Massachusetts Daily Collegian: January 22, 2014

St. Joe’s preys on UMass

Selma resonates with the here and now PAGE 8

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Thursday, January 22, 2015

Serving the UMass community since 1890

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Ex-political prisoner beats the odds Obama’s address stirs those on left Some reconsider Dem. fall strategy

By Steven T. Dennis CQ-Roll Call

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

Tsultrim Dolma, who was once a political prisoner in China, attends class at the Literacy Center in Amherst on Wednesday morning.

The Tibetan is ‘not afraid any longer’

By Brendan Deady Collegian Staff

Tucked away at 742 Main St., in an offshoot of the Jewish Community Center, lies the Amherst office of the Literacy Project, an unassuming gathering place for people in search of an entryway to a future that, considering many of their pasts, may had once seemed unobtainable.

The Literacy Project began 30 years ago as a community funded program that provided free classes for individuals without a high school diploma to improve reading and comprehension skills and prepare for the HiSET exam, formerly the General Education Development test.

The five offices throughout western Massachusetts now receive grants from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education but still rely on the donations

from local businesses and tutoring commitments of volunteers.

Eileen Barry, an instructor with the project for the past five years, said the Amherst office receives an especially diverse influx of students.

“Everyone comes to us with a different background and levels of education but still have to meet the same standards. They require a unique approach at their own pacing and we work to accommodate that,” she said.

“We serve former convicts and drug addicts, victims of abuse and many immigrants who are political refugees.

We’re like a schoolhouse of all trades.”

Barry said students go on to attend community colleges, medical assistant programs and find full-time careers, and while the success rate isn’t comparable to traditional high schools, the Literacy Project reopens doors that had long since closed. The interaction extends beyond the standard teacher-pupil relationship.

“I received a phone call the other day from a member who was last with us three years ago. We have a little unofficial motto here, ‘Once a Literary Project member, always a Literary Project member,’” Barry said.

Barry’s current class consists of mostly immigrants working to improve their reading and comprehension before they progress onto the second stage of the program to prepare for the high school equivalency exam. To embrace the diversity of the group, Barry had her class speak about their home countries and personal journeys to America.

One of those students was Tsultrim Dolma, a cheerful middle-aged woman from Tibet now living in Amherst.

Barry said when she finished retelling her story the small classroom fell silent.

“You can imagine the shock in hearing all that these people have been through. But when I first heard Tsultrim’s story I was blown away,” she said. “You

would never know from speaking with her all that she’s been through. She’s so warm and friendly.”

Dolma was born in a small village in Eastern Tibet in 1968, not long after the Dalai Lama signed the 17-Point Plan for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet that granted China sovereignty over Tibet, according to the Council of Foreign Relations.

Many Tibetans believe the Chinese government coerced the Dalai Lama, currently in exile in India, into the agreement.

In the decades following the Tibetan annexation, China outlawed demonstrations of Tibetan culture and public support for an independent Tibet. According to Dolma, government officials controlled almost every aspect of their lives.

“I remember that all the adults were always afraid. I would ask about the ruins of temples that the Chinese destroyed and the elders of see

DOLMA on page 2

W.E.B. Du Bois Rubio nearing library falcon dies presidential call

Plans for new bird later this semester

By Anthony Rentsch Collegian Staff

The male peregrine falcon that has nested on the top of the W.E.B. Du Bois library for 12 seasons died early Wednesday, according to a University of Massachusetts press release.

A passer-by discovered the falcon in a snow bank on Sunset Avenue on Jan. 15. In the release, X-rays showed that although the bird suffered no broken bones, there were abrasions on its sternum and one of its wings, leading Dr. Michael Katz of Hampshire Veterinary Hospital to believe it landed on a power line, suffered an electrical shock and fell to

the ground. The bird died while waiting to be transferred to a wildlife rehabilitation center.

According to the release, the falcon, which was born in New Hampshire in 2001, nested atop the library every year since 2003, raised 34 chicks during its time on campus and became a webcam sensation in 2012.

In 2014, there were 269,279 views on the library’s falcon webcam page.

State biologist and Director of the Mass Wildlife Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program Tom French said in the release that the bird was “particularly old for wild peregrines,” outliving the typical age of their birds by four years.

see

FALCON on page 3

Florida senator not influenced by Bush

By David Lauter Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday that he is at the final stages of deciding whether to run for the Republican presidential nomination, telling reporters that he is aware the clock is running.

His wife and children are supportive of a run if he decides to make one, and he’s thought through what would be needed to win the race, the Florida senator told reporters at a breakfast session here sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

Now, “I’m down to the last decision – and I think the fundamental one – and that

is, at this stage in my life, at this stage, where is the best place for me to serve the country,” he said. He would have to make a choice between a presidential race and seeking re-election to his Senate seat in 2016, he noted.

“I know we’ll have to make the decision if I am to run for president soon enough to be able to mount the sort of credible campaign that it takes to run a national race,” he said, although he declined to set a deadline for his decision making.

Rubio praised fellow Florida Republican former Gov. Jeb Bush, saying he would be a “very credible candidate” who has an “extraordinary network of donors.” But, he said, he see

RUBIO on page 2

WASHINGTON — “Barack Obama’s back.”

That was the three-word verdict from Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., after Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

It sums up, perhaps, a sense among Democrats that the newly confident, revitalized president that they’ve seen in recent weeks should have been the president on the campaign trail before the midterm elections.

“He seems to be relaxed and free,” Takano said.

“It’s as if it was the cautious Obama ... in the campaign, up until the midterms. I think he was also being prevailed upon

by Senate candidates who were worried.”

Now, “he’s saying things that I think generally stir the Democratic base.”

It’s no secret the strategy of congressional Democrats during the midterms generally was to localize races and keep an unpopular Obama as far away from red states as possible. It’s not that Obama didn’t give speeches talking about a middle class economy – it’s that he made the vast majority of those remarks to small clutches of rich people in fancy hotels and mansions to raise money, not on the campaign trail.

It’s a question Democrats have been wrestling with since the blowout midterm elections – shouldn’t they have gone down swinging?

Obama’s friend and No. 2 Senate Democrat Richard J. Durbin of Illinois said he wished this Obama had been on display last year.

“I thought he was stepping up his game in the last two years,” Durbin said after the speech. “I thought his message was spot on. I wish we could have delivered it before the election. It might have had some impact in some races, but we were swamped by Ebola, ISIS and threats of children and drug gangsters on the border, so we didn’t get a chance to deliver it.”

Republicans weren’t buying it. GOP leaders universally dismissed Obama’s SOTU agenda as simply more of the same from the president - taxes

on the rich, more spending and more government regulations, which they said was soundly rejected by the voters in the fall in a coast-to-coast Republican wave.

And former Mitt Romney campaign adviser Stuart Stevens tweeted out, “So if all this is really popular and works, why didn’t POTUS roll it out in fall & campaign with Dem’s?”

Sen. Christopher S. Murphy said that in the Senate itself, Democrats last year were hitting on many of the same themes as the president. The Connecticut Democrat pointed to last year’s proposed legislation to reduce student loan interest rates.

That would’ve been offset with higher taxes on wealthier taxpayers.

“I don’t think it’s any secret that Democrats are for ... the rich paying their fair share in order to fund priority expenditures like education,” Murphy said.

To be sure, Democrats aren’t all in love with everything the president said.

Their party is divided on trade, Iran sanctions and, perhaps to a lesser extent, the Keystone XL pipeline and EPA regulations.

A group of Democrats held a press conference the day after the speech specifically to crash the free trade party and slam the idea that new deals with Europe and Asia would result in more jobs, not less, showing the president still has some convincing to do.

“This is about wages, this is about jobs,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., predicting enough Republicans would join Democrats in the House to sink the trade deals.

Vermont independent Bernard Sanders, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, went over to the House side of the Capitol to underscore his opposition.

“I do not believe that American workers should have to compete against people in Vietnam who have a minimum wage of 56 cents an hour,” Sanders said. “I think that that is failed policy.”

“We still want to hear more,” Durbin said separately about the president’s trade plans. “We had our retreat last week and there are just a lot of unanswered questions about the substance.” see

OBAMA on page 2

MCT

Alan Gross and Scott Kelly observe the State of the Union on Tuesday.

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THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Thursday, January 22, 2015

THE RUNDOWN ON THIS DAY...

In 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton.

These two landmark cases legalized elective abortion in all 50 states.

AROUND THE WORLD

Argentina BUENOS AIRES — An Argentine special prosecutor who last week accused the nation’s president of being involved in a coverup tied to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center died of a gunshot wound to the head, an official said Monday following an autopsy.

