BOWLED OVER
Are drones coming to your backyard?
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Columnist Matthew-Cunningham Cook:
UMass has failed to address on-campus sexual assault PAGE 4
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Monday, September 29, 2014
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UMass to review confidential informant policy University responds to Boston Globe report
Sunday night. The statement comes in response to a Boston Globe story published Sunday morning about a UMass student and campus police By Aviva Luttrell informant who died of a heroin Collegian Staff overdose in his off-campus apart The University of Massachusetts ment last October. He was a junior. According to the Globe, the stuPolice Department and Student dent had been caught selling LSD Affairs officials will conduct a and the club drug Molly a year review of the University’s confi- before his death. Police also seized dential informant policy to deter- a hypodermic needle during the mine whether informants in bust. However, instead of informdrug cases should be required to ing the student’s parents and susreceive a mandatory referral to pending him, UMPD offered to an addiction specialist, according keep the offense a secret if the stuto a University statement released dent became a confidential infor-
mant, according to the Globe. The story raised questions about whether the University did enough to help the student who was struggling with addiction, and whether officials failed to recognize a heroin problem on campus. “The death of a UMass Amherst student following a drug overdose last year, as reported in the Boston Globe, was a terrible loss for his family, friends and the UMass Amherst community,” the statement said. “In the case reported by the Boston Globe, UMass Amherst reached out to the student on two occasions to offer resources and assistance, keeping in mind the
university’s legal obligation to respect the privacy of students who are legally adults. However, the student decided not to seek assistance. He successfully concealed his use of heroin from a wide variety of people.” The statement said the confidential informant review is in preparation for a scheduled police accreditation review within the upcoming year. The University’s current policy meets the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies standard. “The assessment will help determine whether the confidential informant program can oper-
food, friends and football
ate successfully with a mandatory referral to an addiction specialist, providing an intervention for a student in need while maintaining a program that deters distribution of illegal, lethal drugs,” the statement said. According to the University’s statement, confidential informants are only used when it is believed that such informants can lead to the apprehension of a major drug dealer who poses a threat to students, especially in residence halls. Aviva Luttrell can be reached at aluttrel@ umass.edu and followed on Twitter @AvivaLuttrell.
University unions send petition to Board of Trustees 1,700 have already signed in support By Marie MacCune Collegian Staff
ALEC ZABRECKY/COLLEGIAN
Students gathered before Saturday’s football game at the tailgate held just outside McGuirk Stadium.
UM students celebrate return of football team to Amherst with pregame tailgate Anthony Rentsch Collegian Correspondent The air was full of Frisbees and the smell of hot dogs and hamburgers sizzling on charcoal grills. And with all these festivities, one thing was very clear among the students: it is nice to have football back at the University of Massachusetts. For most undergraduate students, the Homecoming football game marked the start of a new era, one where watching a Football Bowl Subdivision football team
and tailgating on Saturday mornings are possible after two-plus years of the Massachusetts football team playing two hours away at Gillette Stadium. Despite the fact that the student section was nearly packed to capacity at kick off, it slowly whittled down to less than half of its original number during the closing minutes of UMass’ 47-42 loss against Bowling Green. However, the main event on Saturday was the pregame tailgate.
Students, alumni and parents all packed into the parking lots across the street from the Southwest Residential Area starting at 11 a.m., sitting in the beds of pickup trucks and lawn chairs, laying out spreads of home-cooked and freshly grilled food and playing every lawn game known to man. A little closer to McGuirk Alumni Stadium, the University added its own flavor to the tailgate, including both Baby Berk trucks, ice cream trucks, photo
Distict Attorney takes action against drug abuse Drop-box could be added on campus By Brendan Deady Collegian Correspondent Deputy Tom Cote of the Hampshire County Sheriff’s Department stood in front of Amherst’s Wildwood Elementary School on Saturday morning with a zip lock bag full of drugs. He wore a smile as he placed the collection of rainbow capsules into a cardboard box. Later that day the
pills would be incinerated. Saturday marked the ninth National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, an initiative aimed at raising awareness about the importance of getting unwanted prescription drugs out of medicine cabinets, according to Mary Carey, the communications director for the Northwestern District Attorney’s office. The event, which is sponsored nationally by the Drug Enforcement Administration, was organized in collaboration
with local police forces. Residents were welcomed from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. to anonymously dispose of unwanted and expired prescription medications at 16 locations throughout Franklin and Hampshire counties as well as in the town of Athol. Pet medications and vitamins were also accepted, but not needles, syringes or any forms of liquid medications. Unwanted prescription medications can also be dissee
TAKE-BACK on page 2
booths and even a rock wall. Live music was also provided by Malado!, a local band based out of Springfield, and Sharp Attitude, a UMass a Capella group. Members of the Homecoming Court even paraded around in a horsedrawn wagon. This atmosphere was transported into McGuirk Stadium. A raucous student section chanted and cheered as the Minutemen jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarsee
TAILGATE on page 2
The University of Massachusetts Unions United Coalition submitted a petition to the UMass Board of Trustees last week. The petition follows in the wake of an on-campus rally, a hearing with the Massachusetts Department of Labor relations and weeks of bargaining for all unions on campus. According to the petition, “The coalition of UMass Amherst labor unions is actively promoting a vision for our state’s university education system that respects both the individual student’s experience and the collective work we all do to support and shape these experiences.” The petition also added that “administration is jumping on the national race-tothe-bottom bandwagon with concessionary bargaining proposals.” Unions, which are part of the coalition, include the Professional Staff Union (PSU), University Staff Association, Massachusetts Society of Professors, Resident Assistant Union, Graduate Employee Organization and AFSCME. David Lafond, a PSU delegate, said the petition has over 1,700 signatures thus far. “The idea is that we’re
Unions, which are part of the coalition, include the Professional Staff Union (PSU), University Staff Association, Massachusetts Society of Professors, Resident Assistant Union, Graduate Employee Organization and AFSCME. all sort of hitting a wall in our bargaining. We’re facing some pretty aggressive concessions,” Lafond said in regards to the petition. These concessions include elimination of compensatory time, limiting sick and vacation leave accrual, requiring members whom the administration feels are unfit for service to be examined by a physician of the administration’s choosing, threatening retroactivity of raises if the unions do not accept administration demands and loss of first consideration of internal job candidates, among other things. Many of these concessions apply specifically to any staff hired after contract negotiations have been comsee
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Ferguson shooting may not be related to prior turmoil Two officers were wounded Saturday By Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Matt Pearce Los Angeles Times
FERGUSON, Mo. – There were no demonstrators outside the Ferguson Police Department or on the city’s main business center Sunday afternoon, yet the wounding overnight of two police officers in apparently unrelated
incidents left the troubled Missouri city far from at ease. Tensions flared in the St. Louis suburb over the weekend after officials said a Ferguson police officer was shot in the arm Saturday while chasing a suspect outside the city’s community center. In a separate shooting incident shortly after midnight early Sunday morning, an off-duty St. Louis city officer was hurt by breaking glass after the
occupants of another vehicle shot his car multiple times as he was driving on the freeway, officials said. That officer was treated and released. There were no early indications that either incident was connected to the demonstrations in Ferguson over the Aug. 9 police shooting of a black 18-year-old, Michael Brown. T he unidentif ied Ferguson officer was see
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THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
Monday, September 29, 2014
THE RUNDOWN
TAILGATE
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ON THIS DAY... In 1951, the first live sport seen from coastto-coast, a football game between the University of Pittsburgh and Duke, is televised on NBC.
