The
PIONEER
Issue 4 | October 3, 2013 | Whitman news since 1896
The future of ASWC
Students shaken after off-campus break-ins by sarah cornett News Editor
S
First-year senators join ASWC leadership’s enthusiasm for change
Dana Castarella
by hannah bartman Staff Reporter
F
irst-years Andrew Rivas, Arthur Shemitz, Dana Casterella and Mitchell Cutter will join Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC) as the newest class of senators following elections on Tuesday, Sept. 30. The senatorelects were among 11 candidates for these positions in the election, which included unopposed junior Tabor Martinsen, who will fulfill the junior senator position when current ASWC senator, junior Sayda Morales, goes abroad in the spring. Out of the eleven firstyear prospects, eight were female, but only one was victorious. All three male candidates won in the elections. The new senators bring fresh ideas and viewpoints, and join ASWC leadership in advocating for reform in ASWC’s relationship with students. “I think the great thing about first-year candidates is that they come in with a fresh perspective,” said ASWC President Tim Reed. “They don’t take things for granted, and they’re able to critique things to see what we need to do better.”
Fresh perspective and an enthusiasm for change was discernible among the candidates at the First-Year Senate candidacy hearing last Thursday, Sept. 26. “I’m new here and I don’t know of the problems yet, but there are 400 other people in the freshman class who will come up with something, and I want to be accessible to their needs,” said Cutter. Similarly, the platforms that the senators presented during their candidacy highlighted similar goals that Reed has in mind for the upcoming year. One of those goals includes communicating the roles and accomplishments of ASWC to the student body in a more “strategic way” as described by Reed. One of these ways would be by simplifying the ASWC website, an idea with which the first-year senators were similarly concerned. “I think people see ASWC as this shadowy cabal because it’s not really widely understood,” said Shemitz. “ASWC should have more information, even a short couple paragraphs on the website, about what ASWC does.”
Arthur Shemitz
see ASWC, page 3
andrew rivas
Mitchell cutter
everal break-in incidents occurred at off-campus student houses this week, leaving the Whitman College community on high alert. Reports of thefts and attempted thefts came from the Beta Theta Pi house on Isaacs Avenue and at least one other off-campus house occupied by upperclassmen. Two known suspects were apprehended late Sunday night after attempting to enter the back of the Beta fraternity house around 10:30 p.m. They were seen by five residents of Beta while they tried to unlock the back door of the house. “We were sitting in our backyard and saw two guys run up behind the trash cans on the side of our kitchen,” said a Beta resident, who witnessed the attempted theft and asked to remain anonymous due to concerns of his safety. “We didn’t know what they were doing, and at one point we saw one of them climb up the steps and try to open the back door to our house, at which point we went up and talked to them.” After realizing that they did not recognize the two men, the witnessing fraternity members approached them and asked why they were trying to enter the house. The two men said they were playing a practical joke and were sent to scare them. They left soon after the confrontation. However, the residents felt that the men had ulterior motives and called the police. “I called the police and gave them a description because we had talked to them, so we knew exactly who they were,” said a second witnessing resident, who also requested to remain anonymous due to safety concerns. The Walla Walla Police Department (WWPD) did confirm that they had received notification of a break-in at Beta and worked with Whitman Security to try to find the suspects. “We did receive a call from Beta Theta Pi late Sunday,” said Walla Walla Police Officer Kevin Branan. “[The WWPD] assisted Whitman security officers after they reported two suspects trying to trespass on campus.” Twenty minutes after calling the police, the five Beta residents went inside. They heard a scraping on a window and saw that someone had attempted to open windows from outside the house. The second resident called the police again. During this time, the Beta residents also noticed that another member of the house’s car had been broken into. It was later ascertained that the car manual and insurance papers had been taken. “I went upstairs and got on the phone with the police, and I followed [the burglars],” said the second resident. “They tried to hide in front of Beta’s wall, and then the bushes in front of the houses. Meanwhile, they had burglarized another member of the house’s car, and seemed to go over to another house.” A second off-campus house located on Isaacs Avenue was also broken into on the same night. A resident of the house confirmed that laptops, costly sports equipment and other valuables were stolen, in what was likely a related burglary. “There were several other reported break-ins,” said Officer Branan. “One was reported in a house on Madison Street, and there was a vehicle prowl within four or five blocks of the school. There were several related incidents within the see BREAK-INS, page 3
Hillel builds sukkah despite school restrictions, state laws by LORAH STEICHEN Staff Reporter
I
f you walked past the Amphitheatre last week, you might have been perplexed by the roofless tent set up there. Members from Hillel-Shalom, the Jewish student organization on campus, set up the structure, called a sukkah, on Sunday, Sept. 22, in celebration of the holiday of Sukkot. Sukkot, a weeklong holiday which takes place five days after Yom Kippur each year, not only celebrates the fall harvest season, but also commemorates the time that the Israelites traveled through the desert following their exodus from Egypt. The Israelites dwelled in temporary shelters because they were always on the move. This is observed during the holiday by constructing, decorating and dwelling in a sukkah, which is the Hebrew word for “hut” and singular of Sukkot.
“The whole idea of Sukkot is that it is a temporary dwelling home that is supposed to remind you of what it was like to live in the desert, since the Israelites lived in the desert for 40 years,” said sophomore Alex Ayal. A sukkah is traditionally constructed with at least three sides and an open roof adorned with branches or anything that grows out of the ground. The idea is that the roof will provide some degree of shelter yet still allows a view of the stars. Because the holiday comes during such a busy time of year for students, it has been several years since the club has celebrated with a sukkah on campus. “Hillel-Shalom has participated in Sukkot in the past, but it was before I came to Whitman,” said senior Hillel-Shalom president Janae Edelson in an email. “We’ve tried to put up a sukkah in the past, but there hasn’t been a lot of interest.” Though there hasn’t been
the energy and interest to celebrate Sukkot in recent years, firstyear Lauren Rekhelman offered to spearhead the project this fall.
“A sukkah is supposed to have walls, so what are we supposed to do? Is there a law against building sukkahs?” Lauren Rekhelman ‘17
“In addition to our regularly sponsored programs, if students are motivated and interested in special topics or activities, we will support them in organizing a specific event,” said Hillel-Shalom advisor Sharon Kaufman-Osborn. Although Rekhelman received much support for the undertaking, she encountered some logistical obstacles along the way.
see HILLEL SUKKAH, page 3
First-year Eva Geisse decorates the sukkah. Washington state law prohibited the students from building a structure with walls without a permit. Photo by Clay