The Connector - February 28, 2017

Commuters face lower GPAs than residents â–ş Page 4

THE UMASS LOWELL

Serving the Student Body Since 1976

February 28, 2017

Brandeis University professor speaks on teaching African-American history in 2017

In This Issue Students work to save sea turtles â–ş Page 3

Jason Ounpraseuth Connector Contributor

Campus working to improve diversity, acceptance

â–ş Page 5

Men’s lacrosse nabs first season victory ► Page 8

Final River Hawk Scores Team

Score

Overall Record

Baseball vs. Lehigh

W 3-2

3-4

Men’s Lacrosse vs. Siena

W 18-13

1-2

Hockey vs. 14 Boston College

W 3-1 22-9-3

Hockey at 14 Boston College

W 4-1

21-9-3

Opinion: Donald Trump and His Unfair Treatment Owen Johnson Connector Staff

Even well before his victory on election day, President Donald Trump has been feuding with the press and the mainstream media. The president’s antagonistic views of the press are a result of his personal view that the news and media are treating him unfairly and are trying to destroy him. While Trump is correct that he is being treated unfairly, it is not by the mainstream media or the press.

Let’s recap some of the things that have happened to give Donald Trump his negative image. Controversy lingered over Trump’s presidential bid from the get-go starting with him being labeled racist and misogynistic, and with his comments about Senator John McCain’s war record. His public image only grew worse with his propositions of a Muslim registry and a Muslim ban, his schoolyard bully-esque act of giving out patronizing nicknames to his competition, and the infamous Access Hollywood tape where he is heard unabashedly boasting that he could get away with sexual assault due to his star power.

Then, to top it all off, Trump won the electoral college, but lost the popular vote by nearly three million votes to Hillary Clinton.

Following his unexpected win, the number of controversies continued to climb. He baselessly claimed that he won the popular vote

Dr. Chad Williams, an associate professor at Brandeis University, came to UMass Lowell to speak about his personal experiences dealing with the shootings of un-armed African-Americans, including the Charleston shooting. A big thematic question he asked was: “What does it mean to teach Black History Month during a moment like this?�

On Feb. 21, the anniversary of Malcolm X’s assassination, students and faculty gathered together in the O’Leary 222 auditorium to learn how African-American history can be taught todayWilliams is the chair of the Department of Af-

Courtesy of Brandeis University

Chad Williams is currently completing a study of W. E. B. Du Bois and World War I.

rican and Afro-American Studies at Brandeis University. For the past twoand-a-half years at the university, he has focused his time on the response to the victims of police brutality.

“We cry for and with our students,� says Williams. He spoke about the importance of education and how educating oneself can help society learn from these moments to create a better future. He

cited many authors and activists, such as W.E.B. Dubois, James Baldwin and Robin D.G. Kelly.

The Charleston shooting was a big moment for Williams. â–ş See “Williams,â€? page 3

River Hawks clinch share of Hockey East title Andrew Sciascia Connector Editor

“We’re very excited. To get a sweep in Hockey East is tough no matter who you play. They’re a good opponent, and we’re just glad we could close it out,� said River Hawks head coach Norm Bazin.

The River Hawks ended Boston College’s dreams of an outright Hockey East regular season title

Friday night when they finished their season by winning the second game of a home-and-home series in an electric 3-1 finish at a soldout Tsongas Center. “Yeah, it obviously feels good.

We wanted to win this game as a team. We battled through a little adversity at the start of the game, and it was nice to get a win,� said senior defenseman and captain

Matt Dwyer/Connector

â–ş See “Donald Trump,â€? page 2

Sections News.............................3 Campus Life..................4 A&E.............................. 6 Sports........................... 8 Forward Jake Kamrass sets a screen for a River Hawk goal at Boston College.

Michael Kapla.

The first period of play was marked by a handful of River Hawk turnovers and a physical, fast-paced effort from Boston College, who controlled play for much of the period. “You’ve got to give credit where credit is due. They came in and threw the kitchen sink at us,� said Bazin.

The River Hawks did, however, weather the storm and manage to come out of the first period unscathed.

UMass Lowell carried the momentum from their strong defensive effort in the first period into the second, where they scored two goals that would go unanswered until the final period.

Bazin remarked on his team’s second period spark, and said, “That was one of the best parts of the game for me as a coach, because we showed some maturity in responding‌ We responded very well.â€? â–ş See “Hockey,â€? page 8

UM ASS L OWELL C ONNECTOR

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February 28, 2017

OPINIONS & EDITORIALS Opinion: Donald Trump and His Unfair Treatment â–ş Continued from front page

due to millions of illegal voters, he picked people for his cabinet that were either inexperienced (Betsy DeVos and Rick Perry), were contradicting Trump’s promise to “drain the swamp� (Rex Tillerson and Steve Mnuchin), or were surrounded by controversies of their own (Jeff Sessions), and the ever prevalent allegations of being tied to Russia. Because of all of this, Trump entered the White House with the lowest approval rating of any president in history.

