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SGA Speaker voices initiatives for the upcoming year

By ElEanor HartECollegian Staff

With a year of experi-ence under her belt, Sïonan Barrett is back for a second year as speaker of the stu-dent senate in the University of Massachusetts Student Government Association, and is looking forward to things to come. Barrett, a junior jour-nalism major, was a sena-tor in the SGA during the first semester of her fresh-man year. That spring, she took on the role of associate speaker of the student sen-ate. It wasn’t until last fall that she stepped into her role as speaker of the senate. “This year I know the avenues to go through. I’m more of a resource for people to go through instead of the

person asking the questions,” Barrett said. “Last year I would say a lot of my time was spent learning about my role and about the behind the scenes stuff of SGA, because usually sophomores aren’t put in that kind of position. That was one of the first times an underclassman had received that position in any-one’s recent memory.” This year, Barrett said she feels much more prepared for her role and already has a number of projects planned, one of which is a student busi-ness spotlight week planned to take place in October. “There are so many issues that are facing the student business community that no one knows about, so I really want to have people learn more about that and learn more myself too,” she said. “I want to make sure they’re successful this year.” According to Barrett, there are seven student businesses she wished to highlight, five

of which are devoted to food. Barrett said those businesses are getting pushed aside by UMass Dining. The spotlight week she’s currently plan-ning is intended to change that trajectory. “I don’t want to see any student business fail during the time we’re here,” she said. Aside from that, Barrett has begun initiatives for sev-eral of SGA’s committees. The Diversity and Student Engagement Committee is coordinating a “Get Out The Vote” event and registering voters for the November elec-tion. “We’re going to hopefully have some party buses going out to voter polls and get students involved that way,” Barrett added. She is also working on a peer-to-peer influ-ence program designed to reduce aggression at day-drinking events. Titled MinuteMarshals, the goal of

this program is to help calm any binge drinking and dis-ruptive behavior, according to Barrett. “We’re hoping that with people you know and faces you might recognize, it’ll build a better sense of com-munity and a better sense of UMass pride,” she said. Beyond those projects, Barrett’s main goal right now is making sure the student senate runs smoothly and successfully. “The first semester for senate is usually a huge adjustment period because a majority of the senators are first timers, a lot of them are freshmen. So not only are they getting adjusted to the school but also to SGA,” she said. “My goal for first semes-ter is usually to help facilitate a transition for all those first years and hit the ground run-ning for all the projects our chairs have been planning all summer.” With SGA elections taking

place this week, Barrett said she is looking forward to the incoming students who are “going to knock it out of the park this year.”

“I know a lot of people have some really great ideas and I can’t wait to see them

Plans underway for the student senate

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

Barrett has served as both senator and associate speaker in the past.

Transcripts reveal details of nursing school massacre

By Malaika FralEyThe Oakland Tribune

OAKLAND, Calif. — Believing that a college administrator had turned people against him and furious over an unresolved tuition reimbursement, One Goh went to Oikos University months after dropping out intending to kill the administrator and himself. When he couldn’t find her, Goh took the school receptionist hostage, fatally shot her in front of his for-mer classmates and then turned the gun on them, according to grand jury transcripts detailing the April 2, 2012, massacre at the private Oakland nursing

school. “He brought up the fact that he killed one, and he said, you know, ‘Why not two?’ “Sgt. Robert Trevino, who took Goh’s confession to Oakland police, told an Alameda County grand jury. “Quote, ‘I killed one. Why not two?’” The grand jury met in secret for two days last month before indicting Goh of 10 counts for the seven killed and three wounded, plus special murder circum-stances that make him eli-gible for the death penalty. Despite the recent indict-ment, which supersedes a preliminary hearing to order Goh straight to trial, the criminal proceedings

against Goh have been sus-pended since January 2013 because the 45-year-old diagnosed paranoid schizo-phrenic has been deemed incompetent. If he’s not found mentally fit within three years of admission to Napa State Hospital, pros-ecutors will have to request a conservatorship to keep him institutionalized. All but two of Goh’s vic-tims were students whom he had worked side-by-side in a small group for over a year before he withdrew from the school in November 2011, halfway through the program preparing licensed vocational nurses.

Psychology professor receives national award

By HalEy MEdEirosCollegian Correspondent

Clinical psychology pro-fessor Bonnie Strickland is giving even the most deco-rated professors a run for their money. Strickland recently received the American Psychological Associations Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in Psychology in the Public Interest for a body of work that spans five decades. According to a UMass press release, “Gold medalists are selected by their peers who have seen

evidence of a ‘sustained superior performance recog-nizable at a national level,’” and an “enduring contribu-tion to the application of psy-chology in the public inter-est.” For Strickland, this award caught her off guard. “The surprise is that working in nontraditional areas would be recognized by more traditional psychol-ogy,” she said. “One of the special joys of (receiving) the award was hearing from friends and colleagues from years and years ago. That was very, very rewarding.” Strickland, who was born in Kentucky in the midst of the Great Depression, never thought she would be able to

attend college, nor had she ever considered becoming a professor herself. Raised by a single mother, Strickland initially pursued an undergraduate degree at Alabama College as a physi-cal education major. At the time, there were only two psychology faculty mem-bers on staff at her college, according to Strickland. She credits one of them, a man named Jules Rotter, with encouraging her to pursue graduate school at Ohio State University for clinical psychology. After graduating from Ohio University with her Ph.D in 1962, Strickland

Bonnie Strickland nominated by peers

JULLIETTE SANDLEITNER/COLLEGIAN

Viewers admire the work of John Grillo on the opening night of his exhibition in Herter Gallery.

abstract in amherst House approves Obama’s plan to arm Syrian rebels

By lisa Mascaro and MicHaEl a. MEMoliTribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Despite deep reluctance from lawmakers, the House on Wednesday approved President Barack Obama’s plan to arm Syrian rebels in the fight against Islamic State militants, with the Senate expected to give final passage Thursday. But while the 273-156 vote was an important endorsement of the presi-dent’s new military cam-paign, it exposed more doubt than resolve among lawmakers from both par-ties over the administra-tion’s approach. Republicans and Democrats are skeptical of Obama’s plan to sup-plement U.S. airstrikes by training and arming Syrian opposition forces, whose abilities and trust-

worthiness remain untest-ed. Members of both par-ties also fear entering a protracted battle that some worry could ultimately require American troops on the ground, despite assurances from Obama that combat forces will not be deployed. “It’s very sad that we find ourselves again in this situation,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who made the case that lawmakers should back the president’s approach. “We have to pro-tect our country.” The resolution was attached to a must-pass spending bill that’s required to fund the gov-ernment and avert another shutdown, making it more difficult for lawmakers to refuse.

see AWARD on page 2see TRANSCRIPTS on page 2

see HOUSE on page 2

see SENATE on page 2

PAGE 8

PAGE 5

‘PALO ALTO’joins the artful Coppola canon

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN2 Thursday, September 18, 2014 DailyCollegian.com

T H E R U N D O W N

ON THIS DAY...Hurricane Fifi strikes Honduras in 1974, with winds at 110 mph and killing 5,000 people, rank-ing it as the fourth deadli-est Atlantic hurricane on record.

