Massachusetts Daily Collegian: Dec. 10, 2015

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Supreme Court hears arguments on affirmative action

Future at public univ. in jeopardy

By David G. Savage Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The future of affirmative action at public universities appeared in some doubt Wednesday as the Supreme Court justices debated for a second time whether to strike down a race-based admissions policy at the University of Texas.

It was clear that the court’s conservatives, including Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., believe that using affirmative action in admission decisions is unneeded and unconstitutional.

When a university lawyer spoke of the importance of

classroom diversity, Roberts asked, “What unique perspective does a minority student bring to a physics class?”

In the past, when the high court has upheld affirmative action, it did so with the understanding that it was a “temporary” measure, the chief justice said. “When do you think your program will be done?” he asked.

The liberals, led by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, spent much of the hour arguing in defense of the university’s policy.

Sotomayor, the court’s first Latina, grew up in the Bronx and said she had benefited from affirmative action when she was admitted to Princeton University.

“I fear something. I do

have a worry” that the court is on the verge of shutting down affirmative action at state universities across the nation, she said.

By contrast, Justice Antonin Scalia questioned whether affirmative action truly benefits black students.

“There are some who contend it does not benefit African-Americans to get them into the University of Texas, where they do not do well, as opposed to having them go to a less advanced school, a slower-track school, where they do well,” he said.

Scalia was referring to the so-called “mismatch theory” originally set out

by University of California, Los Angeles law professor Richard Sander, which contends that black students

sometimes fare badly if they are admitted to a top-tier law school. The same students would have done better had they enrolled in another law school that was somewhat less demanding, the theory holds.

Scalia said he was not convinced the University of Texas needed more black students. “Maybe it ought to have fewer,” he said. “I don’t think it stands to reason that it’s a good thing for the University of Texas to admit as many blacks as possible.”

Washington attorney Gregory Garre, the lawyer for the university, who served as solicitor general, the government’s top appellate lawyer, under President George W. Bush, said the court had rejected that thinking when

Furry friends ease finals stress

it upheld limited use of affirmative action in a case from Michigan in 2003.

“I think what experience shows, at Texas, California and Michigan, that now is not the time and this is not the case to roll back student body diversity in America,” he said.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who almost surely holds the deciding vote, voiced frustration because university lawyers could not quantify in detail what role race plays in Texas in determining which students are admitted.

“We’re just arguing the same case again,” Kennedy said at one point, referring to the fact that the court had heard the same case two years ago and sent it back

By Kristen Leonard Collegian Correspondent The University of Massachusetts Student Government Association passed an election reform in early November that will move senate elections from the fall to spring semester to give student voters more time to learn about the candidates.

Under the election reforms, proposed by SGA president Sïonan Barrett, candidates will be elected based on their year of expected graduation rather than the residential area where they reside.

Former Chancellor of Elections Divya Kirti JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

UM vigil held for Planned Parenthood Vox UMass hosts memorial on Wed.

By Stuart Foster Collegian Staff

Vox UMass, a student organization focused on advocating for reproductive rights and sexual health, held a vigil for the victims of the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood shooting Wednesday night outside of the Student Union.

Approximately 20 people attended and lit candles to commemorate the three victims killed during the shooting on Nov. 27. Robert L. Dear Jr. stormed the facility with a semi-automatic rifle and killed an Iraq war veteran, a mother of two and a campus police officer at the University of Colorado, along with wounding nine others. Dear was arraigned in court Wednesday on 179 charges and was quoted by the New York Times as

informally admitting to guilt in multiple disruptions during the hearing.

“We are standing in solidarity with Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs,” said Dianna Bronchuk, the education coordinator of Vox UMass.

“Three people lost their lives to this man’s brutal and shocking attack.”

Speakers at the vigil expressed concern that events like the Nov. 27 shooting endanger the staff and patients of Planned Parenthood.

Others showed their support for Planned Parenthood, saying that the non-profit organization provides extremely valuable services to people in need of health care throughout the United States.

“Instances like this should remind us why we’re doing what we’re doing,” said Haley Hewson, a senior board member at Vox. Hewson added that advocating for Planned

Parenthood and raising awareness about what the organization does are ways to prevent violence against the organization from occurring.

Sophia Muschell, a member of Vox UMass who said she wants to work for Planned Parenthood later in her life, expressed fear over the future of the organization.

“By the time I get the opportunity to work at Planned Parenthood it may not exist anymore because of attacks like this,” Muschell said.

Other speakers said the attack, in addition to causing loss of life, was a symbolic action against the security of those needing reproductive health treatsee

VIGIL on page 3

JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

Members from Vox UMass hosted a vigil honoring the Colorado victims.

see

AFFIRMATIVE on page 2

SGA reforms election rules Senators will be chosen in spring

Therapy dogs from the Paws Program visited campus Wednesday to help students blow off steam before finals week begins.

to a lower court for closer review.

The Texas case is complicated because the state has a law guaranteeing admission to the top 10 percent of students in each of its more than 1,000 high schools based on their grades only, with no consideration to race. Under that policy - which now accounts for about 75 percent of all admissions to the Austin campus - about onethird were Latino or AfricanAmerican in recent years.

The dispute arose over a supplemental program that currently accounts for the remaining 25 percent of admissions.

A decade ago, when the top-10 percent policy was

breakdown of candidates.

Instead of each candidate being elected by the residential area they live in, candidates are now elected by their expected graduation year that is listed on Spire. So for example in the spring, freshmen run for sophomore positions, sophomores run for junior positions and juniors run for senior positions. Anyone running with more than four years of college experience would run for senior positions.

Barrett believes this change will allow senators to be “more representative and serve a broader mission.” Kirti also expresses that this change is positive because the election is “less about where you live and more about what really brings [students]

The biggest change to the elections, however, is the change of the breakdown of candidates. Instead of each candidate being elected by the residential area they live in, candidates are now elected by their expected graduation year that is listed on SPIRE. found the short period of campaigning leading up to fall elections was “unethical and not effective.”

She explained that the elections are supposed to embody having a say in what happens in the SGA, and the previous election format gave students no time to learn about the candidates and sent the message that their voices were not as important as the SGA’s schedule.

Barrett agreed that the change to elections is beneficial to students.

“Having a longer senate term [promotes] more consistency and action throughout the summer and beginning of the year from the voting body,” Barrett said.

The biggest change to the elections, however, is the change of the

together,” which is bonding over running for elections and also possibly bonding over the same experiences being in the same graduation year.

Barrett explained that the election reforms were also made to increase voter turnout by having the president, vice president, trustee and senate elections at the same time.

The reforms also encourage candidates to run for the speaker and associate speaker positions if they fail to win the position they originally campaigned for.

Both Barrett and Kirti said that change is always positive and that the new format seems promising.

Barrett said that these rules will make the SGA “stronger and prepared.” see

SGA on page 2

2

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Thursday, December 10, 2015

CALENDAR

WEEK END

FRIDAY

SGA

VIGIL

continued from page 1

“No system is going to be perfect, and every system has flaws,” Kirti said.

She also stated that if the SGA wants to be a positive message for change, it has to feel comfortable stepping outside of their comfort zone and try new things to encourage students to grow.

Some students also believe that these changes will be positive to campus.

