Uncertainty and fear are only two words that can be used to describe the tragedies that occurred last Tuesday morning. The response to the tragedies has been tremendous, both on-campus and nationwide-individuals gave blood, donated money, went to New York City for the weekend. One student, Molly Williams '02, made awareness ribbons for the students and College staff.

"I was inspired to make the ribbons because I wasn't able to give blood at the time, and I remembered Oklahoma City," said Williams. "I thought it was something people on campus could do-wear a ribbon, that is-to show their support for the victims and for those who were waiting to hear from their families … Making and distributing the blue ribbons was the best way I could think of to keep my thoughts in the right place."

Williams, alongside Ania Wieckowski '03 and Susan Kim '03, has been tabling and making ribbons since Thursday, with help from other students. The color blue was chosen by Williams because it represents hope.

"In the wake of such a terrible loss, I felt that the most important thing was to remain hopeful, and to encourage others to remain hopeful. There are miraculous stories of survival and of people just now contacting their families to say they're alright, and I want to believe there will be more of these stories," said Williams. "We are headed for very uncertain times, and the best way to avoid getting caught up in the hatred and anger is to lean on faith and love."

The response to the ribbons has been far-reaching-Williams made 900 last week and is making 800 more for this week. "I have been overwhelmingly amazed by the ability of students to come together and grieve together, to be respectful of one another's opinions and reactions, and to create a space in which everyone's response is heard, considered, and validated," she said. Many on campus appreciated Williams' initiative, sporting ribbons on their shirts, backpacks and pants.

"It was a way to show that it was on all of our minds this week, that we were sending our best wishes to everyone hurt by this attack," said Tom Scott-Craig '04. At a time when students on-campus struggled to find a response to Tuesday's tragedy, the ribbons helped all of us cope and contribute one of the most important offerings we could give: our hope.

Everyone has been doing his or her part to help out. Resident counselors (RCs) tabled on Friday, collecting money for relief funds and distributing information about resources and ways that people could help victims and their families. Students also had the opportunity to make cards for relief workers.

Many have also noticed the string of ribbons lining the pathway to the Campus Center and the heartfelt statements that covered its front walls. "We felt that students needed an outlet to process their emotions and to reflect as a community-not just by yourself, not just by going to a counselor or talking to your RC or going to a dean," said Lisa Friscia '02, a Student Health Educator. "We wanted something more communal."

The Student Health Educators started the memorial last Thursday for students to express themselves about last week's tragedy. "It was therapeutic just creating it, the best thing I could do to tangibly help other people," said Friscia. A sign at the memorial read: "This is not a political statement. This is merely a place to pause, reflect and mourn. Please be respectful."

"We wanted to steer away from the politics of everything," said Friscia. Ribbon, scissors and colored markers were at the Campus Center entrance for anyone who wanted to add a message or tie a ribbon. Friscia said, "From what I hear, people really think it's moving and wonderful and what we need."

-9/19/01

Lamppost on the loose

It was "lights out" by Moore last weekend when a group of unknown individuals took the campus lighting issue into their own hands. While most students would like additional lights around campus, these mavericks thought the school would be better off with less and subsequently knocked down a lamppost last Saturday night.

"We shouldn't just hack [lampposts] brutally and leave them prostrate on the ground," said Jenny Rada '04. "The campus is already pretty dark, and sure you get used to being in the darkness, but now it's going to be even darker-creepy dark."

Unfortunately, the hooligans apparently did not realize how heavy a tall, metal lamppost would be and left it discarded on the ground. They even failed to properly dismantle the lamppost. "It's still lit, which is the funny part," said Aaron Butler '02. "It's just lighting up the ground nearby."

Although the identities of the perpetrators are still unknown, some concerned students have already formed their opinions as to the cause of the incident.

"I think it was Bigfoot-come on, it's pretty obvious, isn't it?" asked Janak Chandrasoma '04. "I'm sure there were massive clumps of fur on the spot. I'm sure he's demolished Fayerweather, too. Look at it, it's a mess."

While some may be quick to blame the damage on rowdy TAP-goers, others are not so certain. "I don't think people can knock over a lamppost, but I don't know if a car can get around there," said Grace Kay '04. "Maybe it was the construction people-actually, maybe it was a skunk. There are a lot of them around here, and it's just as likely as any other person."

-10/17/01

The full monty

As liberal as Amherst is touted to be, public nudity remains, to the discontent of some, a rarity. Many students were given a surprising interruption to their Friday afternoon routine last week, in the form of a naked Andrew Doss '03. Doss, wearing only a backpack, strolled the campus in the buff that day.

"Students here aren't mischievous enough. We wait for stuff to happen," said Doss. "It wasn't meant to be stagey or a statement. I just felt like getting naked and it was one of the last days that might be warm enough to do so."

"When I first walked into the Campus Center I passed by a guy who stopped me and said, 'Surprise, surprise. There's a surprise!' in a mysterious tone," said witness Katayun Adhami '04. "At first glance I just thought 'Hmm ... there's a lot of people here and one of them's naked.'"