The Ebola outbreak in

West Africa could have a

“catastrophic” economic

effect on the region unless

there is a swift response, the

World Bank said Wednesday.

An analysis by the bank

says the Ebola crisis is

already wreaking havoc

on the economies of the

hardest-hit countries, mak-

ing the nations of Guinea,

Liberia and Sierra Leone

$359 million poorer in

2014 than they would have

been without the disease’s

spread.Los Angeles Times

Militants in Iraq are

seeking to blunt the effec-

tiveness of U.S. airstrikes by

dispersing their forces into

urban areas and increas-

ingly adopting terror tactics

such as suicide attacks and

bombings, says a senior

American military officer.

“What we’ve seen so far is

a lot of the black flags have

come down, a lot of the

convoys have dispersed, a

lot of the assembly areas

have been moved into

urban areas,” Gen. Martin

Dempsey, the chairman of

the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

told a small group of report-

ers Tuesday. “We’ve seen an

increase in the number of

improvised explosive devic-

es and suicide attacks.”

The shift in tactics by

Islamic State militants

in Iraq comes less than a

month after the U.S. began

airstrikes. Iraqi and Kurdish

troops with backing from

U.S. advisors are seeking

to eject an increasingly

shadowy enemy from towns

and cities while defending

against attacks.Los Angeles Times

NEW DELHI — Chinese

President Xi Jinping arrived

in India Wednesday for

a three-day trip aimed at

boosting trade and invest-

ment between the two coun-

tries and to give a push to

the resolution of a decades-

old border dispute.

Xi, accompanied by

his wife Peng Liyuan and

a high level delegation,

landed to a grand welcome

at Ahmedabad, the prin-

cipal city in the western

state of Gujarat, which is

also Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi’s home

state.

Setting aside protocol,

Modi waited to greet Xi as

he arrived at a local hotel,

where they held brief one-

on-one talks followed by the

signing of three agreements.DPA

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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

landed her first professor-ship at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, a major accomplishment for a Southern woman in the 1960s. Strickland was an active participant in the civil rights movement during her tenure at Emory and is con-sidered a forerunner in the women’s rights movement. She also began her margin-alized persons research at Emory and her extensive work on the topic when she arrived at UMass in 1973. Strickland’s research has mainly focused on minori-ties, specifically blacks, les-bians and gays. Through her dedication and initia-tive, several common soci-etal and community prob-lems have been presented with solutions. “I think a lot of folks fol-low a more traditional path but I was very interested in social activism, gay-lesbian activism, and also achieve-ment of black children,” she said. “It just so happened that these areas had not had a lot of research, so it

was easier to step in. … It was just something people weren’t doing and it just never occurred to me not to do it”. In addition to serving as APA’s president in 1987, one of Strickland’s main contri-butions to psychology was her work on the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale for children. This instrument is now “widely used both nationally and internationally,” and is a measure of generalized locus of control of rein-forcement, Strickland said. Strickland’s passion for her research and her stu-dents is evident, and she plans to continue that. “Just teaching…I just always wanted to be a schoolteacher. I tried to retire in 2002 and I failed,” she said when asked about her current endeavors in the psychology field. “I flunked retirement.”

Haley Medeiros can be reached at hmedeiros@umass.edu.

AWARD continued from page 1

Goh told police that he was concerned there was cheating at the school, and he believed that a female administrator had led peo-ple to hate and harass him. The administrator no longer worked at the school at the time of the shooting, unbe-knownst to Goh, according to grand jury testimony. Goh said he didn’t feel the school was taking him seriously about his tuition reimburse-ment, and that he would be a “laughing stock” if he didn’t get his money back. “It was either that he was going to get the money and walk away, or that he was going to kill (the administra-tor) and himself,” Trevino testified. The shooting scene, as told to the grand jury by three shooting survivors, played out like a horror movie: About a dozen of Goh’s former classmates and a new transfer student were tak-ing a test when Goh entered the classroom, holding the clearly terrified reception-ist, Katleen Ping, 24, with

one hand and a .45-caliber handgun in the other. “Everyone to the front of the class,” Goh reportedly yelled. “You guys think I’m (expletive) joking?” The students were in pro-cess of standing up when Goh began shooting people, starting with Ping. Goh told police the gun “went off” when one of the students “scoffed” at his order. Some students ran from the classroom, others tried to hide within it. Goh told police that he saw the elder-ly teacher, Ms. Laura, hiding behind her desk and spared her. Goh described her as a “very nice lady” and told Trevino that he “felt bad” she had to witness the shoot-ing. Students in a nearby classroom turned off the lights, locked the door and hid upon hearing the gun-fire. Knowing that people were hiding from him, Goh fired several rounds through the door but no one was injured. Twenty-seven rounds in all were fired before Goh fled

the campus just five minutes after he entered the school. After taking the bus to the Edgewater Drive campus, he drove to Alameda in a stolen car, ditching the gun and several magazines in the shoreline marsh on the way. The car belonged to 38-year-old Tshering Bhutia, whom Goh fatally shot four times in the classroom before lift-ing his car keys from his pants pocket. Ping, Doris Chibuko, 42; Lydia Sim, 21; Grace Kim, 23; Judith Seymour, 53; and Sonam Choedon, 33, were also slain in the attack. After being taken into custody that same day in an Alameda supermarket, Goh told police that he came up with the idea to kill the administrator and bought the gun in February 2012. Trevino said they asked him why he brought four maga-zines if he only planned to kill himself and one other person. Goh replied that “two wasn’t enough,” Trevino said.

TRANSCRIPTS continued from page 1

Both the stop-gap spend-ing bill and the authority to arm Syrians are effec-tive only until December, all but guaranteeing anoth-er debate in the postelec-tion lame-duck session of Congress. Comments from the Pentagon’s top military officer on Wednesday that U.S. ground troops may be needed in some circum-stances only heightened the unease of many lawmakers

opposed to overseas combat in the aftermath of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Lawmakers from both parties vowed to return from the November election to force a debate-and vote-on whether the president should be able to engage in broader military action. “What in the world are we doing?” said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., on Wednesday before the vote. “Congress should be exam-

ining all of the solutions to this crisis, not just the military ones.” Although the admin-istration maintains that the U.S. is conducting air-strikes against targets in Iraq and Syria under War Powers Resolution author-ity granted by Congress in 2001 and 2002, lawmakers increasingly argue those resolutions do not cover this effort.

