Massachusetts Daily Collegian: March 13, 2014

STUDENT RESPONSE TO BLARNEY BLOWOUT

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

PAGE 4 & 5

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THE MASSACHUSETTS

A free and responsible press

DAILY COLLEGIAN DailyCollegian.com

Thursday, March 13, 2014

The Hatch: hot or not?

News@DailyCollegian.com

Governor bans commercial food waste in landfills UMass dining shows its support

By Marie Maccune Collegian Staff

JUSTIN SURGENT/COLLEGIAN

Cards, cash and YCMP or UMass debit swipes may be used at the Hatch to purchase food from places such as UMac and Cheese or Star Ginger Asian Grill.

Many students miss eating at Blue Wall

By Kate Leddy Collegian Staff

Which cafe is better: The Hatch or Blue Wall?

This used to be an ongoing debate at the University of Massachusetts, but now students no longer have the choice. With Blue Wall and Burgers 101 closed for the construction of a new eatery in the Campus Center, The Hatch has taken on a larger crowd of diners, who have mixed feelings about the change.

The Hatch, located in the Student Union, serves breakfast in the morning and also offers a variety of lunch and

dinner options that include Star Ginger Asian Grill, Pita Pit, UMac and Cheese and Cafe Spice Indian Cuisine.

Starting at the beginning of this semester, The Hatch has expanded its hours, remaining open from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in an attempt to accommodate for the additional students. Regardless, the lunch and dinner rushes each day still result in long lines and crowded tables, according to many students who frequently dine at the cafe.

“During busy hours, it’s

absolutely packed,” Kenta Kawasaki said as he ate his lunch from Chicken and Co..

“When there’s so many people in here, it gets really hot too.”

Kawasaki added that The Hatch’s attempt to combat the heat was ineffective, gesturing to the fans on the ceiling that he found to be more annoying than helpful.

“All they do is blow our napkins around,” he said.

Erica Fitzpatrick, a senior who was dining with Kawasaki, nodded as he spoke about the heat. “I’m not trying to sweat while I eat my food,” she said.

The two agreed that they miss Blue Wall for its spa-

ciousness and larger variety of food choices, but added that they still enjoy many of the options that are offered at The Hatch.

“It really isn’t that bad,” Fitzpatrick said. “There are certain things that were better at Blue Wall, like the wraps, but you can still find good food here.”

“To be honest, I ate here a lot even when Blue Wall wasn’t under construction,” Kawasaki said with a laugh.

“I think it’s just that now that it’s gone, I want the things that you can’t get here.”

For Konstantin Gorelik, see

HATCH on page 2

Serving the UMass community since 1890

In late January, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick announced a new ban on commercial food waste, which will affect large institutions like the University of Massachusetts.

According to the Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs website, the policy affects institutions that dispose of more than one ton of organic material per week.

The ban requires such institutions to donate or repurpose reusable food and ship the remaining food waste to an anaerobic digestion facility for composting.

Energy and Environmental Affairs secretary Rick Sullivan said in the office press release, “We are committed to protecting our natural resources and creating jobs as the Commonwealth’s clean energy economy grows.

The disposal ban is critical to achieving our aggressive waste disposal reduction goals and it is in line with our commitment to increase clean energy production.”

Food materials and organic waste make up 25 percent of the state’s “current waste system,” according to the Office of EEA. The ban is part of the state’s goal to reduce its waste stream by 80 per-

“Limiting waste is cost-effective. The more we reduce, reuse and recycle, the lower our cost to our students. There’s a triple bottom-line: People, planet, profit. We need to take care of our students, our planet, and keep costs down in the process.”

Garett DiStefeno, Director of Residential Dining cent by 2050.

According to Director of Residential Dining Garett DiStefano, UMass is ahead of the game.

“UMass has been very proactive,” he said. “A key part of waste management here is that UMass dining is passionate about limiting waste. For years, we’ve been diverting our solid food waste to a composting site at a local farm.”

DiStefano described UMass’ path toward zero waste as an evolutionary process that started with the hiring of Ken Toong as the director of UMass Dining in 1998.

Since becoming a part of UMass, Toong has led many campaigns that focused on sustainability and being environmentally responsible. see

WASTE on page 2

Vote certain to affect Crimea Gas leak cited as cause Any outcome said to have large impact

By Matthew schofieLd McClatchy Foreign Staff

BALAKLAVA, Ukraine — Like many in this navy town on the very southern edge of Ukraine, 44-year-old Alexi Glebov makes a point of the fact that he was born in the Soviet Union. And, also like many here, he says he never believed he would die outside of Russia.

“This referendum is important,” he said, speaking of a vote scheduled for Sunday that the United States and European nations are furiously trying to stop from taking place, a vote that will result in Crimea saying it has severed ties to Ukraine.

“Here, we believe in Mother Russia. That we weren’t seen by others as Russians for these past 20-some years was the mistake. We were always Russian. This vote will just make it official.”

Technically, the vote won’t necessarily align Crimea with Russia. But no matter how the vote goes,

the ties to Ukraine will be loosened.

Voters who make it to the hastily organized polling places Sunday will receive a freshly printed paper ballot.

They will have the option of checking one of two boxes.

One box will indicate a vote in favor of Crimea joining the Russian Federation. The other box will indicate a desire to return to Crimea’s 1992 constitution, a document that was replaced in 1994 by one that tightened the connection between Crimea and Ukraine.

Under the old constitution, Crimea made its own foreign and trade policies.

There was a loose connection to Ukraine, but it was essentially an independent republic, Ukrainian in name only. After 1994, Crimea became an autonomous region inside Ukraine, one that shared Ukrainian national policies.

At the very least, this vote – while not recognized by Ukraine or Western nations – will change that relationship.

But few see the lesser option as being victorious.

Voters are really of one of two opinions in Crimea: Stay with Ukraine or join with Russia. As the only way to voice the first opinion is to abstain from voting – as Crimean Tatars say they will – the percentage of voters opting to secede from Ukraine and join with Russia is expected to be overwhelming.

The Crimean population, after all, is between 50 percent and 60 percent ethnic Russian. In the southern parts of the region, there is very little Ukrainian used. Billboards and shops advertise in Russian. On the streets, people default to speaking Russian.

Glebov said that one reason many elderly here are excited for the change is that they are tired of products reaching them from Kiev that come in Ukrainian packaging, which he said they complain of being difficult to understand.

On the shore, fishing off a high wall, Yevgeny Popov, 32, said it was obvious from the lack of stress in the comsee

UKRAINE on page 2

of building collapses At least two dead in East Harlem

By MichaeL MusKaL and tina susMan Los Angeles Times

NEW YORK — An explosion that destroyed two buildings in a busy Manhattan neighborhood and killed at least two people was caused by a gas leak, New York Mayor Bill De Blasio said Wednesday, and hours after the explosion, some people remained missing.

De Blasio called the blast “a tragedy of the worst kind.”

He said Con Edison workers had been alerted to the smell of gas and were headed to the scene at Park Avenue and 116th Street before the explosion about 9:30 a.m. EDT. “The explosion occurred before the team could arrive,” De Blasio said at a news briefing near the scene.

De Blasio and John McAvoy, chief of Con Edison, said the utility company

received a call at 9:13 a.m. about a gas smell. That smell was reported in a building next to the two that were destroyed in the blast.

“Our first indication of any gas leak was at 9:13 this morning. We dispatched crews two minutes later,” McAvoy said.

The explosion occurred roughly 15 minutes after the call to Con Ed, officials said.

The mayor said two people had died and that 18 people had been injured in the incident.

“There are a number of missing individuals,” he added. He also warned the missing status only means unaccounted for.

“There will be a thorough investigation” of the entire incident that led to the five-alarm fire, the mayor pledged.

Two buildings, at 1644 and 1646 Park Ave., were involved. Television images showed smoke billowing from at least one building, near the Metro-North tracks

that bring commuter trains in from the northern suburbs to Grand Central Station.

