By DaviD McLeLLanCollegian Correspondent

  Massachusetts voters were presented with four ballot questions addressing the gas tax, recyclable bottle deposits, casinos and paid sick time for employees on Tuesday. Question 1 asked whether or not to repeal a 2013 law that would tie the gas tax to inflation. Voters chose to repeal this law with a “yes” vote, effec-tively keeping the tax at 24 cents per gallon until future legislation alters it. Voters chose not to expand the 31-year-old Bottle Bill by voting “no” on Question 2. The Bottle Bill, intro-duced in 1983, requires a 5-cent deposit on bottles and cans containing alcoholic beverages or sodas. When these bottles and cans are recycled, the purchaser makes their 5-cent deposits back; this is the state’s way of providing incentive to recycle. A “yes” vote on Question 2 would have updated the bill to include 5-cent deposits on water bottles, juices and most other recyclable drinks. An updated Bottle Bill would

have also included increases in the deposit price every five years, despite 5 cents being the deposit price since the bill’s inception. Tuesday’s “no” outcome leaves the current system unchanged. On Question 3, vot-ers chose to keep plans for Massachusetts’ casinos by voting “no.” This “no” vote means the 2011 law allow-ing the construction of three casinos and one slot parlor will not be repealed. Plans to build casinos in Everett and Springfield are still in effect, and construc-tion of a Plainville slots par-lor is already underway. The state also has plans to build a third casino in southeastern Massachusetts. Supporters of the new casinos believe they will boost economic develop-ment and create jobs in their

respective cities. Voters also chose to guar-antee workers’ paid sick time in a “yes” vote on Question 4. Employers with at least 11 employees will now be required to give each employ-ee a paid hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. This paid sick time can be accrued only up to a maxi-mum of 40 hours per year to discourage employees from taking advantage of the new law. With the new law in place, employees will no longer have to choose between going to work sick and not getting paid. The paid time can also be used if a family member is sick, or to address the affects of domestic vio-lence on an employee or an employee’s dependent.

David McLellan can be reached at djmclell@umass.edu.

DailyCollegian.comWednesday, November 5, 2014

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#1 YES Gas TaxOn Tuesday, voters were asked whether or not they wanted to repeal the gas tax link to the consumer price index.

#2 NO BottlesVoters were asked whether or not the state should expand the five cent deposit to apply to bottled water, juices, sports drinks and most other beverage containers.

#3 NO CasinosVoters decided whether to repeal a 2011 law that allowed for three casinos and a slots parlor in Massachusetts.

#4 YES Sick daysVoters were asked to decide whether employees should be guaranteed paid sick leave based on the number of hours they work.

Graphic by James Desjardin

Former health insurance exec reportedly bests AG Coakley, who hasn’t conceded

Two Mass. ballot questions ‘yes,’ two others rejected

Columnists respond to 2014 midterm elections

PAGE 4 PAGE 5

OPINION: UMass alum returnsto the stage in ‘Merchant of

Venice’

BAKER REDEEMED Republicans take control of US Senate

By DaviD LightManMcClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Republicans seized con-trol of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, riding a wave of discontent with President Barack Obama to majority power in both houses of Congress for the final two years of his presidency. Republicans won Democratic-held Senate seats in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia, assuring them of majority control of the Senate for the first time since January 2007. They also held their majority control of the House of Representatives and looked to add as many as a dozen seats, which would swell their ranks to a level Republicans haven’t achieved since 1949. The results vividly dem-onstrated how constituents were frustrated with gov-ernment, notably Obama, and most saw the country heading in the wrong direc-tion. Democratic efforts to offset the Republican momentum with gains of their own failed. In Kentucky, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell easily beat Democratic Secretary of

State Alison Lundergan Grimes. The Democrats had hopes for a Republican seat in Georgia, but Michelle Nunn fell to Republican businessman David Perdue. And in Kansas, Democrats appeared to be counting on Greg Orman, running as an independent against Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican. Vice President Joe Biden earlier Tuesday called Orman “an inde-pendent who will be with us in the state of Kansas.” It wasn’t enough. Roberts held the seat. Democrats did hold New Hampshire, where Sen. Jeanne Shaheen turned back a strong challenge from former Sen. Scott Brown. And they stopped the Republicans, at least for now, in Louisiana. Since no one got a major-ity, Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu will face Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy in a runoff next month. But the night belonged to the Republican Party, thanks to a favorable elec-toral map and a president with dismal approval rat-ings. McConnell, speaking to supporters, was both defiant and conciliatory. “Tonight, Kentuckians said we can do better as a nation,” McConnell said in his victory speech in

GOP gains six seats to beat Democrats

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN FILE PHOTO

Charlie Baker reportedly won the gubernatorial election against Martha Coakley Tuesday. Pictured: Baker speaks to a group of UMass students in 2012.

By anthony RentschCollegian Staff

In an open letter to University of Massachusetts students, Democratic can-didate for governor Martha Coakley did not underestimate how much of a nail-biter the 2014 election would be. “Every single vote will matter in this election,” said Coakley, who has been the Attorney General of Massachusetts since 2007. “It’s been quite a ride,” said Republican candidate Charlie

Baker in a speech at his rally in Swampscott, Mass. around 1:30 a.m. The lead for governor went back and forth all night as each and every precinct across the Commonwealth reported their results. By 1 a.m. mul-tiple news outlets, including WBUR, Associated Press and CNN called the election in Baker’s favor. By 1:16 a.m., Baker was leading in the tal-lies with 1,015,612 votes (48.4 percent) to Coakley’s 979,949 votes (46.7 percent), according to WBUR.

This election featured duel-ing storylines of redemption. Baker lost his Massachusetts’ governor’s bid to current gov-ernor Deval Patrick in 2010 and Coakley lost a shocker to Republican Scott Brown in the 2010 special election to replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate.

These results are not sur-prising based on recent polls: Baker defeated Coakley in the last four major polls, including a nine-point differential in an October 19 to 21 Boston Globe poll.

However, the Coakley cam-paign showed no sign of giving in, even with 98.3 percent of precincts reporting. Boston Globe editor Brian McGrory tweeted at 12:25 a.m. that Coakley strategist Doug Rubin said Coakley wanted all the votes to be counted and had no intentions of conced-ing tonight. Later in the evening Coakley called Baker and told him she planned to wait until the morning.

see REPUBLICANS on page 3see BAKER on page 2

Voters also chose to guarantee workers’ paid sick time in a “yes” vote on Question 4.

Employers with at least 11 employees will now be required to give each employee a paid hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN2 Wednesday, November 5, 2014 DailyCollegian.com

T H E R U N D OW N

ON THIS DAY...In 1955, the renovated Vienna State Opera, which had been destroyed in World War II, reopened with a performance of Beethoven’s “Fidelio.”

Mexico MEXICO CITY — Jose Luis Abarca, fugitive mayor of the Guerrero city of Iguala who is accused of ordering the attack on 43 students now missing and likely dead, was cap-tured early Tuesday along with his wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda, a federal official said. Federal police spokes-man Jose Ramon Salinas said via Twitter that the pair was captured in Mexico City, in the densely populated working-class district of Iztapalapa. Television footage showed police vehicles, red lights ablazing, arriving at instal-lations of the attorney general’s office in the pre-dawn darkness, pre-sumably with Abarca and Pineda aboard. There, they will be interrogated.

Los Angeles Times

Iran TEHRAN, Iran — The Obama administration has agreed to allow Iran to operate 6,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium, up from a ceiling of 4,000 reported two weeks ago, as part of negotiations for a nuclear deal, according to a website approved by the Iranian government. The claim appeared to be the latest sign that the pace of bargaining is inten-sifying between Iran and six world powers as they face a Nov. 24 negotiating deadline. The two sides are seek-ing a comprehensive deal that would lift interna-tional sanctions on Iran’s economy in exchange for verifiable limits on Iran’s nuclear program.