HOUSE continued from page 1

happen,” she added. Barrett noted that she would also like to change the SGA’s image among stu-dents, noting that the sena-tors “have something to prove this year.” “I hope people see SGA in a good way this year and see all the good work we do. Because we do a lot of good work, it’s just no one knows about it,” added Barrett.Barrett said there are many ongoing projects that stu-

dent senators have been working on, yet students are unaware because their work often goes by unheard. Despite this, Barrett still just wants to make a difference. “We don’t really care to have our face on there, we just want to see the University be better as a whole,” she said. “We’re ready to take on this challenge.”

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

SENATE continued from page 1

So you think Washington is full of bologna and that’s why you don’t vote, huh? Well, that’s why you

should. First, let me break down the American voting population into age groups. The Baby Boomers, born between 1946 to 1964, make up 76.4 million people, about 24 per-cent of the American population. Generation X, born between 1965 to 1976, make up about 50 million peo-ple, which amounts to around 16 per-cent of the American population. The Millennials, born from 1977 to 2000 make up 80 million people – that is, 25 percent of the American population. Most of us fall into the Millennial category. We make up one-fourth of America’s voting population; an incredibly compelling reason for us to vote. However, during the 2012 elections, less than half – about 45 percent – of those between the ages of 18 and 29 voted. This is unsurprising consider-ing Millennials’ attitude towards Washington. A Harvard IOP study, “Survey of Young Americans’ Attitudes Toward Politics and Public Service” cited in “The Atlantic” article, “The Outsiders: How Can Millennials Change Washington If They Hate It?” found that one third of Millennials believe that “politi-cal involvement rarely has tangible results.” Fifty-six percent believe that elected officials don’t share their priorities, that about three in five believe that elected officials are self-ishly motivated and half believe that “politics has become too partisan.” With these cynical outlooks, our low voter turnout rate is nearly expected.

Ironically, we can begin to change this attitude by voting. The sheer number of the Millennial voting pop-ulation can produce tangible results if we all actually voted. We believe that elected officials do not share our priorities, but we are the ones who elect them into office. Mark your cal-endars. On Sept. 9 the Massachusetts

Primary Election will be held and this Nov. 4, the midterm elections will take place. Sen. Ed Markey is up for reelection, while Gov. Deval Patrick announced that he will not be run-ning for reelection. This is a chance to produce the tangible results we fail to see. We believe that politics have become too partisan and perceive both sides unfavorably. As a result, 50 percent of Millennials who have reg-istered to vote register as indepen-dents or not with any political party. So if you find yourself foregoing elec-tions because you cannot choose a side, registering as an independent is always an option. Though we reject partisan poli-tics with half of us as registered independents, most Millennials hold views that are more liberal when it comes to social issues. We are over-whelmingly in favor of government involvement in making college more affordable, creating more jobs, help-ing the poor, providing retirement security for seniors, the economy, the environment, protecting the rights of women and minorities, address-

ing climate change and protecting consumers and workers. We are also in favor of legalizing same-sex mar-riage, raising the minimum wage and gun control. What does all this mean? For the short run, we can be the deciding factor during the 2014 midterm elec-tions. In 2008, we flooded the polls with 66 percent voting for Obama in hopes of a discernible change. Reality fell short of our hopes and in 2012, as 60 percent of us voted for him. A predicted 53 percent of us will vote Democratic in the upcom-ing election. These past years have doused our confidence in the politi-cal system, but we fail to realize how significant our votes can be. Others have already recognized the weight of our votes in the upcoming midterm. A Project New America article, “POLL: Millennials will Decide 2014 Elections… If They Vote,” assesses, “. . .if progressives have any hope of stopping conser-vatives in 2014, they must engage, inspire, and turn out more Millennial voters.” In the long run, consistent vot-ing by the Millennials could lead to an end in partisanship in Congress. Political parties aside, the general trend in the Millennial generation to lean toward progressive values could indicate greater cooperation between individuals, even of differ-ent parties. Studies on our genera-tion consistently find that we are an idealistic generation determined to make a positive change. We can begin by changing Congress to reflect the people they represent.

Maral Margossian is a Collegian columnist. She can be reached at mmargossian@umass.edu.

The comment I heard when I went into the Student Government Association office this week to pull nomination

papers for the senate race was enough to explain the problem with the fall elections cycle: “Commuter area is going to be a tight race again this year – hope you can manage to get elected.” That’s a joke. This year, there

are eight people on the commut-er ballot and 17 spots available. In fall 2013, half of the people elected to the SGA’s sixteen sen-ate seats designated for off-cam-pus students received less than 10 votes each. In other words, get your roommates to write your name in on the Campus Pulse ballot and you’re in. Across campus, there have been simi-lar issues with distribution of candidates for SGA Senate; too many passionate candidates in the Southwest Residential Area, not enough in the Northeast Residential Area. Our current SGA system throws up roadblocks in front of those who are not already involved and rewards those who exploit a flawed system. The SGA senate is currently made up of 50 students, distributed proportion-ally around the eight residential areas on campus. But how much does living in Northeast really qualify a person to represent the other people living there? And how is a student living in Southwest unable to understand the experiences of students in the Central Residential Area? The SGA ends up full of politi-cal science majors who are too busy playing Frank Underwood to garner real support of the measures they propose from their widespread and often unin-formed constituencies. While there are certainly ben-efits to having a clear picture of where to find your constituents, this does not guarantee that their voices are heard. Instead, the SGA should allot senate elec-toral districts proportionally by college. This would ensure a greater diversity of experi-ence and greater representation of the different academic back-grounds that the University of Massachusetts provides. Of course, current SGA sena-tors would see this move as mak-ing their future election more difficult, and many will ask if it is less feasible to reach the fellow members of your college than the people you live and eat with. While it certainly would make campaigns more difficult, it would also force candidates to do real voter outreach, making SGA elections more democratic. The elections commission could make many changes in order to actually reach more voters, such as extending the voting period, demanding a minimum turnout percentage in order to validate a senate election, allotting a slightly larger campaign budget to each candidate or scheduling public debates for senate posi-

tions. The SGA does not represent the interests of actual students, and for this reason, we need the SGA to dissolve itself. Let me explain: while the members of the SGA may strive to rep-resent student interests and, indeed, some students may feel that their senators do productive work regarding the issues they care about, what the SGA lacks is a proper channel for student power. What is “student power,”