“We have no reason to believe that this is terrorismrelated,” Parella said, but cautioned the scene was still active and the cause would be investigated.

Police said two people, both women, were killed. No other details were available Seventeen people were taken to hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to serious, police said.

A Harlem Hospital spokesman told reporters there was one patient so far in a “condition reported as serious trauma,” but more were expected.

Both police and fire departments responded to the initial reports. The bomb squad was also sent in as a precaution.

The area, on the east side of Manhattan, is part of East Harlem. A church is in the neighborhood, along with a piano store with apartments see

EXPLOSION on page 2

2

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Thursday, March 13, 2014

THE RUNDOWN ON THIS DAY...

In 1963, police arrested Ernesto Miranda in Phoenix, Ariz. on charges of kidnap and rape. His conviction is later set aside by the Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona in the case that defined Miranda rights.

AROUND THE WORLD

Israel TEL AVIV — Israel retaliated with artillery fire against a massive barrage of rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza at its southern communities Wednesday.

WASTE

UKRAINE

continued from page 1

“We are a trend-setter,” DiStefano said. “We feel it is our responsibility to serve the best food in the most sustainable way possible. I applaud the governor’s initiative.”

With four dining commons that serve 45,000 meals a day, that is no easy task.

According to DiStefano, “Everything you use is compostable or reusable.

The plates are china, the silverware is metal and the cups glass. So we wash them and you use them again. All the napkins, chopsticks and Grab n’ Go materials are compostable. We take waste production and the environment very seriously. We want to maximize the utility of the things we have.”

Another way UMass limits waste, DiStefano said, is through its Small

Plate, Big Flavor initiative, which encourages smaller portions.

“Instead of piling up with foods they want on trays, students take what they need and can go back for more if they’re still hungry,” DiStefano said.

He then said that getting rid of trays in the dining commons was originally a student initiative.

Since doing so, UMass has reduced its food waste in the dining commons by 30 percent.

“Hampshire Dining Common also helps students to eat healthier and reduce waste,” he said. “It was designed as an oval because students hate long lines. When there are long lines, students take more food than they need from the station they are at because no one wants to come back and wait

for more. An oval design, however, shortens lines and enables students to see their food options at other stations. This encourages students to portion themselves and (diversify) their meals.”

Reducing waste is not just about protecting the environment, according to DiStefano. There are economic reasons as well.

“Limiting waste is costeffective. The more we reduce, reuse and recycle, the lower our cost to our students,” DiStefano said.

“There’s a triple bottomline: People, planet, profit. We need to take care of our students, our planet, and keep costs down in the process.”

Marie MacCune can be reached at mmaccune@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @MarieMacCune.

An Israeli army statement said it was the largest barrage from Gaza since the 2012 Gaza-Israel

HATCH

continued from page 1

ity, saying it fired dozens

“It really isn’t that bad. There are certain things that were better at Blue Wall, like the wraps, but you can still find good food here.”

of missiles to avenge the

Elizabeth Firzpatrick, UMass Student

conflict.

The radical Islamic Jihad claimed responsibil-

killing of three of its fighters in the south of the strip in an Israeli airstrike the previous day, as they were launching mortar shells at Israeli soldiers. dpa

Venezuela CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s government and opposition marchers were headed for a showdown Wednesday while several Caracas borough

those things include beverages such as Vanilla Coke and different flavors of Powerade.

“You’re deprived if you never ate at Blue Wall,” he said. “The chicken was better there and just the whole area was nicer.”

Despite some agreement with these opinions, Daniel Peters has been dining at The Hatch nearly every day this semester. “The food is decent,” he said. “It’s not as good as Blue Wall, but there’s still some good stuff.

I loved Burgers 101 though,

so I miss that.”

“Gelato. That’s what is gone from my life now,” sophomore Philip Rebrovic said in a mock-dramatic voice, referring to the Paciugo Gelato bar that was located on the far left side of the Blue Wall dining area.

“Chicken Co. and UMass Mac and Cheese are awesome though, so I don’t have much of a problem with the renovation.”

Sakshi Hingorani said that she loves coming to The Hatch for Indian cuisine

from Café Spice or salads from Pita Pit. “I think the food here is great,” she said.

“I guess because I’m a freshman, I don’t really know what I was missing though, because I only ate at Blue Wall once or twice before it closed.”

Hingorani added that she also tends to come to the cafe after her afternoon classes, when the peak hours for lunch time have passed and The Hatch is not as crowded.

The case is not the same for other students, such as Gorelik. “I don’t want to come here and sweat trying to get food between class,” he said. “But hey, at least UPub is still open.”

Kate Leddy can be reached at kleddy@umass.edu.

mayors defied a supreme barricades in parts of the capital where demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro have now entered a second month.

BE IN DEMAND.

Opponents to Maduro have organized a march in downtown Caracas in observance of the Flag Day national holiday, even as the government has vowed to stop marchers because they have no permit. National guard members in riot gear were seen posted in several points along the proposed march route Wednesday.

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continued from page 1

munity – over what would seem like such a big deal – that the vote is an easy choice here.

“When the Soviet Union made Crimea a part of Ukraine it didn’t matter, we were all part of a single community,” he said. “But that changed when the Soviet Union collapsed. It is time to return this land to Russia.”

The fishermen standing around him agree: “Everyone wants to return to Russia. There’s no real argument here.”

Travel the roads of Crimea and that would appear to be the point.

There doesn’t appear to be a single pro-Ukrainian banner or billboard left on the peninsula. The pro-Russia billboards are everywhere, and more are being put up every hour.

In areas of Crimea that have sizable Tatar populations (overall about 12 percent of Crimea is Tatar), the signs are bright and happy. “Together with Russia,” one states over a waving Russian flag.

“This Spring with Russia,” in Russian colors and a bouquet of flowers, reads another.

But down near the heavily pro-Russian coast, where Tatars are still often remembered as traitors against the Soviet Union because some fought with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis against Josef Stalin and the Red Army, the signs get more sinister.

One proclaims: “Stop.

Fascism won’t pass here.

Let’s all go to the referendum.” The message shows sinister dark feet invading Crimea from the Ukrainian mainland. Another is less subtle. The image shows a blood-red Crimea wrapped

in barbed wire next to a cheery, Russian flagdraped Crimea, with the words, “On March 16 we chose either ... or ... “ And yet another shows a crossed-out swastika, a crossed-out symbol for an insurgent army and a crossed-out symbol for the Ukrainian Right Sector (which took part in the monthslong protests in Kiev that toppled the former government and are tied by Russians to farright extremism) and the words “Stop Fascism.”

The speed with which the campaign has spread is impressive. The vote was only announced for Sunday a week ago. In election offices around Crimea, orders from the Crimean Parliament ordering preparations for the vote only reached regional offices on Monday.

One election official noted that not a single of his regular polling places had electricity or a working land-line phone. Another was copying information from a pile of folders onto needed forms. “Oh, it looks impossible, but you don’t know us, we’ll get it finished,” she said, between barking orders at co-workers and over the phone.

Ilmi Umer, the managing governor of the Bakhchisaray district, said that those like him who are strongly opposed to the vote, and favor Crimea staying within Ukraine, know they are facing a losing battle.

“It’s not a real vote,” he said. “A real vote would offer a real choice: Either stay with Ukraine, or go with Russia. This instead is political cover for a Russian invasion and occupation. That is all it is.”

EXPLOSION

court order that they clear

South Africa

DailyCollegian.com

To learn more, visit www.bryant.edu/BeInDemand Bryant_5_44x10_CollegeAD.indd 1

2/24/14 12:00 PM

above, as seen in television images.

More than 90 minutes after the initial call, smoke was still billowing from the buildings, next to the elevated tracks used by MetroNorth. The MTA said service on the New Haven and Harlem lines into and out of Grand Central was temporarily delayed until further notice “due to police activity.”

Residents told television reporters they heard the explosion that shattered windows several blocks

continued from page 1

away. Images showed one five-story building reduced to rubble, and a second building heavily damaged.

