Ben Guest’s Blog

Admissions

nobody@vox.com(Mississippi Teacher Corps) — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:02:07 -0700

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.

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Prison

nobody@vox.com(Mississippi Teacher Corps) — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:34:14 -0700

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.

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Amherst

nobody@vox.com(Mississippi Teacher Corps) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 05:34:16 -0700

Here is a Google map of my college town, Amherst, MA. My father grew up in Amherst and my grandfather worked for Amherst College for many years:

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Memorial Hill

nobody@vox.com(Mississippi Teacher Corps) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:46:38 -0800

Memorial Hill

Here is another photo of the Fairest College of Them All, Memorial Hill, taken in the spring of 2007.

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Drew House

nobody@vox.com(Mississippi Teacher Corps) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:31:37 -0800

Drew House

I lived in Drew House sophomore year at Amherst College. I took this photo in the spring of 2007.

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