By Ben ZifkinCollegian Correspondent

The Student Government Association at the University of Massachusetts has announced a new binge drinking awareness campaign in the wake of former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis’ report, which cited high-risk drinking as major cause of large, crowd-relat-ed disturbances at UMass. . The Sept. 19 report pro-vided recommendations on how the University and the town of Amherst can effectively deal with and prevent situations similar to last March’s “Blarney Blowout,” during which police, clad in riot gear, arrested 58 people. Davis outlined seven crit-ical areas where he believes the University, the town and the student body should make changes in order to safely deal with or prevent such incidents. One of those key areas is what Davis called “high-risk drinking.” According to the report, high-risk drinking results in “(higher) rates of intoxi-cation, vandalism, riots and

harm to self and others.” Also known as “heavy epi-sodic drinking” or “binge drinking,” it is defined in Davis’ report and by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism as “when men consume 5 or more drinks, and when women consume 4 or more drinks, in about 2 hours.” It is this type of alco-hol consumption that SGA Senator and Chairwoman of the Student and Academic Af fairs Organizing Committee Jennifer Raichel hopes to curb with the new cam-paign. “We’re not trying to stamp out drinking at UMass,” Raichel said. “We just want to encourage stu-dents to be aware and to stop themselves or others before they have too much.” The program will col-laborate with several other organizations and move-ments on campus which work to raise awareness about dangerous drinking habits. The campaign also ties into Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy’s “UMatter at UMass” initiative, which, according to its website, aims to “support increased campus connectedness”

and “(reduce) the misuse of alcohol and other drugs.” The Binge Drinking Awareness campaign will also work with the Office of Student Affairs, the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health and University Health Services. Raichel said that she sees the SGA having two criti-cal roles once the initiative is launched. First, Raichel said the SGA will “give stu-dents a seat at the table, an opportunity to make their voices heard,” allowing for greater transparency in the process. Additionally, the SGA will play a crucial part in shaping the message that is put out to the stu-dents, according to Raichel.

Following last year’s “Blarney Blowout,” the stu-dent body received an email from Subbaswamy detailing his feelings of “outrage” and condemning those involved for the damage and disturbances caused by the incident. Similar messages have been sent by the administration to students in the past, warn-ing against congregating and binge drinking.

These messages, which Raichel said were “too long ... and not relat-able,” is one place where she feels the SGA’s input will be invaluable. Raichel said she hopes that a more carefully crafted message, per-haps from other students themselves, will elicit a more receptive response from the student body. In order to gain a better

idea of the status of drink-ing on campus, the SGA will be hosting an open student forum on the issue during the first week of October. “We really want to see how students feel about drink-ing and binge drinking here on campus,” Raichel said. Ben Zifkin can be reached at bzifkin@umass.edu.

DailyCollegian.comTuesday, September 30, 2014

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SGA to work with UMatter at UMass

New campaign to combat binge drinking

University leaps ahead in rankings

By Thomas DalTon Collegian Correspondent

The University of Massachusetts has been ranked among the top 30 public universities in the country by U.S. News and World Report in its 2015 Best Colleges guide, mov ing up 20 places since 2010. UMass tied for 30th in

the national list, along with Indiana University, Bloomington, Miami University, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and the University of Delaware.  The University also advanced in the publication’s “National Universities” cat-egory, climbing 15 places from 91 to 76 in the past year. U.S. News began pub-lishing annual lists of the nation’s best institutions of higher education in 1983. Schools are ranked based on

their performance in a vari-ety of categories, including undergraduate academic reputation, retention and graduation rates, faculty resources, admissions selec-tivity, financial resources and alumni contributions. All of these factors have been cited as reasons for UMass’ steady climb through the publication’s rankings in recent years. According to a University press release, the enter-ing class of 2018 is the most academically accom-

plished in UMass history. According to UMass spokesperson Daniel Fitzgibbons, the University has consistently improved admissions selectivity and rates of retention and grad-uation. Additionally, UMass has experienced a steady increase in alumni support. “This ranking is a key component of building the image of this campus and the reputation of the University,” Fitzgibbons

UMass in top 30 of public universities

Senators debate informant policy

By William keve Collegian Correspondent

The Student Government Association met Monday night for the second meet-ing of the semester, as a long line of speakers addressed campus poli-cies and cultures including confidential informants. The meeting featured a presentation from Facilities and Campus Services Communications Manager Jim Hunt. His slideshow detailed current and future construction plans, includ-ing renovations to South College and Marks Meadow. Hunt also discussed a study being done on possible reno-vations to the Student Union. “The Student Union is old, really old,” Hunt said. “It’s just inadequate for the task. It was built in the 1950s and it needs to be replaced.” Hunt also recognized the frustrations students have with construction on campus, but said, “It will mean more to you when you go out to get (a) job,” suggesting that such reno-vations will improve the University’s reputation. Ways and Means Chairman Adam Ladd presented a new propos-al to generate revenue for Registered Student Organizations by raising students’ activities fees. “We want a fairly sig-nificant increase, and that would have to be voted on

by the students,” Ladd said. “I’m looking to see a large increase so that we have more money to help our RSOs.” Ladd continued, “A lot of groups did not get the fund-ing they deserved because there wasn’t enough money. I believe that an increase in fees isn’t absurd to ask for.” Ladd promised to give a more detailed presenta-tion in a future meeting. His proposal was met with questions and concerns from fellow SGA members. After Ladd took a poll to see whether the increase of fees for students’ activities would be too much of a financial burden for students, a sig-nificant number of the mem-bers raised their hands. Ladd said that this pro-posal is still in its prelimi-nary stages and that he plans to gather more information to present in the future. A large portion of the meeting focused on the debate surrounding a recent Boston Globe article about a UMass student and con-fidential informant who died of a heroin overdose last October. A recess was called while senators sum-marized the news for those still unaware of the article. Most of the room was critical of not only the case but the confidential informant program in gen-eral, though some opinions came up in defense of the program – notably that of SGA President Vinayak Rao. “For someone to be recog-nized as a CI, that is some-

SGA to prepare statement on article

Karen Podorofsky: How to handle roommateconflicts

A Captain’s JourneyIbanez learns from his tripto Australia

PAGE 8 PAGE 4

see SGA on page 2

see RANKING on page 2

CONOR SNELL/COLLEGIAN

Police prepare to disperse students from Brandywine Apartments during last spring’s “Blarney Blowout.”

“We’re not trying to stamp out drinking at UMass. We just

want to encourage students to be aware and to stop themselves or others before they have too much.”

Jennifer Raichel, SGA Senator

BRYN ROTHSCHILD-SHEA/COLLEGIAN

UMass students ride on floats as the Homecoming parade makes its way though downtown Amherst on Saturday.

Parading through amherst

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN2 Tuesday, September 30, 2014 DailyCollegian.com

T H E R U N D O W N

ON THIS DAY...In 1947, the World Series, featuring the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, was televised for the first time.

China Extending their pro-tests into the workweek, Hong Kong democracy activists continued occu-pying major thorough-fares Monday, forcing the closure of some schools, banks and other businesses in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Due to the dem-onstrations, government officials said they would cancel a major annual fireworks celebration scheduled for Wednesday — China’s equivalent of the Fourth of July. After firing 87 volleys of tear gas at protest-ers at nine locations on Sunday evening, police backed away from engag-ing as directly with the demonstrators during the daytime on Monday. Thousands of activists took to the streets in neighborhoods on both sides of Victoria Harbor, sitting down in intersec-tions and setting up bar-ricades. Despite warnings that the demonstrations could cause serious damage to Hong Kong’s economy and reputation as a stable Asian financial hub, the city’s stock exchange seemed to take the day’s activities in stride, falling less than 2 percent. Some workers went on strike, including some social workers and employees at Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong. A number of busi-nesses opened late or closed early, but in many parts of the city, com-merce continued as usual.

Los Angeles Times

Japan

The confirmed death toll rose to 12 Monday after two more bodies were transport-ed from near the summit of a volcano in central Japan, reports said. Two dozen more bodies were reportedly found by rescuers after Saturday’s eruption of Mount Ontake, about 200 kilometres west of Tokyo, broadcaster NHK reported, citing local police officials. Earlier reports said 36 climbers had perished near the summit. The con-firmed toll has been rising slowly because Japanese authorities will not officially proclaim death until bod-ies have been taken off the mountain and examined. At least 63 people were injured, NHK reported. More than 500 rescue workers including soldiers resumed search operations early Monday amid contin-ued volcanic activity. Toxic gases were hampering their efforts. The eruption on Saturday sent plumes of smoke up to 10 kilometres high above the 3,067-metre volcano. It continued to erupt into Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. It warned that another large eruption could occur. Mount Ontake is one of the most popular destina-tions for trekkers in Japan. Its last major eruption was in 1979 when it spewed more than 200,000 tons of ash.

dpa

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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

Friday, Sept. 26

1:04 a.m.: There was a sus-picious vehicle on Main Street. The driver of the car was heavily under the influence of alcohol. Bystanders observed the driver urinating and vom-iting outside before trying to drive away. The driver’s brother came to take cus-tody of him and the vehi-cle was towed by Ernie’s Towing.

