The Massachusetts Daily Collegian: September 12, 2017

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Tuesday, September 12, 2017

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University admin. building planned to be demolished Hills House will be parking space

By Caeli Chesin Collegian Staff

A University of Massachusetts Amherst administration building stands vacant, waiting for demolition. At 111 Thatcher Road, the stacks of aged brick and concrete will be removed to make way for new parking and campus facilities.

Hills House is the name of the four-story building constructed in 1960.

Originally a dormitory, over the years, it was converted to offices for a variety of departments.

According to University News and Media Relations Associate Director Daniel Fitzgibbons, the building is supposed to be torn down by the end of the semester.

Fencing has already been

By Jackson Cote Collegian Staff

Serving up a menu of “summer fresh pasta,” rice, kale and lavender vanilla cupcakes to vegetarians and vegans alike, Earthfoods Cafe reopened their doors for the first time since the end of the 2017 spring semester.

Now they will be whipping up their dishes in a more spacious and bright environment.

The cafe’s reopening on Monday, Sept. 11 not only served as a grand reopening, but also as a grand relocation, as the collectively student-run vegetarian and vegan restaurant moved from the ground floor of the University of Massachusetts Student Union to the Hatch, located in the basement of the Student Union.

Co-managers arrived at the new location at approximately 7 a.m. to prepare for the day and open their doors to customers at 11 a.m. However, in the summer, a small task force of Earthfoods co-managers had already begun working on the reopening. Tasks included relocating the cafe’s original equipment, buying and installing new equipment to the cafe and advertising the new location.

“It was an arduous process, and we’re seeing the fruits of our labor,” said Annie Higgins, a UMass senior public health major, who was on the task force and has been working at Earthfoods since she was a

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placed around the area, and according to University News Editor Larry Rivias, the site will be flattened and secured over the winter.

“It is a very inefficient, old building with a lot of problems, and it’s just not sufficient to keep running,” said Rivias.

Fitzgibbons explained that old buildings sometimes become incredibly hard to maintain; it would be more manageable to knock down a building and relocate offices rather than to continually put time and money into keeping it running.

The last offices to leave the space were College of Education offices, the Center for Counseling and Psychological Help (CCPH) and offices from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning. The College CAROLINE O’CONNOR/COLLEGIAN

see

DEMOLITION on page 2

Earthfoods Cafe holds reopening in Hatch space Co-managers greet UMass community

Serving the UMass community since 1890

freshman. “It was tiring, but I feel really invigorated by the entire thing.”

According to Higgins, the relocation was initiated in the middle of last year, shortly after a conversation between the co-managers during which the pros and cons of changing the location were discussed.

“We decided to move, because we liked the windows in here, we thought it was a lot more space, it’s closer to Blue Wall, so we thought that the people who hadn’t really seen it before might get a chance, and we might widen the community,” Higgins said.

To further expand the community, Higgins also made mention of the possibility of hosting events at the cafe.

“We’re still in the planning stages, but we’re hoping that with this space we can do a lot of new, cool events to kind of bring people here.

In the past, we’ve done poetry slams and things of that nature,” Higgins said.

For senior food science major Frank Martens, the relocation means an increased amount of space and more people walking through the cafe.

“There’s more foot traffic here, so a lot more people will find out about Earthfoods,” Martens said.

“It’s not fighting for a table, which is nice,” he added, recalling instances where he had to sit next to people he did not know because he could not find an empty table.

Martens — who works at Greeno Sub Shop, another student-run business on see

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Hannah Saleeba, beads instructor at the UMass Crafts Center, adjusts a metal clasp on a handmade necklace during a Crafts Center opening event.

UMass funds Amherst Fire Dept.

UMass dropped $80,000 for town B y Abigail C harpentier Collegian Staff

For the fifth consecutive year, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst will pay the town of Amherst an extra $80,000 to fund additional ambulance crews. These crews will serve from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., Thursday through Saturday, throughout the fall and spring semesters.

“This payment will supplement the robust commitment the town makes on a regular basis to ensure the safety and security of the students and staff at the university,” said Town Manager Paul Bockelman in a press release. “This is but one example of the strong partnership between the town and the university that has been forged over many years.”

Tim Nelson, fire chief of the Amherst Fire Department, said this extra funding will reduce stress on the system, especially because weekend nights usually have a high influx.

As the university is willing to work with the town to provide these services for UMass students, it’s a “win-win” for everyone.

“We know it is going to be busy in the early fall, late spring on Friday and Saturday nights. We know that, and most of it is going to be students going out and doing what students do… It is a great thing for both parties,” said Nelson.

Nelson also shared how this arrangement originated over lunch five years ago. Sketched on the back of a napkin, he and representatives from the university worked out the numbers and details on how they would go about the new plan.

The fire chief explained

that the university and its’ student body are often blamed for causing problems; in reality, only a few students need their services after drinking too much.

“Ninety-nine percent of the students here are here to learn and to have fun, and that’s great. It’s a good place to be. It’s a small percentage of folks here that are causing issues,” he said.

Like UMass and the town of Amherst, the Campus and Community Coalition are trying to find new solutions and strategies on ways to prevent high-risk drinking. It consists of administrators and public safety officials, elected officials, business organizations and representatives and community members from Amherst and Hadley, as well as UMass administrators. The UMass Executive Director of External Relations and University Events Tony

Maroulis thinks of it as “a science and solutionsbased partnership.”

Last year, the group created the Party Smart Registration, which allows off-campus students to register their party. If the party gets too big or noisy, Amherst Police Department will give the host a courtesy call and 20 minutes to break up the party.

According to Maroulis, the program “had a successful pilot during the 2016-17 academic year.”

The stated intent of the funding is to protect students. As Nelson stated, “We [the Amherst Fire Dept. and UMass] want this to be the best four years of students’ lives. We don’t want it to be the last four years of your life.”

Abigail Charpentier can be reached at acharpentier@umass. edu and followed on Twitter @abigailcharp.

Miss Texas’ answer to Pres. Trump

By Cassandra Jaramillo The Dallas Morning News

Miss Texas Margana Wood didn’t use vague language Sunday night when answering a question about President Donald Trump’s reaction to Charlottesville.

Now, she’s winning praise on social media for it, though she didn’t win the Miss America title.

“Last month, a demonstration of neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and the KKK in Charlottesville turned violent and a counterprotester was killed. The presi-

dent said there was shared blamed with ‘very fine people on both sides.’ Were there? Tell me yes or no and explain,” said Jess Cagle, a pageant judge.

Wood, a 22-year-old University of Texas graduate, had made it to the top five finalists of the competition and the final question round. Pageant questions and answers can often be cringe-worthy blunders, but in this case Wood’s bold answer was admired.

“I think that the white supremacist issue was very obvious,” Wood said, with-

out pausing before responding. “That it was a terrorist attack and I think that President Donald Trump should have made a statement earlier, addressing the fact and in making sure all Americans feel safe in this country. That is the Number One issue right now.”

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause after the response on television, then came the reaction on Twitter.

Social media users said that Wood condemned the white supremacists that turned the Charlottesville protests

deadly more fiercely than the president did.

As of Monday morning, Trump had no reaction to the pageant’s political question round. The Miss America Organization labels its contest as a scholarship pageant and requires each contest to have a personal platform. Trump had previously owned the Miss USA pageant until 2015.

Wood ultimately placed as fourth runner-up, and Miss North Dakota, Cara Mund, won Miss America 2018.

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Tuesday, September 12, 2017

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

In 1958, the United States Supreme Court ordered the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas to integrate

AROUND THE WORLD

Mexican earthquake death toll reaches 90

By Andrea Sosa Cabrios and Guadalupe Rios dpa

JUCHITAN, Mexico — The death toll from the magnitude 8.2 earthquake that struck southwestern Mexico last week has risen to 90, authorities said, as recovery efforts accelerated in the hardest-hit areas.

The quake - the strongest to hit Mexico in nearly a century - struck off the coast of Chiapas state Thursday, leaving hundreds of buildings in ruins and triggering multiple aftershocks.

Authorities in the state of Oaxaca said late Saturday that the number of dead had jumped from 46 to 71. Nineteen other people died in the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, bringing the total death toll to 90.

“The power of nature may be destructive, but the power of unity and solidarity of the Mexicans is far greater,” said President Enrique Pena Nieto on Saturday after visiting the quake-zone.

In Juchitan, a city of 98,000 people in Oaxaca, suffered some of the worst damage in the country.

Thirty-seven people died in Juchitan.

A team of volunteer rescuers sifted through the rubble in search of survivors, and to help authorities survey the damage and confirm the number of victims.

The volunteers, also known as “topos,” specialize in post-earthquake relief, and were first formed after the disastrous earthquake that struck Mexico City in September 1985.

On that occasion, an 8.1-magnitude earthquake left thousands of buildings in ruins, leaving an estimated 10,000 people dead and causing billions of dollars worth of damages.

The epicenter of Thursday’s earthquake was 435 miles from the capital. The distance, coupled with improved building safety codes since the 1985 disaster, ensured that the capital emerged relatively unscathed from Thursday’s high-magnitude quake.

MCT

QUOTE OF T H E D AY “Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A ‘you can do it’ when things are tough.”

