Massachusetts Daily Collegian: March 30, 2016

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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

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UM workers get $61K restitution UM astronomers find ‘outrageously’ luminous galaxies By lia GiPs Collegian Staff

AK Electric, Inc. has paid $61,000 in restitution and penalties to six workers who were underpaid for their work on the the University of Massachusetts campus. An investigation by the Attorney General’s office found that the company had been violating Massachusetts prevailing wage law.

“Companies can’t cheat their workers and not pay wages to gain an unfair advantage over their competitors,” Massachusetts

Attorney General Maura Healey said in a press release earlier this month.

“The enforcement of these laws is essential to making sure workers are receiving their hard-earned wages and that businesses are operating on a level playing field.”

Because UMass’ construction projects are public and fall under Massachusetts Prevailing Wage Law, contractors and subcontractors must pay their employees a special minimum wage, determined by how they are classified as workers, according to the release.

The investigation showed that the company improperly classified workers as apprentices who were not registered with the Massachusetts Department of Labor & Workforce Development, Division of Apprentice Standards. Due to their unregistered status, the workers should have been paid a higher prevailing wage rate, according to the release.

“These kinds of cases are very common,” said Fiore Grassetti, president of the Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council. “If one

worker’s getting cheated, you know the rest are. When these kinds of cases do come up, the workers always win them.”

Grassetti said the main roadblock to addressing misclassification is workers’ concerns about employment.

“They don’t want to speak up in case their jobs are threatened, so they take the lower pay,” Grassetti said.

There is very little enforcement for classification according to Grassetti.

see

SETTLEMENT on page 2

A NIGHT OF OLD AND NEW

DANIEL MALDONADO/COLLEGIAN

Weigang Li (left) and Yi-Wen Jiang (right) of the Shanghai Quartet play violin side by side at the Fine Arts Center on Tuesday.

Obama announces new measures against drug overdose epidemic Student conducted research in Mexico

By Jeremy reDmon The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ATLANTA — President Barack Obama said more must be done to combat prescription painkiller addictions and the stigma surrounding them, using a summit in Atlanta on Tuesday to announce new measures against a drug overdose epidemic raging across Georgia and the nation.

Speaking at a panel discussion with Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN and two people recovering from drug problems, Obama said more people now die every day from drug overdoses than from traffic crashes.

“When you look at the staggering statistics in terms of lives lost, productivity impacted, the cost to communities _ but most importantly the cost to families _ from this epidemic of opioids abuse, it has to be something that is right up there at the top of our radar screen,” Obama said.

Politics followed the

president into Atlanta.

Aboard Air Force One on the way from Washington to Georgia, reporters asked White House press secretary Josh Earnest about the “religious liberty” legislation Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed this week, as well as a new North Carolina statute that eliminates anti-discrimination protections for gays.

“It’s the president’s strong view that we can take all the necessary steps to protect religious freedom without giving people the approval to discriminate against people because of who they love,” Earnest told reporters.

Obama himself dipped into politics Tuesday when he gently scolded an unnamed governor for not expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. On Monday, the Obama administration released 2014 statistics showing there were 159,000 uninsured Georgians who had mental illnesses or substance abuse disorders, and whose incomes would qualify them for Medicaid if the program

were expanded in the Peach State.

Although the federal government would cover most of the cost of expansion, Deal has rejected it, saying Medicaid is already overtaxed and the state can’t afford to make it even bigger.

“If you get a situation in which somebody is in pain initially because of a disc problem, they may not have health insurance because maybe the governor didn’t expand Medicaid like they should have under the ACA,” Obama said to cheers. “They go to a doctor one time when the pain gets too bad. The doctor is prescribing painkillers. They run out and it turns out it is cheaper to get heroin on the street than it is to try to figure out how to refill that prescription _ you have a problem.”

Obama spoke to about 2,000 people gathered at the National Rx Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit, which is focused on fighting a prescription painkiller and heroin overdose epidemic that killed more than 28,000 peo-

ple in 2014, more than any year on record. At least half of those deaths involved prescription drugs.

Obama highlighted a proposed rule that would allow doctors prescribing buprenorphine for drug addictions to increase the number of patients they see from 100 to 200. He pointed out $94 million in new federal funding to expand medication-assisted treatment at 271 community health centers across the country.

Further, he signed a new memorandum Tuesday, directing the creation of an interagency task force for expanding access to mental health and substance abuse treatment. And he announced $11 million in funding for states to buy a drug overdose prevention medication called naloxone and to train emergency workers how to use it.

Also on Tuesday, 60 medical schools _ including Mercer University in Macon and the Suwanee campus of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine _ see

OVERDOSE on page 2

in the early universe Student conducted axies formed so many stars in a short amount of research in Mexico such time,” Harrington said.

By TrisTan Tay

Collegian Correspondent

A s t ro n o m e r s at the University of Massachusetts have discovered “outrageously” luminous galaxies so bright that previouslyused descriptors such as “hyper-luminous” and “extremely luminous” are an inadequate description of them, according to a UMass press release.

Kevin Harrington, lead author of the study and a senior astronomy and neuroscience double major, who works in the lab of astronomy professor Min Yun, said that the existence of these luminous galaxies means that theorists in astrophysics need to rethink how matter accumulates in the early universe. Such luminous, massive objects weren’t believed to be possible prior to this discovery, Harrington said. “(The luminosity) gives you an indication of how efficiently the galaxy is turning gas into stars. It’s largely unknown how gal-

The Milky Way creates a new star or two every year, while these galaxies create a new star every hour, he said.

These discoveries were made primarily using the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) located on the 15,000-foot extinct volcano Sierra Negra in the central state of Puebla, Mexico and is jointly operated by UMass and the Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica. The LMT is the largest and most sensitive instrument in the world for studying star formation. Harrington traveled to the telescope twice to perform his research with the William Bannick Student Travel Grant, according to the release.

The unusual luminosities of the newly-discovered galaxies may be due in part to gravitational lensing, a phenomenon where a large cosmic mass acts as a lens that focuses and magnifies the light, instead of acting as a wall

see

GALAXIES on page 2

FBI unlocks San Bernardino, CA shooter’s iPhone Legal fight against Apple, Inc. dropped

By Joel ruBin, Paresh Dave anD James Queally Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Federal officials on Monday dropped their legal fight against Apple after unlocking the iPhone used by an assailant in last year’s San Bernardino terror attack, leaving unsettled a vexing debate over privacy and security amid rapid advances in technology.

The move comes a week after the Department of Justice officials put a sudden halt to their demands that Apple assist the FBI with an announcement that an outside group had offered a method for hacking into the iPhone.

Aided by the unidentified group, FBI technology experts had been at work since, testing the technique to confirm it could open the iPhone without jeopardizing its contents.

The breakthrough came over the weekend, when the information stored on the phone was extracted, said a federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He declined to say anything about the contents of the phone, other than that FBI agents currently were

reviewing the material. The official also remained tightlipped about the method that was used to beat the iPhone’s security barriers, as well as the identity of the group that delivered it to FBI agents. Any speculation about the impact of the breakthrough on other cases involving locked phones would be “premature,” he added.

“Our decision to conclude the litigation was based solely on the fact that, with the recent assistance of a third party, we are now able to unlock that iPhone without compromising any information on the phone,” U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker said in a statement after prosecutors asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym to vacate an order compelling Apple’s cooperation.

The government’s move appeared to bring an end to a historic legal showdown that pitted the demands of law enforcement investigating crimes against the rights of companies to protect their customers’ privacy.

