The Massachusetts Daily Collegian: December 6th, 2016

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Tuesday, December 6, 2016

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Protesters rally against pipeline Around 200 gather outside TD Bank

By Hayley Johnson Collegian Staff

JESSICA PICARD/COLLEGIAN

University of Massachusetts students walk to class outside of Herter Hall Monday morning following the first overnight snowfall of December.

SGA opens VP position until Dec. 11 President hoping to hire by winter break

By Jack Martin Collegian Correspondent Student Government Association President Anthony Vitale announced at Monday’s meeting that the application for vice president of the University of Massachusetts Student Government Association is available until Dec. 11 at 5:00 p.m.

Vitale said the application is available in print at the SGA office in room 420 of the Student Union as well as online on the SGA website and Facebook page.

Any undergraduate student may apply for the position, but Vitale said he seeks someone who is knowledgeable about student government.

“We really look to have a

candidate that is both experienced within student government as well as someone who has a vision for the organization that closely aligns with our current administration,” Vitale said.

Vitale announced Vice President Nick Rampone’s resignation at SGA’s meeting last Monday. Rampone later said he will resign at the end of the 2016 fall semester to study abroad in Shanghai, China.

The application includes the SGA’s mission statement, its equal opportunity policy, responsibilities of the cabinet and the bylaws of the vice president. Questions in the application include the applicant’s GPA, year of graduation and prior leadership positions on or off campus.

It also asks questions about the job including the applicant’s reason for applying, the applicant’s top three

priorities as vice president and the applicant’s leadership abilities.

Vitale said a hiring committee composed of seniors from the executive and legislative branches will assist him in appointing the next vice president. The committee of six, including Vitale, will interview each applicant and Vitale will pick someone based on the committee’s suggestions.

He said the committee is conducting rolling interviews, so the sooner an applicant applies, the sooner he or she will be interviewed and the sooner the committee can choose a candidate.

The committee will present the candidate to the Senate at the last SGA meeting of the semester next Monday if it chooses a candidate. The candidate can speak and answer questions before the Senate, who will appoint or deny the candi-

date.

The president said if the committee makes no decision before then or the candidate is denied by the Senate, a coordinating council will appoint or deny another candidate chosen by the committee over winter break.

The coordinating council is the acting Senate body when the Senate is not in session. It’s made up of SGA senators, chairmen and chairwomen. The council will make its decision over winter break through Google Hangout, according to Vitale.

The candidate will assume office upon confirmation, said Vitale, who wants to elect the candidate before or during winter break.

Rampone was absent from the meeting due to an illness but Vitale said he made a decision that was right for see

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Nuclear disarmament discussion held Mon. over Obama’s policies Lecturer highlighted shifting U.S. trends B y Stuart F oster Collegian Staff

Around a square table in Thompson Hall on Monday, around 10 faculty members and students gathered to hear visiting lecturer Laura Reed talk about the change in American nuclear disar mament policy under the Obama Administration.

Reed, whose research focuses on disarmament, American national security policy and humanitarian intervention, said that the surprise election of Donald Trump to the presi-

dency had changed the way she talked about President Barack Obama’s nuclear legacy.

“This was initially going to be a more critical talk but now I’m feeling a little more humane,” Reed said to laughs from the people in attendance.

Re e d ’ s discussion focused on the ramifications of the Prague Agenda, which emerged from a 2009 speech in the Czech city in which Obama drastically changed the vocal position of the American government on nuclear weapons.

While there has historically been a “bipartisan consensus” in American government that nuclear

proliferation has prevented the outbreak of war between major countries, Reed said Obama’s speech in Prague sent an entirely new message to the rest of the globe.

“He came in in 2009 and in a momentous speech, the United States stated for the first time at the highest official level that the U.S. would pursue a nuclearfree world,” Reed said.

Reed described the impact of the speech at an academic convention in Washington D.C. where, as the speech was being broadcast over a large monitor, the attendees broke out into cheers.

“At the time, this was seen as this dramatic

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turning point,” Reed said.

“There have been a few other moments on par with this going back in time.”

The Baruch Plan, proposed by the United States to the United Nations in 1946, and the Reykjavik Talks, in which President Ronald Reagan and U.S.S.R. Secretary-General Mikhail Gorbachev negotiated nuclear disarmament, were used as examples by Reed as times when the world was close to disarmament.

In both instances the plans went astray. The Baruch Plan was refused by the Soviet Union, Reed said, and Reagan’s advissee

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Close to 200 students and activists participated in a water ceremony outside of TD Bank in Amherst Center on Monday afternoon in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Around 15 University of Massachusetts students gathered at the Student Union before noon and marched together to meet the other protesters at TD Bank for the ceremony.

The event was held despite the United States Army Corps of Engineers announcing that it would not grant an easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline on Sunday.

The ceremony, organized by Climate Action Now, began and ended with a song: “The people going to rise like the water, all colors all creeds. I hear the voice of my great grand-daughter, singing ‘Mni Wiconi.’”

Susan Theberge, an organizer of the ceremony and member of Climate Action Now, was pleased

with the turnout of the event.“We organized this in a very short amount of time and it was snowing and it was cold and then there was news yesterday that the Army Corps of Engineers is going to find another route,” Theberge said. “So there were a lot of changing circumstances and unexpected things like the snow, so we were really happy.” The water ceremony, organized by Jenny Caron, consisted of praying for water, incense being lit and people pouring the water they brought into a circle of flowers outside of TD Bank.

“I’m new to doing a lot of activism, I haven’t done a lot. But partly, the election was a big reason,” said Robin Roblee-Strauss, who will be a Hampshire College student next spring. “I’m for a lot of causes but I don’t do much and I wanted to get out there and support … I definitely don’t support these huge corporations taking advantage of people … particularly Native Americans and indigenous land.”

“I think it’s important to show our solidarity with see

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Carson appointed as HUD secretary

By Evan Halper Tribune Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Ben Carson, a rival in the GOP presidential primary who became a top supporter, to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Trump chose Carson despite the pediatric neurosurgeon’s protestations that he lacked the experience to run a federal agency. The announcement Monday that Carson has been picked for the post came after weeks of negotiations during which Carson said publicly he had little interest in serving in Trump’s Cabinet, but then expressed more openness to the idea as Trump publicly courted him.

“Ben Carson has a brilliant mind and is passionate about strengthening communities and families within those communities,” Trump said in a statement.

“We have talked at length about my urban renewal agenda and our message of economic revival, very much including our inner cities. Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a presidency representing all Americans. He is a tough competitor and never gives up.”

Carson said in a statement that “I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly by strengthening communi-

ties that are most in need.

We have much work to do in enhancing every aspect of our nation and ensuring that our nation’s housing needs are met.”

The choice of Carson further positions Trump to move the federal government in a drastically different direction than President Barack Obama on policies that will affect millions of low-income Americans.

Carson, a tea party favorite, has been deeply critical of social welfare programs.

He has characterized the country’s safety net of cash assistance, housing allowances and social services as a failure that perpetuates dependence on government.

Carson would be taking on a post that was elevated to Cabinet-level as part of former President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” agenda, which Carson has pilloried as a colossal failure.

Trump picked Carson days after announcing that his administration’s effort to dismantle one of the most expansive programs serving low-income Americans, Obamacare, will be headed

by Republican Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, a fiscal conservative and longtime crusader for substantially cutting healthcare spending. Price is Trump’s pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services.

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

In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, officially ending the institution of slavery, is ratified.

AROUND THE WORLD

France’s PM steps down to pursue the French presidency

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

By Jessica Camille Aguirre DPA

PARIS — France’s Manual Valls said Monday that he was stepping down as prime minister of the country’s Socialist government and was launching a campaign to win the presidency in next year’s elections.

Valls’ long-anticipated announcement came just four days after President Francois Hollande, plagued by consistently low approval ratings, said he would not run for a second term in 2017.

The Socialist president’s woes have compounded over the past few months, as efforts to revitalize the economy and an attempt to strip convicted terrorists of their nationality angered his base.

Valls, who has consistently wrangled with parliament over controversial proposals, has pledged to defend the president’s record and called Monday for the left to mobilize and come together in the face of political challenges from the right.

Speaking in the Parisian suburb where he was once mayor, Valls said that “nothing was written” in the fight for the Elysee, dismissing naysayers who predict that there is no way for the unpopular Socialists to hold on to the top office.

Valls, who was interior minister for the Socialist government before taking the post of prime minister, is considered an outlier in the left-wing party. He has favored economic reforms that have split the party, defending an overhaul of labor regulations that prompted strikes over the summer.