Richard M. DeVos

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DEMOLITION

of Education offices were moved to Mark’s Meadows Elementary School, a town of Amherst school owned by the University. Offices from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning were moved to the new Design Building on N Pleasant St. The CCPH office was temporarily relocated to the second floor of Bartlett Hallwas moved .

According to an article from the Hampshire Gazette, UMass spokesperson Ed Blaguszewski said the Hills House is infested fromwith issues, from possible having possible mold andto basement flooding.

“It was really not a facility we wanted to keep students in,” Fitzgibbons stated.

According to Fitzgibbons, construction will be done by a contractor who will be responsible for removing the smaller building little by little using conventional equipment. After the demolition is complete, part of the space, according to

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Fitzgibbons, will become a parking lot for commuter students, and part will become a recreation area.

The Student Government Association has been working with Campus Planning project planner and interim director Douglas Marshall to brainstorm ideas for the space.

“We plan to utilize the space with some sort of recreational facility such as a field that students can use for sports… or just to hang around in,” said Anthony Vitale, Student Government Association student body president.

Students are welcome to contribute if they have any ideas they would like to pitch about what should be done with the rest of the space.

The email is for the Facilities and Campus services department at info@facil.umass. edu.

Caeli Chesin can be reached at mchesin@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @caeli_chesin.

Twin hurricanes could cost billions

By Emma Dumain McClatchy Washington Bureau WA S H I N G T O N — Repairing the damage from Hurricanes Irma and Harvey could cost hundreds of billions of dollars at a time when Republicans in Congress are reluctant to spend much on anything, particularly without a way to pay for it.

It could make passing disaster relief funding in the future a politically toxic exercise, even in the era of unified GOP government.

As authorities assess the damage in Harvey-ravaged Texas and Louisiana, and Irma continues to batter the southeast coast from Florida on up, it’s hard to tell how much money Congress will ultimately be asked to greenlight.

Joel Myers, president of AccuWeather, predicted Monday the cost of Irma and Harvey combined could reach a total of $290 billion. However, that includes costs for which the federal government is not responsible, such as lost personal valuables or destruction of homes that ought to be protected by insurance.

Insured losses in the U.S. from Irma could total between $20 billion and $40 billion, according to an estimate by insurance risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide.

There’s no precedent for how much government aid could be needed. Two Category 4 storms have never hit the United States in the same year.

And the storms hit some of the nation’s most densely populated areas.

The White House Monday also could not say how much it might need to address stricken areas.

“We’re trying to make sure we have responsible estimates as opposed to making wild guesses now,” Thomas Bossert, President Donald Trump’s homeland security and terrorism adviser, told reporters.

Lawmakers last week sent legislation to the president’s desk providing more than $15 billion in storm relief funds, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency said should be sufficient to provide disaster relief for at least a few months.

The measure may postpone the next debate over how much Congress should spend, but it doesn’t remove the possibility of a bitter political battle, with the administration expected to ask for as many as four emergency funding requests.

Congress could also be asked to raise the caps on how much money recipients of the National Flood Insurance Program can receive for dam-

aged property, which could prompt additional disagreements over what the federal government’s role should be in “bailing out” taxpayers.

Members have dealt with disaster aid in recent years and it’s often been ugly.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of Louisiana in 2005, Congress approved billions in aid that went largely to FEMA, which in the immediate aftermath was not equipped to handle much of the storm relief.

When Superstorm Sandy made landfall in New York and New Jersey in late 2012, President Barack Obama’s administration tried to apply learned lessons from the mistakes of the Katrina response.

Officials put together a targeted list of items that needed repair or attention.

Many Republicans in Congress were furious with the White House’s $60 billion proposal, accusing Democrats of trying to include in the legislation projects extraneous to the devastation at hand. GOP leaders held off on bringing the relief bill to the floor until early 2013, angering New York and New Jersey Republicans, who accused colleagues of regional bias.

This time, the dramatic confluence of two major back-to-back storms, and the request from a Republican White House to a Republican Congress, has so far made it easier for the staunchest of fiscal conservatives to go along with the initial funding. Also, unlike New York and New Jersey, Republicans make up vast majorities in states hit

by Harvey and Irma, including Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia and North Carolina and South Carolina.

Even Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., who calls the rising federal budget deficit one of the greatest threats to national security, said he was willing to pass a disaster relief bill without corresponding offsets.

“There’s nothing wrong with saying, ‘We’re running out of money so we’ll fill up the coffers,’ and coming back to the appropriations process later” to find offsets, Sanford explained. “It doesn’t have to be perfectly timed.”

The House voted twice last week on disaster aid. The first time, it approved a $7.9 billion plan, and virtually all Republicans voted yes. A few days later, though, Trump and Democratic leaders agreed on the $15 billion package, which also included a three month extension of the debt ceiling and government funding, the measure eventually signed into law.

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EARTHFOODS

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JESSICA PICARD/COLLEGIAN

Junior Talisha Yunen-Arias serves food at the newly reopened Earthfoods in the Student Union Hatch. campus — used to come to Earthfoods occasionally as a sophomore. Since he moved off campus last year, he has been coming to the cafe more consistently, as purchasing healthy food from the cafe works well with his meal plan and allows him to support a student-run, cooperative business model.

“I feel like if I go to Blue Wall, all of a sudden I have a brick in my stomach after, so it feels nice to not feel like that,” Martens said. “[Earthfoods is] definitely healthier, definitely aligns more with my beliefs. It just works out.”

However, for Martens, being in the cafe’s new space was still an adjustment.

He said, “It’s nice having window[s], but it still feels strange to me right now.

Maybe that will change.”

“The other location had a lot of history and identity to it,” said Thomas Gregg, a sophomore natural resource and conservation major, who has been working at Earthfoods for two semesters and was serving kale and rice to customers at the reopening.

But despite his fond memories of the previous location, Gregg agreed with

his coworkers that the new location would provide more space and potentially be more inviting to customers.

“I just hope we can recreate the culture the old room held for us, because it was really warm and inviting,” Gregg said, adding that, while hoping to expand their business, it is not a priority for the co-managers.

“We don’t want to deviate too much. We want to keep it comforting and keep it Earthfoods.”

Jackson Cote can be reached at jkcote@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @jackson_k_cote.

Congress delays solution to Dreamer dilemna after Trump support of repeal

By Alex Daugherty McClatchy Washington Bureau WASHINGTON—When President Donald Trump urged lawmakers to draft a new law that would stop him from deporting young people brought illegally into the country as children, Republicans and Democrats alike eagerly scrambled to make it happen.

Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., held a news conference to tout their “Dream Act” while Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., began pushing a bill they view as a compromise for conservatives who want to take a harder line against illegal immigrants.

But now - just one week later - much of that momentum is already gone.

The dynamics have completely changed on Capitol Hill. Two devastating storms landed Congress a multi-billion-dollar aid fight. Trump and congressional leadership want a big tax deal passed into law, and Republicans are still fuming about a separate agreement the president struck with Democratic leaders on the debt ceiling and government spending that hands the opposition party the advantage in negotiations on all of those issues.

Plus, Trump promised that if Congress fails to save the people known as Dreamers, he would readdress their predicament in six months, giving lawmakers even less incentive to get DACA on the docket in 2017.

And in Congress, six months is an eternity.

“I just never shook my eyes away from the shiny objects,” Tillis said when asked about his biggest priorities over the next few months. “We’ve got to work on health care, we’ve got to work on tax reform, we’ve got to work on infrastructure, we’ve got to be prepared to deal with disasters

when they come up.”

Absent from Tillis’ list: immigration.

“We’ve got to come up with a solution ... but we can’t all the sudden shift all of our focus and resources to this thing that needs to be accomplished because tax reform is that important.

Immigration is up there but we can’t shift our focus away from the thing that may get the most headlines over the next week.”

Overhauling the nation’s tax system will require a 2018 budget resolution, as Republicans are pushing to lower personal and corporate taxes through a process called reconciliation, which requires a simple majority in the Senate instead of 60 votes. But they can’t use reconciliation until they pass a budget, since the 2017 budget expires at the end of September.

That gives Congress three months to pass a tax overhaul if lawmakers are going to meet a soft goal set by senior Republicans to get some big legislative priority accomplished by the end of 2017.

“The enemy is time,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

It’s also substance.

Conservative Republicans are demanding that significant border security measures are included in any proposal that deals with Dreamers, and House Speaker Paul Ryan is well aware that angry conservatives conspired to oust his predecessor, John Boehner, over immigration.

“Our focus in Congress should be on the border wall, sanctuary cities,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, who represents a conservative district in the Florida Panhandle.

“I’m not a supporter of DACA because when you permanently invite child illegal aliens across the border you create other undesirable conditions.”

Moderate Republicans are backing a number of proposals, including the Dream Act and Tillis’ legislation. The Dream Act has dozens of Democratic cosponsors in the House. Tillis’ legislation doesn’t, though both Tillis and Curbelo say they’re in productive talks with Democrats.

“I’m trying to focus on building Republican support, because I think it’s very important for the White House and my colleagues to see that there’s a significant amount of Republican support,” Curbelo said.

Ryan has pledged not to bring legislation to the House floor that doesn’t have the support of a majority of Republicans, and Ira Mehlman, a spokesman with the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a group that opposes protecting Dreamers, described the Tillis-Curbelo approach as “kind of tokenism” for conservatives who want greater border protections.

