Whitman College Pioneer - Fall 2009 Issue 2

Spotlight Study Abroad adventures

Five senior studio art majors offer a sneak peak into what they’re working on as they prepare for their theses

This week: Tarsum Singh’s

The Fall

Netflix it!

PAGE 13

WHITMAN COLLEGE Walla Walla, WA Volume CXXV / Issue 2 whitmanpioneer.com September 17, 2009

Accreditation changes spark controversy Faculty protests new Northwest assessment cycle

by GALEN BERNARD News Editor Proposed changes to Whitman’s accreditation requirements, received Monday from the regional accreditation commission, have drawn criticism from faculty and calls for closer consideration from administrators.

A key part of the education system, accreditation is a process that monitors the quality of higher education institutions.

Associate Dean of Faculty Tom Callister, who acts as Whitman’s liaison to the Northwest Com-

mission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), said that Whitman has not had a role in developing the changes as it is does not currently hold one of the rotating commissioner positions.

In e-mails sent to the faculty listserv and forwarded to The Pioneer, professors voiced concern over the proposed increase in the number of accreditation evaluations from two every ten years to four every seven years, which some believe will add to their workload and distract from teaching.

“The changes that we are making in order to cater to the accreditation bureaucrats actually will take more time from our teaching and research,” said Associate Professor of History Elyse Semerdjian in an e-mail.

On the NWCCU Web site, President Sandra E. Elman writes, “Accreditation is an intensive process of institutional self-study and peer evaluation. Accreditation offers a unique opportunity for all members of the institution . . . to participate in a focused process that results in ongoing institutional improvement.”

On Tuesday, Sept. 1, NWCCU published Draft 5.0 of “Revised Standards for Accreditation,” which proposes changes both to accreditation ACCREDITATION, P3

Bullion The 5:32 bus leaves the trolley stop behind Jewett.

Valley transit faces cuts

by RACHEL ALEXANDER, Staff Reporter If you go shopping in Walla Walla and spend $10 on clothes, 3 cents of the tax you pay will go towards the Valley Transit System. That may not sound like much, but sales tax makes up 65% of the transit system’s budget--and due to the recession, those tax revenues have decreased dramatically.

Faced with an increasing budget deficit, Walla Walla’s Valley Transit may soon face

tough decisions about where and how to cut expenses in the coming months. “We’re the transit system in the state to hold out the longest,” said General Manager Dick Fondahn.

Like many public transportation systems, Valley Transit gets its operating budget from a variety of sources. A large portion of the system’s revenue used to come from a motor vehicle tax, but that tax was repealed in 1999 TR ANSIT, P

IHC block party rocks Otis Interest house community showcases food, fortune-telling and fun

Hubanks Hannah Joseph, ‘12, tells the fortune of French House RA Carol Schaffer, ‘10, at the Community Service House’s booth. Other activities at the block party included an inflatable slide, a dunk tank and a lemonade stand.

by CONNOR GUY A&E Editor A dunk tank. Cotton candy. Acoustic music. Slip ‘n’ Slide. All things you

might expect to find on a college campus on any given day in mid-September, but usually not in the middle of the street. On Saturday, Sept. 12, the Whitman Interest House Community

(IHC) shut down a section of Otis Street, bringing all of these things and more to the pavement as part of its annual block party.

Though many consider it a common

sight, the Admissions Office regularly shows off the IHC during its campus tours . The IHC ia a collection of 11 houses that the college owns or rents. It provides an alternative housing option for upperclassmen, though it is mostly inhabited by sophomores because juniors and seniors often opt to live off campus.

“We do the Block Party for a variety of reasons,” said IHC Residence Director Patrick Herman. “But one of the main ones is that we’re trying to give first years a chance to explore the IHC. Another is just to put on a fun event both for the campus and the community.” Publicity events like the block party are key for the IHC in building a working relationship with neighbors, both students and community members.

The IHC staff distributed letters to nearby houses, explaining the event, and inviting anyone interested to come. “We made a special effort this year, to involve the Walla Walla community,” said senior Anastasia Zamkinos, RA of the Fine Arts House. “For example, we had the children of the woman who runs the Walla Walla Bread Company come. They run a lemonade stand every week at the farmers market, so we invited them to come and run their stand at the block party.”

The letter also asked neighbors to direct any concerns or complaints to Herman. “This year was no problem at all, BLOCK PARTY, P6

Maxey expands into 2010

by MAGGIE ALLEN Staff Reporter

Returning to campus in August, students discovered a completed Sherwood Center and Olin Hall, but may have been more surprised to find Maxey Hall under construction.

Eighteen additional office spaces, four classrooms and three student lounges, will be added to Maxey as part of the 11,000-square foot expansion. Receiving $5.2 million from a bond the college issued over a year ago, the work began in June and will be completed in August 2010.

“I think overall construction is going smoothly,” said Division I Assistant Kathleen Hutchison. “With construction, there are always unexpected problems you run into, but I’m impressed with the construction crew that we have and I think things are moving along really well.”

The renovated building will also have more faculty offices and increased space for psychological research.

MAXEY, P2

First years run for

Senate PAGE 2

2

NEWS

September 17, 2009S

Senate decisions affect first-years, seniors

by JOSH GOODMAN Associate News Editor First-years heading to the polls this Monday, Sept. 21 got an opportunity to meet their senator candidates for the Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC) in a forum that was as much about Disney princesses as it was about politics.

“I thought it was successful,” said sophomore ASWC Oversight Chair Jack MacNichol. “We had a couple great questions, but then we did, as these forums tend to do, diverge, into some questions about which Disney princesses represent [the candidates].”

The forum on Tuesday, Sept. 15, the first of two, served as an opportunity for first-years to get to know their senator candidates. The election also features a campus-wide vote on an amendment to allow senior voting in executive elections during the spring. Though most of the forum consisted of offbeat questions, candidates also showed their serious side.

“I really thought… having solar panels that were recently installed was a really cool idea,” said first-year candidate Nathan Abrams. “I think if Whitman could build on its dependence on green energy, it would be a really good thing. I think a fair amount of the campus would be behind that.”

VAN NESTE First-year senate candidates field questions from classmates in Jewett Lounge, Tuesday, Sept. 15.

“My first idea that I’ve noticed at this is school is that we have chalkboards,” said first-year candidate Autumn Knutson. “I thought it would be cool to have whiteboards.”

Though the forum spent more time on

favorite childhood television shows and James Bond actors than issues like these, it appears to have been helpful.

“I sort of had an idea before but it changed a little bit,” said first-year Nate Lessler. “It helped me. It could have been

shorter—I think a lot of the questions where they had similar answers could have been fast.”

Amendment on senior voting Monday’s election will also feature a proposed amendment to the ASWC con-

stitution seeking to overturn last year’s controversial rule barring seniors from voting in executive council elections.

It will require 20 percent of the student body to vote and a two-thirds majority among those who do to pass.

The amendment would change part of Section One of the ASWC constitution to say, “All members of ASWC will be eligible to vote in the election.” The current wording says “All members of ASWC who are not graduating in the current semester will be eligible to vote in the election.”

In spite of a lack of publicity for the amendment, MacNichol is confident that the amendment will get the necessary votes.

“All the freshmen will be voting,” he said. “But I also think a lot of seniors, if they want to vote in the spring, will be interested in this, because the amendment will allow them to vote in the Executive Council elections.”

The election takes place Monday, Sept.

21, with online voting from midnight until 8 p.m. First-years will have the opportunity to rank senator candidates in order of preference, from first to seventh. All students will be able to vote for or against the proposed senior voting amendment.

Students interested in learning more about first-year senator candidates can attend tonight’s forum in the Anderson Main Lounge at 7 p.m.

Faculty move to Olin from MAXEY, P1 “The building was constructed in 1976 and we have run out of room,” said Peter Harvey, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer.

In addition to the expansion, new lights, ceilings, carpet, and fire sprinklers will be added.

The only major disadvantage for Maxey faculty is the fact that many had to move to Olin until construction is completed.

“The offices are smaller here than they were in Maxey, and I think that has been the biggest change for the faculty,” said Pat Sorenson, Division II assistant.

“It’s not fun to move,” Hutchinson said, “But [the faculty] knew that the end product is going to be a lot better.

They’ll move back, and we miss them.”

There is an upside to the temporary faculty office relocations.

“We’ve had both the Maxey and Olin faculty say that this move has actually been really good because they have had more contact between buildings than they usually do,” Sorenson said.

Faculty such as Professor of Economics Denise Hazlett feel the move has been easy due to help from staff.

“The move went smoothly,” Hazlett said. “In the middle of [construction], you do wonder if it’s worth it. But Maxey was in such bad shape that we were desperate. [Moving to Olin] is a chance

VAN NESTE A construction worker breaks ground on the Maxey Hall renovations. The expansion is set to be ready for the fall 2010 semester. to see other people I wouldn’t.”

“It will be sad when the Maxey faculty move back,” Sorenson agreed.

Glover Alston Center coming along Maxey isn’t the only building undergoing construction at the moment.

“We’re also looking forward to the Glover Alston Center, being renovated on Boyer Street,” said Associate to the President Jed Schwendiman.

Also known as the Multicultural House, the Glover Alston Center was formerly used by senior art majors as a

studio space. With the Fouts Center for Visual Arts complete, there will soon be a space for multicultural events, programs and some classes.

Fourteen clubs will utilize the center, which will have a kitchen and a large area for events.

“In addition to being a great place for Intercultural Center affiliated clubs to hold programs, meetings and events, we hope to create a space that will feel comfortable as a hang out space for international students and their friends, and a

place where campus dialogue about a wide range of diversity issues can take place,” Schwendiman said.

Located between the dance studio and Boyer House, the house should be complete in November, with a bigger opening in either December or January.

The Glover Alston Center will serve as a resource for campus organizations, a social and academic space for collaboration between members of the Whitman community, an open space for meditation, among other purposes.

Ramadan at Whitman: a lonely fast

by JOSH GOODMAN Associate News Editor On many days throughout the month of Ramadan, senior Neda Ansaari gets up before sunrise to eat and drink before her day starts.

“I’ll eat and make sure I drink lots of water, and then I pray and go to bed again because classes start a little later,” she said of her routine.

Such is the practice of members of Whitman’s small Muslim population during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, during which observing Muslims abstain from food, water and other indulgences during daylight hours.

Ramadan started on Friday, Aug. 21 and ends this Saturday, Sept. 19 with the festival of Eid to celebrate the end of the fast. Many of Whitman’s Muslims, however, find it hard to observe Ramadan in a community where few people are fasting.

“In Whitman it gets harder to observe it everyday,” said junior Maherin Ahmed, who observes Ramadan some days but not others. “At home… everyone gets together. Ifdar [breaking of the fast at sunset] is festive.

Here… I feel like I’m the only one fasting.”

Extracurricular activities also pose

a problem for Ahmed.

“I cannot run or go exercising when I’m fasting,” she said. She also found activities and events involving food to be hard.

For Ansaari, not being able to drink water poses a challenge, especially in hot weather.

“I drink a lot during classes and stuff,” she said of her normal habits.

“That makes it kind of hard to focus in class. These days it has been a little too hot, so that can make it hard.”

Meanwhile, junior Laura Evilsizer, who considers herself “open-minded” rather than an adherent to any particular religion, participates in a Ramadan fast on the weekends.

“Freshman year I tried to do the full fast during the school day and I couldn’t really focus in class or do homework,” she said. “So part of the reason I decided to do the full fast only on the weekend was because of this. Especially if you eat at the dining halls, they’re not open that early and they’re not open that late.”

Evilsizer, a religion minor, participates because of the perspective it brings her.

“I’ve grown up in a family that I’ve had food to eat on the dinner table every night,” she said. “It gives me kind of a window to people who don’t have regular meals. I think it makes

me a better person if I think of these issues.”

Support for Muslim students observing Ramadan can be limited.

Elyse Semerdjian, faculty adviser to the Muslim Students Association (MSA), formed last spring, is unsure of how many students are fasting, but knows the number is small.

“I am not sure who is fasting on

It can be quite challenging to observe this period of holy days in a community where many don’t even know that it is happening.

Adam Kirtley, Coordinator of Religious and Spiritual Life this campus,” she said. “We have a very small Muslim population and it cannot be easy fasting alone.”

“It can be quite challenging to observe this period of holy days in a community where many don’t even know that it is happening,” said Coordinator of Religious and Spiritual Life Adam Kirtley.

“Many Muslim students have to make adjustments and figure out how

to live out their faith in this new, often unaware community.”

To help to build this small community, Kirtley and the MSA are hosting a dinner for Eid. “My hope is that there will be strong attendance and that we can continue to build a supportive community for Muslim students,” he said.

One of the challenges in building a strong Muslim community on campus is the lack of availability of information on who is Muslim.

“For years I have been trying to find the Muslim population,” Semerdjian said.

“I hope that now [that] we have a student organization on campus that Admissions will provide us with that information, but there are issues of student privacy involved.”

Still, Semerdjian is hopeful that Whitman’s Muslim community can thrive.

“It is surely isolating and contrary to practice to [observe Ramadan] completely alone and in a vacuum,” she said. “I hope that the founding of MSA at Whitman College can help by giving students a place to go and find the community once they get here.”

“The house welcomes and supports differences, encourages input from all perspectives, enhances intercultural awareness, and respect for all in the Whitman community,” the Center’s mission statement, composed in April, said.

With the great success of Sherwood and Olin, the future looks promising for these new projects.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Hutchison said.

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NEWS

9September 17, 2009

Whitman drops in Princeton Review rankings

3

by JOSH GOODMAN Associate News Editor Think you know Whitman? The Princeton Review sure does. According to its latest college guide, “The Best 371 Colleges: 2010 Edition,” Whitman has the 9th best professors, 12th best college theater, 19th best college library and 20th best quality of life in the country.

“I believe they verify what those of us who know and love Whitman already know about the college,” Director of Communications Ruth Wardwell said of the rankings.

But the heavy fluctuation between the rankings over the last two years is raising questions about how accurate the rankings, looked at by thousands of prospective students, really are.

“What makes a college not appear, for example, in the Happiest Students list one year, then appear near the top the next? What makes one go from 1st to 4th to 3rd to 15th?” Wardwell asked, highlighting an experience similar to Whitman’s. “[There’s] no way of knowing for sure, since placement on the lists is based on anonymous responses, a non-scientific method and the personal preferences and experiences of a handful of students.”

Director of Institutional Research Neal Christopherson noted another case of unexplained scores, though from a list Whitman wasn’t on.

“Reed College is ranked nine and New York University is ranked 15 on ‘Intercollegiate Sports Unpopular or Nonexistent,’” he said. “Reed College does not have intercollegiate varsity sports, yet there are eight schools ranked ahead of them. On the other hand, New York University won the NCAA Division III national championship in men’s cross country in 2007, yet they are only six places behind Reed.”

Many current students found the previous rankings helpful in choosing Whitman.

“They were quite important, actually,” said sophomore Mollee Huisinga. “I want to be happy, not gonna lie.”

