Massachusetts Daily Collegian: April 27th, 2016

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THE MASSACHUSETTS

DAILY COLLEGIAN

A free and responsible press

DailyCollegian.com

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Serving the UMass community since 1890

News@DailyCollegian.com

Cannabis Reform Coalition to host Extravaganja Event one of the Northeast’s largest

By Dan Curtin Collegian Correspondent

The University of Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition will host the 25th annual Extravaganja this Saturday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton.

The event is one of the largest marijuana legalization rallies in the Northeast,

according to the event’s Facebook page.

UMCRC is the oldest student-run drug reform group in the country and is collecting donations for this year’s event, according to the group’s Facebook page.

Extravaganja was previously held at the Amherst Town Common, but due to the event’s increasing size and popularity, the venue was changed to better accommodate the needs of hosting Extravaganja, according to the event’s Minute Fund page.

The group has reached more than half of its goal of $5,000 and will continue raising funds until Wednesday at 7 p.m., according to the fund page.

All funds raised for the event will be used to pay for things like the location, private security, trash cleanup, EMTs and staging for the bands and speakers.

The group collaborated with the Northampton police and fire departments to ensure a safe and successful rally, and has been working with its own private security

group, said Niki Striar of the reform coalition in an email.

Security will be checking bags at the gates for alcohol, weapons and non-cannabis substances.

The group is encouraging the use of a public transportation, although parking will be available on site for $5, Striar said in the email.

The state campaign to regulate marijuana like alcohol promoted a November 2016 statewide ballot initiative, the Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act, which would enable adult possession and

‘Significantly sammie’

limited home growing in conjunction with regulatory oversight and taxation on retail marijuana sales.

Extravaganja will host a variety of different speakers including John Dvorak, a hempologist, Kathleen McKinnon of the medical marijuana qualifying program Canna Care Docs, Marvin Cable, a lawyer who handles marijuana cases, Cara Crabb-Burnham of the Northeastern Institute of Cannabis, Will Luzier of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol

and Donna Hackett, chapter leader of the International Women’s Cannabis CoalitionRI according to the event’s Facebook page.

In addition to speakers, the event will have several music performances from Alchemystics, Ballads & Softcore Porn, Roots of Creation, Llama Lasagne, Crash & The Boys and this year’s winner of The Battle of the Bands: Shokazoba according to the event’s Facebook page. see

CANNABIS on page 2

UMass to create new SES school

Plans have been in works since 2012

By Marie MacCune Collegian Staff

DANIEL MALDONADO/COLLEGIAN

The Sammies: The 10th Annual Student Life Awards were held to recognize significant performances by RSOs and student leaders on the UMass campus on Tuesday,

The University of Massachusetts announced the creation of a new School of Earth and Sustainability (SES) last week. Curt Griffin, current head of the department of environmental conservation, will serve as the school’s first director. SES is a partnership within the College of Natural Sciences between the Department of E nv i r o n m e n t a l Conservation, Department of Geosciences and the Stockbridge School of Agriculture.

According to a University press release, the Board of Trustees

approved the school on April 13.

SES will encompass the 18 undergraduate and five graduate programs that already exist within the environmental conservation and geosciences departments, as well as the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, Griffin said. These programs are comprised of more than a thousand students and 70 faculty members, he said.

Griffin added that the creation of the new school allows for the “opportunity to establish new undergraduate and graduate programs” and to “better facilitate collaboration between departments.”

Plans for School of Earth and Sustainability have been in the works since 2012, according see

SES on page 3

Trump sweeps East Coast primaries Ice cream social GOP member takes to raise money for CT, DE, MD, PA cancer research

By Mark Z. Barabak and Noah Bierman Los Angeles Times

WEST CHESTER, Pa. — Donald Trump stacked up five more primary wins Tuesday, sweeping the East Coast in a decisive showing that moved him significantly closer to capturing the Republican presidential nomination and avoiding a bruising fight at the party's convention this summer.

Trump's victories _ in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island _ were never in doubt, as he opened a sizable lead the moment polls closed. The only question was how big the final margin of victory would be, thus determining his share of the 172 delegates at stake.

Early returns suggested Trump would take the overwhelming majority, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich fighting for a small share.

Coming off a landslide showing last week on his home turf in New York, the Manhattan business mogul had been expected to do well in the heavily urbanized Atlantic corridor.

Even so, and "even if you

don't like Donald Trump, it's hard to deny the magnitude of his victories," said Stuart Rothenberg, an independent campaign analyst.

Trump's dominating performance was important from both practical and psychological standpoints, pushing Trump closer to the 1,237 delegates needed for a first-ballot victory at the July convention and also shaping perceptions of the race to his great advantage.

In exit poll interviews, just about 7 in 10 Republican voters in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Connecticut suggested the candidate who gets the most votes –– which has been Trump – deserves to win the nomination, even if he falls short in the delegate count.

"There's kind of a growing sense of inevitability," said Rothenberg, publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report. "The trajectory now suggests he will be very close to 1,237 by the end of business on June 7, and probably close enough to sweep up the crumbs he needs to be the nominee."

California, with 172 delegates – more than any state – will be important in determining whether Trump clinches the nomination, or falls just short.

He began the day with 845 pledged delegates. Cruz had

559 and Kasich 148.

But the most crucial fight may come in Indiana, which votes next Tuesday.

With no chance of gaining enough delegates to win outright, the only hope for Cruz, Kasich and the forces aligned against Trump is to stall him short of winning of a first-ballot victory, throwing the convention open to alternatives.

Trump's two rivals forged a tenuous non-compete agreement this week as part of a last-ditch strategy to stop the front-runner.

Indiana, where Cruz is strongly competitive, may be their last realistic chance.

Brian Howey, a longtime student of politics in the state, rated the contest a toss-up with a slight lean toward Trump, who enjoys small lead in polls.

"It's the classic ground game and political skills vs. national figure and air war," said Howey, comparing the respective strengths of Cruz and Trump.

The winner will take most of Indiana's 57 delegates.

The five states that voted Tuesday included only one pure winner-take-all contest: Delaware, which awards its 16 delegates to the candidate who carries the state. The rest apportioned their delegates through a combination of statewide

and congressional districtlevel results.

Pennsylvania was the day's biggest prize and also the most complicated.

Of the 71 delegates at stake, just 17 will be required to vote for the winner on the first ballot of the convention in Cleveland. The rest, elected by congressional district, can support whomever they choose, though many said ahead they would support the candidate who carried their district.

Trump continued Tuesday to decry the nominating system, which is based on the delegate count in Cleveland rather than the popular vote in contests across the country. "The whole delegate system is a sham," he said on Fox News.

For his part, Cruz always faced a difficult road Tuesday, given his cultural conservatism and religiosity in a region that tends toward neither. For the last several days he has focused on Indiana, where a sizable evangelical population and buttoned-down Midwestern sensibility offer a better political fit.

(Barabak of the Los Angeles Times reported from San Francisco and Bierman of the Tribune Washington Bureau from West Chester, Pa. Tribune Washington Bureau staff writer Lisa Mascaro contributed.)

Newman Cafe to host event Wed.

By Shelby Ashline Collegian Staff

Cassidy Kotyla remembers her cousin and godfather Mariusz Skubisz as her favorite part of the holidays. Growing up in Connecticut as an only child, she appreciated having someone outside of her parents who would always look after her and check in to see how she was.

When Skubisz died on March 21 after a long battle with colon cancer, he left behind his 8-year-old daughter Emily. As Mariusz Skubisz was his daughter’s sole provider, Kotyla, a sophomore communications and journalism double major at the University of Massachusetts, began to think about what she could do to help support her second cousin Emily Skubisz.

Kotyla soon came up with the idea for Ice Cream for Emily, an ice cream social to raise money for Emily Skubisz’s college fund and for colon cancer

research. The event will be held Wednesday from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Newman Café.

“Everybody knows someone in their life that has been affected by cancer, and it’s so sad to hear that someone that is so young has lost a father figure in her life,” Kotyla said in a phone interview.

“Especially being a broke college student, I can’t write a big check (to help support Emily Skubisz). I thought an ice cream social would be fun and also raise a lot of money.”

Tickets are $5 at the door and $3 presale, Kotyla said. Raffle tickets to win gift certificates to various local businesses, like Antonio’s Pizza and Judie’s Restaurant, will be sold for $1 each or $5 for seven.

Additionally, Kotyla said there will be booths set up where attendees can pay $3 to pie a member of Greek Life in the face, including members of Kappa Sigma and Alpha Sigma Phi. Kotyla said that newly elected Student Government Association see

SOCIAL on page 3

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THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

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

In 1974, Pan Am flight 707 crashed into the mountains of Bali, killing 107 individuals.

AROUND THE WORLD

Bangladesh’s al-Qaida branch claims killing of gay rights activist and friend

DHAKA, Bangladesh — An al-Qaida affiliate claimed responsibility Tuesday for the killings of a gay rights activist and his friend in the Bangladeshi capital.

Ansar al-Islam, a banned militant group and the Bangladeshi branch of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, posted Twitter messages claiming responsibility.

Police said the victims – Xulhaz Mannan, editor of Bangaldesh’s only LGBT magazine and a longtime employee of the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka, and theater activist Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy – had been followed for several days before their slaying. No arrests have been made in the case.

The two were found hacked to death by machetes at an apartment in the capital Monday evening, a double-slaying that bore similarities to the killing of a university professor a few days earlier.

