Massachusetts Daily Collegian: Apr. 2, 2014

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Minutemen return UMass to face BC after extended layoff

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Wednesday, April 2, 2014

GROWING SEASON

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UM Police Dept. holds active threat training workshops Officers teach ‘Get out, hideout, take out’

By Katherine GilliGan Collegian Correspondent

AVIVA LUTTRELL/COLLEGIAN

Student farmers Michelle Mandeau (left) and Zach Zeigler (middle), along with class instructor Amanda Brown (right), tend to transplants in the student farm greenhouse Monday.

Student farm sees notable expansion By aviva luttrell

W

Collegian Staff

ith spring arriving and the growing season about to begin, the Student Farming Enterprise at the University of Massachusetts is experiencing a bit of its own growth as well.

The farm, now entering its eighth season, has received six additional acres of land at the new Stockbridge Agricultural Learning Center on North Pleasant Street. With more land, the student farm can offer 25 more CSA shares to the campus community this fall.

“CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, but because we are on the University campus, we are Campus Supported Agriculture,” said junior Michelle Mandeau, a sustainable food and farming major and member of the student farm.

In addition to the CSA shares, the student farm sells produce to the UMass Dining Commons, studentrun businesses on campus such as Earthfoods Café and People’s Market, local Big Y supermarkets and at farmers’ markets.

Class instructor Amanda Brown explained that CSA shares work by

AVIVA LUTTRELL/COLLEGIAN

Members of the student farm will be selling transplants at a farmers’ market on the Goodell Lawn for three Fridays between April 11 and 25. having members pre-pay in the spring for a portion of the fall’s harvest.

“By paying us upfront, it allows us to be able to pay for things like seeds and supplies and labor costs,” Mandeau added.

Each share is typically

20 to 25 pounds of produce per week for 10 weeks from the beginning of September until the end of November, Brown said.

This year the farm will offer 75 shares, up from 50 last see

GROWTH on page 2

Serving the UMass community since 1890

The University of Massachusetts Police Department has been conducting active threat training workshops with groups and organizations on campus over the past month, including the Office of Information Technologies and the Student Government Association.

An active threat is defined as “any incident which creates an immediate threat or presents an imminent danger to the campus community,” according to UMPD. This includes active shooter-type incidents, a person carrying a knife or any other situation that could turn violent.

“We also include students with mental health distress,” UMPD Officer Brian Kellogg said. “We keep an eye out for kids to look out for, if their medication is too high or too low.”

The training is a 90-minute workshop that teaches students and staff how to react to an active threat. It includes a 20-minute video, a PowerPoint and a discussion at the end.

There are two different versions of the video.

“They’re almost identical videos – they use the same language and actions,” Kellogg said. The only difference, he said, is that one video pertains to a campus shooting, while the other is about an office shooting.

The video for students, titled, “When Lightning Strikes,” was “very helpful” to freshman SGA member Ryan Jancsy. “It gave you a visual idea of what to do when there’s a shooter,” he said.

The PowerPoint highlights different points of the

“The reality of the situation is that the police aren’t normally going to get there in time. People need to know what to do in the time between the police arriving and the time that the shooter is active.”

UMPD Officer Brian Kellogg video. “It goes through the video, and we make it particular to the University,” Kellogg said. “It gives people a sense of what to do.”

Kellogg also said that sometimes when two officers are presenting, one officer will leave and make note of different types of door locks and places to hide around the building where the presentation is taking place.

The content of the workshop revolves around how to assess what options one has if they are in a situation where an active threat is real.

“We call it ‘the outs.’

Get out, hideout, take out,” Kellogg said.

The first option is to attempt to get out of the situation, if possible. The second is to hide.

“We teach students how to lock doors, teach them to pull shades down and shut lights off,” Kellogg said.

“You are hiding in the room and doing your best to barricade it.”

However, sometimes the first two options don’t work out, Kellogg said. In that case, one has to attempt to take out the shooter.

Physical force is necessary see

TRAINING on page 2

Barra: Poor decisions in past Late healthcare signups do not reflect GM of today push tally beyond goal

Millions of vehicles have been recalled By todd SpanGler Detroit Free Press

WASHINGTON — General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Tuesday told a congressional subcommittee investigating a widening recall that while she could answer few specific questions about what happened, decisions made in previous years not to address the situation do not reflect GM’s current culture.

Barra, who has been CEO for less than three months, told the House Oversight and I nve s t i g at i o n s Subcommittee that even

she was troubled by reports that GM officials considered but rejected a solution to an ignition switch problem because of the “lead time required, cost and effectiveness.”

“I found that statement to be very disturbing,” said Barra. “That is unacceptable. That is not how we do business in today’s GM.” With Barra facing the glare of a congressional investigation for the first time, however - and with the company’s resurgent post-bankruptcy profits and reputation on the line - there was little she could tell members why it took GM more than a decade to link ignition switch issues with air bag deployment.

She revealed to the subcommittee that GM has hired Kenneth Feinberg, an attorney who helped settle victims’ claims from the World Trade Center attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; the BP Gulf Coast spill and the Boston Marathon bombing, to help chart a path forward in how GM could address consumer claims.

Over the past two months, GM has recalled 2.2 million Chevrolet Cobalts, Saturn Ions and similar vehicles, saying switches can be inadvertently jostled out of position, potentially disabling air bags in the event of a crash. The company has linked the defect to 13 see

GM RECALL on page 3

7 million Americans have now enrolled

victory lap and pep rally for administration officials, Democratic lawmakers and civilian volunteers who By tony puGh labored in support of the health law, despite a flawed and lindSay WiSe McClatchy Washington Bureau federal enrollment website, a skeptical public and stiff WASHINGTON — More political opposition from than 7 million Americans Republicans. have now enrolled in private While further challenges coverage on the nation’s remain, both politically and health insurance market- logistically, the unexpected places, thanks to a wave of success of the marketplace late signups that has pushed enrollment period helps the latest enrollment tally ensure that the president’s beyond the original goal signature legislation will set by the Congressional usher in one of the broadBudget Office. est expansions of national A fiery President Barack health coverage since the Obama made the formal Medicaid and Medicare announcement in a Rose programs were launched Garden ceremony Tuesday in 1965 and the Children’s afternoon that served as a Health Insurance Program

was established in 1997.

