Massachusetts Daily Collegian: Nov. 9, 2015

THE MASSACHUSETTS

A free and responsible press

DAILY COLLEGIAN DailyCollegian.com

Monday, November 9, 2015

Serving the UMass community since 1890

News@DailyCollegian.com

RSOs plan Million Student March RHA’s budget Event to be held at down to $20K 12:30 p.m. Thur.

By BRendAn deAdy Collegian Staff

As the clock neared 6 p.m.

Friday, Filipe Carvalho, a senior majoring in economics and finance, sprawled across the floor of Center for Educational Policy and Advocacy’s office and let out an exasperated sigh.

His humorous gesture was an acknowledgment of the exhaustion shared by all the students in the room.

Carvalho, the policy and legislative director for CEPA, was surrounded by representatives from UMass for Bernie Sanders, MASSPIRG, the

Coalition to end Rape Culture, the Student Labor Action Party and a few others. The collection of RSO’s have collaborated since the beginning of the semester to organize an event that they hope will serve as a catalyst for future student activism and draw attention to issues on the national and local levels.

The Million Student March, planned for 12:30-1:30 p.m. in front of the Student Union Thursday, is the brainchild of nearly a dozen RSO’s and coincides with demonstrations on nearly 100 campuses across the country, according to Carvalho.

The event, which borrows its name from the Million Man March in Washington D.C. of 1996, is an indepen-

dent and decentralized day of action where students, workers, debtors, teachers and citizens come together to protest a broken capitalist and political system that runs on exploitation, according to the event’s website.

The agenda for this year’s Million Student March consists of three demands: liquidation of all student loan debt, a national minimum wage of $15 an hour and tuition-free public higher education.

“I think these three issues are the biggest facing students in terms of economic justice and they're all related.”

Carvalho said.

He explained that the 1.2 trillion dollars of student debt owed collectively in the United States is detrimental

to the economy. Carvalho said loan payments limit the purchasing power of graduates and the production potential of individuals as future contributors to growth. The call for a minimum wage relates to the right of each individual to have access to livable wage, he said.

Carvalho acknowledged that the liquidation of debt is an idyllic goal and the resistance of the institutions and mentalities that the idea of debt has have been interwoven into is a daunting opponent. However, he believes with enough fervor and demonstration from the populations that are impacted, small victories could lead to long-

see

MARCH on page 2

Nearly $70K spent on three expenses By stuARt FosteR Collegian Staff

The University of Massachusetts’ Residence Hall Association’s current budget is comparatively lower than in year’s past, as the organization has spent significantly on the funding for a weekend retreat, RHA merchandise and stipends for members of its executive board.

The RHA’s budget currently sits at $19,964 after

beginning the semester with $77,638, according to information provided to the Daily Collegian via the RHA. The organization previously believed it had just $5,964 left in its budget for the year, before members discovered roughly $14,000 in carry-over funds from the previous fiscal year’s budget.

The RHA is a subsidiary student government that votes on funding requests from other student organizations on campus.

The group’s funding for see

RHA on page 2

UMass Amazing Race sees spike in competitors Organizers pleased with event’s turnout By shelBy Ashline Collegian Staff

A sea of students in bright blue shirts swarmed upon the Fine Arts Center Friday night, formed staggered lines as they waited under florescent lights, and jittered in place as they anticipated the challenges to come.

But first, they had to complete the task in front of them – a simple game of cornhole. Soft thuds could be heard as beanbag tosses landed on a series of six cornhole boards. Each team competing in the competition had to land two bean bags on their board to pass the first challenge of the fall semester’s Amazing Race.

The event, which has been held biannually since the fall of 2011, attracted 35 teams this semester, as well as four teams who registered but did not compete and one team that dropped

out midway.

Having 35 teams and 105 participants is quite impressive in comparison to years past, according to Wilma Crespo, the interim co-director of the Center for Multicultural Advancement and Student Success, which is a key organizer of the event each year.

“We had many more this year,” Crespo said. “I think last year we were in the low 20s, so we almost doubled (our number of teams).”

The competition, which is based on a popular television show, requires that students participate in 10 challenges across campus, which test them both mentally and physically. Once they successfully completed a challenge, such as cornhole, teams then receive a clue that they must decipher in order to move on to the next task.

The event also allows students to work with the University of Massachusetts Police Department, which is see

RACE on page 3

SHELBY ASHLINE/COLLEGIAN

The competitors of the Amazing Race pose at Wilder Hall after completing the competition on Friday night.

WMUA site visit scheduled UMass releases number of Station to undergo unpaid graduate workers program review

By Anthony Rentsch Collegian Staff

WMUA is set to undergo the site visit portion of its program review – a process intended to assess the health and effectiveness of the department – next week, as the organization eyes structural change and community members’ concerns with student leadership at the University of Massachusetts’ radio station remain.

The site visit is part of a five-phase program review led by the department of student affairs and campus life aimed at providing a “formal and meaningful assessment of how well a program achieves its stated mission, goals and outcomes, and the identification of ways to sustain and create program excellence,” according to an email sent by associate vice chancellor of student affairs and campus

life Annemarie Seifert to station members.

The visit, which is scheduled to last from November 8 to November 10, will provide an external site review team the opportunity to gain input on how the station functions and to create and submit an external review report.

Gregory Adamo, an associate professor in the school of global journalism and communications at Morgan State University; Warren Kozireski, general manager and instructor at the student radio station at the College at Brockport, New York; Becca Herman, University of Connecticut radio adviser; Annie Dooley, a WMUA student member; and Heather Milkiewicz, a WMUA community member, make up the team, according to UMass spokesperson Ed Blaguszewski.

WMUA general body members will be able to provide input on Monday, November 9, from 4 to 5 p.m. in Campus Center room 904.

In her email, Seifert wrote

that the purpose of the review would be to “assess how well WMUA performs in relation to its mission, goals, objectives and university priorities; “Encourage strategic thinking about WMUA’s plans for the future; discover ways that WMUA can continue to improve upon the quality of its programs, services, activities, and operations; provide evidence of the excellence and effectiveness of WMUA’s programs, activities, services, and operations; determine the extent WMUA has managed its resources in an efficient and effective manner; evaluate the extent to which WMUA has successfully addressed student learning and development outcomes; and identify obstacles that inhibit WMUA from achieving its desired goals and develop ways in which these obstacles can be managed.”

Station manager Andrew DesRochers said he hoped an external review could provide

see

WMUA on page 2

403 were not paid in first pay cycle By seRenA McMAhon Collegian Staff

The Graduate Employee Organization has received official word from the University of Massachusetts that 403 graduate student employees were not paid by the University on the first payday of the semester.

The official number came Nov. 2, more than a month after the GEO filed an information request with the University. On Sept. 25, hundreds of graduate student employees complained of not receiving their first paycheck.

GEO co-chair Santiago Vidales said the numbers are daunting, since 63 percent of graduate student workers were not paid

because of delays in human resources such as missing documentation, failure to process paperwork by the payroll deadline and other problems, according to information provided by UMass.

The University has held the position that the majority of paycheck delays are through the faults of graduate student employees, such as not filling out paperwork properly or not handing it in on time.

Vidales said the issue of late pay stems from a “structural, systemic dysfunction” within the University, noting that GEO is seeing an infrastructural failure within the UMass payroll office, specifically that there are not enough personnel to be handling the abundance of forms necessary to process payroll.

Only 127 graduate

student employees that went unpaid were first time hires, the information request revealed.

Additionally, out of the 403 student employees that went unpaid, 342 graduate employees were eligible for an emergency salary payment, but only 145 of them received the actual ESP for one reason or another.

ESP is a system in place through the University which grants graduate student employees 80 percent of their gross pay if not paid on time.

The document further breaks down the number of graduate student workers that did not get paid by department. The highest included the computer science department with 39 unpaid student workers, followed by the education department with 32 and the

see

GEO on page 2

2

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Monday, November 9, 2015

THE RUNDOWN ON THIS DAY...

In 1989 the borders between East and West Germany were opened after decades of separation.

AROUND THE WORLD

Assailant killed in West Bank attacks TEL AVIV, Israel — A suspected Palestinian assailant was killed and several people were injured in three attacks in the West Bank on Sunday, as violence that erupted last month showed no signs of abating.

Four Israelis, including a pregnant woman, were injured when a Palestinian drove into a hitchhiking station in the northern West Bank, police said.

The driver was shot dead by Israeli border police. The official Palestinian Wafa news agency said he was from al-Bireh, near Ramallah.

Also Sunday, a Palestinian woman was shot after she stabbed a security guard at the entrance to Beitar Illit, a settlement south of Jerusalem, the military said.