Los Angeles Times

Distributed by MCT Information Services

CANNABIS

“We will have six incredible bands performing, as well as eleven exceptional speakers. Overall, the event is coming together very well and looking like it will be the

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best Extravaganja rally yet!,” said Striar in the email.

Dan Curtin can be reached at dcurtin@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @dmcurtin96.

Senate democrats fail to force vote

By Bridget Bowman CQ-Roll Call

WASHINGTON — In a preview of tactics that could be used to call for action on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, three Senate Democrats tried and failed to force votes on lower court judicial nominees Tuesday afternoon.

“This is a glaring example where it’s easy to do your job, where it’s easy to move things forward, and all we face is obstruction,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y. Sens. Mazie K. Hirono of Hawaii and Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland joined Schumer, the third highest-ranking Democrat, in asking for unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider six nominees for federal court seats that remain vacant.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., objected to the requests, blocking the nominations from being considered.

“No effort to redefine what this is about will be successful,” McConnell said. “The issue before the Senate is: Has President

Obama been treated fairly with regard to the confirmation of judges during his tenure in office? We are to a point where we know that so far during the Obama years he’s gotten 23 more judges than President (George W.) Bush got to this point.”

Schumer pushed back against that argument, contending that Obama was on a path to having fewer judges confirmed in his final two years in office than Bush. According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, 17 judges have been confirmed so far in the 114th Congress.

During Bush’s final two years, the 110th Congress confirmed 68 judges.

Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., argued on the floor that Democrats were also slow to confirm judges when they controlled the Senate.

He pointed to a Wyoming district court judge who had to wait two years before getting a vote on the Judiciary Committee.

SES

DailyCollegian.com

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worked closely with the Faculty Senate, Office of the Provost and Dean of the College of Natural Sciences office.

The shift of these programs into a new school was driven by growing student interest in environmental sciences and sustainability, Griffin said.

The campus itself has a growing interest in sustainability. More than 300 classes “with that stamp” are offered to UMass students, he added.

He explained that these “wicked challenges” the world faces in terms of climate change and the environment are interdisciplinary, and so the solu-

tions must also be interdisciplinary. For him, SES is a place for just that – interdisciplinary study.

Griffin outlined two short-term goals for the new school. The first is to provide students with better professional training.

The plans are being finalized to give students practical professional experience while in the program and to link students with the school’s partners and future employers.

The second goal is marketing to increase awareness of SES. Griffin said, “We want people to know about the incredible wealth of opportunities here.”

Griffin, a wildlife ecologist himself, still finds time to stand in front of a classroom during the semester; calling himself “passionate about teaching.”

He said that one of his favorite parts of teaching is sharing his experiences traveling and conducting research to “fuel (his students’) passion for making a big difference.” “(I want to) let them make a big impact on the world with the knowledge and training they get here,” Griffin said.

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

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

Still no cause of death for 43 Mexican students after probe Experts release account of events

WASHINGTON — In hundreds of riveting, scathing pages, a panel of international experts has recounted the chaos and horrors that engulfed 43 Mexican college students on a rainy night in September 2014.

The damning compilation of events in the panel’s 605page report, issued Sunday, shattered the official account given by the government of what happened _ yet failed to answer the most pressing questions: Where are the 43 young men? How did their lives, presumably, end? And how high in the government should blame go?

The government, members of the investigative group said, put up roadblocks on the path to answering those questions, raising the chilling possibility that the mystery of the students’ disappearance will never be solved.

Much of what happened that night had already been widely reported.

From their small, rural col lege in Ayotzinapa, in mountainous Guerrero state just south of Mexico City, the students had gone on a spree of commandeering buses in the city of Iguala in hopes of reaching a demonstration, much as they had done many times before.

Instead, they were intercepted by police who set up roadblocks and opened fire repeatedly on buses and other vehicles trying to escape. Six people were killed immediately, including a high school soccer player and a woman in a taxi; the wounded desperately sought aid in local clinics but were turned away.

Finally, police rounded up the 43 students they could catch and took them away, never to be seen again.

The body of another student that went missing in the melee was so badly mutilated – it appeared the face had been skinned – that it could not be immediately identified.

“We would have liked to bring news of the whereabouts” of the 43 students, said panel member Carlos Beristain, a Spanish doctor who specializes in conflict trauma. “The investigation remains open.”

Claudia Paz, another panelist and former attorney general in Guatemala, said that, despite the work, “we are unable to respond to the question that we asked ourselves every night for the last year and a month and that all of the fathers and mothers” continue to ask.

The Mexican government, which invited the investigation, has given the appearance of seeking to whitewash events, evade responsibility and sabotage an effort at finding the truth. But at what cost?

Its credibility and any reputation for protecting human rights and for fostering justice has been badly damaged. President Enrique Pena Nieto, already suffering

SOCIAL

low approval ratings at home, is a crippled leader with 2 { years left in his administration – and two months ahead of critical regional elections.

Before the international investigators began their work in March of last year, the government had put forward what it called the “historical truth” in the Ayotzinapa case based on its own investigation: The students were taken away by local police on the orders of the mayor of Iguala and handed over to a drug-trafficking gang, which killed them and incinerated their bodies in a nearby trash dump.

But the panel, made up of five lawyers and human rights experts from Latin America and Spain and appointed by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, determined the official investigation was riddled with inconsistencies and flaws. The commission is an autonomous arm of the Organization of American States, and was initially invited by the Mexican government to hold the inquiry.

It found that the government’s version of events was based largely on testimony acquired by torturing suspects. At least 17 suspects, out of more than 170 people arrested, were tortured or subjected to “cruel and inhumane” treatment, the panel said in its report.

The panel established in the most concrete form to date that federal police and military stationed nearby were aware of what was happening that night and may have participated or directly observed.

That would fly in the face of government assertions that all official involvement was at a local level.

Forensic evidence indicated that no fire took place in the trash dump capable of incinerating 43 bodies, the investigators said. And a video the team acquired appeared to show personnel from the Mexican attorney general’s office planting remains in a river a day before they were recovered. (Those remains purportedly contained the only bone fragment that has been identified as belonging to one of the students.)

The report also advanced one possible theory for the attack on the students: The buses were being used to traffic heroin to the U.S. The panel said its work was repeatedly blocked by bureaucratic hurdles and government resistance. Members said they were never granted requests to interview military personnel in the zone that night and were also denied access to a number of documents and witnesses.

In responding to the report, Pena Nieto thanked the panel, known as the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts, or GIEI, its acronym in Spanish, and said authorities would “analyze” the report and its recommendations.

The GIEI investigators also denounced a smear campaign against their work

and against human rights activists in Mexico that many believe was orchestrated by the government hoping to quiet criticism.

Pro-government newspapers and broadcasters accused the investigators of spending money wildly and of being determined to insult national institutions like the army.

On Sunday, when the report was presented, no member of the federal government attended the ceremony.

On Monday, most newspapers carried modest front-page stories, but without headlines mentioning torture.

When it became clear that the findings were going to be critical, “the government attempted what seems to be an increasingly common pattern: “desprestigiar” _ kill the messenger,” said Tony Payan, an expert on Mexico at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The investigation “has only created more confusion. And that may be what the government wants.”

The report released Sunday was the second of two. There won’t be a third; the Pena Nieto government declined to renew permission for the panel to continue its work.

Concern is growing in the U.S. government that Pena Nieto is spending too much of his political capital in putting out fires and attempting to silence his critics. The U.S. has invested millions of dollars in Mexico’s efforts to revamp its police agencies and judicial system; tragedies like the Ayotzinapa case only expose the depth with which corruption and impunity continue to rot those systems from the inside out.

In a statement, the Obama administration pointedly praised the work of the panel, then added: “We trust the Mexican authorities will carefully consider the report’s recommendations, evaluate suggested actions to address the issue of forced disappearances, provide support to the victims’ families, and continue their efforts to bring the perpetrators of this terrible crime to justice.”

The Ayotzinapa scandal has roiled Mexico like few others, triggering massive protests in Mexico and abroad.

Part of the pathos is that the students were studying to become teachers at a school set up for the impoverished children of peasants.

The handling of the case will further antagonize the Mexican government’s already testy relationship with human rights organizations, some international bodies like the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture, and a number of U.S. Congress members and senators.

(Special correspondent Cecilia Sanchez in Mexico City contributed to this report.)

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ly connected to what I was doing,” she said. Roughly 15 students have volunteered to help out at the event by scooping ice cream, setting up and cleaning up, managing the raffles and collecting money.

“I’m hoping to get about $2,000 from various donations and at the door,” Kotyla said.

She added that several businesses have already donated, such as Big Y, Amherst Books, Judie’s Art Bar and Amherst Ice Cream. The GoFundMe account that Kotyla created currently

has about $500 in it, she said.

The money that has already been donated will also be used to purchase ice cream and other necessary goods for the event.

Proceeds from the event will be split equally between Emily Skubisz’s college fund and to support colon cancer research, although Kotyla said that she has not yet decided which organization to send the money to.

“I’m looking into a couple of organizations,” she said, adding that she is considering donating to Hartford Hospital in Connecticut.

“The hospital that (Mariusz Skubisz) stayed in because they’re having a major research project having to do with colon cancer right now.”

Kotyla said that she expects approximately 150 attendees. Many members of her family will travel from Connecticut for the event, including Emily Skubisz herself, and Walter Skubisz, Mariusz Skubisz’s brother who has taken over caring for his niece Emily.