1:14 a.m.: There was a motor vehicle stop on South Pleasant Street for a defective headlight and a red light violation.

5:39 a.m.: A sign pole was pulled into the street on Dana Street.

6:23 a.m.: There was van-dalism of the public rest-room at the War Memorial Pool on Triangle Street, involving damage and graffiti.

8:08 a.m.: An elderly female was observed calling for help in the street because she believed there was an intruder in her home. Upon investigation, there was no intruder and she was helped back inside.

12:57 p.m.: A black Nokia Lumia cell phone went missing on Amity Street.

2:34 p.m.: A cat was hit by a motor vehicle on South East Street. It went to hide in the bushes.

11:18 p.m.: There was a fight on Hobart Lane between about 10 people. It stopped upon police arrival.

11:53 p.m.: Three people kicked in the front door of a house on Fairfield Street and then fled the scene.

Saturday, Sept. 27

12:55 a.m.: There was a possible fight by Bruno’s Pizza on Main Street. The incident was unfounded.

1:31 a.m.: Nicholas Sarfaty-Jackson, 18, of Whately, was arrested at the Lederle Research Tower at UMass on North Pleasant Street for disorderly conduct.

2:14 a.m.: There was an apparent larceny at Salem Place. A woman placed her purse, which contained personal items, on a water heater and it was stolen.

2:20 a.m.: There was a

breaking and entering on Hobart Lane. The interior of the house was vandal-ized.

9:27 a.m.: There was a suspicious male that was indecently exposed at Puffton Village on North Pleasant Street.

2:30 p.m.: Nikolai James, 21, of Leverett, was arrest-ed after a foot chase for two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon; one with his foot and the other with a wine bottle, and for resisting arrest and disor-derly conduct.

7:20 p.m.: There was a breaking and entering on Hobart Lane. The victim claimed their comput-er was taken from their home. There was no sign of forced entry, and the incident is under investi-gation.

11:07 p.m.: There was a fight on Amity Street. There was no active dis-turbance upon police arrival. Over 300 guests were dispersed.

11:30 p.m.: Derek Dumouchel, 20, of Medway, and Colin McGuire, 20, of Woburn, were arrested on Sunset Avenue for unlawful noise, a nuisance house, receiv-ing stolen property worth $250 and being minors in possession of alcohol.

Sunday, Sept. 28

12:56 a.m.: There was an assault with a knife on Nutting Avenue at a party. No injuries were sustained.

1:33 a.m.: There was a breaking and entering on Lincoln Avenue. The suspect was known to the victim. The suspect, 20, is from Kings Park, New York.

2:00 a.m.: There was an assault at Subway on Main Street.

2:09 a.m.: Christopher Diniz, 24, of Milford, was arrested for trespassing and disturbing the peace.

4:33 a.m.: There was an assault at the Campus Center Hotel at UMass on Campus Center Way. The suspect was known to the victim.

1:21 p.m.: A female party caused a disturbance and refused to leave Not Bread Alone Soup Kitchen on Main Street.

Marleigh Felsenstein can be reached at mfelsenstein@umass.edu.

Assault at Campus Center Hotel Sun.Police log: Sept. 26 to Sept. 28

SGA continued from page 1

said. “UMass is one of only three schools in the country that have jumped more than 20 places in only five years.” Since the beginning of Kumble Subbaswamy’s term as Chancellor, University administrators have placed a strong emphasis on improv-ing the public perception and prestige of the institu-tion, in light of the perva-sive “party school” atmo-sphere that many people in Massachusetts and the region associate with UMass. Last fall, marketing firms

Element, Gravity Switch and Rasky Baerlein were hired to “raise the profile of the University on a national level and local level, and to show-case the core attributes of the University,” according to Eran Lobel, chief executive officer of Rasky Baerlein. The firms organized events such as last year’s “Stand for UMass Day” in Boston. They have also been respon-sible for new advertis-ing campaigns on televi-sion, in print and online. In addition to a new

emphasis on broad public relations, the UMass admin-istration has taken a spe-cial interest in improving relations with the local community. Last winter, Tony Maroulis was named the new director of com-munity relations at the University. Maroulis said that he hopes to expand rela-tionships and interactions between the campus and the Amherst community. Thomas Dalton can be reached at tfdalton@umass.edu.

RANKING continued from page 1

Man beheads his coworkerBy Christine Mai-DuC

Los Angeles Times

Authorities expect charges to be filed Tuesday against an Oklahoma man suspected of beheading a co-worker and attacking anoth-er before he was shot by an off-duty sheriff’s deputy. Detectives met with pros-ecutors Monday afternoon to present evidence, and Moore Police Sgt. Jeremy Lewis told the Los Angeles Times earlier Monday that they would rec-ommend that Alton Nolen, 30, face charges of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. The district attorney’s office for Cleveland County said it expected to charge Nolen early Tuesday afternoon. In a video statement released on Facebook, a woman identifying herself as Nolen’s mother apolo-gized to the victims’ families. “Our hearts bleed right now, because of what they’re saying Alton has done,” the woman said. “I want to apologize to both families because this is not Alton.” Another woman, who iden-tified herself as Nolen’s sister, said her brother had “never been a violent person” and that the family was “in shock.” The Oklahoman newspaper reported that it had confirmed the identities of the women as Joyce Nolen, 50, Nolen’s moth-er, and Megan Nolen, his sister.

Nolen, a convicted felon, was fired from his job at the Vaughan Foods processing plant in Moore shortly before the attack began Thursday. Police say Nolen rammed his car into another vehicle parked at the front of the business, then went on a rampage in the front office with a knife similar to one used on the production floor. He is accused of behead-ing 54-year-old Colleen Hufford and then attack-ing Traci Johnson, 43. Mark Vaughan, the com-pany’s chief operating offi-cer and a reserve deputy for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department, shot Nolen and stopped the second attack before police arrived. Witnesses told investiga-tors that Nolen had recently been trying to convert sev-eral co-workers to Islam. The FBI has stepped in to assist in the investigation. Company officials said employees were return-ing to work Monday, with each shift beginning with group gatherings reflect-ing on Thursday’s events. “These conversations allow us to come together as a team and draw strength from each other,” Vaughan Foods spokes-woman Danielle Katcher said in a statement. “The loss of our Vaughan Foods family member remains very much in our hearts and minds.”

According to prison records, Nolen had a tat-too on his stomach that read “As-salaamu Ataikum,” which could be a misspelling of “Assalamu alaikum,” a standard Muslim greeting that means “Peace be upon you.” Nolen also had the words “Jesus Christ” tattooed across his chest and an image of pray-ing hands on his right arm. An autopsy has not been performed on Hufford yet, but Oklahoma medical examiner’s spokeswoman Amy Elliott said the cause of death was “decap-itation due to multiple sharp force trauma” to her neck. Johnson, the other victim, was released from the hospital over the weekend, Lewis said, after being treated for cuts. Nolen remains hospital-ized after undergoing surgery last week, but spoke to inves-tigators Friday, Lewis said. Nolen had spent time in prison for a string of felony convictions, including mari-juana possession, escape from detention, assault and bat-tery on a police officer, and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, accord-ing to Oklahoma corrections records. He was released from a halfway house in March 2013 and taken off probation in March 2014, said Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokesman Jerry Massie.

one that is not arrested or charged,” Rao said, in clari-fication of claims that CI’s should be checked for signs of drug use. “There can’t be any physical checks or eye dilation checks or any such checks because that would involve the CI being arrested or charged, and

many safety checks that the police department wants are not possible because of CI confidentiality.” Rao continued to explain that he supported the con-fidential program despite its faults, while acknowl-edging that changes need to be made and that debate

on the subject would con-tinue at the next meeting. The SGA is currently preparing an official state-ment on the Globe’s article and the University’s policy.

