We dne sday, D e ce m be r ,
Volume CXLI No.
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Eisen ’12 responds to Hu ’12 on environmentalism OPINION
Chi ’15 discusses National Novel Writing Month ARTS & LIVING
Amherst, Massachusetts
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Web: amherststudent.amherst.edu
Men’s basketball cruises to three victories SPORTS Twitter: @AmherstStudent
College Joins Team Amit Alissa Rothman ’15 Managing News Editor
AAS Will Upload Budgets to Increase Transparency Ethan Corey ’15 Staff Writer
agnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Four days later, he started treatment. Gupta
In an effort to increase transparency between the Amherst Association of Students (AAS) and the College community, the AAS is working to move more of its budget information online, making it more open and accessible to the public. Each year, the AAS manages a budget of over $800,000 paid for by the $250 Student Activities Fee included in each student’s tuition. The AAS treasurer, with the help of a staff of clerks,
erage rate of being alive and in remission without a transplant. With a bone marrow transplant, however, the cure rate doubled. That is when the problems arose. Gupta is of South Asian descent, so he is most likely to match with others of South Asian decent. The problem is that
countant and an independent auditor. While this information is stored on AAS servers, much of it is not available to the College community except upon request.
ed in the National Marrow Donor Program registry. Currently, there are only 160,000 South Asians in the registry. In fact, Gupta Photo courtesy of Erin Sparling
perfect match. Faced with this almost insurmountable challenge, Gupta did what he does best and immediately started blogging his request ing the word through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. “Amit is an Internet entrepreneur who has dedicated himself to bringing people together online, and in the process has tive projects including Photojojo, Jelly and should come together online to help him,” said Joshua Garnder, Gupta’s friend since
Amit Gupta ’02 was recently diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. high school who has helped put together several events for Gupta’s cause. “He is one of the best, kindest, most creative, and Gupta’s friends, including over 20 Amherst alumni, and family quickly took up the cause, hosting marrow drives to help increase the amount of South Asians, sians, into the registry. From the website amitguptaneedsyou.com and some Google groups, Team Amit began hosting drives. Drives have occurred at Google, Amazon
and other technical companies in the West, as well as at temples in New York and at and Tufts. “I think there have been eight or nine
tee website. After the format of the College website switched to the CMS format that it currently uses, the AAS stopped posting semesterly budget summaries.
including budget spreadsheets from the past,” said Peter Tang ing back, it was likely that I honestly forgot to include my full
said. Even in places as far as Australia and India, people who have never met Gupta responded to his cause and organized drives. See College, page 3
Faculty Examine Accreditation Change
at the end of the year — the priorities at the end of the year are and get those records to our external, independent auditor. We dated club budgets and discretionary fund allocations, since that was what most students needed to access and track their funds.” Diwa Cody ’14, the current AAS treasurer, is now working to move the full budgets back online for the public to access and believes they will be ready by the spring. “This absence of data was not intentional but rather a product of forgetfulness in the face of the numerous other responsibilities
about whom, if not the whole department, interprets the evidence,
Amro El-Adle ’13 Editor-in-Chief
Cody said. “Now that it has been brought to the attention of the mented. the budget records section of the website within a reasonable
At the start of their last meeting of the semester, the faculty took a moment to acknowledge Professors Richard Goldsby and respectively, who are both retiring at the end of the semester after distinguished and lengthy careers.
mented, given that the College’s open curriculum is unique. College housing also came up at the meeting, as the faculty
2012.” compile the missing information in a manner that is accessible
creditation demands of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), which is one of six regional associations home at 80 percent of its appraised value and resell it at 80 percent of its appraised value upon retirement. Tenured faculty are also permitted to take out second mortgages with help from the school.
their accreditation. tion and faculty earlier this year, reiterated that the NEASC simply swer that question by asking each school to spell out its learning to ensure that the goals are eventually met. Given the costs of an tion is particularly poignant. Each department will be asked to digitally publish its learning goals. Moreover, the NEASC wants direct and indirect evidence hensive exams, honor theses and student portfolios, but not GPA, while indirect evidence includes alumni and student surveys, data about the percentage of students who go on to graduate schools
site so that all data is available in its entirety. However, this is a lengthy process and given our focus on preparing for the next
chased, since it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to recoup all of their expenses. One suggested proposal would have professors purchase only the house from the College, and lease the land it sits on, which would help defray the costs of owning a home. The increased ranks of the faculty, and the expected hiring surge, have also put a strain on the rental units that are currently
cause of the sheer volume of data and the clerical effort required. The AAS apologizes for any inconvenience caused, but asks that the time required for this process be respected. This endeavor to create a more transparent and easily accessible website cannot be any student needs to examine older budgets.” dent body, and the College community as a whole, understand how AAS funds are spent. For example, although the budget nizations and programs, such as TYPO and the Senate Special Projects Fund, did not spend the money that they were allocated, this was not the case.
next summer.
ter, so it’s likely accounted for in the following semester’s and
weeks to further investigate the details of these proposals before regulate. Departments are also expected to provide information
The independent newspaper of Amherst College since .
See Budgets, page 3