Meet the Students for Alternative Music
Perfect Finish: UMass goes unbeaten in A-10
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THE MASSACHUSETTS
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Monday, April 28, 2014
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TEDx encourages world change UMass Rising
raises over $44 million this year
Donations go to five different areas By Marie Maccune Collegian Staff
COURTESY OF TEDXUMASSAMHERST
Steven Gross, founder and chief playmaker of the Life is good Playmakers, gives a talk at TEDxUMass Amherst on Sunday.
Nine speakers gave “Play is not reserved for the sandbox, play talks on Sunday By caTherine Ferris Collegian Staff
The University of Massachusetts’ Mahar Auditorium was completely full on Sunday for the second annual TEDxUMassAmherst. Nine speakers touched upon various topics that were similar in the sense that they followed this year’s hash tag: #ChangeTheWorld. Among those who gave talks were Jackie We at h e r s p o o n , fo rmer member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, Derrick Gordon, the first openly-
is a spirit for anything.”
Steve Gross, founder and chief playmaker of the Life is good Playmakers gay Division 1 men’s basketball player and Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis, a teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary. The event was split into three separate one to twohour-long sections, each featuring different speakers who had their own story to tell. Steve Gross, founder and chief playmaker of the Life is good Playmakers and a UMass alum, recalled the
first time he fell in love with the TED talks when he watched Ken Robinson talk about creativity in 2006. He went on to dedicate his career to helping vulnerable children, responding to the devastation that was caused by Hurricane Katrina, the 2012 Newtown school shooting and the earthquakes in Haiti and Japan. “I get to work with kids whose lives have been heartbreakingly difficult,” Gross said, adding that what he has learned from working with children is that they have superpowers. His advice: don’t work hard, but go out and play. “Play is not reserved for the sandbox, play is a spirit for anything,” he said.
Gross then broke down playfulness into four main domains. This included active engagement, internal control, social connection and joyfulness. Active engagement, he explained, is when a person goes through a severely traumatic event and it becomes difficult from them to live in the moment. In order for people to be able to live in the moment, there must be a good reality created for them. Internal control is the feeling of inner confidence, while social connection is the feeling of being loved and valued. Finally, Gross said that joyfulness is simply enjoying what you do. see
TEDX on page 3
Research and Special Programs, Buildings and Infrastructure and UMass’ Annual Fund. Leto also said that donations to the campaign come from a variety of sources such as alumni, parents, faculty and corporations. In terms of its overall funding, Leto said that “Since the campaign started, we have raised more than $244 million toward our $300 million goal. There are more than 72,000 donors to the campaign to date and all of their gifts are important.” When asked about monumental donations, Leto said, “Monumental can be defined by impact such as the scholarships received by just one deserving student or it can be defined by the size of the gift. The campaign has received three eight-figure gifts to date that meet both of these definitions. Just a few days ago a $10,000,000 gift from Douglas and Diana Berthiaume to create a new center for entrepreneurship was announced.” For the future, Leto hopes to see the successful completion of the campaign and to “continue to align private philanthropy with campus priories.” “I also hope that the campaign will create greater awareness of the crucial role of private support among our students, alumni and friends in helping the University achieve even greater heights of achievement and success,” he said.
The UMass Rising campaign has raised more than $44 million this fiscal year, according to Vice Chancellor for Development and Alumni Relations and UMass Rising campaign director Mike Leto. Fundraising will end on June 30. A University press release said more than $1.25 million was donated by faculty and staff. According to Leto, the campaign began in January 2010 and went through a quiet phase until the public launch last April. “Inspiration came from the University’s desire to maximize its impact as the Commonwealth’s flagship campus and to reach new heights as a national leader in innovation and education,” he said. Leto also said that the UMass Rising campaign will help accelerate the University’s achievements in some of today’s most pertinent fields. “We live in a rapidly changing world and we have an important role in not only how we prepare our students but also in pushing the boundaries in research, a sustainable economy and an inclusive society,” he said. According to Leto, there are five focus areas that the money goes toward. There include Talented Students, Marie MacCune can be reached at First-Class Faculty, mmaccune@umass.edu.
