DailyCollegian.comWednesday, February 25, 2015

DAILY COLLEGIANTHE MASSACHUSETTS

News@DailyCollegian.com

Serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press

Individuality embraced at New York Fashion Week

Page 5

BOUNCING BACK

Page 8

ROBERT RIGO/COLLEGIAN

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

Celebrating intelleCt and tradition SGA’s election season kicks off

By Anthony RentschCollegian Staff

With elections a few weeks away, the Student Government Association president/vice presi-dent and University of Massachusetts student trustee campaigns have kicked off. Although not all of the candidates have sub-mitted their candidate’s agreement form, the presi-dent/vice president tick-ets are as follows: Rocco G i o r d a n o / D h a n a n j a y Mirlay Srinivas, Sïonan Barrett/Chantal Lima Barbosa and Charlotte Kelly/Sammi Gay. In terms of undergradu-ates, Kabir Thatte, Gabriel Schmitt, Emily O’Neil and Nicholas Vigneau have all submitted nomination forms for the trustee posi-tion.

As a part of recent SGA election reforms, the trustee campaigns have been separated from the president/vice president ones. The campaign for the trustee position, which represents both under-graduate and graduate students, has undergone some changes accord-ing to Chairperson of the Diversity and Student Engagement Committee Emily O’Neil. “This is the first year that (graduate students) feel like they want to run,” she said. Last spring, there were no graduate students who ran for the position. However, graduate stu-dents do not have to submit their nomination forms for trustee until this Friday, whereas all undergradu-ate president/vice presi-dent and student trustee candidates met on Monday night to sign their candi-

Elections will be held March 10-12

UMass a top producer of Fulbright scholars

By MARie MAccuneCollegian Staff

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

ducting research or teaching English abroad. According the program’s website, “The program cur-rently awards approximately 1,900 grants annually in all fields of study, and operates in more than 140 countries worldwide.” Susan Whitbourne, the University’s official Fulbright program advisor, works with UMass students interested in the scholarship throughout the application process. “I would stack up students from UMass with anyone anywhere and see them as an incredibly strong candidate,” she said. “UMass has a great track record with Fulbright, we kind

of know what we’re doing. If you give us enough lead time, you’ll be surprised how com-petitive an application you can build,” she continued. “Fulbright knows us.” Whitbourne has served on the national screening board five times and attributes knowing the system as key in advising potential scholars. In terms of competitive applications, Whitbourne said that the University had the best ratio of appli-cants to awardees out of any research institution – 46:13. The 14th awardee, graduate student Jacob Carter, won the Fulbright-Clinton Public

14 students take their skills abroad

HTM Career Day Fair open to all Isenberg students

By stuARt FosteRCollegian Staff

The University of Massachusetts’ annual Hospitality and Tourism Management Career Day Fair is currently scheduled to have a record-breaking 77 companies present, each looking for potential interns or employees. The event is held in the Campus Center Auditorium from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 4. A reception for seniors in the Marriott Center from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. is set to follow. “This year is the largest

HTM career day at UMass,” said Brianna Cole, a junior hospitality and tourism and marketing major, who is also the Marketing Chair on the HTM Career Day Committee. The fair will feature recruiters from manage-ment companies, restau-rants, hotels, country clubs and other fields. “Basically we have com-panies from across the whole industry,” Cole said. Hotels recognized throughout the world, such as Marriott, Hyatt and Mohegan Sun, will also be represented at the fair. Over previous years, over 500 students have annu-ally attended career day.

However, in those years, it had only been open to hos-pitality and tourism majors. But this year, it expanded. “We opened it up to the whole Isenberg School (of Management),” Cole said. Students who go to the fair will be able to meet recruiters and seek oppor-tunities to further their careers. Of the students attend-ing the fair, “Over half will leave with an interview or job opportunity,” Cole said. While experience is important in these fields, the amount of experience necessary varies from each recruiter.

First time entire college is included

UM expands its research horizons, joins WUN

By Anthony RentschCollegian Staff

The University of Massachusetts has taken a large step toward advancing its international research capabilities, announcing in January that it would become one of a hand-ful of schools in North America to join the Worldwide Universities Network. The WUN is a network of 18 educational institutions spanning 10 countries on five continents dedicated to improving interna-tional research on globally signifi-cant themes. These include climate change, public health (especially relating to non-communicable dis-eases), global higher education and research and understand cultures, according to its website. According to Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Katherine Newman, the

WUN is “the academic parallel to the United Nations or the World Bank.” Newman, who has experience with international research net-works, is described as an “enor-mous enthusiast” of the types of opportunities that the WUN pro-vides for faculty to collaborate on worldwide issues with the other member institutions. One of the most valuable resourc-es the WUN can provide to UMass is a connection to “a whole other world of research,” UMass spokes-person Daniel Fitzgibbons said. “The network connects our facul-ty with others doing similar work,” Fitzgibbons said. “It brings greater resources to bear on these issues.” This can be especially important in research areas such as Ebola and malaria transmission, which Fitzgibbons said the School of Public Health and Health Sciences is currently conducting. He said this collaboration could provide UMass faculty with infor-mation that is “maybe outside the

scope of (UMass faculty) knowl-edge” or could alert them to “work that has not yet been connected in some way,” allowing faculty to discover new cross-disciplinary approaches. Funding for research project pro-posals is also available through the WUN Research Development Fund. Since its inception 15 years ago, the fund has invested over $1,350,000 into international, interdisciplinary research collaboration, according to its website. Students will also have a chance to take advantage of the network through the Research Mobility Programme. The program allows young scholars to collaborate with their international peers on research projects and enhance their graduate dissertations. “(The program) provides an opportunity for younger faculty, post-graduate students and post-doctorate students to gain inter-national experience and to access resources and expertise that they may not get here,” Fitzgibbons said.

Newman added the resources offered through RMP play into UMass’ focus on the importance of the globalization of higher educa-tion. She emphasized that study abroad and other international experiences are important and that “this network is a good chance to do that.” “It’s important for students to get experience from outside of the

country,” said Max Price, the chair-person of WUN and president of the University of Cape Town. While the WUN offers a sea of resources for the University, it is not a one-way relationship. According to Price, the network was looking for another school from the United States that was high up

Both parties will benefit from joint collaboration

see JOB FAIR on page 3see FULBRIGHT on page 2

see WUN on page 2

see ELECTIONS on page 3

JAMES DESJARDIN/COLLEGIAN

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN2 Wednesday, February 25, 2015 DailyCollegian.com

T H E R U N D O W N

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

France European diplomats gathered in Paris on Tuesday in an attempt to rescue the battered peace plan for Ukraine but failed to agree on any censure of the warring factions that have continued to fight in spite of the truce pro-claimed nearly two weeks ago. The foreign ministers of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia met at the French Foreign Ministry for three hours before adjourning and conveying conflicting assessments of their progress to journal-ists.

Los Angeles Times

South Africa JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Just over a month before an election that mili-tants from Boko Haram have vowed to disrupt, sui-cide bombers killed dozens of people in two attacks on buses in northern Nigeria. A morning blast in the northeastern town of Potiskum and afternoon attack in Kano marked three suicide attacks on civilian targets in as many days. Dozens of other people were injured, many seriously.

