Massachusetts Daily Collegian: Feb. 11, 2014

BAD RABBITS

hop into Northampton

Life’s biggest challenge Former UMass star battles for his life against cancer

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Tuesday, February 11, 2014

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New details, safety warning after accidents

UMass police gives pedestrians, drivers tips

By PatriCK hoff Collegian Staff

Further details have been released about the pedestrian accidents that occurred last week as police warn students about safety while driving and walking.

In a series of two accidents last week, a total of four pedestrians were struck by vehicles while crossing the street last Monday and Tuesday evenings, respectively. Both accidents occurred on

Commonwealth Avenue between Mullins Center and the Recreation Center. All pedestrians were University of Massachusetts students and both incidents occurred in the same crosswalk.

Monday’s incident involved three female students: Patricia Martin, a sociology major, Adriana Sobel, a nutrition major, and Lauren Sokolovsky, a communications major. Sobel and Sokolovsky were both treated on the scene of the accident. Martin was taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital with a head injury but was released after treatment.

The driver in Monday’s acci-

Gregory Lazan of Worcester was the driver in Tuesday’s accident and was also charged with a civil motor vehicle infraction.

Following the two incidents, UMass Police Chief and Director of Public Safety John Horvath sent John Horvath, UMass Police Chief an email to the University community emphasizing safety both Tuesday’s accident occurred while walking and driving through dent was Henrique Deassuncao of Osterville. Deassuncao, who is not shortly after 6 p.m. on the same campus. a UMass student, was charged with road. The vehicle struck UMass “Your ability to react quickly a civil motor vehicle infraction of student Benjamin Robbins, a sus- and adapt to a given situation will failing to yield to a pedestrian in tainable horticulture major, with increase your ability to stay safe,” a crosswalk. Police also noted that the passenger side of the car. Horvath said.

Horvath emphasized the use of his windshield was not clean and Robbins was transported to Bay this diminished his ability to see State Medical Center and released see ACCIDENTS on page 3 after treatment of his injuries. the road.

“Our campus welcomes visitors every day, many of whom may not be accustomed to driving in such a heavily populated pedestrian community. ... Crosswalk safety is a shared responsibility.”

Pizza by the lights

Gold medals for UM skydiving club

By Katrina BorofsKi Collegian Staff

JAMES JESSON/COLLEGIAN

The classic Amherst pizza restaurant Antonio’s recently installed a new lighted sign to replace the old green, white and red awning.

The winter months are often filled with news on the performance of the University of Massachusetts’s men’s and women’s basketball teams or the hockey team. Frequently overlooked is the UMass sport parachuting/skydiving team, which also competes during the winter season.

Most recently, the skydiving club competed at the United States Parachute Association’s (USPA) 2013 National Collegiate Parachuting Championships, which took place in Lake Wales, Fla., from Dec. 27 to Jan. 2.

A typical collegiate competition includes various categories for participants to enter into, including twoway, four-way, six-way speed, sport accuracy and formation skydiving.

“Two-way is an event you only see at collegiate or other competitions intended for

jumpers with fewer than 125 jumps,” said club member Derek Clougherty, an engineering student at UMass.

“That may sound like a lot of skydives, but people are just starting to gain awareness and the skills necessary to fly in close proximity to other skydivers.”

Sports accuracy, like classic accuracy, is the category in which jumpers attempt to land as closely to the target as possible.

“They have an electronic target out on the ground in the field,” junior skydiver Casey Tylek said. “They add up all your distances and the person with the lowest number wins.”

In formation, skydiving points are scored based on properly building specific formations between jumpers, while incorporating block moves and a dive pool or random.

“The randoms have a see

SKYDIVING on page 2

Origins of Earth’s moon Olympic issues continue challenged by professor to plague Russia, citizens 1960s model akin to new 2012 model

By sergei L. LoiKo Los Angeles Times

By Catherine ferris Collegian Staff

The common belief that the moon was formed after a giant impact between a young Earth and a body the size of Mars may not be so common anymore due to several new bits of evidence, one of them major: There is no evidence on the moon of any contamination from such an impact.

Donald Wise, professor emeritus of geosciences at the University of Massachusetts, noted that new models released in 2012 adopt “starting conditions” similar to those in a lunar origin model he and several other scientists worked on in the 1960s.

Wise and his team put forth a “fission” origin for the moon. He described his hypothesis by saying, “The early earth was spinning at almost its breakup speed

COURTESY OF DON WISE

Don Wise proposed a fission theory that explains the origin of the moon. before its core separated and settled. The result increased its spin rate, much as ice skaters pull in their arms to spin faster. This caused the outer portions, now without the metal core, to spin off as the moon with a composition in many ways identical to the Earth’s mantle.”

During this time, there were two other hypotheses about the origin of the moon:

that the moon was part of a double planet system, and that the moon was a small body captured from elsewhere in the solar system.

At the time, the double planet system seemed unlikely to have survived without the two planets impacting each other and fission seemed to have angular momentum see

LUNAR on page 3

The road to the Olympic Games has been rocky for the 360 or so residents of tiny Akhshtyr, an ancient village not far from Sochi.

It also has been long, rutted and piled with construction debris.

Once a paradise surrounded by woods, ravines and trout streams, Akhshtyr has acquired a gigantic limestone pit and daily truck trips that have covered the village with layers of limestone dust - all part of the massive construction project that has transformed much of the Sochi area, for better and for worse. But what has people most upset are the police and security agents who have prevented them from making their usual 10-minute trip to a bus stop.

A few weeks ago, authorities erected a checkpoint prohibiting residents, either on foot or in vehicles, from getting to the road that lies a few hundred yards away. It

is the main road linking the Olympic mountain cluster at Krasnaya Polyana with the Olympic village in Sochi.

That left one way out: a seven-mile winding road heaped in spots with construction waste and piles of gravel.

“They told us this measure is necessary to prevent possible sabotage along the main Olympic route,” said Ilya Zamesin, a 35-year-old farmer and local activist. “A majority of the local population are elderly people and they aren’t capable of walking seven miles to get staples - food, medicine and water.”

Many of the pre-Olympics headaches have eased in Sochi as frantic last-minute preparations were completed and some of the bugs that marred the run-up to the Games were fixed. The Olympic venues have mostly been getting high marks from athletes and spectators.

Despite fears of terrorism, Russia’s vaunted security apparatus so far seems to

have things under control.

Still, the Olympics haven’t warmed the hearts of everyone in this temperate corner of Russia.

In Sochi, where quiet streets are being patrolled by police and Cossacks in black woolen hats, locals complained that the promised hordes of tourists were relatively meager.

“We were told we will be dealing with thousands of foreigners; we even studied English for two weeks,” complained Nodar Bagrandzh, a 50-year-old taxi driver.

“Where are all these crowds?

We sit for hours without work. Our local residents are hiding out somewhere, and the promised foreign visitors and fans never came.”

Moreover, residents said, many of the places where they usually shop have closed for the Games because of security-imposed limits on what suppliers could bring into the area. Popular see

OLYMPICS on page 3

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THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

THE RUNDOWN ON THIS DAY...

In 1978, China lifted a censorship ban on the works of Shakespeare, Aristotle and Charles Dickens.

AROUND THE WORLD

China investigative report on state–run Chinese television, detailing widespread prostitution in the southern city of Dongguan, boomeranged on broadcaster CCTV on Monday as a vocal contingent of citizens rallied to the defense of the city’s sex workers and others wondered what political motives might lie behind the expose.

In the extensive segment aired Sunday night, CCTV reporters using hidden cameras visited several upscale hotels, including a Sheraton, and karaoke clubs in Dongguan.

Los Angeles Times

Bolivia LA PAZ, Bolivia — A mudslide killed 14 people in the Bolivian indigenous community of Chullpa K’asa Chico in central Bolivia’s Cochabamba province.

Morochata Mayor Juan Vegamonte confirmed the death toll Monday and told reporters that the mudslide caused by heavy rain had buried 15 homes in mud and rock late Saturday. Four bodies were retrieved, and the remaining 10 we under the rubble, the authorities said.

Bolivian President Evo Morales canceled his scheduled activities Monday and flew over the area in a military helicopter. He said the helicopter could not make it to Chullpa K’asa Chico in the rain but promised to get as close as possible and then continue the journey by land. dpa

Yemen CAIRO — Yemen is to be divided into six federal states, a committee chaired

by President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi decided Monday.

