The college ended its agreement with Amherst Cinema that provided Amherst students with free movie tickets due to college-wide budget cuts. The program has existed, in at least some form, since the Spring of 2022.
Content warning: This article mentions disordered eating.
Starting June 5, Valentine Dining Hall will no longer provide to-go containers to all students, the college announced in Monday’s edition of the Daily Mammoth. Approved students with certain accommodations will still be able to access to-go containers.
The decision to stop offering the disposable containers — which have remained available, one large and one small per meal, at Val’s check-in stand since Spring 2022 — was motivated by concerns about the financial cost of the containers and their contribution to food waste on campus, a group of administrators wrote in a statement to The Student.
The change has prompted concerns from some students, who worry that it will exacerbate congestion in Val and make the containers difficult to access even for those who need them.
The containers were introduced during the pandemic in an effort to reduce the density of students dining in Val. The college’s announcement acknowledged that the change is in line with recent rollbacks of other Covid protocols, like the end of the college’s vaccine mandate and PCR testing program, announced in the past month.
“The containers’ use helped to minimize close contact in Val during the peak COVID period,” the Daily Mammoth posting read, “but we still use approximately 1,000 containers a day, and an estimated 40% of the food in them is discarded.”
Nuestras Voces: Piero Campos ’25 talks with three students who shared their poetry and visual art at the Nuestras Voces event.
(Executive Director of Dining Joe Flueckiger said that the latter figure was a “rough estimate … based on a series of recent waste audits performed on the trash from the first-year residence halls by the office of sustainability.”)
“This decision was not an easy one,” Mike Thomas, chief financial and administrative officer, told The Student. “There was consideration that discontinuing the broad distribution of disposable containers may not be a popular one, but the environmental and financial impact of the program led us to the decision.”
Thomas said that the overall cost of providing the containers themselves amounts to around $150,000 per year, while the additional cost from added food waste is between $300,000 and $400,000.
med, at a faculty meeting on Tuesday, that the decision is part of a college-wide effort to reduce spending for the upcoming fiscal year.
Thomas added that the decision was made after discussion and deliberation between a number of different groups, such as senior administration staff, the college’s budget team, Dining Services, the Committee on Priorities and Resources, and the Meal Plan Exemption Committee, which includes representatives from student accessibility services and student health services.
According to Flueckiger, eligible students will continue to be able to receive a “meal plan exemption” to access the containers. The exemptions are currently provided to students for medical, cultural, nutri-
Continued on page 3
Studying Abroad in South Korea: Pho Vu ’23 tells Amherst students what they need to know before studying abroad in South Korea.
The Office of Student Activities reinstated the program, which had been active prior to the pandemic, last spring at the request of the Amherst Film Society, led by President Sophie Durbin ’25. Originally only funding movie screenings after 8 pm, Student Activities expanded the program in the Fall 2022 to fund all movies.
“It was a big success,” Durbin said. “Tons of students were taking advantage of [the free movies].”
However, Durbin said that Student Activities told her that they had underestimated how much it would cost to fund the tickets, and as a result, they have gone significantly over their allotted budget for the program. Durbin explained that this has become a pressing issue partway through this semester because of the budget cuts.
A representative of Student Activities did not respond when asked to confirm Durbin’s explanation of the program’s ending.
In response to a Student inquiry, Dean of Students Angie Tissi-Gassoway wrote, “The program, which
Continued on page 2
"Memories from Home:" Florence Doyle ’26 and Erin Williams ’26 cover the launch party for the exhibition, which features international students’ art.
>>April 27, 2023
12:49 p.m., Charles Pratt Dormitory
ACPD responded to a prefire alarm. The cause of activation was burnt food in the microwave.
>>April 27, 2023
1:06 p.m., Tyler House
A student reported that their electric bike was stolen. ACPD is investigating the theft.
>>April 27, 2023
11:06 p.m., Jenkins Hall
ACPD responded to a pre-
fire alarm that was caused by vaping.
>>April 29, 2023
2:34 a.m., East Drive
ACPD responded to a report of several people arguing on the road. Upon the arrival of police, all involved fled the area in vehicles. Investigation indicates that they were not campus affiliates.
>>April 29, 2023
10:22 a.m., Boltwood Drive
ACPD stopped a motor vehicle being operated in the wrong direction on a one-way street.
>>April 30, 2023
1:32 a.m., Hitchcock Hall ACPD took a report of the theft of unattended property.
>>April 30, 2023
2:34 p.m., Mayo-Smith
Parking Lot
ACPD took a report involving damage to a motor vehicle.
>>April 30, 2023
2:34 p.m., Mayo-Smith
Parking Lot
ACPD took a report involving damage to a motor vehicle.
Continued from page 1 was funded by [the] AAS and student activities, was not funded for three months — March through May — and is being reassessed for next year.”
While it seems unlikely that Student Activities will be able to continue to fund the program next semester, Durbin plans to pursue alternative funding sources, such as the President’s Office, in hopes of offering free movies to students once more. She hopes that once she secures funding, the arrangement will become permanent, meaning it will not need to be renegotiated with the college each semester.
“It’s very rare to have a small, art house theater like [Amherst Cinema] so close to us,” Durbin said. “Lots of people don't realize how special it is to have a small independent cinema like this one.”
In Durbin’s view, access to free movies at Amherst Cinema goes
beyond idle entertainment: “I don't really see it as pure entertainment so much as education.”
“Amherst Cinema’s programming is incredibly unique,” Durbin said. She added, “There are lots of cool events like premieres where you get to meet the director or screenwriters. So it's a great opportunity for people who are interested in entertainment careers, and to be exposed to lesser-known films that you can't see anywhere else.”
Ankit Sayed ’24 echoed this sentiment: “Amherst Cinema is a great counterpoint to [the movie theater at] Hampshire Mall.” He added that the cinema “provides students with the opportunity to see a lot of indie movies as opposed to the commercial ones at Hampshire Mall.”
As a Bangla student, Amherst Cinema’s screenings of Bangla movies have allowed him to connect with his heritage and share it with his community in a way that would
not have been available to him otherwise.
Alexa Ekhelar ’25 believes that the college allowing students to see movies for free is even more important because of Amherst’s rural location. Watching movies at Amherst Cinema has been “an important part of [her] college experience outside the classroom, especially because there’s not much to do in a small town and a rural area like Amherst.”
In addition, Durbin received feedback from Amherst Cinema that the agreement with the college has helped their business, especially after losing sales during the pandemic. “The director [of the cinema] emailed me and said that they had had more sold out shows than ever before in their history,” she said.
“As a school, especially an elite liberal arts college, it’s important for us to support local businesses like Amherst Cinema,” said Ekhelar.
The Editorial Board
Val and Chemistry Department
To Host Molecular Gastronomy Food Festival
Valentine Food Services and the Chemistry department will be hosting a three day molecular gastronomy food festival between May 2 and May 4 featuring culinary delights created using different food preparation
processes, including sous vide, spherification, emulsion, and more.
The festival is an outgrowth of the Chemistry class “Molecular Gastronomy and Food Science,” which allows students to both examine “core requirements for food as we eat to live,” as well as participate in the creation of a variety of different dishes
The Loeb Center has pushed back the deadline for applications to the Charles Hamilton Houston Internship Program, which provides students with funding for unpaid summer internships.
Students will now be able to submit applications up through Friday, May 12.
The Office of Student Affairs will be hosting a White Out Rave on Saturday, May 6 at 9 p.m. on the Val quad.
Attendees are asked to come dressed in white, and glow sticks and face and body paint will be provided.
The rave will also feature EDM music by DJ RVS.
The College’s annual undergraduate awards ceremony will be held on Thursday, May 4 at 6 p.m. on the Val quad. The ceremony will honor and award prizes to Freshman, Sophomores, and Juniors from a variety of majors for outstanding work, scholarship, and citizenship. A reception will take place following the event.
Photo courtesy of Erin Williams ’26 Amherst Cinema provides students a local movie theater with indie offerings.Continued from page 1
tional, or religious reasons. Further information specific to the to-go containers will be added to the meal-plan-exemption page by the end of this semester, Flueckiger said.
He also said that, in the event that a student is sick, they will still be able to receive takeaway food from Graband-Go in Keefe Campus Center. And if they are unable to pick up their own food, a friend will be able to use to-go containers for them.
However, Flueckiger said that students will not be able to bring their personal to-go containers into Val. “Legally, we are obligated to provide plates and food containers that are washed and sanitized to a high standard,” he said. “We are responsible for the quality and safety of the product we serve and this prohibits the use of containers not in our control.”
One of the main concerns raised by students was that those who have
a compelling reason to eat outside of Val would no longer be able to do so.
Sam Hodges ’23 said that they experience sensory issues, and have used to-go containers to manage the noise during Val’s peak hours. “I’m graduating,” they added, “but I know people in similar situations who aren’t.”
For his part, Sasha Heywood ’25 agreed that “the sensory experience [of Val] can be overwhelming,” especially as someone in recovery from an eating disorder. “I sometimes can’t make myself eat if other people are going to be watching me, so I truly do rely on being able to take food to-go,” he said.
Larissa Hopkins, director of accessibility services, said she is working to tailor the exemption program to meet students’ needs. In making the decision to stop widely providing containers, she said, “Senior staff inquired about the needs of students with disabilities, and those needs are being factored into the streamlined
process for students to request to-go containers moving forward.”
Nevertheless, Hodges expressed some skepticism about the decision as “a step towards ‘accommodations focused’ accessibility.” They worried that “disability paperwork” will be required to receive an exemption, which they noted not everyone who relies on to-go containers has.
All the students who spoke to The Student agreed that the loss of to-go containers could worsen existing overcrowding issues in Val.
As Rowan Belt ’24 put it, “My main concern is that the demise of to-go boxes will increase an already considerable problem of congestion and capacity in Val.”
The students also emphasized, generally, the convenience afforded by to-go containers.
With the containers, “There’s the ability to take food and eat it while watching TV or something,” Hodges said. “Or I’ve gotten to-go when I’m not hungry but have horse-riding
past dinner time, [and I’ll get] food [early] since I can’t later.”
For Heywood, part of the trouble was how the decision was made. He wished there had been more outreach to the general student body, like, for instance, “a survey to get feedback before the decision was made, which [the college has] done for other policy changes.”
Hodges said that they would have preferred for the college to address the sustainability issues of single-use containers without ending the program entirely. They pointed to peer institutions, like fellow Five College school Mount Holyoke, which allow
their students to check out reusable containers.
“[I am] disappointed that we’re getting rid of a system where Mount Holyoke seems to have taken it and really leaned into it, especially since it’s so popular,” they said.
Thomas acknowledged that the decision-makers had anticipated some disappointment from students. “There are changes every year to programs and offices as priorities and available resources shift,” he said. “We work very hard to provide the best possible student experience and simultaneously manage those changes."
