Massachusetts Daily Collegian: February 25, 2015

Individuality embraced at New York Fashion Week

BOUNCING BACK

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Wednesday, February 25, 2015

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Celebrating intellect and tradition SGA’s election

season kicks off Elections will be held March 10-12

By Anthony Rentsch Collegian Staff

ROBERT RIGO/COLLEGIAN

UMass hosted the Inaugural Black History Month Celebration: Black Intellectuals in the 21st Century, which took place on Tuesday.

With elections a few weeks away, the Student Government Association president/vice president and University of Massachusetts student trustee campaigns have kicked off.

Although not all of the candidates have submitted their candidate’s agreement form, the president/vice president tickets are as follows: Rocco Giordano/Dhananjay Mirlay Srinivas, Sïonan Barrett/Chantal Lima Barbosa and Charlotte Kelly/Sammi Gay. In terms of undergraduates, Kabir Thatte, Gabriel Schmitt, Emily O’Neil and Nicholas Vigneau have all submitted nomination forms for the trustee position.

As a part of recent SGA election reforms, the trustee campaigns have been separated from the president/vice president ones. The campaign for the trustee position, which represents both undergraduate and graduate students, has undergone some changes according to Chairperson of the Diversity and Student Engagement Committee Emily O’Neil.

“This is the first year that (graduate students) feel like they want to run,” she said. Last spring, there were no graduate students who ran for the position.

However, graduate students do not have to submit their nomination forms for trustee until this Friday, whereas all undergraduate president/vice president and student trustee candidates met on Monday night to sign their candisee

ELECTIONS on page 3

UMass a top producer HTM Career Day Fair open of Fulbright scholars to all Isenberg students 14 students take their skills abroad

By Marie MacCune Collegian Staff

For the second year in a row, the University of Massachusetts was dubbed a top producer of Fulbright scholars among other research institutions in the United States, according to a University press release. All eight graduates who applied for the grant were chosen, along with six undergraduate students, stated the release.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program funds graduate and undergraduate students con-

ducting research or teaching English abroad.

According the program’s website, “The program currently awards approximately 1,900 grants annually in all fields of study, and operates in more than 140 countries worldwide.”

Susan Whitbourne, the University’s official Fulbright program advisor, works with UMass students interested in the scholarship throughout the application process.

“I would stack up students from UMass with anyone anywhere and see them as an incredibly strong candidate,” she said.

“UMass has a great track record with Fulbright, we kind

of know what we’re doing. If you give us enough lead time, you’ll be surprised how competitive an application you can build,” she continued.

“Fulbright knows us.”

Whitbourne has served on the national screening board five times and attributes knowing the system as key in advising potential scholars.

In terms of competitive applications, Whitbourne said that the University had the best ratio of applicants to awardees out of any research institution – 46:13.

The 14th awardee, graduate student Jacob Carter, won the Fulbright-Clinton Public see

FULBRIGHT on page 2

First time entire college is included

By Stuart Foster Collegian Staff

The University of Massachusetts’ annual Hospitality and Tourism Management Career Day Fair is currently scheduled to have a record-breaking 77 companies present, each looking for potential interns or employees.

The event is held in the Campus Center Auditorium from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 4. A reception for seniors in the Marriott Center from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. is set to follow.

“This year is the largest

HTM career day at UMass,” said Brianna Cole, a junior hospitality and tourism and marketing major, who is also the Marketing Chair on the HTM Career Day Committee.

The fair will feature recruiters from management companies, restaurants, hotels, country clubs and other fields.

“Basically we have companies from across the whole industry,” Cole said.

Hotels recognized throughout the world, such as Marriott, Hyatt and Mohegan Sun, will also be represented at the fair.

Over previous years, over 500 students have annually attended career day.

However, in those years, it had only been open to hospitality and tourism majors.

But this year, it expanded.

“We opened it up to the whole Isenberg School (of Management),” Cole said.

Students who go to the fair will be able to meet recruiters and seek opportunities to further their careers.

Of the students attending the fair, “Over half will leave with an interview or job opportunity,” Cole said. While experience is important in these fields, the amount of experience necessary varies from each recruiter. see

JOB FAIR on page 3

UM expands its research horizons, joins WUN Both parties will benefit from joint collaboration

By Anthony Rentsch Collegian Staff

The University of Massachusetts has taken a large step toward advancing its international research capabilities, announcing in January that it would become one of a handful of schools in North America to join the Worldwide Universities Network.

The WUN is a network of 18 educational institutions spanning 10 countries on five continents dedicated to improving international research on globally significant themes. These include climate change, public health (especially relating to non-communicable diseases), global higher education and research and understand cultures, according to its website.

According to Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Katherine Newman, the

WUN is “the academic parallel to the United Nations or the World Bank.”

Newman, who has experience with international research networks, is described as an “enormous enthusiast” of the types of opportunities that the WUN provides for faculty to collaborate on worldwide issues with the other member institutions.

One of the most valuable resources the WUN can provide to UMass is a connection to “a whole other world of research,” UMass spokesperson Daniel Fitzgibbons said.

“The network connects our faculty with others doing similar work,” Fitzgibbons said. “It brings greater resources to bear on these issues.”

This can be especially important in research areas such as Ebola and malaria transmission, which Fitzgibbons said the School of Public Health and Health Sciences is currently conducting.

He said this collaboration could provide UMass faculty with information that is “maybe outside the

scope of (UMass faculty) knowledge” or could alert them to “work that has not yet been connected in some way,” allowing faculty to discover new cross-disciplinary approaches.

Funding for research project proposals is also available through the WUN Research Development Fund.

Since its inception 15 years ago, the fund has invested over $1,350,000 into international, interdisciplinary research collaboration, according to its website.

Students will also have a chance to take advantage of the network through the Research Mobility Programme. The program allows young scholars to collaborate with their international peers on research projects and enhance their graduate dissertations. “(The program) provides an opportunity for younger faculty, post-graduate students and postdoctorate students to gain international experience and to access resources and expertise that they may not get here,” Fitzgibbons said.

JAMES DESJARDIN/COLLEGIAN

Newman added the resources offered through RMP play into UMass’ focus on the importance of the globalization of higher education. She emphasized that study abroad and other international experiences are important and that “this network is a good chance to do that.”

“It’s important for students to get experience from outside of the

country,” said Max Price, the chairperson of WUN and president of the University of Cape Town.

While the WUN offers a sea of resources for the University, it is not a one-way relationship.

According to Price, the network was looking for another school from the United States that was high up see

WUN on page 2

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THE RUNDOWN ON THIS DAY...

In 1956, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, denounced the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin.

AROUND THE WORLD

France

European diplomats

gathered in Paris on Tuesday in an attempt to rescue the battered peace plan for Ukraine but failed to agree on any censure of the warring factions that have continued to fight in spite of the truce proclaimed nearly two weeks ago.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

The foreign ministers of

Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia met at the

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Students given a chance to give back

Seniors will assist in high-need classes

By Eleanor Harte Collegian Correspondent

At 27 locations across the country, over 2,500 people spend their days in challenging situations, aiding students in high-need classrooms through City Year.

A number of seniors at the University of Massachusetts will be spending the next year serving with City Year in public schools across the country, joining the many UMass alumni that have already served with the program.

City Year is an educationbased non-profit founded by two Harvard University undergraduates in 1988.

Corps members are placed into classrooms in highneed public schools, where they assist a teacher in a classroom and host before and after school programs

for the students. They also run small groups during the school day, working with the students to provide targeted, individual attention.

One recent graduate, Gabriel Tejada, applied to City Year in November 2013 because he said he liked the culture of idealism.

“It has a great mission statement and seemed like it would be real world experience,” he said. Tejada, a sociology and Spanish major, graduated in May and began his position in Brooklyn, New York in August.

Members are between the ages of 17 to 24 and perform a number of duties related to service, leadership development and civic engagement over a period of 10 months.

The corps helps students with their education and personal development. They are paid a bi-weekly stipend, which varies depending on the service city.

Nicki Ambrose, a management and resource

economics senior from Rockport, will be starting with City Year this summer in Seattle.

