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UMass Lowell students and staff reflect on Coburn Hall

(Photo courtesy of RFS Engineering) “Coburn Hall is home to UMass Lowell’s education and psychology departments.”

Shishir Javali
Connector Staff

Coburn Hall is the oldest building on the UMass Lowell campus. It houses classrooms, study spaces and two departments: psychology and education. Students and faculty differ on how they like the building, but both agree that Coburn has a good atmosphere.   

“I like the sizing and spacing of it,” said Ryan Paterson, a senior in education. “I like how high the ceilings are in the hallways and the classrooms. Just really gives it a spacious feeling.” 

Faculty also found reasons why they thought it was a good place.  

“My favorite part of Coburn Hall is the education student room downstairs because I think it’s a great place to build community and for our students to work,” said Colleen Tapley, an assistant teaching professor in the school of education.  

Students, however, said that the building has shortcomings.  

“I dislike the basement because the classrooms don’t really have windows, and I wish that there were more windows,” said Holly Stellberger, a senior in education. “I think more study rooms would be nice because sometimes the study rooms in Coburn are all booked up.”  

However, there are benefits to the study spaces in Coburn Hall. 

“I think that they give a lot of privacy to students,” said Amanda Peduto, a senior in education. “I think that they provide a quiet opportunity for them to study and just sit down and all of that stuff.” 

But students said there were also some negatives attached to the building.  

“I wish there were more options in the vending machine,” Stellberger said. “I wish there were more vending machines, except for just in the basement.” 

Students also said they did not love its location.  

“I don’t like how Coburn is kind of like isolated on its own alone,” Paterson said. “You have to cross a busy street to access it. It’s just kind of on an island on its own.” 

Students also did not like the parking associated with Coburn’s location.  

“I don’t love how far the main parking lot is from Coburn Hall,” Peduto said. “It takes a long time to walk there, especially when the weather is cold. It makes it difficult, and I know there is Coburn lot, but I think there’s not enough space for students.”  

Overall, students say it is not a convenient building, especially since many campus amenities are far away. 

“Coburn Hall is definitely not conveniently located for anyone on campus, I think, unless you live at Riverview,” Paterson said. “It’s on its own, right next to a building that houses majors that is a small percentage of the UMass whole population.”  

The faculty is less concerned with the parking and points to the amenities for students.  

“It’s right near the library,” Tapley said. “There’s lots of food options close by, right across the street. It’s in a beautiful area. There’s those hammocks across the street that overlook the water if you go for a little walk.” 

Faculty also say they love its history because it has a historical component, as there is a mutual that people do not know much about, giving it a historical perspective.  

“I would say one thing that people may not know about is in the ballroom there; they uncovered that mural when they were renovating,” Tapley said. “So that mural is almost as old as the building.”  

In the end, Coburn Hall is an excellent building for most aspects of college life.  

“I like it because it’s pretty peaceful and just a space where you can kind of get work done,” Stellberger said.  

A Jewish college student’s discomfort with the so-called “fight against antisemitism”

(Photo courtesy of New Statesman)

Margaleet Katzenblickstein
Connector Staff

Being a Jew has never been easy in history, especially in countries that are predominantly Christian. It used to be that Jews were expelled, murdered, forced to wear badges, unable to own land, and work in a small, select number of professions (among many other dehumanizing laws). Most infamously, less than 100 years ago, the Holocaust happened. 

But today, the discomfort with being Jewish in majority-Christian countries is very different than how it was historically. Jews today can have any job they want and own land. Although Jews do sometimes face violence – take, for example, the attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue – the majority of people in the world, who live in or are from the Global South and whose homelands have been devastated by colonialism, face daily threats of violence. Compared to most of the world, Jews are, relatively speaking, safe. Now, politicians are using Jewish identity to silence one of America’s most sacred values – free speech. It’s not only happening in the United States – it’s also being done in Germany. But the United States is cracking down on dissent at an unprecedented level, all in the name of supporting Jewish Americans. And in Israel, the Israeli army is committing what has been deemed by multiple scholars of the Holocaust as a genocide, with the alleged intention of “protecting” Jews.  

