This fall, Mount Holyoke’s Office of Residential Life faced a bigger housing crunch than in previous years. Jodie Castanza, the new director of Residential Life, estimated that there were about 25 students living in housing assignments in apartments on Morgan Street, College Street, Woodbridge Street and Silver Street. Castanza attributed the housing crunch to numerous [...]

Mount Holyoke News: What drew you to this position at Mount Holyoke?
Ben Hammond: A number of things, I was really interested in hearing about President Pasquerella’s vision for the college and I have two daughters so I was starting to think about women’s education and for me to have the opportunity to come to a liberal arts college and work in role at an institution like this was something I was really excited about. At Princeton, it’s a very large university, and I was looking for an opportunity to work more closely with faculty and students and work across the College.

The additional cost of implementing an amendment in the Massachusetts fire code may spell trouble for Mount Holyoke’s student organizations’ budgets. The amendment that will come into effect on June 5, 2011, requires that a designated “crowd manager” above the age of 21 be present at several establishments including dance halls.

In the last weeks of the spring semester, finals loom as students shore up their summer plans. Swimming in the lakes may appeal to some when the weather gets brutal, but professors and students who have tested the water advise against it during the hottest months.

On April 14, students of Smith College began circulating a petition asking for equal representation and support of all Smith communities. The petition was a result of an earlier development in the College admission office, where a certain Smith College Gold Key guide, Max Ryan*, was refused permission to host a prospective student overnight, despite being a long standing employee of the Admissions Office.

Along with the free bin event, the picnic on the Pageant Green, and the Maypole dance, students have organized the “First Annual Bicycle Day,” an event that encourages students to ride their bikes around campus, as part of this year’s Pangy Day celebrations.

Last Friday the College announced that it had hired a new director for the Art Museum.

On Thursday, April 21, the Department of Public Safety will host a bicycle clinic on Skinner Green.

This semester, Mount Holyoke students have been assisting robotics engineer Dan Barry with Adept MobileRobots in efforts to create an autonomous wheelchair. The new robotic wheelchair will help patients with neurological disorders utilize wheelchairs without caretaker assistance.

Student organization Kuch Karo: Pakistani Students for Change is putting on a benefit event this Sunday to raise money for flood relief efforts in Pakistan.