Shelby Ashline can be reached at sashline@umass.edu.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

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Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” - Mark Twain

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Editorial@DailyCollegiancom

Thank you for everything I blew the first real story assigned to me at the Massachusetts Daily Collegian.

Mark Chiarelli Just weeks into my time at the University of Massachusetts, the Collegian’s sports staff placed me on the tennis beat. It’s customary for beat writers to attend home games and I, not wanting to disappoint, said I’d cover the team’s first home match of the spring. But the match wasn’t on campus – the team played matches indoors at Hampshire College in the spring – and I didn’t have a car.

Not a problem, I said. I’ll just take a bus. But there was one small issue.

I’d never taken a bus before.

On the day of the match I packed my bag, put on my finest khakis pants, triple-checked the schedule and departed from my dorm in Northeast in search of the bus stop located next to something called a Haigis Mall.

I left with plenty of time, finally found the bus stop, and waited, confident I’d figure it out first try.

Five minutes passed. Then 10, then 15. I checked my phone again, re-examining the bus schedule. I was now late, and still there was no bus in sight.

Twenty minutes later, the wind suddenly felt brisker and my patience shorter. Sweat pooled

under my armpits. “How could I get this wrong?” I kept asking myself.

After a half hour of waiting for a bus that wasn’t coming, I gave up and trudged home with a tennis ball-sized pit growing in my stomach, convinced I was a failure.

My sports writing career was off to a rousing start.

Luckily for me, an editor in the sports staff gave me a second chance. I called the coach, salvaged a story and some of my confidence, and showed back up to the office the following week, intent on proving myself.

I guess it worked. I stuck around, and some three years later, I was elected Editor in Chief of the entire paper. Go figure.

I’ve sat down several times to write this column and struggled to find the right way to capture my Collegian experience. Each time I end up reverting back to the same two words: Thank you.

This place has done so much for me. Where else could I, within the span of four years, cover everything from the NCAA tournament to court trials? Is there a class that teaches students how to write someone’s obituary, or to know exactly what to do when news breaks? Did I miss Night Editing 400, where we all learn how to pick through lines of copy every night, typically into the early hours of the morning?

I sat in front of my colleagues

a year ago and promised them I’d demand excellence from them every day. They responded by electing me to this position, and not a day goes by where I’m not honored to serve such a beloved institution. The job is not without its pressures or challenges, but that’s exactly how it should be.

Working here is hard. It is time consuming. It will, on some days, feel like it’s ruining your life. But there is a beauty to all of it and, when thrown together, it’s the perfect college experience.

The Collegian forced me to attend press conferences and ask questions in front of dozens of people. It presented long nights, heated newsroom arguments and ethical quandaries. It provided me with just enough skills to lead this institution. It taught me how to report and how to love.

It introduced me to Matt Vautour, a phenomenal friend, reporter, mentor and Collegian alum. My late night road trip discussions with Matt about journalism on the way back from trips to cover games are some of the best experiences I’ve ever had. No one has helped me more, nor been more impactful.

The Collegian allowed me to work alongside some of the best reporters I’ve ever seen. There’s nothing quite like watching Aviva Luttrell chase a story, or Steve Hewitt masterfully report on games.

Everyone has asked me if I’ll

Mark Chiarelli miss the Collegian. Of course I’ll miss it. How could I not? But the Collegian – and everything it’s taught me – is who I am. It’s long hours and lasting relationships.

It’s the ability to tell stories and report the news. It gave me a purpose. It will always be with me.

I’m forever indebted to the Collegian for helping mold the last four years of my life. It gave me a chance and didn’t give up on me. It is the singular thread weaving in and out of my college career, and I’m proud to say I saw it through to the end. I was lucky

enough to meet so many amazing people along the way.

There’s a mantra in our office that we all must leave the Collegian in a better place than when we found it. And while I can only hope I did, I can confidently say I’ll leave the Collegian in a much better place than when it found me.

Thank you to everyone, and everything, that made this such a special ride.

Mark Chiarelli was the Collegian editor in chief. He can be reached at chiarellimark@gmail.com.

A complicated love affair I met the Massachusetts Daily Collegian four years ago, in my first week of college. It began as a short fling between myself and the op-ed section, fiery and feisty

Kristin LaFratta in my freshman fervor (apologies to all the professors who said to never use alliterations in journalism). I wandered into an office stuck in era’s past – its cork-board walls and blue and green tiled floors I view now, with the gift of senior wisdom and hindsight, as part of its revered charm. I wrote a few trash articles on things I knew little about (Cherokee Liz, how far you’ve come!), and then I disappeared for a little while.

We reconnected off and on, I wrote for the news section here and there. I flirted with other groups on campus – a girl has to try on all the hats, no? I met Her Campus – the young, fun, flirty and free type.

She introduced me to a girl gang of writers and queenpins who inspired me to embrace my role as a real live female in the professional world. A rendezvous with the modish Amherst Wire helped me discover long-form, stylistic writing. I worked too many jobs – from the Annual Fund to the Honors College, to the hollow halls of Sylvan where a spirited group of R.A.’s brought joy and love to their residents. I was fortunate enough to meet almost every personality UMass has to offer. I traveled across the Atlantic with my best friend and returned home, to the Collegian.

A love affair was settled at last: I spent my senior year

Kristin LaFratta

The Collegian allowed me to step in and tinker, to try new things and make mistakes. The paper grew with our staff, with me, as we experimented and reported on difficult issues that our campus faced, like vandalized hate speech and sexual assault. Our team did not shy away from new forms of storytelling or complex issues, because we knew that these unspoken topics, the subjects left in the dark, are who our readers, our generation, wants and needs to know more about. I often felt inspired not only by our staff, but the students we cover who work diligently to change UMass and our futures.

The hours the Collegian staff collectively spent on our paper outweighed the time we spent in the classroom. Our second home became that musty, old room in the Campus Center basement, where a century of college writers has sat before us. They were with us in spirit, on those long, late nights of editing, fact-checking, laughing, making ethical judgment calls, eating burgers from Blue Wall and fixing what felt like a hopelessly broken website.

The perseverance of these underpaid student journalists will forever inspire me and the work I do, and it is safe to say my love for the Daily Collegian is forever here to stay.

“The perseverance of these underpaid student journalists will forever inspire me and the work I do, and it is safe to say my love for the Daily Collegian is forever here to stay.”

buzzing happily, staggering along a night editor for the Daily Collegian. I found myself surrounded by dedicated writers, reporters, editors, designers; they strived to make an independent student paper a solid piece of journalism that reflected the dynamic dialogues and critical injustices that occur on our campus and beyond. And Kristin LaFratta was the web managing editor. She can be reached at sports, too! kristinlafratta@gmail.com.

T H E M A S S A C H U S E T T S DA I L Y C O L L E G I A N BUSINESS ROOM

EDITOR IN CHIEF - Mark Chiarelli MANAGING EDITOR - Anthony Chiusano MANAGING EDITOR/DAILYCOLLEGIAN.COM - Kristin LaFratta

Business Manager - Omer Sander Advertising Manager - Marina Qutab Distribution Manager - Nick Gorius Advertising Manager - Nick Damren

NEWS

OPINON/EDITORIAL

ARTS

SPORTS

GRAPHICS

Production Manager - Randy Crandon Special Issues Manager -Kelley Dillon

PRODUCTION CREW

Social Media Coordinator - Charlotte Hoff

NIGHT EDITOR - Robert Rigo

SOCIAL MEDIA

PHOTOGRAPHY

COMICS

on staff for this issue

COPY EDITOR - Andrew Cyr

News Editor - Stuart Foster News Producer - Dan Mahoney

Op/Ed Editor - Maral Margossian Op/Ed Producer - Patrick Hurley

Arts Editor - Nathan Frontiero Arts Producer - Yelena Rasic

Sports Editor - Andrew Cyr Sports Producer - Philip Sanzo

Photo Editor - Robert Rigo

Comics Editor - Amy Daigle

NEWS DESK EDITOR - Patricia LeBoeuf

NEWS ASSISTANTS

OP/ED ASSISTANTS

ARTS ASSISTANTS

SPORTS ASSISTANTS

PHOTO ASSISTANTS

GRAPHICS ASSISTANTS

ARTS DESK EDITOR -Annamarie Wadiak

Shelby Ashline Brendan Deady Patricia LeBoeuf Marie MacCune

Lucas Coughlin Steven Gillard Ian Hagerty Jessica Primavera

Yelena Rasic Annamarie Wadiak

Adam Aucoin Ross Gienieczko Jason Kates Nicholas Souza

OP/ED DESK EDITOR - Ian Hagerty Shannon Broderick Judith Gibson-Okunieff Daniel Maldonado Sam Anderson Erica Lowenkron

The Massachusetts Daily Collegian is published Monday through Thursday during the University of Masachusetts calendar semester. The Collegian is independently funded, operating on advertising revenue. Founded in 1890, the paper began as Aggie Life, became The College Signal in 1901, The Weekly Collegian in 1914 and The Tri-Weekly Collegian in 1956. Published daily from 1967 to 2014, the Collegian has been broadsheet since 1994. For advertising rates and information, call 413-545-3500 or email thecollegian@gmail.com.