“I had a corporate internship in the summer, and I realized that I’m not ready for nine-to-five office life,” Ambrose said. “Also, for four years it’s been drilled into us how lucky we are to have a great education and this seemed like a good segue to give back.”

Kalpita Patel, a senior biology major from Burlington, applied to City Year and Teach for America, a similar program with one major difference – TFA members are the sole teacher in the classroom.

“I decided to be the helper rather than the main teacher because I don’t feel qualified to teach a classroom yet,” she said.

City Year corps members are dedicated to working long hours. Tejada arrives at work before 7:15 a.m. and doesn’t get home until 10:30

p.m. some days.

“I knew it would be long days and I have those but I’m fully enjoying it,” he said. “I’m getting out everything I’m putting in.”

Patel is aware of the long days and feels prepared to handle them.

“I’ve been doing things like this for a long time,” she said. “It keeps you own your toes, and there’s not a lot of downtime, which I like.”

Patel has spent a lot of time educating her peers at UMass and making an impact on her community, as well as working with kids in need.

“I felt like City Year was the answer to all of that,” she said.

Tejada works with sixth graders, providing in-class support to teachers and students and also offers tutoring help. In addition, he sits with students and is available for one-on-one instruction. He works with the 10 other corps members at

his school and with the 300 spread out over New York City.

Tejada believes New Englanders are especially suited for the life that comes with City Year. “(New Englanders) have a reputation of being gritty and low maintenance, which is what City Year needs.

Their philosophy is that you have to be flexible, can easily adapt, and don’t care as much about your personal needs. It’s not about you.”

Patel and Ambrose don’t have concrete plans when their time with City Year is up. They’re thinking about graduate school and career plans, but for the next year, they know they will be in a classroom, helping some of the students that need them the most.

Eleanor Harte can be reached at eharte@umass.edu.

French Foreign Ministry for three hours before adjourning and conveying conflicting assessments of their progress to journalists.

Los Angeles Times

South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South

Africa — Just over a month before an election that militants from Boko Haram have vowed to disrupt, suicide bombers killed dozens of people in two attacks on buses in northern Nigeria.

A morning blast in the northeastern

town

Potiskum

afternoon

and

of

attack in Kano marked three suicide attacks on civilian targets in as many days.

Dozens of other people were injured, many seriously.

Los Angeles Times

Distributed by MCT Information Services

Retirees can get IRA boost from Supreme Court

By David G. Savage Tribune Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — More than 50 million Americans with retirement funds through their jobs may get a boost from the Supreme Court.

A case heard by the justices Tuesday involved whether workers can sue their employers if the employer offers mutual funds that have excessively high fees.

Lawyers for the Obama administration said the federal law that protects retirement funds requires employers to act as “prudent” investors and to act “solely” in the interest of their employees and retirees. That means not just selecting a strong array of mutual funds but continuing to monitor those funds to find ones with lower costs, they said.

Picking an array of funds at one point in time and then ignoring what happens in later years isn’t good enough to meet the employer’s duty, the government said.

“You have to duty to look from time to time, and you need to look at performance and expenses,” said Nicole Saharsky, a Justice Department attorney, in spelling out the legal standard.

The sponsors of retirement funds should avoid higher-cost “retail” funds if cheaper “institutional” funds are available, the Justice Department argued.

A lawyer for Edison International, the parent

WUN

of Southern California Edison, which was sued in the case, argued that a continuing duty to monitor funds and costs would be “enormously disruptive.”

But the justices sounded skeptical. Checking regularly on fund performance is “what a prudent investor would do” with his own money, said Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Chief Justice John Roberts said it would not be hard for employees to check the fees and switch to other similar funds with lower fees.

A lot is at stake in the case. According to a brief filed by the Investment Company Institute, 401(k) plans held $4.4 trillion in retirement assets as of March 2014 on behalf of 52 million people.

Some of the funds off ered to Edison employees had fees that were 37 percent higher than comparable institutional funds, David Frederick, a lawyer for the workers and retirees who brought the case told the justices.

A federal district judge and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that the employees and retirees could sue over highcost funds, but only if the funds were added within the last six years.

The justices agreed to review that ruling in Tibble v. Edison International and to decide whether employers have a continuing duty to seek funds with lower costs.

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in worldwide research rankings, had research interests that were in line with those of the other member institutions and had strong and motivated leadership, following Pennsylvania State University’s recent decision to leave. UMass was the perfect fit.

“John Hearn (executive director of the WUN) visited us and was very impressed by our ongoing research in (WUN’s core themes),” Newman said. “He sees UMass as a tremendous contributor. We are not coming in as novices; we are coming in as experienced partners.”

Joining the WUN boils

down to an opportunity for UMass to throw its hat into the ring of global research.

“We can extend our reach of academic influence beyond the United States,” Newman said.

Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and Newman will serve on the WUN Partnership Board and the Academic Advisory Group, respectively. Newman will attend her first meeting this April in Hong Kong.

Anthony Rentsch can be reached at arentsch@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Anthony_Rentsch.

FULBRIGHT Policy Fellowship, which is not included in the Fulbright scholarship ratio.

Whitbourne encourages any students to pursue a Fulbright. She added that, students are surprised that they “get so much out of the process of just applying like resume building, recommendations, interviewing skills and more.”

As to what this honor means for the University, Whitbourne said that UMass is “trying to internationalize our undergraduate program and producing so many scholars is consistent with that.”

Alyssa Maraj Grahame is one of the eight UMass graduate students selected for a Fulbright scholarship.

She is a political science PhD candidate currently conducting research in Iceland.

In a Skype interview, Grahame said that she is in her fourth year of the program and is focusing on doing research for her dissertation on the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis.

“What got me interested was that people here not only criticized the banks for running the country into the ground, they were sort of having a broader discussion, you know, saying ‘This was a real lapse in democracy,’” she said. “So I was interested in the connection between the financial, economic crisis and people’s attitudes toward the political system in which they live.”

She described her project, saying, “I’m affiliated with the University of Iceland. I’m doing a lot of interviews with government officials, political parties, activists, with

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JAMES DESJARDIN/COLLEGIAN

individuals and organizations in sectors of the economy involved in the economy.

As well as writers and cultural critics. Just a variety of stakeholders in addressing the recovery.”

Research has always been a focus for Grahame.

“I knew that I wanted to do field research for my dissertation and that Fulbright is a really good way to fund that,” she said. “And not to mention, it’s a really big honor to be selected for one.”

However, she didn’t think she would manage to receive one. Grahame cites strong support from the political science department and Office of National Scholarship advising as helping her achieve success.

According to Grahame, the application process involves intensive planning close to a year in advance.

She added that, “One of the trickier parts of the application is the personal statement.”

Opposed to the project proposal that outlines what the project is, she explained, “It’s where you have to say

this is my project to do.”

Grahame acknowledged some of the challenges of doing research overseas, saying, “On a professional, academic level, it’s the first time I’m out on my own. I’m away from my advisors, my fellow graduate students. I try to handle that by checking back in, staying connected, taking advantage of the academic connections here and forging new alliances with fellow field workers.”

On a logistical level, she said, “I’m a graduate student with a family, so getting my partner and my son here was tricky and it took a while for it all to work out and get everyone’s visa in order.

But, it was worthwhile and everyone’s here and happy now and having a really good time.”

Grahame plans to apply for a National Science Foundation grant to continue her work upon return to UMass in the fall, adding that, “Research is always ongoing.”

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

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Wednesday, February 25, 2015

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Zimmerman will not New presidential chapter face criminal charges opened after Keystone veto Justice Department “What they told his family and I was that, closes investigation because Trayvon wasn’t able to tell us his

By Timothy M. Phelps, Michael Muskal and Richard A. Serrano Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday that it was closing its investigation into the shooting death three years ago of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin without filing criminal charges against former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

Justice officials said it was impossible to prove that Zimmerman “willfully” violated the black 17-year-old’s civil rights when he pulled the trigger during a struggle in February 2012.