Tribune Washington Bureau

The Islamic State

The Islamic State mili-tant group kidnapped and tortured dozens of boys in Syria this year, beating them with hoses or electri-cal cables and forcing them to watch videos of behead-ings and combat, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. The youths, ages 14 to 16, were held for months and beaten if they tried to escape, performed poorly during compulsory reli-gious lessons or had a rela-tive in the YPG, a Syrian-Kurdish militia known as the Popular Protection Units, which has fought the Islamic State, according the rights group.

Los Angeles Times

Distributed by MCT Information Services

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

CorrectionIn an article headlined “Two SGA officers resign during weekly meeting,” Justin Kilian was misgen-dered. Kilian uses she/her pronouns.

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

Voters took to the polls Tuesday at Precinct 9, which is Amherst’s Wildwood Elementary School.

CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN

“I just wanted to cast my vote, it’s important,” said Andrew Stranberg when asked why he voted Tuesday. The UMass senior said he voted in 2012 and stopped by the polls after class.

Shaheen bests Brown in NH Senate race

By Marie MaccuneCollegian Staff

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) won her bid for re-election in the New Hampshire Senate race Tuesday. She will return to Washington, D.C., for her second term. “Tonight the people of New Hampshire chose to put New Hampshire first. ... I am so proud to once again be able to represent the people of New Hampshire in the US Senate,” Shaheen said in a victory speech. Despite initial contesta-tion, Republican opponent Scott Brown conceded around 11:45 p.m. “You’ve got no busi-ness in politics unless you respect the judgment of the people,” Brown said in his concession speech. “I accept the decision of the voters.” The New York Times reported Shaheen winning with 51.3 percent of the vote. This is Brown’s second loss to a female candidate in two different states. Shaheen, the first woman in the U.S. to ever be elected both governor and senator, relied on her track record in the Senate and well-practiced political machine to bring her to vic-tory.

In New Hampshire, a state that is no stranger to swings in the national political climate, Shaheen lost her first bid for the Senate in 2002, but won a 2008 rematch against John Sununu. During the highly com-petitive race, Brown framed the election as a referen-dum on President Obama and his policies. However, Shaheen proved successful in promoting her own vot-ing record and service to the state. Brown, a former Massachusetts Senator, moved across the border fol-lowing his crushing defeat to Democrat Elizabeth Warren in the 2012 election, losing his bid for his first full six-year term. He had shocked the polit-ical world in 2010 by win-ning a special election to fill the seat held by the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a Democrat. Brown would have become the third person to represent multiple states in the Senate and the first since 1879 had he been vic-torious on Tuesday’s elec-tion.

Marie MacCune can be reached at mmaccune@umass.edu and fol-lowed on Twitter @MarieMacCune.

Former Mass. senator falters in election

Bay State goes blue once again in midterm elections

By Marie MaccuneCollegian Staff

Democrats dominat-ed Massachusetts polls, securing every office but governor during Tuesday’s election.

U.S. Senate and House

Sen. Ed Markey (D) was reelected with 62.5 per-cent of the vote, resulting in the crushing defeat of Republican Brian Herr. U.S. Rep. James McGovern (D) ran an uncontested race for reelection. He will return to Washington, D.C., representing the Massachusetts 2nd

Congressional District, which includes the town of Amherst. Democrats also won all other Massachusetts con-gressional races.

Constitutional Offices

Republicans Charlie Baker and Karyn Polito defeated Democrat Martha Coakley and Steve Kerrigan for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor by a close margin. Coakley had yet to concede at press time. Democrat Maura Healey won attorney gen-eral with 61.9 percent of the vote, trouncing

Republican John Miller. Her victory marks the election of the first open-ly gay attorney general in U.S. history. Suzanne Bump (D) was reelected as state auditor with 58 percent of the vote, beating out Republican opponent Patricia Saint Aubin. Democrat Deborah Goldberg beat Michael Heffernan in the race for state treasurer, earning 55.3 percent of the vote. Incumbent Bill Galvin (D) won secretary of state, defeating Republican Dave D’Arcangelo with 67.7 percent of the vote.

Marie MacCune can be reached at mmaccune@umass.edu and fol-lowed on Twitter @MarieMacCune.

Dems win senator, treasurer, AG, auditor

“That’s the way it should work,” said Baker of Coakley’s decision to wait until all of the results are out in the morning. “She put her heart and her soul and every ounce of energy that she had in that race.” Once all of the votes are in and if the margin between the two candidates is less than half of one percent, the can-didate who lost in the pre-liminary count can request a recount. If the margin is greater than this, the candi-date has to ask for recounts at each individual precinct. Despite Coakley’s intent to stick this election out, Baker, a native of Needham, Mass., will reunite the GOP and Beacon Hill; the state has had a Republican governorship since 1991, with the exception of Gov. Patrick’s stint from 2007 to present. Baker even received the endorsement of the Boston Globe, which marked the first time that the state’s major newspaper

endorsed a Republican in two decades. Baker will be coming into office with popular support of his stance on casinos. In the lead-up to Tuesday’s election, Baker indicated that he would vote no on Question 3 and that he hoped to start with a casino in Springfield. The people of Massachusetts voted to make no changes regarding the cur-rent gaming laws by a wide margin. In terms of higher educa-tion policies, Baker plans to focus on ways that families can afford college without increasing state spending. Baker’s proposals include accelerated bachelor’s degree programs, expanded online learning options and co-op programs. If officially declared gov-ernor, Baker will be sworn into office and begin serv-ing his four-year term on January 19, 2015.

Anthony Rentsch can be reached at

BAKER continued from page 1

Jerry Brown wins fourth Calif. gov termBy Michael Finnegan

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Forty years after vaulting onto the national stage as

California’s young and quixotic new governor, Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr. won an historic fourth term Tuesday as the sea-

soned elder who led the state’s recovery from near fiscal disaster, according to the Associated Press. The 76-year-old gov-

ernor’s re-election came as two fellow Democrats, both weighing campaigns for governor in 2018, appeared to be coasting to second terms: Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, 47, and Attorney General Kamala Harris, 50. The early reminders of Democrats’ strength in California contrasted with Republican gains in a national midterm elec-tion largely defined by the unpopularity of President Barack Obama. A big uncertainty was whether the foul nation-al climate for Democrats, combined with a relatively dull ballot in California, would deny the party a two-thirds legisla-tive supermajority that would effectively consign Republicans to irrelevance in Sacramento. The Field Poll projected a record-low turnout of 46 percent of the state’s near-ly 18 million voters, with

key Democratic groups sitting out the election more than others: Latinos, women, young voters and residents of Los Angeles County. Brown attended a memorial service Tuesday morning for slain Placer County Sheriff ’s Det. Michael Davis Jr., then spent the day working at the state Capitol before an election-night dinner at the historic Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento. His Republican chal-lenger, Neel Kashkari, voted Tuesday morning near his home in Laguna Beach. His election-night party was taking place at a Costa Mesa hotel. In an era of crippling drought, prison over-crowding and substandard schools, Brown’s deep grounding in California politics has helped him maneuver in Sacramento.

MANNY CRISOSTOMO/SACRAMENTO BEE/MCT

California Gov. Jerry Brown, along with Anne Gust, left, speaks in front of the California Governor’s Mansion after he was re-elected to a fourth term in Sacramento, Calif.