Grace Benhamroun Margaux Burnham Caroline O’Connor Maxwell Zaleski

SPORTS DESK EDITOR - Adam Aucoin COMICS DESK EDITOR - Amy Daigle GRAPHICS DESK EDITOR - Grace Benhamroun WEB PRODUCTION MANAGER - Dan Mahoney SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR - Afnan Nehela

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Wednesday, April 27, 2016

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

Unintentionally finding my way When I first came to the end, and it still took me seven University of Massachusetts in years. the fall of 2009, I never thought it It feels surreal that it’s ending.

When I started college, the mental Ian Hagerty image I drew myself of the timeline of my life was only a simple would take me this long to gradu- landscape. It was a Turner. I saw ate. I always imagined the college life in simpler terms. Now it’s like experience to be one that would a Pollack. There are exploding col-

sooner, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I couldn’t.

Writing for the Collegian has surely been one of the most enlightening experiences I have had or ever will have. I’m sure of it.

Even with the circulation of print newspapers on a steady decline, my time spent editing and creating

Anthony Chiusano

A Senior Day

Covering University of Massachusetts athletics for the past three years, I’ve grown quite familiar with the annual Senior Day traditions

This leadership role was something I never envisioned taking on back when I was that freshman quietly sitting on the newsroom couches. But through this experience, it allowed Anthony Chiusano me to develop a stronger voice in the newsroom and have an influence in an that each program puts on at the end environment that I loved. of each respective season.

These three years have been an It’s become a standard procedure – unexpected journey, but I know I’m maybe even a bit cliché – but nonethe- not alone when it comes to this special less, it ends with deep reflection from impact that the Collegian has had on athletes and memories that seniors writers and editors alike. will never forget.

The Collegian serves as a class And now, as I publish what will be room outside of a classroom. There’s my final article for the Massachusetts not many places like it that gives colDaily Collegian and prepare for my

“Joining the Collegian one week into my freshman year at UMass in 2013 was undoubtedly the greatest decision I’ve made in college.” graduation from UMass, I realize that this is somewhat of my own Senior Day – and I’m fortunate to celebrate it alongside some of the most talented and friendliest people I’ve had the pleasure to get to know and work with.

Joining the Collegian one week into my freshman year at UMass in 2013 was undoubtedly the greatest decision I’ve made while in college. Many of my fondest memories have happened in our old, worn-down yet loveable newsroom.

It’s where I spent the last two Super Bowls laying out pages and watching the game on a miniature 1980s-style TV – and where I was lucky enough to witness former Editor-in-Chief Nick Canelas seamlessly transition from an angry, expletive-filled rant to jumps of joy in mere seconds following Malcolm Butler’s interception to clinch a New England Patriots victory two years ago (go Jets). It’s where I spent multiple late nights well past our normal deadline of 1:30 a.m. to finish piecing together special issues that I’d look upon with pride the following day. It’s where I became “Tony” in a blink of an eye my freshman year around the newsroom.

From a relatively short drive to hectic Brooklyn to a 10-hour journey to laidback Bowling Green, Ohio, the Collegian not only provided me the chance to refine my journalistic craft but more importantly build lasting connections and friendships, which has truly been irreplaceable.

I owe a lot of who I am as a person to the Collegian. I came in as a timid freshman hesitant to take stories at my first sports staff meeting, but now I leave as the publication’s former managing editor that oversaw the entire newsroom and print production.

lege students quite the same real-life experiences that comes with covering breaking news and providing daily content. Like many things in life, you get out of it what you put into it; and we “Collegianites” have happily chosen to commit countless hours in the newsroom and out in the field.

It’s hard for me to fully encapsulate what the Collegian has given me or thank all those from its past and present for all their help and support in just 600 words.

It’s even more difficult for me to come to terms with the fact that this is my last byline that I’ll ever see in this paper that I’ve considered a second home for the past six semesters.

But at the same time, I’m excited for the next stage in both my life and the Collegian. Every day I continue to be impressed with the content we put out, and I have no doubt that the Collegian is well-equipped to continue to improve in all facets next year and beyond.

As for myself, while my future remains unplanned and uncertain, I’m confident that the skills picked up from my three years at the Collegian will translate to success down the road.

Sure, there’s some uncertainty – maybe even a little bit of nervousness – entering this post-graduation phase, but just as the Collegian helped shape me into the journalist and person I am today, it will continue to help me grow moving forward. That I am sure of.

And for this, I say thank you.

Anthony Chiusano was the Collegian’s managing editor and can be reached at achiusano@umass.edu.

Ian Hagerty last all of four years, at least for my Bachelor’s degree. It’s not always that simple. It’s usually not. In my life, a masters degree will probably take me a decade. After being a drop-out for all intents and purposes for three years because I couldn’t afford to pay for school, I have an all new appreciation for what an accomplishment graduating college really is.

ors abound, and I’m curious as to what it all means, but I don’t know.

I have more information under my belt, yet there are more questions than ever. I can say I’m inspired though.

Sure, I do wish that I would have been able to graduate college in the normal four years. I will always feel that pestering twinge of regret for having lost three

layouts in the friendly dungeon of the Collegian office was some of the best life experience I could have asked for out of school.

I was certainly more stimulated by debate and more driven by camaraderie working with other members of Collegian staff than I was in any of my classes throughout school. Life experience tends to be more important. During

“Without that time as a drop-out and that time I had to stumble around blindly and think, I don’t think I’d be writing this column for the Collegian today.”

I’ve had semesters working 45 hours a week on top of a 21-credit class load, while also writing and editing for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. All of that, plus a few trips to the hospital. I’ve had weeks where the thought of even six hours of sleep in a night seemed like the absolute peak of luxury. I wanted sleep more than food. Delivery became a necessity rather than a treat. I’ve had days with 10 coffees and uncontrollable twitching, sitting in the library, typing away without any real idea about what I was writing or why.

There are probably papers I have no recollection of.

This is what I will remember most about my time at UMass: the absolute rushed nature of being a student, without concern for what is happening around me, and without the time for it. It’s easy to get that tunnel vision as you stride around campus at a pace just above uncomfortable and just below a jog.

Sometimes, there isn’t even the time to think. College is just a test of your limits and a test of exhaustion, unless your parents have lots of money. It was a sprint to the

years of my potential professional life, even though I don’t think it was my fault. But without those three years to think, I never would have stumbled upon the thought of becoming a journalist. I never would have written an article on a whim for the Block Island Times while working one of my many jobs I had to support myself instead of attending school. I never would have had that article published and gained the inspiration and confidence I needed to reapply myself to a major in journalism when I returned to school. Without that time as a drop-out and that time I had to stumble around blindly and unintentionally stew and think, I don’t think I’d be writing this column for the Collegian today, willing and ready for the new opportunities the world might have to offer me.

I barely consider myself a writer today, but I wouldn’t pen myself as a writer at all if it hadn’t been for the blind luck that was bestowed upon me when I wasn’t attending school. One of the most significant aspects of my schooling was the lack thereof. I can’t wait to be finished, and I regret not finishing

class, students were often afraid to really speak out. Or they zoned out. At the Collegian, the most heated discussions would pop up even about mundane subjects like the definition of chicken wings versus chicken tenders. There was never a subject too simple or mundane and there was never a subject too complex or far reaching.

All subjects and ideas were always open for discussion amongst the curious. Everyone appreciated it and no one took it for granted.

I’ll miss having an open forum to publish all of the dumb ideas and opinions I have about whatever came across my mind that day.

That’s how I started writing for the Collegian. If something pissed me off around campus or made me think, that’s what I decided to write about. It was a really nice way to get my thoughts out, lest they bounce around inside of my skull, gaining speed. Now, maybe if I’m lucky beyond the scope of the stars, I’ll get paid to do this. In todays world, I can only hope.

Ian Hagerty was an assistant opinion and editorial editor and can be reached at ihagerty@umass.edu.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

DailyCollegian.com

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Finding motivation in an unlikely place At 1:30 a.m. on my last night place really means something.” on production desk, I sat chewing I’ve never enjoyed writing about my cheeks obsessing over what myself. I don’t believe an absentminded 21-year-old has much to Brendan Deady offer in terms of perspective. But endings always press us to arrive I’m going to write in this col- at some sort of conclusion, to grab umn, over how to summarize two hold of the time slipping by and years that passed in a blur. It was hold it before us so we can say this, typical of my experience at the this means something.

Massachusetts Daily Collegian: And they’re right, this place sleep-deprived, frantic and hard- means something. It’s more than a pressed against a deadline. But starting ground or platform of selfthis is the final deadline and I was promotion for stumbling college at a loss for words. kids. It’s a staple of the University, Then fate sent me a little Greek a tradition that connects its memMuse. Well, he’s half a Greek. bers to writers who’ve held up its Chiarelli stood in the back cor- name for over 125 years. ner, behind the arts desk, among I’ve despaired (writing not-toall the choice reminders the past do number two: avoid hyperbole) decides to leave in its place. He about how to approach this artiscanned the copies of old papers cle, wary that the end will force yellowed with time, the lineup of a superficial sense of profundity. dusted beer bottles along the top of But I owe a lot to this place and its the cold metal cabinets and read all story is comprised of all the movthe inside jokes crudely scrawled able parts who’ve kept it running. by past editors whose punchlines So, I’ll pay up on some debt and departed with their authors. offer my own little chapter.