Through a combination of new marketplace insurance, coverage for adult children up to age 26 on their parents’ health plans and expanded eligibility for Medicaid, an estimated 9.5 million to 9.8 million uninsured Americans likely have gained health coverage under the law, said economist Katherine Carman of the RAND Corp., a nonprofit think tank in Santa Monica, Calif.

Those estimates will continue to grow, since Medicaid enrollment continues throughout the year and many states and the federal government are extending see

HEALTH CARE on page 3

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THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

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

In 1917, President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany, thereby allowing the United States to join World War I. Congress declared war on April 6, 1917.

AROUND THE WORLD NATO foreign ministers suspended civilian and military cooperation with Russia on Tuesday and ordered plans for bolstering defenses in Eastern Europe to show the Kremlin that it will protect allies in the region from any further Russian aggression, alliance sources told news agencies in Brussels.

In their first meeting since Russia occupied and annexed Ukraine’s Crimea territory, the top diplomats from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 28 member states closed ranks in unanimously voting to increase pressure on Moscow to cease massing troops on Ukraine’s border.

An alliance official who briefed reporters in the Belgian capital estimated that the number of Russian troops deployed to Ukraine’s eastern boundary at 35,000 to 40,000.

Los Angeles Times LONDON — The British government has launched a review of the Muslim Brotherhood amid reports that members of the Islamist group fled to the country after Egypt’s crackdown in order to plot strategy and possibly plan terrorist attacks, officials said Tuesday.

Prime Minister David Cameron has ordered Britain’s intelligence agencies, its embassies in the Middle East and outside experts to help the government better understand the group’s aims and activities and how those might affect British interests.

Los Angeles Times BEIRUT — Lebanese security forces on Tuesday took control of the restive northern city of Tripoli, driving out sectarian militias sympathetic to both sides of the civil war in Syria that had brought the city to the brink of chaos.

The Lebanese military deployed troops throughout embattled neighborhoods and arrested lower-ranking militia members. But it moved slowly enough that the top militia leaders were able to escape.

McClatchy Foreign Staff CARACAS, Venezuela — Grappling with scarcities of sugar, milk, cornmeal and other basic foods, the Venezuelan government Tuesday unveiled a new electronic identification system for shoppers that critics say is a modern version of a ration card. President Nicolas Maduro described it as a means of “safeguarding food sovereignty.”

The system will employ electronic fingerprint IDs similar to those used to identify Venezuelan voters to register shoppers who purchase goods at the staterun grocery chains Mercal, Bicentenario and PDVAL. Los Angeles Times Distributed by MCT Information Services

GROWTH

continued from page 1

season.

The student farm, which began selling CSA shares in 2009, is taking a new approach to promoting the program this year. Until May 1, members who take advantage of the Early Bird Special can save $25 by paying a total of $300 up front.

Otherwise, shares are $325.

A $100 deposit is due in May and the rest of the balance must be paid at the first CSA pickup in the fall.

This season, Brown said the payment process will also be more convenient.

“One really great thing we’re doing this year in addition to the Early Bird Special is now people can pay online with a credit card … whereas in the past you had to print out a registration form and send a check in the mail,” Brown said.

With more students in the class this year, Mandeau said the farm can grow more varieties of crops. The 12 students, who meet twice a week, will manage a total of 35 different crops.

Among their responsibilities are selecting varieties of crops, ordering seeds, figuring out how much land is needed to meet harvest goals and meeting with their markets to figure out how much of each crop they have to grow to meet the demand. Six students will also stay and work at the farm full time over the summer.

The student farmers will be planting on three acres of land at the South Deerfield farm and three acres of land at the Agricultural Learning Center. Last year, Brown said they grew on four-and-a-half acres in South Deerfield and averaged four tons of produce per acre.

“When the administration decided to create this Agricultural Learning Center, they put a call out to anybody who was interested in using any of the land, and we of course jumped right on that,” Brown said.

The Agricultural Learning Center will be

“We are kind of like the first folks who are going to be doing a lot out there.”

Amanda Brown, class instructor an outdoor laboratory for the farming, horticultural, nursery and landscape industries.

“We are kind of like the first folks who are going to be doing a lot out there,” Brown added.

Brown said that one of the best aspects of the new learning center is its close proximity to campus. She said a major appeal of farmers’ markets is that customers can actually meet the farmers, but they can also visit the farm to learn about production methods and growing practice.

“You can’t get much more local than that,” Brown said.

Student farmer Zach Ziegler, a freshman sustainable food and farming major, said that students are promoting the CSA shares with flyers around campus and on social media outlets like Facebook and Instagram.

Mandeau added that members of the student farm are also handing out business cards and tabling in Earthfoods Café. She said the response so far has been enthusiastic.

“As students in the community … you’re supporting your fellow students and you’re supporting the school and the program itself,” Mandeau said.

“We’re really dedicated to this enterprise and we want to be able to share what we’re doing with as many people as we can,” she added.

For three Fridays between April 11 and 25, the student farm will be selling transplants, including kale, spinach, Swiss chard and arugula, at a farmers’ market on the Goodell Lawn.

Aviva Luttrell can be reached at aluttrel@umass.edu and followed on

TRAINING

DailyCollegian.com

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in order to protect oneself, according to Kellogg.

Kellogg stressed that this part of the workshop wasn’t a self-defense class, though.

“We ask, ‘What would you do?’ We like to let the class tell us what they would do with physical force,” he said. “This helps keep the conversation moving forward. We don’t want to preach to them.”

Normally, the police officers give participants different scenarios and ask what the appropriate way to react is. One such scenario is what the students would do if the gun becomes loose.

“Most kids say they would pick it up and point

it at the shooter to keep him there, like in the movies,” Kellogg said. “However, we explain that they should only secure the gun. You don’t want to be standing there when the police pull up with a gun pointed at someone on the ground.”

The possibility of an active shooter at UMass is not very likely, according to Kellogg. “UMass is pretty far ahead of the curve,” he said. “The Dean of Students Office is on top of students who exhibit concerning behavior.”

Kellogg said these workshops are crucial.

“The reality of the situation is that the police aren’t normally going to get there

in time,” he said. “People need to know what to do in the time between the police arriving and the time that the shooter is active.”

Jancsy said that the workshop put into perspective how an active threat situation could become reality.

“You don’t really think about it happening to you,” he said. “You have to realize that 25,000 kids go here, and knowing what to do in the back of your mind is helpful for these kinds of situations.”

Katherine Gilligan can be reached at kgilligan@umass.edu.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

GM RECALL deaths and 31 crashes.