For first-year Carolyn Beckman, the rankings simply confirmed what others told her.

“Rankings did not have much effect besides confirming the glowing reviews that I had heard from former Whitman students or their friends and family,” she said.

For that reason, along with Whitman’s still positive reviews, the Office of Admission doesn’t see the lower scores as a problem.

“I don’t see this negatively impacting our recruitment efforts at all,” said Director of Admission Kevin Dyerly. “The fact that we’re still on 10 of the top 20 lists shows Whitman is still prominent in these lists,” he added, noting that simply being on the list gives a boost to visibility.

Seamus Mullarkey of The Princeton Review agrees.

“To be on the ranking list means that there’s strong consensus of the students,” he said. “Being in the top 20 is a mark of distinction.”

Mullarkey believes the scores, based on online and paper surveys from students, do a good job of representing colleges. “The students are surveyed on an ongoing basis,” he said. “We ask questions on 62 different categories.

We’re really trying to give a very broad picture of life at these 371 schools, which are academically excellent.”

Dyerly also said that in addition to Princeton Review rankings, Whitman remains highly ranked on a variety of other lists, such as US News and Best Value Colleges.

“That can certainly help us with recruiting for the Class of 2014,” he said.

Unscientific methods aside, Christopherson agrees that the lists are good for Whitman.

“The important thing is that we’re on a list that makes sense for us, that is an accurate characterization of Whitman, or that we think is flattering and will attract the kinds of applicants we want,” he said.

Interested students can help to form next year’s rankings by taking The Princeton Review’s survey at survey. review.com.

courtesy of lina menard SCOREs leader Matt Manley ‘11 and Erin Kiskaddon ‘13 work on a housing project.

New service scramble scores

by LIZ FORSYTH Staff Reporter For many students, choosing Whitman has little to do with Walla Walla. But for first-year students who went on the Summer Community OutReach Excursions (SCOREs), that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

“People say that Whitman is the best thing that ever happened to them,” said first-year William Newman-Wise.

“We can say that about Walla Walla too,” said Robbie Seager, a fellow SCOREs participant.

Before the Whitman semester began, Newman-Wise and 15 other incoming first-years went on SCOREs. Unlike Scrambles, which focus on getting to know each other in a wilderness setting, SCOREs are designed to give incoming first-years an opportunity to start making a difference in the Walla Walla community through working with local nonprofit organizations.

“Walla Walla is not a big city, but we have a very caring community. A lot of people care a lot about their fellow citizens and want to help improve their qual-

ity of life,” said Community Service Coordinator Lina Menard. “There are more than 60 non-profits within two miles of campus,” she said, offering students a wide array of possibilities to get involved in community service.

Walla Walla is not

a big city, but we have a very caring community.

Lina Menard, Community Service Coordinator

The SCOREs program helps incoming students become familiar with that community before school even starts. This year, participating first-years chose one of two themes to be involved in, either “Housing and Homelessness” or “Food and Hunger.” The “Housing and Homelessness” SCORE worked with Habitat for Humanity and Farm Labor Camps and also built beds for a new women’s shelter

that is opening in Walla Walla. The “Food and Hunger” SCORE worked on three different farms, volunteered at the farmers market, toured local food banks and served dinner at a homeless shelter.

“I think we all learned more than we had bargained for,” said senior Karina Kidd, who led the “Food and Hunger” SCORE. “I definitely would have gone on this trip as a freshman had I had the option.”

For first-year Robby Seager, SCOREs offered “the chance to do something like a Scramble, but I wanted to do something else where I wasn’t just serving myself and I could meet other people who are into that as well.”

He took full advantage of the opportunity, and now is working to set up a tutoring program between Whitman students and Lincoln High School.

This was the first time many of the students had been to Walla Walla.

“It gives a context to my education,” said first-year Lillian Bailey.

Others saidit gave them the ability to go beyond the usual limits of Main Street.

The exposure to the city and its infra-

structure has clearly left an impression.

SCOREs participants are already getting involved both in the community and on campus, in activities ranging from mentoring to trying to organize free swing dance lessons for local high-schoolers.

This program is only part of a continued expansion of Whitman’s community service options. The community service office has recently taken control of the Youth Adventure program (YAP) and Adopt-a-Grandparent (AAG) program, and they are also planning more service trips for the rest of the year that will be open to the entire student body.

“Seeing how a great group of new students were able to rally around something that they cared about and how they used that issue to learn about the Walla Walla community and each other was very inspiring,” said Menard.

SCOREs offer much more than the chance to do community service for a week, they offer the ability to become an active member of the community in which all Whitman students live.

“I feel like a resident of Walla Walla now and a student of Whitman,” said Newman-Wise.

Faculty wary of NWCCU changes from ACCREDITATION, P1 standards and the oversight process for evaluating institutional adherence to the standards Callister received an e-mail from NWCCU announcing the latest draft on Monday, Sept. 14, and forwarded the e-mail to the faculty listserv and ASWC. Several Whitman faculty promptly responded with concerns about the impact on Whitman’s academic mission.

“For me, the bottom line about the proposed changes . . . is that they appear to entail costs that far exceed the benefits,” said Associate Professor of Economics Jan Crouter.

Crouter and Associate Professor of History Brian Dott also questioned whether schools could even make improvements given the shortened term.

“Without even commenting on the workload, how could this be constructive? Presumably the ‘logic’ behind more reports is to implement changes for ‘improvement.’ Yet there is not enough time between each report to evaluate changes that were implemented based on the previous report,” said Dott.

Tom Callister, however, urged further review of the draft. His reading led him to conclude that each of the four evaluations only addresses one or two of the seven standards at once.

Only standard two directly references education, so faculty concerns about increased paperwork might be mistaken.

“I’m wondering if the seven-year cycle isn’t an attempt just to spread it out, and actually make it less onerous,” he said. “I do think that some folks might worry that they’re going to have to do some big thing every year, every two years. That does not seem to be the case at this

point.”

Shortening the cycle to seven years elicited concern from President George Bridges, particularly regarding Dott’s question of whether it is sufficient time for the school to implement improvements.

“I am concerned about the length of time between reviews that the commission is proposing. Seven years is a relatively short time for any institution to respond,” Bridges said.

Although Bridges noted that accreditation policy typically does change periodically, he, as well as professors, linked this specific revision to an apparent national shift in education policy. “[The policy change] stems from Bush administration attempts to increase accountability for educational programs,” Bridges said.

Associate to the President Jed Schwendiman echoed this view.

“This is an important issue and the proposed changes are part of a larger national trend in education that include policies like ‘no child left behind’ and may have recently culminated in the 2008 reauthorization of the higher education act,” he said.

Bridges and faculty raised several questions about this approach, the first being whether it is possible to quantify the quality of an education.

“There are strong connections to what is happening now because we are being asked to quantify things like ‘critical thinking’ in order to please the accreditors,” Semerdjian said.

Another question is whether all institutions can be judged by the same criteria.

“Is there a single set of standards that can be applied to all institutions?

I don’t think there is,” said Bridges.

Crouter questioned whether the increased evaluations, intended by the Commission to “enhance continuous institutional improvement by

requiring ongoing institutional selfevaluation” would actually hinder improvement.

“The costs are in the form of . . . the foregone organically inspired improvements in our teaching, research and advising that will occur as we devote less effort to spontaneous reflection about how to do better and more effort to an excessively timeconsuming accreditation process,” Crouter said.

According to the NWCCU’s Standards Review Project Web site, the Commission “is in the final stages of revising its accreditation standards and oversight process.” While the Commission is soliciting feedback on the standard revisions, there is no evident avenue for feedback on the revised oversight process.

Callister suggests students visit the NWCCU Web site, read relevant documents including the draft and the revision overview and track developments along with the administration.

He plans to attend a November commission meeting on the final draft.

“We’re in the process of figuring out what it means and how it impacts the school,” he said.

Concerned faculty urged action, highlighting the Oct. 16 deadline to submit feedback on the current draft.

“We need to speak together, as an institution, to prevent this bad idea from happening,” Professor of Economics Denise Hazlett wrote to the faculty listserv.

ASWC President Nadim Damjuli, a senior, said that the accreditation change is one of the issues on which he wants students’ voices to be heard.

“We’re trying to get students a seat at the proverbial table,” he said. Adding, “students can evaluate and come up with proposals just like faculty or anyone else. I appreciate Tom [Callister] reaching out to us.”

“We faculty members could individually voice our opinions to the NWCCU and get ignored or Whitman College could take a stand and not accept being ignored .”

DENISE HAZLETT, Professor of Economics

“The changes that we are making in order to cater to the accreditation bureaucrats actually will take more time from our teaching and research .”

ELYSE SEMERDJIAN, Associate Professor of History

Comments can be sent to NWCCU by e-mail: standards@nwccu.org or Standards Review, NWCCU, 8060 165th Avenue NE, Suite 100, Redmond, WA 98052.

4

September 17, 2009S

Students weigh Whitmail as conversions continue Staff Reporter Returning to school, sophomore Michael Blackwood faced a new dorm and a new set of classes. He also faced a new e-mail.

“I had to get used to it at first,” he said. “But I never really had any problems.”

Whitmail, an e-mail service powered by Google’s Gmail, is the new replacement for Webmail, Whitman’s soon-to-be-retired e-mail system. It features 7.19 gigabytes of storage versus the 25 megabytes provided for Webmail and is provided to Whitman at no cost. All incoming first-years were automatically given Whitmail while over 350 returning students have made the switch.

For senior Sky MacFadyen, a member of the Student Technology Advisory Council, the change was welcome.

“Webmail was outdated,” he said. “It was slow. It was confusing to navigate and had glitchy functions. Whitmail is another step towards more fluid and efficient interaction on campus.”

Blackwood agrees, and has found many of the Whitmail’s new tools to be beneficial.

“Webmail could be confusing,” he said. “It had a primitive interface, it wasn’t really user friendly,

and it could be difficult to find things. Whitmail has better features. I can choose different color schemes with it. I’m a gay man. I need my color schemes.”

Other students, however, do not feel the need to make the change.

“I don’t see the point [of the conversion] until they work out all the technical issues,” said sophomore Claire Snyder. “But I don’t really have a problem with it.”

“I’m not a big computer person. I only really use it for necessity,” said sophomore Gretchen Grimm. “I just ignored the emails about switching over.”

Whitman College Technology Services (WCTS) has been considering the switch for many years.

“We have known about this option for several years as we were an early tester of the service,” said Director of Network Technology Kevin Kelly. “We talked to several other schools about their experiences with the Google-provided email service for students and worked with Google to modify the agreement between Whitman and Google to include new terms, including the addition of FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) requirements to the agreement.”

The agreements ensure that

Google is not able to access any of students’ emails and personal data, except as required by law.

Returning students who have not yet made the transition may find it more difficult to do so than before.

“There’s no direction on the FAQ on how to actually make it, and the help desk didn’t know either,” said MacFadyen. “[For] people who haven’t made the switch, it’s not exactly spelled out how.”

Kelly said that WCTS is indeed signing people up for conversions. 181 people have signed up for a conversion for Sept. 30, and additional conversions will be offered for October, November and December.

By making this transition, WCTS hopes to create a better of network of communication amongst Whitman students.

For MacFadyen, the switch continues to be positive.

“I think it’s what was best for the majority of people on campus,” he said.

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Sloane

Recession hurts riders from TRANSIT, P1

by voter initiative.

“We’ve tried to let people know that our problem didn’t start with this recession,” said Fondahn. “[The tax repeal] is the real cause.”

The decline in sales tax revenue has pushed the system to the breaking point, and the transit board is scheduled to vote on a plan to cut services on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. There are several variations of the plan, but all would involve reducing service from seven to five routes and running buses at 45 or 90 minute intervals, rather than the current half-hour schedule.

Instead of accepting the cuts, some citizens of Walla Walla have proposed a sales tax increase to fund the system. The increase, from .3 percent to .6 percent, would be put before voters on the February ballot, if the Campaign for Valley Transit can gather enough signatures.

“Some people have a knee-jerk reaction -- no taxes for any reason

whatsoever,” said Norm Osterman, a volunteer for the group. He continued, “Most people with half a heart can see it’s a service that’s needed in the community.”

Beth Call, another campaign volunteer, agreed.

“Three cents on ten dollars is minimal,” Call said. “It’s important for all members of society to be able to access their jobs.”

At a public workshop on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2009, the Valley Transit Board met to discuss possible options for cuts. Although Valley Transit runs expensive programs like Job Access and Dial-A-Ride, the board was reluctant to consider eliminating these services. “We feel that our Job Access program is critical to the community,” said Fondahn. “Because they’re just entering the workforce, that job is typically on the weekends, holidays, and at night. That’s not our least expensive service, but it’s important to the community.”

“The highest priority are people who really have a genuine need,” said

board member Rick Newby. Many of those people were at the workshop, in spite of the fact that public comments were prohibited.

“I moved here expecting to have transit,” said resident Freda Tepfer.

She supports the sales tax increase and came to the workshop. “I think it’s important for the public to be here so [the board members] don’t think they can act in a vacuum.”

Public comments are being taken by the board all next week, in preparation for their final decision on Sept.

22. The Associated Students of Walla Walla Community College have already submitted a letter in favor of the sales tax increase and Campaign for Valley Transit volunteers are hoping to get the Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC) and College President George Bridges to do the same.

For now, however, the fate of Valley Transit will be left to those who are willing to let the board know what they expect from the system.

Students celebrate Jewish High Obama’s speech Holidays raises concerns at local schools A look at global issues through the eyes of a political cartoonist

by RACHEL ALEXANDER Staff Reporter When President Barack Obama decided to address America’s students about the importance of getting an education, he probably never thought he would keep kids home from school.

For some parents, though, keeping their kids home was preferable to having them watch the 15 minute speech, which the President gave on Tuesday, Sept. 8 at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. The Walla Walla School District left the decision of whether to show the speech to individual teachers. “There were some parents who had some issues,” said Green Park Elementary School principal Mike Lambert.

“They were concerned that it would be used as a propaganda tool.”

Lambert said that many parents were worried by the Department of Education’s suggested lesson plan for the speech, which included having students write a letter saying what they could do to support the president. Although this plan was later

Sponsored by the Ashton J. and Virginia Graham O’Donnell Endowment for Global Studies

by LEA NEGRIN Staff Reporter

revised, many conservatives took it as evidence that Obama was trying to promote a political agenda.

Devin Duran, who has children at Sharpstein Elementary School and Pioneer Middle School, said that she understood why some parents were concerned, but felt that many of the President’s critics were “very rude and disrespectful.” She added, “If it’s something that’s going to help the kids, then it should be shown in class.” Her son, who attends Sharpstein, said he watched the speech in class and thought it was good.

Lambert allowed parents to optout of having their students watch the speech, but said overall reactions were positive. Jack Mehn, Assitant Principal of Pioneer Middle School, said that Pioneer did not require parent permission for students to watch the speech. Mehn felt that the speech was “a great message for all” and said he received no negative reactions to it.