Two states will be formed in the south, which until 1990 was the independent Marxist republic of South Yemen, state news agency Saba reported. The remaining four will be in the smaller but more populous and politically dominant north.

The decision comes three weeks after a national dialogue conference agreed that the Arabian republic should be transformed into a federation – but was unable to agree on whether it should be made up of two states or six. dpa Distributed by MCT Information Services

Police keep up Women’s hockey has with vehicle stops become border brawl US, Canada rivalry and vandalism Log shows busy weekend for police

By Marleigh Felsenstein Collegian Staff

Friday, Feb. 7

BEIJING — A salacious

DailyCollegian.com

2:53p.m.: A grey 2008 Chevy SE with red rims was stolen from Fort Hill Auto Body. The owner came to pick up her sunglasses when she discovered that her car was gone.

heats up Olympics

Saturday, Feb. 8

1:36a.m: Travis Thompson was arrested after his vehicle was stopped and towed

by Ernie’s Towing. The original stop was for attaching plates.

Sunday, Feb. 9

1:20a.m: Vandalism was reported on a 2008 Audi on Fearing Street with kicking and scratching observed.

3:05p.m.: More than $250 worth of merchandise was 1:49a.m.: Katherine Mullane stolen from CVS. was arrested on charges of OUI liquor, operation of a 4:52p.m.: A guitar case was motor vehicle to endanger, left outside of an apartment negligence and a marked on East Hadley Road. One lanes violation after a motor woman originally thought a vehicle stop. guitar was inside, but another woman believed a firearm was 8:20p.m.: The window of inside. The case was opened to Copy Cat Print Shop was reveal an AR-15 Airsoft gun. smashed in an act of vandal10:10p.m.: Patrick O’Brien ism. An extra police patrol was arrested on Belchertown requested.

Rd for the assault of the caller’s 23-year-old son during an argument.

Marleigh Felsenstein can be reached at mfelenstein@umass.edu.

Funds given to three societies SGA allocates money to clubs By eric Bosco Collegian Staff

an hour of debate and procedural confusion that led to the approval of the originally proposed total of $11,000.

That money will cover the costs to put on the event, which will include a rock climbing wall, dunk tanks, inflatable attractions and free T-shirts.

In a third and final motion, the Senate approved the appropriation of $2,100 to the UMass sailing team to pay their coaches’ salaries and cover the costs to repair their boats.

SGA Secretary of Veteran Affairs Brendan Davenport announced the successful opening of the new Student Veteran Resource Center in Dickinson Hall.

Massachusetts Secretary of Education Matthew Malone and Secretary of Veteran Affairs Coleman Nee recently visited the site to emphasize the need for UMass Amherst, the state’s flagship campus, to be the top veteran-friendly school in the Commonwealth.

The Student Government Association met Monday to allocate funds in three separate motions for the Cape Verdean Student Alliance (CVSA), Commonwealth Honors College Area Government and the University of Massachusetts sailing team.

The senators unanimously allocated a total of $11,000 to the CVSA to help cover transportation costs for their yearly philanthropic visit to Cape Verde. The group makes the annual trip to bring supplies to schools in Cape Verde as part of a larger community service effort on the islands.

In another motion, the SGA approved to distribute another $11,000 to the Commonwealth Honors College Area Government for a dance and area parade that is tentatively scheduled for April 5.

Eric Bosco can be reached at ebThe proposal passed after osco@umass.edu.

By BarBara Barrett McClatchy Foreign Staff

SOCHI, Russia — As North American neighbors, Canada and the United States generally enjoy a good relationship, but in women’s ice hockey, that friendship ends at the Zamboni door.

The U.S.–Canada rivalry might be the strongest in Olympic sports, men’s or women’s.

The two adversaries are by far the best in the world, so dominant in their sport that at the last Olympics, many observers worried about the future of women’s hockey if other nations didn’t step up their game. Countries such as Finland, Switzerland, Russia and Germany have improved, but for now, those teams appear to be little more than warm–ups.

On Wednesday, the powers face off in preliminary play of the Olympic hockey tournament. They bring a history of competition, respect – and, recently, a pair of fist–slinging brawls.

“Once you get on the ice, there’s no friends on that team. You’re playing Canada,” said Anne Schleper, a defenseman for Team USA. Canadian forward Jayna Hefford, who has four Olympic medals, offered a bit of a backhanded compliment to her opponents: “You want to play the best, and next to us, the Americans are it.”

Lou Vairo, coach of the 1984 U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team, called the clash one of the fiercest in hockey.

“It’s a very fierce rivalry,” he said. “Jeez, as far as I can remember, all of the deciding big games have basically been decided in overtime or shoot–outs. That’s how close it is. And I think it’s that close again this time.”

In many cases, the North American players are just bigger. At its opening game Saturday, Canada towered over its Swiss opponents. The Swiss has three players at least 5–foot–8. Canada has 12.

The Swiss players were scrappy, darting among their opponents and slinging elbows, but Canada won 5–0.

Team USA, meanwhile, routed Switzerland 9–0 on Monday. (And the Swiss are among the most improved in recent years.)

That was after the United States took on rising star Finland in a weekend match that saw the Yanks score less

SKYDIVING single formation, or picture, with specific grips on arms or legs,” Clougherty said. Block moves have both a beginning formation and an ending formation. There is a specific set of movements that must be performed between the two formations.”

UMass placed in five categories competing against teams from the University of Connecticut, Westpoint Air Force Academy, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.

UMass was successful in competing against these teams, despite its size. Tylek, Jennifer Shumway, Matt Leonard and Clougherty were the only competitors representing UMass.

In the sports accuracy category, Tylek took silver in the novice class, while Leonard took gold in the master class, according to Clougherty.

In the two-way category, Shumway and Tylek won gold.

“During the competition they set both a state and national record with 22 points in Round 2, destroying the

than a minute into the game against Noora Raty, one of the world’s best goalies, eventually winning 3–1.

Raty held off Canada until deep into the third period Monday. The Finns lost 3–0.

Indeed, it is goalkeeping that has been the key to helping other nations begin to lift their play against the dominating North Americans, said Katey Stone, coach of the U.S. women’s team. A good goalie allows the defense to support offensive play and score goals, she said, rather than always teetering back on its heels.

Vairo thinks another team could rise up and shock the two North American hockey powers, much in the way the 1980 U.S. men’s team shocked the world at Lake Placid. He pointed to the Russians as potential spoilers.

“The Russian girls don’t have pressure on them, and if they can sneak in and win a gold medal, they will be heroines forever,” he said. “They scare me.”

The North American antagonism goes back to 1998 in Nagano, Japan; women’s ice hockey debuted as a medal event, and the U.S. won the gold. The Canadians didn’t like those results, and they’ve been atop the podium every Winter Olympics since.

Over the past few months, the rivals have played a seven– game stretch of matches leading up to Sochi. Canada took the first three; then the U.S. won four in a row.

Two of those games saw tussles break out into full– fledged fights – common in men’s ice hockey but a rare sight in the women’s game.

Schleper said that in both cases, the Americans were sticking up for their teammates, “which I think is appropriate.”

In the first brawl in October, the Americans – including Schleper – rushed in swinging after a teammate knocked down the Canadian goalie and was shoved into the boards in retaliation.

Another melee in December forced nearly every player on the ice into the teams’ respective penalty boxes.

Mark Johnson, who coached the USA team in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, said the women won’t likely toss punches this Wednesday.

There’s too much at stake, he said, and they won’t want to risk a penalty that allows the other team a power play.

“We have to stay disciplined during the whole game,” agreed Lauriane Rougeau, a defenseman for

Canada.

Unlike in the men’s game, the women on both teams also feel a significant responsibility to serve as role models to girls in Canada, the United States and around the world.

The pressure is there.

Monique Allain, a 48–year– old principal at an elementary school in New Brunswick who volunteers with Canadian hockey at the Olympics, grew up playing on boys’ teams.

Now, she said, “we have role models who have pushed boundaries. They kept pushing and pushing and pushing.”

She likes what the women are teaching kids in her school.