Los Angeles Times

Distributed by MCT Information Services

A RO U N D T H E W O R L D

Students given a chance to give back

By ElEanor HartECollegian Correspondent

At 27 locations across the country, over 2,500 people spend their days in chal-lenging situations, aiding students in high-need class-rooms through City Year. A number of seniors at the University of Massachusetts will be spending the next year serving with City Year in public schools across the country, joining the many UMass alumni that have already served with the pro-gram. City Year is an education-based non-profit founded by two Harvard University undergraduates in 1988. Corps members are placed into classrooms in high-need public schools, where they assist a teacher in a classroom and host before and after school programs

for the students. They also run small groups during the school day, working with the students to provide targeted, individual attention. One recent graduate, Gabriel Tejada, applied to City Year in November 2013 because he said he liked the culture of idealism. “It has a great mission statement and seemed like it would be real world experi-ence,” he said. Tejada, a soci-ology and Spanish major, graduated in May and began his position in Brooklyn, New York in August. Members are between the ages of 17 to 24 and perform a number of duties related to service, leadership develop-ment and civic engagement over a period of 10 months. The corps helps students with their education and personal development. They are paid a bi-weekly stipend, which varies depending on the service city. Nicki Ambrose, a man-agement and resource

economics senior from Rockport, will be starting with City Year this summer in Seattle. “I had a corporate intern-ship in the summer, and I realized that I’m not ready for nine-to-five office life,” Ambrose said. “Also, for four years it’s been drilled into us how lucky we are to have a great education and this seemed like a good segue to give back.” Kalpita Patel, a senior biology major from Burlington, applied to City Year and Teach for America, a similar program with one major difference – TFA members are the sole teach-er in the classroom. “I decided to be the help-er rather than the main teacher because I don’t feel qualified to teach a class-room yet,” she said. City Year corps members are dedicated to working long hours. Tejada arrives at work before 7:15 a.m. and doesn’t get home until 10:30

p.m. some days. “I knew it would be long days and I have those but I’m fully enjoying it,” he said. “I’m getting out every-thing I’m putting in.” Patel is aware of the long days and feels prepared to handle them. “I’ve been doing things like this for a long time,” she said. “It keeps you own your toes, and there’s not a lot of downtime, which I like.” Patel has spent a lot of time educating her peers at UMass and making an impact on her community, as well as working with kids in need. “I felt like City Year was the answer to all of that,” she said. Tejada works with sixth graders, providing in-class support to teachers and stu-dents and also offers tutor-ing help. In addition, he sits with students and is avail-able for one-on-one instruc-tion. He works with the 10 other corps members at

his school and with the 300 spread out over New York City. Tejada believes New Englanders are especially suited for the life that comes with City Year. “(New Englanders) have a reputation of being gritty and low maintenance, which is what City Year needs. Their philosophy is that you have to be flexible, can eas-ily adapt, and don’t care as much about your personal needs. It’s not about you.” Patel and Ambrose don’t have concrete plans when their time with City Year is up. They’re thinking about graduate school and career plans, but for the next year, they know they will be in a classroom, helping some of the students that need them the most.

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

Seniors will assist in high-need classes

Policy Fellowship, which is not included in the Fulbright scholarship ratio. Whitbourne encourages any students to pursue a Fulbright. She added that, students are surprised that they “get so much out of the process of just applying like resume building, recommen-dations, interviewing skills and more.” As to what this honor means for the University, Whitbourne said that UMass is “trying to international-ize our undergraduate pro-gram and producing so many scholars is consistent with that.” Alyssa Maraj Grahame is one of the eight UMass graduate students selected for a Fulbright scholarship. She is a political science PhD candidate currently conduct-ing research in Iceland. In a Skype interview, Grahame said that she is in her fourth year of the pro-gram and is focusing on doing research for her disser-tation on the consequences of the 2008 financial crisis. “What got me interested was that people here not only criticized the banks for run-ning the country into the ground, they were sort of having a broader discussion, you know, saying ‘This was a real lapse in democracy,’” she said. “So I was interested in the connection between the financial, economic crisis and people’s attitudes toward the political system in which they live.” She described her project, saying, “I’m affiliated with the University of Iceland. I’m doing a lot of interviews with government officials, politi-cal parties, activists, with

individuals and organiza-tions in sectors of the econo-my involved in the economy. As well as writers and cul-tural critics. Just a variety of stakeholders in addressing the recovery.” Research has always been a focus for Grahame. “I knew that I wanted to do field research for my dis-sertation and that Fulbright is a really good way to fund that,” she said. “And not to mention, it’s a really big honor to be selected for one.” However, she didn’t think she would manage to receive one. Grahame cites strong support from the political sci-ence department and Office of National Scholarship advising as helping her achieve success. According to Grahame, the application process involves intensive planning close to a year in advance. She added that, “One of the trickier parts of the appli-cation is the personal state-ment.” Opposed to the project proposal that outlines what the project is, she explained, “It’s where you have to say

this is my project to do.” Grahame acknowledged some of the challenges of doing research overseas, say-ing, “On a professional, aca-demic level, it’s the first time I’m out on my own. I’m away from my advisors, my fellow graduate students. I try to handle that by checking back in, staying connected, taking advantage of the academic connections here and forg-ing new alliances with fellow field workers.” On a logistical level, she said, “I’m a graduate student with a family, so getting my partner and my son here was tricky and it took a while for it all to work out and get everyone’s visa in order. But, it was worthwhile and everyone’s here and happy now and having a really good time.” Grahame plans to apply for a National Science Foundation grant to con-tinue her work upon return to UMass in the fall, adding that, “Research is always ongoing.”

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

FULBRIGHT continued from page 1

in worldwide research rank-ings, had research interests that were in line with those of the other member insti-tutions and had strong and motivated leadership, fol-lowing Pennsylvania State University’s recent decision to leave. UMass was the per-fect fit. “John Hearn (executive director of the WUN) visited us and was very impressed by our ongoing research in (WUN’s core themes),” Newman said. “He sees UMass as a tremendous con-tributor. We are not coming in as novices; we are coming in as experienced partners.” Joining the WUN boils

down to an opportunity for UMass to throw its hat into the ring of global research. “We can extend our reach of academic influence beyond the United States,” Newman said. Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and Newman will serve on the WUN Partnership Board and the Academic Advisory Group, respectively. Newman will attend her first meeting this April in Hong Kong.

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

WUN continued from page 1

Retirees can get IRA boost from Supreme Court

By DaviD G. SavaGETribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — More than 50 million Americans with retirement funds through their jobs may get a boost from the Supreme Court. A case heard by the justices Tuesday involved whether workers can sue their employers if the employer offers mutual funds that have excessive-ly high fees. Lawyers for the Obama administration said the federal law that protects retirement funds requires employers to act as “pru-dent” investors and to act “solely” in the interest of their employees and retir-ees. That means not just selecting a strong array of mutual funds but continu-ing to monitor those funds to find ones with lower costs, they said. Picking an array of funds at one point in time and then ignoring what happens in later years isn’t good enough to meet the employer’s duty, the government said. “You have to duty to look from time to time, and you need to look at performance and expens-es,” said Nicole Saharsky, a Justice Department attorney, in spelling out the legal standard. The sponsors of retire-ment funds should avoid higher-cost “retail” funds if cheaper “institution-al” funds are available, the Justice Department argued. A lawyer for Edison International, the parent

of Southern California Edison, which was sued in the case, argued that a continuing duty to moni-tor funds and costs would be “enormously disrup-tive.” But the justices sound-ed skeptical. Checking regularly on fund per-formance is “what a pru-dent investor would do” with his own money, said Justice Anthony Kennedy. Chief Justice John Roberts said it would not be hard for employees to check the fees and switch to other similar funds with lower fees. A lot is at stake in the case. According to a brief filed by the Investment Company Institute, 401(k) plans held $4.4 trillion in retirement assets as of March 2014 on behalf of 52 million people. Some of the funds off ered to Edison employees had fees that were 37 per-cent higher than compa-rable institutional funds, David Frederick, a lawyer for the workers and retir-ees who brought the case told the justices. A federal district judge and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that the employees and retir-ees could sue over high-cost funds, but only if the funds were added within the last six years. The justices agreed to review that rul-ing in Tibble v. Edison International and to decide whether employers have a continuing duty to seek funds with lower costs.

JAMES DESJARDIN/COLLEGIAN

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN Wednesday, February 25, 2015 3DailyCollegian.com

“They just want people who are eager to learn and work in the industry,” Cole added. Cole has attended the fair the previous two years look-ing for career opportunities. Although she was intimi-dated at first, she realized she impressed recruiters by acting like herself. Last year, she was able to get an internship at Starwood

Hotels and Resorts. The Hotel and Tourism Management Career Day Fair is entirely student-run, and is designed by a com-mittee of students from dif-ferent concentrations with-in Isenberg. It is the largest student-run career fair on the East Coast. “We rely a lot on our vol-unteers to run the event,” Cole said.