William Keve can be reached at wkeve@umass.edu.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN Tuesday, September 30, 2014 3DailyCollegian.com

China censors protestsBy Times sTaffLos Angeles Times

Striking photos, videos and news about Hong Kong’s ongoing democracy protests and clashes with police have exploded across TV, radio, newspapers worldwide in recent days, to say nothing of Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites. But thanks to a near-complete informa-tion blackout by Chinese cen-sors, most people in mainland China remain unaware of the situation in the semi-auton-omous Chinese territory. Major state-run news outlets carried only brief mentions of the confronta-tions, if any, and the sub-ject has been censored off popular mainland-based social media services, includ-ing Weibo and Weixin, also known as WeChat. Twitter and Facebook have been blocked for years by China’s Great Firewall, and now Instagram — one of the few major Western social media services to escape the pinch of China’s censors —appears to have joined the roster of inaccessible ser-vices, perhaps because of the Hong Kong protests. Instead, Chinese users of Weibo were preoccupied Monday with a story on how a Chinese celebrity couple had reconciled; it attracted over 440 million views, mak-ing it the top trending topic on the service. “Selfies with the Chinese flag” has been among the top 10 trending topics on the site for over a week, as part of the Chinese government’s efforts to push celebrations of the country’s upcoming 65th National Day on Wednesday. Authorities in Beijing are loath to give mainland citizens any close-up look at Hong Kong’s protests, lest mainlanders get any ideas about organizing their own challenges to what Chinese officials call “social stability.” “The government’s restriction on related infor-mation is definitely the main reason why ordinary people in China have not shown strong interests in the situ-ation in Hong Kong right now,” said Zhan Jiang, a jour-nalism professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University. A search for keywords such as “Occupy Central” in Chinese on Weibo will

return a familiar if frustrat-ing message for mainland info-seekers: “your results can not be displayed in accor-dance with relevant laws and regulations.” While users can still search for “Hong Kong,” the results are most-ly unrelated to the protest. Human censors deployed by Weibo are constantly deleting relevant content. Social media’s utility as an organizing tool and as a means to influence public opinion is well recognized by the organizers of the protests in Hong Kong. This summer, leaders of Hong Kong’s democracy move-ment even conducted a non-binding territory-wide ref-erendum mainly via online and mobile voting appli-cations, attracting about 800,000 participants in the region of 7 million people. Instagram, the popu-lar ph oto-sharing app often employed by Chinese users to follow and com-ment on foreign celebrities including the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and his wife, was blocked by China’s Great Firewall on Monday, joining a long list of foreign-based social media services that are inaccessible in China. “Instagram’s block in China is likely due to the ongoing democracy reform protests in Hong Kong,” wrote Steven Millward in a post on China-focused tech-nology website Tech in Asia. The post said over 6,000 pho-tos on Instagram had been tagged with #OccupyCentral. As for the more tra-ditional press, Chinese authorities once again dis-played their tight grip on the nation’s state-run media. On the Chinese-language homepage of the official New China News Agency and the Communist Party mouth-piece People’s Daily, there was not a single story men-tioning the protests in Hong Kong. Front pages of the usu-ally liberal Beijing News and Southern Metropolis Daily have been filled with two unrelated stories: One about a directive from the State Council on government meet-ings; another on the extradi-tion of a corrupted official, as part the government’s efforts to showcase the success of its anti-graft campaign. The stories about the

Hong Kong protests that have appeared in Chinese media have stressed the perspec-tive of mainland Chinese authorities, denouncing the demonstrations as illegal gatherings. A story on the popular news portal Sina.com popped up on the screen of each Weibo user, featur-ing a headline quoting the Beijing-backed Hong Kong chief executive, Leung Chun-ying. “Deployment of the People’s Liberation Army is a rumor,” he said, deny-ing that troops from the mainland military would be deployed in Hong Kong. China Digital Times, a website that monitors media freedom and censor-ship in mainland China, reported on what it says was a leaked directive from the Communist Party’s propa-ganda department instruct-ing all websites to “imme-diately clear away informa-tion about Hong Kong stu-dents violently assaulting the government and about ‘Occupy Central.’” The direc-tive added, according to the Digital Times: “Promptly report any issues. Strictly manage interactive chan-nels, and resolutely delete harmful information.” Even some foreign media Chinese-language websites, targeting mainland read-ers, have come under fire for not releasing reports on the protests in Hong Kong in a timely fashion. “Reuters Chinese and (Wall Street Journal) Chinese are not report-ing anything related to the Hong Kong protests,” com-plained managers of great-fire.org, a well-known web-site that monitors censorship in China. “Reuters U.S. and WSJ U.S. both feature the protest as headline items.” The Wall Street Journal’s Chinese site published a story covering the protests after being singled out by the greatfire.org - 24 hours after its English report first appeared, though the reason for the delay was unclear. The New York Times’ Chinese-language site was updated along with its English language site.Tommy Yang in the Times’ Beijing Bureau con-tributed to this report.

By mark Z. BaraBak and Lisa mascaro

Tribune Washington Bureau

Just over a month before the midterm election, control of the U.S. Senate remains surprisingly up for grabs as Democrats parlay a finan-cial edge and other advan-tages to battle history and a strong anti-Obama tide. Republicans still enjoy the more secure position. The GOP is almost certain to win open-seat contests in Montana, South Dakota and West Virginia, get-ting them halfway to the six seats needed to win a majority and gain control. But the party’s candidates have yet to put away any of the 10 or so most competi-tive Senate races, buoying Democratic hopes they can hang on to at least one cham-ber of Congress despite what appeared, at the start of this election year, to be long odds. In Louisiana, Arkansas and Alaska, where President Barack Obama’s approval ratings are particularly low, Democratic incumbents have kept their uphill races within striking distance. It helps that the candidates — Mary L. Landrieu, Mark Pryor and Mark Begich - come from prominent politi-cal families, making them familiar brand names in their respective states. But even in North Carolina, first-term Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan, a prime Republican target, has clung to a small but consistent lead in recent voter surveys. Part of the reason is money. Democrats, unex-pectedly, have had more of it this year than Republicans. And part of it is mechanics - allocating resources, tar-geting voters, getting them to the polls - which national Democrats have excelled at over the last decade. In that time, Democrats have defeated 12 sitting Republican senators. Republicans have oust-ed just three Democratic incumbents, two of them in the last midterm elec-tion under Obama, in 2010. Historically, the midterm vote has been a referen-dum on the president, and this one appears to be no exception. There are three typical outcomes for the party in the White House, said Charlie Cook, a long-time nonpartisan campaign analyst: “Bad; really bad; and really, really bad.” To a great extent Democrats are simply fight-ing for the least bad result, which would be clinging to the Senate by the narrow-est of margins. (Republicans are expected to modestly pad their majority in the

House and could lose a handful of governor’s seats.) The GOP started the year with a distinct advantage in the Senate fight. Democrats have been forced to defend far more seats, thanks to their gains when Obama was elected in 2008, and a num-ber of retirements in conser-vative-leaning states. Of the most competitive races, all but a handful are in places that Obama lost in 2012, sev-eral by landslide margins. Also working in favor of Republicans are the elec-tion’s broad themes - the appropriate size and scope of government, Obama’s leadership and competence - which match those of 2010, a banner year for the GOP. Democrats have tried to shift the focus from a debate over big government, embodied by the unpopular national health care law, to the merits of popular programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, and issues that are especially res-onant to minorities, young people and single women. All are Democratic-leaning voter groups that tend to sit out midterm elections. “Our candidates are ask-ing theirs, ‘Where are you on minimum wage? Where are you on equal pay (for women)? Where are you on college tuition?’ “ said Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York, one of the Democratic Party’s top political strategists. That tactic - one party try-ing to nationalize the elec-tion, the other trying to make contests more localized and issue-specific - is also typi-cal of midterm elections. Another time-honored tradition is candidates dis-tancing themselves from the unpopular president of their own party; some Democrats this year have gone so far as to criticize Obama in their TV advertising. “I disagree with him on guns, coal” and the Environmental Protection Agency, says a skeet-shooting Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s Democratic secretary of state, who faces Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in a fiercely fought contest. Begich, locked in a tough race with former GOP Attorney General Dan Sullivan, cited several differences with Obama in a recent TV spot, over taxes, the environment and defense spending. “True Alaska,” read the logo open-ing Begich’s advertisement. What is notable this year is Democrats’ considerable financial advantage, which will not necessarily deter-mine control of the Senate

but, at the least, has kept many contests close head-ing into the final five weeks of the campaign. The Democrats’ Senate campaign committee raised $111 million through August, nearly $30 million more than the Republican com-mittee, and outside groups have enhanced the party’s cash lead. In the 10 most competitive Senate races, pro-Democratic forces have outspent their Republican counterparts $80 million to $73 million through Friday, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, an organization that tracks campaign spending. Crucially, the Democrats have used their money edge to reserve far more TV air time than Republicans in the campaign’s final stretch, meaning even if the GOP and its allies catch up financially they will have to pay much higher last-minute rates. Writing in the Wall Street Journal this month, Republican strategist Karl Rove lamented the financial disparity in a commentary that amounted to a thinly veiled plea for donors to open their checkbooks. “The midterm envi-ronment is terrible for Democrats,” Rove wrote, “yet each passing day pro-vides evidence as to why a GOP Senate majority is still in doubt.” (Many Republican donors have sat on their wal-lets out of frustration with a Rove-affiliated “super PAC” and other groups that col-lected tens of millions of dol-lars in 2012 and failed to elect Mitt Romney president or deliver a Republican Senate.) Scott Reed, a Republican strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, remains sanguine. “The sand continues to feel like it’s shifting our way,” he said, though he also sounded a cautionary note: “Experience shows it’s not easy defeating incumbent Democratic U.S. senators.” Whatever happens Nov. 4, it is likely that today’s toss-up races will break deci-sively in favor of one party. “It doesn’t have to be a wave, or even a strong wind,” said Cook, the inde-pendent campaign analyst. “Just a whiff can make races that are fundamen-tally tied fall almost entire-ly in the same direction.” Even then control of the Senate may not be decided. Under their elec-tion rules, the contests in Louisiana and Georgia could push into December and January, respectively, if no candidate wins more than 50 percent in November.