“We definitely take that to heart,” said veteran USA goalie Jessie Vetter. “Being a confident girl, a confident woman is huge and something I hope they take away from seeing us play – maybe not the best role model with those last couple of games against Canada where we had fights, but still you can be physical and go at ‘em and at the same time you leave it on the ice.”

Jim Afremow, a sports psychologist and author of “The Champion’s Mind,” has worked with Olympians and said that in Sochi, the players will have to underreact to anything they consider untoward.

“Rivals are kind of like your best friend and your worst enemy at the same time,” he said. Teams push each other to be their best, he said, but emotions can get out of hand.

The challenge is “to leave the past in the past.”

But that can be hard.

The veterans on Team USA remember the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, when they lost to Canada 2–0 in the gold– medal match before a thicket of maple–leaf fans.

“It burns in your heart every single day,” said Meghan Duggan, a forward and USA team captain. “You remind yourself and your teammates that you don’t ever want to feel that way again.”

The teams know each other so well that come Wednesday, they’ll understand what to expect, Hefford said. “It comes down to executing.”

And this first showdown, of course, isn’t the most important one in this Winter Olympics. That game comes in just over a week, on Feb. 20, for the gold.

William Douglas of the McClatchy Foreign Staff contributed to this report.

continued from page 1

previous record of 16 points which was set two years prior by competitors from Georgia Tech,” said Clougherty.

Clougherty and Leonard competed in the four-way category, picking up additional members from Georgia Tech and UConn, winning gold in this category.

The UMass members also competed in the six-way category as well as the two-way vertical category.

Competitors were more than pleased with the results of their competition.

“The competition brought a new energy to the club,” said Clougherty.

That being said, the skydiving club looks forward to more events and competitions in the future. UMass is collaborating with West Point in order to revive a competition that took place in the 1960s and 1970s, according to Clougherty.

“Hopefully we will be able to start a regional event as well. There are not many opportunities on the east coast for competition,”

Clougherty said.

The club has around 100 members, according to Tylek.

A majority of these members do tandem jumps while only five of the members have licenses to jump and compete at competitions.

In addition, the team hopes to expand the number of competitions it attends with the effort of improving their skydiving skills and the team’s ability overall.

“We were not really able to prepare for competition this year. All of us have rather busy schedules, finding time to go to the wind tunnel in Nashua, New Hampshire or even making it to Jumptown to make practice jumps together was difficult,” Clougherty said.

“Having multiple competitions gives you more reason to train and when you see where your competition is relative to your team’s ability, you push harder.”

Katrina Borofski can be reached at kborofski@umass.edu.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

LUNAR

ACCIDENTS

continued from page 1

problems.

The capture theory was first accepted because it seemed to account for the angular momentum problems, which led to the scientific community shifting their opinions toward that view.

When Apollo 11 launched in 1969, Wise published a paper that pointed out major problems with the capture theory. He said, “Capture proponents had papers criticizing my model by name for its 2.7 hour rotation rate while explaining their models in the same paper with graphs and illustrations that required the same 2.7 hour rotation rate.

Somehow this contradiction fell beneath the radar of the science community.”

By 1975, however, the capture theory was discarded, and the giant impact hypothesis was then adopted. Wise had serious doubts about this hypothesis, saying, “Watching the scientific community spend almost four decades of failures to find even one successful computer simulation in support of the giant impact hypothesis made me wonder when somebody

OLYMPICS farmers markets have been among the casualties.

Stepan Shvets, a 65-yearold watchman, used to work at the now-empty Areda farmers market in a Sochi suburb and still lives in a cabin at the deserted market site.

“Thousands of Sochi residents would buy fresh local vegetables and meats at our market every Thursday through Sunday,” he said, “and now they have to buy much more expensive imported foods at supermarkets. No one told me if the market will reopen, but I am staying here with my guard dogs just in case.”

Locals do, of course, have once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch the Olympic Games up close. But there’s grumbling about that too.

“Given all security precautions and travel time - time in lines to get into mountain cluster gondolas, for instance - local residents need about three to four hours to get to a sports venue and as much to get back to town,” said Oleg Rubezhansky, editor in chief of the local Mestnaya newspaper and television network. Anyway, he said, many Sochi residents have left for the duration of the Games, especially those who don’t have proper papers to be there.

Russian culture is perhaps not best known for bubbly cheerfulness, and some of the grousing might be chalked up to a national reluctance to see the glass half full. But in Akhshtyr, people can’t fill their glasses at all: Heavy trucks carrying limestone to Olympic construction sites destroyed the village’s only two springs, which sat close to the road.

Villagers had relied on them for centuries for their water

is going to remember that old 1969 paper.”

The giant impact hypothesis began a new period of lunar origin research because it was a hypothesis that was capable of being tested by computer simulations. Detailed investigations show Earth’s mantle and the moon’s compositions contain some not only similar, but also identical isotopes.

In 2012, yet another period of lunar origin research began when Harvard astroCOURTESY OF DON WISE physicists Matija Cuk and Sarah Stewart proposed A graph explaining the three different theories. a successful giant impact model, which has relevance eral version of ‘hit and run’ scientific community “has for fission models.

As Wise looks to the impacts wherein the colliding dug itself so deeply into the giant impact rut, that it seems future, he said, “A new era body continued onward.”

He goes on to say that unable to think outside that for lunar origin theories has future experiments will box, even as it complains dawned when most of the old constraints have been include some version of the about the present hypoththrown away. Almost any- giant impact, while none eses.”

Wise recently upgraded thing goes: models of a Mars mention the simpler alternasized impactor called Theia tive of core formation driv- the older model and suggestplowing into the Earth or ing a rapidly spinning early ed reconsidering the hypothglancing collision of a pair of Earth driven to rotational eses of lunar origin as well as half-sized earths that joined separation. a larger range of exploration As for the reason for possibilities. into a sub-2.7 hour rotation before breaking up in a fash- his own hypothesis being ion almost identical to my ignored, Wise said there is Catherine Ferris can be reached at upgraded proposal, or sev- no good answer. He said the caferris@umass.edu.

continued from page 1

“We were told we will be dealing with thousands of foreigners; we even studied English for two weeks.”

Nodar Bagrandzh, taxi driver supplies.

“I can’t risk taking my goats down the (nearby) gorge to the stream, and I no longer have any water for them to drink in my yard basin,” said Lubov Mulyar, 76, who lives in a hut with her dog and a dozen goats.

“The police no longer let me go to the bus stop out of concern that I may blow up their new railway. So I am stuck here, and my water and medicines have run out already.”

The authorities said they are aware of the villagers’ predicament and promised to act quickly to resolve their grievances - although maybe not quickly enough for Mulyar and her goats.

“We already decided that in April we will hold a meeting to discuss their water supply situation,” said Tatiana Katanidi, a Sochi public relations official. “We also assigned a couple of buses to make four trips to and from Akhshtyr.

However, we ran into a problem with these new drivers finding it hard to locate the village. But we are doing our best to help the residents.”

The phantom bus has already been dubbed the Flying Dutchman by some villagers, a reference to the legendary ghost ship, immortalized in literature and opera, that is cursed to roam the seas forever, never finding a port.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

crosswalks for pedestrians, advising them to stop at the curb and look both ways before crossing the street and always staying alert while proceeding across. The chief also advised against running or biking through crosswalks since drivers “will not expect someone to enter into the crosswalk at a faster pace than (sic) what they’re used to.”

“Our campus welcomes visitors every day, many of whom may not be accustomed to driving in such a heavily populated pedestrian community,” Horvath said. “Visitors may be unaware of the crosswalk areas and react slower to crossing pedestrians. Crosswalk safety is a shared responsibility.”

Horvath said that pedestrians should wear reflective clothing when walking at night to improve visibility and should never assume that because they see a vehicle that the driver sees them.

The chief ’s main

3

continued from page 1

advice to drivers was to stay attentive to the road, looking for pedestrians everywhere and using extra caution when driving in difficult conditions.

Horvath also warned drivers not to pass other stopped vehicles: “There is a reason other vehicles have stopped that may not be evident to you, and there is likely someone crossing.”

Horvath ended his email with a general warning to both drivers and pedestrians: be alert despite modern conveniences.

“Don’t be distracted by electronic devices that take your eyes and ears off the road,” he said.