In legal briefs and public statements aimed at winning both in court and opinion polls, Apple executives and their attorneys forcefully opposed Pym’s order, which would have compelled the technology giant see

IPHONE on page 2

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THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

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

The United States buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars, in a decision known as “Seward’s Folly.”

AROUND THE WORLD

Over 5,000 arrested in Pakistan following bombing ISLAMABAD — Pakistan arrested 5,221 suspects for alleged links with Islamist extremists after a Taliban bomber killed 72 people at the weekend, officials said on Tuesday.

Of those arrested, 5,005 were released again early on Tuesday, Justice Minister of the Punjab province Rana Sanaullah said. At least 216 individuals remained in police detention.

The crackdown across several cities in the central province of Punjab started immediately after Sunday’s bombing at a public park in the eastern city of Lahore, security officials said.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, said it carried out the attack to target Christians celebrating the festival of Easter, and vowed more bombings.

More than 30 children were among the dead and around 350 people were wounded in the deadliest attack to hit Pakistan in a year, Lahore’s chief administrator Mohamed Usman said.

Around 190 injured people were being treated in hospitals, “several” of whom were in critical condition, Shaheed Saeed, a doctor at the Jinnah hospital in Lahore said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered law enforcement agencies to speed up the offensive against the Islamist militants, who are linked with the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

“I want more proactive coordination between law enforcement and intelligence agencies,” he said on Monday.

“The terrorists have assassinated our children – sons and daughters – and God willing, we will wipe them out from this country.”

All parks in the city of Lahore remained closed on Tuesday, while other cities in Pakistan tightened security measures in public places.

In an emotional televised address to the nation overnight, Sharif vowed to chase “cowardly” terrorists until all are eliminated.

Relatives prepared to bury the victims on Tuesday as 68 of the 72 bodies were handed over to families after post-mortems, police official Asghar Ali told dpa. Four of the dead remained unidentified.

Life was slowly returning to normal in Lahore after a day of mourning. Schools and shops were open and road traffic had resumed. dpa

Distributed by MCT Information Services

Jet hijacked with fake explosive belt Assailant covered phones with cables

By Pól ó GrádaiGh and Marwa al-a’sar dpa

CAIRO — The hijacker of an EgyptAir passenger jet forced to land in Cyprus on Tuesday was wearing a fake explosive belt, Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kassoulidis said.

The man had connected several mobile phone covers with cables, which he passed off as an explosive belt, Kassoulidis told journalists at Larnaca airport.

“We were suspicious but wanted to play it safe,” he said.

The hijacker has been arrested, and the seven people he held hostage aboard have been freed, Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement, citing an official source.

The plane’s pilot and copilot, a flight attendant, a security officer and three passengers had been held as hostages after a man hijacked EgyptAir flight 181 from Alexandria to Cairo, forcing the plane to land at Larnaca International Airport in the morning, Egyptian Minister of Aviation Sherif Fathy said.

Egyptian state broadcaster Nile News aired TV footage of the hostages leaving the plane and reported that a group of Egyptian special forces had been sent to Cyprus to help free the hostages.

In another report, Egyptian TV broadcast surveillance footage showing the hijacker passing through a security check at the airport before boarding.

Fathy told reporters

in Cairo that there had been a total 55 passengers aboard the plane, while the Cypriot government spoke of 72 passengers. Fathy did not clarify whether the 55 included crew members.

“The most important thing is that all people on board the plane are safe,” Cypriot government spokesman Nikos Christodoulides was quoted as saying on state TV. Negotiations with the hijacker resulted in the release of all people on board except for seven hostages.

Another Egyptian plane transported the freed hostages to Egypt earlier in the day.

Fathy refused to name the hijacker during the press conference.

However Egyptian state TV identified the hijacker as Seif al-Din Mustafa Muhammad Imam, born in 1957, a business-owner who lives in Cairo. The same name had earlier been confirmed by the Cypriot Foreign Ministry on its Twitter account, without confirmation of his nationality.

Nile News previously reported that he was an Egyptian national named Ibrahim Samaha, but in a phone interview with privately-owned ON TV in Egypt, Samaha’s wife said he was a passenger among the freed hostages and had no links to the hijacking.

The explosion was claimed by the Islamic State extremist group and led Russia to ban all direct flights to Egypt, a critical blow to the country’s beleaguered tourism sector which has been largely reliant on Russian customers in recent years.

SETTLEMENT The contractors and subcontractors receive limited oversight from UMass and the University of Massachusetts Building Authority, he said.

Once UMBA selects a General Contractor for a specific construction project, they are free to hire any subcontractor that they choose, although they generally select those they already have business relationships with, Grassetti said.

These estimates for contracting jobs are kept low by contractors via the expectation of utilizing underpaid labor such as this case.

“It’s the botton-bottom liners that get hurt,” Grasetti said. “I don’t think it’s right. I believe the owner really needs to tell the contractor what he wants on the job. A lot of times it means the work done isn’t as good, either, because the contractors are pushing to keep costs down so much.”

AK Electric, Inc. is a

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Palmer-based company owned by Anibal C. Alves, of Ludlow, according to the release.

In the past month, the fair labor division has handled four similar cases.

These settlements include triple damages, or three times the amount of money that an employee should have received, Grasetti said.

Investigation in this case began in July 2015 upon a referral from the Foundation for Fair Contracting of Massachusetts. Assistant Attorney General Barbara Dillon DeSouza and inspector Joseph Drzyzga handled the situation.

The Attorney General’s office has a dedicated Fair Labor Division which is responsible for enforcing the Prevailing Wage Law, as well as minimum wage and overtime laws, according to the release.

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

GALAXIES

DailyCollegian.com

continued from page 1

that blocks light, he said.

This is a consequence of Einstein’s theory of relativity, Harrington said. Only a proportion of the discovered luminous galaxies are expected to be a result of lensing and are actually as luminous as they appear.

Even lensed galaxies are an important find, however, as the phenomenon requires the precise alignment of a cosmic mass in between Earth and the luminous galaxy, making them exceedingly rare.

Only about 500 of these galaxies have been discovered, he said.

These galaxies are bil-

OVERDOSE

announced they will begin requiring students to take some form of education in line with new federal guidelines for prescribing painkillers.

One of the panelists who appeared with Obama on Tuesday was Crystal Oertle, a 35-yearold mother of two from Ohio. She abused Vicodin and OxyContin, then switched to heroin, using drugs in her home while her children were there or at school. She stole from department stores to support her addictions.

“It was so much a part of my life,” she said. “It is crazy to think about now –

IPHONE

lions of light years away, meaning that the luminosity viewed from these galaxies is a result of star formation that occurred billions of years ago. This period was during the “epic of galaxy formation”, where star formation was at its peak about 1.5 to 4 billion years after the Big Bang, or about 10 billion years ago, Harrington said.

Harrington first got involved in Yun’s lab through a Five Colleges Astronomy department internship.

“I’ve realized that science is really not a solo effort, it’s really collabora-

tive and it’s important to ask questions … and do your share of work. I’ve grown so much from my own challenges and at the end of the day, it’s been unbelievably rewarding for me…it’s also been an opportunity to stay humble, and that’s one of the most important things for me,” Harrington said.

Details about the discovery appear in the current early online edition of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Tristan Tay can be reached at ttay@ umass.edu.

continued from page 1

the things that I did. But it was necessary or I would not have been able to function.”

Oertle said she has been in recovery for about a year with the help of medication-assisted treatment and counseling. At the same time, Oertle said people like her face a powerful stigma. For example, probation officers, she said, don’t treat addicts as if they have a disease.