Security camera footage showed her walking up to the guard, giving him her identity card, reaching into her hand bag to grab a knife and then lunging

RHA

continued from page 1

its budget comes directly from fundraising efforts, according to the RHA’s Constitution, although additional funding can be provided by the Residential Life Department.

Emma Kearns, a sophomore history major and director of the RHA, cited the absence of a carry-over budget and turnover among staff from the previous semester as a reason for the smaller budget.

“We have a completely new Executive Board this semester,” Kearns said.

“We automatically had a smaller budget.”

Breahaana Schwartz, a sophomore BDIC major that was in RHA last year, said the group still had $20,000 in its budget in spring 2015.

The RHA said it spent $33,200 of its $77,638 budget on a weekend retreat for group members to visit the Berkshire Outdoor Center in Beckett. The group paid for housing, food and transportation for its members. However, only approximately 120 members attended the retreat, according to Kearns, which was well below the expected attendance of 250 members.

According to Kearns, a minimum of 250 expected guests was required by Berkshire Outdoor Center to reserve reservations.

“Every year RHA has a leadership retreat,” Kearns said. “We opened it up this year to any residential students.”

Kearns said that the people who went on the retreat participated in leadership programs and had a section where they created banners for residence halls.

Another $24,000 of the RHA’s budget was spent on an expenditure listed in the budget as “Scholarships”.

According to Kearns, each member of the RHA’s Executive Board receive a $1,500 stipend from the bud-

get each semester.

“We don’t get paid,” said Kearns. “We get the scholarship taken out.”

The RHA also spent $12,230 on expenditures listed as “Swag” on its budget sheets, which include items such as sweatshirts and T-shirts that the group uses for promotional purposes.

“We give those out to our members,” Kearns said.

“We give them out during events that we hold on campus.”

Kearns said the RHA plans to participate in more fundraising this year than they had in the past to raise its budget. She said the group will continue to accept funding requests from other student organizations as the year progresses.

She added that the RHA was going to try to become more of an advocacy base for students, in order to be seen as more than just another organization on campus.

“We want residential students to know that they can come to us if they want to change something in their residence hall,” Kearns said.

The UMass Student Government Association passed a motion at last week’s SGA Senate meeting which formed a special Evaluation Committee to oversee subsidiary governments, such as the RHA. The Evaluation Committee is intended “to assess the role, responsibility, operating policies and financial policies of all Subsidiary Governments of the SGA.” The motion, 2015-F5, cited “serious concerns” about the operating practices of subsidiary governments on the UMass campus.

Stuart Foster can be reached at stuartfoster@umass.edu or followed on Twitter @Stuart_C_Foster.

towards him.

The guard was lightly injured and shot at her.

The woman, from a village near Bethlehem, was taken to a hospital, a military spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, at a checkpoint near the settlement of Alfei Menashe, northeast of Tel Aviv, a man said he was stabbed in a nearby Palestinian village.

The village is on a main road used by settlers, who often buy products from local Palestinians.

The man said he was buying something at a stand when two men with knives attacked him and fled. He said he managed to drive to the Israeli checkpoint.

He had stab wounds to the abdomen.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry says 10 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian knife and gun attacks since the beginning of October.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says 79 Palestinians have been killed in the same time..

Most of them were alleged knife or vehicle attackers.

Others have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces, who have used tear gas, rubber bullets, live ammunition and undercover commandos against Palestinians hurling rocks and gasoline bombs. dpa Distributed by MCT Information Services

GEO

continued from page 1

electrical and computer engineering department with 27 unpaid student workers.

Although not all departments had as many unpaid workers as these, Vidales said the overall list of unpaid student workers is concerning UMass spokesperson Patrick J. Callahan referred the Collegian to a University news release from last month and said the school had no further updates.

The release outlined the settlement agreement with GEO and University in the fall of 2014, which “sets up an emergency salary payment system for eligible graduate employees.”

Vidales said although ESP is a step in the right direction, it is still a flawed system.

He said the University is waiting until the last minute to tell student employees their paychecks won’t be available.

“By that time, it’s either too late or the office is closed, the bank is closed and they have to wait the whole weekend (to receive their ESP),” he said.

The GEO put the University under pressure to release the official numbers sooner than the original Nov. 20 deadline by creating a petition that got roughly 500 signatures and sharing an open letter to Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy.

In October, the organization met with Katherine Newman, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, and John McCarthy, vice provost for graduate education and dean of the graduate

school, to discuss the late pay and increase in wages.

Vidales said student workers were supposed to see a 3.5 percent wage increase by this semester, after the University and GEO agreed upon it last semester.

Vidales said Newman and McCarthy claimed responsibility for the late pay in the meeting.

“Dean McCarthy said the system is broken and they’ve taken accountability for it. Now moving forward we need to figure out how we are going to continuously meet with UMass to be part of the solution.”

He said the next meeting between GEO and the University is set for Nov. 20th to discuss the future of student worker pay.

Vidales said next steps include guaranteeing the wage increase and possibly implementing an electronic system for all graduate student-worker forms that also includes creating an early alert system for employees when the University knows they cannot pay them on time.

By warning student workers earlier rather than at the last minute about their delayed paycheck, they will have more time to access the emergency salary payments, Vidales said.

“That’s where we are at now, making sure UMass hears us, continues to engage us to find a solution,” he said.

Serena McMahon can be reached at serenamcmaho@umass.edu.

WMUA

DailyCollegian.com

continued from page 1

recommendations to WMUA based on best practices of other similar college media outlets, specifically radio stations.

“WMUA is in a process of change right now,” DesRochers said.

However, community members at the station, including Louise Dunphy, have expressed frustration with student leadership, as well as with the removal of long-time program host Max Shea and former station adviser Glenn Siegel in April. The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported that two community members recently resigned from their roles as program hosts at WMUA, citing issues they had with management.

“It is a great idea for WMUA to go under any review possible,” Dunphy, a community member who hosts Celtic Crossings, wrote in an email. “In fact we wonder why we have not had this review in the past.”

An investigation of personnel and workplace conduct at the station, led by the University Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, was launched in the spring following the removal of Siegel and Shea. The investigation, according to Blaguszewski, was expected to be completed in early fall.

Blaguszewski told the

MARCH

ROBERT RIGO/COLLEGIAN

The entrance to the WMUA radio station.

Daily Collegian in August that he expected the investigation to result in “an evaluation overall on where (the station) is heading and how it can best serve the students and the community.”

“Given all the concern and debate and controversy surrounding WMUA, this is clearly a good time to step back and assess the essence of how the station should vision itself and proceed in the future,” Blaguszewski said of the program review.

The review appears to be in response to some of these issues. DesRochers said Seifert, the station’s interim adviser, recommended that WMUA undergo the program review, which

led station leadership to request it. According to the University’s website, the station was up for a regularly scheduled review in the 20162017 academic year.

As of 2012, all programs under SACL have been placed on a five-year departmental review cycle, according to the University’s website.

DesRochers said was first informed that the review would indeed be happening between a month and a month and a half ago. He said he expected it to be concluded in a month or two.

Anthony Rentsch can be reached at arentsch@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Anthony_Rentsch.

continued from page 1

term change.

“We want people to shift their mind and their frame of thinking from the dominant narrative. The dominant narrative is that education is private assets instead of a public good that should benefit all of society,” Carvalho said.

“It’s difficult in our country that’s definitely individualistic and capitalistic to convince people that education isn’t an asset but something that should improve the livelihood of human beings.”

Carvalho said that student activists face particular difficulties because their cohorts tend to limited by their day to day schedules.

“These issues are difficult because they don't become real until after you graduate.

But the consequence is huge compared to missing a class to participate. In relative terms, thousands of dollars of debt is more important than missing a discussion section,” Carvalho said.

The itinerary for Thursday begins with a staged dodgeball game between a team of students and “big interests” representatives. The game will be fixed in favor of the team representing big interests to demonstrate the unequal political and economic system that citizens operate within, according to the event’s organizers.

A series of unity claps and banner droppings will come after the dodgeball game and then a series of speakers from various RSO’s will give small speeches highlighting the issues they wish to act on.

At least 10 RSO’s will present specialized statements about issues that will be grouped onto a petition along with the Million Student March demands for attendees to sign and pledge their support.

The incorporation of topics that affect more marginalized groups with the national movement is an effort to bring overall awareness to hardships experienced by students at UMass, according to Charlotte Kelly, a senior majoring in political science.

Kelly, the director of communications outreach for CEPA, said that there are no isolated concerns within the student activist movement.

“It’s all connected; the issue of education affects us all but the overall importance is equality. I don’t feel right about advocating for free higher education if there's still discrimination based on someone’s gender or race going on. You can’t cherry-pick with equality,” Kelly said.