When in history did non-Jewish rulers like Donald Trump and Joe Biden ever claim to care about Jews so much? Some Jews are fooled by this so-called kindness, believing it to be just and fair. But in reality, Jewish anxieties are being used for right-wing and neoliberal goals to cause harm to Americans of color, particularly Muslims, Arabs, and immigrants. In Israel, they are used to support modern-day colonialism and genocide. 

Such policies and attitudes are extremely dangerous. In Palestine, it has led to at least tens of thousands – and quite possibly far more people than that – being murdered. In America, it leads to people opposed to the genocide in Palestine getting deported, despite having committed no crimes and being green card and visa holders. Simply for strongly criticizing the state of Israel.  

At the end of the day, this isn’t about Jews. This is about an agenda, run by white Christian men, to deprive Americans of their right to think critically. It brings to mind the days of Stalinist Russia, when people would get sent to gulags for being “enemies of the state” (even if they themselves were Communists, like my great-grandfather). When my mother met my father while visiting 1980s Russia, she had to be very careful about what she said, because there were bugs in the walls and spies everywhere. I worry that we are headed in a similar direction. 

This, dear readers, is what makes being a Jew today uncomfortable. Now, instead of Jews being killed, Palestinians are killed, and Americans are thrown in harrowing detention centers, supposedly to protect the Jews.  

I miss the days when American Jews were associated with Fiddler on the Roof and New York, instead of with Israeli genocide and ethnic cleansing and American efforts to stifle free speech about Palestine. 

Torpedo bats take MLB by storm

(Photo courtesy of the MLB) “Torpedo bats have caused much controversy and debate over their inclusion in Major League games since their invention.”

Liam O’Keefe
Connector Staff

The MLB had its opening day on March 27, and from the very first day, there has been one main topic that has sparked lots of debate throughout the baseball community. In their first series against the Milwaukee Brewers, the New York Yankees debuted a new type of baseball bat, which is now referred to as a torpedo bat. These bats are unique because they have a changed shape, and the barrel of the bat is moved down to where players make the most contact with the ball. 

These bats have become such a big talking point due to their early wild success. In their first series using the torpedo bats, the Yankees tied a major league record with 15 home runs over their first three games. Nine of these runs came from Yankees using the torpedo bats as the Yankees swept the Brewers with a run differential of +22 over three games. Fans, analysts, and opposing teams immediately took notice, and the buzz hasn’t slowed down since. 

These bats came from the mind of Aaron Leanhardt, who is a Yankees minor league hitting coordinator and a MIT graduate. In the spring of 2023, pitchers had been dominating the league, batting averages had hit their lowest point in half a century. Seeing that issues were on the horizon, Leanhardt wanted to do something to even the playing field.  

He began designing multiple prototypes of the bat, using advanced modeling and swing path data, ultimately developing the torpedo bat that we see in use today. 

The opinions on the new bats differ depending on who you may ask. Many fans question the bats’ legality and worry that this new technology will change the game too much, as baseball is a sport honored through tradition. On the other hand, some fans are interested in the bat’s capability to make the sport more interesting as science and sports get more intertwined. 

The response from players is also mixed. Anthony Volpe, third baseman for the Yankees and torpedo bat user showed his support for it saying “I know I’m bought in. The bigger you can have the barrel where you hit the ball, it makes sense to me.” However, Brewers reliever Trevor Megill called the bats “terrible” and “something used in slow-pitch softball.” This reaction isn’t unexpected as the bats give an inherent advantage to hitters, so it makes sense that batters love them, while pitchers despise them. 

Adding to the bat’s controversy is the league’s current stance on them. As of now, the MLB has not made an official ruling on the legality of the torpedo bats, stating only that they are under review. This limbo has left many teams unsure whether to adopt the bats themselves or challenge their use. If the league bans the bats, we could be witnessing one of the coolest trivia facts in baseball, but if they are greenlit, we could be looking at one of the most transformative pieces of sports technology in decades. 

Women’s lacrosse shares the throne for the first time ever

(Photo courtesy of UML athletics) “The co-champion title marks the first instance of a shared honor for the women’s lacrosse team.”

