This Week in Amherst History

Varney and a few of his friends thought it a novel idea to fashion Arab robes as their costumes and hit the hot trick-or-treating spots on South Pleasant Street. “We originally planned to just out-hustle the townie brats,” said Varney. After a few disappointing stops, the empty-handed bunch spotted a lit-up Alumni House. They ventured into a gathering of distinguished trustees. Varney was understandably excited. “There it was, the big scene, and we’d been given a ticket to ride on in as stage-ha

Keep your eyes on the pies

Just a few doors down from everyone’s old favorite Antonio’s, Delano’s strives to give Amherst another option for their pizza by the slice needs. Delano’s is clearly no cheap copy of Antonio’s. It provides a bar scene where you can actually sit down to a meal, as opposed to the prevailing social scene of Antonio’s, where getting a window seat in the popular hot spot guarantees that you’ll be seen by other pizza patrons and passersby alike. Students and Amherst townies now have these two compet

Alumni art on deck at Mead

The breadth of artwork is extensive, according to Director and Curator of European Art Jill Meredith.  “The exhibition is diverse in medium and subject matter … There will be paintings, photographs, works on paper, sculpture and installations-abstract, figurative, landscape,” said Meredith.  Initiated over four years ago, this exhibition corresponds with the 50th anniversary and renovation of the Museum. Sonya Clark ’89, assistant professor of environment textile and design at the University of

Campus Conversation

What happens when two different parties have the same theme on the same Saturday night on opposite sides of campus? Many party-goers faced a heart-wrenching decision that night as jungle-themed parties in Stone and Cohan could be seen causing chaos and importing their share of fake trees. “We were inspired by the lack of extraordinary parties at Amherst,” said Arthur Lord ’03. “Most parties here are all the same … So we thought big. We plan on showing Amherst how parties should be done this yea

Brother, can you spare a dime?

Charitable brainchild This idea occurred to University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) senior Dana Hork, now chair of UPenn’s undergraduate student government. During her sophomore year, “I noticed that all of my friends had a container full of change sitting in their rooms at school � I’m from Minnesota, and it was a big pain for me to bring all my change home from school,” she said. In the spring of 2000, Hork created Change for Change, a collection drive intended for use at any college campus. Aft

London '74 leaps into limelight

Amherst antics During London’s time at Amherst, the issue of coeducation was on everyone’s mind. His graduating class served as a driving force to promote the admittance of women to the College. Prior to this move, small numbers of women were merely guests on the campus. “There was one floor of South [College] that belonged to women-they were ‘visitors’ from other colleges,” said London. Although there was a formal exchange program that allowed this number of women to attend, Amherst did not a

Campus Conversation

As if it weren’t enough that students still using vax received the unsettling yet amusing message over Spring Break, “Soon the carrot will be gone and the stick will be employed,” all AOL Instant Messenger users were also greeted with similar disappointment this past Monday at 10 a.m. as they were kicked off of the vital service. As Instant Messenger came to a grinding halt, many experienced devastating shock as well as sheer terror at the prospect of actually having to speak to their friends f

Website of the Week

Little Red Riding Hood goes to visit her grandmother and meets the big, bad wolf. Well, not exactly. You thought you knew the story of Red Riding Hood, but here’s a new twist: a modern, animated version. This website, boasting creative and eye-catching graphics and animation, lets you click along with the narration of the story. The site’s creator describes his theories about his art as well as the concepts behind it. “Does point and click interactivity destroy the story?: the conversion of inte

This Week in Amherst History

Twenty-five years ago this week, a routine search of dorm rooms during Spring Break uncovered massive amounts of Valentine property, including hundreds of glasses and plates, as well as a large number of marijuana plants. During the search, Campus Police felt it was their duty to seize the plants upon spotting them, confiscating plants ranging from four inches to four feet in height. According to the officers, they were “disposed of properly.” Students were outraged by the campus-wide “pot plan

Campus Conversation

It began like any other TAP: loud music, scantily-clad students and sketchy dancing. Then, we soon realized, it really was like any other TAP. Although SoCo held Raffle TAP this past Saturday, adding the ever-popular element of winning prizes to the same old TAP debauchery, the result was TAP. With prizes. The idea in itself appears to be a great way to draw everyone in the student body to TAP, with the allure of winning free stuff just by their attendance. However, it wasn’t all too shocking t

Vagina monologues steps up

Such lack of discussion and personal awareness for women has been part of the motivation behind the production of most of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues.” The Peer Advocates of Sexual Respect have been organizing a reading of this work for the past three years, but this year’s performance was the most successful in terms of interest from participants, audience members and, notably, men. Since its publication in 1998, “The Vagina Monologues” has steadily grown in popularity worldwide, garne

Campus Conversations

What better way to show love for your fellow class members than beating them into the snow drifts that blanketed the freshman quad this past week? At the freshman snowball fight organized by the class’ resident counselors (RCs) last Tuesday, many found themselves being taken down hardcore by people who they had presumed to be close friends. “I just couldn’t understand why all of a sudden the very same guy who had been so docile and considerate just that afternoon turned into an animalistic forc

Campus Speak

JOSE ABAD ’03 “Shake your booty: Salsa and Merengue 11.” LINDSAY CLARKE ’03 “I want to teach people, ‘How to Sleep, With Lindsay.'” RACHEL WURMSER ’01 “Microbes: Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite.” ANITA NABHA ’01 “Dirty Dancing.” MICHAEL RHOTON ’02E “I would call it, ‘Yet another college class to waste a whole lot of money on.'” GARRET KINSEY ’03 “‘Steam Tunnel TAP,’ because I like it hot.” SCOTT DOUGAN ’04 “My class would be called, ‘Humanity, Little Friendly Midgets Named Earl and Germa

Club Focus

Started by Lara Neel ’01 this year, the KGB is a small group of students with a passion. While it may be commonly considered an antiquated art, knitting can be a calming activity on a stressful night or a mode of creative expression for any student. The club is geared towards instruction, practice, creation and sharing artistic techniques. While the guild is still relatively small, Neel hopes that the membership base will expand in the coming semester. Membership is currently limited to a handf

DASAC Steps In To Fill Gap In Campus Dance

The result was the creation of Dancing and Stepping at Amherst College (DASAC), a group of students who share a love of modern dance. Goode forged this new club while teaching dance classes in the Octagon and managed to secure a “decent budget” from the SFC for necessities such as costumes and music. With a busy schedule of performances in the near future, this new dance organization will soon be a familiar name among the Amherst student body. Hip-Hop Hopes Realized The dancers take advantage

Club Focus

Created by the SGO last spring under the leadership of club president Andrew Doss ’03, AIIGHT has many plans for this year, including an all-school campout, monthly student art shows and a lock-in in Alumni Gym. “A need has always been there,” explained club member Rajiv D’Cruz ’02. “But until the club was formed, no one really took the initiative to act on ideas that people had thought of but never made into concrete realities.” AIIGHT welcomes all students, letting anyone who wishes to get i

Club Focus

Established in 1993, the Five-College chapter of Habitat for Humanity has remodeled and built homes for area families experiencing varying degrees of homelessness. This year the organization plans to construct an entire home in the town of Amherst, an ambitious goal that they have not undertaken in recent years. “In this project, it will be nice to see our work progress from start to finish,” said Will Rogers ’01, Habitat’s volunteer coordinator. “I see it as more of a personal investment when