Editorial: Amherst's students -- raising the bar

May 9, 2008

Teenagers often get a bad rap, and that's probably been true throughout history. These days, oldsters can be heard complaining about their spiky hair, baggy clothes, piercings and proclivity for goldbricking.

Expanding democracy in Massachusetts

May 9, 2008

Last week the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to uphold a restrictive Indiana voter ID law that requires voters to provide a federal or state photo ID every time they vote. Supposedly, the law would prevent voter fraud, despite the fact, as Justice David Souter noted in his dissenting opinion, that the state had not been able to "identify a single instance of in-person voter impersonation fraud in all of Indiana's history." In reality, the law discourages voter participation. Millions of people - disproportionately racial minorities and the poor - lack the forms of ID required to vote in Indiana. Over 20 states require some form of ID to vote. (Massachusetts, thankfully, is not one of them.)

Elm lovers wanted

May 9, 2008

Recently, Amherst celebrated Arbor Day. We thanked Stan Ziomek for his decades of service as Amherst's Tree Warden by planting a red oak in his honor, commented on Amherst's recognition by the state as a "Tree City." People had a chance to learn about tree identification, or how to climb a tree, or to sign up to purchase a tree to plant in commemoration of Amherst's 250th anniversary next year.

Letters

May 9, 2008

True, the town report may be online, but ...

To the Bulletin: It was good of Scott Merzbach to give his attention to the town report for fiscal year 2007 (Bulletin, April 26).

Correction

May 9, 2008

An opinion piece on fair trade published in last week's Bulletin named the wrong author. It was written by John White.

Editorial: A parade runs its natural course

May 2, 2008

Amherst Town Manager Larry Shaffer's move to sideline a private group's Fourth of July parade will be uphill walking, all the way to July 2009.

It's time for fair trade

May 2, 2008

Land and water conservation, environmental education and the common good of our community are values shared by residents of Amherst. We might add to that list social justice and economic well-being. These are topics that are spoken of in this newspaper, in Amherst's Town Meeting, and not infrequently in the coffee shops and restaurants. Amherst residents care for the quality of life here, and Amherst is seen as a progressive community.

It gave way to gossip

May 2, 2008

Those who study gossip know that some opinions, initially passed between just a few people, can spread like a raging epidemic without any regard as to whether or not they are supported by fact. Those who hear them find them so obviously true that no support is required. A recent publicly available example is the rumor that Barack Obama is Muslim, which, once it was articulated on the Web, has been reflected back in thousands of opinions without any accompanying justification. It just seems obviously true to many of those who hear it.

Letters

May 2, 2008

45 minutes spent during Earth Day

To the Bulletin: It was a beautiful day ... so I opened my Clark House sixth-floor balcony sliding door for some refreshing spring air. I was breathless with anticipation.