Democrats are seeking to attach the Dream Act to any legislative vehicle over the next six months and are intent in forcing Republicans to vote against a proposal that enjoys widespread public support.

“The more exposure the bill gets, the issue gets, and the more uncomfortable we make Republicans by making them vote again, again and again,” said Lynn Tramonte, deputy director of America’s Voice, an immigrant advocacy group.

A solution for Dreamers is also challenged by the White House’s insistence that it come as part of a comprehensive plan. Lawmakers have tried that before, and those Republicans who did were hurt by the effort, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

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Tuesday, September 12, 2017

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Cost of opioid crisis ‘unbearable’ U.N. Security Council B y Michael E. K anell The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ATLANTA — The emotional cost was grueling.

And eventually, the financial cost became unbearable.

Lynn Massingill, 53, of Coweta County, Ga., said she’s spent tens of thousands of dollars to help two close relatives fight addictions to Percocet, a painkiller that combines oxycodone and acetaminophen.

Unable to kick their habits, they’ve constantly come to her for support.

“I don’t really have much now in savings,” she said. “But when it’s your family, it is hard to say no.

I won’t let them be without food.”

The opioid epidemic is taking a grim toll in overdose deaths _ more than the number caused by car crashes or guns. But as Massingill’s story shows it is also ravaging family finances and even, according to some experts, becoming a drag on the U.S. economy.

The epidemic has drained savings, wrecked retirement plans, pushed some homeowners into foreclosure and kept workers from earning a steady paycheck.

“This is an economic story, the story of the year,” said Jeff Korzenik, chief investment strategist for Fifth Third Bank.

“Maybe it’s the story of the decade.”

In Georgia, the danger and the damage are worst in the suburbs. Cobb County, for instance, was second only to Fulton in the number of overdose deaths last year.

Ty, 27, grew up in Cobb’s Powder Springs. He started using heroin six years ago.

“Every dollar I made I spent on opiates,” said Ty, who declined to provide his last name because of his fear that the stigma attached to the addiction would hinder his ability to find a job.

The Atlanta JournalConstitution has agreed to protect the identities of some of the addicts in this story.

His drug expenses quickly outpaced his income, and the cost rippled to his family. When he lost an apartment for not paying rent, he moved in with his grandmother. But he was more than just a free boarder. He sometimes simply took her money.

Sometimes he lied so she’d give it willingly.

“I’d tell her a story about my car being messed up and she’d give me $300 and it would be gone in two days,” he said.

When addicts are arrested, many families find it hard to walk away, and incur big legal costs.

“In the past ten years, I’ve probably spent two or two-and-a-half years in the county jail,” Ty said.

“My grandmother bonded me out of jail ten times at least. Cost her $200 to $600 each time.”

Even addicts who eventually beat the addiction often suffer relapses before they succeed, said Kim Keheley Frye, a Marietta attorney.

“You can almost guarantee a heroin addict is going to relapse. For the expense, it’s kind of a multiplier,” she said.

A possession charge for say, heroin, typically costs up to $10,000. And a user who gets swept up in the arrest of a big dealer can be charged under organized crime statutes. Hiring a lawyer to fight that typically costs up to $25,000.

Treatment, too, is hugely expensive.

After years of addiction, dealing and stealing from her family, Erinn Warren

went to a Statesboro treatment hospital. It cost $30,000 for 30 days, after which she moved to a “sober living” facility with a $1,500-a-month tab.

Warren, 30, had grown up in what she describes as a middle-class home in Marietta. She drank from a young age and was introduced to OxyContin at 16.

After cleaning up during her expensive treatments, she went back to drugging _ and through the costly cycle again.

Her family hit hard financial times. It’s hard to know how much was caused by huge bills for Erinn’s treatments, how much by family dysfunction and how much by a tough economy, but the plunge was steep: bankruptcy, foreclosure, the end of a marriage.

“What did I do to my parents’ marriage or their health problems?” she asked. “I think everything is related.”

She stole their cash, pawned their jewelry. She often used up to $1,000 worth of opiates in a day.

After overdosing and being brought back from death, she finally got clean.

It took months of treatment and yet another hospital stint.

“I’m still paying Kennesaw Hospital $50 a month,” she said. “For three more years now.”

Families with addicts also find themselves spending more on cars _ replacing them or paying for insurance after numerous accidents.

Justin Jackson, 28, went into the Navy an addict and emerged just as hooked. He went through hundreds of dollars a day in illicit drugs, paying for most of it by selling or delivering narcotics.

By the time he got clean, he had wrecked a car, two motorcycles and a truck he ran into a tree.

Now he manages a thrift store at The Zone, a Marietta community center for recovering addicts.

Misuse of legal, prescription drugs like OxyContin costs the nation at least $78.5 billion a year, according to a study by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

“But for the opioid epidemic as a whole, this is a very conservative estimate,” said Curtis Florence, a doctor and lead health economist for the center, part of the Atlantabased Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And note, he said: Heroin, one of the most destructive pieces of the epidemic, isn’t figured into the calculation.

“The cost of buying drugs is not in our data, unless it is paid by the insurer. And the study is about prescription opioid use ... not about illicit drugs.”

Economists lately have seen signs of the impact in broader metrics, such as credit card delinquencies, savings levels and a historically low labor participation rate.

Christine Farnum, 51, a former occupational therapist in Marietta, became addicted to pain medication after an operation when she was young, building up to a $300-a-week habit.

She has been in rehab 13 times, she said. She is clean now, but she doesn’t work and is one of more than 10.6 million Americans receiving disability for her physical and mental problems.

No one knows how many workers are on the job impaired, or how often companies lose worker time to a family member’s addiction. That affects productivity.

“Sometimes parents

have to take time off to make sure their kid goes to a doctor’s appointment, (or) that he goes to court,” said Missy Owen, executive director of the Davis Direction Foundation, a Marietta organization she and her husband founded to fight addiction.

She discovered in the summer of 2013 that one of her sons was an addict.

He stole from the family, pawning things and searching for a score, she said.

“So I sometimes had to leave the office to go home to try and find my son.”

He died from a heroin overdose in March 2014.

Labor participation, which measures the ratio of people in the workforce to the total population, has fallen since 1999. It has risen a little in the past two years but is still far below its earlier levels.

Korzenik, the Fifth Third Bank economist, said that if the rate was the same as in 2003, adjusted for population growth and baby boomer retirements, “we would have 3 million more people working.”

He believes half to threequarters of the difference 1.5 million to 2.25 million people - is drug-related.

“That is a troubling number,” Korzenik said.

It jibes with government estimates of the extent of the epidemic. More than 12.5 million people are using opioids for non-medical purposes, with 2 million to 3 million fully addicted, according to estimates from Department of Health and Human Services.

The issue of missing workers is not just a statistical curiosity. An acute labor shortage can dampen or even kill an expansion, Korzenik said.

“This will cause the business cycle to end.

Every business should care about this.”

The financial pain is most tangible for those closest to the crisis.

One Roswell woman said she frets about her grown daughter, clean for six months or so and staying out of state in yet another recovery facility.

She wanted to remain anonymous, partly to protect the company she founded and to protect her daughter’s privacy.

She has picked up the tabs for a week in detox, for longer stays in rehabilitation hospitals, for devices that undercut the need for drugs, and for medicines that repair the damage.

And then paid them again. And again.

A typical detox facility stay costs $7,500 a week. A rehab hospital runs from $15,000 to twice that for a month. She once paid $130,000 for a three-month stay.

“They know they are yanking at your heart strings,” she said. “You’ll pay whatever it is.”

All in all, she thinks she has spent more than $450,000 on treatments for her daughter’s addiction.

“I have to think about my retirement. I can’t spend everything I have,” she said, and paused. “But I would.”

OKs resolution for new North Korean sanctions

B y T racy W ilkinson

Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON— The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution to impose new economic sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear weapons buildup but the proposed penalties were weaker than the Trump administration had sought.

The 15-0 vote marks the second unanimous decision against North Korea in the weeks since it unexpectedly tested intercontinental ballistic missiles and an apparent hydrogen bomb.

After late-night negotiations Sunday with China, the U.S. delegation broadly weakened a sanctions proposal that Beijing was unwilling to support.

China’s cooperation is key to enforcing any sanctions.

The move shows the continued division among major world powers as they grapple with a government that has repeatedly defied U.N. resolutions.

The initial U.S. resolution had included a ban on oil exports to North Korea, which would have severely crippled the isolated nation’s economy, and a freeze on the personal assets of its leader, Kim Jong Un. But as China and Russia made their opposition known, U.S. diplomats backed down, agreeing to gradually reduce, instead of ban, oil exports to Pyongyang.

Exports of refined oil to North Korea will be cut in about half, to 2 million barrels annually, according to a U.S. diplomat involved in the talks.

The proposed freeze of Kim’s assets abroad was dropped altogether.

“It’s a negotiation,” the U.S. official said. “That’s where we landed.”

The official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, in keeping with State Department practices, said it was unlikely the North Korean leader had bank accounts, properties or other assets hidden overseas that could be seized.

The United States also stepped away from insisting that the U.N. authorize use of military force to interdict North Korean vessels at sea that are suspected of smuggling banned components for its nuclear or ballistic missile programs.

