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Our journalistic principles
April 14, 2016

This semester, The Spectator has decided to cover a variety of controversial topics ranging from issues at the Health and Counselling Centers to changes in the Africana Studies Department. In each and every issue, The Spectator is always striving to publish accurate, relevant, newsworthy material, with the goal of keeping the community informed and engaged. When presented with challenging content to deliver, the Spec staff is careful to weigh our dual responsibilities of transparency and the good of the community before choosing to publish a story. We are proud of our Style Guide, which is based on the Society of Professional Journalist’s ethical guidelines, and which devotes specific sections towards journalistic standards and fair reporting.  We appreciate that the College community has responded passionately to our work this semester. We want to provide every party with equal space to voice an opinion. We look forward to the continued discussions that our reporting has initiated and encouraged, and we invite your feedback through letters-to-the-editor. More ...

April 7, 2016
April 7, 2016

The Spectator would like to take this opportunity to recognize Lucas Phillips ’16, Editor Emeritus, for the direction in which he has led this publication over the past year.  In the fall, the paper made a priority of journalistic excellence, initiating the SpecSpeak journalism lecture series which brought successful professionals from the field to speak on campus. The Spectator has expanded its online presence through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as well as a more motivated use of our website. We’re also proud of a number of stories we’ve pursued over the last year including our reportage on diversity-related issues and the Health and Counseling Centers and student reflections on the Paris attacks. We’ve seen our content expand in scope and quality, and, well, there’s more of it.    We’ve also modernized our organization’s photo policy, bringing it within legal bounds, and increasing the number of student-generated photos and illustrations.  As we move forward, expectations for Staff Writers will increase.  The Spectator is responsible for investigating and reporting on all events on the Hill, and we take this task seriously.  We want to encourage curiosity, responsibility and integrity throughout our staff and the campus, as well as show off quality student writing.   We look forward to meeting the challenges ahead. More ...

Letter to the Editor from Greg Thomas ’85
March 31, 2016

I commend Jake Altman-DeSole for an excellent summary of my presentation, “Albert Murray and the Blues Idiom Worldview,” in the Feb. 25, 2016 issue of The Spectator. He did a fine job, with one exception. More ...

Letter to the Editor: Open Questions: The Silence over Labor at Hamilton College
March 31, 2016

There is a palpable, hushed feature to the daily academic buzz on College Hill Road. As far back as I can recall, very little has been publicly discussed or done about College employees who toil daily for us on campus. There are town hall meetings about important issues like Diversity, alcohol abuse, Title IX requirements and so on, but I don’t believe I have ever heard about a town hall meeting called to discuss the work situations of those who assist us on a daily basis. More ...

73 degrees and midterms
March 10, 2016

We on the Spectator Editorial Board aim to lodge relevant critiques of the College informed by our weekly content. This week, embroiled in the throes of midterms, we would like to shoot a bit higher than the College, this time informed by discontent—that which doesn’t make our pages, but which we find all around us: the weather.  This has been, by all accounts, a mild winter. Certainly, it bears no resemblance to the snowy behemoth we saw last year. But however upward Hamilton climbs in the rankings, it gets no farther South, and we can’t help taking subzero temperatures as an affront to daily existence.  The old joke is that the College was built where there is nothing to do but study, where the weather is too inclement to attempt any but scholarly, indoor pursuits. And yet, intellectual life still appears to go on at schools like the University of South Carolina, if President Stewart is any indication. Lately, such a lack of appreciation for warmer climes seems appalling. And even more so that this week, with the expectations of parents, professors and ourselves, we are forced to eschew formal examinations if we are to give this newly-found draught of warm air the appreciation it deserves.  Thus, we direct at the student body two contradictory directives: 1. Get outside and enjoy spring for the few moments we can. You’ve earned it.  2. Get back inside and study. You will also have earned whatever grades you get on these midterms.  Good luck, friends. More ...

The Spec’s midterm review
March 3, 2016

As we near the midpoint of the semester, The Spectator would like to take this opportunity to reflect on our work in 2016 so far. More ...

Letter to the Hamilton Community: Crossed Wires
February 25, 2016

We participated in a facilitated conversation following the publication of letters to The Spectator by Professors Maurice Isserman and Nigel Westmaas (see 11 & 18 February Letters to the Editor).  Each presented his perspective and experience of the “exchange” which then enabled us to identify the main misunderstandings and the underlying intentions of respective letter-writers. The Spectator’s framing of Isserman’s letter (“Professor Isserman’s letter is in response to concerns over criticisms of two of his colleagues on the faculty.”) set in motion unintended consequences. Isserman was not attacking students and Westmaas was not calling Isserman a racist when he referred to Isserman and “white privilege.” It was agreed that an open scholarly dialogue about race and campus race relations is an important event to be organized as soon as possible. Maurice Isserman and Nigel Westmaas Margo Okazawa-Rey and Lisa Trivedi, facilitators More ...

Point System 2.0
February 18, 2016

Just over a week ago, the campus received an e-mail from Dean of Students Nancy Thompson regarding an upcoming reexamination of the College’s point system. The Spectator applauds the decision to do so. Although students contributed when the system was created, students today may often feel disconnected from a system to which they were not able to contribute. More ...

Letter to the Editor
February 18, 2016

A letter to the editor from Professor Nigel Westmaas. More ...

The future of the faculty
February 11, 2016

As our article on faculty hiring this week (“Emphasis on faculty hiring”) notes, 25 percent of Hamilton’s faculty is expected to retire in the next five years with another 19 percent within 10 years. Combined, that’s almost half in just a decade. Entire departments are changing radically, and many of the professors who have long been the core of them will be handing the reins to academics with new perspectives and priorities. This is a time of major change for the College. More ...

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