The Spectator - Opinion archive

Keeping the spirit of FebFest alive yearround

February 14, 2013

FebFest, a weeklong series of on-campus events primarily sponsored by the Social Traditions Committee of Student Assembly and the Campus Activities Board (CAB), is a great example of how student life at Hamilton should be throughout the year. While the idea of FebFest is to bring some light-hearted fun to the cold, sometimes less interesting month of February, these events would serve a far greater purpose if they were spread throughout the month or even semester. More ...

Letter to the Editor

February 14, 2013

Re: Women’s ice hockey squeaks out win vs. Wesleyan Last week’s article “Women’s ice hockey squeaks out win vs. Wesleyan” referred to the team as the “Lady Continentals.” This moniker was also used on the front page teaser. Women’s athletic teams at Hamilton College are not Lady Continentals—we are simply Continentals. More ...

Uncontested Student Assembly president election shows student apathy

December 6, 2012

The beginning of this semester saw some of the most exciting political activity at Hamilton over my past four years here. Crowds packed into the Sadove living room to watch the presidential debates and election results pour in. The Hamilton Democrats and Republicans verbally dueled during their own debate and sponsored a number of events to encourage enthusiasm about the election. Now, less than one month after the election, students seem to have lost that fervor entirely. More ...

Students should try summer study abroad

December 6, 2012

You wouldn’t know it by looking at the weather, but this semester is coming to an end, and I know a lot of folks are already looking for something productive to do this summer. Allow me to suggest an option that you might have overlooked while hunting for internships: study abroad for the summer. More ...

On our "community"

December 6, 2012

When discussing our life on the Hill, we throw around the phrase “Hamilton community.” But what is a community? I asked myself this question after learning that two seniors from my local high school recently lost their lives in a collision with a drunk driver. More ...

Finding freedom in 1s and 0s

November 29, 2012

As most people know, I have an ambivalent relationship with Facebook. Deactivating and reactivating my account has become a hobby of mine, sometimes disappearing and reappearing twice within a week. I am most motivated to remove myself from Facebook when the lines between the self I am known as the in the “real world” tangles with that of the self presented in the digital realm; basically, when I’ve gotten too “weird.” The interests and various forms of media I would keep to myself on my not-quite-a-secret-but-never-spoken-of blog are suddenly posted on the walls of friends, usually to their dismay. More ...

Hamilton Compliments

November 29, 2012

Is it possible to be addicted to a Facebook group? For a majority of the Hamilton community, the answer is yes. I have always believed that Hamilton students, faculty and administrators are very kind people. It is the special quality that makes us stand apart from other colleges. What I find hard to believe, though, is how students at a small college like Hamilton still do not greet each other with a simple “hi.” More ...

Heroin incident is without larger implications

November 29, 2012

It was an ordinary Wednesday. Almost too ordinary. I crept down the stairs of Christian A. Johnson Hall to turn in my math assignment, completely unaware of the horrors to come. As I waited to ask one last question, I thumbed through a few emails, like usual. Massage Chair Tuesday, Meditation Club, those obnoxious Quiz Bowl emails, you name it. No one could have predicted what would come next. More ...

Letter to the Editor Re: To the Selection Committee for the Sacerdote Great Names Series and the Administration of Hamilton College

November 29, 2012

I am writing to express my disappointment in the lack of organization and commitment Hamilton College has shown toward the Sacerdote Great Names Series. More ...

KJ Daily offends without purpose

November 8, 2012

The KJ Daily appeared from thin air last Monday on tables in Commons, McEwen, KJ and other locations on campus. The salmon-pink paper, published anonymously, befuddled many Hamilton students as to its origins. A self-proclaimed “publication that aims to update the student community on a series of mundane everyday events that occur around campus” failed to update anyone on anything, mundane or otherwise, and wound up angering a lot of the student community. More ...