“It’s great to hear the president say ‘the disease of addiction.’ That is wonderful,” she said. “But there still is a stigma. For me, even coming here _ and nobody here treated

me badly or anything, but it is in the back of my mind.”

Obama quickly sought to comfort her, humorously interjecting: “If somebody treats Crystal badly, you have to talk to me. I have got the Secret Service, the U.S. armed forces. Don’t mess with her.”

“The most important thing we can do is to reduce demand for drugs,” he said earlier in the discussion.

“And the only way that we reduce demand is if we are providing treatment and thinking about this as a public health problem and not just a criminal problem.”

continued from page 1

to engineer a way around security measures it had build into the iPhone.

Doing so, they said, would amount to creating a master key for accessing all iPhones, which would quickly become a holy grail for hackers.

Prosecutors rebuffed Apple’s doomsday scenario, insisting the case dealt only with cracking into the iPhone used by Syed Rizwan Farook, who along with his wife carried out the Dec. 2 attack that left 14 dead and many others wounded. Justice officials say the assault was an act of terrorism.

Despite the government’s claims, the fight over Farook’s iPhone was seen as a test case over whether technology companies could be forced to develop computer code to assist a criminal investigation. It took on broader implications as well about how far the government could go in forcing companies or individuals into its service.

The case revolved around the iPhone 5C issued to Farook for his job as a county health inspector that was found in his car following a shootout

with police that left him and his wife dead. Although FBI agents managed to piece together much about the couple, they wanted to review the contacts, messages and other information on the phone in hopes it would help answer whether the killers had accomplices, among other questions.

Worried that Farook had activated a security feature making an iPhone inoperable after 10 failed attempts to enter a four-digit security code, agents approached Apple for assistance in getting into the device. Until the correct security code is entered, Apple’s encryption software keeps the contents of the phone scrambled.

Agents wanted Apple to write a new operating system that would bypass the 10-attempt limit on the security code and other security measures. With this done, agents then planned to use a computer program to churn through the 10,000 possible passcodes until they hit upon the right one.

When the world’s most valuable company refused, Decker looked to Pym. The judge granted prosecutors’ request for an order forcing Apple to help, but delayed

making a final decision until after the two sides had a chance to make their case. The evening before a court hearing to decide the matter, Decker’s team sprung the announcement about getting help from the outside group.

Apple attorneys said last week they will explore legal options to force the FBI to turn over details of the hacking method.

They declined to elaborate Monday.

Technology executives and privacy advocates viewed the government’s decision to end the case as a fleeting victory. As companies make it increasingly difficult for investigators to access information on smartphones and other devices with heightened encryption and security, they expressed concern that the larger debate over balancing the needs of government and private industry remained unresolved.

“This case was never about just one phone. It was about an unprecedented power grab by the government that was a threat to everyone’s security and privacy,” said Alex Abdo, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

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US Supreme Court decides Clinton calls for stronger union fee case in 4-4 split gun control at Wisc. event

Vote came as a relief to officials

By DaviD G. SavaGe Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — A well-planned legal assault on public unions collapsed Tuesday when the Supreme Court deadlocked over a California woman’s lawsuit to strike down mandatory fees, the strongest evidence yet that Justice Antonin Scalia’s death has stymied the court’s conservative justices.

The 4-4 split keeps in place a 1970s-era rule that authorizes unions to require municipal employees, teachers, college instructors and transit workers to pay a “fair share fee” to help cover the cost of collective bargaining.

The tie vote, widely ex pected after Scalia’s death, nevertheless came as a relief to union officials who feared the conservative justices were on the brink of striking down the prounion law as a violation of free speech.

In another sign Tuesday that the high court continues to grapple with the vacancy left by Scalia, justices asked for additional briefings in a pending dispute over the Obama administration’s contraceptive mandate under the Affordable Care Act. The request was widely seen as an attempt by the justices to find a compromise in that case, which appeared evenly split during oral arguments earlier this month.

Tie votes could be a theme this year as justices vote on several major disputes that divide along ideological lines, including abortion, election districts and immigration.

The White House said the court’s deadlock in the union case underscores the need for the Senate to confirm his nominee, Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Republicancontrolled Senate is refusing to act on Garland’s nomination, saying the next president should fill Scalia’s seat.

“With a Supreme Court that’s not fully staffed, it makes it more likely that situations can arise across the country with different rulings in different courts that aren’t resolved by the Supreme Court,” White House press secretary Josh

Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One. Earlier this month, the court split 4-4 in a narrow case involving spousal liability and gender discrimination, the first such vote since Scalia’s death.

The deadlock in the union case leaves in place mandatory fees allowed by law in California and 22 other mostly Democratic states. Such fees are prohibited in the “right to work” states across the South and in much of the Midwest.

Orange County, Calif., teacher Rebecca Friedrichs and several others had sued to overturn the mandatory fees, saying they objected being forced to support the California Teachers Association.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected her suit, citing the 1977 Supreme Court ruling in Abood vs.

Detroit Board of Education, which had authorized these “fair share fees” in the first place. That case held that workers could be required to share in the cost of collective bargaining, but they did not have pay for a union’s political activities.

Before Scalia’s death, the court’s five more conservative justices had served notice that they were ready to overturn Abood and declare such forced fees as unconstitutional. The same five justices who in the Citizens United case struck down campaign spending limits on free-speech grounds seemed to view the union fees as a similar First Amendment violation.

Instead Tuesday, the justices issued a one-line statement saying the 9th Circuit’s ruling is “affirmed by an equally divided court.”

Labor law scholars said unions would have been crippled if employees were told they need not pay anything to support the union.

“It would have been like a knife in the heart of the unions,” said Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Massachusetts.

The National Education Association _ the nation’s largest union, with 3 million members _ hailed the outcome as a victory. California Teachers Association President Eric Heins said “wealthy corporate special interests” had brought the case to “make it harder for working families and the middle class to come together, speak up and get ahead. Now it’s time for senators to do

their job and appoint a successor justice to the highest court in our land.”

Presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders agreed that the split decision “underscores the need to a confirm a Supreme Court nominee who will protect the rights of American workers to collectively bargain for fair wages and safe working conditions. The extreme right wing is just one conservative Supreme Court justice away from dismantling the rights of public sectors unions to organize and collectively bargain on behalf of all workers.”

Conservatives said they saw no incentive to allow Obama to appoint another left-leaning judge, which would give the court a liberal majority for the first time in generations.

Curt Levey, executive director of the F re e d o m Wo rk s Foundation, said that the Supreme Court would shift “dramatically to the left with the appointment of Merrick Garland or any other liberal, (and) become a rubber stamp not just for the wishes of powerful labor unions, but also for virtually the entire progressive agenda.”

Terry Pell, president of the Center for Individual Rights, which helped launch Friedrichs’ lawsuit, said the group would try to raise the issue again. “We believe this case is too significant to let a split decision stand, and we will file a petition for re-hearing with the Supreme Court,” he said.

A labor policy expert who supported Friedrichs said challengers should now to look to state legislatures to strike down the fees.

“With a divided court, thousands of public servants around the nation must still financially assist a government union that they disagree with,” said Trey Kovacs, a labor expert with the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “Now it is up to state legislatures to provide public employees with the freedom to choose whether or not to pay for union representation.”

In the Obamacare case, the justices said Tuesday they wanted to hear further arguments on whether insurance companies may directly provide contraceptives to some women without the religious charities and nonprofits who employ them playing any role.