Eoin Hayes, 26, said the explosion shook his entire apartment building in Harlem about 9:30 a.m. He ran to the window and saw flames consuming one building and smoke rising into the air.

“I was in my bedroom and the explosion went off; it kind of shook the whole building,” Hayes said. “You could feel the vibrations going through the building.”

Arts Living THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Arts@DailyCollegian.com

“Wait, you mean nice guys can’t watch porn?” - Jesse Mayfield-Sheehan

Thursday, March 13, 2014

ENTERTAINMENT

UMass CRC hosts annual Battle of the Bands event

Local talents compete for slot at Extravaganja festival

By Sarah roBertSon Collegian Staff

Wednesday night, the UMass Cannabis Reform Coalition hosted their yearly Battle of the Bands competition in the Student Union Ballroom to promote the annual music and arts festival “Extravaganja.” The competition was held in part to determine which local musician or group would serve as the festival’s opening act. Amherst’s resident beat-boxer Honeycomb won the battle and will be featured in the festival held on April 12. In addition to Honeycomb, local acts Sexy Girls, L.E. Purpose, Rabbit Foot, Vocal Surgeon and Future Sex Sounds played at the show, which was free and open to students from UMass and other local colleges.

Every year, the CRC holds the Battle of the Bands competition prior to the festival to showcase some of the Five College area bands that missed the cut to play at Extravaganja. First to the stage was Sexy Girls, followed by L.E. Purpose and then Verbal Surgeon. After a short intermission, Rabbit Foot took the stage, followed by Honeycomb. Future Sex Sounds closed the show. At the end of the competition, CRC members voted on their favorite act of the night and Honeycomb was crowned the winner, with Verbal Surgeon coming in second and Rabbit Foot taking third place.

Extravaganja is a free festival held every April for all the music and marijuana lovers

the CRC aims to accomplish two major goals: Legalizing marijuana and ending the drug war. The CRC holds Extravaganja each year to garner support for their cause and showcase the best of the Pioneer Valley’s musicians.

Each year, Amherst residents vote for their favorite bands to play the festival, which makes the event more communityoriented. Bands of all genres can sign up for a chance to play on the CRC’s website, where voters can read the list of bands, listen to some of their music and choose their favorites. Last year’s featured festival bands were Deadfish, The Sun Parade, Down Beat Keys, The Mary Jane Jones and BootyStank. The all-female funk band Who’da Funk It? won the Battle of the Bands last year and was given the opportunity to open Extravaganja.

“We were very honored to play last year at this event because it is such an important part of this community,” said Bess Hepner, the guitarist of Who’da Funk It?.

“Participating in Extravaganja was a way to give back to the community we grew up in and gain more fans from all the people coming out for the event.”

Now in its 24th year, Extravaganja has gained a loyal following and is sure to be a great experience for festival-goers and musiJUSTIN SURGENT/COLLEGIAN cians alike. The event is set to take place on Saturday, April 12 in downtown Amherst.

Future Sex Sounds closes out the lineup at the Battle of the Bands Wednesday night. The event was hosted by the For more information on the Battle of the UMass Cannabis Reform Coalition (CRC) as a way to promote their annual “Extravaganja” music and arts festival.

Bands, Extravaganja or the CRC, please visit UMassCRC.com or Facebook.com/ of Amherst and across the state. The festival surrounding marijuana” and to reform the UMassCRC. showcases local musicians, artists, speakers laws surrounding its use.

While they pride themselves as the “most Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@umass. and vendors to support the CRC and its mission to “dispel the myths, lies and stigmas active and the most chill RSO on campus,” edu.

FOOD & DRINK

Southern Tier bottles dessert with Creme Brulee Stout Bitter, heavy beer with a sweet bite By emily a. Brightman Collegian Staff

There are few luxuries in life quite like a good dessert. Plenty can be said for the artistry of preparing an entree, but there is a certain exquisite craft to concocting a good confectionary course that is lacking in the assembly of more substantial meals. Separate dessert menus in restaurants and the prominence of culinary concentrations in the preparation of the “sweet course” indicate the high esteem such dishes are held in, and, for the right incarnation of dessert, anyone can develop a sweet tooth.

Fanciful praise aside, creme brulee is one of those storied desserts that herald a certain air of sophistication in the right context.

A rich custard dish served with a top layer of hardcrusted caramel – sometimes theatrically toasted with the hot flame of a blowtorch – this dessert of early French origin makes use of the strong flavors of vanilla in its composition, and is something of a staple of higher-end dining. Though its refined status implies a certain necessity of financial means to partake in, the Southern Tier Brewing Company has made this delicacy once reserved for the fine-dining elite available to the masses with their Creme Brulee Stout.

Southern Tier Brewing,

based in Lakewood, N.Y., has a history of churning out some powerfully delicious seasonal and yearround beers starting in early 2002. According to the brewery’s website, they produce over 90,000 barrels of beer annually and their uniquely crafted brews are available in over 30 states in the United States. While their 2X IPA and 422 Pale Wheat Ale are among the most popular of their year-round selection, their Un-Earthly Imperial IPA is one of my personal favorites in the potent family of imperial IPAs and worth a splurge for any beer drinker looking to have their taste buds crippled by hoppy bitterness.

Creme Brulee Stout, brewed with organic vanilla beans, is part of their “Blackwater Series” of dark beers, which includes the Warlock Imperial Stout and Mokah Imperial Stout blended with chocolate and coffee. Released in February, Creme Brulee is the most recent addition to the series and is described on the label as “a stout of great contention.”

This beer impressed me right off the bat with the strength of its aroma, and from the moment the cap was popped off the 22 oz. bomber bottle, my kitchen was awash in the piquant scent of vanilla blended with caramel above an alcoholic subtext. The nose of this beer only grows stronger when poured into a pint glass, and in fact releases a more potent aroma when

swirled around to observe consistency. A foamy tan head tops out at roughly half an inch, settling to a thin bubbly layer of lacing atop a body that is only a few shades off from pitch black. Though the moderate carbonation was initially a jolt, the effervescence of the beer’s body ends up to be a surprisingly refreshing counterpart to the strength of the beer’s taste.

The fragrance of Creme Brulee is suggestive of its sweetness, but in this case aroma is somewhat deceptive. A wave of unanticipated bitterness characterizes the first sip, but is soon mellowed out by a thick sweetness –“cloying” was the word my roommate used to describe the intensity of the sweetness, which is an accurate description, but not in a necessarily unpleasant way.

True, the sugary quality is by no means subtle and, at a walloping 10 percent alcohol, there is a definite fierceness in the flavor marriage of alcohol and vanilla.

But, despite these relatively overpowering aspects, there is still much to be enjoyed in drinking this beer.

The fullness of the mouth feel coupled with hints of butterscotch in the aftertaste give the distinct impression of drinking a liquid dessert, and a filling one to boot. Though there is some toasted bitterness in the malt present in the aftertaste, the sensation overall is one of a strongly fermented sweetness balanced out by the thickness of the beer’s consistency and perpetu-

ated by the release of carbonation. This beer serves much like a sweet delicacy of its own accord.

I attempt to flesh out my beer reviews with suggested food pairings, but when it comes to the Southern Tier Creme Brulee, I am utterly at a loss as to what to recommend as a complement to this beer, as its taste complexity is impressive enough on its own. The label posits that vanilla ice cream and cheesecake will mesh well with this beer, and while this may be true, there is something to be said for moderation in this case.

There comes a point where “too much sweetness” becomes a tangible issue.

If you are capable of tempering your palate with a sugary-sweet dessert and an equally sugary-sweet beer, then by all means indulge.

But, for those of us who lack a serious sweet tooth, Creme Brulee Stout on its own serves as an equally fanciful interpretation of dessert.

Normally I’m not one to shy away from a challenge, and being a lover of beer, this is especially true in terms of my drinking experimentation. But I say with humility that Creme Brulee lives up to its purported reputation of being a “stout of great contention.”