Sophomore Residential Assistant Colleen Morin believed that the election reforms will have a positive impact on campus.

“It goes back to the idea of separating elections by grade in high school,” Morin said.

Since it seemed to work in high schools, she believed that this could work here, too.

However, some students believed that an individual’s residential area is a very important aspect in a student’s life and should be considered in elections.

Junior RA Brian

DailyCollegian.com

McCarthy was skeptical of the election reforms.

“I feel it’s much easier to relate to someone who lives in the same area as you than someone who’s one of the thousands in your class,” McCarthy said. “I don’t think this is the way to approach more participation. I think greater and improved advertisement is where SGA needs to look.”

Northeast Area Government Treasurer and sophomore electrical engineering major Reno Sarge shared a similar opinion.

“Elections by year could cause a dramatic disparity between representations by area, which would be a more serious problem due to the fact that residential area representation is more important than diverse age representation.”

continued from page 1

JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

About 20 students gathered at the candlelight vigil Wednesday night. ment.

“An attack like this is really an attack on people’s well-being and safety, their security really,” said Amanda Chang, a member of Vox UMass.

A petition at the event was passed among attendees urging them to oppose the federal defunding of Planned Parenthood,

which the United States Senate voted to approve on Dec. 3.

Vox UMass is an affiliated group of

Planned

Parenthood.

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

Kristen Leonard can be reached at kristenleona@umass.edu.

MENS HOCKEY

The Minutemen square off against the Union College Dutchmen of New York at 7 p.m. in the Mullins Center.

UMASS AMHERST SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Conductor Ng Tian hui leads UMass orchestra in a piece “Beatific Smile”at 7:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center Orchestra Hall.

SATURDAY THE NUTCRACKER

Enjoy the Christmas classic musical at the Academy of Music in Northampton. Shows start at 1 and 4:30 p.m. at 274 Main St.

SHAKEDOWN: GRATEFUL DEAD TRIBUTE BAND

The tribute band’s been on the New England circuit for over 20 years Show starts at 8:30 p.m. at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton.

SUNDAY DAVID MALLET

A folk performer for over four decades, the prolific Mallet plays the Iron Horse Music Hall at 7:00 p.m.

CHRISTMAS PAGAENT

A “Generational Re-telling of the Christmas narrative at 10 a.m. at the Edwards Church at 297 Main St., Northampton.

CHRISTINA YACONO/COLLEGIAN

SGA president Sïonan Barrett praised the approved election reforms.

AFFIRMATIVE providing far fewer minority admissions than it is today, the university decided to use race as one of several factors to choose additional freshmen for the class. It’s this policy that was challenged in a lawsuit by Abigail Fisher, a white applicant who was turned down in 2008.

Two years ago, Kennedy wrote an opinion that sent the case back to a lower court to probe whether the university could show that it was “necessary to use race” to achieve diversity on campus.

The justices heard no clear answer to that question during Wednesday’s argument. At one point, Kennedy said he might favor sending the case back for a third hearing in the lower court.

The Texas case looks unlikely to yield a broad ruling for or against affirmative action because of the unique nature of the state’s top-10 percent law.

However, if Kennedy were to endorse that approach as a viable “race-neutral” means to achieve diversity, it might force other top state universities to consider a similar policy.

Education experts point to UCLA, UC Berkeley and the University of Michigan as three premier state universities where the enrollment of minority students went down and stayed down after affirmative action policies were repealed by voters.

Lawyers for those universities filed briefs arguing that a race-based policy was needed to restore the previous levels of minority enrollment. However, advocates of the Texas top-10 percent law said those premier universities in California and Michigan offer a guarantee of admission to students who get the top grades in their state’s high schools, which is similar in its effect to the Texas plan.

Since 1978, the high court has been closely split on whether colleges and universities may use race as a factor in deciding who is

continued from page 1

admitted. That year, in the famous Bakke case, the court struck down a quota at the University of California Medical School, but said in a separate opinion by Justice Lewis Powell that colleges and universities could use a race as a “plus factor” in order to achieve a diverse class of students.

Powell’s short, separate opinion has set the terms of debate ever since.

In 2003, the court was split again. The justices that year struck down a University of Michigan policy that gives extra points to all minority students, but by a 5-4 vote, they upheld a Michigan law school policy that considered race as a plus factor for minority applicants.

The majority opinion in that case, by now-retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, suggested that the policy might be appropriate for another 25 years or so.

The court’s opinion in that case described the policy it upheld as a “holistic

review,” since the school considered the student’s entire record, including his or her race.

Kennedy dissented in that case, however.

In the wake of the 2003 decision, the University of Texas adopted the “holistic review” policy that is at issue now. The state’s top10 percent law was slowly increasing the numbers of Latino and black students at Austin, but university officials said they needed to give an extra edge to other minority students to achieve diversity on campus.

In particular, they wanted to admit black and Latino students who had very good records at the state’s top performing high schools, but nonetheless failed to graduate in the top 10 percent of their class. They also sought minority students from outside Texas.

The need was apparent, said Garre, the university’s lawyer. If black students made up only about 4 per-

cent of the freshmen class, as would have happened solely with the top-10 percent rule, they faced “glaring racial isolation” on campus, he said.

He argued that the university’s affirmative action policy should be upheld because it was small and carefully targeted - and nearly identical to what the high court had approved in 2003.

Meanwhile, the attorney for Fisher said the policy should be struck down because it was not needed to achieve diversity. The top10 percent plan had already accomplished that, he said.

The university has not “shown any necessity to use race,” attorney Bert Rein said.

The outcome almost certainly turns on Kennedy’s vote. Because the Obama administration filed an early brief on the university’s side when Elena Kagan was the U.S. solicitor general, nowJustice Kagan sat out the case.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

Thursday, December 10, 2015

3

Calif. shooting premeditated Protesters in Chicago call Attack was planned for mayor’s resignation before two married

By Richard A. Serrano Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — FBI Director James Comey said Wednesday that Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, began scheming to carry out a terror attack long before they were engaged and before she moved to the United States on a fiancee visa last year.

Meanwhile, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, said Malik may have given false information on her visa application.

“These two killers were radicalized for quite a long time,” Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday regarding the couple behind last week’s San Bernardino shooting, which killed 14 people. “Our investigation to date shows that they were radicalized before they started courting or dating each other online, and as early as the end of 2013, were talking to each other about jihad and martyrdom before they became engaged and married and were living in the U.S.” Comey added: “We believe they were inspired by foreign organizations. We are working very hard to see if anyone else was involved in assisting, equipping or helping them. And did they have other plans?”

Comey’s announcement about the couple’s past takes the investigation in a new direction, suggesting that Farook, a U.S. citizen,

purposely traveled to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to find a partner to help him carry out the attack.

He said that according to information collected so far, Malik “was radicalized before she connected with the other killer.”

Asked if the marriage might have been purposely arranged by a foreign terrorist organization to get two operatives into the U.S. to pull off the attack, Comey said, “I don’t know the answer to that yet.”

If it turns out a terrorist group did send the couple to the U.S. to wage an attack, Comey said that would be a game changer, showing that groups such as the Islamic State have found new ways to penetrate this country.

“That would be a very, very important thing to know,” Comey said.