The announcement ends the high-profile federal probe into a shooting death that set off a national debate about race, guns, so-called stand-your-ground laws and self-defense.

“The death of Trayvon Martin was a devastating tragedy,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a statement. “It shook an entire community, drew the attention of millions across the nation, and sparked a painful but necessary dialogue throughout the country. Though a comprehensive investigation found that the high standard for a federal hate-crime prosecution cannot be met under the circumstances here, this young man’s premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface.”

Martin was visiting his father and his father’s girlfriend at a gated community in Sanford, Fla., when he went to a nearby convenience store in the rain.

Wearing a hoodie, he was on his way home when Zimmerman confronted him.

His death prompted angry demonstrations and renewed racial tensions in America. President Barack Obama said at the time, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

The decision not to prosecute Zimmerman was widely expected and illustrated

ELECTIONS date agreement forms.

The number of candidates has gone down slightly from last spring’s election, which featured five P/ VP tickets.

The decrease in candidates is not the only low statistics surrounding the SGA elections. Both the spring and fall elections in 2014 brought up serious questions surrounding voter participation.

Elections Commissioner Divya Kirti, who has been a part of the three previous spring elections, has been working with Vice President Jacob Schissel

JOB FAIR

version of events, there was a lack of evidence to bring the charges. That’s the tragedy.”

Benjamin Crump, Martin family lawyer

the legal challenges federal officials often face in bringing such civil rights cases.

As Holder begins to wrap up his tenure as the nation’s top law enforcement officer, he is expected to announce shortly the results of another high-profile federal investigation — into the shooting of another unarmed African-American, Michael Brown, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., last August.

Like Zimmerman, Officer Darren Wilson is expected to avoid federal prosecution, although a concurrent investigation of possible civil rights violations by the Ferguson Police Department is likely to result either in an agreement with the city to reform its practices or a federal lawsuit.

The Justice Department is also investigating the July death of Eric Garner, who was put into an apparent chokehold while New York police officers tried to arrest him on suspicion of illegally selling cigarettes on Staten Island.

On Tuesday, prosecutors met with the Martin family and their lawyer, Benjamin Crump, in Miami to inform them of the decision. Crump told The Associated Press the decision “was a bitter pill to swallow.”

“What they told his family and I was that, because Trayvon wasn’t able to tell us his version of events, there was a lack of evidence to bring the charges. That’s the tragedy,” Crump said.

Because Zimmerman was a civilian who said he was on the lookout for burglars in his neighborhood, the standard of proof for federal civil rights charges was even higher than it is for the Ferguson and Staten Island police officers, legal experts said.

The Florida case was “a hate crime investigation into whether he shot him because of his race,” said William Yeomans, an American University law

professor and a former top Justice Department civil rights official. “The Ferguson and Staten Island cases are about whether police used excessive force.”

Justice officials said they would have had to prove that Zimmerman knew his actions were illegal and committed them anyway. “It is one of the highest standards of intent imposed by law,” the department said in a statement.

Yeomans agreed: “It should have been fairly clear from early on that charges were unlikely, barring some undiscovered audiotape expressing racist intent.”

The Justice Department rejected criticism that it took too long to wrap up the Zimmerman investigation, saying it had to suspend the probe after he was charged in state court with second-degree murder and manslaughter. The department picked up the case again after he was acquitted in July 2013.

As part of the investigation, the government interviewed 75 witnesses and hired “an independent biomechanical expert” to assess Zimmerman’s version of the struggle.

The department said Zimmerman was investigated for violating a federal housing law that criminalizes “willfully using force or threat of force to interfere with a person’s federally protected housing rights on account of that person’s race or color.” Officials also examined whether he violated another provision by “willfully causing bodily injury to a person because of that person’s actual or perceived race.”

Since the acquittal, Zimmerman made his way back into the public eye after three women complained to police that he had behaved aggressively toward them.

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on different ways to increase voter turnout.

In the past, she said, the SGA has only tabled in the Campus Center during the day, which has been largely ineffective in getting students passing by to stop and vote.

This year, in addition to tabling, Kirti said the SGA will have polling stations at the dining commons equipped with iPads and laptops so people are able to vote on the spot.

O’Neil said the SGA may even add polling stations to dorm lobbies.

The SGA will be spon-

soring debates for the president/vice president candidates on March 5 at 7:30 and for trustees on March 7 at 7:30. Locations for the debates are yet to be determined.

While Kirti has received several funding requests from candidates, she said that most of the campaigning so far has been going on social media. Kirti mentioned that a few candidates have already created Facebook pages and hashtags on Twitter.

Anthony Rentsch can be reached at arentsch@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Anthony_Rentsch.

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“They just want people who are eager to learn and work in the industry,” Cole added.

Cole has attended the fair the previous two years looking for career opportunities.

Although she was intimidated at first, she realized she impressed recruiters by acting like herself. Last year, she was able to get an internship at Starwood

Hotels and Resorts.

The Hotel and Tourism Management Career Day Fair is entirely student-run, and is designed by a committee of students from different concentrations within Isenberg. It is the largest student-run career fair on the East Coast.

“We rely a lot on our volunteers to run the event,” Cole said.

The hospitality industry, which has often relied on new employees entering the workforce, has seen a smaller supply of new workers recently. This has resulted in more of a focus by these companies to recruit new workers.

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

By Christi Parsons and Kathleen Hennessey Tribune Washington Bureau

“They have to be cautious about setting the president up for a message victory.”

WASHINGTON—With the quick swipe of a pen on the way from one meeting to another, President Barack Obama unceremoniously opened a fourth chapter of his presidency Tuesday – the veto era.

Obama’s rejection of a bill that would have ordered approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline came with minimal fanfare. The White House did not even publicly release word of the decision, which was widely anticipated, until after Senate officials announced they had received the veto message.

Nonetheless, the moment marked a milestone.

Until Tuesday, Obama had vetoed only two bills in more than six years. Already this year, the White House has issued more than a dozen veto threats.

Obama’s first two years were built around legislative victories. The next two featured an ultimately futile effort by the president and House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, to negotiate a “grand bargain” on spending and taxes. In the last two years, the White House pushed new programs through aggressive executive actions in areas including immigration and global warming.

But the final two years of Obama’s tenure will almost certainly be dominated by defense as he fends off Republican efforts to undo his policies.

Aides to the president insisted that an era of vetoes wasn’t their preference. Too many White House rejections of legislation approved by the House and Senate could dismay voters, they say.

“When there’s dysfunction, we all pay the price,” said one aide, speaking anonymously in accordance with White House policy.

At the same time, Obama is happy to draw “bright lines” around the policies he cares most about, the aide acknowledged.

Nothing draws those lines quite as brightly as a veto pen.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel, (R-Ky., said the Senate would hold a vote no later than March 3 in an attempt to override the veto. But that effort is almost certain to fail: The bill passed both houses of Congress with less than the two-thirds vote needed for an override.

“This veto doesn’t end the debate,” McConnell

Patrick Griffin, Former legislative liason for President Clinton, now academic director of Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute at American University said. “Americans should know that the new Congress won’t stop pursuing good ideas, including this one.”

Boehner called Obama’s veto a “national embarrassment.”

Vetoes were once common. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, for example, vetoed 635 pieces of legislation, an average of more than 50 a year, despite having a Democraticcontrolled Cong ress throughout his tenure.

In recent years, however, as Congress has come more and more to resemble a parliamentary body with strict party discipline, fewer bills opposed by a president emerge, and vetoes have become rare. President Bill Clinton rejected 37 pieces of legislation in eight years, President George W. Bush just 12.

With 44 votes in the Senate, Democrats will continue to be able to kill most Republican-backed bills with filibusters, limiting the number of vetoes Obama may have to cast.

The Keystone legislation was the relatively rare example that peeled off enough Democratic support to reach a 60-vote threshold to pass the Senate.

In some other cases, the president, in collaboration with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., may decide that he would prefer to have the Senate pass a measure so he can make the show – and the political point – of vetoing it, said Jim Manley, a former longtime Reid advisor.

Senate Democrats will probably be happy to oblige.

