Massachusetts Daily Collegian: March 27, 2014

TRADITIONAL MEXICAN FOOD IS WORTH A TRY

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Thursday, March 27, 2014

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Gelaye named vice chancellor UMass completes national search

By Collegian news staff

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAITLIN TULIO

The UMass equestrian team will be sending seven members to compete in Regionals Saturday, which will include riders from Mount Holyoke College.

Equestrian club continues successful season

By Katrina BorofsKi Collegian Staff

With recent athletic events taking place at the University of Massachusetts, such as the NCAA basketball tournament, the successes of other sports teams and clubs like the equestrian team have gone unnoticed.

Unbeknownst to many, the UMass equestrian team is a highly competitive club sport at the University. Serving as the longest standing riding

team at UMass, members in the past have competed not only locally, but also regionally and even nationally.

This year, seven members of the team qualified for Regionals, which will take place on Saturday, March 29.

Caitlin Tulio, Bridgit Douglas, Charlotte Poppe, Jess Munro, Carla Guthrie, Hallie Berson and Alyssa Moore will be representing UMass at Regionals.

Ranked second in their region, the team was invited

to attend an event called the Tournament of Champions.

“At the Tournament of Champions, the top riders of each region compete against others in a competition,” Tulio said. “Normally, we wouldn’t compete against those other teams because they’re from other regions, and they’re some of the best in the country.”

Mount Holyoke College, ranked first in the region, also qualified to attend these com-

petitions. According to Tulio, the two teams have had a history of rivalry. However, it has subsided in recent years.

The equestrian team was invited to attend all three Tournament of Champions competitions held this season.

Several members brought home blue ribbons, “making (them) some of the best riders in the country,” Tulio explained. see

EQUESTRIAN on page 2

Enku Gelaye, interim vice chancellor for student affairs and campus life, was named permanent vice chancellor, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy announced on Wednesday.

Subbaswamy made the announcement via email to the campus community, highlighting Gelaye’s recent achievements that made her stand out from other candidates.

“I know that Vice Chancellor Gelaye will bring the highest levels of integrity, energy and vision to the position and I look forward to working with her on issues of importance to both our students and the entire campus,” he wrote. “We are fortunate to have her as part of the campus leadership team.”

Gelaye was chosen after a months-long national search.

She has been associate vice chancellor and dean of students since 2011, while serving as interim vice chancellor for the past year.

Before coming to UMass, she served as an executive officer for the vice chancellor of student affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles from 2004 until 2011. She also served at the University of Southern California as interim director of student judicial affairs and community standards.

As interim vice chancellor during the past year, Gelaye led an organizational

OFFICE OF MEDIA RELATIONS

New vice chancellor Enku Gelaye. review and restricting process, making sure that services are committed to student success, resources are efficiently allocated and there is sufficient collaboration and shared governance. She also collaborated with academic affairs to assess the student experience and find ways to enhance it.

Gelaye was instrumental in the development and implementation of UMatter@ UMass, a campus-wide initiative that promotes community responsibility and prevention of sexual assault, misuse of alcohol and drugs, bullying, hazing, harassment and violence and depression and suicide.

“I believe deeply in the work of student affairs and campus life, in our collective values and in the students who call this university and Amherst their home,” Gelaye said in a news release. “I welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively to ensure UMass Amherst continues to realize its vision as the premier student-success centered public university in the country.”

Gov. Deval Patrick chosen Jodi Picoult to visit UMass speaker will Dinner with Friends is a fundraising as commencement speaker beGuest donating works reception that showcases the works of the

Chancellor praises “Gov. Patrick has demonstrated how to governor’s abilities succeed in both the public and private sector

By Collegian news staff Gov. Deval Patrick will be the featured speaker at the Undergraduate Commencement on May 9, the University of Massachusetts announced Wednesday.

Patrick has been serving Massachusetts as governor since 2006 and is currently finishing his second term. He is the second ever African-American governor in the United States.

The governor grew up in Chicago, working his way to Milton Academy and then to Harvard College, becoming the first in his family to attend college. After attending Harvard Law School, he practiced law with the NAACP on death penalty and voting rights cases. He was named partner at the Boston law firm Hill and Barlow in 1990 at age 34.

Patrick entered the political sphere in 1994 when President Bill Clinton named him the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights

by harnessing the power of education.”

Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy

Division, a position he held for three years. Patrick has served on the boards of Reebok, Coca-Cola and the Ford Foundation. He also served as the chairman of Texaco’s Equality and Fairness Task Force.

When Patrick announced his candidacy for Massachusetts governor in 2005, he was initially seen as a dark horse candidate against veteran politicians in the Democratic primary.

He won the governorship in 2006 and has since targeted the Commonwealth’s strengths as a hub for biotechnology and clean energy. Patrick has also helped to expand affordable health insurance and achieved reforms in the state’s pension systems, ethics laws and transportation system.

“Gov. Patrick has demonstrated how to succeed in both the public and private sector by harnessing the power of education,” Chancellor Kumble

Subbaswamy said in a news release. “He also understands the economic and social good that can be generated by the research and intellectual inquiry that takes place at a great land grant university such as UMass Amherst.”

Subbaswamy called the governor a welcome friend and that Patrick has been one of the University’s strongest supporters, working to expand opportunity to all Massachusetts citizens and build a world-class public education system.

Patrick has previously spoken at the Democratic National Convention in 2012, supporting President Barack Obama in his reelection campaign.

U n d e r g r a d u a t e Commencement will take place on May 9 at 4:30 p.m. in McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

About 5,000 students are expected to receive bachelor’s degrees.

By Christina yaCono Collegian Correspondent

World-renowned author Jodi Picoult will be a guest speaker at the 12th annual Dinner with Friends of the W.E.B. Du Bois Library at UMass Amherst on March 29 at 6:30 p.m.

Dinner with Friends is a fundraising reception that showcases the works of the guest speaker(s) and raises money to support library programs such as the Digital Media Lab and the W.E.B. Du Bois Center.

This year’s proceeds are going toward the Special Collections Archival Training Fund, which employs students to help make records digitized so the public is able to access the works.