But the FBI director said the couple began communicating online between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and Pakistan “prior to the rise of ” the Islamic State two years ago, another indication of how long they had been in touch with each other.

He further revealed that the couple may have tried recently to alter their semiautomatic weapons to make them more deadly.

“There’s an indication they attempted to convert or did convert them successfully,” he said. “I can’t give an answer definitely yet.”

Comey acknowledged that the FBI is facing a widening terrorism investigation. “It’s ongoing, wideranging and (a) very complex case,” he said.

Supporting the concerns were new allegations that Malik gave an incorrect address in Pakistan on her K-1 visa application in what investigators say was an attempt to hide her family’s ties to Islamic militant elements in the Punjab area.

“We now know that Ms. Malik, one of the San Bernardino attackers, arrived in the United States on a fiancee visa,” said Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. “This is yet another example of the failure of the screening process for those entering the United States. Our government apparently didn’t catch the false address in Pakistan she listed on her application or other possible signs that she was radicalized or an operative.”

Two government sources told the Los Angeles Times/ Tribune Washington Bureau that Malik apparently used the name of a neighborhood or street near her home in Pakistan.

If Malik did lie on the application form, that act could have raised red flags with U.S. authorities in Saudi Arabia and the United States, and may have been a missed opportunity to stop her from entering the country.

But others who have seen the visa application think that she might have simply used the name of her former neighborhood or street address in Pakistan - either to get around being exposed because of her family ties to militant groups or because she simply was confused about the application form.

Police actions spark civil demonstrations

By Dawn Rhodes Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — Long before Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel tackled police accountability in an unusual speech before the City Council on Wednesday, demonstrators made it clear there was nothing the embattled mayor could say to calm the situation.

There was no mea culpa great enough, no promises convincing enough to satisfy hundreds of protesters who converged downtown in a vociferous rebuke of how he has handled issues of police misconduct, brought to the forefront in recent weeks by the controversy over Laquan McDonald’s shooting death in 2014.

They want Emanuel gone.

“This is not a black problem, this is a democracy problem. We don’t want your apology, we want your resignation!” one woman yelled.

Angelina Espindola, who lives in the city’s Pilsen neighborhood, dismissed the emotions the mayor displayed during his speech, calling them “crocodile tears.” She said she wanted to add her voice to the protests in part because she has a son who is Latino and fears for his safety when he gets older.

“I’m just really tired of turning on the news and seeing another innocent victim shot,” said Espindola, 28.

“I’m tired of mothers cry-

ing. ‘Sorry’ isn’t going to bring those kids back. All (Emanuel) is doing is talking.

Now he’s doing it because everyone’s paying attention.”

Protesters streamed through downtown, stopping briefly in front of City Hall, the Chicago Board of Trade and at Congress Parkway near Interstate 290, snarling traffic and causing some bus delays.

A line of police officers met the protesters at Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street but then allowed the group to march down the Magnificent Mile. They stopped at Wacker Drive for a moment of silence for victims of police violence and to insist that demonstrators remain peaceful.

“This is what Martin Luther King (Jr.) fought for. This is what Malcolm X fought for, 152 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and we are still not free,” an organizer told the group as they held a brief sit-in at Wacker.

The protesters had barely begun marching down Dearborn Street when Lamon Reccord, a young demonstrator noted in part for staring down police officers tasked with supervising marches, began running down the street with several officers chasing him. The officers detained him briefly, pushing their way through a crowd of people who blocked their path as they tried to put Reccord into a police van. It was not clear what touched off the incident, but organizer Rousemary Vega said a man not part of the demonstration

began taunting Reccord.

“It just shows that if you’re a black man in the city of Chicago, you’re found guilty before you go to a judge,” Vega said, crying. “Of course he ran away. There’s fear in our youth. They don’t trust the cops.”

The group surrounded the police unit parked on Dearborn and refused to move. After about 15 minutes, Reccord was released, and the group began marching through the Loop.

“Rahm, resign!” they chanted. “What did Rahm know, and when did he know it?”

Within minutes of the mayor finishing his 45-minute speech - at times going off script and appearing to choke up with emotion - dozens began demonstrating outside council chambers. Even as Emanuel pledged to give citizens opportunities to more freely voice their concerns and worries, his administration confirmed spectators had to be on a list to be allowed inside to hear the speech.

“Sixteen shots and a coverup!” they chanted, the common rallying cry evoking the number of times McDonald was shot.

After many more viewed coverage of the speech on TV and online, the biting responses came swiftly.

“This speech probably made things worse for him with every constituency except for his lap dog City Council,” tweeted Mariame Kaba, founder and director of Project NIA, which works to end youth incarceration.

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Thursday, December 10, 2015

“The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances.” - Frank Costanza

Tajae Sharpe’s open letter to the UMass community

SENIOR COLUMN

The hardest goodbye

If you asked me six months college radio station, I ended ago, I could’ve told you how up walking into the Collegian I wanted to start my senior during the second week of my freshman year through some Patrick Hoff twist of fate. Little did I know how life changing that decicolumn. But sitting down now, sion would be.

I don’t know where to begin.

The Collegian is truly Should I write about how about the people. Every writer thankful I am for the oppor- and every editor is a member tunity to work at such a won- of a very special group, filling derful place? The unique- the newsroom with a particuness of a college newsroom? lar energy that is so welcomEverything this place has ing and comforting. As intimitaught me, about journalism, dating as it was walking into about myself, about life? the newsroom as a freshman, There’s also all the friends I I’ll never forget watching writmade here. Every person that ers and editors bustle around touched my life. All the great the office and knowing I found laughs we had, every joke we my place – a feeling that was made, every party we had. solidified during coverage of The friends I never expected the 2012 presidential election. to make but that I love like The excitement that filled the family members. newsroom, the fast pace of The Collegian has meant news coming in, covering my so much to me over the past first “Southwest gathering” three and a half years. It’s and staying in the office until the place I went when I had 5 a.m. (only the second latest exciting news, the place I went I ever stayed in the Collegian) when I wanted to relax, the proved to me that I had jour-

“Some people say Disney is the happiest place on Earth. For me, it was the Collegian, and running the newsroom was a dream come true.” place I went when I got my heart broken (and where I fell in love again). I went there even when I didn’t want to.

The Collegian was my home.

In September 2012, I was a nervous freshman, tasked by my father to go to the school newspaper.

“If you want to be in journalism, you have to start getting clips,” he told me.

While initially I thought about following my father’s footsteps and working at the

nalism in my blood, and the Collegian was my home.

Two years later, I was in charge of that newsroom, as managing editor, and it was the proudest day of my life the first day I saw my name listed as such. Some people say Disney is the happiest place on Earth. For me, it was the Collegian, and running the newsroom was a dream come true.

Working in the Collegian transformed me from a lowconfidence teenager to a

Editorial@DailyCollegian.com

To the UMass fans, community, my coaches and teammates,

Tajae Sharpe

Four short years ago, I made one of the best decisions of my life. I made the decision to join a UMass team and community that has given me so much in these four short years, and I’ll be forever grateful for my time here.

As I now begin to take the next step toward my future, I wanted to take a minute to thank all of you for making my UMass experience so special and memorable.

To Coach (Mark) Whipple and the rest of the coaching & training staff – thank you for believing in me and giving me the chance to compete in a game that I love.