The faculty assembled in the Red Room on the evening of Tuesday, May 2, for its last and perhaps shortest meeting of the semester. The main agenda item was a debate over whether to reschedule the meetings for an earlier time of day next year, but much of the additional discussion surrounded the impending budget cuts.
The meeting was presided over by President Michael Elliott and Provost and Dean of Faculty Catherine Epstein.
The first item on the agenda was the question of whether to begin faculty meetings earlier in the day going forward. They have traditionally begun at 7:30 p.m.
Elliott seemed to suggest that he expected a lengthy debate, but the faculty was in near-unanimous agreement that the meetings ought to begin earlier. 114 faculty members voted in favor of the motion to change the time, while only 13 voted against.
During a brief debate before the vote, which was conducted using small scraps of paper, professors suggested that the motivation behind the time change was fostering equity among faculty members.
Professor Nicholas Horton, of the mathematics and statistics department, read a quote from a 2018 external review of Amherst policy.
“At a point in the college's history when it is striving both to achieve greater diversity within its faculty and to be more attentive to work-life balance, it seems problematic to schedule faculty meetings at 7:30 in the evening,” he said, reading from the report.
After being met with widespread nods and expressions of approval, Horton continued. “It's surprising that there is not a greater sense of urgency to amend the practice,” he said. “It seems misaligned to the realities of the contemporary workplace.”
Despite the expectations for a protracted debate, no faculty members rose to challenge the motion.
Following the vote and a few
housekeeping reminders, Elliott briefly discussed the budget process.
Elliott pointed to the recently-announced decision to eliminate to-go containers at Val as one measure that was being taken in the spirit of financial belt-tightening.
“This was a decision that we reached not only because of the financial implications of to go containers, which are less about the containers themselves than the excess food … but also out of a sense of stability,” he said.
A short time later, the faculty returned to a topic of discussion dating back to the faculty’s previous meeting on April 4: The Athletic Department’s decision to hire new assistant coaches despite the administration’s commitment, as part of the budget-reduction measures, to only fill positions “critical to the college’s mission.”
Philosophy Professor Alexander George pointed to the fact that salaries for certain assistant football coaches had not been provided by the school but had instead been raised by the head football coach.
“Is that a thing?” he said. “Could I go out and raise money?”
“No,” Epstein quickly retorted. Economics Professor Jessica Reyes continued the line of questioning, repeating a similar question to one she raised last month.
She claimed that she had recently seen around 10 job postings for assistant coach positions, and questioned whether these salaries would also be paid with external funds from outside the college’s operating budget.
Epstein responded that the positions were normal, are part of the operating budget, and had been filled amid the budget concerns because they were essential to the college’s mission.
“We believe those positions are core to the mission of the college,” she said.
The discussion then turned to faculty compensation. Professor of Economics Adam Honig pointed out that the faculty had experienced three straight years of inflation-adjusted salary decrease, and asked whether it could expect another.
Elliott responded that, though
the budget process remained uncertain, the college’s financial circumstances make it “very unlikely” that faculty salaries would keep pace with inflation.
Reyes then rose again to ask the final question, inquiring whether the faculty would be open to a debate about whether or not to play and stand for the national anthem at commencement.
In response, Elliott said that he did not believe the commencement program was a matter of faculty governance. He did state, however, that he had already decided to scratch the anthem from the 2023 ceremony.
He described the anthem as “a little out of place for a very international student body and given our mission.”
There were no more questions, so Elliott gaveled the meeting closed after just over 30 minutes—very short for faculty meetings, which can often span multiple hours. A seemingly appreciative faculty filed, bubbling with laughter, out of the Red Room and into the waiting night.
Brian House is an Assistant Professor of Art and the History of Art whose work investigates the hidden sounds and rhythms in our environment and our lives. He received his B.A. from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from Brown University.
Climate change has been documented in many mediums, from film, to prose, to data visualizations. Now, thanks to Brian House, a new assistant professor of art and the history of art at the college, we’ve also recorded the sound of the climate crisis — sort of.
Brian House is an acclaimed sound artist whose work has been featured in the MoMA, Los Angeles MOCA, and the New York Times. Some of his recent recordings include audio captured inside of the Amherst wildlife sanctuary, as part of his current sound project
In his current project, titled “Macrophones,” he records atmospheric infrasound and pitches it up so it’s perceptible to the human earwe can hear. The environment around us is living and breathing — wildfires, glacier calving, industrial plants, and data centers all emit sound waves — but it goes unnoticed simply because their voices fall below the audible are below our hearing range. By broadcasting this sound in our cities and forests, House invites us to question our complacent attitude towards our environment.
“All those sounds are entangled with the climate crisis, as I see,” explains House. “So the question is, if we can hear the sounds that are being made by these phenomena, would that change our relationship to the planet?”
“Macrophones” captures the essence of House’s work: much of his projects use sound to investigate the hidden rhythms in our
environment and our lives. For instance, in “Quotidian Record” (2012), a piece he labeled a favorite of his, House created a vinyl record of one year of his life.
“I recorded my location for a year,” explains House. “Pretty early on, when GPS on phones was still kind of new, people didn’t really know the capacities of the fact that they’re being tracked. But I took that data and made music out of it. I put it on a vinyl record so that one rotation of the record is one day of live time. It goes pretty fast — that’s 1.8 seconds per day. But as the record turns, you get a sense of daily patterns of life. I was living in New York, commuting from Brooklyn to Manhattan — it made these rhythms come out.”
But House is more than just an artist. Starting this spring semester, he began teaching art at Amherst College.
House came to Amherst for many of the same reasons that students do. “I believe in the mission of liberal arts and the role that this kind of education plays in our society today,” says House. “We’re living in a time of very complex problems, and that’s not going to be solved by any one speciality. We need broad interdisciplinary thinking and having a small campus where that’s valued. I used to work in the corporate world, a career in the tech industry before going back into academia. But I just found that [the industry] wasn’t flexible enough to answer the questions that I wanted to deal with. Academia, to me, gives a context to
from the 50s, the idea of someone who lives downtown in New York — like the Jackson Pollock idea — and it’s like pure emotion on a canvas. I think that’s one version of an artist. But I think today, there are artists that are very much involved in the commercial art scene, where art is understood as objects of value. There are also plenty of artists who work in media industries — advertisers and graphic designers — these are all artists too.”
“The noise scene in Providence, North African guitar music, people like Fela Kuti, Electronic Bands like Autechre,” lists House. “I just always love the structures that they have emerge from musical thinking and what that can do to you.”
really think about art as research, and also gives me the opportunity to teach.”
This may come off as jarring. The idea of the artist — particularly of the highly idiosyncratic, modern kind that creates sound art about climate change — appears to be at odds with the institution of academia, which is
This semester, House is teaching two classes: Art + Code (ARHA-278) and Sound Art (ARHA-292). In these classes, he teaches the history, theory and practice of these interdisciplinary mediums of art that are very much relevant to contemporary issues.
“We live in this hyper-technologically-mediated world, so it’s natural to start to use those tools to express ourselves and to explore the themes that come up with that,” says House.
House cites some of his inspirations as He mentions Pauline Oliveros as an influential artist, a pioneering sound artist who explored questions of ecology, meditation, and spirituality, and. He mentions Henri Lefebvre as an influential theorist, a French philosopher and sociologist who pioneered the idea that the everyday is political.
somewhat bureaucratic. The idea of doing “research for art” is especially strange.
If the idea of doing “research for art” is strange to some, However, as House argues, that is too a narrow a view of artistic practicenarrow view. “Art is always changing,” says House. “And there are lots of different versions of what art is. I think maybe we have this stereotypical version of an artist that maybe we’re inheriting
House also conducts research, but it probably does not look like what first comes to mind. He describes his research as a question of aesthetics and subjectivity: “It’s like how certain things feel or act upon you,” explains House. “And that’s not necessarily reducible to what they mean, on one hand, or what they are, on the other hand, if you’re talking about humanities vs. science. In terms of sound, you might know what something is, and you might understand how sound waves interact with it, but when you actually listen, what does that do to you? It makes you feel a particular way, whether it’s music, moving to a beat, or some weird infrasound.” That is not to say his research is completely divorced from other disciplines. As an artist and researcher whose work involves technology, politics, and the environment, sciences and the humanities are certainly important.
Befitting the interdisciplinary nature of his work, he cites an eclectic range of artists and thinkers as his influences. He has a long laundry list of musicians.
His everyday life at Amherst is, at least on the surface, quite simple. “We live nearby in faculty housing. I take my kid off to his preschool. Coming on campus, I teach two days a week, and the other two days, I work on research,” House saiddetails House. “I always read stuff. Right now, I’m reading a book called ‘Mapping Mars’ which is from the early 2000’s by a science journalist named Oliver Morton. And that’s just been interesting — I’ve always been interested in maps. You know, [wondering] what the process of mapping another world would be like, technological concerns. There’s aesthetic concerns, so that kind of fits with my interest.”
Much of his time is spent working on his “Macrophones” project. In fact, the recording in the background is from his installment of the project in the college’s Wildlife Sanctuary. He’ll be continuing to work on “Macrophones,” among other things, over the summer (for which a research assistant position is still available as of the time of publication).
“I got to Amherst in the middle of winter. So as things change and spring comes, that’s helped me develop a relationship with the place. And I kind of feel grounded here.”
—Nathan Lee ’26 Photo courtesy of Brian HouseAll these sounds are entangled with the climate crisis, as I see. So the question is, if we can hear the sounds that are being made by these phenomena, would that change our relationship to the planet?
— Brian House
If you’re anything like me, in addition to not knowing how to pronounce the name of the CHI in Frost Library, you’re also probably a bit unclear about what its actual purpose is. It turns out that in addition to being pronounced “chee” — sorry, latte lovers — “CHI” stands for the Center of Humanistic Inquiry.
The CHI’s main function is to provide a central meeting place for those who are interested in humanities to gather and explore their shared academic interests. “The CHI attempts to be an intellectual hub for the humanities and social sciences in ways that parallel the Science Center and its space for interdisciplinary science connections,” said Professor of Religion Maria Heim, a CHI advisory board member. The center’s two main event spaces include the Think Tank and the Seminar Room, both of which are currently located on the second floor of Frost. The Think Tank is a larger space, ideal for lectures, panels, book talks, screenings, and presentations, whereas the Seminar Room is smaller, meant for classes, workshops, and meetings with fewer people.
Every two years, members of the CHI advisory board select a guiding theme for the center. The current theme, “Black: Here and Now,” en-
courages exploration and conversation about the Black experience in America, including the legacy of slavery, the Civil War, abolitionism, reparations, pan-Africanism, affirmative action, police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter movement. A cohort of post-doc fellows is selected to come and do work and collaborate on topics central to that theme. “They are in residence as research fellows and as visiting lecturers. During their two-year residency, they teach one course. Their focus is doing their humanities research projects,” said Darryl Harper ’90, chair of the music department and current CHI director.