WEEKEND B OX O F F I C E LOS ANGELES - Denzel Washington brought his might to the box office yet again with his latest action film, “The Equalizer.” The R-rated movie, based on the gritty 198589 CBS series starring Edward Woodward, topped all other films with an estimated weekend gross of $35 million in the U.S. and Canada. Produced by Sony Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, the film cost about $55 million to make. The studios had predicted a modest $25 million to $30 million opening. “From the first minute we saw footage of this film, we knew we had something that was special,” said Rory Bruer, distribution president for Sony Pictures. “It’s been a really great weekend.” The Washington boxoffice results shouldn’t come as a surprise: Washington’s last 10 wide releases, including “Flight” (2013) and “Deja Vu” (2006), have each opened to more than $20 million. “The Equalizer” is the latest collaboration between Washington and director Antoine Fuqua, who worked together on the hit “Training Day.” That 2001 film, which won Washington an Oscar, topped the box office and grossed $22.5 million in its opening weekend. It went on to take in a total of $76.3 million in the U.S. and Canada and more than $100 million internationally. The gender breakdown for “The Equalizer” was fairly balanced, with male moviegoers making up 52 percent of the audience. About 65 percent of audiences were older than 30. “I think (Washington) is one of those rare actors that really appeals to everyone,” Bruer said. “He and Fuqua also work beautifully off each other and bring stories to a new level.” The movie received a grade of A-minus from audience polling form Cinemascore and earned generally positive reviews from critics. Bruer said he wouldn’t be surprised if the film got a sequel. In its sophomore weekend, 20th Century Fox’s “The Maze Runner” took second place, adding $17.5 million to its domestic gross. The film, which finished first in its opening weekend, has earned $58 million to date. The film follows Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), who is deposited into a community of young men in a post-apocalyptic world. After learning that they are trapped in a maze, he joins fellow “runners” to try to escape. The film, directed by Wes Ball, cost about $34 million to make. Focus Features’ stopmotion animated film “The Boxtrolls” exceeded studio estimates and came in third with about $17.3 million. It was the strongest debut for Laika, the production company behind Academy Award-nominated films “Coraline” and “Paranorman.”
ALEC ZABRECKY/COLLEGIAN
Energy was high among the UMass football fans during the beginning of Saturday’s game.
UNIONS
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ter. However, in terms of the student fan section excitement, things went downhill from there when large chunks of the student body filed out of the stadium following the first half of the game. Students watched as a fan ran onto the field and evaded security guards before being caught in the bleachers near the student section. Not long into the third quarter of the game, the video screen fell backwards. The exact challenge, many said, is going to be encouraging students to remain in the stadium for the entire game. “Hopefully more people will go to the game instead of just going to the tailgate,” said Max Gold, who was manning a temporary tattoo booth, run by his family-owned business Gold Group. “It’s great, the difference between being bused to Gillette Stadium ver-
sus walking to a place close to the dorms. I think it will have a positive impact on UMass football in general.” On a day that was supposed to be all about tailgating and football, some did express concern about how the police would respond to such a largescale drinking event. “I thought the police presence was overkill, but not overbearing,” Gold said. “The last thing you’d want on this day is too much police.” Police officers spent most of the late morning and early afternoon tailgate roaming up and down the rows of the parking lots, talking and joking with tailgaters and gently reminding people not to blast their music so loudly or to limit the number of people sitting in the bed of pickup trucks. No arrests were made. Anthony Rentsch can be reached at arentsch@umass.edu.
Anna Waltman, co-chair of the Graduate Employee Organization, spoke on GEO’s involvement in the petition and the greater labor movement taking place on campus, saying, “I think it is particularly meaningful to be part of a campus wide uniting because we straddle the line between campus students and staff. As a group, we are unique in this position.” In terms of what the petition means for GEO, she added that “It’s about situating our contract, which is about respect and equity and coordinating that with the broader labor efforts on campus.”
According to Waltman, “Having GEO part of this demonstrates that there is a link between the quality of education at UMass and the quality of our contracts. We are all part of the broader narrative of a campus labor movement.” Waltman stressed the importance of unity as the unions continue their negotiations with the University. “We’re all fighting the same fight and sharing the same struggle,” she said, adding that as the negotiations continue, “It’s only going to get louder.”
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pleted. “A lot of the concessions work in such a way that they create a second class of citizens among employees,” Lafond said. “The University talks a lot about ideas like justice, equity and opportunity for all. And we, as unions, support that. But, it is apparent to us that those things are impossible in a two-tier system.” Lafond also explained that if the unions agree to the concessions being asked for by the administration, the University will have a much harder time bringing in new employees. “It is not salaries that
TAKE-BACK posed of at any time at one of the permanent DrugTake-Back boxes located across 17 police stations throughout Hampshire and Franklin counties. Since the event was organized four years ago, National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day locations and the permanent dropboxes have received nearly 17,000 pounds of unwanted prescription medicines, according to Carey. “The main focus is to limit the potential for drug abuse that unattended medications allow,” Cote said. “But collecting the pills also helps the environment. People used to just flush their meds down the toilet and they’d make their way into our drinking water. This is an important program.” All prescription medication received during the event is packaged, sealed and picked up by affiliates from the state DEA office. They’re then transported to Covanta Resource Recovery Facility in Agawam to be incinerated in an environmentally sound way, according to Cote. Removing unwanted prescription medications from homes is all the more pertinent due to the rising levels of opioid abuse and prescription drug overdoses in Massachusetts. This past March, Gov. Deval Patrick declared the growing abuse of opioids a public health emergency. Opiate overdoses in Massachusetts rose 90 percent from 2000 to 2012, Patrick told The Boston Globe. These efforts assist in reducing the potential for drug abuse, unintended overdoses and eventual regression towards harder street drugs, Carey said. Depressants, opioids and antidepressants are responsible for more overdose deaths than methamphetamine, cocaine and
attract people at these types of institutions, but the salary plus the benefits,” he said. “I think most students who have been around for a year or a two can see that without a set of committed staff, this play just doesn’t run.” He also pointed out that while enrollment has increased significantly, staff hiring has stagnated. Lafond says that what is most frustrating about the situation is that, “if you look at all these (concessions) you can imagine an employer in financial trouble. But the University is in its second year of having the state commit to 50-50
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LSD combined, according drugfreeworld.org. “Kids will start by taking parent’s pain medications and get hooked,” Carey said. According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 70 percent of people 12 years and older who abuse prescription drugs get them from family and friends. “Opiate based drugs are so powerfully addictive but a prescription drug addiction is expensive to maintain,” Carey said. “So we’ve seen a dangerous trend where kids will turn to heroin to get the highs previously obtained from pills because it’s so much cheaper. Our offices have seen a noticeable increase in the amount of heroin-related cases in the recent years.” Said Cote: “It’s something you don’t really think about until you’ve experienced it firsthand. It’s scary to think that Grandma’s medicine cabinet can become some kid’s drug dealer.” The Northwestern DA’s office is optimistic about the surrounding communities’ cooperation in limiting the potential of drug abuse. But the struggle is an on-going battle, according to Carey. “We can get these drugs out of circulation and help curb the epidemic of drug abuse that threatens our children and communities,” Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan said in a news release. Arrangements are ongoing for having a permanent drop-box available on the University of M a s s a ch u s e t t s, according to Carey. “We’re excited about the inclusion of UMass in our drop-box program,” Carey said. “It will take the entire community’s effort if we’re going to make an impact against drug abuse.” Brendan Deady can be reached at bdeady@umass.edu.
funding.” According to Lafond, the administration cited struggles of minimum wage workers in the fast food industries as a sort of explanation for the concessions being asked for. “If you operate on the premise that ‘if other folks are operating on less then so should you,’ it’s like playing to the lowest common denominator. We should be the example, it’s just sad,” Lafond added. “The unions have been consistent lobbyers for better education. It’s a sad thing to see the University mimic some of the worst trends in the private sector.”