“Use of cell phones, ear buds and other electronic devices can place you at an increased risk for an accident, regardless of whether you are walking, biking or driving. Please stay alert to stay safe on campus.”

Patrick Hoff can be reached at pphoff@umass.edu.

Atlanta prepares for snowstorm Residents stock up on food, beer

By Matt Pearce Los Angeles Times

A flake of snow had yet to hit the ground Monday, but Atlanta’s grocery stores were already packed with shoppers afraid of disaster.

Fruits and breakfast foods were popular. So were wines. One young man at a Sam’s Club commanded a shopping cart packed with at least eight cases of Bud Light and Corona beers.

“The water was basically all gone,” Amana AbdulJabbaar, 30, told the Los Angeles Times in a phone interview after visiting a Kroger in Sandy Springs, where lines were so long that it took 25 minutes to check out in the express lane. “There were a lot of people in the store like it was Armageddon; they were stocking up on absolutely everything.”

Abdul-Jabbaar laughed and added, “I think it’s funny because I’m from New York City, so I’m not used to this.”

If you are not afraid of a little ice and snow, you are probably not from Atlanta.

Schools began closing and Atlanta-area residents flooded grocery stores after Georgia’s governor declared a state of emergency for 45 counties facing

another unusual Southern winter storm this week.

The reason for the extreme caution can be traced to the last time a couple of inches of snow fell on Atlanta - less than two weeks ago. The city came to a near-standstill after an epic traffic jam stranded some drivers for longer than 24 hours.

That storm became an instant political fiasco for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, who were accused of dragging their feet in alerting schools and drivers before a traffic snarl trapped children on buses or in schools and forced some drivers to sleep in their cars.

Those officials promised to be prepared if such a storm returned in the future. Now, they’re facing that possibility.

Monday night’s light snow was expected to be followed by a freezing rain Tuesday night that could knock out power and turn roads into icy ribbons, National Weather Service forecaster Nikole Listemaa told the Times.

How bad the ice could get was not yet certain, Listemaa said, but officials were not taking many chances. In Atlanta, snowplows and salt spreaders were ordered to be ready to go on duty at 6 p.m.

“Ice is the big danger here,” Deal told reporters

Monday morning, urging Georgians to be prepared.

“We should all, individually, use extreme caution.”

That message resonated with Georgians who spent their Monday afternoons at grocery stores, stocking up out of fear that another bizarre winter disaster could strike.

“I don’t think a whole lot of snow is predicted, so this may not be a sensible reaction for somebody in New York. But for us, this is definitely in our reasonable zone,” Karen Louis, 42, of Roswell told the Times in a phone interview as she was about to head for the grocery store.

Two weeks ago, it took Louis 14 hours to drive home. “We feel completely justified in cleaning off the shelves because 1 to 3 inches is coming,” she said.

Kenisha Robertson, 36, of Sandy Springs was planning to keep her kids home even before Atlantaarea schools announced closures for Tuesday and Wednesday. (In the last storm, it took her more than 10 hours to make a drive that normally takes 15 minutes.) At her local Publix, Robertson fought the crowds to buy 4 gallons of water.

“The e ggs were gone, bread, milk,” said Robertson, ticking off a list of what people were hunting for, which included vegetables and dog food. “The

frozen pizza was gone!”

A l l i son Carol i n e Willingham, 24, of Decatur normally goes to the gym every single Monday during her lunch break. But this time, she decided to go to the grocery store to stock up, and there was already a line in the parking lot when she arrived.

What was expected to be a 30-minute grocery store visit - to get bottled water, coconut water, lunchmeat and bread - turned into an hour-and-a-half slog.

The Atlanta area, it seems, just can’t escape congestion.

“I’m sure everyone is laughing at us, and it is somewhat comedic,” Willingham said. “It’s just that Atlanta doesn’t have the tools and they’re not prepared to deal with anything, so that’s why it becomes an insane riot.”

Louis, of Roswell, also acknowledged that Atlanta might suffer another dent to its image with the coming storm - that is, if the storm arrives at all.

“A lot of people have changed their approach this time; no one wants to get caught out in it,” Louis said. “Of course, Murphy’s Law, nothing will happen, and all of us will be sitting at home and we’ll be mad at ourselves when nothing happens, and we’ll be a laughing stock again.”

MCT

Richard Bethea picked up additional items on Monday for the upcoming winter storm.

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“Power concedes nothing without a demand.” -Frederick Douglass

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Build a better Bottle Bill

Body modification should be accepted I can’t even begin to esti- middle-class) cultural paramate how many jobs I’ve noia. applied to whose dress codes This paranoia can be included a phrase like, “No extended to countless other ways people express themElise Martorano selves through their bodies: Hair colors and styles, fashvisible tattoos or pierc- ion, use of makeup and even ings.” This mandate always women’s decisions to shave rubbed me the wrong way their body hair. Mainstream for several reasons, but I society is terrified of people think the most important who deviate from the social reason is the perceived dif- conventions of what people ference between a visible should look like, and, more tattoo and a non-visible tat- relevantly, what professiontoo. als should look like.

Employers want to put Although body modificaa face on their company tions like this may once have that inspires trust and con- been more or less specific to fidence in its clients. Fair these groups of people, they enough. But what is it about aren’t anymore. Today, the a pierced or tattooed face that causes people to view the company in a negative light? The answer to this question is so outdated it’s embarrassing. We typically associate people who have visible body modifications with criminals, plain and simple. pierced and tattooed “demoWe associate tattooed graphic” is no longer just necks with prison inmates, a demographic. Those who tattooed biceps with motor- choose to alter their bodcycle gangs, pierced lips ies in these ways are reprewith bullies and stretched sented by countless careers, cultures, ears with high school drop- personalities, outs. This concept is, in social circles and socio-ecoitself, inherently flawed for nomic backgrounds. Body modifications are no longer several reasons.

The first reason is that indicative of the stigmatized these images of “danger- pseudo-criminal, if they ous people” – people who ever were in the first place.

So how does our perare intimidating, rude and of individuals unintelligent – are highly ception caricatured and for the with these modifications most part, outdated. Fear change when the tattoos of groups like this, largely or piercings are not visirepresentative of under- ble? Consider two potential privileged demographics employees with equal merit. and also of counter-culture One enters a job interview movements, has been exag- with a pierced nose (clearly gerated by (mostly white, visible). Another enters the

interview with pierced genitals (obviously not visible).

In a conservative environment, the potential employee with the genital piercing will, in all likeliness, be far better off. This is because the potential employer cannot see it and is therefore not confronted with the confusing paradigm of a qualified individual with a body modification. Note the sarcasm.

If we want to extrapolate this metaphor into a slightly more sinister context, here’s another example. Imagine an establishment that does not hire homosexuals, although employees are

pared to individuals with body modifications. But you get my point.

Employers, and the general public, do not want to confront the conflicting cultural archetypes that our society has constructed, which cause us to look at people and judge them based on their appearance or demeanor. The concept of a lawyer, a teacher or a salesperson with stretched ears or tattooed knuckles conflicts with how we categorize our conceptions of people.

We love to put groups in Venn diagrams: In this instance, professionals on one side, people with body modifications in the other, a blank space in the middle.

It is very difficult for us to rid ourselves of the paranoid misconceptions of past generations. But we must ask ourselves what the purposes of these misconceptions are.

What do we stand to gain by continuing to allow ourselves and others to discriminate on the basis of physical appearance (and furthermore, by nationality, sexuality, gender or any other factor that is a common basis for discrimination)? We inhibit ourselves by inhibiting our understanding of other people – we prevent ourselves from learning about and benefitting from the unique perspectives of those who are different from us.

Since 1982, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has had a deposit on certain types of

Stefan Herlitz jars, cartons, bottles and cans that require they be returnable with a minimum value of 5 cents. This legislation, responsible for the bottle-and-can return machines and centers common in grocery stores and shopping centers everywhere, was written with the purpose of increasing the rate at which these containers are recycled.

Known as the Massachusetts Bottle Bill, this law has been an overwhelming success. The Bottle Bill has kept billions of recyclable containers from being needlessly thrown into landfills and incinerators – as of today, 80 percent of all bottles, cans and other containers are recycled instead of buried or burned.