You’ve given me nothing but unwavering support and guidance during my time here. You’ve taught me lessons that I will carry with me through life, and you’ve helped mold me into the man and player I am today. For these things, I’m forever grateful.

To my teammates – it’s hard to put into words everything we’ve been through. We’ve shared blood, sweat and tears and fought day in and day out for this historic University. You pushed me to my limits and helped

JACLYN BRYSON/COLLEGIAN

Patrick loves the Collegian, but was not a very skilled baker, as evidenced by his failed sugar cookie. strong-willed young adult, through the different people I met, the friends I made and the experiences I had. It’s a place like no other I’ve ever been, and from what I’ve been told, I’ll never be again. The real world, a professional newsroom, is vastly different from a college newsroom.

Gone are the late nights of just talking and eating pizza.

You can’t have an ‘80s-themed party on the weekend, and when you’re in a professional newsroom, you’re expected to be doing work – nobody comes to the newsroom just to hang out and see their friends. The college newsroom is a special place, and to me, the Collegian is the most special of all.

It’s hard to put into words how much the Collegian has meant to me, and how I feel about it, especially while avoiding a minefield of clichés. The hundreds of hours I spent in the basement offices

were some of the best times of my college career, even when it was 3 a.m. and the arts staff hadn’t finished the Halloween issue. I was in the office even when I didn’t need to be – eating lunch, taking naps on couches or doing homework. I spent more time in the Collegian office than I did in my own dorm or apartment (I haven’t done the math, but I can pretty much guarantee it).

The saddest part about leaving the Collegian: I expected to be writing my senior column in April, rather than December. But as quickly as fate brought me to the Collegian offices, it’s whisking me away on my next adventure. I’m scared, excited and sad, but I know I’m ready.

I’ll miss you, Collegian. But we’ll always have Amherst.

Patrick Hoff was the managing editor, and can be followed on Twitter @Hoff_Patrick16.

me achieve things I never thought possible. I’ll miss the daily grind with you all, and I look forward to enjoying the relationships we’ve built far beyond UMass.

To my professors, academic advisors and peers – off-field success allows me the ability to succeed on the field, and I’d like to thank you for helping me become both a better student and member of the Amherst community.

To the fans and UMass community – thank you all for your years of support.

You came from near and far to support this amazing program, and while we may not have achieved what we set out to do, your commitment and love for this team is resounding and something I know will be important to the future success of this team. Cheer on the future stars of this program like you did for my teammates and me, and continue your legacy of being some of the best fans in the country. I can’t express enough my gratitude for each and every one of you.

It was an honor to wear the maroon and white, and I will never forget my times at this amazing university. Thank you all, and Go UMass.

Tajae Sharpe, UMass wide receiver

The real challenge in fossil fuel divestment The UMass Foundation, tution.” Bachler went on to in charge of the University’s say these factors “pose insur$770 million endowment, mountable challenges to coal mining companies.”

Ian Hagerty While sustainability issues were mentioned as decided to divest from direct an afterthought, the main investments in coal last reason UC appeared to have week. The UMass Fossil divested from coal was due Fuel Divestment Campaign to its fiscal unreliability as acknowledged the victory, an investment. This was all but was also fully aware that but confirmed by University it is only a step in the right spokeswoman Dianne Klein direction. Unfortunately, of UC, who told Reuters that divesting from coal invest- UC is still free to invest in ments is barely even a step. such companies “if market

The University of circumstances” warrant it.

California (UC) school sys- Universities like UC or tem decided in September to UMass just don’t have a reasell off its holdings in coal son to invest in coal anyand oil sands companies. The more. While it’s nice to imagUC system has a much larger ine that some great leap was endowment than the UMass just made in the fight for sussystem does, and the coal tainability and prevention of and oil sands holdings it sold climate change, there really off were valued at about $200 wasn’t. This was a long time million. In comparison, coal coming. The coal industry investments made by UMass is dying. In fact, in the past were valued at only $400,000. few years, 26 U.S. coal com According to UC chief panies have gone bankrupt. investment officer Jagdeep Divesting from coal was just Bachher, the selling of UC’s a smart investment move by coal and oil sands invest- the two schools. ments were caused by, The stated investment “slowing global demand, and policy of the University of increasingly unfavorable Massachusetts Foundation regulatory environment, is to “maximize the return and a high threat of substi- on investments to the fullest

extent possible.” Considering this philosophy, it makes perfect sense that the UMass Foundation would want to divest from coal. They might drop an investment they consider unsavory and later attach the claim of environmental sustainability to the list of reasons they divested, but the main reason any change is made is because of the money. Money is always the heart of it all.

hard to assume UMass will react any differently.

Another glaring clue is that the UMass Foundation will not publicly discuss how much is has invested in other fossil fuel related companies. It is safe to assume those investments represent a much larger part of the UMass endowment than coal investments did. Coal represented a very small portion of the portfolio.

“All the same, much more needs to be done and coal is but a dying industry ready to be abandoned.”

The UC system has $10 billion in investments in energy industry companies other than coal and oil sands and it has absolutely no plans to sell those investments. They represent about 10 percent of the UC system’s total investments, and while UC was willing to get rid of a proportionally smaller $200 million in sure-to-decline coal and oil sand stocks, they aren’t willing to drop any more promising, larger investments.

With the larger UC school system setting the bar, it’s

While UMass will not discuss its investments in other fossil fuel industries, it has emphasized its commitment to socially responsible investing. As part of this commitment, the UMass Foundation formed the Socially Responsible Investing Advisory Committee. (SRIAC) The SRIAC, an off shoot of the UMass Foundation, is run by alumni and faculty representatives and acts as an intermediary to voice concerns raised by students, faculty,

alumni and other members of the UMass community to the foundation.

This may sound well and good, a board solely responsible for voicing the concerns of the voiceless to the group who has their hands on the money, but as with anything that sounds truly good, there are some significant catches. According to the SRIAC guidelines, while the SRIAC is responsible for “addressing allegations of social injury resulting from Foundation investments,” it shall not, “recommend that the Endowment Fund be invested specifically to remedy social injustices.”

The committee was created under the name of advising socially responsible behavior, yet it cannot guide the Foundation to invest to solve social injustices. Not only that, but the SRIAC only acts as an advisory committee and the Foundation is not required to take the advice of anything the committee says.

Even the way in which part of the last stated principle of the SRIAC is phrased seems patronizing, stating that issues brought up by the University community will be

discussed, “in an informed, thoughtful and collegial way by those who are familiar with the Foundation’s investment responsibilities.”

Being promised an informed, thoughtful and collegial review of your concerns is essentially the exact minimum that should be expected. It’s a nothing statement.

Divestment from coal is surely a positive step for the UMass Foundation, considering the drastic implications of climate change. All the same, much more needs to be done and coal is but a dying industry ready to be abandoned. Divestment from all fossil fuels is what is really necessary. Unfortunately, the case of the UC system points out that fossil fuel divestment might not come easily. The SRIAC seems to have the interests of the campus community in mind, but the group really lacks power.

It isn’t yet a time for celebration, ground has only just been broken.

Ian Hagerty is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at ihagerty@umass.edu.