Principal Lambert agreed that the speech was contained an important message about staying in school and working hard. “It’s the same thing I tell kids everyday,” he said.

On Friday, Sept. 11, over twenty students from Hillel-Shalom, Whitman’s Jewish organization, met in the Prentiss Spirituality Room at 5 p.m. to celebrate the Sabbath just as they do every Friday.

After forming a circle and lighting candles, the group began traditional prayers. Students lifted their voices to begin singing the prayers but, instead of flowing together melodiously, a variety of clashing rhythms and melodies swarmed the circle. Through the guidance of Hillel-Shalom’s faculty adviser Sharon Kaufman-Osborn, who raised her voice in song along with the group, the Sabbath observers were able to finish the prayer in harmony and commence with the breaking of the traditional challah bread.

Tomorrow’s Sabbath celebration on Friday, Sept. 18 will be much more festive, for it marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

Kaufman-Osborn will be holding a traditional supper at her home for the members of Hillel-Shalom, before moving to the local synagogue in Walla Walla, the Congregation Beth Israel, for opening services.

Rosh Hashanah, celebrated from Sept. 18 to Sept. 20, marks the Jewish new year. It is symbolized through the blowing of the Shofar, or ram’s horn,

meant to awaken the religious follower who has metaphorically fallen asleep so that he or she may return to God. Rosh Hashanah is followed

by Yom Kippur, Sept. 27 and Sept. 28. During Yom Kippur, observers of the holiday repent and cleanse themselves through praying, fasting and abstaining from work.

This year there are roughly twenty Whitman participants in the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur celebration, which according to Hillel-Shalom members is a significant amount.

In past years, participants numbered roughly five.

“The core of us is strong,” says senior Adam Caniparoli, “but there is no true Jewish community in Walla Walla.”

While the students each show a sense of gratitude towards the faculty members at Whitman, who according senior Danny Kaplan are “totally accommodating,” they long for more communal awareness of the holiday.

Students note that the local synagogue is small and brings a Rabbi in just for the holidays. Whitman students or community members such as Whitman professor Amy Blau perform other regular ceremonies.

While Kaufman-Osborn’s Rosh Hashanah celebration is much anticipat-

ed by the members of HillelShalom, a desire for community remains.

“I miss the big dinner at my house,” Caniparoli said.

According to Kaufman-Osborn there are “around one hundred and twenty five people, most of whom are not Jewish but just interested.”

Though only eight percent of Whitman students, this figure shows a sense of identity and interest in the Jewish community.

“It’s important that we come together on the holidays,” said senior Brennan Jorgensen. “It’s lost at Whitman that religious communities do exist because most people aren’t [religious].”

Tomorrow, observers of Rosh Hashanah will come together and share in the traditional festivities in which Jews have partaken for millennia.

A&E

the Pioneer Issue 2 Sep. 17, 2009 Page 5

Senior studio art majors look to future

The Pioneer spotlights five studio art seniors preparing their theses and gearing up for graduation.

Here’s a sneak peak at what they’re working on.

by Merrett Krahn and Connor Guy Staff Reporter and A&E Editor

Kat Ie Higgins

KRAHN

Joanna Swan “I’ve always been really interested in observing people, and I think travel is really important and has affected my work,” said senior Joanna Swan, a studio arts major.

“Being a child of the internet age and having that as a presence in my life is inspiring. It’s mind-boggling how much the Internet affects everything I do, especially my artwork.” The Internet is helping her to draw inspiration from a wide range of areas and topics as she begins to narrow down the topic for her thesis.

“Last semester we did a painting that we were encouraged to look at from different angles. It came out way differently than I expected, and I think that rethinking things is so valuable, and so is throwing out your expectations. ‘What can you get rid of in order to progress?’ I suppose,” said Swan.

That painting helps to explain Swan’s process as she starts her senior thesis. “In terms of my thesis, I don’t really have a clear idea. But that’s what this semester is about: exploration and developing ideas,” said Swan. Her ideas and influences are, at this point, diverse: she is inspired by the Internet, animals, popular culture, vintage photography as well as old-fashioned styles and mindsets. Her paintings promise to be a unique mix of varied points of view.

Senior Katie Higgins focuses mostly on printmaking and book arts. “But,” she says, “I also like to incorporate things that aren’t often thought of as art—sewing, knitting and collages. They’re super accessible for people or kids who might not have access to a printing press and other materials.”

“I’ve also been thinking a lot about books lately,” said Higgins. “They’re often thought of in very different ways— either as something very positive, something that begins the process of learning, but then there’s also the tradition of books as a taboo, something that shouldn’t be accessible. I’ve taken a lot of classes on witchcraft and the witch scares, and there are really negative attitudes toward books there.”

After taking a course on children’s books and beginning book arts her freshman year, Higgins was enchanted.

“I had always thought the idea of making your own books was really cool, but then taking book arts and working with Mare Blocker, the book arts professor, was just a really cool experience and really eye-opening,” she said.

“There are really just so many things you can do with books,” said Higgins.

One of her favorite things to do, and one that’s yielded some of her favorite works, is pop-up. For one project, she made an accordion book that folds out to reveal a three-dimensional, pop-out tree. “I like that one a lot,” she said.

Iris Alden “I have a really hard time seeing waste and not thinking of something I could do with it, and that definitely contributes a lot to what I make,” said senior Iris Alden, as she casually surveyed the broken and dismantled computer parts that litter the floor of her studio.

This is an idea that has she has been formulating for quite some time. When taking Art 110, the introductory visual arts class that is a requirement for majoring in studio arts, Alden created a sculpture out of discarded film and test strips salvaged from the darkroom trashcans, a piece she identified as one of her favorite creations.

“It stretched from where the darkroom used to be which was in Olin to the Reid side lawn pointing towards the construction site of the art building. It was like this strip of waste of film strips and test strips and all the paper that comes out of the dark room. It was the project I put the most work into and it was really exciting to finally see it done,”

said Alden.

For her thesis, Alden is focusing on sculpture that re-uses found or discarded objects, as well as dabbling in computer art and animation. “As an artist, it’s an interesting thing to think about

bringing more objects into our world that’s already so full of objects, and I think I want to approach my thesis ideologically fighting against that, by using found objects and by doing digital stuff,” Alden said.

Andrew Wi t her spoon

L auren Hisada “I’m really attracted to representing the body in sculpture. Illusion, too. I like creating things that are large enough that they are experiences—so that you can walk around them, and look at it from different angles,” said senior studio art major Lauren Hisada, who can’t decide between sculpture and photography as her concentration.

“Last year, I made this huge, life-sized, concrete door. I actually cast it from this really old-fashioned, antique-y door in my house. We wanted to move it around campus to provoke people to think about what you might not see that could potentially be in a space. For example, we might have leaned it up against a wall, or installed it on the ground. It turned out to be too heavy, so that was disappoint-

ing, but it was a cool idea.”

Hisada’s interest in photography is mostly digital. In a series she did last year, she used her expertise with Photoshop to emulate appropriation artists like Yasumasa Morimura. “He inserts himself into famous images, but I took it a step further by inserting myself into his images. So it’s like appropriating an already appropriated image,” said Hisada.

Having worked as a photo editor at a number of magazines the past few summers, Hisada sees career potential in photography, but remains committed to sculpture as well. Her satisfaction with the work she’s produced in both mediums seems to indicate that she could be happy either way.

Senior studio art major Andrew Witherspoon’s studio space is bare. “I’m pretty different than most of the other people here in that I can’t sculpt or draw or paint at all. What makes what I’m doing different is that I’m not going to do any paintings; I’m not going to do any sculpture or anything like that,” said Witherspoon. “All my work is completely digital.”

Witherspoon is a graphic designer, and his focus is making complex causes or concerns accessible through his designs. “I’m not really into making stuff that’s really obtuse and hard to understand. That doesn’t interest me at all. I want to make either motion-graphic installations or prints that try to explain current environmental or economic problems,” said Witherspoon.

Witherspoon’s work has already achieved that goal. Last semester, he studied at the Academy of Arts in San Francisco in their graphic design program. As part of his studies, he worked with a local nonprofit organization called Project Porchlight. “They do really cool stuff with trying to replace incandescent bulbs with CFL bulbs, trying to get every household to switch one out; that’s their entire project. I did a rebranding project, an entire identity system, including new logo, new stationary, and motion graphics trailer to introduce their cause,” said Witherspoon. If his project last year is any indication, his thesis project has real potential to make a difference.

6

A&E

September 17, 2009S

Whitman Events Board replaces CAB

by Caitlin Hardee & Liz Forsyth Staff Reporters Packed into the semester’s first Coffeehouse, students listened as junior and Director of Music Entertainment Matt Coleman introduced headlining band Point Juncture, WA. His singlehanded determination to bring the Sasquatch alums to Whitman was a tribute to the strengths of studentdriven programming. This year, campus event programming will depend heavily upon such dedication, as the recombination of Campus Activities Board (CAB) and Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC) Events into Whitman Events Board (WEB) makes its effects felt.

On the greater responsibility of student volunteers in campus programming, senior and former CAB Marketing Chair Mimi Cook said, “We have a bigger role in deciding a lot of the bigger things that come to campus. CAB did a lot of the more alternative events, like Casino Nights, some comedians and drive-in movies.

ASWC programming was open, but a lot of the decisions were made by individual directors, and now a lot of the decisions like the big concerts and so on, are going to be decided partly by volunteers.”

This volunteer involvement gives students a rare chance to get directly involved in the process of big-event programming. Whitman has traditionally brought a high caliber of musical artists and intellectuals to campus.

Senior and former CAB Chair Kali Stoehr said, “My freshman year we had Flogging Molly and Salman Rushdie was here sophomore year . . . That was ASWC-funded and now WEB is also going to be ASWC-funded, so all of that money is still going to be available. The volunteer board will at least

have some say in what we bring, so I feel like there’s actually going to be more student involvement than there has been in the past.”

Addressing the concern about bigevent budgeting under the new system, Cook said, “We do have a pretty big budget. And we budgeted seventy thousand maybe... enough to bring at least one big concert per semester, and then a lot of smaller things. For speakers, we have about thirty-four thousand, so we can bring in some

I think WEB will be more coordinated than the various groups that were responsible for events previously.

Leann Adams, Assistant Director of Student Activities big, big names, and volunteers get to decide that too, so that’s going to be pretty cool.”

This budget is loosely comparable to past programming allocations. With the downsizing of paid director positions and the increased reliance upon volunteer commitment, WEB follows the trend of financial cuts across the board at Whitman – yet preserves the basic resources for bringing the high level of event programming Whitman students have come to expect on campus.

Of course, with a large volunteer base comes concerns over the new board’s effectiveness and organization. WEB officials, however, express a consensus of confidence towards impending improvements in programming organization, due to the centralization of the formerly disparate planning committees. At the heart of WEB is sophomore Stephen Stradley, who coordinates the efforts of seven directors, each with focus on a dif-

ferent type of activity, such as music, cinema and visual arts. Leann Adams and Colleen McKinney from the Student Activities Office work with the students to help make events happen.

“I think WEB will be more coordinated in their programming than the various groups that were responsible for events previously,” said Leann Adams, assistant director of Student Activities and the main faculty coordinator for WEB. “For example, concerts will be done by a single group and more attention can be paid to choosing diverse styles of music and a range of dates. WEB can also be more attentive to not “over-programming” or planning too many events for one day or one week,” she explained.

Stoehr is also optimistic about this new efficiency.

“There’s a gigantic calendar in the office that has all events on it, including fraternity and sorority events, and each of the different directors have their events,” she said. “We’re trying to keep track of all of those things so we don’t overlap.”

Asked why they made the switch to WEB, leaders said it was the most pragmatic solution. Last year, widespread budget cuts cast the future of CAB in uncertainty. While the transition had financial imperatives, WEB officials are quick to emphasize the complex motivations behind the decision as well as its benefits.

“Time demands on advisors were one reason; the budget was another reason,” said Cook. “But I think it’s a good thing, in that we got to reevaluate the way programming worked, and take the strengths from each of the disparate programming bodies and combine them to create more efficient, more student-oriented programming.”

Upcoming planned WEB events include an open-mic Coffeehouse, letterboxing and a possible cookie-

Netflix It: Block Party a success ‘The Fall’

by James Powers Contributing Reporter There’s a certain type of movie that leans so much on the visuals as to make the viewer wonder if they’re actually watching a movie or if they’ve stumbled into some sort of moving art gallery. These films often feature extravagant cinematography and gorgeous, engaging settings but sometimes lack plots or characters with real substance. Tarsem Singh’s “The Fall” is arguably one such film.

I had seen this one sitting on the shelf at Blockbuster for quite some time and I was curious; finally the blessed free afternoon arrived when I could actually sit and watch it. The story opens with two invalids stuck in a Los Angeles hospital near the turn of the century. One is an injured and troubled Hollywood stuntman, the other a young immigrant girl with a broken arm. To pass the time the stuntman tells the girl a story he invents on his own, about five fantastical characters each bent on revenge against the aptly-named Governor Odious. Like Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” the real meat of the movie is in the fantasy world the protagonist invents. It is truly a fantastical world; here, clearly, Tarsem is in his element, weaving one breathtaking image after another into the story as it progresses. Melodramatic as this may be, “The Fall” is one of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever seen.

I must admit, however, that once the credits started rolling I felt a bit like a worn-out little kid who had been following his parents through a museum exhibit for too long. While the visual aspect of the movie was astounding, the overall film never entirely pulled me in.

As is often the case with these sorts of movies, the plot and characters both seemed somewhat contrived. It’s tempting to theorize that Tarsem just whisked them off the top of his head as a sort of canvas for his artwork, but that’s probably not fair or accurate. While the spectacles and imagery are obviously prominent, it’s hard to gauge whether they overpower the film itself. Even if they might, the “wow” factor in this movie definitely justifies renting it and deciding for yourself. After all, it’s dang pretty.

from Block Party, P1 The letter also asked neighbors to direct any concerns or complaints to Herman.

“This year was no problem at all, and normally, it’s totally fine,” he said. “One minor concern is that Walla Walla has a 24-hour quiet hour ordinance, concerning amplified noise. That wasn’t an issue this time around because we chose to go with acoustic music, but in the past they’ve had bigger bands with full amp set-ups. Typically, it’s not an issue on Saturday afternoons, but there have been times in the past when there have been concerns and complaints.”

As far as fostering community with the rest of campus and non-Whitman

people, Herman and his staff are satisfied with their work.

“I think we were fairly successful in bringing in community members, especially with Boyer being such a main thoroughfare,” he said. “I think we had a lot of walk-in traffic with people going for Saturday morning walks . . . I definitely had some people come up and ask what was going on as we were setting up, and then saw them come back later.”

The only disappointment Zamkinos can think of is that they weren’t able to get George Bridges in the dunk tank.

“We usually get him to do it, but he was out of town this time,” she said.

Van Neste Cate Sturtevant ‘13 contributes to a Whitman Events Board (WEB) meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 9. Meetings are open to all who are interested.

baking contest.

Stradley urges widespread involvement for future events.