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN Wednesday, November 5, 2014 3DailyCollegian.com

Louisville. “Tonight, they said we can have real change in Washington. Real change, and that’s just what I intend to deliver.” Democrats were defend-ing 21 Senate seats to the Republicans’ 15. Seven of the Democratic seats were in states that went for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012 against Obama, includ-ing Arkansas, Montana, South Dakota and West Virginia. “This is probably the worst possible group of states for Democrats since Dwight Eisenhower,” Obama said Tuesday on WNPR in Connecticut. In House races, two Democratic incumbents fell: Rep. Nick Rahall of West Virginia and Rep. Joe Garcia of Florida. Rahall, first elected to the House in 1976, was the victim of a GOP surge in a state that’s trend-ed increasingly Republican. A look at key Senate races: – Georgia. Perdue won the Republican nomina-tion campaigning as an outsider who would shake up Washington, but Nunn gained by questioning his business record. Democrats had at least hoped no one would get a majority and the race would go to a Jan. 6 runoff. Instead, Perdue got enough to win outright. He’ll succeed Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss. –Kentucky. McConnell easily topped Democrat Grimes. Democrats once had big hopes of gaining a seat here, but McConnell

slammed Grimes as a sup-porter of Obama policies, which are not popular in the state. Grimes tried hard to separate herself, but among her stumbles was her refus-al last month to say whether she voted for Obama in 2012. – West Virginia. Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito won elec-tion as the state’s first woman senator, defeating Democratic Secretary of State Natalie Tennant in a race that was never consid-ered close. Capito will be the state’s first female senator. – North Carolina. Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan lost to Republican House Speaker Thom Tillis. The race was nasty and costly – the campaigns aired more than 100,000 ads, according to The Charlotte Observer. –Arkansas. Pryor lost after being hammered for supporting Obama on nine of 10 key votes last year, a liability in a state where the president’s approval ratings have hovered around 30 per-cent in recent polls. – Kansas. The streak con-tinues: No Republican has lost a Kansas Senate cam-paign since 1932, and though Roberts was seen as out of touch with the state, he was able to overcome the Orman challenge. Roberts worked to define Orman as untested and a closet Democrat, and conservatives who had chal-lenged Roberts rallied at the end to support him. – Louisiana. Two con-servatives, Cassidy and Rob Maness, were splitting the anti-Landrieu vote in a state where Obama is deeply

unpopular. Cassidy is the likely favorite in a Dec. 6 runoff. – South Dakota. Rounds won a three-way battle. Independent Larry Pressler, a Republican South Dakota senator from 1979 to 1997, made some inroads but faded. – Colorado. Sen. Mark Udall, a Democrat, thought he could tar Republican Rep. Cory Gardner as a doc-trinaire conservative with little regard for women’s rights. That strategy back-fired as the affable Gardner retained a sizable following among women. – Iowa. Republican Joni Ernst, a state senator, vault-ed to prominence earlier this year with her down-to-earth pitch as a mother, sol-dier and independent. She defeated Democrat Bruce Braley to take the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat. – Montana. Republican Rep. Steve Daines won the Senate seat easily. Any pros-pect of a competitive race evaporated when incum-bent Sen. John Walsh, a Democrat, dropped out this summer after facing pla-giarism allegations. Daines wound up with an easy path to victory. –Alaska. Sen. Mark Begich, a Democrat, is behind in polls but has a ground game that’s a prov-en success. His race with Republican Dan Sullivan is likely to be close and per-haps not decided for days.

REPUBLICANS continued from page 1 Survival Center makes home for immigrants

By Sorelle MBakopCollegian Correspondent

As a Venezuelan immi-grant, Niri Azuaje knows that being an immigrant in a country with a different culture and language from that of your native land can be a very frightening experience. Having access to an organization like the Amherst Survival Center helps immigrants integrate into the community. She now calls the center “a sec-ond home.” The center has been providing the infrastruc-ture and organization for transforming the commu-nity’s generosity into ser-vices for those in need for over 35 years. Its mission is to provide food, cloth-ing, health care and com-munity to those who live in Hampshire and Franklin County through volunteers’ efforts. When Azuaje came to America two years ago from Venezuela, not only did the language barrier separate her from the town she lived in, but she also could not afford food, furniture or the necessities to keep herself warm for the winter. Then a friend told her about the Amherst Survival Center. Azuaje said she was “really surprised by the way they actually treat and

receive people.” She was overwhelmed by the love and welcome she experi-enced during her first visit at the center. Not only did the center help Azuaje meet with many of her needs such as food, clothing and health care, but it made her feel like a part of the com-munity. Mindy Domb, the cen-ter’s executive director, said “community is just as important as food to the Survival Center.” “When I say that the community is so support-ive of us, that includes the University community. … Students play a role as vol-unteers: they launch spe-cific donation campaign for us.  Fraternities and sorori-ties are always volunteering at the center one way or another,” she continued. Mindy also said when she went to Dash and Dine last year, she “saw hundreds of students running to sup-port the Amherst Survival Center,” something she said was incredible to create community awareness. The center has lunches and dinners that provide food but also give an oppor-tunity for people to come together in the community. Other programs available in the center that are specific to building a community include movie nights, music nights, exercise classes and field trips. It is this commu-nity aspect of the Amherst Survival Center that made

the town that felt foreign and cold to Azuaje begin to feel like home. She was so moved by the help she had received that she started helping at the center as a way to show her gratitude for all the many resources the center had given her. Domb hopes the center does a better job to “sus-tain donation of food.” The center often faces periods of shortage in food, which leads to many of the par-ticipants facing food inse-curity. An ongoing supply of food throughout the year will help them provide more food to more people, espe-cially parents with children in school, who often face the worst food insecurity with-out free or reduced price lunch programs during school breaks. As the center’s food pan-try coordinator, Azuaje is now working alongside other staffs of the center to implement the recent pro-gram, which gives families with school age children extra food during school vacations. This will mean parents of school age stu-dents will not have to incor-porate meals that were taken care of by the schools into their already tight budgets; this program will lead to less food insecurity among these families when school is not in session.

Sorelle Mbakop can be reached at smbakop@umass.edu.

Location provides services, programs

By WilliaM DouglaSMcClatchy Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — With several key elections potentially hinging on razor-thin margins, Americans went to the polls Tuesday in 34 states with new voting laws that critics fear will adversely impact minority turnout and proponents say are needed to protect against voter fraud. The new laws – ranging from photo identification requirements to restrictions on same-day regis-tration – brought increased scru-tiny Tuesday from the two major political parties, civic groups, voting rights advocates and the Justice Department, almost all deploying monitors and lawyers to polling stations to look out for voting problems. “It’s the new normal since 2000,” said Richard Hasen, a law and politics professor at the University of California, Irvine, and author of “The Voting Wars: From 2000 to the Next Election Meltdown.” “Some of this is legit-imate fear, some of it is a way of getting the base wound up and (to) raise funds.” From the moment polls opened –and in some cases before – reports of voting irregularities began. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s elec-tion protection program report-ed more than 18,000 calls to its hotline –the bulk of them from Florida, Georgia, Texas, and North Carolina. Georgia and Texas have strict photo ID laws, meaning those who don’t have proper identification can vote via provisional ballots but must provide sufficient iden-tification within days of casting those ballots, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Florida, voters without ID can cast provisional ballots and their signatures can be verified by election officials with signatures on record. “Yes, there are people say-ing they’re not being allowed to vote,” Barbara Arnwine, the lawyers’ committee’s president and executive director, said with-