“I don’t believe that the caucus is going to want to be the death knell for everything,” Manley said.

“Every once in a while they’re going to send stuff down to the president, just so he can use the veto and draw the contrast.”

Another big constraint on the number of vetoes is the inability, at least so far, of the Republican majorities in the House and Senate to agree on new bills to send the president’s way.

Many Republicans would like to take a run at rewriting parts of the healthcare law, for example, but disagreements within their caucus have blocked that.

Meanwhile, with the 2016 presidential contest taking shape and Republicans looking to shore up their congressional majorities, party leaders are evaluating whether a game of veto-volley with the White House would help or hurt them.

“They have to be cautious about setting the president up for a message victory,” said Patrick Griffin, former legislative liaison for President Clinton and now academic director of the Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute at American University.

“If the president frames the message successfully the way he wants to, the Republicans are not going to just keep putting their fingers in the fan.”

Both sides were happy to make Keystone the first measure through the process. The project is designed to move oil from the tar sands deposits under Canada’s prairies more than 1,000 miles south to refineries along the Gulf Coast. It stirs passions on both sides but is not a leading issue with large numbers of voters.

“It’s a test case,” Griffin said. “It’s about whether the public thinks his reasoning is better than their reasoning.”

Republicans said they passed the bill to fulfill their commitment to pursue job-creating policies. In a video released Monday, Boehner said it would create up to 42,000 direct jobs.

Administration officials say most of the jobs the project would create are temporary, related to construction, and the number of permanent jobs involved is minuscule. At the same time, they say the project could have serious negative environmental consequences, mostly by contributing to global warming.

This month, the Environmental Protection Agency reported to the State Department, which continues to review the pipeline, that Keystone would add as much carbon dioxide to the air each year as 6 million passenger vehicles.

Obama has said previously that the project should be approved only if it didn’t significantly worsen carbon emissions, the leading cause of global warming.

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“I’ll be back. We’ll make out.” - David Puddy

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Editorial@DailyCollegiancom

Walmart raises minimum wage after labor efforts Last Thursday, Walmart announced it would increase the wages of 500,000 of its employees to a minimum of

Rebecca Kanter $9 an hour beginning this April, and $10 an hour by Feb.1, 2016. The company also announced plans to improve scheduling to ensure more consistent hours. These are momentous changes that have an incredible and important impact, as there’s a history of workers risking their jobs to demand better working conditions. For years, organizations like OUR Walmart, Jobs with Justice and the union, United Food and Commercial Workers International, have worked

and demand it be altered.

It acknowledges the intersection between student and worker issues. Walmart has profited from providing employees low pay and little job security, while Sallie Mae has profited one billion dollars from student debt.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the single largest private employer in the U.S and has one of the largest salary disparities between the highest and lowest paid workers.

Although the Walton family net worth tops $152 billion, the average associate makes only $8.81 and many of its associates rely on food stamps. These reasons make the company an obvious target for pressuring reform in the private sector. While the company’s announcement

“Years of campaigning and countless associates’ courage to risk their jobs has brought this issue to light and driven the push for systemic change.” tirelessly to build worker power among Walmart employees and demand better work conditions, despite the very real risks of retaliation.

The most publicized protests for this campaign have occurred during Black Friday. As a member of the UMass chapter of the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), other members and I took time during Thanksgiving break to tap into several of the protests at 1,600 stores in 49 states, demanding $15 an hour for Walmart employees. This past summer, I also stood alongside other students of the United States Student Association in front of a Walmart corporate office in Southern California, demanding paid sick days for workers.

As students, it might seem these issues don’t apply to us, but they do. Massive wealth inequality remains a serious concern in the U.S., and real wages have remained stagnant for decades. As future graduates, we are stepping into a labor market where living wages, paid sick leave, maternity leave, health benefits and other labor standards are still a fight, not a guarantee. Supporting labor struggles as a student is refusing to accept the inequity of the U.S. labor market,

to raise wages is certainly a step in the right direction, it still has ways to go in improving its labor practices. Additional reform will likely only come from continued pressure from workers and students should continue to support these campaigns.

This recent victory for Walmart workers (and taxpayers) demonstrates that people have the power to change large institutions with far greater resources.

When an announcement such as this hits the news, it is important to remember that this change did not happen out of the goodness of Wal-Mart’s corporate heart. Instead, years of campaigning and countless associates’ courage to risk their jobs has brought this issue to light and driven the push for systemic change.

Ultimately, this organizing has created concrete improvements in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Thursday’s landmark victory is not the end of this campaign, but sets up future fights for $15 an hour and a union. The struggle to be able to work with dignity and respect at Walmart continues.

Rebecca Kanter is a Collegian contributor and can be reached at rkanter@umass.edu.

Obama’s long-awaited remarks on extremism fails to mention military Speaking at the White House Thursday, President Obama made some longawaited remarks on the state

scholars and clerics, who Obama believes, “have a responsibility to push back ... (against) the lie that we are somehow engaged in a Julian del Prado clash of civilizations.”

The priorities and poliof violent extremism in the cies which were laid out by world and the role of the Obama are a solid foundaUnited States in potential tion upon which to create solutions for violent extrem- future international counism. Since the Charlie Hebdo terterror policy. This may be shooting on Jan. 7, Obama because nearly every sentihas been on the receiving ment expressed by Obama end of a wide range of criti- was very general and easy cisms. In many ways he took to agree with. For example, the White House’s Summit on Countering Violent Extremism as an opportunity to address these criticisms en masse.

However, Obama, in an uncharacteristic move, refrained from naming critics and criticisms directly, and instead laid out the priorities of the nation regarding counterterrorism a “digital communications in a rather succinct way. hub (meant to) counter ISIL’s Unfortunately, the remarks propaganda and recruitment underplayed many, if not efforts” in conjunction with all, failures made by the the United Arab Emirates is United States in the realm hard to disagree with. of counterterrorism. While Similarly, when Obama it is hardly uncommon for said religious leaders within a president to downplay Muslim communities tartheir own shortcomings, the geted by extremist recruitworld presented by Obama ers are obligated to “push acknowledges that the West back,” he was not presentand the Middle East have a ing new information. It is “complicated history” with- doubtful that anyone will out mentioning very recent protest the existence of a abuses of the Middle East new Countering Violent under George W. Bush and Extremism coordinator at Obama himself. This seems the Department of Homeland rather counter-productive Security. when many of the Muslim Nevertheless, these

remarks were valuable because they prioritize the recruitment of terrorists within communities over the viability of military against terrorism. Portraying violent extremists as “desperate for legitimacy,” and saying that “the notion that the West is at war with Islam is an ugly lie” keeps the War on Terror in perspective. Continued awareness of this fundamental weakness, which many extremist groups share, is integral to

“In effect he calls for Muslim scholars and clerics to take responsibility for extremism in their communities without addressing grievances those scholars have with the West or the United States.”

effect he calls for Muslim scholars and clerics to take responsibility for extremism in their communities without addressing grievances those scholars have with the West or the U.S. It is true that Obama said that “none of us ... should be immune from criticism in terms of specific policies,” but this is not sufficient. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the destruction of Muammar Gaddafi’s government in Libya, and the Syrian civil war all reflect how the U.S. has concrete effects on every day life in the Middle East. Some of this is because of diplomacy, but interactions between Americans and communities vulnerable to extremism largely occur between the military and these communities.

This is why the U.S. needs a place in the narrative against violent extremism. After all, the task of these clerics and scholars is to create a narrative to counter the “terrorist narrative,” at least according to Obama. Do American soldiers have a place in that narrative? Hopefully the creation of additional offices in Homeland Security and our social media efforts with the UAE will provide an answer.

fighting a war against insurgency itself.

Even though the president’s priorities for fighting international terrorism are sound in their logic, Obama’s choice not to mention the military at all is somewhat confusing. Obama rejects the idea that the U.S. is “the cause of every ill in the Middle East,” something which has been a long time coming in my opinion.

