AS Review - March 07, 2011

3. 7. 11 V. 26 #20 PHOTOS 7 Uniting to support higher education, students send message to lawmakers.

5 AS faces budget deficit; cuts to programs and services likely.

4 Filing period opens for AS elections.

10 • asreview.as.wwu.edu

Mixed nuts from page 7 in Fairhaven who described his own artistic upbringing as “non-traditional.” Emtman has been taking photos for more than four years and currently works as the news and public affairs director for KUGS FM. “From what I’ve seen so far, it’s amazing and humbling to see some of the stuff that other people in the class have come up with,” said Emtman.

McRae hopes the exhibition will bring more attention to the department and its resources.

“It’s nice to see something happening here in the art building that will exhibit our work to others in the program and throughout campus,” said McRae. “Hopefully we can show that you can have a well-conceived and successful exhibition right here in the B Gallery.”

Western web from page 9 Communication. Keep in mind however, that because Courserank is young, there are few reviews. COMM 339 is the most popular course based on only three ratings.

The beauty of Courserank is that it allows students to write reviews anonymously, which sometimes provides a much better description of a class than the sterile descriptions provided by Classfinder. The are reviews written by students for students, and many of them are definitely not sugar-coated.

“Waste of time class. He was always racing through the material so he could get to lunch,” reads a scathing review of a Geology 101 professor. “I didn’t even have time to take notes!

Then he went on to make the tests as hard as he possibly could, when the lectures were so breezy.

It was a strange combination.”

However, the reviews are not always negative and those highlighting good professors are almost as common as those highlighting bad ones.

“This class is perfect for anyone who is trying to decide if they want to be news-ed or PR tracked.

You really get a sense of what PR is,” reads a review of an Introduction to Public Relations course. “This class helped me decide to be a PR major.”

Although Courserank website is still in its infancy, if more students register and write reviews, it may soon become a go-to source for those in search of the perfect class schedule.

NEWS>

Western’s Circle K chapter awarded Student group promotes leadership, community service

Kelly Sullivan/ The AS Review

The Western chapter of Circle K International, a collegiate volunteer service club

dedicated to improving communities around the globe, was recognized for their outstanding efforts at this year’s Pacific Northwest Circle K International District Convention, which took place in Yakima from Feb. 18-20. The club won four different awards, including an outstanding club Graphic courtesy of Victoria Do achievement award, which is given to the chapter that excels in membership retention, service hours logged and overall group progress.

Associated Students Club Coordinator Mikaela Trott said that Circle K has been incredibly involved on campus, and she constantly sees them in the Student Activities Center planning activities.

The club was also given an award for best scrapbook, which is maintained by their historian Marie Serica. The club’s secretary Victoria Do won an outstanding club secretary award and the Carthage-Pullman award for her dedication and enthusiasm to community service. “[The Carthage-Pullman award] is the best award you can get,” said club Co-President Chris Woo. The award is given to the most energetic Circle K member who provides leadership and is involved in their community through volunteering.

Do said she had no idea she was going to win.

“I’m happy of course but definitely really surprised,” she said.

While listening to a convention speaker detail the award recipient’s qualities before announcing who had won, Do said she did not think the speaker was actually talking about her.

“It feels good that people notice the little things, which are what I do to keep the club together,” Do said. She said that the awards indicate that Western’s

Circle K chapter is working well as a group. It also encourages the younger members to continue and to make even better changes for next year.

The awards were chosen by a district board that represents Circle K chapters from over 25 schools throughout Canada, Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. During the convention, club members and officers took part in a series of workshops focused on improving leadership skills and community service projects.

Western’s Circle K chapter has between 25 and 30 active members, said Co-President Rachael Balbarona. Many of them are very passionate about community service, she said.

Balbarona said the club is a good way to promote volunteer work, and it provides students with information to get involved in community service.

“It’s an outlet for people to be exposed to the volunteer service,” she said.

Circle K International is the college-level version of the Key Club International and the Builders Club organizations found in grade schools. All are under the umbrella of the Kiwanis International organization. Circle K has more than 12,600 student members spread across 17 nations.

Western’s chapter does a variety of service activities around the community. Do was involved in Key Club in high school and said she knew she wanted to continue community service when she came to college. She said she enjoys much of the volunteer opportunities CKI provides.