really? As students of UMass, we’ve seen the bureaucratic nightmare that is the daily func-tion of this campus – you’ve seen it if you have ever stood in line at the Bursar’s office trying to dispute your financial aid pack-age. Student power means being able to cut through these institu-tional obstacles and make mean-ingful change that will last long after we have graduated. I want to make our campus care about divesting from fossil fuels, creat-ing more supportive processes for reporting sexual assault and making internships an option for all, not just an option for those who can afford to take a summer off from paid work. As it func-tions now, the SGA is not able to propose measures with last-ing effects. Rather, it is mainly a rubber stamp for administra-tive measures that require some measure of student consent. And the consent of a few SGA members is not worth much if it doesn’t truly represent a larger and more specific constituency than areas of campus.” In an ideal student gover-nance body for UMass, there would be no division between the undergraduate senate, the grad-uate senate and the faculty sen-ate. This collective senate would serve as the legislative branch to the administration’s executive branch. Legislators may pro-pose motions that then can be passed and approved or vetoed by the administration, and any executive action on behalf of the administrators would require consent from a senate that is more powerful and comprehen-sive than the three senates could ever be if kept apart. It would still be subject to the quick turn-over that any student organi-zation experiences but would ensure fuller understanding of student demands and university actions. As a rational student of this university for the last two years, I understand that this proposal will seem ludicrous to the admin-istration. But I firmly believe that the SGA must take the first step toward truly democratic student power and reassign sen-ate electoral districts by college. Not only would it involve and interest more students in a pro-cess that affects their everyday lives but it would also ensure a more representative and respon-sible student government than the senate we are about to elect.

Emily O’Neil is a Collegian columnist. She can be reached at econeil@umass.edu.

Opinion EditorialEditorial@DailyCollegiancomThursday, September 18, 2014

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“The UMass Student Government Association does not represent the interests of actual students, and for

this reason, we need the SGA to dissolve itself.”

“The sheer number of the Millennial voting population can produce tangible results

if we all actually voted.”

Want student power? End the SGA

Millennials’ votes can make a difference in all elections

Arts Living“Sweeter than a plate of yams with extra syrup.” - Outkast Arts@DailyCollegian.comThursday, September 18, 2014

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Nostalgia and angst abound in Gia Coppola’s ‘Palo Alto’

By AlexAnder FrAilCollegian Staff

Two boys sit in a car. Drinks and joints in hand, they dim the headlights in a remote parking lot. A con-versation about King Arthur rambles on, and then the driver slams the gas and the car smashes into a wall, crumpling its hood and bil-lowing steam into the night. After the title card, the pas-senger mutely mops the blood from his forehead as the driver hollers in ecstasy. “Palo Alto,” the debut effort of director Gia Coppola, knows it’s a mas-ter of character development from its first shot. We know that the driver is a fearless hooligan, while the passen-ger straddles a line between childhood innocence and teenage delinquency. An excellent first film from Coppola, “Palo Alto” high-lights the dangers of living too lightly and takes us on a nostalgic journey through the untamed wild known as high school. Coppola, niece of direc-

tor Sofia Coppola, adapted her screenplay from James Franco’s “Palo Alto,” a col-lection of short stories that draw from his childhood. The film debuted over the summer and raked in a little under a million in revenue. Emma Roberts stars as April, a high school senior on the cusp of an illicit rela-tionship with her soccer coach (James Franco). In her opening shot, April sneaks a cigarette during soccer practice before she hisses out a sigh and flicks it aside, as if participating were an ordeal. Her eyes exude both profound pathos and indif-ference. Jack Kilmer delivers a wonderful debut as Teddy, April’s counterpart. Teddy flirts with danger at every turn. For most of the film he oscillates between delin-quent and golden boy, and his journey mirrors April’s as both teenagers see how far their morals can sink before they derail their lives. Without direction from teachers or structure from parents, April and Teddy fall victim to wandering imagina-tions and reckless boredom. A perpetual phone call con-sumes April’s mother, while

her stepfather (an under-used Val Kilmer) smokes weed from dawn ‘til dusk. In rebellion, April pursues her soccer coach. Meanwhile, Teddy nixes each opportuni-ty at redemption as he drives drunk and curses at cops. Jack Kilmer steals the show. His portrayal of Teddy, ostensibly an early 90s ston-er, delves deep into the teen-ager’s soul and brings forth an anti-hero you can root for. Kilmer’s shy expressions suggest a boy whose ambiva-lence towards change traps him in routine, his spirit torn between ambition and angst. Nat Wolff stars in a sup-porting role as Fred, a com-pletely irredeemable bully who charms his way out of trouble. Some of his lines will turn your stomach. He targets everyone’s inse-curities to sculpt a role of dominance, and as he self-destructs, he ruins many opportunities for Teddy’s reformation. Fred’s recklessness, at first the root of Teddy’s mis-steps and then the catalyst for his awakening, could’ve been handled much bet-ter. Coppola’s screenplay turns it into an obvious plot device by the film’s midpoint.

Consequently, it surrenders all plausibility. At one point, Teddy angri-ly asks Fred why he has to try to act so recklessly all the time. I found myself asking the same thing. Coppola allows style to trump substance, an error her aunt often suffers from. Sofia Coppola’s landmark “Lost in Translation” per-fected the introspective indie blueprint, a precedent she failed to uphold with efforts like “Marie Antoinette” and “Somewhere.” Gia Coppola’s debut resembles “Lost in Translation,” but falls just short of its transcendence. A wandering narrative hampers its excellent per-formances and gorgeous cinematography, courtesy of Autumn Durald. There are misplaced scenes abound in “Palo Alto.” Teddy and Fred’s father share a moment that, while intriguing for character development, opens a door that the narra-tive doesn’t close. Instead, it unnecessarily detracts from the narrative’s intrigue. Coppola makes up for these shortcomings with her artful depiction of April’s affair with her soccer coach. Franco, excellent in his small

role, portrays the coach as an obvious charmer who picks up on April’s crush. How he proceeds will make you squirm. Coppola han-dles each shot delicately and focuses on April with pro-tracted close-ups that illus-trate her gradual realization of the affair’s gravity. A beautiful score from Devonté Hynes and Robert Schwartzman buoys the film’s solid direction and moving performances. It’s a mellower cousin of the propulsive electro score of “Drive.” Kilmer also con-tributes a ruminative, lo-fi

instrumental that compli-ments the film’s tone won-derfully. As you exit the theater, it’s the works of the actors that’ll stick with you longest. Roberts headlines a strong cast with her fantastic perfor-mance, while Kilmer shines in his inaugural role. Uneven narrative aside, “Palo Alto” is an entrancing vehicle to a simpler time and a haunting tale of young adults left to their own devices.