This is where the unfair treatment of Donald Trump comes in, and its

not from the media, the press, or his expanding opposition; it’s from his supporters and party. While Donald Trump did enter the White House with only about a 45 percent approval rating, considering his attitude and blatant betrayal of campaign promises, that seems very high.

When Trump described his fan base as being the most loyal, he was evidently not speaking in hyperbole. To a lot of them, Trump can say and do no wrong and support him despite the hypocrisy of the act. They are angry at many politicians and news sources for being untrustworthy, while Trump

Courtesy of TIME Magazine

President Donald Trump was the runner-up for 2015 TIME Person of the Year award.

THE UMASS LOWELL

Serving the Student Body Since 1976

and his administration make up terrorist attacks as alternative facts. They hated Obama because he was deemed a traitor who “supported ISIS,� but have no objection to Trump’s suspicious relationship with Russia. They loved the WikiLeaks revelations about Hillary Clinton, but don’t like information leaks from the United States’ intelligence agencies to the media.

The problem isn’t just with his supporters. A number of Republican politicians who were initially appalled by some of Trump’s ideas are now on board with no qualms. When Trump initially spoke of his Muslim travel ban, it was met on all sides of the political spectrum for being unconstitutional. Once Trump signed the executive order to make his Muslim ban a reality, suddenly people like Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan were in compete support of it.

While this flip-flopping of his supporters is a worrisome indicator of Trump’s unfair treatment and political advantage, what’s most worrisome is that Trump is apparently impervious to investigation by certain politicians. After the dismissal of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn for lying about his contact with Russia, Senator Rand Paul spoke out against investigating Trump’s admin-

istration, or the issue further, stating, “I just don’t think it’s useful to be doing investigation after investigation, particularly of your own party.� Then there’s leader of the House Oversight Committee, Jason Chaffetz, who held multiple investigations into Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal, yet refuses to investigate anything about the Trump Administration, whether it be his suspected ties to Russia or Kellyanne Conway’s plug for Ivanka Trump’s merchandise.

Now that a month has passed since Trump was inaugurated, his approval rating has continued to drop with polls showing him to be in the low forties to high thirties, there have been multiple marches and protests against him and his policies, and has come under fire for his dictator-esque treatment of the press from John McCain and Fox News commentator Chris Wallace.

All of these actions are what should be expected when it comes to someone like Trump, but devoted fans and members of his own party are unwilling to stand up to him or paint him in a negative light, regardless of what he does. The ultimate irony of it all is that while Trump is the target of unadulterated hatred from all sides, the people who are treating him unfairly are those defending and praising him.

UMASS LOWELL CONNECTOR

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February 28, 2017

UM ASS L OWELL C ONNECTOR

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NEWS

Research team contributes to turtle conservation Hannah Manning and Connor Kennedy Connector Staff

The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle is the rarest species of sea turtle in the world. They have been categorized as “endangered” since 1970 under the Endangered Species Act. In recent years their population has plummeted due to hunting and pollution, and they have become classified as “critically endangered.”

Kemp’s ridleys will often become stranded in New England, of all places. The turtles are known for having one nesting spot in the world, in the Gulf of Mexico, but young ridleys will get swept up to the freezing waters off Cape Cod, Mass.

When exposed to the cold temperatures for long enough, the turtles will enter a state of hypothermic shock known as “cold stunning,” which can lead to pneumonia and possibly death.

A research squad of UMass Lowell students have teamed up with the New England Aquarium to help change that and reverse the luck of the Kemp’s ridley sea turtles.

The group, led by doctoral candidate Erin Mangan Sullivan, consists of Mangan Sullivan and two undergraduate seniors, Alfred Lutaaya and Sonia Marcello. Their research revolves around analyzing parasites found on Kemp’s ridleys that are stranded on the beaches of Cape Cod, then rehabilitating them with the help of the New England Aquarium, and finally setting them back into the wild.

“We hope to contribute to the overall understanding of sea turtle biology with these projects. Another goal is to

provide information that will be valuable to anyone treating Kemp’s ridley sea turtles that are cold-stunned or stranded,” said Mangan Sullivan.

In researching the parasites found on young Kemp’s ridleys, the researchers hope to be able to pin down a gene that could help ridleys bounce back from cold stunning.

“Using genomic tools and sequencing technologies, we are putting together the first transcriptome from this species,” said Mangan Sullivan.

A transcriptome is a complete set of RNA transcripts which are produced by the genome of an organism. Mangan Sullivan, Marcello and Lutaaya hope that the lab results can inform the rehabilitators at the Aquarium on how to shorten the process and get the ridleys back to the sea as quickly as possible.

“The more information available about their biology and physiology, the more specialized their care may become,” said Mangan Sullivan.

Treating the turtles can often be difficult for the group. The medications that are used to treat them are not made specifically for the Kemp’s ridleys and their particular problem.

