Issue 1 Fall 2013

The

PIONEER

Issue 1 | September 12, 2013 | Whitman news since 1896

Debate moves foward with new director

by Shelly Le Editor in Chief

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hen Professor of Forensics Jim Hanson resigned from his director of forensics position last spring, several questions about the future of the team remained unanswered. Uncertainty about the reasons for Hanson’s resignation and concerns about the Title IX investigation of the team conducted in spring 2012 left many debaters frustrated with the administration.

To ensure the debate team would be competitive at the start of the season, the administration worked with a number of debate community members and conducted a search for a new director in just under two months, ultimately hiring Kevin Kuswa on July 19. Debaters were glad to have the opportunity to participate in the search, but some team members still believe the college doesn’t have the best interest of the team at heart.

sis, by July 1. Ten debaters reviewed each candidates’ resumes and gave feedback on the candidates.

“This process is important for us because we’re given an understanding of how a candidate will fit with the team,” said Menzies.

Provost and Dean of Faculty Timothy Kaufman-Osborn said that while the Office of the Provost officially hires assistant coaches, input from the WDAG helped identify qualified candidates who complement the team dynamics.

“I could imagine deciding to institutionalize student input in the future, but I can’t say at this point,” he said.

Reactions A total of just six candidates applied for the director position. Both Menzies and Kaufman-Osborn acknowledged the pool was smaller than ideal. Menzies added that three of the six candidates did not fulfill all the job qualifications.

“Six is an insanely low number for any “Six is an insanely low job in academia, let alone number [of candidates] one of the most reputadebate positions in the for any job in academia, ble country,” said Menzies. let alone one of the Because there were three qualified canmost reputable debate only didates, the WDAG sugpositions in the gested hiring an intercountry.” im coach for one year and Ben Menzies ‘14 then conducting a larger national search over a longer time frame.

“The initial response New Direction from everyone was that it Two different commit- isn’t a broad enough search. tees were involved in the We almost certainly would hiring process, which be- have more people applygan in early June. One was ing under normal condian internal search com- tions,” said sophomore polmittee that provided a fi- icy debater and student nal hiring recommenda- member of the advisory tion to the office of the group Emma Thompson. provost and the president.

Although no definiMembers of this commit- tive terms of hire were distee were Associate Dean cussed with the WDAG, for Faculty Development Kaufman-Osborn said the Lisa Perfetti and a small internal search commitgroup of professors inter- tee seriously considered ested in rhetoric studies. the WDAG’s suggestion The second commit- to hire an interim directee, the Whitman Debate tor. However, they decidAdvisory Group (WDAG), ed to hire Kuswa on a twowas created in order to in- year contract instead and volve students in the hiring to review his performance process. The WDAG had after the first year to deno decision-making power termine whether a nationin the hiring process, but its al search for another dimembers relayed sugges- rector would be necessary. tions and opinions about “After the interpotential candidates to the nal search committee had internal search committee. conducted its on-camAlumnus Adam Symonds pus interview, they were ‘99 served as a liaison be- quite impressed with Dr. tween the two committees. Kuswa. At least a porSenior policy debat- tion of [the search comer and student member of mittee’s] recommendathe WDAG Ben Menzies tion insisted on the suggessaid he was initially excit- tion that we give serious ed that the school was will- thought to something longing to work with current er,” said Kaufman-Osborn. team members to ensure Some members of the the transition to a new de- WDAG had a conference bate staff would be smooth. call with Kuswa when he “None of [the admin- was still a candidate, afistration] has any experi- ter which they offered ence managing a debate feedback to the internal team, and so I thought the search committee based fact that they were ad- on their impressions of mitting that was a good him. Menzies and Thompstep forward,” he said. son said they gave their In addition to hiring feedback while under the Kuswa, the office of the impression that if Kuswa provost hired three assis- was hired, he would tant coaches, who will help fill an interim position. the director manage the After hiring Kuswa team on a day-to-day ba- in July, Kaufman-Os-

born sent the WDAG an email informing them of Kuswa’s hire. However, certain members of the WDAG were not officially informed of the terms of his hire until nearly a week later, during a conference call.

Kaufman-Osborn said he decided to wait to notify other members of the WDAG because he wanted to be able to address members’ comments in one sitting.

“I knew that students and [alumni] would have many questions and concerns, and it seemed to me best to discuss those questions and concerns in the context of a conference call when we could engage in dialogue over an extended period of time,” he said.

Menzies and Thompson are both frustrated that the administration bypassed their recommendation to hire an interim director and equally frustrated that the search committee never informed the WDAG that a longerterm contract for Kuswa was being considered.

“If the goal of this group is to build trust and build confidence in this process, it doesn’t make sense to me. Why at the most critical moment switch the plan and never tell the students until after the fact?” said Menzies.

Kaufman-Osborn said part of his goal was to help the team succeed by getting leadership roles filled as soon as possible.

“Ideally we would have wanted to articulate the process before we made the appointment, but everyone was in a hurry to make the appointment as quickly as possible so that the debate program lost as little momentum as possible,” he said.

Following the director search, former trustee and WDAG member Megan Salzman Medica ‘81 announced her intent to resign from the Board of Trustees.

“It is without question that I have been concerned with the handling and effects of the decisions related to the debate program, including the removal of its leadership,” she said in her email announcing her resignation on August 12.

Medica later deferred her resignation and officially resigned on Aug. 31.

She and her husband, John Medica, have been actively involved with the college as overseers and donors to many major campus programs, including the debate program. Medica declined to comment explicitly on her reasons for leaving the Board of Trustees.

“My resignation speaks for itself given my history of involvement with the college,” she said.

The College Addresses Title IX Concerns After Hanson resigned, the debate community expressed concerns about the college’s conduct during its Title IX investigation of the team in spring 2012. One-hundred-ninetysee DEBATE, page 3

ILLUSTRATION BY BOWEN

Brian Choe steps down as ASWC VP

by Dylan Tull News Editor

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enior Brian Choe stepped down from his ASWC vice president position at the end of last year, creating a vacancy on the ASWC Executive Council that needed to be filled before the school year started. In a typical situation like this, the position would go to the runner-up in the elections held last April, but Choe’s case presented a unique problem because he ran unopposed. Junior ASWC President Tim Reed and Junior ASWC Oversight Chair Audrey Vaughan consulted the ASWC by-laws and constitution, and have since appointed sophomore Jack Percival as interim vice president.

Because Reed and Vaughan couldn’t simply look to the runnerup to fill the vice president’s seat, and having no prior precedent for a situation like this, they examined the constitution carefully to decide how they should proceed. First they went to the ASWC by-laws, which stated that for an interim as well as the official replacement, the Executive Council has the power to choose from the current senators. The constitution, however, which overrules the by-laws, declared that the appointment of the official vice president would fall to the senators, and that they would have to choose from among one another. Elections will not be open to the entire campus for the vacant vice president position.

“Because the constitution supersedes the by-laws, when it comes to the permanent replacement, we have to follow the constitution,” said Vaughan.

After it was determined how to proceed, Vaughan contacted all of the members of the ASWC Executive Council, which includes the president, finance Chair, nominations committee and clubs director, among others, and asked them each to nominate an interim vice president. The results came back, and Percival was unanimously decided to serve as the interim. Percival was formally a sophomore senator, as well as the student affairs committee chair.

“Jack was a senator last year, so he definitely has knowledge of ASWC, and he’s definite-

ly got expertise in writing resolutions and acts. We’re very excited to have him,” said Reed.

The interim period will last until Oct. 6, when the first senate meeting will take place. Then, the senators must choose from among one another to decide who will be the official vice president. Early indications point to Percival retaining the position.

“I’m just the interim, and I have to be confirmed by the senate to be the official vice president. If they choose to confirm me, there will be a vacancy in the sophomore senate. And if they don’t choose to confirm me, and they choose to confirm someone else, they have to pick from among the senators,” said Percival.

Reed and Vaughan said that while there were a few minor bumps in the process of figuring out how to deal with Choe’s resignation, the overall process went fairly smoothly. The fact that it happened over the summer proved to be both positive and negative for the new nomination.

“It’s always harder to do things over email, but at the same time there was nothing really going on that we really needed a vice president. So it worked out really well,” said Vaughan.

Now with a full Executive Council, and the path toward a new official vice president set, ASWC can begin to look toward their objectives for the year. Reed expressed his excitement about having a full council once again, and toward their goals for the new semester.

“It’s going to be really a great experience at the beginning of this year, to figure out what people are really interested in pursuing across the board, including senators and [Executive Council] members.

And kind of putting everyone together and figuring out what those objectives really are,” said Reed.

Percival also was ready to fill his role as interim vice president, and possibly official vice president in the future.

“I’m really excited to be filling this position, and I hope that I am selected to be the official vice president, and I definitely want to put a lot of work into it,” said Percival. “I think I would like to clearly articulate the role of ASWC.”

Rain, set, match: Tennis courts near completion

by Hannah Bartman Staff Reporter

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he tennis courts, which are currently encased in a fence of construction, are due to open on Sept. 23. Unexpected rain caused a week-long delay in early June, but after three and a half months of construction the courts will be open in time for the Men and Women’s Fall Tournament, which runs Sept. 27-29.

“I believe the most important thing is to do the courts as well as they can possibly be done, rather than hurry to get them done to save three extra days of playing time,” said Vice President for Development and College Relations John Bogley.

The courts are an impor-

tant and long-due addition to the Whitman College tennis program. Six courts will allow Whitman to host NCAA Championship tournaments, a handicap that Whitman faced with four courts.

“We’re the only nationally ranked program that doesn’t have six courts,” said Head Men’s Tennis Coach Jeff Northam. “It usually takes three-and-a-half to four hours to complete a match, but with us it takes four-and-a-half to five hours. [The new courts will] make for better practices and matches for the players.”