out providing specific details. “Unfortunately it’s coming from a number of states. We say it’s for two reasons: Some of them are states like Texas where, sadly, the voter ID law has been allowed to proceed. ... The other thing that we’re seeing is that states just didn’t do their jobs of getting to voters the correct information about voter registration status and polling places.” In Georgia, where Republican David Perdue and Democrat Michelle Nunn are locked in a tight Senate race, the secretary of state reported problems with a website that provides poll loca-tions for voters. The technical glitch further angered civil rights leaders and voting rights advocates who have alleged that 40,000 voter regis-tration applications gathered by the New Georgia Project are missing or unprocessed. Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp said there are no missing applica-tions. In Connecticut, incumbent Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy’s campaign filed a complain in Hartford Superior Court demand-ing that voting hours be extended Tuesday because of delays and other problems at Hartford poll-ing sites. Photo ID is request-ed but not required to vote in Connecticut. President Barack Obama called “The Colin McEnroe Show” on Hartford’s WNPR on Tuesday and told listeners not to let problems at the polls discourage them from voting. “If people were planning to vote before going to work, and they weren’t able to do it, that’s frustrating,” Obama said. “I want to encourage everyone who is lis-tening not to be deterred by what was obviously an inconvenience.” Republicans railed against Malloy’s extension request. “It’s always the Democrats. It’s always the cities,” state Republican Party Chairman Jerry Labriola told NBC Connecticut. “This is right out of the Democratic playbook on how to conduct elec-tions.” In Maryland, where Democratic Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown is in an unexpectedly close race against Republican Larry Hogan, True the Vote, a conservative–lean-

ing election watchdog group, said Tuesday that issues with a malfunctioning voting machine in Baltimore County that alleg-edly switched votes in multiple contests during early voting last month remain unresolved. The group also reported that Texas gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott’s name was missing on at least one voting machine in a San Antonio precinct. In Virginia, incumbent Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Va., and state elec-tion officials reported that nearly 50 voting machines in his Virginia Beach district were malfunction-ing. Rigell’s campaign and state Republican Party officials urged the Virginia Beach supervisor of elections to switch to paper ballots in places with problem machines. Midterm elections generally draw fewer voters than presiden-tial-year contests. Still, more than 19.6 million have voted ahead of the official Election Day, accord-ing to the United States Elections Project, which compiles voting data. In 2010, 41.8 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, according to U.S. Census data, down from 43.6 percent in the 2006 midterms. The

number of African-Americans and Hispanics voting in midterms has been increasing. In 2006, 38.6 percent of African-Americans and 19.3 percent of Hispanics voted in midterm con-gressional and statewide elec-tions, according to Census data. In the 2010 midterms, 40.7 percent of eligible African-Americans and 21.3 percent of Hispanics voted. Democrats and aligned groups fear those gains will be eroded by new voting rules adopted by most-ly Republican-controlled state leg-islatures in recent years to secure the voting process against fraud. Voting rights advocates and civil rights organizations say minorities disproportionately lack sufficient government-issued identification. At the White House, press secretary Josh Earnest said “it remains to be seen” what impact the laws will have on voter turnout. All sides of the voting law debate braced for battle Tuesday. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, in conjunc-tion with other civil rights/vot-ing advocacy groups, says it has between 1,000 and 2,000 lawyers and non-attorneys on the ground

in 18 states and on telephone hot-lines on the lookout for problems at the polls. The Republican National Lawyers Association conducted 60 election law training seminars nationwide. The sessions were attended by more than 1,000 law-yers and volunteers who are avail-able to work if problems arise Tuesday. True the Vote has trained more than 400,000 citizen poll-watchers since 2012 and released a cell-phone app to help people quickly report suspected voter fraud. The Justice Department, which has wrestled with Texas, South Carolina and other states over voting law changes, dispatched federal monitors to 18 states for the elections. “This is all focused on the idea that every eligible American citi-zen should be able to cast a ballot if they choose to do so today,” Earnest said. “Election Day seems to be a unifying day, and I think this is the kind of principle the Democrats, independents and Republicans all agree on.”

Lesley Clark of the Washington bureau con-tributed to this article.

Fraud fears persist despite lack of evidence

New ID laws may disenfranchise voters

TIM DOMINICK/THE STATE/MCT

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and her husband, Michael, sign in to vote at the Mount Horeb precinct in Lexington, S.C., on Tuesday.

The tables turned in American politics Tuesday

night as the Republicans took control of the United States Senate for the first time in eight years. With only 51 seats needed for a GOP majority, meaning six pickups in order to have control, Republicans had already picked up seven seats at press time. Whether it be CNN or MSNBC, a variety of political strategists have been using the mid-term election results as a pre-text for President Obama’s job performance. Now, as it currently stands, the president’s job approv-al rating is at 44 percent, roughly equivalent to that of President George W. Bush when he was starting his sixth year in office. Approval ratings aside, the question should be asked: what do the midterms really forecast? Based on the current polit-ical makeup of the elector-

ate, the country seems pretty split between Democrats and Republicans. Historically speaking, how common is it for a blue state to become red and a red state to become blue? Wendy Davis received a lot of national attention ever since she put herself on the map as being at the fore-front for women reproduc-tive issues. She lost the Texas governor’s race to Republican Greg Abbott. According to a poll report-ed on the CBS Evening News on Nov. 5, only 19 percent of the country has a favorable opinion of the job being done by Congress. It should follow from this that incumbents would face an uphill battle throughout the midterm elec-tion. But, in fact, probably somewhere close to 90 per-cent of incumbents will be reelected. Why? Either voters are not that unhappy with Congress or the built advan-tages of incumbency – gerry-mandering districts, superior campaign funding – make it almost impossible for the will

of the people to be expressed at the polls. If, as much of the media is suggesting, Republican victo-ries are tied to voters’ person-al dislike of Obama, it doesn’t necessarily follow that any of that sentiment will carry over to hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances in 2016. Exit polls suggested that the key issue for most vot-ers was the economy. How does this translate into anti-Obama vote given that unem-ployment is down and the stock market up? Obviously, Americans are not thinking back to Bush’s economic pol-icy. If they did, they would remember a great recession and high unemployment. Maybe it is because wages are flat even though unemploy-ment is up. People are just not making enough to make ends meet. But how is that Obama’s doing? Except for minimum wage increases, when does the president have control over what companies pay their workers? If people are frus-

trated with their wages, they cannot remove their bosses so they translate that frustra-tion into voting against who-ever is in the White House. Strategists for Clinton will be looking at the numbers behind the numbers. That is, they will want to see poll num-bers for key demographics for her – How did women vote? How did African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans vote? These will be important constituencies for her if she hopes to win in two years. Those are numbers that we won’t learn about tonight but that will have to be studied over the next week or so. In other words, the only way to reverse this trend amongst voters is if the electorate changes as well. To respond to political approval polls is one thing; to channel that anger into the voting booth is another.

Isaac Simon is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at isimon@umass.edu. A full version of this column can be found on DailyCollegian.com.

Opinion EditorialEditorial@DailyCollegiancomWednesday, November 5, 2014

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“Either the GOP creates legislation that can gain public support and then shame the

president into signing it, or the party appears completely incompetent.”

Julian del Prado

Little change in Massachusetts, Democrats guaranteed 2016 win

While Charlie Baker has been declared winner of the

Massachusetts governor’s race at press time, statewide politics are unlikely to change with a Baker governorship due to Democratic superma-jorities in the legislature and Democrats holding most statewide offices. But the GOP’s senate vic-tory guarantees a Democratic landslide in 2016. The effects of the 2010 Citizens United decision open-ing up the financial floodgates in politics are finally being felt in Massachusetts. In this election, the Republican Governors Association (RGA) spent $12.4 million this year, outspending the rival Democratic Governors Association by a margin of 9 to 1. The RGA’s spending fig-ure is greater than all of the outside money spent in the 2010 governor’s race. It spent more in the last week of the election ($3.75 million) than Coakley has during her entire campaign ($3 million). Six out of every 10 dollars spent in the 2014 governor’s race “came from an outside PAC,” according to Commonwealth Magazine. In 2010, Baker and the Republican Party spent more money than Deval Patrick and the Democrats, but out-side SuperPAC money boosted the Democrat’s finances. This year, Republicans and right-wing PACs outspent Coakley, the Democrats and left-wing groups, further compounding Coakley’s fundraising disad-vantage. She also faced a lack of support from the national Democratic Party with more competitive races siphoning off funding. Maura Healey, who will become the first openly gay attorney general in the United

