Massachusetts Daily Collegian: March 24, 2016

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Thursday, March 24, 2016

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Vitale/Rampone win 2016 SGA presidential election Ticket unofficially tallied 1,395 votes B y Stuart F oSter Collegian Staff

ROBERT RIGO/COLLEGIAN

Anthony Vitale (left) and Nick Rampone (right) were unofficially elected president and vice president, respectively, of the Student Government Association early Wednesday morning with 1,395 votes in the 2016 SGA Election.

Anthony Vitale and Nick Rampone were unofficially elected president and vice president of the Student Government Association e a rl y Wednesday morning with 1,395 votes in the 2016 SGA Election.

Khalif Nunnally-Rivera and Maija Hall, who were also running for president and vice president respectively, received 1,261 votes.

There were 134 write-in votes as well.

“We hope we are able to further what we’ve been campaigning on to make sure the students really do benefit and we further student representation here on campus,” said Vitale, a sophomore studying economics.

Rampone also thanked the Nunnally-Rivera and Hall campaign for “put-

ting up an amazing competition.”

Josh Odam, who ran for the position of student trustee unopposed, was elected with 2,516 votes.

“I’m excited to work with Mr. Vitale and Mr. Rampone,” said Odam, a junior studying political science and legal studies.

“I hope students of color and Young Metro trust them.”

In the Graduate Student Senate elections, Canan Cevik was elected president with 267 votes, Daniel Morales was elected vice president with 259 votes and Talia London was elected treasurer with 141 votes.

Nunnally-Rivera said that, while disappointed with the results of the election, he and Hall planned to “continue to fight for the rights of the UMass student body.”

“The election results will mean we have to work even harder to accomplish see

SGA on page 3

Communication disorders dept. hosts fundraisers Graduate students, staff embark on Walk and Roll for Stroke and Aphasia Parkinson’s Unity Walk next month will be held on UMass campus April 2 B y ShelBy aShline Collegian Staff

Graduate students and staff from the University of Massachusetts communication disorders department will participate in the 22nd annual Parkinson’s Unity Walk on Saturday, April 23 in New York City’s Central Park.

Lisa Sommers, clinic director at the Center for Language, Speech and Hearing, clinical professor in the communication disorders department and captain of the UMass team, decided to form the team to encourage her students “to connect in the community.”

“We’re trying to teach students all the different ways that you can be an effective speech language

pathologist,” Sommers said. She explained that this includes learning and evaluating research and picking good techniques to use with patients, but also “learning to connect with people on a personal level” by joining support groups and participating in events like the Unity Walk.

“It’s about more than being in a therapy room with someone,” she continued. “It’s about advocating and being there in the different ways that you can, and that includes (community events like the Unity Walk).”

The UMass team, which has never participated in the Unity Walk before, currently has 16 members who have already raised $1,610 toward their goal of

$2,000. All teams involved in the Unity Walk have already raised a total of $426,684.

Sommers considers the Unity Walk to be a great way for her students to participate in community service, particularly because 100 percent of the donations are distributed among the seven major U.S. Parkinson’s disease foundations to fund research.

The event also features informational booths where participants can speak with healthcare experts and meet with representatives from the various Parkinson’s foundations. Sommers sees the event as “an opportunity to learn about Parkinson’s see

UNITY on page 2

By ShelBy aShline Collegian Staff

When Dr. Jacquie Kurland began teaching graduate students in the communication disorders department at the University of Massachusetts, she decided to experiment with some non-traditional assignments.

As a final project for her two-semester course “Language Disorders in Adults” Kurland requires students to participate in a community service project, which she said has “turned out to be the thing that the students learn the most from.”

In the history of the project, students have implemented monthly support groups and pal programs for people in the community who have suffered a stroke or who live with aphasia, a language disorder that

COURTESY OF DR. JACQUIE KURLAND

Participants in the first Walk and Roll for Stroke and Aphasia held in 2009 walk down North Pleasant Street in Amherst. affects a person’s ability to express and understand written and spoken language usually as a result of a stroke.

In 2009, a student proposed the Walk and Roll for Stroke

and Aphasia. Because of the popularity and success of the event, it will be held for the fifth time on Saturday, April 2 see

APHASIA on page 3

St. Patrick’s Day panel discusses ‘Trapped’ screens evolution of Irish culture, identity at UMass on Wed. Event took place Wednesday evening B y Patricia l eB oeuF Collegian Staff

Delta Xi Phi Multicultural Sorority, in collaboration with the Amherst Irish Association, presented a panel on Irish culture and identity in the Campus Center Wednesday night to roughly 20 attendees.

The panel, “St. Patrick’s Day Meaning & Practices: A Conversation on Identity,” included two Irish-American students,

Kathryn Rogers and Mary O’Connor, along with cochair of the Amherst Irish Association Íde O’Carroll, and Anthony Tuck, associate professor of classics at the University of Massachusetts.

Blarney Blowout, the series of annual drinking parties held in Amherst on the first weekend of March, was the inspiration for the event, Rogers said.

The event was created to help dispel unfortunate and harmful stereotypes perpetuated by Blarney.

“I think there is something very strange to a celebration that starts

“The expression of St. Patrick’s Day was to be one of pride…and association of Irish pride in identity.” Íde O’Carroll, Co-chair of the Amherst Irish Association at 6 a.m. with a glass of vodka,” O’Carroll said.

O’Connor contrasted the St. Patrick’s Day celebration of her childhood, which involved food, music and family celebration, with the drinking culture of Blarney.

“It didn’t ring true to me,” she said. “It was about…keeping our history and identity alive.”

According to O’Carroll, the intent of the panel was to “open a conversation.”

“I think there is no one interpretation of what St. Patrick means,” she said.

The panel members discussed the evolution of Irish identity and cultural practices connected to St. Patrick’s Day in the consee

IRISH on page 2

Film follows fight for abortion rights

By Marie Maccune Collegian Staff

Trapped, a film by Dawn Porter that focuses on the fight for abortion rights in the United States, screened Wednesday night at the University of Massachusetts.

The screening was sponsored by the UMass departments of history, political science, legal studies and women, gender and sexuality studies, as well as Five College Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice Program, Smith

Program for Study of Women & Gender and VOX UMass: Students for Reproductive Justice.

TRAP stands for “targeted regulation of abortion providers” and is used to describe legislation that creates barriers to provide abortions as a means of limiting abortion rights overall.

The event’s Facebook page explained that “since 2010, 288 laws regulating abortion providers have been passed by state legislatures. In total, 44 states and the District of Columbia have measures subjecting abortion providers to see

FILM on page 3

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THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Thursday, March 24, 2016

CALENDAR

WEEK END

FRIDAY

BILLY CURRINGTON Country artist Billy Currington and special guest Kelsea Ballerini play at Mullins Center starting at 7 p.m.

FEMINIST POETICS A symposium celebrating the work of feminist poet, scholar and activist June Jordan runs from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom.

SATURDAY BLACK LIVES MATTER “Remembering, Celebrating and Moving Forward: An Evening of Beautiful Struggle” features several prominent guest speakers. At 7 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom.

CULTURAL NIGHT The Taiwanese and Chinese Students’ Association presents cultural night featuring dinner, activities and performances. From 4 to 9 p.m. in the Campus Center Auditorium.

