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IN THE SWING OF THINGS PAGE 8
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Tuesday, April 8, 2014
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Freedom Seder celebrates unity Guests take part in multicultural event By CeCilia Prado Collegian Correspondent
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Dale K hypnotizes a group of students in an event sponsored by UPC.
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Different cultures, religions and backgrounds gathered in the Campus Center at the University of Massachusetts to commemorate Nelson Mandela and the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the 16th Annual Freedom Seder on Monday night. The celebration was organized by the Black Student Union, the Muslim Students Association, the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Hillel, the Baha’i Club and the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. Its purpose was to bring members of different groups together to commemorate several modern liberation struggles and create a sense of unity. Though it did not target
“It is a good thing when people from different backgrounds, cultures, and creeds come together in a positive, respectful way.” Larry Goldbaum, director of the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life a specific belief, the program’s format was based on the themes of the Jewish Passover Seder. During the Seder, the guests participated in a series of rituals that ranged from eating traditional symbolic foods, singing songs, storytelling and poetry reading; followed by an international buffet and live music by Moonlight Davis. see
SEDER on page 2
SGA approves four new Oscar Pistorius testifies at motions and tables one murder trial and apologizes Funds allocated for conference By PatriCk Hoff Collegian Staff
The University of Massachusetts Student Government Senate approved four motions on Monday, including allocating money to the Women in Media Conference, the creation of an Undergraduate Experience Committee and a special order to appoint a new Orchard Hill Area Government governor. The Senate also tabled an amendment of the bylaws for elections after 30 minutes of discussion, clarifying what resources are allowed to be used and where finances are allowed to come from. The Administrative Affairs committee moved around several sections and reworded others, according to Administrative Affairs Chairman Stefan Herlitz, but “didn’t really change anything.” The motion was tabled to Administrative Affairs until the committee has completed their amendments of the election bylaws. In a special order sponsored by Orchard Hill Senator Michael Turner, Damien Cranshaw was unanimously appointed to the OHAG governorship to help Ellie Miske plan Bowl Weekend and take care of the final weeks in the government. Until Cranshaw’s appointment, OHAG had no members after the resignation of the previous cabinet. With the appointment to governor, Cranshaw must step down as vice president of House Council. Another special order appointed Senator Jay Javidan to the Administrative
Affairs committee. The Women in Media Conference, hosted by the UMass media organizations, asked the SGA for funds to help host the event, which will host female media members to speak to the community. The event is aimed to help connect the media organizations and give women on campus a chance to hear role models speak. The SGA approved $1,260, which was the money that the conference asked for minus $100 they had requested for gifts for speakers. The Undergraduate Experience Committee was created to act as a liaison between the SGA Senate and UMass administration to make the process of discussion more cohesive, especially as the Shared Governance Document unfolds. The final motion approved by the Senate officially recognized the Students of Color Caucus as an informal collective to create a safe space for students of color in SGA. The caucus was modeled after the similar Women’s Caucus in the SGA, which puts on different events for women to get together as a support group. Early in the meeting, the SGA had a presentation from Joint Task Force on Resource Allocation member Elizabeth Chilton. The task force has been examining how UMass currently allocates resources, how other universities allocate funds and how UMass may allocate funds better. In examining the current resource allocation system, the task force found that UMass currently uses an “incremental budgeting model,” meaning that resources are allocated
based on historical precedent and based on previous years of spending. The task force, in the draft of their recommendation, has created a more customized model that is more transparent and less decentralized. The task force is now asking for feedback from the campus community before the recommendations are given to the chancellor. Chilton was clear that the task force only had the power to make recommendations to Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, not create actual policy, but said that the chancellor would not make a decision if the campus was “not ready or interested.” During the SGA officer reports, President Zac Broughton announced that the SGA office was finished and newly refurbished and the next step was to add computers with universal access so SGA members could work in the office. Broughton also discussed a number of meetings that he had attended with administrators, including a meeting about the Hatch, and urged senators to reach out to their constituents even as the semester ends. Broughton also announced to senators that the entire SGA budget has either been spent or committed for the rest of the year so there is no more money for the SGA to allocate to senators or other groups. Ellie Miske briefly presented about Bowl Weekend, announcing that everything was running on schedule and WMUA was co-sponsoring the event, tentatively called “Bowlchella.” Patrick Hoff can be reached at pphoff@umass.edu and followed @ Hoff_Patrick16.