For the 2021-2023 theme “Black: Here and Now,” the CHI welcomed five fellows: Rose Lenehan, Ashlie Sandoval, Watufani M. Poe, Trent Masiki, and Janice Yu. They were joined by visiting scholar, Anailis Cisco, to collaborate on this theme. Their research interests range from critical race theory to Black LGBTQ+ activism and Marxist ideas on race and racism.
As director, Harper said he values the intersection of humanities fostered by the CHI. “I was really interested in the CHI because it means a lot to me in terms of the way that I pursue my own work,” he said. “I’m a musician. Some people view the arts and the humanities as being separate, but I do a lot of ar-
chival research and ethnographic research. I do a lot of prose writing to think through my research questions, even though what you might see at the end of that is an album or a performance.”
On Wednesday afternoons, the CHI hosts salons. These salons were created along with the center in 2015 by Martha Umphrey, a professor of law, jurisprudence, and
social thought and founding director of the CHI.“The salons, which have become a fixture of campus programming since their inception, provide opportunities for us to dive deeply into a wide range of specialized topics with scholars from around the world as well as from our own community,” said Martin Garnar, director of the college’s library system and a member of CHI’s advisory board. “CHI Fellows bring their shared interest and expertise in the CHI’s current theme to offer related classes and to expand their research so that the scholarly conversation can be enriched.”
This spring, Heim will discuss her new book on emotions in classical India for a CHI salon. She will collaborate with Professor of Physics Jagu Jagannathan, who has a great deal of knowledge on the subject as well. “I was so grateful when he agreed to join me in discussing the book,” Heim said. “This sort of exchange between a humanist and a deeply humanistic scientist like Jagannathan is the sort of thing that makes being in a liberal arts college so special.”
While the humanities hub is currently located in Frost, it will be rehoused in the newly built Lyceum
when it’s finished this fall. Garnar hopes that the move won’t derail humanities students from seeking out the CHI as a gathering space. “We’ll have to see what that does to attendance at events,” he said. “While it’s not that far from its current location in Frost Library, the barrier of having to cross South Pleasant Street could have an impact on participation.”
Although he is also concerned for similar reasons, Harper is excited about the premise of the move. In addition to being in close proximity to the History department, he noted that there will be a patio space that can be used for outdoor programming.
Harper will step down as director at the end of this academic year, after completing the last of his standard four-year cycle. He will be superseded by Associate Professor and Chair of English Christopher Grobe, who will start off his four-year position with the guiding theme of “Political Imagination.”
“Before I was director I came a lot. I was a regular,” Harper said. “I love the programming here . . . I plan to continue to be a regular attender and come to as many of the programs as I can.”
The salons, which have become a fixture of campus programming since their inception, provide opportunities for us to dive deeply into a wide range of specialized topics with scholars from around the world as well as from our own community.
— Martin Garnar, CHI advisory board member
Madeline Lawson ’25 Managing Arts & Living Editor
Frost Library is filled with over 1.3 million print materials, but occasionally, a book you need for your final paper (or a novel to distract you from your final paper) won’t be on the shelves. You’ll check in the library catalog to try locating it, and you might see that it is available — but at Smith College, UMass Amherst, Hampshire College, or Mount Holyoke College. Or, you’ll see that a book is available at Frost, but you don’t have the opportunity to go to the stacks and look for it right then. Either way, you’ll press the “Place Request” button above the book, and only a day or two later, you’ll receive an email telling you that your hold is ready.
But how do your loans get from Frost or the other colleges and into your hands?
This process is known as Five College Deliveries (FCDs) and it’s a major part of Frost Library’s operations. Since the Five Colleges are so interconnected that they share the same online library system, part of the process is automatic.
However, student library workers do most of this work — one to three of them process and fulfill these requests every day. I am one such worker, and I have been working with FCDs for four semesters. Searching for materials in this literary treasure
hunt is one of my favorite parts of my job.
The first thing that happens after you place a book request is that a slip is printed for that request. The online system prints slips for each request that has been made. The number of slips fluctuates depending on the point in the semester. Requests ranged from 32-71 each day during this past March, according to Christina Raus, access services supervisor. On Monday through Thursday, Frost fulfills requests twice a day: in the morning and at night. On Friday, they retrieve FCDs once in the morning, and during the weekend, they do it once in the afternoon.
All of the request slips coming from both Amherst and Five College patrons include the student’s name, date of request, the title of the material, and, most importantly for the workers, the call number for the material. Either a student worker or supervisor will sort the requests by floor, and the worker will get the outgoing materials from the stacks. With the exception of reference books, microfiche/microfilm, archival documents, and reserve materials, everything in Frost is requestable, and workers retrieve books as large as oversized art volumes and as small as thin zines for patrons. They check the materials in (not out!), and at this point, the materials requested by Five College and
Amherst patrons diverge. Each worker has their own strategy for this. Some complete one floor, checking in all of the social science and history books before moving onto DVDs and fiction; others prefer to do it all in one go. I personally complete the route at once, organizing materials by destination to make it easier for me later.
Amherst students and faculty immediately receive an email when their requests have been checked in. The worker will place them behind the circulation desk in order by last name, alongside the other requests from that week, and when the patron comes to get it, the desk worker will receive an alert that there is a book or DVD (or two, or three, or even more) waiting for them. It is a typical check-out procedure from there, with the same three-month loan period as other books.
However, checking in materials from Amherst so that they can be sent to one of the other Five Colleges only alerts the system that it is on its way. It is sorted into one of four bins, one for each of the other colleges, and awaits pickup.
I spoke with the Five College Courier Randy Sexton about his route: Every weekday, he travels throughout the Consortium de -
livering FCDs and mail. He begins at the Five College Center in Amherst. “From there, it’s like a big circle,” he said. He goes to UMass and picks up FCDs, then to the Five College Consortium’s Annex in Hatfield to check for book requests from the repository. The Annex, along with the Bunker in South Hadley, are collectively known as the Repository Collection, and hold about 820,000 less-circulated materials from all of the Five Colleges.
After that, Sexton travels to Smith, Mount Holyoke, and the Bunker. “Here I will pick up any requests from the campuses [from the Repository Collection],” he said. The Bunker is a retired Cold War-era Air Force shelter built into Bare Mountain that is now used for archival storage. Sexton then travels to Hampshire and finally to Amherst.
After that, Sexton reverses his route, dropping off any requested materials. “Most requests are promised in a 24-hour period and this process assures that,” he said. Amherst is the only one of the Five Colleges that does not include a second stop, so incoming materials are only processed once a day.
The process for incoming FCDs is similar to requests from Amherst patrons from Frost.
Books from the other colleges are checked in and added to the hold shelf. All of the slips on the hold shelf are dated, and if a book isn’t picked up after seven days, it’s reshelved or sent back to its original library. Workers also reshelve any return books from the other colleges. Processing incoming books takes less time than getting materials to send to the other institutions, and it takes place almost entirely in the circulation office. This is often workers’ first shifts working with FCDs, and when I began at Frost, I was always surprised at the sheer amount of material that circulated through the Consortium each day.
The Five College libraries strive to deliver books in one business day, although if the material isn’t within the Five College system, you can request it through the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) system. This is an entirely separate branch of the library with different student workers, but when books are requested from Amherst through ILL, students often pull these from the stacks alongside FCDs. The ILL workers then process these separately from FCDs. When students request ILL materials from other colleges, they are physically mailed, so it could take a few weeks to arrive at Amherst.
This past Thursday, April 27, 20 students presented poetry and visual art for the second year of the Nuestras Voces (“Our Voices”) event, organized by Senior Lecturer in Spanish Carmen Granda and her students in LLAS/SPAN-205: “Finding Your Bilingual Voice.” Over the course of an hour, students spoke on the topics of identity, connection to home, and the value of names in both English and Spanish.
As a former student of Granda’s SPAN-205 class, I am very happy to see this event continue every year. As a bilingual and Latino person, I see, know, and appreciate how “Nuestras Voces” gives the Latinx community at Amherst a platform to share the identities, struggles, and accomplishments that unite us all.
As Profesora Granda said at last year’s event, “Being bilingual is a gift.”
To learn more about the impact of this event, I spoke with three students involved in Nuestras Voces. They spoke about what writing and sharing their work meant for them.
Jacqueline Tiros-Lezama ’26, who read her poem “No ser una niña en absoluto” (“Not to be a girl at all”), described learning Spanish from her parents, who immigrated to New York from Mexico. She reflected on the struggles of communicating with her parents due to the feelings of not being able to speak “fluently” or “correctly” in Spanish. She felt “ashamed” for not being able to speak the language perfectly, causing her to feel “like [she] wasn’t a real Spanish speaker,” she said. However, taking SPAN205 has made Tiros-Lezama “feel more pride in her bilingual identity” despite not being perfectly fluent in Spanish.
“Ever since taking Profesora Granda’s class I’ve come to embrace my bilingual identity. It was the first Spanish class that validated ‘Spanglish,’” she said. “My high school Spanish classes would in-
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validate using both English and Spanish when speaking, but in 205, that was not the case.”
Speaking about her poem, Tiros-Lezama emphasized the struggles of being a child of immigrant parents, but also how the immigrant community has helped her throughout her journey. She mentioned how, as a child of immigrants, at a very young age “you have to see the struggles of your parents and others,” causing “you to grow up fast.” Whether it be “translating documents” or “being the translator at a store,” you come to understand “what your community goes through in order to succeed,” she said.
“Todavía soy hija de luchadores, cuando ellos ganan, yo gano, cuando yo gano ellos ganan” (I am still the daughter of fighters, when they win, I win, when I win they win”), her poem reads.
Another student, Ashley Sanchez-Melo ’23, wrote about the difficulties of being from two different places in her poem, “Colorin Colorado.” She reflected on her “two cultures” that make her feel pride despite conflicting at times.
Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, Sanchez-Melo comes from a Dominican background with Spanish being her first language. She described being part of the ESL program when in school, causing her Spanish to “disappear” when learning English. As a result, she stopped speaking Spanish for a long time even
though she still understood most of it. In high school, “I wanted to speak more Spanish and become better at it,” she said.
This was part of the reason Sanchez-Melo felt “inclined” to take Profesora Granda’s class to “make a greater effort to speak Spanish.” She described how she “hates making mistakes,” therefore, “it can be difficult to speak Spanish around fluent speakers because of the self-consciousness.”
“But it’s important to embrace your identity and heritage,” she said.
Sanchez-Melo’s poem reads: “Soy de aquí. Pero también un poco de allá. ... Qué raro, tener tanto orgullo para una nación donde no eres ciudadana, donde no eres dominicana” (“I am from here. But also a little bit from there … How strange, to have so much pride for a nation where you are not a citizen, where you are not Dominican”).
“I feel so much pride for the Dominican Republic, but I wasn’t born there. I am not from there,” she said. “But I still embrace the culture, the food, traditions, and my family. I sometimes feel like an outsider when I go to DR.”
