Whitman Pioneer - Fall 2009 Issue 3

Varsity Soccer

A GREEN REPORT CARD FOR WHITMAN: Why

How environmentally-friendly is Whitman, really?

teams keep the ball rolling

SPORTS, page 12

Mac OS 10.6 only rates a

4.5

find out in this week’s FE ATURE , page 8

OPINION, page 7

WHITMAN COLLEGE Walla Walla, WA Volume CXXV / Issue 3 whitmanpioneer.com September 24, 2009

ASWC elects new senators First-years cast ballots, new amendment allows seniors to vote

by JOSH GOODMAN Associate News Editor

Bullion

‘Last Town’ author speaks

New first-year senators: Nathan Abrams, Calvin Atkins, Alex Brott and Autumn Knutson Amendment to allow seniors a vote in executive elections: Passed

First-year Calvin Atkins walked briskly across Ankeny to the ASWC offices in Reid to learn his fate in Monday’s senate elections. For him, the news was good:

32% NO

68%

YES

empowering community

by RACHEL ALEXANDER Staff Reporter

I

f you ask a typical Whitman student how they participate in the political process, they’ll probably tell you that they vote. Voting seems a fairly simple and straightforward way of influencing government, but what if the candidates don’t speak your language, you can’t read the ballot and no one’s talking about the issues that matter to you? With these questions in mind, Whitman junior Ariel Ruiz and senior Pedro Galvao organized a forum for the Latino community in Walla Walla to discuss issues surrounding Latino voting.

“The Latino voice isn’t heard,” said Galvao.

According to him, Latinos are 20 percent of Walla Walla’s population, but cast only 2 percent of the votes.

“It’s important to change this, because there’s a lot of power in participation,” he said.

The forum was held on Sunday, Sept. 20, at St. Patrick’s church, the only church in Walla Walla that offers services in Spanish. About 150 members of the community attended and participated in a roundtable discussion of issues facing the Latino community.

Originally, four Latino politicians from eastern Washington were scheduled to come, but all canceled at the last minute due to emergency conflicts.

“They think ‘Latinos don’t

vote, so maybe change isn’t important to them,’” said Refugio Reyes, advisor for Walla Walla High School’s Club Latino. “If you don’t vote, you won’t be a priority.”

Instead of hearing from Latino politicians, community members spoke about the obstacles facing Latinos who want to vote. Several people said that they would vote if they could access voting materials in Spanish.

“Everything comes down to the fact that we lack information,” said sophomore Aaron Aguilar, president of Whitman’s Club Latino.

Galvao and Ruiz are trying to combat this lack of information. They are currently organizing a debate between Laura Grant and Terry Nealey, the candidates for the 16th district’s seat in the state House of Representatives. The event is scheduled to be held on the weekend of Oct. 17 and 18 and will be translated into Spanish.

For many people at the meeting, voting goes handin-hand with solving other challenges facing the Latino community.

“Education is one of the most important things,” said Imelda Rovoles, a Walla Walla resident.

However, access to higher education for Latinos is often limited, since undocumented students are usually ineligible for financial aid.

“Whitman offers aid to undocumented immigrants, but the majority of schools don’t do this,” said Aguilar. The VOTE , page 2

I N

JOEY KERN ‘13, Columnist, page 6

Should seniors have a vote?

Whitman said: Chart 1

Voting key to

Staff Reporter

“Rushing a fraternity is an experience steeped in tradition and possibility that has no substitute at Whitman.”

“I thought turnout was, by Whitman standards, good, but I wouldn’t call it a knockout category,” said sophomore Oversight Chair Jack MacNichol. “I would love to see numbers more like 80 percent rather than 30.47 percent [for the amendment] or 64.50 percent [for first-year senators].”

Voting this year used a new software, which sped up the results process.

“The results came through pretty clear,” MacNichol said. “About five minutes after the polls closed, [we received] ELECTIONS, page 3

Students rally for Latino voice

by LEA NEGRIN “Are you writing a sequel?” first-year Owen Lowry asked Thomas Mullen, author of “The Last Town On Earth,” during a lecture on Monday, Sept. 21, in Cordiner Hall.

“The Last Town On Earth” was the assigned summer reading for the class of 2013. The novel is about moral dilemmas that arise when the fictional logging town of Commonwealth, Wash., decides to quarantine itself in an effort to avoid the Spanish flu of 1918.

Due to the nature of his story, many were curious about Mullen’s reaction to the outbreak of swine flu. Many firstyear students, after reading the novel, became rather concerned when receiving the eerily related news that those who become sick this school year will be “quarantined” to their room and that 40 percent are expected to become ill.

In an interview with The Pioneer prior to the lecture, Mullen joked, “Then my next book is about the great depression and I wrote that when we were having a strong economy and now things have gone south, so my editor thinks I’m psychic. It’s weird.”

At the lecture, Mullen addressed how the idea came to him for the novel and took questions.

“Did you intend to make a specific argument with your novel?”

“What was your favorite part to write?”

“The book was really heavy and a lot of people die. Was it difficult to put your characters through all that?”

Mullen’s response to the majority of questions about the novel was that the book could be interpreted in many different ways. He gave neither a direct “yes” nor “no” when asked if the book was meant to elicit a specific emotion.

As “The Last Town On Earth” is Mullen’s first novel, the author was interested in others’ opinions of his book and very excited about its success.

“Just having the book read is cool,” he said.

As a student at Oberlin College, Mullen majored in English and history. He said he wanted to be a novelist for as MULLEN, page 2

he will be on ASWC’s Finance Committee.

“It was kind of like relief,” he said. “I could see the election going any way. I was talking with a lot of the other candidates, and we were thinking of reasons why any person could get elected.”

Also elected as first-year senators were Autumn Knutson, Nathan Abrams and Alex Brott. In addition, the entire student body voted to allow outgoing seniors to vote in executive elections.

The election is being regarded as a success.

“If the ski team comes back, they’re going to have to get a new name.”

PETER RICHARDS ‘10, Varsity Nordic improv group member, page 4

T H I S

Gold Walla Walla Pedi-Power employee Cori Andriola ‘12 stands with one of the signature pedicabs. Pedi-Power’s tours of art at Whitman, wine country and historic Walla Walla homes come to an end this weekend when the three-year-old company puts on the breaks.

So long, pedicab

by MAGGIE ALLEN Staff Reporter The familiar sight of Walla Walla tourists being led around by a cycling enthusiast will soon become an image of the past.

Walla Walla Pedi-Power, in operation since June 2006, will be shutting down this weekend due to financial problems.

“It has not made any money, and this year has been worst than the previous years,” said Ken Paine, owner of Walla Walla Pedi-Power. “We were right on the edge of maybe continuing, so this has been a really bad year and we have lost

a lot of money.”

“It had been doing well, but with the recession, sales have fallen dramatically,” said Cori Andriola, sophomore and Pedicab employee.

Pedi-Power offered tours of downtown Walla Walla, art at Whitman, historic homes around North Hall and Palouse and First Street and winery tours.

The company also made it a point to hire Whitman students. According to Andriola, Paine, who is an analyst for Whitman, founded Walla Walla Pedi-Power when his high schoolaged son couldn’t find a summer job. He hired PEDIC AB, page 2

I S S U E :

“Once a day, I have to figure out something I’m angry about, and then make fun of it.”

“Do not be fooled by Tim Eyman’s latest antitax initiative, I-1033.”

“We definitely expect to win.

We have all been putting in long hours of hard, focused work.”

JOEL PETT, Political Cartoonist, page 3

RUSS CADITZ-PECK ‘10, Columnist, page 7

BREA ROBIRDS ‘10 Varsity volleyball player, page 11

2

News

Walla Walla residents ‘vote for those who can’t’

Mullen: Pandemic connections from MULLEN, page 1

from VOTE, page 1 DREAM Act, currently before Congress, would change this by allowing undocumented students to apply for aid.

Other community members spoke about problems with management at work, such as being forced to work through breaks. Galvao encouraged people to speak up if they are treated unfairly.

“The law applies to everyone, even undocumented immigrants. The government is here to help us,” he said.

For some, though, the reality is not so simple.

“The laws are equal, but they’re not applied equally,” said Rovoles.

“There’s a big difference.”

In spite of these challenges, hope seemed to dominate the discussion.

Many people asked what they could

do to get involved and who they could talk to about specific concerns.

Many more promised to vote.

“When it’s time to vote, I will vote for those who can’t vote,” said Louis Gonzales, a Walla Walla resident.

His proclamation was followed by a burst of applause.

Galvao and Ruiz hope to have more events which will mobolize the Latino community and increase political participation. Judging from the enthusiastic chant of “¡Si se puede!” which ended the meeting, they appear to be well on their way.

long as he could remember but did not make it into his college’s creative writing program.

“It just comes to show that you don’t always have to follow the assigned path,” Mullen said at the lecture.

Students found it rewarding to be able to hear Mullen’s story and question his methods.

“I liked the way he answered questions,” first-year Adam Gilbert said.

“I came to see what he had to say,” said first-year Molly Blust.

Though the majority of the crowd were first-year students, they did not

from PEDICAB, page 1 his son, and young students have been working for the company ever since.

After a difficult first financial year, the second and third year saw improvement. Soon, the sight of pedicabs cycling around town began to blend in to the background.

“People got used to seeing us,” Paine said. “We just sort of just became invisible.”

Paine believes that if people with professional marketing and business skills had been involved with the company, things would have turned out better.

While it lasted, Andriola believes that it provided a positive experience to visitors. “[People would] comment on how they’re a fun idea and are perfect for Walla Walla,” she said.

Sophomore Roshan Adhikari enjoyed the sight of pedicabs pedaling through Walla Walla.

“The closing of Pedicab is ridiculous and disheartening,” he said. “It

added so much to the alternative nature of the Whitman community. It was so hip!”

Paine also loved running the company while it lasted.

“I have to look at the positives of the business,” Paine said, “I learned a lot about how to and how not to run a business, I’ve learned a lot about Walla Walla and I’ve met a lot of really great people. Among those are the Whitman students I’ve hired over the years. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know them, and finding out about the student side of the place I’ve worked all these years.”

With the company closing this weekend, Paine plans to continue to work for Whitman and visit his daughter, who has been living in Uganda.

During this final weekend, Walla Walla Pedi-Power will offer tours in response to calls for a reservation at 509-386-4957.

make up the entire assembly. Student Academic Advisors (SAs) and Resident Assistants (RAs) who had read the novel attended, as did a few community members and several upperclassmen who had taken the time to read the book.

Sophomore Elana Congress read the book because “I thought it would be a good way to meet the freshmen.”

She added, “[Mullen] was really clever, competent and well spoken.”

Community member Claudia Angus attended the lecture with several women from her book club, which had chosen to read “The Last Town On Earth” because Whitman recom-

mended it.

“We’ve read three of [Whitman’s] books so far,” Angus said. “It’s interesting to hear the author’s perspective about how he chose his topic.”

Mullen’s topic, the Spanish flu, was not well-documented historically. He mentioned the struggle to find information on the event, which appears to have been obscured by World War I. All his research culminated in success with the book’s growing popularity.

Regardless of what students took away from the novel, Mullen implores all to “read as much as possible.”

Transit tax put to vote

by RACHEL ALEXANDER

Finances put the brakes on Pedicab

September 24, 2009S

Staff Reporter The Valley Transit Board voted Tuesday, Sept. 22, to keep transit services at current levels until the Walla Walla community could vote on a sales tax increase. The meeting was well-attended by a diverse group of community members, many of whom spoke in favor of keeping Valley Transit fully operational.

“We need to maintain what we’ve got,” said Christina Stamper, a small business owner.

Stamper was able to gather 50 signatures on a petition to not cut services.

She is also a full-time student at Walla Walla Community College and says that her family uses Valley Transit to get to school and work.

The board reached its decision after holding two public hearings last week.

According to Dick Fondahn, the Valley Transit general manager, public opinion was overwhelmingly in favor of leaving the system unchanged prior to a public vote on the proposed sales tax increase.

“We feel that there’s evidence of enthusiastic support in the Campaign for Valley Transit,” said Fondahn.

The Board also passed a motion to recommend that the sales tax increase be put on the ballot. If approved by the county auditor, the measure will appear on the ballot on Feb. 9, 2010. The citizens of Walla Walla will be able to vote on a sales tax increase of .03 percent to fund valley transit.

In spite of concerns over the viabil-

alden

ity of a tax increase during a recession, board members remain hopeful.

“Valley Transit takes people to work.

It takes customers to businesses. It takes kids to school,” said board member Barbara Clark. “I think the costs of not having Valley Transit operating at the level it’s currently operating at would be so much greater [than the tax].”

The board’s decision is effectively a gamble on that issue. If voters don’t approve the tax increase, Fondahn says services will have to be cut even more deeply in March 2010. The primary impact would be on Route 9, which would be eliminated entirely if the tax increase is rejected by voters.

However, the Campaign for Valley Transit organizers are confident that they can generate enough community support to see the tax raise through.

“We’re happy the board took such a long view of things,” said Norm Osterman, a volunteer for the group.

In the near future, Osterman said the group would work on campaign strategy and generating contributions.

Whether Valley Transit can continue to operate at full service levels is now up to voters. In the meantime, those who depend on Valley Transit will have to work hard to ensure its future.