“Student input in programming is very much encouraged,” he said.

“Anyone with a great idea for a band should simply email Matt Coleman

with the subject line saying ‘CONCERT IDEA.’” Anyone interested in giving input or helping with events is invited to attend WEB weekly meetings Wednesday at lunch in Reid G02.

“Did I mention that anybody can

Drama Club makes internal changes

by C.J. Wisler Staff Reporter Many changes are in store for Drama Club and its officers this year with the addition of two new officer positions as well as several important events.

“We decided this year, for a variety of reasons, to install a Publicity Chair, which [junior] Trevor Cushman has taken on,” said senior theater major and President of Drama Club, Ian Jagel. “We now have an Associated Students of Whitman College [ASWC] representative, [senior] Kelsey Yuhara. This year is also the 50th anniversary of Harper Joy Theater, which is really exciting.”

Drama Club, a student-run organization, was designed to unite members of the theater department as well as students interested in the theater.

Drama Club Officers [DCO] is an elected group of upperclassmen in Drama Club who help to organize the many Drama Club-related events as well as various independent theater projects.

“Officers are in charge of coordinating basically anything outside of academics and season shows,” said senior and Secretary of Drama Club Adam Caniparoli.

“We organize some of the bigger, non-academic, theater-related events, which take a lot of planning.”

Jagel and other DCO members decided to install a Publicity Chair when it became apparent that they needed more help reaching out to students and promoting season shows. Cushman, a theater major, was given the position.

“Last year I had suggested to [Jagel] that he should get people to start publicizing for shows because students mentioned that they didn’t know about when plays were happening or when to get tickets and therefore wouldn’t attend,” said Cushman.

“[He] thought it was a good idea, and asked me to be the Publicity Chair.”

Cushman’s main responsibilities include printing advertisements, creating poster contests and organizing advertising campaigns for individual plays.

Caniparoli expressed excitement regarding Yuhara’s position as an ASWC representative, which opens the possibility of receiving ASWC funding.

“Hopefully, if we get funding, it will be easier to strike even or make money selling consessions,” said Caniparoli. “Other independent plays being put on by students, such as the upcoming production of ‘The Oresteia’ are trying to get funding as well, which is really good.”

Jagel’s hopes for the new members are compounded by his excitement for Harper Joy Theater’s anniversary.

“There’s going to be a lot of reputed, well-known alumni coming in, which is a networking opportunity for current students,” said Jagel. “[And] it’s a way for alumni to get back in touch with Harper Joy Theater.”

With a new season of shows, major changes and in particular the 50th anniversary event, the year presents itself as an exciting one for the theater department and for the new officers.

“I think there will be a lot of good things coming out of this year,” said Jagel. “[Cushman] and [Yuhara] are dedicated members and will do some really helpful things for Harper Joy… [And] the anniversary is a really special event. It will really impact [theater] students here at Whitman.”

While the first poster contest is over, future poster contests will be open to students. The posters will be hung around campus and even in Walla Walla. For more information contact Ian Jagel at jagelia@whitman.edu or Trevor Cushman at cushmatw@whitman.edu.

Pio Picks Hubanks Top: Community Service House resident Hannah Joseph ‘12 ran a fortune-telling booth at the IHC block party.

Bottom: T-Tones vocalist Mark Arend ‘12 leads the group in an a cappella performance. Due to a Walla Walla city ordinance, no amplified music was permitted.

BSU Dance

Friday, Sept. 18, 10 p.m.-1 a.m.

BSU Hip-hop dance – The Black Student Union, surging with new, firstyear members, prepares to kick off the year with one of its most popular events. With the Indestructible Space Hamster spinning hip-hop, R&B and Top 40 music, this dance is sure to pack the Reid ballroom with sweaty bodies. And what better way to forget that increasingly insurmountable pile of homework than a good, old-fashioned dance party? Reid Ballroom.

Coffeehouse Open Mic

Saturday, Sept. 19, 7-9 p.m.

Coffeehouse Open Mic – Skeptically speaking, open mic nights have the potential to be not only pretentious, but boring. However, anyone who’s been to one here will tell you that Hubanks

they’re anything but dull. Events like this one are actually where quite a few of our most popular student bands started out. Chances are good that you’ll see one or more of the bands we covered in our last issue’s campus bands preview, as well as some new groups, hopefully. Reid Basement.

Varsity Nordic

Tuesday, Sept. 22, 10 p.m.

Varsity Nordic – Whitman’s premiere improv comedy troupe, formerly TSports, plays its second show of the semester in Kimball Theater. Those interested in joining can come to their upcoming open workshops on Sept. 18, 21 and 25, also in Kimball at 10 p.m.

compiled by Connor Guy A&E Editor

A&E

9September 17, 2009

7

Beatles, but better In Theaters: ‘District 9,’

by Andrew Hall Music Reviewer

The Be atles Stereo Box, In Mono (2009; Capitol)

What more can really be said about the Beatles’ music in 500 words? In an unbelievably productive period that in actuality lasted only a little over half a decade, the band delivered thirteen albums, many of which have gone on to define rock music like few others after them. By way of being the best-promoted pop group of all time, the Beatles’ albums became cultural staples, archetypes (the sprawling, deliberately overindulgent double album is often called someone’s White Album, for example), and a fascinating study in how to keep a brand alive for 40 years. In the last decade alone the Beatles has reemerged and turned profits by way of a new greatest hits compilation, a Las Vegas show with an accompanying remix album, a musical film, Paul McCartney not being dead, and now two box sets consisting of reissues of the band’s entire back catalogue.

These two sets of Beatles remasters - the Stereo Box (which includes everything) and The Beatles In Mono (which does not include the stereo-only albums Abbey Road, Let It Be, and Yellow Submarine) take some of the best-recorded music of the 20th century and makes it sound eyeopeningly better. The former CD issues, released in 1987, have a number of problems, ranging from strangely-assembled mixes, complete with parts played at incorrect speeds, to their generally flat sound.

Most importantly, these do not offer these albums’ mono mixes, which are what both the band and longtime producer George Martin actually worked on. Instead, they only featured the stereo mixes, which are hard-panned, leaving instruments dramatically (and infuriatingly) split between audio channels (the drums and bass in the Advertisement

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left, guitars in the right, for example). They were hastily designed, with minimal liner notes and almost no bonus material, and they don’t sound anywhere near as good as the vinyl masters that preceded them, prompting lengthy discussions on how one could best restore the Beatles’ back catalogue if they themselves weren’t going to do it.

The remasters take care of all of these problems. Every album through The Beatles is now available with a remaster of both its mono and stereo mix, and the albums in mono do away with the hard-panned production. Each is packaged in a recreation of its original LP sleeve, down to the cutouts included with Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Soundwise, these remasters turn up the volume considerably on the tracks across the board, but nothing sounds compressed or clipped; instead, it makes instruments previously inaudible or flat-sounding jump out of the mix. Most notably, this gives new life to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr’s parts, which have never seemed so prominent as they do here. As suspicious as this is, given that they are this band’s survivors, it really is a delight to hear.

That leaves us with the music. These remasters’ greatest strength is in their ability to take 40-year-old pop deeply ingrained in Western pop culture and turn hearing it again into an epiphanic experience. If nothing else, at least listen to the restored Abbey Road, perhaps the most dramatically different album included in the stereo remasters. There are synthesizers all over it that were more or less completely inaudible on the album’s original CD mix, and there’s something astounding about hearing them for the first time. While I’ll never truly understand the Beatles, I can at least concede that this is absolutely how reissues should be done, and that the band being reissued wrote some pretty neat songs a world away from me.

‘Inglourious Basterds’

by Becquer Medak-Seguin Movie Reviewer

“District 9” With the ecstasy of a sixth grader in front of his favorite comic book and the allegorical wherewithal of a college professor, director Neill Blomkamp has birthed a cinematic sci-fi treasure that, far from another clichéd iteration of the what-will-happen-to-us question, is as multilayered as it is variegated.

The film’s modest opening scene, in which Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) explains his workplace in documentary fashion, provides a chilling introduction to the backstory of “District 9”: a spacecraft stalled for about twenty years ago over the city of Johannesburg leaving the aliens inside malnourished and stranded. The aliens were rescued and placed in a refugee camp, giving the film its title, which soon turned into a shantytown–called imijondolos in South Africa. The MNU (Multinational United; envision a fearmongering, trigger-happy NATO) now wants to relocate the anthropodesque aliens to District 10, what Merwe would later call, “concentration camps.”

The first 40-some odd minutes of “District 9,” certainly the richest fraction of the film, are experienced through a documentary-style montage of arresting, seemingly indiscriminate scenes of Merwe and his cohort serving eviction notices to the flavela-ridden aliens.

These scenes are resourcefully spliced with several interviews from people close to Merwe, either professionally or personally.

Here, the many layers of symbolic interpretation become apparent: the immigration debate, the treating of nonhumans (though they may still be homo sapiens), corporate influence on government, ad infinitum. That “District 9” can be read as an allegory of apartheid South Africa goes without saying. It is, more importantly, an indictment of our many faults that, going unrecognized, may well ripen into situations far more deleterious than that that ravished the southern cone of Africa for the last half of the twentieth century.

“Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino’s latest blood bath, artistically licensed “Inglourious Basterds,” takes place in none other than Nazi-occupied France during 1941. The film’s premise, which Eli Roth (playing the role of Staff Sergeant Donny Donowitz aka “The Bear Jew”) described as “kosher porn,” follows two contrastive plots to assassinate the Nazi top brass – the Führer included.

The first plan is devised by Shoshanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent), a 20-something French-Jewish playhouse owner who escaped her family’s massacre at the hands of SS Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) as a teenager. Regrettably in the short term, auspiciously in the long term, she is romantically accosted by Nazi war hero Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), whose martial accomplishments are cinematically captured in the upcoming propaganda film “Stolz der Nation.” Zoller wants her arthouse to hold the premier, spurring Dreyfus’s plan to burn down the theatre while Landa and other high-ranking German officials are

present.

The second plan isn’t really a plan, per se. Rather, it is a sort of guerrilla approach with the goal of wreaking havoc and causing panic within the Third Reich by killing as many Nazis as possible while, of course, acquiring desired intelligence along the way. (The ‘Basterds’ engrave a swastika on the forehead of each Nazi who spills any beans instead of killing and scalping them.) The Basterds are a cabal of Jewish-American soldiers who, as Aldo Raine says, are “in the business of killing Nazis.” The group finds out about the film premier through interrogating German double agent and actress Bridget von Hammersmark and, like Dreyfus, see the event as an opportunity to kill lots of Nazis.

Scalping Nazis and plotting to assassinate Hitler, however, only comprise the first, superficial plane of “Inglourious Basterds.” Tarantino saturates his film with self-conscious filmic references, including a brilliant homage to Hitchcock’s “Sabotage.” Tarantino’s dialogue is almost too precise and scenes are stretched to their tensional breaking point (honored this past May at Cannes with a Best Actor award for Christoph Waltz). And, finally, Tarantino has once again mixed and matched genres as if they were articles of clothing. This one was, in his own words, a “spaghetti western with World War II iconography,” borrowing tropes from the “macaroni combat” and Nazi propaganda subgenres. Apparently, he wants his next film to be about America’s horrible past with slavery. Hopefully it will include a bunch of Klu Klux Klan-killing abolitionists: John Brown, anyone?

Filmmaker Shepard addresses campus

by Merrett Krahn Staff Reporter Dr. Gilda Shephard spoke to a group of students on Tuesday, Sept. 15, about her work as an ethnographer and sociologist and her travels in Ghana, West Africa and Liberia. Working in the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Liberia, Shephard set up English and computer literacy classes through the organization “Women Together as One,” which she founded

with help from female refugees from the camp. She also worked as a documentary filmmaker, filming the stories of the female refugees and combining them into a documentary entitled “Women Coming Together.” She is recently working with young African-American prisoners who were involved very early on in life in gang violence, helping to rehabilitate them.

Shephard espoused the importance of positioning, something she described as “our involvement in the world.” She dis-

cussed how vital it was for us to realize that we are all dependent on one another far more than we realize.

“The role of compassion in scholarship is extremely important,” Shephard said, urging us to use our Whitman educations to positively impact the world in whatever way we feel moved to.

HubanksNAM

Hubanks Dr. Shepard lectured on her experiences working with female refugees and African-American prisoners.

Subscribe to the Pioneer Check it out at whitmanpioneer.com E-mail: business@whitman.edu

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1 Messy person 5 Corn unit 8 Bullring cry 11 ___ of use 12 Cortez’s gold 13 Colorful part of the eye 14 Rivulet 15 ___ Nancy (pessimist) 17 Campus tour beginning and ending at 28-Across 19 Do some gardening 20 Poetry unit 23 Large wardrobe 27 Number of protons in Neon 28 See 17-Across 32 Vietnamese new year 33 Spanish inns 34 Major Biblical prophet 38 Common lab animal 39 Prominent feature of 17-Across 44 Its capital is Sofia 46 Add to the payroll 47 Small jazz ensemble 48 Spike TV, formerly 49 Cogito __ sum 50 Tar heels’ sch.

51 60s radical grp.

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DOWN

1 Medieval slave 2 Dragon’s abode 3 Norway’s capital

4 Hotel fixture 5 Musical event 6 Dichromatic cookie 7 Counterfeit 8 Having one’s bearings 9 Tyler of “Armageddon” 10 WNW’s opposite 13 “__ girl!”

16 It’s taught at the Fouts Center 18 Time, across the English Chan nel 21 Riemann __ function, which de scribes the distribution of prime numbers 22 Some farm animals?

23 Italian winemaking province 24 GPS info 25 Like the alkaline elements 26 Grp. Headed by the Whitehouse Chief of Staff 29 Air __ (once-famous shoe brand) 30 Jacob’s brother 31 Monitors 35 Othello villain 36 Police blotter abbreviation 37 Is in pain 40 Topic for Descartes or Freud 41 Spock’s captain 42 Impulse 43 Cry from Sylvester 44 A/C unit 45 Coffin alternative

Humor g

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Hey Michaela! I just wanted to shoot you a letter to say that I’m super stoked for this year.

A quick word about the bathroom stall situation. As it stands now, College Prowler puts us at a grade D for bathroom activities >:(). I’m not saying that your magnetic poetry and the “who’s the hottest senior” posters from last year weren’t awesome. We just need to make some make things more interactive - so I compiled a list of some ideas to kick the yawns out of stall-time ;)!!

1.Knitting the night away!!!

Provide a stall with knitting needles and yarn. The section will have a beautiful scarf or pashmina by the end of the semester and throughout the semester it could be a makeshift towel!

Be sure to use dark colors.

2.

Petting Zoo!! Bring in a different animal each week for your kids to handle during their stall time. I already talked to Dave from the wildlife shelter and he said he’s happy to let us borrow Zeek the Goat and Lola the Pig for a bit.

3.

PediCURE your winterblues!!!