Michelle Cruz ’25, current teaching assistant (TA) and former student of the 205 class, described how her TA position has made her appreciate her bilingual identity.
“I took the class last year and I loved it,” she said. “I felt connect-
ed to Profesora Granda because of her identity and because she also came from a bilingual background. The class made me embrace my bilingual identity which inspired me to apply for the TA position.”
Cruz described how being the TA for 205 has helped her “learn about herself while helping other bilingual students.” She felt like she still didn’t know a lot before becoming the TA, but to her surprise, she “underestimated her abilities in Spanish, which felt a little ridiculous.”
“I feel very happy to see all my students come to life when speaking Spanish. Even when they are struggling, it’s really cool to see them try and put in the effort. It inspires me and makes me want to take more Spanish classes to become better myself,” she said. “I love my 205 class!”
At the end of the event, Profesora Granda stepped on the stage to deliver her poem, which was a composition of lines from all her students’ poems.
Granda reflected on the event and felt very happy to have it occur for a second time. “I hope to keep the tradition going,” she said. “Thank you to all my current students and former students who continue to participate in this event. You guys truly give a voice to the Latinx community and all the bilingual people at Amherst. Thank you guys!”
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Todavía soy hija de luchadores, cuando ellos ganan, yo gano, cuando yo gano ellos ganan.
I am still the daughter of fighers, when they win, I win, when I win they win.
- Jacqueline TirosLezama ’26
“ ”
Soy de aquí. Pero también un poco de allá.. ... Qué raro, tener tanto orgullo para un nación donde no eres ciudadana, donde no eres dominicana.
I am from here. But also a little bit from there... How strange, to have so much pride for a nation where you are not a citizen, where you are not Dominican.
- Ashley Sanchez-Melo ’23
”
A student presents their work to a large crowd at the Nuestras Voces event. In this article, particpants reflected on the poetry and writing they presented at the event, their experience in the SPAN-205 course, and the way it has shaped their understandings of themselves and their bilinguality.
Michelle Cruz, student TA for the SPAN-205 course, speaks at Nuestras Voces. She spoke about her pride for the students’ work, and the way that TA-ing the course has helped her learn about herself, too.
Senior Lecturer in Spanish Carmen Granda speaks at the second annual Nuestras Voces event, which she founded last year. She presented a poem composed of lines from all of her SPAN-205 students’ work, encouraging them to take pride in bilinguality.
Jacqueline Tiros-Lezama reads her poem “No ser una niña en absoluto” (“Not to be a girl at all”). She reflected on finding more pride in her bilingual identity through Granda's SPAN-205 course.
Last summer, the items stacked on my to-do list rose alongside the temperatures on the thermometer. Having an on-campus job? Check. Making a flower bouquet at Amherst’s own Book and Plow Farm? Check. Getting accepted for a remote internship? Check. But thinking long-term, I still needed an extra survival tactic to keep me afloat in the sizzling summer at Amherst. This led me to set a goal to hit up new eateries and cafes every week. With the bi-weekly paycheck from my office assistant job, I funded my culinary escapade through Amherst that summer.
Out of all the options in the local area, I was excited to check out a new coffee shop called Coronation Café, located at 103 North Pleasant Street. The new business shares the block with the restaurants Panda East and Pita Pockets. The cafe’s location was once home to Bart’s Ice Cream, the town’s former landmark ice-cream spot.
Due to its early closing time at 3 p.m., I missed many chances before eventually making it on a scorching day in July. I opted for a slice of avocado toast and cafe mocha with a generous side of dark chocolate. It took one bite and one sip for me to realize I had made the right choice.
Sure, delicious food and drinks definitely make one want to come back. But what drew me most in was the warm and welcoming vibe that this place exuded. It had such a special charm that all summer long, I found myself returning again and again. Later, I had the pleasure of speaking with Bruce Graber, the cafe’s manager, to learn all about Coronation and its origins.
Graber told me about the inspiration behind the cafe’s creation. Joe Kurtz, the cafe’s owner, had a friend that ran a cafe in State College, Pennsylvania, where Penn State is located. The two had been friends for years, and Kurtz had always nurtured a long-cherished dream of opening his own cafe in a college town. His vision was to create a cozy, clean, and comfortable space where college students, and all residents,
are welcome to study and enjoy the food and the atmosphere.
Kurtz and his coworkers are Mennonites, and the Coronation Café website envisions the restaurant “contribut[ing] to a more flourishing humanity.” Kurtz’s dream came to fruition when he held a ribbon-cutting for the cafe in Amherst in June 2022.
Two months after Kurtz opened the cafe, he hired Graber as manager after the two connected on social media. Upon accepting the job offer, Kurtz and his small family of four moved from Wisconsin to Amherst in the middle of August 2022.
The cafe’s menu boasts an array of options, including sandwiches, omelets, and other breakfast staples. Local suppliers, greens, and freshness are what makes the food sing.
“We try to, as much as possible, use local ingredients,” Graber said.
“For instance, our eggs are from a local supplier in Granby. We use Marty’s Local as a source to get some of our greens and things like that.”
As an insider, Graber spilled the beans about his personal go-to breakfast options, which include a classic egg sandwich with bacon for breakfast, and indeed, the signature chicken caesar panini. “Chipotle chicken bacon is a pretty meaty and always popular choice,” he said, adding that the chicken is always grilledto-order.
Meanwhile, his 8-year-old and 11-year-old children held different opinions. Living by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and two bus stops away from the cafe, the Grabers often walked down to the place. Graber said that the kids always loved the smoothies and pretzels every time they visited.
During our conversation, I asked about the backstory behind the name “Coronation.”
Graber told me that the cafe’s name, Coronation, held a religious significance. “We’re Bible-believing Christians,” he said. “We want to crown Jesus Christ as king. So it’s kind of got a religious background to it, and instead of crowning an earthly king, we are crowning Jesus as our king.”
Another thing I was curious about in the cafe is the outfits worn
by the female staff, who sport elegant plain-colored dresses and long bonnets. Elaborating on the choice of clothing, Graber revealed that this was a reflection of their Mennonite heritage.
Graber mentioned that the more commonly-known Amish community share a similar belief system. “So they would all have the same background, but we are more modern,” he said. “We have electricity and we drive cars, use phones and things like that, where the Amish still ride horses and buggies.”
Graber clarified that although the cafe’s name is a reference to Christianity, the focus on simple living and modest lifestyle is not necessarily tied to any particular faith.
One of the ways Coronation connects with visitors is through its seasonal offerings. In the dog days of summer, customers can beat the heat with a piña colada smoothie. In the fall, the pumpkin spice latte regains the stage. And the cafe’s peppermint mocha becomes a winter favorite throughout the holiday season.
The cafe is closed on Sundays. This policy gives the employees space to attend church and spend quality time with their families. As Mennonites, they also gather outside of work as a church group at the Disciples Fellowship in South Hadley.
Since Graber joined as manager, the team at Coronation has grown
to a tight-knit group of seven. All of them unite under one mission: to serve people with the highest quality possible.
“I think we are a good team, and we enjoy working together,” Graber said.
Interestingly enough, cafe management was not Graber’s original career, as he used to hold a corporate role in the lumber industry. But when he grew “tired” of this rat race, and looking for a new start, Graber decided to enter the restaurant business, something he had always been interested in.
“I love working with food. I enjoy making good food and serving people food. That’s probably one of the main things that would have drawn me to this job,” Graber shared. Although running a cafe was a new venture for Graber, he quickly adapted by applying what he learned from his old job as a supervisor.
“We strive to be friendly,” said Graber. “From trying to remember the regulars’ names for the next time so we can call them out when their orders are ready to having a smile on our faces, we want it to be relaxing and inviting.”
At the moment, Graber and his team are considering opening and closing at later hours to accommodate the influx of UMass Amherst students coming into town. Instead of shutting their doors at 3 p.m., they decided to stay open until 5 p.m., and they are putting their theory to
the test on Thursdays.
The cafe’s marketing strategy cannot get more straightforward: word of mouth. They use Facebook and Instagram to promote their specials, but most of the business comes from people spreading words to their network. “You know people telling their friends, ‘Hey, you gotta try this place out!’ and the like,” Graber explained.
According to Graber, Kurtz also gave out a lot of their paper menus to different businesses around town, and even to some of the college students.
And the peaceful ambiance ensures that there is no deficit of satisfied customers, ready to share their positive experiences with others.
For instance, a piano sits in the cafe’s corner, attracting an array of musically-talented customers, and eager listeners. “We have different people that come in,” Graber said.
“In fact, we have had someone that came in with their violin and played along with another person who was playing the piano.” The idea to have the piano was Kurtz’s, and Graber agreed.
At Coronation Café, it is the small details like these that make it a must-stop eatery for anyone looking for tasty refreshments — and plenty of smiles — in downtown Amherst. This cafe is certainly a true gem of the town. Thanks to its existence, I was able to happily cross my goal of trying out new places off my list.
The Korean word “Kaja” is made up of “Ka” (go) and “Ja” (let’s do something). The purpose of this column is to provide insights into life in South Korea and build a foundational understanding about the country for students who are interested in traveling there or learning more about it.
In recent years, South Korea has been sweeping international charts and bringing home awards for its excellence in movies, music, and arts. Besides its active entertainment industry, Korea is also well-known for its demanding education system.
Life as a student in a Korean university is filled with schoolwork — so yes, no walk in the park — but is also accompanied by greater personal life balance and joy. In one sentence, the education system’s motto would be “work hard, play harder.”
For instance, freshman year is an absolute blast with massive organized blind dates with students across different universities’ campuses, chicken and beer nights with friends, and star-studded university concerts. Many Korean high school students cram days and nights for this reason.
This applies to international students, with more and more students applying to study in South Korea for reasons such as cultural enthusiasm, language study, and affordable tuition fees. There is something for everyone. The Office of Global Education at Amherst offers the Yonsei-UIC Exchange Program, which is a great option for students who want to study in South Korea for a semester or a full year.
So, if you’re planning to study abroad in one of East Asia’s biggest hub of innovation, culture, and beauty, keep these things in mind.
Without an adapter, you will not be able to survive on your first day here. I came to Korea to study at the beginning of the Covid-19
outbreak. While I was quarantining at one of the university’s facilities, I realized that the electric sockets are completely different from the ones in the U.S. South Korea primarily uses the kind of plugs that have two round holes placed close to each other, also known as a Type C plug (Europlug). Another similar yet less popular plug here is the Type F plug (German Schuko), which also has two round holes with earth clips on the side.