Matches consist of six singles games and three doubles games. The winner must have a minimum of five wins to win a match. With six courts, all of the singles matches can go on at

once, whereas with four courts, only four singles games play simultaneously. With four courts, the winner of the match could have been decided before the last two singles games even had a chance to step on the court.

“It’s a different feeling going out there and knowing the match has been decided,” said sophomore women’s tennis player Kate Rubinstein. “You go out knowing you’ve already won, you’ve already lost or you’re the deciding factor. Now that we have the six courts, everyone plays at the same time and the game hasn’t been decided.”

League spans from January to May, but the courts will be in use during the fall by the tennis team for tournaments. Last year see TENNIS COURTS, page 3

New fencing shows development in tennis courts construction. Photo by von Clemm

2 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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12 2013

In Memoriam

Photos contributed by the Soukup family

Jamie Soukup Reid 1988-2013

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his August, The Pioneer community lost one of our dearest members. Alumna Jamie Soukup Reid ‘10, her husband Will Reid and their unborn child passed away in a car accident in North Carolina as they were returning home from a friend’s wedding. Jamie and Will were married in May of this year. During her time at Whitman College, Jamie worked as a resident assistant for the Writing House and was the editor in chief of The Pioneer from 2008-2009. Jamie then went on to work for Teach for America and to receive her master’s degree in urban education at the University of Pennsylvania, where she met Will.

Today, Jamie’s memory lives on across campus. Although I never met Jamie, I have heard many great stories about her during my time at The Pio. She was a mentor for many student journalists and was vital in increasing the quality and professionalism of the paper. In a way, she has become my own mentor, an example of whom I should be and how I should lead.

The Sunday following their passing, Jamie and Will’s obituary appeared on the front page of Philadelphia’s daily newspaper – The Philadelphia Inquirer. I didn’t know Jamie or Will, but I wish I had, because what I’m told of their bright personalities, intelligence and passion for life are exactly what I wish I had myself.

Following their passing, multiple Whitman alumni asked me to create some forum to pay tribute to Jamie and her family. Below you will find several letters, pictures and illustrations submitted from Whitman community members who continue to miss and love Jamie and her family.

As we start the new school year, keep in mind what you want to achieve and what motivates you. This year, my motivation is Jamie’s legacy. *Unfortunately, due to the large quantity of letters I received, not all are featured here. Please go online to whitmanpioneer.com/opinion/letterfrom-the-editor-opinion/2013/09/09/ letter-from-the-editor-for-jamiesoukup-reid to view all submissions in memory of Jamie and Will.

-Shelly Le, Pioneer Editor in Chief 2013-2014 We are crushed and devastated by the loss of Jamie and Will.

They were the Best and the Brightest. Smart. Giving. Outgoing. Funny. Individuals comfortable just being themselves. The loss is not just ours personally, but society’s. They were going to change the world.

For a few select kids in Philadelphia who had them as their teachers, they did change their world.

Everyone has that one teacher you look back on that made all the difference. Jamie and Will were that teacher to many of their students.

Whitman helped shape Jamie to be the extraordinary young woman she was. As her parents, we could see the growth in her every year. She loved Whitman and blossomed there.

By graduation, she was transformed.

It was amazing. She thought critically and deeply. She developed such empathy and willingness to see another side to most every situation.

She was polished and poised. She was always the Champion of the Underdog, and would stick up for the weak or disadvantaged. We will always be so grateful to the Whitman community for what they did for Jamie. We know Whitman shares a lot in common with Dartmouth College, and that environment was similarly transformative for Will.

Following Jamie and Will’s memorial here in Washington, a group of friends that Jamie grew up with gathered together to help each other cope with the news. As they discussed how much Jamie and Will had already accomplished, their overwhelming sentiment was “Wow, we have to get our shit together.” We thank Whitman and Dartmouth, for helping Jamie and Will to have gotten theirs together already. We will miss them dearly forever, but take inspiration and pride in their young lives.

-Ron & Kay Soukup When I first met Jamie, she scooped me up, told me she’d decided she already liked me, and promised to look out for me. I was a quiet, shy freshman who joined the Pioneer production staff with no idea of how fundamentally Jamie, and The Pio, would shape my time at Whitman. She was a smart, fierce, spunky junior, bursting with energy and ideas, as editor in chief at the paper as much as in life. She regularly took me to dinner, played with my hair, asked me nosy questions, gave me wonderful advice and told me all about her life plans. She was my big sister on staff, both a friend and a mentor.

Jamie set an amazing example for me, from her style, to her wit, to her enormous and loving heart. She helped build a community both in and out of the newsroom, a sense of belonging that I tried to foster in the years following her departure from The Pio.

I’m so grateful for the time I spent with Jamie, and for the courage and self-confidence she inspired in me.

Life is so strange, and so fragile.

I’ll do my best to always carry your joy and vibrancy with me, Jamie.

-Sara Rasmussen, Pioneer Web Editor 2011-2012 I wrote my first Pio article for Jamie the first week of my freshman year. She was news editor at the time, and it was her I was most worried about disappointing when I quit a month later. Luckily, the quitting didn’t stick, and she went on to become an amazing mentor and friend. I have memories of late, late nights in the Pio office that will always make me smile. Jamie, I can’t believe you’re gone. You were the best sort of person: brilliant, beautiful and utterly unafraid to be you.

There’s nothing more telling than the way you touched everyone you met.

I’ll miss you so much, rest in peace.

-Rebecca Fish, Pioneer Web Editor 2010-2011 I joined The Pio as a reporter in Jamie’s and my sophomore year, when she was the news editor. I was always intimidated by — and maybe a little disgruntled at — her constant story pitches and almost immediate volunteering to cover leftover stories. No one was surprised when she became editor in chief the following year. It was in that position that I got to know her better and worked with her more closely. Although she only held it during our junior year, she set a standard of Pio management that followed into our senior year.

Production night became an open invitation to anyone on staff who wanted to be involved; Pio editor and staff parties became regular events; creative and innovative ideas for the newspaper were strongly encouraged from everyone.

Jamie took the newspaper — before, a passion to some but a resume item for most, I think — and turned it into a community. Even as a senior when no longer a Pio staff member, she showed up to production nights to study, hang out and visit. I, for one, always looked forward to my Wednesday nights up in Reid, despite the usual 4 a.m. bedtime. My time on The Pio defined the latter half of my years at Whitman, and I credit that almost entirely to Jamie.

-Margaux Cameron ‘10, Pioneer Managing Editor 2009-2010

As Jamie and Will were on the path to bringing a child into the world, I find myself reflecting on the nature of parenthood during this difficult time. Jamie was my role model when I attended Whitman, and while I knew she was close with her parents Ron and Kay, their influence on her character was something only suggested or loosely implied. In recent weeks, I have gained two new role models. Ron and Kay Soukup are two gracious, openhearted people who have decided to embrace everyone who even slightly knew Jamie, and engage this community during an unspeakably tough time, rather than closing themselves off by asking for space. Space isn’t something they want, and I encourage anyone who has thoughts or memories of Jamie to contact them. In fact, I feel closer to Jamie now that her parents have opened their hearts to my grieving process as well. It’s clear Jamie was a distinct product of Ron and Kay, and everything I say about Jamie is a reflection of them as well. The most direct way I can talk about Jamie is this: Jamie is my role model. I aspire to carry myself with her grace, confidence, sensitivity and intelligence.

I aspire to have the effect she has on others, the way she makes people feel important, heard and respected, how she champions the underdog and the people who defy categorization. I aspire to embody her humor, wit and grit. Her poise, her empathy, her sensitivity and her admitted perfectionism. Jamie is part of every reason why I am a stronger, more steadfast friend, partner and future mother than I was before I met her. And with equal eagerness for the world Jamie embodied, I will continue to keep her alive by carrying out the qualities I admired so much in her.

-Jenna Mukuno ‘11, Pioneer Chief Copy Editor 2010-2011 It’s simply staggering to process the news of Jamie and Will’s death. I’m heartbroken for their parents, their friends, their own students... I had the pleasure of working closely in creative writing classes with Jamie for all her years here at Whitman, and her presence always promised invigorating, intense discussions, leavened with boisterous laughter. I’m honored that she trusted me as her adviser to help her navigate the intimate, honest essays she wrote for her senior thesis; that time was a true gift. She was a writer whose published work I looked forward to reading in print down the road. It was

PRODUCTION

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BUSINESS

Editor in Chief Shelly Le

Production Manager Sean McNulty

NEWS

Business Manager Annie Robison

Managing Editor Pam London

Production Associates Maddison Coons, Jess Faunt, Marianne Kellog, Jesse Moneyhun

PIONEER

editorial

News Editors Sarah Cornett Dylan Tull A&E Editor Aleida Fernandez Sports Editor Quin Nelson Feature Editor Karah Kemmerly Opinion Editor Kyle Seasly Humor Editor Molly Johansen Photography Editor Catie Bergman Illustration Editor Luke Hampton

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ILLUSTRATION

MaryAnne Bowen, Sophia Cooper-Ellis, Lya Hernandez, Emily Jones, Kelsey Lund, Asa Mease, Emma Rust, Tyler Schuh, Eduardo Vasquez

PHOTOGRAPHY Rachel Barton, Tanner Bowersox, Marra Clay, Devika Doowa, Allie Felt, Chaoyu Li, Halley McCormick, Marlena Sloss, Anna von Clemm

Hannah Bartman, Samantha Grainger Shuba, Lachlan Johnson, Lorah Steichen, River Sterne

A&E

Emma Dahl, Nathan Fisher, Adam Heymann

FEATURE

WEB TEAM Webmaster Nick Budak

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Isabel Mills, Talia Rudee, Serena Runyan, Amrita Singh

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Advertising Manager Helen Brooks

For information about advertising in The Pioneer or to purchase a subscription please contact business@ whitmanpioneer.com.

so gratifying to see how in the last couple of years she’d carved a fulfilling place for herself in the world, and found a best friend to marry and with whom to begin a family. She was such a bright spark, and, indeed, an inspiration. I loved receiving updates from her. Her loss fills me with urgency to make the very most of absolutely every living moment. I’ll miss Jamie.