States in January, is the high-light of the Massachusetts Democrats’ victorious can-didates. A young prosecutor, Healey fights for the under-represented and will use the attorney general’s office as a people’s advocate. She is also a nimble politician who transformed a close primary victory against long-time Democratic operative Warren Tolman into a general elec-tion blowout. The Massachusetts bal-lot questions also highlight-ed the divided nature of the

Commonwealth’s electorate. “Yes” voters on Question 1 repealed the indexing of the gas tax to inflation by the smallest margin of any ballot question. The push to expand bottle deposits to non-carbon-ated beverages failed steeply, 72.8 percent against, in the face of corporate spending on television, radio, print and online advertising. A repeal of legalized casino gambling was also on the ballot as Question 3, but lost, meaning projects in Springfield and Everett will continue unabated. Finally, the liberal electorate enacted a statewide guarantee of paid sick leave for all people who work for more than 30 hours per week. Any observer will note that those results do not line up with the standard, left-right political ideologies. Voters seemingly conservatively attacked the gas tax and bottle deposit expansion, while tak-ing a more libertarian view on casinos and a liberal view on paid sick leave. Nationally, Republicans

had a strong year in the Senate, picking up a major-ity, the U.S. House increasing their majority, while losing only a few governorships across the country. While Tea Partiers and Rush Limbaugh will argue that this is a nation-al referendum on President Obama (which has been said about various elections in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013), but the Republican victory stems from larger political trends. First, Republican candi-dates do better when voter turnout is low, as it usually

is during the midterm elec-tions. Second, the president’s party does badly in the mid-terms. Since World War II, every president who has been able to lose a senate major-ity in their sixth year has lost it. Also, as senate terms last six years – most of the seats up in 2014 were last won in 2008, Obama’s first election and a very strong year for Democrats. In 2016, Republicans will be defending more senate seats than Democrats. Most of those seats will have been won in 2010 – a midterm year that was good for Republicans – and they will be running in a presidential election year, when turnout is higher and Democrats do better. Not only will Democrats have a structural advantage in the senate election, but they will also be running after two years of Republican rule in Congress. While a sen-ate majority is certainly an opportunity for the GOP, it is also an arduous test. Already dealing with significant inter-

nal fragmentation between Tea Party conservatives and establishment moderates, the GOP must take decisive, united action on public policy, which may be impossible if moderates will not support radical Tea Party plans that will hurt Republican changes in the 2016 election. The saddest reality of the election is the doom spelled for Obama’s last two years in office. Facing not only a Republican House but Senate as well, the White House will be almost entirely unable to articulate policy priorities in Congress. While I doubt Sen. Mitch McConnell, future majority leader, will be able to control Ted Cruz, Rand Paul or the other extremist conservatives in the senate, further legislative disempow-erment of Obama is a loss for all Americans looking for someone to lead the country through domestic and inter-national crises. The close nature of the Massachusetts governor’s race and the victory of the Republicans on the national level show that increasing voter turnout for midterm elections is essential. When a campaign has more vis-ibility, such as a presiden-tial election, more people vote, and when more people vote, Democrats do better. GOP operatives know this, and Republican state gov-ernments are now institut-ing voter ID laws and sharing their voter lists to suppress Democratic turnout. Even though the Democrats will win the 2016 election, they will still face policy stag-nation and government shut-downs if they can’t increase voter turnout in future mid-term elections.

Zac Bears is the Opinion & Editorial Editor. He can be reached at ibears@umass.edu.

GOP stands to gain from

midterm results While Scott Brown may not have won his senate seat in New Hampshire,

Republicans will control the United States Senate and House of Representatives in January 2015. Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell won reelection in Kentucky, and Republicans secured pick-ups in Arkansas, Montana, Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia. Although it’s too soon to tell where the GOP will stand at the end of the election, it would appear that senate

Republicans will soon have the leverage they so often clamor for. If this is the case, we will finally see the policy-making ability of a GOP-led Congress. We’ll also see how far President Obama is will-ing to go in the face of a com-bative legislative branch. A constant theme of Obama’s presidency has been that a minority within a minority blocks any action he presents to Congress. Libertarians like Rand Paul and Republican senators like Ted Cruz have been vili-fied as stalling the govern-ment for the sake of mak-ing the president look bad. If the Republicans maintain momentum, that claim will be put to the test. If a Republican Congress is able to present concrete, meaningful policy to the president (publicly), then Obama will have limited options. He may veto bills on party lines to support the new minority Democrats in Congress. Alternately, he could pass legislation pro-posed by Republicans in the name of government action. In the first scenario, Obama would certainly be criticized for hypocrisy due to his consistent claim that partisanship is both harmful and contrary to the admin-istration’s ideology. But if he does sign legislation pro-posed by Republicans, then it is quite possible he will face ardent opposition from within his own party. This is especially true considering his status as a lame duck, a president in the last two years of his second term. Not that the president will be the only one tested. The Tea Party is large-ly responsible for the GOP’s gains in the House of Representatives, and has been primarily blamed for gridlock by the current administration. As such, they face their own test if the Republicans gain con-trol of Congress. Members of Congress affiliated with the Tea Party will face pres-

sure from both Senate and House Republicans who want to keep the status quo. Faced with this pressure, the question is whether they will compromise in the name of the party or continue to stall the government in the name of their constituents. Ultimately, the Republican Party will be forced to deal with the party’s internal problems immedi-ately. Either the GOP creates legislation that can gain pub-lic support and then shame the president into signing it, or the party appears com-pletely incompetent due to insurmountable differ-ences among Republicans. Problems will be brought

to bear the issues that have bubbled underneath the sur-face of the Republican Party, and the way in which the GOP handles these problems will determine their lever-age. While Massachusetts has carefully deliberated over the quite nuanced difference between Charlie Baker and Martha Coakley, Florida has been subjected to an election which can be best described as venomous. Partisanship was the least of this election’s problems. After countless attack ads between former Gov. Charlie Crist (D) and Gov. Rick Scott (R), Scott won out in a despi-cably hateful election. Crist – a Republican-t u r n e d - I n d e p e n d e n t -turned-Democrat – has been unafraid to point out Scott’s various indictments and depositions. Scott has been portrayed as a corrupt, unabashed liar who seeks to profit from his political power and run the state according to corporate inter-ests. Unfortunately, Crist didn’t have to look hard to find evidence to support this claim, leaving Republicans with what I feel to be a fairly weak candidate. For Florida voters, how-ever, Scott’s run-ins with the law pale in comparison to Crist’s transgression, hav-ing no ideology to speak of. Crist’s bound and leap to the left was easy for interest groups to attack, and sound clips of Crist denouncing Obama were played over a literal embrace between the two men. While it was a close race, there is no doubt in my mind that Scott won because the pool of candidates was of such a low caliber that Floridians chose the devil they knew. Crist, it seems, could not win the support of Floridians regardless of the party he represented.

Julian del Prado is a Collegian colum-nist. He can be reached at jdelprad@umass.edu.

“Statewide politics are unlikely to change with a Baker governorship due to Democratic

supermajorities in the legislature... [And] a senate majority is an opportunity for the

GOP, but also an arduous test.”