After hearing from Barra, the subcommittee was set to question David Friedman, the acting head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about why federal regulators didn’t act sooner. Friedman said in prepared testimony that GM withheld information from it that might have allowed it to pursue a recall at an earlier date - even though NHTSA in 2007 and 2010 considered opening probes.

Committee members hammered away at Barra on information that the supplier of the switch, Troy, Mich.-based Delphi, told GM as early as 2002 that the switches did not meet the company’s specifications yet it still accepted them.

“Why in the world would a company (like GM) purchase a part that did not meet its own specifications?” asked U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.

“I want to know that as much as you do,” Barra responded, saying it’s part of the company’s own internal investigation, led by former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas. “It’s not how we do business today.”

During another part of her testimony, however, Barra suggested that there are circumstances where a part or product doesn’t necessarily have to meet every specification to be useable

by GM, an answer Barton called “gobbledygook.”

HEALTH CARE

continued from page 1

Members also questioned why an engineer at the company, identified in documents released by the committee from Delphi as Ray DeGiorgio, signed off on a change in 2006 to the ignition switch, apparently without the knowledge of others at GM. Members also questioned why no one at the company has been laid off because of the widening recall.

While much of the questioning was polite, it was also dogged. Members of both parties continued to ask how GM - which knew there were issues with ignition switches as early as 2001 and preproduction of the Saturn Ion and even approved a change to those switches in 2006 - could have taken so long to order a widespread recall.

“Documents produced to the committee show that both NHTSA (the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and GM received complaints and data about problems with ignition switches and air bags. The complaints go back at least 10 years,” said U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., who chairs the full House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“A small spring inside the switch - a piece that cost pennies - failed to provide enough force, causing the switch to turn off when the car went over a bump,” added U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado, the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee. “GM knew

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

MCT

General Motors CEO Mary Barra testifies at a hearing on “The GM Ignition Switch Recall: Why Did It Take So Long?” on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. about this problem in 2001.

They were warned again and again over the next decade but did nothing.”

Earlier in the day, the families of people who lost loved ones in crashes involving the recalled vehicles held a news conference, asking that GM take all the cars off the road until they are fixed; GM has said they are safe to drive as long as drivers take all the weight off the keychain.

The company has also agreed to provide loaners if drivers are nervous about the vehicles. To date, some 13,000 loaners have been provided, Barra said.

New parts are supposed to become available this month with Delphi expected to add a third shift at a Mexican facility to produce them. But committee members said they still have concerns, especially because Delphi officials told staff investigators that

even after the 2006 change, the parts did not meet specifications.

“There’s a difference between a part that does not meet specifications and being defective,” said Barra.

Feinberg, meanwhile, could help the company determine what to do regarding potential claimants. GM is generally protected from liability claims for incidents before it went through bankruptcy in July 2009. That protection, however, could be limited if it can be shown GM officials knowingly hid the defects.

Families of those losing their lives have asked that a victims fund be established. GM has remained silent on that subject, but Barra said Feinberg will help “assess the appropriate next step.”

“We understand we have civic responsibilities as well as legal responsibilities,” she said. She added she expects Feinberg to take 30 to 60 days to report back.

“We’re going to work very hard to do the right thing for our customers,” she said.

marketplace enrollment beyond the official signup deadline of March 31.

“The Affordable Care Act hasn’t completely fixed our long-broken health care system,” Obama told the Rose Garden gathering. “But this law has made our health care system a lot better. A lot better.”

The enrollment milestone is the payoff of a lean but resourceful operation that deployed tools, tactics and metrics honed on the campaign trail to enroll as many people as possible over the last six weeks, according to senior administration officials.

The intensive outreach used local radio, Twitter, YouTube videos and celebrity endorsements from the likes of Miami Heat star LeBron James and singer Katy Perry, as well as 5,000 outreach events in community centers and churches.

The hope was to reach young people, minorities and moms, with special focus on states like Texas, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina with high rates of uninsured, and 25 cities with similarly high rates.

Efforts from health law support groups like Enroll America played an equally important role. The nonprofit organization and its staff of 27,000 volunteers and 2,300 partner organizations had one-on-one conversations with more than 635,000 consumers and held more than 22,000 enrollment events nationwide.

The success of their efforts became clear at 10:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday, when Obama learned that marketplace enrollments had reached the 7 million

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mark, even though revised projections from the nonpartisan CBO had anticipated only 6 million would sign up.

And after months of bad headlines, the new enrollment figures and growing public support for the Affordable Care Act should give a political lift to fretful congressional Democrats, who fear the health law could be an albatross in their re-election campaigns.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi downplayed any discord in the ranks about the contentious law, telling reporters outside the White House, “Nobody wants it to work better than those of us who fought for it. We’re not running on health care and we’re not running away from it.”

Republicans were unmoved by the numbers, noting that the White House still hasn’t answered questions about the enrollees, including how many have actually paid their premiums.

House Republicans said the figures don’t affect the pledge earlier this week of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to continue trying to repeal the law.

And Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said that “all across the country our constituents are having an unpleasant interaction with Obamacare.

Whether they can sign up for a policy or not, they are discovering, of course, higher premiums, a higher deductible. Many of them are losing their jobs and so it really is a catastrophe for the country both for the health care providers and the consumers.”

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“But the question is, are you still master of your domain?” - Jerry Seinfeld

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

An architecture of exclusion An hour’s drive south of the Pioneer Valley will lead you to a battlefield. Last fall, a group of transgender stu-

Brandon Sides dents at Wesleyan University tore down gendered bathroom signs and replaced them with ones that read, “All Gender Restroom.” The incident sparked a campuswide debate, fines from the Student Judicial Board and mixed reactions from alumni. On college campuses across the country, student activists are dismantling what Sheila Cavanagh dubs an “architecture of exclusion,” more commonly known as gendered bathrooms.

Wesleyan, nicknamed “Diversity University,” is a college like no other. The school introduces gender-neutral pronouns at new student orientation, and it doesn’t take much to incite campus-wide protests. Just last year, for example, students marched to support the rights of cafeteria employees and custodians. Despite the school’s accepting culture, a few activists who call themselves the “Pissed Off Trans* People” haven’t felt a warm welcome. One student bluntly states that they can’t study at the school’s library because of its gendered restrooms. Another has been threatened with violence from their peers. These students believe that “gendersegregated bathrooms create uncomfortable and potentially dangerous situations for trans and gender-variant presenting people.”

