5 posts tagged “amherst college”

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Admissions

7 days ago
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Amherst College has record number of applicants:

In what many call the most grueling college admissions year ever, Amherst College finally sent out 1,096 letters of admittance to the class of 2012. The College accepted 14.2 percent of all first-year applicants (including early decision), a considerable decrease from last year’s acceptance rate of 18 percent. The College admitted 85 fewer students than it did last year, out of a record large applicant pool (17 percent bigger than last year) in an effort to offset this past year’s unexpectedly large first-year class.

Prison

May 9, 2008
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An Amherst student and a Hampshire County Correctional Facility inmate have a Boston Globe op-ed:

Yes, going to prison necessarily entails the loss of liberty. But the right to vote is in many ways more important than the right to walk freely down the street: Voting is the most basic check against the coercive power of the state. The places where that coercive power is most starkly exercised, such as prisons, are also the places where that most basic of checks becomes more important. The fact that prisoners have a big stake in governmental choices isn't an argument in favor of disenfranchisement; it's an argument against.

And because the vote is so essential to democratic citizenship, it is also an important part of reintegrating inmates with society. Prisons separate and divide, but at their best they also prepare inmates for life after imprisonment. Rebuilding civic engagement is perhaps the most important part of that process.