Kelly described Thursday as an opportunity to educate students about the issues presented but also to motivate

people to become more civically engaged.

In addition to the three demands of the March, speakers will discuss trans rights, racial and gender equality, the Israeli occupation of Palestine and will demand UMass to release its private investments as well as divest from fossil fuels.

Lucas Gutterman, a member of MASSPIRG who was present at CEPA's planning meeting, said the grouping of the various issues would force attendees to consider the plights of groups that they otherwise wouldn’t consider.

“I think that’s the point, by supporting these demands together rather than specialized interests- it brings all of this to the table.” Gutterman, a Computer Science major, said.

Carvalho admitted that student activists face considerable resistance both overtly and covertly through built in biases of the institutions that dominate American society.

But, he said, that is not a justification for apathy.

“These issues disproportionately affect millions of people. The worst response is to say nothing.” Carvalho said.

Brendan Deady can be reached at bdeady@umass.edu.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

RACE

continued from page 1

in charge of coming up with all of the challenges.

Police officers and UMass staff members man each of the stations where competitors complete their challenges.

This year, CMASS and UMPD had a third partner: the Men and Masculinity Center. The Men and Masculinity Center sponsored the creation of the blue Amazing Race t-shirts and hosted a challenge at the Stonewall Center.

According to Crespo, the new partnership came about organically.

“Our offices have similar missions and values, so it was a natural partnership for our offices, our sister offices if you will,” she said.

Team check-in and registration began at Wilder Hall at 6:30 p.m. To kick off the Amazing Race, team members gathered outside the building at 7:30 p.m. to listen to UMPD Lieutenant Tom O’Donnell explain the rules.

Even though it is called a race, running is not allowed, nor is the use of bicycles, skateboards or cars to get across campus, O’Donnell said. Teams were instructed to travel together and use crosswalks.

Before their departure to the first challenge, O’Donnell asked the crowd how many of them had competed in the race before. The group was almost equally divided between race veterans and newcomers.

“The police department and CMASS are thrilled to have so many people participating in the Amazing Race,” he said. However, he gave newcomers a piece of advice on what to expect.

“You guys are going to drop out because you’re

“You guys are going to drop out because you’re exhausted more than anything else.”

UMPD Lieutenant Tom O’Donnell exhausted more than anything else,” O’Donnell warned. Indeed, by the time the teams returned to Wilder Hall more than two hours later, many competitors were breathing heavily and glistening with sweat.

This year’s competition featured an eclectic mix of challenges. At the Mullins Center, competitors counted the sheets of glass surrounding the ice rink. At the Off Campus Student Center in the Student Union, they sang karaoke to Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.” At Worcester Dining Commons they rolled their own sushi and at the Integrated Sciences Building, competitors dropped ping pong balls from the fourth floor into the backpacks of their partners on the first floor.

The official winners were announced at around 10:30 p.m., while participants were enjoying pizza, wings and drinks.

The winning team had named themselves the “Mello Dos Squad.” In second place was “Team Name” and “The Movers” came in third. Members of each of the three teams received gift cards to Target ranging from $25 to $50.

After coming in first place, Alexandra Tefft, a senior wedding and event planning major, said that she was both proud of her team and surprised by their victory. The “Mello Dos Squad,” made up of three UMass Marching Band members, had never competed in the Amazing Race before.

“I was so competitive,” Tefft said. “I wanted to

win, but didn’t think we were actually going to win.”

Tefft and her teammates didn’t really know what to expect from the race, which she had heard about from a fellow band member and former Amazing Race competitor.

“I thought there was going to be like five teams competing,” she said. “It was (also) more exhausting than expected. I’ve never been so sweaty.”

“The Movers,” by comparison, included two race veterans: senior kinesiology major Weiixen Fam and senior nutrition and public health major Justin Chow. Fam and Chow won the Amazing Race back in 2013 with their team “Pink Fluffy Unicorns.”

“We prepare so hard for this,” Fam said. “We go to the gym, we try to anticipate the challenges.”

Fam and Chow said they also took some time off from competing, which gave them a chance to study the campus and find different routes to take, improving their efficiency.

Crespo said she feels the event’s reputation played a big role in the increased number of competitors this year, along with some help from unseasonably warm weather.

“I think we’ve already established a reputation for a fun, competitive program,” she said.

Shelby Ashline can be reached at sashline@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @shelby_ashline.

Monday, November 9, 2015

3

Millions vote in Myanmar’s first free election in years By stuart Leavenworth McClatchy Washington Bureau IRRAWADDY DELTA, Myanmar — Ever since this country’s military nullified the result of the 1990 general election and put the winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, under house arrest, millions in Myanmar have waited for the day when they could put Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in power.

That day may have arrived. Voters by the millions on Sunday flocked to polling stations, by foot, bus, taxi and bicycle in the cities, and in long-tail boats in the labyrinth of channels known as the Irrawaddy Delta.

Enthusiasm was high for the country’s first contested general election in a quarter century.

“I am very excited,” said May Thinzar Cho, a resident of Pandaing Village who was voting for the first time.

“This is very important day for my country. I want to help bring about change.”

Final results of the election may not be known for several days, and the military could thwart the outcome. Still, there was a sense Sunday that the voting was being carried out in a credible manner and would be honored by the current government.

“In the last election (2010), there was some manipulation,” said Tin Moe Khing, a resident of Toe Nayi village, an Irrawaddy town with about 2,000 people. “This time we hope it will be a fair vote.”

Myanmar’s path to democracy has been illstarred since the man considered the nation’s founder, Aung San, was assassinated six months before the British granted what was

then known as Burma its independence in 1948. The opportunity to overturn the 1990 arrest of his daughter, now known as “Mother Suu,” was a major factor for many of Sunday’s voters.

Daw Hywe Yi, a tailor in Toe Nayi, said her neighbors support Aung San Suu Kyi because she visited the village back in 1989, and also because she is Aung San’s daughter.

“Back in 2010, we voted for the lion,” said Daw Htwe Yi, referring to the symbol of the ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party. “But not much has changed since 2010, so this year we are voting for the star and peacock” - the symbol of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

Toe Nayi village is about 30 miles west of Yangon, the capital. A small motorcycle track connects this village to the outside world, but nearly all basic provisions must be brought in by boat.

The villagers are poor, many living in thatched stilt houses and subsisting on fishing and farming. They have no household electricity, other than the car batteries that run their television sets. Recently, villagers said, the USDP helped bring solar panels to many households, allowing them to have electric lights for the first time.

Despite that largesse, few people could be found Sunday who supported “the lion.” Those who voted for the USDP in the 2010 general election said they had done so only because Suu Kyi’s party was not on the ballot,. USDP boycotted the election for being rigged.

Turnout was strong in Toe Nayi. About 670 of 1,100 registered voters cast ballots by noon, and Daw Zar Zar

Than, a local elections official and school headmaster, said she expected a surge in the afternoon, when a rise in delta tides would make it easier for people from surrounding villages to boat over and cast ballots.

“People are really enthusiastic to vote, and I am happy to see that,” she said.

“They know they have the chance to choose their next leader.”

There’s a possibility those hopes might be dashed. Under Myanmar’s Constitution, written by the former military junta, Suu Kyi can’t be chosen as president, since her two sons hold British passports.

And though she has said she will serve “above the president” if the NLD wins, her party would need to get 67 percent of the seats in Parliament to rule outright.

If they get less, the ruling party of President Thein Sein might be able to cobble together a coalition to choose the next president, possibly Thein Sein himself.

In Yangon, an epicenter of support for Aung San Suu Kyi, lines stretched down a city block Sunday morning as people prepared to cast ballots in the city’s Dagon Township. Some showed up an hour before the polls opened at 6 a.m.

Yin Htwe, who works at a cafe in Yangon’s People’s Park, was bussed over to the polls by her employer, along with dozens of fellow employees. At 8:30, she could be seen standing ramrod straight in line, clutching her purse and smart phone, anxious to cast her ballot.

“I am very happy,” she said. “I finally have a chance to vote!”

Congressmen think Detainees launch hunger strike Rusian plane was bombed in Egypt

By Kate Linthicum Los Angeles Times

By christi Parsons and amro hassan Tribune Washington Bureau WA S H I N G T O N — Members of Congress who serve on committees related to national security said Sunday that they are growing increasingly convinced that the crash of a Russian aircraft in Egypt was the result of a bomb.

Signs point to a bomb planted by a supporter of the Islamic State miltant group as the cause of the crash last week, said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Evidence collected from the aircraft’s flight data and voice cockpit recorders, and information from satellite surveillance of the region, showed a burst of heat just before the plane lost altitude, he said.

“All indicators are pointing to the fact that it was ISIS putting a bomb on an airplane,” McCaul said on “Fox News Sunday.”