GoPrint receives mixed reviews

by LEA NEGRIN Staff Reporter

gold Employees of Walla Walla Pedi-Power prepare for their bicycle tours of downtown Walla Walla. The company will be closing at the end of September.

Advertisements



For the throng of first-year students, Whitman’s GoPrint printing policy seems to be a hit. Yet questions remain about it working for everyone in the long run.

“It is still a work in progress,” said Middleware Analyst Mike Osterman.

GoPrint was inaugurated at Whitman in the spring semester of 2009.

Prior to that, printing was free and unrestricted. The Campus Conservation Committee proposed the policy to help students be more actively aware of their paper consumption. “[GoPrint] is not meant to be prohibitive in any way,” Osterman said.

Last semester every student was given a $60 budget; for fall 2009 the budget has been lowered to $50, but includes free printing during the month of finals. This change occurred due to the results of a survey and several forums that occurred last semester to determine the success of GoPrint.

“We estimated that it would be suffi-

cient for all but 10 percent at the most,” Osterman said. “We would like to see students still remain mindful of [paper] usage in the last few weeks of term.”

By the numbers, GoPrint seems to be a success, but students still are skeptical about its ‘one size fits all’ feel.

GoPrint does allow seniors writing a thesis to request an additional $15, but this is the only exception, though many other students face higher-thanaverage printing demands from specific classes. For example, students enrolled in a fiction-writing English course are required to print 15 copies of their pieces for class review. These students have found themselves using approximately $10 of their budget each week.

Meanwhile, students primarily enrolled in science and math classes have noted that they rarely use $20 of their budget in a single semester. “[GoPrint] needs to address the professor side of it,” said junior Katie Bates, an English major.

Some professors use online resources and textbooks while others ask students to print off large amounts of information for their classes through the

BooLou

Corrections for Issue 2, Sept. 17 “Students celebrate Jewish High Holidays” on page 4 incorrectly quoted Sharon Kaufman-Osborn as saying that Hillel-Shalom includes around 125 people, most of whom are not Jewish. The correct statistic is that most of the 125 people are Jewish.

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“I mainly use my own printer because I always worry about exceeding [through GoPrint],” Bates said.

Individualizing Go-Print to a specific major or class, however, would be hard.

“Individual budgets would be very difficult, if not impossible, to calculate,” said Osterman in an e-mail.

Senior Ryan Finnegan, a history major, reported that a professor of his put $7 worth of required reading material on CLEo so, rather than printing, Finnegan has gotten into the habit of bringing his laptop to class to follow along with the text. This is an alternative that some students have yet to use.

Despite the complaints, GoPrint meets the needs of the majority of students. At five cents per page, students are allotted 1,000 pages per semester without accounting for the free printing during finals.

“We are more than happy to receive comments and questions about GoPrint,” said Osterman, who can be reached at goprint@whitman.edu.

While WCTS continues to examine GoPrint’s efficiency, students can consider what they could do to lessen their need to print.

The photo for “Senate decisions affect first-years, seniors” on page 2 was misattributed to Simon Van Neste. The photographer was Emily Cornelius.

The illustration for “Accreditation changes spark controversy” on the front page should have been attributed to Tricia Vanderbilt.

News

9September 24, 2009

3

Cartoonist draws ASWC elections: Welty Health laughs in lecture 64.5% turnout

by ERIC NICKESONMENDHEIM Staff Reporter

among first-years Center offers flu shots from ELECTIONS, page 1

o ll ia sd lo o

“The wheat fields are only two blocks away, which is sweet for bike rides,” she said. “There is no noise from the main campus. North students hang out with residents in other dorms, participate in campus activities, go to class, play IM sports and eat in the dining halls . . . The small block walk is only a problem if you think it is.”

The mix between classes also adds to the flavor of North.

“Living amongst upperclassman is a really unique experience because you really get to know what’s going on,” first-year Shane Young said.

“I think it was actually really exciting and it worked out really well, having both the transfers and the first-years because it created a bigger dynamic and it worked out well for the first-years too,” Buchner said.

The Residence Life staff also contributed considerably to making the first-years feel more at home.

“The res life staff did a good job at

making us feel comfortable at being freshmen in North,” Nguyen said.

“There was a lot of investment into that first-year group because there was only one section,” Buchner said. “Two RAs worked into that section and one RD also paid attention to that section, so it was a lot of resources for that one section.”

With the mixed hall, large rooms and close-knit community, the decision to place first-years into North seems to have been a smart decision.

Nguyen reflects on his year spent there and is glad that he was able to meet the people that he would have otherwise not have known if he had not lived in North.

“It was all about the people,” he said.

“It was more unique than different, so that really helped make the bond stronger. The fact that we all lived on the same floor and we all shared the same experience of North and being in a place where none of us really chose, it really helped to break open the initial awkwardness, so in that way we spent a lot of time together, and we just really grew.”

ZA

ends up being an advantage.

“It doesn’t always fit into expectations as to what college is going to be,” she said, “The feedback is that people are a little taken aback, but once they are there, they seem okay with it.”

Jonathan Buchner, former resident director of North Hall, agrees that having singles can be a trade-off.

“There is an advantage to having your own space, but it’s a different first-year experience with not having a roommate,” he said. “North has the most square footage per resident than any other residence hall, and what happens when you spread people out is you get more space to yourself and you feel farther away from each other in the building, so that’s kind of a different dynamic as well.”

The negative perception of North being far away is also appreciated by the people who live or have lived there. It’s actually closer to Ankeny than Anderson.

“Being separated, it makes the campus feel bigger,” Norman said.

Resident Advisor Sarah Evans describes North as a tight-knit community in a “sweet building with lots of personal room and lots of North programming.”

n

An evening walk back to North Hall signifies why first-year Patrick Wiley likes living in Whitman’s most isolated residence hall.

“The walk back from dinner at night is actually really chill because the crickets are out, so I really enjoy it,” he said.

“We are far out, but at the same time it’s cool because it’s really mellow at times, but when everyone wants it to be more uppity, it can be that too.”

North Hall opened its doors to first-years in the 2008-09 academic year. So far, response is highly positive for Whitman’s newest firstyear housing option.

“Even though it wasn’t any of my choices, I was both excited and sad that I had a single because I heard that North singles were humongous, but I really wanted a roommate,” said sophomore Khoa Ngyuen, who lived in North Hall last year. “But in the same sense, I would say that 85 percent of the time our doors were open, so it was like one big room, and people would sleep in each other’s rooms all the time.”

“It’s really nice to have your own personal space, but we all leave our doors open so it’s pretty chill,” said first-year Alex Norman. “You still get the group experience.”

The administration decided to place incoming first-years in North Hall last year because more space was needed for first-year students. Nancy Tavelli, associate dean of students for campus life, and others looked at everything they had and what made sense.

“We have an odd group of buildings so we had to make something work, so hopefully Whitman will join their colleagues into building new residence halls,” Tavelli said, “It’s kind of a tough call, but we make it work.”

Tavelli knows that singles may seem daunting at first, but feels that it

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Staff Reporter

To combat the likelihood of an influenza outbreak on campus, the Welty Health Center held a two-hour flu shot clinic on Wednesday, Sept. 16, in the Reid Campus Center ballroom.

While this clinic did not offer the H1N1 vaccine that is due out in mid-October, it provided a convenient location for students seeking relief from the common flu to be inoculated for a cost of $25.

“It definitely helped that there was a specific place to go and do it,” said senior Gabrielle Boisramé. “While it is offered at the Health Center, it can be hard to find an opportunity to make it over there.”

The college h a s been offering influenza v a c c i n at i o n s on request at the Health Center, but decided to put on a clinic to reach as many people who wanted to be vaccinated as possible. Despite locating the clinic in Reid, turnout was still a trickle of students. The nurses running the clinic suspect that not everyone may have been aware the event was going on.

“There may have been a problem with the listserv,” said Amelia Grinstead, an RN at the Health Center.

“Many of the upperclassmen who we vaccinated today only heard about the clinic through their friends.”

Regardless of the low turnout, the Health Center sees the clinic as an improvement over the number of students who would have sought out the vaccination on their own. It also gave them a dry run for the clinic that they will hold when they receive the H1N1 vaccine.

“We are not sure when we will hold the H1N1 clinic because we have not yet been told when we can expect to have the vaccine on hand,” Grinstead said. “When that information becomes available, then we will notify the students when our H1N1 clinic will be.”

Information about the school’s planned response to the H1N1 pandemic can be found at http://www. whitman.edu/content/emergency/ pandemic/swineflu. The amount of doses available to Whitman will

EN

by MAGGIE ALLEN

Contributing Reporter

bog

North Hall first-years adjust to dorm experience

by TAYLOR MESOJEDNIK

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a link with the results. It was . . . much easier than ever before.”

The only problem that occurred was among a handful of new students who had enough credits to be considered second-semester firstyears or sophomores. Although not initially able to vote, that problem was resolved quickly for most people, according to MacNichol.

Senior ASWC President Nadim Damluji looks forward to the new senators joining the team.

“Everyone was really well-qualified,” he said. “I look forward to working with all the new freshmen senators.”

In addition to first-year elections, the constitutional amendment allowing seniors a vote in executive elections only slightly passed. While it easily got above the 20 percent of the student body required for it to pass, it received 68.28 percent of the vote, only a sliver above the necessary twothirds vote for a constitutional amendment.

Still, not everyone went home happy.

“I’m definitely disappointed,” said Paul “H-P” Hamilton-Pennell, who received fifth place in the sen-

ate election. “I think I was probably less invested in the prospect of being in student government as the other kids were, so there aren’t any personal ramifications, but I was excited about working with some of those guys and getting to know them.”

Hugh Parker and Devin Kuh also did not receive enough votes to win.

Hamilton-Pennell feels that having elections so soon in the semester may affect the result.

“Just about everyone I talked to said they voted for so and so because they were the only person who they had heard of that was running,” he said. “I’ll be interested to see as issues arise, especially in my class, how people start feeling about the elections and about ASWC.” Still, he considers the loss a “mixed blessing,” given his currently busy schedule.

Meanwhile, Atkins is getting ready for his duties as an ASWC senator.

“I’m just really excited to be in student government and be able to help [turn] the freshmen ideas into reality,” he said. “I’m just prepared to do my job now.”

INF

Cartoonist Joel Pett knows his job is unconventional.

“Once a day I have to figure out something I’m angry about, and then I make fun of it,” said the Pulitzer Prizewinning political cartoonist.

Pett spoke on campus Tuesday, Sept.

22, as an O’Donnell visiting professor.

His lecture, “What in the world is so funny?” took on global issues from a humorous standpoint.

“Joel Pett brings a creative approach,” said Associate Professor of Politics Shampa Biswas. “He’s a cartoonist, and he comes at these issues from a creative perspective. His contributions are quite different from those of other speakers we bring to campus and I think he’s generated a lot of interest from different groups at the college.”

Students who attended the lecture were impressed by Pett.

“I liked that he was so blatant about the issues,” said sophomore Khoa Nguyen. “He didn’t overanalyze the problems and he wasn’t moralizing. He was realistic about things and that was really refreshing.”

In his lecture, Pett stressed the importance of taking a role to make a difference. He also emphasized population control and the role of government.

“I really appreciated that he didn’t care what people thought about him,” said sophomore Katie Lei. “He does that cartoon to make a point, but doesn’t want to preach to the choir. It wasn’t politically correct and I liked that.”

The lecture was presented alongside Pett’s political cartoons, which featured everything from caricatures of presidents to pieces on torture at Guantanamo Bay and child labor in China.

“He covers a range of issues in the news,” said Biswas. “I think political cartoonists usually do a good job of stirring people up and making them think critically about things otherwise taken for granted. I want people to walk away from his presentations with the same passion for global affairs that he has for his work. I want students to think about global issues and about how cartooning can help portray them.”

“I definitely felt that he didn’t try to overanalyze the problems,” said Nguyen. “He just wanted to let us see them for what they were.”

The lecture was funded by the Global Studies Steering Committee in conjunction with the program of O’Donnell Visiting Educators. The O’Donnell lectures were created to bring practitioners with international experience to campus. The lectures’ purpose is to enlighten students about international affairs through a medium other than the typical news or online blog sources. Joel Pett seemed an ideal candidate.

“The point of these lectures is to bring practitioners, not academics, on global affairs,” said Biswas.

In the future, the O’Donnell lectures will involve an even wider variety of speakers, including a merchant marine officer, a lawyer dealing with energy issues and a former world bank economist.

“It’s going to be the whole spectrum,” said Biswas.

While the CDC has not released exactly how much vaccine our county will receive, I estimate that around 1,500 doses will be made available for faculty and students.

Harvey Krouter, Administrator of the Walla Walla County Department of Health

be determined by the Walla Walla County Department of Health, which in turn receives its allotment based of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national analysis.

“We consider Whitman a priority in terms of vaccinations because it is a school,” said Harvey Krouter, administrator of the Walla Walla County Department of Health. “While the CDC has not released exactly how much vaccine our county will receive, I estimate that around 1,500 doses will be made available for faculty and students,” said Krouter.

The county’s recommendations can be found on the Walla Walla County Department of Health Web site.