Portable Chargers
South Korea is home to many metropolitan cities, which makes walking a norm. You can find yourself reaching 10,000 steps a day. However, during your excursions into the city, your phone’s battery will drain faster than you know. Luckily, solutions are more plentiful than you’d think. Before the trip, or during your first few days here, grab yourself a portable charger, and if you forget to bring one while finding yourself stranded with a dying phone, don’t fret! Casually walk into any cafes nearby and ask the staff if they have a charger. They are almost always more than happy to help. You can simply trust your device in their hands and relax with your cup of coffee while your phone juices up. And even if you cannot find any cafes to ask for a temporary charger, don’t feel despair. This is why convenience stores exist in Korea. A portable charger or just charging cable and brick will set you back around 15,000 won, which is cheap (about 11 dollars). But watch out, it’s the cheap things that end up costing you the most. I estimate that I must have paid a whopping 100,000 won for all the times I left my charger at home.
A T-Money Card: Acquiring, Keeping, and Charging
Public transportation is a big scene in South Korea. To use the transportation service here, you need to have a T-money card, which can be bought at any convenience store. This card is a pass for both
buses and subways, and there are two main ways of charging it: you can charge it at any train station, or you can go to any convenience store and ask the staff to recharge it for you. They will typically ask you to pay with cash, which you can withdraw from a nearby ATM.
Now for the keeping part. In Korea, they like to use cards for everything. In addition to a T-money card, you also have to carry around your residency card, bank card, and security card for mobile banking. It can be a pain to lug around a bunch of cards when you go out. Load your travel bag with a nifty stickon phone wallet from the Amherst Queer Resource Center (QRC), because that might just be the bee’s knees of solutions.
Convert Your Currency
You may swear by your Mastercard, Visa, and UnionPay, but hear me out — before you go, be sure to exchange some of your money for Korean won. While you can comfortably swipe your card at most eateries and shopping centers, don’t expect to get away with this payment method with street vendors. Korea is known for its vibrant street culture, which ranges from mouth-watering street food to roadside busking, and they typically only accept cash or do online banking transfers, and even the latter one can still be met with difficulties because it doesn’t have a place for the local banks. That is where your local cash comes into handy. But if you forget to exchange your currency before you leave, don’t fret! With a passport, you can exchange U.S. dollars and other currencies into Korean won at a money exchange machine in the heart of Seoul.
Language Choices: Korean or English?
Yes, going to Korea is a golden opportunity to brush up on your Korean speech skills. However, in
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most cases, don’t forget that you can usually fall back on English in certain situations. In general, follow these two rules: When you buy things or order food, use Korean, but when you process your paperwork at places like Immigration Center, using English helps avoid any miscommunications. I have learned this the hard way. South Korea is all about red tape, and when you try to show that you’re appreciating their culture with language, it will likely not be reciprocated. Although it is a non-English speaking country, Koreans are also catching up on their English skills, so it is actually a plus point to speak English.
Banking can be challenging, as most bankers do not speak English here, and they use Korean banking terms that will only be so good at confusing you, instead of communicating. At this time, your choice of banking can make all the difference. I recommend choosing Woori Bank, as they will connect you to an interpreter of English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and a few other language options while you are at the bank. It is also helpful because they also have an English customer service hotline, where staff can address your questions in fluent English.
So, how much Korean should you know? I would recommend learning to read hangeul (the Korean alphabet), which is fairly easy, so that you can effectively search for its meaning through translation service.
Surprisingly, a large portion of speaking Korean is made up of speaking English with a different mindset. A long time ago, when I asked a security officer about a local bank’s directions, I forgot the Korean word for bank, which is “eunhaeng.”
I tried being straightforward with the direct English word “bank,” thinking he might somehow recognize it as finance is such a large part of our everyday life. However, from his facial expression, I could tell we were not on the same page. Remembering how almost every single sound is spelled out in Korean language, I
tried again, this time customizing it into something like “bankeu” (which is not even a real word) and, to my amazement, it worked out just fine!
Your Delivery May End Up in the “Other Korea”
With North Korea walling off from the world, what is the chance of a delivery entering this isolated land’s customs. You think the chance of it happening is very low, but this happened to my British professor in South Korea. He once expected a health insurance package from New Zealand, and he received a notification that it arrived in North Korea. The problem started when the call center called him to confirm his mailing address. The question was “Is it Korea with democracy?” Without much hesitation, he said “yes.” Turns out, the question they were trying to ask was “Is it Korea with the word ‘democracy’?”, since South Korea’s official title is simply “Republic of Korea.” Despite both him and the company waiting for months, he never got to see the document, which would supposedly be sent back.
If you use international shipping services like Amazon, this likely will not happen, because they do not partner with North Korea. However, if you get a similar call, don’t forget to mention the word “democracy.”
Imagine having to calculate a 15 percent tip every time you skip Val and decide to live a bougie moment at one of the places in town. Well, in Korea, you can offload your Calculator app for a while. Everything, including tax, is indicated on the bill, and you pay exactly what’s on there.
One of the things that my American friends and I often joke about is how the Korean version of 7-Eleven changes their perception about convenience stores. 7-Eleven in Korea is definitely a cut above the rest. Not only is it a place to grab things onthe-go, it offers delicious snacks and drinks that leave you wanting more.
“Do you want to eat ramen to-
gether?” might be a warm offer to your friends during exam season, but Korean ears will hear a flirtatious invite similar to “Wanna Netflix and chill?” Test this phrase in Korean to your Korean friends on campus and analyze their reaction.
You wouldn’t expect a modern country to not have trash cans, but this goes back to 1995, when a new waste management system was introduced to make people pay for trash disposal. However, some folks tried to hide from this financial responsibility by sneaking their household trash into public trash cans. To combat this issue, the government slashed the number of bins in half until 2007.
There are still ways to dispose of your trash while out and about — find a convenience store with a trash can, or carry all your trash until you get home.
Come to think of it, I may have been a tad bit overzealous in persuading all my Amherst friends to come to Korea for the purpose of taking an ID photo. While I think that unrealistic beauty standards are a problem in Korea, a positive outcome of it is that they take unusually high-quality ID photos for passports, visas, and job applications. Every time you pull up your photo-included paperwork, you want to see your best self, not something that resembles a criminal mugshot.
One of the popular places to visit for an ID and self-photo is Photoism. It’s a must-visit for archiving some moments with your friends during your short stay in South Korea.
Unless you feel nostalgic about Amherst-like weather, don’t sign up for spring semester. May is upon us, and it still feels like the start of winter, presenting a real challenge to adjust the heat when summer rolls in.
Simply put, Korea and Amherst are similar when it comes to weather. In fact, the winter in Korea is way worse with really strong winds, and you will likely feel like you are pushed two, three steps backwards
during the peak of winter. For ski lovers, however, winter in Korea is a time to hit the slopes at the famous Yangpyeong ski resort.
The pattern I’ve observed is that, at Amherst, our professors tend to be more lenient with our absences, while the same absences mean point deduction at Korean universities. Many professors here assign a percentage of points into the attendance and active contributions in class, so your in-class presence counts.
Don’t let your limited Korean fluency hold you back! Thanks to Google Chrome’s built-in Google Translate feature, you can automatically translate the entire visited page into English. There may be some funky translation results here and there, but with your common sense, you can navigate the content without breaking a sweat.
How can we talk about Korea without nightlife? Parties here are wild and unforgettable. As someone who shows up to take my friends back to their apartment after they are knocked out, I can attest to the fact that what happens in Korea stays in Korea. While it is generally safe to have a good time overnight, lots and lots of my friends lost their passports during their wild nights out. This is because you need to show your
passports to get into clubs in Korea. Theft is not very common here, so you may drop it somewhere. The problem is, police officers are not proficient in English and may not be able to offer the best help to foreigners who report a lost passport. As a result, they have to pay a large fee to reissue their passports. So, party with your eyes on your passport!
What is so alluring about Korea is how much this country prioritizes human experience in public spaces. You can see a heat room that keeps everyone warm while waiting for the subway in winter. You will also see trees wrapped in straw scarves and colorful blankets around its body, because people want to protect them from the freezing winter. And if you’re lost and ask a Korean for directions, don’t be surprised if they actually go the extra mile and personally walk you to the place.
Korea is full of adrenaline kicks: Every time I choose the challenge, I grow a little bit. Living in Korea has definitely helped me view life in a new light. Sharing my personal experience is a tango of two: giving sneak peek of what to expect in a new country and taking stock of my growth as a person on a foreign land. By voicing lesser-known things about Korea, I trust that my readers will get to learn the various personalities of this country that underwent dynasties, wars, and changes. So, buckle up and get ready for a ride of your life in South Korea.
I love my cane.
I’ve been in pain for a long time. To be more specific, my leg pain has been pestering me for probably a decade or so. Either leg — it alternates without rhyme or reason. The left has seemed to bother me more, but perhaps that’s because I’m biased as a northpaw. It was originally chalked up to “growing pains,” but the pain remained when I stopped growing, creating a discrepancy to be answered for.
It wasn’t answered. The pain continued, frustrating but manageable with roll-on lidocaine, which in high school I often kept in my backpack for flare-ups and carried to the bathroom for application. After I rolled my pant leg down, the white residue disappeared from view and the pain was totally invis-
ible save a subtle grimace. Sometimes I wished people could see it. I worked through the pain, only offering myself grace when I could barely move one foot in front of the other. Even with this tenacity, I was a regular at the nurse’s office. It worsened at Amherst. Following excruciating pain and an Amherst College Emergency Medical Services (ACEMS) call in my first semester, I went to Cooley Dickinson Hospital at 3 a.m. I hate hospitals (as someone diagnosed with epilepsy at 13, I’m far too used to them), but I was worn down to the point where I wanted a medical professional to do something. The pain faded away eventually, as it always does: without answer or diagnosis. It comes and goes when it pleases, but it refuses identification (and thus, meaningful treatment). Recently, it’s been slated under the acronym AMPS (Amplified Mus-
by Alice Burg ’23 and Quinn Nelson ’25
culoskeletal Pain Syndrome), a vague umbrella term that feels more like a medical shoulder-shrug than anything else. I’ve also been told I’m Vitamin D deficient, but weekly supplements changed nothing. Like a ghost, my pain can’t be pinned down.
I realized that I wanted a cane shortly after the hospital. It was becoming more and more difficult to walk to Valentine Dining Hall during a bad flare-up. This meant I was often stranded in my dorm room, hunger weakening my body to the point where I couldn’t move my aching limbs beyond my twin XL bed, too physically weak to get food, but having no way to get food without walking. I always used my spoons for academic work, surviving on whatever snacks I had in my bedroom and isolating myself in the process. I often felt close to fainting. Then came the cane. Purchased
during winter break at a CVS in my hometown, it became my lifeline. If you haven’t seen it, you’ve probably heard it: a distinct thump as I walk, on days when my leg pain is at least noticeable enough to be bothersome.
It’s pink and purple, with a floral pattern. The day I tried using it, I was struggling with the tension screw until two strangers gave me advice, helping me fit it to my height. Their kindness struck me. The cane I use is a testament to the goodness of people, and it reminds me that for every judgmental glance, there are two helping hands.