The U.S. side also backed off its proposal to require all countries to expel North Korean guest workers. Tens of thousands of North Koreans work in

Asia and the Middle East and send most of their earnings to the government in Pyongyang, a major source of the country’s foreign exchange.

The new resolution calls for firing 93,000 North Korean workers employed overseas when their contracts expire.

A U.N. ban on the export of North Korean textiles, one of the country’s fastest growing industries, stayed in the resolution.

Textile exports netted $726 million last year for Pyongyang.

Combined with previous sanctions, the official said, 90 percent of North Korea’s declared exports, including seafood, coal and textiles, will be embargoed.

He said he was confident that China and Russia were on board with the resolution, which he characterized as a “major step in increased pressure.”

Others saw the move as more incremental than substantial.

In August, the Security Council unanimously approved a resolution to impose sanctions intended to cut annual North Korean export income by a third, or $1 billion.

It is not clear how much of that has been realized, and how much of the current measure replicates some of those cuts.

So far, sanctions have done little to slow North Korea’s relentless progress in developing nuclear arms.

The Trump administration has repeatedly called on China, North Korea’s main trading partner and political ally, to put more pressure on Kim to refrain from further testing of nuclear and ballistic missiles.

Beijing’s willingness to do so has been spotty, and even when it has called on North Korea to stand down, Kim has gone ahead with missile tests.

The United States and China “have two fundamentally dif ferent purposes,” said Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, a San Francisco-based organization that promotes nuclear nonproliferation.

“The United States is looking for some sort of sanctions that will bring North Korea to its knees,” he said. “China does not want North Korea to collapse, but wants a stick to get it to the negotiating table. But the U.S. doesn’t want to go to the negotiating table.”

In July, after Pyongyang warned it might fire missiles toward Guam, President Donald Trump threatened to rain “fire

and fury” on North Korea.

He later said the U.S. military was “locked and loaded,” as if ready to attack the nuclear armed nation.

Others in the administration have pushed for diplomatic openings.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has suggested the possibility of dialogue - but only if Pyongyang first agrees to freeze its nuclear program.

South Korean officials were offended when Trump criticized its official approach of engagement with its northern neighbor as “appeasement.”

“There are many elements to consider beyond the military and strategic value of this issue,” South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said during a news conference in Seoul on Monday.

She said they included nonproliferation and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Last week, after North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, called for the toughest possible sanctions. She said North Korea was “begging for war.”

For its part, Pyongyang issued its own threat Monday before the U.N. vote.

The United States is attempting to “strangle and completely suffocate” North Korea, the country’s Foreign Ministry said, and Pyongyang “shall make absolutely sure that the U.S. pays due price.”

Speaking after the vote, Haley said the resolution “builds on what are already the deepest sanctions” imposed on North Korea.

But given its growing threat to the United States, “We are no longer trying to get North Korea to change its behavior, we are stopping it from (exercising) its behavior,” she said.

The British ambassador to the U.N., Matthew Rycroft, said the resolution showed the Security Council’s “determination to act.”

“Make no mistake: We are tightening the screw, and we stand ready to tighten it further,” he said.

BALKIS PRESS/ABACA PRESS/TNS

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting a Korean People’s Army unit in an undisclosed location.

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“Every work of art is an uncommitted crime.” - Theodor Adorno

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Editorial@DailyCollegian.com

Open-access textbooks would benefit students It’s around the time of year when I start buying text- homework systems. As a teaching assistant for an introducbooks. One thing I’ve learned from college is that you should tory genetics class, I’ve also come to realize that it’s simply never buy the textbooks in the course description until the not necessary to mandate proprietary textbooks if there are open-access alternatives.

Edridge D’Souza One company that’s making this more accessible is OpenStax, which provides free, open-access, peer-reviewed class has already started, in case the professors say they’re textbooks for many of the subjects that students take in not really necessary or that they can be substituted with their first two years of college. We used this in the genetics something else. In general, the second week of class is when class I was a TA for. However, we were not fully satisfied most of my textbook shopping occurs, and it’s a perennial with the content in the textbook, and supplemented it with hassle to University of Massachusetts students who navi- material from peer-reviewed journals provided by UMass’ gate the web of pricing, availability and shipping. institutional access. If a professor is sufficiently invested in Even once we’ve purchased the books, the process to use their students’ learning, then it isn’t necessary to adhere to the activation code to set up the online homework system is a single proprietary textbook when the same information is often difficult to navigate and frankly unreliable. The sites available for free. The information isn’t any worse, either. often depend on overly-complicated user interfaces and In fact, having the peer review of the entire field will likely require outdated technologies like Adobe Flash. I recall see- make open-access materials even higher quality. ing a few online homework websites that imposed character limits on users’ passwords, a pretty dead giveaway that those sites are saving passwords insecurely and thereby compromising students’ online security. When the online homework sites finally work, they’re often buggy to the point of being unusable. If I pay $35 for access to a website, I’d prefer that I spend more time on the educational content than on figuring out the website itself.

Why do we still do this? There doesn’t seem to be much Information wants to be free. There is no good reason of a reason for using proprietary textbooks and homework why introductory classes should require such ridiculous systems for our education. This is mainly a relic of the fact prices for their books. Even for online homework systems, that a few publishers maintain nearly complete control of there are freely available alternatives such as WeBWorK and the textbook market. This is also a reason why textbooks the ubiquitous Khan Academy. As a caveat, these systems are so unrealistically expensive. The textbook companies aren’t perfect. However, if academic communities directed have made it a de facto practice to require textbooks at their energy toward cultivating open-access resources for exorbitant prices, and because of the limited competition in the common good, it would greatly benefit those who are this market, they have little to no incentive to improve their troubled by the financial burden of current book pricing.

Even in fields with strong ties to proprietary educational products.

Think about it. How much has the study of calculus tools, there are usually freely available alternatives. Matlab, changed since it was discovered four centuries ago? At a software and programming language used heavily in engia beginner’s level, probably not very much. In that case, neering fields, can be replaced with GNU Octave without there isn’t a good reason why professors have to mandate much hassle at the beginner level. Wolfram Mathematica, the latest edition of Pearson or McGraw-Hill’s calculus which is also provided to UMass students via institutional textbooks, when an open-source alternative could get the access, can also be substituted for SageMath or Python. At job done just as well, if not better. I’ve been on both sides the beginner level, which is what most courses teach, there of this argument. As a student, I’ve often been frustrated by is no need to focus on advanced features. Most of the widelythe ridiculous price-to-quality ratio of textbooks and online used beginner features of all these products can function

“I’ve often been frustrated by the ridiculous price-to-quality ratio of textbooks and online homework systems.”

just as well in their open-source counterparts.

Now, as a concession, it is worth noting that this cannot be applied for every single subject. When taking upper-level courses in specific fields, it’s often necessary to buy a textbook by a specific author, or to use a specific type of proprietary software. In these cases, it’s unavoidable to require students buy textbooks. However, at least for the first two years of college, and for most general education courses, a sufficiently invested instructor would be able to structure a curriculum based around materials that anyone could access.

It’s not like these materials are lacking, either. In the current age of abundant information, the Internet contains resources for learning about virtually any topic.

OpenCurriculum provides open-access curricula for K-12 students. Even at the university level, there are abundant resources in virtually every subject. If instructors are willing to switch to these types of curricula, they can alleviate the financial burden on students, a burden which may be preventing students from fully engaging with the material.

Moreover, increased interest and investment in open-access material would make it easier for self-learners to study these topics, even outside a classroom or university setting.

We already live in a time when student debt takes up $1.3 trillion in a market where consumer debt has reached its highest ever point. Students don’t need extra burdens on top of their existing tuition, housing and living expenses.

Instructors should attempt to restructure their courses to require the purchase of as few educational materials as possible. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but much of the time, there’s clear room for improvement.

Right now, the switch to open-access educational materials would help remove some of the existing barriers to upward mobility, and would have lasting implications on future generations of students. Instructors should invest in open information. The knowledge is all out there on the Internet, but it’s massive and disorganized to the uninitiated. It’s up to our current generation of professors to refine this fire hydrant of information into a more usable, more maintainable water fountain.

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

Inclusive restrooms are vital for students’ safety After the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., University of Massachusetts Chancellor Kumble

Tess Halpern Subbaswamy sent a mass email to students and faculty, assuring recipients that “hate has no home at UMass.” He continued to write, “With the fall semester soon approaching, I want to reaffirm UMass Amherst’s commitment to ensuring a safe and welcoming living-learning environment for every member of our campus community…I am confident that no matter what we are confronted with we will remain true to our values of social justice, equity, and inclusion.”

But less than one week after hearing their chancellor declare UMass a “welcoming living-learning environment” that holds high the values of “equity” and “inclusion,” students living on the Spectrum Floor, the LGBTQ+ designated residential community in the Baker Residential Hall, discovered that the multi-stall gender-inclusive bathroom in their hall had been changed to one that is now solely for women.

That is not to say that only individuals who were assigned female at birth can use that restroom. On September 1, 2016, the office of the Massachusetts Attorney General released a document entitled “Gender Identity Guidance for Public Accommodations.” This document explains Massachusetts law regarding the discrimination and harassment that people face because of their gender identity, specifically focusing on the use of public restrooms.