A&E

the Pioneer

S

P i

Issue 3 Sep. 24, 2009 Page 4

Youth Orchestra still strong In Theaters: ‘Away We Go,’ ‘The through economic crunch

by Connor Guy A&E Editor Last fall, just months before the economy took an unprecedented tumble, the Walla Walla Symphony (WWS), already struggling by definition as an arts organization, decided to reinstate its long-dormant youth orchestra.

Over the Walla Walla Symphony’s 102year history, the organization has supported a youth orchestra at several points, but the program has been inconsistent, presumably for financial and logistical reasons.

Although the new youth orchestra is the brainchild of the WWS itself, several individuals played key roles in making it happen. When the idea of a youth orchestra surfaced as a real possibility for the WWS in January 2008, J.D. Smith, the symphony’s grant-writer, began looking for grant money, eventually securing a three-year grant through the Sherwood Foundation for the Arts that was contingent upon a conductor.

“At this point, they called me,” said Benjamin Gish, WWS assistant-principal cellist, who ended up taking on that role. “They approached me last spring, planning to start the program in the fall, so I didn’t have very much advance notice at all, but that’s okay.”

Gish, along with Smith and WWS special projects coordinator Lacey Perry, immediately began to construct the orchestra. Part of the challenge was finding adequate numbers to fill the orchestra’s roster.

“It’s kind of tricky when you don’t know what the turnout for the auditions is going to be,” said Gish.

To fill key spots, he even reached out to students outside the Walla Walla area. For example, last year’s principal flautist came

from a high school in Moscow, Idaho.

Surprisingly, although the youth orchestra has seen one of the greatest economic upheavals in recent history, funding is not a main concern—at least for the time being.

So long as it meets certain benchmarks established by the Sherwood foundation, the grant will provide funding for three years regardless of economic conditions.

I really hope our community will buy into a vision of a really good youth orchestra, and that they’ll support and enjoy it.

Benjamin Gish, WWS assistant-principal cellist

“This coming year, we have to do a couple of performances, report back on how we used the money last year and that sort of thing,” said WWS CEO Michael Wenberg.

“It’s the kind of thing every non-profit has to do.”

But because this funding is already in place, the youth orchestra has found itself in the somewhat unique position among arts organizations these days of not having to worry too much about money.

One advantage of this is that the WWS can offer the youth orchestra as a free program to anyone ages 10 to 20 years old who is interested. Programs in other cities, such as the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras,

PIO PICKS Drive-in Movie

Saturday, Sept. 26, 8 p.m. midnight on Reid Side Lawn.

The Whitman Events Board erects a giant inflatable movie screen on the Reid Side lawn and shows two movies back to back. Showing this fall are “The Blues Brothers” and “Jurassic Park.”

The event always attracts first-years and upperclassmen alike with cotton candy, popcorn and other goodies.

Pillows, sleeping bags and other warm wear are suggested.

Instant Play Festival

Saturday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 27 at 5 p.m. in the Harper Joy Theater.

Revived after rave reviews and an overwhelming turnout last year, the festival that produces a series of short studentwritten plays is back for another year.

Student playwrights participating in the festival write their plays the night before, and organize and rehearse them the day of the performance.

charge more than $800 per year in tuition.

Being able to provide the program for free is a huge selling point, especially when trying to attract players who might not participate otherwise and who might not have the financial means to pay tuition.

But what about when the grant runs out?

“I wouldn’t say we’re worried,” said Wenberg. “I mean, applying for grant money is naturally a really competitive process; there are so many worthy organizations all vying for this funding. As an arts organization, it’s just kind of a fact of life, unfortunately.”

On the musical front, Gish found himself faced with a whole new set of challenges once the orchestra was up and running.

First and foremost was choosing appropriate literature for the vastly different levels of experience in the orchestra.

“It’s challenging because I still have to mix together about three levels of play,” said Gish. “And I’m trying to hit the middle level with the repertoire I’m picking, so that everyone’s satisfied; the advanced ones aren’t too bored, and the middle ones are happy, too, because it’s right at their level, and then I can kind of pull the rest of them along, up to a higher level than they might play normally.”

Another challenge has been maintaining interest.

“In order for a youth symphony to be something that kids are interested in, it has to sound good,” said Gish. “So part of that means that the winds and the brass have to sound good or my string players will be gone. That’s the hardest part of the equation because on those winds and brass instruments, it’s one player to a part.”

For this reason, Gish often has to bring in university level players to keep the winds and brass positions filled and sounding on par with the rest of the orchestra.

For Gish, these difficulties are only minor setbacks and are vastly overshadowed by the service that the orchestra provides to Walla Walla students.

“I really hope our community will buy into a vision of a really good youth orchestra, and that they’ll support and enjoy it,” he said.

The symphony rehearses Sundays from 4 to 9 p.m. Although the first round of auditions took place this past Sunday, Sept. 20, there is still one more chance to audition this Sunday, Sept. 27. Students or parents who are interested should contact Lacey Perry at 509-529-8020. More information can be found at http://wwsymphony.org/ aboutOrchestra_youthOrchestra.html.

Informant!’

by Becquer Medak-Seguin Movie Reviewer

“Away We Go”

Forget those putrid romantic comedies, like the current “Love Happens” or the former “He’s Just Not That Into You,” that had you wishing they were antediluvian, so they too would be washed away with the flood. Sam Mendes’s “Away We Go,” both romantic and comedic, is so far removed from that genre—cacodemonic and impregnated with nocuous scripts, squalid acting and pathetic directing—as to constitute a certain kind of Noah.

The film, rather, is a restrained study of Burt (John Krasinski, aka Jim Halpert of “The Office”) and Verona’s (Maya Rudolph from SNL) third-life crisis that takes them all across the United States and even into Canada. It pays homage to great American indies like “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Juno”: touching, delicate, and modest; never capricious or pretentious. It doesn’t pretend to be any bigger than it is. Thus, “Away We Go” is, in a sense, a carefully crafted bildungsroman that, while not constituting a “classic,” will nonetheless warm your heart.

After discovering the disconcerting plans of Burt’s parents, Burt and Verona decide to undertake a search for a place where they can settle down to raise their future daughter. The film, though, is more about what they learn about themselves at each stop than it is about the traveling between them.

Should they settle in Phoenix and befriend Verona’s one-time boss Lilly (Allison Janney), whose frightening candor and alcoholism have stunned the rest of her family into laconism? Or, perhaps, in Wisconsin, where Burt’s childhood friend Ellen (Maggie Gyllenhall), who has changed her name to “LN,” is now a professor and has turned into a perverse blend of strictness, politically correctness and New Age intellect?

Even when they find a couple they admire, Tom (Chris Messina) and Munch (Melanie Lynskey), Burt and Verona are swept elsewhere—to Miami no less—to continue their journey. Though their last stop may well squeeze an affectionate tear out of you, remember the beautiful journey that got them there.

Sam Mendes’s “Away We Go” will come out on DVD and blueray on Sept. 29.

“The Informant!”

“Lying is like alcoholism. You are always recovering.”

Stephen Soderbergh’s own quote perhaps serves as the best frame of reference for watching “The Informant!” Central to this superficially jocund, inwardly doleful film is a study of the quicksandesque effects of lying, within the most seemingly unscrupulous institution capitalism has to offer: the corporation. (They are only truly unscrupulous to those of us obtuse enough to believe that their objective is anything but generating profit.)

Calling “The Informant!” purely the “wacky little brother of ‘Erin Brockovich’” (as Variety critic Todd McCarthy did) or the quirky, satirically oriented distant cousin of “Catch Me If You Can,” only somewhat does justice to its unambitiously pedestrian plot: biochemist-cum-executive Mark Whitacre (Matt Damon) suddenly decides to reveal to the FBI that Archer Daniels Midland, his company, has a part in a global pricefixing scheme, but cannot fully cooperate, per se, because of his compulsive tendency to lie. The plot rumbles along the length of the film, never really reaching a meaningful climax and begging the imperative so-what inquiry.

Don’t be fooled, however; Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory absolutely applies.

Much of this film’s intelligence occurs beneath (or behind) the celluloid. Soderbergh proposes that lies do much more than blur reality; indeed, they become it. They are as easy to begin as they are difficult to correct and once you start, you can’t really stop. (Ruminate on this: substitute “start” for “pop” and “you can’t really” for “the fun don’t.”)

Corporate truth-claiming slogans aside, Soderbergh also uses this film to satirize the ways that words are taken out of context and euphemisms are turned into platitudes: in one scene, several FBI investigators watch a taped clandestine meeting between the A.D.M. heads and their price-fixing Asian corporation price-fixing conspirators. The FBI detective determines, however, that the evidence provided by the tape doesn’t merit a prosecution merely because the word “agreement” wasn’t mentioned.

Does this highbrow minutiae, though, warrant a ticket the time and money it requires to go see it? Definitely... or, I may have been lying all along.

T-Sports ups its game as new Varsity Nordic

by C.J. Wisler Staff Reporter Varsity Nordic has been reborn. Don’t tell them that the name doesn’t belong to them, though.

“If the ski team comes back, they’re going to have to get a new name,” said senior Peter Richards, a member of the “new” Varsity Nordic. “Otherwise it would be awkward, like wearing the same outfit someone else is wearing.”

So who is this new Varsity Nordic? This was a common question among Whitman students earlier this fall semester when a Facebook advertisement appeared in student e-mail boxes.

Varsity Nordic is, in fact, the popular student improvisational comedy group, Theater Sports, or T-Sports for short.

“T-Sports is actually a brand of improvisational comedy,” said junior member Finn Straley. “It’s a brand of competitive comedy, and it doesn’t really fit what we do anymore.”

The comedy group has gone through a variety of changes within the past year, including a movement towards a new style of comedy, a name change, regular bi-weekly shows and hosting a series of improv workshops among other unofficial differences. The most interesting and semi-controversial change was the change of the performance group’s name.

Theater sports, according to senior Alex Cassidy, is actually a form of improv known as shorter-form, which is primarily skit and gag-based. The Whitman group began moving gradually away from this form last year. The group now bases most of their “games”—various audienceinteractive, themed performances—on long-form pieces, which involve more character development and plot.

“Long-form is still structured similar to

short-form in that you have a general idea of what’s going to happen and where you are going to go, but it has less of a definite course,” said Cassidy. “You’re more free to do what you want and be whatever you want to be.”

“In [short-form] improv, the game is provided for you,” said Richards. “In longform, you find the game for yourself.”

After the group took a spring break trip last semester to Chicago to see various improv shows, including the famous Second City improv comedy show, they decided to change their name.

“In the world of improv, it’s not much of a name, and some of the Chicago performers commented on it when we told them our name,” said sophomore member Kate Potter. “We decided that at the end of the season we would change our name to something unique and better fitting.”

“One of our workshop teachers commented that the name invoked an expectation for T-Sports improv, which isn’t what we were doing anymore,” said Cassidy.

The decision to switch to “Varsity Nordic” stemmed from the loss of Whitman’s ski team in March 2009 due to severe budget cuts because of the economic recession. Shortly after the Chicago trip, the improv group met with the ski team to discuss the name change.

“With the whole situation with the ski team, we thought it would be a good name to kind of give respect to the ski team as well as humor to the general situation,” said Potter.

Other changes to the student improv group included a series of workshops open to any student interested in learning about the craft.

“We learned a lot from the workshops we went to in Chicago, and we want to be able to help people interested in improv to become better improvisers,” said Cassidy.

“This is especially geared towards those serious about auditioning for Varsity Nordic, but it’s open for everyone.”

“Also, teaching improv helps you learn about what you are doing as well,” said Richards.

The final workshop takes place tonight, Thursday, Sept. 24, in Kimball Theater, Hunter Conservatory at 11 p.m.

Straley and other Varsity Nordic members also hope to reinstate Smash, an improv comedy club.

“Smash is not intended for performance, as a performing group,” said Straley. “It’s for people who just want to show up once a week and pal around with improv.”

“It’s not so much a rehearsal group [geared towards performing] but an educational group,” said Cassidy. “It’s also open for people who are into it but don’t have time [to be in Varsity Nordic].”

Varsity Nordic will also be holding auditions for new members next week on Monday, Sept. 28, and Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 10 p.m. in Kimball Theater.

As Whitman students adjust to the dramatic name change, Varsity Nordic hopes even more students and community members will grow to love and enjoy the audience/actor interactive performances.

“Everyone, audience members and the actors, want the show to be good,” said Richards. “It creates a kind of positive energy support network.”

“With everyone in the same space, it creates a different energy,” said Cassidy.

“No one knows what will happen next, and when something does happen it has a lot of power.”

Regardless of the group’s name, Varsity Nordic, formerly known as Theater Sports, intends to continue bringing improv theater and lots of laughter to Whitman.

guy Romantic tension builds between Sam Alden ‘12 (left) and Alex Cassidy ‘10 (right) during an improv sketch about a small town tennis player. Finn Straley ‘12 (far right) waits his turn.

guy Peter Richards ‘10 and Kevin Klein ‘11 perform a skit together. Varsity Nordic will perform bi-weekly shows in Kimball to showcase their preferred long form style.