However, while he acknowledges that there is a “terrorist narrative,” he does not mention the role of the U.S. Julian del Prado is a Collegian military in the narrative that columnist and can be reached at is Middle Eastern history. In jdelprad@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 - Mark Chiarelli COPY EDITOR - Jaclyn Bryson WEB PRODUCTION MANAGER - Christina Yacono NEWS DESK EDITOR - Catherine Ferris O p /E d DESK EDITOR - Maral Margossian ARTS DESK EDITOR - Erica Garnett SPORTS DESK EDITOR - Andrew Cyr COMICS DESK EDITOR - Tracy Krug GRAPHICS DESK EDITOR - James Desjardin

Arts Living THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

“Does anybody remember laughter?” - Robert Plant

FA S H I O N

Fashion favors individuality Less emphasis on trends from stylists Fashion is a living, breathing, evolving animal that is constantly changing, but it isn’t just about following trends blindly.

Trends are meant to be transferred from the runway to people’s everyday wardrobes. Individuality is a main component of fashion, despite people always trying to predict the next trends and designers constantly pushing themselves to be more creative with their collections.

This season was no different at the New York Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which was held from Feb. 11-19 and saw designers present their fall and winter 2015-16 collections.

But when Style.com Editorat-Large Tim Blanks asked Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour what she thought the trends would be this upcoming season, she responded that trend was a dirty word.

Instead, what Wintour liked about this season’s collections was that they were more based on individuality and identity, she said to Style.com.

Alexander Wang always has that sports luxe feel to his collections. This season, he presented a collection that maintained his status quo, but with a grunge edge to it.

Models were sent down the runway in studded jacks with four-inch platform boots to match. The collection also included clean-cut military jackets edged with chains. Wang finished off the collection with a series of sheer evening dresses, which were made to look like chainmail, successfully executing the grunge feel, but still keeping his tailored roots.

C U LT U R E

Earthfoods hosts LGBTQ mic night

By Sarah Gamard Collegian Staff

By Richard Nguyen Collegian Correspondent

A model strikes a pose at the end of the runway during New York Fashion Week.

Going from sports luxe to sports-like wear, comes Lacoste. The brand always has the preppy, sportive feel in its clothes, specifically with its signature polo shirts.

However, Creative Manager Felipe Oliveira Baptista, wanted to add a

mid-thigh tennis skirts had a flirty appeal, alongside the graphic-printed sweatshirts that some of the men wore on the runway.

When bandage dresses come to mind, Hervé Léger

by Max Azria quickly follows. Bandage dresses are usually shown in solid col-

“Fashion is a living, breathing, evolving animal that is constantly changing, but it isn’t just about following trends blindly.” little edge to the Lacoste design while staying in the same sportive vein.

“A mix of bourgeois and street kid,” was the inspiration for Bapistra’s tennis theme collection, according to Style. The collection could have also been inspired by the 2001 Wes Anderson film “The Royal Tenenbaums,” based on the cut on the tracksuits and the sweatbands some of the models donned on the runway.

In the midst of the 1970s fashion in the collection, some of the looks were fairly modern. Pleated

ROBERT RIGO/COLLEGIAN

way. Multicolored fabrics wrapped around the body revamped how the bandage dress looks.

Diane von Furstenberg reinvented the wrap dress in the early 1970s, and from then on many women have had the wrap dress in their closet. This season, Furstenberg wanted to recreate the working women, but in a sexier, more powerful tone. Throughout the collection, the wrap dress was still a staple, but in a sheer, barely there kind of way.

Similar to Hervé Léger, lace also had its place on the runway. Whether it was in a trim, side panel or on the whole garment, lace gave each piece of clothing its own sexy, sophisticated vibe.

To give the collection a more forceful feel, Furstenberg also used the simple pinstriped pattern not only on a fitted vest with matching pants, but also on a sheer chiffon sleeve on and above the knee dress.

ors, sometimes with contrasting colors.

However, for their fall 2015 collection, designers Max and Lubov Azria tried to revamp the ultra sexy dress with different combinations of fabrics.

With inspiration coming from a family trip to the La Sagrada Família church in Barcelona, Spain, Lubov Azria was inspired by the colors and detailing of said cathedral.

The runway was filled with different colors of leather, lace, sequins and studded bodices that Richard Nguyen is available at glimmered on the run- richardnguye@umass.edu.

Arts@DailyCollegian.com

Events like the open mic and the myriad of others that exist on campus are just part of the Stonewall Center’s support of UMass students.

“Some people come when they’re coming out of the closet,” Glynn said. “Some people are already out of the closet and others come to do research for a class.”

There is, in fact, a DVD, video and book library located in the Stonewall Center for students to access. The center also holds LGBTQ ally training sessions for those who want to help make a difference but do not necessarily know how.

Pinto reflected on her experiences working at the center by saying, “We’re making a change one person at a time.”

“Think of it this way,” Glynn said. “We are 20 minutes away from the lesbian capital of the world,” in reference to Northampton.

However, Pinto said, “There are also a lot of problems.”

That is where the Stonewall Center’s efforts come in.

The center serves as the LGBTQ education resource center on campus The organization was one of the first in the nation of its kind, established in 1985 as an administrative office of Student Affairs to provide support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members of the Five College Area. Now, it serves as a nurturing and versatile haven for the growing, but still struggling LGBTQ community and those seeking to become allies to the community.

The next spoken word night will be held on March 6 at Earthfoods Café in the Student Union from 7-9 p.m.

Other Stonewall Center events can be found on its website, www.umass.edu/ stonewall.

On a blisteringly cold night, it was the warmth and comfort inside Earthfoods Café at the University of Massachusetts which lit up the night.

The popular campus eatery hosted a LGBTQ open mic night last Thursday in conjunction with the Stonewall Center in an effort to connect those of all orientations and self-identities and to offer a place to meet and interact with new people.

For freshman Josie Pinto, sophomore Jayanne Glynn and the outside event coordinators for UMass’ Stonewall Center, the efforts began before the doors opened. The event was held after regular café hours, which meant pulling chairs down off tables, setting up the room and hoping for a solid turnout despite the weather.

They got their wish.

Glynn shared a beautiful spoken word poem about growing into one’s own identity at the event to a host of audience members. The hosts aimed to provide an environment where, whether or not you are currently in or seeking to be a part of the LGBTQ community, you could feel comfortable.

According to Pinto and Glynn, this was the first time the Stonewall Center was holding an open mic night at Earthfoods Café.

Usually, these once-a-month shows are held at The Works Bakery Café, a lunch and breakfast restaurant in Amherst Center. Turnouts there included spoken word and musical performances, including UMass a cappella groups like Sharp Attitude.

Glynn mentioned that turnouts were usually very good and sometimes they would have to cap the number of performers when passing around the sign-up sheets because so many vol- Sarah Gamard can be reached at unteered. sgamard@umass.edu.

FA S H I O N

Stars put on quite an act with Oscar fashion A night of jewels, lace and copy cats

By Richard Nguyen Collegian Correspondent The winners of the 2015 Oscars weren’t the only ones to shine Sunday. Many of the celebrities and their stylists also brought their A-game to this year’s red carpet.

Actresses Lupita Nyong’o and Emma Stone were dripping in jewels Sunday night.

Nyong’o wore a beautiful custom-made cream Calvin Klein gown, which was covered in glimmering pearls.

According to Vanityfair. com, the dress had over 6,000 pearls that were featured mostly on the bodice of the gown. Paired with Chopard earrings, even though Nyong’o wasn’t nominated for a film this year, she still dressed as if she was.

Lime green may not be the first color for an actress to wear on the red carpet, however, Stone made a green gown work. She wore a beaded backless Elie Saab haute couture gown, which was shown on the Paris runway just a couple weeks prior to

the event.

The gown, covering her arm and shoulder area, may have seemed modest for an actress her age. However the mid-thigh slit on her left leg proved that being seductive could be done tastefully.

Saab proved to be one of the most popular designers of the night. So popular, that the same gown was worn twice by two different women, which is a major no-no of red carpet etiquette.