Captive seeks restraining orderBy caroL rosenBerg

The Miami Herald

The Obama administra-tion, which has system-atically shrouded the long-running hunger strike at Guantanamo in secrecy, has asked a federal judge to shut the public out of a hearing on one captive’s challenge of prison forced-feeding policy. Justice Department law-yers filed the motion at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Lawyers for the detainee and new media organi-zations are opposing it. Judge Gladys Kessler has yet to rule. She set the hearing for Oct. 6-7 in the case of a Syrian captive, Abu Wael Dhiab, 43, who argues that the U.S. military poli-cy of forcing him from his cell, strapping him into a restraint chair and pump-ing a nutritional supplement into his stomach amounts to torture at Guantanamo. Prison commanders argue the practice is humane. Next week’s hearing is the latest in a long-running saga at the U.S. District Court over civilian judges’ authority to intervene in the conditions of confinement at the Pentagon’s offshore prison. Dhiab, who has been held at Guantanamo since 2002, was cleared for release years ago and was at one time short-listed for reset-

tlement in Uruguay, a now stalled deal, because he can’t go home to turbulent Syria. He wants the judge to renew a restraining order she issued, for just a few days, halting his forced feedings. The Justice Department proposes to adopt a Guantanamo war court model of closing the hear-ing. It argues that not all the testimony will involve state secrets but, because some of what witnesses say touches on classified infor-mation, the judge should close it. As a remedy, it pro-poses, order that the court issue a transcript of the hearing - with any classi-fied information blacked out. One of the proposed wit-nesses is Sondra Crosby, a doctor who treats victims of torture, who testified in open court at Guantanamo in April that another captive facing death penalty proceed-ings was subjected to mental, physical and sexual torture. The closure bid is part of an ongoing government effort to keep the spotlight off the forced-feedings that President Barack Obama lamented in a May 2013 speech at the National Defense University. In December, the prison of 149 captives and 2,200 staff imposed a blackout on daily hunger strike figures after nine months of transparency. Sixteen news organiza-

tions are opposing closure in a court filing on Tuesday, said First Amendment law-yer Dave Schulz. Monday, he said the proposed closure would be “a violation of the public’s constitutional right to attend court proceedings.” Federal courts have closed many of the habeas corpus hearings of Guantanamo detainees, and adopted the transcript formula. In this case, Dhiab’s lawyers argue that the testimony will be largely unclassified and point to the court release of statements by the pro-posed witness as proof of it. “Our doctors filed pub-lic reports - their conclu-sions are up on the Internet for anyone to read,” said attorney Cori Crider of Reprieve, the London-based nonprofit legal defense group representing Dhiab. Crider accused the U.S. government of trying to close the hearing not for national security reasons but for rea-sons of embarrassment of what goes on at Guantanamo. “The truth is terribly embarrassing,” she said, noting that in the same court it was seeking the pub-lic release of tapes of Dhiab “being hauled from his cell by the riot squad and force-fed.

Netanyahu addresses UNBy PauL richTer

Tribune Washington Bureau

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in remarks to the United Nations General Assembly, said Monday that Arab nations should start work-ing with Israel if they want to bring about an Israeli-Palestinian peace. Netanyahu said that while an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal has long been seen as a route to a broader Arab-Israeli rapprochement, it could work the other way around, if Arab countries provide the political and material support needed to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “To achieve that peace, we must look not only to Jerusalem and Ramallah, but also to Cairo, to Amman, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and else-where,” Netanyahu said. “I believe peace can be real-ized with the active involve-ment of Arab countries.” Netanyahu’s govern-ment has been trying to enlist regional and world

powers for help in disarm-ing Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, and estab-lishing safe borders between Israel and the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu also warned world powers that in their eagerness to stop the Islamic State militant group they shouldn’t forget the threat of Iran, which he described as a much bigger danger. He said that to defeat Islamic State “and leave Iran on the threshold of nuclear power is to win the battle and lose the war.” “Iran’s nuclear mili-tary capabilities must be fully dismantled,” he said. Netanyahu said that some criticism of Israel’s policy is no more than anti-Semitism. When national leaders compare Israel to the Nazis, “This is not a function of Israel’s policies. It’s a func-tion of diseased minds and that disease has a name. It’s called anti-Semitism.” “It is now spreading in polite society where it mas-querades as legitimate

criticism of Israel,” he said. Separately, Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns acknowledged Monday that negotiations between Iran and six world powers over Iran’s nuclear program are at an especially difficult point. Appearing at the Washington Institute on Near East Policy, Burns said that this year’s talks are more difficult than last year’s effort to reach an interim nuclear agreement. “It’s no secret that the negotia tions are quite sig-nificant right now,” he said. “There are some quite signifi-cant gaps right now on the issues that are going to be crit-ical” in completing the deal. He insisted, however, that it is still possible to reach a deal by the deadline of Nov. 24. The world powers and Iran are seeking a deal that would lift economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for its taking steps to ensure that it won’t gain bomb-making capability.

GOP may retain hold of Senate

Opinion EditorialEditorial@DailyCollegiancomTuesday, September 30, 2014

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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

Roommates are essentially like year or semester-long romantic relationships. You sleep in the same room. You share some things. You come home to each other at the end of the day. And just like real relation-ships, roommate relationships have their ups and downs with problems that can be solved or avoided.

“You had an argument with someone you love. Now what?” Elizabeth Bernstein asks in her Wall Street Journal article, “Don’t Apologize So Fast. ” If someone loves another person or has to deal with them on a regular basis, they often don’t want to hurt them. A lot of people try to avoid con-flict, quickly apologize and move on. Bernstein argues that is not the way to do it. From years of roommate and life experience, I agree. If you care about a per-son, you want what is best for him or her and your relationship as a whole. This often means avoiding confrontation. Whatever the problem may be, ignor-ing it really won’t help. It only makes it worse, because anger tends to build up and people explode over little things that seem larger because of other issues that were suppressed. “It is crucial when repairing a person-

al rift to address the underlying issue,” Bernstein said. “Fail to reach a resolution on the argument itself – not just the hurt feelings it caused – and you will end up fighting again in the future about the same thing.” It’s best to avoid the never-ending circle and behind-the-back complaints. “Even worse: You’ll likely end up arguing about the argument,” Bernsetin said. And let’s face it, that doesn’t get us anywhere. If there isn’t a conflict in a long-term friendship or relationship, I would be con-cerned. Things can only be perfect for so long. You might get along wonderfully, have the same interests, the same habits, the same living patterns, but as Hal Shorey, a clinical psychologist and associate profes-sor for the Institute for Graduate Clinical Psychology at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, said in Bernstein’s article, “The biggest thing in making up is to understand that conflict is normal in a relationship.” You can handle one person for only so long, no matter who he or she is. Depending on personality, people feel differently about arguments. Some are fine with confrontation and others hate it. I would rather be told the truth and hate what I’m hearing than be lied to in order to cover it up. Hearing the truth gives me something to work on to better myself, especially if I didn’t know it was a problem beforehand. I don’t enjoy having emotions bottled up inside and would rather talk them out before more problems arise. According to Shorey, there are five steps to making up after an argument, and these go for any relationship, no matter how strong it is. Wait to talk until you both are no longer upset. Give up the idea of being right. Don’t focus on the details. Focus on how you feel. Verbalize your understanding

of how the other person feels. Quash any impulse to defend yourself. Accept that it will take a while to feel better. Set a time to check in and monitor progress. At first glance, all of these seem obvious and somewhat childish. I don’t want to say the classic, “I feel X when you do Y.” “I feel” statements seem so elementary school, yet if you nip the problem in the smallest bud, it will be solved faster and hopefully with the least amount of angst. The first step is an important one because when both parties are heated, someone is bound to say something that would be harsher than if they were calm. This could make the argument even worse and lead to more damage that has to be repaired. When you’re calm, it is easier to look at the con-flict objectively. Perspective can skew how people view a situation, so it doesn’t make sense to try to be right about the details. The best is to focus on feelings. “What can never be wrong is how the other person feels,” Shorey said. If I’m sad and another person is happy about the same thing, one of us cannot be blamed for the way we feel because that’s the way it is. If one person likes to avoid conflict and the other doesn’t, it’s important for the one who doesn’t to take control of the situation. Put them in an uncomfortable position. It’s

already uncomfortable, so at that point it might as well be solved. It’s okay to be self-ish. Put yourself first. Your happiness is most important because you’re the one who you have to live with the most, and really, always. If you do what you feel is right, multiple parties besides just yourself will benefit. This concept goes for both men and women. However, according to Bernstein, “Research shows that these approaches typically break down along gender lines. A 2003 study in the journal ‘Personal Relationships’ – one of the largest on the topic to date – found that, across 62 cultural regions worldwide, men reported higher levels of attachment avoidance relative to women. There are always exceptions, of course. But, in general, men seek to avoid negative emotions and conflict more than women. Women like to talk through prob-lems. Men want to move on.” This follows typical gender roles of men being “manly” and “tough,” while women prefer to talk about feelings and figure things out. In college, we form relationships unlike any others. We live with people, we eat with them, study with them, party with them – the list goes on and on. The point is that we are constantly surrounded by others, whether or not they are our best friends, acquaintances or complete strangers. It is up to us to decide who we want to be close to and remain friends with after college. After these four years, it takes much more effort to keep in contact with friends who aren’t a 10 minute walk across campus. It is important to maintain these relation-ships through the ups and downs in the most civil and productive ways possible.

