The year of 2012 has afforded the AAS seven productive meetings so far. Since late January, Val started using a Twitter account. @AmherstDining has kept us up to date on the meal schedule with tweets and pictures since Jan. 22. Twelve lucky students got to eat dinner with President Biddy thanks to a raffle, and Val has hosted six separate World Cuisine events, including an American Tour sampling food from the East Coast, South, Midwest and West Coast, along with a thoroughly Fat Tuesday lunch and dinner menu for Mardi Gras and a delectable Argentine dinner.
This year of the apocalypse actually began with good news about climate change. In a perfect example of soft power with an edge, the European Union decided to leverage its weight as the world’s largest economic market to compel the majority of the world’s airlines to participate in its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). This bold move promises to both directly cut emissions, as well as provide incentive for airlines to innovate and increase their efficiency globally — and it foreshadows what could be a new approach to tackling the world’s biggest, most pressing challenge.
Consider two issues.
Right now Amherst College is on a precipice. As criticisms run rampant about our administration and students, the school’s reputation itself is suffering. I understand the anger and pain being expressed by many, but I would also like to point out that Amherst is still a place that I love. Humans are highly imperfect, and Amherst is an institution run by humans. Additionally, the all-male history has added to the issues of our college struggling to deal properly with women’s issues.
This week, the Senate convened at Amherst’s shrouded paradise, the Humphries House, also known as the Zü. The Zü escapes the average student’s gaze, located beyond a wooded veil on Snell Street. It is often considered to have greater affinity with Hampshire than Amherst, but its residents captain our frisbee teams, direct our plays, burgeon our orchestra, and write our Pain in the AAS column.
I was saddened by this week’s issue of The Student in which I found an article written by Andrew Kaake ’14 on abortion. The article, “The Principled Position: Defending Life,” examined the abortion debate from the perspective of a Christian Conservative in support of the debate’s “pro-life” side.
It’s sad that I have to write this article. It’s sad that anyone has to write about this, fight against this or live this out as their life; but the alternative is that the world remains blissfully ignorant or carelessly apathetic.
I’m writing about the crimes against humanity waged by some of the absolute regimes across the world. This is an article that shouldn’t need to be written. Say what you like about relative morality, but deep down, there are things that you just know are wrong, things that you can feel in your gut. This is one of those things.
