The close of the spring semester last May brought with it the desperate anticipation of summer, the frenzied stress of finals, the end of Tony Marx’s term as president of Amherst and a combination of all three.
Upperclassmen may remember coming into Valentine and finding all the framed pictures in the dining hall, formerly of college history and old buildings, changed to photographs of our 18th president.
Fight for your family. Fight for your country. Fight for your home, your job, your life. Fight the banks, fight the bureaucracy, fight the war. Fight hard. Fight on. Fight back.
This nation is grappling with itself. Unemployment, foreclosures, the national debt, education, health care, conflicts abroad: day in and day out, people are struggling over issues that, for a long time, we took for granted. We are uncertain, insecure; we have been hurt, and don’t want to be hurt again. We are tired, and we are angry.
Spring has arrived, and with it the usual activities: frisbeein’, tannin’, grillin’ and campus golfin’ have taken over the campus grounds, along with a general atmosphere of relaxation and awesome chill time. This year, the warm weather has brought with it more than just the seasonal outdoor events: it’s also brought back old-fashioned Amherst house parties. Has anyone else especially enjoyed the last few weeks? I definitely have.
“Robert, Robert. That’s the Colosseum.”
I don’t know when it quite hit us that we were, in fact, in Rome, but it might have been the point when our bus, throwing us backwards and forwards as it stumbled through the cobblestone streets, started circling the Colosseum. As that most legendary of ancient ruins loomed before our eyes, I started hitting my friend’s arm frantically, eyes wide open, jaw dropped in disbelief that we were actually there, that it was actually there, as if all the books and photographs all these years had actually been lying.
About two weeks ago, two researchers poking around inside iOS came across a file entitled “consolidated.db” that seemed to be generated each time an iPhone was synced with the host computer. That file, once opened, showed a time-stamped record of the phone’s location (via cell tower triangulation) that spanned back several years. The two researchers, Pete Warden and Alasdair Allan, found a similar file on each machine of theirs that had been synced with an iPhone. If you have an iPhone, there’s a similar file on your machine right now.
We pride ourselves in our diversity. Be it racial, socio-economic, ethnic, cultural, geographic, religious, linguistic or intellectual, Amherst battles against homogeneity within its student (and faculty) population with very high standards. One area in which we are sadly lacking, however, is that which is present around our male students’ faces. Specifically, the number of students with facial hair is grossly underrepresented.
There are good movies, bad movies and weird movies. And once in a while there comes a movie that defies what you think you know about cinema. With chills running down your spine, you stare at the screen for the entire run. And when the lights finally come on, you sit still, stunned, every part of your body palpitating.