Alexander Frail can be reached at afrail@umass.edu.

F I L M R E V I E W

By AlexAnder FrAilCollegian Staff

Amherst Cinema plays a wide array of independent films, documentaries and classic films from the past several decades. A non-profit, independent and member-supported theater, accord-ing to its website, Amherst Cinema gives a voice to many films that would otherwise go largely unseen. The theater has a rotat-ing schedule that hosts some films for only a night or a week. Among these films have been indie hits like “Boyhood” and “Calvary.” Upcoming films include “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby” and “Mood Indigo,” the newest effort from Michel Gondry (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”). Old favorites also often resurface at Amherst Cinema. Recently, the theater screened Sofia Coppola’s 2003 classic “Lost in Translation,” while Frank Capra’s Best Picture winner “It Happened One Night” will return to the silver screen on Sept. 28 and 30. The Humphrey Bogart noir “The Maltese Falcon” will headline the cinema’s series, “Hard-Boiled: Film Noir Classics.” Screenings are scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. and Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. “Afternoon of a Faun” premieres Saturday, Sept. 20 at 1 p.m. Directed by Nancy Buirski, the documentary chronicles the life of balle-rina Tanaquil Le Clercq, whose career was cut short by polio. The film also cel-ebrates the Massachusetts Dance Festival which, accord-ing to their website, provides “opportunities for profession-al and emergent dancers and choreographers.” Amherst Cinema also fea-tured “Oil & Water,” a docu-mentary about two boys who

experience the fallouts of oil pollution in Ecuador. The film follows Hugo Lucitante, an Ecuador native who moves to the United States in search of education, and David Poritz, an Amherst native who began Equitable Origins, a humanitarian project in the Amazon. The film studies the effects of oil on indigenous peoples. According to the film’s synopsis, these include “unexplainable rashes, child-hood deformities and balloon-ing cancer rates.” Upcoming special events include a screening of National Theater Live, a program based in London at the National Theater that broadcasts its performances internationally. Next up is “Medea,” an interpretation of Euripides’s tragedy by Ben Power. Helen McCrory, known to American audi-ences for her portrayal of Narcissa Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” films, will star. “Medea” will screen at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27. An “Of Mice and Men” adaptation, also part of National Theater Live, is scheduled for Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. The performance stars James Franco (“Pineapple Express”) and Chris O’Dowd (“Bridesmaids”). The theater offers mem-berships that provide lower ticket prices, priority pur-chase for special events and free admission on your birth-day. These memberships are designed to not only benefit theatergoers, but also to sup-port and to maintain Amherst Cinema. Amherst Cinema, located at 28 Amity St. in Amherst, says it offers, “the best in cur-rent and classic cinema.” One glance at its roster of films proves its tagline true. The theater maintains a palette of cinema, including films that are both contemporary and classic, unique and thought provoking.

Alexander Frail can be reached at afrail@umass.edu.

Indie delights at Amherst CinemaTheater offers new films, old favorites

F I L M

Marvel’s ‘Guardians’ breaks the mold

By nAthAn FrontieroCollegian Staff

A little film called “Guardians of the Galaxy” accomplished something pretty extraordinary this summer – you may have heard about it. It featured a cast of characters from a lesser-known comic series, essentially subvert-ed the entire superhero film genre and redefined the cinematic universe of Marvel. It also had the best August opening in box office history. Summer is the season of opportunities – a time for beach days, traveling and generally laid-back ambling. Summer block-busters are simply one more option. “Guardians” stood out because of an irresistible charm that is evident from the film’s opening minutes as direc-tor James Gunn keeps an eye for loose, freewheeling fun. The film wears none of the dark and broody fashions that have been in vogue over the last half decade. Even Marvel Studios has waded into sulkier waters in its recent efforts, as seen to varying levels of success in “Thor: The Dark World” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” The best part about “Guardians” is that it barely feels like it belongs in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And it is precisely for that rea-son that it opens up a new avenue of possibilities – not only for the ongoing mega-franchise, but for the enterprise of big-bud-get filmmaking as well. Here, mythology never bogs down pace, nor does it break audience engage-ment. The film whiz-zes by swiftly, and even when the explicit details fall out of clarity, Gunn ensures that the ride is

enjoyable. Interestingly enough, as much as an outlier “Guardians” is in terms of the current larger MCU story, it does make an effort to explain the MacGuffins that have appeared onscreen thus far. Yet, it is the way the film handles that expla-nation that separates it the most from previous Marvel films. All-powerful superhe-roes drew plenty of atten-tion in “The Avengers,” the film to which “Guardians” is most similar, but here the focus is kept on the journey rather than the vaguely omnipotent object that ostensibly moves it along. The film takes a moment to detail some of the mythos building up its larger universe, but then it keeps right on going with-out skipping a beat. “Guardians” is the first film in the MCU since “Iron Man” that is pri-marily focused on pure entertainment. Marvel has certainly offered a light-er, more colorful brand of superhero films over the last six years, but its narratives have typically been focused on clean-cut heroes. This film under-

stands the left-field nature of its heroes and embraces the weirdness. It wears both earnestness and snark on its sleeve. It is also gleefully self-aware, never taking itself too seriously, but also avoid-ing a full break into self-satire. The f ilm’s cast earns laugh-out-loud moments. Between the Shakespearean dead-pan from Dave Bautista’s Drax, Bradley Cooper’s foul-mouthed Rocket and Vin Diesel’s impeccably timed linguistic limita-tions as Groot, there’s such a wealth of quotable exchanges that you might just think you’re watch-ing a comedy. Gunn and co-writer Nicole Perlman make the wise choice to play up the eccentricities of the story. They playful-ly and discreetly skewer the concept of furrowed-brow filmmaking. “Guardians of the Galaxy” proves that big-ger projects can run with a constant air of levity. A superhero movie can thrive on its own silli-ness. This film lives for its ridiculous aspects, and the quirks transcend the

sights and sounds. Tyler Bates does provide an orchestral score, but the soundtrack is comprised of 70s and 80s rock. When Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord puts on his Walkman and Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love” starts play-ing, he’s not just starting off one of the funniest opening credits sequences in recent memory. He’s ushering in a new era of blockbusters. It’s very telling that the soundtrack, comprised of all previously recorded music, scaled to the top of the Billboard charts. The masses are ready to embrace a new paradigm of large-scale cinema. When the film’s title fills the entire screen in its glorious blocky font, you can sense the arrival of a new approach. Films of this stylistic magnitude don’t have to lumber along as if carrying the weight of their budgets. That’s an important message to send, and “Guardians of the Galaxy” delivered.