A&E

September 24, 2009

5

Pita Pit provides healthy, inexpensive alternative

Netflix It:

by Ethan Robertson Contributing Reporter Just like the Eagles once said, there’s a new kid in town when it comes to Walla Walla restaurants. Cheap, close to campus and supposedly delicious, the Pita Pit seems to be the cool new place to go for relatively inexpensive food. But is it really as delicious as everyone says?

A short two-block walk away from campus, it’s perfect for a nice lunch break or a late-night food run (they are open until 3 a.m. on weekend nights).

Though it is clear that Pita Pit is a fastfood restaurant, the small flower garden outside and the imitation Mediterranean architecture give the place a somewhat classier feel than the normal fast food restaurant. The atmosphere inside is like any other low-cost restaurant: a TV plays SportsCenter on mute while bands like Coldplay and the Police play in the background.

The food itself is fresh and healthy.

Pita Pit offers pitas for vegetarians and meat-eaters, as well as salads, smoothies and breakfast pitas. The variety of choices is only multiplied by the fact that you get to choose your own toppings, from vegetables to hummus to a variety of sauces. With all of these options, there is something for everyone.

If you want to eat a Philly cheese steak pita, you can, but if you want to go a little bit healthier with a vegetarian pita with lots of vegetables, you can do that too.

All the ingredients taste fresh in and of themselves, but it is the combination of vegetables, meat and sauces that give each pita its unique and powerful flavor. Although I would recommend choosing whatever ingredients suit you best individually, the falafel and chicken souvaki pitas are personal fa-

‘Labyrinth’

by Caitlin Hardee Staff Reporter

CORNELIUS The Pita Pit serves up tasty yet healthy options at its Colville Street location. It is the same building that Luscious by Nature used to occupy, which closed its doors last spring due to financial concerns. vorites of mine. Coupled with creamy tzatziki sauce, feta cheese and an array of vegetables, these two pitas could very well have been made on top of Mount Olympus.

There aren’t many restaurants in

Walla Walla that serve Mediterranean food. For one that costs less than $10, is a short walk away from campus and serves delicious, varied dishes in a cool atmosphere, you won’t beat the Pita Pit.

Whitman Snapshot Number Eleven.

You lie sprawled with fifteen of your best friends across the couches of your first-year dorm. People alternately sniffle and sing along, as Simba and Nala romp through a twilit glade. That’s right. You’re celebrating your newfound adulthood with a Disney marathon. If there are anime fans in the building, perhaps you’re adding a Miyazaki film to the sequence of classic Disney animation. Watching beloved children’s films is a fabulous tradition. However, you should be asking yourself—why am I watching animals fall in love, when I could be watching goblin armies led by David Bowie in tights and a cape?

Now that the Disney films are back on the shelf and the 1986 cult classic “Labyrinth” is playing, it’s time to discover the quirks that make this unconventional children’s movie a gem of pop culture iconography. It was the product of the creative geniuses of director Jim Henson, producer George Lucas and Monty Python member Terry Jones. This film completely defies conventions of children’s films. There is no hint of religious allegory and no concrete moral message.

Instead, the film delivers elements that range from broken homes and family angst, escapism, hallucinogens, pedophilic attraction, Escherian architecture and David Bowie in barely-there tights. There is a distinct ambiguity of good and evil. The

villain is intriguing, seductive and frequently hilarious. As Bowie’s Jareth works half-heartedly to defeat Sarah (played by a young Jennifer Connelly), it is clear to the viewer that he is her villain. He is what she needs him to be. The story remains conscious of its own artificiality through the device of story framing. The ending is also ambiguous—it remains uncertain whether Sarah has rejected childhood escapism or chosen to embrace it.

Historically, “Labyrinth” was significant as a landmark of animation. Director Jim Henson employed puppets similarly in his other classic “The Dark Crystal,” but here combines them with live actors and green screen techniques. These techniques are early in their evolution, and scenes like Sarah’s meeting with the Fire Gang remind us of that evolution with distinctly edited edges flickering around Sarah and the creatures.

Though it initially failed at the box office, “Labyrinth” has garnered a cult following over the decades and has left widespread influences on pop culture.

Much of this has to do with the glamrock appeal of David Bowie. German rocker Bill Kaulitz cites “Labyrinth” as his favorite movie and sported Jareth-like hair for several years. The American indie rock band Ludo takes its name from one of Labyrinth’s denizens, even representing the creature on their cover art for “You’re Awful, I Love You.” Next movie marathon, take your friends and get lost in “Labyrinth.”

Wolf’s Eskimo Snow ‘rewards repeated listens’

by Andrew Hall Music Reviewer

When it came out in 2008, it seemed like we all needed Alopecia for some reason or another. Maybe we were all just terribly depressed in early 2008. Regardless, Yoni Wolf ’s brilliantly written bad year write-up—breakups, jokes about the author’s suicide, astounding imagery, fragmented arrangements and all— turned out to have something more than a little universal in its relentless specific-

ity, as his dense songs proved capable of drawing in fans like Elephant Eyelash, a record much bigger and more anthemic than that one, couldn’t. Given that I also found Alopecia more or less tremendous, it was with a great deal of excitement that I learned another album had been recorded with Alopecia, and over a year after that initial announcement, Eskimo Snow, described by its creator as being “the least hip-hop of anything I’ve ever been involved with,” is released, complete with country tinges.

Despite being the other side of what was essentially the same recording session, this follow-up breaks neatly from its predecessors in several ways; Wolf spends even more time singing than speaking, its arrangements are nowhere near as sprawling, instead dominated by Philip Glass-indebted piano parts, and Mark Nevers’ mix sounds much more straightforward than any of Wolf ’s solo work or previous full-band productions.

Unlike Nevers’ best production work,

for Lambchop or for Bonnie “Prince” Billy, where he took tiny arrangements and turned them into something radiant, here he contains Why?’s implosive tendencies and unfortunately diminishes the band’s appeal in the process.

Whereas Alopecia presents itself in bits and pieces, with sketches getting as much airtime as actual songs, Eskimo Snow’s material follows more straightforward verse-chorus-verse structures and occasionally gives way to straightup singer-songwritering like Wolf has never done before, with unbroken acoustic guitar and drum arrangements sometimes sneaking out from underneath his bloodletting, which should be the material’s top priority. After the brief introduction of “These Hands,” more a single image than a song, the record gets going with the arpeggios and toms of “January Twenty Something,” where Wolf presents a voicemail greeting, rewrites it, and refuses to let its chorus ring half as triumphant as it probably

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The real success here is “Into the Shadows of my Embrace,” which incorporates enough compositional shakeups into a straightforward pop structure to become something tremendous.

Its looping, Glass-y pianos arpeggiate over the course of its first section before the song caves into a moment of striking confession; the song climaxes as Wolf ’s paranoia gives into the admis-

Crossword Editor

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Wolf’s paranoia gives into the admission that ‘saying all this in public should make me feel funny.’

sion that “saying all this in public should make me feel funny,” which takes on all sorts of weight in the face of a discography in which everything “is really self-addressed,” as per Oaklandazulasylum standout “Shirtless, Sheetless, and Sleepless.”

Whereas much of the record’s imagery is very strong, it lacks the sonic turns that stopped Elephant Eyelash from sounding overly conventional and made Alopecia so utterly unique. These are still well-constructed, interesting songs, and there’s nothing really wrong with what Wolf and his collaborators did here, but their boldest aesthetic decision was to deliver a folk-leaning pop record instead of more fractured, occasionally difficult, not-really-indie-rap/anti-rap/whatever subgenre best describes Why?’s music.

As an album, it rewards repeated listens, as Wolf ’s often-tremendous lyrics rarely seem brilliant the first time through, but these songs offer a fair amount less than the ones that came before them.

compiled by Karl Wallulis

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wanted to. “Even the Good Wood Gone” does give way to triumph, though Wolf finds himself “the only fool or pharaoh present in a shoddy school museum collection, looted of gold.”

ACROSS

1. Bus. Bigwigs 4. Israeli-Palestinian conflict site 8. They may be grade A 12. Before, poetically 13. Improved, as wine 14. Shark product?

15. Open grassland 16. Outdoes 17. Oral tradition 18. “The Starry Night” painter 20. Referee, slangily 21. ___ Homo, Nietzsche autobiography 22. City in southern Sudan 24. Comic book squeal 25. 31-Across’s old name 29. B&O and the like 30. Walter ___ (weapon in Goldeneye) 31. 25-Across’s current name 38. Consumed 39. Loire contents 40. Exxon rival 41. Went gaga over 43. Half of Spock’s signoff 46. “___ to win it” 47. Go over, as a bridge 48. Fedora or bowler 49. Cal rival 50. Diving position 51. MMORPG company 52. Join with 53. Banking hassles 54. Baddie Luthor

DOWN

1. “The ___ Underground and Nico” (1967 debut album) 2. Deliver a sermon 3. Ouija Board activity 4. León, por ejemplo 5. Eager 6. Light breeze 7. TV spots 8. One-named supermodel 9. Dweeb 10. Small attic 11. Does some spying 19. They may be shifted 20. Jack squat 23. “SportsCenter” airer 26. Gave it a go 27. “¿Cómo ___ usted?”

28. Leafy vegetables 31. Diazepam, commercially 32. In a jiffy 33. Speak abusively toward 34. Hipster precursor 35. Mega-popular daytime TV host 36. It lost to Spirited Away for Best Animated Film of 2002 37. Part of the brain responsible for awareness, thought and memory 42. Coup d’___ 44. Licentious person 45. Units next to the decimal point 47. Sunscreen value For the answers to last week’s crossword, see whitmanpioneer.com.

Opinion

the Pioneer Issue 3 Sep. 24, 2009 Page 6

S

Change built Gay marriage is conservative into Constitution care or climate change, rather it’s anger that’s been building up for some time because America, like it or not, is facing a relative decline in comparison to the rest of the world.

This anger is using health care as an outlet just like it did during the stimulus debate, the federal bailout plan and climate change legislation.

So what are we left with? An empty call for a more perfect union when we don’t even know what that means? Maybe it’s just a phrase inserted in the preamble to reflect the deep divisions between states in the 1800s. Or maybe it’s a way for liberals to articulate their vision of what America should be despite what America is.

That’s the central difference between liberals and conservatives. Conservatives often overrate tradition and practice.

Hence, during the civil rights era in 1957, William F. Buckley, the intellectual founder of modern conservativism, wrote, “The central question that emerges . . . is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas in which it does not predominate numerically? The sobering answer is Yes—the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race.”

Wow. Conservatives don’t hold the same views now, obviously, but I’m interested in what kind of mentality one must have to write that kind of statement.

Tradition and practice aren’t values in and of themselves. Sure they reflect years of accumulated wisdom, but modern society’s changing at a faster and faster pace.

Can you even imagine how people made plans without the Internet, cell phones or BlackBerrys?

If it’s true that society is more dynamic now, then doesn’t that call for a re-examination of our culture’s traditions and practices? If anything, tradition is arbitrary in the sense that none of us chose which tradition we’ve been born into just like none of us chose our race.

If that tradition is to be meaningful to us as free individuals, then we should be able to choose the kinds of practices and systems of belief that we live under.

If that’s true, then on what basis can we ground our choice? On the basis of our ideals. Hence, the demand for a “more perfect union” is the Founders’ way to leave open the possibility of reform and criticism. If human beings really are imperfect, by nature or by intentional design, then it’s even more important to keep open the possibility for change.

Conservatives should be wary of defending social institutions on conceptions of divinity.

The forced implementation of abstract concepts and ideals on human communities is the antithesis of conservatism that values organic social relations and institutions. It is this very kind of absolutist utopianism that conservatism has so avidly fought against in the battles with fascism, communism and socialism.

Conservative respect for tradition cannot become an unyielding refusal to modify existing social institutions to the demands of a new society. The true conservative has never opposed change per se.

Rather, the conservative has advised that change be within the existing framework of institutions and norms, that it maintain continuity with the past rather than radically reinvent the present. Russell Kirk wrote, “Necessary change… ought to be gradual and discriminatory, never unfixing old interests at once.”

In fact, though he was referring to constitutional change, Burke placed the ability to change at the very heart of conservation when he said, “A state without some means of change is without the means of its conservation.”

With this conservative approach to tradition in mind, let’s turn to the issue of gay marriage and make a conservative judgment of its merit based on past tradition, current society and the question of continuity.

The anxiety over marriage in America has nothing to do with gays and everything to do with the increasing irrelevance of marriage as a social institution.

According to USA Today, the marriage rate has declined 50 percent since 1970. Instead, couples are simply cohabiting.

While I personally don’t condemn c ohabit a tion, it

isn’t a replacement for marriage. Marriage is preferable particularly when raising children, since cohabitation is a less stable family arrangement.

The campaign for gay marriage actually positively reaffirms the value of marriage in today’s society. Gays have been willing to fight tooth and nail for the right not to simply cohabit but to create more stable, permanent and family-building relationships.

Though a religious understanding of marriage and the immorality of homosexuality have dominated gay marriage discourse within American conservatism, it’s time for conservatives to realize that gays are not advocating for sexual revolution, but simply social and legal inclusion.

Indeed, many of the counterproposals like civil unions for all couples rather than “marriage” (which I used to support), or the state giving up any role in sanctioning relationships, are truly “revolutionary” and would dramatically effect the current understanding of state-sanctioned marriage in the U.S. Full inclusion into the current marital institution is by far the most “conservative” option.