In line with the school’s progressive spirit, they’ve decided to move the issue to the foreground of the community’s attention. But what does it say about contemporary queer rights when these activists – students at one of the country’s most progressive universities – feel the need to tear down bathroom signs to get their peers and administrators to pay attention? For starters, it means that the further you get from “Diversity University,” the worse things get.

Gender divisions don’t just hide in our pronouns, and they don’t merely tuck themselves away in marketing. They’re produced even by the designs of our public buildings. If you don’t adhere to the gender binary, expect stares, verbal insults and even violence when out in public. More than half of

a nation-wide survey’s transgender respondents report receiving verbal harassment and mistreatment in public accommodations. Twentynine percent report harassment or disrespect from police officers.

When a non-transgendered person enters a gender-neutral bathroom, they may experience discomfort.

When a transgendered person enters a gendered bathroom, they experience fear of public shaming, verbal harassment, anger, insults,

the gender-neutral solution is that it’s just too uncomfortable. We’ve been in gendered bathrooms our whole lives, after all. At a recent forum held at Wesleyan, a student-run blog transcribed a student’s experience with a gender-neutral bathroom.

“It was uncomfortable at the time, but it’s something that I got used to,” the student said.”

The leader of a focus group at the University of Washington pushed for the reasons behind this popular discomfort over g e n d e r- n e u t r a l accommodations.

More than any other reason, her participants cited their intuitions.

One respondent, for example, could only produce a noise of unease when toying with the possibility of using gender-neutral bathrooms. Given these intuitive objections, the author remarked that “the segregated public bathrooms stands in for gender itself … and threats to segregation represent threats to the recognition of gender differences – a recognition to which many people retain powerful commitments.” The architecture of exclusion receives such widespread support because it serves to perpetuate gender differences we’d rather obey than question.

But I’m asking you to question those differences, and it doesn’t require anything radical. When transgender students pay to support the library’s budget, they should be allowed to borrow books and study in the same building. When a McDonald’s customer orders some chow, they shouldn’t expect a razor blade in the face. The most extreme solution would be to convert all restrooms to gender-neutral status. But I get it – we love our sacred gender binary too much.

I hope you’ll at least agree with a modest request – the added option of a genderneutral bathroom alongside the traditional pair of men’s and women’s. Violence, discomfort and harassment would decrease, and a consistently mistreated segment of the population could finally pee in peace. Consider adding a gender-neutral alternative to your normally scheduled, gendered lifestyle. It might just save a few lives.

“Gender divisions don’t just hide in our pronouns, and they don’t merely tuck themselves away in marketing.

They’re produced even by the designs of our public buildings.”

violence and even death. At such sites, people comfortably inside the gender binary feel the right to police anyone who doesn’t fit the mold.

According to the Massachusetts Commission on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth Equal Access Bill, one transgender youth wondered at a recent hearing, “Which bathroom do I go to? … If I go to the women’s, then my friends are asking me, ‘Why are you going to that one?

Aren’t you a boy?’ If I go to the men’s, then they’re going to look at me. ‘Aren’t you a girl? You look like a girl.’”

Those are comments from friends, but when they’re from strangers they’re often worse. Just ask Jalisa Griffen and her boyfriend, who were told they were “going to the wrong bathroom” at a local McDonald’s. The customer called them “f *****g f *****s” before slashing one in the face and body with a razor.

At the mere thought of using gender-neutral bathrooms, a non-transgendered person may express discomfort. Such a feeling seems perfectly reasonable, since Americans take gendered bathrooms for granted. In 1887, Massachusetts passed the first law of its kind, one that separated men and women into their respective public bathrooms. Though uncommon before the 19th century, such regulations became the norm when other states passed similar laws in the 1920s and 30s. To this day, plumbing regulations in Massachusetts limit the number of gender-neutral bathrooms a building Brandon Sides is a Collegian columcan have. nist and can be reached at bsides@ A common objection to umass.edu.

Editorial@DailyCollegiancom

Reminiscing over the past four years at UMass When I hopped out of my parents’ car and moved into a charming dorm

Katie McKenna room on the third floor of Butterfield, it seemed as if May 2014 were a fictional date in the impossibly far future.

Think about the day you moved into college and chances are you can remember yours as well as I remember mine. My little brother roamed the halls with strangers I would soon call friends as he placed my blue blanket atop his head and announced, “Hello, I’m Marge Simpson.” My dad swore like a sailor trying to move my bed up a few hinges.

We were off to a good start.

Franklin Dining Commons provided me the first of countless pasta noodles as I walked in its endless circles, only trying to figure out which side had the dish return, a mistake I admittedly continue to make four years later.

Later I’d roam our overwhelming but still perfectly organized University of Massachusetts campus to find Bartlett Hall, the only building on campus that is old and quirky enough to host its equally old and quirky journalism and English students – not any older in age, but in our souls and interests. I like to think we appreciate the essence of aging and the meaning of time, books, stories and histories.

Besides that one journalism class with Mary Carey, my freshman year at UMass consisted of general education courses that everyone told me I’d ace because of how easy they were to complete. But I struggled with them, compiling the lowest GPA I’d have in my time at

UMass. I took college writing with a man who wore a bandana around his forehead and, after reading a story about my childhood, commented, “WOW, jaded much?”

Upon making new friends, people sometimes told me, “You’re harsh,” and other times told me, “You’re sweet.” Comments like, “You act like a kid” and, “You act like an elderly person” have never been so equally distributed to one person until my time at UMass.

The rest of my freshman year followed a similar pattern of constant discovery, and although it was likely – almost definitely – one of the more embarrassing years of my life, it marked the start of a new reality.

During the next couple years, I had a series of adventures, whether it was living on the 24-hour-quiet floor in Brooks my sophomore year, or what seemed

ing pasta for every meal, only most of them. I no longer need a map to get around, unless I am somewhere north of the Campus Center in that totally foreign, science section of campus. My freshman year flip phone has morphed into a phone I sometimes believe to be smarter than I am.

Bartlett Hall remains, though not for long, as it’s rumored to be taken down after the end of this year, waiting just for me to stay goodbye. Butterfield sits at the very top of everything, at the highest point on campus, the oldest and first UMass dormitory holding its place, and my memories, as well as ever.

And although Franklin has made its own advances in updates and renovations, it still feels like home.

Some friendships have stayed, and the ones that weren’t meant to be have passed. I guess that’s a big lesson in the everchanging world of college. We have to trust in the art of letting things go, because like a great song, or an interesting read, the best things will find a way of sticking around.

