The
PIONEER
Issue 10 | November 14, 2013 | Whitman news since 1896 | Vol. CXXXI
How much money? The ASWC budget has increased by $90,183 over the past six years.
$$$ Club budget requests have gone up by $16,121 since FY 2011. ASWC rewards have gone up $6,868.
Budget requests are met with the student fee, which has spiked to $350 in FY 2014. From FY 2008–2012, the student fee was kept at or below $320.
$428,067 FY 2008
$518,250 FY 2014
Balancing ACT How will ASWC manage more clubs and a bigger budget?
by Lachlan Johnson Staff Reporter
A
rising student fee combined with cuts to select clubs’ budgets last spring impacted student life on campus this fall, as organizations such as Waiilatpu and Whitman Direct Action struggled to adjust to increased austerity at Whitman. While Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC) funding has remained relatively stable for the last five years, in previous decades, spending increased significantly beyond inflation, and the recent budget crunch raises the question of whether this austeri-
ty is the beginning of a longer trend. ASWC is working to alleviate pressure from clubs and smooth out issues with the lifecycle fund, which contributed heavily to last year’s budget decreases. The student fee increased faster than inflation throughout the 1990s and 2000s, but spending increases have leveled off since 2008. This financial discipline coincided with a larger shift within ASWC towards more organization and professionalism. When funding pressures began to increase again two years ago, the ASWC finance committee realized spending needed to be allocated differently than with past committees. “Last year and this year our fi-
nance committees have been a little more conservative in allocating funds because we have seen towards the end of the year [that] ASWC funds have been drained, and then we haven’t had money to fund projects,” said ASWC Finance Chair Tatiana Kaehler. “That’s been a bit of a wake-up call for us, especially last year.” The Question of Peak Funding One of the major causes of a recent spending crunch has been increased demand from clubs. For the 2011–2012 budget, clubs requested a total of $51,380, but requests made last spring for this year’s budget totaled $67,501. While re-
cords are not complete, it is likely that this year also set the record for the number of clubs on campus asking for funding from ASWC. “I don’t think there is a limitation to how many clubs we can have that are ASWC-recognized, it just increases the burden on the [ASWC] Finance Committee if they decide to request funding,” said ASWC Club Director Nate Higby. The issue ASWC faces with clubs is not their number, but the amount of funding each club requests. While small clubs requesting only a few hundred dollars are unlikely to face long-term budget pressure, those which demand high levels of funding for
things such as travel or expensive equipment will likely receive only partial funding and have to seek additional sources of revenue. “A lot of the clubs we have on campus serve the need of helping students participate in hobbies that are on the more expensive side,” said Kaehler. “[ASWC’s been discussing] the need for students who are participating in expensive activities to put some of their own money into it because ASWC cannot be the funder of really expensive hobbies.” To prevent the shortfalls seen last year, Kaehler is taking steps to shift funding away from club budgets and towards the Travel and Stusee ASWC, page 3
Boarders skate toward official club status by cole anderson Staff Reporter
T
here are clubs to satisfy most any hobby and passion at Whitman College, but for the skateboarding community, a
small but tight-knit and enthusiastic group, the idea to create a formal club hasn’t been much more than just an idea. This year, however, a group of passionate skaters has taken the initiative. With everything in place and only a final
Zach Gordy ‘15 (pictured) and skateboarding regulars on campus are nearing official club status, a process spearheaded by Riley Hernandez ‘14. Photos by Blake-Whitney
proposal to go over with ASWC, a skateboarding club at Whitman is almost a fully formed entity. “The idea of a skate club has been kicked around since I was a freshman. I don’t think we can attribute the idea to one person. It was just a notion that was in all of our best interests,” said junior Zach Gordy. Some of the members of the skate club are also members of other clubs, and participation in these clubs prompted the creation of a skate club. “A few of us are on the snowboard team, which uses ASWC funding to go on trips to competitions, so we had talked about starting a skate team before. We had toyed with the idea for a while, but one day Riley [Hernandez] just filled out the paperwork and did it,” said junior Tom Shellum. In previous years, those on campus who love to skate typically just got together frequently throughout the week and skated at various spots around campus and in the Walla Walla area. That group has always been rather small. With the advent of a club, not only will there be more of a collective effort to establish safe and viable spots to skate; there will be an opportunity for more students to either learn a new sport or hone their skills further. “We already had a skate listserv so we could organize skating together and driving to the park, but having it be a club allows us to do things like be in the Activities Fair in the beginning see SKATEBOARDING, page 4
Isabel Zarate, Ann Chen (above) and Nandini Rathi (below), all ‘13 have all been chosen as the Whitman nominees for the Watson Fellowship. Photos by Clay
Whitman selects Watson nominees
by ISABEL MILLS Staff Reporter
I
n the next few months, Whitman College seniors will find out what the next year of their lives entails. Four of these seniors hope their futures will include a Watson Fellowship. This fellowship is a chance for 40 students from 40 liberal arts colleges to receive $28,000 to go abroad for a year to execute a project of their choosing. To become a Watson Fellow, students must be a senior in one of the chosen colleges, and they cannot return home for 12 months. Seniors Josh Melander, Ann Chen, Nandini Rathi and Isabel Zarate are all Whitman nominees for the fellowship. This year, approximately 36 students showed interest in the project. Director of Fellowships and Grants Keith Raether described the application process these students have gone through. “This year 16 students began the formal application process, and 14 completed full applications. The applications were
read by the five-member internal Watson selection committee. The committee short-listed nine students for interviews. At the conclusion of those interviews the selection committee discussed all candidates and decided on the four nominees.” said Raether. Zarate is a psychology major and has always been interested in how individuals respond to certain situations. Her parents are originally from Mexico, and her personal connection with being enrolled in an education system that was culturally different than her home life pushed her to research this issue more in her Watson project. “The questions are basically how do you integrate immigrants into your education system and how does going into an education system that isn’t culturally your native education system affect your identity. People have performed studies about where immigrants succeed the most, but not many have asked how people feel about compromising between the values of one culture and another,” said Zarate. see WATSON, page 6