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

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

JOB FAIR continued from page 1

By Christi Parsons and Kathleen hennessey

Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON—With the quick swipe of a pen on the way from one meet-ing to another, President Barack Obama unceremo-niously opened a fourth chapter of his presidency Tuesday – the veto era. Obama’s rejection of a bill that would have ordered approval of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline came with mini-mal fanfare. The White House did not even pub-licly release word of the decision, which was wide-ly anticipated, until after Senate officials announced they had received the veto message. Nonetheless, the moment marked a mile-stone. Until Tuesday, Obama had vetoed only two bills in more than six years. Already this year, the White House has issued more than a dozen veto threats. Obama’s first two years were built around legis-lative victories. The next two featured an ultimately futile effort by the president and House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, to negoti-ate a “grand bargain” on spending and taxes. In the last two years, the White House pushed new pro-grams through aggressive executive actions in areas including immigration and global warming. But the final two years of Obama’s tenure will almost certainly be domi-nated by defense as he fends off Republican efforts to undo his policies. Aides to the president insisted that an era of vetoes wasn’t their pref-erence. Too many White House rejections of legisla-tion approved by the House and Senate could dismay voters, they say. “When there’s dysfunc-tion, we all pay the price,” said one aide, speaking anonymously in accor-dance with White House policy. At the same time, Obama is happy to draw “bright lines” around the poli-cies he cares most about, the aide acknowledged. Nothing draws those lines quite as brightly as a veto pen. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel, (R-Ky., said the Senate would hold a vote no later than March 3 in an attempt to override the veto. But that effort is almost certain to fail: The bill passed both houses of Congress with less than the two-thirds vote needed for an override. “This veto doesn’t end the debate,” McConnell

said. “Americans should know that the new Congress won’t stop pursu-ing good ideas, including this one.” Boehner called Obama’s veto a “national embar-rassment.” Vetoes were once com-mon. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, for example, vetoed 635 pieces of legisla-tion, an average of more than 50 a year, despite having a Democratic-controlled Congress throughout his tenure. In recent years, however, as Congress has come more and more to resemble a par-liamentary body with strict party discipline, fewer bills opposed by a president emerge, and vetoes have become rare. President Bill Clinton rejected 37 piec-es of legislation in eight years, President George W. Bush just 12. With 44 votes in the Senate, Democrats will continue to be able to kill most Republican-backed bills with filibusters, limit-ing the number of vetoes Obama may have to cast. The Keystone legislation was the relatively rare example that peeled off enough Democratic sup-port to reach a 60-vote threshold to pass the Senate. In some other cases, the president, in collabora-tion with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., may decide that he would prefer to have the Senate pass a measure so he can make the show – and the political point – of vetoing it, said Jim Manley, a for-mer longtime Reid advisor. Senate Democrats will probably be happy to oblige. “I don’t believe that the caucus is going to want to be the death knell for everything,” Manley said. “Every once in a while they’re going to send stuff down to the president, just so he can use the veto and draw the contrast.” Another big constraint on the number of vetoes is the inability, at least so far, of the Republican majorities in the House and Senate to agree on new bills to send the president’s way. Many Republicans would like to take a run at rewriting parts of the healthcare law, for exam-ple, but disagreements within their caucus have blocked that.

Meanwhile, with the 2016 presidential contest tak-ing shape and Republicans looking to shore up their congressional majorities, party leaders are evalu-ating whether a game of veto-volley with the White House would help or hurt them. “They have to be cau-tious about setting the pres-ident up for a message vic-tory,” said Patrick Griffin, former legislative liai-son for President Clinton and now academic direc-tor of the Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute at American University. “If the president frames the message successfully the way he wants to, the Republicans are not going to just keep putting their fingers in the fan.” Both sides were happy to make Keystone the first measure through the process. The project is designed to move oil from the tar sands depos-its under Canada’s prai-ries more than 1,000 miles south to refineries along the Gulf Coast. It stirs pas-sions on both sides but is not a leading issue with large numbers of voters. “It’s a test case,” Griffin said. “It’s about whether the public thinks his rea-soning is better than their reasoning.” Republicans said they passed the bill to fulfill their commitment to pur-sue job-creating policies. In a video released Monday, Boehner said it would cre-ate up to 42,000 direct jobs. Administration officials say most of the jobs the project would create are temporary, related to con-struction, and the number of permanent jobs involved is minuscule. At the same time, they say the project could have serious nega-tive environmental conse-quences, mostly by contrib-uting to global warming. This month, the Environmental Protection Agency reported to the State Department, which continues to review the pipeline, that Keystone would add as much car-bon dioxide to the air each year as 6 million passenger vehicles. Obama has said pre-viously that the project should be approved only if it didn’t significantly worsen carbon emissions, the leading cause of global warming.

New presidential chapter opened after Keystone veto

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

Patrick Griffin, Former legislative liason for

President Clinton, now academic director of Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute at American University

date agreement forms. The number of candi-dates has gone down slight-ly from last spring’s elec-tion, which featured five P/VP tickets. The decrease in candi-dates is not the only low statistics surrounding the SGA elections. Both the spring and fall elections in 2014 brought up seri-ous questions surrounding voter participation. Elections Commissioner Divya Kirti, who has been a part of the three previ-ous spring elections, has been working with Vice President Jacob Schissel

on different ways to increase voter turnout. In the past, she said, the SGA has only tabled in the Campus Center during the day, which has been largely ineffective in getting stu-dents passing by to stop and vote. This year, in addition to tabling, Kirti said the SGA will have polling stations at the dining commons equipped with iPads and laptops so people are able to vote on the spot. O’Neil said the SGA may even add polling stations to dorm lobbies. The SGA will be spon-

soring debates for the pres-ident/vice president candi-dates on March 5 at 7:30 and for trustees on March 7 at 7:30. Locations for the debates are yet to be deter-mined. While Kirti has received several funding requests from candidates, she said that most of the campaign-ing so far has been going on social media. Kirti mentioned that a few can-didates have already cre-ated Facebook pages and hashtags on Twitter.

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

ELECTIONS continued from page 1

Zimmerman will not face criminal charges

By timothy m. PhelPs, miChael musKal

and riChard a. serranoTribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday that it was closing its investigation into the shooting death three years ago of Florida teen-ager Trayvon Martin with-out filing criminal charges against former neighbor-hood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Justice officials said it was impossible to prove that Zimmerman “willfully” vio-lated the black 17-year-old’s civil rights when he pulled the trigger during a struggle in February 2012. The announcement ends the high-profile federal probe into a shooting death that set off a national debate about race, guns, so-called stand-your-ground laws and self-defense. “The death of Trayvon Martin was a devastating tragedy,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in a statement. “It shook an entire community, drew the attention of millions across the nation, and sparked a painful but necessary dia-logue throughout the coun-try. Though a comprehen-sive investigation found that the high standard for a federal hate-crime prosecu-tion cannot be met under the circumstances here, this young man’s premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the sur-face.” Martin was visiting his father and his father’s girl-friend at a gated commu-nity in Sanford, Fla., when he went to a nearby con-venience store in the rain. Wearing a hoodie, he was on his way home when Zimmerman confronted him. His death prompted angry demonstrations and renewed racial tensions in America. President Barack Obama said at the time, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” The decision not to prose-cute Zimmerman was wide-ly expected and illustrated

the legal challenges federal officials often face in bring-ing such civil rights cases. As Holder begins to wrap up his tenure as the nation’s top law enforcement officer, he is expected to announce shortly the results of anoth-er high-profile federal inves-tigation — into the shoot-ing of another unarmed African-American, Michael Brown, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., last August. Like Zimmerman, Officer Darren Wilson is expected to avoid federal prosecu-tion, although a concurrent investigation of possible civil rights violations by the Ferguson Police Department is likely to result either in an agreement with the city to reform its practices or a federal lawsuit. The Justice Department is also investigating the July death of Eric Garner, who was put into an apparent chokehold while New York police officers tried to arrest him on suspicion of illegally selling cigarettes on Staten Island. On Tuesday, prosecutors met with the Martin family and their lawyer, Benjamin Crump, in Miami to inform them of the decision. Crump told The Associated Press the decision “was a bitter pill to swallow.” “What they told his fam-ily and I was that, because Trayvon wasn’t able to tell us his version of events, there was a lack of evidence to bring the charges. That’s the tragedy,” Crump said. Because Zimmerman was a civilian who said he was on the lookout for burglars in his neighborhood, the standard of proof for fed-eral civil rights charges was even higher than it is for the Ferguson and Staten Island police officers, legal experts said. The Florida case was “a hate crime investiga-tion into whether he shot him because of his race,” said William Yeomans, an American University law

