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.
The Women’s and Gender Center (WGC) has just implemented its “Talk Back” program after a pilot last year.
The program is an informal and student-run series of dialogues focusing on contemporary topics in pop culture and current events that are related to gender. WGC staff host one Talk Back each semester and can co-lead the program with another WGC staffer or with someone from another resource center.
The most recent talk, titled “Trans Identity and Recent Events,” was held last Thursday Nov. 2 in the WGC in Keefe Campus Center.
Christine Kim ’18 is an interdisciplinary major. Her thesis, titled “The Role of Medical Humanities in U.S. Education,” explores the evolving role that humanities play in medical school education. Her advisers are Professor of History John W. Servos, Professor of the History of Art and Asian Languages and Civilizations Samuel C. Morse and Health Professions Advisor Richard A. Aronson.
The advance of dark money in politics has severely hurt our democracy, and the possibility of a liberal appointee to the Supreme Court might change that. Here’s why that’s important:
Donald Trump’s rise to the top is considered thrilling or revolting, depending on whom you ask. Nonetheless, it’s clear that Trump is, without question, a master pitchman and a political genius. But, what experts say are his secret weapons are less political than they are psychological. As it turns out, what Trump has in common with Hitler may be less important in this election than what he has has in common with Kanye West.
Grades are a subjective system that systematically values a narrow set of qualities that so very often do not correlate to greater life satisfaction or produce better students of the world. Tests chronically misdiagnose ineptitude in a subject, and professors’ personalities have the power to fundamentally alter both the way material is taught and how students’ work is examined. One of the greatest and most accepted myths in the academic realm is such: Grading properly measures a student’s achievement, understanding and hard work.
The fossil fuel industry has an unwavering grip on our political system, our environment and, in the most extreme of scenarios, is leading the decline of sustainable life on Earth. This is about more than just living in a world without polar bears. This is a very real existential threat. We must fight back — and college campuses are the perfect place to start sending this message to the fossil fuel industry: Your profits do not take priority over our planet.