Mich. Gov. signs bill giving $48.7M to Detroit schools

District in danger of financial ruin

By Kathleen Gray Detroit Free Press

LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill Tuesday that will send $48.7 million to the financially struggling Detroit Public School district to ensure that it doesn't run out of cash and be forced to shut its doors next month.

The supplemental spending bill was given final approval by the Legislature last week after DPS transition manager Steven Rhodes, a retired U.S. bankruptcy judge, told lawmakers that the districts was poised to run out of cash on April 8 and force payless paydays on district employees.

"There was a pressing

need in Detroit that lawmakers from all across the state came together to address, and they got it done quickly," the Republican governor said in a statement. "This continues to demonstrate that the challenges at DPS aren't just Detroit's problem, they are concerns for all of Michigan. We are committed to academic improvement and long-term financial stability at DPS." Also signed was oversight for the district by the same financial review commission that has authority over the city of Detroit as it emerges from bankruptcy.

The commission legislation adds two members _ the transition manager and the superintendent of DPS _ to deal with matters associated with the school district.

The plan gives the same De troit Financial Review Commission that has moni-

tored the city's finances post-bankruptcy oversight of the school district's finances only if the district's emergency manager is removed. The original version included oversight by both the emergency manager and the commission.

The money for the district, however, is just part of the solution for DPS, which has been under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager since 2009, and has an operating deficit of $515 million.

The Senate approved sweeping legislation last week that would split DPS into two, give a powerful new education commission control over school openings and closings, and set up a new A-F grading system to rate schools. The House has not yet taken it up.

Sen. decries gun violence epidemic By aShley luthern Milwaukee Journal Sentinel MILWAUKEE — Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton on Tuesday called for tighter gun laws, enhanced police training and more support for young African-American men who are most at risk to become victims or perpetrators of violence.

“The epidemic of gun violence spares no one but it is concentrated in areas that are short on hope and where we still face the effects of systemic racism,” Clinton said.

The Rev. Don Darius Butler, Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Geneva Reed-Veal and Annette Nance-Holt joined Clinton at Tabernacle Community Baptist Church in Milwaukee on Tuesday morning for a forum about gun violence prevention.

Reed-Veal is the mother of Sandra Bland, who was found hanging in her jail cell three days after being pulled over for a traffic stop in Texas, and Nance-Holt is a battalion chief for the Chicago Fire Department whose 16-year-old son, Blair, was shot and killed while riding a bus in 2007.

Nance-Holt said she appreciated Clinton reaching out to her and other mothers, saying Clinton’s primary opponent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had not done so.

“I think if you want my vote you better work for it,” she said. “I’m not going to

give it to you just because you say you’ll do free college, because if my child is dead he can’t go to college.”

At one point during the forum, Milwaukee mother Freda Bogan cried out in grief. Her eldest son was shot and killed in Mississippi in 2000, just weeks after Bogan had returned to her home state from Wisconsin to take care of her mother who had cancer.

Clinton asked to speak with Bogan after the event and the two chatted for several minutes.

“That’s pain that’s never going away,” Bogan said after the meeting. “Stop letting people sell guns over the Internet, stop letting them sell guns out of houses, stores, whatever, if you don’t have the credentials to buy a gun, you shouldn’t be able to get one.”

During the forum, Clinton called for universal background checks, including for online and gun show sales, and for ending what she described as the “Charleston loophole.”

Dylann Roof, who is charged with killing nine parishioners in a historically black church in Charleston, went to buy a gun two months before the shooting. As the FBI examiner sought more information about Roof’s criminal history, the three-day window for the check ended and Roof could legally buy the gun. Supporters of gun rights have said the problem was with the FBI and incorrect paperwork, not the law.

Kim Sherrod, a lifelong member of Tabernacle Community Baptist

Church, said she supported Clinton and her positions on gun laws after seeing firsthand the “evolution of the city over the years with so many young people losing their lives to gun violence or other tragedies.”

For her and members of Tabernacle Baptist Church, gun violence is not an abstract issue but a daily reality.

In 2014, not too far from the church, 10-year-old Sierra Guyton was caught in the crossfire of a shooting on a playground. She died months later and her funeral was held at Tabernacle. At the end of that year, the church also hosted the city’s annual vigil for homicide victims.

“Every day there’s something riddling this neighborhood in the form of crime _ ridiculous shootings, death _ and I would love for her to address how we could turn this gun law around,” said Barbara Ford, a congregation member since 1959.

Ford said she specifically did not support Wisconsin’s concealed carry law, which she described as a policy out of the “wild, wild west.”

Janetha Johnson, another congregant, said it was notable Clinton came to the 53206 ZIP code, a challenged part of the city marked by high levels of poverty, unemployment and incarceration.

“This is an experience because we don’t have Washington coming to Milwaukee and because it’s 53206,” Johnson said.

The support of black voters has been crucial to Clinton in her race against Sanders.

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

“Was it only by dreaming or writing that I could find out what I thought?” - Joan Didion

Political protests and personal jabs: Just the tip of the iceberg Last week my parents celebrated the next president of the United States, their 30th wedding anniversary. calling each other names in the most Because my dad is a history teacher outward and blatant example of bullying that this election season has seen Tess Halpern (which is saying a lot if you have been following this election season), along and my mom is a very understanding with a formal debate deteriorating into woman, their “romantic” destination two candidates arguing over the size of of choice was Virginia, where they their manhood. spent their time touring the historic More recently, the attacks between homes of Thomas Jefferson and James candidates have become even more perMadison. sonal, if that was even possible, with Interestingly enough, my parents’ Ted Cruz and Donald Trump taking trip back in time to the homes of stabs at each other’s wives. some of the United States’ “Founding But these instances, and many othFathers,” where they learned about the ers that show the ways this election has men who had nothing but optimism resorted to childish fights between canfor the future of our country, was per- didates, take the spotlight away from fectly juxtaposed with the latest devel- what is actually the biggest problem opments in our current political race. I that has emerged from this political couldn’t help but feel that our present- year. The most serious issue is not the day political situation is not at all what immaturity or the pettiness that the these great men had in mind for the candidates have demonstrated, but it is future of their “more perfect Union.” the hate speech and overall tone of this Since presidential debates were first election season, which doesn’t seem televised in 1960, showmanship and like it will end once we elect a presipersonality have been important quali- dent, no matter who that may be. ties for presidential candidates, but it In his final State of the Union seems that in this current election, that Address, President Barack Obama statis all that is important. ed that one of his few regrets from his For the first time in the history of presidency was “the rancor and susour nation, the actual issues concern- picion between the parties has gotten ing the public and the candidates’ strat- worse instead of better,” and I would egies in order to solve those problems agree that not only has the divide have not been of utmost importance in between parties become worse during a political race. The issues themselves Obama’s two terms, but it has reached have fallen behind to be replaced by a brand new height in the past several insults, personal jabs, and yes, even months. penis jokes.

Political protests, specifically The 11th GOP Debate on March 3 against Trump, have happened almost consisted of grown men, who, at the weekly, with new images constantly time, had a 1/6 chance of becoming surfacing of protestors at Trump ral-

lies being simply escorted out of the venue when they’re lucky, and being assaulted by Trump supporters when they’re not. However, although the violence and the protests are happening more frequently, it is the subtler acts of hatred that are actually more frightening.

One needs to look no further than popular Twitter feeds to find hate speech targeted at people with differing political beliefs. For example, I only had to search through Twitter for about 30 seconds before I found an account @ GOPTeens with 83.5 thousand followers, where one of its most recent tweets was an interactive poll asking followers which hashtag the account should get trending, with the options being “#DUMBocrats,” “#DEMONcrats,” “#DemocRATS” and, the winner with 32 percent of the votes, “#LiberHOLES.” This hatred between political parties has been brewing for decades and has only been exacerbated by people like Trump who preach hate, bullying and discrimination. But at this point, I do sincerely fear that the divide between the parties has reached a point of no return, and I can’t help but wonder what our nation’s founders would think if they could bear witness to this “historic” election.