Jake Messer
Connector Editor

For the very first time in program history, the River Hawks Women’s Lacrosse team is Co-Season Champions with the Bryant Bulldogs, finishing with a record of 11-5 overall, 5-1 in conference play.  

Entering Saturday’s game against the previously mentioned Bulldogs, the River Hawks had a chance to make history as first-time regular-season champions. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, as the River Hawks fell 15-8, in what could be a finals preview next weekend.  

What got the River Hawks here, here at program history, here at the brink of the fierce America East playoffs? 

Well, on April 16, they went to Hanover, New Hampshire, to take on Dartmouth, where it wasn’t a conference matchup, but still was a great test to show the division, as well as the lacrosse world, that the River Hawks were true contenders.  

The River Hawks came out very sluggish and slow, falling behind and eventually staying behind for the entire game. However, the team showed their backbone and almost made an insane comeback in the final minutes of the matchup.  

“I’m proud of the way we competed and came back from a four-goal deficit,” said Head Coach Lisa Miller. “The kids gave it everything they had. Dartmouth’s draw taker is special, and we just couldn’t figure it out. It’s on me to find a way to better prepare us for the circle.” 

Over a week later, the team traveled to Amherst to take on their in-state rivals in the  No. 25 ranked Minutemen. In what many saw as a chance to prove themselves, the River Hawks came up short. They were ultimately blown out by a score of 7-18. What followed next was the loss to Bryant. 

While some fans may be worried that the River Hawks aren’t trending in the right direction right before the playoffs, they have to remember that the team is playing against much fiercer competition to end the year, with teams that are either on or near the top 25 rankings.  

Leading the team into the postseason will be senior Jade Catlin, who redefined the record books this season. In just 16 games, Catlin was able to score 50 goals, a new school record, breaking her own record, which previously sat at 48 from the year before.  

Catlin is making a name for herself throughout her entire collegiate career, and at the end of it all, she can call herself something special: the undisputed best player in program history. 

Catlin’s 139 goals are a career record, coupled with a career record 181 points, few can lay claim to her status as the best. In what will be the last few times she takes the field, she will look to make the most of this opportunity and try to win not only the programs first ever America East Championship, but the school’s first as well, as all other teams have yet to win the big win since reclassifying to Division I in 2013.  

Their chance will come as the River Hawks will travel to Rhode Island to play in the Semi-finals against UAlbany, in what will be an enthralling contest on May 2. The time that the matchup will start is yet to be determined. 

If the River Hawks win, they will face the winner of Bryant and UMBC in the Championship game on Sunday, May 4. With history on the horizon, the River Hawks will look to push onwards and set the standard for the future of UMass Lowell Athletics.

Football fans watch as NFL draft commences

(Photo courtesy of Sporting News) “The nation is keeping a close eye on the NFL Draft this year.”

James Guiry
Connector Staff

The NFL Draft is one of the most anticipated events in the sports world. Where college athletes from all over the country wait to hear the worst person alive, Roger Goodell, call their name. 

As of Thursday morning, all 32 teams held their original first round draft pick. 

The first overall pick was a mystery to many experts and fans. Many people believed Miami quarterback Cam Ward was the clear number one pick. However, there was a chance Abdul Carter, an edge rusher from Penn State, or Travis Hunter, an “athlete” from Coach Prime’s Buffalos, could be picked first. 

The first pick ended up being the former, as Cam Ward (QB, Miami) was selected first overall for the Tennessee Titans. The next pick was where the surprises began, when the Cleveland Browns traded their second overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a haul. The Browns gave up the number two overall pick, a fourth round pick and a sixth round pick in exchange for Jacksonville’s number five overall pick, a second round pick, a fourth round pick, and a first round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Jaguars used the second pick to select Travis Hunter (WR/CB, Colorado) who was projected in the top five in most mock drafts. 

The third pick was Abdul Carter (EDGE, Penn State) for the New York Giants, the Patriots picked Will Campbell (T, LSU) with the fourth overall pick and the Browns picked Mason Graham (DT, Michigan) with the pick that they received from the Jaguars to round out the top five. 