Get Cindy (besties!) from Nail Arts to work a late afternoon shift painting and massaging all the kids’ feet. This’ll surely make the bathroom the place to be! I choose Fuschia! Hehe :)

the Pioneer

S

Issue 2 Sep. 17, 2009 Page 8

Found: RD to RA memo insey

eK Chlo

4.

Potting Frenzy- terracotta pots, packets of seeds (Basil seeds work great. Yum!) and a bag of potting soil and you’re set! I have a bag of fertilizer left over from when I [made my bathroom into a nursery]/[renovated my bathroom] so you’re welcome to steal that. ;0

5.

Fondue Stall- Fact: college kids love food! Set up a small pot of cheese fondue with whole wheat crackers and carrot spears and watch the kids line up for the bathroom!! The best part about this one is that the heat kills all the bacteria! Yay, FDA approved!

6.

Glory Hole

I’ll keep an eye out on our College Prowler rating but I really think we can raise that D to a B. The bathroom is a huge part of college life so let’s keep it fresh, fun, and fantastic!!! I can’t wait for all the neat activities we have planned- twister in the main lounge, yoga study breaks- it’s going to be such a bomb year! Peace out girl scout ;) ~Katie P.S. Don’t forget our meeting on Swine-Flu prevention on Friday!

XOXO

Due to the popularity of Bon Appétit’s new “North Hall” meal plan, custom tailored Whitman College’s Underground Associated Student Body of Whitman College: to those residents, Whitman’s food service Fight Club: program has announced a new array of 1) You do not talk about the Whitman College Underground Fight This under-the-table buffet provides you with unlimited meals, meal plans.

Club 2) We meet Thursdays in Kimball at 7pm 3) 21 meals a week.

4-hour massages, $10,000 in a suitcase for your “retreat” and a gun.

Lyman:

Ski Team:

All you can eat alone.

People who own tibetan prayer flags but don’t know what they mean:

Stoner: Bottomless feedbag of curly fries, nachos and unlimited water.

Canceled.

300 hackey sacks filled with Kashi cereal per week.

‘I am enraged by the penises in Anderson’

by J.P. Bloodgood

I am incensed, enraged, and petrified. Last week, as I’m sure you are aware, Whitman College was beset by a team of vandals. These young men or women are responsible for the most serious aesthetic crime on Whitman campus since the administration’s last sculpture purchase.

I am referring, of course, to

the hooligans who brazenly bypassed the Anderson security system for no reason other than to brand the halls with shoddy, poorly drawn Penises. These Penises were an assault to everything we as Whitman students have come to expect from Whitman’s upstanding history of penis art.

Whitman College has a long, fine tradition of rendering the likeness of Man’s genitalia in mediums including snow, fake wood, and, during Anderson’s historic blue period, painter’s tape.

As a palate cleanser to the campus, and as a reminder of what we as students and artists are capable of, I have here presented a brief review Whitman’s greatest Penis art. Please let us all put these shoddily drawn Penises behind us.

Yo class of 2013, I’m really happy for you.

I’m gonna let you graduate, but class of 2012 was one of the greatest freshmens of all time!!!

Peter Burrows, Ailie Kerr, Alex Kerr, Chloe Kinsey, Simi Singh, Finn Straley Stall art by Lydia Lund

9

Opinion

the Pioneer Issue 2 Sep. 17, 2009 Page 9

Breaking the bubble:

Make a commitment now “I need people to do two-hour shifts every week. Your options are Monday 8 to 10 a.m., Wednesday 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., or Saturday 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.”

Chrissy of the Blue Mountain Humane Society stares at me sternly from beneath her plasticframed glasses.

I inhale s h a r p l y.

Just how enjoyable is it to walk 20 rabid dogs for five minutes each?

“I… um…

I… need to think about it…” I start packing up my things a n d head Douglas f o r the

door. Why was I so afraid?

Commitment: that’s the buzz word for this week’s column about volunteering. We want to first acknowledge that commitment is scary. Once you commit to anything, whether it’s a class, an extra-curricular or a sport —you have people relying on you to do your part.

Some shy away from volunteering for precisely this reason; it’s too risky. What happens when there’s a 20-page paper due the next day that determines your grade in the class? What do you do if someone in your dorm suddenly catches H1N1—the same person you shared a beer with the day before?

The implications of volunteering and the commitment of volunteering for a specific organization may seem intimidating. It can affect the spontaneity of the college lifestyle—particularly the liberal arts college lifestyle.

It’s hard enough having other students, the faculty, your parents, and the administration on your back. Why involve community members too?

Perhaps answering this question requires looking at the Whitman experience afresh. An important thing to realize about college: it is in many ways the start of “real life.” You are responsible for folding your laundry. You are responsible for waking up at 7:30 a.m.

Sometimes you are even responsible for your stumbling-drunk roommate, even though you just met her last week. Perhaps most critically, though, you’re in charge of your time and activities.

It’s tempting to believe that you can take these four years, focus only on aca-

MATT MANLEY & ALETHEA BUCHAL Columnists

demics and socializing (or maybe just one of those), and then compartmentalize them as ‘those’ college years and live a more balanced life that includes service afterward.

It can probably be done. But it is much better to start thinking of Whitman as being a real life experience. Live now like you want to live for a long time. It’s really not just practice. It’s your chance to own your time and your passions.

So, perhaps we should push ourselves just a little bit to committing to our surrounding community. In the end, give that volunteer shift we mentioned at the start of the article a chance. Even if it’s 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Mondays, becoming part of this community will force us to consider adding volunteering as an integral aspect of later adult life.

A large part of who we are now will determine who we are in the future.

And if we don’t start now, who knows if we’ll ever have the chance to walk rabid dogs or tutor or dance with an octogenarian in the future?

Conservatism more than Republican blunders If you haven’t noticed yet, it isn’t a good time to call yourself a conservative in America.

I don’t make this statement for superficial reaALEX sons, like RepubPOTTER licans aren’t in Columnist power anymore, but because what was once a distinguished intellectual tradition has somehow culminated into embarrassments like Sarah Palin, depictions of Obama as Hitler and yelling matches during town hall meetings.

It is a bad time to be a conservative in America -- not because of lack of power, but because the meaning of conservatism has been twisted and tortured, then masticated and regurgitated from within.

I cannot honestly blame the outside observer who concludes that conservatism has become little more than a code word for bitter populism or self-

ish elitism.

Would it shock you to hear that Jimmy Carter, not George W. Bush, could more properly be called “conservative” in his responses to economic and energy crises? Or perhaps it would surprise you that the Democratic Senator Fulbright and the libertarian Congressman Ron Paul share many basic premises regarding U.S. foreign policy? Maybe you would be interested to know how conservatism avidly embraces diversity and “particularities” as opposed to its homogenizing and leveling opponents?

What do we mean when we use the word “conservative” today, as opposed to what have intellectuals, politicians and great writers meant when they used the term in the past? I venture to say that most Whitties, functioning in a knowledge regime dominated by categorizations about liberal and conservative, have not asked sincere questions regarding conservatism.

By asking these questions and seeking their answers I hope to complicate Whitman’s understanding of conservatism and its accepted norms of politi-

cal identification.

This column is a quest for understanding and rebuilding. Over the course of this semester and hopefully this year, I will seek to elucidate the foundations of conservative thought upon which we can construct an un-

Most Whitties, functioning in a knowledge regime dominated by categorizations about liberal and conservative, have not asked sincere questions regarding conservatism. derstanding of conservatism that can make prudent contributions to the future of our nation.

Ultimately, I hope to instill a wariness of political parties, populist demagogues of all stripes, ideology and categories. Conservatism is wary of these

things because it is not based upon a party, a leader, an abstract doctrine or a list of issue positions. Rather, conservatism is a weltanschauung: a way of thinking about the world.

In discussing a way of thinking, this is a political column of a different sort.

I do not intend to discuss the issue or speech of the day. I will try not to simply offer an opinion. Instead, I will discuss an issue of politics rather than a political issue.

What should we think of economics as a whole, rather than just bailouts?

How should the U.S. interact with the entire world, rather than just Afghanistan? I will offer an approach, a method to thinking about the issue, not just “evidence” and my conclusion. In these basic premises so often overlooked, perhaps we can find something more than fleeting consensus or disagreement.

This is also not a column about the demise of the Republican Party, which cannot properly call itself conservative.

A party is a conglomeration of interests and constituencies. The constituencies that make up the Republican Party,

namely traditionalists, corporatists, militarists and libertarians, increasingly share less in common with one another.

The Catholic auto worker’s economic interests and cultural concerns are antithetical to those of the Wall Street banker. The libertarian’s loathing for the state and love of the market does not sync with either the economic interests of the military-industrialcongressional complex or the traditionalists’ vision of publicly enforced norms.

The impetus for this column, then, is what motivated Russell Kirk to write his opus “The Conservative Mind.” I sincerely hope it opens up a new dialogue of ideas at Whitman.

Kirk wrote, “If a conservative order is indeed to return, we ought to know the tradition which is attached to it, so that we may rebuild society; if it is not to be restored, still we ought to understand conservative ideas so that we may rake from the ashes what scorched fragments of civilization escape the conflagration of unchecked will and appetite.”

The right-wing takedown of Van Jones

“You lie!” health care stunt debate

The forced resignation of Green Jobs czar Van Jones over Labor Day weekend was orchestrated by an angry talk show host who twisted half-truths to turn one of the enviLISA CURTIS ronmental movement’s greatest heColumnist roes into a radical communist.

The smear campaign began on July 23 when Glenn Beck, conservative talk radio host and founder of one of the most successful programs on Fox News, called Jones a “self-avowed communist.”

Beck based his attack on a 2005 profile of Jones in the East Bay Express where

“You lie!”

That’s what Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) yelled during President Barack Obama’s speech on health care reform last Wednesday.

But opponents of health care reJAMES form are the real SLEDD liars.

Columnist Rep. Wilson’s outburst is just one of many attempts to steer debate away from the merits of reform. By spreading disinformation opponents have scared countless Americans into opposing much-needed reform.

Rep. Wilson shouted down President

Jones spoke of his feelings after being arrested while protesting the acquittal of police officers accused of beating Rodney King. Jones said his experience in jail turned him into a communist.

What Beck neglects to mention is that later on in the article, it is explained that Jones decided to abandon his anti-capitalist ways in favor of a “fundamental shift in tactics.” In fact, Jones’s entire book, The Green Collar Economy, stresses the importance of jobs, jobs that work within the system of our capitalistic society.

As Jones writes on page 86, “the reality is that we are entering an era during which our very survival will demand invention and innovation on a scale never before seen in the history of human civilization. Only the business community has the requisite skills, experience, and capital to meet that need.”

Beck also ignores the address Jones gave before the Center for American Progress on Nov. 19 when he said, “Everything that is good for the environment, everything that’s needed to beat global warming, is a job. And the challenge is, how do we get the government to be a smart, and limited, catalyst in getting the private sector to take on this challenge?”

Perhaps Beck fails to understand the meaning of the label communist, someone who espouses an egalitarian, stateless society based on common ownership. If “communist” means someone who envisions an inclusive green economy where jobs in the environmental sector serve as pathways out of poverty to Americans who need it the most, then well, Van Jones is a communist.

The type of environmentalism Jones VAN JONES, P11

Obama after he declared that the health care reform proposal before Congress would not cover undocumented immigrants.

Despite Rep. Wilson’s poor manners, Obama was correct in claiming that the House health care reform bill will not provide free health care to undocumented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants are clearly disqualified from government programs included in reform bill. In fact, section 246 is clearly titled “no federal payment for undocumented aliens.”

But health care reform has to overcome more than uneasiness over immigration. Perhaps the most malicious rumor that opponents have circulated is that the House bill will create “death panels” charged with pushing elderly HE ALTH C ARE, P11

10

Opinion

September 17, 2009S

Whitman as “Other”: Orientation camp

RENSI KE Columnist In my sophomore year at Shantou University in China, I was chosen as an exchange student for W h i t m a n’s China Sherwood Scholar Program.

In my senior year, I finally came to Whitman.

The International Student Orientation Camp in Oregon kicked off my longawaited Whitman experience.

Instead of feeling proudly old among a group of first-year students, I started asking myself if I am really a senior as soon as I saw my camp peers. I should say that almost all of them looked much more mature than their Chinese contemporaries. They, in turn, also felt surprised that I indeed have spent three years at university.

They had every reason to be suspicious—since the first meal at the camp.

I had been asking what the names of foods were in English, who the celebrity mentioned was, where the home countries of my newly-made friends were located since the English names of those countries made no sense to my Chinese brain.

Although people say there are no stupid questions, it is pretty hard for me to believe that those questions were smart and interesting. By

R Johnson

the evening, I had lost all courage to “hang out” with my younger friends. I decided to “hang out” with the other seven empty beds in the cottage, read-

I began to rethink the concept of ‘age’ as the cause of my culture shock. ing The Last Town On Earth, and feeling like the last person on earth.

It was not until a few days ago that

I realized what had made me quiet and gloomy. When I was talking to my “junior brothers and sisters“ (at my university, students tend to address an older student as a “senior brother/sister”, and to a younger student, a “junior brother/sister”) via QQ, I came back to my old self again.

When I was “teaching” them about my Whitman adventures, a feeling of superiority sneaked in. I was startled by my “confidence” as a “senior sister,” which I also found in my “senior brothers and sisters” when they were talking about their “experience.”

I began to rethink the concept of “age” as the cause of my culture shock.

In Chinese culture, people generally gain more power as they get older. The elders are highly respected, which is of course a double-sided coin. While

reflections

White lies: little after all?

We (present company definitely included) have created a special category between false statements that matter and those that don’t.

We automatically exhale our “White Lies” like GARY WANG smoke from cigaColumnist rettes.

So what constitutes a “White Lie” then? Usually, it’s something harmless, something trivial that makes us more interesting or helps us get what we want.

Drinking a fifth instead of just a six-pack. Having a six-pack instead of only two when you suck your stomach in. And any embellished high school detail works wonders. No one will fact-check.

Just fit your past to what you want to be in the present, especially if someday you want to be president.

What’s the opposite of a “White Lie” then? Plagiarism? Tax evasion?

On the one hand, there are lies that will be punished by institutions. On the other hand, there are lies that don’t just go unpunished but go undetected.

A good storyteller makes for interesting conversation.

Naturally, once it’s okay to lie about the details then the truth, comprised of those details, becomes compromised. So far nothing new; mom and dad have said all this.

However, are we exempt from the deception of our own lies?

After all, if there is a self behind our eyes and in our hearts, then is it stable? That little voice, which used to be called our conscience or our genius, is who we really are. Right? It’s the origin of intuition and the part of us that’s authentic, unaffected by layers of social construction.

If we have a soul that’s really ours,

or a part of us that is ours alone, then we should be able to know when we are lying and differentiate between that and the truth no matter what we say.

So what I’m wondering is whether self-deception is possible. Have you lied to yourself? If so, how is possible for you to ever know?

This self, this part of me that is uniquely mine, and that self, in you, that makes you who you are, independent of biological nature and society’s nurture, should be unaffected by our “White Lies.”