The crash of the Russian airliner killed at 224 aboard.

Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has threatened retaliation against Russia since Moscow began bombing militias in Syria that are fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is an ally of Russia’s.

Despite growing speculation that a bomb may have exploded on the flight, though, the Egyptian head of the panel investigating the crash said Saturday that it was too early to say for

certain. Egypt risks losing important tourist revenue if security concerns stop people from flying to its Red Sea resort at Sharm el Sheik.

Russians and Britons make up a large share of the tourist traffic.

Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y. and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in a joint interview on ABC’s “This Week” that they are close to concluding that a bomb caused the crash.

King said he was “almost ready to conclude that it was ISIS, that it was either ISIS or an ISIS affiliate,” That assessment represents “the general consensus among people I’ve spoken to in the intelligence community,” he said.

Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he shares King’s assessment of the evidence and thinks that ISIS “may have concluded that the best way to defeat airport defenses is not to go through them but to go around them with the help of somebody on the inside.”

If that’s the case, he said, “I think there are probably at least a dozen airports in the region and beyond that are vulnerable to the same kind of approach, which is exactly why we have to harden those defenses.”

Their assessments move beyond President Barack Obama’s statement late in the week that there was a “possibility” that a bomb was to blame for bringing down the Russian Metrojet that broke up over the Sinai Peninsula.

Immigrant advocates say hundreds of men have launched a hunger strike at an immigrant detention center in the high desert city of Adelanto, Calif., making it the fourth immigrant detention facility in the United States where protesting detainees have refused food in recent weeks.

Attorneys for some of the men and advocates with a detention center visitation group say more than 300 men stopped eating Oct. 30 to protest conditions at the center. They said another group of detainees joined them in the strike on Wednesday.

Shannah Abdulluah, an asylum-seeker from Ghana who has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since he asked for amnesty at the Mexican border 11 months ago, said he and about 90 other men joined the hunger strike this week.

Abdulluah, whose asylum claim was recently rejected, said his goal is to be released on parole and to raise awareness about how detainees are treated in the privately run detention facility.

“We won't stop,” Abdulluah said in a phone call from the detention center Thursday. “If it's going to take us one week or one month we will continue.”

An ICE official who was not authorized to speak on the issue confirmed that some Adelanto detainees have been declining meals in recent days and said ICE officials have met with multiple groups of detainees to listen to their concerns and

GINA FERAZZI/LOS ANGELES TIMES/TNS

The sun sets over the Adelanto Detention Facility, one of four prisons in the depressed high desert town on the edge of the Mojave Desert, on Nov. 17, 2014 in Adelanto, Calif. Hundreds of men have launched a hunger strike determine appropriate next steps.

ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said advocates' claim that hundreds of detainees are striking was inflated. She said just 30 detainees refused meals Friday morning.

Ibrahim Karim, a detainee from Ghana, said in a phone interview that a large number of detainees who had been participating in the hunger strike began eating Thursday and Friday. But he said that he and at least 60 other people are still refusing food.

The center, which is run by Florida-based Geo Group, was recently expanded by 650 beds despite protests from more than two dozen members of Congress over alleged medical neglect at the facility.

A letter sent to ICE by members of Congress in

July highlighted nearly a dozen cases of supposed neglect, including the 2012 pneumonia death of a Mexican immigrant named Fernando Dominguez.

An inspection report that year by the Department of Homeland Security said that Dominguez “received an unacceptable level of medical care” at Adelanto, and that his death could have been prevented.

The letter also raised questions about the death this year of Adelanto detainee Raul Ernesto MoralesRamos, a Salvadoran immigrant who apparently died of undiagnosed intestinal cancer after being detained

by ICE for more than four years. Morales-Ramos had lodged multiple complaints with Adelanto's medical staff about worsening symptoms, according to his family's attorney.

In recent weeks, ICE

has faced reports of hunger strikes at several other detention facilities, including in El Paso and Hutto, Texas, and LaSalle, La. Christina Fialho, coexecutive director of Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement, said ICE routinely downplays the strikes. “ICE has adopted a head-in-the-sand approach to hunger strikes, saying they just don't exist,” she said.

In a demands letter that Fialho said was written by one of the leaders of the strike, the detainees call for better medical care and a better grievance policy when detainees make complaints. The letter also asks that “no retaliation be taken upon any of us” in response to the hunger strike. “We are detainees and not prisoners,” it says.

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.” - Victor Hugo

Monday, November 9, 2015

Editorial@DailyCollegian.com

The impact of incarceration President Barack Obama between $57 billion and $65 billion recently became the first sitting every year by impeding convicted president to visit a prison and felons’ employment opportunities.

Of course restrictions canBenjamin Clabault not be lifted altogether. Nobody thinks convicted rapists should blamed the “War on Drugs” for be allowed to teach, or that someperpetuating our country’s “long one imprisoned after multiple history of inequity in the criminal DUI’s should be allowed to drive justice system.” a city bus. But a one-size-fits-all The Bureau of Justice Statistics approach that lumps all convictestimates that in 2013, our current ed felons into the same category system placed approximately 1.5 makes no sense. No one should be million people in state and federal denied the opportunity to acquire prisons. Our incarceration rate is a trade license because they got the highest in the world. It takes caught dealing cocaine a decade little reflection to realize that this ago. represents gross injustice and an We need to remain vigilant in intolerable contradiction with our tweaking our criminal justice sysself-proclaimed status as the “land tem. For too long, people have of the free.”

“Easing restrictions would not just create a more just standard for punishment, but also lower recidivism rates and improve the economy.”

But we must also understand that the injustice does not only affect Americans currently behind bars. It also hurts all the people who have finished serving prison sentences but continue to suffer through disenfranchisement and lack of economic opportunity. The 1.5 million statistic only speaks to a portion of the people crushed by a system that emphasizes a supposed toughness on crime over the well-being of its citizens.

People released from prison face a long list of legal obstacles that hamper their pursuit of a better life. These collateral consequences come in the form of various civil sanctions on the state and federal levels. The American Bar Association cataloged over 46,000 restrictions faced by convicted felons, from voter disenfranchisement to an inability to acquire professional certifications. George Washington University law professor Stephen Saltzburg says about 60 to 70 percent of those sanctions concern employment.

We should be encouraging postincarceration employment, not so severely limiting it. Easing restrictions would create a more just standard for punishment, and also lower recidivism rates and improve the economy. In a 2010, study the Center for Economic and Policy Research estimated that the United States economy loses

accepted a system that obsesses over protecting potential victims while ignoring the actual effects policies have on the convicted criminals. Yes, we must keep innocent people safe, but a system that does nothing to rehabilitate individuals and everything to encourage a prolonged life of crime only contributes to the maintaining of a criminal culture.

When people are in prison, we should be giving them the tools they need to succeed in the modern economy. Once they are out, we need to give them the opportunity to actually utilize those skills for both their own benefit and society’s.

In 2010, the Uniform Law Commission proposed a model bill that would allow ex-inmates to petition for exemptions to certain restrictions. In typical conservative fashion, Indiana lawyer James Bopp dismissed the proposal as a “liberal do-gooder thing.”

But such legislation does not represent the foolish optimism of bleeding hearts, but rather the careful consideration of people who have realized that we can be tough on crime without encouraging its reproduction. Let’s push ex-cons into the workforce, not back into prison. That way, we all win.

Benjamin Clabault can be reached at bclabaul@umass.edu.

Why Congress should reconsider the Perkins Loan program Numbers have a way of revealing the real story Perkins Loan program was that other vehicles beneath the rhetoric and misinformation around provide funds to students with significant financial controversial topics. need. Yes, the landscape of student-aid programs is complicated. It requires expertise on the part Thomas J. Botzman of financial aid administrators to apply assistance appropriately and justly. It is important, nonetheTake the ongoing Federal Perkins Loan debate, less, to have an array of programs that meets the for example. More than 1,700 institutions of higher need of each individual and not just a mythical education participate in the program, resulting in “typical” student. about 500,000 students in need being awarded loans The Pell Grant, for example, provides a much to finance their college educations. This campuslarger average award to a student, but it does not based program provides funds to students with the need to be repaid. While the Pell is a progressive highest level of financial need. and respected option, it does not return funds to The federal government began its new fiscal cycle on Oct. 1. For the first time in 57 years, the be lent again and again and again. Stafford Loans, proposed budget does not include the Perkins Loan meanwhile, are not earmarked solely for students with the greatest need and do not carry a fixed program.

Although there is a wide range of programs that interest rate.

I should also note that there have been efforts aim to support the nation’s neediest students, the Perkins Loan has a few unique twists that make it by Congress to cut funding for Pell Grants and Stafford Loans, valuable to both just as we have students and taxwitnessed for payers.