I like to think I have a somewhat experienced palate in terms of beer consumption, but this silver bullet of a stout was almost too intense for my taste. Shock and awe aside, I wouldn’t go so far as to say I disliked it, but

JUSTIN SURGENT/COLLEGIAN

Southern Tier Brewing Company’s Creme Brulee beer is a tribute to the popular French dessert, and combines the dueling flavors of bitter and sweet seamlessly. it is worth mentioning that Southern Tier has managed to brew a beer that challenged my self-described “obsessive beer geek” tendencies. I’m hardly a wimp when it comes to a strong dark beer, but Creme Brulee undoubtedly humbled me, even if just marginally.

If dessert is your favorite meal of the day but you don’t feel much like going

out for ice cream, especially in the final death grip of winter, reach for a bottle of Creme Brulee Stout and indulge your sweet tooth.

Just be wary of the high alcohol content or you may find yourself feeling more sick to your stomach than sickly sweet.

Emily A. Brightman can be reached at ebrightman@umass.edu.

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“A man’s true character comes out when he’s drunk.” - Charlie Chaplin

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Students, police and admins all to blame in ‘Sad and Difficult’ Blarney

B

etween 9 a.m. Saturday, March 8, and 4 a.m. Sunday, Amherst Police Department (APD) officers arrested 55 people, at least 18 of whom were held on charges of failing to disperse and inciting a riot. Police issued an additional 28 summons. Legal action has been taken against at least 70 people relating to the events of Blarney Blowout.

Sixty percent of those arrested had no connection to UMass, student or otherwise. Only 20 UMass students were arrested, along with one UMass employee, who was in possession of a firearm.

Media outlets around the country have covered the aftermath of Blarney, including Time Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Good Morning America. This coverage has presented students as riotous criminals and police actions as necessary for the protection of the town. The reality is far more complex.

A small group of violent students took action to incite violence, and, hopefully, those responsible for starting the conflict are those who sat in jail cells on Saturday and had to make bail.

Drunken violence is abhorrent. On this, both the Collegian and Chancellor Subbaswamy agree. Attacks on police officers, from verbal incitement to throwing glass bottles, never should have happened, but a multitude of conditions preceded the violence and contributed to its occurrence.

The administration of UMass and officials of Amherst made two preparations for Blarney.

The first, on March 3, was Vice Chancellor Enku Gelaye’s 412-word email to the student body reminding them that Blarney is unsanctioned by the University and outlining potential consequences of poor choices. The second was the presence of riot police around Amherst on the day of the event, seemingly waiting for events to get violent. Neither of these actions was successful in mitigating the event and its community impact, but both helped to incite violence by pitting students and police against each other and creating a standoff.

There is video evidence of a police officer firing “pepper balls” into the upper-floor window of a private residence and of a police officer pepper spraying a non-violent and non-resistant student. Ideally, they are bad apples, just as those students who incited violence are, but with the continued occurrence of violent clashes, the pattern of pepper balls, flash bombs (at the Southwest riots) and injured students indicates a deeper institutional failure both at the APD and UMass Police Department.

Chancellor Subbaswamy sent an email, as seems to be the norm on March 9, stating his “outrage” at the impact of the event and “condemning” the “outrageous behavior” of students. He continued that he would “redouble” the administration’s efforts to “avert” future clashes. We hope that this redoubling does not mean sending two e-mails and posting twice as many police officers.

More than 100 students gathered in front of the Student Union on March 11. Speakers included SGA President Zac Broughton, who demanded for an apology from the APD. The students marched to Whitmore Administration Building and requested a meeting with Chancellor Subbaswamy and Vice Chancellor for University Relations John Kennedy.

Organizers and administrators agreed to meet on March 27 for a “Public Accountability Forum.”

A March 11 statement by UMass President Caret and Chairman of the Board of Trustees Henry Thomas stated “that the actions of all parties – University, municipal, commercial and others – should be considered.”

The Collegian agrees and hopes that all media coverage and future administrative planning takes the actions – or inaction – of the APD and the UMass administration into account before blaming the event entirely on students and thereby belittling the value of a UMass degree.

Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Massachusetts Daily Collegian Editorial Board.

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The Blarney Blowup: Student action leads to police reaction Don’t get me wrong, I love my celebrations and traditions at the University of Massachusetts. I don’t Justin Surgent sit in my room and write this as someone who’s never taken part in parties or bar crawls. I’m not scolding you – I’m one of you. But the way that 4,000 of us acted on Saturday was not responsible, and with the growing talk of the police reaction, we cannot forget that that was something that was sparked by student action.

The original message sent from Interim Vice Chancellor Enku Gelaye before the event stated that the celebrations were not sanctioned by the University, and provided a list of fines and punishments that would be dealt out if a student were found within the premises of the festivities. The email even gave easy-to-follow instructions for students who couldn’t figure out on their own what to do when police ordered them to disperse. Students were well aware of the repercussions but chose to follow through with celebrations regardless.

Whether or not this warning email helped incite the riot, it doesn’t take any blame away from the students. If any student consciously reacted to it with the immature “they shouldn’t have told me not to do it, now I must do it” mentality, they don’t deserve to be enrolled at such a university. We are adults, and we must be held accountable for our actions.

It has also come to my attention that 60 percent of the persons arrested were not UMass students, but instead locals or students from other colleges. While this may seem to shine a ray of light on the nowminority of arrested UMass students, the reader must remember one thing: Those not from the University still have some connection to the community.

Just as signing another student into your dorm leaves you, the signee, responsible for their actions, bringing fellow young people onto campus or the surrounding area leaves the responsibility of their actions on those who brought them.

While it would be nice to take the mindset of “we’re all adults; we make our own choices,” it is still the fault of the UMass students who acted as catalysts by bringing these people here.

The casual bystander should feel little remorse for those arrested or disciplined by the police, if only by looking at the math

of the situation. With close to 4,000 students to deal with and significantly fewer officers, being in the shoes of an officer at that time would be terrifying. Not to mention that the students were not in a completely stable state of mind after having consumed excessive amounts of alcohol.

On March 11, I attended a protest, as press, against the violence of the police that took place at Blarney Blowout. While a few students did come up and tell their own stories of maltreatment, and many also noted that the students themselves were acting rowdy, they forgot one major

partaking, many do not consider how it affected the lives of those who call that area home. Not only did students make that area nearly uninhabitable for the day, but the trash and destruction left behind is something that non-university residents have to deal with too.

I’m not saying I fully agree with the tactics of the police on Saturday. I have previously been on the front line of such events, photographing for campus media, and have seen instances of undeniably excessive force. Even after identifying myself as media, I have been pushed, shot

When it comes to this force ... I place most of the blame on the students, solely for being there, as every time these situations arise, they are given ample opportunity to leave the premises. aspect of the discipline they received: They were not supposed to be there.

Regardless of their own sobriety or rowdiness within the crowd, they were attending an event that was noted by the campus as against regulation, which was being monitored and then broken up by the police. Seeing a strong and non-lethally-armed police force standing around should give the casual bystander enough sense to put distance between themselves and that area.

That day, I saw young people so intoxicated that they could no longer stand, falling down time after time on the streets and sidewalks, or completely unaware that, while trying to carry food across the dining hall, they were, unbeknownst to them, carrying most of it on their shirts and pants.

As a police officer, to have to deal with a crowd of people that out-of-touch with reality would be a daunting task. That, paired with a mob with no true purpose for gathering, would leave the officers left to control the situation utterly dismayed at their options for crowd control and dispersal.

Another thing to note is that the Brandywine/Townehouses complexes are not homes to solely students, but also to other members of the community, whom the officers are there to serve and protect.

While the idea of “Blarney Blowout” may have seemed like a blast to the students

at with pepper balls and screamed at, but it’s a risk I’ve taken and a reason why I didn’t partake in this gathering, even as a photographer.

When it comes to this force, however, I place most of the blame on the students, solely for being there, as every time these situations arise, they are given ample opportunity to leave the premises.

