I’m working on a story now about Amherst housing and the fact that the town passed a law banning more than 4 unrelated people from living in the same house. The real estate companies are posting four bedroom houses that have more than that, and I’m looking for some examples. Anyone out there? Also, check out www.amherstrent.com … tons of 5+ bedrooms with the distance listed from campus. Thoughts?
April 6, 2009
Contribute to your News
We at The Collegian have come to a fun realization. The collective knowledge of our audience is much greater than that which we possess. So rather than dictating your news from our ivory tower of objectivity, we’re inviting you to contribute your own thoughts on the stuff you want covered.
Unfortunately, we can’t and shouldn’t cover every fashion show and canned food drive this campus has to offer. INSTEAD I am looking for your choice, select and prime bits of the best news. I’m talking corruption and wrongdoing. We’ll get the ball rolling here through your comments and tips.
February 15, 2009
et arcadia en
Amherst College was shocked from its Ivory Tower this past weekend. Then Marcus Smith, a student from the University of Massachusetts, and Issac Cameron, from Amherst College, were involved in an on-campus altercation that left both wounded, according to police documents. The fight was at a dance and was said to be over a girl. Nothing fresh there, but the reaction was anything but. The UMass student allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed the Amherst College student between six and seven times in the abdomen and back. Some eye witnesses said they came together in an embrace, as if calming each other down. Others said the knife was out from the start and what looked like a hug was actually one student repeatedly stabbing the other. Students answered television reporters’ questions with themes of shock and disbelief. “I never thought this could happen at Amherst.” “This kind of activity never happens here.” But their surprise is to mine. The title of this post Et arcadia en is Latin for Even in academics, it is. In a painting somewhere not on the collection of tubes that may be the Internet, an old man points to a headstone with the phrase engraved into it. He looks more somber than surprised. In the land of Philosopher Kings that Amherst is jokingly said to be, it’s troubling that students never thought this could happen to them, or near them, or at a school at which they are enrolled. It is as if, when embarking for the progressive Pioneer Valley, they imagined a utopia where people do not fight over women and where men don’t bring knives to parties. Students to whom I’ve spoken often say that a bubble exists around their campuses – one that restricts the flow of information, ideas and the creation personal relationships with others outside of it. But as this weekend proved, the bubble is not literal, and the sense of security they have created for themselves is not immune to a world’s reality they have forgotten to include as their own. -Wm
February 12, 2009
Follow your nose
For my piece in tomorrow’s Collegian, I wrote a double profile on two gay men operating in highly traditional environments following their coming out. The story looks at the Gay Rights Movement’s notion that the simple awareness that homosexuals are human and live around us as brothers, friends, teachers etc. will bring about a greater tolerance.
Given that one source, Rabbi Steven Greenberg, is the first openly-gay orthrodox rabbi, and the other, Martin Aguilera, is a leader of the Gay Amherst Party, both are living in institutions that are highly uncomfortable with gay men. Finding them was tricky and may enlightening for those looking for good profile subjects.
Greenberg came up in a conversation with Rabbi Steven Nathan and Liza Neil of Hampshire College in an interview. Unfortunately, very little of their interview was used… but Greenberg proved key in getting the theme of the piece across.
Aguilera was the recipient of a blanket email sent out to all leaders of Gay-Straight alliances of the Five College consortium. Walking with him around campus and attending a GAP-sponsored dance party, we chatted about his background, and he turned out perfect for the piece.
February 5, 2009
Forever 23
According to some Western Mass. newspapers, Jason Vassell has been a 23-year-old for about 13 months now. Some say his case is making people think twice about police misconduct even in places so progressive as Amherst. But local media has me looking again at his age.
Most reporters, when determining the age of a victim or an assailant (the identity of Vassell in this incident is debated) check for his birthday in an arrest report. After some elementry arithmetic, the age becomes solid fact.
The issue came up in the Massachusetts Daily Collegian’s newsroom. We were writing our pieces and helping the Boston Globe with its. The Globe asked if Vassell is 23 or 24 years old. Good question.
As Vassell’s case stretched on for a year, reporters neglected to return to primary source documents to retrieve his age. Papers have repeatedly reported his age at 23, when he has been 24 since May 9.
Goes to show that in a complicated case like this, some reporters are reading their stories, or others’, for background info instead of reporting again.
…Wm
January 23, 2009
(Almost) a Witness to History
The inauguration was this past Tuesday; and damn it, The Collegian tried its best to cover it. I was talking to a colleague at the Daily Hoya, of Georgetown, and they couldn’t get photo passes either. So when it comes to the inauguration, you’ll have to take Nick Bush’s words for it.
He did a solid job wandering around D.C. taking in the sights and atmosphere. He was almost more excited to be there than the CNN folks. His story will be in the paper on Monday, along with the Amherst reaction to the election and a special article from Mary Carey of The Daily Hampshire Gazette. Larry Parnass, managing editor at the Gazette, traded Nick’s story for Mary’s. He said the cost was covered by my internship there last semester… thanks.
Check The Collegian’s Mass Society blog on Monday for the campus’ reaction to the inauguration. There, you’ll find student testimonials from across the country on how they felt during “the moment.”
January 21, 2009
A different kind of news
I’m William McGuinness, news editor at The Massachusetts Daily Collegian. We’ve created a number of blogs to inform the campus and beyond on local news and events; but, here, you’ll find posts on how news was reported, corrections to news stories and an explanation on how mistakes were made or stories broken. Expect commentary from reporters and editors and multimedia posts ranging from raw video and audio to completed packages.