Natalio Alberto Nisman, whose body was discovered the day before in his apartment, was shot in the temple and a .22-caliber firearm was found nearby, prosecutor Viviana Fein told reporters. She otherwise provided few details from the autopsy and did not disclose whether homicide or suicide was suspected.

Nisman’s death came days after he accused President Cristina Fernandez, Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and other officials of making a deal to cover up the alleged involvement of Iranians in the Buenos Aires bombing, which left 85 people dead.

Nisman, 51, was to have presented evidence Monday to the nation’s Congress backing up his charge.

Los Angeles Times

South Africa JOHANNESBURG — At least two dozen hostages seized in Cameroon over the weekend by militants of Boko Haram have been rescued, the nation’s military said Monday, as the conflict in neighboring Nigeria again threatened to spill across the region.

Boko Haram released a video this month threatening Cameroon and has stepped up attacks across the border, including the abduction Sunday of dozens of Cameroonians.

Reports on the number of people kidnapped in the West African nation varied between about 60 and 80.

About 30 herders and 50 children ages 10 to 15 were taken, Reuters news service said, citing a military official. The militia burned down about 80 houses, Cameroonian officials said.

Cameroon’s military claimed Monday that it had driven the attackers back toward Nigeria and freed some of the captives.

Los Angeles Times

England LONDON — The richest 1 percent of the world’s population will soon own more than half of global wealth, unless there is drastic wealth redistribution, Oxfam said Monday.

The British charity said the share of the world’s wealth owned by the richest 1 percent rose from 44 percent in 2009 to 48 percent last year, and that 2015 would see half the world’s wealth in the hands of just 1 percent. dpa Distributed by MCT Information Services

DOLMA

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the village would hit me,” she recalled. “They feared they would disappear into prisons or be killed if they were heard talking about the past.”

Homes were liable to be searched at random. Fathers were forced to work far from their homes at fisheries or in the mountains under the watch of overseers. Mothers were forced to leave their children to work the fields.

The rural village of about 100 residents was completely isolated.

“There was no electricity, no hospitals, no schools.

Children starved and picked through garbage for food,” Dolma said. “I never knew there was a world beyond my village or any other way because no one was allowed to teach us.”

Dolma said for the first decade of her life, she had no concept of religion, of a culture, of an identity. Her only exposure was the silent ruins of temples that spoke of a people distant and extinct like a “ghost everyone was too afraid to talk about.”

According to Dolma, when she was 11-years-old, Beijing permitted religious practices in the Tibetan city of Lhasa. She walked the three-month pilgrimage with her father. It was her first time in a city, the first exposure to a culture and religion that was relegated to the background of her life.

At the age of 14, she made the same pilgrimage with three friends in search of an education and something more than the future of labor that her village promised. She survived the three months of walking on the kindness of strangers. She arrived at a monastery where a cousin lived and spent the next year aiding the nuns during the day and taking reading lessons at night.

Civil unrest grew in Lhasa, protesters called for the return of the Dalai Lama and acknowledgement of basic human rights for Tibetans. On April 8, 1987, the birthday of the Buddha, Dolma joined a group of protesters.

“I saw people next to me killed by sniper rifles. The police shot tear gas at us then squeezed hundreds of us into vans and took us to prison,” Dolma said.

For the next four months, Dolma said she was kicked, punched, and shocked by guards. They isolated their captives and exposed them to extreme heat, starvation and prolonged stressful positions.

“They would put a bag over my head, kick me to the ground and laugh. I was in handcuffs so I had to use my chin to pull myself up. I kept saying ‘you must get up.’ I had to know why they were doing this,” Dolma said.

Upon her release, Dolma spoke to the BBC before returning to her village in Eastern Tibet. After a year of living in fear and under heavy surveillance, she embarked on a yearlong trek that led her through the Himalayas to India where a large Tibetan refugee population still lives today.

There, fellow refugees entered her name into a lottery for political asylum in the United States, a country only a year earlier she did not know existed.

Dolma arrived in Berkeley, California at 21, unable to speak or understand a word of English.

Her mind was filled with stories of an impersonal and bustling America.

While she was grateful for the chance at a better life, the pain of Tibet weighed heavily on her mind.

“In the beginning I cried every night. I wanted to do something to help but it was difficult. I worked so much because I did not want to take any more from America,” she said.

Dolma spent the next decade moving from city to city and eventually settled in Massachusetts in 1997.

She worked in a factory and babysat to support her children and sent money to parents she hadn’t seen since she was 16, and would never see again – both have passed away during her time away from Tibet.

Dolma struggled to adapt and enjoyed the amenities

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

Tsultrim Dolma was granted political asylum by the United States at the age of 21. of a modern America but never forgot her home. She’s testified before Congress, met with Newt Gingrich, Amnesty International and spoke to the Boston Globe.

She said the receptions have been heartfelt and sympathetic, but little has come in the form of significant change despite the continued efforts and despair of the Tibetan population. According to the International Campaign for Tibet, more than 100 Tibetans have died from self-immolation since 2009, setting themselves on fire in protest of the Chinese government.

In the past, Dolma chose to use a pseudonym when speaking to the press, fearing retaliation from the Chinese government against relatives still in Tibet. However, she is no longer willing to hide.

“I am not afraid any longer, all I can think about is the young people dying and losing parents, and hiding will do nothing,” she said.

Currently on disability from her custodial position at the University of Massachusetts, Dolma has focused on improving her vocational and writing abilities through the Literacy Project. While pursuing an education is fulfilling a dream she’s had since a child, she hopes it will

Protestors disrupt judiaciary

Action targeted campaign spending

By Greg Stohr Bloomberg News

WA S H I N G T O N — Protesters, including at least one shouting “one person, one vote,” disrupted the beginning of the U.S. Supreme Court session on Wednesday.

RUBIO

DailyCollegian.com

The demonstration came five years to the day after the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, which let corporations spend unlimited sums on campaigns.

Chief Justice John Roberts delayed the beginning of the session while police officers removed the people from the courtroom.

At various points, Roberts said, “Oh, please!” and told

continued from page 1

would make his own decision regardless of Bush’s plans to seek the nomination.

Rubio used the session to tout the major themes of his newly released book, “American Dreams,” in which he focused on the stagnation of middle-class incomes as a central problem for the next president.

Voters, he said, want to know that candidates understand the problems they face. “That’s something our party should improve on,” he added.

He said he attributed the Republican loss in 2012 mostly to the Obama campaign’s “better organization” and ability to turn out its supporters, rather than to any particular flaws of Mitt Romney, the once and perhaps future nominee.

But, he added, “it’s cer-

tainly not helpful to be viewed as someone who doesn’t care.”

He also reiterated his opposition to President Barack Obama’s policies toward Cuba, saying he “can’t think of a single contemporary example” in which expanding economic ties caused a dictatorial regime to become democratic.

In China and Vietnam, he said, U.S. decisions to expand economic ties have led to increased trade and business investment, but have only further entrenched authoritarian governments.

In those cases, the U.S. had compelling national security reasons to expand ties, he said. By contrast, “my interest in Cuba is singular,” he said.

“I want them to have freedom and democracy.”

officers, “There’s another one over there.”

The court issued three opinions and is hearing arguments in cases on housing discrimination and police use of drugsniffing dogs.

The disruption came less than a year after a similar demonstration that was secretly recorded and posted on the Internet.

help reach her goal – to preserve a culture she believes is in danger of disappearing, to give voice to a people she loves and says the Chinese government deliberately attempts to silence.

“So many have similar stories as me. This is not about me or the attention. I am doing this for all those people still in Tibet that go unnoticed. Because I can’t speak that well I need other’s help to help me tell it,” Dolma said.

Janice Fleur, a former teacher at the Literacy Project, met Dolma through a mutual friend in Amherst’s Jones Library ESL program soon after Dolma settled in Massachusetts, and has since helped the Tibetan in trying to spread her message.

“Despite coming to this country penniless, she’s still reached out to so many people. She has this story burning inside of her dying to be told,” Fleur said.

“What astonishes me is the courage she has and persistence to keep speaking out.

It’s an admirable thing.”

“I think that the Literacy Project has increased her confidence and aided her in reaching her goals,” Barry said. “Math and science are completely new to her but she is progressing very well. It shows how smart she is that she’s able to learn so much with almost

OBAMA

no prior foundation.”

Dolma hopes that more exposure to her story will draw the attention of the surrounding college communities to an issue she believes is largely ignored – and is one that affects a community of more than 150 Tibetans in Amherst. She especially seeks assistance in designing a website she created, but admits has little knowledge in maintaining.

