NESCAC News

by Josh Yates '14
NEWS WRITER

Amherst College

“It’s probably ’cause, you think you’re cooler than me.” Well, students at Amherst recently feel they’re cooler than everyone else because for this year’s Spring Concert, Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes and White Panda are opening for lead performer Mike Posner.

News of Posner’s selection by the Program Board (PB) was a surprise because Posner “was not one the artists featured in the school-wide poll,” but PB co-chairs Sabrina Stavonor ’11 and Ian Mellis ’11 told The Amherst Student, “It is our primary goal to bring the best and most desired concert possible to campus.”

However, many thought this would not be possible. PB reportedly ran into problems, when “an unnamed candidate, who had been booked, backed out at a late hour in order to prepare for an international tour,” according to the Student. “We consulted with our booking agent to arrange a concert that we feel accurately reflect[ed] the interests of the student body, albeit with different artists…[and feel] not only are these popular artists, but this is the first time in recent memory that Amherst has gotten three artists to perform at the [Spring] Concert,” said Stavonor and Mellis. The concert will take place on April 15.

Middlebury College

For him, it’s probably the scariest moment of his life, being held prisoner by a foreign government, but for Tik Root’s ’12 family and friends, it’s probably worse. According to The Middlebury Campus, the “Vermont House of Representatives received notice that Root is currently being held by Syrian authorities for his involvement in a protest on Friday, March 18.” Root is currently studying abroad in Damascus, Syria after being evacuated from the C.V. Starr-Middlebury School in the Middle East in Alexandria, Egypt on Jan. 31, during the protests against former President Hosni Mubarak, reports the Campus.

Root’s father, Professor of Biology Tom Root, tells the Campus he has “contacted the State Deptartment regarding his son, and was told the U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs [would make] inquiries at the Syrian Ministry of the Interior as to [his son’s] status.” The Campus reports the administration “has also created a web page where updates about Root will be posted, and Root’s friends created a Facebook group where other friends can show their support.” The Roots are appreciative of the actions taken by the college, but all they can do now is wait, hoping to see their son again.

Tufts University

In light of the recent humanitarian disaster that has all but brought Northern Japan to a halt, Tufts students have helped The Japanese Culture Club (JCC) raise over $6,000 to support relief efforts, according to The Tufts Daily. The Daily also reports,“The club additionally created a blog, titled Tufts Supports Japan, which provides stories and news about the situation in Japan and allows the blog’s visitors to donate using PayPal.” “We tried to get fundraising through PayPal so that people could donate through the blog,” JCC co-president Jason Moloney ’11 told the Daily. “That’s where a large portion of our fundraising came [from].”

Sho Igawa ’12, the other co-president of the JCC, told The Daily they are planning a charity concert on April 15, featuring a capella groups and other student acts. The JCC wants to raise more money, but Moloney told the Daily, “our biggest problem is that, coming back from break, a lot of people might be forgetting about this crisis.” To alleviate this issue, the JCC “has ordered a thousand buttons to distribute to donors, helping to remind them of the disaster,” according to Igawa. Nonetheless, the achievement made so far is impressive itself and all donations will be given to the American Red Cross.