Nathan Frontiero can be reached at nfrontiero@umass.edu.

A survivor of the summer doldrums

F I L M

COURTESY OF TRIBECA FILM

April (Emma Roberts) sneaks a cigarette during practice.

Jack Kilmer stars in superb debut role

COURTESY OF MARVEL STUDIO

A band of misfits, the Guardians of the Galaxy saved the world in a new style.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN6 Thursday, September 18, 2014 DailyCollegian.com

WE WANT YOUR COMICS!Put your comics in front of thousands of readers.

Questions? Comments? Email us: comics@dailycollegian.comComics

Life is but woe, and i am the woer.

Beauty is only skin deep but irony goes down to the lymph.

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

Making a tuna salad is as simple as swapping out the lettuce in a regular salad for some sweet sweet tuna flecks.

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Sometimes you have a nose bleed walking to class and it gets all over your shirt. These are days. We’ll get through them.

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Ninety-nine percent of people who lose one of their flip flops while bike riding leave it in the bike lane. Don’t be a statistic.

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It takes two to mango.gemini May. 21 - Jun. 21

If you’re not laughing at this page, it’s important to read it at 3 a.m. Everything is hilarious at 3 a.m.

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It’s better to have loved and lost than to never have bought that doughnut at all.

leo Jul. 23 - aug. 22

Please, don’t lick the center of my tootsie pop.

virgo aug. 23 - Sept. 22

Though understandable, try not to cry when you realize you will never get to eat a strawberry that is the size of your body.

libra Sept. 23 - Oct. 22

You are going to need more than just “it tastes like almonds” to turn your friends onto alternative milks.

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When life feels like everything is not going your way and you’ll never be successful, remember: Weezer is still making music.

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Don’t let those three tests and paper due Monday get in the way of your weekend. What do you think college is about?

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Poorly Drawn lines By reza FarazmanD

There are three people in space!

Dinosaur ComiCs By ryan north

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN Thursday, September 18, 2014 7DailyCollegian.com

Minutewomen lose co-captain

By Tom mulherinCollegian Staff

The Massachusetts women’s soccer team must replace a significant con-tributor to the starting line-up in the immediate future. Co-captain Jackie Bruno suffered an injury to her right foot where a bone abnormality was discov-ered. Now in a walking boot, Bruno and coach Ed Matz say that she will probably be sidelined for at least two weeks. Bruno, a forward, serves as the leader of a struggling offense that is composed of mostly sophomores and freshman. In eight games, the offense has been shutout three times and has been held to just one goal in four of those games. With the offense already having issues in goal pro-duction, the last thing the Minutewomen needs is to have one of their top play-ers sidelined for two weeks. Luckily, UMass (2-4-2) is scheduled to have only two games in the next 14 days, with the Atlantic-10 sched-ule starting on Oct. 3. In the meantime, Matz says that the team’s offense will definitely lose some of its fire that comes from Bruno on the field, and the focus right now is to just get her healthy for A-10 play. “We’re definitely going to miss her spark,” Matz said. “Jackie can be physical when she wants to be, she can play with a chip on her shoulder, and we’re going to miss that. Right now we’re just trying to make sure she’s healthy for the A-10s, she’s going to be very impor-tant for us in October.” Before the season started, Bruno and junior defender Rebekka Sverrisdóttir were elected co-captains by their teammates after seeing the duo’s leadership skills and determination to get

improve during the offsea-son. Such recognition from her teammates doesn’t go unnoticed by the junior for-ward, as Bruno says that her election into captain-ship means a lot to her and she doesn’t want to disap-point her team. “[Being chosen as cap-tain] was a really huge thing last spring,” she said. “Everybody was up for the position, so no one really knew who it would be. It was really great that the girls noticed how much work I put in on-and-off the field because leading them is def-initely a responsibility that I wanted to have. I want to make sure that I’ll be there for them.”So far this year, Bruno has “been there” for the team by scoring two goals for the Minutewomen, which is second most on the team behind Meghan Burke’s three. Both of those goals have come in crucial moments of the game, as her first goal of the season came against Providence with one second remaining to tie the game and send it into overtime, while the other was the game-winner in double overtime against

New Hampshire.Bruno brings a different dynamic to the team that cannot be replaced by any-one else, and that is her abil-ity to fire up her teammates both on and off the field.. Using that tenacity in her offensive mindset, Bruno and Matz say that her first focus when she touches the ball is to score, whether it comes off her own foot or by finding one of her team-mates who is in a better position to score. “She has that natural ability, that natural will and desire to score,” Matz said. “She’s got a very strong left foot, and the fact that she scored a goal with one sec-ond left in the game, it shows that no matter what she is going to keep playing. No matter what the time or the score, Jackie is only going to play one way – hard.” Bruno’s contributions to the team have come since day one of her freshman year. While her effort and skill level on the field prove to be huge for UMass day in and day out, her sideline contributions are going to need to be equally as impor-tant over the next couple of weeks.

Despite not being with the team on the field, Bruno believes that she has a lot to contribute while she is out. As a captain, she believes that she is a vocal leader, which should transition well over on the sidelines. Whether it’s translating what the coach is saying in an easier way to the young-er players to understand, or helping them make adjust-ments on the field, Bruno has served as a respectable leader. As for what she can do for the team right now, Bruno says that she is just going to be as vocal as she can off the field. “I love to talk up my team,” she said. “We’re so close, so I’m comfortable with being vocal. I know for a fact that having your team-mates support you from the bench is one of the most important things. I’m just going to talk up everyone on the field with positive rein-forcement and an extra pair of coaching eyes. I want to be there for my team.”

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

Jackie Bruno to miss two weeks

O’Neil has no plans to move Matt Keys

W O M E N ’ S S O C C E R

JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

Jackie Bruno was left in a walking boot after discovering bone abnormality in her right foot.

draft in a year or two years. He’s a great kid. … He’s got all the things you’re looking for. That’s why (Penn State) will have a chance to win the Big Ten title.” Whipple stayed starry-eyed while talking about what it will be like to face Penn State, a school still dear to him and his family. He joked that he’d prefer to be in the stands when the Nittany Lions play. “They’re talented across the board,” Whipple said. “But I’ve been there before. It’s a great opportunity for us and I think our kids will be excited. “They’ve got bigger, faster players than we do, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to win the game. You’ve got to go out and execute.” That’s been the Minutemen’s problem lately. The winless team has blown double-figure leads in back-to-back games, which both ended in three-point losses. UMass is a work in prog-ress, but has shown steady improvement each week behind quarterback Blake Frohnapfel, who is 46-for-94 with five touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. The

graduate student is start-ing to show his ability to get down field with the help of receivers, notably junior Tajae Sharpe. Alex Kenney, a graduate student wide receiver and Penn State alum, believes the Minutemen will put up a fight against his alma mater. He called the looming matchup “strange,” but said it won’t be difficult for him to focus. “We have an explosive offense and great athletes and a great quarterback,” Kenney said. “So if we exe-cute, I think we can be very effective.” Austin said UMass has quickly bounced back from its losses, but that doesn’t mean the team is content. He said losses to BC, Colorado and Vanderbilt were learn-ing experiences. “The team has really bought in to winning,” Austin said. “It’s not like ‘we got close against (elite teams),’ it’s ‘we should have won that game.’ We’re ready to win now, and I think that’s a big step.”