He has proven more popular than Hollande in recent polls, but would not currently have enough support to mount a significant challenge to candidates from the right and the far-right.

After a primary in January to be held in two rounds to pick its candidate, the Socialist contender will face off against conservative hardliner Francois Fillon of Les Republicains and the far-right National Front party’s Marine Le Pen. Nevertheless, analysts have cautioned that it is too early to make strong predictions about the presidential elections, which are due to take place in April and May next year.

MCT

QUOTE OF T H E D AY “I always wanted to be someone but now I realize I should have been more specific.”

Lily Tomlin

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him and doesn’t fault him for resigning.

“We are really terrific at working together as a team, so I will unfortunately miss having Nick as a vice president,” he added.

Rampone is not on the hiring committee but will work with the next vice president upon his or her confirmation to ensure a seamless transition, according to Vitale.

Vitale hopes the next vice president shares his passion for student government.

“I expect [the next vice president] to be someone

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who shares my appreciation of the student government as well as someone who can work with a cabinet that has already been working together for a semester,” Vitale said.

“I look to have a candidate that is well-liked, well-respected and someone that is able to work with a whole new group of people,” he added.

There is no shortlist for potential candidates at this time and each candidate will be assessed equally, according to Vitale.

Jack Martin can be reached at johnmartin@umass.edu.

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ers later encouraged him against pursuing disarmament.

Reed said at the time of Obama’s Prague speech, the world was ready for another brush with disarmament.

“There was a hope at the time there was actually going to be a fundamental change in our nuclear weapons policy,” she said.

Reed said the Obama Administration had taken a number of steps toward a nuclear-free world, such as the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia and the nuclear deal with Iran, which Reed said was important for bringing the two countries away from the brink of war.

Reed also said a reassessment was passed in 2010 which narrowed the list of scenarios in which the U.S. would use a nuclear weapon against another state.

“Obama thinks the inevitability of nuclear [weapons] growth is the inevitability of nuclear [weapons] use,” Reed said. “This represented a profound shift in the national defense intellectuals.”

However, Reed said that in Obama’s case the “long-term goals are

crowded by the shortterm crises,” meaning the progress toward a nuclear-free world was slowed by immediate areas of focus.

In particular, congressional opposition to the New START treaty resulted in Obama’s devotion to modernizing current nuclear weapons to appease members of Congress.

Reed said many modern nuclear weapons systems were nearing the ends of their lives and that there is a tremendous cost in renewing them.

Reed ended the conversation by saying that as the only country to have used a nuclear weapon against another country, the U.S. has a responsibility to take global leadership on this issue.

Joshua Murray, a junior studying journalism, said nuclear disarmament is a complicated subject and that it appears more hopeful than he initially thought.

“It’s something I don’t know very much about,” Murray said. “I wanted to learn more considering Trump’s talk about using the bombs in the primary.”

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the first people of this nation and this land and the pipeline that is being proposed to go under the Missouri River is on sacred land and can cause problems with the drinking water of the people there,” said Donna McCallum, an Amherst resident.

“I was of course very happy to hear the Army Corps of Engineers is following through on their support of statements,” said Claudia Rullman, a Leverett resident and local for 28 years. “Energy Transfer Partners needed to stop construction and that there needed to be an environmental impact statement and that there needed to be engagement with the tribal people out there about their sacred lands.” Though Rullman was happy with the announcement that the Army Corps of Engineers decided to change to route of the pipeline, she is not completely satisfied with what that means for the future.

“I am glad that they’re

continuing to be supportive, however, I couldn’t help thinking of the Keystone Pipeline, which was cancelled and then just moved over a little bit and renamed Dakota Access Pipeline,” Rullman said. “The story is never over. The pipeline construction companies have little sections of pipeline all over the U.S. and that’s why they don’t have to file a formal permit request. We need to remain vigilant; this is not a done deal. It’s an ongoing human struggle.”

“I think as a young person it’s really easy to feel, for me, much in despair about the times that we are growing up in and learning to love a world as it’s being destroyed … so doing things like this, to me, is a way of direct hope,” said Dineen O’Rourke, a Hampshire College student and Climate Action Now organizer.

“We need to keep fossil fuels in the ground in order to keep climate change from spiraling out

of control and we only have a short time to do it,” Theberge said. “Even the basic science about climate change and the research that’s been done and the models that we’ve seen, the pattern seems to be that … things are happening faster than we expected. So we really can’t afford to take any more fossil fuels out of the ground. We are already struggling to maintain a habitable planet as is. We were able to stop the Kinder Morgan pipeline here, we know it’s possible to do it, but it happens when there’s massive numbers of people and there’s sustained resistance over time.”

Theberge added: “We, Climate Action Now, love working with students and we have a lot of students that work with us. We have students in leadership of the organization and so we would really encourage people to get involved.”

Hayley Johnson can be reached at hkjohnson@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @hayleyk_johnson.

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

ERICA LOWENKRON/COLLEGIAN

Students walk toward Amherst Center holding signs to support the NoDAPL Campaign Monday afternoon.

Japan’s PM to visit Pearl Harbor in late Dec.

By Jonathan Kaiman Los Angeles Times

BEIJING — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced Monday that he would accompany President Barack Obama to Pearl Harbor, making him the first sitting Japanese leader to visit the Hawaiian naval base since the end of World War II. Abe told reporters that he will visit a memorial at the site on Dec. 26 and 27.

The surprise announcement came two days before the 75th anniversary of Japan’s attack on the base, which killed 2,400 U.S. servicemen and civilians and drew the U.S. into the war.

“This will be a visit to console the souls of the victims,”

he said. “I would like to show to the world the resolve that horrors of war should never be repeated.”

The trip will reciprocate Obama’s visit to Hiroshima in May, the first by a sitting U.S. president. Alongside Abe, Obama visited the site of the U.S. atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, which killed an estimated 140,000 people.

He expressed his aspiration to “ultimately eliminate the existence of nuclear weapons,” but stopped short of apologizing for the U.S. attack.

The White House welcomed Abe’s trip to Obama’s home state of Hawaii, and confirmed that Obama will accompany him to the battle-

ship Arizona memorial at the harbor.

“The two leaders’ visit will showcase the power of reconciliation that has turned former adversaries into the closest of allies, united by common interests and shared values,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said in a statement.

“The meeting will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review our joint efforts over the past four years to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance, including our close cooperation on a number of security, economic and global challenges.”

Japan attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on the morning of Dec. 7,

1941, aiming to diminish Washington’s Pacific Fleet.

About 200 Japanese aircraft bombed the site, destroying 164 aircraft and several naval vessels, including the Arizona, a 600-foot-long battleship whose wreckage still lies at the bottom of the harbor.

The following day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress to ask for a declaration of war; he described the day as “a date which will live in infamy.”

About three years later, in August 1945, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan surrendered. Since the end of the war, Japan and the

U.S. have become close allies - trade between the two countries totaled an estimated $290 billion in 2012, according to the United States trade representative. More than 50,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan.

Abe’s wife, Akie Abe, visited the Arizona memorial in August. She posted to Facebook that she had offered flowers and prayers.

In August 2015, on the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender, Abe expressed “remorse” for his country’s actions during the war, but did not formally apologize. “I express my feelings of profound grief and my eternal, sincere condolences,” Abe said.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2016

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Criminal probe relating to Trump’s health pick linked Oakland fire launched to dubious medical group

By Phil Willon, Paige St. John and Soumya Karlamangla Los Angeles Times

OAKLAND, Calif. — As criminal investigators begin to examine who is to blame for one of the worst fires in modern California history, Oakland authorities on Monday resumed their grim search for bodies in the ruins of a warehouse blaze after it was halted for hours due to structural weaknesses.

Thirty-six bodies have been recovered, but officials halted recovery operations just after midnight when a crew that was surveying the destruction from a neighboring rooftop noticed that the front wall was leaning 3 inches toward the center of the building, said Oakland Fire Battalion Chief Melinda Drayton. Most of the bodies have been recovered in the center of the building.

As of Monday morning, about 70 percent of the building had been searched, officials said.

“We absolutely believe the number of fire fatalities will increase,” Drayton said.

Firefighters and sheriff’s officials re-entered the building at 9 a.m. after ensuring its safety, and resumed their search. They are expecting rain Wednesday, but she said their search efforts would continue to move in a steady and methodical pace.

Authorities believe the fire began in the back of the building but they still have no idea what caused it.

Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will determine a plan on how to search the building, Drayton said. Key areas have been quarantined for additional investigation, she said.

Alameda County Sheriff’s Deputy Tya Modste said of the 36 victims recovered, 11 have been identified. Authorities released the names of seven victims Sunday: Cash Askew, 22, David Cline, 23, Travis Hough, 35, and Donna Kellogg, 32, all of Oakland; Sara Hoda, 30, of Walnut Creek, Calif.; Brandon Chase Wittenauer, 32, of Hayward, Calif.; and Nick Gomez-Hall, 25, of Coronado, Calif.

Authorities withheld the name of an eighth victim, a 17-year-old boy, because he was a minor.

The names of the additional three victims were to be released later Monday.

Sgt. Ray Kelly, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, said the majority of the victims were in their 20s and 30s, but that some were teenagers.

Kelly said the Alameda County district attorney’s office has sent a team of criminal investigators to work alongside the sheriff’s arson task force and the Oakland Police Department.

The investigators, including a property and land-use expert, are working to uncover any potential criminal activity that may have led to the blaze.

“We have 36 families, not only grieving for their lost ones, but also they want to have answers and we as a city collectively are working to find those answers,” said Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson. “We want to provide answers not only for the families, but for our community.”

The Police Department, she said, is reviewing its body camera footage and the number of calls made to the locations as well as the types of calls made, Watson said.

“Let’s say we came to this location and there were some concerns whether it is a criminal concern or whether it’s a violation, we may have captured that in our bodyworn camera footage,” she said.

The department, she said, is also working with city’s planning and building department as well as the district attorney’s office.

“We have a lot of moving parts to this and we will certainly find answers to all of these questions. ... We want to do a very thorough investigation,” Watson said.

Authorities planned to haul a large crane into the neighborhood Monday afternoon to assist firefighters with the building, Watson said. To bring the crane into the neighborhood, PG&E had shut off power for 50 to 500 customers for up to 12 hours.

President Barack Obama said in a statement Monday that his administration was in close contact with state and city officials “to make sure that authorities have everything they need as they continue response operations and investigate the cause of the fire.”

“While we still don’t know the full toll of this disaster, we do know that an American community has been devastated, and many people - including young men and women with their whole futures ahead of them - have tragically lost their lives,” Obama said.

Officials have said the warehouse had been the subject of a city code enforcement investigation at the time of the fire due to complaints about health and safety issues. Some former residents described it as a cluttered “death trap” lacking fire sprinklers.

With identities of the victims slow to emerge, social media outlets provided the connection for family and friends from around the world, allowing them to share hospital numbers, compile a list of possible victims and express their shock and disbelief.

“Oh my god, Sara Hoda is missing in this fire,” Carol Crewdson wrote about a friend who had texted that she was going to the party and whose truck was found parked outside the venue.

But for some friends and loved ones, the unanswered phone calls, texts and Facebook messages provided the answer they never wanted to hear.

David Gregory said he thought his daughter was staying overnight at her boyfriend’s house when she didn’t come home Friday night. Gregory said he had not known that Michela, a 20-year-old honor roll student at San Francisco State, had gone to a concert at the warehouse with her boyfriend.

Gregory had stopped by the Alameda County sheriff’s station Sunday looking for information and was asked to return with some trace of his daughter’s DNA, such as strands of hair from a comb or brush.

“Try to put yourself in our shoes,” he said. “You know there was a fire. And that she was attending that event. Then you see footage of the building on fire, knowing that everybody in there is being burned alive. It’s the worst way to go ... there is no worse way.”

The tragedy took a personal turn for responders when they learned that the son of an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy was among those who died.

“This tragedy has hit very close to home for our agency,” Kelly said. “We’re still dealing with that as we continue to deal with the other victims.”

The lack of a complete list of victims fueled an atmosphere of dread for some.

Cory Grimes said that when she discovered that her roommate, Jennifer Mendiola, had gone to the concert and was missing,

she felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her.

Grimes said her hands were shaking so badly that she was unable to send messages. She checked a Facebook memorial page that listed Mendiola as a victim. But there was no proof.

“There’s a lot of misinformation right now, and that makes it hurt more,” Grimes said.

The building was leased by a group calling itself the Satya Yuga Collective, managed by Derick Almena.

Almena, 46, who lived on the second floor of the warehouse with his wife, considered himself a “realms creator” and built found-object sculptures and stage sets for musical gatherings.

On their social media sites, the couple posted pictures of mannequins hung upside down, colorful tapestries on the floor and wall, Hindu art, furniture from Almena’s travels to Bali and large, exposed wooden beams throughout the building.

On the first floor of the warehouse, a half-dozen RVs had been parked to provide living spaces for other residents. It had become a destination for traveling artists looking for a place to crash in the San Francisco Bay Area, where affordable digs are notoriously difficult to find.

“It’s a big ripple that’s affected the entire community. It’s a huge tragedy; it’s a huge loss for people in Oakland. And there’s a lot behind it,” said Graham Patzner, who lives with his parents in Oakland and believes his friend, Nicholas Walrath, had attended the show. “Artists are constantly struggling to survive in this city because we’re all getting kicked out.”

Jesse James Alexander, 24, said he believes that three of his friends died in the fire.

He said he learned about the blaze Saturday morning when he received a text from someone making sure he was alive.

“These are all our friends.

These are all our family. And they’re all gone,” Alexander wrote.

Richardine Bartee said she has been numb since learning that her friend Alex Ghassan was among the missing. Ghassan had recently moved to Oakland and was the father of two young daughters. On Twitter and Instagram accounts in his name, Ghassan appeared to have posted a video of the event, which he captioned: “Oakland reminds me of #JerseyCity so much at times.”

Facebook also drew worried notes from parents abroad. A panicked parent searched Facebook for answers in Finnish: “Any news of Hanna Ruax,” posted Yrjo Timonen, whose Facebook page lists Helsinki as home. “She is my daughter.”

For Grace Lovio, who said she was worried sick about her boyfriend, Jason McCarty, the silence was too great. She had been studying in France and ditched her final exam to fly from Paris to San Francisco.

They had last spoken on Friday, she said, and on Saturday she woke up to find that he had sent her a Facebook message: “Love you a zilliopzazillion,” he wrote.

During a tearful plane ride, she carried with her a diary filled with poetry McCarty had written for her.

On Sunday, she was en route to her father’s home in Concord to meet McCarty’s parents, who are from Texas, for the first time.

“Until we know for sure that he’s gone, I’m still holding on to some hope,” Lovio said. “I’m pretty scared though.”

By David Goldstein and Lesley Clark

McClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Rep. Tom Price, the Georgia Republican and physician picked by President-elect Donald Trump to oversee the health and availability of essential human services to all Americans, belongs to a medical association whose unconventional views are certain to raise questions during his confirmation hearings next year.

Trump nominated Price, re-elected last month to a seventh term, to become secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

An orthopedic surgeon, he is a member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, whose 5,000 members consider the group a nonpartisan professional organization dedicated to “preserving the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship and the practice of private medicine.”

It has long been at odds with mainstream medical groups, and critics say it promotes scientifically discredited theories, including that abortion causes breast cancer and that vaccines can cause serious disabilities.

In 2005 the association accused immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally of causing a spike in leprosy cases. It was subsequently debunked.

It was also one of the groups that sued to force the release the names of those on then-first lady Hillary Clinton’s health care task force in the 1990s.

In 2003, the group filed an amicus brief for the public release of photos taken of former Clinton administration deputy counsel Vincent Foster after his 1993 suicide.

It posted an article before President Barack Obama’s election in 2008 questioning whether the Democratic presidential candidate was practicing a “covert form of hypnosis” to court voters. It said the posting was not an official position but was designed to “stimulate an interesting discussion.”

The association also strongly opposed the Obama administration’s

effort to overhaul health care during the debates over the Affordable Care Act in 2009 and 2010.

Neither Price nor the Trump campaign returned a request for comment.

Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the association, said Price was good choice to lead the Health and Human Services Department because “he been a practicing physician so he knows what the impact of rules and regulations are coming down from Washington and what they mean to a doctor trying to do his job.”

Asked whether her group holds positions that are out of the medical mainstream, she said, “It depends on what the mainstream is.”

Orient said “mainstream” physicians “are very progressive.

They were in favor of Obamacare.

Certainly they don’t represent the majority of physicians. ... I suspect more doctors are philosophically on our side, but there’s no way to tell that because a lot are very timid about speaking out because their practices depend on people who may hold different views.”