The law “protects the right of all people – including transgender people – to use sexsegregated facilities that are most consistent with their sincerely held gender identity.” In other words, according to this law, students may use the newly labelled women’s restroom in Baker Hall as long as they identify as women.

But what if your gender identity isn’t consistent with the male-female binary that is present in most public restrooms, and is now present in Baker Hall? What if your “sincerely held gender identity” is not male or female, but somewhere in between, or somewhere not on this spectrum at all? Well, that’s where genderneutral bathrooms come in.

UMass has made great strides to accommodate those who choose to use g e n d e r- i n c l u s ive bathrooms, with 137 non-gendered bathrooms located in academic and service buildings on campus, in addition to gender-neutral bathrooms located in six first-year residential halls, one sophomore hall and five multi-year halls.

But that simply isn’t enough.

Imagine if you were a gender-nonconforming student, and you had a class in Lederle Graduate Research Center. In that 16-story building, there is not one genderneutral restroom. That same student may have a class in Morrill Science Center, but out of those four buildings there are only

two gender-neutral restrooms, and that pattern continues when one analyzes the number of gender-neutral bathrooms on campus. Over 100 inclusive bathrooms may sound like a lot, but on a campus this large, that is barely scratching the surface.

It’s also worth noting that all gender-neutral bathrooms now on campus are singlestall, and most are handicapped bathrooms, all of which are gender-neutral by design.

The multi-stall gender-inclusive restroom in Baker Hall was an important progressive display. Its’ reassigning is a very upsetting step back.

For people who are gender-nonconforming, many are left with the uncomfortable decision between refraining from using public restrooms at all or choosing to use one that they may feel uncomfortable in.

But even more than discomfort, gend e r- n o n c o n fo r m i n g individuals face violence and harassment when using public facilities that are segregated by gender.

In 2013, researchers analyzed the experiences of transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals in public restrooms and found that 68 percent reported experiencing at least one instance of verbal harassment, and nine percent reported experiencing at least one instance of physical assault.

So why was the gender-neutral bathroom in Baker Hall reassigned? Because of the

“But even more than discomfort, gender-nonconforming individuals face violence and harassment when using public facilities that are segregated by gender.”

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Plumbing Code.

According to this code, dormitory “toilet facilities, shower rooms and bathing rooms for males and females shall be separate and so designated.” By law, that one line of text is enough to prevent the university from building non-handicapped, gender-neutral restrooms in dormitories.

Now, I’m no expert on the politics of plumbing, but I find this explanation to be woefully unsatisfying. Is the Massachusetts Plumbing Code so final that a massive organization such as the flagship campus of Massachusetts can’t take a stand against its’ contents? Are the laws and regulations surrounding Massachusetts plumbing so set in stone that they must be abided by, without even the suggestion of an amendment?

The UMass administration was right to reaffirm their commitment to ensuring an environment that is safe and welcoming for all students and faculty, but now they must act on their commitment. Values of social justice, equity and inclusion are commendable, but the administration cannot forget that “inclusion” truly means the inclusion of all students.

UMass is more than a learning environment – it is a home. The administration needs to take a stand against antiquated policies that make students feel alienated and uncomfortable in their own living communities. Otherwise, their statement of inclusion is just empty words.

Tess Halpern is the Opinion/Editorial editor and can be reached at tjhalpern@umass.edu.

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The Massachusetts Daily Collegian is published Monday through Thursday during the University of Massachusetts 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 January 1994. For advertising rates and information, call 413-545-3500.

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Arts Living THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“You can’t be in love with a Google search.” - Taylor Swift

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Arts@DailyCollegian.com

EVENT

Amherst Coffee hoasts highly anticipated grand reopening Two-week-long coffee drought ends

By Gina Lopez Collegian Staff

Among sparkling beverages, warm comraderies and early fall showers, Amherst Coffee had its grand reopening event last Thursday from 4-7 p.m.

Folks of all ages gathered around to taste the newly expanded alcohol menu of draft beers, fine wines and even finer grilled cheeses (with artisanal Vermont cheese, but more on that later).

Some quickly visible differences in the newly refurbished space were the airy expanses in which people both gathered and tucked themselves away throughout the event. It felt like the type of place where you could go to catch up with a friend you hadn’t seen in a while, or shoulder down and get some homework done. Ash Crawford, ’who contributes to the familyrun business, commented that this was the design and atmosphere angle they were going for.

Crawford was heavily involved in, ) Mukunda Feldman’s, the owner and Crawford’s brother, pursuits to update the space since they first considered it years earlier. With the Chamber of Commerce’s recent move, it was the perfect opportunity for the pair to put their conversation in motion.

After carefully considering Amherst Coffee’s previous atmosphere and students’ practice of associating the shop “with a particular time in their life,” Crawford said the goal was to transition from a “complete study hall while reaching more people who were off put by the space as it was.”

In these efforts, Amherst Coffee is becoming a coffee shop in transition.

Welcoming in students from the hell-beaten ways of wicked professors and their lengthy assignments, and local townspeople to relax while sipping on something bubbly. It’s an attempt at the best of both worlds.

With this sentiment in mind, the buzz about Wi-Fi policies altering slightly can be confirmed. As before, upon entering the café, the Wi-Fi operates on a two-hour time window.

Now, that’s not to say that you can’t begin several different “time windows” and stay for longer. Where there’s a will there’s a way.

And where there’s a sullen college student on a tight deadline, the way is stronger even yet. The only firm deadline of sorts is the .. Wi-Fi shut off at 7 P.M. This decision was made to help transition the space into an accommodating night atmosphere with face-to-face contact, rather than screen time.

Because of some custom craftsmanship, done by local contractors Henry Wallace and Henry Whitlock, Amherst Coffee acquired wooden booths that some others and I were originally weary about.

Yet, after observing them in all their glory, it’s difficult to reject the comfort of familiarity.

Crawford commented on Amherst Coffee’s renovations, saying that the totality of the update was completed within a two-week time window.

Crawford said this made it possible for baristas to both collaborate their crafts at other local locations including Greenfield Coffee, Tart Baking Co. and Northampton Coffee, and also help organize AmCo’s space with their interests in mind.

Amherst Coffee’s side manager, Colin Seger, added that baristas were “finding homes for things

GINA LOPEZ/COLLEGIAN

Owner Makunda Feldman and barista Alex Callahan smile while handing out champage and oysters for guests at event. as they were being built,” while leaving the majority of the heavy-duty remodeling to the dynamic Henry duo.

In Seger’s near five-year span with the Amherst Coffee company (his official “workaversary” is in a couple weeks), he said that he’s occupied numerous roles behind the scenes. He has also observed a variety of floor plans, none of which he said come close to the newly decked out AmCo. Seger said, “not only is it a beautiful space, it’s highly functional for baristas” in comparison to the quiet cramping that they were victim to in the past.

On the opposite side of the counter, the newly acquired space seems to flatter the customer as well. With several new

GINA LOPEZ/COLLEGIAN

The new merchandise tower in the center of AmCo boasts bountiful brews.

seating options encircling the expanded bar, high-top tables framing the exterior and the aforementioned wooden booths amongst all this, it feels like a space for everyone.

Traveling hand-in-hand with these new expansions were some newly acquired positions. Seger confirmed that five to six new people were hired to help cover bar shifts in the evenings.

While Amherst Coffee doesn’t intend to be the place you bop to for dance parties, they’re ready to embrace the casual nightlife crowd.

It’s also important to notice the relocation of the brand’s merchandise.

Now exists, front and center, a retail tower including Chemexs in varying brewing sizes, Tart Baking Co. travel mugs, T-shirts and other knick-knacks alongside a variety of earthy and robust brews for purchase.

Before, these items existed within some internal shelving behind the bar, making it difficult for customers to observe the retail and branding potential of Amherst Coffee as a whole.

Local businesses including Osteria Vespa, downtown Amherst’s taste of the Mediterranean, are extremely excited about the shop’s expansion and continued dedication toward creating a fresh

café’s changes saying, “[I] haven’t been here without a lot of people filling the space, but it hasn’t changed too much to me.”

Turning to Amherst Coffee for her morning cup of joe when she’s on this side of the river, Tuttle says her go-to pick-me-up is a cappuccino (a word she learned to spell from her mother when she was young, out of its obvious importance).

Looking around me, I couldn’t help but notice the pleasant chatter, open door and inviting smiles of the staff hustling and bustling around with oysters and champagne. The gathering felt similar to that of an upscale indoor garden party.

Naturally, before I concluded my stay at AmCo, I made a point to try the much talked about grilled cheese. Let me set the scene by saying, if it weren’t ultimately frowned upon by employers, I may list “grilled cheese connoisseur” on my resume, so you could say the ante was up.

All I can say is Crawford’s earlier proclamations that it was a grilled cheese “I wouldn’t find anywhere else,” rang truer than true to me. Artisanal cheese in general is a borderline religious experience, and somehow this took it a step farther.

But let the grilled cheeses, draft beers, fine wines and newly spiffed-up space do the talking for itself.

I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

and impressionable space for people of all ages.

In fact, Osteria Vespa held several pour-over events prior to AmCo’s grand reopening in an effort to help locals process the treacherous two-week coffee drought. That’s twoweeks too long for any coffee-loving person I know.