Marie MacCune can be reached at mmaccune@umass.edu.
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FERGUSON conducting a “business check” at the Ferguson Community Center when he spotted a male suspect at the building who began running away when he saw the officer, according to a spokesman for the St. Louis County Police Department, which is investigating the incident. “During the foot pursuit, the subject spun toward the officer armed with a handgun, and fired shots at the officer,” St. Louis County police spokesman Sgt. Brian Schellman said in a statement. One shot hit the officer in the arm, and the officer returned fire but did not appear to hit the suspect, who escaped into the woods behind the community center, Schellman said. The officer was treated at a hospital for the injury, which was described as not life-threatening. Schellman said he did not have information Sunday on the officer’s condition. Schellman said the Ferguson police officer’s body camera was not activated during the incident. Officials initially said that there were two suspects involved in that incident, but Schellman told The Times on Sunday that “our detectives have since determined that there was only one suspect,” attributing the discrepancy to a “fluid” situation.
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Some Ferguson demonstrators were initially incensed Saturday night after hearing a rumor that police had killed a citizen, and Missouri Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who oversaw police during last month’s protests, told a gathering crowd to disperse after bringing news of the officer’s shooting. The off-duty St. Louis city officer, who was wearing his uniform pants but not his uniform shirt, was shot at a couple hours later while driving a personal car on Interstate 70 less than a mile from Ferguson city limits, according to St. Louis County police. Investigators weren’t sure whether the officer, who didn’t return fire, was specifically targeted or whether the shooting was a random act of violence. “The officer was traveling in the right lane when a vehicle began passing him on his left,” Schellman said in a statement. “An unknown number of occupants in that vehicle were armed with handguns and began firing multiple shots at the off-duty officer’s vehicle.” On Sunday afternoon, the community center was locked and quiet, and the sports fields near where the assailant fled were abandoned, with no lingering sign of the shooting except a television truck parked out front.
The area’s residents have been waiting to see what happens when a St. Louis County grand jury makes its decision on whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson, who fatally shot Brown. Samantha Warren, 19, had rushed home from dinner Saturday when she heard there had been a shooting, fearing the worst – her 17 year-old brother was home alone. She found the street blocked by police, their helicopters circling, and had to walk around to find her brother, who was safe inside. They were soon joined by an elderly neighbor who was shaken, recounting how she had been on her sun porch when she heard several gunshots and saw police racing over. Warren, a college student home for the weekend, said she was sad about what took place in the neighborhood, a racially mixed area where just a few weeks ago residents held a barbecue. She said police have been doing a better job of community policing. “They’re just trying to keep the peace,” said Warren, a sophomore studying graphic design at the University of Missouri in Columbia. But that’s not enough to calm tensions, she said. “I would like to see Darren Wilson come to
MCT
Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers stand guard in Ferguson after police officers were shot in the evening. some sort of justice-he needs to be punished,” Warren said outside the community center Sunday morning. “I don’t think it will stop until they come to some decision on Darren Wilson.” Protests have continued nightly, she said-smaller, but burning with a mounting frustration. “They want to see that justice and they’re getting more and more worked up about it,” she said. Others said simmering resentment over Brown’s shooting has led to venting at police.
“People are just angry and want somebody to take it out on,” said Warren’s friend Cameron Webster, 19, who works at a restaurant. After church in Ferguson on Sunday, Shirley Turner, 53, stopped to check on her daughter who lives around the corner from the community center. Turner, who is black, has a son who is a local police officer, and he has told her of the backlash. “What happened with this one particular cop, they’re all suffering for it,” said
Turner, adding, “Not all of them are bad-there’s some good ones out here.” Turner, who works in maintenance at a nearby Marriott hotel, said coworkers have tried to discuss the issue, but their disagreements always seem to turn political and she has given up. Many say they believe Wilson will never face charges. Turner said she has faith in the system, but fears what those already upset with the police might do if Wilson isn’t charged.
Movement builds to ensure White House in more privacy for Internet users support of security
People against mass gov’t surveillance By Heather Somerville San Jose Mercury News
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Before Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency and Prism made headlines, a group of technologists was dedicated to making the Internet more anonymous. They were viewed mostly as paranoid, weird and potentially criminal. Now, more than a year after revelations of the government’s mass electronic surveillance program, they are leaders in a movement heating up in Silicon Valley and abroad to create more ways for people to use the Internet while keeping private who and where they are, and what they’re doing on the Web. These include email accounts that cannot be spied on, file-sharing services that the government cannot trace, and message services that cannot be recorded and stored. “That idea used to sound far-fetched. It doesn’t sound so crazy anymore, does it?” said Andrew Lewman, executive director of the Tor Project, an international group of researchers and technologists who maintain an Internet network in which all users are anonymous and their locations are hidden. Joining the effort are tech giants such as Google, Apple and Yahoo, responding to a backlash from their users over data collection; niche tech companies such as San Francisco-based BitTorrent, which builds software so Internet users can keep their identities and data hidden; and ad hoc groups of technologists from Silicon Valley to Europe. While total anonymity on the highly commercialized Internet, powered by advertising revenue and big data sales, is probably impossible, security experts and tech leaders say that one way or another, anonymity will be a bigger
part of the digital future. “Users are more aware that what they are doing online may not be private, and they are taking steps to combat that, and they are looking to technology companies for solutions,” said Daniel Castro, a senior analyst with the Washingtonbased Infor mation Technology and Innovation Foundation. Some question people’s conviction that they have a right to online anonymity. “If you really want to be anonymous, stay off the Internet, pay cash and homestead in Montana,” said Paul Santinelli, a venture capitalist with Palo Alto firm North Bridge Venture Partners. “From the day that you buy a computer with a credit card and log onto the Internet, people know who you are.” The backbone of the Internet was created through the federally funded Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, so “Big Brother was watching from the get-go,” Santinelli said. “You sign up for tracking when you use (the Internet).” Yet in the past year, companies such as BitTorrent and Guerrilla Mail - a Chicago-based service founded in 2006 that offers anonymous, disposable email accounts – have won over mainstream customers after once mainly serving tech geeks and rabble-rousers. BitTorrent is on the cusp of tremendous growth, with a surge in users – and, after years of stunted revenue, the promise of more cash from two new products that target consumers worried about government spying. Tech giants – blamed by many for the loss of privacy because of their aggressive data collection, which then was handed over to the NSA - also have pitched in. Google recently announced new encryption tools to protect email, and Apple’s new operating system changes how smartphone data is encrypted, making it tougher for law enforcement to collect. Yahoo also has added
encryption to email services. BitTorrent has more than 170 million monthly active users across every country and has added millions more users through two new services: Bleep, a messaging and phone call app, keeps all personal information private and safe from NSA’s mass data collections, according to the company. Sync, released last year, is a filesharing program that looks much like Dropbox, but it doesn’t use servers or third parties to store or move the data, so it’s inaccessible to everyone but the sender and receiver. Guerrilla Mail, which gives users an email address without any registration or login and deletes emails permanently after one hour, has done nearly half of its business in the past year. And Tor grew from 75 million users in 2012 to 150 million in 2013, after the NSA operation was revealed. In May, Micah Lee, a Berkeley-based technologist with media site The Intercept, who helped protect the Snowden documents from being hacked after they were released to the media, created OnionShare, an anonymous file-sharing service that uses fake domain names to protect data. “It’s the pendulum swinging back again,” Castro said. “People are saying that there was something of value in the anonymity that we lost.” Jon Jones said the only way he can do his job these days is through anonymous and secure Internet programs. He runs art teams whose members are all over the world-in Russia, Malaysia and China-and collaborate to build video games. BitTorrent’s secure file sharing program, Sync, allows him to “poke through” China’s firewall and assure artists that their content is secure. “Even if someone steals my phone or my laptop gets dropped, I can still keep (their) data safe,” said New York-based Jones, who started his art production management company, SmArtist,
in 2009. But since the NSA revelations in summer 2013, Jones also has turned to BitTorrent for his personal life. “It changed absolutely everything for me,” he said. “I suddenly realized I have no idea how anything works.” But some of the same services that offer a safe haven from government snooping or Facebook data mining also have been a breeding ground for drug rings and child pornography, which could stay largely hidden in the protected networks, Internet experts say. “Drug abusers and porno graphers and criminals figured out the technology,” Lewman said. A Harvard student last year used Tor to send a bomb threat to avoid taking a final exam, although he was caught by law enforcement because he accessed Tor using Harvard’s wireless network, which authorities could trace. And BitTorrent has long had the reputation as the go-to service to illegally download music and movies, Castro said, and security experts maintain that it was used in the recent leak of female celebrities’ nude photos. BitTorrent and Tor say nefarious activity is one downfall of not keeping information on their users, but that they cooperate with law enforcement to help find criminals, who are far outnumbered by law-abiding users who simply don’t want to share their online business with the world. “Google controls email and takes all that information to sell ads,” Klinker said. “We built these products for a reason. ... We want there to be as many options for doing things on the Internet as possible. We’ll never reach the utopia, but with every application, we make it better. And with or without the world coming around to us, which they finally are, we’d still be here, because we believe in it.”
