versatility that she has shown, as she played minutes at the point guard, shooting guard and small forward position on Wednesday.

“Rashida’s incredible.

The only one who doesn’t think she’s incredible is Rashida,” Dawley said. “I think she’s the most versatile player in the league.”

“Everyone wants to play big minutes,” Timbilla said.“I feel like whatever the team needs, I can do.

And Coach Dawley does a good job of letting me play different spots at practice, and it definitely helps.”

Dawley added that despite Timbilla’s scoring ability that she showed off on Wednesday, Dawley still wants Timbilla to start looking for her own shots on a more consistent basis.

“I think she can become a great scorer, but she rather pass than score,” Dawley said. “When she’s aggressive, I think she’s pretty hard to defend. It’s incredible how many spots she can play.”

In addition to Pierre-Louis and Timbilla, Dawley also praised the “aggressive” performance by sophomore guard Jasmine Harris, who finished the game with 16 points, all coming in the second half.

“I love the way that she just ripped and went to the basket, and we were going to the foul line pretty early, so it was working,” Dawley said. “I think if Jasmine plays the way that she’s been playing, she’ll be in double figures for sure.”

For the Flyers’ well-balanced offense, which showcased five players averaging more than 12 points per game coming into Wednesday night, it was the bench that shined in its win.

Freshman guard Celeste Edwards finished with a team high 17 points off the bench, while Andrijana Cvitkovic came off the bench to record 14 points and nine rebounds.

Dawley said that she thought the Minutemen played “solid defense” against a Dayton team that came into the game averaging 86.7 points per game.

“This team (Dayton), they can score it, so keeping them at 81 (points) is see

HOOPS on page 7