However, there exist some very large holes in the law, which, passed over 30 years ago, was not created with many modern containers in mind. This means that a vast number of newer containers, including iced teas, water, energy and sport drinks, are not covered under the law, and thus are far less likely to be recycled – only 20 percent of these non-deposit containers are recycled, while the majority languish in overfull landfills. The stark disparity in recycling rates between containers covered and not covered by the Bottle Bill clearly demonstrates that it is extremely effective in increasing recycling rates.

In December 2013, a Massachusetts initiative petition relating to the Bottle Bill officially qualified for the ballot with far more than the required number of signatures. It would expand the Bottle Bill to cover these newer containers, drastically reducing the rate at which recyclable containers are thrown away and saving municipalities between $4.2 and $6.9 million in disposal costs.

In addition, implementation would be incredibly easy. Not only does the infrastructure needed to handle the higher volume of returned bottles already exist, but the law would have no effect upon consumer choice and would not have a “discernible effect” upon the retail price of beverages, according to the Massachusetts

Employers ... do not want to confront the conflicting cultural archetypes that our society has constructed which cause us to look at people and judge them based on their appearance or their demeanor.

never asked about it in their interviews. Two potential employees are interviewed.

Both are homosexual. The first makes no indication of it, and is hired. The second, on the other hand, is spotted holding the hand of their partner before the interview. This second person, given the company’s policy, is not hired.

But what is the fundamental difference between these two individuals?

Nothing. Obviously this metaphor is not airtight, especially given the considerably more devastating social discrimination and aggression that homosexu- Elise Martorano is a Collegian columals have experienced and nist and can be reached at emartora@ still are experiencing, com- umass.edu.

What we all should know about BRIC BRIC – that is, Brazil, Russia, India and China – is a subject that is becoming more and more relevant in

development. Each country is governed differently and has a unique relationship with the United States. In the coming years we are Julian del Prado all going to see exactly how this balance of power plays world affairs. But what sets out, but it doesn’t hurt to these countries apart from know what each of these the rest and why should countries is bringing to the the average American care table. about them? Furthermore, China might as well what sets them apart from stand alone as an economic each other? challenger to the United The answer to the first question is relatively straightforward. In terms of projected economic growth, combined, BRIC “has far outpaced” the United States and the European Union, according to the Los Angeles Research Group. This means that the way the United States States and the European decides to cooperate with Union. With the world’s these countries may very second largest economy well determine the role the and third most powerful United States will play in military, it’s no wonder the emerging international China is becoming a cencommunity. tral part of global politics.

Although BRIC coun- That said, even China has tries are united by their limits on growth within the surging growth rates, international framework. the methods and scale on Japan, the United States which they have achieved and even India serve as this vary significantly. checks on Chinese power, This makes each individu- citing human rights abuses al country a unique point and expansionist sentiment of insight into economic to hold their ground when

China seeks further power in the sea and air. With its often-corrupt local government and its practice of manipulating Chinese currency to the detriment of other countries, China may see great economic growth and heavy resistance from United States alliance networks. Strangely, this would be similar to the containment of the former USSR, had that demised

Although BRIC countries are united by their surging growth rates, the methods and scale on which they have achieved this vary significantly.

Editorial@DailyCollegiancom

Russia is currently the largest oil exporter in the world, with a flourishing steel industry. With Russia as one of the biggest producers of raw materials, it looks like future Russia is more akin to Saudi Arabia than Rio de Janeiro, new oil rich tundra to replace the desert. Rio de Janeiro, on the other hand, is going strong. Brazil and India, as the most pro-U.S countries in BRIC, have the greatest potential to shift power on the global stage.

With the ability to at once cultivate raw materials, produce finished goods and provide services, Brazil is perhaps the most dynamic economy with whom the U.S is allies. India, for its part, has a potential in services, which is similar to China’s potential in manufacturing. Times are changing in the international community, and by being informed about the strengths and weaknesses of all the players, we can all better see the game being played by nation-states.

country been able to successfully grow sectors other than its military.

Russia, for its part, may hardly be a part of BRIC at all. Critics argue that, because Russia completely relies on oil and natural gas, it is incapable of the dynamic economic growth of other BRIC nations.

Moscow has become the city with the largest number of billionaires on earth, Julian del Prado is a Collegian columthough, and that is a hard nist and can be reached at jdelprado@ umass.edu. statistic to ignore.

Department of Environmental Protection.

Also, unclaimed deposits, which are presently added to the Commonwealth General Fund, would instead be allocated specifically to environmental and recycling programs.

Spearheaded by MASSPIRG and its many coalition partners, which include the League of Women Voters, Mass Municipal Association, Zoo New England, the Sierra Club, Mass Audubon and the South Shore Recycling Cooperative, this initiative is supported by 77 percent, of Massachusetts voters, according to a recent survey.

However, the bottling industry, which has fought the current Bottle Bill for its entire existence, has recently ramped up its efforts to fight against what to any reasonable observ-

The stark disparity in recycling rates between containers covered and not covered by the Bottle Bill clearly demonstrates it is extremely effective in increasing recycling rates. er is an efficient, low-cost method to eliminate the waste of recyclable bottles.

These efforts are what have prevented the expansion of the Bottle Bill in the past, despite its very high popularity among the people of Massachusetts.

It is at this critical moment that the Bottle Bill, and indeed the entire recycling industry in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, needs support more than ever. While the Bottle Bill expansion may have qualified for the ballot, it is not a done deal – already its opponents have proposed legislation to repeal the law in its entirety.

By signing petitions, contacting your state representatives and senators and voting in November, you too can help make the improved Bottle Bill a reality and ensure that billions of cartons, bottles and cans per year are recycled, rather than thrown away.

Stefan Herlitz is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at sherlitz@ umass.edu.

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Arts Living THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

“Baby, show me your dance moves.” - Bad Rabbits, “Dance Moves”

Arts@DailyCollegian.com

THEATRE

Green Day musical rocks UMass Show packs a story told through song

By Sarah roBertSon Collegian Staff

On Tuesday evening at the Fine Arts Center, the nearly sold-out musical “American Idiot” opened to reveal a wall covered from floor to ceiling with television screens. The screens lit up the theater with images from reality shows and American news clips about politics and celebrity culture before the cast launched into a powerful rendition of Green Day’s 2004 hit song, “American Idiot.”

The opening number made the production’s themes of rebellion and nonconformity very clear from the beginning.

Throughout the play, the characters rebel against the American ideals force-fed to them through the media – with mixed results. While not conclusive, “American Idiot” sends a powerful message to America’s youth about their desperate need for individuality in the face of a society based on conformity.

Despite beginning their adventure together, the three main characters – Johnny (Jared Neptune), Tunny (Dan Tracy) and Will (Casey O’Farrell) – all part ways early in the play, which tells their stories through the music of Green Day’s 2004 album “American Idiot,” as well

as some of the band’s later work.

The story centers mostly on Johnny, who escapes to the city and succumbs to a life of drug abuse. His story is often told through reflective letters that he writes to his mother, which he recites out loud to the audience. Emotions are wrought when Johnny opens a scene with the line, “Dear mom, today I shot drugs for the first time.”

Throughout the rest of the production, the characters share the stage simultaneously while living out their lives separately. They fall in and out of love, make friends, try new things and, of course, always find a way to express their feelings through song.

Upon hearing the musical’s first songs, “American Idiot” and “Jesus of Suburbia,” a seasoned Green Day fan will note the difference between the actors’ Broadway-attuned vocals and those of Green Day vocalist Billy Joel Armstrong. However, the show’s theatrics make up for this discrepancy. Songs like “21 Guns” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends” begin with acoustic guitar and solo vocals that greatly contribute to the mood of these scenes while “Too Much Too Soon” and “Letterbomb” add some refreshing female vocals to the mix.

For the most part, the set does not change throughout the show, with only a rolling couch, beds and scaffolding used for each scene.

The production uses props

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Each performance of “American Idiot” closes with a cast-wide rendition of Green Day’s 1997 hit song “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” lightly; the most notable use is seen in the choreography for the song “Give Me Novacaine.” During the scene, Johnny and his girlfriend “Whatsername,” played by Olivia Puckett, dance with the long elastic band Johnny uses to shoot heroin in a unique display of athleticism and flexibility.