“I like most of the projects that we’ve done,” Do said. In particular, Do said she enjoys Coffee And Sandwiches on Tuesdays, or C.A.S.T., which includes making sack lunches for homeless people in Bellingham and handing them out in the parking lot at the Interfaith Community Health Center.

Woo also enjoys C.A.S.T, which CKI members volunteer for twice a month. Woo said he feels giving back is very important.

“I just feel very fortunate,” Woo said. “I just feel like I owe the community something.” The club tries to organize at least one service project every week, he said.

March 7, 2011 • 11

Top 5 artists/albums 1) Iron & Wine/ Kiss Each Other Clean 2) Arcade Fire/ The Suburbs 3) Devotchka/ 100 Lovers 4) Sufjan Stevens/ The Age of Adz 5) Deerhunter/ Halcyon Digest Charts from Feb. 25-March18.

PHOTOS> Daniel Berman/ The AS Review

Planned Parenthood from page 6 Freshman Lisa Perdue said that even though Planned Parenthood does offer abortions, people are focusing too much on that facet of the organization and not on the real issue at hand.

“Because Planned Parenthood offers abortions, people on both sides of the argument ultimately take away from the aspects that are truly important by hyping it up with a controversial subject,” she said.

Congress has prohibited the use of government money on abortions, except in the cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. The bill, known as the Hyde Amendment, was enacted in the 1970s and since then Planned Parenthood has paid for its abortion services independently.

“People take [resources at Planned Parenthood] for granted because no one in our generation knows what it’s like to live without that as an option.”

-Lauren Jones

Vox: Voices for Planned Parenthood

Students walk beneath a soggy Wilson Hall overhang Wednesday, March 2.

Associated Students LGBTA Assistant Coordinator Jordan Deal promoting the LGBTA Drag Show Thursday, March 3.

Many conservatives and opponents of Planned Parenthood have chosen to ignore this fact, and continue encouraging the funding cuts. According to Perdue, the opposition is also ignoring the fact that it is a women’s reproductive health issue.

“I think the proposed cut of funding towards Planned Parenthood is a devastating blow to all Americans, no matter what their political ideology or spiritual affiliation,” she said.

The federal funding given to Planned Parenthood has historically been used to support the family planning and sex education components of the organization. According to Planned Parenthood, 1 in 5 women have been to one of their clinics and nearly 3 million women, men and teens depend on their basic care.

Perdue says that her own personal connections to Planned Parenthood have nothing to do with her argument or opinions, but rather her duty as a human being.

“I could die a virgin, never have need for a cancer screening, never have any need for any Planned Parenthood services,” she said. “But that does not mean hundreds of thousands of other citizens do not benefit from it. Even if I never need their services, I beg my government to tax me so that it can be funded.”

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PHOTOS> Palisades and Everyone, Come Inside! at the Underground Coffeehouse, March 2.

Photos by Joe Rudko/ The AS Review

ABOVE: Everyone, Come Inside! played their debut show, opening for Palisades at the Underground Coffeehouse, March 2. (Photos from left) Guitarist Jake Heinen displays a bloody thumb following the show; Bassist Toby Reif smiles after an exceptionally good set; and drummer Alex Ferrin starts packing his gear.

RIGHT: (Photos from left) Palisades during the free show in the coffeehouse; drummer Noah Magen of Palisades.

PHOTOS> The Naked Truth on Stereotypes, Februar y 28. Presented by the AS Ethnic Student Center.

FAR LEFT: Western senior Kendra Smith performing during The Naked Truth on Stereotypes on February 28 in the Old Main Theater.

LEFT: Western student Deng Duot exits the stage after speaking during the event.

Photos by Daniel Berman/ The AS Review

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Volume 26 Number 20 ▪ March 7, 2011

NEWS 4

ELECTION FILING TIME! Quite possibly the most wonderful time of the year.

5

AS FACING BUDGET CUTS Board members and directors look for ways to save money, while maintaining services and programs for students.

10 CIRCLE K WINS AWARDS

Western chapter of international

community service organization

receives recognition at district convention.

FEATURES 6

PLANNED PARENTHOOD FACES FEDERAL FUNDING CUTS Controversy over political opposition to sexual health care services.

7 WESTERN-SPECIFIC WEBSITES

We check out Likealittle.com and Courserank.com.

EVENTS 3

EVENTS CALENDAR Look to your right.