after 2011 report
Response to attack “The men and on Obama family women of the Secret By Kurtis Lee and Neela Banerjee Tribune Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON – The White House defended the Secret Service on Sunday after a newspaper investigation detailed how the agency fumbled its response to a gunman firing on the White House in 2011, while President Barack Obama’s youngest daughter and his mother-in-law were inside. “The men and women of the Secret Service put their lives on the line for the president of the United States, his family and folks working in the White House every single day, 24 hours a day,” deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Their task is incredible and the burden that they bear is incredible.” Blinken spoke after publication of a story in The Washington Post about the Secret Service’s slow and confused response to the 2011 shooting. The gunman, Oscar Ramiro OrtegaHernandez, was arrested for firing rifle shots at the White House from a nearby street. About a week ago, another man, Omar J. Gonzales, 42, was arrested and charged with unlawful entry into the White House complex when he eluded several layers of security and entered through the North Portico. On the night of 2011 shooting, Ortega-Hernandez hit a window on the second floor very close to the first family’s formal living room. “At least seven bullets struck the upstairs residence of the White House, flying some 700 yards across the South Lawn,” the Post reported. Ortega was arrested
Service put their lives on the line for the president of the United States, his family and folks working in the White House every single day, 24 hours a day. Their task is incredible and the burden that they bear is incredible” Tony Blinken, deputy national security adviser
days later, but according to the report, it took the Secret Service five days to acknowledge that bullets had hit the White House. Only after a housekeeper noticed broken glass did the Secret Service realize bullets had hit the residential quarters. The president and his wife, Michelle, were not home at the time. When Obama returned to the White House days later, he was extremely upset, according to the newspaper. Edwin Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service, declined to comment about the report. Blinken said the director of the Secret Service, Julia Pierson, has been looking into what happened. “The Secret Service is investigating this and they will take any steps necessary to correct any deficiencies,” he said. The Secret Service has come under intense scrutiny in recent years. In 2012, some agents were involved in a prostitution scandal in Colombia before the president’s visit there.
Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.” - John F. Kennedy
Monday, September 29, 2014
Editorial@DailyCollegiancom
Sexual assault ignored at UMass SGA needs to end internal
The University of which bans sexual assault and Massachusetts has a problem sexual harassment at universities with sexual assault – hence the receiving federal funds. Over the various legal battles over it, hence past five years, of the 187 comthe public relations campaign by plaints of sexual harassment assault the University Matthew Cunningham-Cook or made to the against it, University’s hence the countless whispered-yet-never- Title IX enforcement office, only publicized stories of one woman 23 resulted in enforcement action after another forced into noncon- of any kind. Of the 23, only eight resulted in termination or demosensual sex. When it comes to the propriety tion – the other 15 were effectively of women over their own bodies, perfunctory slaps on the wrist. This disconcerting information UMass has a crisis on its hands. The administration, however, has not been previously released. doesn’t seem very interested in I filed a public records request addressing this crisis. Despite a for it in April and did not receive Justice Department investigation, the relevant data until July. The the desperately needed campus- data presents us with only two wide conversation that exposes possible conclusions: One of these is despite numerous studies indithe interstices between patriarchy, rape culture and the vast power differentials between some members of the campus “community” and others has yet to arrive. Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, President Robert cating that the vast majority of Caret and the Board of Trustees sexual assaults and harassment have issued platitudes against sex- go unreported, five out of six peoual assault, but they have not set ple who make a report to the Title up an independent investigation IX office are either exaggerating to dig deep into the roots of sexual or lying about their claim. The assault on our campus. They have other possible conclusion is there said nothing that offer us “analy- is a culture of non-enforcement ses of the world-wide absurdity when it comes to sexual assault of endangered female existence,” and harassment on our campus. to quote the literary critic June The latter is the only intellectually Jordan. They have been silent honest conclusion that I can come about the complex ways in which to. some women are more endan- If we acknowledge that the gered by the culture of silence Title IX reporting system has brothan others, particularly eco- ken down, it needs to lead to a nomically disadvantaged women, corresponding acknowledgement women of color, disabled women that the chancellor, the president and transwomen, all groups that and the Board of Trustees have experience higher sexual assault demonstrated that they are wholly uninterested in bringing about rates. While the silence is ominous, an end to this crisis. The campus the facts are even worse. The needs to come together, indepenJustice Department investigation dently of the administration, to into the University in regards receive justice. potential violations of Title IX, One way to get justice is to
expand the institutions that place a check on the administration’s otherwise free-flowing power. The only institutions on this campus that do this are the five labor unions. For union members who have been sexually harassed by a supervisor, they can go through the grievance procedure for an independent way to address the situation at hand. Yet workers at auxiliary services and the whole mass of undergraduate student workers, with the exception of resident assistants, lack even this basic way to attain justice. Strengthening the contracts of the rest of the workers on campus will also ensure that all union members on campus can work with the reassurance that if they are sexually assaulted, they will receive justice. We need to consider the ways in which the present form of hierarchical leadership at UMass is utterly incapable of meeting the needs of the students and workers, and how we can replace them with a nonhierarchical educational model premised on the goals of equity and inclusion. A new culture of worker militancy, beginning with undergraduate workers unionizing, is necessary for undergraduate women to be able to report sexual assault or harassment on the job without fear of retaliation, and for the campus to start this much needed conversation. We know where the administration stands: maintaining their bloated bureaucracy and power at all costs, to the clear detriment of everyone on this campus, and particularly the women who find themselves victims of rape, sexual assault or sexual harassment. The question is where do we – UMass’ 99 percent – stand?