“Determining how to best use a medication in cold-blooded turtles requires years of experience, and the Aquarium is continuously studying the effects that medications… have on the sea turtles under their care,” said Mangan Sullivan.

Besides the work in the biology of the issue, keeping the turtles in captivity can be immensely stressful on the turtles and is often one of the hardest aspects of rehabilitation.

“Turtles are not social animals;

most of their time in the wild is spent alone in the vast space of the ocean.

When many turtles are kept in a tank the size of a swimming pool with none of their natural surroundings, their stress levels will of course go up,” said Mangan Sullivan.

Hundreds of turtles get stranded on Cape Cod every year. The sheer magnitude of the issue compounded with the fact that the turtles will keep coming in can often underscore the meaningfulness of interacting with a singular turtle.

“When it’s one animal out of a population of only thousands on the entire planet, handling those turtles feels like a privilege as well as a matter of life and death,” said Mangan Sullivan.

Despite the parasites and the cold stunning, Mangan Sullivan says that the turtles face another huge obstacle in building up their population.

“Unfortunately, we are the greatest threat to these turtles. Humans develop and disturb their nesting beaches, poach eggs from nests, pollute oceans with plastics and catch sea turtles accidentally when fishing or trawling,” said Mangan Sullivan.

Mangan Sullivan has found that despite having more improvements to the rare turtles’ populations, less and less females are nesting. This may be a result of many factors, especially human disturbance.

“I can’t imagine the Atlantic without Kemp’s ridleys, and their extinction would be personally and ecologically devastating,” said Mangan Sullivan.

To find out more about conservation efforts, the website savingseaturtles.com provides an overview of the ongoing conservation process.

Courtesy of Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff

Kemp’s ridley sea turtles in rehabilitation tanks at the New England Aquarium.

Dr. Chad Williams preaches the education of society

activists tweeted out important texts for people to read in order to educate “My sadness turned into rage… my themselves on the important issues rage turned into frustration,” said revolving around tragedies like Ferguson and Charleston.

Williams. “When we’re frustrated, The presentation went on to the what do we do? We go on Twitter.”

Williams felt a responsibility to do Missouri University protests that lead something after this tragedy, citing the to many other universities around the frustration he felt watching the comUnited States to protest the mistreatmentary around the shooter and the ment of African-American students on campus. Williams had a personal experience with these widespread protests when Brandeis University students occupied Ford Hall to demand change.

This protest mimicked a similar protest of the same hall decades back in 1969, where students emerged successful after 11 days of occupying Ford Hall. This lead to the creation of the African-American Studies department, which is the same department Williams teaches in now.

He spoke on his admiration for these students to know and to be aware of their own history and to be active and committed to their cause.

Many faculties worked together with Courtesy of Navitas O’Leary Library hosted the event on teaching African-American history in room 222. these students by still holding classes

►Continued from front page

Confederate Flag. This prompted him to start up #CharlestonSyllabus – an idea he found as innovative as the creation of Negro History Week in 1926.

The Charleston Syllabus served as what Williams says is “a community of people committed to critical thinking.” The presentation showed the wide reach the Charleston Syllabus took. As a result, many educators and

and checking in on how they were doing during their 12-day effort to gain institutional change.

“We cry for and with our students.”

The presentation ended by talking about the 2016 election and the victory of President Donald J. Trump.

Williams spoke on the shock of many around the world. These moments made him think about history. He said that progress was never guaranteed and is a result of struggle.

“What are the choices we are prepared to make to shape this moment in history?” Williams asked. He assures that sending a tweet or reading a book can help, and affirms the message by saying, “our work is just beginning.”

UM ASS L OWELL C ONNECTOR

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February 28, 2017

CAMPUS LIFE

Commuter conundrum: The trouble with raising GPAs Hannah Manning Connector Editor

Tristyn Mitchell, a sophomore commuter student from Lowell, says that she wakes up two hours before her classes start each day. With a can of Red Bull tucked in her backpack, she walks 20 minutes from her house to the Inn and Conference Center, where she waits for the Yellow South shuttle to take her to her classes. .Once on campus, she may stay the whole day if she has a large gap in her schedule. Mitchell says that she does not like to go home in between classes, because it would be too much of a trip for her.

Mitchell goes to her classes, gets . work done during her gaps and stays on campus for hours for LSAT prep.

She goes home, grabs a bite to eat if she has time, goes to work and comes home. She says that she will often stay up until one or two in the morning getting work done. Then she gets up the next day two hours before her classes start and does it all over again. .The Red Bull comes in handy. .Statistics, however, are not in Mitchell’s favor. According to a study done at The College at Brockport in 2014, students who live on-campus are proven to have higher grade point averages (GPAs) than fellow students who commute to school.

The study found that on-campus . residents have the highest GPAs of four kinds of students: those living on campus, those living off-campus within walking distance, those living off-campus within driving distance and those living in fraternities or sororities.