Orient also said that because her group’s medical publication, the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, carried an article on a particular topic did not mean the organization embraced everything in it.

“We believe in open scientific inquiry,” she said.

“The articles published in our journal are not the official position of AAPS.” Dr. Manan Trivedi, president of the National Physicians Alliance, a health research and advocacy group that takes no funding from pharmaceutical companies or medical device manufacturers, said he found it “very alarming” that the potential next federal health secretary was involved with the physicians and surgeons group.

“They have been associated with a lot of the anti-vaccine movement,” he said. “They also have been involved with the outthere theory that President Obama hypnotized folks.

Look, there seems to be a culture of not recognizing evidence-based medicine

that is a real concern for us.”

Abortion rights groups seized on the connection between Price and the association as they mobilized supporters with a Twitter hashtag, #priceiswrong.

The medical group was founded in 1943 by members of the American Medical Association who opposed the “socialization of medicine in America.”

Its members mostly opposed Medicare, a federal medical assistance program for the elderly, and the group runs seminars for doctors who want to “opt out” of the program.

It also opposes Medicaid, a federal-state medical program for the poor. In its “Principles of Medical Ethics,” the association refers to the 1965 law that created the two assistance programs, saying “the effect of the law is evil and participation in carrying out its provisions is, in our opinion, immoral.”

The association’s attitude toward the government is similar to its approach to the insurance industry, which it blames for rising health care costs. Many of its members, though how many is unclear, don’t participate in third-party coverage, requiring cash as payment for their services. They say it lowers costs.

Dr. Wayne Iverson, a San Diego-area internist who is a former board member of the association, said he did not agree with, nor did he place much stock in, some of the more fringe positions linked to the group.

He suggested many were old and not reflective of current thinking.

He also cautioned against associating them with Price, whom he has met several times and described as “reliable.”

“I got the impression that Dr. Price is smart enough, astute enough, to know which things are practical, which things are wholesome for the country,” he said. “There very well may be policy statements made by AAPS in the past which he as does not agree with. Any of the stuff that would be considered extreme with AAPS, it’s highly unlikely he would adopt any of those things.”

Amazon unveals selfdriving convenience store

By Angel Gonzalez The Seattle Times

SEATTLE — Call it Amazon.com’s driverless store.

The tech giant has built a convenience store in downtown Seattle that deploys a gaggle of technologies similar to those used in selfdriving cars to allow shoppers to come in, grab items and walk out without going through a register.

The 1,800-square-foot store, officially dubbed “Amazon Go,” is the latest beach in brick-and-mortar retail stormed by the e-commerce giant, which already has bookstores and is working on secretive drive-through grocery locations.

It’s clearly a sign that Amazon sees a big opportunity in revolutionizing the staid traditions of Main Street commerce.

In the much longer term, if the experiment works out and is adopted widely, it could radically transform

the nature of work in the retail industry, much like driverless car and truck technology threatens to upend transportation.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a report this year that cashiers were the second-largest occupation, with 3.5 million employed in the U.S. Located on the corner of Seventh Avenue and Blanchard Street, the Amazon Go store is open to Amazon employees participating in a testing program.

It is expected to be open to the public in early 2017.

Amazon says that what makes the store tick is a combination of computer vision, sensors and machine learning that it calls “Just Walk Out technology.”

It can tell, say, when a particular shopper picks up a carton of milk from a shelf, and puts it in that shopper’s virtual cart. It can also tell when an item is put back on the shelf-and removes it from the virtual

cart accordingly.

Shoppers walking into the store would call up the Amazon Go app and hold their smartphone to a scanner as they would at an airport. Then they just pick any combination of products and walk out. Amazon would charge them after they leave the store.

Unlike the self-serve registers present at many supermarkets, there’s no need to stand in line or go through any register. The store features ready-to-eat meals and snacks prepared by on-site chefs or local bakeries. There are also essentials such as bread and milk, as well as highend cheese and chocolate.

Amazon says there will be well-known brands as well as “special finds we’re excited to introduce to customers.” That includes an “Amazon Meal Kit,” which contains ingredients needed to make a meal for two in 30 minutes.

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“Is that what you want, or is that what people expect of you?” - Don Draper

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Editorial@DailyCollegiancom

Standing Rock’s message could save America “Water is life” is the catchphrase that has been written on signs and spo-

James Mazarakis ken by protesters across the country in support of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota. Many people hear this phrase and often agree, but still many of us take it for granted.

Even in drought, the students at the University of Massachusetts have filtered water dispensers throughout campus and relative shower freedom, albeit a few minor restrictions.

But the water crisis in Flint, Michigan and the ongoing investigation of non-potable water in Indiana shows that even our own privileged country is not in control of its water infrastructure. Oil spills wreak havoc on water supplies in states where drilling is prevalent. And as if all this weren’t bad enough, climate change

is making weather more erratic and water sparser, which puts our notorious corn industry at risk. Case in point: the recent drought in California triggered the death of 102 million trees and is “showing no signs of slowing” according to the United States Department of Ag riculture and Huffington Post. America is not protecting its water.

It may seem daunting to take on such a challenging and complicated issue, but the political showdown at Standing Rock shows how water brings together the most important issues of our time. From money in politics to race relations to the economy and the environment, it all stands together. In protecting water, we are really protecting America.

Fighting for clean water inevitably leads to resolving race relations. Both Standing Rock and Flint represent lower-income minorities that suffered due to a lack of effort and

oversight by a mostly-white government. The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) was originally planned to go through Bismarck, North Dakota, a predominantly white area, but was rejected as a “potential threat” to the city’s water

Environment Missouri.

Standing Rock understands that the contamination of any water supply puts everyone at risk; after all, water is constantly on the move.

Pipelines’ risk to drinking water is also very

“The Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s rhetoric and conduct should be model behavior for activists across the country.” supply, according to the Bismarck Tribune.

Yet despite acknowledging this risk to Bismarck, DAPL still crosses the Missouri River and Lake Oahe, which is a source of drinking water for Standing Rock. Not only does this move appear to be favoritism but it is also a null argument. The Missouri River provides drinking water to 2.5 million Americans according to the environmental group

clear. Over the course of 20 years, over 9,000 pipeline accidents have led to a total of 548 deaths, 2,576 injuries and over $8.5 billion in “financial damages,” according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

This does not include “less significant” incidents and it does not attempt to measure the environmental damage.

In September, serendipitously in the early phas-

es of media coverage for Standing Rock, 250,000 gallons of oil leaked into a body of water in Shelby County, Alabama, causing a state of emergency and a rise in gas prices. A month later, the Colonial Pipeline “ruptured and exploded,” killing one person and injuring four others.

It may not be enough for the pipeline to get off of Sioux Tribe land. Oil and chemical spills, as well as the expansion of pesticide use, distributes these harmful substances into the wild and often get absorbed by crops we consume, let alone our drinking water. If companies like Colonial and Dakota Access do not provide proof that preventing leaks, explosions and water contamination is a priority, why are they in business?

Reckless oil practices have killed Americans citizens and, on top of this, taxpayers will have to carry the burden of cleaning up land and rivers, many of which

will never fully be rid of crude oil.

Yet the state protects these companies, even as far as deploying special militarized police forces to quell what are meaningful protests. Their lobbying has paid off in thousands of free passes at the expense of American lives and taxpayer money.

Racial relations, big money and environmental protection are all bound together by the protection of water. Their recent victory in halting the pipeline is only a first step, but the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s rhetoric and conduct should be model behavior for activists across the country. If water can be a uniting force for the people, perhaps fighting for it will have lasting consequences for decades to come.

James Mazarakis is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at jmazarakis@umass.edu

Listen when you argue Letters tothe edItor to truly understand Editorial@DailyCollegian.com

To the Editor:

Even with the Presidential the population that Trump Election now nearly a month won is diverse in its beliefs.

The alt-right and traditional Joe Frank conservatism are two markedly different ideologies but past, politics have not slipped supporters of both voted to the back of many people’s Trump. minds. That’s not surprising, Jon Stewart, former host given how much anger and of Comedy Central’s “The fear half the population felt Daily Show,” made this point after the election of Donald in a recent interview with Trump. Liberals have vowed CBS This Morning. He talked to fight and stand up to about the hypocrisy on the Trump. But to understand side of the Democrats, notwhy Trump was elected, and ing, “But there is now this therefore how to best stop idea that anyone who voted Trump, one has to under- for [Trump] is – has to be stand the other side, the side that actually voted him into office.