The dinner will include hors d’oeuvre, a jazz performance by the Eric Bascom Trio, a three-course meal, a silent auction, a presentation of research awards to students and a book signing and Q&A with the guest speaker.

The silent auction has many items, including handmade cutting boards, jewelry and University Club certifi-

guest speaker(s) and raises money to support library programs such as the Digital Media Lab and the W.E.B. Du Bois Center.

cates.

Past guest speakers have included authors such as Archer Mayor, Judson Hale, Sr., Jacqueline Sheehan and Roy Blount, Jr..

Caroline White, the archivist for the Kenneth Feinberg collection, is a friend of Picoult. The two met in a creative writing class in college.

According to White, Picoult told her that she always wanted to do something with her papers, but it wasn’t until White got her archival job at the library that they started talking about Picoult donating them to the library.

Picoult’s works also fit in the Special Collections and University archives because she is from New England and tackles many social issues in her books.

Picoult’s works include “The Pact,” “Nineteen Minutes,” “Keeping Faith,” “My Sister’s Keeper” and “The Tenth Circle.”

Picoult donated 20 boxes of her writings, which include plot notes, current events, journal articles, pub-

licity materials, scrapbooks, correspondence and foreign language versions of her novels. Many of her papers include research on ethical, legal, procedural and other kinds of details that she spends time on to make her books as realistic as possible.

Director of Development Carol Connare feels that this year’s dinner will be recordbreaking in terms of the number of people in attendance and the donations made. She estimates that 135 people will be there.

Sponsors of this year’s event includes the Boston Library Consortium, Brattle Book Shop, Eric Bascom Trio, Laura Gross Literary Agency, Lexington Group, Neudorfer, Inc., Print Associates, UMass Catering, UMass Amherst Print Services and University Store.

Tickets are being sold $150 per person and $274 for two.

Christina Yacono can be reached at cyacono@umass.edu.

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Thursday, March 27, 2014

THE RU N D OW N ON THIS DAY...

In 1942, the first female prisoners arrived at the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. Auschwitz was a major site for the Nazi “Final Solution,” with an estimated 1.1 million prisoner deaths.

AROUND THE WORLD THE H AG U E , Netherlands — President Barack Obama disputed the idea that Russia is the United States’ No. 1 geopolitical foe, dismissing Moscow as a “regional power” and arguing that the invasion of Crimea “indicates less influence, not more.”

A greater threat to American national security is the prospect of a “nuclear weapon going off in Manhattan,” Obama said as he brushed off a question about whether Republican Mitt Romney had been prescient in his campaign-season warnings about Russian power.

Speaking Tuesday at a news conference ending a nuclear security summit, Obama conceded that Russia is unlikely to leave Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine, any time soon.

Tribune Washington Bureau KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian officials sought Tuesday to allay rising anger in China and widespread doubts at home after their government concluded that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had plunged into the south Indian Ocean with no hope for survivors.

Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said a high-level delegation would return to Beijing on Tuesday night to meet with families of the Chinese passengers on the lost Boeing 777 jetliner. Hundreds of their relatives marched Tuesday on the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing demanding more information from Kuala Lumpur.

Top officials of Malaysia Airlines, holding their own news conference Tuesday, said that all next-of-kin relatives had been paid $5,000 and that the company was considering additional compensation.

Tribune Washington Bureau CAIRO — An Egyptian court convened another mass trial Tuesday with more than 680 defendants, a day after being vehemently denounced by human rights groups and legal organizations for simultaneously condemning 529 others to death.

The proceedings again took place in Minya, in the Nile River Valley about 150 miles south of Cairo.

Defense attorneys boycotted Tuesday’s session, citing what they called massive violations of due procedure in the mass capital punishment verdict rendered by the same criminal court a day earlier.

Charges against the latest Minya defendants, only about one-tenth of whom were present for Tuesday’s session, stem from riots that swept Egypt in mid-August of last year, six weeks after President Mohammed Morsi’s removal from office by the army.

Los Angeles Times Distributed by MCT Information Services

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

EQUESTRIAN In addition, the team competed at a holiday tournament where they placed fifth out of 26 teams. Over the course of the season, which extends from October to March, the team competed in eight other competitions.

In February, the team also hosted a competition at Hadley Farm, which it won.

“It was the first show for the spring season (February) and we haven’t won our own home show since I’ve been a freshman.

It was a big deal; we’re really happy,” Tulio said.

At the collegiate level, equestrian competitions are separated into seven divisions ranging from beginning riders to advanced riders, Tulio explained.

Judges score according to these divisions. Each team is awarded a score based on individual scores, which are awarded based on the performance of the “point

continued from page 1

rider.”

“The coach picks someone from each division to be a point rider. Whatever points they get during the show goes towards the team,” Tulio said. At the end of the competition, all of the points scored by the point riders are tallied to determine the winner.”

To outsiders of the sport, the scoring can seem complicated, but in actuality its purpose is highly beneficial to the fairness of the competition, according to Tulio.

“The teams don’t know who the point rider is, and the other teams don’t know.

It makes it fair for other schools, like Williams, who has a small team. It evens out the playing field because it’s still only one person per team per division,” Tulio said.

At each competition, the school hosting the show provides the horses for competitors.

“Essentially, we don’t get any practice time,” Tulio said. “The first time you ride them is in the arena, so they really judge you on what skills you have and what you can make out of what you are given.”

With such a successful season coming to a close, the equestrian team is looking forward to building up the club sport even more in future years. According to Tulio, the team welcomes any and all levels of riders to try out next fall.

Tulio also emphasized the team’s goal of receiving more recognition from the University.

“We want to try to get new members and advertise the tryouts so we can get new members and become the top in our region,” Tulio said. “We want to establish a name for ourselves.”

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

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAITLIN TULIO

Members of the UMass equestrian team recently competed in a holiday tournament, where they placed fifth.

DailyCollegian.com

Officials working to prevent slides Residents feel safe with extra cautions anD

By Paresh Dave Molly hennessy-Fiske Los Angeles Times

A R L I N G T O N, Wa s h — Residents along the Stillaguamish River had felt protected from small landslides during the past eight years because Snohomish County spent millions of dollars shoring up the area after a mudslide in 2006, the county’s Emergency Management Director John Pennington said Wednesday.

