On Feb. 18, the United States House of Representatives passed an amendment to its funding bill that would strip Planned Parenthood of its federal funding. The Library of Congress summarized the amendment as “[a]n amendment… to prohibit the use of funds for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.” Some student groups in the Five College Consortium are taking an active role in protesting against the proposed amendment.

In a campus-wide e-mail last week, President Joanne V. Creighton announced that fees for tuition, room and board will increase by 2.9 percent next year, when fees will total $51,850. She noted that this is the lowest rate of tuition increase in 40 years.

Students gathered around Mary Lyon’s grave on Monday, March 1, to sing “Happy Birthday” and enjoy cake as part of a student-organized birthday celebration in honor of the College founder, whose birthday was Feb. 28. Above, Amanda Nunnally ’11 serves pieces of birthday cake.

Starting in 2012, faculty will no longer be paid to teach J-Term courses. Dean of Faculty Donal O’Shea said that he expects the decision to save the College $50,000 to $100,000. Last October, Dean of the College Penny Gill told the Student Government Association (SGA) that fewer classes would be taught for academic credit this year, and that non-faculty staff would no longer be paid to teach courses.

Mount Holyoke students studying in Chile are safe after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake shook Concepción on Saturday, according to Dean of International Studies Joanne Picard. Picard confirmed in an e-mail that all three students currently enrolled in programs based in Santiago are safe. One student was due to leave for a program in Valparaiso on Monday, but the start of the program has been delayed.

Last week officials at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst confirmed that a student who confessed to raping a friend on campus will be allowed to live on campus and graduate on time. On Friday, Oct. 16, a UMass student allegedly raped a 2009 UMass alumna in the North Apartment Building C on campus. In [...]