To do this though, it is important to understand Trump did not get elected solely because of racist, sexist, defined by the worst of his homophobic, bigoted people. rhetoric. Like, there are guys It is easy to think that any- in my neighborhood that I one who voted for Trump is love, that I respect, that I racist, sexist, homophobic or think have incredible qualibigoted, but honestly that’s ties, who are not afraid of not the case. While prejudice Mexicans, and not afraid absolutely played a part, and of Muslims, and not afraid is no doubt a blight on this of blacks. They’re afraid of country that marginalizes their insurance premiums.” and oppresses millions of He goes on to make the point people, there’s more to the that “in the liberal commustory. You could study for nity, you hate this idea of years why the 2016 election creating people as a monoturned out the way it did but lith. Don’t look as Muslims other factors like the percep- as a monolith. They are the tion of Hillary Clinton and individuals and it would be the public’s rejection of busi- ignorance. But everybody ness-as-usual politics also who voted for Trump is a contributed to Trump’s vic- monolith, is a racist. That tory. People wanted change hypocrisy is also real in our and many saw Trump as a country.” We should view harbinger of change. The groups we oppose as comcause of his victory is multi- plex entities, just as we see faceted. populations we support.

Liberals, therefore, should The political rift in the not view all Trump voters United States right now is the same way. While it is true no secret and the best way to that we all will have to deal bridge this gap is to listen to with whatever Trump does each other, especially when as President, the portion of we disagree. The recent

interview between current “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah and Tomi Lahren of “TheBlaze” is a model for how to have civil arguments with those we disagree with.

In the 26-minute interview, both Lahren and Noah let each other talk without the urge to interrupt. They each could state their points and respond to the points of their counterpart. Even when Lahren made potentially instigative statements, such as “they subscribe to the Black Lives Matter movement. They say ‘we are the Black Lives Matter movement. Fry ‘em like bacon. Eff the police.’”

Noah did not lose his cool.

This manner of discussion is the kind we need in this country. One would hope most arguments are of a similar temperament but many are not. This does not mean that we cannot vehemently argue our beliefs or stand up for our ideals, but just that we should listen while we do so.

Ultimately, as Stewart said, liberals cannot view conservatives as a monolith.

To truly grasp why Trump is the President-elect, we must examine the motives that brought people out to vote for Trump. That process starts simply with hearing the voice of the other side.

“The portion of the population that Trump won is diverse in its beliefs.”

We write to offer a veterans’ viewpoint different from those dominating the events at Hampshire College. We are members of chapter 95, Veterans for Peace, an international veteran’s organization whose mission is to build a culture of peace, expose the true costs of war and heal the wounds of war. Though we wouldn’t burn the flag, we applaud and support the work of Hampshire College students and administrators in creating a teachable moment. We believe in the right to free speech, to listen and to protest. We find the threats to Hampshire students, administrators and reporters to be reprehensible and contrary to values we served to protect.

Mayor Domenic Sarno of Springfield says the flag represents “freedom, democracy, strength and hope.” As veterans, we served our country with the hope of protecting such values. But we also recognize that those values – spoken so easily on days like Veterans Day – are not all that the flag symbolizes.

It cannot be denied that horrible things have been done under the flag. In the United States, we often ignore and erase the truth: unending immoral wars and occupations, denial of Native American sovereignty, repression of many Americans’ civil rights, as well as betrayal of service members and veterans. As veterans of moral conscience, we choose to see the full impact of our country’s choices.

Howard Zinn said, “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.” To be proud of being an American without seeing our darkness is a deadly sin. Our flag represents multiple truths – both inspiring and terrible. We must work on seeing and acknowledging where we fall short of our ideals, not just seeing what we want to believe.

Although flag burning is free speech that we are pledged to defend, we wash the flag, metaphorically and literally. It’s time to wash the flag so that we can fly it proudly without stains and tatters. The work of setting right the wrongs done under the flag will take a long time, so we must do it every day. The first step of mending the social fabric is not ignoring the harm done by some of our country’s choices.

Daniel Ritchie lives in Easthampton and Eric Wasileski lives in Greenfield.

Letters to the editor should be no longer than 550 words and can be submitted to either to Editorial@DailyCollegian.com or to DailyCollegian.com. We regret that, due to space constraints, not all letters will be printed but can be found online.

Joe Frank is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at jrfrank@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.

PRODUCTION CREW on staff for this issue NIGHT EDITOR - Andrew Cyr COPY EDITOR - Sam Anderson WEB PRODUCTION MANAGER - Philip Sanzo NEWS DESK EDITOR - Danny Cordova O p /E d DESK EDITOR - Michael Agnello ARTS DESK EDITOR - Gina Lopez SPORTS DESK EDITOR - Adam Aucoin COMICS DESK EDITOR - Andrew Esten GRAPHICS DESK EDITOR - Caroline O’Connor SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR - Alex Kelleher

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Arts Living “You haven’t lived until you died in New York.” - Alexander Woollcott

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Arts@DailyCollegian.com

C U LT U R E

Union Square Holiday Market adds to festivities in NYC City gears up for seasonal shopping

Nio-Dead Sea This bath and body stall sells products made from the mineral-rich Dead Sea water and mud. Their scrubs smell heavenly and leave your skin incredibly soft.

By Sophia Liao Collegian Correspondent The holiday season is always an exciting time in New York City. When I arrived in the city for Thanksgiving break, I was met with intricate holiday windows that sparkled with every color and played holiday tunes. Walking by the Rockefeller Center, the massive Christmas tree was unlit and still surrounded by scaffolding but there was an air of anticipation for its lighting.

As people surged by me all bundled up in their winter coats, hot drinks in hand, I realized that holiday shopping was officially underway.

All the department stores in the city quickly became a frenzy with their extended holiday hours and beautiful displays. Customers were clearly enticed. While trying to think of a place where I could get personalized and handcrafted gifts for my friends and family, I immediately decided to visit the Union Square Holiday Market, an annual event that attracts millions of visitors, locals and tourists alike.

The Holiday Market is held in the iconic Union Square Park along East 14th Street.

It’s incredibly easy to get lost among the countless stalls selling food, drinks and gifts so trust me, it’s worth setting aside a few hours of the day to wander around the market.

Pay special attention to socially-conscious goods with 100 percent handmade, made in New York, made from recycled, reused or vintage Items, organic certified, fair trade certified and local farmer labels.

With so many stalls to peruse, you may find yourself low on time to visit every one, so here is a list of some standouts to help you along:

Beekman’s COPA Soaps

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

New Yorkers enjoy ice skating in Bryant Park amidst their holiday market.

Giant holiday bulbs decorate the fountain at 1251 Sixth Avenue in New York.

Rubyzaar Visit Rubyzaar’s stall for handmade clothing and cookies. Rubyzaar is a fair trade business that works with artisan crafts groups, tailors, weavers and farmers from Southeast Asia and East Africa to create their goods. The scarves and shawls on display are hand spun and woven by weavers from Northern Thailand and Java, Indonesia. In their wide array of earth tones, no two scarves are exactly alike. The hides used for their bags come from an organic free-range farm in Northern Thailand.

The bags are on the pricier side, so if you’re not looking to spend a lot, pay a visit to Rubyzaar for their cookies. Homemade in Brooklyn, the cookies come in a wide range of flavors from Ambrosia (fig, pear, sage, roast walnut and creamed honey) to sticky fingers (smoked salt and butter scotch). And if you’re not quite ready to step out of your comfort zone, their classic chocolate chunk cookies are divine.

100 percent Cool Efi Designs

100 percent recycled materials that make great gifts for kids. All the kits are fun to use and easy to assemble within 10 to 15 minutes. You can assemble things like wooden lighthouses, New York signs and half pipes.

The kits can be further customized with markers and paints and the finished designs make excellent decorations.

Children’s Museum of the Arts-Art Making Station

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

Luxuary stores like Cartier decorate both the inside and outside of their businesses.

Time Will Tell If you want to pick out a new watch, be sure to stop by Time Will Tell. The watches are designed like chunkybeaded bracelets and come in a variety of colors. For an additional charge, you can custom-make your own watch by choosing the colors that make up the beads of the strap.

window shutters in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Bandolera design features colorful rectangular and canteen-shaped purses with contrast piping. The messenger bags have cute little pockets all over the outside in fun colors. The Gran Bajo is a bucket tote that is both chic and utilitarian, while the Zapata Classic is a medium bucket tote in mixed colors. You can also find carryalls, clutches, wallets and purses at this stall, all in vibrant colors and unique shapes.