-Mina Schwabacher Professor of English/Creative Writing and Humanities Katrina Roberts In my first year as editor in chief at The Pioneer, I remember thinking (like a prima donna), “No one gets this newspaper.” And then, like a character in a movie, in walked Jamie Soukup: a freshman with ideas, motivation, experience and the kind of je ne sais quoi one only experiences a few times in life. She sat down and knew just what she wanted, and she was good at it. We made her news editor within her first year at the paper.

Jamie was brilliant. There is really no other way to put it. I remember a late night in the office, saying that if I had to pick one person to be on a desert island with, I would pick Jamie. She was one of those one-in-a-million types of people who was good at literally everything. After I graduated from Whitman, I asked her to send me hard copies of The Pio, and she did; I confess that I read them just to see what Jamie had to say. When Jamie had something to say, you listened.

I stayed in touch with very few people from Whitman after I graduated. But I stayed in touch with Jamie. I wish I could say that was because I was a good correspondent — but I’m a terrible correspondent. I stayed in touch with Jamie because she made sure we were in touch, because Jamie’s heart was so huge and so loving that she made sure to stay connected to the people in her life that mattered to her. During her time at the paper, she worked with The Pio staff to bring that newspaper to its highest level of potential. I wish I could have learned from her before I took the helm.

But the world works in funny ways.

The legacy Jamie leaves behind is impossible to put into words.

It is an unspeakable tragedy that her life was cut short before she reached her full potential. We owe it to her to live our lives a little more like she lived hers: with dedication, love and an unyielding sense of fun.

-Sophie Lucido Johnson ‘08, Pioneer Editor in Chief 2005-2008

EDITORIAL POLICY

The Whitman College Pioneer is a weekly student-run newspaper published under the auspices of the Associated Students of Whitman College. The purpose of The Pioneer is to provide pertinent, timely news and commentary for Whitman students, alumni, faculty, staff and parents, as well as the Walla Walla community. The Pioneer is dedicated to expanding open discussion on campus about the issues with which students are most concerned. We provide coverage of Whitman-related news as well as featured local and regional events, and strive to maintain a standard of utmost fairness, quality and journalistic integrity while promoting freedom of the press. In addition, The Pioneer strives to be a learning tool for students who are interested in journalism. The Pioneer welcomes all feedback and publishes Letters to the Editor in print and online.

SUBMISSION POLICY

Letters to Editor may be submitted to The Pioneer via email at editors@ whtimanpioneer.com or sent to The Pioneer, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA, 99362. All submissions must be received by 4 p.m. on Saturday prior to the week that they are intended to appear. All submissions must be attributed and may be edited for concision and fluency.

CODE OF ETHICS

The code of ethics serves as The Pioneer’s established guidelines for the practice of responsible journalism on campus, within reasonable interpretation of the editorial board. These guidelines are subject to constant review and amendment; responsibility for amending the code of ethics is assigned to the Editor in Chief in conjunction with the editorial board.

The code of ethics is reviewed at least once per semester.

To access the complete code of ethics for The Pioneer, visit whitmanpioneer.com/about.

The

NEWS

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12 2013

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Yard sale means more than cheap furniture

by Sarah Cornett News Editor

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ast Friday, Sept. 6 marked the continuation of an event the Physical Plant has put on for 19 years — the Whitman College Surplus Yard Sale.

Each year, employees of the Physical Plant gather unwanted furniture — ranging from chairs to typewriters — from Whitman classrooms and facilities. The items are then assembled at the Physical Plant for an annual yard sale, providing a cost-effective way for both students and locals to get cheap furnishings, with most costing between $5 and $10. In addition, the money made from the yard sale is used to fund the Physical Plant’s Non-Traditional Student Scholarship fund, a unique scholarship designed to help pay for the tuition of a student who might come to Whitman under special circumstances.

Physical Plant Director Dan Park said the sale is held in the early fall to provide an opportunity for upperclassmen to furnish their off-campus houses.

“We do it at this time of year because the returning students need furniture for their houses,” he said.

Park works with Physical Plant electrician Ken Kern to allow it to run smoothly.

Kern has been running the Yard Sale for the past three years.

“During the year, we gather things that professors don’t need. We store it in a campus warehouse, then bring it down here and price it when it comes time for the sale,” he said.

However, the yard sale goes beyond providing just an easy way for the Whitman and Walla Walla community to buy couches and desks. The proceeds are allotted to the Physical Plant’s Non-Traditional Student Scholarship fund, a $2,000 per year award that goes to students who do not fit the typical profile of a Whitman first-year.

Physical Plant Employee Wayne Dennis helps students find a used desk. The proceeds from the yard sale benefit the Non-Traditional Student scholarship. Photo by Felt

“The idea was to help someone who didn’t come to Whitman right out of high school,” said Kern.

Park oversees the process of granting the scholarship.

“A committee from the Physical Plant reviews possible recipients, then decides how to grant the scholarship. It’s automatically renewed for each year the student attends Whitman,” he said.

The two students that are currently receiving the award are both older than the average college age and married. One of

the recipients, senior Ryan Calvert, has two young children.

After attending Walla Walla Community College, Calvert began looking for a way to finish his degree without uprooting his family.

“I was a community college student, looking for a fouryear school that wouldn’t require my family to move,” he said.

He found a solution with Whitman’s Gateway program, which offers talented students from the Walla Walla Commu-

nity an opportunity to take one class at Whitman, then pursue admission after the one-class trial period. Students in the program are offered a scholarship that covers almost all of the costs of attending Whitman.

“Through the Gateway Scholarship program, I was able to take one class for free, and I was encouraged to apply,” said Calvert.

Calvert received the Physical Plant Scholarship in addition to his Gateway award. The scholarship allows him to spend the

$2,000 without any conditions.

“I used a lot of it this year to provide a good Christmas for my family,” he said. “Other than that, it helps with the dayto-day expenses of being a student while also having a family.”

As a Whitman student, Calvert has showed no hesitation in getting involved. He works as a chemistry teacher’s assistant while also taking a hefty class load, and is enjoying his time here.

“Whitman has warmly welcomed me,” he said.

Debate team weathers leadership crisis from DEBATE, page 1

New professors Alissa Cordner, assistant professor of sociology (Left), and Emily Jones, A (Right), Assistant Professor of German studies and environmental humanities. Photo by Felt

New faculty trump odds

by Lachlan johnson Staff Reporter

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hitman College welcomed nine new tenure-track professors to campus this September after a long application process that chose each professor out of a pool of hundreds of applicants.

The new faculty will teach subjects in every academic division, ranging from dance and rhetoric studies to geology and politics.

These new tenure-track professors will teach classes, carry out research and work with their departments to further strengthen the courses and programs offered by the college. While all of these activities are important and will be considered during their eventual evaluation for tenure, Whitman emphasizes the importance of teaching and working with students.

“Compared to other colleges and universities, it was clear from the beginning of the application process that Whitman College placed a very high value on teaching,” said Assistant Professor Jack Jackson, who was hired this summer to join the politics department.

New positions are first advertised through postings with professional academic organizations. The applications include information similar to that submitted by students applying to the college, and include evalu-

ations of writing and research alongside academic records and letters of recommendation.

From hundreds of paper applications, the college chooses roughly 10 people to interview at the academic organization’s annual conference. Positions at colleges, especially those which may eventually lead to tenure, are coveted, and those offered interviews travel across the country to pursue them.

“With the [small] number of positions available, on a certain level, no matter what you do there’s an element of chance and it’s a numbers game. There are a lot of people who are highly qualified,” said Assistant Professor Sarah Davies, who was hired this summer to join the history department.

Interviews at the annual conference are meant to evaluate both the content of candidates’ research and their teaching abilities, and are typically carried out by a tenured professor from the department for which they are to be hired.

Out of roughly 10 candidates interviewed at a conference, three are invited to campus.

“The job market is not a happy place, but the process of applying for a job at Whitman was pleasant ... Even the campus visit, which is essentially a 48-hour-long job interview, was really enjoyable, and that was a unique experience,” said Assistant Profes-

sor Emily Jones, who was hired to join both the German department and work with the environmental humanities program.

The campus visit gives professors, administrators and students a chance to meet the candidates, and includes a presentation and teaching demonstration.

For the candidate, the visit offers the opportunity to see the town which could be their home for years to come, and to get a sense of the campus’s atmosphere.

“I felt like I had a good sense of what the Whitman environment was like; coming from my undergraduate liberal arts experience, Whitman felt very familiar to me,” said Assistant Professor Alissa Cordner, who joins the sociology department this year.

Whitman’s new tenuretrack professors have gone through a long, competitive process to be hired, but their journey is far from over. In three years, their contracts will be up for renewal, and should they stay for six years, they will be evaluated for tenure.

“In the four years since I became provost and dean of the faculty on a non-interim basis, we have hired 29 new tenure-track faculty. It is an extraordinarily talented group, and it has been my privilege to play a part in bringing them to Whitman College,” said Provost and Dean of Faculty Tim Kaufman-Osborn in an email.

four debate community members signed a petition on change.org urging the college to conduct an independent investigation into its Title IX investigation, specifically the Title IX investigation of the team conducted in spring 2012.

Starting June 4, the Board of Trustees hired Gina Maisto Smith from the law firm Pepper Hamilton based in Philadelphia to conduct a Title IX review.

Smith is looking at college policies and procedures to assess how they line up with Title IX practices.

“Hopefully we’ll have some insight as well as possible suggestions and criticism for what was done in past investigations and how to best improve on them,” said Trustee Sarah Wang ‘89, the chair of the WDAG. Smith’s review is not yet complete, and the Board of Trustees has given her no official deadline.

“We want to spend the money to do the right thing, and we want [Smith] to expand her review as she deems necessary,” said Chair of the Board of Trustees Peter van Oppen ‘74.