Other notable day one picks include Ashton Jeanty (RB, Boise State), who was picked sixth overall by the Raiders. Jeanty rushed for 2,601 yards and 29 touchdowns in his senior season where he was a Heisman finalist. 

The Giants traded three picks to move up nine spots for another first round pick, they used this pick to select Jaxson Dart (QB, Ole Miss). This pick was surprising because most analysts thought Shadeur Sanders (QB, Colorado) would be the second QB off the board. 

The Green Bay Packers picked Matthew Golden (WR, Texas) with the 23rd overall pick. This would be the first time since 2002 that the Packers selected a receiver in the first round; they went Aaron Rodgers’ entire tenure without doing so. 

The Ravens also got a big boost to their defense in Malaki Starks (S, Georgia), to play alongside young star Kyle Hamilton with the 27th overall pick. 

The biggest story of the draft this year was Sanders not being picked in the first, second, third or fourth rounds. Sanders, the number two ranked quarterback in the draft according to ESPN and projected late first or early second round pick in most mock drafts, fell all the way to the 144th pick when the Cleveland Browns selected him in the fifth round. Quarterbacks Ward, Dart, Tyler Slough (Louisville), Jalen Milroe (Alabama), and Dylan Gabriel (Oregon) went before Sanders. Gabriel was also picked by the Browns as well with their second round three selection, so they will be fighting for a position this summer. Sanders threw for 4000 yards and 37 touchdowns in the 2024 college football season. Gabriel has played college football since 2019, with one shortened season, and has not thrown 4000 yards in any of those seasons. 

Sanders’ fall in the draft overshadowed other falls such as Quinn Ewers (QB, Texas), who was projected to go in the second round of the NFL Draft and slipped all the way to the seventh, getting drafted by the Miami Dolphins. 

The Patriots filled some big holes drafting Campbell in the first round, TreVeyon Henderson (RB, Ohio State) with the 38th pick of the draft in the second round, and Kyle Williams (WR, Washington State) and Jared Wilson (C, Georgia) in the third round. The Patriots used their fourth through seventh round picks to beef up the defense and add some special teamers (excluding Marcus Bryant, a tackle from Missouri who was drafted in round 7). 

The Patriots drafted safety Craig Woodson (S, California) to begin the third and final day. That pick was followed by defensive tackle Joshua Farmer (DT, Florida State) in the fourth round. They also drafted Bradyn Swinson (EDGE LSU) and kicker Andres Borrengales (K, Miami). The Patriots finished up the draft by picking Bryant, Julian Ashby (LS, Vanderbilt), and Kobee Minor (CB, Memphis) in the seventh round. 

The role of music in shared spaces

(Photo courtesy of Mick Haupt, through Unsplash. “Music can bring many emotions to a shared space.”)

Gaia Pirro
Connector Contributor

Music allows people to relax, but it can also help with concentration and boost creativity. While most college students listen to music through their headphones, occasionally music fills the common spaces of dormitories. Wherever it comes from, students say they need music in their everyday lives.

Carolina Tavares, a senior at UMass Lowell, said music is still a daily companion for her. “I used to do the genre charts for the radio, but since I changed my job, I don’t do that anymore, but music surrounds my life, and I really love it,” said Tavares, who has worked at WUML, the student radio station.

Tavares said that she listens to classical music when she is studying because it helps her focus on her assignments. But in the morning, when she is getting ready to face the freezing wind, she prefers some pumping melodies.

The music we listen to does not define who we are, but it can help us express our uniqueness and emotions. “I listen to a lot of Irish music because I’m Irish,” said Mark Callan, exchange student at UMass Lowell.

Nevertheless, when staying in college dorms, the pleasure of listening to your carefully curated playlist can sometimes be replaced by someone else’s music. It is common for students to play music in their rooms or for someone to be playing an instrument.

“I think that if someone is playing an instrument, I like it,” Tavares said.

But when the music is too loud or goes on late into the night, Tavares gets annoyed by the behavior of her dorm mates.

Callan has found someone in his dorm with the same musical tastes; one plays and the other listens. “I kind of listen to music with any genre, techno as well,” Callan said. “My upstairs neighbors make beats, and I’ve heard them.”