The institution of marriage is under true threat, both socially and philosophically. Gays are not arguing like radical feminists for the downfall of marriage as an institution. They are not advocating for the state to stop recognizing any kind of relationship or to give legal sanction to other forms of relationships like polygamy.

No, gays are asking to become a part of a dying institution that they still see as imbued with positive personal value and social desirability.

For that, gays and their quest for marriage should be championed by true, tradition-loving conservatives who want to begin rebuilding the American family.

SLOANE

America isn’t just a land, a particular group of people or a set of institutions. It’s also a set of ideals demanding realization.

President Obama has repeatedly emphasized the GARY WANG phrase “a more Columnist perfect union,” as said in the Constitution’s preamble, in his calls for progressive reform.

While the preamble does talk about liberty, justice and prosperity, the idea of something “more perfect” strikes me as odd.

For one thing, what’s perfection?

When you describe something as perfect, what are you really describing? Has someone ever said they’ve had a perfect day? Well, what are the essential qualities of that perfect day?

In gymnastics, a perfect 10 is rarely given; it’s an acknowledgment of a flawless performance. So maybe something perfect is something flawless. We’ve all heard the phrase “Well, nobody’s perfect.”

That’s true, but does that mean perfection is overrated? That the status quo is good enough? Or could it be possible that there needs to be a constant striving for an unrealizable ideal? What a displeasing prospect.

If Obama is right that the Constitution has a clause demanding a more perfect union, what does that mean for us? Can that phrase, a more perfect union, form the basis for progressive reform despite that words such as freedom and liberty have been appropriated by the right?

Currently, progressives talk about their issues in terms of justice and fairness, but those values haven’t been as central to American history like freedom and liberty have been.

What’s unique, after all, about America is that it is the realization of a debate on the proper limits of government and the necessary institutions for a free and just society. That’s Civics 101. It seems that the debate has been truncated after free and before any discussion of what is just.

Consequently, the health care debate is a manifestation of anxious liberals who want universal coverage for all against the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, and right-wingers who hold protests demanding their freedom. Demagogues like Glenn Beck make millions of dollars feeding and tapping into the right’s anger regarding Obama and the Democrats.

Literally, there’s a fear of change, especially at a time of massive economic dislocation. This anger isn’t limited to health

Many conservatives may be offended by the suggestion and many liberals may be dubious at best, but indeed gay marriage ought to be a conservative cause.

Conservatism ALEX POTTER is rooted in reColumnist spect for tradition. Thus we often hear the right’s rhetoric touting the importance of “traditional” marriage contrary to what they see as dangerous innovations.

Respect for tradition comes from conservatism’s belief that the individual, in her limited life experience and reason, is a poor judge of big issues like morality and social norms, which represent the collective wisdom of dozens of generations. Edmund Burke wrote that ¨the individual is foolish . . . but the species wise.”

The cost of radical change would be radical instability. It’s stability and the slow accumulation of rights and freedoms through struggle over centuries, not petty claims to entitlement, that have resulted in constitutional government and the rights Americans enjoy.

Yet often our traditions are inscribed with divine meaning and claimed to be universal truths. Political rights are often misconstrued as “universal” or “God-given” rights. Marriage carries religious, not only social and legal, meaning. Thus there exists a strong strain in American conservatism today that defends “traditional marriage” not on the basis of its “traditionality” but, in rea l i t y, on its divinity.

Rush dispels myths At 11:50 a.m., I’m out of history class and it’s about time. The sun wrenches sweat from my brow as I haul my books across Ankeny.

My stomach JOEY KERN aches with unColumnist remitting fury, post-history class munchies, no doubt a common symptom of people in my circumstance. As I advance onto the flushed red brick of Jewett, a curious sight greets my sleep-sick eyes.

Frat guys, and they’re out in droves.

A guy with John Goodman on his shirt approaches me.

“Want to come get free lunch at the Beta house?”

Hell yeah, I do.

I walk into a kitchen, flanked by a mix of hungry first-years and frat guys with one thing on their minds. Today, that one thing is quiche. I walk to the front of the line and am handed a hefty portion. The chef apologizes emphatically; apparently the quiche did not “set” correctly. I’m over it.

I step outside into a circle of people wholly consumed in their eating. I join them enthusiastically. This has to be the best thing I have ever tasted: if not for the cheese lavished over the fluffy eggs, then for the price—free.

There was a time when I was somewhat apprehensive about fraternities and the greek social scene in general. I envision each bite of quiche to be one of those apprehensions. I devour them each in kind. Delicious.

Fraternity rush. For generations, these words have signaled to first-years promises of free food and brotherhood and, here at Whitman, they deliver.

As a first-year student, knowing nothing but commonly-held stereotypes of fraternities, I was admittedly skeptical about greek life here at Whitman. Images of greek life to a high school student are images of Jon Belushi bingedrinking in a toga, something that, while awesome in its own right, can be a little off-putting.

Experiencing fraternity rush firsthand, however, succeeded in dispelling these myths from my tiny first-year mind.

What rush offers a first-year student is insight into a unique and diverse community to which anyone can belong. Greek life at Whitman is an entirely unique system and, from a limited perspective, is one that separates itself from the negative stereotypes with which it is unfairly tagged.

Activities like “Beta buddies,” where the Betas go out and mingle with the local elementary schools, helps break down the Whitman bubble. In-house tutoring helps maintain scholastic achievement in the houses.

Whether you’re cliff jumping with the TKEs or skeet shooting with the Betas, rush offers opportunities to enjoy yourself with a new group of people and knock off a clay pigeon or two in the process, assuming you’re more adept than I am with a shotgun.

Being ripped from your home and moved off somewhere entirely unfamiliar can be a little daunting. What rush does is eliminate these tensions and help make Whitman feel like home to first-years who might not yet be comfortable in their new surroundings.

Rush introduces the social benefits of the greek system to first-years in a way that’s accessible, easy and informative. There are few things easier to do than receive free lunch, and if, in doing so, you learn more about a potentially dynamic and inclusive social scene, you are doing something right.

Does rushing with a fraternity mean you have to join? Absolutely not. Rumors of “man-listing” or fraternities pressuring first-years to join can be debunked after attending a single rush event.

These misconceptions are made by people who have not made an honest effort at understanding rush or the greek system in general and are every bit the product of rumor and gossip.

Rushing a fraternity is an experience steeped in tradition and possibility that has no substitute at Whitman.

Song

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Opinion

September 24, 2009

Unmasking Whitmania I will never forget my first night at Whitman, because a girl who worked at Bright’s said to me, “Welcome to Whitman! You will learn to love it!”

RENSI KE After a pause, she continued with Columnist a wink, “If you don’t like everything there, you will love our candies!”

On one hand, I was amazed by what an excellent spokesperson she was for Whitman and Bright’s. On the other hand, I wondered, “Why do I have to ‘learn’ to love Whitman?”

Oh! You can’t love Whitman at first sight because it keeps shocking you!

The first shock on the first day of this semester showed up right after I left my house for breakfast. A blonde girl walked towards me and I glanced at her as I would in China at any passer-by.

She smiled immediately. It was such a delightful smile that I felt like we had been best friends for 10 years. But she passed me by very quickly, which took me back to the reality that we were totally strangers.

Wide-eyed and perhaps with a faint blush on my face, I kept walking. A second person passed me. With sagging jeans, a purple T-shirt and disheveled hair, he was a stranger too. He stared at me for a second when a big smile appeared on his face—what’s going on?! Did he have a crush on me?

Then, the lady in Prentiss who swiped my ID card smiled at me as if there were a hanger in her mouth. When I left, she smiled again and said, “So you have a great day!” I was so surprised with her enthusiasm that I stupidly stammered, “Oh yeah...”

An American teacher at my university once told me that she was surprised that many Chinese English learners enjoy saying “hello” to foreigners in the street. She told me, “In America, people are usually not that friendly.” At Whitman, however, I

g

learned about an exception.

It’s not hard to learn to love a school abounding with smiles, but as I made more friends I found that Whitman seems to be enveloped in a halo of hypomania— which in the context of Whitman becomes “Whitmania.”

Before school started, I saw countless Whitties greeting their old pals in a way that seemed almost “violent” to me: they knocked into each other with so much force that I felt that they must have broken their spines, but then they burst into laughter which was so loud that I couldn’t hear how their spines cracked.

The first two weeks were more for making new friends than for attending class.

You probably have forgotten how many times you introduced yourself during that period. Personally, I was shocked by how fast I made new friends and how much faster I forgot their names. I felt terrible about my bad memory until a mutual friend of my RA and mine chatted with us for half an hour and then suddenly asked my RA, “By the way, what’s your name again?”

“I met a lot of people, I talked to them, but I just forgot their names.” The next day, I heard these words from a friend who sat opposite me in the dining hall, which was like a slap in the face: then what’s the point in making friends?

The Chinese writer Lin Yutang once wrote in his book “My Country and My People,” “Many Europeans in Shanghai wonder why they are dropped by their Chinese friends without realizing the simple reason that the latter are not able to stand the strain of a long and exciting conversation, especially when it is in a foreign language.”

I was ashamed that these words still applied to me even though they were written in 1935, since the loud music and happy conversations I heard at 2 a.m. really frustrated me because I couldn’t live a vigorous life like my Whittie friends. But now, wait a minute—what on earth is behind your “Whitmania?”

the Pioneer

Editor-in-Chief Executive Editor Managing Editor Director of Content Art Director Advertising Manager Finance Manager

News Editor Associate News Editor A&E Editor Feature Editor Sports Editor Op-Ed Editor Humor Editor Photography Editor Illustration Editor

Kim Sommers Gillian Frew Margaux Cameron Andy Jobanek Rebecca Fish Matt Solomon Jordan Estes Galen Bernard Josh Goodman Connor Guy Hanna Ory Melissa Navarro Gabriela Salvidea Alex Kerr Simon Van Neste Tricia Vanderbilt

REPORTERs Rachel Alexander, Maggie Allen, Kristen Coverdale, Jay Gold, Helen Jenne, Hadley Jolley, Liz Forsyth, Andrew Hall, Anya Hardee, Merrett Krahn, Bidnam Lee, Becquer Medak-Seguin, Lea Negrin, Eric Nickeson-Mendheim, Simi Singh, Finn Straley, C. J. Wisler, William Witwer

Co l u m n i s t s Alethea Buchal, Lisa Curtis, Blair Frank, Rensi Ke, Joey Kern, Matt Manley, Alex Potter, James Sledd, Molly Smith, Derek Thurber, Gary Wang

P ro d u c t i o n Senior Production Associate: Quinn Taylor Production Associates: Sally Boggan, Alyssa Fairbanks, Miriam Kolker, Ben Lerchin, Tessa Matson Copy Editors: Sara Rasmussen, Kirsten Larson Webmaster: Andrew Spittle

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7

True cost of I-1033

Douglas

T ech T ime

Snow leopard pounces Score: 4.5/5 ducks Pros: Fast, lightweight, a great value.

Cons: Most improvements won’t immediately be available due to lack of hardware support.

When Microsoft or Apple releases a new operating system, it’s Blair Frank a major event.

Columnist Ever since its existence was confirmed at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in 2008, Mac OS 10.6 (better known as Snow Leopard) has been a major discussion topic in the tech world.

At its core, Snow Leopard sports the same feature set as its predecessor, OS 10.5 (aka Leopard) but has several major improvements that show the amount of work put in by the folks down at One Infinite Loop in Cupertino.

Right off the bat, here’s a disclaimer: if you have an older Mac, built around a PowerPC chip, (e.g. iBooks, PowerBooks and PowerMacs) you won’t be able to run Snow Leopard. Sorry.

First and foremost, Snow Leopard is both faster and smaller than Leopard.

According to Apple, Snow Leopard saves seven Gigabytes over a traditional Leopard install. While that may seem small, seven GB is roughly one and a half times the capacity of a traditional DVD. Snow Leopard also improves OS X’s agility. The system itself is based around 64-bit architecture, with a revamped kernel, meaning that the entire system has been built from the ground up to work best with the latest, greatest hardware. In addition, Snow Leopard is prepared to support hardware that won’t hit market until much later.

While this means that a lot of the best speed increases are yet to come, even with current hardware there’s a noticeable difference.

In addition, the applications included with Snow Leopard have been upgraded. iChat’s native video resolution has been upgraded four-fold to accommodate even better cameras that will most likely be included in the next line of Apple products.

Quicktime 7 has been upgraded as well to Quicktime X, which incorporates many of the features of Quicktime 7 Pro, such as convenient editing, video streaming over HTTP and screen re-

cording.

On the more technical side, there’s Grand Central Dispatch (GCD), a technology new to Snow Leopard that allows programs to use all of the cores available on the new multicore processors that are driving today’s new generation of computers. (In case you’re wondering, any Mac made after 2006 is using an Intel multicore processor.)

Where GCD really shines is in the possibilities when it comes to third-party applications. Using GCD will allow developers to prioritize and shift processes to streamline their applications, and improve performance by making better use of each processor core.

Now that I’ve extolled the virtues of the new features in Snow Leopard, let’s take a look at some of the problems you may face.