Van Oppen also said a public report of the full review will likely not be available in order to protect the privacy of individuals involved in Title IX investigations and is also unsure as to what form the report will be made available to the debate community.

The college will make no decisions about Hanson’s involvement in the upcoming year of debate until the review is fin-

ished and a report is produced.

“Our sense is that that report, whatever it’s going to say, is likely to inform any decision that the college and the trustees might view as appropriate with respect to [Hanson’s] role,” said Wang.

Looking Toward the Future Although some members of the WDAG are dissatisfied with how the college handled the search for a new director, many of them are excited to work with Kuswa and see his vision for the year. “[Kuswa] has proposed a lot of really cool ideas,” said Thompson. “I think that the debate team will go in a very positive direction under him, and it seems likely that he will continue [Jim Hanson’s] direction.”

One of Kuswa’s goals is to make the team more aware of problems surrounding traditionally underrepresented groups in debate.

“The Whitman debate program is already quite diverse, but the overall goal of more broad-based representation is always something to continue to work on in terms of providing a safe environment for all participants,” said Kuswa.

Kuswa is confident that the team will continue to be as successful as it has been in the past.

“Part of my vision for the debate team is to work hard to continue the long tradition of success in competitive debate that Whitman has built,” said Kuswa.

Courts to be complete for fall tournament from TENNIS COURTS, page 1

the women’s tennis team traveled to Southern California for nationals in May. Where nationals will be held this year is still undecided, but Whitman will appear as a more viable option to be chosen with the new courts. “[The courts are] a very timely and important addition,” said Whitman Athletics Director Dean Snider. “We have been trying hard to host the conference championship by being the top seat, and we have been the past several years, so we’re trying to hold onto that.

This now makes us a pretty desirable place to run the tournaments.”

An addition of 1,300 square feet was added to the tennis courts, and construction project manager Jeff Donahue believes the courts are turning out better than hoped. Other than a few lost trees due to the northern ex-

pansion of the courts, the campus was unharmed and Snider has not received any student opinions contesting the courts.

The open and central aspect of the courts on campus creates accessibility for classes, club sports and late-night tennis players.

“The courts are in the midst of where people pass on a dayto-day basis, which contrasts in my mind very nicely with the coliseum-like tennis venues that you see in the U.S. Open. I think of this as such a nice counterpoint to that,” said Bogley.

Their central placement on campus is a staple of Whitman’s community, and will only be improved by the addition of two courts. The new courts offer extra space for all students on Whitman campus to enjoy, as well as creating an environment suitable for competitive varsity tennis.

A&E

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Arcade-ia: from dream to reality

PIO PICKS Each Thursday, The Pioneer highlights several events happening on campus or in Walla Walla during the weekend.

Here are this week’s picks: The Joe Manis Trio Join Whitman’s music department in welcoming SteepleChase recording artist Joe Manis. Manis is quickly creating a strong presence in the Northwest jazz scene with the strength of his “intense, updated take on the glorious Rollins’Trane tradition” (Willamette Week). Critics have called his playing “explosive,” saying “[Manis] makes Pink Floyd’s ‘Money’ sound like something a young John Coltrane might have played.”

Friday, Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. in Kimball Theatre

by SEAN MCNULTY Production Manager

I

f you want to start a video arcade, you first need game cabinets.

The component parts of basic arcade cabinets are simple: plywood wrapped in printed vinyl siding, a video display and no more circuitry than a home PC. As a whole, they can be incredibly expensive. Arcade-ia, which opened on Main Street in late April of this year, takes pride in their cabinets. While most cabinets retail between $400 and $1,000, Arcade-ia purchases theirs from private collectors from the TriCities and as far away as Portland, which inflates the prices.

Many of Arcade-ia’s cabinets required extensive retrofits for their games. A Dance Dance Revolution machine can cost $5,000 and an Addams Family pinball machine can retail for between $4,000 and $10,000. Some will sell for as much as $12,000.

Many games, once purchased, demand more adjustments. This is where Lucas Smith comes in.

Smith works as Arcade-ia’s resident electrician and technician.

“I’ve always just been really good at fixing,” said Smith. “I’ve actually been an automotive technician for the last ten years, and I specialized in electric repair.”

Unique cabinets aren’t the only area where Arcade-ia stands

out. Many businesses rent preset machines from a parent company, preventing the businesses from making their own repairs and adjustments. But because Arcade-ia owns their own machines, the staff is free to repair and tinker with them in-house. “[The game] Killer Instinct — when we got it — was completely gutted and there was nothing of it except for the side art,” said Smith. “It didn’t even have ... the framework for the game ... It wasn’t that rigid. [We] put together an all-new playdeck, got all the boards, got the hard drives, got a new screen in it, all new wiring.”

That wasn’t the first time that Arcade-ia had to completely revamp a game.

“The Simpsons [arcade game] too — that used to be a completely different game,” said Andrew Largent, one of Arcadeia’s owners. “We totally revamped that, bought a brand new board and all that vinyl, and wrapped it and everything too.”

Yet purchasing the games also creates problems. Along with gutted machines, many of the games come complete with years of dirt and grime, requiring extensive cleaning before they are considered presentable to the public.

“You get inside of [the game] and the whole inside is covered in nicotine, dirt, hair,” said Smith. “You get in-

Black Girl Dangerous Reid Coffeehouse welcomes Mia McKenzie, founder and primary author of “Black Girl Dangerous.” “Black Girl Dangerous” is a multi-faceted blog that promotes discourse on issues pertaining to queer people of color. Following the talk is a conversation about race and how it intersects with gender and sexuality. Almighty Ink will open.

Friday, Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. in Reid Coffeehouse

Owner Andrew Largent takes great pride in his games. Purchased as skeletons, Largent, along with partner Lucas Smith brings them to life. Photos by Li

side it and it’s oh-so gross.”

Long before Arcade-ia’s inception, the Largents had talked about starting an arcade.

“You know those jokes you kind of toss around and then it finally actually becomes a reality?” said Laurie Langent, Andrew Largent’s wife and business partner.

Mr. Largent and Smith graduated from Walla Walla High School in 1999 and 2000, respectively.

High school friends, they found the social scene in the town lacking in options for young kids. The skate parks — a particularly popular pastime — were at the edge of town.

“I know there’s not much

Chastity Belt rocks out with new album

‘No Regerts’

by EMMA DAHL Staff Reporter

I

f you’ve been at Whitman for more than a year or two, odds are you may have heard of Chastity Belt, an all-female rockand-roll group of Whitman alumni who play fun, relaxed punk-y jams.

Back in their Whitman days, Chastity Belt played numerous house shows, and while they are currently located in Seattle, the band continues to acknowledge their firmly planted roots at Whitman.

Consisting of Whitman alumni Julia Shapiro ‘12 on vocals and guitar, Lydia Lund ‘12 on guitar, Annie Truscott ‘12 on bass and Gretchen Grimm ‘12 on drums, Chastity Belt got their start by joining forces their sophomore year to play at the annual Betafest and a Battle of the Bands contest in 2012, which they won. Hot off their win, Chastity Belt went on to play house shows on campus where they became a Whitman music staple.

“A great way to start out playing shows is to only play for really drunk people,” said Shapiro.

“This was the first band any of us had ever been in, so we didn’t know what we were doing at all.”

The band went on to play shows in Seattle later that year, and they have a U.S. tour planned this October with another Seattle band called Pony Time. It’s clear that the band is out to have a good time.

“We aren’t really aiming for a sound. Our songs are just the result of all of us playing music together.

We just play what sounds cool to us and hope that other people like it,” said Shapiro. “We still don’t really know what we’re doing. It’s cool.”

Chastity Belt recently got a dash of publicity when a photo of the band was posted as number one on a list of “21 Painfully Awkward Band Photos” on the popular website BuzzFeed.com.

to do around here for kids and stuff,” said Largent. “I got fed up with it when I was younger.”

After graduating, both Largent and Smith worked in separate vocations but each felt that they still wanted to make a difference.

Largent, who ran a delivery company before opening Arcade-ia, said he had “felt really drained, and didn’t like what [he] was doing.”

Frustrated by a back injury and “being under the thumb,” he decided to go into a business for himself.

Enlisting his wife and his old friend Smith, Largent decided to open Arcade-ia. He just needed to find some game cabinets.

by NATHAN FISHER Staff Reporter

A ILLUSTRATION BY MEASE

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is a great punk-rock album.

With toe-tapping tracks like “Nip-Slip” and “Giant (Vagina),” it’s apparent that Chastity Belt is looking to have fun with their music, and this attitude definitely comes out in the sound of the album. The instrumentation, vocals and lyrics all ooze rock-and-roll, and the tracks have a warm and relaxed feel to them. Shapiro’s vocals are almost Nikoesque, casual and nonchalant in her projection and pitch.

The album is streaming on the band’s Bandcamp page.

*

Monday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. in Maxey Auditorium

Brode Endowed Lecture The Whitman biology department welcomes Dr. Thomas Monath, author of “Yellow Fever and Tales of Other Emerging Viruses.” Monath, a physician, is a partner in the Pandemic and Biodefense Fund, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He is also an adjunct professor at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Maxey Auditorium

A whirlwind tour of 14 weeks of movies

ILLUSTRATION BY JONES

The image features the four band members, all dressed in feminine dresses with a pastel color palette. The lead singer, with a knowing smirk on her face, is pulling up the front of her dress to reveal a raw slice of steak held in place by a thick chain and padlock.

Maybe the band was trying to send a message about sexual objectification of women, or maybe they were just out to have a little fun and create an attention-grabbing band photo. (My money’s on the latter.) BuzzFeed labeled the picture as “terrifying,” but it can be interpreted in many ways.

Symbolism and social statements aside, Chastity Belt’s debut LP No Regrets

Renee Yohe: To Write Love on Her Arms To Write Love on Her Arms is an American non-profit organization which aims to present hope for people struggling with addiction, depression, selfinjury and thoughts of suicide, while also investing directly into treatment and recovery.