SUNDAY

JAZZ AT CHEZ ALBERT Amherst’s Chez Albert, located at 178 North Pleasant St., presents live jazz starting at 8 p.m. No cover fee, but a donation is suggested.

DE-STRESS IN 5 MIN. Amherst College’s Wellness Team hosts relaxation exercises and teaches self-hand massage in the Robert Frost Library starting at 8 p.m.

IRISH

continued from page 1

text of Irish migration.

“The green and the white and the Catholic was never quite a true story,” said O’Carroll, who added people should be careful of attaching a single nature to the Irish identity.

Tuck presented a PowerPoint presentation on the archaeological history of the Celts as reflected in their migration patterns and discussed how St. Patrick himself fit into this history.

According to Tuck, the Celtic identity is subject to serious debate, but the first generally accepted instance of Celtic settlement is in Hallstatt, Austria.

Tuck traced the evolutionary migration of the Celts in terms of burial and ritual practices. In Hallstatt, grave excavations revealed simple inhumation burials associated with simple grave goods, he said.

Over time, burials began to reflect greater statusrelated roles in society, leading to the highly stature-based burials.

The second Celtic migration saw the Celts moving into the British Isles, and remaining rural, tribal societies, Tuck continued.

Tuck described the environment in which St. Patrick found himself during his arrival in the fifth century CE to Ireland – a society in which bog bodies that bore evidence of ritual sacrifice, possibly associated with fertility festivals.

St. Patrick’s role evolved in connection with the pre-Christian tradition of Ireland, O’Carroll said.

Even today, Croagh Patrick, a traditional spot

for pilgrims in Ireland, named for St. Patrick, still sits close to a pre-Christian site in Ireland.

St. Patrick’s Day evolved as a public practice by a people who were low on the totem pole, having just fled a famine in Ireland largely caused by the neglect of the colonizing British, said O’Carroll.

The interpretation of the holiday has always been complicated, including the idea of who should march in the day’s parades and under what banner they should march, she said.

“The expression of St. Patrick’s Day was to be one of pride…and association of Irish pride in identity,” O’Carroll said.

The panelists also discussed the evolution of the role of women in Irish identity, from the more female-focused pre-Christian culture to the drastically different Christian culture of St. Patrick.

The Irish migration was largely female-driven, unique among 19th century migration patterns, O’Carroll said.

Audience members also shared their varied experiences with Blarney Blowout and ideas of Irish American identity.

A local woman, Jocie Nangle, remembered driving through Amherst during 2014’s Blarney Blowout weekend that made national news.

“It was a really difficult scene to deal with,” she said.

Patricia LeBoeuf can be reached at patricialebo@umass.edu or followed on Twitter @leboeuf_trisha.

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UNITY

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“It’s about more than being in a therapy room with someone. It’s about advocating and being there in the different ways that you can, and that includes (community events like the Unity Walk).”

Lisa Sommers, Captain of the University of Massachusetts Parkinson’s Unity Walk team disease and develop some specialty knowledge in the area.”

To raise funds, the students have set up a Facebook page for the event, where they share information about ways to donate or participate.

On March 8, the team held a fundraiser at Chili’s in Hadley, where attendees could present coupons that allowed them to donate 10 percent of their bill to the Unity Walk fund.

As the Chili’s fundraiser raised $50, it has been a small part of the fundraising efforts overall. A raffle is also being organized featuring donations from members of a Parkinson’s disease support group in Hadley.

Sommers hopes to have a table set up in the Campus Center starting in mid-April so students can readily buy tickets.

Otherwise, donations have come primarily from students’ families and local businesses such as The Harp, which donated $200, according to Sommers.

“Within the first day or two we already had $600 worth in donations,” she said. Sommers believes there has been such tremendous support for the

cause because Parkinson’s has “touched almost everyone’s lives.”

Prior to the event on April 23, Sommers said “the students are, under their own funds, going down to New York City.”

Many members of the UMass team will carpool or commute by train from friends’ residences nearby.

Sommers said it is “really, really important to support research for Parkinson’s disease,” because “a lot of research is still needing to be done to intervene and help people deal with the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.”

T he cause of Parkinson’s is currently unknown, and while treatment options help to manage symptoms, there is no cure, according to the UMass team’s fundraising website.

The Unity Walk, then, is a way that “people with Parkinson’s disease and the students can share this common goal” of supporting research in hopes of someday finding a cure, said Sommers.

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

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

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APHASIA

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at noon starting in the Cape Cod Lounge of the Student Union.

According to Kurland, the purpose of the Walk and Roll is to raise awareness and money for local stroke and aphasia outreach efforts.

“There’s always plenty of ways to spend the money, but the goal is more about raising awareness,” she said in a phone interview.

Unless someone in their family has been affected, “we find, much to the frustration of our stroke survivors, that many people don’t understand stroke and aphasia,” Kurland said.

According to Kurland, aphasia is a very prevalent disease that impairs the ability to read, write and talk, affecting more than a million people in the United States alone. About 20 percent of the 800,000 people who suffer a stroke each year will develop chronic aphasia.

Despite the disorder’s prevalence, Kurland said people often show prejudice against those affected by aphasia for having difficulty communicating because they don’t have a good understanding of the disorder.

Kurland said in previous years, money raised from the Walk and Roll has been used to promote other stroke/ aphasia events, to support ongoing research in treating aphasia and to support programs to help local area stroke survivors, such as the monthly Stroke Support Group and the Aphasia Connections Pal Program.

Registration for the Walk and Roll is $10, and a stroke awareness bracelet can be purchased for an additional $5.

The communication disorders department is also hosting a benefit fundraiser at Bertucci’s in Amherst.

The restaurant has blocked off four days in which all patrons who show a Walk and Roll event flyer (shown below) or state they are supporting the event will automatically donate 15 percent of their bill to the cause.

While the first two designated days March 9 and 10 have passed, two more fundraising dates are coming up on Thursday, March 24 and Monday, March 28.

In the past, Kurland estimates the Walk and Roll has attracted as many as 150 participants – a group made up of students, members of various stroke/aphasia support groups and their family members. Those who are interested in participating can register online or in person starting at 11 a.m. the morning of the event.

A reception in the Cape Cod Lounge will follow this year’s Walk and Roll, featuring refreshments, live music by a UMass acapella group and the display of a series of posters compiled by stroke survivors, who will also be present.

Kurland encourages everyone, regardless of their knowledge of stroke and aphasia, to participate in the Walk and Roll and support the event’s main goal of raising awareness.

“We want people to show up who don’t know much about stroke and aphasia,” she said. “That’s how we’ll be most successful.”

Organization exists on 30 US campuses

By Lia Gips Collegian Correspondent Laura Hancock, a biology masters student and University of Massachusetts campus coordinator for the Humane League, is working to educate the greater UMass community about the impacts of factory farming on animals, people and the environment.

“A lot of people seem to think that vegans and vegetarians are extremists, and I personally am trying to promote compassion,” Hancock said.

“I think people are compassionate, and they care about animals and the world around them. I want to help people see how discordant eating animalbased food is with this compassion.”

The Humane League is a 30-campus national organization working to “reduce animal suffering through grassroots education to change eating habits and corporate campaigns to reform farm animal treatment,” according to their website.

Hancock said she has considered herself an ani-

FILM

mal rights activist since she became a vegetarian at 15 years old, 10 years ago, so when the organization wanted to find a campus coordinator at UMass, Hancock jumped at the opportunity to get involved.