Noa Barak

Isaac Simon

Election doesn’t solve D.C. gridlock

“I’m fancy! One time I had coffee flavored ice cream.” - Jake PeraltaArts Living

Arts@DailyCollegian.comWednesday, November 5, 2014

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Vlad the not-so-bad impaler

By Matthew hladyCollegian Correspondent

“Dracula Untold,” directed by Gary Shore, provides an interesting synthesis of Bram Stoker’s original “Dracula” and the history of Vlad Draculea, upon whom the novel was based. The film depicts the ori-gins of Vlad Dracula (Luke Evans), his conflict with the Ottomans and his resulting decision to become a lord of the night. While I was expecting to walk into a major flop, I found that the movie was entertaining, interesting and deserving of more praise than it has received. I am a fan of stories that put a new spin on classic villains. I believe that no person is born evil and thus enjoy stories that show how one digresses into corrup-tion and malice, especially if it’s a well-known mas-ter of darkness and magic. However, I walked into the cinema prepared with lines to describe a truly awful film. By the end I had crossed them out. This was by no means a spectacular movie, but it was certainly an engag-ing one. The pro-tagonist’s depiction as a flawed yet virtuous hero, rather than the typical, egregious belief that Vlad Dracula was a psychopath, was engross-ing. However, the histori-cal inaccuracies regard-ing the Ottomans were as distracting as the lack of character development and the cardboard cutout vil-lains were disappointing. Evans portrayed Vlad as a conflicted ruler who bat-

tles with the guilt of letting all that he loves perish. Though he tried valiantly to display depth and self-reflexivity in the character, Evans did not have much to work with, as no sig-nificant character change was scripted. Vlad Dracula remained much the same throughout the film except for gaining a pen-chant for vengeance toward the end. I was glad to see the director recognize that Vlad was a local hero who staked his ene-mies as a form of psychological war-fare rather than for sadis-tic pleasure. On the other hand, the Ottomans were demonized and came off as cruel, arrogant, and a little idiotic. They were unin-teresting conquerors and villains. We saw nothing of their fascinating cul-ture, none of the archers and musketeers that made them famous, and none their cultural awareness. The real Ottomans weren’t monsters, as this film would have us believe. The real monster in the film, known only as the Master Vampire (Charles Dance), who we see for only a few minutes, was probably the most captivating character in the whole film. Dance underplayed this impris-oned demon of shadow, not resorting to stereotypical malevolence. His presence exuded confidence despite his frail appearance, which was intimidating, and he spoke softly and reason-ably. Too seldom do we see villains and demons portrayed in such a way. Dance’s small performance here excites me to see the sequel in which he will play a major role. The film was visually arresting in every way, from the costumes and the special effects to the mix

of realistic and fantastical fight choreography. The cinematic landscapes of the film seemed like a goth-ic version of Middle Earth and, when watching the marching enemies, many of the sweeping shots and camera angles were remi-niscent of films like “300.” While the battle scenes bor-rowed from similar films, Shore brought his own flair to them. During the first major battle in which Vlad exercised his newfound powers, the camera tran-sitioned smoothly between slow and stationary shots to fast and fluid panning shots before snapping back to tracking closeups of the action. One of the standout sequences of the film fea-tured the reflection of the battle in a dying soldier’s sword as it flew from his hand. Through the shim-mering blade we watched Vlad slaughter dozens of enemies, each turn of the sword reflecting a new, interesting angle before Vlad picks it up himself. Between Evans’s acting and Jason Schwartzman’s cinema-tography, Vlad’s demonic viciousness became a tangible sensa-tion. “Dracula Untold” made no pretense about being a hard-hitting drama and it fulfilled all of its promises as a dark, over-the-top fan-tasy-action popcorn movie. However, it deserves more appreciation than what it has received from critics and “Rotten Tomatoes,” as it should not be taken as a reinterpretation of the classic book or history.If you’re looking for a fun action flick, then “Dracula Untold” will surely slake your thirst.

Matthew Hlady can be reached at mhlady@umass.edu.

‘Dracula Untold’ is all about the action

F I L M

‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ gets back on its comedic beat

By Jack NicholsCollegian Correspondent

The first season of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” proved to be a wild success as Andy Samberg seamlessly transitioned from “Saturday Night Live” superstar to goofy NYPD officer Jake Peralta. Complimented by bril-liant screenwriting and solid camerawork, main actors Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher and Melissa Fumero attracted a cult fol-lowing. Receiving incredible reviews across the board, the first season of the show ended in a promising cliff-hanger. Peralta was “fired” from the force and was sent to the FBI to investigate and infiltrate a crime family. In the down time between the finale of season one and the premiere of season two, hype for “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” continued to rise. The show racked up a hefty set of awards including an American Comedy Award, a Critic’s Choice Television Award, two Golden Globes and a Creative Arts Emmy Award. Review sites like Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and IGN praised “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” for its ingenu-ity and endless humor. With such a high bar set by the first season, is it possible for season two to garner similar widespread support? Looking at the first two episodes of the new season, it appears that “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” has already hit its stride. Despite this poten-tial, the premiere episode

“Undercover” starts off on a relatively disap-pointing note in terms of narra-tive. Peralta has served his undercover time since last season’s finale and the view-er is introduced to the show with no description of his experience. From a viewer’s standpoint, it appears that the writers shot too high with this plot line and need-ed an easy way out. What this episode lacked in story was quickly made up for in humor, character re-lations and beautiful acting from all members of the cast. From Terry’s impression of an unat-tended backpack to Peralta’s quick kisses with the crime boss, the episode is sure to keep the viewers attention based on humor alone. However, the writ-ers made up for the poor storyline by reaffirming the hilarious relationship between the stoic Holt and the not-so-stoic Peralta. The episode ends on a serious note of character develop-

ment as Jake reaffirms his feelings for Santiago, which makes the viewer wonder if season two will elaborate on this possible relationship. If nothing else, this confirma-tion of feelings will certainly add a new dynamic to the duo throughout this season. Episode two, “Chocolate Milk,” brings the audience back to the critically-laud-ed “Brook-lyn Nine-Nine.” It completely disregards

the undercover plot story in favor of the elements that made the show suc-cessful originally. The epi-sode adopted the incred-ibly diverse range of humor inherent to “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” The show proved their worth in this episode as they offer character devel-opment and backstory from two angles. You learn a great deal about Holt’s backstory and beginnings as a detec-tive as you simultaneously witness the progression of Peralta and Terry’s friend-ship. In a minor subplot, Boyle and Diaz resume the friendship that was missing at the end of the first sea-son. The new character roles offer promise for the rest of season two that will hope-fully keep the show from simply recreating the first season. The first episodes of season two offer the pos-sibility for a new and yet equally amusing season of

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” If viewers can get over the dis-carding of a promising plot, the show has offered humor equal to that seen in the first season with unrivaled char-acter develop-ment indica-tive of writers who will con-tinue to create masterpieces throughout the second sea-son.

Jack Nichols can be reached at jnichols@umass.edu.

First episodes show a return to form

T E L E V I S I O N

Stephen Driscoll returns in ‘The Merchant of Venice’

By RuthaNN BaRRy Collegian Correspondent

The UMass Department of Theater’s production of William Shakespeare’s, “The Merchant of Venice,” gives audiences a vibrant and hilarious portrayal of the famous comedy, and the unparalleled talent of an exceptional cast made it an impossible production to miss. The play centers on the Venetian merchant Antonio, played by Cory Missildine, who must finance his friend’s roman-tic endeavors by borrow-ing money from Shylock, a Jew forced to live in the ghetto and who faces con-stant discrimination, as reprised by UMass alum-nus Stephen Driscoll ’73. As Antonio falls short on his loan, Shylock demands in a bond an equal pound of flesh. The ensuing trials and trickery of the play’s characters promote the audience to question the nature of the justice of law and the pangs of prejudice. Amongst the cast, comprised of students, is Driscoll, aUMass the-ater legend.. Driscoll per-formed in countless plays during his years at UMass, many of which were in the Bartlett and Bowker audi-

toriums as the Fine Arts Center under construction. After battling cancer for the past six years, Driscoll chose to spend this past summer at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford in search of ful-fillment. It was his expe-rience this summer and the looming uncertainty of cancer that prompted him to return to the UMass stage. Driscoll looks back on his UMass years quite fondly. “From the day I left here I think I was nostalgic about it. I always thought to myself, ‘I would love to come back and just spend some time, to be on cam-pus, and feel what it was like all those many years ago,” he said. “I remember it as one of the most pro-ductive and creative peri-ods of my life.” Driscoll’s experience with the character of Shylock began at quite a young age, during his years in junior high school. He impressively rewrote Shakespeare and played the part Shylock nearly fifty years ago at the age of fourteen. “There was something about the role of Shylock that grabbed me by the throat, and by my heart. I just said, ‘Okay I know who this guy is, I can feel him, and I want to play him.’” Driscoll said, “So, over the