But the landslide that struck last Saturday was “large” and “catastrophic,” Pennington said at a news conference. The mudslide tore through 49 homes.

At least 16 people have been confirmed dead and as many as 176 people are missing.

Authorities were still trying to pare down the list of missing and recover the at least eight other bodies that have been found, which would bring the total to 24 dead.

The slide, which also shut down a rural highway and artificially dammed a river, has raised questions about whether county officials did enough to admonish residents about the landslide risk.

“They knew the risk, but they felt safe in those smaller events,” Pennington said of the people in the communities of Arlington, Darrington and Oso. “Sometimes, big events just happen. Sometimes, large events that nobody foresees happen.”

After the “decent-sized” slide in 2006, the county worked along the river to ensure that it would catch smaller landslides from the timber-lined northern slope without damaging the homes on the southern side of the river.

“We did a great job of mitigating the impact of smaller slides coming in,” Pennington said. “I think we did what we could do.”

He said he would push geologists and other experts to determine what caused last week’s landslide, including whether an earthquake “shook it loose.” So far, authorities have attributed the mudslide to the abnormally high level of rainfall during the past month.

Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary said Wednesday morning that rescue crews were making “good progress.”

A dental office in Marysville confirmed Wednesday that one of its employees, 45-year-old Christina Jefferds, died in the mudslide alongside her

4-month-old granddaughter Sanoah.

“Chris was a beautiful person inside and out,” dentist Kelly Peterson said in a statement. “She was so humble, yet so generous in volunteering the time, talents and resources with which she had been blessed while never drawing attention to herself.”

Three victims of the mudslide remained in an intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Among them was a 22-week-old baby boy in critical condition, but improving, the hospital said Wednesday morning. The boy’s 25-year-old mother and a 58-year-old man, who was scheduled to undergo surgery on his pelvis, have left the intensive care unit and are in satisfactory condition, the hospital said.

The mudslide area was stable Wednesday and would probably remain so for the next few days, officials said. Rainy weather that has slowed recovery efforts remained in the forecast.

Officials also said several plans would be launched to connect Darrington to communities west of the city, including a special bus service to Everett and the opening of a mountainous emergency access road to traffic.

At Wednesday morning’s news conference, county officials thanked volunteers, donors and their communities. Families affected by the mudslide were gathering in several spots across the region, including Post Middle School in Arlington.

Oso residents there quietly chatted, wearing yellow ribbons and embracing in hugs.

“Today, the world knows where Oso is, and they know we are more than a small community,” Snohomish County Executive John Lovick told reporters. “We are a large family.”

Billie Spillers, a niece of Billy Lee Spillers, who is still missing, said she was still hopeful Wednesday that he would be found.

“All they can do is keep searching,” she said as she stood outside a Red Cross shelter set up at the middle school.

Billie Spillers drove more than 200 miles from Clackamas, Ore., on Sunday to keep vigil with other relatives here. She was teary and resigned as she talked about the mudslide.

“It’s just Mother Nature,” she said.

She said she was pleased with the local first responders, who have been updating her family on their efforts.

“They’re doing what they can,” she said. “We just have to keep praying.”

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

Thursday, March 27, 2014

With rising prosecutions Medicare fraud continues Schemes increase despite crackdowns

By Chris AdAms McClatchy Washington Bureau WASHINGTON— Despite some recent successes in combating fraud, Miami continues to be ground zero in Medicare fraud, as criminals morph their schemes to stay ahead of the law, a key South Florida enforcement agent told a Senate panel Wednesday.

Brian Martens, assistant special agent in charge based in Miami for the government’s Medicare agency, said that fraud schemes quickly evolve – and that as enforcement efforts target certain ones, others pop up.

They switch between different parts of the Medicare program, they move from area to area, and they often rely on the muscle of organized crime.

“The criminals committing these crimes are often dangerous and we regularly encounter stockpiles of weapons when we execute arrests and enforcement operations,” testified Martens, who works for the inspector general at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare. “These criminals are taking advantage of those most vulnerable in our society – the elderly and the disabled.”

Martens was speaking to the Senate Special Committee on Aging about federal efforts to combat

Medicare fraud, which the committee said is estimated to cost taxpayers $60 billion to $90 billion each year.

Common tactics: paying kickbacks to recruiters for finding patients and providing unnecessary services.

One particularly shocking case cited by the committee was in Michigan last year, where a physician was arrested for bilking $225 million from Medicare by falsely telling patients they had cancer and then billing for chemotherapy treatments.

Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat who chaired the hearing, said, “We can’t afford to lose this much of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars to fraud, and it’s clear we can’t arrest our way out of a problem of this magnitude.”

South Florida–and Miami specifically – has long been a hot spot for Medicare fraud. Martens said the government has seen criminal prosecutions and monetary recovery increase while payments for certain kinds of fraud have decreased. He cited a drop in payments for community mental health centers that followed special enforcement actions.

Following the attention, nationwide Medicare payments for the centers fell from an annual $273 million to $31 million, he said.

But combating fraud is often a game of Whac-aMole, with attention focused on one type of fraud prompting the criminals to target different areas.

“I’m just very concerned

... that Medicare fraud has become a game of catch me if you can – and if you do catch me, it’s just the price of doing business,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said at the hearing. “You pay a few million, maybe even a billion dollars. But pay a fine and move on, and alter your business practices only to the extent of figuring out where to minimize the odds of getting caught. If that’s the case, we’re always going to be behind on Medicare fraud.”

Martens also said his unit was in need of more resources. “We don’t have the staff that we need with the amount of fraud that goes on,” he said.

The hearing came as the prosecutions of health care fraud reached a new high, according to data highlighted by the committee. The data analyzed by TRAC, a research organization at Syracuse University, found that prosecutions of health care fraud reached a new high in fiscal 2013.

The data, originally from the Justice Department, also ranked the nation’s 94 federal judicial districts on their prosecutions under the nation’s health care fraud law. The data were analyzed on a per capita basis.