Jennifer Lopez and Robert Duvall’s wife, Luciana Duvall, both wore a Saab gown from his fall 2014 couture collection. Both gowns featured a full tulle skirt, with a deep v-neckline that dipped down to the bellybutton. The bodice of both gowns had intricate beaded lace, flowing down to the skirt of the garment. The only difference between the two was that Lopez wore it in a nude color with a matching belt, whereas Duvall wore it in a light baby pink sans belt. Although their stylists floundered, both women look radiant.

Best actor winner Eddie Redmayne and presenter Ansel Elgort were also twin-

Looking to channel old Hollywood glamour as well was Lady Gaga. No longer wearing meat dresses or emerging from eggs, the star, along with her stylist, Brandon Maxwell, discussed this drastic style transformation on Vogue. com. Tunisian-born designer Azzedine Alaïa designed her red carpet ensemble, taking two months to stitch the bugle beads onto the dress.

The red gloves, also designed

by Alaïa, became a buzz on Twitter and a meme, photoshopping Gaga with dishwashing photos.

Gaga switched it up once again when she performed a medley of songs from the “Sound of Music” to comMCT memorate its 50th anniverJennifer Lopez and Luciana Duvall wore the same gown by accident at the Oscars. sary of its release. She came onstage with a simple white ning, but in a less “they from the usual black suit fishtail Marchesa gown. The ball gown that looked very stole my look” kind of way. attire normally worn at red gown itself was very simple, airy and ethereal. Her only Redmayne, who won for his carpet events. Elgort also but the gold embroidery at accessory was her heartperformance as Stephen decided to wear a midnight the bust and at the side of shaped engagement ring, Hawking in the film “The blue suit, opting to wear a her waist made the dress which was given to her Theory of Everything,” Prada with shawl lapel. very elegant. Finishing the by her fiancé actor Taylor wore a luscious midnight Going along with the mid- look with Lorraine Schwartz Kinney. blue Alexander McQueen night blue theme, United earrings, made Ora into suit with a contrasting black Kingdom-based singer Rita an old Hollywood glamour Richard Nguyen can be reached at peak lapel. He veered away Ora wore a custom-made bombshell. richardnguye@umass.edu.

B6

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Comics There’s

gold in them thar hills.

DailyCollegian.com

JOB! JOB! JOB! JOB! JOB! JOB! JOB! JOB! JOB! JOB! JOB! JOB!

HEAR YE HEAR YE! BE COMICS EDITOR NEXT YEAR! Put your editing in front of thousands of readers.

Apply to me at: comics@dailycollegian.com IT’S THE BEST I PROMISE!

Gold!

D inosaur C omics

B y R yan N orth

And how

W ondermark

B y D avid M alki aquarius

HOROSCOPES Jan. 20 - Feb. 18

It’s snowing? Everyone! Check your weather apps! It’ll be stronger if we all check at the same time!

pisces

Feb. 19 - Mar. 20

leo

Jul. 23 - Aug. 22

Texting furiously at the dinner table is a gateway to harder things, like checking your UMail obsessively at parties.

virgo

Aug. 23 - Sept. 22

Even if you can’t identify the specific type, if it Because not allowing me to put ketchup on looks like food, it’s okay to eat the mysterious meat slob pushed into a tube, what you crumb from your lap. people call “hot dogs”, just makes sense.

aries

Mar. 21 - Apr. 19

taurus

Apr. 20 - May. 20

gemini

May. 21 - Jun. 21

“I can’t tell if this is tuna that I’m eating or just mayonnaise” tells of your horrible condiment usage habits.

“The moon is never brighter than when the sun is down.”

libra

Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

scorpio

Oct. 23 - Nov. 21

Would a frozen hot dog on a stick eaten as a treat be considered a “pop dog”?

A pint of milk is more potent than any cocktail. You’ll be asleep by eight o’clock. Just one and you’re done.

sagittarius

Nov. 22 - Dec. 21

Help others and help yourself! Clean up the unwanted handouts from classrooms and shove them into your coat for warmth.

The best test to tell if your muffin is full of GMOs is to buy one and wait five hours. Is it still warm? Is it, perhaps, near combustion?

cancer

capricorn

Jun. 22 - Jul. 22

Ditch drinking coffee and try chewing on the bark of the coffee tree! It’ll keep you up for hours because of all the pain in your teeth.

Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

Like swiss, aren’t we all just well contained mold culture?

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

WO M E N ’ S L AC RO S S E

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

7

FOOTBALL

UMass faces BU on short rest Former UAB DB

By Matthew Zackman Collegian Staff

Although the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team is off to a perfect 3-0 start on the season, head coach Angela McMahon hasn’t been as focused on the record, or even stats.

Instead, she’s been using the first few games as a way to judge her own team’s success rather than focus on the quality of play or the quantity of numbers the Minutewomen tally up.

“The focus of the game is trying to improve and get better. We are going to see a different team out there than we saw on Saturday who plays a different style game. We need to adjust our game and capitalize on our strengths,” McMahon said. “Our only focus is tomorrow and nothing else really matters.”

UMass has an opportunity to win its 11th consecutive regular season game with a trip to in-state rival Boson University Wednesday afternoon.

“Tomorrow is a tough game for us. They are a tough team and they are extremely physical and they have great size. I am expecting a great game and it’s

OFFENSE

always a battle between us.

It’s just a great New England rivalry,” McMahon said.

McMahon made it clear that the contest against the Terriers (1-1) is a crucial game for the Minutewomen’s i m p r o v e m e n t .

“Our focus going into the game is to get better and improve each and everyday and have a great performance in Boston,” McMahon said.

Despite having a small window of time between their game against the Terriers and their previous contest against New Hampshire, McMahon stressed that they have been using practice time to work on minor, but important details.

UMass had only three days of rest following its 12-7 win against the Wildcats on Saturday.

“It has been a pretty quick turnaround. We haven’t done too much or anything crazy, but we have worked on shooting, possession game, draws and working the ball around on offense making sure we have a lot of different threats,” McMahon said.

She also added that the Minutewomen used their time to scout the Terriers. BU has several high level offen-

signs with UMass Brackett to join UM secondary

By Andrew Cyr Collegian Staff

CHRISTINA YACONA/COLLEGIAN

Erika Eipp (5) leads the Minutewomen with three assists this season.

sive threats that have been scoring big goals for them, such as Mallory Collins who leads the Terriers with nine goals scored on the season.

While Collins has the Minutewomen’s defensive attention, the Terriers will have to find a way to stop UMass’ Hannah Murphy, who has scored 10 goals this season and was recently named the Atlantic 10 player of the Week.

“Hannah is a quiet leader for us, who doesn’t play quiet. She’s so humble and she is always willing to do anything and everything we ask of her. Whether it is coming up with the ball in a draw,

scoring a goal, anything we need her to do she is willing to do which makes her such a special and unique player,” McMahon said.

Murphy was instrumental in wins over Connecticut and New Hampshire, scoring seven goals combined in the two games. Against UNH, Murphy scored three goals in the final 15 minutes of the game.

The Terriers will host the Minutewomen at New Balance Field instead of Nickerson Field.

Matthew Zackman can be reached at mzackman@umass.edu.

continued from page 8

to do things, because as we prepared before the year, you think you’re going to game plan to take away Lalanne or Esho or try to take away Trey Davis’ 3s.

They’re not having that.

They’re finding a way.

In their 6-game winning streak, I think they did that and I thought they did it against VCU. I mean, they were buried in that game and they just kept playing and Jabarie Hinds and Demetrius Dyson did a really nice job off the bench for them.”

The Minutemen don’t have a scorer averaging more than 12 points per game. Point guard Davis leads UMass (11.7 points per game) while Lalanne (11.6), Esho (11.3) and Derrick Gordon (10.1) follow suit.

Kellogg said he hoped to see secondary options develop as the season went along, but is also playing the hand that’s dealt to him.

“I adjusted and we adjusted as a team for

team’s game-planning for Cady and Maxie,” Kellogg said. “Every time they touched the ball was a double and triple team, especially with Cady in the post and teams chesting up with Maxie.

Multiple players also said the Minutemen have adjusted their offense over the season as well. Both Gordon and Hinds praised the team’s improved passing, saying offensive sets also felt stagnant at the beginning of the season.