Karen Podorefsky is a Collegian columnist and can be reached at kpodoref@umass.edu.

The fight for college affordability continues

In a recent article pub-lished on Credit.com, Sen. Elizabeth Warren promised to bring back a bill to the Senate floor that was defeated over the summer. The Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act would

allow college graduates who took out federal loans in the early 2000s to pay an interest rate closer to the rate for new borrowers, which is signifi-cantly lower. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? As Warren noted in her article, aggregate American student debt is at an astounding $1.2 trillion, and the exorbitant cost of college is a burden to the economy at large as well as to individual borrow-ers and their families. But while Warren’s bill purports to deal with what is a very real issue, its re-litigation is pure political theater. The main objection raised by Republicans against the bill when it was first debated over the summer was the inclusion of the famous Obama-age hobbyhorse – the “Buffet Rule” tax. This proposed tax would raise the rates on capi-tal gains for higher earners, in this case using the addi-tional revenue to pay for the lower student loan rates. But this additional revenue is no guarantee: Capital gains increased under both the presidencies of George Bush and Bill Clinton when the rates were lowered. Regardless of the rev-enue impact, this proposal is an obvious non-starter for Republicans. Warren has brought the bill back com-pletely unchanged, and once again it has no chance of being passed. What it does do is provide congressio-nal Democrats an opportu-nity to excoriate opposing Republicans as being against the interests of students and beholden to “million-aires, billionaires, and cor-porations,” as though the Democratic Party is without wealthy benefactors. Warren’s rhetoric in debat-ing this bill has been typical-ly hyperbolic and often dis-honest. It is not the case, for

example, that students can-not refinance their loans. As Jason Richwine points out on National Review Online, a website which offers con-servative political commen-tary, students “can go to any private lender and ask for a lower rate, just as homeown-ers and business can. The reason that few students do, of course, is that they are getting a great deal — a gen-erous government subsidy — on their existing federal-direct or federally  guaran-teed loans.” Warren’s claim that stu-dents are being treated worse than banks is similarly mis-leading. The Federal Reserve rates are for short-term intra-bank borrowing. To compare this to a several year student loan that has a greater than 10 percent chance of default-ing is absurd, as Warren no doubt knows.

This type of grandstand-ing is typical Warren and typical Washington. Both sides are, of course, culpa-ble of partisan theatrics in the halls of power, and the abysmal approval ratings of Congress are in many ways well deserved. But to prop up what is at the very best a stop-gap measure as a true reform and then to bludgeon political opponents with its predictable failure is espe-cially odious. As universities across the country further their unre-lenting quests for status with constant renovations, bloated payrolls, gargantuan stadiums and the like, many families are left to wonder if the traditional four-year degree is financially realistic. According to CNN, the cost of college has risen to near-ly four times the American median income since 1988, and as demand is stoked con-tinually through cheap gov-ernment loans and, to a less-er extent, affirmative action policies, it is unlikely that it will slow anytime soon.

But the fight for afford-ability is not lost. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Republican, of the “oops” infamy, has qui-etly been the leading force behind higher education reform. In 2011, he chal-lenged Texas state universi-ties to craft four-year degrees for a total cost of $10,000. Through a combination of online classes, transfer pro-grams and general cost-cut-ting, a slew of Texas uni-versities have met this chal-lenge. And where Texas has led, others have followed: Schools in Florida, Georgia, Oregon and Oklahoma have all put forth similar programs with-in their state university sys-tems. Here in Massachusetts, Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker has announced a plan for expe-dited bachelor’s degrees that utilize online learn-

ing and co-op programs to decrease costs and increase job-prepared-ness. Of course, the best way to avoid student debt is to not be a college stu-dent. As our economy becomes more depen-

dent on computer technolo-gies, the demand for techni-cal skills will only increase. Many of the new, high-pay-ing jobs in this field simply do not require a traditional degree. College is often seen as the only way to achieve a happy and financially secure life, but even if this was once partially true, it is no longer the case. The college experience is less about the development of our own ideas than the adoption of those of the fac-ulty. Our four years are more an exercise in omphaloskep-sis than an intellectual train-ing ground. Hereclitus has been replaced by Derrick Bell; free speech is pre-empted by “multicultural-ism” (just ask Ayaan Hirsi Ali). The basic principles of higher education have been subverted by the Frankfurt School, Critical Theory and the sensitivity police. Why would you pay $200,000 for that?

Lucas Coughlin can be reached at lmcoughl@umass.edu.

“Many families are left to wonder if the traditional

four-year degree is financially realistic.”

“Your happiness is most important because you’re the one who you have to live with the most, and really, always.”

Battling arguments

Karen Podorefsky

Lucas Coughlin

“Crying is acceptable at funerals and the Grand Canyon.”- Ron SwansonArts Living

Arts@DailyCollegian.comTuesday, September 30, 2014

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Alt-J stays innovative, but shifts gears on “This Is All Yours”

By Dani ZessoulesCollegian Correspondent

It takes some courage in the world of alternative rock to sample a Miley Cyrus song. Thankfully for all of us, the vocal layers, acous-tic percussion, falsetto and melodic dub-bass beautiful-ly work together in Alt-J’s attempt in its new, highly anticipated second album, “This is All Yours,” released Sept. 22. Alt-J, comprised of four liberal arts students from the University of Leeds in England, first collaborated in 2007 between classes and accompanied by the noise of their dorm hallways through GarageBand – a mediocre (at best) application that many computers provide for free. Their progression from GarageBand-using students to Mercury Prize winners in 2012 for the Best Album of England and Ireland came from the huge success of their debut album, “An Awesome Wave.” The award put the band on the same playing field as previous Mercury Prize winners such as Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand and The xx. “We’re just guys from Leeds who started a band and then muddled through it and magicked a Mercury award.” drummer Gus Unger-Hamilton said in

an interview with The Independent. Despite using similar sounds to their debut album, lead singer Joe Newman continues to show his dis-tinctly large vocal range in “This is All Yours,” sup-ported by dark vocal effects and layers. Although the song “Every Other Freckle” epitomizes the band’s ability

to stay true to its acclaimed alternative sound, Alt-J dips into a different wave of rock, organizing the disorganized, math-rock sounds of “An Awesome Wave.” “This Is All Yours” seems to begin with a completely new, eerie sound that has songs ending solely with the annoying buzzing of an insect. Apart from the bugs,

Alt-J slowly and perfectly progresses by the album’s fourth and fifth tracks, delv-ing into the driving, weird sound that “An Awesome Wave” presented. No song stands out as the obvious chart-topping single that their debut was full of, such as “Tessellate” and “Breezeblocks,” which will most likely remain the

band’s biggest hits. “This Is All Yours” does, however, showcase Alt-J’s strengths through beautiful instru-mental breakdowns and excellent placement of the aforementioned Miley Cyrus sample in “Left Hand Free.” Enthralling and cleverly sexualized lyrics let each individual song have just enough ear candy to enrap-

ture any listener. “Every Other Freckle” flirtatiously bounces around all of the most essential aspects of Alt-J, focusing its energies around addicting and smart vocal layers. “Pusher” and “Warm Foothills” show the band’s ability to dip into acoustic and melodic tones that stand in stark contrast to the dark sounds that define the rest of the album. “Left Hand Free” showcases a completely new style for the band, dipping into aspects of modern rock that make Alt-J sound clos-er to bands like The Black Keys and Cage the Elephant. Throughout the record, the band seems to switch styles and techniques constantly. While this certainly makes it difficult to hear the album flow from song to song, it brings diversity to Alt-J’s sound. Pinning this dynamic album to a single genre would be nearly impossible as the variety of instruments and emotions throughout “This is All Yours” is what makes Alt-J encompass the full range of the alternative rock genre. “This is All Yours” dances a fine line between comput-erized and musical instru-ments, while Newman’s off-tempo and ghostly falsetto vocals beautifully tie togeth-er the essence of a new sound in alternative music.

Dani Zessoules can be reached at dzessoules@umass.edu.

Band’s second LP does not disappoint

A L BU M R E V I E W

OZ VILLANUEVA/FLICKR

Mercury Prize winner Alt-J released its second album, “This Is All Yours,” Sept. 22.