“There is a culture of non-enforcement when it comes to sexual assault and harassment on our campus”
Matthew Cunningham-Cook is a Collegian contributor. He can be reached at mcunninghamc@lrrc.umass.edu.
discord, accomplish goals
An organization that prides itself on being a
Sanah Rizvi representative voice for about 20,000 students, the Student Government Association is home to an amazing range of students. Motivated, inspired and ambitious can only begin to describe the student body that prides itself in being a premier source for conflict resolution on the University of Massachusetts campus. With this highly accomplished student body as members, it’s inevitable that a struggle for power emerges. The SGA is home to politics, cliques and, as much as we would like to deny it, it is rife with some incredibly bitter rivalries that are swept under the rug only to mount up an inch at a time. The “need” to lead, to be heard, to be “the” go-to person coupled with a desire to bring forth swift change and be remembered for that change is one that is constantly crippling. While most individuals are working tirelessly toward more diversity, a safer campus, better campus facilities and greener technology, some individuals are too engrossed
in hypothesizing plans to reconstruct the SGA, and others are too busy implementing 18th-century motions. SGA individuals busy themselves with just trying to stand out, but leave no one to pick up the pieces. With this struggle for power emerges an important, often unanswered question: Who will follow? With every individual, either pro-SGA or
“...the dirty office politics (some of which often spill over in this section of the newspaper) are holding the SGA back.”” anti-SGA, struggling so hard to have their voices heard, to make changes to better suit themselves, to be “liked,” it’s no surprise that the SGA is under fire by its peers and members. Fundamentally, the SGA is a force. It’s a student organization that is compelled by nature of its existence to put others before themselves. The struggle for power is real and so is the desire to improve and change the lives of students. The members of the SGA, are supposed to tirelessly work to attain better goals, to maintain respect for diversity on campus, to value opinions, to share a bond and
most importantly, put students at a forefront where their voices are heard and acted upon, not merely nodded at and ignored. The problem here is not the dearth of ideas but the lack of consistent effort. Though the SGA’s motives seem to be driven toward student betterment, the dirty office politics (some of which often spill over in this section of the newspaper) are holding the SGA back. The constant need to stand out and be the inventor is costing the SGA leadership more than just a bad reputation The SGA is losing time, resources, and of course, respect among its peers. Some may disagree with me but the SGA doesn’t ‘need’ to be reconstructed. It needs goals to be accomplished. The SGA doesn’t “need” a moral code. It needs to rekindle respect. The SGA doesn’t “need” better organization. It needs better representation. The idea is simple: if you don’t like something, be a part of the solution. Then, maybe, the SGA will work toward better solutions. Maybe it’s time for the SGA to be fearless, driven and accomplished for the students they represent, not just themselves. Sanah Rizvi is a Collegian contributor and can be reached at srizvi @umass.edu.
Lessons from Machiavelli: make change happen “The Prince” is a self-help book a goal rather than the righteousness of sorts, although one would not of the goal itself; the purpose of a find a similar book in any modern goal, after all, is to achieve it, not to talk about how nice it would be if it Stefan Herlitz were achieved. This is where modern politicalself-help section, as it primarily con- ly-minded people go astray. For cerns itself with instructing tyrants some reason, we as a society put how best to tyrannize. an overbearing amount of value on Despite its decidedly autocratic the idea of being right, rather than bent, the book has become a pri- doing right. Our generation is quick mary symbol of realist political to demonstrate the purity of our thought, as has the name of its political beliefs, and even quicker to author, Niccolo Machiavelli. “He denounce those who disagree with who neglects what is done for what us, all the while not ought to be done, sooner effects his realizing that we’re ruin than his preservation,”, says talking right past each the Renaissance-era Florentine other, damaging our writer, and it is exactly this kind of own goals in the prothinking that modern social move- cess. ments ought to consider. A prime example Of course, the notion at first of this is the current sounds absurd – Machiavelli’s book Congress. On track to was a handbook for tyranny, which is be the least producnot exactly what most modern move- tive legislative session ments have in mind. Despite the vast in history, Congress gulf of difference between the politi- is racked with partical philosophies of Machiavelli and san hatred and divimodern social movements, however, sions. No bill, no matter how wellparts of his advice may well be quite meaning or sensible, can escape the useful to them. claws of the legislature without being “He who neglects what is done severely mutilated, amended and for what ought to be done, soon- ransomed. Of course, we the people er effects his ruin than his pres- blame Congress for its astonishingervation,” writes Machiavelli. This ly low approval ratings. But really, advice is not exclusive to would-be we’re the ones at fault. People hate tyrants, but rather applies to any- Congress, but approve of their own one with any goal. In this saying, Senators and Representatives. To us, Machiavelli is instructing his read- it’s other people that are the problem. ers to focus on the steps that lead to A primary goal of all social move-
ments, regardless of what they believe, is to proliferate. Take feminism, for example. Feminist theory is all about achieving equal political, economic, cultural and social rights. If the entire world were feminist, then equal rights, both legal and social, for everyone would be an inherent part of who we are and the way we operate in society. Thus a primary goal of the feminist movement is (or at least ought to be) to get everyone to believe in feminism (i.e., to make more feminists). The same follows for
user @genophilia tweeted, “Guns don’t kill people. Blacks do. See crime stats #NRA #GunControl.” This user, a Second Amendment advocate, is also a blatant racist, choosing to support her stance by blaming violence on black people. Clearly, this is not the message of the gun rights movement, but tweets like this will turn people away from supporting the movement simply because they associate it with racists. Similarly, “feminist” Twitter user @maymaym tweeted, “Why haven’t you killed yourself yet?” and several similar tweets on Nov. 20, 2013, to users who disagreed with her/ his application of feminist theory. Obviously, being a racist and telling people who disagree with you to kill themselves are not very good ways to get people to agree with you. marriage equality activists, Second Indeed, such actions, although taken Amendment advocates, net neutral- by a small minority of people, leave ity advocates and any other group distaste in the mouths of the pubwishing to promote a specific politi- lic and are damaging to the movecal agenda. The problem is that many ments as a whole. People told to kill people, particularly with the advent themselves by self-proclaimed “femof social media, identify as members inists,” even though said individuals of these movements while acting in do not represent actual mainstream ways that go completely against the feminism or feminists, are not likegoal of spreading them. ly to agree with feminism. Rather, Let’s look at a specific case: they will mentally associate it with Twitter. On July 6, 2014, Twitter unstable college kids telling people
“Our generation is quick to demonstrate the purity of our political beliefs, and even quicker to denounce those who disagree with us, all the while not realizing that we’re talking right past each other…”
to kill themselves. The same goes for gun advocates, though the associated demographic mostly changes to older men saying they’ll shoot you or anyone trying to take their guns away. These are extreme examples, but they illustrate the point that we like to be right, not do right. In order to actually help social movements you claim to be a member of, you need to help spread them. This doesn’t mean you have to act as a modern-day missionary, preaching the good word of your ideology to the world – in fact, far from it, since that would probably be rather annoying. You just need to do your part. Treat others with respect and explain your ideas whenever a relevant situation arises in a non-threatening, conversational manner. That may not be nearly as fun as yelling at someone or talking down to them, but it’s how people can actually change their views. While it may be tempting to sit on an ideological high horse and look down upon those who don’t subscribe to your beliefs, if you actually want society to adopt your beliefs and make changes, it may be a good idea to take a moment, pluck the decidedly devious mind of good old Niccolo Machiavelli and act in ways that will help make that change come about. Stefan Herlitz is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at sherlitz@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 2013, The Collegian has been broadsheet since January 1994. For advertising rates and information, call 413-545-3500.