Most obviousthe Perkins Loan ly, the Perkins program.

Loan is a loan If the and not a grant.

Perkins Loans As such, the stuare not restored, dent agrees to pay back the loan over a 10-year repayments of loans will return to the federal period following graduation. With a 5 percent fixed government. We would then have taken a program interest rate, repayment generates additional funds that has worked for nearly six decades _ providing for the next generation of students. Furthermore, a hand up for so many students _ and turned it into colleges and universities make contributions to the a political football with little return to taxpayers. fund, which extends the reach of the program.

Support for education at the federal level is an At Misericordia University, a cumulative fedinvestment in our collective future. It is simple eral contribution of $1.1 million was available for arithmetic to figure out that a $2,000 loan each year student loans during the 2014-15 academic year, $245,000 of that in new loans. Those funds were for four years equals $8,000. That is obviously less cumulatively supplemented by more than $600,000 than the $8,000 plus 5 percent interest the student of institutional money, which also was lent to repays _ not to mention the lifetime of higher earnstudents. Although the limit for Perkins Loans to ings that provide more taxable income.

We have taken a solid program that works for undergraduates is $5,500 annually, most students receive about $2,000 per year. Perkins Loan funds everyone and replaced it with, well, nothing. That’s help fill the gap between other sources of financial not solid policy, good government or a step toward aid and family contributions so students can meet building a future for all of us. the entire cost of attending a college or university of their choice.

One argument that led to the expiration of the Thomas J. Botzman, The Philadelphia Inquirer

“It requires expertise on the part of financial aid administrators to apply assistance appropriately and justly.”

t h e m a s s a c h u s e t t s D a i ly C o l l e g i a n BUSINESS

GRAPHICS

Business Manager - Omer Sander Advertising Manager - Alyssa Labrie | Marina Qutab Distribution Manager - Nick Gorius Advertising Production - Nick Damren

EDITOR IN CHIEF - Mark Chiarelli MANAGING EDITOR - Patrick Hoff MANAGING EDITOR/DAILYCOLLEGIAN.COM - Kristin LaFratta

Production Manager - Randy Crandon Special Issues Manager - Caroline O’Connor

SOCIAL MEDIA Social Media Coordinator - Charlotte Hoff

PRODUCTION CREW on staff for this issue NIGHT EDITOR - Mark Chirelli

COPY EDITOR - Jackson Maxwell

NEWS

OPINION & EDITORIAL

PHOTOGRAPHY

COMICS

NEWS DESK EDITOR - Stuart Foster

Op/Ed Editor - Kate Leddy Op/Ed Producer - Patrick Hurley

Arts Editor - Jackson Maxwell Arts Producer - Yelena Rasic

SPORTS

News Editor - Anthony Rentsch News Producer - Daniel Mahoney

Sports Editor - Anthony Chiusano Sports Producer - Philip Sanzo

Photo Editor - Robert Rigo

Comics Editor - Amy Daigle

O p /E d DESK EDITOR - Ian Hagerty/ Jessica Primavera

NEWS ASSISTANTS

O p /E d ASSISTANTS

ARTS ASSISTANTS

SPORTS ASSISTANTS

PHOTO ASSISTANTS

GRAPHICS ASSISTANTS

Lucas Coughlin Steven Gillard Ian Hagerty Maral Margossian

Nathan Frontiero

Shannon Broderick Amanda Creegan Judith Gibson-Okunieff

Maxwell Zaleski Kelley Dillon Grace Benhamroun

Shelby Ashline Brendan Deady Stuart Foster Colby Sears

ARTS & LIVING

Erica Garnett

Andrew Cyr Ross Gienieczko Jason Kates

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 2014, The Collegian has been broadsheet since January 1994. For advertising rates and information, call 413-545-3500.

ARTS DESK EDITOR - Nathan Frotiero SPORTS DESK EDITOR - Anthony Chiusano GRAPHICS DESK EDITOR - Maxwell Zaleski COMICS DESK EDITOR - Amy Daigle WEB PRODUCTION MANAGER - Patrick Hurley

SOCIAL MEDIA - Charlotte Hoff

Arts Living THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Monday, November 9, 2015

“As if!” - Cher Horowitz, “Clueless”

Arts@DailyCollegian.com

FILM REVIEW

‘The Assassin’ a work of unparalleled, violent beauty Well-crafted visuals leave viewer in awe

By Nate taskiN Collegian Correspondent In response to every establishing shot in “The Assassin,” a collective gasp reverberated around the audience.

Hou Hsiao-Hsien, a fantastic filmmaker who neither has a chance, at nor shows any interest, in mainstream international success, has crafted a wuxia film about a fearsome killer who must weigh the implications behind every stroke of her dagger.

To behold a single frame of “The Assassin” is to bathe inside a kaleidoscopic portrait of dynamite colors. Can I describe the movie in adjectives beyond “stunning” and “resplendent”? They sound hyperbolic, yet these words still fail to do justice to the visual splendor that Hou has crafted. It’s fair to call this movie one of the most gorgeous ever made.

Adapted from a Tang Dynasty legend, “The Assassin” acts as a powerful morality tale about the nature of choices, and how we can rise above the assignments that we are given and become more than mere tools. The film anchors itself around the actions – and sometimes lack thereof – of Nie Yinniang (Shu Qi), a general’s daughter kidnapped and molded by a nun (humorless even by nun standards) into a killer of almost supernatural prowess.

PING BIN LEE/STUDIOCANAL

Director Hou Hsiao-Hsien elicits constant awe from the viewer with his attention to detail, crafting lush and complex compositions throughout the film.

We witness the final stages of her assassination education in the first eight minutes of the film, which Hou captures in striking black and white photography so crisp that I wanted the images to remain those two hues for the entirety of the film.

Of course, once Hou switches to his vivid rainbow palette, I felt the need to slap myself across the face for such an ignorant thought to enter my head.

Hou is just one of those directors who never chooses to settle, even when it seems like he can’t top

himself.

In this monochromatic prologue, Yinniang is assigned two targets. The first man, a venal official on horseback, is felled by a flawless stroke to the jugular. Yinniang kills with such grace and maintains such poise that it becomes easy to mistake murder for dance.

Yinniang’s hand wavers, though, when she confronts her second target.

His crime is unknown, and all we see from him is a man who sits contentedly in his house as he plays with his son. This scene of

familial tenderness – of a childhood that reminds of how her own was snatched away from her – compels Yinniang to show mercy.

As punishment, the nun orders Yinniang to travel to Northern China and dispatch a military governor, who also happens to be Yinniang’s cousin and onetime suitor.

Anyone familiar with wuxia films like “House of Flying Daggers” or “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” and not Hou’s other work, like “The Puppetmaster” or “A City of Sadness,” may walk

the moments that lie in between each strike, kick and twirl. A film about how the shadows of the past influence the complicated choices that we make every day, most of the conflict lies in internal torment. Hou drapes his scenes in translucent curtains, always hinting at wider truths waiting to be unveiled at any second.

At its heart, the film acts as a character study of a woman who must find a way to craft her own identity once her agency and sense of self-fulfillment is stripped away from her.

Shu Qi embodies the quiet assassin as if she was a coiled shadow that slinks through narrow corridors and haunts every corner of a vast mansion. She owns the movie, even if she spends large chunks of it as a fly on the wall; lurking on the edges of the frame as she listens in on intimate conversations like a hawk as it stalks a mouse.

Exquisite, luscious color pervades “The Assassin.”

With its crystal blue lakes, inferno orange skies, thick green forests, stark yellow grain fields and delicately embroidered pink and tangerine silk garments, the film made me feel like my mind and body had been consumed by a languorous haze.

Hou’s love of long, panoramic takes ensures that we have plenty of time to bask in the film’s majesty, and, though he shoots from a distance, we always feel invited to lean in closer and revel in its splendor.

into “The Assassin” with a skewed set of expectations for what the film plans to offer them.

Hou sees to it that those expectations are quickly struck down. Cautious and meditative, the film uses violence sparingly. For a film that exemplifies a sense of fantastical otherworldliness, the duels feel naturalistic in their assertive choreography. Though this film features exhilarating martial arts sequences, it is far from a traditional martial arts picture.

Instead, the film pre- Nate Taskin can be reached at occupies itself with ntaskin@umass.edu.

FILM REVIEW

Bradley Cooper delivers a heated performance in ‘Burnt’ By isaac simoN Collegian Staff

“Burnt” is riveting.

The film explores the story of Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper), an American chef whose extraordinary abilities in the kitchen are known throughout Europe.

After fleeing a restaurant in Paris and traveling to London, Jones is in need of a kitchen in order to preserve his respected trade, but his unpredictable, often-volatile behavior makes him nearly impossible to work with.