Tim McGraw returns strongBy steven GillarD

Collegian Staff

Tim McGraw’s 13th studio album, “Sundown Heaven Town,” released Sept. 16, is another solid addition to the country star’s already impres-sive resume. Spearheaded by the hit single, “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s,” a relatable, nostal-gic song about the simplicity of home complemented by an even simpler guitar, McGraw’s newest album is an emotional rollercoaster that explores both the lows of heartbreak and the highs of love. “Last Turn Home” shines as one of the strongest tracks on the album. It is a simple ballad that artfully likens a lover’s embrace to the satis-fying feeling of pulling your car around the corner and into the driveway after a long time away. “Diamond Rings and Old Barstools,” a duet with Catherine Dunn, is pure poetry that examines a failed relationship in which the two lovers – unlike “whiskey and Coke” – just don’t mix. While McGraw is a versa-tile artist with hit singles that have covered everything from terminal illness to parties on farms, he is at his best when his songs are stories, embody-ing a raw sense of heartbreak and regret. Although “Sundown Heaven Town” is definitely an improvement over his 2013 album, “Two Lanes of

Freedom,” few songs contain the hard-hitting emotional resonance that characterized much of his earlier hits such as “Don’t Take the Girl,” “Angry All the Time” and “Just to See You Smile.” The track “Portland, Maine” is one example of this successful storytelling, as McGraw chronicles a lover’s decision to break off a rela-tionship instead of dealing with the constant worry that comes with long-distance love. The desperation in “Still on the Line” also evokes hints of classic McGraw, as does “Sick of Me” through McGraw’s honest portrayal of a flawed man coming to terms with his mistakes. However, “Keep on Truckin’” and “Lookin’ for That Girl” lack inspiration, as the tracks embody two over-done themes in today’s coun-try music: pushing through hell and finding the perfect girl. Additionally, “Dust” sounds like every other coun-try song dedicated to trucks, girls and dirt. “Overrated” also fails to deliver with its cliché line, “Love is really all we need,” and while “Words Are Medicine” has good inten-tions, its lyrics fail to hit as hard as some of McGraw’s older, similarly-themed tracks. “Shotgun Rider,” on the other hand, succeeds as the best upbeat song on the album. It is a feel-good love song in

which McGraw explains that he would never want anyone else riding shotgun, listening to the radio with him. “City Lights” stands out as the most classic country-sounding song on the entire album, although its lyrics are not terribly unique. The deluxe edition of the album, which features five additional tracks, is worth buying if only for the songs, “Kids Today” and “Lincoln Continentals and Cadillacs.” The former is a testament to the craziness, stupidity and ultimate blamelessness of youth, while the latter is a rocking, carefree tribute to cars and all-American girls, featuring Kid Rock. With the beer-drinking, girl-chasing anthems of Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line defin-ing much of the genre today, McGraw’s music remains diverse and refreshing – with a pleasant mix of thoughtful and lighthearted tracks – even if his sound has developed a slight pop flair to keep up with the constantly transforming genre. Despite its weakness-es, McGraw’s 13th album, “Sundown Heaven Town,” succeeds because of its wholly country foundation, painting an honest portrait of life – both the good and the bad.

Steven Gillard can be reached at sgillard@umass.edu.

A L BU M R E V I E W

Pearl Street plays host to electro-pop band Cherub

By ruthann BarryCollegian Correspondent

Electro-pop duo Cherub is set to grace the stage of the Pearl Street Ballroom this Wednesday night, as it contin-ues its “Champagne Showers Tour.” The Nashville-based band incorporates a mix of genres, ranging from R&B to ‘80s-style electronic pop. Cherub has released two full-length albums with Columbia Records and has continued to skyrocket in notability due to its seamless blend of the indie and pop persuasions. Jason Huber and Jordan Kelley met while studying at Middle Tennessee State University. In 2010, they com-bined their musical talents and formed Cherub, which has drawn fans with its uplift-ing, danceable beats and catchy, relatable lyrics. Now, fresh off the success of its “Blow’d Tour,” which ended in May, the duo is bursting with musical energy, ready to pick up for round two. Although Cherub has been producing music for four years, the band finally achieved wider recognition following the release of its 2014 hit single “Doses and

Mimosas” in its debut album, “MoM & DaD.” The dance-party anthem reached the No. 43 spot on Billboard’s Rock Airplay and charted No. 23 on the Alternative Songs chart when it was released in February 2014. The single’s flashy music video, which has received more than 4 million views on YouTube, highlights both the artistic expression and comic genius of the musical duo. However, Huber and Kelley are not always inclined to produce high-budget tracks or videos. In Cherub’s early years, Huber and Kelley both produced and released their own music as opposed to signing with a major record label. Although they have now signed with Columbia Records, the art-ists said that they still plan on retaining their creative freedom, as they are far more concerned with the music they make than the paycheck they receive from it. Kelley and Huber con-tinue to record and produce their tracks in a friend’s home studio in order to minimize the exponential costs that come with record-ing in a professional studio. Their instrumental and vocal skills, in addition to their strong keyboard and guitar playing, make them a power-

ful team. The “Champagne Showers Tour” kicked off on Sept. 5, after the highly antic-ipated May release of the band’s second album with Columbia Records, “Year of the Caprese.” This album exhibits some building upon the previous dance, electro-pop vibes the band explored on both “MoM & DaD,” and their 2013 EP, “100 Bottles.” The addition of slower-paced songs and a succession of various instruments, with hints of R&B style lyrics and reggae beats, promote Huber and Kelley as intermixing masters of multiple genres. Tracks like “Freaky Me, Freaky You,” and “Strip to This” exhibit some of Cherub’s new sounds, while its older releases have an intoxicating, poppy mix. The collaboration of the duo’s past and present sounds will make “Champagne Showers” an impossible show to miss. Cherub will bring its irre-sistible catchiness and free-ing beats to Pearl Street at 8 p.m. Wednesday, with open-ers Ghost Beach and Gibbz. Tickets are available for $15 in advance or $18 at the door.

Ruthann Barry can be reached at rbbarry@umass.edu.

Nashville duo drops by Northampton

C O N C E R T P R E V I E W

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

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Chestnuts roasting on a well–contained fire...

If your carton of milk says, “from concentrate,” it would be highly advisable to put it down and start over.

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Pretzels were invented in 610 AD, so clearly “getting the munchies” is purely genetic.

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If there is one person in this whole world who can convince you that the start of fall is a good thing, it’s Mr. Count Chocula.

Poorly Drawn lines By reza FarazmanD

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Better than fresh

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Akron upsets Pitt, Buffalo salvages win over Miami

By AdAm AucoinCollegian Correspondent

The Akron football team pulled off a sig-nificant upset against Pittsburgh 21-10 Saturday. The Zips (3-2) put up more yards than their Atlantic Coast Conference opponent, 382-349, in the game. Akron was led by running back Connor Hundley, who rushed for 148 yards on 19 carries. Through the air, the Zips received a solid perfor-mance from quarterback Kyle Pohl, who threw for 193 yards and one touch-down in the game. The Panthers (3-1) stayed in the game early, scoring the first touch-down in the second quar-ter, but Akron answered right back with a touch-down to head into half-time tied, 7-7. The Zips took control of the game in the sec-ond half, as they added a touchdown with 12 min-utes, 13 seconds remain-ing in the third quarter and subsequently held Pittsburgh to only a field goal to take a 14-10 lead into the final frame. The Panthers failed to score again, while Akron tacked on a final touchdown to clinch the victory. A major note from this game was the ability of the Zips to stop Pittsburgh’s vaunted rushing attack.Panthers’ running back James Conner came into the game with 699 yards rushing—good enough for first in the FBS. On Saturday, he was held to 92 yards by Akron’s defense. The Zips return to action next Saturday against Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m.

Toledo’s tops CMU

Toledo won a high-scor-ing game against Central Michigan 42-28 in Mid-American Conference action. The Rockets were led by quarterback Logan Woodside, who passed for 339 yards and threw two touchdowns while rush-ing for another. Offense was the name of the game for both teams in Saturday’s con-ference matchup. Toledo racked up 543 yards, while the Chippewas totaled 386 yards. Neither team had any trouble passing the ball,

but it was the balanced rushing attack of the Rockets that made the dif-ference in the game. Terry Swanson and Damion Jones-Moore led a 200-yard rushing attack for Toledo with 97 yards and 51 yards respectively. With the win, the Rockets moved to 2-0 in MAC play and sit atop the West division. Central Michigan dropped to 0-1 in conference play. Both teams continue their MAC schedules next Saturday, as Toledo (3-2) plays at Western Michigan at 7 p.m., and the Chippewas (2-3) take on Ohio at home at 3:30 p.m.