Complementing the sleek industrial-ness that has become AmCo on the night of the grand reopening were student performers Matt Twaddle, a junior Jazz performance major and Jack Griffin, a senior finance major, who looked overjoyed to be jiving together in such a renewed space.

Alice Tuttle, a Northampton resident and consistent AmCo customer who stumbled upon Gina Lopez can be reached at the event, spoke about the gmlopez@umass.edu.

GINA LOPEZ/COLLEGIAN

The wine/ espresso bar at AmCo have expanded to accomodate more baristas.

C U LT U R E

Is Amazon putting brick-and-mortar stores out of business?

Model threatens market domination

By Tiffany Khuu Collegian Correspondent Recently, online superstore Amazon has been establishing itself as a strong contender in the competition for customers. Shoppers can’t resist the low prices, free shipping and returns and the quick buying process Amazon offers.

As a result, brick and mortar stores are suffering—and this may be just what the retail giant planned all along.

Amazon has been on the hunt for more businesses to take over, with the newest addition to its collection being Whole Foods. After finding less than satisfactory profits from its online grocery store, AmazonFresh, the company pursued a deal with Whole Foods. This buy allows Amazon to become a major leader in the produce market,

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMAZON OFFICAL FACEBOOK PAGE

Amazon has contined to enjoy huge sucess since they purchased Whole Foods. as well as increase its brickand-mortar locations.

President Trump expressed his disapproval of Amazon’s actions via Twitter, stating: “Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt – many jobs being lost!” --@realDonaldTrump.

Indeed, lost jobs are a concern, as ecommerce is credited with putting department

stores out of business. One hundred and eighty Sears and Kmart stores have closed their doors this year, and more locations are scheduled to follow suit in the near future. This past June, Sears reported 400 employee layoffs.

The retailer also plans to start selling some of its products on Amazon, perhaps in an effort to stay relevant.

However, there are major draws to doing business

online instead of in store.

Labor costs decrease drastically, as there is no need for hourly sales associates.

Ecommerce also eradicates the risk of financial losses due to product theft, along with expensive space rentals in shopping malls.

Not to mention the major appeal of convenience brought to customers by Amazon.

Younger generation’s affliction for online shopping has steadily increased alongside social media and online usage in general. According to Forbes Magazine, millennials are actively changing the way online shopping is done both on the go and at home.

On the other hand, Amazon’s continued success will depend on consumers’ buying habits. Some research suggests ambiguity in millennials’ shopping habits, due to the fact that some prefer to shop at physical stores rather than on the internet. This is because of the desire to try

clothing on or see other items in person to determine value.

And while shoppers do browse the aisles of stores, they often take out their phones and price check products against other vendors to find the best bargain. One go-to source for consumers is, you guessed it: Amazon.

If customers discover the same item, or even a similar one, on Amazon for a lower price, they will obviously opt for the cheapest one, which has recently generated some controversy as big name stores fight to compete with Amazon’s affordable prices.

For all sakes and purposes Amazon is upping the ante.

An issue Amazon faces is complaints about quality. Not every vendor on the site is reputable or trustworthy, and customers have complained about receiving products that look nothing like their photos. Because Amazon is online, shoppers often do not have the option of viewing the

product, aside from the often idealistic photos, before buying them.

This is another issue Amazon has set out to eradicate in their “try before you buy” initiative that applies to Prime members. According to CNN tech, Amazon members subscribed to their Prime service are able to try “three or more items” in their ‘Prime Wardrobe Box’ before they officially keep or purchase the items. This helps to eliminate some buyers’ discontent around disproportionate or disappointing final products.

At the end of the day, there’s no doubt about Amazon’s economic prowess and moves towards becoming somewhat of a monopolistic powerhouse in the current economy, much to some big department and grocery stores’ demise.

Tiffany Khu can be reached at tkhuu@umass.edu.

6

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Comics

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aquarius

HOROSCOPES Jan. 20 - Feb. 18

Sticks and stones may break your bones, but student loans are debilitating.

pisces

Feb. 19 - Mar. 20

Low-fat bran muffins are good for your health, but high-fat blueberry muffins are good for your soul.

aries

Mar. 21 - Apr. 19

taurus

Apr. 20 - May. 20

gemini

May. 21 - Jun. 21

With such warm weather, noody will expect to be hit by a snowball. You did save a few in your freezer, right?

On one hand, grave robbing is illegal and morally wrong. On the other hand, human skulls make excellent conversation starters.

Don’t let your complete lack of pitch, tempo, rhythm and musical talent in general stop you from trying out for every a capella group!

cancer

Jun. 22 - Jul. 22

You should really think about taking up another class.

You sleep too much.

leo

Jul. 23 - Aug. 22

It’s nice that Grab ‘n’ Go gives you a free paper bag so you can hide your face in shame.

virgo

Aug. 23 - Sept. 22

The scales are tipping in your favor.

Maybe lay off of Berk for a while.

libra

Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

scorpio

Oct. 23 - Nov. 21

Life hack: Instead of spending money on expensive textbooks, just borrow someone else’s and memorize the whole thing.

Look in the mirror and smile! It’s a great way to start the day, even if your reflection doesn’t show up at all!

sagittarius

Nov. 22 - Dec. 21

capricorn

Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

Add/Drop is coming up soon. I recommend dropping all your classes. If they come back, it was meant to be.

The bus schedule is too confusing. You need at least a bachelor’s degree to even try to commute.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

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Tuesday, September 12, 2017

7

MLB

Koji Uehara’s remarkable journey to the MLB The pitcher is in his 19th pro season B y K.C. Johnson Chicago Tribune

You don’t need a translator to understand Koji Uehara’s humility.

Just look at his clubhouse locker. A symbol of it hangs there before every game: His No. 19 jersey.

At 19, Uehara found himself out of baseball and out of school, working as a security guard and studying. From there, his goal of becoming a high school physical education teacher, much less a major-league pitcher, might’ve seemed distant.

Never theless, here Uehara is, in his 19th season of professional baseball, one season away from reaching his latest goal of matching his 10-year Japanese career with the same stateside.

His jersey number does not represent this season.

It’s to represent the one long ago when he didn’t play, when he was 19.

“Unbelievable,” Uehara says in English, the only time he uses the language and bypasses his longtime translator to cut off a question about his long and winding career.

It may be so if not for a bookend quality to his humility _ work ethic.

Here is Uehara, 42, stretching before a recent road game. Here he is warming up by playing long toss with uncanny precision. Here he is following a pregame routine that recently had to incorporate an interview request.

“Koji says he will be ready in 10 minutes,” says C.J. Matsumoto, the aforementioned longtime translator.

Exactly 10 minutes later, Uehara stands in front of his locker in a long-sleeve T-shirt, the No. 19 jersey behind him, his gaze ahead.

Most attempts to lead him down Memory Lane _ this is, after all, the author of one of the most dominant postseasons in recent history _ are met with similar forward thinking.

“Deciding what my career means is probably something that I shouldn’t decide, that people on the outside should decide,” Uehara says through Matsumoto. “I really don’t care how people view my career. I just concentrate on my performance and what I have in front of me.”

Don’t misunderstand.

An answer that may read as cold and unfeeling is actually more about the energy and effort it takes for Uehara to continue playing the game he loves.

This is a player who has threatened to separate shoulders with the force of his celebratory high-fives.

“The pure joy that I feel when I play baseball, that I feel towards baseball, that passion drives me,” Uehara said. “The fact that I feel that any day my baseball career might end, the focus that I bring to baseball just comes out that way.”

At 3-4 with a 3.98 ERA in his one-year deal with the Cubs, Uehara is no longer the virtually unhittable force that helped the Red Sox win the 2013 World Series. But even in his role as setup man rather than closer, he remains a respected teammate, trusted enough by manager Joe Maddon to log 49 appearances.

“He’s still doing this like we are and we’re in our 20s,” says fellow bullpen mate Mike Montgomery, 28. “It’s like, ‘Damn, if only I can be around at that age still doing it.’ It shows you his habits and his work ethic and eating _ everything he does _ is working.

If you’re still around doing this at 42, you’ve done something right.”

Uehara admitted he never could’ve imagined

any of this as he played outfield at an Osaka, Japan, high school, where he was teammates with the more celebrated Yoshinori Tateyama. After not passing the country’s notoriously difficult entrance exam for universities, Uehara spent that year outside of baseball studying and working.

He eventually matriculated at an Osaka university not known as a baseball powerhouse and began pitching because his coach encouraged players to pick their own positions and because he enjoyed it.

“At that point, my goal was to play four years in college,” Uehara says.

“That’s it.”

But his live arm and strong command led to the well-known Yomiuri Giants drafting him. And he won 20 games as a starter in his rookie year in 1999.

That started an impressive Japanese career in which he won two Sawamura Awards _ Nippon’s Professional Baseball equivalent of the Cy Young award _ earned eight All-Star designations and even struck out Barry Bonds three times in a 2002 exhibition.

In 2009, he signed with the Orioles and went 2-4 in 12 starts. He hasn’t started a game since.

Uehara saved 13 games for a 96-loss Orioles team in 2010. But the Rangers left him off the 2011 World Series roster when, after acquiring him for Chris Davis in July, he got roughed up in the postseason.