Combine that with increased scouting from teams within the conference, and UMass had to adapt. And that meant moving away from continuously running the offense through Lalanne and Esho.

“It changed throughout the season because now teams start scouting you way more,” Lalanne said.

“So they’ll send a guy right behind me, a guy in front, a guy right there. You’re not going to get something that beneficial out of it.

“We’re trying to play

WILLIAMS

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

Trey Davis (12) leads the Minutemen in scoring at 11.7 points per game. through everybody else and open it up,” he added.

UMass struggled to open much of anything up against the Hawks in the first encounter. Kellogg said the slow pace of that game hurt both Lalanne and Esho, who play better in space.

The lack of go-to options has freed up points for other members of the Minutemen. It’s something

Kellogg has mentioned all season, and now sees it rounding into shape.

“You don’t want to be a one or two-headed team,” he said. “You want to have four, five, maybe even six guys that are playing well.”

Mark Chiarelli can be reached at mchiarel@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Mark_Chiarelli.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Time to put an end to court storming

By Matt Murschel Orlando Sentinel

It’s time to stop all of this foolishness.

In an all-too familiar sight, Kansas State fans rushed the court at Bramlage Coliseum moments after the Wildcats upset No. 9 Kansas on Monday night. The purple wave of humanity engulfed the floor nearly whipping out Jayhawks coach Bill Self and the rest of his team.

It was a scary moment and luckily no one was hurt.

Self took the high-road afterwards saying, “It’s a ballgame. It’s not about chicken-winging somebody when the game’s over. Hopefully, they can get that corrected. It’s fine if you want to celebrate

when you beat us, that’s your business. That’s fine.

But at least it shouldn’t put anybody at risk from a safety standpoint.”

Ironically, it was the second time in a week that Kansas found itself lost among a sea of students. The Jayhawks lost to West Virginia on Feb. 16 on a last-second shot and the Mountaineers faithful stormed the court as well.

The Big 12 Conference, which is reviewing the matter, doesn’t have a set protocol when it comes to fining schools when fans storm the court, but it should.

T he Southeaster n Conference fines schools based on a tier system with the first offense at $5,000 followed by $25,000 for a second and $50,000 thereafter.

In the aftermath of the University of AlabamaBirmingham football team’s disbandment, players scattered throughout the country in search of a new home. On Tuesday, one player landed in Amherst.

On Tuesday evening, the Massachusetts football team announced the signing of 5-foot-11, 186-pound senior defensive back Kelton Brackett.

After the Blazers’ program termination following the 2014 season, players from their program were allowed to transfer schools without being forced to sit out for a season because of the NCAA policy, meaning Brackett can start participating with the team immediately.

In his career at UAB, Brackett appeared in 32 games, starting in 10 of those. Brackett finished his career with 64 tackles, nine pass break-ups, three forced fumbles and an interception in his three seasons on the team.

It’s an expensive reminder that it’s up to the school’s to protect everyone involved and should be adopted by all conferences _ big or small.

Kansas State athletic director John Currie issued an apology Tuesday “On behalf of President Schulz and K-State Athletics, I apologize to Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger, Coach Bill Self and the KU basketball team for the unfortunate situation in which they were placed last night at the conclusion of our basketball game.”

He went on to add, “Our security staff, which in similar past postgame celebrations has, according to our procedures and rehearsals, provided a solid human barrier to allow the teams to conduct

a postgame handshake and safely leave the court, was unable to get into proper position quickly enough last night and was overwhelmed by the fans rushing the floor.”

Fans storming the courts are nothing new and you see more and more in the days leading into March Madness.

The concern has and always should be for the safety of the coaches, players and even the students themselves. All it takes is one person to get seriously injured in a postgame celebration to ruin what otherwise was a great win for a school.

It’s why everyone today is talking about Kansas State’s postgame performance and not the actual win itself.

years to come I still have a dream of (making) the NBA and, God willing, everything will go right.”

Kellogg said he thinks returning to the D-League is Williams’ best option to do so. “ I think the guys have to make a determination,” Kellogg said. “Do you want to stay on United States soil and try to make it to the NBA? Or do you want to try and go and start a career overseas?

It’s easier for you to get pulled up if you’re right here and there’s probably a better track record of guys making it through

SMILEY

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

continued from page

8

the D-league.

“But you have to sacrifice during that time. The pay is OK, you’re traveling like a college team or one of those teams. I think Chaz did his stint overseas and coming back, I don’t think he really wanted to go back over there and finish off the season. This is a good time for him to be jumping in the D-league and seeing if he can make some noise.”

Mark Chiarelli can be reached at mchiarel@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Mark_Chiarelli.

continued from page 8

last Friday and, once Guzzo returned Saturday, he filled in for Dominic Trento.

“He’s stepped up big time,” Guzzo said. “He’s playing well and deserves to be in the lineup because of where he’s at right now.”

Guzzo said that the biggest difference in Smiley’s play last weekend was a sense of confidence that came with increased playing time.

“Obviously he wasn’t playing forward the whole season and it takes a couple of games to adjust,” Guzzo said. “I know I wouldn’t be able to adjust to defense as quick as he adjusted to forward.”

Micheletto said that whether Smiley continues

HAWKS

“We are excited to have Kelton join us,” head coach Mark Whipple said in a press release. “Not only is he a veteran defensive back, but he is a great person and a great student.”

Brackett joins an already experienced defensive secondary that returns five players – Joey Colton, Khary Bailey-Smith, Randall Jette, Trey DudleyGiles and Jackson Porter – that all saw action in the secondary this past season.

Whipple said on signing day that one of his team’s biggest focuses moving forward for the 2015 season was adapting to the spreadheavy Mid American Conference and as a result of that will likely feature more nickel packages that Brackett can be used in.

Coming out of Blount High School in Mobile, Alabama, Brackett was a three-star recruit and was rated at the No. 35 overall recruit in the state of Alabama. He also had offers from Florida International, Louisiana Tech, LouisianaLafayette and Louisville coming out of high school.

to see action at forward will depend on injury updates made later this week. While Trento still nurses a lowerbody injury, Patrick Lee left Saturday’s game in the second period.

Despite this uncertainty, Smiley said that he’s just focusing on continuing to provide energy for UMass, whether it be on offense or defense.

“I’m happy with what I’m doing right now and I think the most I could do is just continue to accept the role and play my game,” Smiley said.

Anthony Chiusano can be reached at achiusano@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @a_chiusano24.

continued from page 8

off the court,” Gordon told reporters. “I talk to him just about once every three, four, five days or so. Just checking on him and seeing how he’s doing. They’ve been struggling a lot, so just telling him to keep his head up and things like that.

“If you get him out of his game, it will definitely give us a shot. They have average players on their team but he gets them going,” Gordon added.

Miles is the only other player on the Hawks averaging double-digits scoring per

game (10.7). Aaron Brown (9.7) and Chris Wilson (7.5) follow closely behind in the scoring department. Miles is also the next highest rebounder on the team averaging 5.1 rebounds per game.

Tip off from Mullins Center will be at 7 p.m. and can be seen on national television NESNPlus, Comcast Sports Network Philadelphia and on SNY. Andrew Cyr can be reached at arcyr@umass.edu, and can be followed on Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Sports@DailyCollegian.com

@MDC_SPORTS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Williams catches on

Searching for the answers

UM lacks top scorer

Former point guard signs with Maine

By Mark Chiarelli

By Mark Chiarelli

Collegian Staff

Collegian Staff

Former Massachusetts men’s basketball point guard Chaz Williams yearned for the opportunity to prove himself capable of playing his way in the NBA during his time in Amherst.

Now, he’s one step closer.

The former UMass star signed a professional contract with the Maine Red Claws, which is an organization within the NBA’s Developmental League, last week after being placed in the league’s waiver system. The Red Claws, which are an affiliate of the Boston Celtics, are currently 23-11 and in first place in the Atlantic Division.

Williams originally signed a professional contract to play in Turkey, spending the fall overseas. He played for two different Turkish professional teams before returning to the United States.