He called me over to look at a The first time I appeared in the note left behind by someone I do Collegian was as a subject, not a not know that outlines all the writ- writer. I ended my first weekend ing not-to-dos, many of which I’ll as a sophomore transfer student in probably break in the rest of this a pair of handcuffs, facing a judge column. the following Monday morning for He lowered his voice and spoke an underage drinking charge. It more to himself, more to everyone was the latest of a laundry list of who’s ever worked at the Collegian screw-ups. Sure enough, there was and struggled to cull a meaning my name in the Tuesday paper’s from the years of sleepless nights police log. spent in this health hazard of an Fast-forward less than a year office. and I was writing the police log.

“It’s crazy how many people That appears to mark some cliché care about this place,” his voice transition, where a person helltrailed off again. “This place means bent on self-sabotage finds an outsomething to a lot of people … this let to collect themselves and regain

some sense of purpose. I’m aware: it’s trite and isn’t as monumental as it sounds. But, it happened and it’s a cute little thing I get to say.

I’m still in the midst of this flawed transition, one incomplete and which I still don’t fully comprehend. But it means something.

That much I know.

My ability to get by on the smallest of efforts had been a mental crutch for the first 18 years of my life. Now it was finally crumbling under the weight of poor decisions.

I am a person who only acts once I feel the heat of the fire against my skin. I felt the heat then, and I needed a motivation to draw me from the fire. With fear of overstatement, the Collegian became that motivation.

Despite what my demeanor may suggest, I’m a shy and insecure person. I remember my voice quivering while I conducted my first phone interview for the first article I wrote, then obsessing over each sentence before submitting.

Over time as the articles wracked up, the voice stabilized, the insecurity waned, the first hints of confidence appeared.

The people who make up this staff are indeed an odd breed. I am odd, but for less admirable reasons. They’re odd in the sense that they’re willing to offer a helping hand to strangers, work long hours for no pay and little recognition. Odd because despite coming from disparate backgrounds, our collective investment in the stock of the paper has erased the unnecessary need of maintaining

A moment in time It’s April 26, 2016, a gray and rainy spring day on the campus of the University

Ross Gienieczko of Massachusetts.

The tenacious and resilient Boston Celtics, led by the swagger of Isaiah Thomas, the sheer willpower of Marcus Smart and the Bill Belichick-ian genius of Brad Stevens, are locked in a first-round battle against the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks may have more talent, but this Boston group is tough as nails.

It’ll take more than some electric green-jersey trim to bounce these Celtics from the playoffs.

Tom Brady, the G.O.A.T in New England and a cheater to the rest of the country, was just dealt a crushing blow in the never-ending Deflategate legal battle that will take center stage – again – this summer.

Years from now, we’ll wonder why the commissioner was ever granted the powers of judge, jury and executioner in the cases of player discipline.

The Boston Red Sox are off to a .500 start in a highly anticipated season that comes after two straight years in the basement of the American League East.

Eventually, they’ll stop handing out $200 million contracts to anyone willing to sign on the dotted line.

The Boston Bruins have been wholly uninspiring for two years now – with the exception of alleverything center Patrice Bergeron, who’s about as close to perfect as a hockey player can be.

Die-hard fans can only hope it won’t be another 39 years until the next Stanley Cup championship.

Elsewhere in the sports world, a cruel twist of fate has knocked the generational Stephen Curry out of the playoffs for at least two weeks for the recordbreaking Golden State Warriors, who still need

Ross Gienieczko a championship ring to cement their status as the greatest basketball team of all time.

I’m pulling for them, but I know from experience that the greatest team ever can’t claim that title until the clock in the last game of the year reads “0:00.”

The dynastic Chicago Blackhawks were just eliminated from the NHL playoffs by the St. Louis

getic Athletic Director Ryan Bamford. He’s certainly ambitious and gutsy – how many football teams of any status are grabbing as many SEC games as they can? In any case, for the first time in a while, UMass seems to be on the right track across its athletic program.

At the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, a fantastic group of graduates is set to leave the newsroom with a memorable and lasting legacy.

I wouldn’t be half the journalist I am today without the people in that room.

I’ve made lifelong friends and really couldn’t be happier at the way things turned out after I walked through those doors as a sophomore who had a vague idea that he wanted to try writing about sports.

So in my last piece of writing for the paper that’s been a mainstay in my life for three years, I just wanted to capture some context. Someday, hopefully, I’ll read this and all the memories will come flooding back.

I can only hope the next three years are as good as the last.

“I wouldn’t be half the journalist I am today without the people in that room.”

Blues, a team tired of being synonymous with coming up short in the postseason.

It’s nice of the Blackhawks to give someone else a chance. Perhaps this is finally the year Alexander Ovechkin gets to showcase his talent in a Stanley Cup final.

In national news, a loudmouth businessman wholly unfit to hold public office has hijacked the presidential election in his deluded quest to “Make America Great Again.”

We can only hope some common sense prevails at the polls in November.

At UMass, construction is everywhere as the school prepares itself for the rest of the 21st century.

It’s hard to picture now, but all that work sure will look nice someday.

That’s also the plan for Ross Gienieczko can be reached at the athletic department, rgieniec@umass.edu and followed on spearheaded by the ener- Twitter @RossGien.

Brendan Deady the prejudices developed from our respective pasts.

Admittedly, I probably wouldn’t have interacted with much of the staff had I retained the mindset of that arrogant and complacent 19-year-old standing in front a judge with a chip on my shoulder and my tail between my legs. I’m glad I didn’t.

I won’t sit here and say I found a life-altering revelation within that room tucked away in the Campus Center basement. But change doesn’t work that way. It’s gradual and picked up from the small lessons people usually don’t realize they’re giving you.

I welcomed the accountability and highs of collective effort. And I’ve appreciated the patience of the individuals forgiving of my antics and loose definition of the word “deadline.” We’ve all really just been offering each other the opportunity to improve and develop and

hopefully have a good impact outside our walls in the process.

Now, pressured by the approach of an end, I feel the guard of cynicism arising within me as a protection against a potential criticism of over-sentimentality. But screw it, I’m graduating.

Yes, this place means something, something different for every individual who walks through the doors or picks up our paper. But the meaning is larger than mine or any of our individual stories.

Its meaning exists in its connection to the past, its influence in the present, its foundation for the formation of memories that’ll exist long after all the pages yellow and the names of all the seniors leaving are long forgotten.

Brendan Deady can be reached at bdeady@ umass.edu or followed on Twitter @bdeady26.

A privilege, not an inconvenience That’s what I kept telling myself dur- stories of the UMass student body unfold ing my first semester at the University in front of me. And as someone who’d of Massachusetts, as a major-less, friend- rather observe than partake, who hovers on the edges of large groups, this suited Shannon Broderick me perfectly.

Over the course of four semesters, I less transfer student. If I worked hard, covered lectures, protests, rallies, sit-ins, studied abroad and loaded up on courses, concerts and dozens of other events. And I could graduate on time. I would only from hovering in the corner, camera in have to be in Amherst for two years – a hand, I have learned so much about my minor inconvenience – before I could classmates. leave this big, ugly, windy concrete maze I know now that UMass students are of a campus, and move on to bigger and kind – they are brave, and intelligent, better things. and capable, and compassionate. They So I marched grimly from class to can be, on occasion, a little rowdy. But work and back to my dorm with my head most of all, they are passionate. From down and my earbuds in. I was lonely, serious issues – divestment from fossil lost and overwhelmed, but wary of opening up and making friends. After all, this fuels or a lack of diversity on campus – to lighter stuff – break-dancing or visits was just temporary.

I came down to the Massachusetts from therapy dogs – the students that I Daily Collegian office on a Wednesday photographed were excited to be doing evening in January because I loved to the things that they loved. take photographs, and it seemed like the The students at the Collegian are no best place to do that. I shot my first event exception to this. In two years, I was – a lecture in Tobin Hall – sweating ner- lucky enough to work with some serivously. The next morning, I raced down ously talented journalists, who spend to check the paper and see if they were countless hours reporting, editing and published. They weren’t, but I kept comproducing a paper. People who make me ing back anyways.

The Collegian was the reason that I want to work harder at what I do. I found decided to major in journalism. It gave friends who loved the same things that I me opportunities that I would have never did. had anywhere else to stand on the side- I stayed true to my word. I worked lines of Gillette during my first visit, hard, did an exchange in Germany and to sit under the basket at the Barclays sweated my way through some long Center, to watch Bernie Sanders gesture semesters, and now I’m graduating on wildly at the podium and see President time. But UMass doesn’t feel like unfaMarty Meehan and Chancellor Kumble miliar territory anymore, and the time I Subbaswamy eat lunch. I even parked in spent here doesn’t feel like a stop-over on Brooklyn without killing anyone. Twice.

And while I am forever grateful for my way to something better. Sometimes, all of these extraordinary opportunities, I wish I had longer.

I’m more appreciative of having had the Four semesters weren’t an inconvechance to witness my fellow students in nience, UMass. It was a privilege. action. Being a photojournalist allowed me to brush elbows with activists, ath- Shannon Broderick was an assistant photo editor and letes, academics, artists – to watch the can be reached at sbroderick@umass.edu.

Shannon Broderick

Arts Living THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

“I like long walks, especially when they’re taken by people who annoy me.” - Fred Allen

Arts@DailyCollegian.com

FILM REVIEW

‘Midnight Special’ a delightful and artsy instant classic Jeff Nichols’ latest film is well-done

By Griffin Lyons Collegian Staff

“Midnight Special” is a film that trusts its audience.

Where some films seem to oversimplify themselves, and others are jam-packed with exposition and detail to the point of being an overwhelming slog, writer-director Jeff Nichols’ latest feature is steady and artfully deliberate.