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VIDEO GAME REVIEW

Fallout 4 features endless combat and more choices Unlimited character features and abilities

By Tyler Movsessian Collegian Staff

Fans of the Fallout series needed to wait five years for a fresh release, but it was certainly worth the wait.

Fallout 4, released Nov. 10, is Bethesda’s fifth major console title and first release since Fallout: New Vegas in 2010. This is its first appearance on “next-gen” consoles, and could be one of the best role playing games (RPGs) we’ve seen in a very long time.

Fallout 4 places the character into the wasteland remains of a nuclear postapocalyptic world, as a survivor from Vault 111 located in Massachusetts. They find themselves in their neighborhood 200 years in the future, separated from their spouse (husband Howard if you choose to play as the female character, and wife Nora if the opposite).

One of my favorite features is the unlimited character customization. When I cracked this game open, I was so excited to get started in the campaign that I didn’t plan on spending too much time on customizing my character. When I got to that menu, however, I was absolutely blown away by all the intricate details you could change on your character. You can alter the nose bridge, the eyelids, the corners of the mouth

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Fallout 4 features an improved Vault Tech Assisted Targeting System (VATS) which aids players in defeating their enemies through slow-motion combat. and about fifty other options including facial features that I didn’t even know existed.

Not only could you spend hours adjusting the facial features of your character, you can also adjust the body type and gender of your character. But the customization of your character doesn’t stop there. Like all other Fallout games, you can also control your player’s abilities. You

get a base amount of points you can spend on the player’s attributes called SPECIAL. This allows you to control the player’s strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility and luck.

After spending a long time developing your character, you develop a special affinity toward them. You start off from scratch and can really be proud of how far

COFFEE SHOP REVIEW

the character progresses. It’s why role playing games are great, and Fallout 4 does a phenomenal job of capturing this feeling.

One of the biggest changes from previous Fallout installment is in the VaultTech Assisted Targeting System (VATS). In earlier games, using VATS allowed you to freeze time completely, allowing you to target

players were experiencing full game freezes and weird jump glitches that geometrically didn’t make sense. Since the game’s release, however, Bethesda has made repairs.

Other than these bugs, Fallout 4 does just about everything right.

The amount of content, the sound track, player freedom and world depth are all highs for Fallout 4.

Another unique feature of the game has the character spending most of their time in Massachusetts, giving players from this area a special connection to the game.

It even hits my home city of Woburn at one point.

What really sets Fallout 4 apart from other games released this year is that the player is not lacking things to do. Between weapon crafting, exploring, combat, quests and upgrading your SPECIAL, every hour is different in Fallout 4, and it really never gets boring which makes the game so addicting.

Overall, Fallout 4 is fantastic. It has already been nominated for Game of the Year, RPG of the Year, and Soundtrack of the Year, with a great chance to sweep all three categories. Fallout 4 leaves gamers with something to be excited about when they are away from the console. For a game to have that kind of power on a player is rare, and that achievement should be applauded.

the enemy’s weak spots. In Fallout 4, VATS will only put time in slow motion, which doesn’t make VATS a lifesaving feature. This change makes Fallout 4 feel more like a functional shooter than other games.

A con in this new RPG are the bugs (as in glitches, but the actual bugs in the game are frightening, too). Upon Tyler Movsessian can be reached at the game’s release, many tmovsessian@umass.edu.

APP REVIEW

SIP Café and Coffee Bar Cymbal creates community app requires is worth the extra trip Music user interaction

Features wood stove and expanded menu

Editor’s note: This story initially ran online Tuesday.

By Jessica Chaiken Collegian Staff

Most UMass students seem to lack a sense of adventure when it comes to getting their daily doses of caffeine. If they even make it off campus, students usually flock to Amherst Center or the nearest chain like Starbucks, settling for what he or she thinks is great coffee.

Little do they know that travelling just a little further can change their coffee habits indefinitely.

SIP Café and Coffee Bar, nestled deep in the heart of downtown Northampton at 8 Crafts Ave., has been satisfying the public’s caffeine and food fixes for about four and half years.

SIP has a wide variety of different drinks, food and baked goods to choose from.

The croissants, scones and a selection of other goods are baked fresh daily at the coffee bar. SIP also has a few less common delicacies like French macaroons among others.

There is also an assortment of gluten-free options. Also, each specialty drink, such as coffee, tea, cider, or soda, takes time to brew, as they are each carefully made by the baristas.

The atmosphere in SIP is a cross between a modern, metropolitan coffee shop and a cozy café. SIP is also unique in that it has a wood-burning fireplace, which is a great feature, especially knowing that there is a cold western Massachusetts winter ahead.

In an interview with the Collegian, owners Peter and Kimberly Allen described SIP as a great place to come and enjoy a cup of coffee or a bite to eat.

Some of the most popular menu items at SIP are the breakfast burrito, as well as the lattes and pressed coffee.

SIP prides itself on its choice to serve Counter Culture Coffee, which celebrates and supports small-business farmers that produce their own coffee. Unlike many coffee shops, SIP also takes the time to make quality food. They have a long list of items on their menu at very reasonable prices, which can range anywhere from $3.50 for a veggie bagel or $8.50 for a specialty salad. Options include breakfast and lunch sandwiches, salads and soups.

One of the events that SIP

arranges is a monthly “After Hours Dinner.” They offer a four-course meal in the café for $70 per person, and the café transforms into an elaborate evening setting.

The next dinner they are hosting is on Friday. If this price is too steep, as it most likely is for the average college student, SIP is a great place to visit and enjoy during the day, whether you want a change of setting for doing homework, want to grab a snack with some friends or simply need a break from studying. They also have free Wi-Fi. The café is on the smaller side, so it does not have many seats. But, with the crazy schedules that people have, a seat will most likely open up if you do not find one immediately.

So next time you are in the mood for a coffee, a sandwich, or a homemade baked good, check out SIP Café and Coffee Bar. They are open seven days a week, from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the week and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the weekends. By taking the risk and switching up your routine, you will be surprised at what new adventures await you.

Jessica Chaiken can be reached at jchaiken@umass.edu.

By Troy Kowalchuk Collegian Staff

As the number of social media outlets and digital music services that aid consumers in discovering new music continue to grow, an app called Cymbal aims to simplify the process.

Social media apps have expanded into a wide number of different niches that have made almost every aspect of life represented online. Cymbal is no different. The application has been coined as “the Instagram for music” by Forbes.

Cymbal was developed by three Tufts University students: Gabe Jacobs, Amadou Crookes and Mario Gomez-Hall. It is simple and user friendly. Users can follow their favorite bands or friends and find new tracks to obsess over. Once users create an account and begin following other users, they begin to see a feed full of album covers and tracks of random artists. Users can set a Cymbal, which is any track available from Spotify or SoundCloud. It will appear on their feeds and their followers as well. They can also post tracks to their Cymbal and favorite and

comment on other cymbals, starting conversations about the music.

The entire length of a track can be streamed on SoundCloud while only a portion can be sampled on Spotify. As a result, much of the Cymbal depends on SoundCloud and whether the desired track is featured on the site. Most generic and popular names in the music industry are on Spotify and a much denser amount of artists have their music on SoundCloud, leaving a large amount of music possibilities.