“I feel commuter kids are more . likely to put other things as a priority, like work and whatnot, where dorm kids are on campus, [so] everything is about school,” said Mitchell. “You might not be focused on that paper due in three weeks, rather than that rent bill due in three days.” .However, commuter students’ trou-

bles include more than just lower GPAs,. The retention rate of commuter students is consistently lower than students who live on campus.

Laurence Siegel, associate vice . chancellor, says that he tracks freshmen retention in order to gauge how the university should act to keep students coming back.

Commuter students that started . as freshman in fall 2014 had an 84 percent chance of returning to the University for their sophomore year.

Meanwhile, students who lived on campus and were not members of a Living Learning Community (LLC) had an 86 percent chance of returning for their sophomore year. Students in an LLC had a 90 percent chance of returning for their sophomore year, he said.

Siegel and his staff then tracked . those students into their junior year.

Commuter students had a 70 percent chance of returning to the University as a junior, as opposed to an 83 percent chance of returning for LLC students. .Siegel says that the on-campus culture helps foster student learning by creating an atmosphere that encourages students to do well. “They have all of that peer support that doesn’t exist when you’re isolated. Not to say that you can’t find ways of doing it [as a commuter student], but it’s that much harder,” he said.

In terms of advantages, students . who are living on campus may have more flexibility in their schedules to attend tutoring or form study groups with fellow students.

“Being away from campus, you . might not have as much resources… but I [also] found that students that are surrounded by other students, there’s this kind of ‘peer pressure’ to work,” said Dr. Michael Black.

Dr. Black is an assistant professor of English and an advisor for students in the journalism and professional writing concentration. As a professor, Dr.

Courtesy of UMass Lowell

The North Campus commuter garage is located on Riverside Street.

Black says that he has noticed that group work often poses a challenge to commuter students in particular due to having conflicts in their work schedule. .Mitchell said she agrees.

“I’d rather write a 25-page essay . on my own than a 10-page essay with three other people. Especially if they’re all commuters. It’s the worst, because most of us have work schedules,” said Mitchell. .Late penalties are another issue that commuter students must always keep in the back of their minds. Mitchell says that most professors are understanding, but there are others who will take points off of a student’s grade for every minute they are late or simply count them as absent if they do not arrive within the allotted time. If students miss a certain number of classes, their grade will drop. .Mitchell says that the commuter life, while it has mostly worked out for her, can be frustrating at times due to traffic and dodging some professors’ late penalties. .“It’s not like I decided to go to the mall… and then I went out to some steakhouse and then Starbucks and strolled into class 40 minutes late. I came from home, and there was a car accident on the main road, so I had to take a 20-minute detour, and I came three minutes late. I shouldn’t have to be penalized for that,” said Mitchell. .She says that she tends to schedule her classes around traffic patterns and her own personal preference. “If I do see a class where it’s either 9:30 in the morning or four at night, I’ll take the 9:30 one, because I’d rather get up to go to school than stay late to go to school.” .Students who do not live in Lowell will often deal with an even longer commute. “I have a friend where it’s lucky if [the commute] takes her 40 minutes,” said Caroline Bain, a sophomore commuter student from Chelmsford.

. ain says that she herself is lucky B to only have to deal with a 15-minute commute from her home. She says that most of her issues with commuting have been resolved through scheduling her classes around her work schedule and not the other way around.

Both Bain and Mitchell say they . make the most of what they have while they are on campus for their classes. Mitchell uses any gaps between classes in her schedule to do work, and while Bain prefers to do the bulk of her work at home, she will use her own gaps to study. .Bain says that she is surprised by the statistics that point to commuter students having lower GPAs. “My grades are better in college than before,” she said.

Mitchell, however, said she could . see why the studies came out the way they did. “[Residential students] live on campus, so they can go to the library or tutoring center any time they want, or be around for office hours any time they want,” she said.

In the study done by the College at Brockport, the researchers suggested that universities should offer off-campus tutoring services that are easier for commuter students to attend. In order for that to happen at UMass Lowell, though, there would have to be a strong demand by the students affected. .Siegel says that he has been working with students for over 30 years, and the particular situation with commuter students and their GPAs has not changed. “The challenge has always been finding the commuters and getting them engaged,” he said.

Mitchell, however, is proactive . about performing up to her high standards. If she finds herself slipping, she said she will focus harder on her studies and bring herself back up. .“It’s all about self-control,” Mitchell said.

Courtesy of Fennick McCredie Architecture

The South Campus upper classmen garage is located on Broadway Street.

February 28, 2017

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CAMPUS LIFE

The race for diversity and acceptance on campus Michaela Goss Connector Editor

Both students and faculty said that UMass Lowell needs to take more steps to promote racial diversity and acceptance throughout the campus for both American-born and international students. .The UMass Lowell community includes members from many diverse backgrounds, and some said this University has helped them feel accepted.

Yet other students and faculty said that the curriculum needs to become more inclusive and the overall behavior needs to be more accepting in order to improve the experience for them here. .“I think there’s a big lack of diversity here,” said junior Jasmine Polanco.