Whitman brings TWLOHA speaker Renee Yohe, the inspiration for the organization.

fter a tough spring semester rendered me fried and spent, I limped back home to Tacoma, Wash. with no plans for my 14 weeks of summer except vegging at the movie theater and camping at the Gorge for the Sasquatch Music Festival. After a couple of days of sleep, I was ready to head back to Eastern Washington to kick off the summer with Macklemore and Mumford & Sons, but not before seeing a movie or two first.

Week 1 Movie/Entertainment: Before heading over the pass, a group of Whitman friends and I hit the premier of the third (and thankfully final) “Hangover” movie.

Sadly, “Hangover 3” bombed, making it a disappointing end to what started out as a hilarious series.

Week 2 Movies: After the fiveday Sasquatch party, I limped back to Tacoma again and recuperated with testosterone-infused flicks “Fast and Furious 6” and

IHC kicks off year with Block Party See more photos at whitmanpioneer.com

“Man of Steel.” I’m not at all embarrassed to admit that I loved “Fast and Furious 5,” and “Fast 6” was no disappointment. The car and tank chases, mounds of muscle, Vin Diesel and The Rock pummeling anyone who gets in their way is ridiculous, stupid and a nonstop rush. “Man of Steel” featured a new face, Henry Cavill, a Brit who donned the suit with no personality in the newest and most destructive Superman movie yet.

Weeks 3-4 Movies: Sandwiched in between a last-minute road trip with a Whitman friend to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks and Canada, and watching my sister play in a volleyball tournament in Dallas, I saw two enjoyable comedies, “The Heat” and “This is the End.” Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy were hilarious in this female “Lethal Weapon”-style vulgar cop movie. “This is the End” was a great directorial debut for Seth Rogen, just as long as you’re OK with seeing some of your favorite actors doing unspeakable things...

Week 5 Movies: Playtime was over and I was lucky to get a job as a server at a restaurant on Lopez Island, one of the San Juan Islands. I stayed with three other Whitties at one friend’s beautiful summer home. Before joining the working world, I saw the premier of “Despicable Me 2.” I laughed right along with the other kids at the yellow-goggled minions and their antics. In fact, I’m such a fan of those corny minions that I made my theme for CSec a Minion Sanctuary (placing myself as Gru, of course.)

Weeks 6-11 Movies: Whenever I got a day off from sassing my customers, I hopped a ferry to the Friday Harbor movie theater. Most of the time I was the only person in the cute little theater, and saw an odd assortment of movies. “White House Down” was surprisingly funny. My mancrush Channing Tatum has matured from stripping and has moved on to saving the president.

*

Read weeks 12-14 online whitmanpioneer.com

SPORTS 5 Coming together across the pond Sep

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by Quin Nelson Sports Editor

T

here’s no better way to get rid of jet lag than getting knocked around by a professional British soccer team.

We, the Whitman men’s soccer team, took the field for our first game in England, where we were blown out by Paulton Rovers FC 5-2. As we stood on the rain-ravaged field after our loss, it was clear we had a ways to go if we wanted to win.

It is not the loss that has stuck with me months after our trip, a three-week tour of games and sight-seeing throughout England. I remember the aftermath much more vividly; we met as a team, rehashing our mistakes and strategizing on how to get better.

It was our first step to becoming a true team, something that we continued to discuss throughout the trip. We kept playing, kept meeting and kept getting better.

The fact that we had the privilege of playing at small, proud football clubs that were over 100 years old was never lost on us.

These little clubs are literally a world away from the often troubled and detached nature of soccer in the United States. Most major American cities hardly care about their professional soccer teams, but these English villages felt pride and ownership of their clubs. The communities stood proudly behind their clubs but also embraced us with incredible hospitality, despite not having the slightest clue about Walla Walla’s location. They even cooked us a meal after every game, al-

The Whitman men’s soccer team lines up before their match against Clevedon Town. Photo contibuted by Mike Washington.

though I don’t think I’ll be able to eat sausages and chips ever again.

And remarkably, this was only half of our trip. When not playing or traveling to games through England’s rolling hills, we were sightseeing and enjoying all England had to offer. No one did this better than sophomore goalkeeper Baker Conte, who holds the record in souvenirs purchased and reveled in England’s tourist destinations with childlike wonder. The rest of us had a wonderful time as well, visiting London, Stonehenge and Old Trafford, Manchester United’s

Kinney back for second season

by Cole anderson Staff Reporter

W

ith several months to go before the season rolls around, Whitman baseball is already looking toward the spring and preparing for what it will entail. Head Coach Sean Kinney met with his players and coaching staff last week to establish goals for the season. Some were personal but most were team-oriented, such as their overarching goal of winning the Northwest Conference.

Kinney took over the head coaching position last season as interim head coach, a position that is dependent on that season’s results and does not guarantee a renewal of contract.

Needless to say, Kinney’s results allowed him to leave his interim status, and Whitman baseball’s subpar history, in the past. Now Kinney is looking not to turn around the program but to establish one that is on the right track to be a conference contender for years to come.

“Definitely with last season, our goals aimed toward getting things turned around and getting things going in the right direction. There were a lot of things we needed to put in place and it was nice to see the fruits of that labor and the success we

“Coach Kinney has created a Whitman baseball culture that is based around the value of respect. By having us respect the game, this school and the players that have come before us in the program, it pushes us to strive to be the best we can possibly be day in and day out.”

Cam Young ‘12

were able to achieve throughout the year,” said Kinney.

Having risen to the occasion and achieved their previous goals, the team has set even higher standards for this year.

“We had our guys meet and had a look at the team goals they might want to achieve and we’ve definitely stepped it up a notch,” said Kinney.

Even with more wins last season than in the two years prior, Kinney and company weren’t satisfied. Last season’s goal was to make postseason play, and having fallen short of this goal will serve to fuel the extremely motivated 2014 team. Winning conference will make that road through Regionals a little bit easier.

Offensively, coaches and

players alike seemed happy with the results last year and aimed to improve upon individual and team numbers put up during the season. Now the team is looking to bring this improvement to the defensive side of the game as well.

“Just as on offense we talk about driving guys in, putting yourself in scoring position and on base percentage, defensively in the outfield, we definitely pride ourselves on taking runs away. Our challenge every year is to see how many runs we can steal from the other team,” said Assistant Coach Brian Kitamura, the Missionaries’ hitting and outfield coach.

“In my opinion, every run we steal on defense is just as good as hitting a teammate on offense in for a run. So our goal is to take away as many runs as we can, and that will help our momentum on the offensive side of the ball.”

One of the Missionaries’ specific team defensive goals is to maintain a .970 fielding percentage. Other specific defensive goals include bettering their strikeout-to-walk ratio, limiting big innings and taking advantage of defensive opportunities.

A heightened sense of teammentality has also been something Kinney brought to the team in general, both last season and more this year already.

“Coach Kinney has really brought our team together by instilling the motto of ‘Together as One’ in everything we do,” said senior Cameron Young, the team’s starting second baseman.

The ‘everything we do’ addition is interesting in that success on the diamond either at practice or in games is not the only thing on this team’s mind.

Off-field success still remains a high priority for Kinney and his team. Maintaining good grades and good standing with professors and other peers is important to Kinney, and this success off the diamond will translate to more focused practices and even more motivated games. All the players are pushed not only at practice and games, but also in class. Success for the team is not restricted to the stat sheet.

“Coach Kinney has created a Whitman baseball culture that is based around the value of respect. By having us respect the game, this school and the players that have come before us in the program, it pushes us to strive to be the best we can possibly be day in and day out,” said Young.

That said, positive results on the field are being stressed more this year than in recent memory. Coming off a positive season last spring, players are hungry for even better results. With a team already fired up about their season more than a semester’s length away, the future of Whitman baseball looks bright.

stadium. After seeing the immaculate field, the statues of past United legends and the throngs of tourists milling about, traveling to Old Trafford felt less like a trip than a soccer pilgrimage.

The most wonderful thing about England is how everything is built on a rich foundation of history. This was most apparent when we went to head coach Mike Washington’s hometown of Weston Super-Mare and climbed a hill to Saint Nicholas’ Church, built in 1080.

In the midst of our busy few weeks, standing atop the hill

was a welcome moment of quiet.

With our season having just begun, we now face another uphill journey through the Northwest Conference. As a team with little past success, we have high hopes without much history to build on. But we have the privilege of creating our own history, and with high hopes and this great trip under our belts, we plan to do just that.

Whether or not we succeed remains to be seen, but after returning from England I am confident we will climb this hill as a team united.

High hopes for Lady Sweets after nationals

by Kyle howe Staff Reporter

D

uring the beginning of the summer, the Whitman Lady Sweets Ultimate Frisbee team was hard at work at the Division I College Championships, the first national tournament for the team, where they would establish themselves as a powerhouse Ultimate team.

The team began the tournament ranked 19th, but after a series of tough matches the team ended up 13th overall and earned a 13-12 victory over Central Florida and a 12-11 win against Georgia. The victory over Central Florida was impressive enough for SkyD Magazine to rank it as one of the top three most exciting games.

Playing against such high-caliber teams proved fresh and exciting for all the Lady Sweets, regardless of their previous experience.

“Because of my Frisbee background, playing at a national tournament was something that I was already very used to, but not at that high of a caliber. I’ve played in youth national championships, but being at the college level was super overwhelming and exciting,” said sophomore captain Ari Lozano.

“Before I came to Whitman I did not know Ultimate was an actual sport, so playing against the most talented college teams and players was both exhilarating and inspiring,” said senior captain Corinne Pingul.

Despite being from a Division III school, the Lady Sweets surpassed expectations, putting them in a position to take on more difficult competition.

“We were seeded 19th going

into the tournament, and overall came out 13th, breaking seed. Going into the new season, this will mean that we’re expected to be one of the top 20 teams in the nation and will be a team to look out for. We’ll also hopefully be going to bigger, more challenging tournaments all around the country,” said Lozano.

