Rant:
Rose Lenehan ’11 and Michael Muller ’12 wrote a Letter to the Editor to address the lack of females in the alumni profiles in the Friday, Oct. 21 issue of The Student.
Around this time of the year, the admissions office is busy rifling through applications from all corners of the world. The process is carefully constructed and refined to choose students with the intention of creating the best possible environment at Amherst. Undoubtedly, diversity thus factors into the admissions process, but only in the context of the skills and achievements already presented by each applicant.
“Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.” (Proverbs 13:41)
These are the words of my placard. It is soft and worn from a night in New York and many days facing the sun and wind. I am a Christian dutifully attending my post, which is neither a Tea Party rally nor a Westboro “Baptist” convention; I am an Occupant because my faith compels me to the front lines.
Several weeks ago in The Student , Erik Christianson ’14 wrote an article extolling the virtues of libertarianism. I have no critiques of his position as far as civil liberties and gay marriage go, but the core of libertarianism lies in its view of personal property and its economic ideals. In this, it constitutes nothing more than a justification of shortsightedness and lack of social vision and a defense of the ability of the powerful to oppress the powerless.
Healthcare was a bad idea. Does this sound ludicrous and insane? Well … it is. After all, this country did need some form of health legislation. I’ll be specific: the bad idea was to present universal healthcare legislation to Congress in the midst of the worst recession in the U.S. in decades. It is often said that presidents are able to get the most done immediately after they’ve been elected. Universal healthcare is something Democrats have repeatedly championed. The president was looking to pass a bill Democrats hadn’t had the opportunity to pass for some time.
The full 2011-2012 Senate has finally been seated.
Indeed, the fourth meeting of the AAS on Monday night began with a classic Senate tradition — the swearing-in ceremony. Those elected to the Senate by the student body last Thursday were not officially senators until they recited an “oath of office.” These 10 senators-elect — eight from the class of 2015 and two from the class of 2013 — had to assure the rest of the Senate that, among other things, they had no “mental reservations” or “purpose of evasion” before being sworn in.