Peter Cappiello can be reached at pcappiel@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @petecapps.

PSU continued from page 8

KICKERS continued from page 8

WOODLEY continued from page 8

through the speakers at McGuirk. In addition to prac-ticing with loud noise, Whipple and Frohnapfel could exercise a silent snap count if hearing becomes an issue. UMass had tossed the idea around last week at practice in preparation for playing at Vanderbilt, however this is the week that the offense might have to use that options given the expected turnout in State

College. “Playing in front of all those fans… I think this is going to be really fun,” Jovan Santos-Knox, line-backer, said with an ear-to-ear grin, looking like a kid on Christmas morn-ing. Kickoff from Beaver Stadium is set for 4 p.m. and can be seen on the Big Ten Network.

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

Woodley said. But according to Woodley, he put too much pressure on himself. “The only thing that was running through my mind was ‘I’m getting back on the field for the first time this season significantly,” Woodley said. “So I was just focused too much on making a play instead of just playing my game.” Woodley’s game is a valu-able asset to a UMass squad that’s suddenly depleted at running back. His sturdy frame and ability to run between the tackles is something Whipple praised.“I think he’s a pretty good inside zone runner and I think he has speed to get outside,” Whipple said. “He did a nice job on a couple things inside.” Against Penn State Saturday, UMass needs Woodley to shoulder the offensive load. The Nittany Lions boast an

impressive defensive line and Woodley noted he’s working with running backs coach Marcel Shipp to lower his pad level when running to power through tackles. Assuming the starting role also means increased practice reps, something that will only help in shak-ing off the rust and should help Woodley improve his consistency as a player.“It’s very important because the more reps you get, the better you get and the more you learn,” Woodley said. “The more mistakes you make in practice, the more you learn from them. … It helps you prepare for the game. So when you get in the game you know what you’re going to do and you’re ready for every-thing to come.”

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

Minutemen ready for home opener

By AnThony ChiusAnoCollegian Staff

For the Massachusetts men’s soccer team, it has been a long wait to return home after a five-game road trip to open the season. But come Friday, the Minutemen will welcome Fairfield to Rudd Field in their home opener, as they search for their first win of the season. “It’s definitely a good feeling to be home,” senior forward Josh Schwartz said. “We had a tough road sched-ule to start the season, so it’s definitely a little comforting to come home and play a team that’s familiar.” UMass (0-5) enters Friday’s matchup struggling on offense, recovering from three consecutive shutout games and totaling two goals for the season. Interim coach Devin O’Neill said that he hopes to jumpstart the Minutemen’s offense from the onset of the game by extending the team’s attack further up the field and applying added pressure closer to the Stags’ goal to create more opportu-nities for “garbage goals.” “At times, we just don’t look as opportunistic as I would like us to in our scor-ing chances,” O’Neill said. “We have to run with pur-pose, look for second oppor-tunities and expect mis-

takes. If we do those things, I think we’ll put the oppo-nents under pressure, which may lead to some breaks and some bounces that will come our way.” Schwartz said that this collective attack is some-thing that was often missing from UMass’ offensive strat-egy in previous games. “We tended to sometimes not get all of us into attack, so we’ve really been working on stepping up the full-field pressure,” Schwartz said. “It’ll be a new style from us.” One change that O’Neill said he is not currently look-ing to make to create offen-sive opportunities is moving senior defender Matt Keys to forward. This was a strategy implemented last season by Sam Koch on Sept. 28 that lasted the remainder of the year. With the Minutemen experiencing similar early-season struggles in 2013 – UMass began the year with an 0-8-1 record – Keys was moved up front and finished the season with 10 points, good enough for second on the team. As recently as last Saturday against Boston University, Keys was moved to forward in the late min-utes of a 2-0 loss. Despite this cameo, O’Neill said that Keys’ impact on the defensive unit, which has allowed five goals in the past three games after conceding nine goals in the first two games, is too cru-cial to make the position swap again. “We want to be a team

that is pretty hard to play against and part of that is that you don’t concede a lot of goals,” O’Neill said. “We’re not built to be a team that relies on three or four goals to win, so good defense is always critical.” However, according to O’Neill, he will con-tinue using Keys on the Minutemen’s frontline in some late-game situations when UMass is looking for a goal. O’Neill said that the 6-foot-4 Keys will also play a role on Friday in combatting the Minutemen’s height dis-advantage against Fairfield (2-1-1). While Keys is one of two UMass players that are listed above six feet – along with sophomore defender Josh Jess – the Stags boast eight

position players at 6-foot-1 or taller on their roster. According to O’Neill, this was a similar problem that the team faced when trying to defend the Terriers in Saturday’s loss. “In certain situations, that can cause problems, especially in defensive restarts,” O’Neill said. “We want to try to limit those opportunities and do a good job defensively in those situations.” Prior to Friday’s game, there will be a short cer-emony at Rudd Field hon-oring Koch, who lost his battle with sinus cancer in July after 23 seasons as the coach of the Minutemen. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.

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

M E N ’ S S O C C E R

COLLEGIAN FILE PHOTO

Matt Keys dribbles the ball away from a defender.

see PSU on page 7

see WOODLEY on page 7see KICKERS on page 7

Sophomore to make first start of season

@MDC_SPORTS Sports@DailyCollegian.comSeptember 18, 2014

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

UMASS AT PENN STATE

UMass, Penn St. set for battle

By Peter CaPPielloCollegian Staff

Austin Whipple, fatigued from a Massachusetts foot-ball practice that lasted over two hours, was surprised to be stopped on his way to the locker room. He had one more job to do: face his newfound popularity. The redshirt freshman quarterback, who joined UMass this year after trans-ferring from Penn State, has become an unwitting author-ity on his old team, whom the Minutemen (0-3) will visit on Saturday. Teammates and media members both have been ask-ing Austin to tell stories and give perspective on the Nittany Lions (3-0). He went through two rounds of interviews after practice Tuesday. “Everyone’s asked me if the hype’s real and if they’re that good of a team and if the atmo-sphere is as big as it is,” Austin said. “And it is. They’re one of the two teams (Nebraska) that’s still undefeated in the Big Ten, and I don’t think that happens by chance.”