professor and a former top Justice Department civil rights official. “The Ferguson and Staten Island cases are about whether police used excessive force.” Justice officials said they would have had to prove that Zimmerman knew his actions were illegal and committed them anyway. “It is one of the highest stan-dards of intent imposed by law,” the department said in a statement. Yeomans agreed: “It should have been fairly clear from early on that charges were unlikely, barring some undiscovered audiotape expressing racist intent.” The Justice Department rejected criticism that it took too long to wrap up the Zimmerman investiga-tion, saying it had to sus-pend the probe after he was charged in state court with second-degree murder and manslaughter. The depart-ment picked up the case again after he was acquitted in July 2013. As part of the investi-gation, the government interviewed 75 witnesses and hired “an independent biomechanical expert” to assess Zimmerman’s ver-sion of the struggle. The department said Zimmerman was investi-gated for violating a federal housing law that criminal-izes “willfully using force or threat of force to interfere with a person’s federally protected housing rights on account of that person’s race or color.” Officials also examined whether he vio-lated another provision by “willfully causing bodily injury to a person because of that person’s actual or perceived race.” Since the acquittal, Zimmerman made his way back into the public eye after three women complained to police that he had behaved aggressively toward them.

Justice Department closes investigation

“What they told his family and I was that, because Trayvon wasn’t able to tell us his

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

tragedy.”Benjamin Crump, Martin family lawyer

Opinion EditorialEditorial@DailyCollegiancomWednesday, February 25, 2015

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

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

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.

EDITOR IN CHIEF - Nick CanelasMANAGING EDITOR - Patrick Hoff

MANAGING EDITOR/DAILYCOLLEGIAN.COM - Conor Snell

Business Manager - Omer SanderAdvertising Manager - Andrew CarrDistribution Manager - Nick GoriusAdvertising Production - Nick Damren

BUSINESSProduction Manager - James Desjardin

Special Issues Manager - Randy Crandon

GRAPHICS

NEWSNews Editor - Aviva Luttrell

NEWS ASSISTANTS

Catherine FerrisMarie MacCune

Jaclyn Bryson

OPINION & EDITORIALOp/Ed Editor - Zac Bears

Maral Margossian

Op/Ed ASSISTANTS

Ian HagertySteven Gillard

ARTS & LIVINGArts Editor - Cory Willey

Alex FrailARTS ASSISTANTS

Madeleine JackmanJackson Maxwell

SPORTSSports Editor - Mark Chiarelli

SPORTS ASSISTANTS

PHOTOGRAPHYPhoto Editor - Cade Belisle

Araz HavanPHOTO ASSISTANTS

Robert Rigo

PRODUCTION CREW on s ta f f f o r th i s i s sue

NIGHT EDITOR - Mark Chiarelli

COPY EDITOR - Jaclyn Bryson

WEB PRODUCTION MANAGER - Christina Yacono

NEWS DESK EDITOR - Catherine Ferris

Op/Ed DESK EDITOR - Maral Margossian

ARTS DESK EDITOR - Erica Garnett

SPORTS DESK EDITOR - Andrew Cyr

COMICS DESK EDITOR - Tracy Krug

GRAPHICS DESK EDITOR - James Desjardin

Anthony ChiusanoAndrew Cyr

Ross GienieczkoChristina Yacono

Comics Editor - Tracy KrugOp/Ed Producer - Claire Anderson

COMICS

News Producer - Christina Yacono Sports Producer - Marc Jean-LouisArts Producer - Robert Rigo

t h e m a s s a c h u s e t t s D a i ly C o l l e g i a n

Kate Leddy

GRAPHICS ASSISTANTS

Avery CampbellCaroline O’Connor

Social Media Coordinators - Charlotte Hoff | Ariel KallenbachSOCIAL MEDIA

Noa Barak

Anthony Rentsch

Alex LindsayErica Garnett

Obama’s long-awaited remarks on extremism fails to mention military

Speaking at the White House Thursday, President Obama made some long-awaited remarks on the state

of violent extremism in the world and the role of the United States in potential solutions for violent extrem-ism. Since the Charlie Hebdo shooting on Jan. 7, Obama has been on the receiving end of a wide range of criti-cisms. In many ways he took the White House’s Summit on Countering Violent Extremism as an opportuni-ty to address these criticisms en masse. However, Obama, in an uncharacteristic move, refrained from naming crit-ics and criticisms directly, and instead laid out the priorities of the nation regarding counterterrorism in a rather succinct way. Unfortunately, the remarks underplayed many, if not all, failures made by the United States in the realm of counterterrorism. While it is hardly uncommon for a president to downplay their own shortcomings, the world presented by Obama acknowledges that the West and the Middle East have a “complicated history” with-out mentioning very recent abuses of the Middle East under George W. Bush and Obama himself. This seems rather counter-productive when many of the Muslim

scholars and clerics, who Obama believes, “have a responsibility to push back ... (against) the lie that we are somehow engaged in a clash of civilizations.” The priorities and poli-cies which were laid out by Obama are a solid founda-tion upon which to create future international coun-terterror policy. This may be because nearly every senti-ment expressed by Obama was very general and easy to agree with. For example,

a “digital communications hub (meant to) counter ISIL’s propaganda and recruitment efforts” in conjunction with the United Arab Emirates is hard to disagree with. Similarly, when Obama said religious leaders within Muslim communities tar-geted by extremist recruit-ers are obligated to “push back,” he was not present-ing new information. It is doubtful that anyone will protest the existence of a new Countering Violent Extremism coordinator at the Department of Homeland Security. Nevertheless, these

remarks were valuable because they prioritize the recruitment of terrorists within communities over the viability of military against terrorism. Portraying vio-lent extremists as “desper-ate for legitimacy,” and say-ing that “the notion that the West is at war with Islam is an ugly lie” keeps the War on Terror in perspec-tive. Continued awareness of this fundamental weak-ness, which many extremist groups share, is integral to

fighting a war against insur-gency itself. Even though the presi-dent’s priorities for fight-ing international terrorism are sound in their logic, Obama’s choice not to men-tion the military at all is somewhat confusing. Obama rejects the idea that the U.S. is “the cause of every ill in the Middle East,” some-thing which has been a long time coming in my opinion. However, while he acknowl-edges that there is a “terror-ist narrative,” he does not mention the role of the U.S. military in the narrative that is Middle Eastern history. In

effect he calls for Muslim scholars and clerics to take responsibility for extremism in their communities with-out addressing grievances those scholars have with the West or the U.S. It is true that Obama said that “none of us ... should be immune from criticism in terms of specific poli-cies,” but this is not suffi-cient. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the destruction of Muammar Gaddafi’s gov-ernment in Libya, and the Syrian civil war all reflect how the U.S. has concrete effects on every day life in the Middle East. Some of this is because of diploma-cy, but interactions between Americans and communi-ties vulnerable to extremism largely occur between the military and these commu-nities. This is why the U.S. needs a place in the narra-tive against violent extrem-ism. After all, the task of these clerics and scholars is to create a narrative to counter the “terrorist nar-rative,” at least according to Obama. Do American sol-diers have a place in that narrative? Hopefully the cre-ation of additional offices in Homeland Security and our social media efforts with the UAE will provide an answer.

Julian del Prado is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at jdelprad@umass.edu.

“In effect he calls for Muslim scholars and clerics to take responsibility for extremism in

their communities without addressing grievances those scholars have with the West

or the United States.”