It was some time ago in the past four years, when Bob Dylan preached to me, “Everything passes, everything changes, just do what you think you should do.”

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned over the past four years at UMass, it’s that everything passes, and everything changes.

Bartlett will turn to dust. Technology will fade, friends will move to far off places, but your heart, whether it’s left on the third floor of Butterfield or somewhere north of the Campus Center, will always be yours.

“I guess that’s a big lesson in the ever-changing world of college.

We have to trust in the art of letting things go.”

like a 24-hour-party-floor in Ireland the following, it was the college roller coaster I’d always dreamed of.

The sounds on my college soundtrack consist of Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” scratching on a record player, blaring beats off the city streets of Southwest, coffee grinders in Rao’s, elevator dings in the library and I’ll be damned if I didn’t hear one more “stop requested” from the PVTA. I’m no longer in that charming room on the third floor of Butterfield, no longer taking those general education classes and very rarely in Franklin, though I do like to pay it a visit if Katie McKenna is a Collegian only for the nostalgic value columnist and can be reached at it brings. I’m no longer eat- kemckenn@umass.edu.

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Arts Living THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

“What you call ‘love’ was invented by guys like me, to sell Nylons.” - Don Draper

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Arts@DailyCollegian.com

FILM REVIEW

Scotch, suits and speculation ‘Bad Words’ is Bateman’s An exploration of best performance to date ‘Mad Men’ theories A blue ribbon in acting, not writing

By AlexA Hoyle Collegian Staff

On April 13, “Mad Men” returns for the first half of its seventh – and final – season on AMC. The show has been lauded for years and continues to be one of the great tour de forces of nuanced emotion on television.

Any great show has passionate fans, including “Mad Men.” Over the years fans have generated theories upon theories about how the series will end. So with the final season approaching, it seems only right to explore some of these theories, from the fantastical to the more realistic, because on a show this vague who knows how it all could end.

One of the more prevalent theories making the rounds these days is that Don Draper (Jon Hamm), “Mad Men’s” anti-hero, will end the series by becoming D.B. Cooper. Cooper, of course, is the stuff of legends. In 1971, Cooper, with his perfectly pressed suit and calm demeanor, hijacked a plane and stole $200,000. He didn’t hurt anyone, allowed passengers to leave the plane before he commanded it toward Seattle, and then he was gone. He mysteriously vanished from the plane before it landed in Seattle, and the attendants and pilots saw nothing since he locked them in the cockpit. It’s a story that’s been told and retold in popular culture many times – so could “Mad Men” be another retelling of an “origin story,” if you will?

Don’s penchant for alternative identities and the prevalence of planes in the last few seasons, combined

By Alex FrAil Collegian Staff

MCT

“Mad Men” has won the Golden Globe for Best Drama Series three times. with his symbolic unraveling last season, may equate to a big reveal – possibly one of mythological proportions.

While far-fetched theories like that are always fun, there are a few more plausible theories floating around. One such theory is that Peggy and Joan, the underappreciated but absolutely necessary women in the office, will start their own ad agency. This is the kind of theory that one hopes is not theoretical. For seasons we’ve seen Peggy’s ascent at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (and before that at Sterling Cooper), and we’ve seen how even with success she still finds her efforts undermined by the men around her.

Joan has been placed in a similar situation. She is the glue that keeps the agency together and an undeniably intelligent cog in the machine. Despite this, though, she is constantly disrespected by the men at the agency, many of whom still treat her like a secretary. As the show shifts into the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, the peak of the woman’s movement, it would be quite probable for Peggy and Joan to try their luck elsewhere. And hey, maybe they can get their own spi-

noff because who wouldn’t watch that?

One last theory that may prove to be the most likely is that Don dies. For the last few seasons we’ve seen Mr. Draper preoccupied with death as it has touched his life continually. He lost a colleague to suicide and was almost a goner himself last season when he nearly drowned in a pool. Is the figure falling out a building in the shows familiar intro really Don? It’s certainly within the realm of possibility that Don’s lifestyle will catch up to him in some way by the end of the series. Could that way be in the form of death?

Creator Matthew Weiner has crafted a show built on illusions and mystery, making it an attractive outlet for a theorist. With episode descriptions such as “Don makes a difficult decision” it’s hard not to fill in the blanks yourself. Only time will tell where Don and the ones around him will end up, but here’s to hoping the series finale manages to surpass the breadth of theories that surround the show.

Alexa Hoyle can be reached at ahoyle@umass.edu.

Who doesn’t love Jason Bateman? His career spans a long list of hilarious roles, from the straight-laced Michael Bluth to an employee pushed to the edge in “Horrible Bosses.”

In nearly every movie, he’s a relatable everyman you can’t help but adore, which is why his part in “Bad Words” is so jarring.

His character, Guy Trilby, is an introverted grouch with a tongue that would make Tony Soprano blush.

“Bad Words,” Bateman’s directorial debut, tells the travails of Trilby, a man with a layered past that has left him an obnoxious loner.

He’s a man with no friends and a reservoir of lacerating insults he hurls at anyone who looks at him sideways.

Trilby enters a national spelling bee through a loophole that makes him eligible to compete against 9 and 10-year-olds.

From the first scene, in which he deflects a friendly advance from a spelling bee parent, you know this guy is no good. Nearly every word he spews is venom.

At times, Trilby’s lines are unsettling. Even the amiable Bateman fails to turn all the bad words into the hilarious jokes the movie wants them to be. Some bad words are better left unsaid.

Not all of these comments come too coarsely, however.

As Trilby warily lets down his guard around Chaitanya (Rohan Chand, a promising newcomer), he teaches the overly regimented boy that more often than not, words are just words. Sometimes

it’s OK to use bad words, Trilby argues. He explains how swearing can release pent up frustration, and so long as they’re not used to harm others, these words can actually help us. At these times, Trilby’s logic gains clarity.

One of the most repeated words of “Bad Words” is why. Why is this brilliant man slashing the dreams of young children? Why is he so angry at the world? Why take out his anger at a spelling bee, of all places?

Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn) serves as the audience’s delegate to Trilby as a reporter and his sponsor who digs into his past.

Andrew Dodge’s script doesn’t reveal an original secret, and I’m not sure it truly justifies Trilby’s conquest. It might soften Trilby for some viewers, but I often felt that he was a jerk throwing a tantrum because the world has never listened to him.