7 MIXED NUTS

Photography and mixed media

show opens March 8 in Western’s B Gallery.

PHOTOS 7

RALLY TO RESTORE EDUCATION

12 GO UNDERGROUND!

NAKED TRUTH ON

STEREOTYPES Cover photo by Daniel Berman/ The AS Review

Editor in Chief

Assistant Editor

Events Editor

Lead Photographer

Evan Marczynski

Lindsay Kucera

Olena Rypich

Daniel Berman

Staff Writers

Photographer

Adviser

Matt Crowley • Kirsten O’Brien Chelsea Asplund • Kelly Sullivan

Joe Rudko

Jeff Bates

©2011 The AS Review is published most Mondays during the school year by the Associated Students of Western Washington University.

Submissions/Letters: The AS Review welcomes submissions and letters to the editor. Submissions include news stories, literary pieces, photography, visual art and anything else physically printable. E-mail material to as.review@wwu.edu, drop it off in the Viking Union at VU 411 or mail it to the address below. Submissions will be returned if you include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Letters to the editor need to be no more than 300 words and need to include your name and phone number. We reserve the right to make minor edits to the length and content of letters.

Ads/Calendar: The AS Review does not sell advertising space. Sorry. E-mail the Events Editor at as.pr@wwu.edu to get your event in the calendar.

taoofjournalism.com wanewscouncil.org

The AS Review: VU 411, 516 High Street, Bellingham, WA 98225 Phone: 360.650.6126 • Fax: 360.650.6507 • E-mail: as.review@wwu.edu Online: asreview.as.wwu.edu.

Making your life better, one page at a time.

EVENTS

March 7, 2011 • 3

Contact the Events Editor at as.pr@wwu.edu

MONDAY March 7

WEDNESDAY March 9

SATURDAY March 12

17th Annual Employee Arts & Crafts Show Viking Union 565 Opening reception 3-5 p.m.

Free

Semiahmoo Bay Beach Walk Semiahmoo Bay Meet at the Outdoor Center at 4 p.m.

Free

For more information, visit http://www.wwu.edu/ depts/artscraftsshow/

Come and enjoy an amazingly romantic late afternoon/early evening stroll on the sands of Semiahmoo’s tantalizing beaches. Or perhaps you would just like to sit and enjoy a relaxing picnic with that special someone, set beneath a beautiful setting sun over the great Pacific Northwest waters, whichever you choose, while the Great Blue Herons sore overhead, this is bound to be an amazing night to remember.

Website: http://outdoor.as.wwu.edu/excursions. php.

Whitewater Kayaking Weekend (continues on March 13) Skagit River Meet at Outdoor Center at 8 a.m. $50 Students, faculty and staff; $60 guests

Exibit runs Monday-Friday, March 7-11, 2011 Exhibit hours: March 7: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

March 8-10: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Friday, March 11: 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

GLOBAL GATHERINGS: American Slang: What’s up?

7 p.m., College Hall 131 Free Presentation you can participate in!

Come have some fun with us as we play games, share stories about our experiences learning informal English and “hang out.”

Have you ever been confused or embarrassed talking to your American friends? Is it o.k. to call your teacher “dude”?

How many slang meanings are there for “rock”?

TUESDAY March 8 Gayme Night 7-9 p.m., VU 464 Free Stressed studying for finals? Bring your friends and join the LGBTA in a fun night of games and space galore to hang out and relax.

Underground Coffeehouse Open Mic 7-10 p.m., Underground Coffeehouse Free

Don’t let the winter hold you back from riding rivers! The pre-trip meeting is really a Inuit-roll training in a swimming pool and will focus on basic skills. The trip will start on a slower section of the river and then hit some whitewater.

No experience necessary.

THURSDAY March 10 Picture My Commute Submissions accepted through March 18.

Combine creativity with your commute by bike, foot, bus or carpool and win! Contest is open to students, faculty and staff who submit photos of their non-drive-alone commute during winter quarter 2011. Winners will be announced the week of March 21. To apply, fill out the online form, and then submit your photo via e-mail. For additional information and online entry form go to http://www.wwu.edu/transportation/picture/

FRIDAY March 11 Pirates of Penzance March 11-12: 7:30 p.m.

March 13: 2 p.m.