In London, Jones convinces Tony (Daniel Brühl) to be the head chef of his restaurant at a time when he is out of options and in need of an experienced cook. Jones is on a mission, one that is anything but ordinary. He does not just want to run a kitchen that makes good food, he wants to run one that makes perfect meals.

He wants to serve dishes that make people stop eating, rather than make them want more. Jones’ ultimate goal is attaining a third Michelin culinary star. Throughout the entire film, Jones focuses on his quest to go from a two-star chef to a three-star chef.

Alongside Cooper is Helene (Sienna Miller,) a single moth-

er who is hired, fired and then hired again by Jones. The two actors reunite in this film after working side by side in Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper.” Jones – along with all the chefs that work in his kitchen under his guidance –tests Helene, pushing her to the brink of exhaustion and forcing her to put the professional before her personal.

As the film went on, there’s a sense of romantic entanglement. The sexual tension at certain points becomes too palpable, too obvious. As spectators, we inevitably wait for something to happen. The two make amends twice, but there is little romance between them.

Behind the scenes, amid the hectic environment of the restaurant, Jones is motivated to do anything to escape his drug and alcohol-addled past. He achieves this by dictating and lashing out at others, throwing away plate after plate of food and accepting nothing less than perfection.

He is a control freak, a zealot willing to do anything to achieve his goal.

In “Burnt,” the viewer also sees a chef who breaks promises. In the beginning, he vows never to appear in talk shows and cook on live television.

Yet 45 minutes in, he agrees to

do one, presenting himself as a chef who is eager to cook in front of a camera.

When he tells Helene that she cannot have the day off for her daughter’s birthday, she complies. When she brings her daughter to the restaurant that day, Tony storms into the kitchen demanding that Jones bake a cake. After initially saying no, he changes his mind only to have the small child tell Jones that he has tried better.

Though this is a relatively insignificant scene in the film, the non-diegetic sound coupled with Jones’ facial expressions bring a sentimental element to the screen. Arguably, this is the first and only time Jones is confronted by someone outside his regular element.

It is here that he is forced to impress someone who he thought had little or no expectations. He is not cooking for Michelin, the French ratings company that will ruin or remake his culinary career.

He is cooking for a little girl, one that tells him that he has missed his mark.

Even though there is resolution and a feeling of satisfaction as the film concludes, the majority of the film is grim and depressing. Jones is always on a quest for some-

ADRIANO GOLDMAN/THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

Bradley Cooper commits to his intense lead role, playing chef Adam Jones with an anger that threatens to boil over. thing he knows he deserves while everyone else is taking orders. Jones owes a large sum of money to European drug dealers, who at two different occasions confront him about his debts. Again, by having these physical altercations we see Jones visibly struggling to escape an element of his past.

Given the range of roles Cooper has played, this one falls somewhere in the middle

of the emotional spectrum.

He is no stranger to playing tortured characters, nor at any point does he ever take the opportunity to overact.

With “Burnt,” we see Cooper as an angry and obsessed chef who does things like forcing fellow chefs to apologize to the food, and not to him.

It becomes clear that Jones is as much power hungry as he wants to become a better chef. As the film goes on

Jones learns to better himself while his fellow chefs also learn to improve themselves.

While watching, I came away with how intense the inside of a kitchen can be.

The high stakes, high drama and overly suspenseful acting are highly effective on screen, making “Burnt” an absolute must-see.

Isaac Simon can be reached at isimon@umass.edu.

6

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Monday, November 9, 2015

Comics Beware

the

DailyCollegian.com

WE WANT YOUR COMICS! Put your comics in front of thousands of readers.

Questions? Comments? Horoscopes? Email us: comics@dailycollegian.com

waffle Guppy.

Feeling Small

P oorly d rawn l ines

r obbie w orld

b y r eza F arazmand

b y r obert g rodie

F rostbitten

n ice c lean F ight

b y J ack b rady

b y s ean c lark

HOROSCOPES aquarius

Jan. 20 - Feb. 18

What’s your spirit animal? An anteater.

pisces

Feb. 19 - Mar. 20

An elephant.

aries

Mar. 21 - apr. 19

virgo

aug. 23 - Sept. 22

libra

Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

scorpio

Oct. 23 - nOv. 21

A blueberry muffin.

taurus

apr. 20 - May 20

gemini

May. 21 - Jun. 21

A table.

A raisin oatmeal cookie.

A twenty-sided die.

A buffalo.

July 23 - aug. 22

A chocolate muffin.

A turkey.

cancer

leo

A chinchilla.

sagittarius

nOv. 22 - Dec. 21

Spongebob Squarepants.

Jun. 22 - Jul. 22

capricorn A potato.

Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

Monday, November 9, 2015

7

HOCKEY

Minutemen sweep series with UConn Top line propels UM scores two in “I don’t think we’ve been starting slow at any UMass to victory first two minutes point during the year, I think we’ve always come out firing, but it’s definitely nice for the confidence to go up two quickly like that.”

By Jason Kates Collegian Staff

season, revenge presented itself for UMass, although Micheletto didn’t get that sense, saying that both teams have gone through changes since last year’s matchups.

Both Trento and Plevy praised the lively environment at the Mullins Center Saturday night, with Trento saying a good crowd “is all you can ask for in college hockey.”

“They’re awesome,” he said. “It’s a great environment to play in right now, especially coming off last year where sometimes we’d play in front of almost nobody, and then this year is just unbelievable. There’s a buzz and you can feel it.”

“It definitely helps,” Plevy added. “You’re at the end of a shift and you’re tired and you can hear the crowd egging you on, it definitely gives you a little boost so it’s a big positive for us at home.”

The Minutemen will be back in Amherst this Friday for a conference matchup with No. 16 Merrimack College. They will also travel to Burlington, Vermont for a Ssunday afternoon matchup with Vermont.

Austin Plevy, Forty six seconds into UMass freshman its game, Shane Walsh opened the scoring for the give the Minutemen some Massachusetts hockey team. Regarding the quick start, much-needed breathing One minute, 14 seconds freshman Austin Plevy room. He now has five goals later, Kurt Keats lit the lamp acknowledged the impor- to start the season. for the Minutemen for his tance of setting the tone for “It’s just part of the game. the rest of the game that first goal of his career.

Sometimes bounces go your This 2-0 lead, which had quickly. way, sometimes they don’t, “I think it’s great,” he said the Mullins Center crowd so it’s good to be putting them of 3,840 rocking early, after a three-point night. “I in the back of the net right was never surrendered by don’t think we’ve been start- now,” he said. “I’m playing UMass (6-2-1, 2-1-1 Hockey ing slow at any point durwith Dennis (Kravchenko) East) in a 5-3 win Saturday ing the year, I think we’ve and Austin here, both supernight for the weekend sweep always come out firing, but definitely nice for skilled guys, and I just try to over Connecticut. confidence to do my job.”

F o r UMass 5 the Freshman Nic Renyard go up two quickly Minutemen coach was once again starting in John Micheletto, UConn 3 like that.” between the pipes, making D e s p i t e a four-point week29 saves and withstandthe Huskies (3-6, end in league play 1-5 HEA) cut- ing an offensive spree from is always valuable.

“I think the boys, par- ting the lead to 2-1 before UConn in the third period, ticularly through the first the first intermission, that facing 34 attempts in the last 40 (minutes), played as good would be as close as they 20 minutes.

“He’s been great, espea combination of effort and got to making a comeback, cially these last two games,” as two straight goals from execution as I think we’ve had,” he said. “A lot of great sophomore Dominic Trento Trento said, “For a freshman offensive opportunities, extended the lead to 4-1 with goaltender he’s been making I think most importantly just over 15 minutes to go in saves when he needs to make them and that’s all you can was our discipline with the the game.

Trento, who has already really ask for. I know we’re systems, I thought we kept the ice small on them and surpassed his point total all super pumped about it.”

Jason Kates can be reached at After losing both match- jkates@umass.edu and followed @ minimized their chances an from last year with 11, put home two loose rebounds to ups against the Huskies last Jason_Kates. awful lot.”

OVERTIME

continued from page 8

JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

In a rematch of Saturday’s regular season finale, UMass will be the No. 5 seed and face No. 4 seed Fordham in the first round of the A-10 tournament. wait to get down there.”

Clinching their spot was no easy task for the Minutemen Saturday, who had their hands full against the Rams.

The first half saw a combined 15 shots from both teams, but the only real opportunity came for UMass when a Samuel Asamoah shot rang the left post.

The rest of the half saw the ball change possessions multiple times as each team tried to move the ball forward to no

CHAMPS

avail.