I hope we as Americans can one day set aside our differences and have actual, intellectual debates about actual, pressing issues, but, at least in the case of this election season, I don’t think that is likely.

Tess Halpern is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at tjhalpern@umass.edu.

Don’t unfriend people for political posts Sometimes the greatest advice in life Google search results become a reflection of the things you want to hear. comes from places you least expect.

News feeds now seem to be filled “As a scientist, Throckmorton knew with politics in a time when both sizes Edridge D’Souza are becoming increasingly polarized.

That’s exactly why you shouldn’t delete that if he were ever to break wind people with opposing views. Sure, you in the echo chamber, he would never might think they’re beyond help. That hear the end of it.” This was said by there’s no reasoning with them or if 10th-place winner of the Bulwer-Lytton they only took a minute and thought “terrible novel opening lines” contest, about it rationally, they’d soon be supwhich provides a seemingly apt meta- porting your candidate instead. And phor for the current reality of politics that’s the exact type of feedback loop on Facebook. that makes you more radical.

Especially in the heart of election Everyone bases their opinions off season, most of us have probably heard the presupposition that they’re already some variation of the refrain, “If you correct. That means that when you don’t exactly agree with me on this remove opposing views from your feed, issue, then unfriend me right now.” At you not only take away any opportuits base, threats like these seem harm- nity to be confronted by viewpoints less enough. Unfollowing your cousin from the other side, but you’re also or classmate for constantly posting implicitly telling Facebook, Google and annoying memes is a victimless crime, advertisers that you want to become something that most people will even- even more entrenched in your side of tually do at some point. the aisle.

However, in doing so, people This type of result, especially in a run the risk of turning their news college environment, is hardly confeeds into echo chambers. And like ducive to productive thought. By only Throckmorton, if you wait long enough taking in viewpoints from one side, you in one, you’ll be surrounded with the risk exposing yourself to unhealthy sound of your own flatulence. levels of confirmation and consensus Facebook’s algorithm relies on bias. In other words, when you only showing stories it thinks will appeal to see posts from friends and pages you each individual the most. This means already agree with, you start believthat if you “like” many pages devot- ing that every reasonable person must ed to Democratic socialism and make believe in the same things as you do. posts about single-payer healthcare, After all, you’re a reasonable person, you’ll be seeing more Bernie Sanders right? Slowly but surely, your views in your news feed. Likewise, if you become progressively more radical. gravitate toward social conservatism The purpose of a college education and lower taxes, Facebook will show should be to stimulate intellectual you a lot more of Ted Cruz. This data development and thought. It follows is shared with advertisers, and pretty that the best way to do that is to force soon, your advertisements and even exposure to the other side. No matter

how disagreeable it may seem, there’s value in it.

As a centrist, I’ve become rather tired of the constant talk of “extreme” candidates like Cruz and Sanders in the news. However, this extra exposure to viewpoints that I’d normally disagree with have led me to modify my stances on certain issues: maybe Republicans aren’t totally anti-science and maybe Democrats aren’t going to raise everyone’s taxes.

Granted, this year’s crop of presidential candidates, is particularly disappointing, but when you make yourself see the other side, everything suddenly seems much more reasonable.

President Barack Obama put it best when he said, “I’ve got to tell you, I don’t agree with that either – that when you become students at colleges, you have to be coddled and protected from different points of view. Anybody who comes to speak to you and you disagree with, you should have an argument with them, but you shouldn’t silence them by saying you can’t come because I’m too sensitive to hear what you have to say.”

We’re living in a time when Congress is polarized to the point of gridlock.

There’s hardly any reason to perpetuate this polarization in our own personal lives, especially on a website that should really just be for posting personal pictures and sending event invitations. No matter how ridiculous the other side seems, blocking it out isn’t going to do very much to help.

Editorial@DailyCollegiancom

Domestic violence hits close to home Soon after return- ner in the United States. ing to the University of One in five women and one Massachusetts from spring in seven men have been victims of severe physical Devyn Giannetti violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime. break, I received some Seventy-two percent of all alarming news. I was told murder-suicides involve that two people were found an intimate partner. dead in a house in Hudson, All these statistics are Ohio, my hometown. With alarming and unacceptsuch little information, I able. No one should fear really had no idea what for their life in an intimate took place. relationship.

Then the news slowly Sadly, Kristi Bice could started to trickle in. On tell her life was in danMarch 21, Kristi Bice was ger. Soon before Stephen fatally shot by her husband Bice arrived, she texted of 22 years, Stephen Bice. her daughter from anothAccording to Cleveland. com, Bice texted his three er relationship, “Boys get sons, ages 18, 16 and 14, there and he isn’t there. to lure them out of the I hope he isn’t planning house so that he could on getting them out of the get to his wife. The boys house so he can blow me debated whether or not up.” Bice even asked her to leave their mother, but older brother, a Brimfield having missed their father, police officer, to stay at they decided to go to leave their home and help with for the place the father whatever protection she told them to go. He never needed.

Kristi Bice was taking showed.

Stephen Bice, who all the right precautions reportedly violated a to protect herself. She Summit County judge’s reached out to her famprotection order to stay ily for help when she felt away from Kristi, broke in danger and talked with into the home through them about the major the front door. Taking his problems she was having 9-millimeter semiautomat- with her husband. ic handgun, he fired five I believe more should shots at Kristi, hitting her have been done by the famfour times. He then shot ily to protect Kristi, but I her once in the head at don’t know the entire situclose range before stand- ation. I don’t want Kristi ing over her and using the Bice to be just another last bullet to shoot himself, statistic. I want her death according to the report. to be a warning to others After their 18-year-old in abusive relationships. I son realized his father was want them to know there never going to meet him are resources and people and his brothers, the three that can help them get out sons headed back home before it’s too late. No one where the son walked into the house and found his deserves the pain domestic parents dead on the living violence causes. An entire family was affected by the room floor.

Reading stories like this horrific death of a mother, makes my heart heavy, daughter, sister and friend.

I am genuinely pleading especially knowing this all took place 10 minutes to those who feel that they from my home. I will never are not in a healthy, loving understand the pain and relationship to reach out struggling the children to others and get out as and family of Kristi Bice soon as possible. There is are going through. Her old- always a way out.

If you or someone you est son went to my high school and was a sopho- love is in danger, don’t more when I graduated in hesitate to take action and 2014. call 911 or the National According to the Domestic Violence Hotline National Coalition Against at 1-800-799-SAFE. Domestic Violence, nearly 20 people per minute are Devyn Giannetti is a Collegian physically abused on aver- columnist and can be reached at age by an intimate part- dgiannetti@umass.edu.

Edridge D’Souza is a contributing columnist can be reached at edsouza@umass.edu.

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Arts Living THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

“I don’t sweat... I glisten.” - Abby Lee, ‘Dance Moms’

Arts@DailyCollegian.com

H E A LT H & F I T N E S S

Rec. Center ballet class offers expressive, fun exercise UMass dance class for anyone to enjoy

By Emily mEdrEk Collegian Correspondent If you’re like me, you haven’t taken any form of dance class in several years. Many of you probably haven’t stepped foot in a dance class ever, and that’s okay, too. For anyone who has ever wanted to dance but has let fear or embarrassment stop them from trying, my advice for you is this: Try it.