“It was very difficult for me to adjust to the whole campus because…I had to wait until Wednesdays to go to the [Latin American Student Association] in order to see my culture.”

Polanco and senior and graduate . student Carlos Gabriel said that they felt there was little representation here for Hispanic students, including within the faculty. .“In this school, I haven’t had a Hispanic professor,” said Gabriel. “It’s a different feeling when you can relate to your professor, and you can see yourself being that leader.”

Faculty members also said they . feel diversifying faculty is important,

including English professors Keith Mitchell and Sue Kim. “As a minority faculty member, . being the face and being out there is showing people that the University does have diversity and is working towards having more diverse faculty and students,” said Mitchell. “It’s important for minority students to see other faculty members or people in administration who look like them.” .Polanco and Gabriel said they came from a diverse community college, so transferring to a university lacking in diversity would complicate their studies or make them feel out of place.

They also said that Latino diversity was not something the University promoted well. .Mitchell has been here for almost 14 years, and Kim has been here for six. When applying to work here, Kim said having diversity was fundamental. Mitchell said he previously worked at a university with almost no diversity, and it was important to come here and see diverse students. .“Even at that time…the University was making great inroads into hiring more diverse faculty members and also having a diverse student population,” he said.

Mitchell said he knew then that .

Lowell was “a hub of immigration” from its beginning, as did Kim, and this was a draw for them. This even holds true today, as the University has

many students under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). “[DACA] makes undocument. ed students or residents somewhat documented for at least two years,” said Gabriel. “In the rhetoric of our now-president in regards to repealing DACA and deporting the 11 million undocumented folks who are here, I felt it was time for me to stand up.” .Gabriel and Polanco said this is important to them. Along with Kim, they both took part in creating the UMass Lowell Sanctuary Campus Petition, which would benefit DACA students and make UMass Lowell a sanctuary campus, which is similar to the idea of a sanctuary city. .“What it means specifically…is that administration, including campus police, will not turn over immigration status or information to the federal immigration and customs enforcement without a court order,” said Kim. Kim said it parallels the idea of . sanctuary cities, meaning that local law enforcement cannot enforce federal immigration policy.

“Just at a basic human level, ev. eryone in our community should feel welcome and valued and actually be able to be here,” said Kim. Polanco said making the Univer. sity a sanctuary campus would keep DACA students safe on campus and protect them so they can continue their education. She said education is

important to her, and she and Gabriel said they feel the University could help promote diversity more through the curriculum. .“I think one of our pillars here is to make more well-rounded students and more worldly students,” said Gabriel. “And I think that the curriculum has to reflect those morals to make well-rounded individuals.”

Some faculty members are using . their own classes to help improve the curriculum. Mitchell teaches a variety of literature classes and said he tries to make them as diverse as he can. Yet Kim, who is also the co-director of the Asian American Studies Center, said there is room for improvement, especially in regards to Asian-American studies. .“We don’t have much in the way of ethnic studies here, but I think that the administration is behind some of these initiatives,” said Kim. “But we have some work to do.” .Because Lowell is a diverse city itself, UMass Lowell would do well to follow in the city’s footsteps in order to help all students and faculty to feel accepted. .“When I saw brown faces, and people with blue hair, and this vibrant community of students who were all here for the same reason, but looked so different from each other…I’m like: this is where I want to be,” said Mitchell.

New Perkins apartments and changes to housing Alex Salucco Connector Editor

As a university grows, all of its parts grow with it. With state-of-the-art buildings being built around campus and the improvement of campus culture, UMass Lowell is becoming a more desirable place to obtain a degree. To support a growing student body, some housing issues needed to be addressed.

UMass Lowell has added a new housing option for next year: the Perkins Complex.

Located across the street from University Suites on Perkins Street, there will be apartment-style rooms that vary by floor. Although the price is steep, the Perkins Complex is very desirable to students.

“Prices do not bother me because I saved a lot of money by going to a community college,” said sophomore Patrick O’Connell. “The atmosphere and the perks of having a kitchen and my own washer and dryer outweigh the high costs.”

But not all students said they are sold on the idea of how things are set up. Sophomore Brianne Dillon said she

likes the idea, but not the execution.

“The idea of Perkins is nice, but the room set ups ruin the idea for me,” she said. “I don’t like how they had a quad and one of the beds was basically in the kitchen. One of the apartments had a triple and a double which just wouldn’t be fair to some of the students.”

Jackie Nee, a sophomore resident advisor in Bourgeois Hall, said she believes the addition of the Perkins Complex is something the University values heavily and will get more people living on campus.

“The big thing they want is to have more residents on campus,” she said. “I think if it goes according to the plan with Perkins, [and they are] bringing in enough people, they’ll be at a percentage where we have more residents than commuters.”

The Perkins Complex adds variety to on-campus housing because “it allows people to have their pick,” said Nee. Not only will new dorms be available to students next year, but some dorms will not operate in the same way they

once did.

“They’re going to put all of honors in [University Suites],” Nee said. “They’re mixing them up a lot more.