The musical’s choreography is reflective of the angst and aggressive emotions of its characters. Head-banging and

fist pumping, the cast run around the stage, often jumping and climbing on the set pieces with a nonchalance that makes the production look like an organized chaos.

“American Idiot” also runs without an intermission, so its momentum is maintained throughout the entire hour and a half production.

One of the play’s most powerful moments is the cast’s performance of “Wake Me Up When

September Ends.” During the song, all three main characters sing together as the rest of the cast performs a dance interpretation of America’s Sept. 11 tragedy. The song comes directly after the powerful all-female ballad “Letterbomb,” bringing the play back down to a solemn mood by reminding the audience of problems even greater than the characters on stage.

The cast of “American Idiot” is set to continue its

national tour in Elmira, N.Y., and Portland, Maine, in the coming weeks before returning to Boston. After that, the company will continue with many more shows from Florida to California. Wherever the show goes, the music of Green Day will certainly continue to be brought to life in the provocative tale of “American Idiot.”

Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@umass.edu.

MUSIC

Bad Rabbits set to return to Northampton

Out of the cage, into the Iron Horse

By Brandy roBidoux Collegian Correspondent

In just a few years, Bad Rabbits has gained the rapid momentum that most bands can only dream of.

The quintet hailing from Boston is comprised of vocalist Fredua Boakye, drummer Sheel Davé, bassist Graham Masser and guitarists Salim Akram and Santiago Araujo. The first time I saw the band play in Northampton, I had no idea who they were – but I was left with memories I will never forget. This Thursday, the band will bring its infectious energy back to Northampton at the Iron Horse Music Hall.

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what genre Bad Rabbits is classified as.

The band has a soulful funk sound, and yet it tours with rock bands like Taking Back Sunday and frequents alternative and indie festivals, such as Boston Calling and Warped Tour. Although the band describes its sound as a blend of “futuristic R&B and post-rock,” it would be wrong to box it into any category. Bad Rabbits has a sound that is all its own.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the band is that the guys launched their career all on their own. They gained popularity by playing small local shows in Boston and

surrounding cities, slowly amassing a following. As more people liked what they saw, the band began playing small tours around New England, captivating crowds with a high-energy stage performance unlike any other. On top of the smooth, melodic vocals by lead vocalist Fredua “Dua” Boakye, the band is known for its synchronized dance moves. It is not uncommon to see the band stand in a straight line and bust out moves in time to one of their hits; much like the Jackson Five might have in its heyday.

In 2008, Bad Rabbits released its first EP, a foursong demo titled “The Bad EP,” but it wasn’t until 2009’s “Stick Up Kids EP” that its music really started to gain some ground.

Catchy tracks such as “She’s Bad,” and “Can’t Back Down” became instant fan favorites, but the real gem of the album is “Girl I’m Like Damn!” featuring Gym Class Heroes front man Travie McCoy. With Travie’s voice on the record the song only got more attention, and several years later Boakye appeared alongside Travie at Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin Eve on national television.

With a small taste of fame under its belt, Bad Rabbits went back to work hard on its debut fulllength album, “American Love.” A little more polished and all the more catchy, the 2013 release

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Vocalist Fredua “Dua” Boakye and Bad Rabbits played the opening set of the inaugural Boston Calling Music Festival in May 2013. has proven to be a huge hit thus far. The feel-good album features suave vocal melodies with the same swanky funk backdrop the band is known for serving up.

With the release of the record came a largescale U.S. tour, as well as a gig at last May’s inaugural Boston Calling Music Festival and an appearance on the late night talk show

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

Currently on a short fiveshow winter tour, it will be nice to have the boys of Bad Rabbits back in their home state of Massachusetts this Thursday. The show begins

at the Iron Horse Music Hall on Feb. 13 at 10 pm.

Tickets are $15 in advance or $17 at the door.

Brandy Robidoux can be reached at brobidou@umass.edu.

6

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Comics

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Where did Cotton Eye Joe come from? Where did he go? Where are we all going really?

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What can we do to help the Teletubbies’ sun baby from crying? Sacrifice Poe of course!

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He may not be a bird, but he can fly like an eagle.

“We have to kill you, Poe! You shamed the sun baby! He requires your blood.”

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Run as though you’re being chased, or like you have to use the bathroom real bad.

To clear the snow off your car in order to drive, or lose the best parking spot in the Southwest lot?

Hungry for life? Hungry for freedom? Hungry?

Ain’t no hunger a spoonful of peanut butter can’t cure.

If you liked it then you should’ve put a ringer on it because lo–jaks are invaluable at a time like this.

sagittarius

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Someone’s in a for salty treat!

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Proposing with a Verde Salsa packet will add that siesta to your fiesta.

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SAM

continued from page 8

Michael Sam is gay. That’s who he is, and he’s not shying away from it, nor should he. It’s a lesson that everyone can adopt in their own lives. Don’t be afraid to be who you are. It doesn’t matter that the game of football has an image where one must be a man’s man in order to make it. Just because Sam is gay, does that not make him man enough to play in the NFL? I think not.

I certainly hope Sam’s new teammates will accept him just as his Missouri teammates and coaches did when Sam told the team of his sexual orientation before the start of this past season. And they respected Sam’s privacy so much that they allowed him to come out on his own terms before he embarked upon his journey to the NFL. They deserve praise as well.

It all boils down to this: all we can be is ourselves.

The best anyone can ever ask of him or herself is to look in the mirror at the end of each day and hope to say, Today, I was the best possible

version of myself that I could be.

And I’m going to do it again tomorrow.

And that’s the message we should be sending to the generation of tomorrow.

There are sure to be people who don’t agree with Sam’s sexual orientation, whether it’s NFL general managers, coaches, players or fans.

And perhaps Sam’s announcement will have a negative impact on his draft status, whether due to his sexual orientation or because of the inevitable media circus that will follow every development of Sam’s path to the draft.

But there’s something to be said about a man with the mental toughness and bravery to sit in front of a camera and proudly tell the world who he is. I’d want someone like that on my football team. I’d want to go to battle with him. And that’s not even factoring in Sam’s skills on the field, where he was named the Associated Press’ Southeastern Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year.

And now the NFL, a fixture in today’s American culture, is thrown into the center of this critical issue.

Years from now, children will read about Sam’s courageous act, just as I did with the likes of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and so on for standing up for all human rights. Will tomorrow’s children admire how much society has grown to accept all different kinds of people? Or will they be left scratching their heads, wondering how we took a step back in the fight for equal rights?

I can only hope those students look upon Sam with the same admiration and bravery that I did to not shy away from who they are. That’s the world I want my kids to grow up in.

Your move, NFL. Are we taking a step forward, or a step back?

Stephen Sellner can be reached at ssellner@ umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Stephen_ Sellner.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

KETNER

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

7

continued from page 8

Immediately, Ketner’s doctors changed his chemo plan to provide a more aggressive medicine. At first, they wanted to use radiation, but, Ketner said, he isn’t eligible for radiation because he had two tumors in both his liver and abdomen.

“It’s not associated with one place, so they didn’t want to do the radiation,” Ketner said.

So far, the results have been positive, Ketner said. He’s the second person to receive one particular medicine that he’s being treated with, and he said the first person to get it “had really, really good results.”

In the meantime, Ketner is out of work and can’t do much.

During his first chemo plan, he couldn’t be exposed to any cold weather, couldn’t drink anything cold or touch anything cold.

“They just wanted me to relax, eat right, do what I need to do and take my medicine and everything,” Ketner said. “The chemotherapy kind of knocks me out a little bit, so for like three days I can’t do anything because of fatigue and the different side effects.”

One thing he has done, though, is work toward finishing his degree online through UMass’ continuing education program. He just recently finished a multicultural psychology course, and he’s expecting to complete a double degree in elementary education and psychology this summer. He only has three more classes to take.

Even though the cancer has taken a lot out of him, Ketner is doing his best to not let it take over his life in a negative way.

The support From close family members and friends to people he doesn’t even know, one thing is clear: Ketner has been provided a farreaching and strong support system throughout this entire process.

In his immediate family, Ketner is supported by his wife Aquarius and his two sons – the older being 12 years old, the younger one 8 – who have all been a driving force in his road to recovery.

