Like so many Amherst students, I am all too familiar with 4 a.m. The kind of 4 a.m. where you’re hunched over a desk, accompanied only by your notes and a mug of lukewarm coffee. You’ve stared at a computer so long you can’t tell what the words you wrote just a few hours ago even mean. You’ve refreshed Facebook for the 80th time. I’ve been at Amherst for three months, and I’ve already had my share of those nights. Upperclassmen assure me it gets worse.
Dear President Martin, Chief Student Affairs Officer Coffey, Dean of Students Vasquez and members of the administration:
The 2014 midterm election was historic for political parties, minorities and women.
For political parties, the American people voted decisively against the failed policies of the Obama administration, which the President himself said were “on the ballot, every single one of them.” Voters gave Republicans a majority in the Senate and the largest majority in the House in 86 years. In fact, since President Obama took office, Democrats have lost at least 13 seats in the Senate and 69 seats in the House — the greatest number of seats under any president since Truman.
Loneliness is a problem at Amherst College. The 2014 National College Health Assessment conducted last semester reported that 76 percent of Amherst students felt “very lonely” within the past year, compared to 56 percent nationally. But this isn’t a new issue for us: the Student Health Educators began their “social cups” initiative in 2013 to combat the stigma associated with going to Val alone.
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Last Saturday in Pratt pool, Amherst’s men’s and women’s swim and dive teams opened their seasons with two decisive victories over Union College.
The men crushed Union 202-91, winning 14 events in the process. Amherst’s 200 medley relay team, consisting of Sam Spurrell ’18, Greg Han ’17, Matt Heise ’16 and Tyler Hampton ’15 handed the Jeff’s their first victory of the afternoon, touching the wall at 1:36:84. In the meet’s closing event Spurrell and Hampton swam with Alex Dreisbach ’17 and Connor Sholtis ’15 to bring home the final victory of the afternoon in the 200 free relay.
After receiving an unexpected birth into the NCAA tournament early last week, Amherst women’s soccer focused on sharpening their attack in preparation for first round opponent, NYU. In Saturday’s game, the Jeffs found the back of the net in each half, advancing with a 2-0 win over NYU.
Perfection. A word rarely used in our language, but it does describe the Amherst College football team’s 2014 season. The 17-9 victory over Williams on Saturday, Nov. 8 sealed the unblemished season for the Jeffs and earned the team a NESCAC championship all to themselves. “Ending the career as undefated NESCAC champs with this group of seniors is a dream come true,” Colman Duggan ’15 said.