Some people — abled people, specifically — view it as a symbol of something sad, weak, pathetic. If my pain is bad enough to warrant a cane at 19 years old, they say, barely mincing their words, tragedy has truly struck. But I disagree. It’s
been that bad for a while — I simply didn’t express it. I gritted my teeth and kept going. And nobody knew any different.
I love my cane. It’s cute, and pink is my favorite color. It provides me with so much more freedom: No matter how I feel, I’m no longer bound to the whims of my dysfunctional body. I can eat, and go to events (most of the time — event planners, please remember accessibility! I need to sit!) and hang out with my friends. My cane is a tool of mobility, of liberation, of freedom. It alienates me with a visible disability, but connects me with other cane users.
My cane helps me go beyond survival to truly living, never fearing sudden, immobilizing flare-ups. My leg pain remains as elusive and agonizing as ever. But it’s far less debilitating — every thump you hear in the hallways is proof.
Shane Dillon ’26 Staff Writer
When I first arrived on this campus, I was greeted by the many faces that I would later come to call my second family. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the Summer Bridge Program, where incoming first-generation, low-income (FLI) first-years take mini-courses before the fall semester and become oriented with the college. We spent three weeks learning about each other, exploring the mysterious spots on campus, playing manhunt in the Science Center, and enjoying 1 a.m. volleyball. Last August, I had no expectations of what college should be like. But now I think I can sum it up in one word: community.
As I transition from being a senator to the Vice President of the Association of Amherst Students (AAS), I shift my focus away from supporting one class in the senate to the entire student body. With this, I wanted to take a moment to thank all of my fellow
first-years who played and continue to play an integral role in my time at Amherst.
When I meet with different administrators, they often tell me that this first-year class has one of the strongest senses of community to walk through Amherst in a long time. Many of you have already become leaders within the clubs that you joined. I see more first-years at events than any other class, and none of you have ever been afraid to start a conversation. While I may be biased, I have to agree with the sentiment that there is just something special about our class, even if I can’t exactly pinpoint what it is. From the start of Summer Bridge to the end of the semester, my heart is full knowing that I am journeying with all of you for the next three years.
College in many ways is different from high school. We are often told at a young age that our lifelong friends will be found in college, but I at least struggled to believe that. When I walk through Valentine Dining Hall, through
Frost Library, or the gym, I am always happy to see the same friend groups laughing, studying, or simply doing something together. That one group always in Val, or the same people that I always see in the basement of Frost. Whether you live on James Hall’s third floor, Stearns Hall’s second, South Hall’s fourth (you know who you are), Charles Pratt Dormitory’s basement, or venture to those spots from Appleton, Williston, or North, I have had such an amazing year getting to know all of you. Although I have my own close group of friends, I am so proud to have spent time with all of the different groups in our class in some capacity and have learned so much. College is not easy, and what I know now is that this wide-reaching camaraderie is necessary to make our time here not only manageable, but fun. Some say that a rural school is a bad choice for college because it feels too isolating, and as someone who has lived in Western Massachusetts their whole life, I understand that even more than
most of my peers. However, that just means we have to be more creative. I had a conversation with a friend on Memorial Hill a few weeks ago, and we talked about how being in Amherst is hard, but it is the people that make it the best place to be. The community you are surrounded by makes or breaks your experience. If I had the option to stay on the First Year Quad with all of you for the rest of our time here, I would in a heartbeat.
It can be hard to leave for a whole summer, not knowing whether it will go fast or slow. We will all be living in different spaces next semester, scattered across campus, and the dynamic will shift. But it is the small moments in passing that will remind us of our first year of college. Of course, not every first-year knows or even likes each other, but I am in awe every day of the community that I see, the community that we have built and are going to continue to build, and the empathy and ambition that I see in all of you.
I ran for the AAS Senate be-
cause I wanted to find a way to connect with and be a voice for all of you. We are a people who thrive and survive together. We are a class of community. We are a class of determination. We are a class that wants to change the world for the better. We are a class that cannot easily be told no. And we are the damn class of 2026. This is nowhere near a goodbye, but it is the closest thing that I could think of to a thank you. I am who I am today because of all of you.
I hope that each and every one of you, my fellow first-year students, is leaving our first year with a plethora of new knowledge and a photo album’s worth of memories. While it is sad to say goodbye for the summer, the feeling of seeing everyone again in the fall will more than make up for it. Love you all, always, and congratulations on making it to the end of our first year, together.
Now, let’s TURN UP at the White Out Rave, and have a blast in our final moments as firstyears.
by Alice Burg ’231
What
DOWN
1 How to show and not tell?, for short
2 ___-Sham (Name for the DQ's Spring Show)
3 Beloved Bryant
4 Where you have a stroke?
5 Hill of Hollywood
6 Pizazz
7 Hindi honorific
8 Creations of a Minecraft YouTube channel, perhaps
9 Famous theater in Harlem
10 Express team?
12 Eagle found by the sea
16 Building block
19 Pranks a house on Halloween, for short
21 Russian princess rumored to have survived the October Revolution
22 Instruments that do the voice of Charlie Brown’s teacher
26 Queenly nickname
Old Nintendo gaming console
Solutions: April 26
“Memories from Home,” an art exhibition showcasing the works of international students, opened on April 25 and ran through April 30. The exhibition, co-organized by Snigdha Ranjan ’25 and Venumi Gamage ’26, had submissions ranging from articles of clothing and family recipes to poetry and photography.
Held on Frost Library’s second floor, “Memories from Home” featured hors d’oeuvres, free drinks, and live music from Quentin Jeyaretnam ’23, Daniel Flores Garcia ’24, and Camila Bonilla ’26. Ranjan said that the Frost venue was a “happy coincidence” following a difficult search for a location that could host the event. She was originally hoping to secure either Fayerweather Hall or the Mead Art Museum, but Frost ended up working in the event’s favor, lending a built-in audience of students studying on the second
floor.
Students milled around the space, viewing a range of submissions, which included mittens from Canada submitted by Clara Danhof ’25; paintings by Anya Zak ’25 depicting her hometown of Tarusa, Russia; and a family recipe for crab bee hoon soup submitted by Adele Teo ’23. Some of the submissions were interactive, like a roof tile from a building damaged in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, submitted by Imari Yasuno ’26, and a photography zine submitted by Em Salas ’24.
Shortly after the event began, opening remarks were given by David Ko, director of the Center for International Student Engagement (CISE). Ko spoke about his own complex experiences as an international student at Emory University. Following Ko’s speech, Ranjan and Gamage welcomed everyone to the event and introduced four international students, who spoke about their submissions and experiences.
Jeff Zhang ’25 spoke about
his photography. Each of his pictures in the exhibition featured a different location that carries significance in his life. The photos were taken on his FujiFilm Tiara with 35mm film, which he bought after watching the film “Love & Pop.” The first three photos were taken during his time in London, where he attended high school. Two of these were of a man dancing and holding up traffic on a crowded street while amused onlookers stood taking photos and videos of him. The other photo was of a station in London. Zhang also took a photo of Braemar Hill in Hong Kong, which he passed on his way to school every day. According to Zhang, the photo was meant to represent “resilience.” Some might have considered Zhang’s final photo, one that he took of his room in Cohan Dorm, odd considering the rest of his submissions, but Zhang remarked that Amherst, like all the other places he has lived, is special to him, too.
He was followed by Yasuno, whose submission was a roof
tile recovered after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. There, Yasuno participated in nuclear peace activism and interviewed atomic bomb survivors. One of them, a museum administrator at an elementary school that had been bombed, gave the tile to Yasuno to bring back to the United States. He wanted to preserve memories that others wished to erase, and giving the tile to Yasuno was one way to ensure that the tile’s story would be shared.
Haoran Tong ’23 was last to present, detailing the story behind his submission, which included a poem written in calligraphy and a photo of the Forbidden City historical site in his home city of Beijing, China. Tong shared his experience of being shaped by feelings of distance and solitude, and how many international students “don’t realize where our home
is until we discover a place we don’t call home.” Tong’s submission contained several elements of cultural crossover, including a poem written in Chinese on paper meant for Western drawing, using a pen he got from the Science Center. The poem was composed after watching the sunrise at Book and Plow Farm following the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Tong’s experiences echoed Ranjan’s, who also spoke about navigating the new “international” identity that she received after coming to Amherst. Although CISE is still new and, in Ranjan’s words, “shifting to establish [its] place and give more space to international students on campus,” she expressed hope that “Memories from Home” would be a recurring event, allowing future international students the opportunity to express their identities and take up space on campus.
Attendees explore the “Memories from Home” exhibition while enjoying hors d'oeuvres. Jeff Zhang ’25 photographed important locations in his life, like London, Hong Kong, and Cohan. Photo courtesy of Erin Williams ’26 Photo courtesy of Erin Williams ’26On April 26, “Survivor” released episode eight of season 44. It was a simple episode, but still quite enjoyable. (After all, it’s Survivor!)
Since the show shifted from 39 days to 26 in season 41, the game has been significantly condensed. The players now have less time to relax, talk, and bond.
The morning began a rare off day for the Survivors, where they didn’t have a challenge or a Tribal Council.
During this off day, Carolyn revealed to the rest of the tribe that she was a former alcoholic but is now 13 years sober. She now has a great life with a child and husband, who she met at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. I was moved by her story and how proud she is of her journey.
Of course, the Survivors could only relax for so long. Soon after that moment, Danny started a mad dash for the idol, and the rest of the tribe quickly followed suit. Heidi ended up finding it, and she decided to keep the information to herself.
At the next immunity challenge, Jeff offered the contestants an extra bag of rice if four of them sat out. Rice was scarce, and they were hungry, so Carson, Heidi, Kane, and Lauren gave up their shot at immunity for sustenance.
Because of this, only Jaime, Danny, Frannie, Yam Yam, and Carolyn competed. It was an endurance challenge, where the players had to keep a ball pressed against a wooden surface while balancing on a thin plank. The challenge came down to Danny and Frannie, with Frannie winning her second individual immunity challenge.
Once again, Soka targeted Ratu, and Ratu targeted Soka, leaving Tika in the middle. Frannie showed great recognition when she mentioned to Danny that they should target Tika soon.
If the other players don’t stop underestimating Tika, those three might slide their way to the end. For this week, though, Tika chose between sending Danny (Soka) and Kane (Ratu) home.
Carolyn pitched Danny, as she saw him as the bigger threat of the two. In the end, Tika decided to maintain their relationship with Soka by eliminating Kane. This was a pretty straightforward episode, but more wild ones are sure to come. With only eight players remaining, the endgame is quickly approaching. Tune in next week to see how this wonderful season continues to unfold.
One of my friends loves the granola in Val, but I think eating it the same way every time can get tiring. With this combination of classic ingredients from Val, my granola enjoyment skyrocketed. The flexibility of this recipe allows you to personalize your granola bar. You can make this in Val, but I prefer to mix the ingredients in my room and put it in the freezer or fridge. This recipe is also great because it can make as many servings as you want!