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Arts Living THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
Monday, September 29, 2014
TECHNOLOGY
“You! You foul loathsome evil little cockroach!” - Hermione Granger
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LIFESTYLE
The drones Delightful ways to decorate your dorm room are coming By Emma Sandler Collegian Correspondent The commercial use of drones is set to change American skies forever. TheFederalAviationAdministration announced six major filmmaking companies would be allowed to use cameraequipped drones on certain movie and television sets on Sept. 25. Prior to this announcement, the FAA only allowed the use of drones to the Alaskan wilderness, but drones will now legally be able to fly over populated areas in the United States. Other entertainment companies, like Disney and Cirque du Soleil, have vested interests in using drones. Disney applied for three patents for the use of drones related to outdoor park shows. The drones would be used for carrying marionette-versions of Disney characters, or as lit-up substitutes for fireworks, as well as for carrying large aerial projection screens. Cirque du Soleil released a video on Sept. 22 that showcased a man interacting with 10 “quadcopters” in a flying dance performance. The video stated, “No CGI was used or needed.” The lack of computer-generatedimaging is a boom to the entertainment industry, especially Hollywood, as unmanned cameras will be able to provide more sweeping and breathtaking footage and hopefully reinvigorate the domestic box office. The FAA’s new decision marks a turn of tide for the use of drones, as commercial drones will move beyond the realm of possibilities and into physical reality. It was announced last year that Amazon was testing out the use of drones to deliver Amazon products to customers within 30 minutes of purchase. Amazon submitted its application to the FAA on July 9, 2014. In the letter Amazon promised, “One day, seeing Amazon Prime Air will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today,” and this statement will be true for many industries. The FAA has at least 40 other applications pending in addition to Amazon’s. Google has been testing “self flying vehicles” in the Australian outback as part of a project known as Project Loon, which according to Wired Magazine, “seeks to provide Internet access to the hinterlands through highaltitude balloons.” Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook has a similar ambition to beam Internet connection to people with limited access. In March 2014, Zuckerberg revealed a Facebook Connectivity Lab that includes, “many of the world’s leading experts in aerospace and communications technology,” as outlined on his Facebook page. Researchers include NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, NASA’s Ames Research Center and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, as well as British company Ascenta, which helped create the world’s longest solar-powered unmanned aircraft. Both Google and Facebook seek to benefit by providing Internet access to hard-to-reach places, as both companies are vested in expanding the presence of the Internet in order for the company itself to expand. Drones will potentially have a large impact on photography and sports videography as well because the unmanned flying aircraft will be able to photograph hard-to-reach areas and give audiences a fresh perspective. Videos on YouTube show how drones can be used beyond dramatic aerial footage, but also for developing game strategy and analyzing athlete performance. In Europe, the German logistics company DHL is marked to begin using drones to deliver supplies to the people of the island of Juist. It is the first time that a company has been authorized to use drones on a regular basis in Europe, according to the New York Times. Drone usage is here to stay. If these tech dynasties get their way we will soon be seeing drones as integral to our everyday lives. Entertainment, exploration, Internet access and even our mail may soon be getting a lift into the future with new drones. Emma Sandler can be reached at ehsandle@ umass.edu.
JESSICA PICARD/COLLEGIAN
Decorating your dorm room is a fun way to project your stylein a space all your own.
How to design with school spirit and style By Jessica Picard Collegian Correspondent After choosing a room, finding a roommate and moving in, it is time for the most important process of all: decorating your dorm room. The dorm room is the small space that must be both comfortable and functional. The best rooms are the ones you make your own, transforming it from bare white walls to your chic escape after classes. No matter your style, these fun ideas will be sure to make your dorm Bed Bath & Beyond-catalog ready without breaking the bank. The first thing to decide is the color scheme or theme of the room. Have a roommate? No problem. Just focus on your side
of the room, or have fun choosing a theme together. It may seem silly getting everything you need in a very select few colors, but once all done, it brings the entire room together. Twinkle or “Christmas” lights are a must-have for every college student wishing to add some magic touches to their room. String them along the wall, around shelves or a make a “window” above your bed. Do this by stringing lights along the wall above your headboard and hang a sheer curtain over them that lets the light shine through, creating the illusion of having another window illuminating the room. You can also put batterypowered lights in jars or bottles around the room to give a fairy or firefly look. They are a great alternative to candles and add a nice glow to the space. There are multiple ways to use
curtains as décor in the dorm room. In addition to the faux “window over the bed,” you can also simply put a curtain over the window. If you live in a dorm with a changing area such as Orchard Hill, a curtain placed in the doorway adds both style and privacy. Light colors or sheer curtains work best over the bed and in the window because they allow light to come in the room. But choose a darker color within your theme for the curtain over the door for added privacy. For a fun DIY project get different sizes of blank canvas and decorate them yourself. Use paint, beads, flowers, glitter – anything to add color and character to your room. Make it a bonding activity for you and your roommate or friend to paint your memories, glue pictures or scrapbook anything that can make your decorations a living
memory. You can even put a creative spin on the way you hang personal pictures. Arrange them in different patterns, spell words with them or use them as a border around your walls. If you are a person who changes their wall décor or pictures regularly and don’t want to unstick them from the wall constantly, hang string, ribbon or even wire along the wall and use clothespins to hang up photos. This way they can be changed around easily with no ripping or crinkling. A personalized and put-together dorm room can make any task more enjoyable, from doing homework to hanging with friends to relaxing at the end of the day. Experiment with your style and what works for you, and don’t be afraid to switch it up. Jessica Picard can be reached at jpicard@ umass.edu.
TECHNOLOGY
Nintendo 3DS offers gamers best value Handheld system beats out next-gen consoles By Alessandro Arena-DeRosa Collegian Correspondent
Last year, Microsoft, SONY and Nintendo released their much anticipated next generation of gaming consoles: The Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Wii U, respectively. The consoles average at a staggering $400 price tag and many gamers are still wondering whether or not even one of these systems is worth the expense. Some would argue that a 1080 pixel screen resolution or the speedy frame rate of 60 frames per second make up for these consoles’ lack of good exclusive games, but I beg to differ. In fact, I’d argue that Nintendo’s handheld 3DS system is worth the investment more than any other new console on the market through a combination of great exclusives, visionary multiplayer capabilities and a whole library of retro games available for purchase on the virtual market. SONY’s latest console, the PlayStation 4, has a beautiful and smooth user interface and an inbuilt and easy-to-use streaming system, allowing even the most novice user to stream their gameplay to the world. While the console lacks the plethora of exclusive games of the last generation of systems, “Killzone: Shadowfall” is interesting for fans of the series and “inFamous Second Son” is far from disappointing. Light, aesthetically pleasing and quick on loading times, the PlayStation 4 is a quality console, but lacks the roster of exclusive games to justify its price tag. To make up for this, however, SONY’s PlaystationPlus online subscription service gives players a handful of indie titles at no cost every month. Microsoft held a strong lead in
MCT
The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are the most technologically advanced of their time they can’t stand up to the value of the 3DS. the last console generation with the Xbox 360 – a console that dominated the market thanks to the success of the Halo franchise and the multiplayer capabilities of Xbox LIVE. The Xbox One, however, suffered a series of setbacks, starting with the fact that players must be connected to the Internet to use the console. Another misstep was the implementation of the Kinect in the original $500 console, something that was once called a necessity and has now been removed not even a year after release. The exclusive line up is also dismal, with many of the Xbox One’s best games such as “Dead Rising 3” coming to PC within the coming month. All in all the Xbox One has yet to justify itself, except as a would-be competitor to the PS4, but perhaps this year’s release of “Sunset Overdrive” and “Halo 5: Guardians” will change that. The Wii U has also been a bit of a disappointment. Between clunky
multiplayer implementation and few exclusives despite the console’s release nearly two years ago, it is far from worth the $300 cost. However, the Wii U’s gamepad is surprisingly comfortable and Nintendo’s eShop offers a great deal of old titles like the original “F-Zero” or “Life Force” for as little as $1 during their many sales. Finally, the underdog of the consoles, the Nintendo 3DS, was released in 2011 with all the benefits of the Nintendo eShop at a reasonable price of $200. Since then the handheld console has seen the release of such addictive multiplayer games as “Monster Hunter Tri Ultimate,” “Animal Crossing: New Leaf” and, of course, “Pokémon.” These games benefit from the system’s intuitive local play system, which replaces the need for a Wi-Fi connection with the ability to connect with people in your proximity, which yields obvious benefits on a campus that does not have the most reliable Wi-Fi for gaming.