“I just want to speak to the Chinese president and ask him to his face, ‘Why?’ He says that Tibetans are Chinese, but then why does he try to destroy them?

I want to say, ‘Do you respect your mother and father? Then why do you not treat Tibetan parents the same?’” Dolma said.

“I have no hatred toward the Chinese people,” she added. “It is their government that destroyed my childhood, my life. We are peaceful – you don’t see Tibetans respond with violence like in so many other places. I want to say to their faces, ‘We are all human people, why aren’t allowed the same basic human rights?’”

Brendan Deady can be reached at bdeady@umass.edu.

continued from page 1

Despite the lukewarm reception among Democrats, trade may be the most likely of all of Obama’s State of the Union proposals to survive a Republican Congress and reach his desk.

Still, an upbeat – even cocky – Obama, unchained by election concerns, had Democrats feeling good.

After the disastrous midterms, that may be the

best he could hope for.

“You know there’s the slogan that the JapaneseAmerican fighting unit during World War II took, where these were guys whose parents were incarcerated, but they nevertheless enlisted and fought, and it was called ‘go for broke,’” Takano said.

“I think the president is going for broke. He’s got nothing to lose.”

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

Thursday, January 22, 2015

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US-Cuba relations Boston doctor’s Obama to mark led by women death ‘devastating’ Iowa off travel list Jacobson, Vidal mark another first

By Hannah Allam

McClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The first steps toward normalization between the United States and Cuba are likely to be taken in heels.

Foreign policy analysts who monitor Cuba note that the talks in Havana this week, part of a thaw announced last month after more than 50 years of frozen relations, offer a prominent platform for two formidable women – the United States’ Roberta Jacobson and Cuba’s Josefina Vidal – who have used their expertise and determination to become trusted emissaries of their respective nations.

“That’s probably another first, too,” said Mark Entwistle, a Canadian diplomat-turnedconsultant who served four years as Ottawa’s ambassador in Havana.

Jacobson oversees some 10,000 personnel in 30 countries as assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere; she’s the first woman and first civil servant to hold the job. Her Cuban counterpart, Vidal, is regarded as a top “Americanologist” for the Castro government. She’s not only a Foreign Ministry standout in charge of the North America portfolio, but she also enjoys wider government influence as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

Cuba watchers are eager to see how a detente takes shape under two seasoned negotiators who have studied each other for years.

Lower-level U.S. and Cuban teams began previously scheduled migration talks in Havana on Wednesday. Jacobson, the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat to visit Cuba in more than three decades, is expected to meet with Vidal on Thursday and Friday for a first round of normalization talks.

“The great news is that they’re speaking and working each for their own presidents, so they’re bringing to the table the gravitas and author-

FALCON

ity of their respective heads of state,” said Julia Sweig, a scholar who has written extensively on Cuba and has followed both women’s careers.

“They’re a great match.

They’re both very knowledgeable, very mindful of their countries’ national interests.”

Entwistle, the former Canadian diplomat, recalled how the Cubans used to group the United States and Canada together in a Foreign Ministry office that he dubbed “the Department of the United States and that other country” because of Havana’s intense focus on understanding the history, politics and social workings of the United States.

Vidal is known as among the most astute of those students. During her time at the Cuban interest section in Washington - in the 1990s, before mutual restrictions on diplomats’ travel - Vidal crisscrossed the United States to stump for an updated U.S. policy toward Cuba. She made friends in Washington and in far-flung states and returned to become “among the very few women in foreign policy in Cuba,” Sweig said. She’s known for showing up on the tarmac in Havana to personally greet visiting congressional delegations.

“She’s a very, very, very smart and dialed-in individual who is also an incredibly hard worker,” Sweig said. “There’s very little she’s not on top of.”

Tom Shannon, a State Department counselor and former assistant secretary for the Western Hemisphere, has known and observed Vidal and Jacobson for years. He said Jacobson early in her career “was marked as special, someone with unusual talent and therefore worthy of promotion.” He described Vidal as Fidel and Raul Castro’s trusted gatekeeper for the Americans typically, he said, “we don’t get much beyond her.”

Shannon chuckled when asked about the matchup.

“This is going to be fascinating,” he said. “Two strongwilled women representing their countries, and determined to do that to the best of their abilities.”

continued from page 1

In the release, French indicated the library-nesting box would likely be home to a new peregrine family, with the same female, by the start of the March breeding season.

“They mate for life, but they don’t mourn for a minute,” he said in the release.

The library intends to turn

the webcam back on in April when “falcons will hopefully again make their home on the roof of the Du Bois library,” Carol Connare, libraries director of development and communication said in the release.

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

Shooter’s motives “Dr. Davidson was a wonderful and remain a mystery

By Brittny Mejia Los Angeles Times

A cardiac surgeon who was fatally shot at a Boston hospital Tuesday had “devoted his career to saving lives,” the hospital said in a statement.

Dr. Michael Davidson, director of endovascular cardiac surgery, was shot twice Tuesday morning in the Shapiro building at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He died hours later.

“Dr. Davidson was a wonderful and inspiring cardiac surgeon who devoted his career to saving lives and improving the quality of life of every patient he cared for,” the hospital said in a statement late Tuesday night. “It is truly devastating that his own life was taken in this horrible manner.”

Around 11 a.m. local time, 55-year-old Stephen Pasceri walked into the second floor of the Shapiro building, armed with a handgun, Boston police said. Pasceri asked for Davidson and shot him twice, according to Boston Police Commissioner

inspiring cardiac surgeon who devoted his career to saving lives and improving the quality of life of every patient he cared for.”

Brigham and Women’s Hospital William Evans.

After Pasceri shot Davidson, 44, he went into a nearby room and shot himself to death.

“We’re not sure of the possible motive, but it was clear (the doctor) was targeted,” Evans said Tuesday.

In an interview with the Boston Herald, a woman identified as Pasceri’s sister, Marguerite Joly, said Davidson operated on their mother last year. Their mother died Nov. 15.

“He appeared to be handling her death well,” Joly told the Herald. “I have no idea why he snapped like this.”

Pasceri was in the Army and was honorably discharged, Joly said.

President has yet to visit 3 ‘red’ states

By Michael A. Memoli Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Entering what he has called the fourth quarter of his time at the White House, President Barack Obama seems focused on crossing some states off his presidential bucket list.

How else to explain Obama’s trip to Idaho on Wednesday, which brings down the number of states he has yet to visit since taking office to just three with two years to go.

The remaining states on the list, perhaps not surprisingly, consists solely of deeply Republican “red states” – South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.

Obama did visit Idaho during the 2008 presidential campaign in a preSuper Tuesday appearance seeking support in the state’s Democratic caucus. His visit Wednesday is to last only a few hours, however, as he travels to and from the University of Idaho campus before continuing on to Kansas, where he’ll spend the night.

A spokesman for Butch Otter, Idaho’s Republican governor, said the state was honored but also genuinely puzzled by the decision to choose Idaho for Obama’s first public appearance after the State of the Union address, with some chalking it up to his interest in visiting each of the 50 states at least once.

The Idaho Statesman noted this week that the trip ensures that Idaho’s streak of presidential visits, dating to Lyndon Johnson, lives on. It’s hard to imagine a similar story appearing in a newspaper in Ohio or Florida, huge electoral prizes that Obama has visited repeatedly in his six years in office.

Otter, a former congressman who was sworn into his third term this month, will not be among those greeting Obama when he arrives. The one-time “tight jeans” contest winner had hip surgery Tuesday and will be unable to attend. He’s sending his lieutenant governor in his place.

Israeli bus stabbing is latest in series Hamas applauds Palestinian’s attack

By Joel Greenberg McClatchy Foreign Staff JERUSALEM — A knife-wielding Palestinian went on a stabbing spree on a bus in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, wounding 13 people, four of them seriously, before he was shot and arrested, a police spokesman said.

The assault was the latest in a series of “lone-wolf ” attacks by Palestinians, who’ve used knives and cars to attack Israelis on the streets in recent months.

The attacker was identified as Hamza Matrouk, 23, from a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. Police said he’d told investigators that he’d acted in response to Israel’s military campaign last summer in Gaza, tensions over a contested holy site in Jerusalem and Internet videos promising paradise to “martyrs.”

Witnesses said the man, who had been riding the bus, went up to the driver and stabbed him before turning on the passengers.

After the passengers fled the vehicle, the assailant got off and stabbed a woman on the street before he was chased down and shot in the leg.

Liel Swissa, a 14-yearold boy who was taking the bus to school, told Israel Radio: “I heard people screaming. ... I turned around and saw a person with a big knife stabbing the driver and other people.