Nichols seems to understand well what level of detail detracts from a given scene’s stakes, and how far the audience can read into something like the beats of silence in a conversation or a quick glance between characters.

Beautiful cinematography and design and a well-chosen cast contribute heavily to the solidity and confidence of purpose that “Midnight Special” enjoys, and it is reminiscent in these ways of the films of director Steven Spielberg at the height of his career.

When the film opens, we don’t know if it’s the modern day or the 1980s. Lush nighttime shots replete with orange street lamps and violet nighttime landscapes establish the stakes early on.

A boy, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher) has just been kidnapped from the compound of the religious cult that worships him as a messiah. His father, Roy (Michael Shannon), is responsible.

With the help of Lucas (Joel Edgerton), a long-lost friend from before the compound,

ADAM STONE/WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Jeff Nichols’ latest film ‘Midnight Special’ maintains beautiful cinematography and a talented cast while displaying a mysterious and deliberate story.

Roy is trying to transport Alton to a specific set of coordinates by a given date.

From the beginning, we get the sense that something is off about Alton, and we gradually learn why: Alton possesses mysterious powers that have made him of interest to both the church’s authoritarian pastor Calvin (Sam Shepard) and government figures like NSA analyst Sevier (Adam Driver). As the date approaches, the stakes only grow higher.

The film often leaves things

unsaid, opting to let the audience to infer or interpret on their own. When it gives us a crumb of information, it achieves two things: it leaves the sense of mystery intact, and makes sure those mysteries are the big questions an audience has, instead of possible plot holes stemming from complicated or contrived exposition. The suspension of disbelief is preserved because the film simply takes it for granted that these things are happening.

The elements of design

and cinematography are the two strongest boosters for this film’s tone and sense of place.

“Midnight Special” touches on something so many other films set in the present neglect: How much of the past just sticks around out of inertia or convenience.

Calvin and his parish of doomsday preparers dress in a style that looks as much like the formal or non-fashion attire of the late 70s and early 80s as it does like something out of “Little House on the Prairie.” Old technology

delivers a strong performance as Alton’s estranged mother, never pigeonholed solely to support or encouragement, and that allowance of her character helps maintain the emotional stakes of the film.

Joel Edgerton is often a cipher as Lucas, but warmth and commitment come through in his stoic expressions and raspy delivery nonetheless. Supporting actors like Sam Shepard and Adam Driver are perfectly suited to their roles, giving us alternate (but not always sympathetic) perspectives and more reasons to stay invested in the outcome of Roy and Alton’s mission.

And on top of these, Shannon stands out as Roy, giving an understated performance in a film chock full of them. At times, Shannon’s deep, expressive eyes seems to be channeling George Clooney or Humphrey Bogart by way of Ewan McGregor, adding to his silences and direct manner as tools that express an intensity that is seething without being moody. Shannon’s working relationship with Nichols clearly benefits the film; this is their fourth collaboration.

Overall, “Midnight Special” is an engrossing nugget of a film that draws you in so that you can’t help but share in its moods, from gut-clenching tension to grinning elation. The cinematic equivalent of the well-made play, “Midnight Special” succeeds in telling the story that it wants to, and understands why.

sticks around because it still works, and old styles stick around because change is slow.

Adam Stone’s cinematography, from the long shots to the lighting, grounds us in this world, where the present isn’t being ignored – it’s just not always relevant.

But it’s the acting that ties the film’s various ambitions together. Lieberher is never too precious in his delivery, and his rapport with Shannon is real and mov- Griffin Lyons can be reached at ing. Similarly, Kirsten Dunst glyons@umass.edu.

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

Hiking trails around Amherst Third Yogathon a success Variety of trails for every type of hiker

By Annamarie Wadiak Collegian Staff

In these last few days of the semester, try to take time away from your finals and papers to get outside and enjoy the weather.

Amherst and its surrounding towns in the Pioneer Valley are beautiful and full of all sorts of natural activities for you to enjoy. Hiking is a great way to get outside and explore. If you are interested in hiking, here are a few trails you might want to try out.

If you like a challenge, take on Mt. Tom. Located on 125 Reservation Road in Holyoke, about 25 minutes away from campus. Mt. Tom offers 22 miles of trails. One of these routes is the New England National Scenic Trail (NET)/MetacometMonadnock Trail (M-M Trail). You can enter this trail by going through the main entrance and driving up to the second parking area. There, you will see the trail entrance. You can either go right or left here, as the trail extends both ways. I suggest following the trail up to the antennas and windmills (which can be found on the trail map). On this trail, the elevation gets pretty high, and the higher you get the more cliffs there are, which make for great views and photo opportunities. The top is extremely rocky and very steep, so make sure you wear some durable, non-slip sneakers or boots. This hike is a com-

mitment. It is a long way up, and the climbing can be difficult in certain places, but it is well worth it if you like to challenge yourself and hike on the edge.

If you like short and sweet, Mt. Sugarloaf is your mountain. Mt. Sugarloaf is located on 300 Sugarloaf Street in South Deerfield.

It is about 10 minutes from campus, and the mountain is open from 9 a.m. to sunset. You can park at the bottom, right off the road, or you can drive up the road trail to park at the top of the mountain. The hiking trail itself is short and leads straight up to the top. If you are looking for a bit of adventure, there are one or two detours along the way to the various lookouts located along the trail. At the top of the mountain, there is a wide, grassy area with a visitor center where you can eat a packed lunch or sit and enjoy some relaxation time. The view from the top stretches across the valley and offers a fantastic view of the sunset.

If you like adventure, explore Mt. Norwottuck and the Horse Caves. Located in Granby, Mt. Norwottuck includes many miles of hiking trails to travel along. To hike to the summit, park at the Visitors Center and start your hike following the Metacomet-Monadnock (M-M) trail (the white trail) to the top. At the top, there is a beautiful view of the valleys and mountains around the area, as well as a nice rocky place to sit and take a break.

The fun part begins when you head back down the

mountain and toward the caves. To get to the caves, follow the trail down the opposite way that you came up, but make sure you are watching the trees for the markers, because they get a little thin toward the top.

If you stay on track, you will run into the caves in about five minutes. You will be climbing down the mountain in the opposite direction, so this part can be a bit confusing and it is easy to get lost. Make sure you take a trail map at the beginning of your hike, and you may want to download the app AllTrails, which acts as a GPS for hiking trails and will help you find your destination. The caves are a blast to climb through and hang out. Plus, the caves have some history behind them. According to the Department of Conservation & Recreation, the caves may have acted as a hiding place for Daniel Shay during his 1790s rebellion.

Once you are done exploring the caves, continue following the white trail until you hit an intersection where it joins with the Robert Frost trail, at which point you should take that trail back to Visitor Center.

Put time aside for this hike.

The hike itself is short, but there are so many places on it to explore.

There are so many options for hiking around this area. These trails are only a few options, and you can explore them all before the end of the school year.

Annamarie Wadiak can be reached at awadiak@umass.edu.

Earth Day event to fight breast cancer

By Emily Medrek Collegian Correspondent As dozens of people spread over fitness mats, stretching and contorting their bodies in a variety of ways, the voice of a Yogathon volunteers speaks into a microphone and says, “let’s take a moment to remember why we are here.”

The voice explained how breast cancer is the leading cause of death for women aged 15-54 and is responsible for over six million deaths across the world annually.

The Protect Our Breasts Earth Day Yogathon at the University of Massachusetts raised awareness for breast cancer, donating money toward the cause and informing students about healthy ways of disease prevention.

The Yogathon was put on by the Protect Our Breasts student organization at UMass, and was held outside of the Fine Arts Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 22. Here, people of all ages gathered to take yoga classes taught by local instructors. According to Michelle McCarthy, a junior marketing and economics major who’s on the Protect Our Breasts National Executive Board, there is a $10 online/$15 day-of registration fee for students and a $20-$25 fee for non-students that is donated directly to the foundation. McCarthy said UMass students in the Protect Our Breasts organization raise all of the money needed for the event through fundraising, with all the workers being volunteers.

Protect Our Breasts is an on-campus student organization that has chapters which are run independently by students from schools like Syracuse University, Trinity College, Bates College and Bay Path University.

According to McCarthy, there are tables of free products “to give back to participants for registering,” which are donated by organic, chemicalfree brands like Lesser Evil, Dr. Bronner’s Magic, All-InOne, Late July, Stony Field Organic and Runner Focused Energy. These companies have partnered with Protect Our Breasts “to empower people to choose natural, organic options,” McCarthy said.

Cynthia Barstow, marketing professor at UMass and founder and executive director of Protect Our Breasts, was excited to be part of the third annual Yogathon, saying “Earth Day is about a cleaner Earth and a cleaner you. We are only as healthy as our Earth.”

Barstow said the Protect Our Breasts organization got the idea for a Yogathon because although there are plenty of walks and runs to support breast cancer, they wanted to do something unique. The free products from the partner companies are also a way to show participants that eating healthy and avoiding toxic foods is one of the main ways to avoid breast cancer.

This was Brittany Stoll’s second year teaching at the Yogathon. Stoll has been practicing yoga for 10 years, and teaching for four years at Yoga Center Amherst and the Yoga Sanctuary in

Northampton. The Protect Our Breasts organization at UMass reached out to the yoga centers looking for instructors, and Stoll “thought it sounded like so much fun.” Stoll said as soon as she became an instructor, “it felt like it was meant to be,” and teaching yoga classes “helps me to deepen my own practice.”