The bitter protagonist would have been detestable if not for Bateman’s portrayal. Even when Trilby fends off his countless critics with a merciless mouth, Bateman fills his eyes with a sense of loss that’s impossible to miss. His scenes with Chaitanya are pure fun, even if they stray off course in amorality (Trilby liquors up the 10-year-old for a night of law-breaking).

Despite these flaws, Trilby is actually one of my favorite Bateman roles. Trilby isn’t as subtle as Michael Bluth, nor is he as sympathetic as Bateman’s soul-searching father in “Juno.” This role is more in line with his introvert from “The Switch,” a criminally under-watched comedy. As in that film, Bateman’s delivery conceals a well of melancholy with

dry humor. Trilby is more complex than any of those roles, and far more unlikable, making for Bateman’s finest acting to date.

Bateman’s performance reaches new heights as he lowers Trilby’s guard around Chaitanya. We see the troubled childhood that stunted Trilby’s growth.

In many ways, he’s still a 10-year-old like Chaitanya, trapped in an aging body belied by his maturity. That he can’t escape his body is Trilby’s tragedy.

The direction plays out more smoothly than one could expect from a firsttime director. The style, the camerawork, the movie itself are all superior to Dodge’s coarse script. Bateman colors each frame with a muted palette of warm gold and yellow, like the sheen of a burnished trumpet. For a low budget comedy, “Bad Words” boasts some beautiful shots.

The theater will be a chorus of uneasy laughter, oscillating between guffaws and headshaking, but “Bad Words” won’t fail to entertain. It offers a wealth of cringe-worthy moments with the unrestrained Trilby, gives newcomer Rohan Chand the chance to shine and contains Bateman’s finest work.

A clever tagline states, “The end justifies the mean.”

By the end, that’s still up for debate. I’m not sure Trilby’s motivations do justify his cruelty, but perhaps that’s the uneven script’s greatest asset. The story turns Trilby into an interesting, albeit polarizing, protagonist. It’s no comedic classic, but you’ll come away glad you saw it.

That is, if you can endure the barrage of bad words.

Alex Frail can be reached at afrail@ umass.edu.

TELEVISION

Recent trends revive a classic genre from TV’s Golden Age The return of the anthology series

By Alex FrAil Collegian Staff

The recent success of “American Horror Story” and “True Detective” heralds the return of the anthology TV series. Both shows have managed to attract critical acclaim and high ratings throughout its runs on FX and HBO, respectively. Now more networks are greenlighting anthology shows for this year.

Anthologies are unique programs, but they’re nothing new to TV. They began in the 1950s Golden Age of TV and reserve one plot for each season. In other words, Season 1 tells an entirely different story than Season 2, linked only by an overlapping theme like horror or mystery. A few variations exist, like the most famous anthology, “The Twilight Zone,” which shrank each story to just one episode.

Before TV even existed, anthology programs enjoyed widespread popularity on the radio. In those days, horrors and sci-fi dominated the genre. Later on, programs like 1963’s “Espionage” focused on social commentary during the Cold War and exacerbated paranoia regarding the Soviet Bloc.

After a few decades of waning popularity, anthologies appear to be on a comeback tour. “American Horror Story” sparked the revival, for which “True Detective” carries the torch.

This year has an adaptation of the Coen brothers’ “Fargo” in the works, as well as a British comedy “Inside No. 9,” which has been generating some overseas buzz.

Since an average season has about 13 episodes (or only eight, in “True Detective’s” case), the anthology season demands good writing. Mysteries can’t grow out of hand. Subplots can’t take over, which happens too often in long-running shows. Both “American Horror Story” and “True Detective” exemplify these assets of anthology TV. Nic Pizzolatto wrote “True Detective’s” first season alone in his garage, compulsively plastering notes all over his walls as his hero Rust Cohle does in the show.

His work graced the first season with a uniform tone and mesmerizing characters.

Some episodes were better than others, but all of them enjoyed consistency.

“American Horror Story’s” first season was chock full of intrigue. Who was the Rubber Man? What’s up with that old maid? Or wait, she’s a young maid?

Why is Denis O’Hare creep-

ing in the garden?

These mysteries, however far out there they might have seemed, were never too fargone because the writers had only 12 episodes to wrap it all up. The byzantine plot can never stray farther than what one season can reign back in. Think of the mess that “Lost” became once the island’s riddle escaped the writers’ ability to crack it.

“American Horror Story” was a ton of fun, and the ending solved each riddle.

The short engagement tends to attract far bigger names than other shows that last several years. Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Michelle Monaghan, all highly pursued film stars, led the brilliant cast of “True Detective’s” first season.

Watching them inhabit a role for more than just a twohour film was a real treat.

Each actor got to know his or her character more. The format resulted in some of the best work of their careers.

The anthology does possess one letdown, something I call the brevity factor. As brilliant as anthology characters can be, they leave us after only a few episodes.

In British anthologies like “Black Mirror,” characters vanish after only one episode. Cohle and Hart were two of the best characters to grace our TVs this past year,

MCT

The most recent season of “American Horror Story” centered around a witch’s coven in Louisiana. but now they’re gone. After just eight hours (and what an eight hours they were), we won’t get to see the true detectives anytime soon.

In interviews, however, Pizzolatto has said that he maintained the rights to the “True Detective” characters. So the door might not be closed on our battered heroes. Who knows, they might upgrade to the silver screen in the coming years.

Perhaps the anthology’s greatest strength can also be its Achilles’ heel. Since it is so short, writers must dive into their characters imme-

diately or risk a lopsided season, one with a rocky first half that never finds its footing and a second half that irons out the wrinkles only to end too soon. A whole season could be a waste.

A classic like “Breaking Bad” found its stride as it grew, obtaining its legendary status during Walt’s endgame. What if we had only that first season? The writers were still trying to find their characters and to define what show “Breaking Bad” would be. Heisenberg might have ended up just a blip on the pop culture radar.

With the commercial and critical success of “American Horror Story” and “True Detective,” the anthology is on its way back to relevance. The anthology attracts excellence in writing and consistency, not to mention a few A-list names that would otherwise avoid the small screen. It’s a unique and enjoyable experience, at once more urgent than other TV and more intimate than film.

Alex Frail can be reached at afrail@ umass.edu.

6

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

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YALE

WOODS

continued from page 8

Yale, Stefanoni is expecting a good matchup for both sides.

“On paper we look rather similar, stat-wise it could go either way,” she said.