“We all fled to the end of the bus. He approached us. I threw my schoolbag at him. ... The driver slammed on the brakes, which caused him to fall. ... I broke open a window with my elbow so we could get out, but then the driver opened the doors. When we got out, he ran after us with the knife.”

Officers of Israel’s prison service who’d been in a vehicle behind the bus

said in radio interviews that they’d seen the bus rocking from side to side and passengers fleeing.

They said they’d chased the man into an alley and shot at his legs before he was taken into custody.

The driver’s sister, who spoke to him on the phone after he was stabbed, told Israel Radio that he’d tried to resist the attacker with pepper spray and had asked her to “take care of the children for me” before he was taken from the scene in serious condition.

The attack was praised by an official of the militant Islamist group Hamas. Izzat Risheq, who lives in Qatar, said in a tweet that the stabbing was “a natural response to the occupation and its terrorist crimes against our people.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the violence on the Palestinian Authority, calling it “the direct result of the poisonous incitement

being disseminated by the Palestinian Authority against the Jews and their state.”

“This same terrorism is trying to attack us in Paris, Brussels, everywhere,” Netanyahu added, referring to recent deadly assaults by Islamist extremists in France and arrests in Belgium of Islamists suspected of planning to attack police.

In several lethal incidents in recent months, Palestinian attackers have rammed cars into pedestrians and stabbed other Israelis. In the most serious assault, triggered by tensions surrounding a contested holy site in Jerusalem, two men armed with a gun and meat cleavers attacked a synagogue in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in the city, killing four worshippers and a police officer.

Opinion Editorial THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Thursday, January 22, 2015

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” - Vincent Van Gogh

How to start meditating (because yes, you really should)

You drink, You drive ...

You lose?

I was raised to believe that if you drank alcohol and got behind the wheel of a car, there would be con-

Steven Gillard

If I had a dollar for every time I have read or been told that I should try meditation I would probably have enough money to build my own tran-

those who are currently serving time for manslaughter, because they learned their lesson the hard way.

The problem with the crusade against drunk driving is that it has fallen into the category of every other lesson drilled into our heads as teenagers that we now refuse to take seriously. Drinking a beer, in fact, won’t make you an alcoholic, smoking marijuana won’t make you stupid and having sex won’t necessarily end up with the birth of a child nine months later.

Preaching against the evils of drunk driving does little good because people know, despite what the police suggest, you can get away with it. In fact, the average drunk driver drives intoxicated approximately 80 times before his or her arrest. And if you are caught, well at worst it will result in a night in jail and a manageable fine. In 2013, however, over ten thousand cases of drunk driving resulted in death.

As much as your parents might punish you for drinking, as mad as your friend might get at you for not giving him his keys, as much as it sucks to be the designated driver and as terrible as it feels to blow $30 on a cab – all of these pale in comparison to loss of life.

The next time you get behind the wheel intoxicated or in the passenger seat with your drunk friend because “you’re fine,” or because you’ll just get a DUI, or because it’s only down the street, remember that you are responsible for someone’s life: your own, your passengers, and your fellow motorists and pedestrians.

Although you may drink and drive and never lose, every day somebody out there does. Every day, somebody out there with his whole life ahead of him has it stripped away, and others are condemned to live the rest of theirs in torment, knowing that they either directly or indirectly contributed to the death of their friend.

Drunk driving is a serious problem, and it won’t be stopped no matter how many times people are told of its potential consequences. Police can make sobriety checkpoints and MADD can post heartbreaking statistics, but neither of those measures will fix the real problem – the aura of invincibility that surrounds youth.

It’s not that we don’t know it could happen; it’s that those types of things never happen to us, but every person who is now just a wooden cross on the side of the highway thought the same thing.

sequences.

Arrest, serious injury or even death would be the only outcomes.

This was told to me time and time again: through the D.A.R.E. program, commercials proclaiming “You drink, you drive, you lose” and the smashed-up car sitting in the front lawn of a local business, all serving as reminders of the inevitable, life-altering consequences of drinking and driving.

The youth of America – and colleges in particular – exist in a culture of recklessness. A weekend doesn’t go by when an ambulance isn’t parked next to some dorm, transporting a student who took one too many shots to the hospital to get his or her stomach pumped.

Every Monday, at least one DUI is documented in the police logs.

The act of drunk driving, for so many, is considered just another risk that comes with the culture of binge drinking and illegal drug use – just another thing for which you can get caught.

Time and time again, it is chosen as the best course of action to make it back to wherever you need to be without incurring the wrath of parents, spending an awkward morning at a friend’s house or spending money on a cab. Although in high school I firmly believed that drunk driving was a crime reserved for old alcoholics who had no regard for human life, upon entering college I realized that that simply isn’t the case – many college students drive drunk regularly, whether to get home or to get a bite to eat.

Youth is all about taking risks – you only live once, these are the best years of your life, so you might as well do some crazy things, have some fun and make some “mistakes.” There is a fine, fine line, however, between having fun and endangering yourself, between being carefree and being dumb, and it’s a line that, under the influence of alcohol, most don’t realize they are crossing until it is too late.

I’m willing to bet that most people reading this who grew up in the average American town have their own tragic anecdotes, stories of young people who, after having too much to drink, got behind the wheel of a car, wrecked the automobile and lost their lives.

What’s so disheartening about these stories is that no drunk driver gets into the car believing that he or she will take a life or lose his or her own. And as easy as it is to vilify them, I don’t Steven Gillard is a Collegian columblame any of them for get- nist and can be reached at sgillard@ ting behind the wheel, even umass.edu.

Editorial@DailyCollegiancom

Most of us know that we should practice self-care more and could do a bit more life embracing, but when we think of meditation we often think of committed, spiritually in-tune people Kate Leddy who can sit for an hour and just turn off their minds. So, we dismiss the idea quility hut. The problem is I wouldn’t because we “definitely don’t have time use it for years. and just can’t do that” and carry on After what I started trying this win- with our automatic routines or stresster break, though, I’m hoping that ful daily tasks. would change.

It seems like the benefits of simply sitting and clearing one’s mind are ever increasing in number. Aside from just being relaxing, meditation has been shown to improve the immune system, relieve physical pain and improve concentration, self-confidence and self-acceptance.

If you’ve dealt with anxiety or depression before, you’ve probably been told that last one. According to an article by Hannah Braime on these many benefits of meditation, “a key part of meditation revolves around The reality is that you can reap the noticing our thoughts without judg- benefits of meditation with just five ing them or getting caught up in their minutes of deep breathing a day. “The stories or meanings. This helps us to length of your practice isn’t as impordevelop a different perspective on our tant as the frequency,” says Braime. internal dialogue, develop a greater “You’re far more likely to experience understanding of ourselves, and prac- the many benefits if you meditate for tice noticing our thoughts and feelings five to 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week without attaching meaning or judg- than if you squeeze your meditation ment to them.” into a 30-minute session once a week.”

My eyes basically glazed over half- This winter break I told myself to way through reading that paragraph stop zoning out every time I heard senfor the first time. For me, hearing how tences like that, and decided to start wonderful meditation is has become actually giving myself those five minbackground noise in the stream of utes. This time, instead of listening advice that family, friends and thera- to a guided track on YouTube like I’ve pists have given me over the years to done before, I put on my headphones better embrace life. and chose a calming song that had no

“For me, hearing how wonderful meditation is has become background noise in the stream of advice that family, friends and therapists have given me over the years to better embrace life.”

lyrics. For the length of that 6-minute song, all I tried to focus on was my breathing.

When the song ended, I felt slightly more relaxed—no magical healing yet—but I found myself actually wanting to do it again. After a few weeks, I even starting looking forward to taking the short breathing break instead of forgetting about it. Sometimes, the song would come on my iPod’s shuffle when I was in the car and would have an automatic relaxing effect on me.

A great thing about meditation that we often forget is that it can be done anywhere. I’ve come across workplace meditation guides, showering meditation guides and even eating meditation guides. Ultimately, it is about letting yourself just breathe and be present wherever you are. It’s about blocking out the daily noise and being with just yourself for a moment. In time, it will teach you to appreciate being alone, taking care of yourself and accepting wherever you are in life.

I truly believe that mindful breathing can bring me all of that, and here I am writing the exact sentences that I would usually ignore. The difference is now I have finally found a method that I can actually commit to. In time, maybe you’ll even see me sitting for an hour in a deep-breathing trance.

I may be getting ahead of myself – I’ll start with just 6 minutes.

Kate Leddy is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at kleddy@umass.edu.

