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Senate hosts LITS, updates on Gloria Anzaldúa LLC and election results

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Senate hosts LITS, updates on Gloria Anzaldúa LLC and election results

Senate opened on April 18 with a reading of the land acknowledgment, followed by welcoming administrative staff of the Library, Information and Technology Services to the floor. The presentation, comprised of both general information and answers to the senators’ questions, was given by eight members of the LITS staff — Alex Wirth-Cauchon, the chief information officer and executive director of LITS; Debbie Richards, the head of archives and special collections; Margaret (Peggie) Stevens, associate director of budgets, contracts and procurement; Krista Denno Bader, strategic operations manager and summit change management lead; Marie DiRuzza, director of campus technology and media services; Rachel Smith, director of discovery and access; Chrissa Lindahl, director of research and instructional support; and David Powicki, director of technology infrastructure and systems support.

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Trader Joe’s workers in Hadley organize for national contract

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Trader Joe’s workers in Hadley organize for national contract

Nine months after successfully unionizing at a store location in Hadley, Massachusetts, the Trader Joe’s United independent labor union has continued to advocate for workers’ rights. Since becoming the first Trader Joe’s location to have a formally recognized union following a 45-31 employee vote last July, the Hadley store and its workers have served as key players in the ongoing effort to negotiate a national contract between Trader Joe’s and the workers at its over 500 locations.

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MHC hosts Professor George DeMartino for economics talk

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MHC hosts Professor George DeMartino for economics talk

Throughout the 20th century, the field of professional economics has had an increasingly influential role within the realm of policymaking. Now, professor and scholar George DeMartino says it may be time for economists to step back.

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MoZone’s hosts third annual More Than An Ally Week

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MoZone’s hosts third annual More Than An Ally Week

Mount Holyoke’s More Than An Ally Week made its third annual return this month, with this year’s theme designated as “Practicing Accompliceship Within & Beyond the Gates.” This theme centers around providing the College’s community with the tools and skills necessary for practicing accompliceship, which can be actualized when they leave the College, hence the title including “beyond the gates.”

Internet Archive lawsuit loss may determine digital libraries’ future

Internet Archive lawsuit loss may determine digital libraries’ future

The online lending library Internet Archive, which has operated for over twenty-six years out of San Francisco, lost a multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit on March 24 against a coalition of major publishing houses. The publishing houses sued in June 2020 over the Internet Archive’s digital distribution of copyrighted books. The case was tried in the Southern District Court of New York under Judge John G. Koeltl, who sided with the publishing houses.

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Senate hear E-Board speeches, ratifies All Campus Election results

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Senate hear E-Board speeches, ratifies All Campus Election results

On Tuesday, April 11, Senate began with a reading of the land acknowledgment and the agenda. It included E-Board updates, All Campus Elections ratification, updated guidelines from the Ways and Means Committee, speeches for Senate elections, town hall debriefs and open floor.

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Gloria Andalzúa LLC advocates for suitable living conditions

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Gloria Andalzúa LLC advocates for suitable living conditions

In response to sustained pest activity within their residence spaces, members of the Gloria Anzaldúa Living-Learning Community organized and released a statement on April 1 titled “Gloria’s Community Response to ‘Recent’ Events.” It outlines the living conditions they have faced, including having their LLC community placed on the same floor as the laundry, trash, trunk and boiler rooms. It also describes the continued inaction from administration towards removing the gnats, cockroaches and ants found on the residence floor.

Former President Donald Trump Indicted

Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons.
Former President Donald Trump, pictured above speaking at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona.

Bryn Healy ’24

News Editor

Former president Donald Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury on March 30, 2023, making him the first president or ex-president to be indicted for a crime. According to NBC News, Trump is expected to be arraigned in front of Justice Juan Merchan after surrendering to the Manhattan District Attorney (DA), the DA who brought the case against the president, on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. This indictment charges the former president with more than two dozen counts, according to The New York Times, including campaign finance violations connected with Trump’s hush-money payment towards pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels. 

In 2016, Trump hired Michael Cohen to pay off Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair. Trump and his organization allegedly falsely classified the money they paid and attempted to cover the situation up according to The New York Times. The specifics of the more than two dozen charges are not known at this time.

Michael Cohen, the former president’s former lawyer,  was sentenced to 3 years in prison for the same payment in 2018. At the time, according to NBC, Cohen blamed Trump and his loyalty to the man for causing him to “choose darkness over light.”

Assistant Professor of Politics Joanna Wuest explained the significance of this moment. “When Richard Nixon’s aides were indicted in 1974 and a grand jury considered indicting the president himself, it wasn’t long before the president resigned from office, essentially disappearing from national party leadership.”

“With Trump, it remains very possible that the indictment might benefit him politically on the 2024 campaign trail,” Wuest continued, “given the former president’s consistent claims that corrupt elites are attempting to stifle his so-called populist struggle for power.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence released a statement, as described by the Hill. “The unprecedented indictment of a former president of the United States on a campaign finance issue is an outrage. And it appears to millions of Americans to be nothing more than a political prosecution that’s driven by a prosecutor who literally ran for office on a pledge to indict the former president.”

“Well, we’re in uncharted waters here, and there’s still a lot we don’t know,” Adam Hilton, a Mount Holyoke assistant professor of politics, explained. “Never before has a former U.S. president been indicted on criminal charges, and the details of the charges have yet to be unsealed. But, whatever the merits of this particular case, and there are additional, likely more serious indictments pending, the indictment marks a historic turning point in American politics. Even before the Trump presidency, the U.S. constitutional regime has been beset by rule-bending and norm-breaking behavior. Now, another norm has been broken. What we don’t know yet is whether this breach of tradition will further erode the stability of our democracy or potentially help strengthen it.”

Trump’s attorneys released a statement announcing that they plan to fight the indictment in court. The former president, according to The Guardian, is still under three other legal investigations and a defamation trial. Being indicted has no impact on Trump’s ability to run in the 2024 presidential election as a candidate.

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