Coach Fran O’Leary said he was pleased with UMass’ effort despite the lack of offense in regulation, acknowledging Fordham was a tough opponent.

“They are a very wellcoached team. Fordham is a very good team,” O’Leary said. “So to get a win at home, and I think it was a deserved win (Saturday), we had the better of it.”

The Minutemen’s confidence began to grow in the second half as they out-

continued from page 8

“There were a lot of ups-and-downs all season. To get here we had to stay together and stay focused.

Melanie Kreusch, UMass sophomore

opportunities.

“We are clicking right now on both sides of the ball and on penalty corners,” Tagliente said. “One of our biggest strengths right now is attacking corners.”

Heading into halftime with a 2-0 lead, the Minutewomen knew they had a great chance in front of them being 35 minutes away from their first A-10 title in two years. However, Tagliente preached patience and focus to avoid a second half letdown.

“We focus on the task at hand and just being in the moment,” Tagliente said.

“In the past, we have looked too far ahead but this year our heads are in the present tense.”

UMass’ path toward return to the top of the

conference was a slippery slope all year for the Minutewomen. They snuck their way into the playoffs as a No. 3 seed with two straight conference wins to end the season. Now, they are conference champions heading into their first NCAA tournament since 2014.

“There were a lot of ups-and-downs all season,” Kreusch said. “To get here we had to stay together and stay focused.”

In addition to Kreusch’s heroics, Delario added an assist to finish with two points Saturday and Cliodha Loughlin added two assists.

In goal, senior Sam Carlino made three saves to preserve the shutout.

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

shot Fordham 7-to-2, putting continuous pressure on the Rams defense.

Fordham hung tough however, bending but not breaking. Its defense stifled many UMass opportunities, clearing the ball deep.

The Rams themselves also created a few offensive opportunities, but stout defense from both sides kept the scoreboard unmarked at the end of regulation.

With a five-minute intermission before the start of overtime, O’Leary said he gathered his troops on the field, telling his team to continue fighting.

“It was more of the same. We outshot a very good Fordham team… So just keep doing the same things, work the keeper and carry on,” said O’Leary.

The Minutemen continued to pressure Fordham in overtime and the Rams defense finally broke, allowing Hamill some space to convert on the sudden death winner.

O’Leary said he was proud of the Minutemen’s hard-fought second half of

the season, allowing them to claim the fifth seed after being picked to finish 12th in the preseason poll.

“It gives us some more confidence… So it’s a great credit to this group of guys,” he said. “They hung together when a lot of teams would fracture and now we’ll go down there (to Virginia) and try to pull off an upset to keep the season going.”

After a slow start to the season, losing its first six games, UMass has flipped the script earning their first playoff appearance since 2013. UMass has now earned points in five of its last seven games.

Hamill stressed that this built-up momentum will be important for UMass as the team prepares for its first-round matchup in Virginia.

“Momentum.

That’s the biggest thing,” Hamill said. “It’s huge.”

As announced Sunday, the Minutemen will face No. 4 seed Fordham in the first round in a rematch of Saturday’s season finale.

Ryan Donovan can be reached at rpdonovan@umass.edu.

STRUGGLES and Sharpe were trapped in double coverage on the play, leaving Frohnapfel to try to find the walk-on former baseball player.

“I was trying to find one-on-one matchups,” Frohnapfel said. “I just left the ball too far inside.

“If they’re going to double Tajae, then we have to find different ways to make it work. At times, we wouldn’t do that, just not throwing good balls to guys when they were singled covered or whatever it was.”

Whipple credited the Zips’ defensive line with jumpstarting Akron’s ability to limit Sharpe and Mills. On a predominantly four-man rush, the Zips recorded two sacks and applied continued pressure on Frohnapfel.

“We knew their defensive guys were really good, especially the front,” Whipple said. “They were able to play coverage and rush four and do some

continued from page 8

things.”

“The defense played well in the second half, and we seem to get better and better,” Akron coach Terry Bowden said. “Our defense did a great job making adjustments. Jatavis (Brown) made numerous stops and pressures on the quarterback, overall a great team effort.”

The loss, UMass’ fifth in a row, drops the Minutemen to 0-5 in MidAmerican Conference play this year.

Jonah sees increased action Jo n a h finished Saturday’s game with no receptions. For the season, he has one catch for 25 yards and a touchdown, coming against Bowling Green Oct. 10.

Anthony Chiusano can be reached at achiusano@umass.edu.

JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

UMass players celebrate one of two goals scored by Dominic Trento (6) in Saturday’s win over UConn.

Vatrano scores in NHL debut Sat. By anthony Chiusano Collegian Staff

While freshman Nic Renyard continues to solidify himself as the Massachusetts hockey team’s answer in goal and the Minutemen’s defense has shown growth early in the 2015-16 season, it’s been the top forwards line that’s propelled UMass to a 6-2-1 start.

Composed of sophomores Dennis Kravchenko, Dominic Trento and freshman Austin Plevy, the first line’s impact was heavily felt in Saturday night’s 5-3 victory over UConn.

The trio combined for eight points and three goals against the Huskies. Trento scored back-to-back goals to break open a 4-1 UMass lead early in the third period, while Plevy added the Minutemen’s final goal in the 18th minute of the third period.

“Any three of us can score goals, which is good,” Trento said after the game Saturday.

“We each bring something different.”

Kravchenko, who finished with two assists, leads UMass with seven goals, while Plevy tallied his sixth in Saturday’s victory. For Trento, his pair of goals brought Trento to five goals, matching last year’s total through only nine games.

According to Trento, the difference between this year and last year has simply been health. Last season, Trento dealt with a series of injuries throughout the year including an ankle injury he had to rehab in the offseason.

“I’m healthy, that’s always a good thing,” Trento said.

“Playing with Dennis and Austin, they’re super-skilled guys and I just try to do my job.”

In his first year at UMass, Plevy has fit in nicely, bringing speed and puck skills to the top line. At 21 years old and coming off two years playing for the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Brooks Bandits, Plevy brings unique experience as a freshman.

After going three straight games without a goal following a scorching start to his season – including a hat trick

ZIPS

in his collegiate debut – Plevy has scored goals in consecutive games this weekend against UConn, including the game-winning goal Friday.

“I’m a little older than a typical freshman so that’s definitely an advantage having a few more years in (junior hockey),” Plevy said.

“I’m super happy with the role I have and I’m working hard every day to stay in that role. I had a tough couple of games there but now I’m getting it back together.”

Plevy added that playing alongside two experienced forwards with a year under their belt in Kravchenko and Trento has helped him easily adapt to college hockey and get off to a quick start.

“They’ve obviously been through their freshmen years and through the struggles so I’ve been talking to them a lot and I’m glad to be contributing,” Plevy said.

Vatrano scores goal in Bruins debut One day after former UMass hockey player Frank Vatrano was called up to the Boston Bruins after scoring 10 goals in 10 games for the AHL’s Providence Bruins, Vatrano recorded a goal in his NHL debut.

On his third career shot Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens, Vatrano found the back of the net to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead in the second quarter. Boston went on to lose 4-2.

The East Longmeadow native grew up a Bruins fan and spent one-plus seasons at UMass before leaving after his 2014-15 redshirt sophomore season to sign his entry level contract. He scored a team-high 18 goals for the Minutemen last season.

“Obviously you run the gamut of emotions for Frank and his family today,” UMass coach John Micheletto said Saturday. “You’re just hopeful that he has a great experience and that he enjoys it.

Sometimes that’s the most difficult thing to do in your first game. But then to add layer upon layer with him scoring a goal, I’m sure he’s so happy.

“Obviously, we’re all really fired up for Frank and his family.”

Anthony Chiusano can be reached at achiusano@umass.edu.

continued from page 8

to blame. There’s no one person you could say that didn’t win their matchup,” Mills added. “For some reason, we just have to find a way to finally get all 11 players on the same page.”

Woodson’s (15-of-27, 174 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions) lone passing touchdown came with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter when he hit Austin Wolf from 27 yards out.

UMass finished with a net total of 88 rushing yards, 52 of which came on 15 carries from Marquis Young. Tajae Sharpe, who finished with seven receptions for 53 yards, set the single-season UMass receptions record (93) pass-

ing Jimmy Moore.

Although the record doesn’t indicate it, the Minutemen believe that this year’s team is better than it was a season ago.

“I don’t even think in my freshman year we could stay in half of the games we’re in now. It’s not them beating us. It’s usually us shooting ourselves in the foot,” Jovan Santos-Knox said. “Once we cut down on the untimely mistakes, turnovers and penalties, we’ll take off. If we don’t address it or fix the problem, we’ll keep taking (losses).”