So you could live in Fox as an upperclassman, you could live in Leitch as an upperclassman [and] you could live in [University Suites] as a freshman.”

Nee said that the University is trying to become more like other colleges. Making these changes, particularly making University Suites exclusive to honors students, is something other universities practice.

Nee also said she views it as beneficial to the underclassmen who will be living with upperclassmen of the same major.

“I think it could definitely help,” she said. “I remember last year my RA was older than me and he was in the same program as me, and it was nice to be able to talk to him because sometimes you don’t know anybody when you come in.”

Dillon said she has a different opinion when it comes to the change.

“It’s a good idea,” she said.

The recently acquired Perkins Park located on Perkins Street.

“But at the same time, it’s so much nicer than Donahue that it’s basically leaving the non-honors students with worse suite options. I think if I weren’t in honors I would be really upset with it.”

UMass Lowell is making a strong effort to improve the lives of its students here on campus. The addition of the new Perkins Complex undoubtedly does just that, said Nee. “There are more options now. You have a chance.

You’re not limited.”

UM ASS L OWELL C ONNECTOR

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Febuary 28, 2017

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Underrated classics: ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’ Owen Johnson Connector Staff

“How to Train Your Dragon 2” is one of those rare films that manages to transcend its predecessor in almost every area.

Taking place five years after “How to Train Your Dragon,” Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is now a young adult and intends to take over the role of chief from his father (Gerard Butler). As this is happening, Hiccup and his allies go to confront Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou), who is trying to build a dragon army.

As it has been five years since the first movie, “How to Train Your Dragon 2” must bridge the gap between the past and the present, and it does so with ease. All of the characters are a little older, wiser, more mature, and are believable older versions of the characters that were introduced in the original film. Relationships between the characters have more or less changed in a believable way that gives off a clear idea of what probably transpired with all of these characters over the past half decade.

The passage of time allows for new characters and adventures to be made available, which the movie does not miss. There is not even a mild reflection of a story or character arc that is being repeated from the first movie. It is all new ideas in a different story.

“How to Train Your Dragon 2” is darker and more mature than the first film, which helps establish a fresh identity for it not only from the first movie, but also from the play-it-safe animated films

that have been so prevalent in recent years. The best example of this is Drago Bludvist, the main antagonist. He is a well-crafted bad guy with believable characteristics and motivations whose actions have serious repercussions for the heroes.

Courtesy of Dreamworks Pictures

“How to Train Your Dragon” is the 10th highest grossing animated franchise in history.

The movie also delves into the realm of social commentary, using the events of the movie as an

allegory for animal abuse. While these themes are a little bit obvious for the younger audience members in some cases, it never feels like the movie is insulting the audience’s intelligence or hitting them over the head with an overly simplified social commentary. In fact, there are some subtle details worked in in regards to the animal abuse commentary. For example, Drago’s way of “training” the dragons is an aggressive and cruel mirror to Hiccup’s respectful style.

It would be remiss to leave out praise for the superb animation that appeared in the movie. There has been a lot of improvement in terms of the animation’s aesthetics since the first movie, and it even looks on par or better than a lot of other movies from studios that have had high animation quality for years. The character models have a lot of detail to them, and do not look fake or weird as humans sometimes do in animated movies. A lot of detail was added to the dragons as well, which makes them look as lifelike as any other animal in animated form. Even some of the establishing shots of scenery look almost real.

“How to Train Your Dragon 2” is a movie that stands out in a time where animated movies are over simplified and pandering. It takes risks that pay off, has a unique feel to it, and it reaches an apex that other movies, both animated and real, should strive for.

Final Grade: A+

Classic game spotlight: ‘Resident Evil (2002)’ Brendan Jacques Connector Editor

Originally released back in 1996 for the original PlayStation, “Resident Evil 1” was one of the first serious attempts to bring the horror genre into the realm of video games, and its influence can still be felt to this day.

Unfortunately, while the title’s impact on the gaming landscape can never be denied, the game itself has not aged gracefully in the slightest. Thankfully, Capcom recognized this problem and, back in 2002, released a full remake of the original title for the Nintendo GameCube known as “Resident Evil.” And unlike its predecessor, the remake stands as one of the best survival-horror games ever released.

“Resident Evil” follows the exploits of the S.T.A.R.S Alpha team, a special police task force sent into the Arklay mountains to investigate a series of

bizarre murders as well as the disappearance of the S.T.A.R.S Bravo team several days earlier. After being attacked by a pack of man-eating dogs, the squad is split up and forced to take shelter in a seemingly abandoned mansion they discover nearby, only to realize that their new shelter is swarming with zombies and monsters. From here, the player is tasked with fighting their way through the mansion to rescue the scattered S.T.A.R.S agents as well as piece together exactly what is going on in their new surroundings.

All told, the story of “Resident Evil” does not hold up that well. While the main cast is generally likable and the story of what went down in the mansion is intriguing, the dialogue never goes beyond B-movie one-liners and the plot does not do a huge amount to set it apart from other zombie stories that came before or after it.