"I'm not searching for a revolution of nakedness, or a revolution of whim, or a revolution of anything really except maybe a revolution of expectations and a revolution against walking through and past Amherst," said Doss.

For Doss, his nudity was nothing more than going against social norms, but for others, it was offensive. "I didn't see the point," said Shannon Fischer '05. "All it did was make me turn the other way."

"If people were [offended], then they need to take an apple and bite it and tell me if it tastes like life, 'cause their corpse is pretending to move," said Doss. "We take ourselves too seriously sometimes and need to be able to laugh at our silliness."

-10/31/01

Where's the beef?

Generally, no one expects Weekly Roundup to be anything ordinary, and Friday night's show was certainly no exception. "Anything's possible with Benjy," said Tory Cuddy '04. "You should not expect anything." After all, couldn't we all use a good meat smashing to calm our nerves in the last week before the Thanksgiving break?

Apparently, host Benjy Caplan '03 was in a marinating mood himself, which he demonstrated with several pounds of ground beef and a large foam baseball bat. His kitchen? The Campus Center Frontroom ... the floor, that is. "The baseball bat broke when I was doing it," he said. "Had it not broken, at the end of the show I would've put [the meat] back into a little pile and done it again."

But Caplan was not preparing a barbeque for his patrons, unless any of them were willing to loosely extend the "five-minute rule." "On the one hand, it was a stupid thing to be hitting meat with a baseball bat," Caplan said. "If anything, I would call it a highbrow social commentary and a much-needed treatment of meat on this campus."

Strange as it was, Caplan's audience members were entertained. Many were even expecting something out of the ordinary. "It was a little weird but he always does stuff that's a little bizarre," said Evan Pena '04.

Perhaps the only seriously disgruntled attendant was Miss Massachusetts, who had to tiptoe her way around the bloody mess on stage for her interview. Caplan, however, had no regrets. "My favorite part was at the end and I said, in context, something I've always wanted to say-'I'd love to go with you but I have to sweep up the meat.'"

-11/14/01

Au Bon Pain

A new age has dawned at Amherst. Gone are the days of thumbing through slice after slice of stale bread to find the last piece with some moisture. Gone are the opaque bins that surround the island near the servery entrance-well, some of them, at least. The future is here. The future is now. The future ... is a bread dispenser.

Proving once again that necessity is not always the mother of invention, the new bread machine in Valentine is making a number of students ask, "What the hell is that for?" Upon seeing the new machine in action, Renee Burgher '05 commented "How nifty."

"It's a pretty good idea, though," said Dominique Ng '04. "It's good during the cold [and flu] season."

Operating on a simple system of levers and springs, the machine brings a new style of decor to Valentine-stainless steel. "It's very 1950s futuristic," said Doug Orbacher '04, who feels that the sliced bread dispenser might very well be the greatest thing since sliced bread itself. "It's hip. I dig it. I thought it might even have had a laser," he said.

The new dispenser features white, wheat, raisin and multigrain bread-four mainstays of the Valentine bread line. Left out of the shuffle, however, are the cult hits oatnut, dark and light rye and the ever-popular rice cakes.

For all the dough the school spent on the new machine, some students feel left out and are yearning for a return to the old system. "I don't eat the varieties of bread that they have in the machines," said Ng. "I like oatnut the best. They should put oatnut in there, because it always gets dried out. They put all the crappy breads in there. I like the raisin bread, but why is the white bread in there?"

Burgher questioned how it was at all helpful. "It doesn't save space-it actually takes up more. And it doesn't keep the bread any fresher. It's such a waste," she said.

-2/06/02

Rampaging rodents

On Monday morning, students, faculty and prefrosh alike awoke to find their dorms littered with signs warning them to take heed.

And heed they took.

Some students exited their dorms expecting to be overrun by a pack of hamsters. "It reminds me about the thing they always say about insects-for every one you see, there's always a thousand you don't," said Dave Wright '04.

Flyers, ostensibly posted by Campus Police and the biology department, warned students of grave danger from an alleged freak accident in the Life Sciences Building. According to the flyers, a horde of carnivorous hamsters had been let loose and the campus, in response, was paralyzed by the hamsters' reign of terror.

"Please refrain from wearing sandals and open-toed footwear," the bulletin advised the College community. "If you come into contact with these creatures, do not attempt to capture them yourselves."

"It was extreme bullshit," said George Shaw '02. "It just goes to show how gullible Amherst is."

The bulletin-it soon became clear-was as false as rumors of good housing for sophomores. "It's completely outrageous," said Peter Bulmer '04. "We do not keep carnivorous hamsters on campus. But we need more stuff like that on this campus-complete outlandishness."

While nobody has yet taken credit for the prank, it did relax the campus' mood at one of the tensest parts of the semester.

-4/24/01

-Compiled by Young May Cha