Leading the way, with 10.1 prosecutions per million people, was the Southern District of Illinois, in East St. Louis. Second was the Southern District of Florida, in Miami, and third was the District of South Carolina.

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3

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.” - Oscar Wilde

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Editorial@DailyCollegiancom

The Internet: A revolution waiting for you Our generation uses the Internet on a daily basis, constantly interacting with one of the most revolution-

Jason Roche ary tools the world has ever witnessed. We are familiar with the workings of the web and know how to operate within social media. Will we use this powerful medium solely for entertainment purposes, or will we channel our efforts to confront the problems that face our society?

People often say that they wish they had grown up in the 1960s or ‘70s out of a desire to be a part of the massive political movements that developed around the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War. Maybe no one is paying attention,

sphere” in which individuals can communicate and organize around issues they care about. In “The Wealth of Networks,” Benkler writes, “(T)he networked public sphere enables many more individuals to communicate their observations and their viewpoints to many others, and to do so in a way that cannot be controlled by media owners and is not as easily corruptible by money as were the mass media.”

The Internet provides an outlet where a single individual can make their opinions accessible to a worldwide audience. It allows like-minded individuals to find one another and, if they wish, to organize actions to promote their agendas.

The Internet provides an open canvas where people

[It] provides an open canvas, where people can spend endless hours on entertaining distractions or devote their energies to coordinating meaningful political action. but there are still plenty of things to protest today. Civil rights are violated daily.

The United States has been at war for 13 years and the cost of higher education is shackling our generation to enormous amounts of debt.

And though we are faced with monumental problems, we have a greater capacity to organize than any other society has had before us.

The Internet has revolutionized media, creating an interactive medium that blurs the line between producer and consumer.

Internet users can create their own original content, comment on the work of others and communicate with anyone else who has an Internet connection.

As most students are well aware of, the Internet provides nearly limitless avenues for procrastination, but it can also serve as a powerful political tool capable of shaking the very foundations of power relations.

During the 20th century, mass media had a near monopoly on the dissemination of information. Media owners decided which stories the public would hear, and there were few ways for consumers to respond.

The Internet changed the relationship between media and the public by making it easy and less expensive for ordinary people to publish stories or critiques of their own. This decentralized the production of media and created countless alternatives to the few options once offered by corporate conglomerates.

Yochai Benkler writes extensively on the effects of the Internet in regard to information consumption and dissemination. He describes how the Internet creates a “networked public

can spend endless hours on entertaining distractions or devote their energies to coordinating meaningful political action.

As Clay Shirky writes for Foreign Affairs, “social media have become coordinating tools for nearly all of the world’s political movements.” The world has already seen dozens of Internet-fuelled protests.

Some have even ousted political leaders, such as the protests in Ukraine last month and those in Egypt in 2011. While the Internet did not cause these protests and revolutions, they certainly empowered the organizers. As Sam Gustin of Wired writes, “these tools did speed up the process by helping to organize the revolutionaries, transmit their message to the world and galvanize international support.”

For those who are familiar with the Internet, its ability to effectively organize people and serve as an outlet for opinion is readily apparent. However, there is a huge difference between voicing concerns online and taking concrete action in the real world. Political rants on Facebook and blogs are commonplace, but have no impact whatsoever on policy. People must organize around their opinions and place pressure upon lawmakers to actually influence change. You cannot “like” your way to a revolution, but social media can certainly be used to coordinate the action needed to make political reforms.

Five reasons why Russia won’t start World War III The recent events in ized world, economic sancEastern Europe involving tions are more than mere Russia and Ukraine have slaps on the wrist. Already the sanctions imposed on

Maral Margossian

spawned, at their most extreme, apocalyptic claims.

Here are five reasons why Russia won’t start World War III, or any other war for that matter: 1. The world is MAD. The end of World War II ushered the world into a precarious atomic age that characterized the international atmosphere during the Cold War. Luckily, the Cold War never escalated to nuclear war. Why? Because of mutually assured destruction (or MAD). Russia knows that if it pushes that big red button, we have our own even bigger, redder button to push in retaliation. The odds of a nuclear war with Russia are extremely unlikely.

2. The impact of economic sanctions on the Russian economy is far too crippling for Russia to fund a war. As a part of a global-

Peace Prize for his involvement in the Syrian chemical weapons deal, Russia’s popularity among many Western

For example, the ongoing effort to normalize relations between Iran and the rest of the world will be jeopar-

Putin feels threatened by Russia’s changing role in world affairs and is using Crimea to tell the world that Russia still matters.

Russia have begun to take their toll. The West has yet to attack Russia’s strongest economic assets, but the declining strength of the Russian economy puts Putin far from a position to wage a world war.

3. Putin’s actions demonstrate his longing for Russia’s glory days before the fall of the Soviet Union. His annexation of Crimea is more out of fear than strength. Putin feels threatened by Russia’s changing role in world affairs and is using Crimea to tell the world that Russia still matters.

4. Russia is already seen as the “big bad wolf” of Europe.

Though Putin may have been nominated for the Nobel

countries is not very high.

The recent suspension of Russia from the G8 group is a symbolic action that demonstrates that Russia will have to face a united front of world powers if it chooses to start a war.

5. There is just too much at stake. War between Ukraine and Russia is one thing; Russia’s military is large enough and strong enough to easily defeat Ukraine.

However, if Russia decides to take further aggressive action, it must also contend with surrounding European Union member nations and their potential involvement in the war. Moreover, Russia’s involvement in other international affairs will be affected.

dized, considering Russia is involved in those efforts.

Crimea may have symbolic meaning close to the hearts of Russians, but it isn’t worth risking the domino effect of events that can potentially occur.

So, those of you who feel abnormally unsettled by the recent turn of events can rest easy. While Russia’s actions can’t be brushed aside and should be taken seriously, the chances of this confrontation escalating to a great war are slim — assuming these countries act rationally.

Maral Margossian is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at mmargossian@umass.edu.