The experience of Nationals should help the team deal with the raised expectations they have created for themselves.

“The team worked so hard to get the fourth bid from our region, so the opportunity to compete with the best college womens’ Ultimate teams in the nation was both a great learning experience and a celebration of how far we’ve come as a program. We played tough teams, but it was great to see our team competing at such a high level, and we ended up doing a lot better than we expected,” said Pingul.

The team demonstrated their talent, rising six places in the tournament. They expect to have a strong year ahead of them despite losing many players who graduated in the spring.

“Although we are losing 10 very talented and experienced seniors, we are looking forward to building on last year’s accomplishments and growing as a program. We continue to push each other, working hard to get another bid to this year’s national tournament,” said Pingul.

The success of last year has already paid dividends for the team by fueling turnout for the coming years, which will be crucial if the Lady Sweets hope to make up for the loss of their graduated seniors.

“Qualifying for D1 Nationals means we are officially a D1 team

SCOREBOARD soccer

Men’s v. Northwest University Sept. 7: L 3-0 v. Carthage College Sept. 8: L 2-1 v. Trinity Lutheran College Sept. 9: L 4-2 Women’s v. La Verne University Sept. 7: W 2-0 v. University of Redlands Sept. 8: W 2-1

Volleyball

v. Whitworth University Sept. 6: L 3-0 v. College of St. Scholastica Sept. 6: L 3-1 v. College of St. Benedict Sept. 7: L 3-0 v. College of St. Scholastica Sept. 7: L 3-1

Cross country

v. Eastern Oregon University Sept. 7 Women - W, Men - L

upcoming soccer

Women’s v. Whitworth Sept. 13, 6:30 p.m.: HOME

Volleyball

La Verne Tournament Sept. 13-14: AWAY

for at least four years, and to remain a D1 team for more years to come we have to make it back to Nationals. We know what it takes to play a high-level game, and now it’s all about committing to team goals and pushing ourselves to continuously improve. Already, we have a record amount of girls showing up to play, and that enthusiasm will be crucial to developing a killer squad,” said junior Jessica Shatkin.

The one moment that was the most memorable for many of the players was the final match against Georgia, as it was the last match for many of the graduated seniors.

“The most memorable moment of Nationals for me was the very last game we played. Although it was a consolation game, everyone stepped up their game, especially the seniors, who essentially poured the heart out on the field,” said Shaktin. “We won on universe point, which means it’s a tie game and the next point wins, so it came down to the very end.”

This match was more memorable for its emotional value than the actual plays on the field, proving that the Sweets have bonds that extend beyond being mere teammates.

“The most memorable moment was the saddest moment at the tournament. The last point of our last game, right after we scored the winning point, it hit all of us that that was the last point that we would be playing with the seniors as Sweets. A bittersweet moment. We all cried so much in our last team huddle,” said Lozano.

With that tremendous experience behind them, the Lady Sweets now look to this season, where they see nothing but positives ahead.

“Being a D3 school going to D1 nationals for the first time ever was such a huge deal for our team, and it only goes to show that our program will only get bigger and stronger,” said Lozano.

The Whitman Sweets men’s and women’s teams begin practice. Photos by Doowa.

FEATURE

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Outside the Bubble This summer, several Whitman students broke into the professional world as paid or unpaid interns. Read about their new skills and budgeting strategies.

Walla Walla, Wash.

Transportation

Rent

Interns combine passion with practical skills

$20

$270

by Serena Runyan

Additional costs $170

T

Food $200 The Whitman Internship Grant is represented by the black circle. For Washington, D.C., the grant does not fully cover the cost of living.

Transportation

Washington D.C.

$115

Food $100

Rent $915

*Monthly statistics

Grant recipients budget in small, large U.S. cities

by Talia Rudee Staff Reporter

T

Staff Reporter

his summer, senior Jane Carmody worked 40 hours per week as an unpaid intern at the U.S. House of Representatives.

She was one of 109 student recipients of the Whitman Internship Grant (WIG), but because Washington, D.C. is one of the most expensive cities in the country, Carmody relied on budgeting and on her savings account to live comfortably.

In 2009 the Student Engagement Center (SEC) began awarding the WIG in order to provide financial support for Whitman students who want to pursue unpaid internship opportunities. Grantees work 20 hours a week for a minimum of 10 weeks and receive $2,400.

Because she rented her studio apartment for $915 per month, Carmody relied on the money she had saved during her semester in Philadelphia, Penn., where rent was only $250 per month, to make ends meet.

In order to keep costs low, Carmody used different strategies to save money. She kept track of her expenses on her iPhone, and she was sure to buy generic brands and sale items at the grocery store. In addition, D.C. itself had a built-in money saving feature.

“There’s a lot of stuff to do in a big city that’s free ... I think I only paid for one museum while I was there,” said Carmody.

There were some drawbacks to living in a large city, however. Because the weather in D.C. was fairly hot and humid and because Carmo-

dy worked more than an hour-long walk away from her apartment, transportation costs were unavoidable.

Despite the costs, Carmody considers her summer in D.C. a valuable experience professionally and practically.

“I definitely know how to live on a budget,” said Carmody, “It’s definitely a skill that is needed in the real world.”

On the other side of the country, senior Fernando Medina was a social media intern for the Walla Walla chapter of the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. At his internship he helped manage social media platforms and did research on databases that might prove helpful to the organization in the future.

Although costs in Walla Walla are generally lower than costs in D.C., Medina still held two parttime jobs at the Baker-Ferguson Fitness Center and at the Whitman Institute for Summer Enrichment in addition to his internship so that he could live comfortably and begin to pay back student loans. Like Carmody, he budgeted his money carefully.

“Keep a spreadsheet with what you’re spending your money on so that you know whether or not you’re putting anything in the bank or that you’re slowly going down ... instead of eyeballing it a little bit,” said Medina.

He is grateful for the financial support from the WIG. “I wouldn’t have been able to do an unpaid internship [without it] ... That would not have been feasible,” he said.

For WIG recipients who lived at

home, budgeting wasn’t as imperative.

Sophomore Cat Mulanax lived with her parents in the small town of Greenbrae, Calif. as an operating room intern at a private plastic surgery company.

Mulanax did not have to pay for housing and food, but the WIG and earnings from her part-time job at a gastroenterology clinic helped her to begin paying off student loan debt.

Ultimately, she was pleased with her summer.

“The knowledge and the experience I gained is probably not something anyone can get anywhere else, so up-close and personal,” she said.

Sophomore Zach Calo was an intern at the Oregon Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization’s New American Youth Opportunity Project. Calo also lived at home with his parents in Portland, Ore. and used the WIG as a cushion for gas money and food.

Calo’s internship involved working with high school students in a tutoring environment.

“I got to meet a lot of really neat people ... both the people I worked with and the people I tutored with, and I’m happy with the experience,” he said.

Interns were pleased to gain professional skills and real-world budgeting skills, regardless of their city of residence.

“I was happy with the experience I gained and with the work that I was doing, and happy that I was being paid to do it, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to have an experience like that,” said Medina.

his summer, several environmentally conscious Whitman students flooded the internship scene. Their experiences ranged from collecting data in the field, editing radio advertisements or protesting with united mining workers, but all were able to put their passion and education to the test.

Junior environmental studies-geology major Collin Smith was able to spend his time outside working for Grand Canyon Trust, a conservation organization that advocates for grazing reform in national forests.

Smith worked in the Utah Forest program under supervisor Mary O’Brien, who inspired him to pursue the internship when he met her on Semester in the West.

“Mary is an awesome negotiator and collaborator because conservation in southern Utah is the closest thing to a lost cause, I feel. I really wanted to get a view of how she works,” he said.

As an intern, Smith spent plenty of time outside. One of his jobs was measuring beaver dams with his colleagues and compiling data in a computer program to make it more easily accessible. In addition, he counted a lot of grass.

“I was doing multiple different things, one of which was vegetation transects, which means going along a 100-meter tape, putting the box down every 10 meters and counting the grass inside the box, moving it again and repeating,” he said.

Smith hopes his internship experience gave him some of the tools he needed to be a leader within Whitman’s environmental groups, and most significantly for the divestment campaign.

“It’s going to get even bigger this year,” said Smith. “[O’Brien] never takes anything on anybody’s word ... I think that’s something I learned that I can really apply. Show me the studies that back that up, because I can show you three or four that counter that.”

Smith’s positive relationship with his supervisor also gave him confidence to continue fighting an uphill battle for a cause he believes in.

“One of the things [O’Brien] said to me about the divestment campaign was, ‘you’ll win, because you’re right.’ That concrete affirmation about what I was doing and where I was heading ... It’s a matter of perseverance, really,” said Smith.

While Smith worked under the Utah sun, senior environmental humanities major Jenni Doering worked as the communications intern for Wallula Resources, a small nonprofit in northeastern Oregon that focuses on the sustainability of the land and of the jobs within that area.

As a communications intern, Doering focused primarily on outreach. She planned events and created different advertisements to spread the word about what the organization had to offer. Though she spent most of her time at the office, Doering occasionally got the opportunity to get out in the community and conduct her own interview project for the organization.

“I decided I wanted to interview artists ... on the ways

the Wallowa county landscape inspires their work. I interviewed glassblowers, a potter, a wood carver and also a woman who takes underwater pictures of Salmon,” said Doering.

This personal work with members of the small community in which Doering lived was most inspiring for her.

“That was one of the big takeaways from this summer, was realizing how passionate a lot of these locals can be about their sense of place – what connects them and what connects other people to the land,” said Doering. “People just have such interesting stories to tell.”

Doering hopes to apply her summer to her last year at Whitman by incorporating her work into her senior thesis.

“I would love to tie the experiences I’ve had in, and make more sense of them,” she said.

Senior environmental humanities major Ben Ishibashi spent his summer as a Fossil Fellow at Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE), which combines environmental activism with social justice.

“At the same time that they’re fighting against coal companies they’re also fighting for people whose houses are getting foreclosed,” said Ishibashi.