Olympian appeared distraught in court By roByn dixon Los Angeles Times
PRETORIA, South Africa —Olympian Oscar Pistorius made a tearful apology to the family of his girlfriend Monday as he stood trial for fatally shooting her in the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year. Pistorius took the stand to tell the court his version of what happened that night. Courtroom benches were packed with supporters of both the athlete and his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius’ almost–whispered apology was so quiet that Judge Thokozile Masipa had to tell him to speak up. “I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to Mrs. and Mr. Steenkamp, to Reeva’s family, to all those of you who knew her who are here today, to her family and friends,” he said. “There’s not a moment and hasn’t been a moment since this tragedy happened that I haven’t thought about her family,” he said, adding that it is the first thing that comes into his mind when he wakes up. “I can’t imagine the pain and emptiness and sorrow that I’ve caused your family. I was simply trying to protect Reeva. I can promise you that when she went to bed that night she felt loved,” he said, his voice trembling. Pistorius said he had often sat down to try to write a letter of apology to Steenkamp’s family but found there were no words adequate to convey what he wanted to say. Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Steenkamp, claiming he shot her accidently after mistak-
ing her for an intruder. He has also pleaded not guilty to two charges of recklessly discharging a gun, and to one charge of unlicensed possession of ammunition. His lawyer opened the defense case Monday with testimony from a pathologist and from Pistorius himself. Pistorius told the court he had been on anti-depressants since soon after the shooting and that he also needed medication because he couldn’t sleep. “I wake up and I smell blood and I wake up to be terrified. I wake up in a complete state of terror. I would rather not sleep,” he said. He said he wanted nothing to do with guns anymore, and slept with a security guard at his door. He sometimes gets panic attacks and one night had to hide in a cupboard because he couldn’t calm himself down, he told the court. “I woke up and I was terrified and I for some reason couldn’t calm myself so I climbed into the cupboard and I phoned my sister to come and sit by me, which she did,” he said. Pistorius described growing up in a loving home although his parents divorced when he was 6 years old and he rarely saw his father. He was born without fibula bones in his legs, and his feet were amputated as a baby, but he said his mother treated him the same as his two siblings. “If I fell, she left me to get up for myself. She didn’t baby me. She treated me exactly the same as my brother and sister.” He described occasionally being bullied at school. “My family always believed in standing up for yourself and standing up for
“I wake up and I smell blood and I wake up to be terrified. I wake up in a complete state of terror. I would rather not sleep.” Oscar Pistorius, Defendent what you believe in. At the end of the day you don’t come crying to your parents.” He said he once got into a fight with a boy who tore his shirt, ripping off the buttons. “I stood up for myself and I got into a physical altercation with the other kid,” he testified, saying he was called into the school headmaster’s office to be punished. His mother arrived at the school and told the headmaster he shouldn’t be punished for standing up for himself, he said. Pistorius said his family grew up in an area with a lot of crime, and that his mother, who died suddenly when he was 15, was always very fearful. “She kept her firearm just under her pillow in a padded bag,” he said. Sometimes when she was afraid, he said, she would call her children into her room to be with her at night. He told the story of his athletic career and of a boating accident that nearly killed him in 2009. He said he had to have more than 170 stitches in his face after a boat he was driving hit a submerged jetty. Pistorius said he couldn’t see because of sun shining on the water, but that he had not been drinking. He said the accident and see
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