The dangers of “educate yourself” A phrase that has become increasingly common in discussions of modern social issues, “it’s not my job to educate you” has, alongside its sib-

This does not, however, mean that it’s ever actually a good idea to tell someone it’s not your job to educate them. The phrase, while a statement of fact, has no redeeming value. It Stefan Herlitz ends a conversation on a negative note, and doesn’t do anything to fix the ling “educate yourself”, become one problems of society – rather, it does of many things socially-minded peo- the opposite. To the person to whom ple say when fighting the good fight against ignorance and intolerance.

There comes, after all, a certain point at which someone’s views not only seem wrong, but outright repulsive, a point encompassing everything from misogynistic Facebook and Twitter posts to racist speeches by politicians.

Surely, we tell ourselves, at this point there is no longer a debate – there are just people who are right, and people who maliciously insist on upholding outdated, backwards views. To a degree, we are right – some things are simply not morally debatable.

The existence of institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia, among you say it, “It’s not my job to educate numerous other social ills, is not a you” is just a more erudite way of yelltopic of discussion but a cold, hard ing, “you’re wrong,” and storming off fact, and no one should have to pre- – to them it’s both unconvincing and tend that refusing to acknowledge this incredibly condescending. Because of is okay for the sake of a debate. Those this, bigots who are told to go educate who tell people to go educate them- themselves not only will not do it (as selves do so because it isn’t their job, “you’re wrong” is a universally weak and shouldn’t be, to explain things argument), but will more than likely that all decent people should already use the incident as a reason to justify understand. dismissing valid social issues.

“To the person to whom you say it, ‘It’s not my job to educate you’ is just a more erudite way of yelling, ‘you’re wrong,’ and storming off – to them it’s both unconvincing and incredibly condescending.

In trying to fix the systemic and institutional problems in society, one will inevitably encounter people who disagree, who do not believe and who do not understand the cause. Since these problems are endemic to society as a whole, they can only be solved if everyone understands, and that means that one of the most important things that must be done is simply persuading and explaining them to people. People are not obligated or required to act as missionaries and explain society’s problems to everyone with flawed beliefs- it’s not their job, and it’s extremely taxing. Because of this, not wanting to be the missionary of social justice and choosing not to participate in such conversation is understandable. This is a delicate, complex and burdensome process, so only those willing and capable of dedicating the time and effort to fully engage and persuade people ought to take up the task; all others may simply avoid the conversation. Both pursuits are completely justified.

Telling a person with flawed beliefs that it’s not your job to educate them, however, is never justified, and is an act of intellectual elitism rather than social justice.

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 2014, The Collegian has been broadsheet since January 1994. For advertising rates and information, call 413-545-3500.

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Arts Living THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

“Every animal from every movie we loved as a kid? Probably dead.” - Abbi Abrams

Thursday, January 22, 2015

FILM REVIEW

Arts@DailyCollegian.com

FILM REVIEW

‘Selma’ marches into history New Turing biopic relies A portrait of past too much on ‘Imitation’ that resonates now

By Nathan Frontiero Collegian Staff

“Selma” begins with intimacy and tension. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. prepares to deliver a speech in acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize. He’s nervous and complains something is not right with his ascot.

His wife, Coretta Scott King, reassures him that all is well, and the two proceed to the ceremony. The new Nobel Laureate begins to speak as a somber musical cue resounds. The music doesn’t seem to fit the positive moment. Indeed, something is not right.

The scene cuts to the inside of a church as King’s voiceover continues. Four young girls step down the stairs as they talk about styling their hair. Their conversation pauses for an instant and an explosion erupts through the building. The camera gradually focuses in on the wreckage of the bombed church. Director Ava DuVernay masterfully establishes her film’s tonal balance. “Selma” is both hopeful and unflinchingly realistic. The film affirms that acknowledged progress is a long way from permanent positive change.

DuVernay made the smart decision to focus her narrative on a specific chapter in the Civil Rights Movement, namely the Selma to Montgomery marches that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Her intentions as a storyteller are clear. “Selma” is a historical drama, not a documentary, and nested in that simple fact is the film’s greatest triumph. The narrative hones in on this piece of history to both reflect the past and resonate with the present.

I saw “Selma” on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Watching the first major film adaptation of Dr. King’s life on the very day that honors his legacy spoke to me on multiple levels. The

film depicts a movement that changed society for the better, but it also serves as an effective reminder this country has still not reached the equality that Dr. King dreamed of.

The director refuses to sugarcoat the struggle that permeated the civil rights movement. Instead, she repeatedly shows that innocent lives are taken in seconds. In one of the film’s most devastating and powerful sequences, DuVernay’s camera bears witness to the horrifying event that became known as “Bloody Sunday.” Squads of white police officers attack peaceful black marchers attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. News cameras capture everything as the troopers throw tear gas and bludgeon unarmed people with clubs.

It’s hard to watch these scenes of racially motivated police brutality and not think of the atrocities making headlines today.

Oppression, disenfranchisement and marginalization wracked America in the past and continue on today.

Every new story of racist violence or vandalism in the nation is deplorable, but as “Selma” proves, it is a poison that America has yet to purge from its veins.

The film majestically conveys the indisputable: Black lives matter, and all people must come together to move the nation forward to fully embrace that reality.

Exceptional talent and technical skill carry the film’s message.

David Oyelowo is phenomenal as Dr. King. The British actor gives new life to the man whose likeness is synonymous with civil rights and social change. Oyelowo sublimely captures the grandiose inflections and mannerisms of King’s oration – and then goes further. He delves into the subtler nuances of the activist’s persona, into the spirit of a husband, father and friend. When he isn’t delivering a message to many, Oyelowo’s King is quietly thoughtful and world-

weary. He speaks in a gentle voice that emanates deep passion.

DuVernay works in tandem with her star to reveal the man beneath the symbol King has become. The director resists the easy temptation to constantly place the civil rights leader in the center of shots. Instead, she often frames King in the corners in wider shots, or distinctly to one side in tighter shots. Occasional shots place the camera behind King’s head as he speaks, or when he leads the march from Selma. DuVernay uses her lens to emphasize that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a man who grappled with conflicts large and small in equal measure. In her hands, he is both more accessible and more admirable.

Cinematographer Bradford Young makes great use of lighting and color to visually represent the shift that King initiates. When the leader initially meets with President Johnson and implores him to pass voting legislation to ensure unencumbered black suffrage, the interior of the White House is lit in stark, cold tones. Young makes a point to bathe scenes centered on King and his allies in richer hues. By the film’s final act, however, a warm glow triumphantly floods Washington.

The necessary social change becomes law as the sun rises on the horizon.

I am beyond certain that “Selma” will have a lasting legacy in cinematic history.

This is a film that justifiably celebrates what Martin Luther King, Jr. accomplished while underlining what we as a nation still have left to do. Many roadblocks remain, but Ava DuVernay shows that together we possess the cultural inertia to keep the locomotive of progress on the right track. We may still have a long way to go to make this country the place of equality that it was meant to be, but as Dr. King himself states in the film, “the truth marches on.”

Nathan Frontiero can be reached at

Film lost among a crowd of biopics

By Alexander Frail Collegian Staff

For a filmmaker, the biopic is the promised path to critical raves, to the hallowed halls of cinema’s highest awards and to the hearts of theatergoers. “The Imitation Game” treads this heavily trodden path, but stops somewhere short of the timelessness of its subject. The new Alan Turing biopic could’ve been a classic. Its bland narrative and derivativeness flip that chance on its head and instead, “The Imitation Game” goes off with more whimper than bang.

Director Morten Tyldum’s film examines Turing’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) efforts to break the Nazis’ Enigma machine. We see the mathematical virtuoso struggle at varying stages in the non-linear narrative to connect with any of his acquaintances. He defies the chain of command, forming an enemy in Cmdr. Alastair Denniston (the always formidable Charles Dance).

He insults Hugh Alexander (Matthew Goode) and other coworkers. By alienating those around him, Turing faces a sea of opposition as he attempts to break an unbreakable code.

The synopsis suggests a great film. Turing’s tale is one of overcoming adversity, achieving greatness and facing persecution despite heroism. In this case, exhuming a legendary historical figure might revive the subject’s posthumous legacy, but it makes for a mediocre affair.

Graham Moore’s script rarely rises beyond a character study that plods toward the end of its hour and 54-minute runtime.

The script frames Turing as an asocial genius who can’t understand common human interaction. He comes off as little more than the misunderstood arche-

type you’ve seen a thousand times. Whether it’s “Sherlock” (which also stars Cumberbatch), “Monk,” “A Beautiful Mind” or “The Social Network,” the abrasive wunderkind has been said and done. Playing into this trope without adding new layers, the script surrenders emotional and narrative punch.