Ishibashi, who is also a part of Whitman’s divestment campaign, hoped to gain experience with direct action when he accepted this internship. One of his fondest memories was scaring off the CEO of America’s largest coal company with giant puppets.

“His security staff was like, ‘These radicals are coming, it might be dangerous, you should probably stay away for the weekend.’ We really just had a bunch of puppets and stayed across the street,” he said.

Ishibashi did everything from protesting with thousands of miners to getting wage compensation for cheated employees of an environmental organization. He believes the interpersonal work helped him to be more assertive about the message he was trying to make.

“One of the hardest things that I wasn’t expecting was having to interrupt people while they were working. [But] if you’re passionate enough and believe enough in what you’re talking about, people will take the second it takes to listen to you,” he said.

All three of these students’ experiences with environmental organizations gave them clearer insight into what they hope to do post-graduation.

“I want to look in to radio journalism or radio storytelling,” said Doering. “It was very calming for me as a senior to realize I’m not as scatterbrained and unsure of what I want to do as I thought I was.”

Smith sees himself pursuing the sort of work his supervisor currently does, but not until after he spends a little more time outside.

“I don’t think I want to do field work my whole life, but certainly after I graduate,” said Smith.

And Ishibashi’s experience gave him inspiration for the future.

“I don’t know if I’ll find another organization like MORE, but it’s definitely what I want to be doing,” he said.

OPINION

Sep

12 2013

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Post-orientation advice EVELYN LEVINE Junior

I

didn’t want to be at Whitman when I first arrived. Was I ready for college? Wasn’t I a city girl? What was this place called Walla Walla, Wash., and why was there so much alliteration?

I love the “w” alliteration now, and I get a little too defensive when people ask me if Walla Walla “is a real place.” You’re right – I made that up. I go to college at Disneyland and Pluto is much smarter than he lets on and teaches a killer physics class.

For some, the first weeks at college are an idyllic, exciting and fun time to remember fondly for the rest of life. Some students make tons of friends, play get-toknow-you games with complete sincerity and thrive in the campiness. If you loved orientation, go you! If not, you are not alone. My first weeks at Whitman were by far my worst because of orientation.

In my stereotypical introverted and cynical nature, I could not stand the campiness of the orientation week(s) that never seemed to end. Why couldn’t we adjust to our surroundings by getting ahead on new Encounters reading or sitting with a few new people and playing cards or drinking tea? The school wants a seamless transition to a completely new environment with new people, new food, new living quarters, new social dynamics and new, multi-toileted places to poop (RA’s should own a copy of the book “Everybody Poops”). The school tries to help new students jump right into everything and distract them from the many college anxieties. While successful for

many Whitman students, it is not a “one-size-fits-all” orientation.

I worried about Bon Appétit food and about getting along with my roommate, who wore a neon hat and a trendy asymmetrical haircut (her first words to me were something like “Hey, bro”). I freaked out; every person seemed more accomplished and intelligent than the next (You did what in high school? You speak how many languages? Your SAT score was...?). My identity crisis/battle of self-worth worsened when I went to our first section meeting and couldn’t tell all of the Caucasian girls in solid colors apart. I was just another Caucasian girl, but a less intelligent one. I know now that I was not the only one, regardless of skin color, who panicked at our section meeting. White girls like me, with dirty blond hair, are alike until you get to know us beyond our name, which is quite likely a variation on Sara, Alex or Katie.

At convocation, former ASWC President Matt Dittrich ‘12 gave us his phone number, told us to “unclench” our butt cheeks, as many of us were overachiever grade-focused types in high school, and “prepare to get C’s” (it happens, chill out). We were asked to raise our hands if we were National Merit Scholars, and he then compared the percentage of National Merit Scholars in the room to the percentage in China. Almost the entire class but me was a National Merit Scholar, and so was the entirety of China. Clearly, my nervous mind was playing tricks.

After that rash devaluing of achievements, another faculty member asked us to recall how many of us attended Whitman regardless of our doubtful college counselors, family members and friends. I felt a little better because Whitman helped me stick it to my high school college counselor.

Things started getting better. My roommate and I bonded over our hatred for CheezWhiz, discovered we had

Senior

I

f you ask anyone about his or her Greek organization on campus, most will make the classic, defensive claim that Whitman Greek life is different. And it is — or so I believe. But if the fraternities and women’s fraternities

(that a third of the campus are involved in) are really as inclusive and nurturing as they are made out to be, then why does Greek recruitment not reflect those ideals?

Joining a fraternity or women’s fraternity is a huge decision, and one that most first-years do not come to school expecting to make. The decision greatly impacts the places you live and the people you spend time with over the course of the rest of your time at Whitman. Four years of your life decided in two weeks.

Two weeks. Two weeks to meet upperclassmen and get a feel for the unique culture of each individual organization, all while meeting other first-years you could po-

Campus Cartoon by Asa Mease

In Utero 20 Years Later KYLE SEASLY Junior

K

ILLUSTRATION BY VAZQUEZ

similar music tastes and a few weeks later referred to ourselves in private company as our room number. We made a list of things F301 hated and number one was the word “swag.” When classes began, I had a regular schedule, and I was my silly self, galloping around and making contorted faces. I jokingly told everyone in my section that they would all fall on to my menstrual cycle as I was the Alpha-female, I tried out for the first stage production of the year and made the cut and I joined Hillel-Shalom to explore my on-again-off-again Judaism.

So, if you are fretting about orientation-week hoopla being a representation of your overall college experience and real adjustment after, reflect so you can figure out what you need. Maybe that includes doing everything — all the auditions, clubs and activities you signed up for at the Activities Fair. Maybe that means calling home or watching “Aristocats.” They say we’re all different, like snowflakes. The only two things we all have in common is that we are at Whitman College, and everybody poops.

Whitman’s Greek system rushes pledge process TRISTAN GAVIN

7

tentially be living with as soon as sophomore year. Not to be overlooked is the fact that all of this is happening at a vulnerable and impressionable point for first-years: their first few weeks of class.

So if Whitman Greek organizations really do foster personal growth and meaningful relationships, which I firmly believe they do, then why is the process so superficial? Fourteen days of awkward lunch dates and overly planned events give hardly a glimpse of what Greek life really is like at Whitman. Whitman is full of nice people and anyone can put on a good face and be friendly for two weeks, so how can you really make a decision by the end of recruitment?

The answer is that you cannot, and the result makes Whitman’s pledging process much less meaningful. First-years can pledge to join an organization and try it out for a semester before actually deciding it is the right fit for them.

Essentially, Whitman has taken all of the relaxed and non-obligatory aspects out of recruitment and thrust them into the traditional processes of international fraternities, some of which have been in existence for decades. Being a pledge at Whitman has very little meaning compared to other schools.

Greek recruitment at Whitman tries to create the most welcoming environment possible for first-years considering Greek life on campus. The events try to hurry first-years through the process of getting to know the organizations as if it is speed dating, with the goal of making an educated decision at the end of the two weeks.

Recruitment is an exciting and overwhelming chance for firstyears to meet tons of new people, make new friends and build an understanding for what makes Whitman Greek life unique from big

Voices from the Community

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state schools and media portrayals of fraternities. So why rush it?

As it stands, Whitman recruitment reflects the precautionary attempts by administration to maintain a welcoming Greek environment without compromising time. Yet, with nearly a third of the school involving themselves with Greek organizations on campus, the Greek community is, by the numbers, already far and away more welcoming than most other organizations on campus. If it only takes two weeks for a third of the school to join, why not take an extra two or three more weeks to make the decision as educated as possible.

When I went through recruitment, I really appreciated the absence of drugs and alcohol that I had heard of at other institutions, but I still felt a slight disconnect. The strict rules encourage fraternities and women’s fraternities to compete to convince first-years to join them, rather than allowing a more organic decision. The entire process paints the organizations in a serious and slightly alienating light that, in my experience, does not reflect their attitudes for the other eight months of the school year.

urt Cobain, for various reasons, will forever remain somewhat mysterious. He was a killer songwriter, yet admitted blatantly to ripping off the Pixies in a Rolling Stone interview.

The circumstances surrounding his entrance into the infamous “27 Club” will always lead to finger-pointing at Courtney Love. Yet Nirvana’s success was the result of the ‘80s underground punk/alternative/harcore movement and entered into the mainstream like no other band had done before — with 30 million copies of Nevermind sold to date.

Nevermind was (and still is) very important to the formation of modern “alternative rock.” We can thank Nevermind for bridging the gap and allowing so called “alternative” groups to coax a mainstream audience.

We can also thank Nevermind for groups like Creed and Nickelback’s mainstream success. The record companies saw a formula of alternative rock that worked and signed bands that could emulate that sound — and they were successful in doing so.

But Nevermind, although fascinating, compares little to In Utero, which will have it’s 20th anniversary on Sept. 13 this year.

In Utero is important for a couple reasons, the first being the hiring of producer Steve Albini, former producer of the Pixies Surfer Rosa, which Cobain adored.

Nirvana hoped for a return to form on In Utero, partly because they were unhappy with the commercial sound of Nevermind. Producer Albini stripped everything down for the band and let them pick the sound they desired. Nirvana tellingly even recorded the song “I Hate Myself and Want to Die.” The whole album came off as extremely raw — too raw for the label.

“All of the people that were carping at the band from the outside about what a mistake they’d made with this record, that pretty accurately represented what they wanted to do with their music,” said Albini about the people working with the label.

In the end, In Utero was not as successful as Nevermind, because most of the album was too abrasive for mainstream fans to grasp outside of the two singles. That is why it’s important. In Utero was so much about shunning fame and returning to their Bleach-era sound.

They wanted to have creative control of the music they created — and the record label reacted.

If Nevermind represented the beginning of commercial “alternative rock,” then in many ways In Utero represented a hole in the formula for record labels making money — a frustrating lack of creative control for the band. In Utero signifies a band trying to make a defiant uncommercial move against their label. Overall, that is why In Utero sounds more like the actual “Seattle Sound” than Nevermind.