We often get discouraged when trying anything challenging or out of our comfort zone, but trying new things is how we grow.

Challenging ourselves is healthy. Confusing our muscles through new physical activity is healthy.

Dancing, listening to music and letting go of tension is healthy. The best part about these ballet classes is that you don’t need any prior experience to try something new, enjoy yourself and get a good workout.

The Recreation Center at the University of Massachusetts is a great place to experience a dance class. Ballet is taught by Stacey Hazen at 10 a.m. each Tuesday and Thursday in room 210.

Hazen has been dancing since she was three years old and has taught ballet since she was in sixth grade at St Saviours School of Dance in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. She is a sophomore dance major and this is her second semester teaching ballet at UMass.

Hazen begins each class with some warm-up stretches, followed by various exercises such as pliés, tendu, and dégagés using the barre. Throughout the class she alternates between barre work and sequences in which each dancer practices leaps and turns across the floor.

Hazen takes things slowly and demonstrates each dance move in front of the class for those who don’t know any ballet terminology. The class also does not require specific clothing or ballet slippers.

Hazen stated that anyone can take her ballet class no matter their prior dance experience, which is a question she said she is often asked. Many people have started her class as beginners and worked their way up, according to Hazen, and she finds it “exciting to see their progress.”

Hazen said she hopes people learn that “things can be challenging, and that’s okay.” The most important part of her class, Hazen says, is to “stay aware of your body.” She never wants anyone to feel pressured to do movements or stretches they do not feel comfortable for them.

Chris McGrail is not a student at UMass, but she has been attending Hazen’s classes every Tuesday and Thursday for a few weeks and finds each class challenging but starting to get easier. McGrail said she had never danced before, but she always wanted to, so she finally built up the courage to take a class.

McGrail finds ballet class to be a nice “focus

ALICE BARIGELLI/FLICKR

Whether you have years of dance training or no dance experience at all, Stacey Hazen teaches a ballet classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings that are perfect for anyone looking to try ballet for the first time or to practice and build upon their skills. time” with no pressure to keep up with the other dancers. She uses each ballet “to slow down and concentrate,” focusing on her body while getting a good workout.

UMass sophomore Sam Jurgilewicz has attended Hazen’s classes for about five weeks and started dancing when she was three years old, taking ballet, modern, lyrical and point lessons until she

graduated high school.

She said she was excited to learn the Rec Center offers ballet, as it gives her a way to maintain her flexibility and dancing skills.

Ju r g i l ew i c z finds Hazen’s class to be “a great way to start my day,” further adding that ballet is a way for her to express herself. She encourages anyone who has never danced before to try the class.

“It’s not like any other

sport and it’s a great way to release stress and focus on yourself,” she said.

Both Hazen and her class attendees stress that anyone can enjoy themselves a the ballet class whether they have several years of experience or no familiarity at all.

Ballet is not about getting the steps down perfectly or competing with the person next to you; it is about moving your body,

challenging yourself and having fun while doing so.

There is something beautiful about hearing the classical music and moving in a synchronized motion with the rest of the class.

Each class member attends for the same reasons: to learn, dance and do something healthy in a nonjudgmental atmosphere.

Emily Medrek can be reached at emedrek@umass.edu.

H E A LT H & F I T N E S S

Weekly meditations to decompress and reduce stress Rec. Center class to practice meditation

tunnel, and its name is mediation.

Every Wednesday at noon, the University of Massachusetts Recreation Center offers a meditation class in the Wellness Center as part of “Wellness Wednesdays,” an idea originated this semester. The class aims to provide students with a day of the week to come to the Rec Center and meditate in order to rebalance, prioritize and avoid stress.

In the corner of the Wellness Center is the

meditation corner where these weekly classes are held. This area was created as a safe space to encourage calmness, serenity and peace in each visitor’s life.

Olivia Clark, a certified Vinyasa Yoga instructor at the Rec Center, serves as the meditation instructor.

She structures her guided mediation class specifically toward battling anxiety and stress relief. She said that she “keeps an open mind” toward other methods of relaxation (such as conversation) as well. It all

depends on the needs of the people who attend the class.

Meditation has recently been appropriated by many academics and the benefits

By Gina lopEz of adopting meditative rouCollegian Correspondent tines have been studied and delineated in many experiWednesday is usually mental studies. the point in the week where For example, Charles L. many students feel drained, Raison, clinical director of defeated and most of all, the Mind-Body Program at ready for the week to be Emory University, proved over. There’s too much that meditation can improve homework to complete on brain function, metabolism, too little sleep, and the few weight loss efforts, sleep days feel like an eternity. and connectedness with However, there is a light others. at the end of this midweek In addition, according to an investigation by the American Medical Association’s Journal of Internal Medicine, regular meditation practices improve anxiety, depression, stress, pain and mental health.

While a small number of educational systems are adopting the practice into their curriculum, those that are experimenting with the idea are reaping the benefits.

In a study by the Journal of Child and Family Studies, a five-week meditation program was introduced to study how meditation affects classroom behavior of elementary school students in Richmond, California. This study found that meditation led to an improvement in classroom behaviors.

In a similar study done in the British Journal of Psychiatry, it introduced WOODLEYWONDERWORKS/FLICKR meditative techniques Practicing meditation at any level is an effective way to relieve anxiety and stress, as well as to improve focus, balance and peace. to students in secondary

schools and found that students who participated in the test reported less symptoms of depression, decreased stress levels and greater overall well-being.

“If your mind isn’t in the right place your body will follow by also not being in the right place,” said Clark on the issue of the lack of focus on student’s mental health in school settings.

Regardless of the proof of benefits of mediation, some skeptics still feel as though meditation will not help them, according to Clark.

Clark admitted she too was originally skeptical of meditation, adding, “It was something I always believed in, but never thought I could do ... I didn’t think I had the time or patience to figure it out.”

But there is a variety of forms of mediation for people to experiment with if they don’t feel that traditional meditation techniques will work for them.

Types of meditation range in various levels of difficultly, time and method.

One form is primordial sound meditation, which is a practice that uses the techniques of traditional Vedic Indian meditation. In this practice, the meditator adopts a personal mantra, such as “Om,” and repeats this word or noise for a chosen period of time.

Another mediationbased practice is known as mindfulness-based stress reduction. This type of practice includes a combi-

nation of mind-body techniques, such as yoga and meditation, to help reduce pain and stress and promote relaxation and a peaceful quality of life.

Clark, however, believes she adopted a simple definition of meditation that doesn’t fit into one particular mold. She defines mediation as “bringing your mind into the right place however your body is telling you to get there,” adding she believes other activities like running are also meditative practices.

Clark’s biggest hopes for her class are that people gain a deeper understanding of themselves and what does and does not work for them personally when it comes to mentally centering themselves through guided meditation.

Meditation is about calming one’s self and taking some time to regroup and relax, however one choses to do so.

For anyone looking for additional resources, meditation classes are also offered on campus through informal non-denominational, student-led groups on campus.

These groups lead mediation classes each Monday at 8 a.m. and Thursday at 7:30 a.m. in the Rec Center Wellness Center and on Tuesday and Wednesday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Campus Center.

Gina Lopez can be reached at gmlopez@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @gina_lopezz.

6

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

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P oorly D rawN l iNeS

B y r eza F arazmaND

aquarius

HOROSCOPES Jan. 20 - Feb. 18

leo

Jul. 23 - aug. 22

Where there’s a will there’s a way, but where there’s a way is there always a will?