A citizen’s right to assemble only lasts as long as there is lawful and peaceful assembly, which the “Blowout” was not, as acts of public, underage drinking and violence brought the gathering into the realm of illegal activity. Students knew ahead of time the repercussions of participation, and the police response to such events is no secret across the campus. This wasn’t their first rodeo, just as it wasn’t ours.

Before students accuse the officers sworn to protect us, they need to consider the conditions they themselves put those officers in, paired with the insurmountable task of taking on 4,000 drunk college students. Responsibility is coming to terms with the reaction to one’s actions, and it is something I’ve seen very little of from students in reaction to Saturday’s events. The police actions, although arguably overdramatic, were a product of the actions by the students they are here to protect.

Justin Surgent is a Collegian contributor and can be reached at jsurgent@umass.edu.

Blarney debacle everyone’s fault The administration, students and police all made mistakes during Blarney Blowout 2014.

Sarah Dingman Though it meant well in sending out emails, the administration mostly succeeded in bringing attention to the event: I didn’t hear about Blarney until I received mine. The email was sensationalized and spread by the media, making it seem like the party to be at for crazy college students, leading students and party-goers from other places to visit their friends at UMass for it. In fact, many colleges had their spring break that week, so their students had plenty of time to travel to Amherst.

As an RA, I can tell you that the worst vandalism and behavior never comes from your own residents, but from their guests.

Why would the students wreck their own homes? This is what made Blarney so horrible this year. I’m sure there were many UMass students involved in this, but I am also sure that the massiveness of the crowds attending Blarney this year was due in part to the administration’s email essentially advertising it to whoever reads the news.

The students were hardly innocent.

There were some that went sober just to have fun, but a large number of students had open containers in public, were drinking underage and were, in general,

public nuisances. In this, I sympathize with the members of the Amherst community. I feel bad that my fellow students constantly disturb their peace by shouting, drinking in public and generally being belligerent, especially late at night and on the weekends.

I feel bad that the community ends up hating us, even if some of us have never partied at all, because in their minds, we are all the same. They only see the rabid, drunken students that wander the streets and wake them up at night. They don’t see the ones that study hard, volunteer in the community and work their way through college, because that image is eclipsed by the actions of a select population. In the end, this hurts the University’s relationship with the town. Even if it’s only a small percentage of students that is breaking the rules, there are still consequences for everyone involved.

Now, to address the police. I see students claim that the police used unnecessary force and that their presence made the gathering turn violent. I’ve also seen some people argue that the police should be allowed to use whatever methods they can to break up a potentially aggressive and destructive crowd. In a way, both of these perspectives are correct. The students wanted to celebrate with their friends and enjoy their college experience. It’s unfortunate that so many chose

to celebrate near the Townehouses, on public property (where it is illegal to drink), instead of the actual designated location of the party: The bars.

Obviously, the police needed to take action in order to maintain the peace.

They even waited to move in until someone started shooting off fireworks, even when they could see all of the open containers and the massive amounts of littering. I commend them for doing their jobs and taking on such a huge crowd. Mobs can be frightening, and the police did the best they could with the resources available to them.

However, some of their methods should be questioned. Pepper-spraying someone in the face is not a good way to handle someone who is just standing there. Perhaps the man in question was yelling, but he was obviously unarmed, standing by himself and with his arms open. In this case, less harmful methods of incapacitation should have been used.

Shooting pepper spray at people who are already dispersing will only make them angrier and more likely to throw things at the police. If they’re already being sprayed for cooperating, why shouldn’t they throw things? In their minds, the police were hurting them, and they wanted to either defend themselves see

BLARNEY on page 5

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The Massachusetts Daily Collegian is published Monday through Thursday during the University of Massachusetts calendar semester. The Collegian is independently funded, operating on advertising revenue. Founded in 1890, the paper began as Aggie Life, became the College Signal in 1901, the Weekly Collegian in 1914 and the Tri–Weekly Collegian in 1956. Published daily from 1967 to 2013, The Collegian has been broadsheet since January 1994. For advertising rates and information, call 413-545-3500.

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Letterstothe

edItor

To Whom It May Concern: Recent events at the University have prompted me to write this open letter to the administration.

First, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Shauna and I am an alumna of your university. I attended the University of Massachusetts and earned a Masters degree in Communication Disorders from 2010-2012. I currently am gainfully employed in my field of study.

I thank you for the education and opportunities that you provided me over those two years. I also appreciate your open dialogue regarding how you would like to change the reputation of the school. However, in order to change this reputation, it is in my opinion that the administration needs to change their attitude regarding the student body.

Over the two years when I was attending UMass, whenever arrests were made, the UMass administration placed blame on the student body for misconduct regardless of who was involved or the circumstances surrounding the events. The “Blarney Blowout” recently resulted in 60 arrests, according to Masslive. com, 20 of whom were UMass students. It saddens me that the administration sent out an email that was similar to a death notice stating how disappointed they were the next day. Although I do not condone the actions of the 20 students, I am frustrated by the administration’s immediate placement of blame on students insinuating that all current and former students are irresponsible and not able to make rational choices, not only sober, but also when consuming legal substances such as alcohol.

It is my opinion that the UMass administration’s reaction to the arrests greatly affects the actions and attitudes of UMass students and alumni. I am proud of my degree from UMass. However, it bothers me that much of what I learned in the process of earning my degree emphasized and continues to emphasize making informed, educated decisions about events and cases, but the administration does not follow suit with the culture of many of its programs.

The energy you put out to the world is the energy you will receive, and if you continue to demonize the student body, they will behave accordingly. I urge you to make informed decisions that are not rash. The students you are educating are young adults and do not need to be scolded for their actions in an email.

Twenty students misbehaving out of over 22,000 students in total does not warrant a scolding email, nor does it highlight the behavior you’d like to see in your student body. It fails to mention the other students who attended the “Blarney Blowout,” behaved responsibly and returned to their homes without incident.

Again, I am not negating the irresponsible actions of those 20 students, but it infuriates me as an alumna that the Dean of Students continues to highlight bad behavior of a few students when many are responsible, hard working individuals such as me. Please stop emphasizing alcohol, illicit drug use and arrests, and start emphasizing how all students are working toward creating careers and furthering themselves not only as students but as young adults.

I urge you to reconsider how you view your student body and the young adults that you are educating. I assure you that if you change how you view all of the young adults whom you educate, then they will, in fact, change their behavior. Again, thank you for the education and opportunities you have provided and thank you for your time.

Shauna McManus G’12

To the editor: I do not condone police brutality. I find the use of unnecessary force unacceptable and I would hope that any officers in Amherst who engage in such behavior are punished accordingly. With that said, I take issue with the way this past weekend is being discussed on campus.

Many have criticized the tactics used by officers to disperse the large crowds on Saturday, complaining that the police unnecessarily harassed people who “weren’t doing anything wrong” and were excessive with their use of pepper spray and physical force.

First of all, you were doing something wrong. Public intoxication, providing alcohol to minors, verbal and physical assault, throwing bottles and cans into crowds and at officers: All of these are illegal in Massachusetts.

Gathering in dangerously large numbers on property that does not belong to you, littering wherever you please without the slightest consideration for the people who will have to clean up after you, crowding streets and neighborhoods in which families make their permanent home, disrupting their lives without any regard for their comfort or wellbeing: These are all acts of immense disrespect that jeopardize the likelihood of our needs and opinions as students being respected in return.

Consider the position these officers were in. Mob mentality is real; cases of death and serious injury in large crowds turned aggressive are all too common. Those officers were concerned for their own

Editorial@DailyCollegian.com

safety, as well as that of students in the crowd, should something have gone terribly wrong. In front of the Student Union on Tuesday, I heard a protester remark that it seemed like the police were “just trying to meet a quota,” and while I can’t say I doubt it, consider it from their point of view. Four thousand people are blatantly breaking the law in front of your face and when you succeed in arresting a mere 70 of them, your motives are questioned?

I don’t necessarily condone pepper spray and physical force, but if it were you who was grossly outnumbered and responsible for so many lives, how would you have dispersed the crowd and apprehended the deserving individuals? A megaphone? Good luck.

