The Editorial Board - The Amherst Student

Size Matters

This week, the Editorial Board addresses the issues that over-enrollment imposes on students’ academic experiences and calls for the expansion of resources and infrastructure in preparation for a broader student population.

News

2021-2022 AAS Senate Candidate Statements

The Association of Amherst Students (AAS) will hold elections for AAS Senators in each grade and transfer students from Thursday, Sept. 19, 12:00 a.m. ET to 11:59 p.m. ET. The students listed have announced their candidacies for these elections.

News

Campus Police Log: Sept. 6 to Sept. 12

The latest installment of the Police Log, from Sep. 6 to Sep. 12, can be found here.

News

Campus Police Log: Aug. 29 to Sep. 6

The latest installment of the Police Log, from Aug. 29 to Sep. 6, can be found here.

Opinion

Pay Staff What They Deserve

This week, the Editorial Board calls for an increase in hourly wages for staff at the college. This call follows a series of Labor Day interviews with staff.

Opinion

Repeating History

The Editorial Board reflected on the administration's recent decision to tighten Covid rules, and found the exact same problem that caused the outrage when students were asked to leave campus three semesters ago: a failure to communicate compassionately and to consult with the groups most affected.

News

Campus Police Log: May 19 to Aug. 29

The latest installment of the Police Log, from the beginning to the end of summer break, can be read here.

conversation

Disagreement and Discourse

When the Editorial Board met to plan and discuss this week’s editorial, our conversation swerved off track due to concerns over the deep personal significance of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the most significant current event in the news, and questions of how to engage in that discussion while maintaining the

News

Police Log: May 11 – May 18

>> May 11, 2021 10:00 a.m., Morris Pratt An individual dialed the emergency line and advised it was accidental. 2:15 p.m., Hazel Ave Officers responded to a report of possible misuse of and damage to a wooded area. Some trash was

enrollment

Plan for the Future

As we all look forward to a semester of in-person teaching and learning this fall, the college is facing a challenge in providing housing for all returning students. On May 6, the Office of Student Affairs announced in an email to the student body that they expected more students to

crimelog

Police Log: April 27 - May 9

>>April 27, 2021 12:07 a.m. Morris Pratt Officers responded to an alarm and found it was set off by a candle. Two candles were confiscated. >> April 30, 2021 9:07 a.m. Seelye Residential Life staff addressed an unauthorized party

Reform

Finding the Silver Lining

As vaccines become more widely available in the United States, normalcy seems to be in sight. We are all ready to leave behind the horror and psychological toll that the pandemic has inflicted on us and embrace a full return to in-person teaching and learning in Fall 2021. But as

Reform

Abolish ACPD: It’s Time to Try Something New

This week, the Town of Amherst’s Community Safety Working Group has revealed some of the items requested in its proposal for the future of policing in the town, to be decided on in an upcoming May 3 Town Council budget meeting. It proposes slashing the $5.15 million Amherst

News

Police Log: April 12-April 26

>>April 18, 2021 1:58 a.m. Hitchcock House Residential Life staff responded to a report of loud music. >>April 19, 2021 12:19 a.m. Hitchcock Parking Lot An officer responded to a request from Residential Life staff to provide for assistance with a group

News

2021-2022 AAS Senate Candidate Statements

The Association of Amherst Students (AAS) will hold elections for the Senate and Judiciary Council at-large positions on Thursday, April 29. A speech night will be held virtually on Wednesday, April 28 at 8 p.m EST. Each class will elect eight senators. The transfer student senate election will be

Vaccine

Mandate Vaccines for On-Campus Students

As the rate of vaccination accelerates in the U.S., normalcy seems to be in sight. On April 7, President Biddy Martin announced in a letter to the Amherst community that we can expect “a return to fully in-person teaching and learning for the 2021-2022 academic year.” She also noted

AAS

Let's Start With Disarmament

Yesterday, April 13, the Black Student Union (BSU) called for a college-wide walkout via a message circulated by the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) and on the BSU’s Instagram page. The walkout was planned following the Amherst College Police Department’s (ACPD) refusal to disarm and the killing of

AAS

2021-2022 AAS E-Board Candidate Statements

The Association of Amherst Students (AAS) will hold elections on April 15 for five executive board members, President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and Judiciary Council Chair. On that day, students will receive an email with a ballot page to vote. The following candidates submitted blurbs to AAS to be published

News

Police Log: March 29-April 12

>>April 2, 2021 8:44 a.m., Mead Art Museum An officer took a report of a rolling cart found on a rooftop. There were no other issues found. 4:31 p.m., Fayerweather Lot Road An officer responded to a report of a car door

divestment

It's Time to Lead, Not Follow

On March 31, Board of Trustees Chair Andrew J. Nussbaum ’85 sent a statement to the college community announcing a new policy to refrain from investment in the fossil fuel industry and, ultimately, phase out all existing fossil fuel investments by 2030. The announcement largely seems to be a response

break

We're Still in a Pandemic. Let's Act Like It.

When the Editorial Board brainstormed this week’s editorial, we initially considered writing about the lessons of pandemic. Like others, we had been seduced by recent rhetoric in politics and the media that the pandemic is soon coming to a close. But even as vaccines become more widely available and

aapi

What's Taking So Long?

Last Wednesday, the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) issued a statement of solidarity with Asian Americans in the Amherst College community following the Atlanta spa shootings on March 16. This statement ended with a call for an independent major and department of Asian and Pacific American Studies at the college,

black

How Can We Right Past Wrongs?

Last Wednesday, March 10, the Associated Press (AP) published an article following the recent push for reparations in the town of Amherst. The article draws heavily on a recent interview with former Sociology Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass) Edwin Driver, the first professor of color hired by

News

Police Log, March 1 through March 15

>>March 1, 2021 12:18 p.m. Railroad Right of Way An officer responded to a report of an individual walking on the train tracks. No one was found in the area. >>March 2, 2021 3:28 a.m. Memorial Hill An officer observed a

Opinion

Where Should Our Money Go?

On Friday, March 5, President Biddy Martin announced that the Board of Trustees voted to set the comprehensive fee for the 2021-22 school year at $76,800, representing a 1.2 percent increase over this year’s comprehensive fee. The Board also approved the elimination of the Residential Life fee