College Board Discontinues SAT Subject Tests and Optional Essay Section

The College Board will discontinue SAT Subject Tests and the optional essay section on the SAT, according to a recent announcement on Jan. 19 [https://blog.collegeboard.org/January-2021-sat-subject-test-and-essay-faq]. The decision-making process was accelerated as testing centers closed during the pandemic and led many colleges, including Amherst, to make the tests optional or to permanently suspend consideration of them. The College Board’s decision reflects a broader trend among undergraduate

Staff Spotlight: Andy Anderson

This week’s Staff Spotlight, published in a celebration of election day, features Andy Anderson, an academic technology specialist at the college and an advocate for Massachusetts Question 2, Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative [https://www.yeson2rcv.com/]. The initiative aims to enact ranked-choice voting for primary and general elections for state executive officials, state legislators, federal congressional and senate seats, and certain county offices in Massachusetts beginning in 2022. Q: What

Spread Across Drastic Time Zones, Students Struggle to Maintain Schedule

With many students living far away from the college due to remote learning conditions, a number of them have found their daily schedules drastically transformed by time zone differences. Since most classes take place in time slots similar to previous semesters, these students have often found themselves needing to stay awake late into the night to attend their classes and sleeping throughout the day instead. The college has made some efforts to accommodate students in different time zones, crea

Thoughts on Theses: Abigail Offei-Addo

Photo Courtesy of Abigail Offei-Addo ’21.Abigail Offei-Addo ’21 is an English major. She is writing her thesis on the adaptable nature of webtoons, a digital comic that originated in South Korea. Her thesis advisor is Visiting Assistant Professor of English Amanda Henrichs. Q: What is your thesis about? A: My English thesis is on webtoons, a form of graphic narrative which started in South Korea in the early 2000s. In the last 10 years they have gained huge popularity abroad, and a lot of them