“My wife has really, really been great,” Ketner said. “She’s taken pretty much all of the responsibilities that we once shared and now she’s taking care of me and taking care of my sons, running the house, she’s been working two jobs. She’s been great. She makes sure I eat right, makes sure I get to all of my appointments. I really can’t put into words everything that she’s done. She’s done a lot.”

Beyond his family, though, there’s been one man who has made it his own personal mission to help Ketner as much as he can – Bob Otrando.

Otrando has been a strength

COURTESY UMASS ATHLETICS ARCHIVES

Lari Ketner played for UMass from 1996 to 1999, scoring in double figures each year and recording the third-highest block total in school history. and conditioning coach for 21 years at UMass, where he has worked in every sport. That includes basketball, where he immediately formed a relationship with Ketner when the player arrived in 1995 that has forged into a tighter bond more recently.

Ketner was ineligible to play as a freshman in the 1995-96 season due to academics, which meant more time in the weight room with Otrando, who was immediately excited to work with the 6-foot-10, 280-pounder.

“He was a real hungry kid when he came in here,” Otrando said.

“He was like a Frankenstein model. He walked through the door, he had a big body, he was strong, he was flexible. It was like we could do something with this guy. I was excited to work with him and he was coach-able, so that always makes it nice.”

Ketner went on to play three years at UMass under then-coach Bruiser Flint. He averaged double figures in scoring each year and ranked third all-time in blocked shots when his career was over.

He was then drafted 49th overall in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. He played a brief two-year stint in the league with the Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers.

It wasn’t until 2006 when he and Otrando re-connected. Otrando was back working basketball with then-coach Travis Ford and the two met in Otrando’s office, where they caught up and reminisced about when they worked together at UMass.

After that, Otrando said, they talked about once a year, but it wasn’t until last year when Ketner found Otrando on Facebook and friend-requested him. In August, Ketner told Otrando about his colon cancer diagnosis and Otrando was immediately taken back.

“I was shocked, and then when he told me it was Stage 4, it was like a bullet hit you,” Otrando said. “It just stops you in your tracks.”

Otrando became “very concerned” about his former pupil, and so he kept reaching out to him over the months through Facebook.

Then, one morning, as he was walking his dog outside, Otrando decided he wanted to take action and help Ketner somehow, some way. He didn’t know how quite yet, but his friend’s condition was weighing on his conscious, and he wanted to do something, anything.

“With me, I walk my talk,” Otrando said. “When I was single and I didn’t have a family, those kids were like sons and treated me like family, and it doesn’t stop. Now that I’m married and I have kids, I have an immediate family, but my wife also knows if I have a former athlete that needs help, that’s what coaching is all about.

For me it was never about moving on to the next job and using kids to get a record. I develop a relationship with them.

“You have to do something,” he continued. “With me, I just had to do something. We’re not just going to sit here and wish that we did something.”

The donation page As strength and conditioning coach, it’s Otrando’s job to challenge his athletes. But this was a whole new challenge.

Otrando wanted to raise money to help alleviate the financial burden that Ketner and his family faced as a result of cancer treatments and hospital bills. But he wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. At first, he said, he was just going to have people send checks to him.

That’s when Kimberly Lamson came in. Lamson is a for-

mer UMass field hockey standout who played at the same time Ketner did and became friends with him. She heard about what Otrando was trying to do, reached out to him and suggested to create a donation page on GoFundMe.com, a crowdfunding website that collects donations for different causes.

“I had no idea what Go Fund Me was,” Otrando said. “I can’t fund myself, never mind someone else.”

Lamson created the page, came up with the wording, worked with Ketner’s wife to figure out how their family could access the money and suddenly, the “We Love Lari Challenge” was live.

“It sure as heck wasn’t my idea,” Otrando said. “I’m not smart enough to come up with that. “(Lamson) wrote it up, and she did a heck of a job on it.”

Almost immediately, donations started pouring in from all different places, from UMass alumni to friends to family to people who were just touched

by Ketner’s story. Almost $9,000 were raised in the first six days and, as of Monday night, $9,903 had been raised in total.

Otrando set a goal of $100,000 with the future of Ketner’s children in mind.

“I don’t want him worrying about finances,” Otrando said.

“I want him to just do his treatments, stay positive, eat what he has to eat, rest, pray and not have any worries. And he doesn’t have any worries. We’ll handle the other stuff.”

Every day, Otrando said, Ketner is getting better. He said that last week he started gaining weight and that the tumor in his liver is shrinking. The two are also inspired by a woman in Milwaukee who recently beat Stage 4 colon cancer and they’re already talking about linking up and training together again this summer.

Wherever this goes, Ketner is thankful for all the support he’s received.

“If I don’t get another penny, I’m grateful, because that wasn’t something I was banking on happening when I got sick,” Ketner said. “I just wanted to get my story out there.

“My fight has actually been inspirational to people. People tell me that all the time, because they’re like, ‘You’re always smiling, you don’t even look sick, you’re fighting through this.’

“I don’t care what the doctors say, I’m going to fight, I’m going to live and I’m going to do what I need to do for as long as I can.”

Stephen Hewitt can be reached at shewitt@ umass.edu and followed on Twitter @ steve_hewitt.

TENNIS

Minutewomen right ship with weekend sweep Podlofsky ties school record for singles win

By Arthur hAyden Collegian Staff

After dropping its first two matches of the spring season last weekend to Harvard and Brown, the Massachusetts tennis team had its first chance to bounce back from the losses with two home matches over the weekend.

After cruising to a 6-1 win over Bryant University on Saturday, the Minutewomen were back in action again Sunday against Long Island University and were as equally impressive in their second match in two days, securing a 6-1 victory over the Blackbirds on Sunday, for its 16th-straight home victory in the process.

Senior Yuliana Motyl led the charge, defeating LIU’s Sanne Louwers in straight sets to take No. 1 singles. Freshman standout Aarzoo Malik, who was out with an injury for the match against Brown last weekend, and Arielle Griffin finished the weekend with perfect 4-0 records.

Each won both of their singles and doubles matches.

Jessica Podlofsky couldn’t break

Michele Spiess’ school record for career singles victories, falling to LIU’s Marine Dans 7-5, 6-2, but she’ll get another shot at claiming the record outright when the Minutewomen face Army at home on Friday.

If these two victories were not impressive enough, consider the fact that the Minutewomen were without one of their best players in senior Sonia Bokhari, who coach Judy Dixon said has been in and out of the lineup with an undisclosed injury, UMass’ regular No. 2 singles and frequent doubles player.

Injuries have been constant issues for this year’s squad as the Minutewomen have yet to reach a point where the entire roster is healthy, but Dixon is still optimistic about their chances to compete for the rest of the season.

The UMass squad will continue their homestand against Army on Friday and then Boston College on Sunday.

“We’ve got some momentum”, Dixon said. “It would really do us well to beat Army...Army is always going to be mentally tough. They’re always going to be physically fit, but we have the talent to win...Now we get to find out who we really are.”

Podlofsky ties wins record In its first match of the weekend on

“Army is always going to be mentally tough. They’re always going to be physically fit, but we have the talent to win... Now we get to find out who we really are.”

Judy Dixon, UMass coach Saturday, UMass dominated Bryant en route to a 6-1 victory.

Senior Jessica Podlofsky was the story of the day, as she tied Spiess’ UMass record for career singles victories with 67. She did so in straight sets as well, defeating Bryant’s Rosie Bird 6-1, 7-6.

UMass’ sole loss on the day came in a hotly contested No. 1 singles match between senior captain Juliana Motyl and Bryant’s Marion Bouillin. Bouillin barely edged Motyl in a deciding tiebreak 11-9; however, the tables were turned in No. 1 doubles as Motyl teamed up with sophomore Arielle Griffin to defeat Bouillin and her playing partner Ryan Brown (6-2).

Arthur Hayden can be reached at awhayden@ umass.edu.

ARAZ HAVAN/COLLEGIAN

Jessica Podlofsky tied the school record for most career singles victories with her win Saturday.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

FIGHTING for his life Tuesday, February 11, 2014

With family and friends by his side, former UMass hoops star Lari Ketner battles against Stage 4 colon cancer

O

Collegian Staff

The diagnosis Prior to his diagnosis, Ketner, who played basketball at UMass for three seasons from 1996 to 1999, had lived a mostly healthy life.