Police harassment and brutality are serious and terrifying issues in the United States. Many cases go undocumented or unprosecuted, low-income and minority populations are disproportionately affected and innocent people are denied access to their fundamental rights. Thus I find it incredibly difficult to sympathize with college kids who want to protest the issue only when it affects their personal ability to trash Amherst and keep on doing whatever they want. The sense of entitlement is nauseating.

If you want to construct an argument that is deserving of attention, acknowledge your faults. Acknowledge that the act of being there is irresponsible and illegal in itself. Acknowledge that when we consciously break the law, we accept the risk of consequences, including the unfortunate truth that our bodily autonomy may be jeopardized. By failing to call out the ridiculous idiocy that is Blarney weekend (and any other gathering wherein the objective is to get rowdy and drunk without concern or respect for others), you fail to recognize all the reasons why you will not win this fight, and why police officers will continue to be able to justify their use of force, thereby avoiding consequences.

If you really want to talk about this weekend, take some responsibility. You owe it to the people of Amherst and those who come to UMass to learn and work rather than flaunt their immaturity and privilege.

Erin O’Meara ‘14

To the editor: At the moment, our community is engaged in damaging accusations accompanied by profound rage.

Community members are slandering the students that call Amherst home, students are condemning those responsible for keeping order as abusive and brutal and the University is taking heat from all angles as it gears up to what promises to be the highest number of expulsions in recent memory.

Does that sound unpleasant to you? How about embarrassing?

In his email sent on Sunday, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy said that difficult conversations lie ahead. I propose we get them underway so that we can begin to heal as a community and move forward with our lives.

Let’s start by ending the blame game and starting to take responsibility. I am a student at the University of Massachusetts. I am not a fortune teller, but I could have told you a week ago how “Blarney 2014” would end. So could every one of my classmates. Most of us avoided those now-infamous North Amherst apartment complexes this weekend.

Why? We knew that if we went, there was a chance we would spend the rest of the day washing tear gas out of our eyes – or in jail. The 73 people arrested presumably did both. It’s a shocking number to all sides, but not a representative one. After all, of those 73 arrests, only around 60 percent of them were UMass students.

So, those arrests make up approximately one-eighths of a percent of our 28,000 student university.

I don’t know if I should be more horrified by the accusations of students assaulting and injuring our public servants or by the images of those “servants” shooting rubber bullets and tear gas at cooperating students or by the likelihood that some of my classmates will be expelled from the University in the coming weeks before being convicted of any crime.

Perhaps most horrifying is the fact that these transgressions have instigated mothers, fathers, devoted students, irresponsible students and mostly everyone in between to a war of words that is gripping our town.

My hope in writing this letter is to spark a response from all members of our community – students, residents and officials – to consider the needs of each group rather than slandering each other. In a community where respect is mutual, I see no reason why maintaining a safe environment and having drinks with friends on a sunny weekend afternoon should be mutually exclusive.

These are my concerns, what are yours?

Sam Gragg

Letters to the editor should be no longer than 550 words and can be submitted to either to Editorial@DailyCollegian.com or to DailyCollegian.com We regret that, due to space constraints, not all letters will be printed but can be found online.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

5

UMass, town need to offer other options Snow melting, songbirds chirping and students day-drinking: These are the signs that spring is here. The Longjie Dai “Blarney Blowout” has come and gone, and 73 revelers wish they had slept in on Saturday. As students sobered up on Sunday, University of Massachusetts and Amherst town officials alike were wondering if the old adage of “any publicity is good publicity” still held true, as Amherst once again made national news for all the wrong reasons.

Over the six years that I’ve been at UMass, I’ve always wondered if the University and town are even surprised anymore during these annual “holidays.” The riot police that show up with remarkable expediency seem to indicate that

expulsion only does so much.

In the fall, the University had the right idea in offering an alternative carnival event during the most recent World Series. While local residents and administrators may retch at the thought, plenty of schools have more grandiose displays of day-drinking. Cornell’s Slope Day draws thousands, and Princeton annual reunions draw over 20,000. Yet, despite the open bars and larger crowds, almost no violence and arrests happen at these events. The difference is that these events are institutionalized and accepted; they even draw alumni back to their respective universities when they occur.

Participants are happy to pay for the festivities and the proceeds more than cover the cost of hold-

The community lives in denial that the University will continue to expand and that these very riots are exacerbated by a town that blocks students from actually being able to live in a dispersed area. riot-quelling has become fairly habitual in our fair town. This collective expectation of revelry is disappointing for many reasons, but perhaps most poignant is that the people who do not understand the circumstances and motivations of these students do nothing to prevent its reoccurrence.

The students may very well be the perpetrators of these annual “celebrations,” but the University and the town of Amherst are certainly complicit in their growth and sustainability.

To put it simply, we have riots at UMass because students have nothing better to do. The surrounding towns don’t interest the majority of the student population, and the University is too far from Boston and New York for students to easily travel there.

Because of these circumstances, UMass persists within a pervasive perfect storm of perpetual partying.

Young people will drink and party: That is as certain as death and taxes. However, not all drinking results in property destruction and arrests. Sadly, UMass has shown consistent idiocy when it comes to handling student drinking that goes back to when the Blue Wall stopped operating as a bar. Instead of allowing drinking to happen on campus where it can be better monitored and policed, the administration has instead forced it off campus into downtown Amherst and North Amherst, externalizing a problem that they very well know will arise.

UMass needs to actually offer alternatives to these events and give would-be rioters something else to do instead. Writing harshly-worded emails and threatening

BLARNEY

ing the event and the subsequent cleanup.

Why pay for tear gas and rubber bullets when you can be monetizing such a popular event?

The town of Amherst is almost equally at fault. Amherst consistently denies student living communities from being built that can actually disperse the growing student population. In 1987, the town of Amherst sowed the seeds of Hobart Hoedown and Blarney Blowout by disallowing a 134-unit student residence from being built at the Cherry Hill Golf Course and squandered $2.2 million (in 1987 dollars) to do so. Today, residents of “Historic” Cushman are again blocking a 700-bed student community from being built. As a result, students are concentrated in the exact areas these outdoor parties always happen: Fearing Street, Hobart Lane, Puffton Village. The community lives in denial that the University will continue to expand and that these very riots are exacerbated by a town that blocks students from actually being able to live in a dispersed area.

UMass officials and year-round residents of Amherst: I feel your pain. You have to realize that students are going to party with or without your permission. Despite a valiant effort, “the Zoo” lingers. Instead of fighting the tides, acknowledge them and guide them: Give students a better alternative to parties. Make money off of it instead of wasting time and resources better suited elsewhere.

Longjie Dai is a Collegian contributor and can be reached at ldai@umass.edu.

continued from page 4

or take out their anger on the police. I don’t know who shot or sprayed or threw first, but both sides were prepared to retaliate against the other.

This is why some students are saying that the police presence made the gathering more violent. It absolutely did. No one is going to be calm when they are being shot at, regardless of whether it’s tear gas, pepper spray or rubber bullets. No one is going to be calm when they are being pelted with beer cans and ice and trying to break up a huge crowd of drunken people.

Agitated people are more likely to be aggressive. The police officers were only doing what they were trained to do, although some may have gone overboard. But the way they are trained to handle these large crowds of students needs to change.

For events like these, there is no way to prevent students from congregating, which the administration has constantly attempted to do with few results. Instead, there needs to be more of a focus on having a safe place for students to con-

gregate, where police can easily monitor crowds without feeling pressured or under attack.

It should be far enough away from the town that families and other town members can feel safe and in control of their community. There needs to be better police relations with the students, so that the students feel safe with the police rather than threatened. But mostly, there needs to be more cooperation between students, the administration, the town and the police.

In a way, we are all to blame for what happened this Saturday. Everyone played a part: The administration’s emails, the media’s sensationalism, the students’ rowdiness, the police force’s use of aggressive tactics and then the petty arguing between all the different sides afterward. If we could all consider everyone else’s point of view, maybe we could actually get some compromises going. I look forward to when that can happen.