Christmas holiday, I went home and condensed the play, and was absolutely determined to do it.” Driscoll’s portrayal of Shylock plays upon the character’s villainy, while simultaneously evoking sympathy from the audi-ence. His moving perfor-mance is welcomed back eagerly to UMass by the production’s cast and crew. “We’ve become a really tight knit group. There are some really talented young actors in this group,” Driscoll said, “and some haven’t done Shakespeare before, which is really remarkable that they were able to do this in three weeks.” The cast emphasizes the provocative comedy of Shakespeare that is much better represented in live performance than sim-ply reading the text. The humor carries itself well throughout while mingling in aspects of tragedy and drama that underline the themes of the play. Having seen many pro-ductions of “The Merchant of Venice,” Driscoll finds something special and dif-ferent in each, individual performance, especially in his collaboration with Simotes. “I was working with a director who had never done (this play) before. I came in with all these pre-conceptions and bubbling

ideas,” Driscoll said, “To see him wrestling with it and to pick out something I never considered was a revelation and helped me a lot.” “In fact I’m playing some scenes that I don’t think if somebody had told me a year ago that I’d be interpreting that particu-lar scene that way I would say ‘no I wouldn’t do it that way.” With arts funding in a

continuous decline for the past thirty years, Driscoll stresses the importance of the function of art as something that promotes an understanding about culture and people. “One of my fraternity brothers, I will never for-get it, told me forty years ago that my performances here as a student enriched his life, I never forgot that. What more as performers could we possibly ask for

than to enrich someone’s life?” Driscoll said. “The Merchant of Venice” is surely one of Driscoll’s most fulfilling and enriching performanc-es. The production encom-passed the vast talents of many student actors and the unique interpretations of Simotes.

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

UMass theater alum reprises favorite role

T H E AT E R

COURTESY OF UMASS DEPARTMENT OF THEATER

Featuring one of the more famous lines from the play, the poster reads, “All that glistens is not gold.”

From Terry’s impression of an unattended backpack to Peralta’s quick kisses with the crime bosses, the episode is sure to keep the viewer’s attention based on humor alone

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN6 Wednesday, November 5, 2014 DailyCollegian.com

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

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

My lack of touch with reality is evidence in capricorn.

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

It’s just creepy when you call your mini–fridge your “hidey hole.” Please stop.

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You have desperately good control of your life if your grocery list involves a quart of milk, a cantaloupe and a pepper shaker.

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THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN Wednesday, November 5, 2014 7DailyCollegian.com

“Matt is a wonderful player and hopefully he can catch a break and play at the next level,” UMass interim coach Devin O’Neill said. “He gives us so much on the field, but I love how he works so hard in practice and in the offseason. He really has been a leader since the day he arrived and it will be sad to see him go.” On the other side of the field stands the 5-foot-6 Schwartz. The forward has amassed 17 goals and 10 assists in his four-year ten-ure and has served as a ver-satile attacking threat. As a player, Schwartz is comfort-able playing up top with a strike partner, but also gave the Minutemen valuable minutes by dropping deep – taking on the role of a play-maker. Popping up on either wing or through the middle,

his ability to run in behind and use his speed gave the Minutemen a direct attacking option. In addition to being a vertical threat, his skill and vision allowed the attack to flow with short quick passes on the ground. Schwartz spoke about the upcoming game. “Hopefully it’s going to be a great game and my plan is to enjoy it,” he said. “It’s sad for it to be over because soccer is a release for me, and has been so important in my life.” In addition to finding suc-cess on the field, they have both worked extremely hard in the classroom in their respective academic fields – Keys is studying sports man-agement; Schwartz is pre-med and plans on attending medi-cal school after graduation. O’Neill praised the seniors,

saying, “They are going to be sorely missed, and losing them won’t be easy. This week we want to go out and play for them as a thank you for everything they have done for the program, but it’s going to be sad when it ends.” Win, lose or tie, the final game of the season – Saturday at home against St. Bonaventure - is an opportu-nity for Schwartz and Keys to represent the maroon and white of UMass one last time. Without a chance of qualify-ing for the playoffs, UMass will have to play for pride and for its seniors. More impor-tantly though, the team will play because they love it – which at the end of the day, is what the game is all about.

Nick Casale can be reached at nca-sale@umass.edu.

SENIORS continued from page 8

since”. Many different factors have to be at work for a team to improve so quickly. It starts with the guidance of leaders like McGinnis, fellow senior captain Nikki Wrin and other players on the club like Nicole Noonan. Another major factor, according to Noonan, is the guidance of their club sports advisor, Brian Arnold. “(Arnold) has helped through the whole way,” Noonan said. “Usually we can’t practice on the turf fields, but he puts in a good word for us and we really need to play on the turf, and we wouldn’t be going to nationals without him.” Strong recruiting is also one of the pillars the team is built on. UMass takes

advantage of the Activities Expo every year, but for members of the team, recruiting goes beyond that. “We try and find friends of friends on campus, people we know that came from a good high school (field hockey program), and a lot of us are from around the area so we know where the good players are coming from,” Wrin said. At the end of the day, once the roster is put together, Wrin said the team still has to show up and be willing to put the work in to improve. “We have been stressing how important it is to be down (at the field) practic-ing everyday and playing together so we can con-nect as a team, and that

has been one of the biggest things that has helped us succeed is having a lot of people showing up at the practices,” she said. While the varsity field hockey team finishes its practice at Garber Field, the club team waits patient-ly for its turn. Four years ago, before they regained their charter, it would have seemed unlikely the club team would have access to the same field Division I athletes play on. It would have seemed more unlikely UMass would turn into a national title contender. But through the hard work and dedication of its mem-bers, that’s exactly what happened.

Nick Souza can be reached at njsouza@umass.edu.

CLUB continued from page 8

see SENIORSon page 7

“What we showed, I think, is that we’ve taken huge strides to become one of the top teams in

the northeast. We had a great fall and really finished on

a high note.”Judy Dixon,

UMass coach

@MDC_SPORTS Sports@DailyCollegian.comWednesday, November 5, 2014

THE MASSACHUSETTS DAILY COLLEGIAN

Seniors spearhead program turnaround

By Tom mulherinCollegian Staff

Despite ending the regu-lar season with a 2-0 loss to Richmond and a scoreless draw against Davidson, the Massachusetts women’s soc-cer team did enough to qualify for the final seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, which begins Thursday in Dayton, Ohio.. The Minutewomen (5-8-5, 3-3-2 A-10) faced a tough task just two weeks ago, when they sat three points out of the final playoff spot. But home wins against St. Bonaventure and Duquesne along with the sea-son ending tie put UMass back in playoff position. Now that they have quali-fied for postseason play, the Minutewomen face an even tougher task: a matchup against top seed La Salle Thursday in the first round of

the tournament. It will be the second year in a row the two teams square off in the A-10 tournament. “They’re just a good com-plete team,” UMass coach Ed Matz said of the Explorers (12-4-2, 8-0-0). “We played them last year in the semi-finals so they want to beat us, and we want to beat them. They have one of the best – if not the best – players in the confer-ence in Kelsey Haycook. …Our focus is to help (each other) on defense.” Haycook leads the A-10 in total points in 39, and goals (18). Facing a player of that quality, the Minutewomen will have to be on top of their game defensively. However, that has been a problem for them on the road. UMass is a measly 1-6-3 record on the road, and in those games, surrendering 15 goals in 10 games. In contrast, UMass only allowed six goals in seve games at home, Matz, however, downplayed the sig-