Courtesy of Capcom

Although “Resident Evil” was praised by critics upon its release, the GameCube version was considered a commercial failure due to low sales.

What truly sets this game apart from its contemporaries and even from the “Resident Evil” games to come after it is its emphasis on survival through careful planning rather than gunplay.

While there are a fair number of zombies throughout the mansion and the player is not lacking in ways to fight them, combat is rarely the best option due to the limited available ammo, high durability of enemies and the high damage even the weakest of zombies can deal. On top of this, unless an enemy’s body is properly disposed of with either a headshot or a very limited supply of gasoline, killed foes will come back even more powerful hours later. Couple that with a save system that requires the use of rare ink ribbons and puzzles that require backtracking into old areas and the player is left with a situation that gives them just enough resources to get by, but never enough to feel comfortable even in areas they have already been.

While all of this can be said of the original version as well, the remake takes these gameplay ideas and pairs them with graphics and sound design that hold up shockingly well even 15 years later. Rather than render traditional 3-D environments, the developers at Capcom instead opted to paint each area of the mansion by hand and use a combination of fixed camera perspectives and superimposed 3-D character models to give the illusion of moving through a physical space.

The result is a game that looks just as good now as it did when it was first released, with environments that have an attention to detail that at times ri-

vals some of the best graphics technology seen today.

Unfortunately, if there is one part of this title that has not aged that gracefully, it’s the control scheme.

Because of the environment’s nature as flat background pictures with 3-D models moving across them, a constantly shifting fixed camera is needed to sell this illusion. While the game’s original control scheme is designed to solve this problem, the design the team came up with feels restrictive and does not hold up to modern standards. This problem is alleviated somewhat by an alternate control scheme that frees up player movement considerably but at the cost of making the shifting camera feel unwieldy in a way the original model was designed to prevent. This is not a huge problem as the game is entirely playable with either setup, but the lack of a perfect control scheme may be a turnoff to some.

Despite this issue, the 2002 remake of “Resident Evil” remains one of the best survival horror games ever released. With its masterful presentation, surprisingly unique monster designs and interesting gameplay that even future titles in its own series failed to mimic, it is a title that has proven itself to be absolutely timeless.

“Resident Evil” is available on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC for $20. For those interested in the original version, it is available on the PlayStation 3 digital store for $10.

Final Grade: A

SPORTS

February 28, 2017

UM ASS L OWELL C ONNECTOR

Page 8

SPORTS Men’s lacrosse gets first win of the season with 18-13 victory over Siena Marlon Pitter Connector Editor

The UMass Lowell men’s lacrosse team defeated Siena College 18-13 to earn their first victory of the season on Saturday Feb. 25 at Cushing Field.

The River Hawks, with a 1-2 overall record and 0-0 America East record, set a new Division I program record with 18 goals scored in a single game, breaking their previous high of 12 against Wagner College in 2016.

“I liked our enthusiasm coming out, but I don’t think we capitalized on some opportunities in the first half,” said UMass Lowell head coach Ed Stephenson. “I was disappointed in the first half, but I really respect the fact that the guys gathered themselves in for the second half.

“Sometimes it takes a couple of guys to get the momentum going, and I thought our faceoff crew really got the momentum going in the second half. I think we got, probably, about four goals in the second half off our faceoff crew.”

UMass Lowell scored six unanswered goals to begin the fourth quarter and take a 16-9 lead with

8:44 left in the quarter. The Saints (0-4, 0-0 MAAC) battled back with three goals over the next six minutes, but the River Hawks answered with two goals in the last two minutes of play to seal the victory.

Siena Saints attacker Chris Robertson scored a game-high seven points (5 goals, 2 assists) in the contest, while Keenan Koswin (3g, 2a) and Sean Tyrrell (2g, 3a) led the way for UMass Lowell with five points each.

In a balanced offensive showing, five River Hawks scored multiple goals against Siena – Sam Klingsporn, Austin Lane, Jon Phillips, Tyrrell and Koswin.

Sophomore goalkeeper Grant Lardieri made a career-high 19 saves on the afternoon for the River Hawks. His counterpart, Aaron Lewis, stopped 12 shots for the Saints.

After a little under five minutes of action, UMass Lowell’s Brandon Luitweiler scored the first goal of the game with 10:25 to play in the first quarter, but Mike Reilly answered with a goal for Siena five minutes later to tie the game at 1-1.

Siena took control of the second quarter, outscoring the River Hawks 5-3 in the period behind two goals by Robertson to take a 6-4 lead into halftime.

UMass Lowell reclaimed the lead about halfway through the third quarter on Tyrrell’s second goal of the game with 8:20 remaining to go up 7-6.

The Saints scored twice after Tyrrell’s goal to take an 8-7 lead, but the River Hawks closed out the period with three more goals before Robertson scored for Siena to bring the score to 10-9 heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter saw 12 goals scored, eight of those coming from the River Hawks and six of those eight coming unanswered

by Siena.