Students who play instruments do so for a variety of reasons. “At first, I used to play the guitar simply to play it and just sing good songs and stuff like that,” said Soham Sawant, an international student at UMass Lowell. “But around four or five years of training, I got into music theory, which completely was like a different perspective towards music.”

He said he brought his classical guitar from India, his home country, and has been playing it for ten years.

Sawant’s guitar

Sawant said that he could arrange more time to play back in his high school years compared to now. As he has become a STEM major, it is challenging for him to balance his college life with his passion for playing an instrument, and he would like to have more opportunities to play.

“There are times when it helps me relax, but when I’m taking on a piece that’s way above my skill level, it’s actually really challenging,” Sawant said.

Challenging oneself and striving to improve is an important characteristic of musicians. “My neighbors weren’t great at the start,” said Callan, “but they have improved throughout the semester.”

One final aspect of this art form is its power to bring people together and make them feel closer to one another, even when they do not know each other.

Callan said that he feels grateful for the opportunity to hear music in the dorm where he lives. “You’re not necessarily expecting it. Sometimes it’s good news,” he said.

“I think (music) is nice because it kind of reminds me that we’re all like people, we’re all human, and music is a big part of a lot of people’s lives,” Tavares said.

Controversy continues as the NBA looks for their MVP

(Photo courtesy of the NBA) “Nikola Jokic is a strong contender for NBA MVP.”

James Guiry
Connector Staff

The race for NBA MVP is coming to a close, and the race couldn’t be tighter. The most prestigious award in basketball does not get awarded without some doubters. This year, however, with the NBA regular season ending, it seems that there was a clear, obvious choice for MVP. But that player was not the betting favorite. 

At the end of the 2022-2023 regular season, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid walked away with the highly coveted award garnering 91.5% of votes. Beating out Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum, who came in second, third and fourth respectively. 

Embiid averaged 33.1 points per game during his MVP season, shooting almost 55% from field goal range. Two more points than Antetokounmpo, who was closest to Embiid that season.  

Embiid was ahead of the second, third and fourth place finishers in points and blocks only. Antetokounmpo and Jokic both averaged 11.8 rebounds per game to Embiid’s 10.2. Tatum averaged 4.6 assists per game along with 1.1 steals while Embiid averaged 4.2 APG and 1.0 SPG. These stats may not seem like huge differences. But when the Most Valuable Players only great attribute is scoring, how valuable are they? 

Some fans believe that the fact Embiid had never won an MVP, while Jokic already had two, played into the fact that Embiid won the award over him and Antetokounmpo, who has also won the award twice in 2018-19 and 2019-20. This led to many fans referring to it as the “Pity MVP.” 

The finalists for the award this year were Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

We are seeing a similar, yet more egregious, snub in favor of an MVP first timer this season. When players dominate for so long, there becomes “voter fatigue,” when awards voters are tired of voting for the same person. Jokic, being a three-time MVP and Giannis, being a two-time MVP, are both victims of voter fatigue. 

SGA is one of the best basketball players in the world, there is no doubting that. He is leading the league in points (32.7 ppg) on a young Oklahoma City Thunder team that finished the regular season with a record of 68-14 and 39-13 in a conference that can only be described as the “Wild West,” where four games separate the two seed from the eight seed as they head into the NBA Playoffs. 

Those are really the only stats you can point to, though. 

Jokic is ahead of Shai in every category except for points (32.7 to 29.6), three-points made (2.1 on 5.7 attempts to 2.0 on 4.7 attempts), blocks (1.0 to 0.6), free throws made (7.9 on 8.8 to 5.2 on 6.4) and Shai has a lower turnover percentage (3.3 to 2.4). 

The Thunder are a good all-around team, whose future only looks brighter and brighter. Meanwhile, the Nuggets fired their championship-winning head coach right before the playoffs and would most likely be in the race for Cooper Flagg and the number one pick instead of the four seed going into the playoffs. 

Jokic has become the third player in NBA history, after Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook (4x), to average a triple-double for an entire season (29.6 PPG, 12.7 RPG, and 10.2 APG). He is also top three in four different major statistical categories (points, rebounds, assists, and steals). 