PAC Mainstage Theater General Admission: $12 Seniors/Western faculty and staff: $10 Students: $8 Written by Arthur Sullivan & W.S. Gilbert Directed by Jim Lortz and David Meyer

Design by Kyle Marmesh/ AS Publicity Center

AS Spring Hiring>> More than 100 open jobs on campus!

Apply ONLINE at as.wwu.edu/employment from March 14 through April 10.

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NEWS>

Campus election season is upon us Filing for AS board candidates starts March 7

Kelly Sullivan/ The AS Review

The filing period for candidates running

Write for The AS Review!

Apply online at as.wwu.edu by clicking the “Apply Now” link on the left side of the Web page.

For more information, e-mail as.review@wwu.edu.

for the Associated Students Board of Directors in the AS elections opens on March 7 and goes through April 7 at 5 p.m., with substantial changes to campaign regulations concerning finances and promotions.

This year, AS Elections Coordinator Remy Levin has helped rewrite the entire election code. Many regulations from past years were removed to increase student engagement in the elections, Levin said.

The biggest change to the election code is the opportunity for candidates to receive public financing. Levin said campaigns generally cost between $100-150, with $150 being the maximum amount a candidate is allowed to spend. The new availability of outside funds will ease the financial burden for students who may not be able to afford the expense of running for office, he said.

Public financing will be given out in the form of refunds. The public funds can be spent by candidates on promotional materials such as T-shirts or posters, but they cannot be used to pay for food or labor. Candidates need to keep receipts of their purchases in order to receive any money.

The elections code requires all candidates to document their budgets. If they fail to produce evidence of their spending, they may receive steep

penalties through an elections grievance process, Levin said.

Vice President for Governmental Affairs Byron Starkey said fulfilling the requirement of obtaining 150 signatures from current Western students is the biggest challenge in the filing process. He recommended that candidates not wait until 5 p.m. on the evening of April 7, which is the deadline, to turn in their paperwork in case some of the student numbers are wrong or the signatures are not legible.

It’s also a good idea to turn the packet in with extra signatures.

“It’s a little daunting at first, but when you get down to it, it’s the easiest thing,” Starkey said.

Vice President for Student Life Jamin Agosti said that it’s possible to get all of the signatures in one day, although he doesn’t recommend doing that.

Good places to request signatures are in Red Square or in your classes, he said.

If you are going to ask for signatures in class, ask your professor ahead of time, Starkey said.

The other parts of the candidate application are pretty straightforward. It asks for your major and requires each candidate have at least a 2.0 GPA. A candidate statement, limited to 50 words or less, is also required. Starkey said writing the statement

Please see Elections on page 9

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: TUESDAY, MARCH 8

Banner design by Austin Jansen/ AS Publicity Center

March 7, 2011 • 5

NEWS>

Associated Students funding in the hole With a six-figure budget deficit, AS board members and directors face tough decisions

Kirsten O’Brien/ The AS Review

With an operating budget of more than $3 million, the dozens of offices and programs

operated by the Associated Students try to create a diverse and vibrant campus environment for everyone at Western. But with a $113,908 deficit in this year’s budget, the AS Board of Directors and the student managers of AS offices and programs are going through their budgets with a fine-tooth comb to eliminate, reduce or consolidate expenditures without sacrificing quality.

“Our first priority is protecting our core services,” said AS Vice President for Business and Operations Ben Brockman. “The first programs to go will be those that have the least impact on students.”

The six-figure deficit is a result of several factors.

The AS expected to receive $70,000 from the AS Bookstore this year, but because the bookstore had an increase in personnel costs, there was not enough money left over to go to AS, Brockman said.

In addition, the university is planning to increase an administrative assessment fee paid by Western departments such as athletics, on-campus housing services and the AS. Brockman said the university currently collects 4 percent of the revenue generated by those offices, and the planned 1 percent increase of the fee would mean $31,000 less for the AS to put toward its programs and services. Lastly, the AS started the year with a $19,800 deficit left over from last year.

Programs offered by the Underground Coffeehouse and ASP Films may be among the first services to see changes. Brianne Kumar, the AS personnel director, said in an e-mail that ASP Films will focus on hosting larger movie events, such as showing big-screen movies on the lawn outside the Communications Facility. The coffeehouse will see changes in its weekly concerts. Instead of having concerts on Fridays, which are not as well-attended as the concerts held on Wednesdays, the coffeehouse will offer more events like speed dating, comedy shows and trivia nights. Kumar added that these changes would better serve students and allow the extra money to be allocated elsewhere.