Penn State boasts a strong defensive line, anchored by tackles Austin Johnson and Anthony Zettel, but the team’s star is quarterback Christian Hackenberg, the first sopho-more captain in program his-tory. The 19-year-old threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns last season – good enough to break 12 of his school’s freshman passing records. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Hackenberg (79-for-127) hasn’t lost his touch. He has 1082 passing yards and four touchdowns to go with two game-winning drives in his 2014 campaign. Head coach Mark Whipple, Austin’s father, can’t help but respect Hackenberg. He met the Nittany Lions’ wunder-kind when Hackenberg shared an apartment complex with Austin, and is familiar with his play. “He’s got NFL level tal-ent,” Mark Whipple, a former NFL quarterbacks coach, said Monday. “This guy’s going to be the first player picked in the

F O O T BA L L

SATURDAY 4 P.M.BEAVER STADIUM

Showdown in State College

By andrew CyrCollegian Staff

When Blake Lucas trotted onto the field to the 22-yard line with six sec-onds remaining against Vanderbilt last Saturday, he knew exactly what he his job was: make the field goal. Come this Saturday however, when the Massachusetts football team takes on Penn State, Lucas, or backup kicker Matthew Wylie for that matter, won’t know what his job will be until game day when Whipple decides who the starter will be. “We probably won’t know who it is until the game,” the coach said. “We’ll wait until Saturday unless someone stinks it up or someone does well, but yesterday they both kicked the ball well so we’ll go day-to-day.” Lucas’ job was jeopardized after missing the game tying “chip shot” kick by a wide margin. Lucas is two-for-four this season, after struggling last year making only three of his 10 attempts. He is 12-for-22 in his career with the Minutemen. “You definitely feel for him,” Wylie said. “No one ever wants to see that happen to anybody.” Wylie earned his way onto the field by taking kickoff duties against Vanderbilt in his first collegiate game, kicking off a total six times for a total of 311 yards, an average of 51.8 yards per attempt. “I’m excited. I’m just going to go out there and compete and try to do the best I can do this week, ” said Wylie.

Once in a lifetime opportunity When the UMass takes the field on Saturday, it’ll be in front of a crowd that most of the players have never seen before. In 2013, despite the postseason ban, Penn State finished with the fifth highest attendance average in FBS college football at 96,587 fans per game. Beaver Stadium is the second largest stadium in college football, with a capacity of 106,572, only trailing “The Big House,” Michigan Stadium. The Minutemen played their first FBS road game at Michigan in front of 110,187, the largest crowd UMass has ever played in front of. Beaver Stadium is also ranked the fourth largest stadium of the world only trailing Rungrado May Day stadium in North Korea, Salt Lake Stadium in India, and Michigan Stadium. “Playing in that stadium will be a pretty cool experience for us all and it’s something we’re all really

excited about,” quarterback Blake Frohnapfel said. Frohnapfel had some experience playing in front of large crowds during his career at Marshall. He said at practice on Wednesday the big ones that came to mind were Lousiville, Purdue, Virginia Tech and West Virginia, but claims that Virginia Tech was the “rowdiest” crowd he’s ever seen. “The main thing is, is to have fun. Playing in front of 100,000 people, that’s a fun experience. We can just enjoy it and keep play-ing because I think we’ll definitely have a shot in this game,” added Frohnapfel. Whipple is no stranger to playing on the road in loud envi-ronments during stints at the University of Miami and with the Pittsburgh Steelers. In order to simulate the sounds of the crowd, the Minutemen have been prac-ticing with loud music blasting

Lucas, Wylie battle in practice for top spot

MADELINE PARSONS/COLLEGIAN

Blake Lucas awaits kickoff against Colorado Sept. 6.

Woodley given second chance

By Mark ChiarelliCollegian Staff

Massachusetts football run-ning back Lorenzo Woodley’s career is off to an unsteady start. The 6-foot, 212 pound sopho-more experienced just enough success during his freshman sea-son to remind fans why he was a highly recruited running back out of high school with offers from the likes of Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Pittsburgh. Despite missing four games due to injury, Woodley still rushed for 314 yards on 84 carries. It was a taste – only a glimpse – of what Woodley is capable of doing. And just as soon as he appeared, he quickly disap-peared. Amid a coaching change and a fresh start to UMass football in 2014, Woodley found himself lost in the shuffle behind starting running back Jamal Wilson and freshman J.T. Blyden. Minutemen coach Mark Whipple noted after UMass’ 34-31 loss to Vanderbilt that Woodley was at one point in his “dog house.” “It motivated me a lot,” Woodley said. “I was just trying my best to get back to where I was. Unfortunately, nobody wants to be in the dog house but I tried to do the best that I can to get out.” Because of injuries to other running backs and a renewed clean bill of health, Woodley received an opportunity against

the Commodores. Wilson suffered a serious ankle injury in the first quarter against Vanderbilt – he’s expected to miss significant time, if not the year – and Blyden, his reserve, didn’t play due to injury. So the start-ing running back duties quickly belonged to Woodley. And his first impression wasn’t strong. Woodley bobbled a toss from quar-terback Blake Frohnapfel on a designed run play to the left side. He failed to pick up the loose ball and knocked it into the end zone, where a Vanderbilt defender fell on the fumble for a touchdown. The miscue cut the UMass lead from 17-7 to 17-14. “It hurt at first because I know I hurt my team by fumbling the ball,” Woodley said. But when Woodley returned to the sideline, Whipple was the first person waiting for him. And instead of reprimanding Woodley, Whipple urged him to look ahead. “He just told me ‘just let it go, don’t worry about it, play the next play,” Woodley said. “And that’s what I tried to do. I tried to come back and make more of a state-ment by playing better and tried to make my team win.” Woodley’s statement came in the form of two touchdown runs for 22 yards on 43 carries. He struggled at first, but adapted to the offense as the game progressed. Part of it was simply getting used to playing meaningful football again.“I was just trying to get that rust knocked off and trying to come out and make an impact,”

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CADE BELISLE/DAILY COLLEGIAN

Blake Frohnapfel looks for his first win in maroon and white on Saturday in State College, Pennsylvania.

MCT

UMass coach Mark Whipple believes Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg could be first overall pick in NFL Draft.