Sika Essegbey: A Quiet but Powerful Voice

Understated by nature, Fulbright winner Sika Essegbey has nevertheless left an important mark in her time at Amherst — as a campus leader, a scholar, and a friend.

Rants and Raves: When Trader Joe’s Gets Corny

Managing Opinion Editor Yasmin Hamilton ’24 rants about the cultural farce of certain Trader Joe’s snacks.

Rant vs. Rave: Walking Around Campus

A Texan editor-in-chief meanders through campus and strikes the ire of a Queens-born editor who just wants to get to class on time.

Angelina Han: AAS President and Extracurricular Extraordinaire

A double major in geology and economics, former AAS president Angelina Han had a busy four years at Amherst. Her commitments to public service and helping others shine through everything she says and does.

Mitski: Mixing Music and Mental Health

After a four-year hiatus, Mitski has released two singles for her upcoming sixth album "Laurel Hell." Staff Writer Yasmin Hamilton '24 reflects on what these singles might mean for the new album's direction.

Some Pandemic Policies Deserve to Stay

Staff writer Yasmin Hamilton ’24 discusses students’ difficulty of adjusting to the pre-pandemic academic expectations this semester in light of many ongoing effects of the global crisis, and argues for the maintenance of the increased academic leniency from last year.

New Documentary Chronicles the Impact of Boston's Gentrification

Yasmin Hamilton '24 reviews "A Reckoning in Boston," a 2021 documentary that forces viewers to acknowledge the pervasiveness of systemic problems and consider how the construction of the documentary itself reflects inequalities in our society.

“Gossip Girl’s” New Progressive Veneer Falls Flat

Staff writer Yasmin Hamilton ‘24 reviews the “Gossip Girl” reboot. Despite claiming to feature more progressive and inclusive themes, the reboot ends up pairing many of the original show's problems with terrible acting and dialogue.

Yaqui Montes de Oca: A Floridian’s Mission to Make Incarceration Humane

Yaqui plans to attend Florida State University in the fall to obtain a master’s in social work and criminology. Photo courtesy of Yaqui Montes de Oca ’21.On a typical day, you might find Yaqueline “Yaqui” Montes de Oca ’21 in room 018 of Keefe Campus Center, the Office of Student Activities. She’s worked there as an assistant to the Office Assistant for two years, and according to Student Activities Coordinator and Business Manager, Monica Soto, she has been “nothing less of a rockstar and a shi

The Show Must Go On? The 93rd Academy Awards Falter in 2021

Last Sunday, over 100 filmmakers and actors gathered in Union Station in Los Angeles to celebrate the 93rd Academy Awards. The ceremony had been postponed from its original date of Feb. 28 to extend the eligibility period for films and to account for some of the impacts of Covid-19 on Hollywood. Producer Steven Soderbergh emphasized that the ceremony would be shot “like a movie,” but did not specify what he meant. It turns out that this meant no music between awards and reorganized categories.

"Marriage Pact" Builds Community on a Scattered Campus

Some quotes may have been edited for clarity. The energy in Charles Pratt Hall was tense last Tuesday night, March 30. First-years studied anxiously in the common rooms, refreshing their emails over and over again in hopes that the much-anticipated Marriage Pact match-making results would be delivered. Just as they began to lose hope, the students received an email with the initials of their matches. As soon as the initials were released, students attempted to find out who they’d gotten matche

Watching “Gummo” (1997) in 2021: A Violent Exploration of Class in Contemporary America

Shaky handheld clips of dilapidated homes, power lines and families flip through the screen as a child sings an expletive-filled nursery rhyme. A child starts to mumble: “Xenia, Ohio. A few years ago, a tornado hit this place. It killed the people left and right … Houses were split open … People’s legs and neck bones were sticking out … I saw a girl fly through the sky, and I looked up her skirt.” The narrator jumps between sounding like a child and like he’s spitting prose. The seemingly arbi