Sarah Dingman is a Collegian contributor and can be reached at sdingman@ umass.edu.

6

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HOROSCOPES Jan. 20 - Feb. 18

leo

Jul. 23 - aug. 22

When your professor says you can write your test with any writing utensil, embroidery is always there to impress.

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” adds just the right amount of raw emotion to any party playlist.

pisces

virgo

Feb. 19 - Mar. 20

Liven up your turkey sandwich with some avocado slices. It’ll taste just like turkey and avocado.

aug. 23 - Sept. 22

What happens on spring break so that all those memories need to be drawn out with a hypnotist and a lot of therapy?

aries

Mar. 21 - apr. 19

taurus

apr. 20 - May. 20

When consumed, “Reader’s Digest” makes you better with literature but with the side effect of horrible acid reflux.

There’s no better alarm than waking up two hours into your five-hour lab.

gemini

May. 21 - Jun. 21

sagittarius

A good electronic band that covers classic folk songs would be called “Real Young.”

libra

Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

scorpio

Oct. 23 - nOv. 21

The alternative alternative spring break? Go home and sleep for seven days as a social experiment.

nOv. 22 - Dec. 21

Yes, you can deflate egg whites, but what did The Guitar Hero soundtrack is very you honestly expect from blowing into them? reminiscent of an awkward time in your life.

cancer

Jun. 22 - Jul. 22

If you were ever in doubt, the elliptical is a lot better for inspiration than the stationary bicycle.

capricorn

Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

During your week at home, you’ll be cursed with the inability to tell if someone you see goes to UMass or went to your high school.

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TOURNAMENT there’s still the need to play strong team defense.

This season, the Minutemen gave up an average of 70 points per game, but in each of the first two meetings, they held the Rams to below that average. A major key in both games was controlling the glass, another aspect that Carter believes UMass needs to do well if it wants to advance in the tournament.

“What we’re really focusing on is defense and defensive rebounds and controlling the paint,” he said.

Limiting second-chance opportunities and forcing outside shots from URI will pay major dividends for the Minutemen if they can execute their game plan.

Postseason basketball is all about who’s playing the best at the right time. Even

SENIORS

continued from page 8

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

The Minutemen won the first two games against Rhode Island this year. for a team like UMass, who at one point rose as high as No. 13 in the AP Poll this season, there won’t be any easy games.

“We’re just trying to win four games in four nights,” Putney said. “It’s going to be

NBA

hard to do, but I think with the team we have, if we just come together then we can do it.”

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

Thursday, March 13, 2014

7

continued from page 8

this point, but I don’t regret anything.”

If the program was Kellogg’s canvas, Carter and Putney were among his initial brush strokes.

The addition of Williams via transfer from Hofstra molded a clearer picture.

Additional pieces added depth to the roster. UMass crossed the 20-win threshold in 2011, amassing 25 wins. It did it again the following year, winning 21 games.

With the talent and consistency in place, the Minutemen could chase the final part of that vision; championships.

“One of the goals was to win championships,” Kellogg said. “Win an A-10 Championship and to get to the NCAA Tournament and make a run at a champion-

ship there.”

Putney, who’s averaging 9.5 points per game in his final season, acknowledged that this is his final opportunity to come through on that goal.

“We had a team meeting yesterday, players only, and we all came together and said ‘give it everything we got,’” Putney said. “This is the last go around for me, Sampson and Chaz so we just need to come together as a team and do what we need to do and we should get this championship.”

The senior class’ importance to the rebuilding project can’t be understated, nor was it ignored. The Mullins Center sold out on Senior Day against Saint Louis and all three players received loud ovations prior to the game. It was

a total juxtaposition to the type of support the program received years ago, when there was little more than a vision.

Now, the combination of Carter, Putney and Williams has one more crack at adding to the Mullins Center trophy collection.

“I do understand we’re leaving behind a legacy,” Carter said.

“These last five years, it was rough,” he added.

“And before we got here, it was really rough. To see where we’ve come now, with three consecutive seasons winning 20-plus games and to be a part of that, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Mark Chiarelli can be reached at mchiarel@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Mark_Chiarelli.

WO M E N ’ S L AC RO S S E

Lakers’ Bryant out Minutewomen set to play Colorado hopes to for rest of season UMass remain undefeated

By Mike BresnAhAn Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers said Wednesday that Kobe Byrant would not play for the rest of this season.

Bryant was examined earlier in the day by Dr. Steve Lombardo, and the orthopedic specialist said Bryant’s left knee fracture still had not healed, the team announced.

The NBA regular season ends in five weeks, on April 16.

Lakers trainer Gary Vitti said in a statement: “With Kobe’s injury still not healed, the amount of time he’d need to rehab and be ready to play, and the amount of time remaining in the season, we’ve simply run out of time for him to return. However, Kobe will have the entire offseason to heal ... and we look forward to him being 100 percent for the start of next season.”

Bryant also issued a statement: “Obviously this has been a frustrating and disappointing season, but I appreciate all the support I’ve received from the Lakers and the fans, and look forward to being back and ready for the start of training camp.”

Bryant has played only six games this season because of two injuries – a torn left Achilles’ tendon that kept him sidelined the first 19 games and a fractured knee in the same leg that has kept him out since December.

It makes sense that Bryant would sit out the Lakers’ final 18 games because the team is nowhere near playoff contention. They have been at or near the bottom of the

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“Obviously this has been a frustrating and disappointing season, but I appreciate all the support I’ve received from the Lakers and the fans.”

Kobe Bryant, Lakers guard

Western Conference standings and are currently 22-42 heading into a dicey twogame road trip at Oklahoma City and San Antonio.

Bryant, 35, initially wanted to return for at least a handful of games because he hoped to get a feel for what he needed to work on during the off-season.

The six games he played were up and down. He made only two of nine shots in his debut against Toronto but looked better nine days later against Memphis, scoring 21 points on nine-for-18 shooting with five rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes.

It turned out to be his final game of 2013-14.

Before now, Bryant had never played fewer than 50 games (the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season) in a season. The Lakers went 2-4 when he was on the court this season.

He made $30.5 million this season and signed a two-year, $48.5 million contract extension last November before returning to game action two weeks later.

By Anthony ChiusAno Collegian Staff

When looking at the No. 9 Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team’s national ranking and unblemished 6-0 record, one might think that the Minutewomen are rolling on all cylinders.

However, according to UMass coach Angela McMahon, her team still has multiple areas to improve on before it takes on Colorado (4-2) on Friday.

In particular, McMahon said that improving her team’s shooting percentage is a major point of emphasis heading into the matchup against the Buffaloes, who will come into Friday with a three-game winning streak.

In UMass’s 12-6 victory over New Hampshire on Saturday, the Minutewomen combined for 12 goals on 36 shots. McMahon said that this “glaring” statistic was not ideal and will not be acceptable as the season progresses.

“We need to make sure we’re taking our time and getting better angles on our shots,” McMahon said.

“That should hopefully translate into us scoring more goals.”

According to McMahon, the team’s group of attackers, led by seniors Sam Rush (19 goals) and Katie Ferris (11 goals), will be a major factor in finding better shot efficiency on Friday.

“I think the next step for us, definitely as attackers, is making more of those shots,” Ferris said. “We’ve taken a lot of shots but now

their season.

In order to prevail on Thursday against Rhode Island in the opening round, mental toughness will be the key, according to senior Sampson Carter.

“At this point it’s just mental toughness,” he said.

“We’ve been here before.

We’ve played in a tournament three years in a row and the Charleston Classic proved that we can do it.”

Should UMass get by the Rams on Thursday night, then the second part of the test kicks in, as it will only have roughly 20 hours to regroup and prepare for No. 3 seed George Washington on Friday.