Jackie Montminy, a freshman biology and sustainable food & farming major, went to the Yogathon at 9 a.m. She goes to morning yoga classes at the Recreation Center three to four times a week and says that yoga is how she “starts the day on the right foot.”

Isabelle Levy, a freshmen engineering major and Mary Sheehan, a junior mechanical engineering major, are both on the UMass ultimate frisbee team, and came to the Yogathon with their teammates to move their bodies and stretch before practice. Levy doesn’t typically practice yoga, but Sheehan attends about two to three classes a week and enjoyed the Yogathon saying “I love how it is outside.”

Barstow said the Protect our Breasts foundation tries to inform college-aged people specifically because “they are at a high risk of exposure,” and they are making decisions that can either help or hurt their health in the long run. Protect Our Breasts hopes to show people how to take care of themselves, by choosing chemical-free alternatives and keeping up with physical activity like yoga.

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

8

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

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BAMFORD

continued from page 10

NBA

Steve Kerr named Coach of the Year Second-year coach led GS to 73 wins

By Carl Steward The Mercury News

SHANNON BRODERICK/COLLEGIAN

During Bamford’s first year on the job, the UMass football team went 3-9.

“To those folks, I think the transparency, the fact that we are good stewards of the resources we have, we’re not doing anything that’s not a best practice in the industry,” Bamford said.

“We benchmark ourselves against our peers all the time and I think you’ve seen with some of these schools what a football program can do.”

He added: “I think we’re responsible in the way we conduct our business and that’s what I would point to more than anything, and then point back to the fact that in football especially, it’s a process and we’re still in the beginning stages of this process. I know that’s hard for some people to hear four years in, but it’s going to take us some more time.”

What’s next?

For Bamford, this upcoming summer is an important one for UMass athletics, as there are several items on his agenda.

Making facility enhancements, enhancing game day experiences and doing everything they can to maximize revenue streams

are some matters on the to-do list, but there is one overarching item: student engagement.

Home-field advantage is sacred in college athletics, and that is something UMass has not been able to achieve in recent years.

With 22,000 undergraduate students on campus, Bamford recognized the advantages that come with your teams playing in front of a raucous crowd.

“If we can get even 10 percent of those and be loud and proud of what we’re doing, it makes a huge difference in us being able to compete and create a homefield advantage,” he said.

“We’re in much better position a year ago to do some of these things and now that we’ve got the right staff on board from a coaching and administrative support standpoint, I think we’re able to do some things this summer that will help us.”

Jason Kates can be reached at jkates@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Jkates1216.

NBA

Clippers’ Paul out four weeks Point guard broke hand vs. Blazers

By Ben Bolch Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES-- An orthopedic surgeon said Tuesday that he estimated Chris Paul would be sidelined at least four weeks because of the broken bone he sustained in his right hand Monday night during the Los Angeles Clippers’ playoff game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Paul broke the third metacarpal in his hand when it got caught in Trail Blazers guard Gerald Henderson’s jersey midway through the third quarter of the Clippers’ 98-84 loss in Game 4 at the Moda Center in Portland.

Dr. Alidad Ghiassi, assistant professor of clinical orthopedic surgery at Keck Medicine of USC, said third metacarpal fractures rarely require surgery to heal, but in some cases, a procedure could accelerate the recovery timetable.

“Sometimes we offer an operation to secure the fractured bone with plates and screws with the idea that you are stabilizing this bone, allowing him to do early therapy, range of motion hand exercises to get him back to his playing status a little bit faster,” said Ghiassi, who has not examined Paul.

Ghiassi said Paul’s recovery timetable will depend on several factors. If the fracture were located in the middle of the bone it would tend to heal more quickly than if it were closer to the joint. If there is any associated joint dislocation, that could delay Paul’s recovery.

Wrapping the finger and continuing to play is not a realistic option, Ghiassi said.

“Very unlikely,” he said, “because that thing hurts and if it you want it to heal properly, you’ve got to let it rest.”

The Clippers will play Game 5 against the Trailblazers on Wednesday night in Staples Center in a series that is tied at two games apiece.

9

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Steve Kerr, despite missing more than half the regular season while recovering from back surgery and subsequent complications, has been named the NBA Coach of the Year, the league announced Tuesday.

Although Kerr missed 43 regular season games, the Warriors set an NBA record by going 73-9, topping the old record of 72-10 set by the Chicago Bulls in 1995-96, a team for which Kerr played.

Kerr received 64 firstplace votes and 381 total points from a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the NBA. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

In a competitive vote in which seven coaches received first-place nods, Kerr outpointed Portland’s Terry Stotts, San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich, Charlotte’s

BOBCATS

Steve Clifford and Toronto’s Dwane Casey to capture the award. Luke Walton, who served as interim coach while Kerr was sidelined, was on the ballot as an interim coach. He received a second-place vote and two third-place votes and finished ninth in the balloting.

The Warriors started the year 39-4 under assistant coach Walton, although Kerr worked behind the scenes during a good portion of Walton’s fill-in period. Kerr returned to the bench on Jan. 22 against Indiana, and the Warriors proceeded to win nine straight games en route to a 34-5 record under his direction.

Kerr, who finished second for the award last season behind Atlanta’s Mike Budenholzer, is the first Warriors’ coach to be so honored since Don Nelson won the award in 1991-92.

Alex Hannum was also claimed the award while with the Warriors in 1963-64.

The 50-year-old Kerr, who is in his second season as the Warriors’ coach, led the team to a 67-15 regularseason mark in 2014-15 en route to the NBA title. The Warriors became only the

Steve Kerr missed the first 43 games of the season after surgery on his back. second team in league history, along with the Bulls, to win at least 65 games in successive seasons.

Kerr’s overall regular season record as Warriors coach, counting the games Walton coached that were officially credited to his record, is 140-24. He is 19-6 in the playoffs.

In addition, Golden State became the first team in NBA history to go an entire season without losing backto-back games or to the same team twice during a full season. The Warriors also won a league record 54 straight home games at

Oracle Arena.

Statistically, the Warriors were among the leaders in virtually every offensive and defensive category. They set an NBA record with 1,077 3-pointers baskets and also the league’s highest scoring average at 114.9 points per game, which was the NBA’s highest in 24 years.

Under Kerr’s leadership, the Warriors also led the NBA in field goal percentage (48.7 percent), 3-point field goal percentage and assists (28.9 per game). Golden State also had the fourthhighest rated defense in the league this season.

continued from page 10

home as they sit at 5-2 at QU Baseball Field. On the other side the Minutemen have struggled to play well on the road with a 3-8 mark on opponent’s home fields.

Stone understands UMass’ struggles away from Earl Lorden Field, but doesn’t believe it will be a big factor for Wednesday.

“Whenever you are playing on your home field, you are always going to have the advantage,” Stone said. “We’ve had good success down at Quinnipiac in the past, so we feel confident that we will come out strong when it matters.”

The Minutemen will call upon freshman Casey Aubin to start on the mound for Wednesday’s game. Aubin comes into the game with a 2-2 record and 5.27 earned run average. The Durham, N.H. native is coming off possibly his best start of the season against Harvard where he went 5 1/3 innings while giving up two runs, neither of which were earned.

Aubin will have his work cut out for him on the hill as he will have to contend with a strong Bobcats lineup.

ERICA LOWENKRON/COLLEGIAN

Jon Avallone is third on the Minutemen in batting with a .316 average.

CASSIDY

MCT

“A lot of my recent success has to do with taking extra swings. Hearing what some of the guys have to say ... has been really helpful to better my play recently.”

Jon Avallone, UMass third baseman Quinnipiac has four players hitting over .300 on the season. The leader of that group is junior Matthew Batten, who comes into the game with a .352 batting average.

The biggest power threat on the team has been outfielder Rob Pescitelli, who has five home runs this season.

UMass has had a pretty strong offense of their own.

The Minutemen come into Wednesday’s game with three players hitting over .300. Two of the players are the usual suspects in catcher John Jennings and outfielder Mike Hart, who bat in the three and four holes in the lineup and are batting over .330 this season. The other is someone

less expected: Avallone.

In a starting third basemen role this season, the junior has upped his average to .316 after a strong stretch of recent play.

“A lot of my recent success has to do with taking extra swings,” Avallone said. “Hearing what some of the guys have to say like Dylan Morris, Mike Hart, Hunter Carey, has been really helpful to better my play recently.”

First pitch for the game between UMass and the Bobcats is set for 3 p.m.

Wednesday.

Adam Aucoin can be reached at aaucoin@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @aaucoin34.

continued from page 10

five runs in three innings), but it’s part of the game.

You’re always going to have failures. That’s what makes you a pitcher – you have to learn from everything.

(Pitching) coach (Nate) Cole has been life-changing for all of our pitchers.

He’s really instilled a lot of things that have worked and has helped guys gain their confidence, especially me.”

As his time at Earl Lorden Field and as a Minuteman nears its end, with just under a month remaining in the 2016 season, Cassidy takes time to reflect on the long road that he traveled to reach the heights he sought pos-

sible back when he was an underclassman.

“Every time we have a home game start when I’m warming up I’ll call coach Cole over and I’d say to him ‘I could really cry right now’, because I’m going to miss every second of it,” Cassidy said. “Even when I look back, I have no regrets.

I’m glad that my journey went the way it went just because now I can really show myself that I learned from this and I fought back from an injury.”