UMass Lowell won 23 of 33 faceoffs and collected 46 ground balls but gave up 17 turnovers.

Siena, meanwhile, went 4-of-6 on extra man opportunities.

The River Hawks continue their 2017 campaign at home Tuesday Feb. 28 when they host the Fairfield Stags. Game time is set for 3 p.m.

Men’s basketball turns a corner Alex Salucco Connector Editor

For most teams, injuries are something that sets a program back – but for a team that is not eligible for postseason play until next season, injuries can give a little extra time.

Finishing with an overall record of 11-20 and conference record of 5-11, the team ended up in sixth place in the America East Conference. Despite winning the least amount of conference games since the program transitioned into Division I three years ago, the future is bright for the men in the spindle city.

It is never a good thing to see an athlete go down due to injury, but the UMass Lowell men’s basketball team’s future could benefit from a couple of key injuries: those of redshirt sophomore guard/ forward Josh Gantz and sophomore guard Isaac White.

These injuries gave the River Hawks’ young players valuable minutes for development and, more importantly, another year of White in the Division I era. White was redshirted by the team after suffering an injury 10 games into the season.

Ryan Jones’ development was perhaps the biggest beneficiary of the early season injuries. Before White went down, Jones was averaging 8.7 points per game while shooting 42 percent from the field and 32 percent from beyond the arc.

After the injury, Jones averaged 15.4 points per game, shot 48 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the three-point line. He ended the season by hitting 31 of his last 61 attempts from long distance.

Jones plans on improving his game even more this offseason. “All around I can [be] better in pretty much every aspect,” he said. “I think the biggest thing is locking down defensively,” said Jones.

Although the youth of the team benefited greatly this year, the team was young and struggled on the road, and because of that they finished with a 2-14 record. With the only senior on the team being forward Tyler Livingston, the brunt of the leadership role fell on his shoulders.

“At times I think leadership comes where it is needed,” said Livingston, “I kind of just try to feel out when I need to say something or step in, but for the most part Jahad [Thomas] and I together have done a good job.”

In the locker room and on the court, Livingston and Thomas led the River Hawks to the best offensive season in the program’s four seasons at the Division I level. The team set Division I program records in points per game, field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and assists per game.

An America East Conference Player of the Year candidate, Thomas, set career-highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals and field goal percentage.

Livingston also posted career-highs in several categories including 3-point percentage as he shot 46 percent from that range.

As the Division I transition ends, the young River Hawks squad need to improve on a few things – defense is a prime example.

UMass Lowell posted the worst points allowed per game in the conference letting their opponents average 81.2 points per game. A lot of that has to do with the absence of two key defensive players, White and Gantz.

The injuries were something that the River Hawks could not control, and coach Pat Duquette is notorious for preaching to control the things they can control. Being a perfect fit for a job, the River Hawk faithfuls have a lot to look forward to in the seasons to come.

U P C OM I N G

River Hawk Games Tuesday, Feb. 28

3 p.m.

MLAX vs. Fairfield

March 2-5

7 p.m.

XCTF at BU

Friday, March 3

1 p.m.S

Saturday, March 4

1 p.m.

Saturday, March 4

1 p.m.

WLAX vs. Iona

Sunday, March 5

1 p.m.

BB at NC State

BB vs. Dayton

MLAX at Monmouth

For more sports information and full game schedules visit goriverhawks.com

Hockey closes out regular season with 3-1 win over BC

► Continued from front page

The first goal came at just 19 seconds into play and was scored by junior winger John Edwardh, his 15th of the season. The helper came by way of senior defenseman Dylan Zink.

The next goal came less than ten minutes later to pad the lead.

Freshman Ryan Lohin scored his ninth of the season on a play started with a spin-o-rama pass from junior forward Jake Kamrass to freshman forward Kenny Hausinger.

Kamrass would go on to score the game winner, his 13th goal of the season, on a wrap around, assisted by sophomore forwards Connor Wilson and Nick Master.

“We got our bench some energy, and we took it from there. We just kept going with it,” said Kamrass.

Boston College finally broke through freshman goaltender Tyler Wall in the third with a shot from Eagles’ sophomore winger Colin White, his 15th of the season. White’s goal was assisted by freshman winger David Cotton and senior defenseman Scott Savage, who is third on the team in helpers with 17 this year.

Despite being unable to pick up a shutout, Tyler Wall played one of the strongest games of his season, denying a grand total of 22 shots. Wall was not, however, alone with two of the Eagles’ shots finding the post, and countless attempts being blocked by River Hawk defensemen and forwards alike.

The River Hawks are tied with Boston University and Boston College for the top spot in the Hockey East conference.

“Time off is good and not good… I’m not a fan of bye weeks… It’s playoff time. We want to be the best team at the end of the year,” said Bazin.

Christina Laderoute/Connector

The River Hawks posted a 22-9-3 overall record.