“It is (a quick turnaround), but they don’t know who they’re playing either,” Kellogg said. “At this point, we all know what we’re doing and how we’re playing. I don’t think anybody’s changed too,

Kelsey McGovern goes on the attack during UMass’ 12-6 win over Holy Cross on Feb. 19. we need to get more (goals), so instead of beating a team by six, we can beat a team by 10.”

Against the Wildcats on Saturday, Rush scored five goals on 10 shots, which moved her into the top five all-time scorers in UMass history with 128 career goals.

“I really didn’t even know until after the game when someone told me. It doesn’t really mean too much to me,” Rush said. “It’s great to know that I’m contributing, but the biggest factor is that we’re winning. It really doesn’t mean anything if we don’t win.”

Despite the five-goal performance, Rush recognized McMahon’s worry over not capitalizing on more scoring opportunities. She said that shooting 50 percent was, “not something to be proud of.”

In addition, McMahon said that the Minutewomen must continue to limit their turnovers, especially of the unforced variety.

Against UNH, UMass committed 15 turnovers, which tied for the lowest amount given up this season by the team. However, McMahon added that the Wildcats’ goalkeeper made 16 saves which, “essentially serve as turnovers.”

“Considering how hard (UNH) pressured us, I think to have (the shooting effort) was alright,” McMahon said. “It’s more the focus of the ones that were unforced and how we kind of just made one or two careless passes here and there.”

According to Ferris, the turnover battle will be key against Colorado.

“The team with the fewest amount of turnovers is usually the one that comes

out on top,” she said. “If we control all the little stuff, that’s what makes us successful.”

McMahon said that the Minutewomen’s defense must keep constant pressure on Colorado’s “balanced offense” which includes three doublefigure goal scorers in Cali Castagnola (16 goals), Marie Moore (14 goals) and Johnna Fusco (11 goals).

Ferris said that she thinks the UMass defensive unit is up for the challenge.

“I think we have a greatly balanced defense as well,” Ferris said. “So I think they’ll do a great job on (Colorado).”

Friday’s game at McGuirk Stadium is set for 4 p.m.

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

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same mentality in order to tackle this much taller task, especially if it wants to win its first A-10 title in 16 years.

“This is probably a little more daunting,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said.

“But the biggest thing I look for is, have you won four games in a row throughout the season because if you haven’t, then the chances of doing it now are probably not great.”

The Minutemen have won four games in a row this season multiple times.

The Charleston Classic victory came in the middle of a 10-game winning streak to open the season. Then, following its first loss of the season to Florida State, UMass went on a six-game winning streak. But now is the time when a long winning streak is most important for the Minutemen. One or two slip ups could spell the end to

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

too much in the last week or month really.

“Now it’s who can do what they do best for four straight days, or for the fortunate teams, three straight days.”

Added to the task of potentially playing four straight games is the familiarity that every team within the A-10 has with each other.

“Teams know how we play individually,” Raphiael Putney said. “We’ve been playing for four years against these guys, so it’s a lot harder than what you think it is in Charleston.”

To serve as a friendly reminder that his team can win multiple games in a short span, Kellogg has had the Charleston Classic trophy sitting courtside at practice this week.

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

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UM opens A-10’s vs.

URI Thurs.

By Patrick Strohecker Collegian Staff

EVAN SAHAGIAN/COLLEGIAN

UMass seniors Sampson Carter (above), Chaz Williams and Raphiael Putney hope to end their careers in Amherst with some more hardware after the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Carter, seniors embrace last shot at A-10 crown

By Mark chiarelli

P

Collegian Staff

erched adjacent to the furthest corner of the Mullins Center hardwood floor sat the 2013 Charleston Classic Championship trophy, a casual bystander to Wednesday’s late-morning practice.

The trophy served as a reminder to the Massachusetts men’s basketball team. The Minutemen rattled off three wins in four days to capture the Charleston Classic in November, finally earning an opportunity to add to the team’s trophy case.

But the sole piece of hardware also serves as another type of reminder to UMass; it sits alone.

“He looks lonely,” Minutemen coach Derek Kellogg said. “We need to get him some buddies, some more trophies.”

That sentiment resounds profoundly for UMass forward Sampson Carter, who embarks on his last attempt at an Atlantic 10 Championship trophy on Thursday when the Minutemen face Rhode Island at 9 p.m. at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. UMass hasn’t won a conference championship since 1996.

Carter, a fifth-year senior, is an integral part of Kellogg’s rotation and is one-third of a senior class that includes Chaz Williams and Raphiael Putney. The window of opportunity to chase trophies is nearly shut for a trio that’s played a crucial role in rebuilding the basketball program under Kellogg.

“We look at (the trophy) and we see it’s alone over there,” Carter said. “Now, we’re back to the championship mindset and back to tournament play. I feel we’re a good team in this type of situation.”

For Carter, it’s been a winding, ambiguous path to that championship mindset. His freshman year, the Minutemen went 12-20. His junior year, he suffered a season-ending hip injury after just seven games.

There were nights, especially early in his career, where the team played in front of less than 2,000 fans.

A self-proclaimed winner at every level, Carter admitted the strain from the combination of losing and adversity was difficult.

“We had to learn how to lose to be able to learn how to win,” he said.

“It took a lot, man. Dealing with

UMass plans for four-day stretch

By Patrick Strohecker Collegian Staff

There’s a reason why so much emphasis is put on finishing in the top four of the Atlantic 10.

An easier path to the championship game is certainly one reason, but more important is the automatic bye that comes with it, eliminating the need to win four games in four days.

The Massachusetts men’s basketball team won’t have that fortune this weekend, as it slipped up on the final day of the regular season against Saint Louis, which caused it to slide to the No. 6 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

UMass already has experience playing numerous games in a short span of time. It had to win three games in four days to win the Charleston Classic back in November.

Now, it must channel that see

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MARIA UMINSKI/COLLEGIAN

UMass’ current seniors were essential to turning the program around, but would like to add a conference tournament championship to their resumes this weekend. our own ego’s too, coming from high school I was a winner,” Carter added. “I was a winner in AAU. I was just a winner, period. My first two years coming here and losing, it was a shock and an experience.”

Part of Kellogg’s sales pitch to both Carter and Putney was that of a vision. If the Minutemen could infuse the Amherst area with consistent production and excitement,

the community would respond.

And with the help of a foundational recruiting class, UMass could create a consistent winner.

“I didn’t realize it would take so long or how hard it was,” Carter said. “But (Kellogg) definitely had to paint a picture for us to see and it definitely sounded good and looked good. It was definitely hard getting to see

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There aren’t many secrets between teams when they’re about to play for the third time in one season.

That will be the case for the Massachusetts men’s basketball team and Rhode Island when they take the court in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., at 9 p.m. “(We) already know what we’ve done or what the game plan should be,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. “And I think Rhode Island probably has a pretty similar gameplan as the last two times because they probably felt like they could’ve won those two games.

“We feel like we won (those games) and when that happens, that’s the game plan, let’s go with it and see what happens.”

In the first two meetings this season, the Minutemen (23-7, 10-6 A-10) narrowly defeated the Rams (14-17, 5-11 A-10) in both games, winning the first one 73-68 on the road and then a couple weeks later at home, 70-67. In both of those games, the backcourt tandem of Xavier Munford and E.C. Matthews nearly led URI to a pair of upsets.

The combo will once again be the focus for UMass as it heads into the win-or-go-home conference tournament.

“They’re going to be a tough test for our team, but we just need to stay together and play our defense,” senior Raphiael Putney said And while the two make up one of the best backcourts in all of the A-10, when it comes to defense, they also know how to shut down their opponents.

Guards Chaz Williams, Derrick Gordon and Trey Davis will have the tall task of going up against Munford and Matthews all game and if they get shut down, it will be up to the Minutemen’s frontcourt to pick up the scoring load.

“We know that we have to finish plays now,” senior Sampson Carter said. “There’s going to be a lot of attention on Chaz and we’re just preparing to put ourselves in position to finish plays.”

Even with an added emphasis on the play of the big men on offense,

March 15

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NBCSN 2:30 p.m.

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