Bird Deaths Prompted by Collisions With Science Center Windows

A recent study by two professors at the college revealed that at least 46 birds died over a 90-day period after flying into the building’s glass edifice. The study, conducted by Professors of Biology Jill Miller and Ethan Clotfelter, has prompted the facilities department to begin further investigating bird-strikes around the science center. Last fall, Chief of Campus Operations Jim Brassord frequently noticed dead birds surrounding the perimeter of the science center. He worried that the buil

Val Launches Late Night Dining Options Pilot

Valentine Dining Hall, known among students as Val, will debut a pilot program of extended dining hours called Val After Dark from Feb. 6 to March 13. Val After Dark will offer hot food and snacks between 9 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays during its six week pilot. The Association of Amherst Students (AAS) passed the final proposal unanimously on Jan. 31. The pilot phase of Val After Dark will last until spring break, after which Director of Dining Services Joe Flueckiger, administr

AAS Creates New Senator Position For Transfer Students

The Association of Amherst Students (AAS) unanimously voted to add a seat for a transfer student senator on Nov. 17. In an email to all students on Nov. 21, AAS released the amended constitution, which now provides for a 33rd senator. Under the new amendment, the transfer senator will be elected by a vote of transfer students across class years. Transfer students will vote only for the transfer senator seat, rather than for their designated graduation year. However, they will still be allowed

Thoughts on Theses: Logan Deming

Logan Deming is an English major. For her thesis, she is writing a creative-critical hybrid piece about breaking out of imposed futures brought upon by heteropatriarchy and white supremacy. Her adviser is Professor of English Alicia Mireles Christoff. Q: Tell me what your thesis is about.A: I’m doing a creative-critical hybrid — mostly creative — on how marginalized people can break out of what I call “imposed futures.” I’m looking at how people who are marginalized for some part of their ident

Faculty Revisits Policy on Sexual Relations Between Professors and Students

The college faculty is considering a proposal to ban sexual relationships between students and faculty members. The deliberation comes after the #MeToo movement and the nation’s reckoning with sexual assault and sexual misconduct. The policy on sexual student-faculty relationships outlined in the Student Code of Conduct was last voted on in 1992. The current policy states that the college “discourages consensual sexual relationships between faculty members and students,” but does not ban them a

Honoring Stonewall, College Launches LGBTQ+ Event Series

President Biddy Martin’s house was decked with pride flags for the Stonewall Committee’s inaugural event, the Stonewall at 50 Soirée on Oct. 16. The Stonewall Committee invited members of the college community to the soirée to launch a year of programming by the committee. The Stonewall uprising was a clash between police and patrons of the Stonewall Inn, a New York gay bar. Engaging in homosexual behavior was illegal at the time, so police raided the bar and roughly arrested patrons and emplo

Effects of Vaping Crisis Echo on Campus

With growing fear that use of e-cigarette devices such as Juuls can lead to respiratory conditions later in life, students are reevaluating the use of vape pens, e-cigarettes and Juuls on campus. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, declared a public health emergency yesterday, announcing a four-month ban on the sale of vaping products. After conferring with medical professionals, Baker concluded that the danger to public health was too great to wait on banning vaping products. Baker’s ban is cur