Buffalo escapes with win against Miami

A heavily-favored Buffalo squad barely escaped with a 35-27 win against Miami (OH) on Saturday. The story of this game was the play of Bulls’ running back Anthone Taylor. The 5-foot-10 junior rushed for 222 yards and three touch-downs, both career highs. But his career day was almost overshadowed by Buffalo’s struggles to put away the RedHawks. Miami was up 27-26 in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t finish the job as the Bulls came back to win behind a touch-down by Taylor and a late Patrick Clark field goal to take the 35-27 lead. The competitive play was a positive sign for the RedHawks (0-5), who have almost pulled off upsets the past two weeks (Cincinnati last week), but came up just short. Both quarterbacks had their way on Saturday. Buffalo quarterback Joe Licata threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns, while Miami quarterback Andrew Hendrix was equally as impressive, fin-ishing with 238 yards and three touchdowns. The win puts the Bulls at 1-0 in MAC play, while the RedHawks drop to 0-1.Buffalo (3-2) has a tough test next week as it takes on defending MAC champi-ons Bowling Green at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Miami looks to get its first win as it hosts another win-less team, Massachusetts, at 2:30 p.m.

Adam Aucoin can be reached at aaucoin@umass.edu.

Toledo’s offense outruns CMU’s

M AC F O O T BA L L

Seminoles escape with a victory

By Victor PusAteriCollegian Correspondent

There wasn’t much hype heading into Saturday’s matchup between Florida State and North Carolina State, but it turned out to be one of the best games of the weekend. Both teams entered this game undefeated and atop of the Atlantic Division in the Atlantic Coast Conference. However, not many gave the Wolfpack a chance to upset the No. 1 ranked Seminoles. But N.C. State didn’t go down easily. It took a second half FSU comeback to overcome a 38-28 third quarter deficit and to remain perfect for the season. The final score of the offensive shootout was a 56-41 Seminoles’ win, as both teams’ offenses accumulated over 500 total yards. The Wolfpack rushed out to an early 24-7 first quar-ter lead behind a balanced rushing and passing attack. But FSU cut the lead to 24-21 heading into halftime. Af ter Shadrach Thornton’s rushing touch-down put N.C. State up 38-28 with six minutes, 37 seconds left, the Seminoles outscored the Wolfpack 28-3 the rest of the way. N.C. State’s offense had its way with FSU for most

of the game, but a key third quarter fumble in its own red zone allowed the Seminoles to take the lead. Wolfpack quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw for 359 yards and three passing touchdowns in the loss. After serving a one-game suspension for making vulgar remarks in a pub-lic venue, Jameis Winston returned to action for FSU and threw for 365 yards and four touchdowns. His fourth touchdown gave the Seminoles their first lead of the game 43-38 late in the third quarter after the N.C. State fumble. FSU running back Karlos Williams added to the offensive output with a game-high 126 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. The Seminoles return home next Saturday to take on Wake Forest.

Texas A&M survives Arkansas

Four quarters wasn’t enough to decide the victor between No. 6 Texas A&M and unranked Arkansas, so both teams dueled it out in overtime. On the first play of over-time for the Aggies, quar-terback Kenny Hill and wide receiver Malcome Kennedy connected for a 25-yard touchdown recep-tion to put Texas A&M up 35-28, but the Razorbacks still had one last chance to

tie and extend the game on their next possession. Arkansas’ ensuing drive came down to a fourth and 1 situation at the Aggies’ 16-yard line. The Razorbacks decided to hand the ball off to Alex Collins, who was met by a swarm-ing Texas A&M defense at the line of scrimmage, forc-ing a turnover on downs and sealing an Aggies vic-tory. With the win, Texas A&M improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2001. In the fourth quarter, the Aggies rallied from 14 points down to force over-time. Trailing 28-14, Hill led two scoring drives to tie the game with just over two minutes to play. Hill, a first-year starter for Texas A&M, finished the game with 386 pass-ing yards and four passing

touchdowns while turn-ing the ball over just once. More than half of his total passing yards and three of his four touchdowns came in the fourth quar-ter and overtime alone. His two touchdowns in the fourth quarter came on an 86-yard pass to Edward Pope and a 59-yard pass to Josh Reynolds. Pope led the Aggies’ receiving corps in receiving yards with 181. Despite the loss, Arkansas had success with its rushing attack. As a team, it accounted for 285 rushing yards. The Razorbacks’ run game was led by Collins, who rushed for 131 yards on 21 carries and had one 50-yard touch-down.

Victor Pusateri can be reached at vpusateri@umass.edu and followed on Twitter @victorpusateri.

Kenny Hill leads TAMU to OT win

T O P 2 5 F O O T BA L L

Massachusetts quarterback Blake Frohnapfel broke a number of records Saturday in a 47-42 loss against Bowling Green on Homecoming. Frohnapfel completed 36-of-61 passes for 589 yards and five touchdowns in the loss, easily break-ing the UMass single-game yardage record which was previously 450 yards. He single-handedly kept a Minutemen offense which was struggling to run the ball in the game and his 589 yards were the most by a Division I FBS quarterback this year in regulation play. The offensive performance earned Frohnapfel the honor of Mid-American Conference Player of the Week. His five touchdowns also tied a program record, one that is held by numerous UMass quarter-backs including his current quarterbacks coach Liam Coen. Frohnapfel’s thrown for 1,471 yards this sea-son to go along with 11 touchdowns.

Sophomore forward Hailey Cockrum impressed on a Sunday afternoon in Richmond, Virginia, leading the women’s field hockey team to a decisive 4-1 victory against Virginia Commonwealth University.

Cockrum scored her first two goals of the sea-son in the win.

Her first goal came on a rebound off a penalty shot. Alert and ready, Cockrum buried it into the left post 16 minutes into the game.

Cockrum would again push UMass to a more commanding lead in the 60th minute courtesy of her teammate Tory Berry. Bursting with speed, Cockrum raced past the goalie to reach Berry’s pass and put it in the back of the net.

“It felt great being able to score twice for this team,” Cockrum said in a press release to UMass Athletics after the game.

-Written by Christopher Martinez

However, Ibanez said that being a captain hasn’t always come naturally to him. Even though he was captain of his high school team and was extremely committed to his role, he said he didn’t really know how to lead. In the past, he said he motivated his teammates by yelling at them, and the way to lead was to be the only leader, though he was one of three Brookline captains. His experience in Australia and his continued involvement with UMass gave him a “blueprint” for how to be a successful lead-er and be a better captain in general, he said. Ibanez, affectionately known as “Squid” by his teammates, has become the backbone of the Minutemen. He consistent-ly generates positivity and

motivation among his team-mates, who Ibanez said have made being a leader very easy for him. He labeled Alphonsus Prezza and Tim Porter, among others, as players who have contrib-uted to team leadership. “I really want us to be a team of leaders,” Ibanez said. “A team that speaks out during practice, leads on game day and are people who really live and die for the team.” Team president Jonathan Rossini said Ibanez’s “rugby IQ” and presence on and off the field have made him an extremely valuable player. “(Ibanez’s) life is truly all about rugby,” Rossini said. “We are very lucky to have someone leading us into battle every weekend that cares so much about the game and all of his teammates.”

Said Ibanez: “I feel like people who know me through rugby know the best version of myself, they know the part of me that’s a leader, they know the part of me that’s vocal and pas-sionate and wants to suc-ceed.” UMass coach Phil Ciccarelli said players respect Ibanez both for his athletic ability and his rugby intellect. Ciccarelli also called Ibanez a student of the game, playing with heart and intensity, quickly reacting to situations and making positive decisions. Working so closely with Ciccarelli and other play-ers, Ibanez said, has made him more receptive to criti-cism and better at work-ing with and respecting the opinions of others. Ibanez’s co-captain and backs leader Prezza said

he and Ibanez work so well together because of their mutual confidence in one another. They’re both expe-rienced players who have grown to trust each other and their judgment on what’s best for the team. When Ibanez is not totally focused on rugby, he spends his spare time volunteering for Amherst public schools as a men-tor and tutor for struggling students. Both of his par-ents were teachers, and as a sports management major with an education minor, he has always been interested in this type of work. Although his career at UMass is coming to a close, Ibanez said that this is just where the program is beginning to take off. He believes that being a great captain means focusing on the future impact you can

make on the team. “Being a captain isn’t a one year thing, it’s for life. You’re always going to want to see how the team progresses,” Ibanez said. “Your success as a captain isn’t really measured by the year you were there, it’s how you do the year after, and the year after that and the base you set up for the team to succeed in the future.”

‘Sorry, Mom’

Though Ibanez is not sure of where his path will take him after he leaves UMass, he knows that rugby will undoubtedly be the nucleus. He has toyed with the idea of returning to Australia for a year and getting more involved in a coun-try where the sport is fully

developed at multiple lev-els. In Australia, rugby is an immense part of the cul-ture and it’s a lifestyle that Ibanez admires highly. Ibanez, however, has also contemplated traveling to Argentina, where he said is home to the best amateur rugby league in the world. In Argentina, he could use his sport management skills to spread the sport he loves throughout the nation while also learning Spanish and honing his own talents. Though Ibanez would like to stay in the U.S., he also wants to follow rugby for his whole life, wherever it may take him. However, most opportunities in this sport are out of the county. “Sorry, Mom,” Ibanez said.

Ariel Kallenbach can be reached at akallenbach@umass.edu.

