An outbreak of meningitis was reported on Nov. 16 at UMass Amherst. Two students were confirmed to have been diagnosed with meningococcal disease in October and November.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were involved in conducting the testing of the two students. The situation has been classified an outbreak because the two students infected contracted the same strain of serogroup B meningitis. No reported cases of meningococcal disease have been suspected or identified on Amherst’s campus.
Kristen Gardner is an assistant professor of computer science. She completed her undergraduate study in computer science at Amherst College and holds a master’s and doctoral degrees from Carnegie Mellon.
After years of advocacy from students and faculty, the Latinx and Latin American Studies (LLAS) major has debuted this semester. The major was approved after a unanimous vote from the faculty in the spring of 2017.
Despite its recent creation, the major has seen growth beyond expectations, said professor Rick Lopez, chair of the program.
“We didn’t know that we would have this many courses,” Lopez said. Over 10 courses related to the major were offered this fall.
Dean of the Faculty Catherine Epstein announced the college’s plan to host students from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands affected by Hurricane Maria on Wednesday, Nov. 14 in a community-wide email.
In this upcoming spring semester, she said, a limited number of students whose studies were disrupted by the hurricane will come to the college for one semester of study.
Valentine Dining Hall and the Green Amherst Project (GAP) are currently collaborating to raise student awareness about the environmental effects of eating meat by promoting “Meatless Mondays.” Their goal, according to GAP members, is to encourage students to decrease their meat consumption on these days.
GAP E-board members Dominique Iaccarino ’19 and Annabelle Gary ’20 met with Director of Dining Services Joseph Flueckiger and Executive Chef Jeremy Roush on Nov. 9 to discuss how the dining hall could support the “Meatless Mondays” initiative.
During a late afternoon last October, Lizzie Lacy ’19 was crossing Route 9 near Valentine Dining Hall when she saw a car approaching. The driver, a student at UMass Amherst, slowed down.
“I thought he was stopping, since he saw me,” she said.
But he didn’t, and she was hit, going over the hood of the car to the side of the road.
Days after the announcement of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, introduced by the House Committee on Ways and Means on Nov. 2, the college publicized its concerns with various elements of the bill, including a proposed excise tax on some colleges’ endowments.
President Biddy Martin’s email, sent to the Amherst community on Nov. 7 and published online, outlined the elements of the bill that she said may threaten the college’s ability to fully support its mission and students.