“I’m expecting a tough matchup against them,” she added. “I know their head coach and she is great at what she does. She has been turning their program around and I expect them to bring their best to us, and us to bring our best to them.”

The Minutewomen must watch out for the Bulldogs’ Tori Balta and Hannah Brennan. Balta leads the team in hits (20) and doubles (6) while Brennan leads the team in RBIs (7).

Yale’s primary pitcher, Lindsay Efflandt, has had a strong season despite hav-

CASSIDY

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN FILE

Quianna Diaz-Patterson (batting) leads UMass’ offensive attack. ing a 0-7 record. She has an ERA of 2.39, which leads the Ivy League.

The first game of the doubleheader is scheduled

continued from page 8

Cassidy finally participated fully in winter workouts this offseason. He’s already appeared in four games for UMass this year and is back to throwing in the mid-toupper 80s.

But Wednesday marks a big milestone for Cassidy.

Against Boston College, he’ll start his first game for the Minutemen in over two years.

It’s just the second start of Cassidy’s career. In his previous start on March 21, 2012 against Monmouth, Cassidy threw five innings, allowing one earned run while ultimately taking the loss in a 2-1 setback for UMass.

“Pitching against a team that won their division, you want to prove you can handle pitching at that level.

Although we lost, I felt I showed potential.” Cassidy said.

Cassidy will have to bring a similar effort against the Eagles. Playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of the elite baseball conferences in the nation, BC is battle-tested and playing its first game at home all season.

“They have a tradition of success and I am very excited to pitch against them,” he said.

Cassidy feels ready for the challenge and noted the importance of earning another opportunity to start. After a year of painful rehab, he is also grateful.

“I’m very excited,” Cassidy said.

“I put in so much work to get back to this point and to finally come full circle is a very, satisfying feeling.”

Ross Gienieczko can be reached at rgieniec@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Ross Collegian.

to start at 3 p.m. at Sortino Field.

Matthew Zackman can be reached at mzackman@umass.edu.

RETURN continued from page 8

“And (then) our offense can back him up.”

UMass has struggled on the road to begin the year, going 2-10. First pitch against the Eagles is scheduled for 3 p.m.

Returning home The Minutemen will play their first home game this upcoming weekend when conference foe Dayton visits Earl Lorden Field. The team has been subjected to a difficult stretch of weather conditions to start the season, but are excited to finally play at home.

“We finally get our first home game and I know our players are looking forward to that,” Stone said.

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

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

7

continued from page 8

Invitational. It wasn’t, and Woods withdrew from that event – where he was twotime defending champion – on March 18, two days before it began.

At that time he expressed hope he would be ready for the Masters. His agent, Mark Steinberg, told The Palm Beach Post on Monday that his Masters status would be clarified “very, very shortly.”

Earlier in the same interview, Steinberg made it clear that Woods plans to remain competitive for years to come.

“I don’t think Tiger is anywhere near interested in handing off the mantle,” Steinberg said. “He has every intention of being dominant the next several

years.”

Golf Channel analyst Notah Begay, a former college teammate of Woods’ at Stanford who was forced to retire from the PGA Tour two years ago due to his own back issues, said on air that he had spoken to Woods about his situation.

“Back pain just kind of escalates, and the nerves get agitated, and as the spine is rotating, rep after rep and week after week, it eventually gets to the point where it begins to develop compensations in the swing.

“Getting rid of the pain and getting the back strong, which I am 100 percent confident he is going to be able to do, is of the utmost importance right

now.”

A microdiscectomy is a procedure in which an incision from 1 to 1{ inches long is made in the lower back and the problematic disc, which Dr. Heck described as a “shock-absorbing cushion” between the vertebrae is addressed.

“Think of the disc as a doughnut with jelly inside and a tough outside, and herniation is where the jelly comes out of the doughnut. When it comes out, it pushes on the nerve, which results in back, buttock or leg pain.”

He added, “Golf involves a lot of twisting and turning. The often overlooked part is golfers have a lot of back problems.”

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Sports@DailyCollegian.com

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SOFTBALL

BASEBALL

WORTH THE WAIT

UM hosts Bulldogs

Cassidy returns to mound

Doubleheader marks UMass’ season opener

By MaTThew zackMan Collegian Staff

It’s been more than 10 days since the Massachusetts softball team last played a game. After losing a pair to Saint Louis, the Minutewomen will open up their home schedule in a doubleheader against Yale on Wednesday.

Though the Minutewomen (3-14) have lost nine of their last 10 games, the Bulldogs (3-17) have been struggling as well, as they have lost 10 straight games.

UMass coach Kristi Stefanoni made it clear that the coaching staff is preparing for this game just like they would prepare for any other game despite the long layoff.

“Unfortunately we have yet to go out on our dirt,” Stefanoni said. “The way that we have been preparing has still been in our gym. We have been hitting in the cage, and taking ground balls on the gym floor. We will go out on the turf and hit fly balls.”

While the cancellations have put Stefanoni’s team at a disadvantage, she believes that her team’s mentality is in a very good place despite the extended time away from game action.

“They are very anxious and have been very gritty and tenacious at practice,” she said.

“They’re definitely ready and they’re very excited. I have gotten text messages all day, ‘Coach are we still on, are we still going to play?’”

Stefanoni emphasized that there are other teams hit by cancellations and uneven practice schedules. However, she noted that “not having played a game since Saint Louis has been difficult.”

UMass will look to junior shortstop Quianna Diaz-Patterson to ignite its offensive attack, as she leads the team in both hits and batting average.

Fellow infielder Taylor Carbone, who has six hits in her last 11 at-bats, will also look to continue her hot streak for the Minutewomen.

As for the doubleheader with see

YALE on page 7

By Ross Gienieckzo Collegian Staff

COURTESY UMASS ATHLETICS

Tim Cassidy (above) will start for UMass against Boston College. He missed all of last season with a right hip injury.

UMass set to face Boston College

By TyleR FiedleR Collegian Staff

The Massachusetts baseball team hopes to rebound from a weekend sweep at the hands of Richmond on Wednesday as it travels to Boston College to face a struggling Eagles team.

UMass (3-16) struggled against the Spiders, halting any momentum gained from its first series win of the season against La Salle two weekends ago. The Minutemen are losers of four straight and eight out of their last 10 games.

BC (7-18, 1-11 Atlantic Coast Conference) enters the game on a six-game losing streak and has lost 15 of its last 16 contests. The Eagles have scored more than two runs just once over that span and have averaged a miniscule 1.6 runs per game over their past 10 games.

