There are many students who were on campus last year who, for various reasons, are not this year. Maybe they are studying abroad, maybe they are taking a semester off, maybe they graduated. Who knows? And who cares? For me, the one missing element on campus this year that is felt the most is our friend The Fox.
If you were not on campus last year, it is impossible to convey the void that the departure of The Fox has left in our collective soul here at the College. I remember many a morning when I would see him frisking about the freshman quad, killing squirrels like a kid in a candy store. I tell you, it would always brighten my day. Every time he shook the crap out of an innocent rodent, I swear I could hear Elton John wistfully singing "Circle of Life" in the background. The Fox was so proud, so noble, yet as innocent as the industrial strength sprinkler that keeps our campus so sparkling green.
After realizing his popularity, The Fox even created an email and plan for himself-fox@planworld.net-for those wishing to keep up-to-date about his goings-on around campus.
Why has The Fox left us? This is a question to which we must probe deep into our consciousness for the answer. I know some hoity-toity biology professors will try and tell you that the squirrel population crashed with the campus construction, leaving The Fox to seek meatier pastures. Katie Fretwell will tell you that The Fox went to Yale. Some say that The Fox was busted for insider trading. But I know the truth ... and so do you. You know what I'm talking about. Don't play dumb with me!
We could dwell on why The Fox left, but that won't bring him back. We must all cope with the fact he is gone forever. When I visited Amherst as a prefrosh, I took special note of The Fox, and he, along with Sugar Jones, was the deciding factor in my coming here. Without The Fox drawing in the prospective students, the quality of our applicants is sure to plummet. So goes life at a prestigious liberal arts school, where a butterfly flapping its wings in Hawaii can cause us to slip below Swarthmore in the U.S. News and World Report rankings.
Wherever you are, Fox, we miss you. And I, for one, salute you. You really made this campus special.
Joseph Caissie '05
Minority religions often ignored
Although last Wednesday's observances of the Sept. 11 attacks were very well planned by the College, something was missing. Reading the table tent of the day's schedule of events at Valentine, I noticed a scheduled Christian prayer meeting, Jewish prayer meeting and Muslim prayer meeting. However, I am not Christian, Jewish or
Muslim; where did the school expect me to go? I soon found myself wondering as to which meeting I would feel the least uncomfortable attending.
The College saved itself some grace when Rev. Sorrentino called me the next day, asking if I would like to read some text from Hindu scripture for an inter-denominational service on the 11th. Though I had a scheduling conflict, I referred a friend and felt partially comforted by this consideration of inclusion. Yet in my mind, the fact remains that even at a place like Amherst College, non-Christian and non-Jewish students are largely overlooked.
It is true that most of the people who lost their lives on Sept. 11 were Christian or Jewish. It thus makes sense that other Christians and Jews would like to mourn and pray a year later. The Muslim community was traumatized by the event's aftermath, thus it is reasonable that they too would like to pray. However, by not offering a place of prayer to students of other religions, the College is assuming they don't have anything to pray about. But Sept. 11 was an attack on America, and I for one have plenty to reflect upon.
I am not asking the College to have a separate observance for every possible religion or spiritual tendency. I ask for a non- or inter-denominational prayer meeting for religions not otherwise represented. This is an ongoing concern of mine, only reawakened by the Sept. 11 observances. In last week's Student, Melissa Sidman '06 expressed her "bitterness" at having classes on Rosh Hashanah. What she forgets is that it is a luxury her professors even consider canceling classes for a minority religious holiday. Most minority religions, like mine, get overlooked to the point of being ignored completely.
While I hugely appreciate Rev. Sorrentino's inclusion of Hinduism in the service last Wednesday, there is much more the College can do. And with its diversity statistics better than ever, it will be an injustice if it doesn't do something soon.
Ajanta Patel '05