Exacerbating the film’s stagnancy is its plot.

Turing’s rise to the top of Great Britain’s secret military and ascension to leader of Hut 8, the group of mathematicians trying to break Enigma, fall into place mutely. The only scene that truly sticks out is when he tries to save his machine against the imposition of Denniston’s entourage. Otherwise, the mind game against the Nazis rarely feels more urgent than a game of checkers.

Even a spy in their midst injects little tension.

Tyldum’s film works better in its smaller moments, such as when it focuses on Turing’s first love, Christopher (Jack Bannon), a boy he went to boarding school with. The flashbacks to tender flirting and early heartbreak cut deep. You’ll mourn alongside Turing.

I credit Cumberbatch for his performance, yet another excellent entry to a flourishing filmography. He stands out in every scene, whether it’s explaining his enigmatic genius to colleagues, revealing his sexuality to his fiancée, Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley), or divulging his life’s story to a detective.

This is Cumberbatch’s finest performance yet.

Nearly everyone on the cast excels at their roles.

Knightley shines as Clarke, a woman ahead of her time who juggles her brilliant mind and the sexist society she lives in. During her scenes with Cumberbatch, she weaves layers into Clarke’s personality, from vast empathy to hardened ambition.

Goode’s role, ostensibly

Turing’s handsome and extroverted foil, escapes archetype as much as Cumberbatch’s falls victim to it. Goode presents Hugh Alexander as a charming, confident man, perhaps a womanizer, who seeks personal success. By the end, he’s so much more. He constructs a relationship with his rival that oscillates between lukewarm connection and professional respect. He doses the bland narrative with a little humor as well.

Beyond these stellar performances and deft time hopping by Tyldum, “The Imitation Game” adds up to little more than a decent biopic. Although Cumberbatch delivers his career’s best, his emotive and heartbreaking performance can’t save the hackneyed trope he’s painted into. Beautiful moments arise here and there, like Tyldum’s long take on a young Turing awaiting the return of his adolescent love. Unfortunately, these instances lie far and few between.

“The Imitation Game” serves best as an elegy for Alan Turing. His service to the world was followed quickly by persecution for his sexuality, but Turing’s tragic and painful end receives little discussion today. Underwhelming at best, the film still revives his accomplishments and mourns his persecution in an appropriately upsetting fashion, delivering his legacy to deserved international recognition.

However, the film’s pitfall lies hidden on that promised path of the biopic. So many biopics have been done now, they’re beginning to feel too similar in their styles, lessons and narratives.

Therefore, while this film is a decent biopic, it feels less like a classic and more like an imitation.

Alexander Frail can be reached at afrail@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @AlexanderFrail.

TELEVISION REVIEW

Try a little ‘Togetherness’ on Sunday night’s busy lineup Duplass’ program evokes an indie film

By Eli Fine Collegian Staff Sunday night television is particularly strong this winter. With Showtime’s excellent “Shameless,” Fox’s “Bob’s Burgers” and “The Good Wife” on CBS, Sunday is a busy night for any committed viewer of quality television. Recently, the Sunday night TV load has been further intensified with HBO premiering new seasons of “Girls” and “Looking” as well as its new show, “Togetherness.” It’s a solid block for HBO; all three of these shows are relatively light and comedic, while they all share a vaguely indie-film vibe. “Togetherness” is an especially enjoyable addition to the HBO lineup.

“Togetherness” was created by Mark and Jay Duplass, and stars Mark Duplass, Melanie Lynskey, Amanda Peet and Steve Zissis. Zissis plays Alex Pappas, a struggling actor on the verge of giving up on his dream. He is evicted and temporarily

moves in with his best friend, Brett Pierson (Duplass) and Brett’s wife, Michelle (Lynskey).

Meanwhile, Michelle’s sister, Tina Morris (Peet), decides to move in with Michelle after her boyfriend dumps her.

The Duplass brothers are well known and respected independent filmmakers who have done terrific work both in feature-films and in television. They’ve directed such films as “The Puffy Chair,” “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” and “Cyrus.” They created “Togetherness” and co-wrote the pilot with Zissis.

As a result, “Togetherness” feels very much like a Duplass brothers film, both tonally and visually. It’s very low-key, with the emphasis being on the lives and relationships of its characters, not on fancy camerawork or especially clever dialogue.

The brothers have always excelled at getting great, true-to-life performances from their actors, and their work on “Togetherness” is no exception. Everyone in the cast is terrific. But while Peet and Duplass are both great, most of the praise should

HBO

Tina (Amanda Peet) and Alex (Steve Zissis) share a little “Togetherness.” go to Melanie Lynskey and Steve Zissis.

Lynskey does incredible work, expressing Michelle’s inner turmoil in a very understated yet powerful way.

Michelle is a bored housewife, but doesn’t act like the typical bored housewife as seen on television and movies. Her counterpart on the remarkably similar FX show “Married,” played by Judy Greer, is a great example of a more conventional bored TV housewife, always complaining and getting in the way of her childlike husband’s

attempts at fun and games.

In contrast, Michelle doesn’t nag about Brett’s friend sleeping on their couch for the foreseeable future. She seems to have genuine affection for Alex, and feels the same sympathy toward him that Brett does.

In the second episode, some of Michelle’s actions lean a little cartoonish, but Lynskey manages to make it all seem real. Her interactions with Amanda Peet as her sister are great; right off the bat, we believe these two people grew up in the same

house and have a long history together. Lynskey shines brightest in her interactions with Michelle’s husband as disappointment, happiness and apologies are conveyed with a simple glance and not a word.

Zissis is similarly great.

He is essentially playing the fat best friend, a trope that the most recent fall TV season only exacerbated (I’m looking at you, “Mulaney” and “Marry Me”). However, Zissis avoids nearly all of the associated clichés. Alex Pappas is a very real personality, a middle-aged actor who has been struggling his whole life to get noticed only to get nowhere, because of his lack of obvious charisma and an unwillingness to get in shape. He is ready to give up, ready to go back to wherever home is and live with his mother, but decides to stay in Los Angeles at his best friend’s request. Alex is a great example of someone who truly believed he was destined for greatness.

He came to discover that no, he wasn’t destined for greatness; he was destined to be in a heartburn medicine ad and

then to retire. It’s a sad story but one that happens every day.

Zissis is also the funniest member of the cast. Alex’s method of diffusing the tension when Tina encounters her ex-boyfriend in public is unique, imaginative and incredibly funny. That the moment is so out of left field and out of character for Alex up until that point really adds to the absurdity and to the comedy, while still keeping the show in the realm of reality.

I really enjoyed the first couple episodes of “Togetherness” and I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of this season plays out. The Duplass brothers are ridiculously busy (Mark stars on FX’s “The League” and Jay is on Amazon Prime’s outstanding “Transparent”), so even if HBO renews it for a second season, we may not get results for a while. Still, as far as I’m concerned, the more “Togetherness” the better.

Eli Fine can be reached at elazarfine@ umass.edu.

6

Thursday, January 22, 2015

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Comics Canned

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!

corn is something, ain’t it?

W ondermark

B y D avid M alki

Bufufafalo

XKCD

B y R andall M unroe

aquarius

HOROSCOPES Jan. 20 - Feb. 18

A dog is not a dog if it has gils and lives underwater. Maybe it’s a dolphin?

pisces

Feb. 19 - Mar. 20

leo

Jul. 23 - Aug. 22

It’s a well known fact that a refrigerator stunts aging of produce and that winter stunts aging in human cells.

virgo

Aug. 23 - Sept. 22

Sometimes a twenty minute walk in the negative degree weather to your 8 a.m. is exactly what the doctor ordered.

You’d be surprised about how often a human gets their head stuck in a paper towel tube and can’t get it off for a really long time.

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

If you’re going to send your teacher an email regarding your absence, send it to your whole class. They’re missing your face!

The croutons are empty at the salad bar.

Avast! There’s a heaping bucket of granola.

Do you take the leafy green plus oats plunge?

If you wouldn’t “reply all” it, do you really feel They say even a bad pizza is still pretty good. confident in your thoughts and writing?

However, a pizza of pepper pesto and swiss topped with pineapple and steak is horrifying.

sagittarius

Nov. 22 - Dec. 21

Emojis are a great way to illustrate a thought when your words aren’t imagery filled enough.

No one should have the power to have buffalo chicken topped with onion and bleu cheese on a garlic bread roll. It isn’t right.

cancer

capricorn

Jun. 22 - Jul. 22

Searching YouTube videos of new born pups playing with babies is the only way to make me feel anything anymore.

Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

Wondering real hard if having the zodiac “Capri-canned-corn” would lead to a harder or much more convenient life.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

DailyCollegian.com

BASKETBALL

“I think Bembry played really, really well and took the game over in the second half,” Kellogg said. “I thought the turning point was the banked 3-pointer with no time on the shot clock which gave them a little extra juice.”

Bembry hit a high-arcing 3-point shot between two UMass defenders as the shot clock expired to draw the Hawks even at 38-38 with 13 minutes, 46 seconds remaining. It was a leaning, low-percentage shot that he banked in. It was a sign of things to come.

At Bembry’s urging, other

threat to answer. Lalanne and Esho combined to score only 11 points. Davis led all UMass scorers with 14 points, while Donte Clark added 10.

Miles added 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Saint Joseph’s shot 48 percent as a team.

“I thought we took a step backwards today,” Kellogg said. “We didn’t take care of the ball, take good shots or share the basketball.”

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

‘We’ve got to fix a lot of things in the locker room’

Gordon talks of chemistry problems B y Mark C hiarelli Collegian Staff

It’s been an up and down season for the Massachusetts men’s basketball team and its most recent performance – which would unequivocally be placed in the down category – indicates the entire team isn’t on the same page.

Following a 62-56 road loss to Saint Joseph’s Wednesday night, UMass guard Derrick Gordon cited the need for better unity throughout the team.

“We’ve got to come together,” Gordon told reporters following the game. “There’s a little bit of separation right now, to be honest. We’ve just got to come together and finish the year off strong.”

The Minutemen lost what UMass coach Derek Kellogg described as a winnable game. They committed 13 turnovers and allowed Saint Joseph’s to go on a 9-0 run late in the second half to extend the lead.

“We’re just bumping heads,” Gordon said of people within the locker room.

“Different people bumping heads with different people, whether it’s coaches or teammates. We’re not quite on the same page for the most part. It’s showing out on the court. I’m not

the type to say names, but that’s where we’re at right now. We’ve got to pick it up.”

The Minutemen entered the season with high expectations following an NCAA Tournament run from a season ago. But a lack of consistency and strong play against high-level opponents has those types of postseason dreams looking far more like fantasy than reality.

Gordon’s performance is one of numerous examples of up and down play this season. He scored nine points against the Hawks – all of which came in the second half – after missing most of the first half due to foul trouble. Combined with a subpar game from leading scorer Maxie Esho (two points, four turnovers), UMass couldn’t generate offense down the stretch – and it cost them.

The lack of consistency was similar to losing performances against both St. Bonaventure (a 69-55 loss to open conference play) and Davidson (a 71-63 loss at home).

“We’ve got to stay consistent,” Gordon said.

“That’s where consistency comes in as far as making sure everybody’s on the same page.”

According to reports following the game, Kellogg was told of Gordon’s comments and had an opportunity to offer his take.

“I didn’t really see it in that regard, but if he says

7

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

continued from page 8

St. Joseph’s players finally joined the fray.

He grabbed an offensive rebound and immediately hit Isaiah Miles with a no-look pass for an easy layup to go ahead 42-40. UMass would never take another lead.

“I was waiting for him to miss,” Kellogg said. “I thought we played tight defense on him a few times and he made some really tough plays … he’s one of the better players in the league, if not the best, because he does it on both ends of the floor.”

The Minutemen couldn’t find a consistent scoring

Thursday, January 22, 2015

there is, we’ll deal with it,” Kellogg said.

Kellogg said he wants guys to care, and if that means showing emotion following a loss, he’ll accept it.

“I’m concerned because we lost tonight,” he said.

“When that happens, I think emotions can be at an all-time high. Normally we have pretty good kids.”

“I want some emotion,” he later added. “It’d be nice to have some emotion in the locker room and on the floor. They should be fighting for playing time and trying to care.”

At the beginning of the season, Gordon was one of the biggest advocates of the Minutemen’s improved team chemistry from last season’s NCAA Tournament team. He spoke at length about the closeness of the team and how he envisioned strong chemistry playing into a successful season.

Now, following another frustrating loss, it appears that chemistry is at a crossroad.

“We’re having an upand-down time right now,” Gordon said. “Like I said before, we’re bumping heads and we’ve got to fix a lot of things in the locker room as far as teammates and coaches. I think we when fix those, everything will be a lot better.”

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

Poor offensive effort dooms Minutewomen

UMass starts slow and can’t catch up

By Tom Mulherin Collegian Staff

There are times this season when the Massachusetts women’s basketball team seems to have left all of its flaws in the past, when they play sound basketball in every facet of the game.

However, there are other times – a 65-42 loss at Fordham on Wednesday, for example – that suggest there is still room for improvement to take the program to the next level.

The Minutewomen (8-10, 2-4 Atlantic-10) struggled to get into a groove early on in Wednesday’s matinée matchup, and the poor shooting performance continued for the rest of the game. Alternatively, the Rams (14-5, 6-0 A-10) took advantage by starting off the game hot from the field, shooting 8-of-11 in the first ten minutes to build a 20-6 lead.

Falling so far behind that early in the game, on 3-of15 shooting, is what UMass Coach Sharon Dawley believes made it so difficult to stage a comeback, especially playing at Fordham.

“When you have a slow start like that on the road, it’s hard to claw your way back,” Dawley said. “We shot the ball pretty poorly and they shot the ball very well. We got back within 12 at one point, and then we were not able to score.”

Despite the rout, which marks the worst loss for the Minutewomen since a 26-point defeat against Florida State in late November, UMass was not as bad as the score suggests. The defense allowed 20 points in the first 10 minutes, but stiffened up and only allowed 45 points in the last 30 minutes – including only 25 points in the second half. After Fordham shot 64 percent from the field in the first half with six 3-pointers, the Minutewomen held the Rams to 31.8 percent shooting and no made threes for the remainder of the game, prompting Dawley to call the performance “A tale of two halves.”

Despite the improvement defensively in the second half, UMass continued to struggle offensively, and as a team shot just 33.3 percent from the field for the game. Fordham, however, received strong offensive contributions from several players. “(Hannah Missry) from the beginning of the game was just knocking down deep threes, which really spread our defenses out,” she said. “(Emily Tapio) was just the little engine that could, she plays real hard and aggressive.

(Samantha) Clark stretches out the defense and does a good job sealing down low, so it was really just a team effort.”

While shooting struggles plagued the whole UMass

team – with the exception of Kim Pierre-Louis who was her usual self on 6-of9 shooting for 13 points – starting center Kymber Hill seemed to suffer more than anyone else. Converting just 2-of-9 shots from the field, Hill couldn’t seem to find any sort of offensive rhythm, which could have contributed to her limited 17 minutes on the floor.

Totaling just five points and four rebounds, Hill’s stat-line isn’t exactly the most impressive numbers she has put up this season.

Despite those numbers, Dawley believes that Hill, as well as the whole team, still put up a decent performance.

“She just missed shots,” Dawley said of Hill. “She played good defense, ran the floor well. She did a good job boxing out, but didn’t shoot the ball well.

Had we shot the ball well, it would’ve been a close game.”

Outside of Pierre-Louis, no one scored in doubledigits for UMass. Heading into Saturday’s matchup against Richmond, Dawley knows what to do to improve.

“We’re not able to put points on the board, so we need to do something about the first four minutes of the game,” she said. “We spent a lot of time on the scout (offense), so now we need to spend more time on our actual offenses.”

Tom Mulherin can be reached at tmulheri@umass.edu.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Sports@DailyCollegian.com

@MDC_SPORTS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Minutemen stymied by Saint Joseph’s

UMass shoots just 42 percent in loss

UMass coach Derek Kellogg said to reporters after the game about his team’s setback.

UMass (10-9, 3-3 Atlantic 10

By Mark Chiarelli Collegian Staff Conference) shot 42 percent If there’s one silver lin- from the field, committed 13 ing to take away from the turnovers and shot just 3-of12 from beyond the Massachusetts arc. It was a frusmen’s baskettratingly inconsisSt. Joe’s 62 ball team’s tent performance performance 56 for the Minutemen Wednesday night, UMass in which they it’s that it won’t couldn’t score have to travel to timely baskets – especially as Saint Joseph’s again in the the second half closed. near future.

The Minutemen fell to the “I would say shooting Hawks 62-56 at Hagan Arena, troubles was one of the main marking their fourth-straight things,” Kellogg said. “Not loss at Hawk Hill. It was a per- only not putting it in the basformance that UMass likely ket, but taking some tough, bad shots at different juncwon’t wish to have back.