Palestinian president SELF Magazine’s Workout denounces Holocaust on the Quad draws 900 Netanyahu doubts Abbas’ sincerity By Joel GreenBerG
McClatchy Foreign Staff
J E RU S A L E M — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday issued a statement calling the Holocaust “the most heinous crime” against humanity in modern times and expressing sympathy with families of the victims. The statement, on the eve of Israel’s observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day, was the first of its kind by a Palestinian leader, and appeared to be part of an effort to reach out to Israelis after a reconciliation deal reached last week between Abbas’s Fatah movement and the militant Islamist group Hamas that prompted Israel to suspend U.S.brokered peace talks. Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Abbas’ declarations, saying that they were meant to “placate international public opinion” after the Palestinian leader had made a pact with Hamas, a group that “denies the Holocaust while trying to create another Holocaust by destroying the state of Israel.” Abbas’ statement on the Holocaust came a day after the Palestinian leader said that the planned unity government under his leadership would recognize Israel and renounce violence. Since the announcement of the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, analysts have debated whether the deal might meet conditions set by the group of Middle East mediators known as the Quartet - the U.S., Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - for a Palestinian government to qualify for diplomatic recognition. Those conditions are
recognition of Israel, nonviolence and adherence to previous agreements. Robert Serry, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said in a statement after meeting Abbas on Thursday that he was assured that the unity accord would be carried out “on the basis of PLO commitments” to those conditions. Hamas spokesmen have drawn a distinction between the positions of the group, which refuses to recognize Israel or renounce violence, and the negotiations with Israel, conducted by Abbas on behalf of the PLO. “You don’t need organizations to recognize Israel,” Ghazi Hamad, the deputy foreign minister of the Hamas government in Gaza, told the Israeli news website Ynet last week. “It’s enough that the Palestine Liberation see
ABBAS on page 2
Spirits, attendance high despite rain By Taylor GilMore Collegian Staff
Rain didn’t stop 900 students from heading to SELF Magazine’s Workout on the Quad on Saturday for exercise and giveaways. Although it was dreary outside, spirits were high in the tents. The Workout in the Park event is celebrating its 21st anniversary this year, and the University of Massachusetts, after having the highest participation in the SELF Workout in the Park Social Game on Facebook, was able to host the second ever Workout on the Quad event. “This event is the same as the Workout in the Park, just shrunk down and for free for UMass students,” said Brittany Forgione, senior publicist for SELF.
“HerCampus UMass really got everyone involved and rose to the top. They rallied up the students and racked up the points.” Forgione added, “This event is getting bigger and bigger. It’s the first of its kind and it is our staple event. It’s about the healthy lifestyle experience, and this is the magazine brought to life. This is our baby.” “I’m really proud of our organization for winning this amazing event. We won it out of over 500 schools in the country,” said Brittany Lynch, the business development manager for HerCampus UMass and president of the publication next year. “It is just unfortunate it was scheduled on a rainy day.” Due to the weather and muddy conditions, the yoga, pilates and Reebok Crossfit portions of the event could not happen, but the Crunch instructors kept the workout going at
the main stage with classes like Rear Attitude, House Grooves and Beach Body. “The instructors were really enthusiastic even though it wasn’t the greatest weather,” said Danielle Arcese, a junior at UMass. “I’m really into the workouts,” said Phil Rosario, a junior at UMass who was working security at the event. “Many people have told me I look like I’m having a good time, and I am, because they are a good time.” HerCampus hoped to have 1,000 attendees at the event, and 900 people ended up coming. “I’m surprised we had 900 attendees. If it was a nice day I think we could have had close to 2,000, but the turnout was good despite the rain,” Lynch said. Workout on the Quad attracted not only students from UMass, but from the see
WORKOUT on page 2