Posting a 1.75 ERA for the 2012 Rangers created less headlines than his injuries; he made just 37 appearances.

And then came 2013.

Uehara signed as a free agent with the Red Sox. When new closer Joel Hanrahan and former closer Andrew Bailey suffered season-ending inju-

ANTONIO PEREZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS

Chicago Cubs pitcher Koji Uehara throwing a pitch on the mound at Wrigley Field.

The pure joy that I feel when I play baseball, that I feel towards baseball, that passion drives me.” “

Koji Uehara ries, manager John Farrell turned to Uehara, whose split-fingered fastball suddenly turned sublime.

At one point in the regular season, he retired 37 straight hitters. In the postseason, he earned MVP honors for the championship series, saved seven games and finished 13, including the World Series-clinching victory.

He allowed one run in 132/3 innings.

The chants of “Koji!

Koji!” that preceded his game-ending strikeout at Fenway Park may still be echoing.

“That thrill probably was for the fans,” Uehara said. “But it was my first year there so I was just focused on my job.”

Notice a theme here?

Uehara offers a similarly no-frills answer when asked what in his personality allowed him to handle getting moved from onetime folkhero closer to setup man for the Red Sox in 2016.

“Who decides where I pitch isn’t up to me,” he said. “I just do my best and leave all those kind of decisions up to the manager.”

And this season?

“Performance-wise, I would say it’s so-so,” he said. “I haven’t pitched the way I know I can.”

Uehara is still surviving on what got him here _ the tricky splitter and high fastball, even if the latter never has broken radar guns.

“He’ll always joke, ‘88,’ meaning (miles per hour on) his fastball,” Montgomery said. “But he’s still blowing his fastball by people at 88. We’re like, ‘Koji, you going to hit 90 today?’ And he’s like, ‘No chance.’ It’s very fun.

He gets it. He knows what he’s good at.

“I played catch with him one time. He’s just so consistent. How he pitches is really unlike many people in the game. He throws the

high heater and the splitter. And he executes that better than most anybody.

It’s cool to see how he knows what he is and stays within that.”

Montgomery said Uehara understands English more than he speaks it, particularly when the language is baseball. After some initial hesitation, Montgomery said Uehara even has partaken in some of the Cubs’ bullpen dance-offs.

That’s a sign of a veteran who still loves what he does.

So when will Uehara know it’s time to retire?

“Probably when the teams don’t offer me a contract in the offseason,” he said.

And perhaps not surprisingly for someone whose perseverance has been based on such practicality, he doesn’t that envision that end to be a difficult day.

“Not really because I always feel in the offseason that it could be my last,” he said. “That’s why I always play with such love for the game.”

N AT I O N A L F O O T BA L L L E AG U E

NFL appeals injunction Hard Rock Stadium searched toward Elliott court case for serious damage post-Irma League hopes to reinstate suspension B y C larence E. H ill Jr .

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The NFL has appealed Dallas Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott’s preliminary injunction to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans in hopes of reinstating his six-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

The question now is whether the NFL will file for an emergency “stay” of Judge Amos Mazzant’s injunction, pending the outcome of the appeal.

Per Daniel Wallach of the Sports Law Blog, the average duration of an appeal in the Fifth Circuit is 8.8 months, from the date of the filing of a notice of appeal to its ultimate disposition.

But a “stay” would prevent the injunction from going into effect throughout the outcome of the appeal, thus forcing Elliott to begin serving his sixgame suspension immediately.

It could make for another frenzied week of legal maneuverings and court proceedings for Elliott.

The NFL must first ask Mazzant for an emergency stay of his own decision

before officially being able to ask for relief of the stay from the court of appeals in advance of Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos.

Elliott won Round 1 last week when Mazzant granted the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, citing that Elliott did not receive a fair appeals hearing before league-appointed arbitrator Harold Henderson.

Mazzant ruled that Elliott would suffer irreparable harm if the suspension took effect while the legal case plays out and that Elliott also met the other criteria necessary for an injunction.

He and the Fifth Circuit would have to reverse the decision based on the same reasoning, citing irreparable harm to the NFL if he didn’t serve the suspension immediately.

Elliott made his 2017 debut on Sunday night, rushing for 104 yards in the Cowboys’ 19-3 victory over the New York Giants.

But he understands the fight with the NFL was not over and there was no guarantee he would be on the field for the entire season.

“It is what it is,” Elliott said after the game in what were his first public comments since June. “I’ve kind of just stopped wor-

rying about it because it’s really out of my hands at this point. I’m just happy I’m able to be with these guys for as long as it’s permitted and just not having to miss time and not being away from them.”

Elliott was suspended on Aug. 11 after the NFL concluded a 13-month investigation into domestic violence accusations of former girlfriend Tiffany Thompson.

Columbus, Ohio, prosecutors declined to pursue charges because of conflicting and inconsistent information.

Elliott, 22, said he’s looking forward to finally getting “a fair trial.”

“I finally get a chance to prove my innocence,” Elliott said.

Playing football again and notching the eighth 100-yard game of his career Sunday night against the Giants was easy.

The hard part?

“Just kind of your name being dragged through the mud,” Elliott said. “I mean, it’s been, like I said, 14 months. Just kind of being associated with that.

That’s tough.”

Dolphins forced to evacuate Miami

By Chris Perkins Sun Sentinel

Some Miami Dolphins players are arriving in Southern California on Monday as the team prepares to have a meeting Tuesday and practice Wednesday at the Dallas Cowboys’ training camp facility in Oxnard, Calif. The Dolphins are hopeful every player will get there, but there’s no guarantee each can complete his journey due to Hurricane Irma-related travel disruptions.

In the meantime, the Dolphins inquired with the NFL about moving their Oct. 1 game in London against New Orleans to Hard Rock Stadium, but the league said the game must stay in London according to a source. The Dolphins haven’t yet been able to assess damage to the stadium from Hurricane Irma, but they have a contingency plan to practice next week in West Virginia if their training facility in Davie, Fla., sustained significant hurricane damage.

A possible tornado was reported near Hard Rock Stadium during Hurricane Irma, and structural engineers will inspect the complex for potential damage, a league source said.

Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers now

serves as the Dolphins’ season opener after last week’s game against Tampa Bay at Hard Rock Stadium was rescheduled for Nov. 19.

Players who fled Hurricane Irma and/or used the postponed game as a bye week are traveling from many parts of the country to reach Southern California, but whether they arrive Monday depends largely on whether they were able to get a ticket, which airport they’re departing from, and which airport they land.

Owner Steve Ross flew many players, staff, coaches and their families to Southern California on Friday night to escape Hurricane Irma.

Ross flew another group to Southern California on Saturday. He’ll fly the families back, at his expense, when it’s deemed safe.

Other players, however, with team permission, departed for destinations of their choice.

Meanwhile, coaches and staff in Southern California are preparing to have a normal week heading into the Chargers game.

Because of the postponed Tampa Bay opener, the Dolphins won’t play at Hard Rock Stadium until Oct. 8, at the earliest, when they’re scheduled to host Tennessee.

The Dolphins visit the New York Jets on Sept. 24 and then play the Saints in London.

The Dolphins, who are hosting Super Bowl LIV in

2020, agreed to play in London this year as part of a NFL resolution that states teams must play an international game within five years of being awarded a Super Bowl.

Ross had more than $500 million of renovation work completed during the offseason and the stadium was said to have been built to withstand a Category 4 hurricane. Irma wasn’t nearly that destructive as it swept across South Florida on Sunday but the stadium still must be inspected.

The training facility must be inspected, too.

If the training facility is damaged, the Dolphins would practice in West Virginia in preparation for their Sept. 24 game at the New York Jets.

If the Dolphins are forced to practice away from home prior to the Jets game they’d have an early-season odyssey that includes practicing in Southern California, then playing the Chargers in Los Angeles, then traveling to West Virginia for a week, then going to New York to play the Jets, then, hopefully practicing back home in South Florida before traveling to London to face the Saints.

And after all that they’d return home again for what is now the home opener — the Oct. 8 game against Tennessee.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Sports@DailyCollegian.com

@MDC_SPORTS

MEN’S SOCCER

UMass seeks win in Dartmouth Minutemen vie for NE bragging rights Big Green to host UMass men’s soccer B y Amin T ouri Collegian Staff

KATHERINE MAYO/COLLEGIAN

Junior defender Dylan Cranmer (15) weaves and dribbles the ball past a Boston University defender during Saturday’s 1-0 victory.

“I think it’s the comMinutemen look for mitment from the playO’Leary said when another strong start ers,” asked what about his team

By Thomas Johnston Collegian Staff

In his first two seasons as head coach of the Massachusetts men’s soccer team, Fran O’Leary’s side followed a similar pattern of starting the season slow, then finishing strong. The slow start has handicapped the Minutemen in the past, as they dug themselves in too deep a hole to overcome year after year.

The focus going into this season was to break that pattern, and get out to a hot start in their nonconference games.

UMass (3-1-1) has done that thus far. With big wins over St. Francis and Boston University, O’Leary’s squad has started the season on the right foot. This start can be attributed to the work the team did during an offseason in which O’Leary and his staff changed the way they prepare for the season.

FOOTBALL

Minutemen travel to Philly to face Owls

By Philip Sanzo Collegian Staff

We’ve talked about it a lot.