Cancer was most certainly the last thing on anyone’s mind, especially Ketner’s.

“I was pretty healthy,” Ketner said. “Hadn’t been to the doctor. I didn’t even really catch a cold.”

But one day last year while working for the postal service in Indianapolis, Ketner started experiencing pains in his stomach and often couldn’t keep his food down.

“I would eat, and then vomit,” he said.

So he and his wife took a visit to the doctors. At first, Ketner said, “they associated it with

COURTESY UMASS ATHLETICS ARCHIVES

acid reflux, or something of that nature.” But after trying a few different kinds of medicine, the results continued to persist.

Eventually, Ketner saw a new doctor, who performed a colonoscopy and biopsy, but there weren’t enough results in those tests that came back to determine what was the matter.

The doctor then performed a CAT Scan, and that finally revealed what was wrong: “I had three legions in my stomach area,” Ketner said. “It was cancer.”

The treatment Once Ketner was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer, the chemotherapy and treatment plans began immediately.

Less than a week after his diagnosis, Ketner married his wife Aquarius on Sept. 3. The next day, he went in for a surgery to remove a third of his colon.

Since then, it’s been a long road to try to recover and beat the cancer.

Ketner healed for the first 20 days after the surgery before

COURTESY LARI A. KETNER/FACEBOOK

(Above) Lari Ketner dunks the ball for UMass in a game during his college career. (Below) Lari and his wife Aquarius celebrate their 37th birthdays together earlier this month in Indianapolis. beginning chemotherapy treatment, which, at the time, consisted of five different medicines. He underwent that first treatment for eight weeks.

After those eight weeks were up, Ketner received another

NFL

Michael Sam has chance to break ground

T

By Stephen hewitt n his 37th birthday, Lari Ketner took his wife Aquarius out to the local mall near their home in Indianapolis and did a little shopping.

Accompanied by Aquarius’ brother and his wife, the two spent all day together. They walked around, they ate lunch, they talked, they shopped. They even had time to stop and get Aquarius – who was celebrating her own 37th birthday the day after Lari’s – a new outfit for the next day at church, where they were greeted with a surprise party.

It all seemed so simple, so ordinary, only it wasn’t.

Milestones have been few and far between for Lari Ketner these days. The former Massachusetts men’s basketball star was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer on Aug. 28 last year, and it’s been a difficult, uphill battle toward recovery ever since.

It’s what’s made moments like the birthday weekend he shared with his wife on Feb. 1 and 2 that much more special. For Ketner, it was the first time he was able to spend time like that with his wife since before the diagnosis.

“With the medicines and everything I can’t really walk around a lot without getting tired,” Ketner said. “But (on my birthday) I was able to walk around for a while, go to the mall, go eat, things of that nature.

“It was just a great time.”

And he hopes there are several more great times ahead.

Sports@DailyCollegian.com

@MDC_SPORTS

CAT Scan test to see how the medicine was affecting the tumors, but he soon found out that the tumor in his liver had actually grown over that time period. see

KETNER on page 7

here are moments in sports history that we will always cherish, with most occurring on a field, a court or rink.

And then there are the iconic moments that encapsulate more than just sports and show that athletes are much more than just freakish talents for the rest of us to gawk at.

They are people, too.

There was Lou Gehrig uttering Stephen the famous phrase, Sellner “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” after he retired from baseball following his diagnosis of ALS. Then there was the 1968 Olympics when Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos saluted the National Anthem with black gloves to stand up for equal rights for people of all races.

Sunday, we had Michael Sam. Sam, a defensive end out of Missouri and NFL Draft prospect, announced to the world that he is gay, potentially becoming the first openly gay player in the NFL if his name is called on draft day or if he’s signed as a rookie free agent.

I have two words to say to Mr. Sam: Thank you.

Today, we live in a world where acceptance of all people regardless of color, gender or sexual orientation is growing. I’m part of a generation that looks back on the days of the Civil Rights Movement and wonders how on earth people could have been so bigoted to believe that the color of one’s skin predisposed them to a better life than anybody else.

Down the line, children are going to open their history books in class and read about this critical stage in American history and wonder why people would want to deny anyone the right to love who they want.

I applaud Sam for having the courage to stand up before a national audience and stand up for who he is and what he believes in.

“I’m an openly, proud gay man,” he said in an interview with ESPN. Proud. That’s the key word here.

No person should have to look in the mirror and feel like they can’t be comfortable with who they are because society doesn’t accept them.

It doesn’t matter if you have insecurities about your appearance, intelligence, occupation, social-economic class or something as inherent as race or sexual orientation. see

SAM on page 7

T R AC K A N D F I E L D

Both teams shine ahead of A-10 Championships MacLean sets UMass record in 800-meter

By Arthur hAyden Collegian Staff

The Massachusetts women’s indoor track team traveled to Boston on Friday to face the toughest competition it has faced all season in the unscored Hemery Valentine Invitational.

Up against a stacked field of competitors – including Rutgers, Cornell, Rhode Island, Dartmouth – the Minutewomen stepped up to the challenge, setting a bevy of personal records.

Freshman Heather MacLean led a group of strong 800-meter runners by breaking the UMass women’s record, finishing the race in just two minutes, 10.48 seconds. The three runners behind her – Sarah Bittermann, Courtney Neves, and Katie Powers – all posted personal records as well. Had

the four Minutewomen run the 4x800 meter relay with the same times, they would have broken the UMass 4x800 record by six seconds.

One defining characteristic of this season’s indoor team has been consistency, and Friday’s meet was no exception. The usual top performers for the Minutewomen were at it again; distance runner Rachel Hilliard, jumping specialists Rebecca Stoyle and Courtney Kromko all had impressive meets.

Hilliard, a junior, ran both the mile and 1000-meter run and once again, ran two tremendous races, finishing with the fourth-best time in the conference in the 1000-meter (2:57.65) and posting another subfive minute mile (4:59.76).

On the field side of the action, the leaping tandem of Stoyle and Kromko found the tops of the leaderboards again, with Kromko finishing third in the meet in the long jump (18 feet, eight inches) and is currently ranked second in the conference. She and Stoyle then

“We had 21 seasonal best performances this weekend at Yale. As we’re moving along, we’re obviously improving.”

Ken O’Brien, UMass coach secured the top two triple jump spots once again. Stoyle, who is still the top-ranked triple jumper in the Atlantic 10, had the longest jump out of the 46 competitors (40 feet, 8.25 inches) and Kromko, who currently ranks third in the A-10, leaped 39 feet, 7.25 inches, a personal best.

Minutemen roll in New Haven The UMass men’s indoor track and field team also attended its last meet before the A-10 Championships, traveling to New Haven, Conn. on Saturday for the Yale-hosted Giegengack Invitational.

UMass coach Ken O’Brien was particularly pleased with the amount of progress exhibited over the weekend.

“We had 21 seasonal best performances this weekend at Yale,” he said. “As we’re moving along we’re obviously improving.”

C o - c ap t a i n s Z a ch a r y Hildenbrandt and Stephen Bigelow have been a solid backbone for the team this season.

“Both of those guys, since we’ve returned to school have been real beacons,” O’Brien said. “From the start of fall practice they’ve taken over and provided an example for the younger kids.”

Bigelow led a dominant hurdling squad over the weekend – four Minutemen finished in the top eight in the 60-meter hurdles – with a time of 8.25 seconds, the fastest at the meet. His teammate, sophomore Zachary Grube, finished right behind him in 8.67 seconds.

Not to be outdone, Hildenbrandt outran the competition in the 500-

meter dash, winning the race in one minute, 5.33 seconds, a time that qualifies him for the New England Championships in late February.

Electric freshman Lamont Gooden, who O’Brien said “has really started to break out in the middle of the season,” had another outstanding performance in the triple jump, winning the event with a jump of 44 feet, 1.25 inches, a full foot further than the closest competitor.

Other notable field results included junior Gregory Copeland’s second place finish in the pole vault (14 feet, 3.25 inches) and freshman Brett Davies’ performance in the shot put (45 feet, 5.25 inches) good for fourth place on the day.

Competition for the A-10 Championships starts on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Kingston, R.I. Arthur Hayden can be reached at awhayden@ umass.edu.