Letters tothe edItor

Editorial@DailyCollegian.com

To the Editor: This semester alone, my textbooks cost me $280.94. If I were to extrapolate based on this semester’s costs, it would cost me $2,247.52 just to buy textbooks for my undergraduate college career. And I’m not even a science major – new editions of science textbooks come out every few years.

My roommate, who is a science major, has one textbook that cost $185.81, which is apparently a bargain compared to the list price of $230.40.

What is even more frightening is what my textbooks might have cost. My textbooks for this semester could have cost me $478.83 if my professors had required that we buy the newest editions and if I had bought them in the most convenient way possible. If I had picky professors and

refused to shop around, my textbooks for my undergraduate career would have put me $3,830.64 in the hole.

If a student works full time for 15 weeks of the summer at the Massachusetts $8 minimum wage, he or she would earn only $4,800.

That is nearly 80 percent of one summer’s work gone just on textbooks. Forget the adventure of traveling abroad and the thought of an experience-gaining but unpaid internship or volunteer work in the community. All of these fulfilling life experiences must be sacrificed in the face of rising textbook prices.

The rising cost of textbooks is only part of a larger problem: The exorbitant cost of higher education. I turned down a university that I had loved because it would have cost double the amount an in-state student

pays at the University of Massachusetts. While I am a proud UMass student, it is hard to deny that part of the University’s appeal was its lower cost. I have a sibling who must also be able to afford college and parents who must eventually be able to retire. For me, protesting the cost of textbooks is a small way that I can change a system that is hurting the dreams and purses of millions of students around the country. I would like to suggest a solution.

Open-source textbooks, written by professors who do not claim any copyright to the material, are a growing trend that can cut the cost of textbooks by up to 80 percent. This would have reduced the total amount I spent on textbooks this semester to $56.19. Since there is no copyright, other professors can alter

the material to their needs and it can be distributed as widely as necessary. If you choose to read these textbooks online, they are free.

For a student, that could mean the difference between working at a fast food restaurant full-time all summer and having the choice to do an unpaid internship that would give them practical knowledge of the field they are studying. If more professors used open textbooks, it could do more than save us money: It could allow us to earn experience and give us the chance to explore the world.

It is my hope that more students, faculty and administrators will begin to view open textbooks as a viable alternative to back-breaking textbooks, and that students will be allowed to fulfill their dreams.

Stephanie Chan

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.

Jason Roche is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at jwroche@ umass.edu.

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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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Thursday, March 27, 2014

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FOOD & DRINK

For those about to Bock: BBC Maibock Lager German-style beer ideal for spring

By Emily A. BrightmAn Collegian Staff

New England spring is always a tentative juncture, but despite the erratic behavior of Mother Nature, recently the crippling freeze of winter has been receding and some semblance of warmth will soon be at hand. For those of us who keep our calendars on a craft beer continuum, the seasonal shift also marks a shift in trends from the darker stouts and porters of winter to the lighter spring fare of lagers and stylized ales. While beer in general is a celebrated beverage yearround, certain styles are more seasonally appropriate than others and the influx of saisons, witbiers and fruitier ales on liquor store shelves is a soothing reminder that the much needed spring thaw is impending.

One of the most popular spring brewing styles is bock beer, a strong style of lager that originated in the monasteries of medieval Germany. According to BeerAdvocate, German monks would brew an extra strong beer to sustain themselves during fasting for the pre-spring observance of Lent, to which the style’s full-bodied mouth feel can historically be attributed.

Other theories suggest that the style has more Paganinfluenced roots in that medieval tribes only saw this particular beer fit to be brewed during the mid-

winter months correlating to the astrological sign of Capricorn to then be consumed at the start of spring after an extended fermentation period.

The name “bock” derives from the medieval German town of Einbeck where the first prototype of the style, a dark and malted ale, was brewed in the 14th century.

The “World Beer Guide” from brewing pioneer Michael Jackson (not to be confused with the iconic pop singer of the same name) suggests that 17th century brewers from Munich, who adopted the original style into the preliminary lager style, mispronounced the suffix of “Einbeck” as “Einbock,” which led to the adoption of the “bock” name. In German, “ein bock” translates to “billy goat,” and to this day caricatures of goats are jocularly associated with bock beers.

Given that the animal mascot of the Capricorn sign is the goat, the visual association is pertinent.

A sub-style of bock beer known as maibock or helles bock has been gaining a larger foothold of popularity in the U.S. over the last few years. Rogue’s signature Dead Guy Ale is classified as a maibock, as is the Cultivator from Troegs Brewing Company and the Hurts Like Helles from Jack’s Abbey Brewing.

Even larger scale breweries such as Smuttynose and Narragansett have released their own bock style beers, and the change in season sees this style in much wider availability. Since

the Pioneer Valley is home to a host of craft beer outlets, it is no great surprise that the Maibock Lager from Berkshire Brewing Company is a seasonal favorite among locals.

Berkshire Brewing, located in South Deerfield, is among the most popular breweries in the area and has been churning out consistently delicious beers since 1994. Their flagship Steel Rail Extra Pale Ale is available in western Massachusetts and has earned the brewery a treasured place in the hearts of beer geeks in the area. The Maibock Lager, inspired by the traditional German style, is available from March to May with the explicit intent of helping to “shake off the cold of winter and embrace the season to come,” according to the brewery’s website.

Featuring the caricature of a goat on the label, Maibock Lager pours a clean, dark golden color from a 22 oz. bottle into a pint glass. Considerable carbonation releases the savory aromas of caramelized sugar and toasted malt as the crisp white head settles to thick ropes of lacing. Sensations of honey immediately come to mind in whiffs of the superficial aroma. Beneath the initial sweetness of the nose is a fruity under-layer reminiscent of strawberry or raspberry mixed with the tartness of alcohol, a surprisingly heady scent for such a lager-style beer.

Maibock Lager’s crisp hop characteristic is the most pertinent taste in the first sip, combining the

earthy bitterness of strong hops with a distinct spiciness that melds well with the permeating sweetness of the malt. For a beer with such high carbonation, Maibock Lager has a hearty mouth feel to it that belies the clearness of its lager-like style.