Nevermind may have bridged the gap, but In Utero signified that record labels could not have control over musicians. And, 20 years later, the music industry is slowly falling to pieces. Records aren’t selling on major labels anymore.

The only way you get signed is if you’re guaranteed to sell records.

As Jello Biafra once noted, “Tin eared/Graph-paper brained accountants/Instead of music fans/Call all the shots at giant record companies now/the lowest common denominator rules/ forget honesty/forget creativity/the dumbest buy the mostest/that’s the name of the game/ but sales are slumping/and no one will say why/could it be they put out on too many lousy records?”

What is your favorite Whitman College/Walla Walla fall event? Poll by Skye Vander Laan

RACHEL GEITER

KATIE STEEN

DAVID WILSON

Leann Adams

Senior

Sophomore

Junior

Director of Student Activities

“I really look forward to riding my bike to the wheat fields and picking apples as they ripen off the trees.”

“My favorite thing about fall at Whitman is when all the trees turn yellow and red and beautiful, especially on Boyer, and you walk to class and crunch the leaves under your feet.”

“At Whitman I’m excited about listening to trashy ‘80s europop. I always do that in the fall in preparation for watching Donnie Darko on Halloween, because there’s a lot of trashy Europop in Donnie Darko.

That’s what I’m looking forward to.”

“Lifeboat. It’s where we have [professors] come in ... and they convince us why they are the single person we should save on a lifeboat at the end of the world, because their knowledge and their discipline is going to be the most useful at the end of the world.”

12 BACKPAGE 8 The actual Whitman College campus map SEP

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2013

1. Olin Hall - Welcome to the land of always being early.

Because the clocks are behind by about five minutes, it is possible to leave Jewett at 8:59 and arrive by 8:57.

7. Reid Campus Center That one building where you check your mail for packages your mom sent you, and sometimes eat the Taste Of (but only if it’s Italy).

8. Penrose Library - The place to be from 7-10 p.m. any weekday night. You can lay your books out, looking studious, while actually talking to your friends and compadres about anything besides the work you are supposed to be doing. L stands for loud. However, watch out for the quiet room, because if you even so much as chew your gum too loudly, a senior working on their thesis will give you the death glare.

2. Prentiss Hall - Could this dorm be any harder to navigate?

Apparently it’s shaped like some sort of consonant, but it’s not entirely evident. The dining hall is disproportionately girly. Anderson boys, beware of the massive flocks of sorority girls.

3. The Science Building The upperclassmen entrance by Olin is utilized by those off-campus juniors and seniors, because it is rare that a first-year is willing to navigate the confusing biology room numbering. This building is also as cold as the last ice age you are probably learning about in your geology class.

9. Memorial Building - The ivory tower that is always undergoing some sort of construction or other.

10. Lakum Duckum - The scenic spot where you can see ducks flock all year long due to the heated water. What kind of decent college doesn’t have a hot tub for little duckies?!

4. Anderson Hall - Filled with SoBo pride. Who needs to cross Ankeny anyway? After all, the cozy Douglas-Anderson-Prentiss community is not worth leaving when any building north of Boyer is at least a 10-minute walk.

5. Jewett Hall - The place where some sort of shenanigan is always going on, whether it’s frat noise, homies chillin’ all throughout the hallway, people making up tunes on the piano or the occasional 5 a.m. fire alarm.

11. Maxey Hall - Both the best and worst place to have class; one can stare longingly out the window to view Ankeny Field and carefree Frolfers. But on a bad day you will want nothing more than to ditch your constitution class to enjoy the liberty of a fresh day outside.

6. Hunter Conservatory Walking into the double doors will transport you to Ancient Greece, or at least to the Washington D.C. buildings for which it gains its classic style.

12. The Amphitheatre - The only place on campus where it is not against the rules to be naked.

Write that down in your planner for a place to go after the beer mile, freshmen.

ILLUSTRATION BY SCHUH

Not enough activities at activities fair

T

he flurry of opening week activities and opportunities often leaves first-years completely overwhelmed. This year, however, one first-year was not impressed with the offerings.

Dorphoebe Jones ‘17 spoke to The Pioneer about being greatly underwhelmed by the number of campus groups that were represented at the annual Activities Fair that took place last Monday on Cordiner Side Lawn.

“I have too little to do!” complained Jones. “There are simply not enough clubs and interest groups on campus to keep me occupied. What am I going to do with all of my free time? At my old school, there were billions of activities and I was president of all of them.”

However, Jones failed to mention that she was in fact homeschooled from kindergarten through 12th grade, and that

*

she was president of both the Dishwashing and Table Setting teams, neither of which made it to Nationals. On this point Jones declined to comment.

“I signed up for every listserv. Now I get hundreds of emails every day and I feel like I belong. It’s great!” said fellow first-year Ralphy Ralphson.

Another first-year, Arnold Smithson, stated that he also signed up for many campus activities, but now regrets his decision to do so. He commented that he feels so overwhelmed.

“I cannot possibly commit to all of these things ... but I will anyways. I am no one if I don’t overcommit myself,” said Smithson.

In response to all of this, Jones is looking to start a few of her own clubs on campus, including Clean Plate Club, Trashtakers, Recycling Sorting Committee and Floor Sweeping Club.

Want to get even more overcomitted?

If anyone is interested in signing up for Floor Sweeping Club, please contact Dorphoebe Jones at: mosweepinglessweeping@gmail.com

I

Whitman branches out to treebased energy source on campus

nstead of a triumphant ribboncutting ceremony catered with little cakes by Bon Appétit, the unveiling of Whitman’s expanded green energy system, Whitvironment tm, was conducted through a simple trial run to an excited audience of dozens this Monday. Jorge Watercrossing, Whitman’s president, demonstrated to the crowd the triumphant charging noise of his iPhone as he plugged it in to one of the trees between Olin Hall and the Science Building.

“This is a proud day at Whitman College. A day when a group of student’s thoughts, actions and spray-painted signs actually resulted in real change has finally come,” said Watercrossing, giving a nod to the many members of Whitman’s environmental club and the three non-members that were present at the event.

At the close of last semester, the environmental club finally celebrated victory as the Whitman Board of Trustees approved the proposal to divest from fossil fuels, and instead focused on alternative energy. Seth Beards ’13 initially came up with the winning source of alternative energy that pushed the Board of Trustee’s vote in their favor.

“We just had to ex-

tend the great idea we already had to greater reaches of campus ” said Beards.

Beards is referring, of course, to the electricity sockets located on the boulder outside of Olin. The power is sourced, not from traditional means, but from the actual spiritual energy of the rock. Beard’s creative solution to reformat the system to access the aura of trees on campus was pure ES-bio major genius.

After the initial hang-up over the name conflicting with Whitman’s investment club, Whitvestment, Whitvironment tm was up and running. The project is piloting with five trees, but Beards states that they are hoping to expand to every tree on campus.

“It’s so exciting to see the result of a whole semester’s worth of campaigning come to fruition.

It was such a long, hard struggle,” said Hazel Greenleaf ’16, wearing a “Divest

This” t-shirt. “The best part about Whitvironment tm is just how visible it will make green energy on campus. Everyone will be studying in the grass and charging their computers at the same time.”

Whitvestment is currently looking in to marketing Whitvironment tm to similar tree-covered campuses around the country.

ILLUSTRATION BY SCHUH

What kind of first-year are you? a quiz

1. It’s time to go ‘Storm The Field’ and you say: a. Let’s go storm that field! I’ll wear my Whitman shirt and a name tag so people remember who I am and know that I love Whitman already! b. Will there be food? c. Storming the field is an antiquated term associated with war and domination of another people, similar to how this school is named after missionaries. It is an inappropriate and antiquated custom representing submersion of minorities. Protest anyone? d. I’ll storm your field — if you know what I mean... e. Is it Thanksgiving break yet?

2. You’ve entered one of the dining halls for the first time, and: a. You introduce yourself to the person who swipes you in, wave, say hi and go talk to all

of your new friends around the dining hall. There’s hardly time to eat! b. You will have a bowl of every cereal alone, and then a bowl of all of the cereals combined — with cookies and soft serve. c. You ask the student serving you some vegetarian mush if the veggies were fair trade. d. You survey the available booty and wink liberally saying, “I’ll see you at the ‘80s dance...” e. Overwhelmed, you get some pasta and eat a few noodles, but mostly move them around your plate.

4. Convocation was ...

3. Complete this sentence: “TWO...

5. The name makes you feel:

a. WEST!” b. more pieces of pizza please.” c. heads are better than one.” d. at once, menage-a-trois...” e. months until I get to go home.”

a. Elated. b. A grumbling in your tummy. c. Ashamed of the way this country has treated native people. d. Horny. e. Scared.

a. Awesome! You loved seeing your whole class in one room, hearing about your class and hearing from George Bridges and others; the journey has begun! b. Okay, but you were disappointed there wasn’t any free food. c. Good, you think there should be more student body gatherings with faculty. d. Pretty good, but George Bridges — you don’t really want to tap that. e. Alright, even though you are pretty sure now that your admittance was a mistake.

‘Whitman’

Mostly A’s: Over-Enthusiastic First-Year

A future ASWC and A-Team member, you get a Green Dot shirt in the first week and wear it out of B. Max’s office.

Mostly B’s: Stoned First-Year

It was between Washington and Colorado. You are stoned — or very hungry.

Mostly C’s: Politically Correct First-Year

Quick to point out injustice in anything, you will likely major in politics, rhetoric studies or gender studies.

Mostly D’s: Promiscuous First-Year

Finally freed from the grips of your parentals and your high school reputation as a dork, you are not yet the master of pick-up lines. You will treasure your ‘80s dance and TKE basement experiences as a representation of your newly sexually liberated self.

Mostly E’s: Nervous First-Year

You just want to go home and watch Netflix in your bed with your cat Monroe. Adjusting to college is hard.