Brockman said that the AS examines how its

various programs and services spend their funds that all AS office managers are being asked to come through an assessment process called the Tactical up with plans to reduce their budgets by 7 percent.

Assessment Program, which is conducted by the AS He said that the goal is not to reduce services, but Structure and Program Advisory Committee. The to think of ways to restructure AS programs so they committee makes recommendations to program can still offer students quality events. directors on how to make their services more “We’re still providing the services, and they might effective and efficient with less money. be different services, but that doesn’t mean that the Brockman said that through the TAP process, quality is less,” he said. the committee is looking closely at the reduction or elimination of programs that do not serve a majority of students.

“My highest priority is to protect student services but to make them more efficient so that we can provide the same quality of services we do but at a lower cost,” he said.

The AS has a “rainy day” reserve account with more than half a million dollars that can sustain operations for one quarter, but Brockman said that using money from the reserves to fill the gap in the budget would only be a short term solution. The budget inefficiencies would just continue to absorb funds and further deplete the reserve money. With less in the reserves, it would be more difficult for the AS to respond to future events that may cause drops in revenue, such as decreased student enrollment that would then decrease the student fees that the AS depends on for funding.

“It is my personal goal to eliminate most, if not all, of this deficit for next year because it is not sustainable,” Brockman said. “Furthermore, if we don’t reduce the deficit this year, it’s not like the problem is going to get any better on its own. This would just be giving it to people in the future Photo illustration by Daniel Berman/ The AS Review to deal with, and it will be infinitely The AS board has asked program and office directors to develop more difficult for them to fix.” plans to cut their budgets by 7 percent.

AS President Colin Watrin said

D

6 • asreview.as.wwu.edu

FEATURE>

enying accessto sexual health care

by Chelsea Asplund/ The AS Review

On the corner of Ellis and York streets, the single floor building sits quietly on the block, unassuming, almost masked in its concrete surroundings. This is the Bellingham center of Mt. Baker Planned Parenthood, one of more than 800 Planned Parenthood health centers in the country.

But if hundreds of federal lawmakers have their way, this center and the others like it in the United States, will lose all federal funding due to budget cuts.

O

n Feb. 8, the U.S. House of Representatives proposed to cut all federal funding to Planned Parenthood, a totaled $75 million loss that would block the organization from any kind of government funding. The vote, which passed 240 to 185 on Feb. 18, is now taking the proposal to the Senate.

A second proposed cut is to the program Title X, created by President Richard Nixon in 1970 in hopes that by making birth control affordable, people could rise above poverty and better plan for their families. Since then, the federal funding has been used for services related to family planning such as birth control, cervical and breast cancer screenings, STD testing, counseling and sex education.

Vox: Voices for Planned Parenthood Coordinator Lauren Jones Photo by Daniel Berman/ The AS Review said this proposed cut will affect so many people who do not A sign showing support for Planned Parenthood outside the Mt. Baker Planned realize it, because this is a reproductive health issue.

Parenthood center in Bellingham.

But this, she said, if passed, could start a trend of many cuts to Jones, who has been an advocate for Sexual Awareness Center Coordinator Shawna come in the future.

“We’ve been provided with a lot of resources. We have access to Planned Parenthood since volunteering Leader said that Planned Parenthood provides resources that are valuable tools in any community, birth control, emergency contraception, a safe and legal abortion,” in high school, said she can remember becoming sexually active in high school and the potential cuts to funding will affect a lot of Jones said. “And people take that for granted because no one and feeling alone because no one people. in our generation knows what it’s like to live without that as an understood her.

“Planned Parenthood getting its funding cut option.”

Referring to that time as a “rebellious” is discouraging, because it is potentially one less If this proposal is passed, many people will know exactly stage, Jones said she felt unhealthy resource in our community. It’s definitely important what it’s like, with nearly 48 percent of Planned Parenthood to have a diverse set of resources in the community patients nationwide cut off from their health care source entirely, and needed understanding. It wasn’t until she joined Teen Council, a teen because people don’t always feel comfortable coming according to the center’s website. advocacy group run by Planned to one place or another.”

Jones said the public’s disinterest in this issue reflects the Parenthood, that Jones felt a sense of However, it is for its controversial abortion detachment from most political issues. belonging. service Planned Parenthood is most often criticized.