“I love doing what I’m doing.” Hancock said. “I’d be doing these same things even if it weren’t part of an official position.”

Hancock said she works with other campus groups that focus on animal rights, environmental issues or human health. One campaign central to her work at UMass has been to establish Meatless Mondays, an effort cosigned by the UMass Climateers, the Plant-Based Nutrition Club (PNUT) and other campus groups.

Many of Hancock’s efforts overlap with other campus activist organizations. She supports MassPIRG’s efforts to eliminate antibiotic-treated meat and PNUT’s petitions to Dining Services to include more meat-alternatives in their meals.

She also works with a variety of groups to host educational movie screenings and bring animal rights speak-

Legal studies professor Jamie Rowen answers a question following the first screening of the documentary “Trapped” in Western Massachusetts. legal restrictions not imposed on other medical professionals.”

The documentary won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact Filmmaking at the Sundance Film Festival this year. It focused on the lives of abortion providers in states like Alabama and Texas, where TRAP laws have seriously impacted their ability to service women, driving many to face closing.

The film also discussed the passing of a Texas law known as HB2 which requires facili-

ties that provide abortions to meet surgical center standards and abortion providers to have admitting privileges to local hospitals.

HB2 was famously stopped

by Wendy Davis in a 13-hour filibuster. However, Gov. Rick Perry called a special session a few days later in which the bill was passed anyway.

According to the film, these regulations have shut down more than 75 percent of clinics providing abortions in the state.

The screening of the film was timely as earlier this

ee election because he was impressed with the candidate’s past experience.

One student, junior journalism and communications major Katie Donegan, said she voted for Nunnally-Rivera and Hall because of the ticket’s vice presidential candidate.

“Hall got my vote. She is interested in what I am interested in, a Bill of Rights for (sexual assault survivors) and what CERC is doing,” said Donegan, referring to the Coalition to End Rape Culture.

Donegan added she voted for Odam to become the student trustee, saying she knew him from his involvement with campus activism.

However, other UMass students said they weren’t aware of the SGA elections or the Association in general. Sam Bavelock, a junior studying food and farming sustainability, pointed to a NunnallyRivera and Hall flyer on her table at Blue Wall.

“I think that is the extent of my awareness,”

she said. “I don’t even know what kind of decision-making the SGA really does.”

Ayshia Stephenson, a first-year Ph.D. student in the field of communications, would have been eligible to vote in the student trustee election but not in the presidential or undergraduate senator elections.

“I didn’t hear much about it,” she said. “I think an email may have come in. We get tons of emails on a daily basis.”

Taylor Mascari, a senior environmental science major, did vote in the SGA presidential election, although she could not recall the candidate she voted for.

“To be honest I don’t remember because I was voting with my friend,” Mascari said.

“He basically told me, ‘Oh, this person has your political leanings,’” added Mascari, who described herself as “pretty liberal.”

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Anthony Vitale, 2016 Student Government Association President the goals we set out to achieve, but we’re looking forward to a great year of working with all of you,” said Nunnally-Rivera, a junior studying geography and urban planning.

The election saw 2,790 students out of 22,748 eligible undergraduate students, or 12.26 percent of undergraduates, vote this year. This number was down from last year’s SGA presidential election, when 15.38 percent of the eligible undergraduate student body voted in the presidential contest.

Matthew Martin, a sophomore majoring in legal studies and political science who was on the SGA Elections Commission, said it had tabled and brought laptops to the dining commons so

students could vote there.

“We had to promote civic engagement,” Martin said. “We’re trying to get five percent of the student body to actually vote.”

Martin said the SGA had a good turnout so far and that he expected the threshold to be reached by the time polls closed.

Bobby Malinn, a sophomore studying political science, said he decided to vote for Vitale and Rampone after attending the SGA debate on March 10.

“I felt that they would fight for student businesses and a variety of other reasons,” Malinn said.

Malinn, a current SGA senator who represents the Central Residential Area, added he voted for Odam in the student trust-

ROBERT RIGO/COLLEGIAN

Rachel Atcheson, the Humane League’s director of campus outreach, spoke to a group of students from the Plant-Based Nutrition club on campus last month. ers to campus, such as the Humane League’s Director of Campus Outreach Rachel Atcheson, who visited campus last month.

Hancock has been in contact with dozens of student groups in an effort to reach out to the hubs of sympathetic circles.

As well as organizing outreach and educational events, Hancock’s Humane League work includes designing posters, leafleting with fellow PNUT member Julie Klein and visiting classrooms and campus groups to give talks about more humane ways of eating.

“(The Humane League) wants to provide an outlet for education on these issues,” Hancock said. “There’s suffering and torture to produce even cheese and eggs. There are horrible inventions and methods being used that I think a lot of people don’t know about.”

Hancock encourages others interested in this cause to get involved with PNUT or any other campus organization working for better treatment of animals.

month the U.S. Supreme Court heard the oral arguments for Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the case challenging these regulations as an undue burden on women. The court is expected to release a decision in June.

Amy Myrick, an attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights, the organization representing the clinics in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, Skyped in to answer audience questions following the screening.

Myrick said her colleagues at CRR were “ecstatic in November when the (court) decided to take the case.”

She told attendees that the Supreme Court has not heard an abortion case since 2007 and has never heard a challenge to the TRAP laws. In terms of the court’s decision, “we are cautiously optimistic,” she said.

Diane Curtis, a senior lecturer with the department of political science and a prelaw adviser, explained that the country can most likely expect a five-to-three split in favor of invalidating the regulations, or a four-to-four tie which would result in a defer-

ence to the lower court, which has ruled to uphold them.

However, that ruling would only affect the fifth federal district, which includes Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Tami Rowen, an abortion provider in San Francisco and sister of Jamie Rowen, a UMass professor of legal studies who also helped coordinate the event, Skyped in as well.

With her experience as an obstetrician, Rowen explained to the audience that “90 percent of surgical abortions are almost exactly the same procedure” as intrauterine device (IUD) insertions and endometrial biopsies that are performed routinely by her practice. Neither of those practices are required to meet the standards set in TRAP regulations.

She went on to say that abortion, like IUD insertions and endometrial biopsies, are “extraordinarily safe” and that there is “no medical necessity to require providers to have admitting privileges.”

Lia Gips can be reached at lgips@ umass.edu.

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

“We hope we are able to further what we’ve been campaigning on to make sure the students really do benefit and we further student representation here on campus.”

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Humane League provides ‘outlet for education’ about animal rights

JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

SGA

Thursday, March 24, 2016

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

Marie MacCune can be reached at mmaccune@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @MarieMacCune.

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“There are no facts, only interpretations.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Editorial@DailyCollegian.com

Black Lives Matter in Amherst As I was taking my morning them as an “and” – an addition commute to UMass on Tuesday, to the white population rather I turned onto South Pleasant than a part of “All Lives” that their opposition claims matter.

Karly Dunn In an even simpler format, this movement is not, and will never Street to drive through town be, about me. Who am I to and saw a Black Lives Matter think that the leaders of this banner hanging proudly above movement should change their passing traffic. I found myself slogan just to accommodate the unable to describe what it was white oppressors they are fightthat overwhelmed me about ing against in the first place? seeing this banner as I drove In a more local light, I am underneath it, but I felt myself proud. The banner I will now tearing up at the sight of it. see every day on my drive is a For the rest of my drive, I signifier of a town that cares thought about the significance about the lives oppressed in of this and the things a lot of people I knew would criticize about it. Since its founding, the Black Lives Matter movement has been refuted with the idea that “All Lives Matter,” to which people like me have responded that while this is true, we live in a society where minorities have clearly not been treated equally.

