COVID-19 booster offered to students via shuttle service

COVID-19 booster offered to students via shuttle service

The Division of Student Life recently announced that Mount Holyoke will be providing shuttles to the University of Massachusetts Amherst COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic. The statement also provided updates to its shuttle service to a CVS in Chicopee, Massachusetts, for eligible students to receive a bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccination. The UMass shuttle will run every Thursday and Friday through Nov. 17 and 18, respectively. The CVS shuttle will run every Wednesday and Sunday through Nov. 13 and 16 respectively.

MHC students prepare for midterm elections

MHC students prepare for midterm elections

With less than a month until the Nov. 8 midterm elections, Mount Holyoke students have started preparing to vote in pivotal elections. All House seats are up for election, as well as 35 of 100 Senate seats. 36 states will also be electing governors according to Ballotpedia.

Biden administration extends Public Loan Service Forgiveness program

Biden administration extends Public Loan Service Forgiveness program

College graduates previously employed in public service are getting a break this month. The Biden administration and Federal Student Aid office announced that the ongoing Public Service Loan Forgiveness program will extend its services to previously-ineligible borrowers. The deadline for this small expansion is Oct. 31.

Student Financial Services begins new counseling initiative

Student Financial Services begins new counseling initiative

The executive director of Student Financial Services, Tayler Kreutter, recently announced in an email to the College community that Mount Holyoke College students would each be assigned a financial counselor. The email, personalized for each student, notified them of their respective counselor’s name and email address.

Mount Holyoke to end mask mandate on Oct. 14

Mount Holyoke to end mask mandate on Oct. 14

The Oct. 5 MHC This Week email to the College community included a letter from Interim President Beverly Daniel Tatum which stated that the campuswide mask mandate will end “at the close of business on Oct. 14.”

Mount Holyoke students speak about the effects of Hurricane Ian

Mount Holyoke students speak about the effects of Hurricane Ian

On Sept. 28, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida, entering a three-way tie for the state’s fourth-strongest hurricane, according to The Washington Post. The hurricane’s 155 mph winds battered the Florida coast and caused massive flooding in southwest and central Florida cities, according to the BBC.

Mount Holyoke Residential Life student workers file for unionization

Mount Holyoke Residential Life student workers file for unionization

On Sept. 28, 2022, Mount Holyoke College’s residential advisors and fellows filed for union recognition with United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1459. As explained by the Mount Holyoke Collective, a campus group fighting for change for RAs and RFs, the roles of Residential Life student leaders have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as expectations fluctuate the group wants to ensure they have sufficient power to continue advocating for themselves.

Campus mask mandate extended without end date due to high transmission

Campus mask mandate extended without end date due to high transmission

In a Sept. 28 MHC This Week: Mount Holyoke College Updates email to the community, the College announced that it would be extending its on-campus mask mandate. The news was delivered just two days before the mandate was scheduled to end, and does not cite an end date.

Trump accused of fraud by New York Attorney General in lawsuit

Trump accused of fraud by New York Attorney General in lawsuit

On Wednesday, Sept. 21, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed an extensive lawsuit accusing former President Donald Trump of “overvaluing his assets by billions of dollars,” The New York Times reported. James is suing the family-run Trump Organization, as well as Trump’s three eldest children, Ivanka, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. 

Railroad strike averted, but travel plans derailed for many passengers

Photo by Ali Meizels ’23.
Amtrak trains travel to and from Union Station – pictured above – in Springfield, Massachusetts.

By Gillian Petrarca ’23

Staff Writer

The possibility of a railroad strike last weekend affected many students’ travel. Railroad workers from 12 labor unions across the country, such as the National Carriers’ Conference Committee and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, reached a stalemate in the bargaining of a new contract and were set to strike on Friday Sept. 16. 

The main grievance for union members was paid sick leave. The workers were bargaining for 15 days of paid sick leave to be granted on a points-system policy. Management was hesitant to bargain on these issues, according to National Public Radio. 

“We’re in a time when a lot of people have moved to remote work — so paid sick leave and job flexibility [are] becoming important,” Professor and Chair of Economics and labor economist Michael Robinson said. 

In preparation for the strike, many Amtrak locations canceled trips. Arianna Ortiz Tencio ’23 was set to take a trip to Boston for the weekend when her train was canceled. “It was so frustrating, and the craziest part is that I never got an email about it. Only [my friend] did,” Tenicio said. Tenicio filed for a refund and was issued a refund fairly quickly, “But … they weren’t automatically issued, you had to go into the website and fill out your information. … I feel bad that the railroad workers have to go on strike in general,” Tenicio said. 

The strike was averted by President Biden’s intervention when he helped negotiate a deal which would give railroad workers “some number of unpaid sick days,” as well as the uncontested ability to attend medical appointments, according to LaborNotes. The union vote on this contract is set for November.