“I think people in general are becoming lazy. People are busy Since 1916, Planned Parenthood has and they’re tired and they’re stressed and people are becoming Please see Planned Parenthood offered a variety of services, 97 percent passive,” Jones said. “For that reason, the only people whose on page 11 of which is preventative. voices are being heard in the legislature are extremist views.”

March 7, 2011 • 7

EVENT>

A tasty blend of art in the B Gallery Mixed Nuts opens March 8; reception on March 10 Matt Crowley/ The AS Review

Editor’s note (full disclosure): Our staff photographer Joe Rudko is a contributor to this exhibit. artists’ work to new forms and subjects.

Opening March 8, the Mixed Nuts art Emtman described his work as a look exhibition will allow students to see the work of some of Western’s best artists. The gallery opens at 9 at both family and socially prescribed a.m., and the show will run Monday through Friday identities, whereas McRae chose to until March 16. An opening reception is planned for examine the “presence of others, as well as my own existence in this world, via objects Thursday, March 10 from 4 to 7 p.m. in space.”

The exhibition is part of professor Garth While each project has seen a number Amundson’s Art 490 class, Advanced Photography, of changes throughout the course of but will explore multiple mediums, from portraiture the quarter, each artist submitted their to sculptures to portraits of sculptures. Featured proposals at the beginning of the quarter. in the exhibition will be student artists Marybeth The lack of theme or interconnection Coghill, Teresa Grasseschi, Jeff Emtman, Laurel between the pieces makes for a more Kam, Meri Rose Ekberg, Heidi Killings, Joe Rudko, diverse show, hence the title “Mixed Nuts.”

Alyssa Putnam, Anna Zuck and Adam McRae. Zuck added that the installation itself “It is a great mixture of artists, making a wide and the way each work is arranged in variety of work, which sparks interesting class relation to one another would add an discussions and brings new inspirations to each interesting element to the exhibition. other,” said McRae. Emtman described the corresponding Although the exhibition is tied to the class, the class as a great experience, especially projects involved are more freeform and more the for a fine arts and journalism student results of what the students have learned up to this point in the art program, not just in one class. The Please see Mixed Nuts on page 10 show also lacks an overriding theme, opening the

Design by Heidi Killings & Marybeth Coghill

PHOTOS> Rally to Restore Education, March 1. Organized by Western Votes.

A small group of students marched from the Peforming Arts Center plaza to Western President Bruce Shepard’s office. However, when they arrived Shepard was down in Olympia.

Sophomores Phil Pardue (left) and Felicia Drone, and freshman Riley Wilmot (behind) rally in support of funding to higher education.

Photos by Daniel Berman/ The AS Review

8 • asreview.as.wwu.edu

FEATURE>

The World Wide

Western-specific Web Two new websites update old ideas to appeal to students.

Likealittle.com: Missed connections 2.0 Matt Crowley/ The AS Review

In the same way that Facebook was MySpace for college students (at least at one point), missed connections website LikeALittle.com has become the alternative to Craigslist, allowing secret admirers to post campus-specific love notes in one convenient place.

Created in October by a trio of Stanford students, LikeALittle offers over 450 campuses for students across the country to find, read and post missed connections of their own. Western’s page, at LikeALittle.com/wwu, is currently generating around a dozen posts per day, taking a noticeable chunk out of Craigslist’s own missed connections section.

But the appeal of LikeALittle goes further than the individual campus pages. While, like most missed connections websites, LikeALittle provides complete anonymity, assigning a random fruit name to each

poster, it offers multiple ways to get in touch with others compared to the somewhat archaic design of Craigslist.

The layout of the site marks it as the Facebook of missed connections. Posts are organized on the main page, where, almost like a Live Feed, users can like or comment on them. There is also the option of signing up for an account, allowing posters to send and receive private messages and be notified via phone or e-mail whenever someone messages them.

LikeALittle offers a Facebook-esque chat box as well that allows users to instantly message other users who are online at the same time.

Users also have the option of filtering posts, meaning users can enter in their gender, hair color and, if they want to, a specific location in order to see if anyone has written about them. That way, students spend more time reading posts than sifting through them.

Because most missed connections revolve around public locations, like buses, concerts and malls,

packed college campuses like Western’s are the perfect place for passing glances and longing stares to get noticed, only to surface online a few hours, or minutes, later. LikeALittle’s testimonial page offers several examples of innocent posts turning into full-blown relationships, and shows that missed connections are less of a curiosity and more of a sign of the times.