However, big artists don’t seem to be the focus on Cymbal. This app appears to be a new way for undiscovered artists to publish their music in a simple environment. Within two days of downloading Cymbal, over a dozen followers were either promoting their own music or that of an undiscovered artist.

Besides who the user follows, users can search through hashtags or specific users to find a specific sound. Users can search specific words and immediately be presented with songs that have been tagged with that word.

Users can also post whatever songs they choose, which creates a vast array of genres that float across

a phone screen. If given enough time and commitment, Cymbal can become a musical photo album of memories. Yet that can be Cymbal’s greatest fault.

With the mish mash of social media mediums, many might find it hard to focus on Cymbal. If Cymbal followers choose to only post every few days the app could fall back into obscurity. With its lack of an established following compared to social media giants like Instagram and Twitter, Cymbal users may find themselves feeling the app is pointless as they have a substantially smaller number of followers.

Setbacks aside, Cymbal is a potentially important app for music. Music creates conversations, brings people together and Cymbal governs itself on this notion.

A group of people sharing and posting songs that mean something to them can create a larger sense of community and a new depth to music. Cymbal could help someone find their new favorite artist, song, or genre.

All that matters is if users are willing to get the conversation started.

Troy Kowalchuk can be reached at tkowalchuk@umass.edu.

6

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GROLEAU

DILLARD

“He’s always so under stressed heading into a race that being around him really calms you down beforehand.”

Dan Sheldon, UMass runner beforehand,” teammate Dan Sheldon said. ”He can turn any bad day into a good race the way he grinds through races, and I’ve never seen him really have a bad race.”

O’Brien said G ro l e a u ’ s adjustments have been subtle.

“Last year he really started to respond to the subtle assessments of his talent and capabilities that we were making. Holding out a goal and allowing him to accept it can be much more effective than forcing it upon him and having him reject it,” O’Brien said.

Approaching his last two seasons in collegiate track and field, Groleau has one goal set in his own

mind, which is to break four minutes in the mile.

The current men’s record is four minutes, four seconds, but according to him, it is more important that he personally breaks the four-minute barrier, rather than thinking of the record and being the first to do so.

His life both on and off the track will have to line up perfectly for Groleau to accomplish this milestone.

He will also need to have a good day of racing as well, but if there’s any runner on the team capable of breaking the four-minute mark, Groleau is certainly the best equipped to do it.

Nicholas Souza can be reached at njsouza@umass.edu.

continued from page 8

four-point play perfectly.”

A big positive for UMass in the game was their bench play. The team’s bench outscored the Pride’s bench 29-16. The two leading scorers for the Minutewomen, Lawrence and Kymber Hill, both came off the bench and gave the team 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Stallworth chipped in 10 points, while Maggie Mulligan and Dillard had seven points, all in a starting role.

7

HOCKEY

continued from page 8

ner on an underestimated Minutemen squad that was projected to finish as low as eighth in the conference. With the help of his second place finish and solid performances from his teammates, the team took home second place.

“It’s funny, if you asked me who the top seven runners were going to be at the beginning of the season, it would have been a lot different than what it ended up being, but the guys who were there really stepped up that day,” Groleau said.

While he may not see himself as much of a leader for the rest of the team, Groleau’s presence still has an impact on his teammates. His personality leading up to races and the way he competes transcends beyond his finishing position and final time.

“He’s always so under stressed heading into a race that being around him really calms you down

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Offensively, Hofstra had three players score in double-digits. Sophomore forward Ashunae Durant led the team with 16 points, while Asia Jackson (12) and Kelly Loftus (10) each finished in double figures.

With the win, UMass extending their winning streak to two games.

Lawrence feels this close win will give them a big boost going forward, but doesn’t want to make a big deal of it.

“I think it’s good confidence going into next game,” she said. “As you finish one game, you move on to the next one, but it’s definitely good coming off a win than coming off a loss.”

The Minutewomen will be back in action on Saturday when they take on Central Connecticut. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at Detrick Gymnasium.

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

Minutemen set to host Union College Friday night UMass looks to snap losing streak

By Jason Kates Collegian Staff

The Massachusetts hockey team has played more games on the road than any other team in the entire country this season.

Specif ically, the Minutemen (6-7-4, 2-4-4 Hockey East) have played six of their last seven games away from home. They went 0-4-3 in that stretch and have fallen into a four-way tie for sixth place in Hockey East with eight points.

Friday night, UMass will finally be back out on the Mullins Center ice when it takes on nonconference opponent Union, which won the national title in 2014.

Both coach John Micheletto and captain Steven Iacobellis voiced their excitement when asked how it felt being home.

“It seemed a little strange to be honest with you,” Micheletto said after practice Monday. “The other nice thing will be a single-game weekend, which we haven’t had for a while. I’m sure our guys will look forward to being in front of some friendlier faces on Friday night, even if it is against another team that’s got it coming pretty good right now in Union.”

“It’s going to feel good,” Iacobellis added. “We’ve been away for quite some time now, I think we’ve had maybe less than four games at home or something, at least that’s what it feels like. It’ll be nice to be home, sleep in our beds, so we’re looking forward to that.”

While Iacobellis was slightly off (the Minutemen have played five games at home, excluding the exhibition versus Dalhousie), there is no doubt UMass will look to come out firing against a versatile team like the Dutchmen (5-6-4, 2-5-1 ECAC).

“You look at the results that they’ve had against dif-

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UMass will look to regain its offensive success from earlier in the year. ferent kinds of teams, they can play a fast game, they can play a heavy game,” Micheletto said. “It’ll be a difficult challenge because they’re always well coached under Rick (Bennett), so we’re going to have to hope we can get out and play a little faster than they do. We’re mostly just trying to be the best version of us that we can.”

Over the course of the past five games, the Minutemen have only scored four times, despite generating many chances against some stiff competition.

For Micheletto, there is a difference between not creating chances in general and creating chances but being unable to score goals.

The latter is the option that applies to UMass.

“It’s a matter of our guys continuing to believe in the process and how they put themselves in position to score goals,” Micheletto said. “We were talking to certain guys about just the little things that we can dial them in on and try to make sure they’re focusing on the process of scoring goals as opposed to worrying about the result of scoring or not scoring.”

Iacobellis echoed these thoughts, saying a primary focus in practice this week was scoring.

“We really focused on

putting the puck in the back of the net and getting to the dirty areas,” he said. “I don’t think that’s something as a team we’ve done efficiently enough. I think that’s going to be a key part of this weekend.”

There are no conference points at stake Friday night, which allows Micheletto and the rest of the team to take a step back and evaluate what hasn’t gone their way over the last couple of weeks.

“I think that’s an ongoing process. When you’re a coach, you’re always looking at not only who you’re playing against that upcoming week, but trying to continually assess and evaluate your guys and how to make them better individually as well as a group,” Micheletto said.

“I don’t want to lose sight or the perspective that us and most everybody else had that points on the road in league competition were a good thing a couple of weeks ago and now all of a sudden people want to paint them as not so good. As long as we move on, I don’t have that much concern about where our guys are.”

Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday night.

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

NBA

Lab helps NFL to reduce concussions NBA suspends Al Jefferson 5 games

By Jeff Barker The Baltimore Sun

The National Football League’s quest to become safer has extended to a U.S. Army lab, where rubbery, fluid-filled straps tether a crash test dummy’s football helmet to its body. While they allow turning of the head, the straps tighten automatically under jarring blows to minimize violent head whips.