If you have any third-party preference settings in System Preferences, chances are you may experience a few hiccups until all the developers get 64-bit sorted out. As it stands, preferences that are built around 32-bit architecture still work, but you’ll have to restart System Preferences in 32-bit mode in order to be able to load them. Thankfully, Snow Leopard re-opens System Prefs automatically, so there really is not much you need to do.

If you’re using any PowerPC based applications (here’s looking at you, Office 2004), you need to make sure you install Rosetta, Apple’s PPC emulator.

It’s an optional checkbox in the install process, but if you don’t install it, your old PPC-based apps won’t work.

Finally, there are still many apps out there that haven’t been updated for full compatibility with Snow Leopard. This means that they might crash more often than usual or they may simply not work at all. But never fear, developers everywhere are working around the clock to fix any and all Snow Leopard bugs.

All told, Snow Leopard is a great piece of software that’s only going to get better with age. If you have $30 sitting around, buy it now. It’s well worth the money.

Don’t forget to check the Pioneer’s Web site this week. I’ll be posting tons of Snow Leopard tips, tricks and videos.

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The Whitman College Pioneer is published under the auspices of the Associated Students of Whitman College. The purpose of The Pioneer is to provide pertinent, timely information and entertainment for Whitman students, alumni, faculty, staff and parents, as well as the Walla Walla community. In addition, The Pioneer strives to act as a catalyst and forum for communication within the Whitman community. To do so, The Pioneer publishes weekly Board Editorials. These opinion pieces reflect the views of The Pioneer, and not necessarily the views of each individual associated with the newspaper. The Pioneer welcomes letters to the Editor or any contradicting opinion pieces.

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No one enjoys paying taxes.

Giving money away is hard, especially if you’re not certain about the cause. But as a Washington resident, do RUSS not be fooled CADITZ-PECK

by Tim EyColumnist man’s latest anti-tax initiative, I-1033—it is a really, really, really bad idea.

Tim Eyman—Washington state’s crusading anti-tax activist—has gathered enough signatures to put I-1033 on the ballot that Washington voters will receive in mid-October. If passed, it would freeze future state spending at the spending in this year’s budget, with annual adjustments for inflation and population growth. Sounds pretty innocent, right?

Wrong.

Here’s the catch: due to the recession, the current state budget is one of the smallest and worst we’ve had in years.

This year’s budget cuts $1.5 billion from public schools and colleges, requires over 3,000 teachers and education employees be laid off, cuts basic health services to 40,000 Washington residents and cuts basic environmental protection programs.

As our economy recovers, I-1033 would ensure these setbacks are locked in. Any tax revenue collected beyond the previous year’s receipts would be given back as property tax cuts, the majority of which would go to the wealthy and large commercial property owners. Thus, it makes sense that Bellevue Square developer Kemper Freeman donated $25,000 to pay signature collectors and get I-1033 on the ballot; residents like Freeman would be big winners.

However, the Washington Office of Financial Management estimates that in five years, this would cut $5.9 from the state budget. In addition to education and health care, funding for police, firefighters, roads, libraries, parks et cetera, would be in jeopardy as well.

Eyman’s revenue limit strategy has been tried before and has proven disastrous. In 1992, Colorado experimented with a similar policy. As a result, funding for public services plunged and Colorado dropped to 49 in the nation in education funding. After just five catastrophic years, voters decided to largely overturn the measure.

In Washington state, we are currently battling the worst recession in a lifetime.

We need more funding to retool our K-12 science and math curriculum— not the cuts and the larger class sizes I-1033 guarantees.

To compete in the global economy, Washington state needs more young people enrolling in universities and community colleges—not further layoffs, higher tuition and increased exclusivity.

As baby boomers retire, we need to plan ahead to ensure a healthy citizenry—not make further cuts to our already limited health services and vaccination programs.

For those active in progressive Washington state politics, Tim Eyman is a near-annual headache. Since 1998, Eyman has collected enough signatures to get 16 initiatives on the ballot. Most have been to cut taxes, although he has also taken on affirmative and laws to prevent discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Taxes are a necessary evil. They’re not fun to pay, but they protect the American dream of equal opportunity in our nation, our state and our community. This fall, choose education for the young, financial security for the elderly and forward-thinking environmental policies over knee-jerk conservatism and simple anti-tax slogans. Vote “No” on I-1033.

Lett er To T he EDI TOR Editor:

As everyone who has read Tzvetan Todorov’s book “The Conquest of America” knows, if you go looking for an answer that you want, you’re not likely to find a different answer to your question.

In the same way, if you go looking for a Jewish community in Walla Walla that you think should look like one in a major metropolitan urban area, you’re not likely to find very much.

In your recent article, “Students celebrate Rosh Hashanah,” one person was quoted as saying, “there is no true Jewish community in Walla Walla.” That comment is more than a little disconnected from reality.

Sure, Walla Walla doesn’t have standard

features of urban Jewish life. Should it?

In fact, there has been an incorporated Jewish community in Walla Walla since 1940; there is an active synagogue which has a weekly Hebrew School, social action programs, worship services, educational events and which participates in several local interfaith justice efforts; and there have been Jewish residents of Walla Walla for over 100 years, as described in a full-length book detailing the history of the Jewish community in Walla Walla­—the research materials of which can be found in the Penrose Library archives. There is a Jewish section in the city’s cemetery. Heck, Walla Walla’s local history museum even features the story of a Jewish merchant who began his career in Walla Walla then went on to

become a business and civic leader in the early days of Seattle. What else do you need to qualify as a true community?

If you don’t look, then you won’t find.

But—as Whitman faculty members teach again and again—when you look around a little bit, there are amazing—and unexpected—worlds to discover.

This year, for the first time, the congregation hosted an open house for new Whitman students and their families to learn about the local Jewish community.

The comments in your article were a powerful reminder that similar events should probably be added to the synagogue’s permanent calendar from now on.

- Noah Leavitt, adjunct assistant professor of sociology and general studies

8

Feature

September 24, 2009S

How Green From unattainable to sustainable:

An environmental history of Whitman

by WILLIAM WITWER Staff Reporter

Loos-Diallo

Loos-Diallo

Only 30 years ago, the concept of recycling would have bewildered many Whitman students. Today, as Associate to the President Jed Schwendiman can testify, that is emphatically not the case.

“The attitude of students has changed,” said Schwendiman. “When I was a student, the cutting-edge environmental thing to do was recycle.

Students today have grown up in areas that have had recycling programs since the day they were born.

Now, recycling is kind of passé, and there is there is this whole movement towards sustainability.”

Recycling might seem as natural as breathing to much of our moderately eco-conscious generation.

But this is a radical change from generations past, and a change that might not be recognized as important. In fact, the whole sustainability movement is a recent occurrence primarily concerned with global climate change.

“When I was a student, [climate change] wasn’t on the radar screen, not anywhere near the extent it is today,” said Schwendiman. “There certainly were students who were concerned about the environment and conservation then as there are now—it’s just that the things they are focused on have shifted.”

The changing ways that

Whitman students think about the environment has brought about many important adjustments. As environmental focuses have shifted, many more students have become interested in reducing their effect on the earth. In other words, the culture has changed tremendously.

“The idea that we need to lessen our impact on the environment wasn’t present in many people’s minds,” said senior Sustainability Coordinator Lisa Curtis.

“I wasn’t here 20 years ago, but I doubt that that was present in the college administration at all.”

Due to the changing attitudes on the environment, there have been major improvements designed to help the earth.

The previously mentioned example is recycling, since it has become a basic tenant of the environmentally conscious.

“The college didn’t used to do recy-

When I was a student, [climate change] wasn’t on the radar screen . . . There certainly were students who were concerned about the environment and conservation then as there are now—it’s just that the things they are focused on have shifted.”

Jed Schwendiman Associate to the President

cling,” said Schwendiman. “I mean, nobody used to do recycling. Everybody would just put everything in the garbage. In the mid-80s, there was a student group that started a recycling program in all the residence halls, and that program has continued over time and so now there is recycling all over campus.”

Recycling, while still seen as important, is almost taken for granted these days. Beyond reprocessing basic materials, Whitman has made considerable changes from 20 years ago. The Life Cycle Committee sets aside money to upgrade buildings with current equipment, so the college’s buildings should match industry standards. Whitman now uses 100 percent post-consumer waste paper, in part to create demand for the college’s own recycled paper.

“It does cost more, but coupled with the new Print Tracking system, it’s hopefully going to bring the cost down in the long term,” said Schwendiman. “Hopefully, we’ll all just have less paper in the future.”

The new Print Tracking system has reduced paper waste in its first year by an estimated 30 percent. Whitman, while by no means the leader of the pack when it comes to environmentalism, has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. While many of the changes may be hard to see, long-term progress is definitely being made.

“I think one of the challenges for students is that they are here for a relatively short amount of time—only four years usually,” said Schwendiman. “Everything that has happened up until the day they show up, in the student’s mind, has always been here. And so it’s sometimes hard in that short time to see the progress.”

Loos-Diallo

Feature

9September 24, 2009

9

is Whitman?

Commentary

Hey whitties, pick up your trash!

Student litters for a cause

by AMI TIAN Contributing Reporter Nobody likes picking up garbage. But it’s not a far cry to assume that a Whitman student, who attends a college that considers itself to be fairly environmentally friendly, would go out of his or her way to pick up a piece of trash. To test the soundness of this assumption, I undertook the mission of surreptitiously planting pieces of garbage around campus and observing the number of people who walked by without picking them up.

The results were mildly disappointing.

I started the experiment in front of Lyman House on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 16. at 4:25 p.m., I placed two pieces of garbage in the middle of the walkway leading to Lyman’s main entrance: an apple core wrapped in a napkin alongside a small cardboard box.

Over the next hour and a half, 26 people walked by, hardly seeming to even notice the garbage, until first-year Osta Davis

picked up both pieces. When told that 26 people had passed by before her, Davis wasn’t surprised.

“If they hadn’t picked up garbage and there was a garbage can nearby, I would’ve been surprised,” she said.

I observed more encouraging results when I repeated the experiment, this time at 1:20 p.m. on Friday with a bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper, a crushed can of Amp and a crushed can of Coca-Cola, each planted in various spots around the paths to the library. The first person to pick up a piece of garbage was Ben Skotheim, a first-year who threw away the crushed can of Amp in the nearest recycling bin.

When asked if he considered himself to be any more environmentally conscious than his peers, he replied, “I hope not.”

Junior Logan Skirm picked up the crushed Coca-Cola can after 17 people had passed it by, one of whom actually kicked it a couple feet down the path, another having run over it with his bike.

Skirm’s friend, with whom he was walk-

ing, described him as “a good Samaritan,” which she yelled over her shoulder as he, mortified, tried to run away.

Alyssa Roberg, a first-year who picked up the Diet Dr. Pepper with an impassioned cry of disgust, said, “It kind of makes me angry.” She’d expected more people to pick up the garbage, “especially something that can be so easily recycled.”

When asked why she thought so many people passed it without picking it up, she said, “People are lazy.”

By 2:20 p.m. all three pieces of garbage had been picked up, after a combined total of 43 people had walked by and ignored them.

In an ideal world, the first person who saw the garbage would have been the first person to pick it up, but I figure it could’ve been worse. After all, Whitman’s campus is mostly litter-free. I’d like to think this is because although so many people failed to pick up other people’s garbage, they’re willing to pick up their own.

Whitman walks its talk

by KRISTEN COVERDALE Staff Reporter Many Whitties consider themselves environmentally conscious. And with nationwide interest in Whitman increasing each year, being “green” can be a huge selling point. But is Whitman actually as green as it claims?

Junior Anna Forge isn’t sure.

“Being here has made me much more aware of where my food comes from, how long my showers are, that sort of thing,” she said. “On the other hand, I don’t know enough about what’s considered green to say with complete confidence that yes, Whitman is 100 percent green.”

Common complaints include the lighting in the residence halls and the sprinkler system.

“They drench me on the regular,” sophomore Abby Neel said of the sprinklers outside Prentiss. “They probably don’t need to be on as often. But we all want our campus looking beautiful, right?”

While some sprinklers on campus seem to water the sidewalks just as much as grass, at least some of them run with recycled water, according to Associate to the President Jed Schwendiman.

Junior Gary Wang, one of the leaders of Campus Climate Challenge, applauds the college’s efforts.

“I think Whitman is more green than it is marketed as, in some respects at least. In some reports we’ve been given the grade of a B or C. For example, the installation

Being here has made me much more aware of where my food comes from, how long my showers are, that sort of thing.

Anna Forge ‘11

of the Bratton Tennis Center solar panels was an historical step forward in reducing our carbon footprint.”

This past spring, Campus Climate Challenge completed a greenhouse gas audit and were working with the Administration toward hopefully signing the Presidents’ Climate Commitment, which would commit the college to “climate neutrality.” This means that Whitman would not have any greenhouse gas emissions, an impressive feat.

Students have initiated much of the advancement toward a greener campus.

Groups like Campus Climate Challenge have lobbied for a paid Sustainability Coordinator on the College staff. Last year the first part-time Sustainability Coordinator was hired and tasked with bridging the gap between the administration and student organizations promoting conservation and sustainability. The position is currently held by senior Lisa Curtis, who is working on projects like more com-

posting, environmental service days and increasing cooperation between environmental groups.