I thought for a second that maybe the movement could be better revised to say “Black America. I’m not a woman of Lives Matter, Too,” to explain color and I haven’t personally to refuters what I have argued fallen victim of the oppressions continuously. But I immediate- minorities face on a daily basis, ly retracted that thought as it’s but I am overwhelmed with a irrelevant to the controversy. sense of pride that the town I The rationale behind my retrac- spend my time in is working to tion was simple: Black lives and embody the same values that I minority lives have been treat- have been aiming to instill in ed as an afterthought even in a some of my family members and friends for months on end. supposed “post-racial” world.

The Black Lives Matter Adding the word “too” to the group’s fight against institu- movement is an organizational racism only self-appoints tion I have supported since its

establishment, and I have been increasingly discouraged trying to explain racial inequality as a white woman to another group of white individuals. By seeing this banner Tuesday morning, I recognized two main feelings.

The first of these feelings was pretty obvious: I am not even remotely close to understanding the injustices people of color face in America. I have no anecdotal evidence to provide to those who I talk to about racial issues and I will never experience the struggles people of color have just by being peo-

community of racial equality.

I might not be able to change someone’s mind today, but maybe I’ll learn how to approach people who are not willing to change their warped perception that Americans are all equal and work with them to not only change policies but to foster a newer society that listens more to the minority public about racial struggle than those who govern them and speak on their behalf.

The second feeling that overtook me that morning was more of a reinforcement that Amherst has taken a stand against racial inequality. I may know infinitely less than people of color, and this may be just a banner, but it is a banner that tells all that Amherst is not standing for the racism and discrimination that has plagued our country since its founding.

This town has announced that it is capable of fighting against prejudice, racial slurs, ple of color.

I do, however, recognize my mass incarceration and all the own privilege. I notice the privi- acts of violence that people leges I have over my fellow com- of color are susceptible to in munity members of color and America. Although this is only people I have interacted with one small step that is a fraction my entire life. By harnessing of necessary change toward this privilege, I hope I can chan- racial equality, I am proud to be nel it to fight white supremacy. I a student in a community that hope I can one day contribute to embraces and takes concern in a change in society and raise a the lives of minorities. family that is not colorblind but instead sees past racial differ- Karly Dunn can be reached at ences and prejudices to create a kdunn@umass.edu.

“The town of Amherst has taken a stand against racial inequality. I may know infinitely less than people of color, and this may be just a banner.

However, it is a banner that tells all that Amherst is not standing for the racism and discrimination that has plagued our country since its founding.”

Hillary Clinton is the frenemy black voters know Ten months ago, few would starkly different roles in black have predicted that Bernie communities. The warm feelSanders, the independent ings of the wonder years for these men are being dispelled Joshua Barton by a frigid and stark reality.

When elected president, socialist senator from Vermont, Obama’s victory marked a would present a serious chal- huge milestone for America, lenge to former Secretary of yet African Americans continState Hillary Clinton’s march ued to suffer systemic prejuto the Democratic nomina- dice. Obama’s policies have tion for president. But almost failed to reach blacks to the two months into primary vot- same extent as the general ing, Clinton is just hanging population. on to her lead, and it’s largeBlack unemployment is ly thanks to overwhelming support among black voters.

Clinton has opened up a huge delegate lead over Sanders after sweeping the South, where she won the black vote by historic margins. Her margins among African Americans in states like Illinois, Missouri currently 8.8 percent, while and Massachusetts have pre- the national average is 4.9 pervented Sanders from claiming cent. One in three black men victories in major states. But are likely to be incarcerated, one question lingers – why while the national average is does she garner huge support one in nine men. The median income for blacks is just among black voters?

One answer? They know $35,902 versus the national her. Clinton is inherently median income of $54,462.

That is not to say Obama linked to the legacies of former President Bill Clinton, has been harmful to African her husband, and President Americans.

The Affordable Care Act Barack Obama, whom she provided health insurance served as Secretary of State.

Both Bill Clinton and Obama access to millions of African come from humble beginnings, Americans, and the Obama both pushed through sweep- administration has made some ing free trade deals and both progress on criminal justice were known as the “first black reform. Obama’s presence in president.” But they both play the Oval Office arguably has

opened up the most serious discussion about race that this country has ever had and has exposed the public to the injustices blacks still face every day.

Yet Bill Clinton’s policies should cancel out any goodwill generated by Hillary Clinton’s position in the Obama administration.

After Clinton signed the “Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act,” mass incarcerations affected the

Regardless, Sanders and Clinton have similar racial justice platforms and have garnered endorsements from prominent black leaders, although Clinton has more endoresements.

There isn’t much to say about Sanders’s history with African Americans. To the African American community, Sanders is a relative unknown despite his lifelong support of civil rights and his strong and consistent record on racial justice.

Regardless, Sanders and Clinton have similar racial justice platforms and have garnered endorsements from prominent black leaders, although Clinton has more endorsements.

If black voters were basing their voting decisions solely on the candidates’ policy proposals, the African American electorate likely would be split more evenly between Sanders and Clinton. But a recent Gallup poll shows Clinton’s favorability rating among black voters at 82 percent, while Sanders’s is only 53 percent.

But 31 percent of African Americans say they don’t know enough about Sanders to rate him, which shows that Hillary Clinton’s support among black voters largely comes from her greater visibility over the past two decades and her close connections to the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama presidencies.

African American community more than any other. Clinton’s support of Republican “welfare reform” disproportionately cut essential government benefits to African American households. And both Clintons have used coded language to describe African Americans, like Hillary Clinton’s description of a black person as a “superpredator.”

But Bill Clinton still occupies a unique spot in Black America’s conscience, in part due to his upbringing in the poor rural South, but also because of his mastery (or Joshua Barton is a Collegian columnist manipulation) of black cul- and can be reached at ture. jjbarton@umass.edu.

Social media and beauty standards I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a girl staring into the mirror, utterly distraught at what she sees in

Ruwan Teodros front of her. I can’t even tell you how many instances I’ve done that myself.

My friends will tell you I am notorious for staring at mirrors wherever I go. To some, this could be considered vanity.

To me, it’s simply a way of making sure my appearance is suitable enough for the outside world. Ultimately, I am grooming myself to please others.

Right after I anxiously stare at my reflection, I refresh my Instagram feed and see a multitude of pictures of celebrities, including Victoria’s Secret models lounging on the sand, tanned to perfection and long-legged, making it look easy to lay in the sand in sweltering heat.

Trust me, in my experience, you usually get sand in your mouth, hair and eyes.

“Have you seen Kylie Jenner’s latest Instagram post? She looks so skinny.

How does she do it? I’ll never look like that.”

These words echo in the dining halls when my friends and I are getting some much-needed sustenance at the end of an exhausting day. The same old insecure whine rings in my ears. We all stare at our meals miserably, picking at our food and wishing we didn’t experience hunger. I look at the cheese quesadillas longingly, wishing that I could devour three or four of them (five or six if we’re being honest) and not feel guilty about it afterward. Does Kylie Jenner even experience hunger pangs? Or hunger at all? My group of friends and I are just a few of her 55 million followers that are exposed to the heavily edited shots of the reality starlet’s toned, curvy body and glamor shots of her exfoliated, flawless skin. Essentially, we are made to feel worse about ourselves because we don’t look like her – she is every man, woman and dog’s dream.