But, have you ever noticed how easy

So, you reveal aspects of yourself unintentionally when you speak. If that’s true, then what are you revealing about yourself when you lie? it is to tell a “White Lie”? Or just any lie? How we can do it automatically, in certain social situations (a party) or in front of certain types of people (whose respect we crave).

It’s as if we can lie without thinking about it. How is it possible to tell a lie without consciously crafting the fabrication beforehand?

Even worse (or better), these lies are slick. They’re believable; they easily fit into other people’s impressions of us. Hence, a good liar is a serial exaggerator.

So what does it mean to be able to lie without thinking? Good muscle memory? Like shooting a free throw with your eyes closed. Well, if it’s muscle memory then what muscles is being exercised? And can you unlearn what you’ve practiced for so long?

For example, when I say something to you, I haven’t thought of what I was going to say before I said it, unless it’s a prepared speech.

But in the rest of our conversations in class, in the halls, in basements, and in bed, we’re not really choosing our words carefully before we say them.

We just say them, and sometimes they reveal something we didn’t intend— that’s how you get psychoanalysis (sort of ).

So, you reveal aspects of yourself unintentionally when you speak. If that’s true, then what are you revealing about yourself when you lie?

When you and I lie without meaning to, without thinking beforehand, and with reckless abandon?

You’re revealing your ignorance of yourself. Hence, you could be anyone.

The world is just a range of possibilities for pretend. It means you’re letting social situations, your internal desires and everything else outside your control dictate who you are to yourself and to others.

Think about it this way: do you control what you like? Or are you drawn to certain things and not others?

If we are not fully aware of ourselves, self-deception is possible. Do you know who you are in every way?

If you’ve surprised yourself, then you obviously don’t fully know yourself.

Otherwise, you couldn’t surprise yourself.

If that experience is true, then is it possible for one part of ourselves (the person we are on a Saturday night) to lie and another part of ourselves (the person we are when we’re alone or asleep) to remain unaffected by hearing our own lie?

If we contradict ourselves over and over again, then what’s left? What self, soul, or conscience or whatever is underneath that web of contradictions?

What if there’s nothing underneath?

Then what are you left with, if there is a sense of you left?

it is pleasing for me to give my seat to the elders on the bus, it is often annoying for me to “yield” to them unconditionally, only to make them feel powerful.

The culture shock I encountered since the orientation camp made me realize that I have been subconsciously pursuing the power of age: I felt that I should have been the center of the conversation and known most since I am the “oldest.” What I didn’t know is that there are a lot of students at this

college who might be biologically one to three years younger than I, but might be three to even more years intellectually older than I. What the heck is it about age?

Learning in a new culture is like growing up again. Two weeks after leaving the International Student Orientation Camp, I finally opened my mind to a new way of living—living like a child, filled with curiosity, free from shyness. Yes, the door opens slowly, but after all it opens.

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Opinion

9September 17, 2009

focus on facts

11

T ECHNOLOGY

Alternatives not absurdities Let’s talk Twitter from HEALTH CARE, P9 Americans towards euthanasia. Prominent Republicans including Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich have lent credence to the death panel idea.

When Obama tried to dispel this rumor during his speech, he was greeted with unhappy murmurs from the Republican side of the aisle.

The death panel rumor is an outright lie. No part of the reform bill would require seniors to go before panels empowered to decide their earthly fate. The bill would simply require Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling that many elderly people already choose to attend to alleviate fear and anxiety associated with their final years. Suggesting that this would lead to euthanasia coldheartedly seizes on the fears of seniors.

Many skeptics also argue that reform will lead to a government takeover of health care. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers perpetuated the idea at a town hall meeting in Walla Walla last month, claiming that 100 million people would wind up on government-run health care plans.

Again, this isn’t true.

The Congressional Research Ser-

We need to reshape the debate by moving away from falsehoods and debating the merits of reform. vice—a nonpartisan branch of Congress—concluded that less than three percent of Americans would choose the government-run “public option” plan.

Employer-provided health insurance would still dominate the health care industry.

Despite their absurdity, many Americans have fallen victim to rumors about health care reform.

According to an NBC news poll conducted last month, 55 percent of Americans believe that Obama’s health care plan will give free health care to undocumented immigrants. A similar number think it will lead to a government takeover of health care, while 45 percent think the bill will allow the government to make end-of-life decisions for the elderly.

We need to reshape the debate by

moving away from falsehoods and debating the merits of reform.

Here are the facts: The World Health Organization ranks our health care system as 37th in the world, well behind Morocco and barely ahead of Slovenia. The U.S. ranks last in preventable deaths among the 20 leading industrialized nations. Our health care costs are increasing at four times the rate of inflation. We are on the path to becoming obese, cancerous and broke.

President Obama’s health care proposal would extend vital care to millions of uninsured Americans, while lowering costs for countless others. It would prevent medical bills from driving thousands of Americans to bankruptcy, and prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to those who need it most.

Opponents of Obama’s reform plan offer no viable alternative. Instead, they insist on spreading falsehoods, questionable statistics and absurdities. A healthy democracy depends on a wellinformed public, and American citizens don’t deserve to be lied to. Joe Wilson and his cohorts should be ashamed of themselves.

Right derails Jones from VAN JONES, P9 espouses is far from radical. As a special adviser to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Jones spent his time writing grants, appealing to city councils and working with legislators on green-jobs bills.

So why then did Beck pick on Jones, a mid-level adviser, when there are plenty of higher-level White House staffers he could target?

Perhaps the answer might lie in a comment Beck made on July 28 during a Fox and Friends program when he called President Obama a “racist” with a “deepseated hatred for white people.”

Immediately after that comment, ColorOfChange.org, a group Jones helped launch in 2005, led a successful adver-

tising boycott that led to Wal-Mart, Mercedes-Benz and HSBC leaving Beck’s show.

This led the group DefendGlenn.com to circulate a speech in which Jones calls Senate Republicans assholes for the way they had used their majority to push legislation. Rather than using “asshole” as a negative terminology, Jones said it in admiration, making the point that Democrats need to be tougher to get legislation passed.

Beck continued his revenge against Jones, mentioning him frequently as an anarchist, communist and “radical who wants to fundamentally change America.”

The final blow came on Sept. 3 when the conservative blog Gateway Pundit re-

ported that Jones signed a 2004 petition that called for investigation into whether the Bush administration had purposefully allowed the 9/11 attacks to occur. Jones responded that he had not read the petition carefully before signing it and that it does not in any way reflect his views.

However, mainstream media began picking up the story and Republicans began calling for hearings to probe Jones.

This prompted Jones to resign in order not to “distract from the administration’s agenda.”

The success of the attack prompted Beck to tweet his viewers to find dirt on other special advisers. It is clear that truth no longer plays a role in the vicious attacks employed by the conservative movement to derail this administration’s

I’ll come right out and say it: Twitter is weird.

The very idea that you would want to broadcast your life in 140-character bursts appears BLAIR to be rather abFRANK surd. That’s just Columnist the thing: Twitter isn’t for everyone.

Unlike Facebook and the like, Twitter isn’t going to be a one-size-fits-all social network.

So here’s the question: what is Twitter, what can it do and can it fit in with your lifestyle?

In a nutshell, Twitter is a platform for sharing your thoughts, musings, goings-on, and other tidbits about your life in 140-character “tweets.” If you think that Twitter is a lot like Facebook’s status update feature, you’re absolutely right. Twitter came before Facebook started using the status update system. After Facebook noticed Twitter was stealing market share, they implemented features like the live-updating news feed and the status update system.

For most people, Facebook works great. It combines the instant updates of Twitter with all of the photo sharing, networking and fun that you can expect from a traditional social network. But for some of us, we can be well-served by becoming members of the Twitterati.

To assist in deciding whether or not you want to join our ranks, I’ve created a handy five-question quiz: 1. Do you know friends who are already using Twitter?

2. Do you want to know what celebrities like Shaquile O’Neal, Ashton Kutcher, MC Hammer, Lance Armstrong, and Ben Folds have to say?

3. Does the idea of broadcasting your thoughts appeal to you?

4. Do you obsessively refresh your Facebook page to see if there are new status updates from your friends?

5. Does the idea of being able to hear about everything, instantaneously, appeal to you?

If you answered “yes” to three or more of those questions, congratulations! You’re a perfect candidate for Twitter.

If you answered “yes” to questions one and three, you’d probably get a lot out of Twitter. If you don’t fit either of those conditions, chances are you already think Twitter is stupid and pointless. You’d have to work really hard to fit Twitter in with your life.

How can you get the most out of Twitter? First things first, get an account. You can’t tweet without an account to do it on. Second, I’d recommend that you get a desktop client. For Mac OS X, I recommend The Iconfactory’s Twitterrific, which comes in both free and paid flavors. For Windows, I’m a fan of Tweetdeck, as well as thirteen23’s Blu. A desktop client downloads tweets from Twitter, and allows you to view them as they are broadcasted without having to take the time to navigate to the Twitter website, which is really handy when you want to keep track of your friends’ updates.

If you have a smartphone, chances are, there’s also a Twitter app for your phone. On the iPhone/iPod Touch, Twitterrific for iPhone is a good pick, as well as Tweetie from AteBits software. There are comparable apps for Android and Palm’s WebOS as well.

For those of you who don’t have smartphones, you can set Twitter up to send and receive tweets from your conventional phone through SMS. Why set up all of these crazy things?

Simple: they’re what make Twitter great. You can follow what’s going on without having to constantly refresh the website, and with a few keystrokes or button presses on your cell, reply to what your friends are saying.

So, if you see yourself ready to make the leap of faith and become one of the many Tweeps out there, be my guest.

Take the plunge. It might work out, it might not. Heck, you may even end up in a book.

first-year focus

College ideals transformed to realities The sun is beating down on my face. I stagger to my feet, my head throbbing, and walk the seemingly infinite stretch of hallway to the bathroom. A rush of cold water on my face and I’m finally awake, half a bottle of Advil away from being a functional human being.

There’s an impressive round of recycling to be done, but in the meantime I’ll busy myself with some Aristotle.

The room is stained with the distinct odors of foam and barley. Welcome JOEY KERN to college, firstColumnist year.

College life: high school seniors discuss it with tones of hushed excitement. It is a place where all of their wildest party experiences can be enacted on a weekly basis, a place where they can liberate themselves from everything that held them back in high school and and even a place to slay many a Natty in the process.

What can get lost to people during these wide-eyed reveries is the fundamental goal of a college campus: to learn something from these experiences, from these freedoms.

Whitman has endeared itself to me over the past two weeks in a way that has wholly satisfied my expectations, and certainly validated my decision to come here. What I have found here is a campus and community where academic and personal liberation can truly exist in a way that is remarkably similar to the stereotypes young people associate with college.

People playing Frisbee out on a beautiful grass field, students longboarding to class, biking out to town, reading “The Odyssey” by sunlight, every beautiful collegiate stereotype plays itself out before my eyes.

The word stereotype typically is embedded with negative connotations, but here that’s not the case. These stereotypes-turned-realities are rather the built-up ideals every young mind

has accrued when they set off for college with high expectations.

Classes are characterized by lively discussion, professors speak with a kind of passion for their subject matched only by their intimate knowledge of it and it’s hard not to share in that passion.

Whether it’s a class effort to discover the chief good in life or a small group sharing poetry and short stories, Whitman professors catalyze discussion that keeps students engaged in the subject.

Academically stimulating days give way to nights where you can dance in foam, play midnight Frisbee, and watch a sketch comedy show, all in one night. Of all I have seen here these past few weeks, nothing has impressed me more than this pairing of academics and community.

Whitman truly is a place where anybody can find a niche, where anybody can fit in and excel, where basketball players go to philosophy with debaters and where musicians can party with actors.

Most everyone has read on The

Princeton Review that Whitman students are consistently ranked in the top 20 “happiest” students among colleges nationwide. Coming to Whitman, I wasn’t entirely sure how these kinds of rankings could be made—

what makes a person happy? How can you tell?

Having lived here for two weeks now, though, what doubts I had about these

rankings have been dispelled entirely.

The feeling of Whitman is one of contentment and comfort, a feeling to which I can now easily relate.

Wolff

12

Feature

September 17, 2009S

Study

Abroad

vande r

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T HE WHI TMAN

W AY

Whitties highlight popularity of India, New Zealand ularity at Whitman could be a sign of the increasing popularity of such non-traditional destinations, which offer a chance to travel off the beaten path and may appeal to students with an interest in poverty, social justice or global health.

“Usually 35 to 43 percent of the Whitman students who study abroad choose destinations in Latin America, Asia, or Africa. These numbers have increased significantly over the past 10 years, demonstrating a deep interest in non-western, non-traditional study abroad destinations,” said Susan Holme Brick, director of international programs. “Students often elect to study in places that they perceive to be difficult to travel to later on their own.”

One such student was Ellie Klein, a senior who studied abroad in New Delhi, India, last fall.

“I had originally wanted to go to Africa, but my mom thought it was too dangerous, so I decided to go to India.

T h e

by HADLEY JOLLEY Staff Reporter Nearly half of all Whitman students will study abroad for at least one semester, traditionally in their junior year. According to a 2008 study conducted by the Institute of International Education, a non-profit organization that collects data on American international exchange programs, Whitman students tend to study in the same locations as their national collegiate peers: France and Spain are perennial favorites across the United States. However, Whitman students consistently favor two destinations that do not make it onto the national list: India and New Zealand.

India ranked the ninth most popular at Whitman in the 2008-2009 school year and its popularity has been steadily increasing. India, as well as other countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa, is a non-traditional study-abroad destination.

India’s increasing pop-

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contributed by Adam Caniparoli

While studying abroad in Florence, Adam Caniparoli ‘10 visited Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

SIT program there seemed to have similar aspects to the program in Africa I had wanted to go on,” said Klein.

She wanted a more hands-on experience, in contrast to the classroomoriented education she experienced at Whitman.

“The culture in India is incredibly different, but I never really experienced culture shock when I was there. I think I expected things to be so dissimilar, that I

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NATIO N STUD WIDE Y DEST ABROAD INATI ONS

1. Un ited King 2. It dom aly 3. S pain 4. Fr ance 5. C hina 6. A ustr alia 7. M exic o 8. G erm any 9. Ir elan d 10. C osta Rica

wasn’t too surprised by it. The people I met and interacted with were, for the most part, friendly to me as an American. They often seemed incredibly curious about our culture and anxious to learn more about it,” Klein said.

Not all popular Whitman study abroad destinations attract students for those same reasons, however. New Zealand, another unusually popular standout at Whitman College, attracts people looking for yet another type of study abroad experience.

“New Zealand is like America 30 years ago. Culturally, it is very mildly different,” senior Nate Conroy said.

Nate Conroy attended University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand last year. He took advantage of the natural beauty of the island and explored the backcountry when not attending class, which he only had three days a week.

“It was a really long vacation,” Conroy said.

Conroy is not alone in enjoying New Zealand. Far from it, in fact. New Zealand consistently ranks among the top choices for Whitman students who study abroad, one of Whitman’s biggest variations from the national preference in study abroad.