Directions:
• Fill a small to-go box half full of granola of your choosing.
• Add a sizable amount of peanut butter. I usually judge this amount by turning on the peanut butter machine for around four seconds.
• Add several pumps of honey.
• Sprinkle in toppings like chia seeds, raisins, or anything else you might want.
• Add a packet of Sugar in the Raw or other sweetener. Personally, I like the extra crunch this gives.
• Mix the ingredients well.
• Spread a thin layer of butter on parchment paper
from the panini press. This is just to make sure that the paper doesn’t stick to your concoction.
• Place a piece of the granola mixture onto the parchment paper, and roll it into a bar shape.
• Leave it in the freezer or fridge for a few hours so that it has time to harden a bit, then enjoy!
“I was frustrated I had to rely on other people to play things,” says Gabby Moore ’23. For the latest edition of 3Cs, I got to speak to Moore about the Context of her life-long involvement in music, the Creation of her first serious project, and what’s on the Come Up for this natural-born musician.
Music runs in the Moore family: She is the youngest of four talented instrumentalists. “My mom wanted all of us to take lessons and learn for at least a couple of years, but once we got to middle school, she let us choose whether or not we wanted to keep going,” she told me. “All of us did.” Moore admitted that seeing her older siblings practice their instruments inspired her to do the same. She even revealed that her choice of the bass guitar, which she describes as her favorite instrument, was informed by her older siblings’ opinion that it was “the cool instrument.”
Moore’s musical journey began around the age of seven, when she started taking lessons at The Music Institute of Chicago, where she was introduced to her first instrument: the piano. She continued lessons at the Paul Green School of Rock, where she began experimenting with other instruments, such as the bass. It was there, under the tutelage of her teachers Diane Renner and Gordon Patriarca, that Moore said she discovered her love for the bass.
While it was her family that motivated her to begin her musical journey, it was their diverging life paths that led her to delve into it as she did.
As the youngest child, when Moore’s older siblings began leaving for college, it was up to her to fill in their musical gaps. As she began writing music, it was far too inconvenient to break up her workflow to orches-
The Talking Heads, Tina Weymouth, and Esperanza Spalding, now some of her favorite artists.
trate a band of her musical relatives, so Moore sought the independence that came with knowing the instruments herself. “I was frustrated at the fact that I had to rely on other people to play things,” she said. Her background with so many instruments gave her a strong foundation for branching off to play practically everything else.
When it comes to music, listening and playing go hand in hand for Moore. Her family not only offered her the opportunity to play and learn instruments outside of school, but they also gave her a diverse taste in the music she consumes. “There’s a whole lot of music that I feel like I might’ve turned up my nose to if it hadn’t been for my siblings blasting it on their speakers in their room or my mom playing it in the kitchen,” she said. Around the house, she picked up on the stylings of the Motown classics and ’70s rock. She named some specific influences, such as Paul McCartney: “[He] was another big reason I wanted to play the bass. I played a Hofner for the first six years I played the bass: his same instrument and everything.”
Freddie Mercury, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, David Bowie and many others were also major influences in her early life, especially for her piano-playing.
As Moore began to invest more into playing the bass, she found herself increasingly drawn to Motown and artists like James Jamerson as inspiration. She expressed a deep gratitude towards Patriarca, her teacher, and his “encyclopedic knowledge” of music genres, telling me how it contributed to helping her learn more about the artists she heard at home.
It was Patriarca’s influence that gave her a powerful appreciation for understanding the history of music and a respect for those that came before her. Patriarca introduced Moore to
Moore presented a dichotomy in her approach to music, splitting it into the two categories of songwriting and song-playing. “I listen to music for very different reasons, depending on what I’m doing,” she said. When focused on songwriting, she loves artists like Fiona Apple and Elliott Smith. She also finds herself listening to music with more intense emotional connections, letting herself be vulnerable within the full complexities of a soundscape. “[Songwriting] has always been an emotional outlet for me,” she said. Listening to these artists hit a fever pitch in middle school for Moore, as she was entering her “emo phase” and, most importantly, focusing more on becoming a songwriter by honing the relevant skills.
On the other hand, she also listens to music for the fun of playing it. “Do I want to play this [song] on bass and cover it in a band?” she said she asks herself. Moore frequently receives requests to play the bass and jam with friends, and a good chunk of her music listening is spent with the intention of playing it. There was a time where Moore was more pretentious about her music taste, she said, but with age came more experience with other musicians and a maturity of her own sound, and she was able to find joy in the simpler parts of music. “You’d end up playing with kids and they’d want to play this song and you’d be like, ‘Okay, I don’t really see why,’ and then you play it and it’s really fun to play!” she said.
As the president of Jazz@Amherst, she speaks very highly about the Jazz Performance Program on campus. “I honestly did not play a lot of jazz until I got to Amherst, really,” she said. She didn’t seek out jazz so much as it came to her. As a bassist, Moore was a valued musician to recruit. “[The Jazz Performance Program] needed bassists [and they said], ‘Come play with us!’” As a member of Jazz@Amherst, Moore made many important and lasting friendships with fellow musicians, whom she said inspired her to stick with the genre.. In general at Amherst, Moore said the close friendships, other talented musicians, incredible coaches, and a respectful and inclusive environment helped
her grow as both a musician and a person.
She preferred her time at Amherst to her experiences in her hometown Chicago music scene. “There was definitely a sense in which you’re a woman and you walk into the room and you’re assumed to be a vocalist or dating somebody,” she said. At Amherst, Moore felt taken seriously, but outside of it, she had to fight to carve her own spaces to be seen and respected based on her own talent. Moore’s experiences in the Chicago music scene were not entirely negative, but Moore learned to be careful around whom she decides to play with and why. “I think that the shittiness of a lot of music scenes is what pushed me to be more of a songwriter,” Moore reflected. However, for jams, forming bands, and interacting with a greater community, Moore was subject to a mixed bag of artists she loved and respected and the occasional poisoned wells of bands that would tokenize or objectify her, even at a disturbingly young age.
Fortunately, Moore was not put off music entirely because of this. Instead, she uses it to reflect on how to make spaces more welcoming and involved. Moore approaches musical groups by paying attention to accountability and ensuring everyone feels safe. Not only does she stand up for herself, but she works hard to speak up for others. From playing at Madison Square to playing in your parents’ garage, what Moore demonstrates is a bravery that is borne of a
love for music down to its most social aspects.
Moore also sings alongside the other talented musicians in the Zumbyes, an Amherst a cappella group. Moore’s time at Amherst has opened her up to new musical experiences and let her practice her weaker skills, such as a cappella singing. “I feel like I’ve gotten substantially better at singing,” Moore shared, which was one of the things she admits was holding her back from recording and releasing a project. With more confidence in her voice, Moore is beginning to focus on the creation of a project she hopes to release in the summer. As far as the music goes, her songwriting is in incredible shape. Her vault of unreleased but recorded music is vast and with new ideas and after some small tweaks, Moore will be ready to release her songs. Moore revealed that she makes two versions of her songs: one that she sings “in front of other people,” and the version that she performs “alone in [her] room.” The only downside is that Moore writes these songs in bits and pieces, inspired to write a phrase or idea but never fleshing it out at once. Moore will spend her time this summer expanding these stems into more developed songs and then releasing them.
The aspects of the project are not as developed. It does not yet have a title...
Read the full article online at www. amherststudent.com
These pieces were initally published in The Indicator’s 2022 Fall issue “Bridges” and are presented here in collaboration with The Indicator.
“
রাতকানা” she calls them, the fools who would return home too late, trampling over paddy fields and marshy soil feet caked just enough to miss awaiting rough cement where they would stumble, fall sideways, into the awaiting trench.
But wouldn’t they see in the moonlight?
Silly girl! They’re রাতকানা! It’s in the word itself. But why wouldn’t they all walk back together? So no one would fall in?
She shakes her head — you forget, in the old days, we ended with sundown.
Most people left before the day grew dark.
My curious expression: “Except you?” Her cast-aside smile.
“Look! There it is,” she points out the window of the car. Staring dubiously, “that’s not a bridge,” for does a slab of cement, balanced precariously over two shorter slabs, deserve to be called anything?
Nostalgia clear in her face, musingly, we slow down — Well, it has run-down a bit, of course, but haven’t we all?
I stare back at those concrete slabs, out of place in the overwhelming greenscape
and wonder: “What happened to the men who fell?” Some would make the journey back at dawn, after a good night’s rest among the dewdrops and grass, others would be found by worried mothers and wives, and some — we used to say they were “lost to the night.” “Lost?” “They were never seen again.”
I dart another glance at that concrete slab, neck craning with a 12-year-old’s joyful morbidity, to see a rotting corpse — or at least weathered-down human remains!
But alas — there was nothing so exciting in that gentle grass. We used to run every time we crossed that bridge to run home, she says,
lest we get eaten by whatever remains. Or whoever. Why didn’t you just take another path?
“Where’s the fun in that?” she laughs — but, “Weren’t you afraid?” She watches me, fondness evident in her gaze, “Every time.”
Two years. Two years many billions of miles away from his home planet. For this solitary space traveler, what had started as a bold expedition to new horizons for his people had become a disorienting journey through a galaxy that was hardly the unexplored frontier he had been taught to expect. Now, with his ship damaged, his crewmate lost, his mission long abandoned, he was closing in on a distant blue planet, with the idle hope of finding somewhere to rest for a while. On final approach, he discovered that it was home to a people who had built a proper landing site for craft such as his. A spacefaring people.
The roar of the engines faded as the craft came to rest on the landing pad. He opened the door to a blinding blue sky. Three figures approached him — an older woman with long brown hair, with a man on either side. She asked him his name — no one had addressed him by name in a long time — and he told her. Lief. The woman had only just finished telling him her name, Leila, before Lief stumbled and fell, being caught by one of the men. He hadn’t
realized how weak he had become after months in microgravity conditions. They carried him away to a medical center, where he passed out on a soft white bed.
For the next week, a curious Leila kept watch over this extraterrestrial visitor while he regained his strength. She then offered to take him to what she called the Celestial Sphere. It was at the heart of the facility, past rows of hangars and research centers. In the distance there was a massive spire stretching towards the sky, anchored to the ground with what looked like a massive gun barrel. They called it the Lance, a machine which could launch ships into space at incredible speeds, allowing unprecedented distances to be covered across the galaxy. It loomed like a giant, its apex just piercing the clouds on this gray and windy day.
They stepped inside the Celestial Sphere, and Lief was met with what looked exactly like a sky filled with stars. There were catwalks spanning across the room, and two people in uniform stood near one corner of the dome, taking notes. A ring-shaped platform stretched around its equator. Read the rest of the piece at www.amherststudent.com
meeting with UMass Boston on Memorial Field on Wednesday, May 3. First pitch will be at 3:30 p.m. Amherst’s 19-12-1 record has earned them a place in the NESCAC tournament, which will begin with a best-of-three series against Tufts on May 6.