Did you find what you lost yet?

pisces

virgo

Feb. 19 - Mar. 20

aug. 23 - Sept. 22

If I had to live off potatoes for the rest of my life, I would be okay with that.

You look like a koala.

aries

Mar. 21 - apr. 19

libra

Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

scorpio

Oct. 23 - nOv. 21

Potatoes are so great. You can cook them into Procrastinate from your work by doing the so many different things! crossword. I believe in you.

taurus

apr. 20 - May. 20

And the best part about potato-based food is it all tastes different depending on how it’s cooked!

There wasn’t a snake in your boot, but with those rattlesnakes in the Quabin, who knows?

gemini

May. 21 - Jun. 21

sagittarius

nOv. 22 - Dec. 21

Different meal every night! Joke’s on you, it’s still potatoes.

You look truly outrageous today.

cancer

capricorn

Jun. 22 - Jul. 22

Don’t ignore the doctor’s orders unless they are truly ridiculous.

Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

Who knows if that is a compliment or an insult to Sagi?

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

WO M E N ’ S L AC RO S S E

Offense leads Minutewomen as they continue dominant season UM averages 13.38 goals per game

By Henry BrecHter Collegian Staff

After soundly winning its last three games by a 43-18 combined margin, the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team looks to carry that momentum into conference play Friday when it squares off against Saint Joseph’s in Philadelphia.

The Minutewomen (7-1), who have not lost an Atlantic 10 game since the end of the 2009-10 regular season and have captured seven consecutive A-10 titles, will look toward its high-scoring offense to continue to carry the load as UMass strives for another undefeated conference record.

The Minutewomen’s smallest margin of victory in a win this season came their last time out against Albany in a 13-7 victory over the Great Danes’ above-average defensive unit. Four of the Minutewomen’s seven wins this season have come by double digits.

“Our focus is usually on moving the ball around and maintaining possession,” UMass midfielder Hannah Murphy said. “We’ve been working on our off-ball movement, which I think we’ve been doing well, but our focus is almost always on passing, moving the ball up and getting shot on net.”

Coming off a 2015 season in which she was named the A-10 midfielder of the year, Murphy has been instru-

CARVEL

ROBERT RIGO/COLLEGIAN

Erika Eipp scores a goal in a 16-5 win against Holy Cross Feb. 22. Eipp leads UMass with 37 points this season. mental in what is yet another successful season so far for the Minutewomen, especially in terms of its offense.

After tallying a team-high 113 draw controls last season, Murphy once again leads the team with 49 through eight games in 2016. She has also scored 14 goals and is one of six Minutewomen with double-digit goals on the year.

While UMass has been on an offensive surge for almost the past month since its lone 9-8 loss to No. 14 Boston University on March 2, the Hawks (1-7) have been in a rut on both sides of the ball.

St. Joe’s has had trouble all season on the defensive front and has lost five straight games heading into Friday’s contest. The Hawks have failed to hold a team under 10 goals in any game this season and struggled mightily against

the Minutewomen in last year’s contest, falling 16-7.

Meanwhile, UMass has once again excelled on defense this year with a combination of experience and youth.

“While we have a lot of experience, we also have a lot of exciting and dynamic new players that I think have made for a great balance,” UMass coach Angela McMahon said. “I’m really proud of how we’ve worked and improved, and I think we’re really coming together as a unit.

“We’re taking it day by day, but I think we realize how much potential we have together as a group and if we come together the way we’re capable of, I think we can make it farther,” McMahon added.

The Minutewomen have not lost to the Hawks in more than a decade, with their defeat loss coming

continued from page 8

ed 87 assists under the tutelage of Joe Marsh.

“As an alumnus of St. Lawrence University, I leave with a heavy heart and great appreciation for what the University has done for me, in particular, Joe Marsh,” Carvel said in the release. “The University of Massachusetts will provide me with the next opportunity to help rebuild a hockey program that has great potential for success.

Having earned my master’s degree from UMass, I am well aware of the prestige

BASEBALL

of the school and its desire to have a championshipcaliber hockey program at a Top 30 Public Research University.”

Carvel wasn’t the first name to be tied to the position. Buccigross tweeted Sunday that Harvard associate head coach Paul Pearl and Merrimack head coach Mark Dennehy were the “front runners” for the position before.

Jason Kates can be reached at jkates@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Jason_Kates.

Carvel is the 13th coach in UM history.

continued from page 8

JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

Casey Aubin picked up his first collegiate win against Northeastern Tuesday. second baseman Bryce Maher stepped to the plate and connected on an RBI triple to give the Minutemen a 2-1 lead. After two quick outs, Jon Avallone stepped in the box and ran the count to 2-2 before hitting an RBI

PHOTO COURTESEY OF ST. LAWRENCE ATHLETICS

single to extend the UMass lead to two. “(It was) nice to see (Avallone and Maher) experience success,” Stone said.

“Hopefully they can start contributing at the bottom of the order.”

The bottom of the Minutemen’s order will be important moving forward as the group has struggled mightily this season with the exception of Avallone.

The last three hitters in the lineup in Tuesday’s game, Matt Bare, Maher and Cooper Mrowka are all hitting .205 or lower.

“It was a tough day to hit and to get into the flow,” Stone said. “(It’s) good to get clutch hitting from those guys.”

The Minutemen now return home to Amherst for matchups against Boston College and Rhode Island on Wednesday and Saturday respectively. The Minutemen will then travel to Kingston, Rhode Island to face the Rams again Sunday.

Tyler Fiedler can be reach at tfiedler@umass.edu and followed @ Tyler_Fiedler.

April 10, 2005. Like the rest of its conference opponents, St. Joe’s has been victimized by the rampant success of the UMass for the past seven regular seasons.

With the Minutewomen’s offense being on a tear and despite the looks of another successful A-10 run ahead, McMahon said UMass remains focused on only the next game on the schedule.

“We try not to focus on it at all, I mean in the backs of everyone’s minds it’s a goal and something we have created as a standard for ourselves, but we really focus on improving and getting better every day, every game.”

Friday’s game will start at 3 p.m.

Henry Brechter can be reached at hbrechter@umass.edu.

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

WRESTLING wrestling careers as threetime national qualifiers.

“We compete against a lot of teams that do have coaches and are real programs, so it’s kind of hard to push yourself and learn new moves,” Williams said. “You miss that structure a bit.”

On the women’s side, there has been a significant increase in female participation over the past few years, with this past season seeing the most significant growth.

“When I came in as a freshman, there was one senior girl. The next year, I was the only girl. This year, we had five girls who attended nationals and even more who stopped by practice,” senior captain Cassie Corey said. “It’s been really great to see the women’s team grow.”

Along with Corey, Sara Andresen, Michelle MacDavid, Aly Bruneault and Natalie Saloio all competed at nationals. The Minutewomen finished in fourth place behind teams that all came equipped with a coach and a full-funded program.

Andresen, who earned an All-American title last year, battled a reigning national champion and placed fourth out of eight girls in her weight class, just one spot away from achieving her second All-American title.

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continued from page 8

Corey finished second out of six in her weight class, making her only the second woman in the NCWA to be a four-time All-American.

Her performance at nationals also earned her her third year of being an academic All-American.

The women’s team will attend a freestyle tournament at Springfield Technical Community College hosted by their women’s team on April 9. Last year, roughly 97 women from all across New England showed up, and this year more than 100 wrestlers are expected.

“It will be a great opportunity for our girls to experience freestyle wrestling, which is one of the kinds of wrestling done at the Olympic level,” Corey said.

The ultimate goal for the club wrestling program is to expand and gain more attention throughout the campus.