One likely reason for this discrepancy lies in Whitman’s choice of partner programs,

where students’ Whitman financial aid can travel with them. The University of Otago is one such partner program and there are two partner programs in India. Roughly three-quarters of students who study abroad do so in such programs.

There are other reasons as well that New Zealand may be a more popular destination at Whitman than nationwide.

“Our partner program at the University of Otago in New Zealand is a good fit for science majors,” said Brick.

The University of Otago is strong in science, particularly biology and geology, and Whitman students can take classes in English. Some students may choose to go to New Zealand to take science classes in their first language.

In some ways, the programs in India and New Zealand are opposites. New Zealand offers security and the chance to learn in a foreign country that may not be as culturally foreign as others.

India offers a chance to explore a culture with a different cultural history than the United States. Both, however, offer a chance to learn in a place a world away from Whitman. For details on these programs and many other Whitman-approved options, students may visit the Web site for Off-Campus Studies.

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Feature

9September 17, 2009

13

Back in U.S., students reflect on poverty abroad

by WILLIAM WITWER Staff Reporter When senior Jenna Stearns visited a slum, or basti, in Jaipur, India, she was surprised to find that the women there seemed perfectly content.

“The houses were literally cardboard and it was on the side of a railroad track and they didn’t have sewage, didn’t have a safe place to cook food,” said Stearns. “All the women there were so happy with their life and we asked them what would make their life better. They were like, we’re just happy that our kids are healthy, that we can all live together and share the work.”

This positive attitude in the face of adversity altered Stearns’ attitude about her Whitman experience, as many study abroad programs have done for students.

Studying abroad allows students to realize just how lucky they are, and to know it emotionally rather than just intellectually.

“Coming back to the U.S. and Whitman, it’s very easy to say, ‘Oh, I have so much work to do, I’m so stressed, I’m so down on life,’” said Stearns. “It’s such a contrast to those people who were so much worse off but had such a healthy outlook on life.”

While she acknowledges that stress is a very common affliction, Stearns can now put it into perspective with her first-hand experience in India.

Senior Lauren Schneider, who studied abroad in both Buenos Aires, Argentina and Nantes, France, shared the same grateful realization.

“It sounds so trite and so cliché,” said Schneider. “But I am just so lucky for this quality of everything: quality of education, quality of life, quality of friends, and even just being around people who are intellectually curious about things, and having the resources to do virtually anything that I would like to do.”

Schneider’s global gratefulness for the “quality of everything” in her life comes from her unique experience abroad. On a more local level, she

realized how much energy it takes to simply listen.

“Oh my God, everything is in Spanish [in Buenos Aires],” said Schneider.

“It’s one of those things that doesn’t really hit you until you go there. Of course you know intellectually yes everybody’s going to be speaking a different language but when you sit in a cafe and realize that you can’t understand what the person next to you said, you have to make a huge effort.”

Schneider realized how important and taken for granted the skill of actively listening truly is. While realizations like the true value of listening or how lucky one is might not seem surprising, they are almost universal among students who have studied abroad.

Senior Miyoko Patricelli, who took a semester off from school to volunteer in Honduras in a non-Whitman affiliated program, had similar appreciations upon returning home.

“I came back being like, the U.S. is the best country ever,” said Patricelli.

“The poverty there [in Honduras] is so connected to so many different factors that it just seemed so hopeless.”

Unfortunately, while first-hand experience with poverty makes students realize their good fortune, another common feeling is one of hopeless-

ness. Patricelli worked in a severely understaffed day care center and afterschool program for children of single mothers, and consistently felt that, although she was helping, it was not enough.

“The kids I was working with, about half of them, would never go to a day of school,” said Patricelli. “They didn’t have fathers, their mothers maybe worked, and some of them were homeless, and it’s not as if Honduras has a ton of programs set up for homeless people. If they could make it off the streets that was essentially going to be the biggest accomplishment of their lives.”

When studying abroad, many Whitman students like Patricelli are forced to confront the sad realities of poverty, which in turn spurs some of them to action. Stearns, while in India, was impressed by the attitudes of the women living in depressing conditions, and

felt called to try and change it.

“I saw so much poverty and so much suffering I couldn’t do anything about on a large scale that I’m a lot more interested in finding ways to create change and implementing them,” said Stearns. Studying abroad opens the eyes of Whitman students to their incredibly fortunate personal situations, and while the observed poverty can be depressing, it is an inspiring sight.

Director of International Programs Susan Brick studied abroad herself multiple times and can attest to the power of the experience.

“I would say that many, many students come back saying it did change

their perspective in that they were able to empathize with another people from another culture and a society, and sometimes for the first time see that things can really be done differently,” said Brick.

Sending students abroad opens their eyes to the great and terrible world in which we live.

“Going abroad gives you the idea that there are thing happening in other parts of the world that are bigger than yourself,” said Schneider.

Coming back to the U.S., it’s such a contrast to those people who were so much worse off.

Jenna Stearns, ‘09

contributed by maryn juergens

Below: On his excursion to Jordan, Daniel Kaplan ’10 is all smiles with his adopted Bedouin host family. Below right: While participating in SIT’s Arts and Culture program in New Delhi, India, Cristine Tennant ‘10 grew close with her host family.

Above: Maryn Juergens ‘10 speeds off on a motor-scooter with family friend Phillipe, in Nantes, France.

contributed by daniel kaplan

contributed by cristine tennant

Jet-setter blues:

Students face major ultimatums

by HELEN JENNE Staff Reporter At the beginning of her sophomore year, junior Alie Kussin-Shoptaw realized she would have to choose between majoring in psychology and studying abroad.

“One of the main reasons I came to Whitman was the study abroad opportunities,” Kussin-Shoptaw said.

In her first year, she took a variety of classes to figure out what she liked. By the end of the year, she had decided on psychology.

“Sophomore year comes around and I’m thinking, ‘Psych sounds pretty good,’” Kussin-Shoptaw said.

The first semester of her sophomore year, she took Introduction to Psychology and Developmental Psy-

chology, but she hit a roadblock when trying to register for classes for second semester.

Kussin-Shoptaw could not add Psychological Statistics, a mandatory class for the psychology major and a prerequisite for Research Methods in Psychology, another required class. Both classes are, due to their popularity, not open to seniors.

The problem for Kussin-Shoptaw was that she wanted to go abroad for a semester during her junior year. She would not be able to do this and major in psychology unless she could leave one of those classes until senior year. She was told by the psychology department that studying abroad wasn’t a good enough excuse to take one of those classes as a senior, and, as Kussin-Shoptaw said, it became an ultimatum: major in psychology and stay on campus, or go abroad.

Kussin-Shoptaw is now a studio art major and a psychology and Spanish double minor.

“I was going to minor in art anyway,” she said, “With art I had a lot more freedom.”

Studio art is not something Kussin-Shoptaw wants to do as a career, though. She plans to attend grad school and then do something with psychology.

“The only hard part of changing my major was figuring out, ‘How am I going to get to grad school without a psych major?” she said.

Fortunately, Kussin-Shoptaw’s case is not common. About 45 percent of the juniors at Whitman studied abroad last year, according to the Whitman College Study Abroad Enrollment Report. Only two to five students every year who studied abroad take on a ninth semester at Whitman, said Susan Brick, Director of International Programs.

SOng

According to Brick, students in all majors go abroad, but it can be more difficult to go depending on when you decide on your major. Whitman does not require you to declare your major until the end of your sophomore year, but studying abroad will be easier to plan, Brick said, if you know your major by the first semester of your sophomore year.

But as seen with Kussin-Shoptaw’s story, this isn’t always early enough. With many science majors, it can also be important to know your major as early as the first year. Even then, it can be difficult.

“I had always wanted to study abroad,” said Taylor Montminy, a junior pre-medicine student and biology major.

Montminy looked at every abroad program, but said that her professors told her that it wouldn’t work.

Like other science majors, the biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology (BBMB) major, has a reputation of making it difficult to study abroad, but according to James Russo, associate professor of chemistry and BBMB chair, “I think it is less difficult than people perceive if key introductory courses are completed by the end of sophomore year.”

Currently, four out of 13 junior BBMB majors are abroad: three in programs with instruction is in English, and one with instruction is in Spanish.

“Very few students will take science courses while studying abroad in non-English universities,” Russo said.

However, if BBMB majors only go abroad for a semester, that semester does not necessarily have to include science classes.

Russo said that if BBMB majors take organic chemistry and general physics during their sophomore year, it makes studying abroad more flexible with the major. And if not, it can still happen.

“Some students choose to push courses out of sequence [to study abroad],” he said.

Every way you look at it, studying abroad comes down to prioritizing.

“Sometimes students realize they have to choose between a double major without studying abroad or one major plus a minor with study abroad,” said Brick.

Although Kussin-Shoptaw described herself as disappointed and even angry after finding out that she couldn’t be a psychology major and study abroad, she said that her priority was to study abroad, and her major was secondary.

Kussin-Shoptaw will be going to Costa Rica next semester, where she will take ceramics and some psychology classes, because she doesn’t yet have enough credits in psychology for her minor.

She said, “I’m going to work on that abroad, which is completely ironic.”

Sports Commentary

Michael Jordan joins Hall of Fame

by BIDNAM LEE and JAY GOLD Staff Reporters

alden

“I think it’s just God disguised as Michael Jordan,” said Larry Bird, after a young Michael Jordan, in only his second season of professional basketball, poured in a NBA playoff record 63 points against one of the greatest teams ever, the 1986 Boston Celtics.

It wouldn’t be the last time Michael Jeffrey Jordan’s exploits on the court would be described as otherworldly.

Even an abbreviated list of his ac-

complishments alone are enough for some to qualify him as a basketball deity: Rookie of the Year, Five-time NBA MVP, Six-time NBA champion, Six-time NBA Finals MVP, Ten-time All-NBA First Team, Nine time NBA All-Defensive First Team, Defensive Player of the Year, 14-time NBA AllStar and Three-time NBA All-Star MVP. Yet, more than simply the sum of this list, there was always a feeling that Michael Jordan was just cut from a different type of cloth than any other athlete of his time – a tapestry woven with a competitive fire that might as well have been forged in the depths of the sun, an athleticism that forced people to modify “jump” with “hang time” because “jump” just wouldn’t do justice to how high and how long Air Jordan would jump, and a turnaround, fade-away jumper that faded so far it made angles jealous and floated so long it made angels envious. His Airness was different.

It comes as no surprise then, that on the night of his Hall of Fame induction, Michael Jordan gave a speech that was unequivocally different, undeniably unconventional. Of course, with most things that are different in the sports world, the media resorted to protocol: outrage. Sports writers for

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The Pioneer Jay Gold and Bidnam Lee discuss the speech and the subsequent reactions to it from the media: Jay: There’s no question that Jordan strayed away from the typical acceptance speech template. He did allocate a few minutes to expressing his heartfelt gratitude to his family and Scottie Pippen. However, he spent the vast majority of his time calling out, or backhandedly thanking, all of those who, in his perception, doubted him or stoked his unfathomably large competitive fire in some other way.

This exhausting list includes Leroy Smith, Dean Smith, Jeff Van Gundy and Bryon Russell. In spite of this, Jordan’s speech, in my view, was nowhere near as vindictive or as irredeemable as some have made it out to be.

Bidnam: It was Michael being Michael. What puzzles me the most about those expressing negative reactions to his speech is: where have these people been for the past two and a half decades? Anyone who knows anything about basketball and Michael Jordan knows that Michael Jordan’s greatest trait is his greatest flaw: hyper-competitiveness. That kind of trait doesn’t fade with age.

Jay: Agreed. It’s content was undeniably egotistical, arguably petty and slightly out of place, especially amidst the humility and genuine gratefulness of his fellow inductees. However, the fact is, Jordan was simply being himself, honestly striving to explain what drove him to be the player he ended up being.

Bidnam: This is a man who punched out Steve Kerr in practice and became upset when Pippen didn’t pass him the ball in a late-game situation, even though Pippen made the clutch shot anyway. Popular consensus during Jordan’s playing days on who the biggest trash talker was? Michael Jordan.

Some people say that Jordan should have toned it down, minimized the ego and given a more respectable speech – but you have to ask yourself, is that even possible for him?

Jay: I would have to answer that question in the negative. There’s something slightly sad, although certainly nothing overly surprising, about Jordan’s seeming inability to let go, his refusal to fade away into post-basketball life satisfied with the astonishing things that he has accomplished and the irremovable imprint he has left on the game.

Bidnam: I feel like men and women who reach the furthest limits of human achievement, whether in basketball or elsewhere, can never truly separate themselves from what took them there, and their demise is that much greater because of the sheer height from which they fall.

Jay: We simply have to accept and appreciate Jordan for what he was and is: an athlete who transcended the world of sports and became something greater, an almost mythical pop cultural icon. He was and remains, ingrained in the minds of a still awe stricken populace, truly extraordinary, in large part due to the competitive arrogance he put on display during a night that, in reality, was his.

the Pioneer

S

Issue 2 Sep. 17, 2009 Page 14

Ballinger’s run to XC nationals

by STATEN HUDSON Staff Reporter

On a freezing day in November, hundreds of female cross-country runners representing Division III colleges from across the nation gathered at Hanover College in Hanover, Ind. to make a run at a national championship.

Kristen Ballinger, a junior crosscountry runner for Whitman, was among their ranks, trying to keep her limbs warm and remain focused amid the jostling for position at the starting line.

Ballinger, her father and assistant coach Neal Christopherson all made the trip from Seattle to Hanover the day before. In the days leading up to the big race, Ballinger tried to concentrate on resting and eating right.

“I tried to focus on reading and preparing myself physically (hydrating, stretching, eating right), instead of thinking about the mental aspects of the race for days in advance,” said Ballinger. “On the morning of the race, I remember feeling a little intimidated by the hundreds of runners warming up on the course wearing black spandex and team sweats, with their ‘game-faces’ on and ear buds pumping inspiration, but I just tried to focus on running the race I wanted to run and tried to shove everything else to the back of my mind.”

When the starting-gun fired, Ballinger was among the first off the line.

Exploiting her trademark explosiveness, she sprinted to the front of the pack and took an early lead. By the three kilometer mark, however, her pace began to slow and she receded back into the pack. She eventually placed 107th out of 279 runners.

“I’m a sprinter,” explained Ballinger, “so when I’m excited I’ll often start a race too quickly. My race at nationals wasn’t any exception. Being the ‘rabbit’ at the front of a pack was exhilarating, but I wasted some energy that might have been helpful in the third mile, where I slowed down.”

Despite the mental error, Ballinger said she felt that she ran well.

“I felt that I ran a good race, although not as well as I could have,” said Ballinger. “This is a pretty typical runner’s retrospective--we always wish that we had gone harder or been tougher.”

After the race, Ballinger said that she was really impressed with the camaraderie amongst the runners.

“Cross-country runners are usually very friendly on and off the course,” said Ballinger. “Even regional rivals band together when they find themselves in a huge field like nationals—in fact, at the athletes’ banquet, we ate with the Whitworth men’s team—usually our fiercest rival—and we got along great.”