The console also has a great deal of interesting single player games, namely role-playing games, such as “Fire Emblem: Awakening” and “Bravely Default,” all with phenomenal soundtracks, sharp graphics and great stories. Most interestingly, the latest iteration of “Super Smash Bros.” will be releasing on the 3DS later this week. From what I can tell from the demo, the game is not to be missed. If you’re looking for an affordable system with great exclusives and multiplayer that you and all your friends will be enjoying in the lounges for hours, look no further than the 3DS. While its 3D function is rarely used or interesting, the console is portable, comfortable and endlessly entertaining, and I would highly recommend it before any of the new overinflated consoles on the market. Alessandro Arena-DeRosa can be reached at aarenaderosa@umass.edu.
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Monday, September 29, 2014
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can only think of iPods and cider donuts.
A S ofter W orld
P oorly D rawn L ines
By
e horne and j comeau
B y R eza F arazmand
Wide Open Sudoku Titles
aquarius
HOROSCOPES Jan. 20 - Feb. 18
You probably won’t be disappointed with your friend’s promise of hard apple cider even if it is a cider donut.
pisces
Feb. 19 - Mar. 20
leo
Jul. 23 - Aug. 22
You forgot your iPod at home and can’t listen to music because of it? Wow, what are we, in 2007?
virgo
Aug. 23 - Sept. 22
For extra security, be sure to lock your bicycle onto at least two other bikes.
Modern day technology allows you to use your phone as a television remote control. No one is safe from endless Teletubby screenings.
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
When you run out of shower gel, using antibacterial hand soap instead is one of the softest cries for help.
By referring to it as a prickly pear, you simply glanced at it’s exterior without giving it a chance to let you taste its sweet insides.
Though it may seem annoying, your iPod is It’s okay if you’re more upset Derek Jeter helping you. “Matt and Kim” and “Matt & Kim” broke up with Mariah Carey than you are that are actually two totally different groups. he retired. Most people can’t admit it.
sagittarius
Nov. 22 - Dec. 21
The emotional reaction some have to cider donuts can help weed out the people who want to see the world turn cold.
Is a meme that’s not worth sharing a meme at all?
cancer
capricorn
Jun. 22 - Jul. 22
Warm cider donuts: The sweet bitter demise of summer.
Dec. 22 - Jan. 19
Wearing your hair in a bun can lead to a sticky, cinnamon–y mess that will be as tasty as it is hard to wash out.
THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
DailyCollegian.com
HOMECOMING can describe the 57 minutes leading up to the final possession: madness. The three hour, 56 minute marathon featured 89 points, 1,307 total yards, 200 plays and a newly installed video board that collapsed midway through the third quarter. UMass and Bowling Green exchanged blows back-andforth that resulted in seven lead changes. The Minutemen were the first on the scoreboard when Frohnapfel found Jalen Williams 80 yards downfield on a play-action pass that erupted the 17,000 fans – a sellout crowd – that were in attendance. That was Williams’ only reception of the game. Tajae Sharpe was the leader of the Minutemen’s receiving core, finishing with career highs in receptions
MISTAKES
continued from page 8
(13), receiving yards (179) and touchdowns (two). Rodney Mills and Alex Kenney accounted for the other two UMass receiving touchdowns. Although the passing numbers look great from the Minutemen, the run game was a completely different story. As a team, UMass finished with only 49 rushing yards on 31-carries, an average of just 1.6 yards per carry. Shadrach Abrokwah started at running back for the Minutemen after a fourgame, non-football, non-disciplinary suspension. After an impressive 2013 campaign, Abrokwah finished with just 37 rushing yards on 14 carries. His lone touchdown came from one yard out, following fullback Matt Tuleja out of the I-formation. “The bottom line is we have to find a way to get
another touchdown somewhere, whether it’s offense, defense or special teams” UMass coach Mark Whipple said. The Minutemen offense putting up record-setting numbers, but the defense struggled to prevent the Bowling Green offense from finding the back of the end zone. The Falcons ran a total of 108 offensive plays and accumulated 668 total yards. “We’re 0-5. That’s it,” Randall Jette said. “I don’t care how good they are, we should have won,” UMass (0-5, 0-1 Mid American Conference) travels to Miami (OH) – the only team that the Minutemen beat in 2013 – next Saturday. Andrew Cyr can be reached at arcyr@ umass.edu, and can be followed on Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.
struggled throughout the game, ripped off an 18-yard run as the Minutemen trailed 47-42 on their final drive of the game. He followed up that run with a costly miscue, fumbling the ball after catching a pass from Blake Frohnapfel. “We had chances to win,” Frohnapfel said. “That’s one of the things you forget about it and learn from it and you get better.” The Minutemen are getting better, quickly. UMass accounted for 638 yards offensively, its highest total since 2007. Frohnapfel set a UMass record for passing yards – he threw for a monstrous 589 yards on 36-of-61 passing – which was previously held by former Minutemen
Monday, September 29, 2014
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quarterback Kyle Havens, who threw for 450 yards in 2010. The personal bests trickled down to receiver Tajae Sharpe, too. Sharpe set new career bests in receptions (13), receiving yards (179) and touchdowns (two). He made a number of difficult catches and warranted high praise from Whipple following the game. He said Sharpe was one of the best players he’s ever coached. But personal records didn’t hold much weight for either Frohnapfel or Sharpe after another loss. “It’s pretty cool, but I’m not here to break records,” Frohnapfel said. “I’m here to win games. That’s why I came here (as a transfer student from Marshall) is a chance to win games.”
Instead, Sharpe focused more on the missed opportunity of knocking off the reigning conference champion in Bowling Green. “At the end of the day, all the records and things like that are great,” Sharpe said. “But you always want to come out with a victory. If you want to become a champion you gotta beat champions and we had them on the ropes.” Despite the losses, Jette said that confidence should – and would – remain high. “I don’t think it’s going to break us at all, we’re fighters,” Jette said. “We fought in that game, we just didn’t come out with a victory.” Mark Chiarelli can be reached at mchiarel@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @Mark_Chiarelli.
THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN
Monday, September 29, 2014
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F O O T B A L L
A ROUGH RETURN
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Bowling Green spoiled UMass’ first game back at McGuirk Stadium since 2011 on Saturday, topping the Minutemen 47-42.