In our technology-driven world, where individuals send hundreds of text messages a day and hardly an hour passes without a quick glance to see if anyone has posted on your Facebook wall, face-to-face contact can seem almost nostalgic.

LikeALittle stands out in its ability to combine the immediateness of the modern world with the basic human interaction many of us miss out on every day. In a way, it’s a solution: the lack of social skills that might keep someone from approaching someone in person is exactly the sort of thing that missed connections was born from. At the same

>>

Photo illustration by Joe Rudko/ The AS Review

>>

time, LikeALittle is also the embodiment of what missed connections sites are trying to combat.

While many missed connections posts may be innocent, simply a way to say, “Hey good lookin’,” just as many are legitimate love notes from secret admirers, the type of fare that existed in physical form in elementary and middle school, back before “tweet” was a verb and anyone knew who Mark Zuckerberg was. These missed connections are the anonymous scrap paper love notes you found in your locker, made for the now.

It’s hard to tell whether society will become more

Courserank.com: Finding the perfect class Kirsten O’Brien/ The AS Review

The official description of Math 107, Math Reasoning & Applications, sounds very different from a student written definition on Courserank.com. The course description according to Classfinder reads like a non-math major’s worst nightmare, “Reading quantitative information, reasoning, personal finance, data display, summary, and assessing risk.”

The definition according to Courserank?: “Math for people who hate math. It was easy. I never went to class and pulled a B.” Tailored specifically to Western, Courserank was launched in February of this year. Much like Ratemyprofessor.com, students can leave and read

March 7, 2011 • 9

or less inclined to invest just as much of their lives online as they do offline, whether Facebook will still be as popular in five years or if Twitter will continue to be the global phenomenon it is today. What we do know is that technological innovations will keep coming, and if we aren’t on Facebook, we’ll find another site to vent our desires and frustrations.

Whether it’s LikeALittle or some far-off future missed connections aggregator, there will still be outlets for us to take our “human” interactions off our laptops and smartphones and into the real world.

Screen grab from courserank.com

feedback about various courses and professors. But unlike Ratemyprofessor, Courserank also allows students to design mock class schedules, map their academic year with a planner, compare courses, view grade distributions and post questions about courses in a forum area. On the site, students can also view statistics on the highest-rated courses, the most popular courses and the courses with the most reviews.

Courserank is owned by an online textbook rental company called Chegg. There are more than 60 registered Western users on Courserank, and around 50 reviews. According to the site, the highest-rated course is Journalism 350, Mass Media Law, while the most popular course is Communications 339, Practicum in Applied

Please see Western web on page 10

Elections from page 4 can be a challenge, and usually requires careful editing.

“That’s the only difficult part because you want to make a statement that students actually want to read and not get bored,” Starkey said.

There are also other changes to the election process this year. The timeline for the student initiative procedure was extended until the end of the filing period on April 7 for board candidates. This procedure allows students to place initiatives on the election ballot. An example of this was the Green Energy Fee enacted in 2010, which charges students a percredit fee that goes toward funding student-run sustainability projects on campus. The filing period for ballot initiatives has been open since the start of winter quarter.

Levin said the procedure was revised to allow students more time to campaign for initiatives, which require 675 signatures to make it onto the ballot. Previously, students had only 21 days to promote initiatives.

Another extension was given to candidates who want to create websites and Facebook pages for their campaigns. Candidates can now create these at the beginning of the filing period, instead of waiting until the start of the elections.

Levin recommends that anyone interested in running for office should do so. He said even if you don’t win, you will acquire many skills, such as campaigning and selling yourself, that can be used later in life.

Going through the campaign process is something that can be personally beneficial, as well as being a good way to make an impact on the campus community, Levin said.

He said that those who do decide to run to should read the election code very carefully, particularly section one and clauses one through five in section three. The code is available online at gov.as.wwu.edu.

Students who plan on running need to pick up an elections packet in Viking Union 504.

Although obtaining 150 student’s signatures may seem daunting, past candidates say it’s worth the effort.

“It can be scary at first, but when you get into the process it’s a lot of fun,” Starkey said.

“Stressful, but fun,” Agosti added. Starkey agreed. “You have to put a lot of time into running, but it’s still worth the experience.”