Julian del Prado

Last Thursday, Walmart announced it would increase the wages of 500,000 of its employees to a minimum of

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

tirelessly to build worker power among Walmart employees and demand bet-ter work conditions, despite the very real risks of retali-ation. The most publicized protests for this campaign have occurred during Black Friday. As a mem-ber of the UMass chapter of the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), other mem-bers and I took time during Thanksgiving break to tap into several of the protests at 1,600 stores in 49 states, demanding $15 an hour for Walmart employees. This past summer, I also stood alongside other students of the United States Student Association in front of a Walmart corporate office in Southern California, demanding paid sick days for workers. As students, it might seem these issues don’t apply to us, but they do. Massive wealth inequality remains a serious concern in the U.S., and real wages have remained stag-nant for decades. As future graduates, we are stepping into a labor market where living wages, paid sick leave, maternity leave, health ben-efits and other labor stan-dards are still a fight, not a guarantee. Supporting labor struggles as a student is refusing to accept the ineq-uity of the U.S. labor market,

and demand it be altered. It acknowledges the inter-section between student and worker issues. Walmart has profited from providing employees low pay and lit-tle job security, while Sallie Mae has profited one billion dollars from student debt. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the single largest private employer in the U.S and has one of the largest salary dis-parities between the high-est and lowest paid workers. Although the Walton fam-ily net worth tops $152 bil-lion, the average associate makes only $8.81 and many of its associates rely on food stamps. These reasons make the company an obvious tar-get for pressuring reform in the private sector. While the company’s announcement

to raise wages is certainly a step in the right direc-tion, it still has ways to go in improving its labor prac-tices. Additional reform will likely only come from con-tinued pressure from work-ers and students should con-tinue to support these cam-paigns. This recent victory for Walmart workers (and tax-payers) demonstrates that people have the power to change large institutions with far greater resources. When an announcement such as this hits the news, it is important to remem-ber that this change did not happen out of the good-ness of Wal-Mart’s corpo-rate heart. Instead, years of campaigning and countless associates’ courage to risk their jobs has brought this issue to light and driven the push for systemic change. Ultimately, this organiz-ing has created concrete improvements in the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Thursday’s land-mark victory is not the end of this campaign, but sets up future fights for $15 an hour and a union. The struggle to be able to work with dignity and respect at Walmart con-tinues.

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

“Years of campaigning and countless associates’ courage to risk their jobs has

brought this issue to light and driven the push for systemic change.”

Rebecca Kanter

Walmart raises minimum wage after labor efforts

“Does anybody remember laughter?” - Robert PlantArts Living

Arts@DailyCollegian.comWednesday, February 25, 2015

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

By RichaRd NguyeNCollegian Correspondent

Fashion is a living, breathing, evolving animal that is constantly chang-ing, but it isn’t just about following trends blindly. Trends are meant to be transferred from the run-way to people’s everyday wardrobes. Individuality is a main component of fash-ion, despite people always trying to predict the next trends and designers con-stantly pushing them-selves to be more creative with their collections. This season was no dif-ferent at the New York Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, which was held from Feb. 11-19 and saw design-ers present their fall and winter 2015-16 collections. But when Style.com Editor-at-Large Tim Blanks asked Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour what she thought the trends would be this upcoming season, she responded that trend was a dirty word. Instead, what Wintour liked about this season’s collections was that they were more based on indi-viduality and identity, she said to Style.com. Alexander Wang always has that sports luxe feel to his collections. This sea-son, he presented a col-lection that maintained his status quo, but with a grunge edge to it. Models were sent down the runway in studded jacks with four-inch plat-form boots to match. The collection also included clean-cut military jackets edged with chains. Wang finished off the collection with a series of sheer eve-ning dresses, which were made to look like chain-mail, successfully execut-ing the grunge feel, but still keeping his tailored roots.

Going from sports luxe to sports-like wear, comes Lacoste. The brand always has the preppy, sportive feel in its clothes, specifi-cally with its signature polo shirts. However, Creative Manager Felipe OliveiraBaptista, wanted to add a

little edge to the Lacoste design while staying in the same sportive vein. “A mix of bourgeois and street kid,” was the inspi-ration for Bapistra’s tennis theme collection, accord-ing to Style. The collec-tion could have also been inspired by the 2001 Wes Anderson film “The Royal Tenenbaums,” based on the cut on the tracksuits and the sweatbands some of the models donned on the runway. In the midst of the 1970s fashion in the collection, some of the looks were fairly modern. Pleated

mid-thigh tennis skirts had a flirty appeal, along-side the graphic-printed sweatshirts that some of the men wore on the run-way. When bandage dresses come to mind, Hervé Léger by Max Azria quickly fol-lows. Bandage dresses are usually shown in solid col-

ors, sometimes with con-trasting colors. However, for their fall 2015 collection, design-ers Max and Lubov Azria tried to revamp the ultra sexy dress with different combinations of fabrics. With inspiration coming from a family trip to the La Sagrada Família church in Barcelona, Spain, Lubov Azria was inspired by the colors and detailing of said cathedral. The runway was filled with different colors of leather, lace, sequins and studded bodices that glimmered on the run-

way. Multicolored fabrics wrapped around the body revamped how the ban-dage dress looks. Diane von Furstenberg reinvented the wrap dress in the early 1970s, and from then on many women have had the wrap dress in their closet. This season, Furstenberg wanted to rec-reate the working women, but in a sexier, more pow-erful tone. Throughout the collection, the wrap dress was still a staple, but in a sheer, barely there kind of way. Similar to Hervé Léger, lace also had its place on the runway. Whether it was in a trim, side panel or on the whole garment, lace gave each piece of clothing its own sexy, sophisticated vibe. To give the collec-tion a more forceful feel, Furstenberg also used the simple pinstriped pattern not only on a fitted vest with matching pants, but also on a sheer chiffon sleeve on and above the knee dress.

Richard Nguyen is available at richardnguye@umass.edu.

Less emphasis on trends from stylists

FA S H I O N

By SaRah gamaRdCollegian Staff

On a blisteringly cold night, it was the warmth and comfort inside Earthfoods Café at the University of Massachusetts which lit up the night. The popular campus eat-ery hosted a LGBTQ open mic night last Thursday in con-junction with the Stonewall Center in an effort to connect those of all orientations and self-identities and to offer a place to meet and interact with new people. For freshman Josie Pinto, sophomore Jayanne Glynn and the outside event coordi-nators for UMass’ Stonewall Center, the efforts began before the doors opened. The event was held after regu-lar café hours, which meant pulling chairs down off tables, setting up the room and hoping for a solid turn-out despite the weather. They got their wish. Glynn shared a beauti-ful spoken word poem about growing into one’s own iden-tity at the event to a host of audience members. The hosts aimed to provide an environment where, whether or not you are currently in or seeking to be a part of the LGBTQ community, you could feel comfortable. According to Pinto and Glynn, this was the first time the Stonewall Center was holding an open mic night at Earthfoods Café. Usually, these once-a-month shows are held at The Works Bakery Café, a lunch and breakfast restaurant in Amherst Center. Turnouts there included spoken word and musical performances, including UMass a cappella groups like Sharp Attitude. Glynn mentioned that turnouts were usually very good and sometimes they would have to cap the num-ber of performers when passing around the sign-up sheets because so many vol-unteered.

Events like the open mic and the myriad of others that exist on campus are just part of the Stonewall Center’s support of UMass students. “Some people come when they’re coming out of the closet,” Glynn said. “Some people are already out of the closet and others come to do research for a class.” There is, in fact, a DVD, video and book library locat-ed in the Stonewall Center for students to access. The center also holds LGBTQ ally training sessions for those who want to help make a difference but do not neces-sarily know how. Pinto reflected on her experiences working at the center by saying, “We’re making a change one person at a time.” “Think of it this way,” Glynn said. “We are 20 min-utes away from the lesbian capital of the world,” in reference to Northampton. However, Pinto said, “There are also a lot of problems.” That is where the Stonewall Center’s efforts come in. The center serves as the LGBTQ education resource center on campus The organization was one of the first in the nation of its kind, established in 1985 as an administrative office of Student Affairs to provide support for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members of the Five College Area. Now, it serves as a nur-turing and versatile haven for the growing, but still struggling LGBTQ commu-nity and those seeking to become allies to the commu-nity. The next spoken word night will be held on March 6 at Earthfoods Café in the Student Union from 7-9 p.m. Other Stonewall Center events can be found on its website, www.umass.edu/stonewall.

