Members of the student mascot committee said this week that they plan on taking steps toward holding a college-wide vote on whether or not to replace the Lord Jeff, the college’s current unofficial mascot. Committee members said they also plan to facilitate open discussions about the mascot in conjunction with the Association of Amherst Students.
Senate
Namita Khajanchi ’19
Since Sept. 16 the Association of Amherst Students Budgetary Committee has been enforcing stricter budgetary guidelines for clubs that request funding for their activities.
“There are really only three policy changes this year, and they’re all beneficial for the students,” said AAS Treasurer Paul Gramieri.
The AAS has changed funding guidelines for club transportation, limited funding for food and instituted a new event publicity requirement.
This year Amherst College is undertaking a massive overhaul of its medical services, bringing Keefe Health Center under college ownership and hiring an almost entirely new medical staff. But the transition period has proven rocky. As the health center completes the process of hiring and training new staff members, some students have experienced lapses in service.
The student body will vote Oct. 5 on whether to adopt a one-semester trial period for social clubs.
The social clubs proposal, first introduced in fall 2014, has undergone months of revision and debate. A vote was originally scheduled for May 2015, but the work group postponed it in order to make further changes to the proposal.
This semester Amherst administrators plan to examine problems with student access to campus resources by forming a new task force on accessibility. Led by Chief Student Affairs Officer Suzanne Coffey, the committee will finalize its membership within the next few weeks with the assistance of President Biddy Martin, and it will begin work in mid-October.
Coffey said the task force plans to examine all aspects of accessibility.
Spanish professor Ilan Stavans premiered the pilot episodes of his new radio program, “In Contrast with Ilan Stavans,” on New England Public Radio this past July and August.
The show mainly discusses cultural life in New England, but also explores themes such as the art of translation and the politics of using one’s personal voice on public radio. It is structured as a series of interviews, and interviewees in the pilot episodes included a translator and author, a professor of cultural studies, undocumented students from the Five Colleges and members of a local theatre troupe.