I have grown tired of the way we perceive ourselves and how much pressure is placed on people, particularly women, to look a certain way. These people that we aspire to look like have carefully constructed themselves through fitness trainers, makeup and hair artists and professional photographers. Not to say that they are not beautiful the way they are naturally; we just don’t see that side of them as often as we see the airbrushed, photo shopped and “perfect” version of them.

I have also started to dislike social media for this exact reason and have vowed to focus on all the good things about myself other than my physical appearance. I have made an honest attempt to be grateful for all that is so wonderful in my life, instead of groaning about how out of control my eyebrows have gotten (finally got them threaded so no more groaning about that).

As much as I love to share my life with my friends and family, it’s important to realize that life is for living, not documenting for others to see. It’s also time to stop placing so much pressure on ourselves and conforming to society’s expectations. It may sound easier said than done – believe me, I know. But give it a try. You may be surprised at how liberating it feels.

Ruwan Teodros is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at rteodros@umass.edu.

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Wednesday, March 24, 2016

“Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey. Water, water, water. Sleep.” - John Mayer

Arts@DailyCollegian.com

FILM REVIEW

‘London Has Fallen’ takes many stumbles, crumbles

By Corey Stein Collegian Correspondent One would hope that a sequel brings another successful yet different storyline while still developing its likeable characters and moving the plot forward. “London Has Fallen,” the follow-up to 2013’s “Olympus Has Fallen,” unfortunately has many misfires and is another routine action flick lacking substance and originality. If you are an adrenaline junkie and don’t look too much into the realism of a film, this film is for you.

Clearly, director Babak Najafi chose London as the film’s location because it makes for a beautiful backdrop to blow stuff up in. As with many sequels, “London Has Fallen” chooses to up the ante, and there lies the movie’s main issue. There’s a “been there, done that” feeling to every large set piece onscreen. I have seen this kind of large-scale destruction in countless other action movies and it simply isn’t effective here.

It’s hard to care about the destruction when everyone knows it’s coming. As London crumbled to the ground, I expected it to look impressive, but the CGI is abysmal. Explosions look like something out of a second-rate video game, not a movie with a $60 million budget. I cringed at how bad the explosions looked rather than at how many innocent people were killed.

There are car chases,

JACK ENGLISH/FOCUS FEATURES/TNS

Gerard Butler and several other cast members from ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ return for its sequel, which ignores continuity and collapses under its own chaos. plenty of corridor shootouts and at one point the action takes to the air in a helicopter. Most of these held my interest and were satisfying.

However, the movie’s final act takes place at night and was hard to follow due to unfortunately poor lighting.

One sequence in particular appeared to be filmed in one long continuous take, with Gerard Butler’s Mike Banning as the central focus.

The sequence was fast-paced and smooth but disappoint-

ing. The action felt too scripted to be enjoyable and Najafi did a poor job of disguising the cuts. Whenever smoke billowed in front of the screen it was obvious the cut was made there to start a new take. I applaud the director for attempting the idea but it could have been better executed.

“London Has Fallen” has no continuity with “Olympus Has Fallen” other than the returning cast members.

I understand that there is

a new director and he had his own vision but it would have been nice to see Najafi bring up the events that happened in the film’s predecessor – there’s no discussion of President Asher’s (Aaron Eckhart) dead wife, the White House is miraculously rebuilt and everything seems great. If the director chose to incorporate these aspects into the movie, there would have been stronger character development and depth, which would have added sub-

TELEVISION

President Trumbull and the underused Angela Bassett plays secret service director Lynne Jacobs.

The film’s plot is linear, offering no twists while being extremely predictable.

Throughout the movie, I never once developed empathy for these characters or concern for their wellbeing.

The main draw in the movie, along with the action, is to watch Gerard Butler kick butt. He manages to never get hit himself while landing shots left and right, making him a seemingly unstoppable killing machine, and consequently not believable. However, while the lack of believability detracts from the movie, the enjoyable rapport between Banning and Asher is great. They occasionally will throw out oneliners and for the most part their jokes land.

“London Has Fallen” does just enough to stay upright.

With a narrative devoid of surprises, the movie only satisfied on a superficial level. Too many scenes just feel like rote rehashing from other movies. It’s disappointing that Najafi doesn’t take more risks to create a storyline that is engaging and fresh.

That said, the movie’s likeable characters and mindless action save it from completely falling apart like the fictional London it presents.

stance to the bland script.

I loved each character in the first movie, so to see the same team back again is a plus. President Asher is in London along with other world leaders to attend the prime minister’s funeral, where a terrorist named Aamir Barkawi (Alon Aboutboul) sets a plan in motion to kill them all.

Banning shoots, stabs and punches his way to keep the president safe. Morgan Corey Stein can be reached at Freeman is back to play Vice cestein@umass.edu.

FILM REVIEW

Despite flaws, ‘Girls’ shows growth ‘Whiskey’ satisfies only just enough By nate taSkin Collegian Staff

To navigate the discourse around “Girls” – and Lena Dunham in general – is to navigate a minefield. So much of the conversation surrounding this woman and her work (although, to be frank, the focus of the attention is almost always exclusively placed on her, her artistic contributions be damned) amounts to nothing more than hideous, misogynistic vitriol.

Take, for example, any Dunham-related article or video on the internet. Count the number of comments that refer to her as a “repulsive blob” who “needs to be b****slapped.” Let’s not even pretend to think that a male writer would receive this much backlash.

Sometimes it’s casual contempt and sometimes it comes from a place of inarticulate rage. Yet either way, when you parse through the arguments spewed from boys like these, the transparency becomes ever clearer: The unparalleled hostility aimed toward Lena Dunham could only ever happen when it’s directed at a young, creative woman.

As a response, critics often double down on the acclaim, eager to justify their adoration for “Girls” and overlook any glaring oversights. This phenomenon is exactly what this type of ugly sub-engagement with the text engenders. So much of the critical dialogue revolves around the knee-jerk, venomous, painfully malecentric accusations toward the show, and not the show’s actual merit.

For all her faults – the unfortunate use of corn rows as a fashion accessory, her weird relationship with her sister and her fetishization of Japan included – to

frame the conversation this way is not what a voice like Lena Dunham’s deserves. In its fifth season, let’s acknowledge “Girls” for the show that it is: an excellent, occasionally flawed psychological portrayal of hideous millennial narcissism.

The show isn’t called “Young Adults” for a reason.

Not since “The Sopranos” has television treated the audience to such a cast of despicable, selfabsorbed miscreants. And just like “The Sopranos,” Dunham, Jennifer Konner and the rest of the writing team never fail to find ways to pathologize the theatrical antics of Hannah Horvath (Dunham) and the rest of the cast’s white, privileged 20-something-year-olds trapped in arrested development.

Hannah and her compatriots engage in behavior worthy of condemnation, yet the script’s intelligence ensures that they always remain unmistakably, painfully human. How can someone look at a line from one of ditzy Shoshanna Shapiro’s (Zosia Mamet) co-workers – in which she tells Shosh, “You seem very wealthy because of your spoiled attitude” – and not accept that Lena Dunham is in on the joke?

