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Tuesday, April 5, 2016
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‘Stop Islam’ found scrawled onto FAC building
Police investigating source of graffiti B y Morgan H ugHes Collegian Correspondent
Police were called to the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts around 9 a.m. Tuesday when the words “Stop Islam” were found written in chalk in several places around the building. Ed Blaguszewski of News and Media Relations said in a statement, “UMass Police responded to the scene
shortly after 9 a.m. The graffiti was removed promptly by Physical Plant staff.” However, at around 1:15 p.m., similar Islamophobic phrases remained chalked on one of the walls of the underpass leading to the FAC main lobby. Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy said in the statement provided by Blaguszewski, “Such hateful acts are rejected by the UMass community and they have no place on our campus.” The University has not yet notified students of this
incident. At Monday’s Student Government Association meeting, Social Justice and Empowerment Committee Chair Maddie Goldstein mentioned the chalk graffiti before the SGA Senate. “There was some antiIslam messaging found in chalk on the FAC,” said Goldstein, a senior studying sociology and history. “It seems like a sequence of really disturbing, violent messages.” Following the November terrorist attacks in Paris, the Muslim Student Association
held a vigil for the victims and made a public statement denouncing the sweeping implications of all Muslims based on the actions of a few. Organizers commented that while they felt welcome on campus, they are constantly aware of the narratives being offered to the general public about Muslims. That vigil was attended by administration members as well. Daily Collegian columnist and junior Mike Agnello alerted the Collegian staff after he witnessed see
VANDALISM on page 3
A sound flurry
JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN
The phrase ‘Stop Islam’, written in chalk on the FAC, was noticed early Mon.
‘Panama Papers’ has powerful and rich scrambling Leak reveals secret holdings of elite By TiM JoHnson and Marisa Taylor
McClatchy Washington Bureau
JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN
Students walk single file past the Old Chapel during a snowstorm that swept through Amherst Monday.
SGA vetoes motion to set up a task force to investigate ‘Land Use’ policy Senators cite lack of organization B y sTuarT F osTer Collegian Staff
One week ago the Student Gover nment Association Senate voted nearly unanimously to support the creation of a task force to investigate the University of Massachusetts’ Land Use Policy, which the Student Legal Services Office had concluded is unconstitutional. However, after SGA President Sïonan Barrett vetoed the motion and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and Campus Life Enku Gelaye refused to sign it, the SGA unanimously supported the veto of the motion on Monday, which would have created a task force to eliminate all unconstitutional parts of the Land Use policy, after less than five minutes of discussion and no debate. “There was some miscommunication and not
adequate consultation, so I’m okay with the veto,” said Maddie Goldstein, a senior studying sociology and history who is the chair of the SGA’s Social Justice and Empowerment Committee and who helped create the initial motion. “I still have very high interest with this policy and seeing something get done soon.” SGA Senate Speaker Lauren Coakley said at the meeting that Gelaye did not sign the motion due to a failure of outreach and because Gelaye would not have the authority to sit on the task force. Coakley said that the UMass Faculty Senate would be better suited to investigating the Land Use policy, which currently limits outdoor speeches and rallies to the hour from noon to 1 p.m. outside the Student Union, and that any student interested in working with the Faculty Senate would be appointed. “I really don’t think there’s too much at loss here,” said Coakley, a junior studying political science and resource eco-
nomics. “I don’t think this project is ending.” Charlotte Kelly, a senior studying political science who is the communication and outreach director of the Center for Education Policy and Advocacy, was one of the writers of the motion outside of the SGA and was critical of the SGA for supporting the veto. “Ultimately this task force was in the best interest of students,” Kelly said. “The SGA is supposed to represent student voices, this is a policy that directly effects students on a day to day basis.” Kelly said that Gelaye, who SGA members said in the meeting was not properly consulted, was sent an email which was not responded to. Members in the SGA meeting also said that changing the Land Use Policy was not an authority held by Gelaye, but could only be done through the UMass Board of Trustees. “The Vice Chancellor or anyone in Administration does not have the power to change it,” said Chantal
Lima Barbosa, the vice president of the SGA and a legal studies and political science major. However, Kelly said that the second article of the Land Use policy states that Gelaye has some of this authority. That section of the document reads that “the general authority and responsibility for the administration of these regulations lies with the Chancellor and is delegated to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.” While Kelly said that the Faculty Senate has some control over the Land Use policy, fundamental changes would have to come from the Office of the Vice Chancellor. Kelly said that the Office of Student Affairs had not specifically addressed this policy in 26 years, and that part of the motivation for writing the motion was a perceived lack of impetus from the Office to deal with the unconstitutionality of policies’ language. “This motion has been see
SGA on page 3
WASHINGTON — The U.S. and British governments Monday vowed to examine more closely foreign politicians and tycoons who hide fortunes in secret offshore accounts even as governments across the globe felt a wave of public anger over leaders with hidden assets. Thousands of protesters gathered in Iceland’s capital of Reykjavik to demand the ouster of that nation’s leader over revelations of his offshore holdings. Riot police stood nearby, but the protest remained peaceful. Inside Iceland’s parliament, opposition legislators considered a noconfidence vote of Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, a move that would lead to fresh elections, over news that he did not properly disclose his ties to Wintris Inc., a British Virgin Islands company with money tied to the nation’s collapsed banks. Gunnlaugsson denied that his ownership was a conflict of interest, insisted he’d broken no laws and said he would not resign. From the White House to the Kremlin, and on to Panama City, Vienna and London, governments reacted to the disclosure of the so-called Panama Papers, a law firm’s oncesecret database that details the offshore interests of 12 current or former world leaders, as well as 128 other politicians and public officials. No U.S. politicians of note were found in the archives of the Mossack Fonseca law firm, a global leader in setting up offshore corporations. The U.S. Justice Department signaled that it could focus its gaze more intently on political corruption even when it occurs outside of U.S. borders. “While we cannot com-
ment on the specifics of these alleged documents, the U.S. Department of Justice takes very seriously all credible allegations of high level, foreign corruption that might have a link to the United States or the U.S. financial system,” Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said. White House spokesman Josh Earnest called the Obama administration a leader “in working against illicit financial transactions and in fighting corruption” and added that it would push to promote more financial transparency. But Earnest defended one key U.S. ally, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who is under fire after the so-called Panama Papers revealed a secret offshore company in the British Virgin Islands set up in his name. Known as the “chocolate king” because of his candy business, Poroshenko is one of Ukraine’s richest men. Earnest said that Poroshenko has led “a whole bunch of anticorruption reforms in Ukraine.” “When you consider the record of President Poroshenko’s predecessor, it is clear that they have made some important progress,” Earnest said. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, the Washington-based nonprofit that oversaw the collaborative media project, is expected to make public the names of the thousands of clients, shareholders and owners of offshore companies in May. A former IRS official said the agency will likely look into the findings. “Once the IRS becomes aware of the identities of these people, I almost can guarantee you that they will do some kind of triaging of the data to see if there are U.S. people in there and based on the results of that, they may elect to go after people,” see
PANAMA on page 2