Even if the college is doing most things right, there can always be room for improvement. As Wang points out, perhaps change is needed within the student body.

“There aren’t huge flaws but there are things we could do better . . . There is a lot of apathy on campus,” he said.

Living green is a personal choice. While it might be easy to support, staying motivated enough to make little changes without seeing immediate results is tough.

BECOMING MORE ENVIRONMENTAL

BY THE NUMBERS 7 percent of Whitties that buy e-books

117.11 revenue created by solar power plant on Bratton Tennis Courts

0

81 percent of Whitties that print double-sided

29 percent of Whitties that are vegitarians or vegans

3,012

amount of CO2 percent of Whitties reduced by the solar who consider themselves com- plant on the Bratton Tennis Courts pletely green

• Compost. The college doesn’t real-

ly support off-campus composting, so make an effort to compost at your house if you live off-campus.

• Recycle. If you live in a Residence

Hall, this is easy, but slightly less convenient if you live off-campus.

• Walk, bike or take a bus. Walla

Walla is not huge. Take Valley Transit and ditch the car unless absolutely necessary.

For more information about environmental activism at Whitman, visit http://www.whitman.edu/content/ about/environment/quick.

1,952

48

kWh produced by percent of Whitties the solar plant on that always recycle the Bratton Tennis Courts Compiled by Hadley Jolley

Dream green: future possibilities

by WILLIAM WITWER Staff Reporter A communal Whitman farm might seem like a far-fetched idea with little possibility of success. Nonetheless, as senior Sustainability Coordinator Lisa Curtis describes it, it would be “pretty awesome.”

“There are a couple of freshmen who want a farm at Whitman by the time they graduate,” said Curtis.

Almost all environmental projects at Whitman have been introduced by determined students pursuing their goals.

The idea of a farm is a proposed extension of the organic garden from which, ideally, Bon Appétit would be able to buy their food directly. To encourage students to pursue projects like these, Whitman has created the Sustainability Revolving Loan Fund.

“The college set aside $25,000 for good ideas that have an initial start-up cost but would save money over a fiveyear period,” said Co-Chair of the Conservation and Recycling Committee Jed Schwendiman.

While the college is obviously hoping to get that money back, the idea is that without the barrier of the start-up cost, Whitman can become a more sustainable community through the proposals of interested students and faculty.

One such proposal on the table right

now is to install more aerators on faucets to reduce water flow.

“Over the four years I’ve been here I’ve seen a lot of student-led initiatives grow,” said Curtis. “For example, Campus Climate Challenge started when I was a freshman—it was just someone’s idea, like hey, we should look at our carbon footprint. And now the group has 100-something people on the listserv and they have done a ton.”

Student environmental initiatives remain a consistent staple of improvement, and there are a vast multitude of ideas going around. For example, Campus Climate Challenge focuses on getting climate change legislation passed in the Senate. On Monday, Sept. 21, they organized a “flash mob” to call senators of the participants regarding this issue.

Campus Greens, on the other hand, continues to direct its efforts towards changing the world on a smaller scale.

“Campus Greens this year is focusing more on creating community as a means of getting people involved,” said Curtis. “So they’re doing more art nights, planting blueberries, making pie and really awesome fun stuff.”

While their methods are entirely opposite, both Campus Greens and Campus Climate Change try to make a meaningful difference to the environment.

Students have also been instrumental

in helping with Whitman-led projects, such as the Solar Energy Project. In just two years, the installation of solar panels was completed without even resorting to the use of the Sustainability Revolving Loan Fund.

“That’s a pretty quick turnaround,” said Schwendiman. “It was just a matter of all the right things coming together, and it allowed us to create this photovoltaic system that now offsets 20 percent of the electricity use of the building and 54 percent of the cost of electricity for that building.”

Student fundraising was essential to the speed of the Solar Energy Project’s completion.

Greek life at Whitman is also trying to be more environmentally friendly, as Lauren McCullough, the new Green Chair of Kappa Kappa Gamma, explains.

“Basically it’s my job to try and work within my sorority to make us more environmentally sustainable in any way possible,” said McCullough. “I think, as a campus, there is a lot of improvement to be done. But I think that really needs to come from a personal level. On an individual level there are a lot more that people can be doing.”

Individual students do have a lot of ideas. In fact, Curtis’s position of Sustainability Coordinator was lobbied for by the current senior class.

Hong

Hong Above: Campus Climate Challenge activists fight for change during a campus-wide march. Below: Gretchen Grimm ‘12 weeds at the Organic Garden during one of its open garden hours.

the Pioneer Issue 3 SepT. 24, 2009 Page 10

Humor

Featuring SOME VATIVES! R E S N O C S U P M CA nymous

Alex Potter and Ano

FOUND! Secret Conservative Map

6

1

5

7 2 4

3

Hello, Sir or Madam, If you are reading this, it is because you have been officially inducted into Whitman College’s “Conservatives on Campus.” Congratulations! Use the map below to show yourself around like you own the place. Because you literally do.

1) Styx When mounted wearing boots, a lasso

and the American flag, Styx recedes into the ground to allow you access to the Conservative Catacombs. These state-of-the-art underground hallways come with surround sound Toby Keith albums playing 24/7, interspersed with the sound of jingling coins.

2) Kappa Hall The Kappa entrance to the Conservative Catacoumbs is by far the most popular

First-year phone conversation overheard Dad? ...Yeah, everything is fine.

I like all my classes a lot, everything is going great. …Listen, Dad, remember before I left for college and you said that you would love me no matter what? Well, I’ve been experimenting a little bit, and I tried some things that really work for me…

Dad… I think I’m a Republican. …YES, I’m sure I’m not just Libertarian. I’m 100% Republican...

[Yelling heard through the phone.] …Dad, this can’t come as a surprise! Remember that time in grade school I refused to distribute my graham crackers to those freeloading kids whose parents were too lazy to include a treat in their lunch?

Or that time you started paying neighborhood kids to mow the lawn and I tried building a wall around our house to keep them out? ...Yes, you CAN believe this! Remember that time in third grade when I deregulated the “No Running With Scissors” rule and then started selling newer, more aero-

dynamic scissors to the other students?

Or that time that Richie wouldn’t say the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning and I had him detained indefinitely without trial?

Or how I made it so that getting caught eating five grams of paste got you detention, but eating 500 grams of glue sticks meant you just went on time out?

Remember when I convinced Grandma to privatize her furniture, then bought it and sold it back to her for her house?

Or the time I started a lemonade stand and hired the neighborhood kids to work for a penny an hour, and when they tried to unionize, I threatened their families until they moved?

Remember that time I stabbed a union boss in the Achilles tendon?

[A long pause ensues.]

See? It all makes sense. I really thought you would be open-minded about this. I’m calling Mom right away. Oh, and by the way, I now own a majority share of that shitty box-making company you work for. Your replacement will be in on Tuesday. Bye! [End.]

on campus, even if most of these fine ladies pretend to only be “libertarians.”

3) Photo studio for “Study Abroad” photos During your junior year, your liberal classmates will expect you to travel the world building shanties in God-knowswhere. In this studio, complete with global garb and cardboard cutouts of host mothers, you can produce false evi-

dence of your “studies abroad” to show off after your internship with the NSA in Washington, DC. 4) Tunnel to Washington, DC

6) Catholics on Campus Underground Fun Center 7) The Gun Aisle of Wal-Mart Indeed.

5) Whitman Investment Club’s Warehouse of Cash Complete with a Olympic-sized gold coin pool.

LiberalWhittieMatch.com Here are Whitman’s hottest liberal singles! Grab your Nalgene—it’s gonna get hot.

Zephyr “Mojo” Terra: I’m looking for a girl who can deal with all my pro-active mentality.

When I’m not tending to my organic barley farm, I’m either sifting the San Franciso Bay for Styrofoam and aluminum cans, trapping ozone-depleting bovine-methane in jars or weaving my own clothes from the bamboo reeds I grow in my back yard.

It’s not a big deal or anything.

Oh, also, one time I collected 40 vats of cooking grease from a Jack-in–theBox in Seattle, converted it into bio-diesel and kayaked it to gas stations in the Dominican Republic. Seriously, not a big deal. But if there is a girl out there who cares as much as I do, I’ll be surprised, but I’ll give her a shot.

Ovid Starlight: You might have seen me at this year’s Burning Man. I was the woman in the Karma-4-Life stand. Yes, I wear that hot pink, metallic, full-length unitard with the rainbow feather headdress that sprays glitter. It sprays glitter even when I’m not at Burning Man. Some people call it ostentatious; I call it a gift for your eyes and chakras.

When I’m not cleaning chakras for a living, I’m either waxing my butt-long dreadlocks or leading Pranayam Yoga classes for the homeless.

Stop

by Burning Man or one of my yoga classes if you want to meet up.

Complimentar y chakra cleaning on the first date.

one who acts spontaneously, in the Tao, like they’re flowing with the Tao-spirit.

Maybe you are a fellow Taoist who can be the Yang to my Yin? Unless you’re going to tell me you’re a Taoist and that I’m “anglosizing something I don’t understand.” Whatever that means.

Zada Noutin: My name is Zada and I’m looking for a fun-loving, animal-loving guy. I love the ocean and that’s why I’m studying to be a marine-biologist. This past year, I spent three months working to destroy the vicious Japanese whale hunters with Greenpeace.

At one point, we ran out of smoke bombs so Greenpeace threw me over to the whalers and I single-handedly punched out the crew and captain of the ship. Despite the four men that were slain that day, I saved two whales from being whaled. Hopefully you like a strong girl.

Apple “Yin” Moffett: I’m a recently self-converted Taoist.

I used to be a self-converted Buddhist, but then all these Buddhists told me I didn’t know what Buddhism was. I don’t really like to call myself religious; it’s more of a heightened sense of superior spiritual awareness.

The Tao— the nature force that drives us all—allows us to live in harmony with the trees and the gusts of wind and the rhythms of Mother Earth’s pulsating Anonymous, Alex Kerr, Alex Potter, heart. I am seeking a free-spirit, someSimi Singh, Finn Straley

Sports

the Pioneer Issue 3 SepT. 24, 2009 Page 11

Strong incoming players add depth, talent to burgeoning volleyball team into practices this year. I think the new girls see that and are all putting forth just as much effort, so we’re getting a lot done,” said Graves.

So far, it has paid off, as the Whitman volleyball team already has their third victory just five games into the season— reaching that win count didn’t happen until the seventeenth game last year.

Despite a league preseason poll that had the Missionaries in last place at the beginning of the season, expectations are high and a desire to prove people wrong is even higher.

“We definitely expect to win. We have all been putting in long hours of hard, focused work, and we are going to see that pay off. I think we have already surprised some people in the conference,” said senior opposite hitter Brea Robirds.

Arguably the deciding factor of the 2009 campaign will be the emergence of a skilled first-year class that consists of seven players hailing from Hawaii to Massachusetts. Under the guidance of Coach Carolyn Papineau, in her third year at the helm of the program, and the leadership of the five returning players, the Missionaries hope to turn this youth movement into a winning one.

“We’re a young team, but we’re deep.

The new girls bring a lot to the court both in personality and skill level, so we know we have the tools to go a long way.

So far, we have seen very solid offensive play from freshman Corie Brewer and solid defense from Rachel Shober,” said

by BIDNAM LEE Staff Reporter Junior Katie Richard’s set sends a volleyball arcing high into the air, pushing through the palpable energy of Sherwood Athletic Center. It’s 29-28, match point for Whitman College against conference foe Willamette University.

As the ball falls towards the left post of the volleyball net, the roar of the crowd rises as people spot senior AllNWC Second Team outside hitter, team captain and human cannon extraordinaire Alex Graves bolting towards the left side of the net, closing in on the descending volleyball. Graves rises to meet the ball, arm cocked, staring down two Willamette blockers. Spike. Kill. Sherwood is in a frenzy as the Missionaries celebrate win number three on the season and another step forward in what has become a season of redemption for Whitman volleyball.

After going a disappointing 3-22 last season, the women of the Whitman volleyball team are back this season to prove that they are serious contenders in the Northwest Conference. With leadership from Graves and junior libero Kelsie Butts, both of whom are in their second years as captains and an influx of young talent, the Missionaries are looking to build on the momentum of winning three of their final five NWC matches last season.

“We worked really hard to get those wins at the end of last season and all the returners are carrying that work ethic

SCHEDULE man after a spring semester at Division I Boise State, it’s hard to see anyone challenging his and Whitman’s dominance at this early season event. The winner of the singles and doubles bracket receives AllAmerica honors and advances to the National Small College Championships later this fall. After Saturday, the field continues to narrow down Sunday with the championships held on Monday.

FRIDAY Sept. 25 Volleyball

Whitman College vs. George Fox University at George Fox in Newburg, Ore., 7 p.m.

Game Notes: The Whitman women play their third conference game of the season against the George Fox Bruins. The Bruins boast a 6-3 overall record but have struggled thus far in the Northwest Conference, losing both of their conference games against traditionally tough teams, Lewis and Clark and Pacific Lutheran.

Cross Country

Erik Anderson Cross Country Invitational (W5K, M8K) at Plantes Ferry Park, Spokane, Wash., 10:45 a.m.