While we’re on the subject of jokes, one of the best aspects of “Girls” is its natural ability to get a laugh, and it’s a quality that persists well into its fifth season. The level of self-awareness permeating the show leads to some one-liners that cut deep in their cluelessness.

The dialogue is remarkable because it functions on several different levels at once. On the surface level, a character can make a simple funny remark.

As whiny malcontent Ray Ploshansky (Alex Karpovsky) fidgets at a wedding, he com-

Film is decent but still underwhelming By tyler MovSeSSian Collegian Staff

TIM IVES/HBO

‘Girls’ delivers a compelling portrayal of intense millennial narcissism. plains that the stilted conversations around him make him feel like he lives in an E.E. Cummings poem. It’s an amusing line by itself, yet the genius of “Girls” lies in how every action and word uttered by a character betrays their exact emotional and psychological state of mind.

“Girls” doesn’t exactly have a traditional narrative.

The highest stakes involve job searches and relationships woes, romantic or otherwise.

Instead, “Girls” operates on a psychologically-based plot, where individuals within an episode walk into a scene with a certain feeling, commit an action or have an action committed upon them, and as a result have their emotions informed by what occurred before.

Nevertheless, the fifth season of “Girls” displays a key ingredient that the show always lacked: hope. Often, with the seeming inability for the characters to find escape hatches out of their self-made prisons, it appeared as though they would never show any sign of growth or progress.

These recent episodes have shown Hannah, Marnie (Allison Williams), Shoshanna and Jessa (Jemima Kirke) as more well-adjusted than ever seen before.

This is particularly the case for Jessa, a figure Dunham never seemed sure about how to approach. The first three girls were terrible in a compelling way because they were a recognizable type of terrible.

Jessa’s machinations, however, verged on supervillainry and failed to mesh with the tone of the show. Now, with her recent attempts to fix the misshapen hole of her life and become less of a toxic sludge bath, viewers see that even the most maladjusted have a chance to get out of the ruts they find themselves in.

If there’s one quality I’ve noticed from 20-somethings (and I’m 19, so I’ll freely admit that this analysis comes from personal observation rather than direct experience), it’s the constant war they wage within themselves. How they wish to craft their self-image duels with how they actually feel, and how they actually feel may not line up with how they actually are, and the implications that arise from that disconnect unleashes an unquantifiable sense of anxiety.

“Girls” captures that conflict between identity and insecurity, and it does so through poignancy, wit and empathy.

Nate Taskin can be reached at ntaskin@umass.edu.

Tango Foxtrot” is a great bang-for-your-buck movie with no dull moments.

Another concept Carlock tackles is how the Afghan people handle Barker’s presence.

Typically, Afghan men shame women of their own country, so one would think that Barker would have a difficult time adjusting to the standards in Afghan, but the men take her in surprising well. Carlock had a blast with this bit and the jokes that he wrote were hilarious.

With that said, while this movie was good all around, it didn’t wow me.

I appreciated that it tackled a lot of concepts head on, and there were good moments, but it did have its fair share of flaws.

One thing that the movie failed to do was portray side characters to help Tina Fey in this film.

We met a few other characters, but they seemed underdeveloped. We met another Western interloper Tanya (Margot Robbie), and Iain MacKelpie (Martin Freeman), an awkward British journalist who becomes Fey’s romantic interest. “ W h i s ke y Ta n g o Foxtrot” was good, but missed out on being great.

A lot of different concepts were certainly interesting and entertaining, but they mostly just skimmed the surface of what could have been better bits.

“ W h i s ke y Ta n g o Foxtrot” was a decent film for all moviegoers. It had a great blend of everything, even if the final product wasn’t the most remarkable.

Screenwriter Robert Carlock did an outstanding job with this script as the jokes were very well-timed and executed well by the cast. Nothing felt forced. Carlock really packed a punch in this movie, and it was very entertaining from start to finish. Carlock even managed to make a joke out of the title, as “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” is military slang for WTF. Tina Fey does a great job as Kim Barker, an American journalist who travels to Afghanistan to record footage and write articles during the height of the War on Terror in the early 2000s. Interestingly enough, her impression of Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live” made me picture the former Alaskan governor in this film, which I thought was great.

Directors Glenn Ficcara and John Requa did a phenomenal job with their cast, as Tina Fey was the perfect choice for the lead role.

The film had everything moviegoers could want in a two-hour film: action, violence, sex, swears and Tyler Movsessian can be reached at crude humor. “Whiskey tmovsessian@umass.edu.

6

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BALANCE

three the coming in the opening 10 minutes of the first half. The goals came from Hannah Burnett (two), Eileen McDonald, Holly Turner and Eipp appeared to give UMass a commanding lead.

But Albany’s Rachel Bowles, who was named to this year’s midseason Tewaaraton watch list, answered with two straight goals of her own to cut into the deficit.

Bowles attracted defenders all game, with Amber Tobin drawing the task of marking her.

After Bowles’ goals, each side traded scores and UMass went into halftime with an 8-5 lead.

The Minutewomen once again came out firing to start the second half, outshooting the Great Danes 10-4, grabbing seven more groundballs and winning six out of eight draw controls. They started the half with two goals in the first

ROWING

PHYSICAL

continued from page 8

“This speaks to our athleticism and speed that we were able to kind of wear them down by running a lot of players and being the first one to get to the ball.”

Angela McMahon, UMass coach three minutes, including Murphy’s tally 12 seconds in.

“We put ourselves in the best position to get the ball,” McMahon said.

“This speaks to our athleticism and speed that we were able to kind of wear them down by running a lot of players and being the first one to get to the ball.”

With 10 minutes left in the contest, it appeared Albany scored a goal that would have decreased UMass’ lead to three, but the refs called a penalty on the Great Danes, negating the goal and putting UMass in a man-up situ-

ation. Nicole Troost then scored an insurance goal on the first possession of the advantage, putting the Minutewomen up 12-7.

“It was huge,” McMahon said. “We trust our goalie in the cage on an 8-meter shot but to be able to draw that man-up situation, it was huge and I’m glad we were able to translate it into production on the other end.”

UMass’ next game will be next Friday when it travels to Philadelphia to take on Saint Joseph’s to kick off its start to Atlantic 10 play.

Thomas Johnston can be reached at tjohnston@umass.edu.

continued from page 8

have 11 seniors on their roster, including Sam Kolovson, Krysten Menks and Allanah Rubi-Mooney, all rowers who have experience in big meets.

Freshmen Jill McGill and Daniella du Toit also raced with the varsity squad in the fall, and will most likely be counted on this season to help UMass achieve postseason success. \ Upcoming re gattas on the horizon for the Minutewomen include the

Knecht Cup and the Dad Vail Regatta.

The Knecht Cup will be held in West Windsor Township, New Jersey on April 9 and 10 and will feature teams from more than 70 universities, in what will be one of the largest and most important meets for UMass during the spring season.

About a month later, the Minutewomen will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they

will compete among the likes of over 100 other schools, ranging as far north as Canada, to compete in the two-day Dad Vail Regatta. This will be the final tune-up for the Minutewomen as the following week is the NCAA championships, which will take place in Sacramento, California at the end of May. Ryan Ames can be reached at rames@umass.edu.

MLB

Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez to retire after 2017 season

By Erik Boland Newsday

VIERA, Fla. _ What Alex Rodriguez strongly hinted at when spring training started, he made official Wednesday.