Looking forward to this year, Ballinger said that she is excited about the

Jacobson Cross-country runner Kristen Ballinger ‘11 zooms past the competition. women’s cross-country team and their chances of making a run at Nationals.

“With luck and hard work I think the Whitman women’s team could make it to Nationals this year,” said Ballinger.

“This would be great. Having my teammates there would only motivate me to run harder and leave it all on the course.”

The team has already had some im-

pressive results in the two events they have participated in so far. At the Whitman invitational, the team finished with eight runners in the top 19 and took third place as a team.

At the Lewis and Clark invitational, the Whitman women finished with five runners in the top 12 and took first place as a team.

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Pioneer SPORTS EDI TOR WANT ED! For an application, please e-mail editors@whitmanpioneer.com.

Sports

September 17, 2009

15

Scoreboard Men’s Cross Country:

Friday, Sept. 4 Women’s Soccer:

Northwest University (Kirkland WA) vs Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.

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

3 0 3 Northwest (0-2-1, 0-0-0 CCC)

0 3 3

Whitman Invitational at Ft. Walla Walla Park in Walla Walla, Wash.— Men’s 6K Run Top 5 Whitman Finishers (out of 55 finishers) Time Points

10. Villasenor, Alfredo 19:59.79

Northwest University (Kirkland WA) vs Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.

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

2 0 2 Northwest (0-0-1, 0-0-0 CCC)

0

2

2

SATURDAY, Sept. 5 Women’s Cross Country:

Whitman Invitational at Ft. Walla Walla Park in Walla Walla, Wash.— Women’s 4K Run

Top 5 Whitman Finishers (out of 55 finishers) Time Points 7. McCune, Sara 15:08.04

7

8. Gilbert, Emilie 15:27.16

8

9. O’Moore, Heather 15:27.50

9

11

12. Corcorran, Michela 15:31.63

12

Whitman College Stats: Place 3 Total Points 47 Total Time 1:12:03.83 Average Time

20:20.73

15:24.77

3. Colis, Yasmeen 22:51.90 3

Whitman College (0) 1 2 20 23

6. Ballinger, Kristen 23:18.90 5

8. Corcorran, Michela 23:28.40 7

10. O’Moore, Heather 23:34.80 9

12. McCune, Sara 23:45.50 11

University of Redlands (2) 19 17 25 25 9 2-2, 0-0 SCIAC

Men’s Soccer:

Women’s Soccer:

Saint Martin’s University (Olympia WA) vs Whitman College in Walla

Whitman College vs Capital University (Bexley OH) in Spokane, Wash.

Walla, Wash.

1

Goals by Period 1 2 OT Tot

2 Tot

0 2

0

3 Team Records

Whitman College (3) 25 25 16 21 15 1-1, 0-0 NWC

W EDNESDAY, Sept. 9

0

Dominican University (3) 25 25 25 2-10, 0-0 PWC

Game Scores 1 2 3 4 5 Team Records

2

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

11. Colis, Yasmeen 15:29.50

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

0 0

Whitman College vs University of Redlands in Thousand Oaks, CA

Whitman College Stats: Place 4 Total Points 84 Total Time 1:41:43.67

Saint Martin’s University (4-2-0, 0-0-0 GNAC)

2

Whitman College (0)

16 11 18 0-1, 0-0 NWC

22

Goals by Period

1

Top 5 Whitman Finishers (out of 110 finishers) Time Points

UC-Santa Cruz (3)

25 25 25 5-1, 4-1 DIII

26. Kelly, Matthew

Average Time

1

Game Scores:

1 2

19

20:40.90

Montclair State (4-0-0, 0-0-0 NJAC)

Game Scores 1 2 3 Team Records

Whitman College vs UC-Santa Cruz in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

17

22. Parker, Hugh 20:29.21

2 Tot

Volleyball:

10

16

18. Luecke, Dan 20:17.36

1

1-2, 0-0 NWC

17. Hennessey, Sam 20:16.41

Men’s Soccer:

Goals by Period

0

0

FRIDAY, Sept. 11

Whitman College vs ClaremontMudd-Scripps in Thousand Oaks, CA Game Scores 1 2 3 4 5 Team Records Whitman College (3) 12 22 16 25 7 2-2, 0-0 NWC

Whitman College Stats: Place 1 Total Points 35 Total Time 1:56:59.50 Average Time 23:23.90

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (2) 25 25 25 21 15 3-4, 0-0 SCIAC

Men’s Cross Country:

Men’s Soccer:

Lewis & Clark Invitational at McIver Park in Estacada, Ore.—Men’s 8K Run

Whitman College vs Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO Goals by Period 1 2 OT Tot

Top 5 Whitman Finishers (out of 117 finisers) Time Points 19. Kelly, Matthew 26:47.30 18

21. Parker, Hugh 26:54.30 19

27. Villasenor, Alfredo

27:04.90

W ednesday, Sept. 16 Women’s Soccer:

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

31. Hennessey, Sam 27:10.20 26

Capital (3-1-0, 0-0-0 OAC) 0 0 0 0

40. Luecke, Daniel 27:34.40 32

SATURDAY, Sept. 12

Whitman College Stats: Place 4 Total Points 118 Total Time 2:15:31.10 Average Time 27:06.22

Volleyball:

Whitman College vs Dominican University (San Rafael) in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Colorado (1-3-0, 0-0-0 SCAC) 1 0 0 1

23

Whitworth University vs Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.

Men’s Soccer:

Whitman College vs Montclair State University (NJ) in Colorado Springs, CO

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

Women’s Cross Country:

Goals by Period

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

1 0 1 Whitworth University (0-2-1, 0-0-0 CCC)

1 1 2

Lewis & Clark Invitational at McIver Park in Estacada, Ore.—Women’s 6K Run

Schedule THURSDAY, Sept. 18 Volleyball: Willamette University vs. Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., 7 p.m.

Game Notes: Last season, Willamette entered its game against Whitman on a 44 consecutive Northwest Conference game losing streak, only to break it against a young Whitman team. This year, the Bearcats return to Walla Walla eager to begin their conference schedule with a victory. The Missionaries look to avenge last year’s loss as they play in their opening conference game of the season. Whitman is coming off its first action of the season in the Cal-Lu-fornia Tournament in Thousand Oaks, Cali.

SATURDAY, Sept. 19 Women’s Soccer:

George Fox University vs. Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., noon Game Notes: In their second conference game of the season, the Whitman women will face the George Fox Bruins, who are led by returning First Team All-NWC midfielder Kirsten Cardwell. The Bruins are currently on a three-game losing streak against the Missionaries, dating back to the 2007 campaign, and are looking to break that pattern this season. Unfortunately for them, Courtney Porter, who has shutout George Fox in those three games, will once again be in goal for Whitman.

Men’s Soccer: George Fox University vs. Whit-

man College in Walla Walla, Wash., 2:30 p.m.

Game Notes: The conference schedule opens up for the Whitman men this week as they take on the George Fox University Bruins, who were a dismal 2-15-3 last season. If history has anything to do with it, the fate of the Bruins against the Missionaries doesn’t look too good – Whitman hasn’t lost to conference foe George Fox since the 2004 season. The Missionaries are coming off a trip to Colorado Springs, Colo., where they faced Monclair State (NJ) and Colorado College.

Volleyball: Linfield College vs. Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., 5 p.m.

Game Notes: Voted to come in third in the 2009 NWC Volleyball Coaches’ Pre-Season Poll, the Linfield Eagles come to Walla Walla seeking to continue their recent success against the Whitman volleyball team. Last year, both matches between the conference opponents resulted in 3-0 sweeps by the Eagles. The Missionaries hope to turn things around against Linfield and assert themselves as a serious contender in the Northwest Conference.

SUNDAY, Sept. 20 Women’s Soccer:

Pacific University vs. Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., noon Game Notes: The Missionaries face the Pacific University Boxers

in their last home game of September before heading out to Tacoma to play conference rivals Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Puget Sound. The Boxers hope to improve upon last year’s 5-14-1 overall record, while the Missionaries look to solidify their position in the standings before they face conference Goliath, the University of Puget Sound.

Men’s Soccer: Pacific University vs. Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., 2:30 p.m.

Game Notes: Whitman and Pacific tied for fourth in the 2009 NWC Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Pre-Season Poll and

will have a chance prove superiority as they face off in both teams’ second conference games of the season. Whitman’s Second Team All-NWC forward Todd Wallenius will face a stout Pacific defense that is led by All-NWC defender Brandon Porter and Second Team All-Conference keeper Andrew Stevermer.

TUESDAY, Sept. 22 Volleyball:

Whitman College vs. Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, 2 Advertisement

p.m.

Game Notes: Whitman travels to Lewiston to face the defending Frontier Conference champions, the Lewis-Clark State College Warriors.

After rolling to a 30-4 record last year en route to the conference title, the Warriors come into the match sporting a 5-4 record. Yet, with a number of quality wins against ranked opponents, Lewis-Clark State still finds itself ranked thirteenth in the NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. The Missionaries look to avenge last year’s match, which featured a 3-0 sweep by the Warriors.

16

Sports

September 17, 2009

Missionary men gain momentum

by MATT MANLEY Contributing Reporter After tying their first game of the year against Northwest University on Sept. 4 and losing to St. Martin’s five days later, the men’s soccer team was anxious to earn their first win of the season.

During a two-game road trip to Colorado this weekend, they got their victory—with flair.

After a hard-fought 2-0 loss on Friday, Sept. 11, to the seventh-ranked Redhawks of Montclair State, Whitman bounced back Saturday behind junior forward Chris Reid’s winning tally against Colorado College.

After trailing Colorado 1-0 for 57 minutes, senior forward Todd Wallenius scored with two minutes left in regulation to send the match into overtime.

With all the momentum on their side, it took Whitman only six minutes of the first overtime to score their golden goal. The strike, Reid’s first goal since transferring from Walla Walla Community College this fall, came after first-year Leland Matthaeus’ cross was cleared from Colorado’s penalty area. The clearance fell to Reid, whose long shot found the top right corner after deflecting off a Tigers’ defender.

According to junior defender Cooper Crosby, Reid’s goal was one of the highlights of the road trip.

“Chris just started sprinting down the field after he scored and then everybody caught up with him. We just had a big mob celebrating in front of their fans,” he said.

Despite the loss in their first match, the team feels confident that they can stand up to national powerhouses like Montclair. The Redhawks, who moved to 4-0 this season with their win against Whitman, lost only one game last year and will be strong contenders to win

courtesy of Krystin Norman Whitman men’s soccer team celebrates after a victory last weekend against Colorado College, their first win of the season.

their fourth consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference title this season.

“We played well,” Whitman coach Mike Washington said of Friday’s match. “We showed we can play with the top teams in the country.”

With the loss of three key defend-

ers from last year’s team, Washington has also opted to use a three-defender system instead of the traditional four.

Crosby, a captain and the only returning defensive starter from 2008 anchors the center, while junior John Fleming and first-year Jed Jacobson guard the

flanks.

Whitman’s next challenges come this weekend as they take on George Fox and Pacific University at home.

Fleming believes that the pre-season schedule has the team well-prepared heading into NWC play.

“Through the pre-season, we definitely started to find an attacking rhythm, and I think we are going to surprise some people,” he said. “George Fox and Pacific will be good teams for us to start off against. We can defend well against their direct attacking style.”

IM football season kicks off

Bullion ABOVE: Running back Maggie Reid ‘10 makes a catch for the DG team during practice in preparation for the season.

LEFT: Teammates Kristen Coverdale ‘11 and Katelyn Sorensen ‘12 play friendly during KKGFSU practice.

Bullion

by JAY GOLD Staff Reporter In the wake of a season defined by disappointment and unfulfilled championship dreams, senior James Bevan-Lee considered leaving Sigma Chi’s team to build his own team of mercenaries, providing one of the more compelling storylines in what promises to be another electrifying season of intramural football. With just a few weeks until that season gets underway for both men and women, a slew of teams in each league, in addition to Bevan-Lee’s, are ready to make waves.

Bevan-Lee said that his team remains “a work in progress.” However, the fact that its players have practiced together on at least one occasion suggests that his dream of putting together a highly competitive team that will “break down fraternal grounds” may become a reality. With a litany of noteworthy players including BevanLee, senior James Franz, senior Galen

Bernard and junior Chris Barton, this presently nameless team could prove a serious contender.

But challengers like two-time defending champion Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE), may impede its path to the championship. Led by senior quarterback Christopher Tobin “T.C.” Campbell, the TKE team should remain a force to be reckoned with, in spite of the fact that numerous key players from last season’s team have graduated.

In regards to his team’s chances this season, Campbell said, “I think that this year we’re going to have to win a lot of games just by brute force. We don’t have as much pure talent.”

Still, citing the potential emergence of players such as sophomore Gene Kim and seniors J.J. Ooi and Graham Brewer, he is confident that TKE, along with Bevan Lee’s team and Phi Delta Theta, will be in the running for the championship, even without the threat that Chris Faidley ‘09 provided last season. With Campbell, who Phi

quarterback Ben Kron believes is “the best player in the whole league” and his freakish speed at quarterback, a more run-centric offense will provide myriad problems for opposing defenses.

Among the teams that will attempt to contain Campbell and wrest intramural glory from TKE is Phi Delta Theta, which both Bevan-Lee and Campbell see as a legitimate threat.

Kron also subscribes to the belief that the Phi team will be dangerous. “Last year, I think we played really well to our potential,” said Kron, who then continued to assert, “Since we have guys who were abroad coming back, I feel really good about our chances.”

Those “guys” include Jonny Tat, who plays both receiver and cornerback, Bidnam Lee, who alternates between receiver and strong safety, and lineman Daniel Delp, three seniors thirsting for the blue shirts that have eluded them to this point. If sophomores Jake Schwartz and Julian Helmer can emerge as valuable contributors, as Kron suggests they will, the Phi team will be competitive.

Things will be equally competitive

in the women’s league. Bevan-Lee, who doubles as the coach of the team named Eat Shit, offered his view on what will transpire there. He suggested that newly acquired player junior Paige Huff will be a valuable player for Eat Shit, which will be vying for the title against runners-up Delta Gamma (DG) and F YEAH!, along with a bevy of other teams.

With particular focus on senior Maggie Reid, a deadly running back, and senior Julie Davidson, who, in Bevan Lee’s eyes, “is the most underrated player in the league,” he said, “The DG’s are going to be strong.”

F YEAH!, a team composed almost entirely of seniors entering their fourth year as a competitive unit, appears to have sufficient experience and talent to provide a challenge for the ever-imposing DGs. “They’re competitive,” Bevan-Lee said.

With senior captains Margaux Cameron and Karina Kidd, leading the way, F YEAH!’s hopes of returning to the finals and emerging victorious are not without foundation.

Last year’s winners: MEN’S 1. Tke 2. SIG 3. PHI 4. Naked Sl aught er WOMEN’S 1.What BI tch 2. DG 3. F-YEAH! 4. EAT SHIT