“It’s big because I think tures.” it’s a game we could’ve won,” Saint Joseph’s (8-9, 2-4

A-10) pushed its lead to 55-49 with two minutes, 23 remaining. On the ensuing possession, the Minutemen had a number of opportunities to stop the bleeding and get back into the game. Every time, they could not.

Both Demetrius Dyson and Cady Lalanne grabbed offensive rebounds on the possession and, on both occasions, missed the put-back layup. Even then, UMass’ Derrick Gordon retained possession of the ball and was fouled in a 1-and-1 free throw shooting situation.

But he missed his free throw, Dyson skied in for a rebound and missed his put-back layup and the ball kicked out of bounds. A frustrated Lalanne stomped at the ground.

“It was tough,” said Gordon, who finished with nine points but missed a layup amid the run.

“We had a lot of missed opportunities … it’s just the little stuff like that and not making our 1-footers and shots. The layup that I shot and it rolled around the rim, those are shots we’ve got to hit. It could have been the game-changed.”

The deficit continued to grow and was punctuated by Hawks guard Aaron Brown, who answered a Maxie Esho missed layup with a thunderous right-hand tomahawk dunk to push Saint Joseph’s lead to 59-49 with 66 seconds remaining.

UMass guard Trey Davis hit a pair of late 3-pointers, but it was far too late.

HOCKEY

Between the pipes

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

Maxie Esho and UMass fell to St. Joes Wednesday in Philadephia.

Saint Joseph’s DeAndre Bembry single-handedly kept the Hawks in the game.

He finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and five steals

By Jason Kates Collegian Staff

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

Freshman goaltender and Columbus, Ohio native Henry Dill has earned all seven wins this season for the Minutemen.

By Ross Gienieczko Collegian Staff

Entering the 2014-2015 campaign for the Massachusetts hockey team, most people assumed senior Steve Mastalerz would get the bulk of the minutes in goal. After all, Mastalerz had started 31 games for UMass the year before, and in his career had notched 16 wins entering the season.

Instead, true freshman Henry Dill was thrown right into the fire for coach John Micheletto’s Minutemen, and has grown into the starting role over the course of the season.

“I wasn’t really expecting it in the beginning of the year, but I just played as hard as I could,” Dill said after the team’s practice Tuesday afternoon at Mullins Center.

Talk to anyone within the program, and they’ll tell you he’s done just that, and has been working hard to improve as well.

“There’s always a confidence building that goes on with freshman, especially at that position, over the course of the season,” Micheletto said. “His puck tracking has gotten a lot better, as well as getting back up once he’s down and pushing back out.”

Part of that has come from

his work before practice with goaltending coach Matt Voity.

About an hour before practice, Dill and the other goaltenders on the team will head out to work on drills for positioning, movement and netfront battling.

“I think I’ve gotten a lot better working with Voity,” Dill said.

Senior captain Troy Power has also seen a jump in Dills game throughout the season.

“The biggest thing is consistency,” Power said when asked about Dill’s improvement. “Growth comes from repetition and getting used to the pace of play. After break he’s come back rejuvenated and given us some really good minutes.”

Statistically, Dill hasn’t jumped off the charts this season. His save percentage sits at .876 and his goals against average is 3.82. However, Micheletto is more concerned with a more important stat – wins.

With a record of 7-8, Dill ranks third in the country among freshman goaltenders.

In his seven wins, Dill has looked every bit the part of a veteran star, with a save percentage of .932 and goals against average of 2.19.

“That’s the important stat you look at for goaltenders, is whether they give you an opportunity to win on a given night,” Micheletto said.

“More often than not, Henry’s

been able to do that.”

Power also talked about Dill and what he brings to the table every time he steps in goal.

“He’s been great. He’s been huge for us. He’s given us a chance to win every time he’s played,” Power said.

As is expected, Dill has gone through some freshman struggles. Twice, he’s given up six goals in one game, and in a particularly bad outing against Northeastern gave up three goals while making only one save before being pulled.

However, there have been plenty of good moments to go along with the bad. Five times has Dill recorded over 30 saves, including a career high of 42 in a 3-2 win at Northeastern. He was named the Hockey East rookie of the week on October 27, and has been in net for every UMass win so far this season.

“There have been some nights that I’m sure there are goals that he’d like back, and there are other nights that I’d wished we played better in front of him,” Micheletto said. “Overall, for him to be at where he is now and have played the number of minutes that he has, I think it’s been a pretty successful transition for him.”

NHL Prospect Lagesson commits to UMass Swedish

defenseman

see

BASKETBALL on page 7

UMass set to face No. 15 Merrimack Home-and-home series starts Friday

Henry Dill is the man in net for UM

and scored the Hawks’ first 15 points of the second half until his teammates finally supplemented his offense.

William Lagesson announced his commitment to the Massachusetts hockey team Monday afternoon, according to college hockey recruiting website “Over the Boards.”

The site first reported the news via Twitter late Monday afternoon.

Lagesson, an 18-yearold defenseman from Gothenburg, Sweden, stands at 6-foot-2-inch, 198 pounds.

He was selected by the Edmonton Oilers with the first pick of the fourth round in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, at No. 91 overall. He skated for team Sweden in the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship and recorded one assist, eight penalty minutes and a plus-1 +/- rating in seven games.

This season, he has skated with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL, where he has scored one goal, added 11 assists and is plus-10 in 25 appearances.

The Edmonton Oilers website profiled Lagesson, and in the feature Dubuque associate coach Oliver David compared Lagesson to Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall.

“William is very strong, he’s an alpha dog out there on the ice. He is an imposing defenseman,” David said.

Ross Gienieczko can be reached at rgieniec@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @RossGien

Micheletto knows the rink will be a factor on Friday night, especially after playing in one of the league’s biggest rinks last weekend.

“Our last game will have been on the biggest sheet in the league at UNH, and going to one of the smaller rinks will be a transition for us. We’re talking about it, as well as doing some things at practice to try and make sure we’re best prepared to handle that downsize.”

Despite this adjustment, Vatrano believes his team will be able to handle the transition.

“Skating there on Friday morning for pregame skate, we’re going to have to know the bounces of the boards and what kind of surroundings we have and how close we are to the net, so we’re going to have to pay close attention to that,” he said.

This matchup will feature a glaring contrast defensively, with the Warriors ranked second in the conference in goals against while the Minutemen are ranked last. Led by senior goaltender Rasmus Tirronen, Merrimack is allowing just 1.95 goals per game, compared to UMass’ average of 4.26 goals against per game.

With the amount of talent the Warriors have defensively, Micheletto believes his team will have to do several things if they want to breakthrough and get on the scoreboard.

“We’ve got to get on the inside, that’s not unlike any other team,” he said. “If we’re going to play on the perimeter, you’re not going to score a whole lot of goals on (Rasmus) Tirronen, who has established himself as one of the really good goaltenders in our league.”

“If we can get second or third shot opportunities inside the dots, that’ll be really important against them.”

The Minutemen will head to Merrimack Friday at 7 p.m. for the first matchup between the two teams.

The series will return to Amherst Saturday night, with puck drop also scheduled for 7 p.m.

Last weekend, the Massachusetts hockey team split a home-andhome with New Hampshire to win just their second game in Hockey East conference play all season.

This weekend, the Minutemen will look to move out of last place in Hockey East when they take on No. 15 Merrimack College in another homeand-home split.

UMass (7-16-0, 2-11 Hockey East), which has struggled in conference play, remains just three points behind UNH for 10th place and six points behind Connecticut and Northeastern for the final spot in the Hockey East tournament.

With just five of the remaining 10 games this season at home, coach John Micheletto looks at every game with equal importance. But he knows playing well at Mullins Center is crucial, especially as the regular season nears its conclusion.

“I think we look at it like we don’t care if the games are on our home ice or on the road,” he said.

“Obviously we want to play well in front of our fans and treat them to our best hockey, but anywhere that we can get points is really important for us.”

Frank Vatrano, a redshirt sophomore who leads the team with 12 goals and 21 total points, agreed.

“I think we need to take advantage of those points at home,” he said. “It’s in front of our home crowd so you kind of have the advantage there, but we’re looking to win every game we’re playing down the stretch.

“It’s definitely important for us to get those wins, especially where we are in the standings. We need every point we can get.”

Merrimack, which enters this weekend after sweeping then No. 12 Quinnipiac in a two-game series, is home to one of the smallest rinks in the Jason Kates can be reached at conference, which can pose jkates@umass.edu and followed on a threat to visiting teams.

Twitter @Jason_Kates.