Sweet malt and subtle dark fruit flavors linger on the tongue through the surprisingly dry finish, and the ultimate sensation left on the palate is one of bready, spicy sweetness combined with bitter hints of hop and alcohol. On a personal note, in general I am not a big fan of lagers and was half-expecting to categorize this beer under that same umbrella, but in the face of German maibock-style lagers I found myself entirely humbled and potentially reevaluating my stance on lagers. But the latter is only potential.

In keeping with valiant efforts to hurry along the arrival of spring, Maibock Lager pairs well with lighter dishes like chicken or rice and beans, or even light desserts involving fruit or caramel flavors. But, as with all selections from BBC, the beer itself serves as a readily sufficient course on its own. Maibock Lager is available throughout the Valley on tap and in stores, but its seasonal nature indicates that it will only be available until late May or early June, so stock up while supplies last. Though the icy chill of winter may seem terminal at this point, the warm relief of spring is close at hand and soon enough we can all retire our snowsuits and tire chains until the

JUSTIN SURGENT/COLLEGIAN

Berkshire Brewing Company’s Maibock Lager, based on the traditional German style of bock beer, is available from March through the end of May. next turn of the season. In the meantime, grab some Maibock Lager to soothe your struggle for survival in the icy grip of winter. It may not necessarily thaw

your frozen extremities, but at least your belly will be warm with the happy weight of beer.

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

FOOD & DRINK

Get a taste of Mexico with these traditional dishes Classic flavors from south of the border

straight out of the pan, because the hotter they are, the better they taste. A more commonly-seen version is baked enchiladas, which uses the same ingredients but

By AdriA KElly-SullEngEr calls for the stuffed tortillas to be Collegian Correspondent cooked in an oven rather than a When someone says “Mexican pan. Sometimes spinach is added food,” what is the first dish that to the stuffing for the added health comes to mind? Most people might benefit, but if you’re trying to keep default to Chipotle burritos, but your calorie count low, this is probthe popular Mexican-style chain ably not the dish for you because it restaurant is not exactly authen- falls heavily on the hearty side, as tic. Growing up in Los Angeles, I do many Mexican dishes. was surrounded by all manner of Mole Mexican cuisine. And that doesn’t Another mouthwatering dish mean tacos and nachos; I’m talkis mole, a spicy chocolate sauce ing about authentic, non-Americanized Mexican food. Some of my that has a place in many tradifavorite dishes from this country tional Mexican recipes. The simare tomatillo enchiladas and chick- plest recipe for mole uses onion, en mole, but there is a variety of tomatillo, nuts, spices, a thickener, savory foods and flavors that make four different types of chiles and of course, Mexican chocolate, which up traditional Mexican food. is tasty enough to eat by itself.

Enchiladas Sometimes referred to as the “fanThere are many variations to tastic four” of mole, the chiles used the classic enchilada recipe, but are ancho (for the bittersweet and commonly the base is a corn torti- fruity notes), mulato (which have lla stuffed with chicken, cheese and chocolaty tones), pasilla (known chopped onions. Before stuffing the for strong bitterness) and chipotortillas, they are coated in a lus- tle (for a rich smoky and spicy flacious sauce using tomatillos, jala- vor). All the ingredients are added penos and cilantro. Traditionally, together in a pot and simmered the rolled-up enchiladas are pan- down. After the onions are transfried until the cheese is melted and lucent and the tomatillos are soft, oozing out of the tortilla. When the mix is ground in a molcajete I make these at home, I eat them (or food mill). This makes a fla-

vorful sauce that can be poured on enchiladas, empanadas (stuffed and fried pastries) and nopales (grilled cactus). In a more customary style, mole can be served over boiled chicken or turkey.

Mexican wedding cookies Even though mole sauce is widely known for being sweet and chocolate-y, there are other Mexican treats that are equally palatable. A personal favorite of mine to make, mostly because of the simplicity of the recipe but also for their melt-in-your-mouth quality, are Mexican wedding cookies. Using a basic cookie dough recipe (typically just flour, butter and vanilla), these small sweets are messy and delicious. Ground-up almonds or pecans are mixed into the dough to form a crumbly texture. The mixture is rolled into balls and baked for about 10 minutes. After cooling, the cookies are covered in confectioner’s sugar. The recipe is wildly simple, but surprisingly delicious.

DAVID PURSEHOUSE/FLICKR

Enchiladas, a traditional Mexican dish, are typically served topped with cheese and/or salsa.

rice and cinnamon. For a creative twist on the flavor, almonds or lime zest can be added before soaking. There are a lot of horchata recipes out there – like chocolate chip cookies, everyone and their Horchata grandma thinks they have the best A great drink to serve with version – but my personal preferMexican wedding cookies is anoth- ence is to mix it up without any er classic sweet, horchata. This additions, just a simple rice and creamy and refreshing drink, con- cinnamon drink to cool off my paltrary to popular belief, contains no ate. This pick-me-up is great to pair dairy. In its most straightforward with spicy dishes because oftenform, the drink just contains water, times it can counterbalance the

spiciness in food and make for a better-rounded flavor experience.

These recipes are just a small glimpse into the varied and uniquely flavorful cuisine of Mexico. If your mouth was watering as you read this, don’t be afraid to branch out and try some ethnic dishes you haven’t heard of before. Your taste buds will surely thank you.

Adria Kelly-Sullenger can be reached at akellysu@umass.edu.

6

Thursday, March 27, 2014

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PRACTICE

MOMENTUM

continued from page 8

ter taking five-to-seven-step drops – he said he hasn’t done a five-step drop since high school – into the pocket on passing plays in practice.

“It’s been pretty difficult but it hasn’t been bad. It’s kind of weird to say,” Doyle said. “Obviously there’s a lot to learn, but the way the coaches are going about it, the way everyone is going about it, we all want to learn it and we’re all putting in the extra time and effort to learn it.”

The defensive scheme is undergoing some changes as well.

“On the defensive side of the ball we’ve been moving a lot more, which was something that we needed,” Andre said. “We need to actually utilize our talent.”

There’s been a learning curve for Whipple, who first coached at UMass from 1998-2003, this spring as well. The longtime coach has a new crop of players to evaluate as well as teach, leaving him with plenty of practice film to watch, but he said he likes what he’s seen out of them so far.

