BY APRIL KEPLER ’21
Mount Holyoke was my top choice, so when I initially received my acceptance email from Mount Holyoke, I was ecstatic. Mount Holyoke was everything I wanted in a college. But when the physical acceptance letter came in the mail, my excitement quickly turned to fear. I was accepted for spring admission, instead of the fall.
BY OLIVIA MARBLE ’21
When I was single, all I wanted to do was find someone with whom I could cuddle and go on cute dates. So I did what any desperate college student would do: I downloaded Tinder. While I’m bisexual, I figured I’d end up matching with more women than men since women’s colleges are notorious for being a hub for queer people.
BY LILY REAVIS ’21
When I was a senior in high school, a teacher asked me what sort of person I thought I’d be in college. I was confused by the question — she knew me and had for years. She’d written a college reference for me. Now, halfway through my first year, I am a completely different person and her question has more meaning for me. It’s impossible to avoid reinvention in college, because your personality is continuously being shaped by your environment.
BY CHLOE JENSEN ’20
As the nation with the highest incarceration rate in the world according to the Population Reference Bureau, the United States is no stranger to the mistreatment of prisoners. With the United States’ problem with incarceration comes another issue: the lack of information that prisoners receive. At the end of last year, several states including Texas and New York began banning books in their prisons. Although these laws have operated in several states for many years, Texas’ recent bill received special attention for banning more than 10,000 books. New York’s bill was even more extreme: the state now is only allowing books from five vendors, which greatly limits the number of books prisoners can read and the knowledge they can acquire, according to Newsweek.
In the political landscape, it’s now common to rail against Washington elite; having spent little to no time in the nation’s capital and assuming the label of “outsider” is considered a mark of relative political purity. Disdaining Washington D.C. is, ironically, an essential tactic to be elected into a shiny new office downtown. As a Bethesda, Maryland native with my house five minutes from the district line, I always found it fascinating how people’s conceptions of the city vary so widely.
Larry Nassar, former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University doctor, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for decades of sexual assault, as well as 60 years for possession of child pornography, on Jan. 24. The ruling was long overdue. Because mandatory reporters and the institutions employing Nassar ignored abuse accusations and repeatedly delayed investigations, he was able to assault over 150 women and girls. According to NBC, eight different people accused Nassar of sexual assault between 1997 and 2015, but were discredited each time, despite mandatory reporting laws. The culture of doubting victims is the main reason many sexual assaults take place.
Among the academic world today, the concept of introverted and extroverted personalities in the classroom and in the work force is common. They were first introduced by psychologist Carl G. Jung in 1920. In simple terms, being an introvert suggests that one’s internal energy batteries (emotional and mental ones) are best recharged in quiet surroundings, whereas extroverts are stimulated by social interactions and tend to be more outgoing. People often assume that extroverts are naturally better workers for the labor force. However, with their ability to analyze social situations (even if they do not want to be a part of them) and to think quickly, introverts also have an important role to play in today’s world.
To begin, we would like to say that we denounce any notions that we find student tobacco users repulsive or undesirable, as we respect every student at Mount Holyoke -— but we cannot condone addictions that negatively impact the health and wellbeing of other students. From the beginning of our advocacy in the fall semester, people have made assumptions about the work we are doing, and we want to set the record straight. Having both experienced our loved ones suffer and die due to tobacco addition, this issue is close to our hearts, and one we take very seriously.
BY ELLIS TOWNSLEY ’20
Net neutrality is defined as “the principle that Internet service providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites,” according to Merriam Webster. This means keeping the internet as unrestricted as possible, in terms of cost and which websites users are allowed to browse. Ajit Pai, the newly-appointed Chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), recently introduced a plan to do away with net neutrality. There have been many similar attempts in the past, including a failed attempt from the FCC in 2010, so unfortunately Pai’s current plan is nothing new.
BY LILY REAVIS ’21
When I was 15, a 28-year-old man tried to justify having a romantic relationship with me by citing the fact that, in a couple years, we would adhere to the “half plus seven” rule. This rule dictates that a man may date women younger than him, so long as they are at least half of his age, plus seven years. This rule encourages unhealthy, predatory relationships and justifies manipulative behavior toward young women.
BY CHLOE JENSEN ’20
Early on Saturday morning, the GOP passed a new tax bill that would damage the American middle class. Although there are many elements of this law to criticize, like the cuts to Medicaid and the 35 to 20 percent corporate tax decrease, its effect on academia, and specifically, graduate students is particularly aboherrent.
BY JULIA SIENKIEWICZ ’20
“The average American produces 4.4 pounds of trash per day,” I read on a Buzzfeed listicle. So I’ll start carrying reusable shopping bags, and save today’s dinner for tomorrow’s leftovers. I’ll buy a bamboo tooth brush, and cosmetics from companies that love the environment as much as I do.
BY LILY REAVIS ’21
Taylor Swift should have used her newest album, “reputation,” as a platform to address her concerning political views, to prove her 2014 claim of feminist viewpoints and to dispute recent Nazi accusations. Instead, she used the album to continue petty, problematic arguments with celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and Katy Perry.
BY CHLOE HARKINS ’18
While on her recent visit to South Sudan, United States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley briefly visited with refugees in a United Nations camp. However, the majority of her visit was devoted to multiple meetings with President Salva Kiir, warning that the United States could pull aid from the country if they continued to fail to see improvement. This reflects the fundamental failure of current U.S. – South Sudan relations.
BY CHLOE JENSEN ’20
One of the most pressing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community issues has been whether or not to adopt the word “queer” as an umbrella term. Many LGBT people use this word because it is vague in nature. By definition, the word queer simply means to be deviant or unordinary. As an identity, the word means to identify as anything other than cisgender or heterosexual. While you are free to self-identify as queer, applying the term to the entire LGBT community reinforces it as a slur and inadvertently homogenizes the lives and experiences of the community.
BY ADWOA AWUAH ABOAH ’18
Chad withdrew hundreds of troops in the first weeks of October from Niger, where they were helping local forces fight Boko Haram insurgents, according to The Atlantic. This occurred after Chad was listed in the US travel ban. The loss of troops from one of the region’s most powerful security forces will be a major setback to the region-wide fight against the insurgency.
BY NAIEKA RAJ ’19
November is the time of year when upperclassmen at Mount Holyoke are no longer safe from the crushing pressures of “the real world.” Even as a junior, I’ve begun to feel it. Some of us are too comfortable in a protective bubble of convenient meal swipes and daily routines. Finding the time to submit resumes is challenging enough, but once you start reflecting on the likelihood of getting your dream job, the worries seem endless. While all college students face some version of this struggle, to what extent does Mount Holyoke successfully guide juniors and seniors through this process?