Despite BC’s offensive struggles, Minuteman coach Mike Stone believes this game will not be an easy one for UMass.

“We have to come out ready to a good, solid ballgame,” Stone said.

“We need to be ready and cannot overlook a good ACC team.”

The Minutemen have a chance

“We have to come out ready to a good, solid ballgame.

We need to be ready and cannot overlook a good ACC team.”

Mike Stone, UMass coach to end their losing streak against a vulnerable opponent.

“We need to make things happen offensively and execute our game plan,” Stone said. “The pitching is going to have to be good.”

BC ranks last in the ACC in hitting, compiling a team batting average of .227. It also ranks last with just three home runs and 71 RBIs. Logan Hoggarth leads the Eagles with a .276 average while Tom Bourdon leads the team with 12 RBIs. The Eagles pitching staff has struggled this season as well, combining for a 4.26 ERA which ranks 11th out of 14 teams in the ACC. Opponents are hitting .254 against the BC staff.

“The Eagles have struggled,” Stone said. “But we cannot overlook them, we have to fight.”

UMass also finds itself struggling offensively, posting a team average of .226, good for second to last in the Atlantic 10. In past seasons, the

Minutemen have relied almost exclusively on “small-ball” offense and manufacturing runs. But they’ve already belted eight home runs this season, the fifth most in the conference.

Freshman Mike Geannelis has been the driving force for the Minutemen. He leads the team with a .333 average and hit his first collegiate home run this past weekend against the Spiders.

The Minutemen also rank in the bottom half of the Atlantic 10 in pitching. They have a combined 5.92 ERA and an A-10-low 85 strikeouts.

Redshirt sophomore Tim Cassidy is scheduled to make his first start of the season for the Minutemen. He has appeared in four games and has allowed eight runs in 7.2 innings of work.

“Hopefully (Cassidy) can give us some solid innings,” Stone said. see

RETURN

GOLF

on page 7

It’s been a long journey back to the rubber for the Massachusetts baseball team’s Tim Cassidy.

As a freshman in 2012, Cassidy pitched sparingly out of the bullpen, compiling just 9.2 innings of work. He started just one game and was relegated to the bench after a few tough appearances out of the bullpen. Going into his sophomore campaign, Cassidy was excited to improve and optimistic he would have the chance to contribute to the UMass pitching staff.

He never got the chance.

Cassidy suffered a torn labrum in his right hip near the end of winter workouts, not long before the season was scheduled to begin. The injury prematurely ended his season and he received a medical redshirt.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound right hander from Swampscott was devastated.

“I worked so hard to get prepared for the year,” Cassidy said.

“To pull up short like that so close to the season was one of the worst feelings imaginable.”

Instead of continuing his development as a pitcher, Cassidy was stuck watching from the bench.

“It’s absolutely frustrating being on the sidelines when you feel like you can contribute,” he said.

“All I wanted to do was get back out on the field.”

Cassidy’s rehab was intense.

Starting immediately after surgery, he underwent physical therapy seven days a week, starting out with light stretching so he could start walking again.

Two weeks after surgery, he was put on a machine to help him regain movement in his hip. For the next three weeks, Cassidy was on the machine six hours a day. He didn’t start throwing until the 2013 season was already over.

After being limited in fall ball, see

CASSIDY on page 7

HOCKEY

Woods shelved with back injury Prized recruit Pinched nerve ends Masters bid

By BRian BiGGane Palm Beach Post

Four-time Masters champion Tiger Woods is out of next week’s first major of the season after undergoing surgery on a disc in his back.

And he could be off the course for weeks or even months.

Wo o d s ’ we b s i t e announced Tuesday that he had “undergone a successful microdiscectomy for a pinched nerve that has been hurting him for several months.”

The surgery was performed in Park City, Utah,

by Dr. Charles Rich, a neurosurgeon.

Woods will require rest and rehabilitation for the next several weeks, putting in doubt whether he will defend his title May 8-11 at The Players Championship at TPC-Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra or be able to play in

the U.S. Open, which is June 12-15 in Pinehurst, N.C. “On average, elite athletes are back on the field in three to four months,” said Dr. Andrew Hecht, Chief of Spine Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. “Of those, 90 percent can ultimately return to their previous level of competition.

“How long it will take for him to get back to No. 1 in the world, no one can answer,” Hecht added. “It could be a few months more.”

Woods has played in the Masters every year since first appearing as an amateur in 1995. He exploded onto the golf scene with his first major win there in 1997 and also won in 2001, ‘02 and ‘05. It is the only major he has never missed since his first.

Woods, 38, struggled with what was termed back spasms at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, withdrawing after playing 13 holes of his final round March 2. He then addressed the issue at a news con-

decommits from UMass, flips to BU By nick canelas Collegian Staff

MCT

Tiger Woods will miss the Masters for the first time since 1995. ference before the WGCCadillac Championship three days later.

“It’s the nature of repetitive sport,” he said. “Some guys do it a thousand times a day, but it’s the same exact motion. So you have repetitive injuries and most of my injuries are that.

“So that’s ... why we lift, why we work out, is to try to prevent a lot of these things and keep us healthy and keep us out here.

“As we get older – and

I’ve learned it as I’ve aged – I don’t quite heal as fast as I used to. I just don’t bounce back like I used to. That’s just part of aging.”

Woods, who has remained No. 1 in the world despite his difficulties, was clearly in pain that week at Doral, saying afterward that he hoped that having two weeks prior to his next event would be sufficient time to be healthy again for the Arnold Palmer see

WOODS

on page 7

The Massachusetts hockey team has lost another highly anticipated recruit this offseason as former Catholic Memorial standout Liam Coughlin has decommitted from the program and has chosen to commit to Boston University, according to multiple reports Tuesday afternoon.

Coughlin committed to UMass in October, but, according to Mike McMahon of College Hockey News, chose to decommit about three weeks ago. The 19-year-old South Boston native will join BU this fall.

Coughlin is the second recruit to decommit from UMass after Jake Wahlin, brother of Minutemen freshman Brandon Wahlin, backed out of his commit-

Coughlin is the second recruit to decommit from UMass after Jake Wahlin, brother of Minutemen freshman Brandon Wahlin, backed out of his committment two weeks ago. ment two weeks ago.

A 6-foot-3, 185-pound forward, Coughlin scored 45 points on 18 goals and 27 assists with the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers last season.

The Daily Free Press first reported the news via Twitter.

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