Major: Physics
Thesis Advisor: David Hanneke
Q: What is your thesis topic?
A: I’m trying to triple the frequency of a laser beam using an affordable apparatus. I have to start by calculating different quantities, like the power output that I could get out of my design, so that I can optimize it and decide what kinds of mirrors and equipment to buy.
Q: For us non-physics majors, what is a laser beam?
The Amherst College Farm, initiated to be an educational resource as well as to provide fresh, organic, local produce for Valentine Dining Hall, is currently under development. On Monday, the College finished accepting applications for an experienced farmer to run the 4.5-acre operation, said Alex Propp ’13, one of the students involved in bringing the idea of a farm to fruition. By the end of the semester, the College will have chosen a farmer, and then by the spring they will be growing and harvesting vegetables.
For over a hundred years the only known image of Emily Dickinson has been a daguerreotype taken of the famously reclusive poet when she was just 16, long before she had penned any of her famous works. Now, a new image has come to light, and it may soon be able to fill in the gaps in Dickinson’s mysterious persona.
Class of 2016, please get an alarm clock that works well. I have tried many. There was even a time when my younger brother ordered a Sonic Boom alarm clock, which is exactly what it sounds like. It lived up to its name by shaking my mattress, blasting siren sounds and flashing red lights. It was way too much for me and my roommate. But I am now pleased to announce I have finally settled on a Casio 128 alarm clock, with a small, blue screen and a chipper, rousing alarm tone.
The past few months have involved considerable discussion of the “War on Women.” This war seems to be largely sensationalist rebranding of a conglomeration of some very important debates. While there is no excuse for comments about “legitimate rape,” Democrats probably don’t do the national discourse much service in framing the issue so violently. In her Republican National Convention speech, Ann Romney tried to win women’s sympathies and, ultimately, votes for her husband, Mitt Romney. Unfortunately she chose to speak to women as if they lacked brains.
The men and women of our armed forces are facing continual, catastrophic assaults that threaten not only their individual well-beings but also the effectiveness and cohesiveness of the military as a whole. These assaults don’t originate from Al-Qaeda, the Taliban or any of the groups that we have declared as our enemies. These assaults, distressingly, originate from within our own military. Every day our military personnel face sexual assault and battery from other members of the same military, frequently from those they have been drilled to trust at a religiously absolute level.
On the College website, I read the headline “Amherst Files Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Diversity Case.” Though I was not surprised that the College would support the respondent in Fisher v. University of Texas, I was appalled to see that the College prided itself in leading a coalition of so-called elite institutions in supporting the discriminatory practice of affirmative action.