With more notice to their program and with a hefty amount of new members it could become a fully funded program in the future.

“Well, I’m a senior this year so my season’s done,” Williams said. “But I’m looking forward to watching the team grow in the coming years.”

Mollie Walker can be reached at molliewalker@umass.edu.

PHOTO COURTESY OF UMASS CLUB WRESTLING

UMass’ Jordan Balskus competed in the 157-pound class at nationals.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Sports@DailyCollegian.com

@MDC_SPORTS

UMASS HIRES CARVEL HOCKEY

Athletic director Ryan Bamford announces Greg Carvel will lead hockey team as next head coach

By Jason kates Collegian Staff

After initial reports indicated St. Lawrence hockey head coach Greg Carvel could be named the next head coach of Massachusetts as soon as Tuesday afternoon, UMass athletics confirmed Carvel’s hiring at 3:18 p.m., Tuesday afternoon in a press release.

ESPN anchor John Buccig ross tweeted Tuesday afternoon that UMass Athletic Director Ryan Bamford had “worked out” a five-year deal with Carvel according to sources, and the University could officially announce the hiring as quickly as today.

Bamford then tweeted out the news confirming the hiring of Carvel at 3:07 p.m.

“This is an exciting day for our hockey program as we welcome Greg and his family to the University of Massachusetts.” Bamford said in the press release.

“Greg’s extensive pro and college hockey experience, including considerable success as a player and coach, will serve him well as the leader of our program for years to come.

“I look forward to working closely with Greg and his staff to place the Commonwealth’s Flagship hockey program in a position of sustained success in Hockey East and beyond,” Bamford added.

“I am very excited about the opportunity that exists for the University of Massachusetts hockey program and the potential for success here,” Carvel said in the press release. “I was very impressed with the vision and energy of Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford and his desire to succeed in Hockey East.

I feel that I bring a wide range of coaching experience and proven success at the collegiate, professional and international levels.”

Carvel will be introduced and address the

“Greg’s extensive pro and college hockey experience, including considerable success as a player and coach will serve him well as the leader of our program for years to come.”

Ryan Bamford, UMass athletic director media on Thursday in a mid-morning press conference in Amherst followed up by a later conference that afternoon in Boston.

Carvel, 45, will be the 13th head coach in program history, replacing John Micheletto after Micheletto was fired on March 6.

Carvel has led the Saints since the 2012-13 season, compiling a record of 72-6315, including a 20-win season in 2014-15 in which he won the Tim Taylor award as ECAC Coach of the Year.

SLU earned a second place finish in the conference that year despite being picked to finish 11th in the preseason. That same season, he was named an assistant coach for the 2015

U.S. Men’s National Team.

Carvel also brings NHL coaching experience with him to Amherst. In 1999, he joined the Anaheim Mighty Ducks as scouting coordinator, and later became an assistant coach for the Ottawa Senators in 2004 up until his departure in 2011.

Both teams made appearances in the Stanley Cup during his time with these teams.

A graduate of St. Lawrence, Carvel has ties to the UMass community, earning a master’s degree in sports management from the University in 1996. During his time with the Saints as a player, he scored 37 goals and recordsee

Graphic by Kelley Dillon

CARVEL on page 7

CLUB WRESTLING

BASEBALL

Hitting the mats

UM baseball beats in-state rival NU Strong bullpen leads Minutemen By tyler Fiedler Collegian Staff

The wind and bitterness of the Boston afternoon kept the score between the Massachusetts baseball team and Northeastern low, which UMass worked in favor of the NU Minutemen, who pulled out a 3-2 win Tuesday.

UMass (5-10) won its second straight game on the back of strong pitching performances. Freshman starter Casey Aubin got his first win of his collegiate career after pitching 52/3

PHOTO COURTESY OF UMASS CLUB WRESTLING

UMass competed in the Northeast Conference of the National Collegiate Wrestling Association this month. Senior Greg Williams won the 141-pound title.

UMass club wrestling flies under radar Co-ed group sees success at nationals

By Mollie Walker Collegian Staff

When one walks by room 118 of the Recreation Center, sometimes there’s people stretching and doing yoga, while other days there are men and women dressed in all-white gear practicing their fencing techniques.

But on Wednesday and Friday afternoons, the activity room becomes home to some of the best wrestlers in not only the school or region, but the entire country.

The University of Massachusetts club wrestling team is a co-ed organi-

zation that competes within the Northeast Conference of the National Collegiate Wrestling Association.

Though only a club sport, it has multiple standout athletes that have effectively built a threatening reputation for UMass in the club wrestling world.

“We’ve had a rebuilding season this year, we have three seniors so we had a lot of young freshman come in,” said senior captain Greg Williams. “It’s been fun trying to raise them up and teach them how to take over the club.”

Although Williams said UMass is reloading this year, the team’s results in the NCWA Northeast Conference championship

at the University of New Hampshire on Feb. 27 said otherwise.

In a fierce competition that included more than 13 schools including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Connecticut, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Maine and Northeastern among others, Williams himself earned the 141-pound conference champion title.

Williams isn’t the only standout on the team either.

Junior Billy Martin placed fifth in the 125-pound conference tournament, senior captain Sean O’Connor placed seventh at 141 pounds and freshman Jordon Balskus placed eighth in the 157pound class.

The trio of Williams, O’Connor and Balskus continued their success at the NCWA Championships in Kissimmee, Florida starting on March 10, where they competed against wrestlers from more than 100 different schools from all over the nation.

Williams went 2-2 with wins over wrestlers from Grand Canyon University and Maine.

O’Connor and Balskus, the latter who was one of the few freshmen to attend nationals out of all wrestlers, both went 0-2 in their respective weight classes.

Both Williams and O’Connor ended their UMass see

WRESTLING on page 7

with no runs allowed.

“That last out in the sixth was big for us,” Stone said. “Lacy located his fastball and curveball and pitched two strong innings after (the sixth).”

Lacy has held opponents scoreless in all four of his appearances this season.

After Lacy was relieved, Evan Mackintosh closed the door in 3 the ninth, leaving a man stranded on 2 second for his third save of the season.

Mackintosh, like Lacy has posted a sub-two earned run average in 101/3 innings of work in 2016.

“Mackintosh pitched great again today,” Stone said. “The bullpen has been giving us some quality innings of late.”

“It was a tough day to pitch because there was a lot of wind, but (Casey Aubin) executed pitches.”

Mike Stone, UMass coach innings, giving up two runs while striking out four and walking three. “(Aubin) did a real nice job today,” Minutemen coach Mike Stone said. “It was a tough day to pitch because there was a lot of wind, but he executed pitches.”

Aubin got himself into a couple of jams on the mound including a critical one in the sixth inning. Aubin hit Northeastern’s Max Burt with two outs, and after an errant pickoff attempt

by Aubin, Burt found himself on third base as the tying run. Cam Walsh then worked a walked, knocking Aubin out of the game.

Stone brought in reliever Kevin Lacy, who shut the door by striking out Mason Koppens to end the frame

UMass’ offense did just enough today to pull out the win Tuesday. The offense came early in the first when leadoff hitter Vinny Scifo singled to begin the game.

He then stole second and scored two batters later on a John Jennings single to give the Minutemen an early 1-0 lead.

Northeastern (10-12) evened the score in the third after a leadoff triple from Koppens, where Charlie McConnell later drove him in on a single to shortstop.

The fourth inning was the biggest for the Minutemen when the struggling bottom of the order came through in the clutch.

Hunter Carey walked to begin the inning and junior see

BASEBALL on page 7