Designed by Army Research Laboratory scientists at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Md., the “smart” strap system was one of three recent winners of an open competition for funding to develop new approaches to deter players’ brain injuries during a critical period for the NFL. Concussions are a billion-dollar problem for the league that’s about to get massive star turn that will cast even more light on the issue and raise more questions about how it’s trying to tackle a problem that could threaten the sport’s future.

A federal judge in April approved a potential $1 billion deal to settle thousands of concussion cases brought against the NFL by former players, but some retired players are challenging the settlement because it doesn’t recognize a diag-

nosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, while players are living.

A forensic pathologist’s battle with the league to acknowledge CTE, a degenerative disease found in many players after their deaths, is the subject of a new film, called “Concussion,” to be released Christmas Day that spotlights head injuries and stars Will Smith.

Criticized for not addressing the problem for years, the NFL is working now to get ahead of it, changing rules to minimize the injuries and funding research into new technologies through the competition sponsored by Under Armour and General Electric.

“If the conversation on the health and safety of our sport is in the public consciousness, whether it be as the result of this movie or just a general discussion about the NFL, then we’re happy to engage in that conversation,” said Jeff Miller, senior vice president of health and safety for the NFL. But the league faces a difficult balancing act to protect players _ particularly its stars _ without tampering too much with the game, said Bob Dorfman, executive creative director of Baker Street Advertising in San Francisco.

“The violence of the game is what people like,” Dorfman said. “They like the big hits.”

The soldier-protection experts at the Aberdeen lab took up the challenge after the NFL announced the competition in 2013. The research may have applications for the military, particularly paratroopers, who suffer concussions at a higher rate than other soldiers.

The Army lab initially received $500,000 in 2014 and now will get up to $1 million more from the NFL, Under Armour and GE. The three plan to collectively spend up to $20 million to fund the ideas.

“We don’t make helmets.

There may be no commercial opportunity for us in this at the end,” said Sam McCleery, a vice president at Under Armour, the Baltimore-based athletic apparel company. “But it’s something that’s important.

Under Armour’s brand was born on the field. With (CEO) Kevin (Plank) as a player, we have a heritage with the game.”

Through its participation, Under Armour hopes to make safety “cool,” McCleery said.

“We’re going to try to bring some coolness factor so we get early adoption and better engagement as we roll this thing out,” he said.

The straps the Army lab developed are stretchy tubes containing an engineered liquid that changes consistency when stress is applied.

“If you pull it slowly, it stretches and relaxes slowly,” said Eric Wetzel, one of the lab’s research scientists.

“If you try to pull it quickly, it takes 100 times more force.”

It’s the same principle as car seat belts that are normally slack but tighten in a crash.

Connected to a narrow, C-shaped rail underneath the face mask, the tubes attach to the body underneath the uniform, at the pelvis.

On a recent afternoon, the lab tested the tubes on a crash test dummy wearing a white football helmet.

The torso was mounted on a pivot arm that repeatedly allowed the head to free-fall backward onto the floor.

The tubes are designed to allow voluntary motion but to stabilize the head during backwards falls like the one sustained by St. Louis Rams quarterback Case Keenum in a Nov. 22 game against the Ravens, Wetzel said. Keenum remained on his hands and knees after a hit by the Ravens’ Timmy Jernigan. He stayed in the game but was later diagnosed with a concussion.

By Rick Bonnell The Charlotte Observer Charlotte Hornets center Al Jefferson will be suspended for five games by the NBA for violating the league’s anti-drug policy.

Jefferson will serve the suspension once he recovers from the calf injury that has sidelined him the past four games.

The Hornets projected he would miss two to three weeks with the injury.

“I’m a man and I have to take full responsibility for my actions,” Jefferson said during a media availability before Wednesday’s game against the Miami Heat. “I have to ask for forgiveness and put it behind me and try to move on.

“Sometimes you’ve got to get knocked on your head for your eyes to open up; to handle certain situations.”

Jefferson said he was first made aware he had failed a drug test about two weeks ago. The league informed him and the Hornets Tuesday that the suspension was coming.

Jefferson becomes a free agent in July after the three-season contract he

signed in the summer of 2013 expires. It is unclear how this suspension might affect the Hornets’ interest in re-signing him, but the team issued a statement saying it doesn’t condone Jefferson’s behavior.

“We are disappointed in Al’s decisions that led to this suspension. As an organization, we do not condone this behavior,” the team statement read.

“We have addressed this with Al. He is regretful and understands that we expect him to learn from this mistake.”

This is the second time the NBA has suspended a Hornets player. Last season the league suspended small forward Jeff Taylor 24 games after he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor domestic violence in Michigan. Taylor now plays for Real Madrid in Spain.

Jefferson was arrested for driving under the influence in outside Minneapolis when he played for the Minnesota T i m b e r wo l ve s.

The Timberwolves suspended him two games after that incident, and decline to reveal what the drug he took was.

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Thursday, December 10, 2015

C RO S S C O U N T RY

Smooth Operator UMass distance runner Ben Groleau’s laid back approach has resulted in personal success on and off the track

By Nick Souza Collegian Staff

Massachusetts senior distance runner Ben Groleau has always been a “go with the flow” kind of athlete, and so far it has served him well. The flow has carried him toward the Atlantic 10 conference record in the 1500 meter run in the 2015 outdoor track season, and the highest finish in program history for the Minutemen this fall at the A-10 cross country championship, coming in second place.

“I don’t really like to fight the natural flow of things, you usually end up in a lot of frustration if you do,” Groleau said.

While his naturally calm demeanor and laid back personality takes the stress off his own shoulders, it can also be a distinct advantage and even a weapon against his opponents. Few athletes can handle the combination of stress from practice, competition and school work, among other things, without having their performances suffer.

Groleau handles it with calm and grace.

“He has a rare type of athletic personality that allows him to approach everything with the same amount of energy, and it makes him an incredibly consistent performer,” UMass coach Ken O’Brien said.

Where the flow began It was Groleau’s father that

SHANNON BRODERICK/COLLEGIAN

Ben Groleau (center) competes in the Minuteman Invitational back in September. Groleau took 12th place overall in this meet. brought him to the sport of track, introducing him to running when he started school at Framingham High School. Groleau proceeded to become a four-time Bay State All-Star, Division I state champion in the mile and 1000 meter run over the next four years. He also held school records in the mile, 1000 and 800 meter runs.

However, it wasn’t just the results that caught O’Brien’s attention when recruiting Groleau in 2012.

“I got a chance to see his races online and what struck me was his flawless running stride and the way he handled himself during the race,” O’Brien said. “Our sport has always been objective when recruiting, but I typically like to recruit beyond just the results, I like to see the athletes warm up and compete.”

While he was seen as more of a mid-distance runner in high school, his mile time stood out the most. His running form was

just right for O’Brien to push Groleau further than he would for other runners that strain themselves more during races.

This process of moving to longer distances began slowly when Groleau arrived for his first year at UMass. It was also clear to his teammates and coaches that his personality matched his running style.

