In an interview on “Meet the Press,” presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway defended White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s false claims surrounding President Donald Trump’s inauguration. According to Conway, Spicer’s assertions that the 2017 presidential inauguration was the largest-attended in history are “alternative facts.” Rather than confronting the possibility that Spicer’s claims are false, Conway created a new philosophical realm of thought in which the truth can — or cannot — exist.
I read no literature by a white male author for one year, and it was beautiful. It was relatively easy to do, given that the English courses I enrolled in were Global Women’s Literature, Postcolonial Archipelagos and Transnational Literatures of the Chinese Diaspora. Through these classes, I learned the role of imperialist histories in personal and collective identity (re)formation. I learned how literary forms could both give voice to the subaltern and also contribute to its silencing.
A little over a year ago, Mark Vanhoenacker ’96 gave a reading at Amherst Books from “Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot.” At the event, someone remarked on the ways in which Vanhoenacker’s writing reawakens his readers to the wonder of flight. He allows us to reoccupy the space of a child who boards a plane for the first time and watches, wide-eyed, as the landscape drifts away below. In our “grown-up” world, flight has become overly normalized (for a privileged segment of the population). It is easy to forget to look out the window and remark on just how small buildings look.
On Monday, The New York Times and others reported that Katie Rich, a staff writer at Saturday Night Live, had been suspended indefinitely by N.B.C. for sending out a tweet mocking President Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron. The tweet read: “Barron will be this country’s first homeschooled shooter.” Rich has since deleted it. She also tweeted out an apology, which said: “I sincerely apologize for the insensitive tweet. I deeply regret my actions & offensive words. It was inexcusable & I’m so sorry.”
Liberalism died in 2016, in his fourth century. He was ill for quite some time, and after a series of tumultuous brushes with death over the last hundred years, he passed not quietly but spectacularly by climbing a tree and sawing off the very branch he was sitting on. Many have refused to accept his death, and his body is currently propped up on bumper stickers and mainstream news networks with sunglasses in some weird Weekend-At-Bernie’s-esque charade, preventing his proper entombment.
After two semesters, 26 issues and countless hours spent editing, this is my final issue as editor-in-chief of The Amherst Student. I’ve been fortunate to work with a dedicated staff throughout the duration of my time with this paper. We’ve had designers, writers and publishers who have endless talents; from the section editors who meticulously edit sports stories to the publishers who graciously donate their time and ensure our subscribers receive the paper each week.
Meatless Mondays? Going tray-less?
Whatever your opinion is on these controversial efforts, it is important to recognize all of the other ways that Valentine has been working to reduce waste and save energy. Some of the staff’s biggest efforts have in fact been happening behind the scenes, plotted in the bowels of Valentine Dining Hall.