nificance of those numbers for Thursday’s neutral-site matchup. “We have struggled on the road, but not too much,” Matz said. “It’s not more of the loca-tion, it’s more of the opponent that I think we will have trou-ble with. The playing surface will be equal for both teams.” The Minutewomen went all the way to the semifinal round in last year’s postseason before falling to to La Salle in overtime on a controver-sial penalty kick that clinched the win for the Explorers. This year, Matz hopes UMass can go on a similar run, saying the Minutewomen will need to beat La Salle anyways if they want to make some noise in the tournament. “We hope that we can repeat (last year’s success) this year,” he said. “I think the con-ference tournament is a little bit deeper this year, there’s a lot more parity amongst all the teams. Last year we were the fifth-seed and we got to play

the fourth-seed, but this year is a little bit different because we have to play the one-seed. We’ll see how the girls play. “La Salle is the favorite to win the A-10 Tournament, they are the regular season champions,” Matz continued. “You’re not going to win a championship without play-ing them. Whether it’s the first round or second round, we have to play them anyways.” UMass will have some extra motivation in their prepara-tion this week. After the dra-matic loss to the Explorers in the tournament last year, the Minutewomen have been itch-ing for a chance to avenge the loss. “All of the upperclassmen remember how we lost last year in overtime,” Matz said. “That’s what drives them right now; we’ve been waiting a year to play La Salle. Hopefully we’ll do our best.”

Tom Mulherin can be reached at tmul-heri@umass.edu.

UM to play La Salle in playoff rematch

UMass ready for A-10 tournamentW O M E N ’ S S O C C E R

COLLEGIAN FILE PHOTO

Matt Keys started all but one game in his four years with the UMass men’s soccer team.

By PhiliP SanzoCollegian Correspondent

The Massachusetts ten-nis team’s fall-season fina-le was a resounding suc-cess, as the Minutewomen claimed a number of key victories at the Big Green Invitational. The Minutewomen shined in the three-day tournament in which they competed against Boston University, Minnesota and host-school Dartmouth, winning seven of their 10 doubles matches along with nine total singles wins. “It was outstand-ing,” UMass coach Judy Dixon said. “We competed against three really tough schools” Ana Yrazusta Acosta and Carol Benito high-lighted the weekend for the Minutewomen with their efforts in the doubles matches. The duo went undefeated in their three matches by knocking off each opposing schools’ top doubles teams. Dixon praised Acosta, a freshman, saying she “continues to be the one of the stronger players in the conference.” In singles play, Acosta lost to Taylor Ng of Dartmouth, who earned second team All-Ivy League honors last year, in what Dixon called “a real-ly tight match.” Acosta bounced back with a win over Minnesota’s Caroline Ryba in her next match. Acosta’s emergence has been one of the biggest surprises for UMass this fall. In fact, Dixon even went as far to say that Acosta is “probably one of the most talented players I have ever had on a team.” “We knew she was good,” Dixon said, “but we didn’t know she was that good” Along with Acosta, senior Chanel Glasper turned in an impressive performance over the

weekend. Glasper went 3-0 in both singles and doubles play, teaming up with Anna Woosley in the doubles portion. Though she strug-gled throughout the fall, Junior Ariel Griffin fin-ished the season off strong going 2-0 in the Big Green Invitational. “(It is) absolutely posi-tively is such a great way for her to finish the fall,” Dixon said. Overall, Dixon was thrilled with her team’s performance this weekend and throughout the fall in general. “I couldn’t be happier with how this turned out. … It really bodes well for the spring,” Dixon said. In the NCAA, match-es don’t start counting toward standings and rankings until Jan. 1. As a result, Dixon said the fall season is a time for teams to get their players accli-mated to playing tennis on the collegiate level, and working out all the kinks before the spring season starts. “What we showed I think is that we’ve taken huge strides to become one of the top teams in the northeast,” Dixon said. “We had a great fall and we finished on a really high note.” UMass will begin its spring season on Jan. 30 in Providence, Rhode Island, when they take on Brown in a dual match.

Philip Sanzo can be reached at psanzo@umass.edu.

UMass shines in weekend tournyMinutewomen cap strong fall season

T E N N I S

Strong leaders revive club team

By nick SouzaCollegian Correspondent

It was no accident the Massachusetts club field hockey team made it back to the National Field Hockey League champion-ship for a second straight year. It’s what happens when a strong group of leaders come together and every-one around the team buys in. While UMass didn’t end up winning the tourna-ment, its accomplishments as a program should not go unnoticed. Not long ago, the club didn’t exist, and in a short time they have shaped themselves into a national title con-tender.

With a record of 9-1-3, UMass entered the National Championship tournament as the sixth overall seed in a group with in-state rival Northeastern and top-seeded North Carolina. The team was looking to improve on last year’s performance, when it lost the first two games of pool play. The journey to that point wasn’t an easy one. Senior captain Shaina McGinnis reflected on how far the program has come since her freshman year. “Four years ago (the University) let the team go (as a chartered club), and my freshman year they brought it back,” McGinnis said. “Our first year was a little rocky, but we’ve been improving ever

C L U B F I E L D H O C K E Y

By nick caSaleCollegian Staff

Inside McGuirk stadium, 30 minutes before prac-tice, raindrops can be

felt. Inside an unzipped bag, a paper on atomic structures wilts as the drizzle changes to a steady rain. But organic chemistry is far from what is currently in the mind of the soccer player standing only a few feet away. He puts his foot on the ball and flicks it up. Tick, tick, tick, tack – soggy pellets are sprayed, some annoyingly into his synthetic leather shoes and the ball sails 40 yards to his teammate standing at mid-field. The other has his hands in his pockets and instinc-tively picks up his foot up, and gently brings the ball back down. He has it now, forgetting for the moment about a lecture on supply and demand in relation to sports marketing. Tick, tick, tick, tack – it’s returned,

but misses the target by five yards and slams into the fence narrowly missing the bag. A misplaced pass a half hour before a practice means nothing to the fan, nor to the coach, and in truth, not even to the player. Instead, the motion of striking and receiving a ball is but a microcosm of a physical process, one that has been repeated so many times that the steps have become hardwired into the cognitive workings of soccer players. For Massachusetts seniors Matt Keys and Josh Schwartz, this kind of exercise is a reflection of the love and loyalty they have for the game of soccer. Unfortunately, it is the last week they have to spray the ball around the field as stu-dent athletes. “Knowing this is my last game hasn’t really sunk in yet. I am just going to go out and do my best and try and enjoy it, but I’m sure it will be emotional when it’s over,” Keys said. Keys, the 6-foot-4 central defender and captain, has

started all but one game in his UMass career. Along the way he has notched nine goals, four assists and led his team to 11 shut outs in his career, but his impact can’t be accurately captured with numbers alone. Whether it’s a header or a slide tackle that needs to be won, you can bet that Keys was going to be there to deliver. If the Minutemen needed a goal or an attacking threat, Keys was willing to move up top and become the center forward. But center back is

where he made his mark, and he showed that the posi-tion is about much more than being a “destroyer.” Indeed, center back is a position that combines elo-quence with aggressiveness, and requires a player to be tactically aware, skillful, dominant in the air and com-municative. Over four years, Keys has displayed all of these qualities and because of his consistency and attri-butes, has made a strong case to the next level.

Keys, Schwartz set to play final match

For the love of the gameM E N ’ S S O C C E R

JUDITH GIBSON-OKUNIEFF/COLLEGIAN

Josh Schwartz leads the Minutemen with four goals this season.

see CLUB on page 3