For a suggested donation, children and adults can participate in family-oriented art projects at a variety of stations, like the ever popular clay bar. Their finalized work will be displayed around the booth for visitors to view and admire.

Pozie Poems Visit the Pozie Poems stall for a hanging poem for your wall that is hand painted with positive sayings. This is guaranteed to lift your holiday spirits.

Annie Draws Stuff

Visit Beekman’s COPA Soaps for cold-processed, all-natural soaps that are handmade in Philadelphia.

Quality essential oils are used for a variety of scents and the bars come in different sizes so that you can purchase based on your personal preferences.

5th and Madison This stall sells soy-based candles, flameless aromatics and bath and body products that are hand-poured and packaged in recyclable packaging.

Afterward To satisfy your hunger after wandering the myriad of stalls, a variety of vendors sell delicious street food right there in the market.

Stop by Meatball Obsession for the No.1 ranked meatball in New York City. The meatballs are made from eight secret all-natural ingredients and are slow-cooked in a sauce that has been in the Mancini family for generations.

After, stop for artisanal pastries and churros at Dulcinea. With the Macaron Parlour, Momofuku Milk Bar and La Montagne Des Saveurs setting up stands nearby, it will be hard to leave the market on an empty stomach.

As dusk falls and the fairy lights turn on, you will feel the holiday spirit more than ever. When you are finally ready to leave, make one last stop at No Chewing Allowed! for a French hot chocolate that will warm you up on your way home.

Annie Draws Stuff sells original temporary tattoos, Viva Zapata! Bags stickers, cards and prints for At the 100 percent Cool people of all ages. Annie is a Efi Designs stall, Etsy Brooklyn-based illustrator designers sell their hand- The Viva Zapata! stall who works with a variety of made and eco-friendly cre- will make choosing just one mediums. Drawings range ations. This stall is perfect bag to walk away a diffifrom NYC landmarks to for picking out wallets, jew- cult task. The bags are creBoundless Brooklyn woodland creatures, metalelry and other accessories ated from vinyl used for bus to give as small and unique seats while the straps are Boundless Brooklyn sells lic emojis to dinosaurs and Sophia Liao can be reached at made from material used for craft model kits made from everything else in between. yiruiliao@umass.edu. gifts.

C U LT U R E

What message are you sending with your email signoff?

Each phrase relects individul sender

cutter, often implied, lack luster email signoff that really just screams “I’m not the type of person to make waves.” Before we Gina Lopez completely write off this Collegian Staff type of person, let’s take a Ever think about what moment to appreciate their your email signoff says appeal both for consistency about you? Listed below (we were all taught this are my interpretations simple sign-off in middle of the often overlooked school) and clear mespersonality indicator: sage. They most certainly aren’t fooling around.

They’re not about fancy ‘Best’ frills and ambiguous mean These types of peo- ings. No sir, ‘thank you’ ple are polite and honest people are self-assured. while not being overly ‘Sent from my iPhone’ apologetic for the email requests or responses they’re sending into cyber This technically isn’t an space. They’ve moved past actual signoff, but I felt it the simple ‘thank you’ was important that I comin the direction of some- ment on it. The types of peothing more sophisticated. ple who send emails from ‘Best’ people are the their phones and forget to type who romanticize the delete the famous “Sent idea of actually making from my iPhone” mark at someone’s day better with the bottom are the worst. an email signoff. (I sign Nothing makes you feel my emails off this way.) less important in terms of cyber conversation then when someone for‘Thank you’ gets to delete the tell-tale These types of people are sign that they probably plain-Janes. They’re afraid barely read your email. to deviate from the cookie Okay, sure they’re limited

of person who uses ‘cheers’ as their signoff is almost always the glass half-full type of person. They’re probably even smiling when they email you ly won’t after that signoff. because they’re that great.

I automatically read this I’ve decided that ‘cheers’ signoff as if a middle-aged people are innately kind. father was sending it in ‘First initial’ a texting conversation with his daughters. Like Personally I like this if there are real inten- one, but I realize its weaktions of actually ‘talking nesses in only being approsoon,’ then need must it be priate for casual conversaid? Like I said, I think it sations and people you feels a little bit too much had a preexisting dialogue like an overbearing dad. with. It feels very mysteri-

‘Best’ people are the types who romanticize the idea of actually making someone’s day better with an email signoff. to a tiny handheld screen that makes everything over three sentences look like a Harry Potter novel but still, it’s the laziness I don’t like. They almost certainly didn’t go out of their way to appreciate you’re pleasant greeting, organized thoughts and undoubtedly riveting content. How disappointing.

‘Best wishes’

‘XX’

Something about this signoff feels a little ominous. Like there’s something coming my way that I need to prepare for. It feels pretty strange in most contexts but I guess it would be appropriate in a conversation with someone who’s buying a house or having a baby or accomplishing some other milestone.

This is reserved for people you actually want to hug. Don’t send hugs if you wouldn’t actually enjoy hugging this person/know them well enough to initiate a hug. This signoff should be reserved for messages or letters to your grandma.

‘Talk soon’ No, we probably actual-

‘Cheers’ This one makes me laugh. It somehow feels synonymous with “it’s happy hour somewhere.” The type

for long-hand love letters and nothing else.

‘Respectfully’ If your email sign off is ‘respectfully,’ I almost automatically assume you’re a cyborg or an automated response. This is so painfully boring even past the point of ‘thank you’ that you’ve landed yourself right next to watching paint dry. If we are exchanging emails, I’d like to assume there would be an element of respect there, but what about some decent conversation?

ous and double agent like to be so busy and impor‘VB’ (very best) tant that you only need almost positive or have time to signoff I’m with your first initial. that I’ve never gotten an email with this signoff, ‘Yours’ and I’m nearly just as positive that if I did I would I don’t have any immedi- think ‘VB’ signified your ately strong feelings about very important position at this one, but on further some very important job. inspection it feels a little Never would I ever assume forced. Whoever is writing this meant very best, so I the email wants to sound think for that reason this easier going than they feel signoff is more ambigucomfortable with and the ous than it is effective. end result is just something that feels unwanted. Gina Lopez can be reached at ‘Yours’ should be reserved gmlopez@umass.edu.

6

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

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Comics

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The Fifth Horseman Of The Apocalypse

Q uote

of the

D ay

“Me fail English?

That’s unpossible!”

- Ralph Wiggum D inosaur C omics

B y R yan N orth

F rostbitten

B y J ack B rady

SNAKES SNAKES SNAKES SNAKES SNAKES SNAKES SNAKES SNAKES XKCD

B y R andall M unroe W ondermark

aquarius

B y D avid M alki

HOROSCOPES Jan. 20 - Feb. 18

If you’re still looking to join an extracurricular activity, try starting an all-kazoo choir. It’s the purest form of music, really.

pisces

Feb. 19 - Mar. 20

leo

Jul. 23 - Aug. 22

If you get enough points taken off of your exam, your score will eventually wrap back around to 100. Trust me, just try it!

virgo

Aug. 23 - Sept. 22

Snow! It’s like rain, but colder and more fun!

You can eat it ! You can throw it! Snow!

Now available on a campus near you!

If you can’t find the motivation to do your homework, try doing it out of fear! Or spite!

That’s what works for me.

aries

Mar. 21 - Apr. 19

libra

Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

taurus

Apr. 20 - May. 20

scorpio

Oct. 23 - Nov. 21

gemini

May. 21 - Jun. 21

The campus in the dark is so peaceful. It almost makes up for the fact that the sun is setting at four in the afternoon.

I tried to procrastinate on doing my homework, but I never got around to not doing it.

Although it’s quite effective, blackmailing your professor for a higher grade is still technically illegal. I would not recommend doing it.

Breaking news: The floor is now lava.

Please plan your day accordingly.

sagittarius

Nov. 22 - Dec. 21

It’s the final stretch! Just three short weeks and you will be set free from this academic prison! Stay vigilant!

Next time you’re at a museum, take some pictures! I’m sure the guards won’t notice them missing.

cancer

capricorn

Jun. 22 - Jul. 22

It’s hard to stay on top of your assignments, especially when your sense of balance is so poor.

Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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DailyCollegian.com

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

7

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Penn State left out of playoff Washington picked fourth in playoff

By Jacob Mackey Collegian Correspondent After 14 weeks of play, an exciting championship weekend and much discussion, the selection committee made its decision for the New Year’s Eve slate of college football’s playoff games. It looks as follows: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl: No. 1 Alabama (13-0) versus No. 4 Washington (12-1).