The designated hitter, who will turn 41 July 27, told ESPN.com he plans to retire when his contract expires after the 2017 season.

“For me, it is time for me to go home and be Dad,” A-Rod said, according to the website.

The Yankees were not shocked by the news.

“He’s going to be 42 at the end of his contract and you don’t see players playing really past that age,” Joe Girardi said before his team’s game against the Nationals Wednesday night at Space Coast Stadium.

“So I’m not really surprised.”

Brett Gardner, the only regular who made the trip here, couldn’t resist taking a dig at the age of his veteran teammate.

“I don’t think it should be too much of a surprise, he’s close to 50 years old.

He can’t play forever, right?” Gardner smiled before continuing. “But he’s been nothing but great to me, he’s always been willing to help. He’s been very, very helpful whether it be advice for things on the field between the lines or off the field or anywhere in between. He’s always been very welcoming to me, very open and I’ve always enjoyed not just getting to see how good he is up close and personal but how hard he works and the preparation he puts into every single day. It’s pretty special to see.”

Rodriguez enters his 22nd season in the big leagues next month with 687 home runs, which ranks him fourth all-time behind Barry Bonds (762),

Thursday, March 24, 2016

7

continued from page 8

came from excessive contact and dangerous shots, leading to stoppages that included players needing help off the turf and four yellow cards – all called on the Great Danes. Both teams took advantage with four free position goals a piece, with UMass also cashing in on two man-up advantages.

Farnham admitted that Wednesday’s game did get a little frustrating at times in terms of its physicality, as she also comJUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN mitted three of the team’s UMass attacker Eileen McDonald (37) carries the ball into Albany territory.

21 fouls.

“In the moment it’s easy to get frustrated, but of a task as controlling record hat tricks. Murphy you just have to take it ground balls, but Murphy wasn’t alone in taking draws, as sophomore easy and not let outside said she wasn’t fazed.

“I know every time Abby Walker took half of things affect you. It’s definitely a mix between fun there’s a draw I’m going to UMass’ faceoffs and conand frustrating,” she said. get wacked. If they scout verted two draw controls UMass was just as pow- our draw then they’re as well.

“It really speaks to our erful on faceoffs as it has going to crash me, so I been all season, despite just accept that it’s going athleticism as a team to the Great Danes’ best to happen and don’t let it be able to fight for conaffect me,” she said. “You trol of so many possesefforts.

Midfielder Hannah just have to be determined sions,” McMahon said. “I Murphy won a team- to get the ball and you think switching between high nine draw controls, can’t be scared.”

Murphy and Walker really Murphy added three threw them off as well.” increasing her season total to 49. Controlling the goals to her performance ball off the draw was just in the circle, as one of Nicholas Souza can be reached at as difficult and physical three Minutewomen to njsouza@umass.edu.

HUBER

continued from page 8

“It’s not a big deal to us.

They play it anyway in the 3-4 stuff, but we are playing more four-down (defensive linemen), so he’s the guy that controls things for us,” Masella said. “He’s a natural-born leader. So, I don’t think it’s a big adjustment. I don’t think it’s a big adjustment to him. He handles that pretty darn well, so he’s been pretty good.”

Huber also mentioned that inside linebacker Steve Casali and freshmen James Bowe Jr. and Teddy Lowery have both had good winter sessions and spring practices as well. While Casali will primarily play linebacker this season, Bowe Jr. and Lowery have been playing

“He’s a natural-born leader. So, I don’t think it’s a big adjustment. I don’t think it’s a big adjustment to him. He handles that pretty darn well, so he’s been pretty good.”

Tom Masella, UMass defensive coordinator more of a hybrid role on defense with both having good size and athleticism.

Along with becoming a vocal leader to his peers on the field, Huber has made it a goal for himself to lead the younger members on defense through his work ethic and how he goes about making plays on the field.

“On every team I’ve played on I’ve always strived to lead as someone

who leads by example and in terms of getting guys going and encouraging people, so it’s not something that’s been difficult to adjust to, it’s something that’s a progression and now it’s my time to step up and I’m going to do just that,” he said.

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

NFL

Roger Goodell denies NE request to return draft picks

By BoB GlauBEr Newsday

MAX FAULKNER/FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

Alex Rodriguez (right) currently sits fourth all-time with 687 home runs.

Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714).

Rodriguez is coming off a season in which he surprised just about everyone, including himself. He hit a team-high 33 home runs with 86 RBIs, and produced a .250 batting average, .356 on-base percentage and .486 slugging percentage in 151 games. He also reached the 3,000-hit milestone with a home run off the Tigers’ Justin Verlander on June 19. All of this after being suspended for all of 2014 because of his involvement in PEDs and the Biogenesis scandal.

While the timing might have struck some as odd, Rodriguez’s spokesman said Wednesday afternoon the player isn’t exactly counting down the days until he’s done.

“His mind is on playing the next 324 games,” Ron Berkowitz said. “It’s not like he’s looking toward retirement.”

After the first fullsquad workout on Feb. 26, Rodriguez said he was far

more “at ease” this spring compared to last.

But responding to a question about something Mark Teixeira said earlier in the day _ the first baseman said he hoped to play at least five more years _ Rodriguez left little doubt how he felt in regard to his career and how much time he felt was left in it.

“I’m madly in love with the game of baseball, that’s for sure,” he said, “but I won’t be playing five more years.”

Girardi speculated when Rodriguez is done, he expects him to stay in the game, perhaps as a broadcaster, part of an ownership group, coach or manager.

The latter possibility A-Rod laughed off in late February.

“I’ll be managing, but I’ll be managing probably my girls’ team, volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club,” he said. “But I won’t be managing. You can quote me on that one.”

BOCA RATON, Fla. _ NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday the Patriots would not have their 2016 first-round draft choice returned after a written request by team owner Robert Kraft to have the pick reinstated.

Goodell ordered last year that the Patriots surrender a first-round pick in 2016 and a fourth-round choice in 2017, as well as a $1-million fine, as a result of an investigation into the team’s alleged scheme to purposely deflate the footballs used in the first half of the 2015 AFC Championship Game.

Goodell said he received a letter from Kraft a few weeks ago asking for the first-round pick back, but

that he told the owner he had decided against the request. Kraft told reporters on Monday that he made the request but did not say whether he had received an answer.

Goodell said Wednesday that he let the team know he would not rescind any of the punishment handed down to the team. Goodell suspended Patriots quarterback Tom Brady four games over Deflategate, but Brady had the penalty overturned in federal court last August. The NFL has since appealed that decision and is awaiting a verdict from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

“I did receive the letter from Robert, and I responded to him two weeks ago,” Goodell told reporters in a news conference at the

conclusion of the league’s annual spring meeting. “I told him that I had considered his views, and I didn’t think there was any new information.”

Kraft told reporters Monday that he “personally wrote a letter to the commissioner responding to his comment that if any new facts came up, he would take them into consideration. And I personally believe that when the league made their decision, they did not factor in the ideal gas law. They admitted that publicly.

“They’ve had a full year of being able to observe Tom Brady play with all the rules of whatever the NFL was and make any judgments there, and we have laid it out pretty straightforward, and now it’s up to them to decide.”