Andrew Cyr can be reached at arcyr@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Andrew Cyr.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Monday, November 9, 2015

Sports@DailyCollegian.com

@MDC_SPORTS

finding redemption

JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

ROBERT RIGO/COLLEGIAN

UMass earned its 15th Atlantic 10 championship with Saturday’s 3-0 win over Richmond.

Casey Hamill (13) celebrates his game-winning goal in the 97th minute of UMass’ win at Rudd Field Saturday.

FIELD HOCKEY

MEN’S SOCCER

UMass earns first Atlantic Minutemen return to A-10s 10 title since 2013 season after missing out last season UM gets revenge in win vs. Spiders

“It has been a long time, waiting 365 days for a shot at redemption,” Tagliente said. “It feels awesome and I am just really proud of the

By Tyler Fiedler girls.”

Collegian Staff UMass was clicking in all The Massachusetts field facets of the game Saturday hockey team redeemed its and that showed just 14 mincrushing 2014 champion- utes into the game, when the ship game loss to Richmond Minutewomen were awarded with a 3-0 win over the same their first penalty corner Spiders Saturday to cap- of the contest. Izzie Delario ture its fourth passed it in to Atlantic 10 title Melanie Kreusch UMass 3 who then found in six years.

Despite a Delario darting roller coaster of Richmond 0 for the net. The a regular seapass was right son – UMass on target and lost six out of eight games Delario did not miss her from Sept. 20 to Oct. 18 – opportunity. the goal remained the same Tagliente could not have for coach Carla Tagliente drawn up a better play but it and the Minutewomen: was the execution by Delario win the Atlantic 10 title and Kreusch that gave the and have a chance at the Minutewomen the lead.

NCAA tournament. After “(Melanie) is performa long year of preparation ing exceptionally well right – the Minutewomen lost now,” Tagliente said. “She to the Spiders in the title had a great assists to Izzie game Nov. 8 last year – their and that started it for us.” moment arrived in grand Coming off a hat trick in Friday’s semifinal win in fashion Saturday.

comeback fashion over La Salle, Kreusch shined again in the championship round with two more goals to provide insurance in UMass’ third shutout of the year.

“I can’t explain the amount of pressure (Kreusch) must have felt (in the semifinal game) being down 2-0 early,” Tagliente said. “She welcomed the challenge and is really a gamer.”

Ten minutes after Delario’s first goal, the Minutewomen capitalized once again on a penalty corner when Kreusch took it herself and scored her fourth goal of the tournament.

The sophomore from Belgium then notched her second goal of the day coming out of halftime in the 50th minute off another penalty corner.

The goal, on UMass’ fifth penalty corner of the game, provided a dagger to Richmond’s title aspirations.

The Minutewomen finished 3-of-6 on penalty corner see

CHAMPS on page 7

Hamill scores OT winner Saturday By ryan donovan Collegian Staff

“When I trapped the ball down, I planned on just passing. But I saw a gap and ran to it, saw some space and one thing led to another.”

Casey Hamill, The Massachusetts UMass freshman men’s soccer team held its Atlantic 10 tournament fate the Fordham goalkeeper to ting tighter as a group and in its own hands on senior secure a 1-0 win in the 97th things just started clicking.” day in Saturday’s season minute.

With the win, UMass finale.

“Well, when I trapped secured the No. 5 seed And it would need over- the ball down, I planned on and will travel to Fairfax, time to seal that fortune just passing,” Virginia where the conferagainst Fordham Hamill said. ence tournament is hosted.

University.

“But I saw a gap Junior defender UMass 1 Locked in a and ran to it, Josh Jess, who led the defensive battle saw some space Minutemen’s backline all Fordham 0 and ending reguand one thing season long, was excited for lation in a 0-0 led to another.” UMass’ return to the tourdraw, the Minutemen (5-12The game-winner nament after it missed out 1, 4-3-1 A-10) headed to over- marked Hamill’s first goal on a tournament spot last time with the mindset of of the season and it could year. upsetting the Rams (6-7-4, not have come at a more “(It’s) unreal. I went 4-3-1 A-10). opportune time for the freshman year (to the tourThat’s when freshman Minutemen, who were batnament)… Kind of skated defender Casey Hamill tling for their A-10 playoff in. This year we played for found some space on the lives, needing a win to keep it. It was all in our hands. left side of Rudd Field in their hopes alive.

It’s a great feeling in a huge the offensive zone, jetting “We kept battling and game,” he said. “The boys to the net where he buried never gave up,” Hamill said. are excited and we can’t the overtime game-winner “It’s just a matter of discifrom eight yards out past pline. And we just kept get- see OVERTIME on page 7

FOOTBALL

Minutemen drop fifth straight vs. Zips Lack of WR depth hurts UM in loss

Final drive stopped short on interception

The Minutemen were lucky to even be in position to muster a game-winning drive as they accounted for just 100 By andrew Cyr yards of total offense and nine Collegian Staff first downs in the second half.

FOXBOROUGH —As disas- Saturday marked the sevtrous as the Massachusetts enth time in nine games that football team played Saturday, UMass did not score in the it still found itself in position third quarter and it has been to win its second game of 2015 outscored 112-21 by opponents with one minute, 52 seconds in the quarter after returning remaining and 80 yards to go from the locker room.

“When they can rush the downfield.

UMass (1-8, 0-5 Mid- passer and play coverage with seven, that’s A m e r i c a n always what you’re Conference) had worried about,” Akron 17 the ball right UMass coach Mark where it wanted it in the hands of UMass 14 Whipple said about the struggles in Blake Frohnapfel, the second half. but the result was the same as it’s always been “(Frohnapfel) didn’t have a lot throughout the 2015 season – of time. He got hit on every one. close, but not enough.

The Zips (4-5, 2-3 MAC) With both Rodney Mills and Tajae Sharpe double-covered took a 14-13 lead with 8:54 on the play, Frohnapfel tried remaining in the third quarto force it to Dan Jonah, only ter when quarterback Thomas to have his pass intercepted Woodson ran it into the end

by DeAndre Scott to secure zone himself from 15 yards Akron’s 17-13 win at Gillette out, carrying UMass defenders with him as he struggled Stadium.

“I just left the ball too far for the final five yards.

Akron kicker Robert Stein inside,” said Frohnapfel, who finished 19-for-43 for 173 yards added a 36-yard field goal with and two interceptions.

5:43 left to extend it to 17-13.

UMass struggles in one-on-one battles By anThony Chiusano Collegian Staff

ROBERT RIGO/COLLEGIAN

UMass quarterback Blake Frohnapfel (7) was held to 173 yards and two interceptions on 19-of-43 passing in Saturday’s loss.

“It’s just miscues. We had our chances and for the most part, we couldn’t capitalize.

There were too many untimely penalties that really hurt us. That’s been the case these couple weeks throughout the season,” Rodney Mills said.

The Minutemen took a 13-7 lead entering halftime after Logan Laurent made a pair of field goals from 36 and 40 yards. Their lone touchdown came in the first quarter when they ran the ball with Jamal Wilson, who punched it in from nine yards out to give

UMass a 7-0 lead.

All three of the Minutemen’s scoring drives came when it started in Zips territory.

“It was a good, hard-fought football game. I figured it would come down to that.

Those guys beat us in some one-on-one matchups. We had a couple guys open, we just couldn’t get the ball out. They were just one play better than us,” Whipple said.

“There’s no one person see

ZIPS on page 7

FOXBOROUGH — The Massachusetts football team was held to a single touchdown and 261 yards of total offense in Saturday’s 17-13 loss to Akron at Gillette Stadium, continuing a long stretch of offensive struggles and missed opportunities in 2015.

Following the defeat, UMass coach Mark Whipple provided a simple explanation for the Minutemen’s latest struggles.

“Some one-on-one things, (Akron was) just better than us,” Whipple said. “Sometimes that’s what it comes down to.”

Absent of No. 2 wide receiver Marken Michel and with the nation’s leading receiver Tajae Sharpe limited due to persistent double team coverage, UMass quarterback Blake

Frohnapfel (19-of-43, 173 yards, two interceptions) struggled to connect with alternate options and piece together long drives.

Sharpe finished with seven receptions for 53 yards while tight end/fullback Rodney Mills led the way with six receptions for 62 yards. With Michel out due to an injury suffered two weeks ago against Toledo, Frohnapfel’s secondary options included Shakur Nesmith, Elgin Long and Dan Jonah.

“We tried to get the ball to some other guys and it just didn’t work out,” Whipple said. “Marken is a good player, he’s our second best receiver, and Rodney’s come on. It has to be more than one guy, it’s a team game.”

Jonah was targeted on UMass’ final offensive play of the game, a deep ball in single coverage that was intercepted by DeAndre Scott. Both Mills see

STRUGGLES on page 7