Ne w s p a p e r o f Wa l l a Wa l l a U n i v e r s i t y
Collegian The
Volume 102 | Issue 17
Diversity Council Report pg. 3
“It’s been clinked!” - Kyra GreyEyes, Creative Director of The Collegian
March 1, 2018
Editor’s Note | Collegian Wisdom | Senate | Jobs | Diversity Council | Religion | Media+Tech | Science | Feature | Week in Forecast | Food | Culture | Outdoors | Opinion | Poll
CENSORSHIP OF STUDENT NEWSPAPERS: PROTECTING OUR VALUES OR SILENCING OUR VOICES?
Last Things First college place, wa | walla walla university
| March 2018 Issue 17
First Class Baby By Meghann Heinrich I love to chat. If given the choice between sitting in silence and striking up a conversation, I will invariably choose the latter. Just this last week I stayed on the 14th floor of a hotel, an experience which presented me with numerous elevator conversation opportunities, most of which I botched by failing to stay succinct—a frequent and incurable affliction. In one such instance, a young man feigned interest in my story only to rudely cut me off when he exited at the 5th floor, leaving me yelling, “Okay, well I guess I’ll tell you later—maybe we can ride the elevator again sometime!” As you can see, elevators are not my preferred chit-chat location; I need something with a little more longevity. Airplanes, on the other hand, are beyond ideal.
Hey Thanks! “Hey thanks D2L, I never feel more alive than when I am checking my grades at week 8.” “Hey thanks Red Gerard for providing substantial evidence to the theory that binge watching Netflix the night before a stressful exam might be the way to go.” “Hey thanks Walla Walla weather for stealing our dreams of warmer weather, you put the brrrrr in burrrrrglary.”
My sister and I flew home for Christmas break to avoid icy road drama. I’ve alluded to this incident before, so for my loyal readers (I’m looking at you, Mom), I’ll fast forward a smidge. Through a number of happy accidents, we were re-booked with first class tickets home the following day. When we boarded the plane, I saw my assigned seat was next to a very nice-looking older man with a friendly grandpa vibe. I plunked down in my seat, taking pictures to chronicle my first-class experience and flaunting my first-class ticket to all the poor saps headed back to economy section. This man introduced himself as “Vic,” and I happily shook his hand and introduced myself. He seemed very amiable; I couldn’t believe my luck! Here I was, sitting next to a man who was the defi-
nition of a captive audience for the next three hours—I could talk all I wanted! We were fast friends before the flight attendants could finish their synchronized safety dance. I’m just going to preface what happened next with this statement: first class is the best. My buddy Vic turned out to be quite the chatterbox in his own right and, before I knew what was happening, I was sucked into a two-hour long story that defied all logic and good reason. It turns out good ol’ Vic has done some stuff. He devoted seven years of his life to getting women’s ski jumping into the Olympics. His tale of how it came about took more unexpected twists and turns than a freshman picking a major. It went from befriending Wall Street tycoons, to delivering a gift basket to
Verbatim I would like to apologize for one of the verbatims that was printed in last week’s Collegian. The verbatim read, “Wow, you’re really good at being gay.” For context, this particular verbatim was submitted last-minute by a member of the LGBTQ+ community who had been joking privately with Dean Scott Rae. However, for many other readers there was nothing funny about the verbatim. It was published without context and made many individuals feel as if they were nothing more than a joke or a stereotype. As editor-in-chief, I failed to take these perspectives into account and allowed the quote to be published without informing the backpage editor, Meghann Heinrich, or the ASWWU sponsor, Hilary Catlett. I take full responsibility for this mistake, and I will strive to do better in the future so that no student or group on campus feels marginalized in the pages of The Collegian.
Vladimir Putin, to cold-calling the New York Times to pitch (and get) stories written about the athletes, to suing Canada. At one point my sister looked back to see me and this nice old man weeping when we finally got to the part where the women were standing on the podium at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. After that story, Vic gave me his card so I could email him and get the documents that would later verify every unlikely circumstance he had just told me regarding the path to the Olympics for women’s ski jumping. He also told me about one time when he read a celebrity memoir and liked it so much he found the man’s address and wrote him a letter telling him how much he liked it, to which the celebrity replied in kind. I can’t reveal the icon’s name, but I can tell you he is America’s
Sweetheart and the voice of Woody in the beloved Toy Story movies. When we landed, my sister and I had a considerable layover before our next flight, during which dear Vic felt obligated to walk us to a nice restaurant and give us tips on the best places in the airport to hang out semi-comfortably. He then shook our hands and walked away, leaving me stunned and under the impression that I want to fly first-class more often because 1) the snacks are way better and 2) who knows how many Vics there are to meet up there in first class.
Shocking I forgot to pay my electricity bill!
Wow...
These are dark times.
Verbatim this week will be next to the Editor’s note on page 2. Daniella Silva, Editor-in-Chief Email your faculty verbatim or thank yous to meghann.heinrich@wallawalla.edu to be featured!
© 2018 KYRA GREYEYES