The Massachusetts football team has been flat out bad in its first three games, resulting in a 0-3 start.

The defense failed to hold a second half two-touchdown lead in the Minutemen’s first game a g a i n s t Hawaii.

In their first Football Bowl S u b d iv i s i o n Philip Sanzo game, Coastal Carolina ran all over the UMass en route to a 38-28 win. And against Old Dominion, a team that put up 36 points against the Minutemen a year ago, the offense stalled from the opening kickoff to the final seconds of the 17-7 defeat.

So that brings us here.

UMass in a 0-3 hole to start the season with the most dangerous part of its schedule looming ominously in

changed from last season.

“We looked at everything.

The summer conditioning programs, the players looked at their commitment levels, their nutrition, rest. All the credit goes to our players. They put in the work this offseason.”

The work has been noticed on the field. The Minutemen committed themselves to being in better shape, and have found it easier to compete later in games.

“Nobody has outdone us with fitness,” O’Leary said. “Our work ethic has been very good. If we’re going to be successful, we have to play with a high tempo, and in order to play with a high tempo, you have to have good fitness and endurance levels.

Our exertion levels during games are a credit to our players and the work they did over the summer.”

UMass will look to carry their recent success into New Hampshire Tuesday

night, as it takes on the Dartmouth Big Green.

While Dartmouth (1-20) haven’t gotten off to the start they had hoped for, it is about as good a team as the Minutemen will face all season. Last season, the Big Green won their third consecutive Ivy League championship, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament where they fell to Syracuse. O’Leary understands the challenges of defeating the Big Green.

“It will be a tight game,” O’Leary said. “They’re a very well-coached team.

They’re a top team. I think in the RPI (Rating Performance Index) last year they were a top 25 team. This is one of, if not the, top team we will play this year, so we will really have our hands full.”

When the Minutemen are clicking, they can play with anybody. In the draw against Columbia, you would hardly have been able to tell that Columbia was the team playing in the NCAA tournament a season ago, rather than UMass.

But when the Minutemen are off, things can get ugly very quickly. They saw this during their last trip to New Hampshire, when UNH was able to take a 1-0 game and turn it into a threegoal thumping during the final 10 minutes of action.

If the Minutemen are going to come away with a victory, they know they have to play one of their best games of the season for a full 90 minutes. If not, a team as talented as Dartmouth could make it a long ride back to Amherst.

“If we’re on, we’re a difficult team to beat,” O’Leary said. “If we’re a yard off or a little bit slack, we could be turned over bad. Our guys have done a terrific job at bringing their finest effort to the field, game in and game out. If we do that, we’ll give Dartmouth a strong game. If we’re a yard off, we’re in for a very long night.”

Thomas Johnston can be reached at tjohnston@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @TJ__Johnston.

bit of the season nationally ranked.

The Minutemen will truly be tested on Tuesday, but it wasn’t long ago that they simply expected to be throttled by teams like UNH and Dartmouth. In recent years, more and more recruiting battles have been won by UMass, and O’Leary gives much of the credit to the university itself.

“I think there’s a couple of things happening,” said O’Leary. “UMass has exploded academically the last few years, absolutely exploded. So it now has a national and probably international reputation. That’s huge for our recruiting.

We’re getting emails from all over the world, all the way out to the West Coast expressing interest. That’s thanks in large part to the academic explosion here.”

A combination of academic strength and recent program success has transformed the Minutemen into real players in the recruiting world. Now some of the top players in the state, like Belchertown’s Alex DeSantis and Amherst’s own Davis Smith, along with quality international players like Germany’s Konrad Gorich and England’s Connor O’Dwyer, are flocking to Amherst to play, learn and grow.

“Now, we’re able to string some results together,” O’Leary says. “We’ll always lose some to other teams, but the combination of a world-class education with a team on the rise will put us in the mix for many good players in this area.”

For the first time in a long time, UMass isn’t a pushover on the New England collegiate soccer scene, and it will look to showcase that growth against the Big Green on Tuesday night.

Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. in Hanover, New Hampshire.

The Massachusetts men’s soccer team will open conference play at the end of the month, but before the games have really started counting, the Minutemen have been chasing bragging rights against some regional rivals.

After a 3-0 loss to No. 24 New Hampshire (4-01) last Tuesday and a 1-0 win over Boston University (0-5-0) on Saturday, UMass (3-1-1) continues a slate of local opponents with a trip to Dartmouth (1-2-0) on Tuesday night.

Following the Dartmouth match, the Minutemen will host Colgate (3-3-0), before facing Central Connecticut (2-3-0) and Hartford (1-3-1) to make it five New England opponents in six games.

Of the fall’s non-conference matchups, the regional contests mean the most.

“You like to be competitive,” says UMass coach Fran O’Leary. “These are fine teams we’re playing against. I think now over the course of time we’ve gone from not being competitive in these games to being competitive, and now the next step—we’re starting to win some of these games. It’s all credit to the guys, but it’s always nice to string results together against our New England neighbors.”

Their record may not reflect it, but the Dartmouth Big Green are one of the finest sides UMass will see all season. They won their third consecutive Ivy League title in 2016—the first team in more than three decades to three-peat in the Ivies—before making a trip to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Dartmouth’s first loss of the season was a hardfought 1-0 loss to No. 13 Amin Touri can be reached at Michigan State, a team that atouri@umass.edu and followed on is likely to spend a good Twitter @Amin_Touri.

Why UMass CAN Beat Temple the future. But before they play the likes of Tennessee, Ohio, South Florida and Mississippi State, the Minutemen travel to Philadelphia to play Temple.

Last time the two met, the Owls edged-out the Minutemen 25-23 on a late field goal at Gillette Stadium in 2015.

Since then, the Owls have been to back-toback American-Athletic Conference championship games, winning the conference last season, and have appeared in two bowl games.

But in its first two games of 2017, Temple has been scuffling. The Owls dropped their first game to Notre Dame 49-16 and narrowly escaped Villanova, a Football Championship Subdivision team, with a 16-13 victory.

This leaves them with one game against UMass before entering conference play.

The Minutemen have shown signs of life on each side of the ball, just never at the same time. With that said, Temple, a team also struggling to find its way, could be UMass’ last chance to amend its weaknesses.

Here’s why they can do it: Defense needs to show up, especially the secondary.

On Old Dominion’s first play from scrimmage Saturday afternoon, defensive lineman Da’Sean Downey marched into the backfield and welcomed quarterback Blake LaRussa with a sack.

Despite being on the field for a majority of the contest, the Minutemen defense put up its best performance of the season against a team known more for its run game than its pass game.

With the exception of Coastal Carolina – a game in which Downey did not play – the Minutemen have been solid at the line of scrimmage.

Temple’s current situation at running back should bode well for the UMass D-line.

Following the graduation of primary running back Jahad Thomas, a 1,000-plus yard rusher a year ago, the Owls have turned to Ryquell Armstead and David Hood to handle half back duties.

Armstead rushed for 919 yards and scored 14 touch-

downs last season but has a combined 86 yards in his first two games. Hood, an 87-yard rusher last season, led the Owls in rushing yards against the Wildcats with 21.

Holding the running game would force Temple to turn to their redshirt sophomore quarterback, Logan Marchi. Marchi played in five games in 2016, completing two passes for 29 yards.

In his first year as a starter, Marchi has completed 56.5 percent of his passes and thrown for only two touchdowns (both vs. the Fighting Irish).

UMass’ secondary led by cornerback Isaiah Rodgers struggled this season when facing Hawaii, a pass-driven offense.

Quarterback Dru Brown threw for 391 yards and three touchdowns. However, Rodgers picked up an interception, UMass’ only turnover on the season.

Given how the Owls have played in their first two games, Temple should offer a much less threating passing game against Hawaii. If the Minutemen could eliminate

the big plays, they should be able to neutralize Marchi and his receivers.

A bounce back offensive performance.

If the Minutemen can manage more than seven points against Temple, it would be an improvement from Old Dominion.

Against a top FBS team like Notre Dame, the Owls allowed 606 yards of total offense, including three running backs who rushed for more than 100 yards.

They responded the following week by allowing only 20 rushing yards to Villanova, although that obviously must be taken with a grain of salt, given the large difference in talent.

However, the big key for the Minutemen will be their offensive line. The O-line showed how weak it can be against Old Dominion, allowing eight sacks.

Not only does this put quarterbacks Andrew Ford and Ross Comis in positions to either scramble, quickly force a pass or take the sack, it gives running back Marquis Young little room to show off his speed.

While the offensive line struggles greatly hindered UMass’ play-making capabilities, a banged-up Adam Breneman did not do them any favors either.

Recovering from an ankle injury that he suffered during the Coastal game, Breneman played against ODU but was not nearly as much of threat as he has been.

Having him back healthier should benefit Ford who has completed 21 passes to the tight end, totaling 323 yards.

They need to win.

If nothing else, the Minutemen need to win.

There is no other way around it. The next, and only, reprieve in their schedule comes on Nov. 11 vs.

Maine, an FCS team.

The worst UMass has finished in their five-plus years as an FBS team was 1-11 in 2012 and 2013, its first two years in the FBS. A loss to Temple could ensure a similar fate.

Philip Sanzo can be reached at psanzo@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Philip_Sanzo.