Baseball
The baseball team went 3-2 in the last full week of the regular season. The week began with a 9-6 win over Elms College at home on Memorial Field on Tuesday, May 26. It was the team’s pride game, so the Mammoths sported rainbow-colored hats. A five-run fifth inning proved the key to the Amherst win. The team headed to Cambridge the next day for a matchup with MIT. Following a high-scoring first inning in which both teams batted in four runs, the Mammoths seized control, ultimately grabbing a 18-10 win.
The team returned to Amherst for a three-game series with Middlebury, the final NESCAC action of the semester. Following a pair of losses — 6-7 loss on Friday, April 28, and 3-5 on Saturday — the Mammoth overpowered the Panthers in the second half of the Saturday double-header. The Mammoths cruised to a 13-2 victory behind a dominant nine-inning performance from pitcher Jacob Ribitzki ’24 and three RBIs from shortstop Jack McDermott ’25.
The Mammoths have one regular season game remaining, a
Softball
The softball team won both halves of a double-header with Wesleyan in Middletown, Connecticut on Wednesday, April 26 to capture the Little Three Championship. The two wins extended the squads’ win streak to six, with all six wins coming against NESCAC opponents. The first win was a routine: Abby Moravek ’26 pitched five strong innings, conceding just one run on one hit. She was relieved by Dylan Briggs ’26, who conceded two runs on three hits in two innings. In front of the plate, the Mammoths brought in two base runners in the second inning to establish a 2-0 lead that they would not relinquish, ultimately winning 5-2.
In the second half of the double-header, the Mammoths found themselves down 5-0 after just four innings. The team responded quickly, though, bringing in two runs in the fifth, three in the sixth, and one in the seventh to capture a miraculous 6-5 victory. The Mammoths improved to 23-11 overall. They will close out the season with a double header against Colby in Waterville, Maine on Saturday, May 6. Their NESCAC championship is set to kick off on May 12.
Men’s Track and Field
Jordan Harrison ’26 is the fastest man in the NESCAC. He won the 100-meter dash in 10.82 seconds at the conference championships, which were held on Saturday, April 29 in New London, Connecticut. Harrison also came
third in the 200-meter relay and contributed to a school-record time in the 100 relay. The men’s track and field team captured a second NESCAC title in the 800 relay. Lev Robertson ’24, Braedon Fiume ’24, Ben Davis ’26, and Will Nagy ’26 combined for a time of 7:48.09. On top of these wins, the team earned 13 All-NESCAC finishes, awarded for finishing in the top three in an event, en route to a third-overall finish. The team will send athletes to the New England Division III Championships this coming weekend.
The women’s track and field team captured two NESCAC titles and put up seven All-NESCAC finishes, securing fourth place overall at the conference championships, which were held on Saturday, April 29 in New London, Connecticut. Carolina Andrade ’24 broke her own school record in the javelin throw, launching it 40.52 meters to best the field — her previous record was 38.42 meters. The other title went to hurdler Arissa Grace McGowan ’26 , who won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.14 seconds. Her teammate Eliza Cardwell ’25 posted the top time in the preliminaries of 14.49 seconds, but she false-started in the final and was disqualified. The Mammoths will send athletes to New Englands this weekend.
The No. 8 women’s tennis team competed in the NESCAC Tournament over the weekend. First up was a quarterfinal matchup with the No. 24 Bowdoin Polar Bears on Friday, April 28. The Mammoth doubles pairing of Katja Jules Viberg ’26 and Karolina Dobiecka ’26; Amy Cui ’25 and Katie Hart ’25; and Sophie Diop ’26 and Mia Kintiroglou ’25 swept the polar bears. Singles wins from Diop and Dobiecka were enough to claim a 5-1 overall win.
The Mammoths moved on to a
semifinal tilt with the No. 4 Wesleyan Cardinals on Apr. 29. In a reversal of the previous day's results, the Cardinals won two of three doubles matches, so they entered singles play needing just three wins from six matches. Though Calista Sha ’24 and Diop battled to single wins, it was not enough to prevent a 6-3 Wesleyan victory. The Cardinals, who have lost just once all season, went on to claim their fourth-straight NESCAC Championship on Sunday.
Despite the loss, the Mammoths’ season is not over. They have earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III tournament and will host the first three rounds on home turf. The Mammoths, who received a bye, will play in the round of 32 on Saturday, May 6.
The No. 22 men’s tennis team lost in the first round of the NESCAC championships on Friday, April 28. The Mammoths faced the Williams Ephs, who they had lost 1-8 to just five days earlier. The Ephs came out strong, winning all three doubles matches. Wins at the number-two and number-three singles positions were enough to hand Williams the 5-0 victory and end the Mammoths' season.
Over the past week, the No. 14 women’s lacrosse team closed out the regular season before falling in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament. The Mammoths hosted Trinity on Wednesday, April 28 for the final action of the regular season. The Bantams scored the first five goals of the game, and though the Mammoths closed the gap, the lead was never relinquished. Trinity captured a 13-10 win. The Mammoths finished the regular season at 9-5.
The team then traveled to Medford for a NESCAC-quarterfinal matchup with the No. 7 Tufts Jumbos. Again, the Mammoths fell
behind early, finding themselves trailing 0-3 after the first quarter and 2-7 at halftime. During a five minute stretch near the end of the third quarter, the Mammoths roared back to life, scoring four goals back-to-back to cut the lead to just one at 7-8. The Jumbos responded, though, extending the lead back out to 7-10 and ultimately capturing a 11-9 victory to send the Mammoths packing.
Men’s Lacrosse
Following a win to end the regular season, the No. 10 men’s lacrosse team dispatched the No. 9 Bowdoin Polar Bears in the NESCAC quarterfinals. They will play in the semifinals next weekend. The final game of the regular season came on Wednesday, April 26 against Trinity in Hartford, Connecticut. Though the score was even at 5-5 at the half, the Mammoths dominated the second half to claim a 16-10 win behind four goals apiece for Bob Gross ’26 and Bayard DeMallie ’23. Amherst finished the regular season with a 10-4 record.
The Mammoths then moved on to the postseason, hosting the Polar Bears for a thrilling quarterfinal matchup on Saturday, April 29. The Mammoths scored the first, but Bowdoin responded with three straight to take an early 3-1 lead. Amherst recovered, though, entering the half with a 9-7 lead. The Polar Bears responded with a strong second half, and the game was tied at 16 with just 1:35 to play. At that point, Gross, who had already scored five goals, picked up a loose ball in front of the Bowdoin net and fired in a behind-the-back shot that proved the game winner. Another goal in the final minute secured the Mammoths a 18-16 victory. Gross’ six goals were a career high and earned him NESCAC Player of the Week honors. The Mammoths advanced to the semifinals; they are set to face the Tufts Jumbos on the road on Saturday, May 6.
In what is becoming an increasingly common event, Sergio Perez took victory this weekend in Baku from teammate Max Verstappen (+2.137 seconds behind) with Charles Leclerc (+21.217) rounding out the podium. Fernando Alonso (+22.024) continued his strong season with a fourth place finish, followed by Carlos Sainz (+45.491) and Sir Lewis Hamilton (+46.145) who battled for most of the race and ended P5 and P6, respectively.
As I mentioned in last week’s preview, this was a sprint weekend with a special format. The sprint race proved to be a boring prologue for an equally uneventful race. The podium was the same, with 2nd and 3rd swapped for the Saturday race. The bulk of the action came on the first lap, when George Russell (P8, +74.240 on Sunday) and Max Verstappen made contact while vying
for position. The contact left a hole in the side of the Dutchman’s car that cost him performance on Saturday. After the race, Russell came up to apologize, claiming he slid into the championship leader due to cold tires and a lack of grip. Verstappen was not satisfied and fired off a fiery warning and an expletive as the Briton walked away.
Per the special sprint format, qualifying for Sunday’s race was on Friday and offered a fair few surprises and disappointments. Nyck
De Vries (P20, DNF) and Pierre Gasly (P14, +91.332) suffered from early trouble in Q1, with the former crashing his car head-on into a barrier and the latter sliding his rear wheel into a wall; both suffering terminal damage. This added to an already challenging day for Gasly, whose car caught fire in the earlier practice session. George Russell suffered a shock elimination in Q2, as his initial time was not fast enough to move him to the final
qualification round. As more laps were done and the sun went down, track conditions continued to improve, putting drivers who placed their laps earlier at a disadvantage. The shock of Q3 was Charles Leclerc achieving pole, beating out both Red Bulls. Although this did not translate to race pace on Sunday, it could be a sign of what’s to come from Ferrari.
Sunday’s race started well with Leclerc initially able to maintain his lead. However, it only took until lap 3 for Verstappen to catch and pass the Monegasque driver, with teammate Perez following suit soon after. On lap 9, De Vries broke his suspension after coming in contact with a wall and brought out a safety car. This disadvantaged a couple drivers, including Hamilton and Verstappen, who pit shortly before the incident and lost out to those who put under yellow flags. For Verstappen, it meant he lost the lead and he never got it back. On
the safety car restart, Alonso made his way past Hamilton and soon after made his way around the Ferrari of Sainz.
The DRS zone (for Drag Reduction System, a way of speeding cars up to overtake on straights) on the start/finish straight was shortened by 100 meters (328.1 ft) compared to last year, which proved fatal for overtaking. As a result, no car could stay within the required distance from the car in front to use DRS on the straight, causing a race that was rather devoid of action, besides what I’ve already mentioned.
After Round 4, the standings look like this:
Drivers Championship Standings
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 44
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) - 43
3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) - 30
4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 20
5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 20
6. George Russell (Mercedes) - 18
April 4th: @ New England DIII Outdoor Championships
April 5th: @ New England DIII Outdoor Championships
April 6th: @ New England DIII Outdoor Championships
April 6th: @ NCAA Tournament 10 a.m.
April 3th: @ Fitchburg State College 4 p.m.
April 6th: @ Tufts University 12 p.m.
April 6th: @ Tufts University 3 p.m.
7. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) - 8
8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 6
9. Valterri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) - 4
10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) - 4
Constructors Championship Standings
1. Red Bull - 87
2. Aston Martin - 38
3. Mercedes - 38
4. Ferrari - 26
5. Alpine - 8
6. Alfa Romeo - 4
7. Haas - 1
8. Williams - 1
9. Alpha Tauri - 0
10. McLaren - 0
Baku was the first of a back-toback on the schedule, so the next race is this weekend in Miami on the purpose built track around the Hard Rock Stadium. As it will be in our time zone, the race will actually be at a sensible time — with qualifying at 4:00 p.m. Saturday and the race at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.
April 6th: @ Tufts University 12 p.m.
April 9th: @ NCAA Championships 7 a.m.
April 6th: @ Colby College 12 p.m.
April 6th: @ Colby College 2 p.m.