The NBA MVP is the most valuable player in the league, a player who can turn a lottery team into a playoff team, not the player who scores the most points. That player is Nikola Jokic. 

Your CDs are back in vogue: Pros and cons of streaming and physical media

(Photos taken by Carolina Tavares. “Streaming services and physical media both have reasons to be used.”)

Carolina Tavares
Connector Staff

From the wax cylinders of the 1800s to the popularity of CDs in the 90s and 2000s, the way that people consume musical media has changed throughout time as technology has evolved. Most people nowadays use streaming services, such as Spotify or Apple Music, to get their musical fix— but there’s also been an uptick in the amount of people who collect physical media, such as vinyl records, cassette tapes, and CDs. Both forms of listening to music come with their pros and cons, and fans of both can see the positives and negatives associated with each.

One of the reasons that people rely heavily on music streaming services is due to their convenience. Many services offer thousands of albums that can be streamed instantly, without needing to purchase them first. “You have access to everything… you can access a greater deal of [music] than through any other medium,” said Nicholas Teuber, a senior business student. “If you want to listen to an album, you can look it up. If it’s not on Spotify, it’s usually on YouTube or SoundCloud, or you can download it from somewhere.”

Streaming services can also be helpful depending on the job that someone does. “From my perspective as the music director at WUML, it would be very, very hard for me to do my job without using streaming services to find new music, [and] to try and keep track of up-and-coming artists,” Teuber said.

But streaming services have their constraints as well. Sometimes, due to licensing issues, albums aren’t able to be streamed and become unavailable to users. “Childish Gambino dropped an album called ‘Awaken, My Love!’… and for one day, it got taken off Spotify, and I was distraught,” said Ezequiel Perez, a junior English major. “[T]he ability to remove songs— and this isn’t only including Spotify; this is YouTube Music, this is SoundCloud, this is Apple Music. I think that digital media… [controls] what audiences can and can’t listen to.”

Another common complaint about streaming services is about how little they pay artists. Several streaming services compensate artists for the number of plays or listens a song gets, but the amount is very little, with some services paying less than one cent per stream.

“I believe that artists should be able to make a living off of making music,” Perez said. “That’s the whole point of being an artist… starting up is very difficult because Spotify will undercut you, SoundCloud will undercut you, Apple Music will undercut you. It’s very hard for [artists] to make a profit. It doesn’t even cover rent.”

In the midst of all the controversy surrounding streaming services, some people have turned to collecting physical media as their main source of listening to music. “I am a really big physical media person,” Teuber said. “It’s not always the most convenient thing to do, which is why I still do use a lot of streaming services. But I do lean on physical media as [a form] of listening to music that I love in a certain way.”

A part of Nicholas Teuber’s record collection.

Another positive aspect of physical media is the opportunity it offers to foster connection between people. “My first ever record was a gift from my dad,” Perez said. “He gave [it] to me when I got my first record player.”

However, physical media collection isn’t without its faults. Many cite the high cost of records, the physical space needed to store a collection, and the elitism that surrounds physical media communities as potential drawbacks. “A lot of times, especially if an artist is kind of a fad… price gouging [can be] a huge problem with scalpers buying up physical media,” said Micaela Caro, a junior sociology major. “It’s just very hard to find physical releases of the albums that you might want.”

Perez agrees with this sentiment, saying how physical media culture fosters spaces that can be exclusionary to people who don’t have the means to invest a lot of money into CD or vinyl collecting. “[T]here’s definitely a culture around physical media, and that culture around it is not very welcoming to the idea of it being expensive and it not being affordable for everybody,” he said.

Even avid collectors of physical media acknowledge the high cost associated with building a record collection. “I don’t even want to talk about much money that I’ve spent on CDs, records, and tapes,” said Teuber. “It’s criminal.”

A vinyl record of the Metallica album “…And Justice For All” from Nicholas Teuber’s media collection.

Choosing to collect physical media or use streaming services is a choice that falls on the individual. Both forms of listening to music have their pros and cons, and both forms serve different purposes. “There’s pros and cons to each side, but the fact that music, as a genre— as any genre— can bring people together is very important,” Perez said. “I think that’s the main highlight of it to me.”