Sarah Gamard can be reached at sgamard@umass.edu.

Earthfoods hosts LGBTQ mic night

C U LT U R E

ROBERT RIGO/COLLEGIAN

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

By RichaRd NguyeNCollegian Correspondent

The winners of the 2015 Oscars weren’t the only ones to shine Sunday. Many of the celebrities and their stylists also brought their A-game to this year’s red carpet. Actresses Lupita Nyong’o and Emma Stone were drip-ping in jewels Sunday night. Nyong’o wore a beautiful custom-made cream Calvin Klein gown, which was cov-ered in glimmering pearls. According to Vanityfair.com, the dress had over 6,000 pearls that were featured mostly on the bodice of the gown. Paired with Chopard earrings, even though Nyong’o wasn’t nominated for a film this year, she still dressed as if she was. Lime green may not be the first color for an actress to wear on the red carpet, however, Stone made a green gown work. She wore a bead-ed backless Elie Saab haute couture gown, which was shown on the Paris runway just a couple weeks prior to

the event. The gown, covering her arm and shoulder area, may have seemed modest for an actress her age. However the mid-thigh slit on her left leg proved that being seductive could be done tastefully. Saab proved to be one of the most popular design-ers of the night. So popu-lar, that the same gown was worn twice by two different women, which is a major no-no of red carpet etiquette. Jennifer Lopez and Robert Duvall’s wife, Luciana Duvall, both wore a Saab gown from his fall 2014 couture collection. Both gowns featured a full tulle skirt, with a deep v-neckline that dipped down to the bel-lybutton. The bodice of both gowns had intricate beaded lace, flowing down to the skirt of the garment. The only difference between the two was that Lopez wore it in a nude color with a matching belt, whereas Duvall wore it in a light baby pink sans belt. Although their stylists floundered, both women look radiant. Best actor winner Eddie Redmayne and presenter Ansel Elgort were also twin-

ning, but in a less “they stole my look” kind of way. Redmayne, who won for his performance as Stephen Hawking in the film “The Theory of Everything,” wore a luscious midnight blue Alexander McQueen suit with a contrasting black peak lapel. He veered away

from the usual black suit attire normally worn at red carpet events. Elgort also decided to wear a midnight blue suit, opting to wear a Prada with shawl lapel. Going along with the mid-night blue theme, United Kingdom-based singer Rita Ora wore a custom-made

fishtail Marchesa gown. The gown itself was very simple, but the gold embroidery at the bust and at the side of her waist made the dress very elegant. Finishing the look with Lorraine Schwartz earrings, made Ora into an old Hollywood glamour bombshell.

Looking to channel old Hollywood glamour as well was Lady Gaga. No longer wearing meat dresses or emerging from eggs, the star, along with her styl-ist, Brandon Maxwell, dis-cussed this drastic style transformation on Vogue.com. Tunisian-born designer Azzedine Alaïa designed her red carpet ensemble, tak-ing two months to stitch the bugle beads onto the dress. The red gloves, also designed by Alaïa, became a buzz on Twitter and a meme, photo-shopping Gaga with dish-washing photos. Gaga switched it up once again when she performed a medley of songs from the “Sound of Music” to com-memorate its 50th anniver-sary of its release. She came onstage with a simple white ball gown that looked very airy and ethereal. Her only accessory was her heart-shaped engagement ring, which was given to her by her fiancé actor Taylor Kinney.

Richard Nguyen can be reached at richardnguye@umass.edu.

A night of jewels, lace and copy cats

Stars put on quite an act with Oscar fashionFA S H I O N

Fashion favors individuality

“Fashion is a living, breathing, evolving animal that is constantly changing, but it isn’t just about following trends blindly.”

MCT

Jennifer Lopez and Luciana Duvall wore the same gown by accident at the Oscars.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIANB6 Wednesday, February 25, 2015 DailyCollegian.com

ComicsThere’s gold in Them Thar hills. gold!

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!

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

H O R O S C O P E S aquarius Jan. 20 - Feb. 18

Even if you can’t identify the specific type, if it looks like food, it’s okay to eat the mysterious crumb from your lap.

pisces Feb. 19 - Mar. 20

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

aries Mar. 21 - apr. 19

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

taurus apr. 20 - May. 20

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

gemini May. 21 - Jun. 21

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

cancer Jun. 22 - Jul. 22

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

leo Jul. 23 - aug. 22

Because not allowing me to put ketchup on meat slob pushed into a tube, what you people call “hot dogs”, just makes sense.

virgo aug. 23 - Sept. 22

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

libra Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

scorpio Oct. 23 - nOv. 21

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

sagittarius nOv. 22 - Dec. 21

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

capricorn Dec. 22 - Jan. 19

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

Wondermark By david malki

dinosaur ComiCs By ryan north

And how

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN Wednesday, February 25, 2015 7DailyCollegian.com

UMass faces BU on short rest By Matthew ZackMan

Collegian Staff

Although the Massachusetts women’s lacrosse team is off to a per-fect 3-0 start on the season, head coach Angela McMahon hasn’t been as focused on the record, or even stats. Instead, she’s been using the first few games as a way to judge her own team’s success rather than focus on the qual-ity of play or the quantity of numbers the Minutewomen tally up. “The focus of the game is trying to improve and get bet-ter. We are going to see a dif-ferent team out there than we saw on Saturday who plays a different style game. We need to adjust our game and capitalize on our strengths,” McMahon said. “Our only focus is tomorrow and noth-ing else really matters.” UMass has an oppor-tunity to win its 11th con-secutive regular season game with a trip to in-state rival Boson University Wednesday afternoon. “Tomorrow is a tough game for us. They are a tough team and they are extremely physical and they have great size. I am expect-ing a great game and it’s

always a battle between us. It’s just a great New England rivalry,” McMahon said. McMahon made it clear that the contest against the Terriers (1-1) is a crucial game for the Minutewomen’s i m p r o v e m e n t . “Our focus going into the game is to get better and improve each and everyday and have a great performance in Boston,” McMahon said. Despite having a small window of time between their game against the Terriers and their previous contest against New Hampshire, McMahon stressed that they have been using practice time to work on minor, but impor-tant details. UMass had only three days of rest following its 12-7 win against the Wildcats on Saturday. “It has been a pretty quick turnaround. We haven’t done too much or anything crazy, but we have worked on shooting, possession game, draws and working the ball around on offense making sure we have a lot of differ-ent threats,” McMahon said. She also added that the Minutewomen used their time to scout the Terriers. BU has several high level offen-

sive threats that have been scoring big goals for them, such as Mallory Collins who leads the Terriers with nine goals scored on the season. While Collins has the Minutewomen’s defensive attention, the Terriers will have to find a way to stop UMass’ Hannah Murphy, who has scored 10 goals this season and was recently named the Atlantic 10 player of the Week. “Hannah is a quiet lead-er for us, who doesn’t play quiet. She’s so humble and she is always willing to do anything and everything we ask of her. Whether it is com-ing up with the ball in a draw,

scoring a goal, anything we need her to do she is will-ing to do which makes her such a special and unique player,” McMahon said. Murphy was instrumen-tal in wins over Connecticut and New Hampshire, scor-ing seven goals combined in the two games. Against UNH, Murphy scored three goals in the final 15 minutes of the game. The Terriers will host the Minutewomen at New Balance Field instead of Nickerson Field.

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

W O M E N ’ S L AC R O S S E

CHRISTINA YACONA/COLLEGIAN

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

Former UAB DB signs with UMass

By andrew cyrCollegian Staff

In the aftermath of the University of Alabama-Birmingham football team’s disbandment, play-ers scattered throughout the country in search of a new home. On Tuesday, one player landed in Amherst. On Tuesday evening, the Massachusetts football team announced the sign-ing of 5-foot-11, 186-pound senior defensive back Kelton Brackett. After the Blazers’ pro-gram termination follow-ing the 2014 season, players from their program were allowed to transfer schools without being forced to sit out for a season because of the NCAA policy, meaning Brackett can start partici-pating with the team imme-diately. In his career at UAB, Brackett appeared in 32 games, starting in 10 of those. Brackett finished his career with 64 tack-les, nine pass break-ups, three forced fumbles and an interception in his three seasons on the team.

