After reading "Students respond to sexual violence" (Sept. 28), I decided to take the article's advice and write this letter:
I thought Amherst was a safe place. I walked alone at night without fear. I still do. What scares me now is being alone in my own dorm room at night. When my close friend confided in me that she had been raped in an Amherst dorm by a fellow Amherst student, I was shocked.
How could something so horrible happen here? At a small school where I know everyone by sight if not by name? The worst experience of her life became my own worst nightmare. You never think rape will happen to you or to someone you love. Her world was shattered, and my own sense of safety at Amherst was stolen.
I often tell my friend that she is my hero. Not because she was raped (who would want to be a hero for something they would have given anything to avoid?), but because of her attitude throughout her ordeal. She told me about how sad she was afterwards and how angry she had become recently. She was frustrated with not only what had happened to her, but also with how she had been treated as a rape victim. Her case manager had not given her the time of day because her case was "typical." Her honesty had been put into question by her attacker's defense lawyer.
When I tried to comfort my friend and tell her how sorry I was that she had to endure all this, she said, "Better me than someone else, someone who wouldn't speak out." She had the guts to press charges against someone whom she had known for four years, against someone who was popular at Amherst and whose friends resent her for telling the truth.
The women and men of Amherst College should be outraged that such a heinous crime could happen here. Whether you know the defendant, know my friend or are hearing about this for the first time, we should all be concerned.
Apparently the mandatory rape talks at the beginning of freshman year were not enough. My friend often expresses to me that her struggle has gone beyond a personal campaign for justice. "My friends are affected by it, too," she tells me, "which makes it worse because I want my friends to be happy." Violence, especially within such a small community like Amherst, affects us all.
Rachael Gross '08
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Beyond Bodies needs more campus support
As co-chairs of the campus group Beyond Bodies, which strives to address body image issues at Amherst, we had mixed feelings about the Sept. 28 staff editorial.
While we were pleased to see attention drawn to the prevalence of eating disorders on campus, we were a bit concerned about the treatment of eating habits as dichotomous, as "normal" versus "eating disorder." Eating habits exist along a continuum, with "most healthy" (three balanced meals a day) on one end, and "least healthy" (anorexia or bulimia) on the other. Most people fall somewhere in the middle, exhibiting what has come to be called "disordered eating"-whether that be characterized by consuming meals consisting only of French fries, eating to ease emotional pain, engaging in restrictive dieting or any having other physically or emotionally unhealthy attitudes toward food.
Once we begin to understand the complexities and ambiguities of eating habits, we can start to address the extent of the problem. Certainly, there are Amherst students with diagnosable eating disorders, but as a community, we could all gain something from adjusting the way that we approach food. Without specifically targeting those who suffer from eating disorders, Beyond Bodies has worked and will continue to work on addressing the body image issues that are most often the root of the problem. We actively postered messages like "You are more than your abs" last year, and we will continue to confront head-on the preoccupations and insecurities plaguing our College community.
As for increased programming, we are all for it. But we have legitimate concerns, based on attendance numbers of previous, well-advertised workshops, that few people would show up. While most people would say that they think eating disorders are an important issue and may even have friends with worrisome eating habits, they would not necessarily be interested in-or have the time for-a panel discussion or a workshop. Further, we tried last spring to secure funding through the AAS to bring Jamie-Lynn DiScala (who played Meadow on "The Sopranos") to speak in September about her personal struggle with bulimia. However, the Budgetary Committee ruled her as "too expensive."
We will continue to do what we can to work towards a healthier community, but there is only so much we can do if we are the only voices the College can hear.
Andrea Gyorody '07
Sarah Craver '08
Co-Chairs, Beyond Bodies
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Light bulb amnesty day is a winner
The winner of the day is the environment. The Amherst College Physical Plant department sponsored its first "Light Bulb Amnesty Day" at the Campus Center last week. Four-hundred students participated by swapping their inefficient incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs. On average, each exchange reduces electric demand by about 50 watts and will save the student's weight in greenhouse gas emissions each year.
Members from Amherst College MassPIRG Michael Chernicoff '09, Daniel Edelman '09, Cynthia Wildfire '09 and Meghan Kemp-Gee '07 were on hand to exchange bulbs. In addition, they gave out information on how students can help improve sustainability on campus. MassPIRG also administered the competition between dorms for the highest percentage of participation. The four dorms with the highest rate of resident participation were Chapman House, Jenkins Dormitory, Porter House and South College. Each of these dorms will receive a pizza bash from the Physical Plant in recognition of their efforts.
Light Bulb Amnesty Day is one of a number of initiatives the Physical Plant is pursuing to reduce energy consumption and to enhance the sustainability of the College. Amherst joined Smith and Mount Holyoke Colleges in the joint hiring of an Energy Manager who works to facilitate the implementation of energy projects across all three campuses. The Energy Manager, Todd Holland, works with the Physical Plant Energy Task Force to develop and implement sustainability projects. These efforts have led to changes in how we produce and consume energy, control lighting and air conditioning on campus and choose materials and designs for capital projects.
The Energy Task Force, which meets once per month, is open to recommendations and participation from faculty, staff and students. Please contact me if you are interested.
Aaron Hayden
Capital Projects Manager/Engineer