Game Notes: At their last meet, the Whitman women smashed the field, winning with astounding 35 place points. The Whitman men aren’t too shabby, either.

The men finished fourth at the Lewis and Clark Invitational, second among all Northwest Conference teams.

SATURDAY Sept. 26 Men’s Tennis

Women’s Soccer

Wilson/ITA Pacific Northwest Men’s Fall Tennis Championships at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.—Day 1 Game Notes: A Whitman men’s singles player and doubles team has won this tournament each of the last three years. Senior Matt Solomon has filled the role of singles champion the past two years, while he’s been apart of all three championship doubles teams. With Solomon back at Whit-

Pacific Lutheran University vs. Whitman College in Tacoma, Wash., 12 p.m.

Game Notes: Last year, the Whitman women squeaked a victory out against PLU early in the season when at home and lost to PLU in overtime in a defensive battle later in the season.

van neste Katie Miller ‘12 moves in to return the ball in a recent practice for the varsity women’s volleyball team. The team currently stands at 3-4 overall and 1-1 in conference with two more conference games this weekend.

Graves.

Perhaps the only concern with a team heavy-laden on talented first-years would be the overall dynamics of the team, but the volleyball team has not had to face that problem to the slightest degree.

First-year player Rachel Shober, despite being worried about this initially,

said, “The thing that defines [being a first-year on the team] most for me is our commitment to each other as people and teammates. We just all get along really well.”

With a tremendous level of team chemistry, a strong class of first-year players, experience from Graves and Butts and a competitive fire to prove

their naysayers wrong, the Whitman Missionaries women’s volleyball team is posed to take the Northwest Conference by storm. Whether they do or not is yet to be seen, but if the stones start flying and the volleyball giants start dropping this season, don’t be surprised to see the Whitman women’s volleyball team holding the slings.

Golf

College on Saturday. Lewis and Clark is pulling an even record so far, both in conference and overall. This game will be the last of a three-game road trip for the Whitman women, who next play Walla Walla University in College Place, Wash., on Wednesday, Oct. 1.

WEDNESDAY Sept. 30

North Idaho College (men and women) at Sun Willows GC in Pasco, Wash., 12:50 p.m.

Game Notes: This will be the first tournament of the year for both the men’s and women’s golf squads. Neither team played in this tournament last season, but will be one of four tournaments each team plays in the fall. That’s three more than the women played in last year and two more for the men. The first three will lead up to the Northwest Conference Fall Classic on Oct. 17 and 18. Junior Brian Barton won that tournament last year.

Men’s Soccer

Pacific Lutheran University vs. Whitman College in Tacoma, Wash., 2:30 p.m.

Game Notes: The Whitman men look to their strong play in conference against PLU on Sunday. The team is coming off of a hard fought 3-2 victory against George Fox University and a 1-1 tie against rival Pacific University. PLU has given Whitman some trouble in the past, shutting them out in both games in 2007. Last year, however, Whitman battled hard and earned decisive victories both home and away.

Volleyball

Whitman College vs. Lewis and Clark College at Lewis and Clark in Portland, Ore., 5 p.m.

Game Notes: Whitman plays the second of their two conference matchups this weekend against rival Lewis and Clark

Volleyball

Whitman at Walla Walla University in College Place, Wash., 7 p.m.

Game Notes: Whitman plays Walla Walla University after losing to them 3-2 in last year’s season opener. Whitman has the extra benefit this year though of a strong class of first-year players, including three starters.

SUNDAY Sept. 27 Women’s Soccer

University of Puget Sound vs. Whitman College in Tacoma, Wash., 12 p.m.

Game Notes: The Loggers have always posed a huge challenge to the Whitman women, and this year will be no different.

Last year, Whitman lost both games they played against the Loggers. The Loggers remain unbeaten this season, beating teams by margins of up to five goals in some games.

Advertisement

Men’s Soccer

NEW HOURS

University of Puget Sound vs. Whitman College in Tacoma, Wash., 2:30 p.m.

Game Notes: Last year, the Missionaries tied the Loggers at home and lost in overtime on the road. The Loggers are solid again this year, with a good crop of recruits and some experienced upperclassmen giving them depth.

Starting September 21

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WEEKLY SCOREBOARD FRIDAY Sept. 18

SATURDAY Sept. 19

Volleyball

Women’s Soccer

Willamette University vs. Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.

Game Scores: 1 2 3 Team Records

4

Willamette University (1) 22 26 20 28 3-6, 0-1 NWC Whitman College (3) 25 24 25 30 3-2, 1-0 NWC

George Fox University vs. Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.

Goals by Period 1 2 Tot George Fox (3-3, 0-2 NWC) 0 0 0 Whitman (2-2-1, 1-1 NWC) 1 1 2

Men’s Soccer

George Fox University vs. Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.

boggan

SUNDAY Sept. 20

Goals by Period 1 2 Tot George Fox (3-3-0, 0-1 NWC) 1 1 2

Women’s Soccer

Pacific University vs. Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.

Whitman (2-1-1, 1-0 NWC) 1 2 3

Volleyball

Linfield College vs. Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.

Game Scores: 1 2 3 Team Records Linfield (3) 24 25 (5-4, 2-0 NWC) Whitman (1) 26 17 (3-3, 1-1 NWC)

20

Pacific University vs. Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.

19

Goals by Period 1 2 OT

2OT

Whitman (2-2-2, 1-0-1 NWC) 1 0 0 0

1

TUESDAY Sept. 22 Whitman College vs. Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho

Men’s Soccer

25

1

Volleyball

Whitman (2-3-1, 1-2-0 NWC) 0 0 0

4

25

Goals by Period 1 2 Tot Pacific (3-3-1, 2-1-0 NWC) 1 0 1

Pacific (4-2-1, 0-1-1 NWC) 0 1 0 0

Tot

Game Scores: 1 2 3

Team Records

Whitman 19 16

(3-4, 1-1 NWC)

20

Lewis-Clark 25 25 25 (10-4, 4-0 Frontier Conference)

Sports

September 24, 2009

12

Whitman Soccer:

New players, same goals

Men’s and women’s teams look to replace key seniors without losing ground after last year’s successes

by JAY GOLD Staff Reporter

photos by jacobson Top: Leland Matthaeus ‘13 avoids a George Fox defender in Saturday’s game. The Whitman men cruised by the Bruins 3-2 to secure their first conference victory in their first opportunity. Bottom left: Amy Hasson ‘12 leads the charge against a Pacific University defender. Hasson moved up from her position as midfielder once captain and leading scorer Corina Gabbert ‘10 went down with an ankle injury. Bottom right: Chris Reid ‘11 and Todd Wallenius ‘10 celebrate a goal versus George Fox. Wallenius replaces departed senior Stephen Phillips as team captain along with sweeper Cooper Crosby ‘11. Wallenius scored Whitman’s only goal in Sunday’s 1-1 tie against Pacific University. So far this season, Wallenius leads Whitman with three goals, six points and 14 shots on goal.

For true competitors, mere respectability is rarely worth striving for. In the hearts and minds of such people, it is an underwhelming result that typically inspires indifference or, worse, a moderate form of disgust. Scott Shields, head coach of the Whitman women’s soccer team, leaned towards the latter reaction as he discussed his team’s fourth-place finish in the Northwest Conference (NWC) last season.

“Last year, finishing fourth was a bit of a disappointment,” Shields said.

His expectations were for something greater than ending the season stranded in the middle of the pack. Though some of the faces have changed, Shields’s expectations remain the same. As another season of conference play gets underway and a new script begins to unfold, slowly morphing the uncertainty of hope and pre-season polls into concrete reality, competitive optimism abounds within both the Whitman women’s and men’s teams.

For the women’s team, finding a target for aspiration and anticipation is a simple matter.

“The expectations are to be fighting for that first place in conference,” Shields said.

Even in the aftermath of the departure of the 2009 senior class that spearheaded last season’s team, the talent at Shields’s disposal is enough to give that goal the appearance of being within the realm of attainability. Corina Gabbert, a senior midfielder and 2008 All-NWC First Team selection, and Courtney Porter, a senior goalkeeper, headline a highly skilled contingent of players in which no class is without strong representation.

Gabbert, who finished second in the NWC in goals and third in overall points last season, not only figures prominently into, but also shares Shields’s successdriven vision for the Women’s team.

After echoing Shields’s claim that the team’s ultimate goal is achieving conference supremacy, Gabbert said, “In the few games that we’ve had, we’ve had moments where we played better than I’ve ever seen our team play, so if we’re able to maintain that level of play and that mentality, we’ll be able to do well.”

In expounding upon the team’s strengths and the reasons why it should be able to do well, both Shields and Gabbert pointed not only to talent but also to a burgeoning chemistry and an apparent penchant for working hard.

All three qualities will serve Whitman, which was picked to finish third in the NWC Coaches Pre-Season Poll, well on a road that is not likely to be easy.

“Our schedule’s extremely difficult,” said Shields, who is not naïve enough to discount the strength of a conference typically dominated by teams such as Puget Sound, Whitworth and Wil-

lamette.

Whitman’s 1-2 record through its first three NWC games is certainly a testament to exactly how difficult ascending to the top of the conference will be, even if Gabbert missed two of those games.

Still, while losses and the moral victories that sometimes accompany them never feel as good as actual victories, the time for abandoning hope, belief and ambition is not yet at hand.

Like the women’s team, the men’s team, which finished second in the NWC last season, must contend with the loss of numerous players who were central to the success it had last year.

While head coach Mike Washington’s positivity may not have been nearly as unflinching as that of Shields seems to have been during the offseason, its current state is a healthy one.

“I’m kind of more optimistic now that we’ve had some games. I was apprehensive,” said Washington.

The way in which his team has played so far has caused much of Washington’s apprehension to fade into memory. Key returning players such as senior Todd Wallenius, a 2008 All-NWC Second Team Selection, and junior defender Cooper Crosby have joined forces with transfer students and first-years, including junior forward Chris Reid and first-year midfielder Andrew Clark, to reignite Washington’s belief. His roster’s promise is now lucidly before him.

“We’ve got to look at our team strength first. We have a lot of speed and we’re hoping we can use that,” said the coach, striving to explain what, beyond individual play, will give his team an advantage.

While Washington said he had no serious concerns regarding his team, he did stress that health will be crucial for a team that it is not as deep as it has been in the past and that there is still some uncertainty at the goalkeeper position.

However, junior Nick McDonald started and played for the entirety of both of Whitman’s first two conference games, from which the team emerged with one win and one tie against George Fox and Pacific, respectively, in goal.

If the team is to build on the first two games, it must do so in what Washington describes as “a tough conference,” where “anybody on any day can beat somebody.” The coach cited Whitworth, Pacific, Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Puget Sound as potentially worrisome conference opponents.

Still, looking at the big, tangible picture that is wins, losses, ties and rankings, Washington pronounced, “There’s absolutely no reason that we can’t finish in the top three,” before proceeding to suggest that no rank is beyond the team’s reach.

With any other attitude, the distance to first place would simply exceed the grasp of both the men’s and women’s teams.

Hunt for October: Post-season predictions Commentary

by MELISSA NAVARRO Sports Editor To echo the words of Dane Cook’s lame 2007 MLB post-season promos, there’s only one October. There’s only one time of year when I check standings online more than I check my Facebook. There’s only one time of year when my housemates will occasionally catch me yelling at the TV. There’s only one time of year when I tell my boyfriend that a league of baseball players are more important to me than he is at the moment. Beware, that time is coming soon.

Based on heated discussions with friends and family who are also avid fans of the pastime, I’ve come up with a basic idea of how post-season is going to go down. I’m aware of the obvious standings and it isn’t hard to predict division league winners at this point so this won’t be too big of a guessing game. However, the wildcard races and the question of how each series will pan out make this time of the year more interesting.

It seems to be shaping up like this:

National League

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals NL West: LA Dodgers NL Wildcard: Colorado Rockies NL Final Match-up: Rockies vs. Dodgers. Colorado will rock it out until the seventh game especially since the Los Angeles’ fierce pitching is not an easy challenge to overcome. But will only get them so far against the Rockies as their hitters have a habit of performing during crunch time.

(Note: Since the Dodgers and the Rockies are in the same league, the Rockies would have to go against the team with the next best winning percentage for the first playoff series, which will most likely be the Phillies, leaving LA and Colorado to match up at the end of the NL race.)

American League

AL East: NY Yankees AL Central: Detroit Tigers AL West: LA Angels

AL Wildcard: Boston Red Sox (or the M’s if they magically overcome the odds for the next week or so. Wishful thinking!).

AL Final Match-up: Yankees vs. Angels.

New York will knock down the other Los Angeles team by Game 5 to clinch the league after sweeping the Tigers in the previous match-up. The Tigers’ pitching is no match for the Yankees, who may only gain momentum if they beat the Red Sox in this weekend’s series.

by Jorge Posada, but I digress…

Another World Series victory for the damn Yankees? I wouldn’t be surprised and I doubt anyone else would be.

either.

World Series: Yankees vs.

Rockies

I imagine this series to be similar to 2007, in that there was hope of the Rockies after doing so well throughout post-season, yet they could fall short against the other beasts from the east and get dominated after four games. The Yankees are just too good right now to choke. I also plan to see some bench-clearing fights started

wolff