“We’re working at it.

They’re good players,” Whipple said. “We’ve gotta

Thursday, March 27, 2014

develop some other guys.

They’re learning some things we want them to do so that’s good.

“There’s been a lot. It’s all new. Maybe I’ve done too much, but we cut back and just tried to do some other things (Tuesday).”

The Minutemen may still have plenty to learn and adjustments to make, but that new education is being embraced with a new attitude as part of a changing culture in Amherst.

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

southpaw Conor LeBlanc, who is the leader of the Minutemen’s pitching staff.

LeBlanc is 1-2 with a 3.67 ERA on the season. He has allowed 35 hits in 34.1 innings pitched, while striking out six and walking five.

LeBlanc will have his hands full against a dangerous Richmond lineup led by Atlantic 10 home runs leader Matt Dacey. Dacey has five home runs and 18 RBIs on the season. Meanwhile, Doug Kraeger is hitting .306 with eight doubles and 15 RBIs on the season. Tyler Beckwith has given the Spiders a boost at the top of the lineup with

7

continued from page 8

a .328 average and a .400 onbase percentage.

“They have dangerous hitters throughout their lineup, guys who can really hit the ball a long way,” Stone said.

The Spiders lead the A-10 in home runs with 13. Seven Richmond players have connected for a home run on the season. They have averaged 5.24 runs per contest in their first 21 games of the season.

John Jennings has been a force at the top of the order for the Minutemen, posting a .333 average, a .485 slugging percentage and five doubles.

He was 3-for-8 over the week-

end against La Salle, scoring twice and hitting his team leading fifth double.

Freshman Mike Geannelis has lent a helping hand for the UMass lineup, posting a .378 on-base percentage while hitting for a .324 average. Kellen Pagel’s first career home run, a three run shot, on Saturday lifted the Minutemen to an 8-6 victory.

First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday at Pitt Field.

Tyler Fiedler can be reached at tfiedler@umass.edu.

FOOTBALL

NLRB rules that Northwestern players can unionize Decision expected to be appealed

By AlejAndrA CAnCino Chicago Tribune

Northwestern University football players are employees of the school and are therefore entitled to a union election, Peter Sung Ohr, the regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, said in a ruling released Wednesday afternoon.

Ohr’s decision is expected to be appealed to the NLRB in Washington. Labor experts say an election is unlikely to take place until the NLRB makes a decision.

If Ohr’s decision is upheld, the case would likely make its way through federal appellate court and could reach the Supreme Court.

The decision is “revolutionary for college sports,” said Robert McCormick,

a professor emeritus at Michigan State University College of Law who focuses on sports and labor law.

McCormick said Ohr’s decision could influence other state and federal agencies. For example, if college players demand compensation for injuries sustained during training or a game, Ohr’s opinion could come into play in the question of whether the players are employees under the state Workers’ Compensation Act. Northwestern’s football players are the first in college sports to seek union representation. Behind the effort is the College Athletes Players Association, or CAPA, a union funded by Ramogi Huma, a former MCT UCLA linebacker who has become an advocate for play- Former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter was one of the players who wished to join a labor union. ers’ rights. CAPA is backed Among its demands, with sports-related medical on the sidelines during by the United Steelworkers, which is covering the CAPA is seeking financial expenses, independent con- games and the creation of group’s legal expenses. coverage for former players cussion experts to be placed an educational trust fund to

help former players graduate.

Alan Cubbage, vice president for university relations at Northwestern, said in a statement they were disappointed in the decision.

“While we respect the NLRB process and the regional director’s opinion, we disagree with it,” the university said. “Northwestern believes strongly that our student-athletes are not employees, but students.

Unionization and collective bargaining are not the appropriate methods to address the concerns raised by student-athletes.”

Northwestern confirmed that it plans to appeal to the full National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. “We believe that participation in athletic events is part of the overall educational experience for those students, not a separate activity,” NU said.

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Thursday, March 27, 2014

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FOOTBALL

UMass to leave Mid-American Conference after 2015 season

Team announces move Wednesday

By Nick caNelas Collegian Staff

The Massachusetts football team will leave the Mid-American Conference following the 2015 season, the team announced on Wednesday.

The University elected to leave the MAC after the conference exercised a contract clause that gave UMass the

choice between becoming a full member of the MAC in all sports or leave the conference after two more years as a football-only member, according to a news release.

According to ESPN, UMass was offered full membership to the MAC last month and ultimately declined. The Minutemen have been football-only members since its move to Football Bowl Subdivision in 2012.

The University has already begun conducting a

study of its future options with Carr Sports Consulting — the same firm that assisted in the coaching search that led to the hiring of Mark Whipple — according to the news release.

“While the report is not complete,” Athletic Director John McCutcheon said in the release, “we believe full membership for all sports in the MAC is not a good fit for us.

Because most of the MAC schools are in the Midwest, the additional travel would

strain our athletic budget and pose considerable time management challenges for our student athletes. We are confident that, within the next two years, we will find a more suitable conference for our FBS football program.”

“This is not the outcome we anticipated when UMass was admitted as a footballonly member,” MAC commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher said in a statement Wednesday.

“However, circumstances changed regarding our foot-

FOOTBALL

SPRING AWAKENING

ball membership and this is a result of those circumstances.”

McCutcheon said the program remains “committed to FBS football. Many institutions have successfully navigated this challenging period of conference realignment and we will do the same.”

“I was aware of this possibility when I accepted the position of head coach, and I believe this move is in the university’s best interest,” Whipple said. “My focus is on building a program that

Minutewomen seek first A-10 win Collegian Staff

UMass coach Mark Whipple looks on as quarterback A.J. Doyle practices on Tuesday.

UM embracing changes under Whipple

By Nick caNelas Collegian Staff

For college football programs throughout the country, spring practice is a new beginning. What happened last season is now meaningless and all eyes are on the future.

What took place at McGuirk Stadium on Tuesday morning was more of a football renaissance.

Surrounded by the construction of the brand new press box and football performance center was an impassioned Massachusetts football team also under reconstruction during its first spring camp under head coach Mark Whipple.