UMass falls to BGSU Minutemen hurt by in return to McGuirk mistakes, turnovers
Falcons spoil Homecoming
quarterbacks coach Liam Coen’s record for most passing touchdowns in a single game. “I’m not here to break By Andrew Cyr records, I’m here to win Collegian Staff games. That’s why I came The script could not have here,” Frohnapfel said. been set up more perfectly But when Frohnapfel hit when Blake Frohnapfel and freshmen running back J.T. the rest of the Massachusetts Blyden six yards down the offense took the field with two field, the clock struck midminutes, 19 seconds remain- night on the Minutemen. Blyden turned up field but ing in the game. With zero timeouts and was immediately stuffed by three Bowling 87-yards of turf Green defendseparating the BGSU 47 ers. Leading the Minutemen from charge was linetheir first victory backer James UMass 42 of the season in Sanford, who the first game at stripped the ball McGuirk Stadium from Blyden only to have since 2011, there wasn’t a sinteammate Clint Stephens fall gle person on the UMass sideon the loose football to secure line that doubted Frohnapfel’s the 47-42 win for the Falcons. ability to drive down the field “He’s a freshman… You and win the game. can’t blame him for that,” “Any quarterback growFrohnapfel said. “There were ing up wants to be in that so many other chances we situation,” Frohnapfel said. had and he just happened to “That’s a situation that you make the last one. He’s done a dream about and hope it hapgreat job this year and I don’t pens.” think anyone is going to be Frohnapfel had a career worried about him.” day, finishing with a school There is only one word that record 589 passing yards and five touchdowns, which tied see HOMECOMING on page 7
Blyden fumble halts comeback By Mark Chiarelli Collegian Staff
On a day where the Massachusetts football team encountered a variety of firsts, a growingly familiar theme of missed opportunities blanketed the Minutemen’s 47-42 loss to Bowling Green. There were personal records broken and program bests shattered. The program hosted a football game in Amherst for the first time in three seasons. If UMass scripted the start of the day, there’s a good chance Saturday’s perfect weather and fan support would have made the final cut. Yet the Minutemen came up painstakingly short on the field and lamented a laundry list of missed chances again – a repetitive issue as the team’s found difficult ways to lose on three different occasions this year. “We made many mistakes, so it’s not going to be hard to get better,” UMass
defensive back Randall Jette said after the game. The Minutemen defense made three interceptions, but it was two missed interceptions that UMass coach Mark Whipple said were “crucial.” Minutemen safety Joe Colton missed an interception on his own goal line and Bowling Green scored a touchdown on the following play. Linebacker Stanley Andre dropped an interception to open the second half. UMass had a number of crucial drops offensively as well, and fumbled the ball on three different occasions. But UMass still found itself within reach, making the subsequent loss even more frustrating. “Players make plays,” Whipple said. “(We’re) in the right position and (we’re) doing things the right way, but you gotta make plays. We just have to make more plays. We’ve been in three one-play games and somebody’s gotta come up and make a play.” Freshman running back J.T. Blyden exemplified that in the fourth quarter Saturday. Blyden, who see
MISTAKES on page 7
Are UMass students actually football fans?
S
aturday’s football game between the Massachusetts football team and Bowling Green was the biggest “can’t miss” event that will roll through Amherst this fall. It was the first football game at McGuirk Stadium since 2011, and with a newly renovated press box and state-of-the-art performance center, McGuirk is starting to look like an actual college football stadium and not just some glorified high school stadium you would find down in Texas. But as Andrew the week Cyr progressed and game day neared, the questions being asked changed from “Are you going to the football game?” to “Are you going to the tailgate?” The tailgate scene was legitimate. There were UMass flags being flown off cars, people grilling out of their trunks, footballs being tossed around the parking lot and, of course, plenty of beverages to go around. Was it as big as the tailgates in the Big Ten or even as crazy as the ones from SEC schools? No. But for the size and scale of UMass and the area surrounding the field, it was just fine because it was in the Minutemen’s backyard. Let’s talk football for a second, though. In an era of football run by die-hard fantasy nerds and stat geeks, Saturday’s game had it all: 89 points, 1,307 total yards and a combined total of 200 plays. It was fast-paced, run-and-gun style of football that featured virtually no defense. Here are some stats for you. Both Minutemen inside linebackers, Jovan SantosKnox (58 tackles) and Stanley Andre (57) are second and third in the country for tackles, respectively. Blake Frohnapfel is eighth in the country in passing yards (1,471), ahead of last year’s Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston and this year’s favorites Marcus Mariota of Oregon and Brett Hundley of UCLA. And for you fantasy gurus out there, Frohanpfel finished 36-for-61 with 589 passing yards – a new school record – and five touchdown passes, tying
another program mark. I have no idea how to calculate the points, but I know it’s a lot more than Tom Brady has put up in a single game this season. But of the 17,000 fans that piled into the newly renovated McGuirk Stadium, how many of them actually saw Frohnapfel’s record-breaking performance? Less than half I would imagine. By halftime nearly the entire far bleachers were empty, leaving only a few dedicated students to stick out and watch what turned out to be a compelling football game. The majority of the students that attended have probably never watched a UMass football game in their life. It was the first game on campus in nearly three years, and with a team that has only won two games in three seasons in big boy football, a 26-21 score should probably have kept even the smallest of football fans interested. The most popular excuse that student’s used for leaving: “It was too hot.” Seriously, people? We practically live in the Amazon with the amount of humidity we experience in our New England summers. An 80-degree day to cap off the end of summer is not an excuse.. Besides, how many people are going to be complaining about wanting warm weather the second we get our first snowfall of the year? Everyone was wearing their maroon and white Minutemen gear, but they didn’t care. The students were too busy worrying about protecting the rep of “ZooMass” and making sure the pregame parties were bigger than the game itself. Am I drastically over generalizing? Maybe a little, but we live in a region that has been driven by our professional sports team’s success. Sports are the backbone of New Englanders, and this school’s athletics have been vastly overshadowed for as long as I’ve been alive. Maybe a few more wins will keep students in their seats for an extra quarter or so, but when it’s all said and done, the Minutemen need more support from everyone. Andrew Cyr can be reached at arcyr@umass.edu, and can be followed on Twitter @Andrew_Cyr.
MEN’S SOCCER
UM shut out for fourth time this season in loss to Wildcats By Ross Gienieczko
the final score. “The timing of that (goal) As the game clock wound was really unfortunate, toward one minute left in the after a decent half of socfirst half on Sunday after- cer,” O’Neill said. “That was noon, Massachusetts men’s too bad to give that one up there.” soccer coach T h e Devin O’Neill UNH 1 Minutemen (1-7) could be heard maintained a yelling to his team UMass 0 solid time of posa warning of the session throughtime remaining out the afternoon, and urging them to finish but were consistently frusthe half strong. His message went trated by a stout UNH backline. unheard. Seconds later, New After the final-minute Hampshire forward Duff goal in the first half, the Thomson slammed a pass Wildcats (3-4-1) used good from Will Rasid into the shape and structure to keep back of the net, giving the the ball in the midfield for Wildcats a 1-0 lead that much of the second half. would eventually hold up as UMass mustered one shot Collegian Staff
on goal in the final frame as scoring chances were few and far between. “I thought we did have some decent possession, but we didn’t create a ton of chances,” O’Neill said. “Credit to them, they defended well.” Minutemen forward Josh Schwartz, the most effective offensive weapon for UMass thus far with a team-leading three goals this season, was stifled by the UNH defense. The senior managed only two shots for the game with neither of them coming on goal. Sunday’s scoreless performance was a setback for an offense that looked like it was beginning to round into
form. The Minutemen scored four goals in the two games leading up to Sunday’s contest after netting two in their first five games. The shutout was the fourth time UMass has been held scoreless this year. In the final minute of the game, the Minutemen nearly scored a game-tying goal. After pinballing between several players near the sixyard box, the ball found its way toward the goal line and Wildcats goalkeeper Ryan Carpenter pounced on it. The play was close enough that more than one UMass player thought the ball had crossed the line and pleaded their case to the referee. O’Neill said he didn’t
get a clear view of the play and had no way of knowing if the ball was actually in. A silver lining for the Minutemen was their defensive play, which was solid except for the breakdown at the end of the first half. Senior captain Matt Keys was active on both sides of the ball, forcing turnovers and pushing the ball out of the defensive zone. “They’re playing pretty well. (Keys) is so aggressive in terms of breaking on the ball, he wins a lot of balls,” O’Neill said. “He’s an excellent defender both on the ground and in the air. I think (the rest of the defense) follows his lead.” With about 20 minutes left
in the game, the versatile Keys was moved up to forward to give UMass an offensive boost, a tactic that produced the game-tying goal in the Minutemen’s lone win of the season against Fairfield. Keys didn’t score, but came close on a header that sailed just over the crossbar with about 16 minutes remaining in the game. O’Neill said he doesn’t envision a permanent position change to forward – a move that was made last season. “It’s something that if the situation is right, (we’ll) use it late in the game,” O’Neill said. Ross Gienieczko can be reached at @ rgieniec@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @RossGien.