PlayStation Fiesta Bowl: No. 2 Clemson (12-1) versus No. 3 Ohio State (11-1).

Penn State left out Despite a 21-point come from behind 38-31 victory in Saturday’s Big Ten Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium, the Penn State Nittany Lions were left out of the FBS college football playoff.

There was much discussion heading into the weekend as to whether or not Penn State would be worthy of a bid. It may seem absurd to think that a team with two losses is deserving of a spot. However, the Nittany Lions proved that they are more than worthy of com-

DIVING

peting with the best for the National Championship.

They were the only team to knock off Ohio State this season, who is the only representative from the Big Ten in the playoff.

Washington gets in The Pac-12 has been widely considered the fourth-best of the “Power Five” conferences over the last handful of years.

Nevertheless, this season it will have a team in the playoff and that team is the conference champion Washington.

The Huskies had an emphatic 41-10 victory at Levi’s Stadium on Friday night over No. 8 Colorado in the Pac-12 Championship, which was more than likely the deciding factor for the committee to place Washington in the playoff.

It was a controversial move to say the least, seeing how the Huskies played in one of the weaker conferences and suffered one loss to No. 9 Southern California in week 11 by a score of 26-13.

In most seasons that would be the nail in the coffin for a one loss Pac-12 team, but the committee opted otherwise this time around.

Alabama earns top seed While the rest of the country bantered about different championship-weekend scenarios and how it would affect the playoff, all Nick Saban’s team had in mind was how they were going to top their opponent in the Southeastern Conference championship.

Alabama rolled to a 54-16 victory over No. 15 Florida in the SEC championship game at the Georgia Dome on Saturday. They did it in true Alabama fashion as well, with total team dominance without one player standing out over the rest and the defense taking the ball away three times.

The Crimson Tide had four combined rushing touchdowns from Derrick Gore (1), Joshua Jacobs (1) and Bo Scarbrough (2). In addition, they had one receiving touchdown from Gehrig Dieter and an interception return for a touchdown by defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick. To nobody’s surprise, Alabama has already come out as the early favorite to take home the National Championship.

Jacob Mackey can be reached at jacobmackey@umass.edu.

TOP 25 BASKETBALL

continued from page 8

over a two-week period.

Hixon and her divers are excited for the time off but know they must stay sharp and in shape.

“The rest period is really important,” Hixon said.

“It’s a little bit of a hard time because of heading

NOTEBOOK

into finals, so we’re going to spend the next few weeks going over fundamentals, doing some fun stuff. After finals the divers will just have to focus on staying fit.”

“While we go home for break, we really have

to make sure we stay in shape,” Jagannath added.

“We have to be able to keep going and continue our progression.”

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

continued from page 8

MARK CORNELISON/LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER/TNS

John Calipari (pictured) coached UMass men’s basketball from 1988 to1996, compling a 193-71 record in Amherst. documentary was UMass’ great Marcus Camby, as well as some of his former players which include Derrick Rose, John Wall, Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Committee selects four playoff teams The College Football Playoff Selection Committee released its four playoffs teams over the weekend with the national semifinals set for New Years Eve on Dec. 31, with the National Championship being played on Monday, Jan. 9, 2017.

No. 1 Alabama (13-0) will face No. 4 Washington (12-1)

in the first semifinal with No. 2 Clemson (12-1) facing No. 3 Ohio State (11-1) in the second game.

Big Ten members No. 5 Penn State (11-2) and No. 6 Michigan (10-2) were the final two teams left out.

My biggest takeaway?

Conference championships don’t carry as much meaning as they did in the BCS era. The Nittany Lions not only beat the Buckeyes 24-21 in their head-to-head matchup on Oct. 22, but also topped Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship 38-31.

I still think it’s too early in the process for talks of expansion to begin – give

it at least five years, minimum – but eventually I’d be interested in considering first a six-team playoff where the top two seeds get a bye (similar to the NFL playoffs) or potentially an eight-team bracket with automatic qualifiers, as well a place for a team representing the Group of Five. No. 12 Western Michigan (13-0) was the only team along with the Crimson Tide to go undefeated, however its resume and strength of schedule didn’t give the Broncos a seat at the table.

Andrew Cyr can be reached at arcyr@umass.edu, and followed on Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.

UCLA upsets UK Saturday Baylor handily tops XU over weekend

By Zak Borrelli Collegian Correspondent

The University of California Los Angeles Bruins shocked the college basketball world on Saturday when they soundly handed the juggernaut that is the former No. 1 ranked team Kentucky Wildcats their first loss of the season.

The No. 11 Bruins came into Lexington with a balanced attack, with six players scoring in double digits, including all five starters.

Isaac Hamilton was UCLA’s leading scorer with 19, and 6-foot-10-inch freshman forward T.J. Leaf pitched in with 17 points and 13 rebounds as the Bruins maintained the momentum throughout most of the contest.

UCLA entered the contest as the nation’s third-ranked scoring team and quickly showed that it could hang with the nation’s number one-ranked squad. It was a high-scoring affair throughout, but after ending the half holding onto a 49-45 lead, the Bruins came out of the locker room ready to secure victory.

UCLA would start the second half on an 11-2 run

and Kentucky would fail to make it a game again until late in the second half when the Wildcats cut what was a 14-point second-half deficit to just three points with eight seconds remaining in the game after a Derek Wills 3-pointer. The Bruins would hit two free throws to ice the game.

For Kentucky, the heroics of their freshman starters is what kept it in the game.

Guards Malik Monk scored 24 points including shooting 4-for-8 from beyond the 3-point line while De’Aaron Fox had 20 points and dished out nine assists. Six-foot-10 forward Edrice Adebayo scored 18 points (including 10 of 13 free throws) and pulled down 13 rebounds in the Wildcats’ loss.

Saturday’s loss was the first home loss for the Kentucky since Feb. 27, 2014.

The Wildcats will hope to use this loss as a growing experience while UCLA jumped up to No. 2 in this week’s rankings.

It was a closely contested game through the first half, with the Musketeers leading the Bears 34-31 at the break.

For Xavier, the second half would not be as closely contested as it struggled to score the ball.

After sophomore guard Edmond Sumner hit a 3-pointer to put Xavier up 51-50 with 11:15 to play, Baylor would go on a 21-2 run in the next 10 minutes to seal the upset for the Bears.

Four out of five of Baylor’s starters scored in double digits, including 24 points and five assists for junior guard Manu Lecomte.

For Xavier, junior guard Trevon Bluiett led the team with 23 points (6-for-10 from deep, 5-for-5 free throws) while sophomore guard Edmond Sumner added 19 points in the loss.

This win for Baylor only serves to add to their impressive resume of upsets. They started the season as an unranked team, but soon were moved up to the No. 20 ranking after beating thenBaylor outplays Xavier ranked No. 4 Oregon. After a superb showing at the Battle On Saturday, at the time- 4 Atlantis where the Bears No. 9 Baylor Bears once defeated then-ranked No. 24 again showed the nation it Michigan as well as thencould be the most underrat- ranked No. 10 Louisville. ed team in college basketball with their big win over then- Zak Borrelli can be reached at No. 7 Xavier. zborrelli@umass.edu.

CLUB HOCKEY off the stick of senior Jason Goldsmith and then again in the third period off the stick of fellow senior Scott Campbell.

A look ahead Coming into this weekend, the Minutemen face, according to DeFazio, their toughest opponents all season when they take on Rensselaer

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Polytechnic Institute Friday and Sienna Saturday.

What DeFazio says they need to work on most is teamwork, citing the team’s individual-ness as the thing that has held them back from some big wins this season.

“We have a big weekend this weekend. I wish we had more time to prepare prac-

tice wise, it’s just we need to refocus and take this game by game and start working as a unit,” DeFazio said. “There was a lot of individual play …

Wednesday is a positive practice to put last week behind us.”

Zander Manning can be reached at alexanderman@umass.edu and followed @ ZMSportsReport.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Sports@DailyCollegian.com

@MDC_SPORTS

UMASS ATHLETICS

Luwane Pipkins continues to shine on defense John Calipari film to air in April 2017

By Andrew Cyr Collegian Staff

After another busy weekend for Massachusetts athletics, here’s a few quick notes that deserve talking points:

Pipkins best in the nation After recording seven steals in UMass’ 65-62 loss against Central Florida Saturday, Luwane Pipkins entered Monday’s games leading the nation in steals per game, averaging 4.0 through seven contests. Pipkins, who has 28 total steals this season, also trails only Atlantic 10-rival guard Joseph Chartouny of Fordham, who has 29 him-

self through eight games (3.63 spg).