UMass coach Derek Kellogg said he spoke to Williams Tuesday, and said Williams sounded excited about his decision.

“He sounds pretty upbeat,” Kellogg said. “I haven’t followed his stats much but he says he’s doing well. The one thing I like is he seems to be committed to doing whatever they want him to do and whatever they need him to do.

“I think they want him to be a good point guard and distribute and get guys involved. I think he’s really concentrating on that while also using his speed and scoring ability. I’m hoping he sticks for the rest of the year and maybe gets a chance to be on a summer league team next year.”

Williams has appeared in two games – both wins – and is averaging 23.2 minutes per game. He’s averaging six points (26.3 percent shooting) per game and seven assists to just two turnovers per game.

In an interview with the Massachusetts Daily Collegian in August, Williams said his goal was to play in the NBA and said the best route in the interim was to play in Turkey.

“I’m still working, definitely,” Williams said by phone. “In the

When the Massachusetts men’s basketball team peers across the court Wednesday night, it will see a team which heavily relies on one player.

Saint Joseph’s goes as its star forward DeAndre Bembry does.

He leads the Hawks in points (17.8), rebounds (7.3), assists (3.3), steals (2.0) and minutes (38.6) per game. He’s Mr. Do Everything and it shows, as no other player is averaging more than 10.7 points per game.

In other words, it’s the exact opposite of UMass.

“There’s a good chance (Bembry’s) going to get his points because he’s done it – you don’t want to concede that,” Minutemen coach Derek Kellogg said. “At the same token, you don’t want (Chris) Wilson or Isaiah (Miles) or (Aaron) Brown or one of the big guys to get going and give them a second, third or even fourth option. Because I think, at times, they struggle to score points.”

When Kellogg inverts his attention to his own sideline, he’ll see a team that, unlike the Hawks, doesn’t struggle to score points. It’s finding someone who does it consistently that continues to evade the Minutemen.

Since losing to St. Joe’s 62-56 on Jan. 21, UMass is 6-2. Over that span of eight games, it had four different players as leading scorers. Only twice was senior center Cady Lalanne the leading scorer, and fellow senior Maxie Esho never led the Minutemen in scoring over that stretch.

It’s a far cry from the blueprint UMass entered the season with, and what Hawks coach Phil Martelli expected to see.

“I think the biggest thing that they have going now is that they’ve settled into something that you don’t get a lot of teams to do,” Martelli said in his weekly Atlantic 10 Conference call.

“They’re not waiting anymore on Esho and Lalanne. They’re playing the hot hand … They’ll kind of go through the game until they can find that guy that gets it going.

“It’s a really interesting way

see

WILLIAMS on page 7

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

UMass lost both its games last weekend and looks to make one final push before the Atlantic 10 tournament.

UMass preps for Bembry, St. Joes

By Andrew Cyr Collegian Staff

After going 0-2 in its biggest week of the year, the Massachusetts men’s basketball team chance at receiving at-large bid for the NCAA tournament this season is nearly shot.

The Minutemen put themselves in the situation, and now their only chance at a return to the “Big Dance” is to catch fire at the right time and make a run in the Atlantic 10 tournament in Brooklyn, New York come the middle of March.

However, before UMass or any of its players can look too far into the future, must first host three consecutive home games before ending the season on the road at George Washington on March 7.

“Anytime you can get some conference home games at the end of the regular season, that’s great for your team,” said head coach Derek Kellogg. “It gives us an opportunity to be home for about a week, week and a half here, where were we can have three home games against three teams that are very good and are tough games for us.”

The first item of business on the itinerary for the Minutemen is a rematch with Saint Joseph’s, who defeated UMass 62-56 in the first meeting on Jan. 21. In that game,

“I think (Bembry) is probably the most valuable player in the league, – were talking about this, this morning – maybe even the whole country going over guys we played again.”

Derek Kellogg, UMass Coach DeAndre Bembry became a oneman show, finishing with 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Bembry took over in the second half, scoring the Hawks’ first 13 points over a stretch of nine minutes, 18 seconds. Isaiah Miles broke that stretch only after Bembry recorded an offensive rebound and – to no one’s surprise – assisted Miles on the layup to break a 40-40 tie. UMass did not tie or regain the lead after that play.

“I think he’s probably the most valuable player in the league, maybe – we were talking about this, this morning – maybe even the whole country going over the guys we played against,” Kellogg said.

“The tough thing is, it’s not always him scoring through their offense, he gets put-backs, he gets steals for dunks, he scores against your press. And then he’s pretty good in their half-court offense,” he added.

Bembry leads St. Joe’s in nearly every major offensive categories and is atop the stat sheet in points per game (17.8), rebounds per game (7.3), assists per game (3.3), steals per game (2.0) and is the biggest work-horse, logging in 38.6 minutes per game.

Kellogg said that Bembry’s one of his favorite players to watch because of his ability to create off of broken plays and that he plays the game “the right way.”

Like he’s done every other game before guarding team’s best players, Derrick Gordon will have his hands full guarding Bembry and will look to slow him down.

However, despite their rivalry on the court, Gordon said the two are good friends off the court.

“He’s actually a great friend of mine and a former high school teammate of mine. I know his game. When we’re on the court, it’s personal. But we’re friends see

HAWKS on page 7

see

OFFENSE on page 7

HOCKEY

Maddison Smiley thriving in multi-dimensional role Defenseman makes switch to forward

By Anthony Chiusano Collegian Staff

The Massachusetts hockey team has dealt with its fair share of injuries this season.

With top offensive threats like Ray Pigozzi, Steven Iacobellis and Troy Power all missing clusters of games at different points of the season, the depleted Minutemen (10-20-2, 5-15-1 Hockey East) have constantly looked for stopgap options, often natural defensemen, to suit up on the offensive end.

While blue liners Mike Busillo and Brennan Baxandall were called on earlier in the season to accept this challenge, the newest player to embrace the role is freshman Maddison Smiley.

Playing in his 20th game of the season, and his fifth straight as a forward, Smiley recorded his first goal of his collegiate career in UMass’ 2-1 overtime victory on Senior Night last Saturday against

Providence College.

The goal came in the second period of a then-scoreless game while the Minutemen were taking advantage of a delayed penalty call.

“It was like a monkey off the back,” Smiley said of his first goal.

“I knew I would score at some point in the season, I just didn’t think it would take this long. But it was a really good feeling and it was just really good to get it off my back.”

Aside from the milestone in his new role, Smiley asserted his defensive presence over the weekend, making several hits on Providence skaters in the open ice. Coming off a disappointing overtime loss the previous night, Smiley noted that he saw these hits as an opportunity to build some momentum heading into Saturday’s affair.

“I was just trying to get the boys going and get some energy,” Smiley said. “It was Senior Night so I was trying to get as much momentum as we could when I finally hit the ice. I found getting some body was

the best way to show that.”

UMass coach John Micheletto praised Smiley for his willingness to adjust to a different position, adding that it has helped relieve the issue of ongoing injuries.

“Versatility is a great thing,” Micheletto said. “Where we are in the season, he has proven that he can be an effective player at forward, which gives us a lot of options.

“Without really blinking an eye, he’s seamlessly been able to transition from one to another back and forth.”

Forward was not a totally new position for Smiley to pick up however, as he played a few games there for the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits prior to coming to Amherst.

“Through junior (hockey), I played forward for a few games in the playoffs in some big situations, so it wasn’t huge to change,” Smiley said. “The speed was a lot different, there’s a lot more skating. But I didn’t find it as difficult as I think most players would.”

Smiley’s collegiate debut at for-

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

Maddison Smiley scored his fist goal on Feb. 21 against Providence College. ward came on Feb. 7 against UMass Lowell, one day after Power departed a game against Northeastern after being elbowed in the head.

As Power was forced to sit out the following weekend’s two-game set, Smiley continued to see action on the attack.

But after Power’s return to the lineup this past weekend, the Minutemen’s revolving door of injuries continued to provide Smiley with quality minutes. He dressed for injured Steven Guzzo see

SMILEY on page 7