With his baseball days soon behind him, Cassidy has found it important to play the role of mentor for the younger players on the team and try to show them

how to do things the right way, as any leader would.

“I think it’s a great opportunity when you come back as a fifth-year (senior) because you have that responsibility for the underclassmen in the sense that they look up to you,” he said. “You have to show them how things are done and the expectations that coach (Stone) upholds to all of us.”

“Tim’s a pretty cognitive guy,” Stone said. “He’s a great resource for some of the people who are younger, pitchers especially – how to behave, how to prepare and compete. He not only leads by example but he’s been vocal as well. It’s just been

a real good story for him to have success when he came back for his fifth season. It’s a big decision for people to make (to come back), especially when you don’t have full scholarships available for fifth year guys to return.

It’s a serious family commitment and it’s worked out very well for Tim. “We’re real happy for him. He’s a great kid, he’s got a great family and we’re just glad things are going well for him at this point.”

Kyle DaLuz can be reached at kdaluz@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Kyle_DaLuz.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

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Wednesday, April 27, 2016

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‘The beginning stages’

Athletic Director Ryan Bamford addresses the state of the athletic department and where he envisions it going in the future

By Jason Kates

T

Collegian Staff

he passion in Ryan Bamford’s voice is resounding.

Ask him about anything regarding the University of Massachusetts athletic department and there is no shortage of belief from him that success is coming to Amherst.

Hired in March of 2015 as the seventh permanent athletic director in UMass history, Bamford recently eclipsed his one-year anniversary into his position and took some time to reflect on what he called a “foundation” that was built to help as he enters year two at the helm.

“Year one has been very busy, you’re just trying to pay attention to what the culture is here in our department and on campus and make sure that we’re supporting the goals of the University and our Chancellor,” Bamford said. “Every day we try to build a championshipcaliber program that can complement the things that this University is doing in academia and research and beyond.”

Success was hard to find in terms of wins this past year for many UMass programs, especially in hockey and football. In the past four years, the hockey team has gone a combined 39-8811 while the football team has recorded just eight wins since making the jump to the Football Bowl Subdivision prior to the 2012 season.

These two programs weren’t the only teams who struggled though, as women’s basketball hasn’t produced a winning record since 2006-07. This led to the first two firings under Bamford’s watch, with hockey coach John Micheletto and wom-

JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford was hired to his position in March 2015. Since taking over the position, Bamford has overseen two coaching hirings. en’s basketball coach Sharon Dawley getting dismissed on March 6.

“I think obviously we haven’t had as much competitive success as we would’ve liked this year,” Bamford said. “Making two coaching changes wasn’t something I necessarily anticipated coming into the year and was hoping that we wouldn’t have to do that.”

Despite it being unexpected, Bamford acknowledged the necessity for change, saying “It was something that we needed to do to get us going on the right foot in both of those programs.”

On a campus where athletics may not be as popular as with Power 5 schools, Bamford stressed the need for integration of the athletic department into the culture around UMass.

“That’s something that we continue to work on every day, to make sure that we’re promoting our athletics program to our students and making sure they know that we’re doing things to make this campus proud and to build an athletics program that can have a level of sustained success that all of us can have pride in,” Bamford said.

A change in direction Bamford said his first two hiring processes of his term as athletic director have been “healthy for us” and believes the new coaches, Greg Carvel (hockey) and Tory Verdi (women’s basketball), will give their respective teams an opportunity to find greater success.

“It’s never easy when you

have to remove people from your organization. Those are two programs that we’ve put a lot of resources into and that we believe can be successful in the A-10 and Hockey East,” Bamford said.

“We’re going to put our arms around them administratively and try to help them grow and get to a level of success we think they can achieve.”

Bamford is especially optimistic that Carvel and the staff he assembled will turn around a hockey program that desperately craves success. He added that he couldn’t have “scripted (the hockey search) any better” after hiring Carvel.

“Obviously I’m biased, but I think Greg brings a lot to us that will allow us to build a championship-caliber program. His two assistants and director of hockey

operations, Ben (Barr), Jared (DeMichiel) and Brennen (McHugh), I think really complement Greg in ways that will allow us to develop our kids, recruit the next wave of talent, and put us in positions to win Hockey East championships,” Bamford said.

Transparency is key If there is one thing Bamford prides himself on, it is his belief that transparency and communicating with fans is the key to building a community that is proud to be a part of UMass athletics.

On Twitter he is constantly interacting with fans, often responding to those who ask questions on various UMass-related topics.

The athletic department

has also been livelier on social media outlets like Facebook and Instagram, and more recently on Snapchat.

“I don’t think people will invest their money, time or attention into a product that they don’t believe in. By being transparent and telling them what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, I want people to invest in us, and that’s a way to do it,” Bamford said.

He also acknowledged his joy in communicating with fans and ability to listen to criticism is important when figuring out what will resonate with fans the most in the future.

Bamford gets numerous emails, tweets and phone calls every day from fans complaining that he’s not doing his job correctly, something he’s more than O.K. with.

“I have a thick skin about that and I can listen and learn and part of that is putting ourselves out there and saying, ‘We need you. We need to build a community of people that care about this place,’” he said.

With the way the football team has performed since joining the Division I ranks, Bamford emphasized the significance of speaking to fans who are unsure of where the program is heading.

“I think for fans, I know some of the faculty are concerned about the costs, I don’t know that we’ve supported it institutionally in a way that would allow us to have success in the first four years,” Bamford said.

In Bamford’s eyes, this decision to make the jump to the FBS is a good one, and it’s just a matter of making the right decisions moving forward.

see

BAMFORD on page 9

BASEBALL

Cassidy prepares for end of UM career Minutemen set Redshirt senior with “From my sophomore year on, I really had a to take on QU hard time trying to find out what kind of a 4.76 ERA in 2016 baseball player I was, or what kind of on Wednesday pitcher I could be.”

ing a medical redshirt and ending any hopes of playing that season. The Swampscott native has now come full circle – pitching effectively in

By Kyle DaLuz UMass coach Mike Stone’s Collegian Staff weekend rotation in his final Massachusetts baseball season on the hill. pitcher Tim Cassidy is enter- Cassidy suffered setbacks ing the second half of his in both his sophomore and final baseball season – the junior redshirt seasons, fifth that he has been on the tweaking the hip and havMinutemen roster. ing to be removed and miss After his first season, games. Now, the 6-foot-1 he didn’t know whether he right hander is a prominent would be able to pitch at an figure in the Minutemen elite level again. rotation – a place he was Cassidy tore a labrum unsure he would find himin his right hip and needed self after going through his surgery during winter work- treacherous trials that winouts in preparation for his ter. sophomore season, requir-

ERICA LOWENKRON/COLLEGIAN

Tim Cassidy pitches during the Minutemen’s 17-7 loss to St. Joes April 17.

Tim Cassidy, UMass pitcher “I know quite a bit of his recovery path,” Stone said, as someone who has had a hip replacement. “It’s not easy, but he’s handled it well and comeback. He’s provided us with some real good starts and great success this year as we’ve gotten through this part of the season and early in the season too. He’s worked his way into pitching on the weekends and he’s done a great job.”

“Honestly, it’s been absolutely insane,” Cassidy said of his journey. “On top of me having surgery, I dealt with some personal issues I really struggled with. From my sophomore year on, I really had a hard time trying to find out what kind of a baseball player I was, or what kind of a pitcher I could be. My performance wasn’t always what I wanted it to be. After surgery, I made the decision to myself that I had to dedicate everything to that idea of trying to be the

best I could. Things started to pick up (in my junior season), but then I’d have some setbacks and I had to keep working.”

Cassidy has lowered his earned run average from 8.07 as a sophomore to 5.96 as a junior and in six games this season, has recorded an ERA of 4.76 with 31 strikeouts over the course of 34 innings – including an eight inning, one run performance against Davidson on March 26.

“I’ve done alright,” he said of his play this season.

“I wish I had done a lot better. This year things finally started to come together and I gained that confidence where I’ve gotten that role (weekend starter) and haven’t looked back yet.

“You always wish you could do better. I wish I could take the Saint Joseph’s game back and redo that (allowed see

CASSIDY on page 9

Casey Aubin gets start for UMass

By Adam Aucoin Collegian Staff

It’s been a rollercoaster season for the Massachusetts baseball team in 2016.

That is the perfect way to describe the up and down nature of the Minutemen this year. After losing seven of eight games to start the season and after a 17-7 shellacking by Saint Joseph’s on April 17, UMass has won four of five games in the past week and a half.

The ride just keeps going up and down, and the Minutemen (11-18, 4-8 Atlantic 10) hopes they will continue their ascent and hot play as they take on Quinnipiac (16-22, 6-6 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) Wednesday in Hamden, Connecticut.

The Bobcats are also coming into this game on a run of success as they have

won seven of their last nine contests.

Minutemen coach Mike Stone is hoping the hot play from his team recently will give them momentum going into Wednesday’s game.

“It’s always good for confidence when you’re stringing lots of wins together to create momentum going forward,” Stone said. “We know we’re in for a tough game on Wednesday, so it’s important we go in confident.”

Third baseman Jon Avallone believes these non-conference matchups are very important for UMass as it enters the late part of the season.

“Picking up wins in these non-conference games is very important for being a confidence builder,” Avallone said. “When you get those wins, you go into conference play feeling better about where you are as a team.”

Quinnipiac has been a tough team to beat at see

BOBCATS on page 9