The Minutemen (5-2) forced UCF into 20 turnovers, 15 of which came from steals. After the game, Pipkins said defense, most notably full court, has been a big focal point on the young season.

“That’s what we practice on in practice,” Pipkins said after Saturday’s game. “Fullcourt press to the defense, the zone, 55, which is manto-man full court. For us to force 20 turnovers, you’ve got to be happy with that.”

“I would say it was one of our better defensive games because we were definitely all over the place [Saturday],” fellow guard Donte Clark added after the game. “I think we can build off this game. Like I said, it’s just the little things about the defensive rebounding and stuff like that at the end

of the game that we have to clean up.”

UMass hosts Pacific (3-4) this Thursday at Mullins Center in the first round of the Gotham Classic. The Tigers (3-4) fell to Cal State Fullerton 78-77 Saturday after blowing a 20-point second half lead with the Titans making a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining to secure the victory.

Pacific was predicted to finish seventh in the preseason West Coast Conference poll.

Air date for Calipari 30 for 30 announced Last May, University of Massachusetts and Massachusetts Daily Collegian alumnus David Scott, who is ESPN’s Director of Communications announced the network was creating a 30 for 30

documentary about former Minutemen coach and current Kentucky head coach John Calipari.

On Monday, Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch reported new information regarding the upcoming Calipari documentary.

The film, called “One and Not Done,” is set to air on April 13, 2017, just over one week following the conclusion of the NCAA basketball tournament, according to the report.

Director and producer Jonathan Hock, who has won 10 Emmy Awards, said in the report his time at UMass will be more highlighted than his time with the Wildcats.

“You have to understand UMass before you can understand Calipari at Kentucky,” Hock told Deitsch.

Also interviewed for the see

NOTEBOOK on page 7

SWIMMING AND DIVING

CHRISTINA YACONO/COLLEGIAN

Luwane Pipkins (2) leads the national in steals per game (4.0) in 2016-17.

CLUB HOCKEY

HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Minutemen beat Holy Cross Sunday UM tie and lose other two games

By Zander Manning Collegian Staff

The Massachusetts club hockey team faced a tough weekend with three games in as many days, finishing the weekend going 1-1-1.

The Minutemen (9-82) tied the University of Vermont Friday 3-3, fell to Bryant University 3-2 Saturday and promptly defeated Holy Cross 4-1 Sunday.

“We had three games. We should have won against UVM, then we played Bryant and lost to them, we played holy cross won …We should have gone 3-0,” said head coach Mike DeFazio.

Minutemen roll past Crusaders JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

UMass will have a five-week break after having success at the Bucknell Diving Invitiational. Minutewomen finished first through fourth in the three-meter dive.

UMass diving shines at Bucknell

Four divers qualify “He’s definitely grown stronger, become more consistent. It has been really fun to watch.” for NCAA meet B y H enry B rechter Collegian Staff

The Massachusetts men’s and women’s diving teams presence was certainly felt at this weekend’s Bucknell Diving Invitational in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

Divers Maja Boric, Katie Polk, Emma Roush and Trent Kindvall all posted personal records en route to qualifying for the NCAA Zone A Regional meet. Several others posted personal bests in a productive weekend for UMass coach Mandy Hixon’s divers.

“Overall, it was great,” Hixon said. “Just a fantastic meet.”

Kindvall continues to be the most productive Minutemen diver. The junior from Westminster, Colorado won the three-meter dive on day one and came in second in the one-meter board on day two. His performance in the one-meter event earned him a spot in the regional NCAA tournament for the third consecutive year.

Mandy Hixon, UMass coach on Trent Kindvall Kindvall’s score of 316.45 in the second day’s one-meter preliminary round topped the leaderboard and was a new personal best. It was also good for seventh-best in school history.

Hixon has enjoyed seeing Kindvall become a top swimmer in his little more than two years at UMass.

“He’s definitely grown, gotten stronger, become more consistent,” Hixon said. “It’s been really fun to watch.”

Boric won the one-meter dive on the first day with a score of 289.20, a new freshman record for UMass.

Roush was hot on Boric’s heels with a score of 288.25.

In the men’s one-meter dive finals, Kindvall’s second place finish was followed by Nolan Burns in third and Reece Donahue in sixth.

The Minutemen and Minutewomen both excelled in the three-meter board finals. In the women’s dive,

UMass’ Maja Boric, Katie Polk, Emma Roush and Julia Jagannath finished first through fourth. On the men’s board, Kindvall finished first, Robert Barry finished third and Donahue finished sixth.

Boric posted the secondbest score in UMass women’s dive history with 320.55 points in the three-meter final. She surpassed Roush, who set the now-third alltime mark earlier in the day with 317.95. Boric’s day one victory on the one-meter board was also the third best mark in Minutewomen history for that event.

Polk, a sophomore, posted two of her three best all-time scores over the weekend.

Her second place finish of 269.35 on the one-meter was her second best mark in the event and her 296.80 score in the three-meter on the final day was her best score ever.

Both numbers helped propel her into eighth all-time in

UMass women’s dive history.

Jagannath’s fourth-place score of 278.45 was her best as a Minutewomen. The senior was especially pleased with her team’s improvement up to and through the weekend.

“We really came in not knowing what to expect and we came out on top,” Jagannath said. “We’re really trying to transition our corrections in practice over to a meet which is usually pretty difficult, but at this meet we were really able to make a lot of the big changes that we’ve been working on. I think that’s how you get great diving, when those changes get turned into beating competition.”

Besides host Bucknell and UMass, other schools at the meet included Towson, Fordham, North Dakota, La Salle, Binghamton and Susquehanna.

The Minutemen and Minutewomen now have five weeks to rest leading up to an intense second-half season schedule. Their next event is the Buffalo Diving Invitational Jan. 13-15, followed by four more events see

DIVING on page 7

On Sunday, UMass got started early on Holy Cross, scoring seven minutes into the game off the stick of senior captain Casey Litwack to give them an early 1-0 lead, as the Minutemen topped the Crusaders 4-1.

In the second period, the Minutemen scored again when sophomore Cam Fisher went top shelf, giving them a 2-0 lead.

UMass put the nail on the Crusaders’ coffin when they scored six minutes into the third period when Litwack scored his second of the game to put it up 3-0.

After Holy Cross scored with under 15 minutes left in the third period, Artie Potter kept the Minutemen rolling when he scored his second goal of the weekend with 12 minutes to go in regulation.

“He’s been great on this team, he’s been on a roll,” DeFazio said of Potter.

“Every time he gets the puck on his stick, I just feel like something’s going to happen. He’ll get a shot on net, make a pass, he does all of the little things right.”

take on the Bryant Bulldogs.

The yeo teams got started early when sophomore Eddy Friedman scored with 16:30 left in the first period, but that would be all for the Minutemen until the third period as UMass fell 3-2 against the Bulldogs.

Bryant scored with 6:54 left in the first period and scored again with 15:45 left in the second period when UMass turned the puck over in its own zone and Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead.

“The game against Bryant wasn’t the officiating,” DeFazio said. “It was bad penalties at bad times … We took some stupid penalties. It wasn’t the refs faults, something we need to fix as coaches.”

After senior Shane Dowd was called for a crosscheck with 16:20 left in the third period, the Bulldogs took advantage a minute into the power play and took a 3-1 lead.

With 5:58 left in regulation, senior Adam Kmetz scored a shorthanded goal to cut the Bulldogs lead to one.

That would be all the Minutemen could muster Saturday.

Late goals doom Minutemen

With two minutes left in the third period and UMass leading 3-2, UVM pulled its goalie to give them a manadvantage and a minute later with 1:03 on the clock, the Catamounts called a timeout.

With 27 seconds left in regulation, however, UVM tied the game at three apiece and after five minutes of overtime, the game finished at a 3-3 tie.

“Not entirely sure what happened, it was a lot of travel,” DeFazio said. “We did go to UVM. We drove three hours and drove home. We had our chances to win we just couldn’t pull it off.”

Late in the first period, UMass struck first on a goal by Potter to put the UMass loses Minutemen ahead 1-0, but to Bryant UVM came right back and scored one to knot it at one.

On Saturday, the The Minutemen scored Minutemen got on the bus again in the second period and drove over two hours to Smithfield, Rhode Island to see CLUB HOCKEY on page 7