IBANEZ continued from page 8

MCT

Jameis Winston (5) returned from suspension to throw for 365 yards.

@MDC_SPORTS Sports@DailyCollegian.comTuesday, September 30, 2014

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

By Ariel KAllenBAchCollegian Staff

July 5. Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia. 10:30 a.m. Devin Ibanez is geared up for another day of rugby. His Sydney East squad is set for a Saturday morning matchup against Gordon as the 21-year-old’s summer-long rugby adventure down under continues.Ibanez plays a solid 40 min-utes and Sydney East wins 22-14. But his day is far from over. Shortly after the game, Ibanez hops on a south-bound train, and two hours later arrives in Burraneer for his second game of the day. The Maccabiah Blues – Ibanez’s other team while in Australia – kicked off at 3 p.m.; Ibanez arrived at the field at 3:05 p.m. Boots on and mouth guard in, he was subbed into the game by 3:15 p.m. The Blues lost 36-18, but Ibanez was named Man of the Match after playing an entire 80-minute game. Teammates deemed him crazy for playing that much, but Ibanez couldn’t imagine any other option. “I’m in Australia to play rugby,” Ibanez said, now a senior captain for the Massachusetts club rugby team. “I’m gonna play as much rugby as I can.”

Brookline boy

Ibanez started playing rugby as a sophomore at Brookline High School and said that he’s been in love ever since. He began play-ing year-round during his junior year. As a member of the Warriors’ rugby program, Ibanez said he was intro-duced to the unique brother-hood that is fostered by the sport and is grateful to have been a part of such a strong high school program – one he said is the oldest in New England. B ro o k l i n e inspired him to continue playing and to strive to be the best player that he can possibly be, according to Ibanez. During his time with

the Warriors, Ibanez said he learned not only about rugby, but also about what it meant to be a leader, as he was the captain for Brookline throughout his senior year. Ibanez was also a co-captain of the Boston U-19 team for three sum-mers. Surprisingly, Ibanez said he didn’t even know rugby existed before high school, but ever since, his dedica-tion to the sport has exem-plified his true passion. “Honestly, pretty much everything good that’s hap-pened in my life has come out of rugby and I strongly believe that I’m just a rugby maniac,” he said.

Rugby down under

When it comes to rugby, Ibanez won’t let anything stand in the way of his progress and appetite for the game. A month and a half before he left for his Australian adventure, he didn’t have a ticket or even a travel visa, but he knew he had to get there. After having already played

for UMass for three years, Ibanez was well-acquainted with the drive it takes to excel in this demanding sport. While in Australia, Ibanez and a fellow friend and rugby player moved into an apartment above a Turkish restaurant where they would spend the sum-mer living at bare minimum, engrossed in the sport and community that the rugby environment had provided for them. Divvying his time between Sydney East and the Maccabiah Blues, Ibanez said that Sydney East brought a more competitive aspect while the Maccabiah team contributed a more social piece and gave him a sense of family. Ibanez joined Sydney East midway through its season, but quickly moved through the ranks, fur-ther showcasing his drive to evolve his rugby game. Each team is structured into four portions – or subsets of the team – known as grades. First grade is the highest talent level. Starting from

fourth grade by default, as all new players do, he then progressed to third, and then to second grade reserve. Ibanez was also tested by playing in the men’s divi-sion, which he had only recently qualified for a few months prior when he turned 21, making him one of the youngest players in the group. Participating in this advanced group where the majority of players were older, faster and had for-merly played professionally was a welcome challenge for Ibanez. He said this endeav-or significantly contributed to his mental toughness and composure on and off the field. In Australia, almost unbelievably, rugby is played at an even more

intense level than it is in the United States. Ibanez said that many players are there simply to mess with you, to cheap shot you, play “dirty” and to generally get you off your game. It was a tough adjustment for him, and at first he strug-gled to control his emotions during the constant assault. Gradually, however, he said that he got accustomed to the physically and mentally demanding style of play, and said that he’s become a bet-ter player because of it. “Here, nothing anybody does can even come close to getting me because I’ve had to deal with so much worse,” he said. Ibanez’s psychological resilience wasn’t the only thing that improved while he was abroad. Due to the intense level of play, train-

ing and more than double the amount of games played in a UMass season, his strength and skills were greatly enhanced. Ibanez said that returning to Massachusetts while essen-tially in mid-season fitness positively contributed to his play for the Minutemen this season.

Following the leader

For Ibanez, being captain means much more than just the title. As one of the only players that has held leader-ship positions on the team for all four years – this is his second year as captain for UMass – Ibanez has a unique perspective on team dynamics and how things have transformed over the past few years. As a freshman, Ibanez wanted to get involved with rugby leadership immedi-ately. As Match Secretary during his first year with UMass, he was responsible for organizing games and other behind-the-scenes tasks with the purpose of moving the team for-ward. He was Fundraising Coordinator as a sophomore before moving up to for-wards captain junior year, which he said he has always had his eye on. “I definitely always thought that I would be somebody who could help take this team into a more serious rugby mindset and hopefully have us realize a bit more of our potential, because we’ve definitely fallen short in years past,” he said. Since being named for-wards captain during the second semester of his junior year, Ibanez has embraced his role as leader and thrives on going above and beyond expectations. He “lives and breathes rugby” and loves that every-one expects the best of him because he said he truly expects the best out of him-self. “I think if people see me holding myself to higher standards, then everybody else will follow suit,” he said.

‘I’m just a rugby MANIAC’RUGBY CAPTAIN DEVIN IBANEZ IS READY TO STAKE HIS CLAIM AS A LEADER.

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

Devin Ibanez (with ball) enters the 2014 season as a forwards captain of the UMass rubgy team and eyes a role as a competitive, devoted leader.

Minutewomen shine at West Point Invitational

By JAmie cushmAnCollegian Staff

The Massachusetts’s women’s tennis team made a strong statement over the weekend at the West Point Invitational tournament held in West Point, New York, as it was one of the strongest performers out of 18 participating teams. The top performer for the Minutewomen was freshman Ana Yrazusta Acosta, who advanced to the final round of the sec-ond singles flight before withdrawing due to an abdominal injury which prevented her from prop-erly executing her serve. “She is an excellent player,” UMass coach Judy

Dixon said of the freshman. “She has a big forehand and I think she would have won the final had she not gotten hurt. She is really a huge asset for us.” UMass’ first singles displayed similar suc-cess. After losing her first match to Stony Brook sophomore Nadia Smergut, Minutewomen junior Arielle Griffin went on to win four straight matches in the backdraw, advanc-ing to the final round. The other UMass representa-tive, sophomore Aarzoo Malik, also performed admirably. Malik won her first two matchups in order to advance to the quarterfi-nals, defeating Fordham senior Ellie Ball and Long Island University sopho-more Marine Dans along the way. Malik lost her

quarterfinal matchup to Syracuse sophomore Valeria Salazar 6-2, 6-4. Salazar went on to win the first singles bracket. Another strong point for the Minutewomen was the first doubles flight, as both teams advanced to the semi-finals. Junior Carol Benito and Yrazusta defeated teams from Connecticut, Stony Brook and Quinnipiac before fac-ing eventual finals cham-pions Komal Safdar and Salazar from the Orange in a tight match that finished

8-7 (4). The victory in the finals for Syracuse came over the other UMass duo of Griffin and Malik. Griffin and Malik won four straight matches before coming up short in the finals, losing to the Syracuse squad 8-3. In addition to Yrazusta’s injury, the Minutewomen’s other representative in the second singles flight, soph-omore Anna Woosley also suffered some bad luck in the tournament. Woosley won her first match before withdrawing from the tour-

nament due to a stomach illness. Dixon said that she was pleased with the team’s performance over the weekend. “We did really well,” Dixon said. “I wanted us to create a presence that we were one of the top three teams at the tournament and I think we did that in all of the flights and all of the matchups.” The strong play by UMass comes on the heels of an almost equally encouraging performance last weekend at the Brown Invitational in Providence, Rhode Island. The team has played well so far, rais-ing expectations for the upcoming season. “This team has a lot of talent,” Dixon said. “We have one goal in mind and that is to win the Atlantic

10 tournament.” Much of the focus of the fall schedule for the Minutewomen is working on individual improve-ments, according to Dixon. “We’re seeing results from the individual chang-es and I am pleased they are incorporating the requested changes,” Dixon said. The Minutewomen will now have some time off from competition before travelling to Storrs, Connecticut, for the team’s only fall dual match in a matchup against UConn on Thursday, Oct. 9. Fall dual matches count against a team’s win-loss record but are not taken into consid-eration for ranking purpos-es. Jamie Cushman can be reached at jrcushman@umass.edu.

Yrazusta Acosta excels before injury

T E N N I S

“We really did well. I wanted us to create a presence that we were one of the top three teams at the tournament and I think we did

that.”Judy Dixon,

UMass coach

see IBANEZ on page 7

“I think if people see me holding myself to higher standards, then everybody else will

follow suit.”Devin Ibanez,

UMass captain