Dear Editor,
I was extremely disappointed to learn that Career Services will no longer be providing dossier service for graduate students. This was a remarkably short-sighted decision, not to mention sharply detrimental to the University of Massachusetts’ attempts to present itself as an attractive option for prospective graduate students. How can we claim that UMass Amherst is a competitive school, committed to helping its graduates find good employment, when the administration abdicates its responsibilities to its students? How can the Graduate School justify increasing student fees each year while, at the same time, cutting the services for which those fees pay?
Given that dossier management is one of the most crucial administrative components for graduate students in going on the job market, I’m not clear on what services the office of Career Services now provides for graduate students at UMass, nor why graduate student fees should continue to go to support that office.
Matteo A. Pangallo
Renaissance Center
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Dear Editor,
The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
S.P. Sullivan
UMass ‘10
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Dear Editor,
The University of Massachusetts encourages students to ride bikes as a way to help the environment. I don’t see any problem in this, but from my experiences as a student traveling on foot, bicyclists don’t have any safety concerns. When you put safety and bike in the same sentence, you think of a helmet. There aren’t many bikers that wear a helmet when riding a bike. Of my observations on campus, one out of 15 bicyclists wears a helmet. There isn’t a law that you have to wear a helmet when riding a bike but it can save your life if you ever get into an accident. Most bicycle deaths are from head and face injuries. Each year, about 800 bicyclists are killed and more than half a million are treated in hospital emergency rooms. In recent years, almost two-thirds of the deaths and one-third of the injuries involved head and face injury. Shouldn’t this encourage people to wear a helmet?
Bicyclists and pedestrians share the same paths. There is a law which states that bicyclists must give pedestrians an audible signal before overtaking or passing them. Nobody has done this yet. They could easily knock someone down when coming from behind at such a fast speed. Pedestrians shouldn’t have to worry about getting hurt by a biker.
I think bicyclists should read the bike laws before they ride their bikes. This way there will be safety to both bikers and pedestrians and can also prevent accidents from happening.
Jenny Yuen
UMass student
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Dear Editor,
Freshman commuters are a largely ignored minority here. It’s assumed that all freshmen will live on campus and most of them do. Everything done for freshmen is done with resident students in mind. What is there for commuters? I investigated this question and the answers were depressing. There is no official office for commuters. When I looked for one I was told to go to the RSO office, find a club I liked, and join it.
Unfortunately, most clubs meet at night when I’m already back home in Chicopee, Mass. and have little inclination to drive back. There are signs in the student union pointing to a commuter lounge that does not exist. I have searched endlessly for anything resembling commuter integration here and I have yet to find it.
Because of this lack of commuter integration, I know very few people on campus. The few people I do know are former high school classmates. I have no one who I can call a friend here. The University of Massachusetts needs to be commuter-friendly, especially if there is going to be an option for freshmen to commute. My freshmen year has already been ruined, but it’s not too late to save someone else’s.
Jessica Brown
UMass student