“We are excited to have Kelton join us,” head coach Mark Whipple said in a press release. “Not only is he a veteran defensive back, but he is a great per-son and a great student.” Brackett joins an already experienced defen-sive secondary that returns five players – Joey Colton, Khary Bailey-Smith, Randall Jette, Trey Dudley-Giles and Jackson Porter – that all saw action in the secondary this past season. Whipple said on signing day that one of his team’s biggest focuses moving for-ward for the 2015 season was adapting to the spread-heavy Mid American Conference and as a result of that will likely feature more nickel packages that Brackett can be used in. Coming out of Blount High School in Mobile, Alabama, Brackett was a three-star recruit and was rated at the No. 35 over-all recruit in the state of Alabama. He also had offers from Florida International, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisville coming out of high school.

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

Brackett to join UM secondary

F O O T BA L L

WILLIAMS continued from page 8

years to come I still have a dream of (making) the NBA and, God willing, everything will go right.” Kellogg said he thinks returning to the D-League is Williams’ best option to do so. “ I think the guys have to make a determination,” Kellogg said. “Do you want to stay on United States soil and try to make it to the NBA? Or do you want to try and go and start a career overseas? It’s easier for you to get pulled up if you’re right here and there’s probably a better track record of guys making it through

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

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

SMILEY continued from page 8

last Friday and, once Guzzo returned Saturday, he filled in for Dominic Trento. “He’s stepped up big time,” Guzzo said. “He’s playing well and deserves to be in the lineup because of where he’s at right now.” Guzzo said that the big-gest difference in Smiley’s play last weekend was a sense of confidence that came with increased play-ing time. “Obviously he wasn’t playing forward the whole season and it takes a couple of games to adjust,” Guzzo said. “I know I wouldn’t be able to adjust to defense as quick as he adjusted to for-ward.” Micheletto said that whether Smiley continues

to see action at forward will depend on injury updates made later this week. While Trento still nurses a lower-body injury, Patrick Lee left Saturday’s game in the sec-ond period. Despite this uncertainty, Smiley said that he’s just focusing on continuing to provide energy for UMass, whether it be on offense or defense. “I’m happy with what I’m doing right now and I think the most I could do is just continue to accept the role and play my game,” Smiley said.

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

off the court,” Gordon told reporters. “I talk to him just about once every three, four, five days or so. Just checking on him and seeing how he’s doing. They’ve been strug-gling a lot, so just telling him to keep his head up and things like that. “If you get him out of his game, it will definitely give us a shot. They have aver-age players on their team but he gets them going,” Gordon added. Miles is the only other player on the Hawks averag-ing double-digits scoring per

game (10.7). Aaron Brown (9.7) and Chris Wilson (7.5) follow closely behind in the scoring department. Miles is also the next highest rebounder on the team aver-aging 5.1 rebounds per game. Tip off from Mullins Center will be at 7 p.m. and can be seen on nation-al television NESNPlus, Comcast Sports Network Philadelphia and on SNY.

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

HAWKS continued from page 8

to do things, because as we prepared before the year, you think you’re going to game plan to take away Lalanne or Esho or try to take away Trey Davis’ 3s. They’re not having that. They’re finding a way. In their 6-game winning streak, I think they did that and I thought they did it against VCU. I mean, they were buried in that game and they just kept playing and Jabarie Hinds and Demetrius Dyson did a really nice job off the bench for them.” The Minutemen don’t have a scorer averaging more than 12 points per game. Point guard Davis leads UMass (11.7 points per game) while Lalanne (11.6), Esho (11.3) and Derrick  Gordon (10.1) fol-low suit. Kellogg said he hoped to see secondary options develop as the season went along, but is also playing the hand that’s dealt to him. “I adjusted and we adjusted as a team for

team’s game-planning for Cady and Maxie,” Kellogg said. “Every time they touched the ball was a double and triple team, especially with Cady in the post and teams chesting up with Maxie. Multiple players also said the Minutemen have adjusted their offense over the season as well. Both Gordon and Hinds praised the team’s improved pass-ing, saying offensive sets also felt stagnant at the beginning of the season. Combine that with increased scouting from teams within the confer-ence, and UMass had to adapt. And that meant moving away from contin-uously running the offense through Lalanne and Esho. “It changed throughout the season because now teams start scouting you way more,” Lalanne said. “So they’ll send a guy right behind me, a guy in front, a guy right there. You’re not going to get something that beneficial out of it. “We’re trying to play

through everybody else and open it up,” he added. UMass struggled to open much of anything up against the Hawks in the first encounter. Kellogg said the slow pace of that game hurt both Lalanne and Esho, who play better in space. The lack of go-to options has freed up points for other members of the Minutemen. It’s something

Kellogg has mentioned all season, and now sees it rounding into shape. “You don’t want to be a one or two-headed team,” he said. “You want to have four, five, maybe even six guys that are playing well.”

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

OFFENSE continued from page 8

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

Trey Davis (12) leads the Minutemen in scoring at 11.7 points per game.

Time to put an end to court stormingBy Matt Murschel

Orlando Sentinel

It’s time to stop all of this foolishness. In an all-too famil-iar sight, Kansas State fans rushed the court at Bramlage Coliseum moments after the Wildcats upset No. 9 Kansas on Monday night. The purple wave of humanity engulfed the floor nearly whipping out Jayhawks coach Bill Self and the rest of his team. It was a scary moment and luckily no one was hurt. Self took the high-road afterwards saying, “It’s a ballgame. It’s not about chicken-winging some-body when the game’s over. Hopefully, they can get that corrected. It’s fine if you want to celebrate

when you beat us, that’s your business. That’s fine. But at least it shouldn’t put anybody at risk from a safety standpoint.” Ironically, it was the second time in a week that Kansas found itself lost among a sea of stu-dents. The Jayhawks lost to West Virginia on Feb. 16 on a last-second shot and the Mountaineers faithful stormed the court as well. The Big 12 Conference, which is reviewing the matter, doesn’t have a set protocol when it comes to fining schools when fans storm the court, but it should. The Southeastern Conference fines schools based on a tier system with the first offense at $5,000 followed by $25,000 for a second and $50,000 there-after.

It’s an expensive reminder that it’s up to the school’s to protect every-one involved and should be adopted by all conferences _ big or small.Kansas State athletic direc-tor John Currie issued an apology Tuesday “On behalf of President Schulz and K-State Athletics, I apologize to Athletics Director Sheahon Zenger, Coach Bill Self and the KU bas-ketball team for the unfor-tunate situation in which they were placed last night at the conclusion of our basketball game.” He went on to add, “Our security staff, which in similar past postgame celebrations has, accord-ing to our procedures and rehearsals, provided a solid human barrier to allow the teams to conduct

a postgame handshake and safely leave the court, was unable to get into proper position quickly enough last night and was over-whelmed by the fans rush-ing the floor.” Fans storming the courts are nothing new and you see more and more in the days leading into March Madness. The concern has and always should be for the safety of the coaches, play-ers and even the students themselves. All it takes is one person to get seriously injured in a postgame cel-ebration to ruin what oth-erwise was a great win for a school. It’s why everyone today is talking about Kansas State’s postgame perfor-mance and not the actual win itself.