“He’s one of a kind, a little intimidating when I first meet him, but once he opened his mouth I

realized he was a big goof ball,” teammate Blake Croteau said.

“He’s the rotter in a winkle engine.”

Declaring as a mechanical engineering major when he arrived added the stress of a rigorous major along with being a varsity athlete. However, Groleau’s personality allows him to handle all of it in stride.

“The way I am, if I wasn’t running I would be doing something else with my free time, so it’s not that hard to balance it all for me,” Groleau said.

“A lot of my memories of him are the two of us being locked inside the engineering lab studying until 3 a.m.,” Croteau, also an engineering major, said. “He’s the kind of guy who will do homework for 12 hours and laugh about doing homework for 12 hours.”

Groleau’s record-setting performance last spring was a result that reflected the progress that he had been making his whole career, especially within the last year.

Against a loaded field of runners in the 1500 meter that included this year’s A-10 champion Steven Flynn of George Mason, Groleau set the conference record for best time.

O’Brien has noticed that Groleau has continually and consistently progressed as he has gotten older.

This success continued well into the fall season as well, as he established himself as the top runsee

GROLEAU on page 7

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Dillard’s four-point play helps Height advantage leads UMass knock off Hofstra Minutewomen to victory Minutewomen shut down Pride offense

UMass forwards “Alyssa came in and made a difference right play key role in win away with her rebounding, her athleticism,

By Adam Aucoin

By Jamie Cushman

Back on Nov. 18 in a game against Harvard, Cierra Dillard had the ball in her hands with the chance to secure a victory for the Massachusetts women’s basketball team. On that night, Dillard’s potential gametying shot rimmed out and the Minutewomen fell 67-65.

On Wednesday night against Hofstra (7-2), Dillard was in the same exact situation and this time, she came through.

With time ticking off the clock and UMass (3-4) trailing by three, the ball was in Dillard’s hands again when she put up a 3-pointer and was hit with contact. That millisecond was probably the longest in her life, as she looked on and saw her shot go down and heard the whistle blow for a foul. She then calmly stepped to the line and knocked down the free throw to put the game away, capping off a fourpoint play with just four seconds remaining.

With that exciting finish, UMass went on to beat the Pride 57-56 at the Mullins Center.

Dillard had one thing on her mind when she got the ball as time wound down: make the shot.

“I had been off, but coach just kept telling me to keep shooting,” said Dillard, who was 1-for-11 shooting before the shot. “I had a great screen from Alyssa (Lawrence) and a great pass from Bria (Stallworth), so they set me up pretty nicely for the shot and it went

Cierra Dillard’s gamewinning four-point play is what most people will talk about following the Massachusetts women’s basketball team’s 57-56 victory over Hofstra Wednesday night, and rightfully so.

Although Dillard’s shot will lead the highlight reel, the height advantage of the Minutewomen (3-4) helped keep the game close and put Dillard in position to win the game.

The Pride (7-2) starting lineup did not feature a single player over six feet with the team’s leading rebounder this season, sophomore forward Ashunae Durant, standing at just five feet 10 inches.

Durant came into this game averaging 10.3 rebounds per game and finished with nine in the defeat.

M e a n w h i l e, the Minutewomen star ting lineup included two players over the six-foot mark with senior forward Rashida Timbilla at sixfoot-one and center Maggie Mulligan at six-foot-two.

UMass also had two six-footers as a part of its bench. Sophomore Alyssa Lawrence (sixfoot-one) and junior forward Kymber Hill (sixfoot-two) both contributed solid performances in their reserve role.

The Minutewomen got out to an early lead, mainly due to Hofstra’s inability to shoot. The Pride shot just 18 percent

Collegian Staff

Collegian Staff

JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

Cierra Dillard’s (above) game-winner was just her second made shot for UM. down.”

Defense was the name of the game on both sides of the court in Wednesday’s contest.

Both teams struggled mightily from the field, especially Hofstra, which shot an abysmal 27.9 percent on field goal attempts.

That included a first quarter where the team shot 1-for-19 and scored just three points.

The Minutewomen shot better throughout the game, but they struggled a decent amount themselves, shooting only 37.5 percent from the field.

UMass coach Sharon Dawley was happy with her team’s defensive effort in the game.

“We were talking a lot about (Luciano) and (Loftus) going into this game and how dangerous they were,” she said. “Defensively we stuck to the plan and I think everyone that played did a great job. The only thing we didn’t do well was box out, but in general I thought this was our best performance defensively to date.”

A player who was giving the Minutewomen fits when they were on offense in the second half was six-foot-four forward Sandra Dongmo Jr. The junior finished tied with UMass forward Rashida Timbilla for most rebounds in the game, pulling down 12 boards. She also had four blocks on the day.

The win for the Minutewomen was a statement for the team, knocking off a Pride team that was 7-1. Dawley felt her team responded strongly after Hofstra made a comeback late.

“This team was 7-1 coming into this game, so they weren’t just going to roll over,” Dawley said. “During their comeback, we maintained our composure.

Amber (Dillon) was right there saying ‘we’re good white, we got this, let’s not let it go.’ I’m proud of the girls for staying up, staying positive, and executing the shot that ended up being the see

DILLARD on page 7

attacking the rim.”

Sharon Dawley, UMass coach

in the first half, helping UMass jump out to a 27-20 lead at the half.

When Hofstra mounted its comeback in the second half, the Minutewomen’s height a dva n t a g e became more important.

“I just thought our size came into play later in the game,” UMass coach Sharon Dawley said. “We did a better job against their duck-ins and we had a time where our box outs weren’t as good and as soon as we firmed that up, then we had a fighting chance.”

Bringing in big players like Lawrence and Hill off the bench gave UMass a decided advantage.

Dawley was impressed with the leadership that Hill put on display, rallying the team together and sacrificing her body for the good of the team.

“Down the stretch in that last six minutes her hustle plays were crazy good,” Dawley said.

Lawrence’s combination of speed and size also helped the Minutewomen secure their third victory of the year.

“Alyssa came in and made a difference right away with her rebounding, her athleticism, attacking the rim,” Dawley said.

“I’d be hard pressed to say there’s a lot of people that can stop Alyssa if she’s on offensively.”

Lawrence f inished with 14 points and nine rebounds while Hill fin-

ished with 10 points and six boards. The duo of Hill and Lawrence were at their best in the fourth quarter, contributing 12 of the 18 Minutewomen points in the final frame.

The lone exception to the Minutewomen’s height advantage was Hofstra’s junior center Sandra Dongmo. Dongmo, a 6-foot4 native of Cameroon, was clearly the tallest player on the court, and she took advantage of it.

Dongmo finished with 12 rebounds, including 5 offensive boards. Her ability to keep possessions alive offensively helped spark the Pride’s comeback.

“They had multiple possessions with multiple offensive rebounds, and that hurt us,” Dawley said.

“Their transition threes and their of fensive rebounding were their comeback.”

Hill was tasked with guarding Dongmo at various stages in the final frame. She used her technique and fundamentals to match up with Dongmo, despite giving up a couple of inches in height.

“For each possession I played her shoulder to shoulder because I know she’s a dominant post,” Hill said. “Every time she got the ball I’d go shoulder to shoulder.”

Jamie Cushman can be reached at jrcushman@umass.edu.