It was only the fourth of

the team’s 15 scheduled practices before its April 16 spring game, but the Minutemen appeared to be injected with new life coming off two forgettable 1-11 seasons under Charley Molnar.

“Everything is just so alleviated,” linebacker Stanley Andre said. “The coaches are great, there’s a great bond between the coaches and teammates now. That’s something that we needed here. We all love each other. We’re just out here to win.”

The energy was contagious as UMass went in full pads for the first time this spring for Tuesday’s final 45 minutes. The hip-hop music that was blaring in the first half of practice was no longer neces-

sary as the sounds of players roaring, high-fiving and chest bumping after each big hit filled the stadium during the highly competitive, full contact team drills.

The players could sense something different, too.

“I’d say the mood of the team,” quarterback A.J. Doyle said when asked about the biggest difference between this spring camp compared to the last two under Molnar.

“Everyone’s excited, everyone’s ready to go.

“It’s definitely a fresh start.

I believe for everyone too,” he added. “Going 2-22 the last two years, it’s something no one wanted to do, but now we have a fresh start, new coaching staff and no one to blame

but ourselves. We know we’re ready to work and we’re ready to prove that.”

But with a new coaching staff comes a new system, and much to learn in a short period of time.

Whipple has already begun implementing his offensive scheme, which is a modernized version of the West Coast offense that is likely to mix some ace-back and two-back sets, and said he’s already seen some improvement in the first few practices.

The advanced playbook has been a significant adjustment for Doyle in particular.

He spent the last two seasons in Molnar’s spread offense, but so far has been under censee

PRACTICE on page 7

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

SOFTBALL

By JasoN kates

NICK CANELAS/COLLEGIAN

we all can be proud of and that provides a great experience for our student athletes.”

UMass is in the Atlantic 10 for all other sports except for hockey (Hockey East) and men’s lacrosse (Colonial Athletic Association).

The decision to leave the MAC ends the men’s basketball scheduling agreement that requires each team to play four MAC opponents.

10-4 loss on March 16 against Rutgers. The Minutewomen will look to their offensive trio of Quianna DiazPatterson, Taylor Carbone and Lindsey Webster to produce some runs offensively.

Carbone is tied with Webster for most home runs on the team with three, while DiazPatterson leads the team with a batting average of .400 and 20 hits.

Other than working on situational plays, Stefanoni would like to see her team play together as a unit and connect with each other on the field.

“We just need to work on playing more together and communication,” she said.

“The rest of it is really just a few balls dropping here and there in games that will turn it around.”

UMass will need to shut down the George Washington freshmen duo of Megan Linn and Bradleigh Breland, who are hitting .340 and .325, respectively.

In order for the Minutewomen to win this weekend, Stefanoni believes that it is all about her team staying in the moment and just enjoying themselves when they are playing.

“Honestly, relaxing and have fun is what it is for us,” she said. “Right now I think the team is caught up in the result of what we’ve been doing instead of the process. The result has been a loss unfortunately, and the process throughout the game isn’t what we feel could have gone either way. It’s as simple as relaxing and going out there and enjoying the moment and just playing the game.”

The first game of the doubleheader is set to begin at noon, with the second one scheduled for 2 p.m.

After dropping its first two conference games of the season, the Massachusetts softball team will head to George Washington this Saturday for a doubleheader.

The Minutewomen (3-14, 0-2 Atlantic-10) have had a week to prepare after Tuesday’s home opener versus Boston College was cancelled due to field conditions. They will be facing a Colonials (11-18-1, 0-2 A-10) team that has lost three out of their last four, and are also in search of their first conference victory.

Despite losing the last five games, UMass coach Kristi Stefanoni said her team rarely discusses their record and statistics, but rather focuses on how they can advance moving forward.

“We have this mentality with the team where we use the term ‘push it and move on’ which I think has really kept us focused on the future,” she said. “We spend maybe a day looking at video and going over things we need to get better at as the week progresses in preparation for a weekend conference series, and we move on.”

Stefanoni and her team has been hindered by bad weather conditions so far, which has affected their practice and game schedule.

“It’s difficult because the things we need to work on like situations on offense and defense, we can’t really do inside,” Stefanoni said.

“We don’t have the type of indoor facility where we can actually make a field and hit fly balls, so we try and get out as much as we can to work on things, but it’s tough when we have to work with 30 mile-per-hour winds.”

During its current five game skid, UMass has been Jason Kates can be reached outscored 30-17, including a at jkates@umass.edu.

BASEBALL

Minutemen look to continue momentum against Spiders By tyler Fiedler Collegian Staff

The Massachusetts baseball team will look to continue its positive momentum this weekend when it travels to Virginia to face Richmond and its powerful lineup.

The Minutemen (3-13, 2-1 Atlantic 10) have won two of their last three games but have struggled to maintain consistency this season. The Spiders (8-12-1, 1-2 Atlantic 10) meanwhile have gone

8-5-1 in their last 13 games after beginning the season 0-7.

Battling the difficult weather in Philadelphia, the Minutemen got their first A-10 wins of the season, taking two out of the three games against La Salle.

Previously, UMass struggled scoring, averaging 2.38 runs over its first 13 games.

Despite the early struggles, Minutemen coach Mike Stone saw improvement in his team’s series against La

Salle.

“We were finally able to get runners across and get some big hits from guys,” Stone said. “It is good to see the team coming around.”

While he feels like his team is improving, they have a tough test in an improved Richmond team this weekend.

“This team has been playing good baseball lately and it is going to be a tough weekend,” Stone said. “I know my guys will be ready to play

and hopefully we can build on the series win over La Salle.”

The Minutemen will have an opportunity to improve their execution against a tough Richmond pitching staff, which includes Zak Sterling and Zach Grossfeld.

Sterling has a 2.84 ERA in 31.2 innings of work, while Grossfeld has a 3.00 ERA in 21.0 innings.

UMass will counter with see

MOMENTUM on page 7

COLLEGIAN FILE PHOTO

UMass is projected to send Conor LeBlanc to the mound this weekend.