C O L L E G E BA S K E T BA L L

see WILLIAMS on page 7

see SMILEY on page 7

see OFFENSE on page 7see HAWKS on page 7

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

guys we played again.”Derek Kellogg,UMass Coach

@MDC_SPORTS Sports@DailyCollegian.comWednesday, February 25, 2015

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

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

Williams catches onFormer point guard signs with Maine

M E N ’ S BA S K E T BA L L

Searching for the answers

UMass preps for Bembry, St. JoesBy Andrew Cyr

Collegian Staff

After going 0-2 in its biggest week of the year, the Massachusetts men’s basketball team chance at receiving at-large bid for the NCAA tournament this season is nearly shot. The Minutemen put themselves in the situation, and now their only chance at a return to the “Big Dance” is to catch fire at the right time and make a run in the Atlantic 10 tournament in Brooklyn, New York come the middle of March. However, before UMass or any of its players can look too far into the future, must first host three consecutive home games before ending the season on the road at George Washington on March 7. “Anytime you can get some con-ference home games at the end of the regular season, that’s great for your team,” said head coach Derek Kellogg. “It gives us an opportu-nity to be home for about a week, week and a half here, where were we can have three home games against three teams that are very good and are tough games for us.” The first item of business on the itinerary for the Minutemen is a rematch with Saint Joseph’s, who defeated UMass 62-56 in the first meeting on Jan. 21. In that game,

DeAndre Bembry became a one-man show, finishing with 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Bembry took over in the second half, scoring the Hawks’ first 13 points over a stretch of nine min-utes, 18 seconds. Isaiah Miles broke that stretch only after Bembry recorded an offensive rebound and – to no one’s surprise – assisted Miles on the layup to break a 40-40 tie. UMass did not tie or regain the lead after that play. “I think he’s probably the most valuable player in the league, maybe – we were talking about this, this morning – maybe even the whole country going over the guys we played against,” Kellogg said. “The tough thing is, it’s not always him scoring through their offense, he gets put-backs, he gets steals for dunks, he scores against your press. And then he’s pretty good in their half-court offense,” he added.

Bembry leads St. Joe’s in nearly every major offensive categories and is atop the stat sheet in points per game (17.8), rebounds per game (7.3), assists per game (3.3), steals per game (2.0) and is the biggest work-horse, logging in 38.6 minutes per game. Kellogg said that Bembry’s one of his favorite players to watch because of his ability to create off of broken plays and that he plays the game “the right way.” Like he’s done every other game before guarding team’s best players, Derrick Gordon will have his hands full guarding Bembry and will look to slow him down. However, despite their rivalry on the court, Gordon said the two are good friends off the court. “He’s actually a great friend of mine and a former high school teammate of mine. I know his game. When we’re on the court, it’s personal. But we’re friends

By MArk ChiArelliCollegian Staff

When the Massachusetts men’s basketball team peers across the court Wednesday night, it will see a team which heavily relies on one player. Saint Joseph’s goes as its star forward DeAndre Bembry does. He leads the Hawks in points (17.8), rebounds (7.3), assists (3.3), steals (2.0) and minutes (38.6) per game. He’s Mr. Do Everything and it shows, as no other play-er is averaging more than 10.7 points per game. In other words, it’s the exact opposite of UMass. “There’s a good chance (Bembry’s) going to get his points because he’s done it – you don’t want to concede that,” Minutemen coach Derek Kellogg said. “At the same token, you don’t want (Chris) Wilson or Isaiah (Miles) or (Aaron) Brown or one of the big guys to get going and give them a second, third or even fourth option. Because I think, at times, they struggle to score points.” When Kellogg inverts his attention to his own sideline, he’ll see a team that, unlike the Hawks, doesn’t struggle to score points. It’s finding someone who does it consistently that contin-ues to evade the Minutemen. Since losing to St. Joe’s 62-56 on Jan. 21, UMass is 6-2. Over that span of eight games, it had four different players as leading scorers. Only twice was senior center Cady Lalanne the leading scorer, and fellow senior Maxie Esho never led the Minutemen in scoring over that stretch. It’s a far cry from the blue-print UMass entered the season with, and what Hawks coach Phil Martelli expected to see. “I think the biggest thing that they have going now is that they’ve settled into something that you don’t get a lot of teams to do,” Martelli said in his week-ly Atlantic 10 Conference call. “They’re not waiting anymore on Esho and Lalanne. They’re play-ing the hot hand … They’ll kind of go through the game until they can find that guy that gets it going. “It’s a really interesting way

UM lacks top scorer

Maddison Smiley thriving in multi-dimensional role

By Anthony ChiusAnoCollegian Staff

The Massachusetts hockey team has dealt with its fair share of inju-ries this season. With top offensive threats like Ray Pigozzi, Steven Iacobellis and Troy Power all missing clusters of games at different points of the season, the depleted Minutemen (10-20-2, 5-15-1 Hockey East) have constantly looked for stopgap options, often natural defensemen, to suit up on the offensive end. While blue liners Mike Busillo and Brennan Baxandall were called on earlier in the season to accept this challenge, the newest player to embrace the role is fresh-man Maddison Smiley. Playing in his 20th game of the season, and his fifth straight as a forward, Smiley recorded his first goal of his collegiate career in UMass’ 2-1 overtime victory on Senior Night last Saturday against

Providence College. The goal came in the second period of a then-scoreless game while the Minutemen were tak-ing advantage of a delayed penalty call. “It was like a monkey off the back,” Smiley said of his first goal. “I knew I would score at some point in the season, I just didn’t think it would take this long. But it was a really good feeling and it was just really good to get it off my back.” Aside from the milestone in his new role, Smiley asserted his defen-sive presence over the weekend, making several hits on Providence skaters in the open ice. Coming off a disappointing overtime loss the previous night, Smiley noted that he saw these hits as an opportunity to build some momentum heading into Saturday’s affair. “I was just trying to get the boys going and get some energy,” Smiley said. “It was Senior Night so I was trying to get as much momentum as we could when I finally hit the ice. I found getting some body was

the best way to show that.” UMass coach John Micheletto praised Smiley for his willingness to adjust to a different position, adding that it has helped relieve the issue of ongoing injuries. “Versatility is a great thing,” Micheletto said. “Where we are in the season, he has proven that he can be an effective player at forward, which gives us a lot of options. “Without really blinking an eye, he’s seamlessly been able to transi-tion from one to another back and forth.” Forward was not a totally new position for Smiley to pick up how-ever, as he played a few games there for the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits prior to coming to Amherst. “Through junior (hockey), I played forward for a few games in the playoffs in some big situa-tions, so it wasn’t huge to change,” Smiley said. “The speed was a lot different, there’s a lot more skat-ing. But I didn’t find it as difficult as I think most players would.”Smiley’s collegiate debut at for-

ward came on Feb. 7 against UMass Lowell, one day after Power depart-ed a game against Northeastern after being elbowed in the head. As Power was forced to sit out the following weekend’s two-game set, Smiley continued to see action on the attack.

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

Defenseman makes switch to forward

H O C K E Y

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

Maddison Smiley scored his fist goal on Feb. 21 against Providence College.

By MArk ChiArelliCollegian Staff

Former Massachusetts men’s basketball point guard Chaz Williams yearned for the oppor-tunity to prove himself capable of playing his way in the NBA during his time in Amherst. Now, he’s one step closer. The former UMass star signed a professional contract with the Maine Red Claws, which is an organization within the NBA’s Developmental League, last week after being placed in the league’s waiver system. The Red Claws, which are an affiliate of the Boston Celtics, are currently 23-11 and in first place in the Atlantic Division. Williams originally signed a professional contract to play in Turkey, spending the fall over-seas. He played for two differ-ent Turkish professional teams before returning to the United States. UMass coach Derek Kellogg said he spoke to Williams Tuesday, and said Williams sounded excited about his deci-sion. “He sounds pretty upbeat,” Kellogg said. “I haven’t followed his stats much but he says he’s doing well. The one thing I like is he seems to be committed to doing whatever they want him to do and whatever they need him to do. “I think they want him to be a good point guard and distribute and get guys involved. I think he’s really concentrating on that while also using his speed and scoring ability. I’m hoping he sticks for the rest of the year and maybe gets a chance to be on a summer league team next year.” Williams has appeared in two games – both wins – and is aver-aging 23.2 minutes per game. He’s averaging six points (26.3 percent shooting) per game and seven assists to just two turnovers per game. In an interview with the Massachusetts Daily Collegian in August, Williams said his goal was to play in the NBA and said the best route in the interim was to play in Turkey. “I’m still working, definitely,” Williams said by phone. “In the