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Three’s company

FOOTBALL

Huber excited to take on new role Linebacker ready to lead on defense By andrew cyr Collegian Staff

JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

Anne Farnham (left) and Hannah Murphy (right) celebrate a goal in UMass’ victory over Albany Wed. Murphy was one of three Minutewomen with a hat trick.

Balanced attack Physical contest lifts UMass Wed. highlights UM win

Seven players score in win over Albany

By Thomas JohnsTon Collegian Staff

The Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team didn’t forget about its lone regular season loss last year against Albany.

Instead, the Minutewomen used it as motivation and got revenge in a 13-7 victory over the Great Danes Wednesday afternoon at Garber Field.

“We were very hungry.

Albany’s a great team, but this year we’re very good,” Minutewomen junior Hannah Murphy said. “We don’t lose on our home turf and we wanted to defend that. We were hung ry and UMass wanted to get them back and Albany show that last year was a little fluke and show them who we are.”

Wednesday’s game was a physical affair as both teams were aggressive on the defensive end. There were 49 total penalties called – 28 by Albany (3-10) and 21 by UMass (7-1).

But the Minutewomen took control of the game behind balanced contributions on the offensive end, with three players recording hat tricks and seven scoring at least one goal. UMass coach Angela McMahon saw this balance as a way to create rhythm offensively.

“I thought we did a great job,” she said. “The more people involved, the harder it is to stop us defensively.”

Murphy, who along with Erika Eipp and Hannah Burnett scored three goals, agreed that UMass has become dangerous offensively with a plethora of scoring threats.

“A lot of girls are stepping up this year. We have so much depth, 13 it’s really dynamic,” Murphy said.

7 “Anyone who goes in is ready to go and that’s what’s making us a better team this year – how dynamic we are and how many people can score.”

The Minutewomen started Wednesday’s game scoring the first five goals, with see

BALANCE on page 7

UMass wins battle for GBs and DCs By nicholas souza Collegian Staff

The stats and final score may not have shown it, but Wednesday’s game between the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team and Albany at Garber Field was physical and contested.

UMass (7-1) came into the game knowing to beat the Great Dames (3-3), the battle for possession would be especially pivotal in determining the outcome.

The Minutewomen won this battle for both draw controls and ground balls – 14-8 and 21-15 respectively – en route to a 13-7 victory.

“Albany is similar to us in that they are a blue collar and gritty team and I think we did a good job handling the pressure,” UMass coach Angela McMahon said. “I think we could do better with turnovers though, especially in the second half.”

One major cause for the amount of ground ball

opportunities on both sides was the amount of turnovers in the game.

In transition, both teams struggled to keep the ball on their own sticks, particularly in the second half when they combined for 27 turnovers (13 for UMass, 14 for Albany).

Leading the way for the Minutewomen in draw controls was senior defender Kate Farnham, who finished with five of UMass’ 14 victories.

“Albany is a very good team and our goal coming into today was that we need the 50/50 balls and draw controls to win the game,” Farnham said.

“We’re confident in our attackers to score, we just needed to make sure we got possession.”

The Minutewomen committed to every draw and 50/50 ball as many players ended up hitting the deck on multiple occasions.

The physical play between the two teams when fighting for the ball led to an unusually high amount of fouls with both teams combining for 49.

Many of these fouls see

PHYSICAL on page 7

In addition to losing its top playmakers on offense, the Massachusetts football team’s defense will have a significantly different look – and voice –come time for the 2016 season.

Any time someone walked on the field pregame at Gillette Stadium or watched practice from afar at McGuirk Stadium, former UMass linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox’s voice, whether firing his teammates up or aligning people in the right position, was easily the most distinguished out of the bunch.

He was loud and in charge of the defense, and his presence both on and off the field will certainly be missed by the Minutemen.

Along with Santos-Knox, UMass is losing a number of key members from its 2015 team in all three phases of the defense unit. Trey Seals, Kassan Messiah, Robert Kitching III, Joe Colton, Randall Jette, Trey Dudley-Giles and Zeke Edmonds have all moved on, leaving the Minutemen with a much different look.

With a bevy of missing spots left for UMass coach Mark Whipple and defensive coordinator Tom Masella to find replacements for, inside linebacker Shane Huber has taken it upon himself to become more of a leader both on and off the field.

“It’s an awesome thing.

It’s part of being a college player, the torch gets handed down. I’m taking it upon myself to be the best leader I can. Being the leader isn’t always about being the ‘rahrah’ yelling guy, it’s about leading by example,” Huber

said.

“My biggest goal, individually, would be everyday to get better not only on the field, but to become a better leader off the field, he added. “I think that’s something that a young team needs, it needs a lot of leaders. I know a lot of us are stepping into that role so I, myself, want to take it upon myself to be the best possible leader I can be.”

Aside from off-the-field responsibilities, Huber has embraced his role as the new “mike” linebacker (where he played in high school), a position held by Santos-Knox last year. The “mike” is essentially the quarterback of the defense, playing on the strong-side of the defensive formation.

He is generally responsible for calling out different alignments on defense and making sure everyone is in the correct position.

“As a linebacker you want to be the core of the defense. It’s a good thing to be,” Huber said.

Last season playing alongside Santos-Knox, Huber was the weak-side inside linebacker with more of his focus being in coverage. Huber was second on the Minutemen with 95 tackles and led the team with two forced fumbles.

“I am more of a Rambo linebacker, so it’s kind of more of a sideline-to-sideline deal as opposed to just half the field,” Huber said of the adjustment. “So I would say just continuing to get back to the basics and under-thinking things and just flying around and making plays.

“That’s my natural position in my eyes, I’ve always played the ‘mike,’ so now finally being able to play that I’ve been able to cut loose.” see

HUBER on page 7

ROBERT RIGO/COLLEGIAN

Shane Huber (8) will take over at the “mike” linebacker position this year.

ROW I N G

UMass set to begin spring season this weekend in Hadley Minutewomen take on URI Saturday By ryan ames Collegian Staff

The Massachusetts rowing team opens up its spring season this Saturday against Rhode Island in Hadley following more than a four-month layoff.

This will be the first race for the Minutewomen since early November, when they competed in the Green Monster regatta in Dartmouth,

New Hampshire to close out their fall schedule.

However, that was a novice meet where only freshmen competed, so most of the UMass roster hasn’t raced since Oct. 31.

N eve r t h e l e s s, the Minutewomen will be ready to go in what will be their only home meet of the spring season, while going against a familiar foe in the Rams.

UMass heads into the second half of its season looking to build off its momentum from the fall and continue to find success heading into champi-

onship season in May. Notable races from this past fall included the Head of the Oklahoma in Oklahoma City and the Head of the Charles in Boston.

In their first meet of the 2015-2016 season, the Minutewomen dominated at the Head of the Oklahoma, claiming 12 medals in the two-day event against national competition. A few weeks later, UMass competed at the historic Head of the Charles and earned two silver medals as a group on a weekend that featured

nationally-ranked teams along with brutal weather conditions.

If nothing else, the Minutewomen can look to last season’s results as a source of motivation for the upcoming meets this spring.

Last year, UMass took home first place in the Atlantic 10 championships with 53 points and went on to the NCAA championships where it had its best finish with a second place scoring in the 8+.

The Minutewomen see

ROWING on page 7

COLLEGIAN FILE PHOTO

UMass looks to build on its Atlantic 10 championship from the fall this weekend when it faces the Rams in its only home meet this spring.